Community Meetings Set for San Carlos Transit Village.

Unveiling Updated Plans.

Legacy Partners Residential, developer of the San Carlos Transit Village project, will be unveiling its new plans for the proposed transit-oriented development at two community meetings to be held on Thursday, May 30, 2013 and Wednesday, June 12, 2013 in the San Carlos Library Conference Room A (second floor) from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.  Cake and coffee will be served.

The proposed project has been the subject of many public meetings before the Planning Commission and City Council over the past two years.  The Planning Commission and City Council have approved the Final Environmental Impact Report for the project in setting the stage for consideration of an application for development and design review.  The new plans will be the subject of hearings before the Commission and City Council starting this summer.

“We encourage the residents in San Carlos to attend these two community meetings as we want to listen to what people have to say in going forward with the formal public process,” said Jeff Byrd, partner with Legacy.  “While we have been fully engaged in a mediation process with representatives of the Greater East San Carlos (GESC) organization and will be making a presentation to their Association on May 22, 2013, we want to make sure that folks throughout the community have an opportunity to view the architectural elevations and site plan now under consideration by the City’s Planning Department.”  Ten mediation sessions were facilitated by a professional mediator retained by the City and involved representatives from Legacy, GESC, Samtrans and the City starting in September 2012.

The site of the proposed Transit Village project would include 280 apartments as well as office and retail uses surrounding the historic train depot.   “There has been a vision for the railroad corridor for many years which crystallized in 2004 when SamTrans in concert with the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board and County Transportation Authority issued a Request for Statement of Qualifications to develop a high quality, mixed use, multi-family development on this undeveloped land north and south of the train station.”  Legacy Partners was ultimately selected through this competitive process and first submitted plans to the City in May of 2007.  “We have spent the last eight years in trying to create the best project possible for this site, one that will fit within the fabric of the community.”  “We are proud to have this opportunity to become part of San Carlos which is truly the City of Good Living.”
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Poll: Is It Time for More Stop Signs on Laurel Street?

Head on a Swivel.

If you’ve ever driven the stretch of Laurel Street in San Carlos between Arroyo and San Carlos Avenues  then you’ll know it has become nothing short of a white-knuckle ride during peak hours of the day.   Between people backing out of parking spots unexpectedly, or hanging illegal U-turns, or having pedestrians crossing at half a dozen spots on the street, you really have to have your head on a swivel to safely navigate this street.  It’s surprising there aren’t more mishaps along this stretch of the road.

But two areas in particular on Laurel always make me grip the wheel just a little bit tighter  — I’m speaking of none other than the intersections on Laurel Street at both Cherry Street and again at Olive Street (one is by Peets Coffee, and the other by Bianchini’s Market.)   As you know, these are not currently 4-way stop intersections — traffic on both Olive and Cherry have stop signs, but not on Laurel.    Here’s a map of that area with the two intersections marked:

View Laurel Street, San Carlos in a larger map

I don’ t know why it is, but it seems like all that good stuff we learned in Driver’s Ed about how to negotiate a stop sign at a two-way intersection seems to have gone out the window at these two intersections.    It’s either drivers on Olive or Cherry who think it’s a 4-way stop,  and then try to cross when they mistakenly think that traffic on Laurel is going to stop.  Or, it’s drivers on Laurel who randomly stop at the intersection thinking it’s a 4-way stop, which confuses just about everyone (cars and pedestrians alike) who are trying to get across.  If there’s a Twilight Zone anywhere in San Carlos, it’s probably at these two intersections.

So at the risk of making Laurel Street look like Broadway in Burlingame (where there seems to be a stop sign every 10 feet) I think it’s time to put stop signs on Laurel Street at both of these intersections.  I think it will eliminate the rampant confusion that seems to overcome many drivers that navigate these intersections every day.

Time for a Poll.

So, what do you think?  Should San Carlos put additional stop signs on Laurel Street at the intersections of Olive Street and Cherry Street?   Or should they leave Laurel Street it as-is?   Register your vote in the poll at the top of the right sidebar of the blog.

Thanks for voting!
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Public Meeting Tonight on San Carlos Wheeler Plaza Project.

Still Alive.

The Wheeler Plaza redevelopment concept is something that has been discussed in quite a bit of detail on this site over the past two years.   There have been several posts, lots of comments, and even a poll that gauged the public’s opinion on the concept (most were positive on the idea.)  There’s even an entire sub-category dedicated to Wheeler Plaza on this site.

Even though there hasn’t been much in the news about the Wheeler Plaza concept lately, don’t think that work hasn’t been going on behind the scenes.   The City of San Carlos along with their development partner Silverstone Communities have been working diligently to create an Environmental Impact Report, and has now drafted up potential options for redeveloping the entire Wheeler Plaza parcel.  If you’ve read through the EIR, there are some very interesting graphical renditions of how the project may look when it is completed, like this one (elevation from San Carlos Avenue)…

Wheeler Plaza conceptual sketch - Laurel Street/San Carlos Avenue

Public Meeting Tonight.

Tonight, the City of San Carlos is holding a meeting to solicit public feedback on the project.  If you have strong feelings one way or the other on the proposed project, or just want to find out more about what’s planned, this would be a great meeting to attend.  Here are the details:

Wheeler Plaza Development Concept Meeting
When: Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Where: San Carlos Library, 610 Elm Street, Second Floor Meeting Rooms
Time: 7:00 PM

Funding Challenges.

