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CITY OF SAN MATEO
Agenda Report
City Hall
330 W. 20th Avenue
San Mateo CA 94403
www.cityofsanmateo.org
Agenda Number: 15 Section Name: {{section.name}} Account Number: File ID: {{item.tracking_number}} TO: City Council
FROM: Alex Khojikian, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Community Development Department
MEETING DATE: March 18, 2024
SUBJECT:
General Plan Amendment to Adopt Strive San Mateo General Plan 2040 RECOMMENDATION:
Adopt a Resolution to certify the General Plan’s Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and adopt a resolution adopting Strive San Mateo General Plan 2040 and the Climate Action Plan Technical Update, based on the listed findings.
BACKGROUND:
City Council Meeting Update
On March 4, 2024, City Council held a public hearing to receive an overview of General Plan 2040 and the Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR), take public comments, and provide direction on any remaining updates or revisions.
During the public comment period, 11 speakers provided comments and input on the final version of General Plan 2040.
Comments included concerns about the building heights, densities and overall growth allowed by the plan, traffic and parking impacts from new development, support and opposition to identifying historic district contributors in the Historic Resource definition, support for including the High II designation in the Land Use Element, and a request to change the land use designation on the Bayshore Corporate Commons site to Mixed-Use Medium I.
Following public comment, Council expressed general support for how the General Plan had been updated and revised to address public input and Council direction from last fall, and support for the Planning Commission and staff recommended revisions to the land use map and Plan text (story definition and clarifying Table LU-1 to set maximums, but not minimums). Council also asked questions about the land use designation for the site at 1770 S. Amphlett (San Mateo Marriott) based on the recent news that the hotel would be closing. The site is currently proposed to have a Regional Commercial designation, and Council requested that staff bring back additional information to support a discussion about the best land use designation for this site. Additional information on this site and potential alternative land use designations, as well as potential policy revisions to support hotel/lodging uses, is included as Attachment 10, and will be provided as part of the staff presentation for this item at the meeting. However, if there is an interest in changing the General Plan Land Use Map, per state law and local ordinance, the Planning Commission will need to hold a public hearing and provide a recommendation before the Council can formally consider changing a specific site’s land use designation.
Following public comments and discussion, the recommendation is for Council to adopt General Plan 2040 and the CAP Technical Update, and certify the Final EIR with a Statement of Overriding Considerations. The resolutions to support the City Council adoption actions are included in Attachments 1 and 2. The resolution with findings to support adoption of General Plan 2040 and the Climate Action Plan Technical Update is included as Attachment 1, and the resolution to certify the Final EIR is included as Attachment 2, with specific EIR Findings in Exhibit A and the Statement of Overriding Considerations in Exhibit B. In Attachment 3, General Plan 2040 has been updated to reflect the Council’s direction from the March 4, 2024 meeting.
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The remainder of this agenda report was originally published with the March 4, 2024 City Council meeting agenda and provides an overview of General Plan 2040, the Climate Action Plan Technical Update and the Final EIR.
General Plan Background
The City’s General Plan Update kicked off in Fall 2018 and began with a series of visioning workshops and community meetings. From April 2019 through November 2023, the General Plan team held a series of meetings and events to establish the General Plan study areas; create the range of alternatives; confirm the draft alternatives; and receive feedback and direction on the preferred land use and circulation scenarios as well as on goals and policies from the community and, ultimately, the City Council. More information about the background information, technical reports, and outreach process, including meeting materials and recordings, is available at www.StriveSanMateo.org.
To date, the General Plan Update has focused on crafting a shared community vision for what San Mateo can be in the year 2040, selecting the preferred land use and circulation scenarios that will guide the General Plan’s Land Use and Circulation Elements, establishing the goals and policies for all of the elements in the General Plan, and compiling all of these efforts into General Plan 2040. General Plan 2040, the General Plan’s Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) as well as numerous supporting resources and tools, are available at www.StriveSanMateo.org.
The City Council resolution, with findings, to adopt General Plan 2040 and Climate Action Plan Technical Update is included as Attachment 1, and the City Council resolution to certify the Final EIR, with findings and a Statement of Overriding Considerations, is included as Attachment 2. However, no formal action will be taken at tonight’s meeting.
Instead, on March 18, 2024, the City Council will be asked to adopt the aforementioned resolutions.
