Notice of Project for San Carlos NE Area Specific Plan Environmental Impact Report

July 30, 2024

City of San Carlos Planning division
600 Elm Street, San Carlos, CA. 94070
Attn: Lisa Porras
lporras@cityofsancarlos.org

Subject: NOP for San Carlos NE Area Specific Plan EIR

The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter’s Sustainable Land Use Committee (SLU) advocates on sustainability and land use issues in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties. We note that the DEIR under "Land Use" will evaluate the effect the Plan will have on the future Jobs / Housing balance in San Carlos, but we feel that the goal of this evaluation needs to be more clearly stated.

  1. Every 1M SF of new biotech development will bring 3,0001 or more new jobs into the city.
  2. These new jobs will generate a need for 1,600 - 2,2002 or more new housing units to house these new employees to maintain a sustainable jobs / housing balance.
  3. The proposed 4,508,000 SF of new biotech or office development in the NE Plan could support up to 15,000 jobs1 creating a need for between 7,500 - 10,0002 new housing units to maintain an acceptable jobs / housing balance, yet the Plan only includes a proposal for up to 1,890 housing units.
  4. Adding the anticipated NE Area jobs to those currently expected from new projects in the East Side Innovation District, it is clear that the overall number of new jobs in the next 20 years will far exceed the latest goal of 3,595 units in the Housing Element for San Carlos which is already pushing the capacity of San Carlos to meet the city's current housing need.

This Specific Plan will not be an overall benefit to San Carlos, but only exacerbate the overall housing shortfall in the city and on the peninsula. It will increase in-commuting, air and water pollution, and Greenhouse Gas emissions which are harmful to the environment and inherently unsustainable.

The impact on Jobs / Housing balance must be considered and mitigated in the EIR and not minimized as an "unavoidable impact".

We close with the expectation that San Carlos will have a serious discussion of these probable impacts and we would welcome the opportunity to participate.

 

Respectfully Yours,

Gita Dev, FAIA, Co-Chair
Sustainable Land Use Committee
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter

Cc: James Eggers, Executive Director, Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter

1 Rule of thumb: average 300 SF per job in Biotech / R&D - Reference: https://www.zippia.com/advice/how-much-office-space-per-employee/

2 Rule of thumb: 1.5 to 2.0 jobs per household - Reference: http://planning-org-uploaded-media.s3.amazonaws.com/publication/download_pdf/PAS-Report-516.pdf, Table 4