Why The Peninsula’s Big Plan For A Grand Boulevard Is Still a Dream

Why The Peninsula’s Big Plan For A Grand Boulevard Is Still a Dream

October 30, 2015

The idea of dense neighborhoods along the thoroughfare is still a work in progress

Years after San Mateo and Santa Clara County officials embraced the idea of turning busy El Camino into a Grand Boulevard, change has been slow along the major thoroughfare.

Many challenges remain in the effort to transform the traffic-heavy highway into a corridor filled with pedestrian-friendly walkways, higher-density housing and retail and fewer automobiles.

Samceda, San Mateo County’s economic development association, conducted the first study of El Camino Real in 2000, involving more than 4,000 residents in framing a vision for the highway. Since then, many more studies have been conducted and some staggered development has taken place.

Michael Garvey, chair of the working committee for the Grand Boulevard Initiative, describes progress on the corridor as “slow, steady, subtle and low-key.”

He says that 14 major projects have recently finished, are entitled or are under construction. Developers are encouraged to address neighbors’ concerns very early on, he said.

“This is an effort for things to proceed in a more harmonious manner, but it also means things might go more slowly,” Garvey said.

Of the 19 cities involved, 17 have done some rezoning or land use changes along the corridor, he estimated.

In addition to opposition from neighbors, rezoning historically met with resistance from Caltrain, said Garvey.

“Asking Caltrain for exceptions could take a lot of evaluation and a lot of time,” he said. “But these days they are more flexible and it’s getting easier to deal with them.”

Another big obstacle for development is site assembly, said Megan Channell, principal planner of strategic development with the San Mateo County Transit District. Developers and cities struggle with the fragmented ownership of many small parcels along the corridor.

“It’s hard to create large development opportunities,” Channell said.

Mark Haesloop, principal of San Mateo-based CHS Development Group, agreed.

“Property ownership includes a lot of independently owned small lots,” he said. “Not everyone wants to sell.”

CHS will soon break ground on its fourth development along El Camino. The developer is planning 32 condos and 10,000 square feet of retail at 576-600 El Camino Real in Belmont. Planning the site required assembly and acquisition of three lots — including a strip mall, florist shop and a home.

Bob Burke, principal of Palo Alto-based Greenheart Land Co., said it took him nearly a year to assemble 10 parcels to create a 6.4-acre site at 1300 El Camino Real in Menlo Park for a project with 182 apartments, 29,000 square feet of retail and 190,000 square feet of office space.

There were three ownership groups.

“Those are always tough,” Burke said. “Not everyone wanted to sell. It was a difficult assemblage.”

Brian Spiers of San Francisco-based Brian Spiers Development was one of the lucky ones. He’s building College Terrace Centre on 2100 El Camino Real, a mixed-use project in Palo Alto.

The 1.4-acre site — where he’s building 40,000 square feet of office, 6,000 square feet of retail, a full-service grocery store and eight affordable residential units — was all in one piece.

Beyond site assembly, another headache for developers and cities is making the traffic-heavy El Camino more walkable. There are across-the-board efforts aimed at making streets safe and accessible for “all users of varying ages and abilities whether they are biking, walking or driving,” according to Channell.

Desired features include high visibility crosswalks and more attractive roadways. Plans also include strategies to promote infill development along the corridor.

“Population and jobs in the corridor are expected to increase by 40 percent by 2040 so the question is: How can we manage that growth in a way that fits the community’s needs?” Channell said.

The Grand Boulevard Initiative is in part meant to help cities create zoning to incentivize developers to build, she added. In Redwood City, officials have put out a request for proposals for an El Camino Corridor plan consultant. The consultant will “help us understand on a much finer grain where we maybe we should invest in transportation and where retail, office and housing is best located,” said Council Member Barbara Pierce.

Some rezoning along the corridor has already taken place, but ultimately, the goal is to have the zoning and vision in place to help “transition the corridor over time,” said Pierce, who is also member of the Grand Boulevard Task Force.

To Haesloop — who has served on the Grand Boulevard Initiative Task Force since its inception — the El Camino Real corridor has been the backbone of the Peninsula since the cities along it were formed.

“The whole idea of transit-oriented development and affordable housing along El Camino is that the person who checks you out at the supermarket in downtown should be able to walk or bike to work and be part of the community we live in,” he said. “It’s the main connector that ties all the cities together, and has always been the main transit corridor.”