General Plan 2040
Strive San Mateo General Plan 2040, which is included as Attachment 3, began with a foundation based on the existing General Plan 2030, and then developed updates to reflect current community policy priorities, address the key issues the City is facing today, and improve organization and clarity. To reach this milestone, the City has hosted 80+ events, a combination of workshops, staff presentations, and pop-up events, seven online activities, thirteen General Plan Subcommittee (GPS) meetings, seven Planning Commission meetings, and sixteen City Council meetings from 2018 through the end of 2023. The community input received at these events and meetings shaped the development of General Plan 2040 at every step of the process.
Early in the process, the City Council directed staff to focus outreach to hard-to-reach populations in San Mateo: non- English speakers, renters, residents 44 and under, low-income and very low-income households, and residents of under- represented neighborhoods, including North Shoreview, Shoreview, North Central, and East of 101. To reach these communities, City staff used a variety of engagement methods, including working with a community-based partner, providing materials in Spanish and simplified Chinese, and conducting pop-up events and intercepts with bilingual staff at key locations such as food distribution events and local grocery stores. Due to this effort, the participation of these targeted groups increased over the course of the General Plan Update process.
General Plan 2040 Overview
General Plan 2040 is made up of a Vision Statement and Guiding Principles, text describing key issues of community interest, and goals and policies that outline how the City will address those issues, as well as accompanying maps and diagrams. General Plan 2040 addresses all the topics required by State law and has tailored the organization to reflect the local context. It also includes other topics that are not required by State law, but that the community has identified as being fundamental to the quality of life in the city. Once adopted, the optional elements have the same legal status as the mandatory elements. No single element or subject supersedes any other, and all elements must be internally consistent; policies and actions must complement one another across topic areas without conflicting. The elements in the General Plan 2040 and the topics areas that they cover are outlined below:
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Table 1 - General Plan 2040 Element Topic Areas
Element Name Important Topics
Land Use This Element sets allowed land uses, heights and densities, and establishes goals, policies and actions to support balanced and equitable growth and preservation, a diverse range of land uses, the focus areas around the City, including Downtown, El Camino Real corridor and Hillsdale Station Area, environmental justice, food access, community engagement, climate change, community health, regional cooperation, economic development, development review, and general plan maintenance.
Circulation This Element establishes goals, policies and actions to support multimodal transportation, reduce the number and length of vehicle trips, traffic congestion, and GHG emissions, supports pedestrians, bicycles, micromobility, transit services, roadway improvements, streetscape beautification, parking, curb management, and future mobility technologies.
Housing This Element establishes goals, policies and programs to meet existing and projected housing needs for all segments of the community, including various household types, special needs populations, and all income levels. This element is updated every eight years, requires certification from the State and has been prepared separately from the General Plan Update process. The 2023-2031 Housing Element was found to be substantially compliant by the State in January 2024 and is anticipated to come to Council for adoption in spring 2024.
Community Design and
Historic Resources
This Element establishes goals, policies and actions to support the City’s urban forest, archaeological resources, tribal coordination, historic resources and preservation, sustainable design, public art, and design guidance for residential neighborhoods and commercial areas.
Conservation, Open Space,
and Recreation
This Element establishes goals, policies and actions to support natural resource protection, access to nature, open space preservation, creeks and riparian areas, air quality, and parks and recreation.
Public Services and Facilities This Element establishes goals, policies and actions to support Police and Fire services, adequate water supply and wastewater treatment, flood control, energy and telecommunications infrastructure, public services and facilities, seniors and aging adults, child care, schools, healthcare, social services and solid waste.
Safety This Element establishes goals, policies and actions to support emergency readiness and emergency operations, and addresses geologic and seismic hazards, flood hazards, sea level rise, wildfire hazards and hazardous materials.
Noise This Element establishes goals, policies and actions to set exterior noise standards, interior noise standards, measures and regulates noise, and reduce and mitigate noise
Each element, or chapter, of General Plan 2040 also includes a concise set of background narratives that summarizes current conditions in the city related to the topics in the element. The background information provides context about the issues the City plans to address, explaining why there is policy direction so that the policies and actions can focus on how the City can achieve a desired outcome. The narratives also provide information on other regulations and/or agencies that influence the decision-making process. Together, these items paint a picture of the community’s future.
