Development: It May Be a Necessity for San Carlos

Small Town Feel vs Big Time Deficit

It’s ironic…the very thing that many San Carlos residents have steadfastly resisted over the years — large scale development — may turn out to be the bootstrap that pulls this town out of its financial woes.   For many years, San Carlos has resisted any type of large residential or retail developments for fear that it would erode the “small-town feel” that makes San Carlos a unique place to live.  Certainly, it has only been in the last decade or so that big-box retailers like Best Buy and Home Depot have made any headway into San Carlos, and that’s only on the east side of El Camino.  The west side still remains largely devoid of any retail chain outlets (excluding Starbucks, of course.)

But the current financial crisis in San Carlos may force us to re-think that position.

Cut Costs, or Raise Revenue

At the risk of over-simplification, those are the only two ways to erase a budget deficit.   Let’s take a look at the former — cutting costs.  The City of San Carlos has cut its budget each of the past 11 years, and is now at a point where it has chosen to disband its own police department to save money.   A similar disintegration of our fire department is certainly right around the corner too, as soon the Belmont-San Carlos Fire JPA concludes its divorce proceeding in 2011.

But even after cannibalizing itself, the City will be lucky if it can stay in the black for any significant period of time.  Note to the City Council:  Despite your pipe dream that outsourcing public safety will be provide endless years of savings, the cost of these contracts will go up.  Count on it.  The cost of living always goes up — it never goes down.  So we may very likely be right back at the same table in a few years wondering where that $2M in police savings went.

Raise revenue?   If you’re talking about taxes, there are only two ways to raise revenue — increase the rate that you tax, or increase the gross tax dollars that you take in.   San Carlos residents have made no mystery about their opinion of higher sales tax with the defeat of Measure U, and the Fire Parcel Tax a few years back.  So if a higher tax rate isn’t the solution, the City needs to bring in more raw tax dollars.

And that’s where development comes in, whether we like it or not.

Times Have Changed

The quaint, small town model that has supported San Carlos over the past 85-ish years may not apply any longer.  And San Carlos is not alone in this quandary.  Virtually every other city on the Peninsula is facing the same reality.  Only Colma seems to enjoy a sizable budget surplus, largely because they have lots of dead people and lots of shopping malls .    San Carlos won’t need to take that extreme of a measure, but look for development projects such as Wheeler Plaza, and the Transit Village to take on renewed interest with City Hall and residents alike, as the Town of San Carlos grapples to stay financially afloat in the new economy.

Legacy Partners Updates San Carlos on Transit Village Plans.

Informational Meeting.

Last week, in a meeting hosted by the San Carlos Chamber of Commerce, representatives from Legacy Partners presented an update to their vision of the San Carlos Transit Village.   For those of you not familiar with the Transit Village, it’s a concept being considered by the City of San Carlos to significantly modify the land on both sides of the historic train depot in San Carlos by adding retail space, high-end residential rental units, and additional parking.  Legacy Partners was chosen by the City of San Carlos as the lead developer for this concept.

For more information, visit the City of San Carlos page for this:   San Carlos Transit Village.

Updated Presentation.

In last week’s meeting, which was attended by about 30-40 people (including 4 of the 5 City Council members, the City Manager and the Asst. City Manager), Legacy Partners gave a fairly detailed presentation on their vision of the Transit Village, as well as any changes from previous specifications.  For example, the number of luxury rental units in the concept dropped to 280 units.    There was consternation expressed by representatives of the Greater East Side San Carlos group for lack of any mention of the impact to the residents in Clearfield Park in their presentation.

Timing for this project (if it even moves forward) is still pretty far out on the horizon.  The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) still needs to be completed, discussed, and approved before much else can happen.   Consequently, it’s going to be a few years before the first shovel of dirt is turned….if it happens at all.

Legacy Partners was nice enough to provide me with a copy of their presentation to post on the site.   Click here to download it:  Legacy Partners; San Carlos Transit Village 3-16

The San Carlos Transit Village — It’s Coming…

What is the San Carlos Transit Village?

If the term “Transit Village” doesn’t ring a bell with you, that’s totally understandable.  With recent events such as the ongoing budget crisis and the passage of Measure B stealing all of the headlines, it would be easy to overlook it.  But make no mistake, the San Carlos Transit Village will be one of the most significant developments in San Carlos history, right alongside the 1001 Laurel Street Condos and the Wheeler Plaza Development.

