AgdaPkt 2019-08-26 Joint SA PFA - Laserfiche WebLink

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August 26, 2019 Mayor Bain and Members of the Council 1017 Middlefield Road Redwood City, CA, 94063 RE: Floor Area Ratio (FAR) Ordinance for Single -Family Homes Mayor Bain and Members of the Council: My name is Jon Tattersall, President of Thomas James Homes. We are a local home building company with our Northern California headquarters located in Redwood City. We currently have 13 active single-family home projects; located in the neighborhoods of Woodside Plaza, Central, Redwood Oaks, Roosevelt and Mt Carmel. Additionally, we have several employees and subcontractors that call Redwood City home. We truly value our partnership with staff and neighbors and recognize the responsibility we hold as a stakeholder in the community. We have three points to make with respect to the FAR Ordinance item before you tonight. A. The business community needs consistency in city government and legislation in order to make long term capital investments into a community. We do not understand the need for an urgency ordinance, moving so quickly on an item of such high importance and impact on the community. Given the low single-family permit volume, we recommend the city study several FAR options and Development Standards concurrently. This also includes stakeholder participation to get well-rounded community feedback. We welcome participating in this ongoing discussion. B. There is a housing crisis in Redwood City, especially for single-family homes. The current FAR recommendation from the Planning Commission of 40% or 2500 square feet would be an extreme impediment for any new single-family home construction. This additional legislation would further restrict inventory that the city needs to help support its jobs / housing objectives, as well as maintain a housing element balance between multifamily and single-family dwellings. Re -development of older neighborhoods will stop under the current planning commission proposal and would be the most punitive FAR ordinance on the peninsula. Furthermore, the inclusion of attached garages in the FAR restriction (effectively reducing the living square footage to 2300 square feet for a 1 -car garage or 2100 for a 2 -car garage) would cause clutter of neighborhood streets for the projects that do proceed. C. Regardless of the outcome tonight, we do expect the city to honor the existing city standards on the 13 pending applications we have made under the current ordinance. We appreciate the stability in the decision making of the council and know the council is prudent when it comes to investment in the community. We respectfully request that the council vote no on the item before you tonight and direct staff to begin the study and community outreach on Development Standards concurrent with a FAR ratio more in line with adjoining communities that does not stop redevelopment. Sincerely, Jon Tattersall President Norther alifornia Thomas James Homes 650.980.8462 itattersa II@tihusa.com THE RIGHT HOME. RIGHT WHERE YOU WANT IT. 255 Shoreline Drive, Suite 425, Redwood City, CA 94065