The elements in General Plan 2040 address a specific set of topics and include a set of goals, polices and actions that provide a blueprint for how the City will address these issues. These goals, policies, and actions provide guidance to the City on how to direct change and manage resources over the next 20 years.
In addition to the eight elements, which go beyond the minimum State requirements, General Plan 2040 embodies
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three key themes: Sustainability, Environmental Justice, and Community Engagement. These themes are interrelated and woven throughout General Plan 2040. Policies and actions in each element that relate to each of these themes are marked with a corresponding icon.
Building on these three themes and all of the other goals and policies contained in the eight Elements, General Plan 2040 expresses the following Big Ideas that will guide policy and growth in San Mateo over the next 20 years. These Big Ideas are intended to synthesize the various goals and policies contained in the General Plan to illustrate some of the real and tangible outcomes that are of highest community interest that could be achieved over the next two decades:
1.Balance Growth and Change. General Plan 2040 sets the stage for higher density residential and mixed-use development close to transit and jobs while maintaining existing development patterns in lower density neighborhoods. Allowing a range of housing densities encourages a broad variety of housing types and sizes that fit many different needs, and building new homes near Caltrain and high frequency bus routes helps reduce vehicle miles traveled (VMT) and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
2.Enhance San Mateo’s Neighborhood Fabric and Quality of Life. General Plan 2040 promotes context-sensitive residential design, supports neighborhood shopping areas, improves neighborhood walkability and traffic congestion, protects homes, schools, and libraries from excessive noise levels, and provides for a comprehensive network of parks and recreational facilities for all to enjoy.
3.Preserve Nature as the Foundation of the City. General Plan 2040 honors San Mateo’s natural setting as an irreplaceable asset that is the physical foundation of the community by protecting open space and natural habitat, planting trees, maintaining the City’s urban forest, investing in natural infrastructure, preserving natural views and expanding access to parks and open space.
4.Encourage All Ways to Travel Around the City. General Plan 2040 supports a multimodal transportation system implemented using a complete streets approach with a strong emphasis on safety and access for walking, bicycling, transit, and driving. By prioritizing mobility options and connectivity for all modes, the General Plan works toward improving user and resident safety, and reducing congestion on local streets, as well as VMT and GHG emissions.
5.Support the Local Economy. General Plan 2040 focuses on ways to keep jobs and dollars in San Mateo by supporting local shops, businesses, and services. It encourages new businesses that residents need and enjoy, such as restaurants, child care facilities, medical clinics, gyms, pharmacies, and grocery stores, in convenient locations throughout the community.
6.Address Historic Preservation Holistically. General Plan 2040 provides a comprehensive blueprint for historic preservation, starting with a Historic Preservation Ordinance update and citywide historic context statement, followed by updates to the City’s historic resources inventory. These efforts will be based on community input and best practices from State and federal agencies, to find the right balance between preservation and other important priorities such as providing new homes.
7.Initiate a Comprehensive Sea Level Rise Adaptation Strategy. General Plan 2040 prioritizes development of a climate change adaptation plan that addresses all ongoing efforts, including the work of regional agencies, local jurisdictions, and private property owners, to establish a comprehensive strategy for resiliency and adaptation against sea level rise and flooding.
8.Strengthen Community Outreach. General Plan 2040 prioritizes extensive community engagement and affirms culturally sensitive outreach methods that encourage early communication and broad representation, such as offering information and materials in the predominant language spoken in the community and scheduling meetings at convenient times and locations for community members.
9.Focus on Equity and Health for all Residents. General Plan 2040 directs City investment to public improvements that address health and infrastructure disparities in equity priority communities, including the North Central and North Shoreview neighborhoods. City investments will also support active and healthy lifestyles, reducing health disparities around the city, improving access to fresh and healthy foods, making parks and open space equitably accessible for all residents, and making streets safer and more beautiful.
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10.Improve Community Safety Planning and Awareness. General Plan 2040 establishes clear actions to protect the community from emergencies and extreme weather events such as flooding, wildfires, earthquakes, and pandemics, by reinforcing the City’s emergency readiness and response capabilities, increasing power system resilience, maintaining a state-of-the art emergency notification system, providing community training programs, and planning ahead for disaster recovery.
