Did you see any of the Halloween movies? The first one was a classic, done on a very small budget in 1978. At the end the bad guy, Michael Myers, get’s shot 6 times and falls from a second story balcony. Upon looking out the window we discover that Michael is nowhere to be found. There are 9 Halloween Movies and in all but one of them Michael Myers meets some kind of grisly end…only to resurface inexplicably in the next movie. This darn guy just won’t stay dead!

It kind of reminds me of the perpetual discussion about a High School in Foster City. I wrote a post about this topic in early April, Foster City High School…Not and at that time a charter school idea had just been dispatched in Jamie Lee Curtis style by the City Council…and then yesterday I read another article about how another group wanting to build the Magnolia Science Academy, a charter high school, were voted down again on Monday night. I kept thinking “I wonder if the idea was shot several times by sheriff’s deputies, which then fell down a mineshaft, which collapsed when the deputies threw dynamite down it. (Halloween 4, The Return of Michael Myers).

Who know’s? Is dead really ever dead? Never say never…maybe one day a proposal with some real merit will be floated that could be approved. I personally don’t think it’ll ever happen, I think the land in question has more value to the city in other capacities going forward. Until then maybe we can get John Carpenter to film this saga?

Here’s a link to the story:

Charter School Story

I had so much fun with the last podcast on Single Family Homes I thought I’d do it again for Condos and Townhouses. Just click on the gray arrow below and your off and running. Thanks!

That was the question last night when the City Council voted overwhelmingly in favor of a plan to allow more senior housing in the new project that will be built in what’s now being called Parkview Plaza. The developer has argued that because of economic conditions the plan as it was orginally drafted had become financially unsound and an increase of 25% was needed to build this project and have it make sense. There’s now going to be 420 units instead of the 331 that the original plan advanced. Exactly how this additional space will be configured is yet to be determined. With the councils approval, the planning commission now gets to study the nuts and bolts. Naturally, there were some dissenting opinions from some folks who have been opposed to this plan all along.

It’s been no big secret that I’m of the opinion that the creation of a downtown area for Foster City would be an enormous boost to this community and from all I’ve seen, Parkview Plaza looks pretty wonderful…plus it’ll be a great source of revenue for the City. It’ll be interesting to see how this all plays out design wise, but I think it’s perfectly understandable for the developer to have a plan that allows them to make money with this project. Here’s a link to today’s San Mateo Daily News and their story on this topic:

BiggerParkviewPlazaLink

As I’ve said before on this Blog, my family’s been in Foster City for over 40 years and I’ve been in the Bay Area since 1990…moving here from Colorado. I don’t think there’s any subject that I’ve heard discussed more often and with more passion in Foster City than the subject of a High School in this community. I remember discussions about it when I visited in 1978 when I was a sophomore in college and there were high hopes for it’s apparently inevitable construction in the area that will now be home to Parkview Plaza (the new name given to the 15 acre site, in case you hadn’t heard). I know that for a long, long time many very passionate people have tried to bring a High School to this town and it finally appears that, after all is said and done, it’s never going to happen.

I’m not sure if it’s a distant memory or it’s family folklore but, as I recall, the topic of a High School was voted on here on more than one occasion over the years and didn’t pass. If memory serves there were those that didn’t want additional taxes to be levied as well as the fact that creation of a High School meant separation from the San Mateo school district…and our brothers and sisters in San Mateo were not too crazy about losing that revenue. They fought it successfully. Ultimately in 1999 the City Council amended the land use designation of the 27 acre site from high school to public/semi-public development of the Civic Center Master Plan. Then in 2002 the Peninsula Jewish Community Center was granted a lease for 12 acres, the other 15 acres was leased to a private Episcopal High School venture. They couldn’t raise the necessary funds to build and thus the land became available again. In 2003 the plan changed into a Charter High School concept that was approved by the City Council as well as the San Mateo School Board. Unfortunately funding for this concept was never completely ironed out and it ultimately became clear that the City could produce significantly more revenue going forward by using the 15 acre site for something other than a High School. It was far more important as a revenue source for the future as a commercial and residential development than it would be as a school so 11 acres were carved out for Parkview Plaza and the remaining 4 acres were then to be used as a Charter High School.

