Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 PURPOSE OF THIS EIR The City of San Mateo is proposing the San Mateo Rail Corridor Transit-Oriented Development Plan (Corridor Plan) for the approximately 607 acres of the non-residential lands located between El Camino Real and Highway 101, and between 16th Avenue and the San Mateo/Belmont border. Implementation of the Corridor Plan would establish two transit-oriented development (TOD) zones, one each in the immediate vicinity of the Hayward Park and Hillsdale Caltrain stations. The Plan includes a set of design guidelines and policies that provide for various circulation improvements in the Corridor Plan Area’s roadway network as well as other non-roadway network changes. For the purposes of this Environmental Impact Report (EIR), two development scenarios are considered: Scenario A and Scenario Z. Scenario A assumes a minimum threshold of development, including 1,642 new residential units and approximately 2.02 million gross square feet (gsf) of new commercial space in the Corridor Plan Area. Scenario Z assumes a maximum threshold of development, including 4,031 new residential units and approximately 4.5 million gsf of new commercial space in the Corridor Plan Area.

Located within the Corridor Plan Area is the Bay Meadows Racetrack facility. This is part of a 175-acre area comprising the Bay Meadows Specific Plan (also known as Bay Meadows Phase I), which was adopted in April, 1997. The Bay Meadows Land Company is proposing a Specific Plan Amendment (also known as Bay Meadows Phase II) for the approximately 83-acre area consisting of the existing Bay Meadows Racetrack and associated facilities (the entirety of which is located within the Corridor Plan Area). Adoption of the Specific Plan Amendment would allow the redevelopment of the portion of the Bay Meadows facilities that was not developed as part of the existing Bay Meadows Specific Plan, which has largely been constructed. The Specific Plan Amendment would result in the demolition of the existing racetrack and cessation of live horse racing on the premises.

This EIR has been prepared by the City of San Mateo as the lead agency, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) (Public Resources Code § 21000 et seq.) and the CEQA Guidelines (California Code of Regulations §15000 et seq.), as amended. The purpose of this EIR is to assess the impacts associated with the two separate, but related proposed actions: adoption of the Corridor Plan and adoption of the Bay Meadows Specific Plan Amendment (also referred to herein as the Bay Meadows project). CEQA requires that all State and local government agencies consider the environmental consequences of projects over which they have discretionary authority. This EIR is intended to provide the necessary environmental analysis to assist the City of San Mateo Planning Commission and City Council in considering the adoption of each of the plans and associated approvals separately. The Corridor Plan and the Bay Meadows Specific Plan Amendment each separately constitute a “project” under CEQA. The project applicant for the Corridor Plan is the City of San Mateo. The project applicant for the Bay Meadows project is the Bay Meadows Land Company.

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The EIR is a public document that assesses the environmental effects related to the planning, construction, and operation of a project and indicates ways to reduce or avoid possible environmental damage. The EIR also discloses significant environmental impacts that cannot be avoided, growth-inducing impacts, effects found not to be significant, and significant cumulative impacts.

The EIR is an informational document used in the planning and decision-making process. It is not the purpose of an EIR to recommend either approval or denial of a project. CEQA requires that the decision- makers balance the benefits of the proposed project against its unavoidable environmental risks. If environmental impacts are identified as significant and unavoidable, the City of San Mateo may still approve the project if it determines that economic, legal, social, technological, and other benefits outweigh the unavoidable impacts, pursuant to Public Resources Code §21081. The City of San Mateo would then be required to state in writing the specific reasons for approving the project based on information in the EIR and other information in the record. This reasoning is called, per §15093 of the CEQA Guidelines, a “statement of overriding considerations.”

Another purpose of this EIR is to assist the decision-making bodies in making policy recommendations regarding the desirable level of development intensity and future transportation improvements in the Corridor Plan Area. Accordingly, this EIR analyzes a variety of transportation improvements and a range of development scenarios that could take place in the Corridor Plan Area to permit the Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) and land use decision-makers to fully understand the range of potential consequences of various development and capital improvement options.

