Rain likely...possibly heavy early. Becoming windy in the afternoon. High 58F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall may reach one inch. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph..
Rain and wind early. Decreasing clouds overnight. Low around 50F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Winds could occasionally gust over 40 mph.
Updated: December 25, 2025 @ 10:36 am
San Mateo’s North Shoreview neighborhood has been working for over a decade to remove a costly federal flood zone designation, and it’s now approaching the finish line.
Both North Shoreview and Shoreview was labeled a flood zone by the Federal Emergency Management Agency back in 2001, in addition to some homes in North Central. That meant homeowners were required to purchase flood insurance, and it also became a risky and costly endeavor to develop in the area.
“It’s not only about the insurance premiums, but when you live in a flood zone and you want to build things, you have a lot more hoops to go through,” Cynthia Newton, co-president of the North Shoreview Neighborhood Association, said.
Newton, a longtime resident who has lived in the area before it was a designated flood zone, said the premiums weren’t that bad for the first 10 years, but they started to spike around 2012. One of her neighbors was paying about $5,000 a year, she said. That’s when she and other community members began working with the city to see what infrastructural changes could be funded to remove such a consequential designation, especially as the Shoreview area had just been able to reverse its flood zone status for about 6,000 homes.
In mid-2020, the city kicked off a $30 million project to upgrade the storm pump stations and levees. The effort was completed last year and last month, city staff members, along with Mayor Lisa Diaz Nash and Councilmember Rich Hedges, visited FEMA staff in Washington, D.C., to ensure such projects would qualify the area for removal from the map, which the agency officially acknowledged in a letter received at the end of last month. If no objections are sent to FEMA within 90 days, the agency will remove North Shoreview from the map.
“In general, it will help our property values, and it will help those who have mortgages to not have to purchase that level of insurance. It’s just a good thing all around,” Newton said.
And while the new projects are a welcome buffer against storm-filled winter months, she said intensive flooding has not actually been a major concern in the entire time she’s lived there.
“We honestly didn’t really feel we were in danger of flooding. We did have that big storm last December, and a few storm drains were clogged, but … I don’t think there’s really been flooding in this neighborhood,” Newton said. “That’s also why we felt that the FEMA flood map was kind of unwarranted.”
Certain areas along McLellan and Palm avenues, as well as parts of San Mateo Creek and the Marina Lagoon, are still part of the FEMA flood zone map.
“We are so happy to be on this final path,” Newton said. “This will mean a lot to our neighborhood. It has been a long journey.”
(650) 344-5200 ext. 102
Daily Journal staff
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