NEWS

April Neighborhood Coffee I was hosted in April at The Towers by Carol and Tom Gillett, two active Baywood neighbors. They gathered a great group from across the complex. The discussion focused largely on the proposed residential developments at 1 E. 4th Avenue and 230 S. El Camino Real – design, height, impact on traffic, street parking and general quality of life. As mentioned above, mark Monday, May 12, 6pm, if you wish to attend a neighborhood briefing on the 1 E. 4th

April Community Coffee Small cell towers in San Mateo Park continued to be an issue raised at April’s Community Coffee. Since Council approved a new, stricter Small Cell Ordinance in November, there have been no new small cell tower applications received. Any appeals of future application decisions also will be held in front of an expert 3rd party hearing officer, instead of the Sustainability & Infrastructure Commission. You can read more about this effort at https://city

Blue Sky Goal Setting Offsite One of my favorite Council meetings is in February when we hold our annual Blue Sky Goal Setting session at College of San Mateo.  We review current Council priorities that City staff is working on, and debate new priorities that each Council Member proposes.  Current priorities are far-ranging, from implementing our General Plan 2040 to enacting a comprehensive stormwater safety plan, to reconstructing failed streets and more. My priorities for

Upcoming Study Sessions (5:30pm) Community Survey - 3.3.  Presentation of results of a citywide, statistically significant resident survey to measure attitudes towards a host of San Mateo attributes and how resident sentiment is changing over time.  This drives the prioritization of the City’s work. General Fund Reserve Policy - 3.17.  Examine the City’s current General Fund Reserve Policy and discuss if there should be changes to the current 25% reserve level requirement.

Wildfire Prevention Given the recent LA fires, it was timely that San Mateo Consolidated Fire (SMC Fire) gave a presentation at the recent Baywood Neighborhood Association 2025 Annual Meeting on what you can do to protect your home against wildfire and how you can prepare your family for natural disasters.  You can review this presentation in the BNA Annual Meeting deck . SMC Fire is available to give presentations to community groups, and I strongly encourage you to take th

Reimagine Hillsdale Earlier this month, the owners of the Hillsdale Shopping Center submitted preliminary plans to the City for the site’s redevelopment, which includes demolition of the inside mall (the “South Block”), while adding a mix of commercial buildings, retail and 1,392 new housing units. These plans will take many years to complete, and come after 6 years of planning and community discussion, as well as the continuing downturn of in-person shopping. The high leve