Bay Meadows (neighborhood) explained

Bay Meadows is an 83-acre mixed-use, transit-oriented development in the City of San Mateo, California. The neighborhood is divided into station/mixed-use and residential districts, which are further divided into 18 development blocks. The station/mixed-use district is primarily adjacent to Delaware Street, the major north–south street through the neighborhood. Blocks in the residential district to the east of Delaware Street form communities within Bay Meadows II. As of 2019, 11 blocks have been developed. When it is complete, Bay Meadows II will have 1250 residential units, 1.25 million square feet of office space, 150,000 square feet of retail space, and 15 acres of parks[1]

Bay Meadows
Settlement Type:Neighborhood
Pushpin Map:California
Pushpin Map Caption:Location in California
Pushpin Label:Bay Meadows
Coordinates:37.5434°N -122.2977°W
Subdivision Type:Country
Subdivision Type1:State
Subdivision Type2:County
Subdivision Name2:San Mateo County
Established Date:2008
Area Land Acre:83
Postal Code:94403

Name

The name Bay Meadows comes from the historic Bay Meadows Racetrack that it replaced. Many of the street and community names in Bay Meadows were selected during its design to acknowledge historically important people from the racetrack era.

Geography

Bay Meadows II is at the southern end of San Mateo, to the north of Franklin Parkway (with the exception of one community), east of the Caltrain rail line, south of the San Mateo Event Center, and west the Bay Meadows Phase I development bordering Saratoga Avenue and the Franklin Templeton campus. The neighborhood is entirely flat with no native water bodies.

History

San Mateo approved the Bay Meadows Specific Plan in 1997 to redevelop land owned by the Bay Meadows Racetrack.[2] The plan divided Bay Meadows into two areas: the 75 acre Redevelopment area (Phase I) and the 83 acres Main Track. Phase I was developed from late 1990s to mid-2000s. It was officially completed with construction of the Kaiser Medical Center.[3]

Phase II was approved by San Mateo City Council in 2005 with an amendment to the Bay Meadows Specific Plan, submitted by Bay Meadows Land Company (the land owner) and Wilson Meany (the master developer).[4] Opponents of the proposed Bay Meadows II worked to prevent it (see Controversy below) while the city and master developer worked through the CEQA process for the first site plan (called SPAR 1).

Development Milestones!Date!Event
2005-11-07Bay Meadows II Specific Plan approved
2008-04-21SPAR 1 approved. 392 residential units. Office, retail, restaurant, active use[5]
2008-10-14SPAR 3 approved. 344 residential units.[6]
2012-10Broke ground on the first residential communities (Landsdowne and Amelia).[7]
2012-12-11SPAR 4 approved. Nueva School.[8]
2015-08SurveyMonkey signs lease. First commercial tenant.[9]
2016-10-14SPAR 2 approved. 341 residential units.[10]
2017-05Broke ground for Station 2 office building.[11]
2017-09Broke ground on the 25th Avenue Grade Separation project.[12]

Controversy

Opposition to the demolition of the racetrack and construction of Bay Meadows II was led by a group called Friends of Bay Meadows. Among its objections, the group believed that the racetrack was still a valuable source of tax revenue to the city and was worth saving for historical significance. The group was also concerned about potential traffic issues surrounding the new development.

In 2005, shortly after the City Council approved the Environmental Impact Report for the first section of the development, the group collected signatures for a referendum on the city's decision to proceed with the development.[13] In January 2006, the City Clerk and County Elections Officer refused to certify the referendum for the ballot on the ground that it had insufficient qualified signatures.[14] Friends of Bay Meadows appealed the decision. On December 12, 2007, the Court of Appeal, First District, Division 2 denied the appeal.[15]

Bay Meadows Land Company announced an auction of memorabilia from the racetrack in August 2008. Friends of Bay Meadows asked for a San Mateo Superior Court Judge to issue a temporary restraining order to prevent the auction.[16] However, the auction proceeded.[17]

Also in 2008, Friends of Bay Meadows filed a lawsuit against the City and Bay Meadows Land Company seeking additional environmental and historical review of the project's first section. The group agreed to settle the lawsuit in exchange for $50,000 to cover its legal expenses.[18]

The city proposed building a 5 million gallon overflow sewage storage tank under Bay Meadows Park in 2016. Residents of Bay Meadows II objected to this location for the project.[19]

Residential communities

Bay Meadows II has nine residential communities of townhouses, apartments, and single-family homes. As of 2019, two residential blocks remain undeveloped.

Residential communities!Name!Type!Units!Blocks!Developer
LandsdowneTownhouses93RES 3Shea Homes
CanterburyTownhouses76RES 5TRI Pointe Homes
AmeliaTownhouses63RES 3TRI Pointe Homes
BrightsideTownhouses80RES 2Shea Homes
FieldhouseApartments108RES 1
Meadow WalkTownhouses105RES 8Shea Homes
The RussellApartments158RES 8
QuimbyApartments70MU 4
VictorySingle Family Homes & Townhouses55RES 9Shea Homes

School

The private Nueva School opened its Bay Meadows campus (grades 8–12) in August, 2014.[20]

Town Square

Town Square is a multipurpose public plaza and gathering place at the corner of Delaware Street and 31st Avenue.[21] Retail businesses face the square from the first floors of adjacent Quimby and Russell apartment buildings.

Parks

The City of San Mateo owns and maintains three parks in Bay Meadows II.[22]

A fourth park, Persimmon Park Community Garden, is privately owned and maintained by the Bay Meadows Community Association. Persimmon Park is located along the view corridor between the Amelia and Meadow Walk communities. It contains 99 raised bed, gardening plots that may be rented yearly to residents of Bay Meadows II.

