San Mateo City Council sets priority list

“The city is looking at an overflowing plate full of activities and projects that we need to consider,” he said. “Right now we have a 5-pound bag with 30 pounds worth of stuff in it that we need to fund.”

Housing policies emerged as a key priority, with councilmembers agreeing to work to obtain external funding to subsidize below-market-rate homes, as well as to preserve the city’s current supply of affordable units. Boosting tenant protections — something that could entail creating a rental registry to track use of the city’s stock of rental units, was among the discussion.

Policy to allow for denser housing could also be part of efforts, with the council indicating it would like to explore adopting Senate Bill 10, a state law that would allow councils adopt an ordinance to zone any parcel to accommodate up to 10 units.

On the sustainability front, Bonilla introduced a goal to eliminate methane gas use in the city by 2030. An ordinance, if developed, would build on the law passed by the council in 2020 banning gas hookups in new residential and office construction, favoring the use of electric alternatives for appliances like stoves and heaters.

“This is an existential threat we’re talking about here, and it’s reached crisis levels already, climate change is overwhelming all of our systems,” Bonilla said of the proposal, which gained support from other councilmembers.

Other measures to be looked at include banning or restricting gas-powered leaf blowers, creating requirements for sustainable landscaping in home remodels and increasing the cities capacity to collect storm water.

For road work, plans were set to continue the city’s effort to reconstruct failed streets, however, the date for completion was pushed from 2024 to 2026. City Manager Drew Corbett said the delay was partially due to funding, pointing to $29 million worth of upcoming projects currently being designed, but also a result of the impracticality of undertaking multiple large repairs at the same time given traffic impacts.

Councilmembers noted the need to balance reducing congestion with improving safety and limiting neighborhood cut-through traffic.

“We want to speed traffic up in places where there’s bottlenecks and slow traffic down in places where there are kids walking on the street and trying to enjoy their neighborhoods,” Councilmember Joe Goethals said.

Plans to facilitate that goal could include infrastructure and signs dissuading nonlocal traffic from traveling on neighborhood streets. Bonilla also emphasized the need to encourage modes of transportation other than single-occupancy vehicles, like public transit, carpooling, walking and cycling.

Among other goals, the council agreed to study rules to allow retail cannabis stores; adding a public restroom near the Caltrain station; expanding youth representation in city government; aiding small businesses in Americans with Disabilities Act compliance; campaign finance reform establishing expenditure limits; boosting transparency; and providing no-cost menstruation products.

corey@smdailyjournal.com

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