Sierra Club Loma Prieta
Chapter
Celebrating 81 Years of Protecting the Planet
3921 East Bayshore Road, Suite 204, Palo Alto, CA 94303
loma.prieta.chapter@sierraclub.org
TELEPHONE: (650) 390-8411 FAX: (650) 390-8497
February 27, 2014
City of South San Francisco
Municipal Services Building
22 Arroyo Dr.
South San Francisco, CA 94080
Re: Response to the Downtown Economic Improvement Strategy
Dear Madam Mayor and City Council Members,
The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter would like to respond to the staff presentation on the
Downtown Economic Development Strategy held on February 19, 2014. In this letter, you will find
a description of our concerns and suggestions for your consideration as you move forward with the
study and implementation of the strategy.
For your awareness, our comments are in solidarity with those submitted by the Community
Benefits Coalition, which comprises of environmentalists, labor organizations, and affordable
housing and public transportation advocates. This group is focused on the sustainability, prosperity,
and equitability of the Downtown Station Area Plan’s (DSAP) future residents. Please see attached
for the community benefits platform we have created with the Coalition in 2013 for a detailed scope
of our joint position.
Our comments focus on two sections of the Special City Council meeting:
1) The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter has been pushing for a more all-encompassing and
transparent outreach process with South San Francisco (SSF) residents in order to create an
inclusive Downtown vision. The February 19, 2014 Special City Council meeting information
was available on the City’s website and through email alert by the City Clerk, however, this
strategy can be enhanced significantly. The Downtown Economic Improvement Strategy
(DEIS) has provided various effective means in implementing the DSAP’s vision, including:
DSAP Website Updates, DSAP Stakeholder Distribution List Emails, and an Email Alert System
for the DSAP Technical and Citizens Advisory Committee. The Sierra Club Loma Prieta

Chapter suggests that this extended and refined outreach process will increase participation in
Council meetings and avoid future exclusionary conditions experienced on February 19, 2014
where the prevalent audience were developers with a large stake on the projects discussed;
2) The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter has noticed that SSF is currently juggling two projects at
the same time which may be jeopardizing the visioning and overall public processes. The first
being DSAP and the second being the DEIS. Therefore, this has come to our awareness that the
development of the DEIS may be too early. During the study session meeting, SSF City staff
addressed that the DSAP is placing constraints on the progression of developer negotiations on
the sites discussed and had also requested detailed directions from the Council to move forward
with the developers on those negotiations.
As The Coalition for Community Benefits (TCCB) has noted, “these negotiations seem to be
putting the cart before the horse, and we are afraid that further negotiations with developers may
undermine the public process set up for the Downtown SAP.” The Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
(SCLP), city staff working on the DSAP, and TCCB have implemented a significant amount of
outreach to residents in order to create a vision for the downtown area. However, in the absence of
a draft DSAP, we (SCLP and TCCB) are unsure that the details of these visions will be
implemented.
Since affordable housing is an important concern that the SSF community has addressed at
every meeting, we’d like to use it as an example. It is our understanding that there is a total number
of residential units measured and zoned for the West side of Highway 101, however, it is unknown
how many of those units will be accommodated for affordable housing. Further, four out of the five
(4/5) possible projects discussed during the Special Council meeting were about market-rate
housing.
To make sure that DSAP and the Economic Development Strategy processes align with one
another, we’d like to make four recommendations:
1) The DSAP should act as the “blueprint” or “umbrella” to all other plans and strategies such
as the Downtown Economic Improvement Strategy (DEIS). To this extent, DEIS should
serve as a tool to the DSAP vision, and therefore, the Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
recommends that decisions made on DEIS should not be made until the final approval of
DSAP is made.
2) The public should be clearly informed by city staff working on DSAP that they are
coordinating with the DEIS staff in the progression and advancement on DSAP goals and
visions.
3) All public meeting information about the downtown development and/or planning should

be distributed on the City website, including the DSAP website. In addition, city staff should
also use the DSAP email distribution list to announce these meetings.
4) The DSAP Technical and Citizen Advisory Committees should be notified of any meetings
related to Downtown business.
Thank you and we look forward in enduring our working relationship with you and City staff to plan
a vibrant, equitable, and healthy downtown in South San Francisco.
Sincerely,
Gita Dev
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
Sustainable Land Use Committee Chair
Kenneth Rosales
Conservation Programs Coordinator
Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
CCd: Mike Ferreira, Sierra Club Loma Prieta Chapter
Conservation Committee Chair