City Council Direction on Draft General Plan 2040
The Draft General Plan 2040 was published for public review and comment on July 17, 2023. The City collected feedback on Draft General Plan 2040 from July 2023 to the beginning of November 2023 through public meetings, workshops, community town halls, community presentations, pop-up events, and an online commenting tool. The City Council met at four public meetings in October and November 2023 to review and provide direction on Draft General Plan 2040.
During these meetings, the City Council considered suggested revisions to the General Plan from the community, General Plan Subcommittee, Planning Commission, and City staff, and provided direction on which revisions should be incorporated into the final version of General Plan 2040. Based on this input, the City Council directed staff to make various updates and revisions to the goals, policies and actions, as well as the narrative text. The changes that have been made to various goals, policies and actions since the Draft General Plan was published in July 2023 are included in Attachment 4. A summary of the overarching changes made to General Plan 2040, in accordance with Council direction, are listed below.
Enhance cultural and entertainment policies and actions in the General Plan. Improve access to and from Caltrain stations, including the west side of Hillsdale Station across El Camino Real. Remove the Residential High II and Mixed-Use High II land use designations, with a height range of 6-10 stories and density range of 100-200 units per acre, from the General Plan Land Use Map. Add policy direction to address senior issues and support the aging population in San Mateo. Support Build Up San Mateo County recommendations to amplify child care policies and actions. Add policy direction to mitigate outdoor air quality in residential areas close to pollutant sources such as highways.
Strengthen the wording of the OneShoreline policies and actions, including the sea level and/or flood overlay zone action to “evaluate the establishment” of a sea level overlay and/or flood zone instead of “studying the feasibility”.
Add policy direction to develop and maintain communication tools that provide information and updates related to capital improvement projects to promote community awareness. Update the maps in the General Plan to make them accessible for text-to-speech readers. Include population projections in the annual General Plan progress report. Highlight safety as a cornerstone of the recommendations in the Circulation Element. Enhance pedestrian connectivity along El Camino Real to improve safety. Align the City’s roadway classifications with Caltrans and the Federal Highway Administration, including updating current classifications to reflect existing conditions and volumes.
Other Revisions on General Plan 2040
In addition to the revisions Council directed staff to incorporate in General Plan 2040, staff made various other minor changes to clarify a few policies and actions, and fix errors found while reviewing the General Plan, including assigning land use designations to isolated parcels that were missing a designation in the Draft General Plan 2040. A summary of these revisions is as follows:
Revise Policy LU 1.2 to reflect the current buildout projection of 19,760 new housing units, 3,186,000 new square feet of non-residential development, and 15,000 new jobs, which is based on Council direction to remove the High II land use designations, reduce the height limits and intensities for the Office land use designations, and reduce the height and density limits along some study area edges to support transitions between high and low density areas.
Reinstate the Transportation Corridor land use designation, which was included in General Plan 2030 but removed from Draft General Plan 2040 and apply this designation to Caltrain right-of-way parcels.
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Add a new action to support periodic staffing studies for Police and Fire services to ensure that appropriate levels of service are available to meet the community needs as the City’s population grows. Assign a similar land use designation as the existing General Plan 2030 to parcels that were missing a land use designation in the Draft General Plan 2040.
Attachment 5 shows the proposed parcel-specific changes to the General Plan 2040 land use map.
Fiscal Analysis of General Plan 2040
During the public review of Draft General Plan 2040, community members and the Council requested more detailed information about how the adoption of the land use changes would affect the City’s overall fiscal health. The Alternatives Analysis included a fiscal analysis for each of the three alternatives, so some information is already known.
But to fully respond to these comments and questions, an updated fiscal analysis, based on General Plan 2040’s final land use map, was prepared by Economic & Planning Systems (EPS), the General Plan’s economic consultant, to confirm that future growth will be fiscally sustainable and public services can be maintained (Attachment 6). The fiscal analysis is based on the City’s budget documents, interviews with key City service providers (e.g., Police, Fire, Public Works), and well-accepted budget forecasting techniques to evaluate the impact of the assumed buildout of General Plan 2040 on General Fund revenues and General Fund expenditures. The fiscal analysis is based on the updated growth projections of 19,760 new housing units and 3,186,000 new square feet of non-residential development during the span of General Plan 2040.
