San Mateo focusing on General Plan study areas

Klein said the mapping of study areas would be followed by conversations about what might take shape in these areas. She said input gathered from two community workshops held in June, an online survey open from June 14 to July 15 and a meeting of the city’s General Plan subcommittee informed the 11 study areas up for review at the commission’s July 23 meeting. Initiated in 2017, officials are estimating the General Plan update process to be completed by 2023.

An estimated 75 people in attendance at the two community meetings, 193 respondents to the online survey and several others who provided feedback before, during and after the General Plan subcommittee’s June 26 meeting helped officials identify the El Camino Real corridor, downtown San Mateo and the Hayward Park and Hillsdale Caltrain stations as among the areas community members were interested in studying, noted Klein.

Also included among the proposed study areas were portions of the North Central and North Shoreview neighborhoods, the Bridgepointe Shopping Center and the areas surrounding the city’s Highway 101 interchanges at State Route 92 and Hillsdale Boulevard, according to a staff report.

Though commissioners recommended the City Council consider the proposed 11 study areas with expanded boundaries around El Camino Real and the city’s train stations, among other recommendations, they largely agreed officials and residents should include other single-family neighborhoods throughout the city for future land use alternatives as the General Plan update process takes shape.

Concerns about North Central

In response to concerns voiced by several residents about the inclusion of the North Central neighborhood as a study area, Commission John Ebneter advocated for all neighborhoods with single-family zoning to receive the same treatment throughout the long-range planning effort. Acknowledging the North Central neighborhood is home to many working-class families and renters, Ebneter urged officials to be cautious about singling the neighborhood out for study given the concerns many residents have about gentrification in that part of the city.

“We need to be able to look at all parts of the city and not let certain areas bear the brunt of the changes,” he said, according to a video of the meeting. “I think everybody needs to be treated equally.”

Though Klein acknowledged the concerns that have been raised about the displacement of residents in the North Central and North Shoreview neighborhoods, she noted those neighborhoods have historically been more densely populated and community members have expressed interest in exploring improvements in walkability and access to transportation that may be needed there.

Klein also noted the study areas aren’t an indicator of where increases in housing will take shape in the city, and future conversations will encompass a range of changes that could take shape across the city, including those pertaining to utilities, traffic, public health and the environment.

Gathering input

Though Commissioner Ramiro Maldonado commended city staff on their efforts to spread the word about the General Plan update process and the meetings focused on the study areas, he was joined by his fellow commissioners in emphasizing the importance of bringing even more residents into the conversation about the city’s future. Maldonado acknowledged the challenge of making decisions about the city’s future with the input of a small fraction of the city’s more than 100,000 residents.

“We have to take a step back and see if people are not coming to us, to these meetings, then we have to go to them,” he said. “We have to figure out ways, we have to create partnerships with other entities to bring people to the table.”

Ebneter also advocated for officials to collect more data on the city’s needs as they continue to explore its future. Without data on how much and what type of housing will be needed in 2040 as well as how much open space and other amenities will be needed in the city, officials and residents may not have a clear picture on what it should be accommodating in its plans, argued Ebneter.

Joanna Jansen, a principal with the urban planning firm PlaceWorks, said data on the city’s needs will continue to be collected and refined as possible scenarios for land use and conservation are developed through the General Plan process.

Commissioners also elected Mike Etheridge, who previously served as the commission’s vice chair, as chair, and voted for Commissioner Ellen Mallory as the commission’s vice chair. Dianne Whitaker, who previously served as the commission’s chair, was commended for nine years of service on the Planning Commission. Commissioner Margaret Williams, who was recently appointed to the commission after Whitaker stepped down, was absent from the July 23 meeting.

Visit strivesanmateo.org for more information on San Mateo’s 2040 General Plan update process.

anna@smdailyjournal.com

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