For the purposes of analysis, the lowest end of the range of development scenarios is referred to herein as Scenario A and the highest end of the range Scenario Z. These scenarios were developed by the CAC to bracket a range of development that could reasonably be foreseen to meet the overall objectives of the Corridor Plan. Scenario A was developed to meet TOD criteria but was recognized as potentially not economically viable. Scenario Z was developed to test a TOD plan at a high land use intensity that was shown to be economically feasible and which mitigated traffic impacts. Both scenarios exceed the anticipated development within the Corridor Plan Area under the existing General Plan.

1.2 PROJECT BACKGROUND Corridor Plan In the latter part of 1998, as development pressures were mounting due to improving economic times and a constrained amount of developable land, the City initiated an advance planning process to evaluate the potential for TOD around the Hillsdale and Hayward Park transit stations. The development potential of the lands around these stations could permit additional growth, but if redevelopment proceeded with the existing development standards, the more compact development pattern necessary for TOD would probably not occur.

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The City applied for, and was awarded, two planning grants, one from the San Mateo Corridor Joint Powers Board (JPB) and one from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC). This funding was used to initiate the two-phase Corridor Planning Project. Phase I of the process involved preparation of a Concept Plan that describes the major issues involved in 12 unique sub-districts in the Corridor Plan Area, defined by major roads, changes in land use, and property ownership. The Concept Plan also established goals to guide the evaluation of alternatives and proposed plans within the corridor. The goals generally focus on encouraging the appropriate land use and density changes for San Mateo, improving the transit function and pedestrian amenities, and protecting the existing communities from the impacts of new development. In addition, the Concept Plan identified six alternative land use development scenarios but did not recommend a choice of any particular scenario. Phase I had its own 17-member CAC that met monthly from October 1999 to May 2000, when they recommended the Concept Plan forward to the Planning Commission and City Council. The Concept Plan was the starting point for the subsequent Phase II of the Corridor Plan.

Phase II was initiated in early 2001 when the City appointed a new 17-member CAC to advise the City Council on the Corridor Plan and on the Bay Meadows Specific Plan Amendment (located within the Corridor Plan Area). The new CAC represents area homeowners, major land owners and business owners, and representatives of city-wide and regional perspectives. The CAC was charged with reviewing the technical information associated with the study area, representing both their individual interests as stakeholders as well as broader, city-wide interests. They were to seek agreements and compromise so interests are balanced and make advisory recommendations to the Planning Commission and City Council at key decision points in the planning process.

The CAC conducted 35 meetings between February 2001 and December 2003, including two field trips, two workshops, and three joint study sessions with the Planning Commission and City Council. The committee established goals for TOD within the corridor study area. They then heard presentations regarding the elements of TOD, land use issues, urban design, traffic and circulation, the rail system and planned expansion, fiscal and economic conditions, the state of horse racing and transportation demand management, and presentations from the JPB, County Exposition Center, Concar Enterprises, and the Bay Meadows Land Company. The CAC also solicited comments and suggestions from interested members of the public. Throughout this period, a TOD plan was evolving that resulted in a set of potential land uses and circulation improvements that would be analyzed in the EIR.

In July 2002, the CAC identified a range of land use alternatives for evaluation in the EIR. Scenarios A and Z, which are studied in this EIR, are the result of that effort. On December 3, 2003, development of a draft Corridor Plan was completed when the CAC voted (by acclamation) to forward their recommended revisions for public review at Planning Commission and City Council hearings. It is this draft document that is the basis for the Corridor Plan being studied in this EIR. The CAC will submit comments on the consultant recommendations regarding heights and densities for the Corridor Plan during the EIR comment period.

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Bay Meadows Specific Plan Amendment In 1995, the then owners of the Bay Meadows Racetrack, California Jockey Club, applied for a Specific Plan for the approximately 204-acre area that comprised the then existing Bay Meadows property (approximately 175 acres), including the racetrack (main track), practice track, horse boarding area and associated facilities, together with the U.S. 101/Hillsdale Boulevard interchange. In April of 1997, the City of San Mateo approved the Bay Meadows Specific Plan which provided for the redevelopment of a 75-acre portion of the Bay Meadows property, including the then-existing practice track and barn area. The Bay Meadows Specific Plan also involved the relocation and reconstruction of the U.S./101 Hillsdale Boulevard freeway interchange (approximately 29 acres).