Overall, the fiscal analysis found that the assumed buildout of General Plan 2040 is projected to generate annual General Fund revenues that exceed the costs of providing public services under existing service standards, with an annual net surplus estimated to be $15.8 million (in 2024 dollars) by 2040 if the buildout occurs as assumed in the analysis. In addition, the analysis found that General Plan 2040 would be able to accomplish policy objectives related to economic development and fiscal sustainability for the City, such as concentration of new capacity along the El Camino Real corridor in proximity to transit and facilitating redevelopment of underutilized commercial parcels with higher density residential and mixed-use projects, which will support increased General Fund revenue.
Climate Action Plan Technical Update
A technical update to the City’s Climate Action Plan (CAP) was prepared to ensure the CAP is aligned and consistent with General Plan 2040 (Attachment 7). Although the CAP was recently updated and adopted in 2020, the General Plan 2040 Update, in combination with recent changes to State-level greenhouse gas (GHG) reduction targets, necessitated a partial and focused technical update to the CAP in order to allow the CAP to maintain consistency with General Plan 2040 when adopted and continue to serve as a qualified GHG reduction strategy.
The project team also used the CAP Technical Update opportunity to align with new State laws and best practices, including Assembly Bill (AB) 1279, which codified the State’s commitment to be carbon neutral by 2045. As part of this commitment, AB 1279 directs a minimum statewide reduction of GHGs to at least 85% below 1990 levels by 2045. The 2020 CAP, as currently adopted, includes per-capita GHG reduction targets for 2030 and 2050. The 2022 California Air Resources Board (CARB) Scoping Plan no longer recommends the use of per-capita targets for local jurisdictions. To remain a qualified GHG reduction strategy and streamline future environmental review of development projects, the CAP must be covered by a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) document. Therefore, the EIR on General Plan 2040 also covers the CAP Technical Update. On August 9, 2023, the Sustainability and Infrastructure Commission reviewed the CAP Technical Update and recommended approval to the City Council.
Final Environmental Impact Report
As required by CEQA, the City prepared a Final EIR to address the public comments received on the General Plan 2040 and Climate Plan Update Draft EIR. The Final EIR is included as Attachment 8.
A Notice of Availability of the Draft EIR for public review and comments was issued on August 11, 2023. The Draft EIR was distributed to local, regional, and State agencies, and interested parties, and was also posted in the newspaper, to advise to the general public of its availability. The Draft EIR was also made available for review on the General Plan 2040
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website at www.StriveSanMateo.org. A Planning Commission public hearing was held on September 12, 2023 to provide an opportunity for staff to receive oral comments on the Draft EIR. Written comments were accepted until the end of the 45-day review period, which closed on September 25, 2023.
In addition to the oral comments presented at the public hearing, a total of 28 letters were received: two from government agencies, three from non-governmental organizations and private companies, and 23 from members of the public. The Final EIR includes revisions to the Draft EIR and responses to comments received on the Draft EIR. Master responses are included in the Final EIR to address key topics and commonly raised issues, including standards for responses to comments, roadway classifications, and lower growth alternatives, as summarized below. Standards for Reponses to Comments. Master Response 1 explains that the Draft EIR is not meant to address project merits and that the City is not required to respond to comments that express an opinion about the project merits and do not relate to environmental issues covered in the Draft EIR. Additionally, where there are no facts available to substantiate a commenter’s assertion that the physical environment could ultimately be significantly impacted as a result of the project, the City is not required to analyze that effect, nor to mitigate for that effect. Under CEQA, lead agencies need only respond to significant environmental issues, and do not need to provide all information requested by reviewers, so long as a good-faith effort at full disclosure is made in the EIR.
Roadway Classifications. Master Response 2 addresses concerns raised by several commenters regarding roadway classifications, specifically regarding Figure 4.15-1, Proposed Street Classification, in Chapter 4.15, Transportation, of the Draft EIR, which includes a figure depicting current Caltrans classifications of 5th Avenue and 9th Avenue as arterials. Master Response 2 notes that Figure 4.15-1 has been retitled as Existing Street Classification and the categories shown have been expanded to include minor arterials. 5th Avenue and 9th Avenue are now shown as minor arterials.
Lower Growth Alternative. Master Response 3 responds to comments that requested that the EIR include lower growth alternatives (apart from the No Project Alternative). As described in this Master Response, lower growth alternatives were considered by the City as part of the Alternatives Analysis phase of the General Plan Update process in 2021-2022. Once the preferred scenario was selected by the City Council in 2022, it became part of the project objectives. In addition, a lower growth alternative would not reduce any of the project’s significant impacts.