One challenge that is likely equally as large as all of the design considerations is how this project is going to be funded, and the purse strings for this extend all the way to the California Supreme Court.   According to Mark Sawicki, Economic Development and Housing Manager for the City of San Carlos, the pending Supreme Court litigation on AB26 and AB27 will play a significant role in funding options for this project.   If the decision does not result in the San Carlos RDA being dissolved, then the Planning Commission want to have consideration of the Wheeler Plaza project ready to move forward as soon as possible.  If the San Carlos RDA is dissolved (if AB 26 stands while AB27 is struck down) the City and the developer will have to look at alternative options for funding, and determine if the project is even financially feasible.
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Wheeler Plaza Development in San Carlos: 3 Reasons Why it Needs to Happen.

Time for a Change.

The other morning while I was making my normal run for sourdough bread at Le Boulanger (if you haven’t tried their fresh sliced sourdough, it’s out of this world), I was struck by how much of an eyesore the rear parking area behind the building has become.  Sure, during business hours it serves a valuable purpose as a main downtown parking area.  But during non-business hours, it’s just vast sea of empty parking spaces that’s sometimes strewn with litter on windy days.  For those of you who may not know, that very area on the corner of Walnut Street and San Carlos Avenue (including many of the buildings), is a city-owned plot of land known as Wheeler Plaza.  And for the past couple of years, the City has been investigating different ways that it might re-develop that entire site.

I hope the City will be able to take one of those solutions beyond the idea stage and actually re-develop this prime area of San Carlos, because there are three key reasons why it needs to happen: >>> Click Here to Read the Full Post
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San Carlos In-N-Out Burger Slated to Open June 16.

Mark Your Calendars.

Nearly a year and a half since the plan was first announced on this site that In-N-Out Burger would be opening up a restaurant in San Carlos, the company has now set an opening date for this location:  June 16, 2011.    After closing escrow on the land formerly owned by the City of San Carlos and then securing the necessary conditional use permits, the new restaurant has taken shape rather quickly over the past few months and is in the final stage of construction.  The new restaurant is located at 445 Industrial Road in San Carlos.

The arrival of In-N-Out Burger in San Carlos has been met with a mixed reaction from the citizens of San Carlos.  On one hand, many are happy that their favorite fast-food restaurant is now that much closer to home, and the City gains some much needed sales tax revenue.   However, others who live close to the site are concerned about the impact of the additional noise and traffic that will certainly accompany the arrival of the restaurant.

But regardless of which side you’re on, the burgers, fries, and shakes that have made In-N-Out a runaway favorite in the Bay Area will be available in San Carlos on June 16.

 
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Peet’s Coffee is Still Coming to San Carlos…Really!

Peet’s or no Peet’s?

Excitement and anticipation greeted the announcement back in December that San Carlos would finally get its own Peet’s Coffee.  Months of speculation ended about the future of the old Blockbuster Video location on the corner of Laurel and Cherry Streets when Peet’s stepped to the plate and signed a lease for this location.  It was even announced at the City Council meeting and received a great response.

At the time, it was thought that Peet’s would be up and running by Spring 2011.   But as several of you recently noted, Spring 2011 is here….now.  And there’s not much happening at that location.  Is something up?

Permits in Process.

I checked with City Hall about this, and I was assured that things are moving forward.   In order for Peet’s to set up shop at this location, they needed to obtain two separate permit approvals.  One of those permits has now been approved, and the other is close to issuance.  Once that happens, the transformation of the building should happen much more quickly.   So while a Spring ’11 opening was probably a bit too optimistic, you can probably expect Peet’s to swing open their doors in late summer.

For Peet’s lovers, it will be worth the wait.
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Public Input Sought on San Carlos Wheeler Plaza Redevelopment.

Community Meeting.

It has been a while since the San Carlos Wheeler Plaza redevelopment concept has been in news.  But the City of San Carlos, along with development partner Silverstone Communities, has been steadily working on concepts of what to do — if anything — with the existing Wheeler Plaza site in downtown San Carlos.  The most recent concept that I saw being discussed was for a multi-story, mixed residential/retail complex where the parking lot is currently situated.    But that may have changed…

A big part of Silverstone’s involvement in the early stages of conceptual development is to gather ideas and feedback from San Carlos business owners and residents about what should be done with this location.   As such, they are holding a community meeting next week to solicit input from those stakeholders.   Here are the details of the meeting, as outlined on the City website:

Wednesday, May 4, 2011 at 7:00 p.m.
San Carlos Library, 2nd Floor, Conference Rooms A & B

The City of San Carlos has been working with Silverstone Communities to explore the potential for redevelopment of the downtown surface parking lot known as Wheeler Plaza. Several city owned buildings adjacent to the parking lot would also be included in the site area.

This meeting will be an opportunity to brief property and business owners, community leaders, neighbors and interested citizens on the project and to hear and understand the issues and concerns of various stakeholders.

For those of you interested in what our downtown may look like in the next decade, this should be a very interesting meeting!

 
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A New Flower Shop in San Carlos: Pushing Daisies.

New Shop with a Great Name.

Never to sit still for too long, the business line-up on north Laurel Street in San Carlos has a new resident — and it’s not a new restaurant.  Tucked into a the tiny storefront right next to Mythos Restaurant is great little flower shop with a cool name:  Pushing Daisies.  Owner and San Carlos resident Denise Newman spent numerous weeks putting her personal touch on the shop before opening for business a couple of weeks ago, and it really shows.  It has a warm and quaint feel to it — something that definitely fits in on Laurel Street.

Pushing Daisies will start out small, as a carry out service only.  But they will custom order flowers and provide suggestions for special occasions per request.  So if you happen to be strolling down Laurel during this fantastic spring weather, pick up some fresh flowers!   You’ll brighten up your home while supporting a San Carlos family owned business.  Pushing Daisies is located at:

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