Opportunity knocks

More and more cities are providing access to their GIS (Geographic Information System), and Redwood City is no exception. Starting with a map of the city, you can explore everything from individual property boundaries to planning and infrastructure projects to how different parts of the city are zoned. You can also measure distances and areas, and use basic drawing tools to mark up the map to suit your purposes.

This week, during a Planning Commission study session on the draft version of the city’s Housing Element (which identifies the city’s housing conditions and needs, as well as how Redwood City intends to address those needs), Diana O’Dell, one of the city’s principal planners, briefly introduced the city’s latest online tool. The aptly named “Housing Sites & Strategies Explorer,” which is also GIS-based, enables us to “explore the strategies and projects/sites noted in the Housing Element 2023 to 2031 Draft.” With it we can focus in on proposed and existing housing projects, and on sites the city regards as opportunities for redevelopment as housing. We can also use it to explore the land use strategies and zoning changes by which the city hopes to encourage the creation of more housing. Check it out at webgis.redwoodcity.org/storymap/housing2023.

Being someone who is already quite familiar with Redwood City’s many housing projects, upon launching the tool I immediately zeroed in on the “other opportunity sites.” I was curious to see what sites the city was eying for housing projects beyond those already in the works. Opportunity sites, as Ms. O’Dell was careful to make clear, are simply that: opportunities. Because most are privately owned, the city has little control over how they will be redeveloped — if they ever are. But the city sees these properties as underutilized, and thus hopes that someday soon they might form part of the solution to our current housing crisis.

I was pleased to note that among the opportunity sites is the currently shuttered 9.5-acre Kmart property. City staff estimates that, realistically, 655 housing units could be placed on that parcel alone, units that could be made affordable at a variety of income levels.

Other opportunity sites are sure to raise some eyebrows. These include both the Woodside Plaza shopping center and the “Peninsula Boardwalk” property (home to Kohl’s, Sports Basement, JoAnn Fabrics & Crafts, plus a number of other shops and restaurants). Being large parcels, redeveloping both could go a long way toward meeting Redwood City’s needs for more housing; together they could accommodate an estimated 2,000 housing units. In the event one or both ever are redeveloped, ground-floor retail could be incorporated into the designs, so such a project wouldn’t necessarily mean the end to convenient, one-stop shopping.

Other sites tend to be smaller, with a few being actually vacant (such as the “Bethlehem A.D.” property on Middlefield Road). Small sites can help address a specific segment of the market, such as people looking for somewhat affordable townhomes. But given the number of new housing units Redwood City wants to see constructed — almost 6,900 by the end of 2031 — the city hopes that even some smaller opportunity sites, such as the Bank of America property at Jefferson Avenue and Marshall Street, will end up with multistory apartment or condominium buildings.

Redwood City’s dearth of vacant properties can lead a casual observer to conclude that housing growth on the scale the city hopes to provide just isn’t possible. But the city’s new Housing Sites & Strategies Explorer lets one see just where that new housing might be built. Not everyone will agree with the city’s vision of its future, of course. For them, written feedback on the city’s Housing Element continues to be accepted through Friday, March 25. As well, comments can be provided during next Monday’s City Council meeting, when the council conducts its own study session on the Housing Element’s goals and policies.

Greg Wilson is the creator of Walking Redwood City, a blog inspired by his walks throughout Redwood City and adjacent communities. He can be reached at greg@walkingRedwoodCity.com. Follow Greg on Twitter @walkingRWC.