County's Meeting Topics

Below are the County's talking points for the May 17th meeting at the Fair Oaks Community Center:

Memorandum

Office of the San Mateo County Manager

To: North Fair Oaks Community Council Members
From: Peggy Jensen, Deputy County Manager
Date: May 14, 2012
Re: Update on Bay Area Catering and Events

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Background
At the March Council meeting, the Council heard concerns from North Fair Oaks residents about a variety of issues related to the location and operation of Bay Area Catering and Events (BACE).  BACE is located on Fair Oaks Avenue in a primarily residential section of North Fair Oaks.  In response to community concerns, I told the Council that I had met with the business owners and that BACE was planning to move their catering operation to a larger facility sometime in the summer.  At the March meeting, residents also had questions about the process for changing the zoning of the BACE building from commercial to residential.  Planning and Building staff and I offered to return to the May North Fair Oaks Council meeting with an update on the BACE move and also a short presentation on the process for changing land use and zoning in the County.    
Update
On Monday, May 14, 2012, the business owners provided a copy of the construction plans for their new facility, which is located in Redwood City.  They expect to submit these plans to the City tomorrow for review.  The owners told us the majority of the improvements at the new site are equipment installation, not construction.  They have already ordered the new equipment, so once permits are issued, build-out at the new location should go quickly.  The owners anticipate a July/August move-in date.

All of the BACE catering work will be done at the new facility.  This means that all deliveries, their delivery trucks and most all their employees will be relocated to the new Redwood City site.      

BACE has a five year lease on the North Fair Oaks building with two more years remaining on the lease.  The owners plan to turn the North Fair Oaks location into a morning and lunch deli/café offering coffee, French pastries from a bakery in San Francisco and other food items.  The business owners would welcome the opportunity to meet with neighbors to learn what types of products and services the neighbors would like to see at the BACE North Fair Oaks location.  The County has offered to have the Peninsula Conflict Resolution Center (PCRC) facilitate such a meeting.  The owners also mentioned that they would be willing to re-paint the North Fair Oaks location and would welcome community input on the new color(s) for the building.      

In response to the community concerns about commercial land uses in predominantly residential areas of NFO, Planning and Building staff will explain the process for changing land uses and zoning at the May 17th meeting.  An action that the Council could take, if there is interest in having some commercial areas in North Fair Oaks re-zoned, is to vote to have County staff take a re-zoning request back to the Board of Supervisors for consideration. 

Recommended Council Action

1. Request County staff to arrange a facilitated meeting between the owners of Bay Area Catering and Events (BACE) and the residents of the neighborhood surrounding the BACE location.

2. Request that County staff take a recommendation from the North Fair Oaks Community Council to review commercial areas in primarily residential sections of North Fair Oaks to the Board of Supervisors for consideration