The Specific Plan provided for interim and long-term improvements to the main track area to facilitate the continuation of live racing at Bay Meadows. Because the barn area and practice track were being demolished, the Specific Plan provided for the construction of four new barns located within the infield of the main track and a fifth barn located adjacent to the existing grandstand. The specific plan also provided for a new corporation yard, maintenance shed and sleeping quarters. The specific plan provided for the retention of the 90-foot high grandstand on the premises and the provisions of the site’s former agricultural district zoning were incorporated within the permitted and special uses for the main track portion of the Specific Plan area.

The development contemplated by the original Bay Meadows Specific Plan has been largely completed, and includes a 560,000 square-foot office campus for Franklin Resources (directly adjacent to the racetrack on the west side of Saratoga Drive), with an additional 340,000 square feet of office development approved but not yet built. The residential development on the east side of Saratoga Drive is now almost fully occupied. This area includes 575 multi-family units and 153 detached and townhouse-style single-family homes and three parks totaling 4.6 acres. A 304,000 square-foot mixed-use retail center was recently opened at the southern edge, next to Franklin Boulevard East. The mixed-use component contains a 41,500 square-foot grocery store, a 21,000 square-foot health club, 26,000 square feet of retail, 187,800 square feet of office and 19 live/work units.

Notwithstanding the efforts to facilitate the continuation of racing, attendance of live racing events has been declining. In light of this trend, the owners of the track began looking at alternative land uses, including TOD, to take advantage of the site’s location adjacent to the Caltrain transit line. The existing Bay Meadows Specific Plan calls for racing to continue on the main track and any change from the current use would require an amendment to the Bay Meadows Specific Plan. As the City embarked upon its Corridor planning process, the owners of the Bay Meadows Racetrack began working with the CAC and the City to plan for a change in the Specific Plan's permitted uses so as to facilitate the redevelopment of the main track.

Proposed Bay Meadows Caltrain Station As described above, the projects analyzed in this EIR include transportation improvements. If implemented, these improvements would take place in the context of other planned transportation improvements in the

San Mateo Corridor Plan and Bay Meadows Specific Plan Amendment EIR 1-4 EDAW, Inc. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION area. One major planned improvement involves the JPB that operates the Caltrain between San Jose and San Francisco. The JPB currently proposes to implement plans to consolidate the existing Hillsdale train station and Bay Meadows train station into one "express station" to be located adjacent to the Bay Meadows Specific Plan Amendment area. The station is proposed to be located approximately between 28th and 31st Avenues in the current JPB right-of-way and would be one of the few stops along a planned express Caltrain route from San Jose to San Francisco.

San Mateo currently has four Caltrain stations: Downtown, Hayward Park, Bay Meadows (open only on race days), and Hillsdale. At opposite ends of the Corridor Plan Area, the Hayward Park and Hillsdale Caltrain Stations are about 1.25 miles apart. Over the last decade, Caltrain has experienced a 50% increase in ridership.

The JPB's relocation of the Hillsdale Station will necessarily involve grade separations within the Corridor Plan Area. The grade separations will separate vehicular traffic from the train tracks and allow local and express trains to travel the corridor faster and safer. There are two existing grade separations at the Hillsdale Boulevard/El Camino Real intersections, one where Hillsdale passes under the railroad tracks at Pacific Boulevard, and one where El Camino Real passes under Hillsdale Boulevard. As part of the grade separation process (at 25th Avenue), the tracks would be raised and the area between the tracks would be bermed, altering the visual connection between the east and west side of the tracks.

Within the corridor planning process, the CAC explored the locations for additional grade separations and recommended that grade separations be implemented at 25th, 28th, and 31st Avenues. Grade separations are extremely expensive, costing (as a rough estimate) 15 to 30 million dollars and requiring about five years to complete. Thus, if the grade separations are not implemented when Caltrain upgrades the track, the cost to add the grade separations later may prove too expensive to be constructed. The potential pool of funds to pay for the infrastructure improvements would be from the JPB, landowners who benefit from the improvements, and grants or other subsidies from government agencies at all levels.

