November 16, 2023
City of San Mateo
330W 20th Ave
San Mateo, CA 94403
Subject: Comments on San Mateo Updated Housing Element
Dear Mayor Lee and Members of the San Mateo City Council, Planning Commission, and City Staff,
The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter's Sustainable Land Use Committee (SLU) advocates on land use issues in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. Thank you for providing the opportunity for SLU to provide input on the November 9, 2023 Updated Housing Element (HE).
The updated HE has some important improvements (Fair housing on p. H-68 to H -75, clarification on p. H-93 of Action d on Policy H1-20). But some final adjustments will further strengthen this important HE with regards to encouraging more affordable housing and allowing for more greening of the city.
The HE assumes that the Land Use Designation High II is not going to be used1. We have maintained that High II should be included in the HE, though only in limited areas and only near transit. Its higher density and height are good tools to increase affordable housing, as a required community benefit, and to do it in an environmentally positive way by requiring green open space on the site.
The need to add more housing, particularly affordable housing, is important to addressing environmental issues. As essential workers (e.g. teachers, nurses, service workers, etc.) on the Peninsula cannot afford to live here, they must commute from long distances to housing they can afford.
More green open space: The ability to allow higher buildings in the High II Land Use Designations, when combined with restricting lot coverage, is also an important tool for freeing up land area for greening the city.
The greening of the city has major environmental benefits as well as improving the quality of life for residents. Being allowed to go to higher building heights, when coupled with restricting lot coverage, is a way to create more open space, parks, bike paths, pedestrian walkways and green streets.
A good example of this was demonstrated in the recent scenarios put forward as part of the “Re-imagine Hillsdale” presentation of March 8,20233. The scenario that stayed with the current 5-story limit produced a design with very little open space and with the area facing the neighborhood on Edison Street being high and dense. However, the scenario that allowed heights up to 10 to 12 stories for buildings near the railroad and along El Camino Real (ECR) produced a design with a large amount of open space, parks, and a more compatible neighborhood design, with lower heights, along Edison Street. The higher height allowed, adjacent to the railroad and ECR, made it possible to lower heights near the existing neighborhood on Edison Street and to provide much more parks and open space for the entire community to enjoy.
We ask that you consider this information as you finalize the HE.
Respectfully submitted,
Gita Dev
Co-Chair, Sustainable Land Use Committee
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
1 See pages H-31 and H-41. They state a maximum density of 130 du/ac (which is the High I maximum). The High II maximum is 200 du/ac.
