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. San Mateo Corridor Plan and Bay Meadows Specific Plan Amendment EIR 1-1 EDAW, Inc. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 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. San Mateo Corridor Plan and Bay Meadows Specific Plan Amendment EIR 1-2 EDAW, Inc. CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 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