Although the JPB improvements are independent of the projects analyzed in this EIR, their location and design are integral components of both the proposed Corridor Plan and Bay Meadows project. It is important to note that because the proposed JPB improvements are proposed to take place independent of the Corridor Plan and Bay Meadows project, and are the subject of a separate environmental analysis,1 their impacts are not analyzed in this EIR except for informational purposes.

1 The construction of two additional sets of rail tracks involves federal funds and is expected to be exempt from the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Relocation of the station requires an Environmental Assessment under NEPA.

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1.3 FOCUS OF THIS EIR This EIR serves as the primary environmental compliance document for entitlement decisions by the City of San Mateo and other regulatory agencies with discretionary authority over either project. As indicated above, additional environmental review may be required for specific projects proposed within the Corridor Plan. Regarding the Bay Meadows project, it is anticipated that the approval of each subsequent discretionary approval related to implementation of the Bay Meadows Specific Plan Amendment (such as an application submitted to the City’s Site Plan and Architectural Review (SPAR)) would not require the preparation of subsequent environment documentation, unless otherwise required by CEQA (pursuant to Public Resources Code §21166).2

This document is both a Program EIR and a Project EIR, since the EIR studies both the Corridor Plan (a publicly-sponsored regulatory “program”) and the Bay Meadows project (a privately-sponsored development plan to be implemented through a regulatory program [Specific Plan] over multiple years that includes specific development components). Pursuant to CEQA, a public agency should prepare a Program EIR when the agency proposes a program or series of actions that are linked geographically, are logical parts of a chain of contemplated events, rules, regulations, or plans that govern the conduct of a continuing program, or are individual activities carried out under the same authorizing statutory or regulatory authority and having generally similar environmental effects that can be mitigated in similar ways. Program EIRs generally analyze broad environmental effects of the program with the acknowledgement that site-specific environmental review may be required for portions of the program. Pursuant to CEQA, a Project EIR examines the environmental effects of an individual activity or specific project and focuses on the changes in the physical environment that would result from its development.

As provided for in CEQA, the focus of this EIR is limited to specific issues and concerns identified by the City of San Mateo as potentially significant. A Notice of Preparation (NOP) of this EIR was released to the public for a 30-day review period. It listed each of the issues that were identified as significant or potentially significant, and would therefore require analysis in the EIR. A copy of the NOP and of the letters submitted in response to the NOP are included in Appendix A. The purpose of the NOP is to solicit comments from the public and from public agencies on issues germane to that agency that should be considered in the EIR. The NOP included a project description, project location, and the following list of issues proposed to be addressed in the EIR: Land Use Plans and Policies; Traffic and Circulation; Air Quality; Noise; Utilities; Public Services; Hydrology and Storm Drainage; Hazardous Materials; Geology and Soils; Biological Resources; Cultural Resources; Visual Quality; and Population, Employment, and Housing. Members of the public were given an additional opportunity to comment on the scope of the EIR at a public meeting held at City Hall on May 7, 2003.

2 Public Resources Code §21166 states that no subsequent or supplemental EIR shall be prepared unless one or more of the following occurs: 1) Substantial changes are proposed in the project that would require major revisions to the EIR; 2) Substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances under which the project is being undertaken that would require major revisions to the EIR; or 3) New information not known at the time the EIR was certified becomes available.

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1.4 AREAS OF CONTROVERSY/ISSUES TO BE RESOLVED Because of the relative magnitude of the projects, a number of issues were raised that require consideration in this EIR. The primary issues were traffic generated by the projects and the potential impacts on local roadways, freeways, pedestrians, and bicyclists. Other issues for which analysis was requested include: land use consistency, infrastructure, hazardous materials, population and housing, economics, site history, air quality, noise, public services, geology, and hydrology.

1.5 ORGANIZATION OF THE DRAFT EIR This environmental impact report is organized to allow the reader to quickly and logically review a summary of the analysis, review the recommended mitigation measures, and identify the residual environmental impacts after mitigation, if any. This EIR has been organized into the following sections:

Chapter 1, Introduction: This chapter provides an overview that describes the intended use and organization of this EIR, and sets forth some of the assumptions critical to the environmental analysis.

