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“San Mateo is a vibrant, livable, diverse, and healthy community that respects the quality of its neighborhoods, fosters a flourishing economy, is committed to equity, and is a leader in environmental sustainability.”
General Plan 2040 Vision Statement
Help Shape the Future of Our City
WE NEED YOUR INPUT!
Help shape the decisions and the plans that will guide development for the next generation, and make our city a better place to live, work, and play through 2040. Join us at these upcoming workshops. Please visit the following websites to sign up and receive meeting details. The same information will be covered at each pair of workshops.
Housing Element Virtual Workshops
Learn more about how the City must plan ahead for housing for all income levels:
Tuesday, March 30, 2021 - 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm
General Plan 2040 Virtual Workshops
We listened to the community to create three Draft Alternatives for San Mateo’s future. Learn about the Draft Alternatives and help us improve them:
Thursday, April 15, 2021 - 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Saturday, April 17, 2021 - 9:30 am to 12:00 pm
Visit strivesanmateo.org for more information about the 2040 San Mateo General Plan
WHAT IS A GENERAL PLAN?
How will San Mateo change over the next 20 years? Where will we live and how will we travel around the city? These types of questions are answered through the City’s General Plan. The General Plan lays out the community’s vision for how our City will look, feel, and change over the next 20 years. Your participation and voice is vital to this plan. The General Plan covers the following topics:
► Housing
► Land Use
► Transportation
► Climate Change
WHAT IS A HOUSING ELEMENT?
► Natural Resources
► Community Health and Safety
► Public Services and Amenities
This year, the City is also kicking off the Housing Element Update. The Housing Element is a required part of the General Plan and is the blueprint for how a city will meet the housing needs of all income levels and household types. It must be completed every eight years to meet specific State requirements and deadlines. It is the only part of the General Plan that must be approved (“certified”) by the State. The Housing Element must be adopted by January 2023.
WHERE ARE WE IN THE GENERAL PLAN PROCESS?
Since the fall 2018 General Plan kickoff, the San Mateo community have come together to develop a Vision for the future of the City, and selected 10 Study Areas to analyze for future change. After factoring in community input, the draft range of land use and circulation alternatives was shared at a community meeting in early March 2020. However, in-person activities were paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic and shelter-in-place orders. Beginning in March 2021, the City will be hosting virtual workshops to restart community engagement. Visit StriveSanMateo.org for more information about the Vision, the three draft range of land use and circulation alternatives, and sign-up for future email updates.
WHAT ARE THE DRAFT ALTERNATIVES?
The draft land use and circulation alternatives show different scenarios to be studied. We listened to the community to create three Draft Alternatives for San Mateo’s future. We are hosting virtual workshops in MarchApril 2021 to gather community input that will help determine the right range of alternatives to study. Once the alternatives have been finalized, the project team will initiate technical studies to understand the pros and cons, and trade-offs of each, to determine how best to use available resources, balance growth, and meet the goals of the community in the most sustainable way. In this evaluation process, each of the following will be considered:
► Amount of development allowed
► Overall character
► Traffic
► Public health
► Equity
► Utilities and public services
► Environmental sustainability
► City’s fiscal health
The evaluation results will be shared through a series of public meetings to inform community discussion about how and where growth should be focused in San Mateo between now and 2040.
PLANNING FOR FUTURE HOUSING
The Housing Element will look at housing trends, zoning and market constraints, and how to meet housing needs for all income levels. State law does not require that the City build or finance new housing, but we must plan for it. The
The inventory of available housing sites is a key component. The City must identify specific parcels that are zoned at appropriate densities for housing to meet the projected future need. This future need is based on a variety of factors, including access to jobs, services, and transportation. The State allocates a specific number of units to the City via the regional planning body, the Association of Bay Area Governments (ABAG). This is called the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) process San Mateo needs to plan to accommodate an RHNA of around 7,000 new homes for the
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
The homes, streets, parks, schools, and playgrounds in San Mateo today were planned by the people who lived here a generation ago. Those decisions and those plans are still influencing who lives here, who works here, who shops here, who drives here, and what kind of community San Mateo is.
Community Input is the basis for all decisions. There are multiple opportunities for community input!
For questions and concerns, contact The General Plan Team at the City of San Mateo Planning Division at generalplan@ cityofsanmateo.org or at (650) 522-7216.
Everyone is Encouraged to Attend or Participate Online!