The Belmont City Council held a regular meeting on Tuesday, February 25, 2025, at 6:15 PM in City Council Chambers. The meeting included a closed session on labor negotiations, special presentations, public comments, consent business, and two general business items. The Council adopted a resolution establishing community benefit priorities and received an update on development projects. Key decisions included approval of the consent calendar (5-0) and adoption of the community benefit resolution (5-0).
All consent items were approved by a single 5-0 vote.
Jim Simon (RSG Consultants) and Assistant City Manager Kathy Kleinbaum presented the proposed Community Benefits Program. The program is a voluntary, negotiation-based system where developers provide contributions (financial or in-kind) for community priorities in exchange for discretionary entitlements (e.g., height or density increases). Examples from nearby cities: a Redwood City project that provided $30 million in benefits (including affordable housing and parks), and a Burlingame project with $9.3 million in on-site amenities. Staff identified five broad priority buckets based on the Council’s strategic plan and a 2022 community survey: community center reconstruction (especially Barrett Community Center), public infrastructure (roadways, stormwater, bike lanes), public recreation opportunities (on- and off-site), funding for ongoing city services/operations, and affordable child care (on- or off-site). The Council discussed the importance of balancing on-site and off-site benefits, maintaining flexibility, and revisiting priorities every 3–5 years. Councilmember McCune inquired about services like grocery stores in food deserts as potential future community benefits. The resolution was adopted 5-0.
Director Carlos de Mello provided a snapshot of development activity. Housing completed in 2024: 442 total units (including 65 affordable) from three projects: Autism Crossing (250 units), The Hayden, and Village Walk (15 townhomes). Approved or under construction: 800 Laurel Avenue (16 townhomes, with a $1 million in-lieu affordable housing fee) expected to start spring 2025; 580 Masonic Way (140 units, 25 affordable) heading to Planning Commission in April–May 2025; the Harbor Line project (103 units, 16 affordable) is on pause pending potential joint venture with an affordable housing developer; and the Link project (city-owned parcels at Hill and El Camino Real) will start construction around April 2025. SB 35 by-right projects: 678 Ralston Avenue (65 affordable units, 7–8 stories) and 951 Old County Road (63 affordable units, 7–8 stories) have received approvals but lack full funding; construction not expected until 2026–2027. Councilmember McCune expressed concern about lack of parking (state law AB 2097 prohibits parking requirements near transit) and about overshooting the RHNA quota for the current cycle, which could use up sites for the next cycle. Biotech/office sector: a market slowdown has paused or withdrawn three of five projects; only 1301 Shoreway (550,000 sq ft) and Beam Reach (425–435 Harbor) are proceeding. HIA Specific Plan: the 62-acre Harbor Industrial Area plan (including annexation) is expected for adoption in early 2026, with redevelopment over 20–30 years. Permit center stats: 17 ADUs, 21 new single-family units, and 493 multifamily units completed in 2024. No action was taken on this informational item.
Okay, good evening. Welcome to the City Council regular meeting agenda here at the City of Belmont. It is Tuesday, February twenty-fifth, and it is six fifteen p.m. We are in council chambers, and we are going to uh adjourn shortly for closed session. Before we do, uh, we've already had the call to order at six fifteen p.m. and I'd like to ask our clerk to uh Madam Clerk, if you could please do the roll call. Good evening, council members. I'll begin with um Councilmember Jordan. Here, McHune. Vice Mayor Pang Maganares. Present and Mayor Maids. Present. All present. Thank you. Okay, then we will move to item three, which is our closed session, conference with labor negotiators, government code section five four nine, five seven point six. Okay, thank you very much. Then we will uh move to our closed session. We'll go ahead and call our meeting to order. We are back from a closed session that we had that began at 6.15. And we're on to the part of the agenda that's the regular business items. Again, this is the City Council of Belmont regular meeting agenda Tuesday, February 25th. We are in Council Chambers at City Hall in City Hall, one twine twin pines lane. We are also, if you're interested in joining the meeting, you can watch via Comcast Cable Channel 27. Stream live via the city's website at Belmont.gov. There's also the Zoom link with a meeting ID on our published agenda, and the public may attend the meeting in the council chambers, of course, on the second floor. A reminder that all public comments are subject to a three-minute time limit unless otherwise determined by the chair. And there are various ways to submit public comment before the meeting and during the meeting. And again, those um instructions are all on our published agenda. And I'll go over some of the protocol when we come time for uh a public comment. Um, Madam Clerk, let's see. Oh, we already did uh roll call. Uh so we are moving on now to regular business items. Item six, report from closed session. Do you want to do the public allegiance? We may want to do the pledge of allegiance. Oh, I'm sorry. The Pledge of Allegiance, uh, yes, item four, Pledge of Allegiance. And we have some of our youth advisory commissioners with us, so if you could please lead us in the pledge. If you can rise if you're able. Okay, thank you. Now we don't have a study session today, which is item five, so we're now on to regular business items. Uh item six is report from closed session. Good evening, Madam Mayor. We did have a closed session tonight. Well, however, we do not have reportable action at this time. Okay, thank you, uh, Mr. City Attorney. On to item seven, special presentations and seven A is a proclamation proclamation recognizing March as women's history month. And as March is just upon us in a couple of days, we have a proclamation, and I'll read a little bit of it designating March 2025 as Women's History Month. Whereas during the month month of March, we give extra attention to all of the amazing accomplishments of strong, determined women.