The Loma Prietan
July/August 2005
Sierra Club endorses San Mateo Bay Meadows II project
by Rafael Reyes and Gita Dev, Sierra Club
Sustainable Land Use committee
Imagine this: You live in a new neighborhood
in San Mateo. Perhaps you purchased
a condominium or townhouse
because the homes offered an affordable
choice, reasonable size, and are located
near your parents. The neighborhood provides
a vibrant mini-downtown on
Delaware Street where you can drop off
some clothes at a cleaner and pick up a
latte as you bicycle to the train station to
ride the Baby Bullet to San Francisco or
San Jose in less time than it takes to drive.
After work you return home to see that
your husband picked up groceries on his
walk home from his office just a couple of
blocks from home. The evening is warm
so you enjoy a walk along the park where
you stop and chat with some neighbors as
you head to a choice of popular local
restaurants for dinner.
It’s just another typical day. In fact, so
typical, that, when you moved in, you
chose to eliminate that second car you
owned when you lived in the distant suburbs.
You are putting the money that you
would have spent on auto maintenance
aside for a big vacation or maybe for the
child you are planning to have. And,
because your home was built with energy
saving techniques your utility costs are a
fraction of what they were in your prior
home, giving you a chance to enjoy that
Indian restaurant a little more often!
This is the kind of vibrant livable community
that San Mateo has a chance to
create with Bay Meadows II and the Sierra
Club has endorsed this vision with great
enthusiasm.
This proposed project would occupy
the 83 acres of the existing Bay Meadows
racetrack and its vast, treeless, asphalt
parking lots. The owner, Bay Meadows
Land Company, has concluded that it
cannot continue to sustain the racetrack
business which has faced steadily decreasing
attendance and community interest.
Faced with the alternative of turning the
location into a casino, they instead have
proposed building a premier, transit-oriented,
mixed-use, pedestrian-friendly
neighborhood. This plan also includes
energy efficiency and water conservation
and quality, as well as specific targets like
ensuring 25% of the residents use transit.
It is a plan which would provide
tremendous value for its residents, the city
of San Mateo and the region by easing the
housing crisis which is pushing people farther
and farther from their jobs and families.
These pressures especially impact
would-be residents such as young professionals,
teachers and civil servants as well
as seniors and it causes us to increasingly
pave over vital habitats and agricultural
lands on the San Mateo Coast and other
regions. Not only does it reduce the quality
of life of those forced into lengthy
commutes, but our air and water are
degraded by the emissions and runoff, as
well as contribute to an increase in global
warming gasses, all from automobile
dependency and sprawl.
This plan is now before the San Mateo
City Council for approval and the Sierra
Club is advocating on its behalf, not only
to approve the project but to improve it.
We are strongly encouraging use of LEED
Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) green building standards, water
quality measures, and improved pedestrian
and bicycle friendliness.
This is an exciting opportunity to
make the vision of vibrant communities a
reality in San Mateo. Please join us in
making it a reality.
To participate or if you have questions,
please contact the Sustainable Land Use
committee:
LOMAP-LANDUSE-FORUM@lists.sierraclub.org
or call the chapter
office: 650-390-8411.
Please visit the Sustainable Land Use
committee website to review our letters to
Mayor Epstein and City Council, and the
comprehensive Loma Prieta resolution
endorsing the project:
lomaprieta.sierraclub.org/slu/documents.html
To learn more about green building,
visit www.usgbc.org