How can I participate?  Where can I voice my concerns?
There are many opportunities to participate. Study sessions will be held at Planning Commission and City Council meetings to review the project, where you can speak out about your concerns. Upcoming meetings will be posted on the website.

You can also et involved during the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) process. The EIR process is explained in more detail in the section below.

When will the design of the project be reviewed? 
Design review for the project ongoing and the design is not yet yet finalized. The City has hired Van Meter Williams Pollack (VMWP), an urban design consulting firm, to review the design proposal of the project. This effort is led by Rick Williams. The consultant's role is to assist the city in ensuring the proposal addresses the City's design goals and objectives, maintains an exceptional level of architectural design and fits into the fabric of the community.

The Planning Commission will hold a study session to review the design on February 19, 2008, at 7:00 p.m., City Hall, Council Chambers, 600 Elm Street, San Carlos, CA 94070.

Is the Historic Depot part of the project?
No. The Historic Depot will remain as it is today. The historic depot is outside of the project and parcel boundaries, and the design of the development is required to "reflect and complement the architectural style of significant buildings within the community (such as the Train Depot...)" , as mandated by Resolution 2003-79.  

What is the General Plan Designation?
The site is located in the City of San Carlos West Side Specific Plan (WSSP) area. This area is located in the "North El Camino Real" geographic sub-area. The primary land use for this sub-area is Highway Commercial and Regional Retail. The WSSP amended the General Plan Land Use and Circulation Diagram to include the following land uses:

From Olive Street to Arroyo Avenue: Open Space. 

What is the purpose of an EIR?
The purpose of an EIR is to provide public agencies and the public in general with detailed information about the effects a proposed project is likely to have on the environment; to list ways in which the significant effects of the proposed project might be minimized; and to identify and analyze alternatives to the proposed project (CEQA Statues and Guidelines 21061, 2007).

When is an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) required?
The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is a state law that requires lead agencies (such as the City of San Carlos) to prepare an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for a proposed project when it determines that the project may have one or more significat adverse impacts on the physical environment.

What project is being analyzed in the EIR?
The City will prepare an EIR that analyzes the proposal that Legacy Partners has submitted to the City. Project design will continue to change and be refined throughout this process.

What environmental impacts will be studied in the EIR?
The EIR will analyze impacts on all relevent environmental parameters identified in the CEQA Statues and Guidelines, including aesthetics and urban design, air quality and noise, population and housing, traffic and transportation, cultural and historic resources, biological resources, geology and soils, hazards and hazardous materials, hydrology and water quality, land use and planning policies, recreation, public servies and utilities. The EIR will also evaluate the project's potential to induce additional growth and development. 

Who will prepare the EIR?
The EIR will be prepared by the City of San Carlos, which is the lead agency responsible for approving the proposed projects. The City has contracted with a team of third party, independant consultants to assist in the preparation of the EIR. The City's primary consultant for this EIR is PBS&J.

When and how can the public get involved in the EIR process?

Public involvement for the EIR process will occur at three main junctures:  

1. upon publication of the Draft EIR, and

2. prior to Final EIR certification, in conjunction with the review of project entitlements. 

As required by CEQA, the City will be issuing a NOP at the outset of the EIR process. Upon issuance of the NOP, federal agencies involved in approving or funding the project and trustee agencies responsible for natural resources affected by the project will be asked to give their responses and comments within 30 days.
The City will not hold a scoping meeting; however, all comments from the Open House (1/23/2008) and comments from the meeting with the former Laureola Residents' Goup (now the Greater East San Carlos Residents' Group, or GESC), as well as information from the GESC website will be taken into account for the analysis. Public agencies and members of the public will be provided an opportunity to comment on the Draft EIR upon its publication.  Publication of the Draft EIR is tentatively scheduled for approximately late June 2008. To find out how you can recieve notification of the Draft EIR and the Final EIR, please see below on "how to obtain copies of these documents".

Upon publication of the Draft EIR, there will a 45-day public review period, during which the City will solicit comments on the Draft EIR analysis. The City will also hold a public hearing on the Draft EIR during the review period; public agencies and members of the public may orally provide comments on the Draft EIR during this hearing. The date, time, and location of the hearing will be announced upon publication of the Draft EIR.

