Redwood City: El Camino Real plan looks to encourage affordable housing

Redwood City: El Camino Real plan looks to encourage affordable housing, retain small businesses

REDWOOD CITY -- The city will spend at least $195,000 on a plan that would, among other things, encourage the construction of affordable housing and the preservation of small businesses along El Camino Real.

The City Council voted unanimously Monday night to hire San Francisco-based Dyett & Bhatia Urban and Regional Planners to prepare the so-called El Camino Real Corridor Plan.

"It's arguably the most important corridor within our city, one that if you work or live within Redwood City you travel or walk on every day," said Community Development Director Aaron Aknin.

The initial goal, according to a report by Senior Planner Lindy Chan, would be to evaluate and consolidate four recently rezoned parts of El Camino Real into a cohesive plan for the corridor.

In addition, the plan would explore opportunities for the construction of affordable housing and the preservation of small businesses. It wouldn't increase building heights or intensify uses beyond what is already allowed.

Council members stressed the importance of connecting the plan to the Grand Boulevard Initiative, a collaboration of 19 cities, counties and agencies to improve various aspects of El Camino Real from Daly City to San Jose.

"We need to make sure we don't get too parochial about this," said Councilman Jeffrey Gee. "Otherwise we're going to screw up the mid-Peninsula even worse than some people think we are."

 

Gee said the city's immediate neighbors to the north and south are in the midst of making or considering changes to El Camino. San Carlos, for example, is getting set to break ground on its long-awaited Transit Village project and Atherton could potentially delete a traffic lane.

"I think we have to work with our neighboring cities to make sure El Camino connects and we don't get to a city limit and go from two lanes to one lane or three to two without a nice transition," he added.

Others viewed the plan as an opportunity to improve the look and feel of the busy thoroughfare.

"I don't think anyone here would argue that El Camino looks as good as we all think it could look," said Vice Mayor Ian Bain. "I think this plan gives us an opportunity to do that."

In approving the $195,604 contract with Dyett & Bhatia, the council also agreed to give City Manager Melissa Stevenson Diaz permission to spend $60,000 on a new traffic study and additional community workshops for the plan, which is expected to take 12 to 18 months to draft.

"This is a classic opportunity to get the collective wisdom, to really get people involved in some creative ideas and look at ways that we can really improve this long into the future," said Mayor John Seybert.
"I don't think El Camino has been significantly looked at since Grant Boulevard, since it was probably the main highway or the King's Highway and probably had ruts in it from the wagons."

Email Jason Green at jgreen@dailynewsgroup.com or call him at 650-391-1337; follow him at twitter.com/jgreendailynews.