Revisions to the Draft EIR in Chapter 3 of the Final EIR include additional discussion addressing several topics. This includes the status of applications regarding a potential Baywood District, and the Yoshiko Yamanouchi House historic designation, with the State Office of Historic Preservation. Other topics include California Geological Survey Earthquake Required Zones of Investigation, and consistency with Measure Y. Further revisions include updates to the references of the General Plan 2040 goals, policies, and actions, as well as changes to figures included in the Draft EIR (specifically Figure 4.9-2, Potential Flood Hazards, Figure 4.15-1, Existing Street Classification, and Figure 4.18-5, Potential Evacuation Routes). Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15088.5, "significant new information" requiring recirculation can include:
a new significant environmental impact that would result from the project or from new mitigation measure proposed to be implemented; substantial increase of the severity of an environmental impact that would result unless mitigation measures are adopted that reduce the impact to a level of insignificance; a feasible project alternative or mitigation measure considerably different from others previously analyzed that would clearly lessen the environmental impacts of the project, but the project’s proponents decline to adopt it; or the Draft EIR was so fundamentally and basically inadequate and conclusory in nature that meaningful public review and comment were precluded. Since the revisions to the Draft EIR listed in the Final EIR do not constitute "significant new information," recirculation is not legally required.
Overall, the EIR has identified eight significant and unavoidable impacts in the Air Quality, Noise and Wildfire topic areas that cannot be fully mitigated to a less-than-significant level. Thus, the EIR certification includes a Statement of Overriding Considerations, which is included as Exhibit B in Attachment 2. The Statement of Overriding Considerations outlines the economic, legal, social, technological, and other benefits of General Plan 2040 that outweigh the potential adverse environmental effects. The requirements for a Statement of Overriding Considerations are established in CEQA Guidelines Section 15093 and in Public Resources Code Section 21081.
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Planning Commission Recommendation
On January 30, 2024, the Planning Commission held a public hearing to review General Plan 2040, receive public comments and provide a recommendation to the City Council. Following discussion and deliberation, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to recommend that the City Council certify the General Plan’s Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and adopt Strive San Mateo General Plan 2040 based on the listed findings. The Commission’s recommendation also included four recommended revisions:
1. Remove the definition of a story that references 11 feet average per story to avoid confusion during implementation and allow the Zoning Code to establish specific height limits based on the range of stories specified in the General Plan;
2. Clarify that the density range in the Land Use Element, specifically Table LU-1, sets the maximum allowed density, but does not set a minimum required density;
3. Change the land use designation for the Bayshore Corporate Commons site (1650-1730 S. Amphlett Blvd) from Mixed-Use High to Mixed-Use Medium I per the owner’s request; and
4. Change the land use designation for the office sites on Borel Ave, between Shafter St and Bovet Rd, from Office Medium to Office High to align with the height of the existing buildings (5-7 stories) to avoid creating a non- conforming situation.
DISCUSSION:
The goal of the March 4th public hearing (Meeting #1) is to receive public comments, answer Council questions about General Plan 2040, CAP Technical Update, and the Final Environmental Impact Report and receive direction on any final updates or revisions. At the March 18th public hearing (Meeting #2), Council will be asked to consider adoption of General Plan 2040 and the CAP Technical Update, and certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report with a Statement of Overriding Considerations.
The resolutions to support the City Council actions are included in Attachments 1 and 2. The resolution with findings to support adoption of General Plan 2040 and the CAP Technical Update is included as Attachment 1, and the resolution to certify the Final EIR is included as Attachment 2, with specific EIR Findings in Exhibit A and the Statement of Overriding Considerations in Exhibit B.
NEXT STEPS:
City Council Adoption Hearings
Public hearings before the City Council will be held on Monday, March 4, 2024 and Monday, March 18, 2024, to consider adoption of General Plan 2040 and the CAP Technical Update, and certification of the Final Environmental Impact Report. If the City Council adopts General Plan 2040, the City Council will then be asked to proceed with placing a measure on the November 2024 general election ballot to amend Measure Y to allow the heights and densities permitted under General Plan 2040 as described below.