Prior to certification of the Final EIR, the City will hold public hearings for public agencies and members of the public to orally provide comments on the Final EIR and project entitlements.  The date, time, and location of the hearings will be announced upon Final EIR publication. 

When are the NOP, Draft EIR and Final EIR documents available for public review, and how can I obtain copies of these documents?
Please click on this link to view the NOP, sent out on March 12, 2008.

In your request, pelase state clearly and legibly your name, organization/affiliation, and the mailing address which you want the notice to be sent to.

What is the difference between the Draft EIR and the Final EIR?
The Draft EIR will include descriptions of the projects, an identification of the environmental effects of the projects, measures to mitigate or avoid the environmental impacts of the projects, and an analysis of alternatives to the projects.  The Draft EIR, as described above, is circulated to responsible and trustee agencies and the public for their review and comment on the adequacy of the analysis.  After receiving comments on the Draft EIR, the City will prepare written responses to each comment and make any necessary changes to the Draft EIR.  These responses and revisions will be provided in the Responses to Comments on the Draft EIR. 

The Final EIR is comprised of the Draft EIR and the Responses to Comments document. 

Will certification of the EIR mean that the proposed projects will be approved? 
No.  Under CEQA Guidelines Section 15093, a lead agency must balance consideration of adverse environmental impacts with economic, legal, social, technological, or other benefits in deciding whether to approve a project.  Thus, once certified, the EIR will be one consideration of the City Council in deciding whether or not to approve the proposed projects. A project may be denied or modified even though an EIR is certified, but a project may not be approved without certification of the EIR.

Who ultimately decides on the project?
The project is reviewed by the Planning Commission, which makes a recommendation to the City Council for a final decision.

What is the reason for proposing rental units rather than condominiums? How will this impact property taxes paid to the City?
SamTrans owns the land and will enter into a long-term ground lease with the developer, Legacy Residential Partners, Inc., who will own the improvements. While it is legally possible to sell condominiums under a land lease, Legacy’s and SamTrans' analysis show that the market is not receptive to a condominium project on leased land. Furthermore, it is SamTrans' intention to develop a high quality product with transit-oriented development (TOD) features. SamTrans believes that creating a long-term rental partnership with a developer, as opposed to selling the land, is the best mechanism to achieve this goal.

In terms of property taxes, it should first be noted that the property is within a redevelopment area meaning the City’s redevelopment agency will receive 49% of the property taxes generated by the project, therefore the other 51% is utilized for pass-through payments and tax sharing obligations with the County, School District and taxing entities. (The property tax rate is about 1% of the assessed value.) Additionally, since the property is currently vacant, and owned by a public entity that is exempt from property taxes, it currently has no assessed value and generates virtually no tax.  Because the land is owed by an exempt agency, the tax levied on the site is called a Possessory Interest Tax and it will value the improvements to the site.

The calculation of property taxes for a rental project is different than the calculation for a condo project.  A rental project will be initially assessed upon completion of construction, typically based on construction cost. The owner of the entire project will be assessed.  Condominiums are assessed as each unit is sold, at the sales value, assuming an open market sale, with each individual owner responsible for the property tax on his/her unit. In either case, growth in assessed value of property is limited to a 2% annual increase unless there is a sale or significant improvements made. A rental project is unlikely to have a significant reassessment unless the entire project is sold by one investor to another. However, individual condominium units are reassessed with every subsequent resale by homeowners. (Sources: San Mateo County Assessor's Office; City of San Carlos Economic Development and Housing Manager)

More analysis will be executed in the near future on fiscal impacts related to the project.

Is the underground parking feasible due to the high water table?
The garages will not go below the water table.

Can there be more retail?
The retail analysis commissioned by the City states that the amount of proposed retail 34,600 sf is appropriate for the project location and size. (Click here to view the retail report.)

What are the existing land uses on the property?
The land is partially vacant, with some building foundations and site paving from the former “Oaks N’ Things” on the west side of the property. The existing Caltrain parking lot stretches from Holly Street to approximately Cherry Street.

The Historic Train Depot is not part of this project.

