Redwood City talks housing

With nine proposed developments coming before the council, staff broke the plans into two groups opting to focus on residential development first with a second commercial and mixed-use centered development group to be presented Sept. 21. Each proposal requires an amendment from the General Plan, a blueprint of what residents would like the city to look like as adopted in 2010. 

The largest of the projects includes a 5.3-acre site at 1205 and 1295 Veterans Blvd. The proposed plans include 430 units including 70 affordable apartments. A 4,000- to 6,000-square-foot child care facility is also proposed in the plan, meeting the city’s children and youth priority. 

Vice Mayor Shelly Masur pressed the developers to consider offering the child care space, proposed to be run by a third-party provider, at a discounted rate to enable lower fees and a greater amount of affordability for families interested in utilizing the child care services. 

Sitting about just between a half mile and full mile from a Caltrain station, leniency was offered to the developers on the transportation priority which typically requires a development to be no more than half a mile or a ten-minute walk from a transportation source. The ground floor of the project would also include retail space and over 580 parking stalls. 

Romie Bossetto, commander of American Legion Post 105 sitting at 651 El Camino Real, presented to the council a 301-unit residential plan, with 68 below-market-rate units reserved for veterans. Plans include a new 11,275-square-foot American Legion space with 3,600-square-foot event space. 

“I’m particularly intrigued by the fact that this will be the only project that I think is particularly focused on veterans,” said Councilman Ian Bain. 

Bain raised concerns over the preservation of the historical home of William J. McGarvey, a well-known, politically active resident of the city. Though Bossetto noted many changes have been made to the structure, resulting in the removal of its historical statues, staff said a California Environmental Quality Act review would be done to assess whether the structure will have to be preserved. 

Pricing of affordable units was also of concern with Councilwoman Diana Reddy who noted many veterans cannot afford even below-market rate units and requested the addition of very low-rate units. While meeting requirements for the housing priority, the development also meets the youth criteria for providing youth programs with access to the facility and transportation criteria due to its proximity to public transportation. 

A proposed development at 505 E. Bayshore Road was the only project proposing units for sale including 60-townhomes with nine units listed at below market rate. Included in the plans is a 8,000-square-foot public easement along Bayshore and a new publicly accessible trail to the Bay Trail system, a 500-mile walking and cycling trail which travels through all nine Bay Area counties. 

Regis Homes Bay Area, the San Mateo-based developers behind the project, announced during the remote meeting that the agency plans to support the nonprofit Redwood City Education Foundation, committing to providing a financial donation in the name of the new townhome owners. With the addition of the easement, the 16% below-market-rate units and the commitment to the foundation, the development would meet all three strategic priorities. 

“I’m very, very excited about partnership with the education foundation. I had seen that program in Belmont and spoken with their school board and with their councilmembers about it and it was very successful and sort of a win-win. And I would like to see it not only here but I’d love to see other developers take that model as well,” said Councilwoman Giselle Hale.

The final development presented to the council involved the addition of two dwelling units over three existing businesses including Doris Beauty Salon, A New Holistic Life and Redwood Massage & Sauna. Units would be rented to employees of the businesses at low- or moderate-income levels. 

Councilmembers expressed a strong interest in gaining assurance the units would be offered at an affordable rate. At least one of the units will have to be listed at below-market-rate if Assembly Bill No. 3107 is approved requiring at least 20% of proposed units within a development be affordable to low-income households. 

“For 48 years I worked in a hair salon that had two units upstairs. … They were never empty. If I could have rented one of those units, I would have been in heaven because I would have been right there,” said Councilwoman Janet Borgens. “This is exciting because we are hearing exactly that, that employers cannot keep their employees because of not having a place to live so I’m excited with this.” 

During a public comment period held after all four projects were presented, many speakers called for councilmembers to reconsider what affordable housing means, noting many still cannot afford below-market-rate units. Despite affordability concerns, many expressed support for greater housing becoming available within the city. 

Formal approval on whether the proposed developments would be welcomed into the city will be given once the projects are brought forward again in October. With General Plan office and residential unit caps quickly being met, city staff is also working on developing a successor vision document called the Central Redwood City plan.

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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