Transportation

The Hillsdale Caltrain station, just south of 31st Avenue, is integral to the transit-oriented nature of Bay Meadows. Many residents and employees of local businesses use Caltrain to commute to and from the community. When complete, Caltrain's grade separation project will move the Hillsdale station from approximately 31st Avenue to approximately 28th Avenue.[25]

Large employers such as Google, Salesforce, and Facebook provide shuttle bus service from the San Mateo Event Center parking lot, adjacent to Bay Meadows Park, to their Bay Area campuses.

The conditions of approval for Bay Meadows II require developing a transportation demand management plan for motor vehicle traffic. The Bay Meadows II plan establishes a trip budget for each development block and describes a monitoring plan.[26]

Public art

San Mateo's Art in Public Places ordinance requires developers of projects greater than $3 million to the public art fund.[27] There are five works of art in Bay Meadows II.

Community facilities district

Bay Meadows II is a Community Facilities District as defined by city resolution 28 (2008) adopted on August 11, 2008.[33] Property owners in Bay Meadows pay a special tax that services bonds issued by the city to finance the construction of infrastructure (gas, electric, water, sewer, etc.).[34]

References

  1. Web site: Bay Meadows to close. Yates. Dana. San Mateo Daily Journal. en. 2019-01-30.
  2. Web site: Bay Meadows Phase 1. www.cityofsanmateo.org. 2019-01-31.
  3. Web site: Model homes to open at Bay Meadows. Bill. Silverfarb. San Mateo Daily Journal. en. 2019-01-30.
  4. Web site: Specific Plan Amendment. www.cityofsanmateo.org. 2019-01-31.
  5. [:File:PA17-074_BayMeadows_II-SPAR_Map_(July_2018).png|File:PA17-074 BayMeadows II-SPAR Map (July 2018).png]
  6. [:File:PA17-074_BayMeadows_II-SPAR_Map_(July_2018).png|File:PA17-074 BayMeadows II-SPAR Map (July 2018).png]
  7. Web site: Bay Meadows Breaks Ground on Two Townhome Projects. www.enr.com. en. 2019-02-01.
  8. [:File:PA17-074_BayMeadows_II-SPAR_Map_(July_2018).png|File:PA17-074 BayMeadows II-SPAR Map (July 2018).png]
  9. Web site: SurveyMonkey outgrows Palo Alto. 2015-08-20. The Mercury News. en-US. 2019-02-02.
  10. [:File:PA17-074_BayMeadows_II-SPAR_Map_(July_2018).png|File:PA17-074 BayMeadows II-SPAR Map (July 2018).png]
  11. Web site: Bay Meadows will break ground on new office complex. 2017-05-16. The Mercury News. en-US. 2019-02-01.
  12. Web site: ‘This was a big idea’. Samantha. Weigel. San Mateo Daily Journal. en. 2019-02-01.
  13. Web site: Bay Meadows Supporters to Continue Fight. BloodHorse.com. en. 2019-01-31.
  14. Web site: SAN MATEO / Bay Meadows issue won't make ballot / Foes of plan to develop racetrack site fail to get enough valid signatures on petition. Sebastian. Simone. 2005-12-29. SFGate. 2019-01-31.
  15. Web site: FindLaw's California Court of Appeal case and opinions.. Findlaw. en-US. 2019-01-31.
  16. Web site: Bay Meadows auction set for Friday. August 21, 2008. The San Francisco Examiner. en-US. 2019-02-01.
  17. Web site: At Bay Meadows auction, nostalgia wins big. Baker. David R.. 2008-08-24. SFGate. 2019-02-01.
  18. Web site: Group Settles Lawsuit Over Bay Meadows. BloodHorse.com. en. 2019-01-31.
  19. Web site: Neighbors rally to oppose underground storage tanks: Bay Meadows residents ask San Mateo officials to avoid parks for temporary sewage overflow basin. Samantha. Weigel. San Mateo Daily Journal. en. 2019-02-01.
  20. Web site: Nueva School Students Settle In. en-US. 2019-01-30.
  21. Bay Meadows Specific Plan Amendment - Phase II. Section I, page 13. November 7, 2005
  22. Web site: San Mateo Parks At-a-Glance San Mateo, CA - Official Website . 2022-04-28 . www.cityofsanmateo.org.
  23. Web site: Bay Meadows Community Park. www.cityofsanmateo.org. 2019-02-04.
  24. Web site: Paddock Park. www.cityofsanmateo.org. 2019-02-04.
  25. Web site: 25th Avenue Grade Separation. www.caltrain.com. 2019-02-02.
  26. Web site: Bay Meadows II Traffic Management Plan (revised). August 24, 2018. www.cityofsanmateo.org.
  27. Web site: Chapter 23.60 Art in Public Places. qcode.us. 2019-02-02.
  28. Web site: Guiding Stars. www.cityofsanmateo.org. 2019-02-04.
  29. Web site: Mirrored Labyrinth NY- for California. www.cityofsanmateo.org. 2019-02-04.
  30. Web site: San Mateo Bridge. www.cityofsanmateo.org. 2019-02-04.
  31. Web site: Art in Public Places - The Close Up. www.cityofsanmateo.org. 2019-02-04.
  32. Web site: Art in Public Places - The Close Up. www.cityofsanmateo.org. 2019-02-04.
  33. Web site: City of San Mateo Ordinance-No-2008-13. www.cityofsanmateo.org.
  34. Web site: Community Facilities District No. 2008-1 Special Tax Bond, Series 2013. www.cityofsanmateo.org.