What are the uses surrounding the site?
The Project Site is bounded to the north by Taco Bell and to the east by the Caltrain tracks and its berms. Further east is Old County Road and the Laureola Neighborhood. To the south is Arroyo Avenue and a thin vacant strip of land along the train tracks. Land uses to the west of El Camino Real across from the Project Site include commercial and retail uses.

What is the current and future zoning?
Currently, the site is zoned under the Highway Service Commercial Zoning District (CS-H). Section 4.920 (Implementation Goal) of the Resolution 2003-79 states that “Implementation of the project shall be accomplished by rezoning the entire study corridor to the Planned Community Zoning District pursuant to San Carlos Municipal Code Section 18.104.050”.

What are the zoning districts surrounding the site?
North: CS (Highway Commercial Service)  
West: CS  
South: CS (also CS south of landscaping)                                                    
East: Beyond train tracks and Old County Rd: R-1, C-2, C-4.

What are the height regulations that the project is required to comply with?
The project site falls under the West Side Specific Plan (1994), which governs the building height. It states, “To retain the suburban character of San Carlos, buildings shall be limited to 50 feet in height.”

What are the design regulations that the project is required to comply with?
The design of the project shall comply with the Design Guidelines (2001). The City has hired Van Meter Williams Pollack (VMWP), an urban design consulting firm, to review the design proposal of the project. This effort is led by Rick Williams. The consultant's role is to assist the city in ensuring the proposal addresses the City's design goals and objectives, maintains an exceptional level of architectural design and fits into the fabric of the community.

What are the parking regulations that the project is required to comply with?
The parking is governed by the Zoning Ordinance and also the West Side Specific Plan (WSSP).

Under Development Standards of the WSSP, the Parking section states:
“The Plan supports creative, innovative and flexible approaches to parking standards and the provision of parking facilities. Certain parking requirements shall be relaxed to promote redevelopment of parcels to preferred land uses identified in the Specific Plan. The proposals include:

· Adoption of a parking exemption ordinance to facilitate building expansion or new construction within specific guidelines.
· Reduction of retail, office, and restaurant parking space ratio requirements.
· Reduction in minimum required parking space size.
· Allowing the use of tandem parking spaces for a portion of the required parking.”

Also, parking will be retained along El Camino Real but is not formally counted toward on-site parking requirements. Shared parking and reduced parking near transit will be analyzed for this project.

Please see below for a chart showing the parking requirement calculations required for the current project proposal. (Based on the Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 18.140 - Off-Street Parking and Loading) Should the project proposal change, these parking calculations will change accordingly. The City may consider a parking reduction based on the factors stated above.

(Please click on this link for a pdf chart of the parking requirements, same as the diagram below.)

What are the Below Market Rate (BMR) units regulations that the project is required to comply with?
The Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 18.200 - Below Market Rate Housing Program) requires a 15% minimum of BMR units for developments of 7 units and over, spread between various income levels and dispersed throughout development, with features indistinguishable from market rate standard units. In this case, it would mean a minimum of 42 BMR units out of 281 proposed residential units (and a partial fee for the fraction).

(Per 2008 San Mateo County Income Limits, as defined by HUD and the State of California , the median household income in the City for a family of four is $94,300. Please refer to this webpage under the Housing Department for more information.)

What are the density regulations that the project is required to comply with?
The density of the project is governed by the Zoning Ordinance (Chapter 18.104 on Planned Community District), which states that the developer needs to submit a development plan, which will include a tabulation of resultant densities of persons and dwelling units. This development plan, if approved by the Planning Commission and City Council, shall become part of the zoning map of the City. However, the density of the development must still be within the limitations of the General Plan and the West Side Specific Plan (WSSP).

The Development Standards section of the WSSP states:
“5.410 Lot Sizes and Land Use Intensities
Within the existing General Plan and Zoning Ordinance limits, flexibility shall be permitted regarding lot sizes and intensities of land use in order to accommodate a diversity of commercial and residential land uses. Lot sizes and land use intensities should reflect the most optimal scale for fiscal purposes and physical attractiveness.”

The density of the current proposal is 50 dwelling units per acre. (This is calculated using gross parcel area: 281 units / 5.64 acres. This is the area for the residential portion of the project. The entire site is 8.7 acres including the retail and Caltrain parking). The density may be adjusted slightly as the project goes through the review process.