Even more trouble brewed last fall when it became apparent that only a relatively small number of Foster City kids would use the school at all….possibly as low as 200 out of a total number of 1200 High School aged kids in town while the rest would be at the discretion of the San Mateo school board. It also didn’t help that the charter petition had changed the name of the school to the Arts and Technology High School of San Mateo. That didn’t go over real well at a City Council meeting last fall.

So last week it seemed that a white towel finally got thrown into the ring when a newsletter was sent to supporters asking for more leaders to step up or the group might have to disband. It’s become very, very hard to generate excitement and financial support for this 4 acre, scaled down school. Don’t expect to see a photo of a Foster City High School…like the one above, I’m betting it’ll never happen. I’m sure there’s plenty of passions on all sides of this issue, so don’t hesitate to comment and express your point of view.  Here’s a link to a San Mateo Times story on this issue:

CharterSchoolLink

The basic design for the new downtown area in the 15 acre-Village Square site was unveiled last week at a Planning Commission study session and was met with rave reviews (how about that!) from both folks in attendance as well as from Commissioners. The model shown was a revision of one produced earlier and this one features much taller residential towers, up to 14 stories in some places, yet opens up clear site-lines along many key corridors. The center of the main plaza will have a pavilion that could be used as a restaurant. Now that the basis design is a go the architecture of the buildings will begin to be developed. It’s hoped that construction could begin by the summer of 2009. Here’s a link to more about this:

NewDesignLink

On Sunday afternoon I was driving to visit a friend of mine in Burlingame and I made the incredibly poor decision to stop by Peet’s Coffee in downtown San Mateo for a latte. Do you suppose I could find a parking place? I drove around and around for 20 minutes or more and after deciding that the latte wasn’t worth a cross town walk I made bad decision number two and headed for the downtown Burlingame Peet’s. Yes, I am stupid! Downtown Burlingame was worse than San Mateo. Why is it like this? Because they both have thriving, lively downtown areas filled with shops and restaurants and people want to go there. Both of them are destinations!

For as long as I can remember Foster City has lacked that kind of a downtown destination. As hard as we’ve tried it hasn’t been Edgewater Place or any of the other local shopping centers. For awhile it actually seemed to be that little strip center across from Costco that managed to hit all at once with Jamba Juice, Noah’s Bagels and Starbucks. It was hard to find parking there! As hard to believe as it is that was Foster City’s downtown for awhile.

As of last fall that’s all going to change. The city chose a developer, the Sares Regis Group, who’ll be creating a very exciting downtown area for Foster City on a large parcel of vacant land located between Foster City Blvd and Shell Blvd, and between the new Jewish Community Center and Hillsdale Blvd. The project is actually located on an 11 acre portion of the 15 acre City owned property in that area. The plans call for the following:

* A Continuing Care Retirement Community that would include Independent, Assisted and Memory care units as well as Skilled Nursing.

* A large outdoor area designed to host a variety of public and private events including outdoor seating for restaurants, a farmers market, art displays and entertainments areas.

* 31,300 square feet of retail/restaurant space in the first phase of the project and an additional 19,000 square feet of retail/restaurant in a future development phase.

The project should begin in 2009 and many of the design details are still not finalized but if this is worked out correctly, in my humble opinion, this project should effect property values in Foster City as positively as the Lagoons have. The inclusion of a downtown atmosphere, a destination spot, is just going to be a fabulous things for everybody in town. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the property values in Burlingame, San Mateo and San Carlos have remained strong a a result of their downtown’s attracting people there. Foster City’s waterfront location is an esthetically beautiful aspect to life here and adding the fun of a downtown destination will only make Foster City stronger than ever. Maybe one day there will even be a Peet’s there! Here’s a link to more info:

VillageSquareDesigns