COUNTY OF SAN MATEO Inter-Departmental Correspondence
PLANNING AND BUILDING DEPARTMENT
DATE:			February 11, 2008
BOARD MEETING DATE:			February 26, 2008
SPECIAL NOTICE/HEARING:			None
VOTE REQUIRED:			Majority
TO:		Honorable Board of Supervisors
FROM:		Lisa Grote, Director of Community Development
SUBJECT:		Approval of a grant application submittal to fund an update of the North Fair Oaks Community Plan
RECOMMENDATION
Adopt a resolution authorizing the Director of the Planning and Building Department to submit a grant application for $750,000 from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) Station Area Planning Program to fund an update of the North Fair Oaks Community Plan.
VISION ALIGNMENT
Commitment: Offer a full range of housing choices.
Goal 9: Housing exists for people at all income levels and for all generations of families.
The Community Plan Update provides an opportunity to create higher density housing with a range of housing costs and types.
Commitment: Redesign our urban environment to increase vitality, expand variety and reduce congestion.
Goals 10 and 11: Public transportation choices that are convenient, affordable, accessible and safe. New housing is clustered with jobs and commercial services along transportation corridors.
The Community Plan Update will evaluate opportunities for mixed-use and higher density development along transit corridors, and seek to strengthen the connection between employment, housing, and transit.
Commitment: Create opportunities for every household to participate in our prosperity.
Goals 16 and 17: Residents hold the majority of jobs created in the County. All households experience real gains in income.
The Community Plan Update will consider revisions to existing policies and regulations for new development that will create and expand local employment opportunities.
BACKGROUND
MTC’s Station Area Planning Program is an initiative to finance planning efforts that increase transit ridership in the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area. The North Fair Oaks area is eligible for funding from the program because County Planning and Housing Department staff, with Board of Supervisors approval, previously submitted a successful application for Priority Development Area status for the area, under the San Francisco Bay Area’s multi-agency FOCUS Program.
DISCUSSION
The existing North Fair Oaks Community Plan was completed in 1979, and has not been substantially updated since that time. A community input process that took place in 2007 highlighted the desire of local residents for more housing with a greater diversity of housing types and costs, better services and employment opportunities, increased access to public transit, and safer pedestrian and bicycle routes. The Community Plan Update is intended to address these needs, and will involve significant community input. Some of the objectives of the update will be to identify opportunity sites for development, as well as incentives, policies, and programs that can achieve appropriate higher-density, mixed-use, and transit-oriented development with more local employment and housing opportunities. Implementation of the updated Community Plan will likely require changes to land use designations, zoning standards, and subdivision regulations for the area.
The Planning Grant applications will be reviewed in March and April of 2008, and grants will be awarded by April 2008. After funding is awarded, a funding agreement would be executed between MTC and the County. The planning process would have to be completed within 30 months of execution of the funding agreement.
FISCAL IMPACT
A $150,000 local match to the $750,000 MTC grant is required. These funds will be allocated by the Housing Department from the Housing and Community Development Special Trust Fund (#4531). There is no immediate fiscal impact to the County, apart from the local matching funds.
ATTACHMENTS
A.	Draft MTC Station Area Planning Program Grant Application for North Fair Oaks
B.	Resolution Authorizing FOCUS Station Area Planning Grant Application Submittal