San Carlos east side planning advances

Moving ahead with the agreement, councilmembers voiced concerns for whether the study could be as expansive as they’ve hoped for under its nine-month time frame. Councilman Adam Rak called for additional council engagement other than during the study session and final decision meetings and Councilwoman Sara McDowell suggested residents neighboring the specific area and the school district also be included in discussions. 

“They’re not part of the bounded area but certainly I’m hoping this project can bleed over and really have a comprehensive view of the east side,” said McDowell, a member of the City Council Economic Development Subcommittee with Vice Mayor Laura Parmer-Lohan. 

Most of the official study area is contained between Brittan Avenue, Old County Road, Hall Street and Highway 101. An additional portion of land starting at Hall Street, up Industrial Road and ending just before the Sutter Urgent Care building is included as well, sectioning out the residential area abutting the commercial industrial zone. 

Dimitri Vandellos, president of the Greater East San Carlos Neighborhood Association, requested the organization be included in the study process, noting that the neighborhood will be directly affected by the coming growth, sure to bring increased foot and vehicle traffic.  

“We’re perfectly happy to see development but we want to make sure that we are included and … that development here doesn’t turn into an existential threat to our single-family neighborhood,” said Vandellos. 

Praising community engagement from Alexandria Real Estate Equities, the developer of a 528,520-square-foot biotech campus on the east side, Vandellos said he’d like to see similar engagement from Parkins&Will consultants. 

“This is an opportunity for us to do something for our kids and our grandkids and for future residents in San Carlos to mitigate the disastrous toxic legacy that is part of the east side community,” he said. 

Geeti Silwal, an urban design principal with Parkins&Will, said the agency intends to hold robust stakeholder meetings, including with the neighborhood association. Addressing council requests for stronger community and council engagement, Silwal shared confidence the agency could drive “meaningful and rich” discussions with what was proposed, noting communication between the city and agency must be quick on both ends. 

“Our hope is that the impacts will be … a win-win for both parties and they’ll see the value and there will be benefits they can reap from the kind of planning and community benefits [we’re] thinking that we’ll bring forward,” said Silwal.

The agency, which played a role in San Francisco’s Mission Bay District planning, was selected due to the quality of the team proposed to conduct the work and its lauded reputation in the Bay Area, said Al Savay, the city’s Community Development director.

In other business, the council approved a continuation of the Laurel Street Policing Program, which places a sheriff’s deputy along Laurel Street to monitor traffic concerns. The roughly $150,000 program was first approved in August of 2019 because of concerns for speeding and driving under the influence but, during the pandemic, deputies largely shifted to performing business checks and educating the public on the county’s health order. 

Included in the measure is the purchase of an up to $25,000 cloud-based interview management system which captures and stores law enforcement interviews. The system, to be owned by the city but operated by the Sheriff’s Office, will allow deputies to quickly share and access interviews remotely. The funds for both programs would be pulled from the city’s trust fund held by the Sheriff’s Office with a balance of $622,294.  

The council also received a COVID-19 update in which Deputy Fire Chief Chuck Lax noted officials are working on guidelines for winterizing outdoor seating areas to help businesses safely deploy gas heaters and tents. The city is also developing a shop local campaign, including a parking map and shopping tips, aimed at encouraging residents to purchase holiday gifts from local storefronts. 

sierra@smdailyjournal.com 

(650) 344-5200 ext. 106