Chapter 2, Executive Summary: The Executive Summary summarizes the EIR by providing an overview of the projects being proposed, the environmental impacts that would result, the mitigation measures identified to reduce or eliminate these impacts, and a range of alternatives for each project.

Chapter 3, Project Description: This chapter discusses the project objectives, provides background data on the location of the proposed projects, describes the operational and physical characteristics of the proposed projects, and identifies required project approvals.

Chapter 4, Environmental Setting, Impacts, and Mitigation Measures: This chapter describes the existing setting, discusses the environmental impacts of each project, describes cumulative impacts through 2020 (when applicable), and identifies mitigation measures for the environmental impacts examined in this EIR. The issue areas addressed in the EIR are land use, plans, and policies; visual quality; traffic and circulation; cultural resources; population, employment and housing; air quality; noise; utilities; public services; hydrology and storm drainage; hazards and hazardous materials; biological resources; and geology, soils, and seismicity. Within each impact section contained in Chapter 4 of this EIR, potential impacts are identified in bold type. Following the discussion of each stated impact, feasible measures that could avoid, alleviate, or lessen the severity of impacts are identified.

Graphical icons identifying the project being discussed are located next to the corresponding project’s heading for the impacts and mitigation discussion in each section.

This icon means the discussion applies to both scenarios of the Corridor Plan.

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This icon refers to Corridor Plan Scenario A.

This icon refers to Corridor Plan Scenario Z.

This icon refers to the Bay Meadows project.

Chapter 5, Alternatives: This chapter presents a reasonable range of alternatives to each project, an explanation of how those alternatives were selected, and compares the relative impacts of each alternative to those of the relevant project.

Chapter 6, Impact Overview: This chapter summarizes discussions of cumulative impacts, significant unavoidable impacts, growth-inducing effects, and effects found not to be significant.

Chapter 7, Report Preparation: This chapter lists report preparers and identifies persons and organizations consulted during report preparation.

Chapter 8, Appendices: This chapter includes documents relevant to preparation of the report.

1.6 ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW PROCESS In accordance with CEQA, a good faith effort has been made during the preparation of this EIR to contact affected agencies and organizations, and persons who may have an interest in this project. This effort included the circulation of the NOP on April 25, 2003, which began a 30-day public comment period. The NOP and comments received on the NOP are contained in Appendix A.

During the NOP review period, the City of San Mateo held a public scoping meeting at City Hall on May 7, 2003 to discuss the characteristics of the proposed projects, to explain the environmental review process, and to take comments from members of the public on the scope of the analysis in the EIR.3 Notices of the availability of the NOP and related scoping meeting were published in the newspaper and mailed to nearby property owners. The public scoping meeting was held in addition to the monthly public CAC meetings where discussion of EIR scope and methodology were discussed on numerous occasions, as described above.

Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15082 and 15083, the NOP was distributed to potential Responsible Agencies and other interested public agencies. Similarly, this Draft EIR has been distributed to Responsible Agencies, other affected agencies, surrounding cities, and newspapers. The Notice of Availability of the

3 Although notes were taken at the public scoping meeting to record comments, due to an equipment malfunction, no transcript of that meeting was made.

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Draft EIR has been distributed as required by CEQA, including publication in the newspaper. During the 45-day public review period, the Draft EIR, including its appendices, is available for review at the City of San Mateo Planning Division (330 West 20th Avenue, San Mateo, California) and the Temporary Main Library (1100 Park Place, San Mateo, California). In addition, the EIR is available on the internet at: www.cityofsanmateo.org. A public hearing on the Draft EIR will be held by the Planning Commission in the City Council Chambers, San Mateo City Hall, 330 West 20th Avenue, San Mateo, during the public review period.

Comments may be made on the Draft EIR either in writing before the end of the comment period or at the public hearing. Following the close of the public comment period, responses to comments on the Draft EIR will be prepared and published as a separate document, and the Draft EIR text will be modified in response to comments. The Final EIR text and any relevant technical appendices, together with the Draft EIR comments and written responses to comments, will constitute the Final EIR.

Written comments on the Draft EIR should be sent to: City of San Mateo Planning Division 330 West 20th Avenue San Mateo, California 94403 Contact: Stephen W. Scott, Principal Planner

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