AgdaPkt 2021.02.08 Joint SA PFA - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

SIERRA CLUB LOMA PRIETA CHAPTER San Mateo, Santa Clara and San Benito Counties February 5, 2021 Mayor Diane Howard and Members of the City Council City of Redwood City, CA C/O City Clerk Pamela Aguilar clerk2@redwoodcity.org Re: Proposed Sequoia Station Development Dear Mayor Howard and Members of the City Council: Sierra Club Loma Prieta's Sustainable Land Use Committee (SLU) encourages the development of higher density, mixed-use developments near downtowns and major transit stations to encourage walking and transit to improve health and reduce traffic and local greenhouse gas emissions. To this end, we have created a set of Guidelinesl'to evaluate proposed developments. We have reviewed the preliminary statistics on the Sequoia Station plan and appreciate that it is a TOD with affordable housing, but it does not meet criteria for a balanced development because of the intrinsic extreme jobs/housing imbalance. • The Sequoia Station proposal includes 1.25M sq. ft. of office space. • The developer claims this will create between 5,000 - 6,250 jobs. • 5,000 - 6,250 jobs will create a demand for a minimum of 2,500 - 3,125 housing units ( 2 jobs per household) to support these new employees. • The Sequoia proposal includes 600 overall housing units. • That is a 1,900 - 2,525 unit shortfall from the needed balance. Yes, not every project must be 100% balanced within its own site, and there is housing being built elsewhere in the city that can help accommodate these new Sequoia jobs, but our research indicates that currently, in the entire city overall (including Sequoia Station) there is about: • 5.5M sq. ft. of office space proposed or under construction. • That could bring between 18,000 to 36,000 total jobs z to Redwood City. • Yet, only about 4,000 housing units are proposed or under construction. • This is a shortfall of between 14,000 - 32,000 units of housing citywide. • Redwood City does not have anything close to that capacity under construction or in the pipeline to date, nor do any of the nearby cities. The Sequoia Station proposal contributes to this shortfall. 1 SLU TOD Guidelines: https://www.sierraclub.org/sites/www.sierraclub.org/files/sce-authors/u4142/TOD%2OGuidelines%207-25- 19%20final.pdf z Jobs: 300 sq. ft. per job for Life Science/ R&D space; 150 sq. ft. per job for current IT office space 3921 East Bayshore Road, Suite 204, Palo Alto, CA 94303 650-390-8411 www.sierraclub.org/loma-prieta