Firms Hawk Development Plans to Council, Public, Ahead of Vote on Blockbuster Land Deal

Updated Tuesday, Oct. 18: The City Council on Monday voted to adopt the styrofoam ban (also known as the polystyrene ban) in what was ostensibly a procedural move. The council voted unanimously in favor of the ban at its previous meeting on Oct. 3.

Foster City Mayor Linda Koelling signed the law, which follows a San Mateo County ban affecting unincorporated areas. The Foster City ban takes effect in April and will be enforced by the county.

"This is something that is a county-wide ordinance and I'm glad that we passed this," Koelling said.

With the vote on a blockbuster land deal just two weeks away, two firms hand-picked by the City had their last chance to hawk competing development plans to the City Council and the public at Monday night’s council meeting.

Seres Regis, a California developer which has an office in Foster City, and Foster City Community Partners, a consortium of local businesses, made closing arguments and fielded questions from Council members and the public on plans to build a senior living center on a 15-acre parcel of City land adjacent to City Hall.

The Council was originally scheduled to complete the selection process with a vote on Monday after the two firms pitched their plans to them on Sept. 6, but .

“What I learned last night from the public was that they still had questions about the senior housing and the cost of it,” Foster City Mayor Linda Koelling told Patch.

Koelling said that the public seemed especially concerned about the impact of the development on job-creation in a retail area the development is expected to spawn.

“Some of the questions that came up were with the number of jobs that the retail (area) might be providing, will there be opportunities for FC residents to get jobs,” Koelling said.

“I think the No. 1 most important part next to the cost of it all was will there be priority given to Foster City residents” for employment opportunities.

Both developers outlined a timeline for development, with Seres Regis projecting completion roughly by 2019, and the FCCP about two to three years earlier.

Koelling said that she’s already made her decision but would not announce her pick publicly.

The Council will select one of the developers at an Oct. 17 council meeting. A simple 3-2 majority will decide the winning bid.

“In my own my own mind I’ve already made the decision, and what I heard last night solidified my thinking,” Koelling said. “I will express that on the 17th.

She said she doesn’t know how the other Council members will vote.

“I can tell you right now I have no idea what my colleagues are thinking.”

In other action, the council unanimously approved a styrofoam ban that will go into affect in April of next year.

The Council’s decision follows the recommendation of the , which includes all types of polystyrene, commonly known as styrofoam. Foster City joins more than 20 Bay Area jurisdictions to approve such bans.

Crucial to the measure’s passage were providing affected businesses enough time to prepare for the ban, and provisions that the ban be overseen by the county, Koelling said.

“They will be the Watchdog in the implementation of this ordinance,” she said.