San Mateo County approves townhome project

Developers behind the project requested allowances from the county that would help move the project forward including a General Plan map amendment changing zoning of the parcels from medium density to high density residential and approval of a major subdivision and grading permit.

Residents who neighbor the future townhomes spoke out against the proposal, which they say is in conflict with the character of the single-family neighborhood and could exacerbate traffic concerns in the area. They argued the supervisors should deny the request because the county had previously rezoned the two parcels where the project will go in 2004 to prevent larger houses being built on the lot at the request of the neighborhood.

Additionally, residents shared frustration with the county’s process for notifying the community that the item was going to be discussed, noting they only discovered the board’s discussion a day before the meeting.

“I have several neighbors who are very upset about this meeting because they weren’t notified,” said Daniel Curran, who noted neighbors have been weighing in on this proposal for about five years now. “It really feels like it’s going under the radar and being pushed through again just when in 2004 we rezoned so this exact thing would not happen.”

Steve Monowitz, director of the Planning and Building Department, said the county abided by minimum notification requirements by placing a notice in the San Mateo County Times. He also pushed back on assertions that a decision made in 2004 should prevent the county from changing the zoning nearly 20 years later when faced with meeting high housing goals set by the state.

“The county is in a real difficult spot as you know in terms of meeting our Regional Housing Needs Allocation and every site that has infrastructure available to serve it and is close to transportation and other services really does need to densify if we have any hope of meeting our housing needs,” Monowitz said.

Two existing single-family homes will need to be demolished to make way for the new townhomes which, according to the staff report, would act as a “transitional buffer” between Woodside Road’s commercial corridor and adjacent multifamily homes and the single-family neighborhood.

By moving forward with the project as proposed, Monowitz said the county would see a more uniformed approach to developing the lots that, without the project, could be developed with up to eight units under Senate Bill 9. The legislation went into effect this January and permits lots to be split and for up to two units to be built on each new lot.

Supervisors Warren Slocum and Carole Groom voted against the proposal after echoing concerns from residents about the notification process and traffic implications.

Slocum also shared additional concerns about the affordability of the single below-market rate unit after staff was unable to say for certain how much the unit would sell for.

Based on “back of the envelope” calculations, Rose Cade, deputy director of the Department of Housing, said the below-market rate unit could sell for between $1.08 million to $1.89 million depending on the family size. Those figures were calculated using income levels at 80% and 120% area median income levels but Monowitz said the county would require the developer to offer the unit at a lower area median income, likely reducing the selling price to at or below $1 million.

“To think that it’s OK to put this in a newspaper and call it good doesn’t represent what you like to call, Mr. Manager, creating a remarkable experience for constituents,” Slocum said in reference to statements previously made by County Executive Officer Mike Callagy. “There just doesn’t seem to be any compelling reason at least for this supervisor to move this forward.”

Ultimately, the proposal was approved in a 3-2 vote with board President Don Horsley and supervisor Dave Pine and David Canepa in support.

sierra@smdailyjournal.com

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