The Harbor View project is wrong for Redwood City and needs to be revised. That’s the message the Redwood City City Council sent to Jay Paul, the Harbor View developer, at the February 11 City Council meeting. It is also the message over 350 of you made to the Council via emails and public comment at the meeting.  Thank you to all of you who spoke up.

Traffic, housing impacts, and granting a General Plan amendment to convert the site from industrial to commercial office (especially near the Redwood City Port) were some of the major concerns Councilmembers expressed in front of a packed audience at the meeting. In addition, some Councilmembers discussed the problem of locating a massive office development like Harbor View in an area vulnerable to sea level rise — an issue Committee for Green Foothills has been emphasizing. These concerns reflect those Committee for Green Foothills has stated thus far.  While some Councilmembers questioned whether reducing the size of the project could lessen those impacts, Vice Mayor Diane Howard reminded everyone that Redwood City residents have already made it plain via several planning processes and two referendums that they don’t want tall buildings and increased density out by the Bay.

So what happens now? Jay Paul has stated that they intend to make changes to the project in response to the Council’s feedback. We will wait to see what those changes are to see whether our concerns over the project are addressed.

We will keep you posted on this issue as it moves forward.