This is sort of amazing, for anyone interested in land use, local planning, or why nobody can afford to live in the Bay Area...
In 2007, as a cub reporter for the San Mateo Daily News, I covered a proposed development in the wealthy SF Peninsula suburb of Belmont that would have been its first mixed-use housing-over-retail project. City planners saw it as a model for the future. eastbaytimes.com/2007/03/22/fir…
Eleven years later, Belmont is *still debating* the Firehouse Square project.
And the same city planner I interviewed about it 11 years ago is still working to persuade residents and officials of its value.
The good news is, the plans now call for far more housing than they did at first—and the majority of it would be below-market-rate. Let's hope this iteration has better luck than the last four! smdailyjournal.com/news/local/new…
But if you're a developer who's interested in doing smart infill on the Peninsula to meet the insane demand there, including BMR... You probably look at Belmont and Firehouse Square and the 11-year approval process and say, "yeah, I think I'll try my luck someplace else."
Consensus of locals is that the current Belmont City Council finally recognizes the need for housing, and that’s why the project may finally happen (plus the involvement of MidPen which does BMR). That’s good to hear, if true.