Implementation Plan
Following adoption of General Pan 2040, staff will prepare a General Plan Implementation Plan, that will provide details on how each General Plan action can be implemented, included the lead department or entity, a general estimate of resources to complete and level of priority. The Implementation Plan will be brought back to Council for a study session later this year, and will be a resource to guide the City’s annual goals and priorities.
November 2024 Ballot Initiative
Measure Y is a ballot measure that was passed by voters in November 2020 and sunsets in 2030, which retained the existing height, density and intensity limits on new development that were originally adopted under earlier ballot measures (Measure H in 1991 and Measure P in 2004). Overall, Measure Y sets a height limit up to 55 feet (five stories); the base density allows up to 50 units per acre, and the nonresidential intensity allows up to a 3.0 floor area ratio (FAR).
The height, density and intensity limits allow for exceptions in certain locations with provision of public benefits, and State Density Bonus law allows projects to exceed these limits when certain percentages of affordable units are provided.
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General Plan 2040 concentrates growth in ten study areas that are close to transit and/or are areas in transition, such as aging shopping centers. Some of the land use designations in the ten study areas include building heights, densities and FARs that exceed the limits set by Measure Y. Any components in the General Plan that are inconsistent with Measure Y will require voter approval before they can take effect. If the City Council adopts General Plan 2040, the City Council will be asked to place a measure on the November 2024 general election ballot to amend Measure Y to allow for heights and densities as prescribed in General Plan 2040 for the ten study areas.
Most of General Plan 2040 is consistent with Measure Y and can be implemented without a ballot measure to amend Measure Y. However, if voters do not amend Measure Y, the City will need to explore land use changes citywide to accommodate the City’s current and future housing needs. As required by law and so long as it is in effect, Measure Y will apply when there is any inconsistency between it and other provisions of General Plan 2040, as stated in Policy LU
1.9. PUBLIC COMMENTS:
A summary of community input is provided above, and a detailed Community Engagement Summary of the Draft General Plan Phase was provided to the City Council on October 30, 2023, and is included as Attachment 9. All comments that have been submitted are available at www.strivesanmateo.org/documents/publiccomments. This link includes all comments that have been submitted since the beginning of the General Plan Update effort in Sept. 2018.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION:
As outlined above, an EIR has been prepared for General Plan 2040 to meet CEQA requirements. Since the EIR identified significant impacts that could not be fully mitigated, a Statement of Overriding Considerations is included as part of the resolution certifying the Final EIR.
NOTICE PROVIDED:
State law requires the City Council to hold at least one public hearing prior to adopting a general plan (Govt. §65355). In accordance with Government Code Section 65090, notice of this public hearing was published in the San Mateo Daily Journal newspaper at least 10 days in advance of this public hearing. In accordance with Government Code Section 65091 and the City’s Municipal Code noticing requirements, this public hearing was noticed to the following parties at least 10 days in advance of this public hearing:
A mailed notice to all households within the City of San Mateo; The City’s “900 List” which contains nearly 100 Homeowner Associations, Neighborhood Associations, local utilities, media, and other organizations interested in citywide planning projects; The City’s Planning “Notify Me” email list;
The Strive San Mateo General Plan Update interested parties list, which includes interested individuals who contacted the City and requested to be added to the project notification list; and Various other postings via the City’s social media channels.
ATTACHMENTS
Att 1 – City Council Resolution - General Plan 2040 and Climate Action Plan Technical Update Adoption Att 2 – City Council Resolution - Final Environmental Impact Report Certification Exhibit A - Significant Impacts and Mitigation Measures Findings and Alternatives Findings Exhibit B - Statement of Overriding Considerations
Att 3 – Strive San Mateo General Plan 2040
Att 4 – General Plan 2040 Goals, Policies and Actions Updates Att 5 – Land Use Map Recommended Revisions
Att 6 – Fiscal Analysis for General Plan 2040
Att 7 – Climate Action Plan Technical Update
Att 8 – Final Environmental Impact Report
Att 9 – Draft General Plan Community Engagement Summary Att 10 –Fact Sheet on 1770 S. Amphlett Blvd Site (San Mateo Marriott)
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STAFF CONTACT
City of San Mateo PlaceWorks
Zachary Dahl, AICP, Interim Director Joanna Jansen, AICP, LEED AP, Principal (650) 522-7207
[email protected]