In a nutshell, the San Carlos Transit Village is an ambitious plan to integrate the existing historic San Carlos train station into a bustling, residential/retail complex that will extend to the north and south of the existing train station (on the west side of the tracks.)   SamTrans currently owns this property, and they’ve been working with Legacy Development Partners to come up with the initial rendition and specifications of the plan.  The picture above is an artist’s rendition of the development, and the description below of the project was taken verbatim from the City website:

1. 4-story residential buildings over parking garages, including four buildings north of Holly Street, and two buildings just south of Holly Street. There are a total of 281 residential housing units, including 105 1-bedroom units, 101 2-bedroom units, and 75 3-bedroom units. 15% of the 281 units will be required to be Below Market Rate (BMR) units.
2. 34,600 square feet of retail/commercial space housed in three buildings: two are immediately north and south of the San Carlos Train Depot, and the third is in the south wing of a residential building. 15,600 square feet is on the ground floor and 19,000 square feet is on the second floor. Parking spaces are provided for retail users.
3. 457 total residential garage parking spaces, at a parking ratio of 1.63 spaces/dwelling unit. These garages will be partially underground. In addition, 45 retail spaces and 226 CalTrain parking spaces are provided.
4. On top of the 8 new buildings, a multi-modal transit station and drop-off point is proposed just south of the historic train depot, in the parking lot. A pedestrian plaza and public gathering space in front of the historic depot are also proposed.

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There’s Much More Info…

Al Savay, the Community Development Director in San Carlos, has done an outstanding job organizing the various aspects of the project and posting them on the City of San Carlos Website.   For more information, simply click on the links below:

San Carlos Transit Village Project Description

Retail Analysis

Project Updates

Fiscal Analysis

Project Management

Also, I have created a separate category on the site that’s just for the San Carlos Transit Village.  Just click this link and you’ll see all of the article that I’ve written about it (and there will be more!)

Your Thoughts?

What do you think of this project?  Let’s hear what you have to say –  just click the comment link below and let everyone know whether you think this is a winner…or not.

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High-Speed Rail through San Carlos? Count on it.

California High Speed Rail Initiative

With all of the news about the various fiscal challenges facing San Carlos (Measure B, City Budget Cuts), one critical intiative that will greatly impact all neighborhoods in San Carlos and surrounding communities on the Peninsula seems to almost be flying below the radar:  The proposed California High-Speed Rail System.

With the passage of Proposition 1A on last year’s ballot, the path has been cleared for the development of a high speed rail network that will connect the major cities within California.  This initiative is being aggressively pushed by policitians in California and Washington alike, and seems to moving forward at the speed of….well, a bullet train.   (When was the last time our state government moved that fast on anything?)

Impact on San Carlos

Since the plan is to utilize the existing Caltrain right-of-way, this new rail system will run right through the heart of San Carlos and other Peninsula communities as the map below demonstrates:

San Carlos residents get involved…

The residents of San Carlos who face the greatest impact of the high speed rail system are those on the east side just adjacent to the existing tracks.    The Greater East Side San Carlos coalition, which seems to be very busy lately tackling other issues like the San Carlos Transit Village, has joined forces with other communities up and down the Peninsula to form a unified voice that hopes to influence key design considerations with the new rail system.

Just this past week, San Carlos hosted a meeting with Palo Alto’s brethren group, known as The California Advocates for Responsible Rail Design, which is also actively soliciting the participation of other Peninsula communities.    The hope is that with an increasingly larger voice, they will have input on the look and feel of the rail system that they will ultimately inherit.

Your thoughts?

What do you think about a high-speed rail system running through San Carlos?  Should it even be running up the Peninsula at all?    Weigh in by posting a comment below…

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The San Carlos Transit Village?

Did you know that the City of San Carlos is seriously considering the construction of “The San Carlos Transit Village” that will essentially surround the existing historic Caltrain Depot? If you didn’t know about it, don’t worry — neither did I until yesterday. I must live in a cave or something. The picture above is actually the engineer’s rendition of what the San Carlos Transit Village will look like when it’s done. You can clearly see the old Depot if you looks closely.

According to the city website, this proposed development will incorporate 281 residential units and over 34,000 square feet of retail space on the 8.7 acres that adjoin the train tracks. This is no small project!

Because this will significantly change the look of El Camino and the existing train station, the City is hosting an Open House to present the project and answer any questions you might have. Here’s the details of the Open House:

• Wednesday, January 23 — 7:00-9:00PM, San Carlos Library. Go to the second floor conference rooms A & B.

For more info on the project and the Open House, click here —> San Carlos Transit Village

I need to get out more often….