Tag Archives: Downtown Precise Plan

City Update from Councilperson Gee

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With summer over and Halloween coming soon, I wanted to take a few moments to highlight a number of events, happenings and decisions on the City.

Earlier this year, the City adopted the Downtown Precise Plan (DTPP). Combined with last year’s adoption of the General Plan, both documents set a vision for the future of our City and the downtown. The vision continues the “Renaissance” of Redwood City. In addition to establishing a vision for our City, the General Plan and the DTPP provide clarity and certainty for developers, builders, and new business owners on what they need to do to develop a project.

One of our goals is to promote housing downtown. There are a number of housing projects in the planning stages: Mels’ Bowl on El Camino Real is planned for 141 units of rental housing; the former Dodge site at Veterans/Whipple is another site that is planned for rental housing. Other projects include 333 Main Street, 132 units or rental housing, including affordable housing, and 201 Marshall Street, 116 units of housing. All of these projects could be under construction next year.

As housing and residents arrive, so do new businesses. Sakura Teppanyaki and Sushi is a new “benihana” style restaurant that opened a couple of months ago. Sakura has quickly developed a devoted and regular clientele; The Old Spaghetti Factory will be opening in a few weeks, as will Papa John’s Pizza. Coming to Sequoia Station is Pier 1 Imports (opening in early 2012), and Barone’s Wood Fire Pizza (next to Young’s Ice Cream).

On a much quieter front, a number of new tech businesses have moved-in, or started in Redwood City. These employers enjoy the access to CalTrain, the wide-variety of dining and entertainment opportunities for staff, and soon, nearby housing.

Finally, congratulations to Eric and Lori Lochtefeld, the owners of the Fox Theatre. Last month, they celebrated their one-year anniversary with their 100th event at the Fox. Where else could you hear the music of Michael Jackson (Foreverland was the featured band for the Friday night concert), followed by the music of Chicago (the Chicago Transit Authority was the opening act for the evening at the Fox), and then concluding with the music of Neil Diamond (Super Diamond). All of this in Redwood City!

— Jeff Gee, Redwood City Councilperson

City Update from Councilperson Gee

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In January, the City Council certified the Downtown Precise Plan – our revised and updated vision for downtown. Unfortunately, the initial Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was challenged in court, and the judge ruled that there were two areas requiring additional work – potential shadows, and more work was required on the historic structures section of the plan.

Two years later, I am pleased to report that we have a new plan for downtown. Staff and consultants have spent several hundred hours updating the plan, along with countless hours from our Historic Resources Advisory Committee, and the Planning Commission.

So why is downtown important – especially for those of us that live in Redwood Shores? I typed this question into my internet search engine and received over 14.3 million responses. Some of the answers included:

  • A sense of identity for a community
  • A social gathering space
  • A place where a community can assemble
  • Local businesses are part of a community’s quality of life
  • Downtown is part of a community’s history
  • Downtown is a neighborhood

The list goes on and on – for 14,295,000 other reasons.

Our vision for our downtown includes all of the above and more. The vision for downtown began over a decade ago with the appointment of a citizen task force. The initial thoughts of this citizen task force helped change our downtown. The foundation for this renaissance for downtown includes the new Courthouse Square and the retail/cinema complex (with the Old Spaghetti Factory opening later this year!). More recently, several new start-up technology companies have moved in.

The key to continuing the transformation of our downtown are residents that live in this new neighborhood. Hopefully, the new plan will attract new housing development and give each of us many more lifestyle choices.

— Jeff Gee, Redwood City Councilperson