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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br />March 3, 2025 <br /> <br /> <br />The Honorable Elmer Martinez Saballos, Mayor <br />The Honorable Kaia Eakin, Vice Mayor <br />The Honorable Isabella Chu, Councilmember <br />The Honorable Jeff Gee, Councilmember <br />The Honorable Diane Howard, Councilmember <br />The Honorable Marcella Padilla, Councilmember <br />The Honorable Chris Sturken, Councilmember <br />City Council of Redwood City, California <br />1017 Middlefield Road <br />Redwood City, CA 94063 <br />Filip Crnogorac, Commission Chair <br />Kimberly Koch, Commission Vice Chair <br />Maggie Cornejo, Commissioner <br />Dylan Finch, Commissioner <br />Rick Hunter, Commissioner <br />Planning Commission of the <br />City of Redwood City, California <br />1017 Middlefield Road <br />Redwood City, CA 94063 <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />RE: Agenda Item 5A <br /> <br />Dear Mayor Martinez Saballos, Commission Chair Crnogorac and Members of Council and the <br />Planning Commission: <br />On your agenda for the special Joint Council/Planning Commission meeting on March 4, 2025, Item <br />5A is a Joint Study Session on the Life Sciences Office and Laboratory proposal known as <br />Redwood Life located at 800 – 3400 Bridge Parkway. <br />On behalf of the Board of Directors and member organizations of Chamber San Mateo County, we <br />have been strong supporters of this project since its inception more than five years ago and have <br />formally endorsed and advocated for this project during this time. However, recognizing that <br />modifications may need to be considered to this project proposal, Chamber San Mateo County <br />strongly supports Alternative 2 being studied, as outlined in the City staff report, and commencing <br />the EIR process immediately after your March 4, 2025, meeting. <br />We appreciated the outreach meeting with City staff and the Raimi team; it was an informative, <br />productive session and our members felt heard. However, I would be remiss if I did not reinforce <br />that Chamber members were more in favor of the original application than a reduced project <br />alternative. A larger project brings more jobs, more ongoing revenue in excess of $10 million <br />annually for the City, and more community benefits that fund top City priorities such as childcare <br />and affordable housing. <br />However, we realize the compromises that must be made to reach a balance in moving <br />complicated, community-involved projects forward, and that is why the Chamber is supporting <br />Alternative 2. We recognize the hard work of the City staff, outreach consultants, applicant and <br />community that has yielded a compromise with broader support. It now appears that the neighbor <br />support is shifting with what now appears to be around 65 percent of the members of the opponent <br />group “Stop Redwood Life” now supporting Alternative 2. As the developer and the previously <br />opposing neighbors agree on alternative, we strongly encourage moving forward with expediency.