Belmont Planning Commission Meeting on 1301 Shoreway Road Project – January 20, 2026
Belmont Planning Commission Meeting on 1301 Shoreway Road Project – January 20, 2026
The Belmont Planning Commission held a public hearing on Tuesday, January 20, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. to consider a major office and life science development at 1301 Shoreway Road. The project includes two buildings totaling 542,035 square feet, a nine-level parking garage, and public trail amenities. The commission unanimously recommended certification of the Environmental Impact Report (EIR), approval of the rezoning and development agreement, and approval of the detailed development plan and related permits.
Discussion Items
- Project Overview: Staff and applicant presented the 6.9-acre site, currently occupied by a vacant 149,000 sq ft office building. The proposed development includes two buildings (8 stories and 7 stories), a parking garage, and a publicly accessible trail along Belmont Creek with a sports court, bike parking, and seating. The project seeks a Planned Unit Development (PUD) rezoning to allow life science uses, taller building heights (up to 135 feet), and higher floor area ratio (FAR). A development agreement includes $6.3 million in community benefits (escalating to $7 million in years 8–10), public art contributions, labor requirements (30% San Mateo County construction workforce), and maintenance of outdoor amenities.
- Environmental Review: The final EIR, published January 8, 2026, found that all potential impacts can be mitigated to less-than-significant levels. Seven comments were received during the draft EIR period, focusing on sea level rise and biological resources; responses were provided.
- Commissioner Questions: Commissioners inquired about retaining all regional commercial uses (staff explained flexibility for future uses), lab readiness (loading docks, high floor-to-floor heights, BSL-3 capability), public access (5 vehicle and 10 bicycle parking spaces at trailhead), tree removal (157 trees removed, 166 planted, 141 native), and the 10-year entitlement timeline (due to high vacancy in office/life science markets). The applicant noted the project was originally designed for lab use with air handling on the roof.
- Public Comment: No public speakers appeared in chambers, via Zoom, or submitted written comments.
Key Outcomes
- Certification of EIR: Motion to recommend City Council certify the final EIR and adopt findings and mitigation monitoring program. Passed 5-0.
- Rezoning and Development Agreement: Motion to recommend approval of rezoning from Regional Commercial to Planned Unit Development, zoning map amendment, conceptual development plan, and development agreement. Passed 5-0. (Note: The third recital in the resolution incorrectly referenced January 20, 2025; corrected to 2026.)
- Detailed Plans and Permits: Motion to recommend approval of the detailed development plan, conditional use permit, design review, grading plan, and tree removal permit. Passed 5-0. (Same typographical error noted in second recital.)
- Next Steps: The recommendations will be forwarded to the City Council, tentatively scheduled for February 24, 2026. The next Planning Commission meeting is February 3, 2026.
Meeting Transcript
Alright, that was about 15 seconds. Good evening, everyone. Welcome to tonight's meeting of the Belmont Planning Commission. It is Tuesday, January 20th, and it is 7 o'clock on the dot. I'm gonna go through some instructions for participation, starting with uh how to attend uh tonight's meeting. Um the this meeting will be broadcast live to Belmont residents on Comcast Cable Channel 27. It's also streamed live via the city's website at Belmont.gov. And uh finally it's available via Zoom and the instructions for accessing the Zoom link are included in the agenda for um participation in public comment. Um firstly one can participate in chambers by completing a speaker slip and giving it to our clerk. Uh you'll then come up to the lectern and have three minutes to submit your comment. Uh also one can participate virtually using the raised hand feature over Zoom, and again, the instructions for doing so are included in the agenda. And then finally, um, if written comments are submitted on the C dev uh website before 4 p.m. today, um those items will be noted, summarized, read, uh uh into the record. So, um with that, we will please take a roll call. Yes, good evening. Uh Commissioner Adam Kavich. Here. Kramer. Here. Chair Coolidge? Here. Uh Twig. You and Jadala here. Okay, all present absent tonight is Commissioner Majeski. Great, thank you. Uh next item two is our Pledge of Allegiance. Uh please stand. And the flag is here. I think that's a good question. The United States of America. Under the I think it visible. Thank you, everyone. Uh next is uh item three, which is our community forum. Uh this portion of the meeting is reserved reserved, excuse me, for persons wishing to address the commission on any matter within our purview that is not included on tonight's agenda. So I'll see first if anyone um in chambers uh has a comment for item three, which is our community forum. Um public speakers lips for in-house and no raised hands on Zoom. Great, and I'll see Director DeMello. Was anything submitted on our C dev website for uh general public comment? None. Great. Thank you. That concludes uh our community forum and moving on to item four, uh commissioner announcements and agenda amendments. I'll turn first to my colleagues to see if there's um any commissioner announcements. Okay, seeing none up next to see uh if staff has any agenda amendments. We do not great. Brisqua moving on to item five, which is our consent business. There are no items uh on this agenda item. Moving to number six, study session again, there are no items for this agenda item. And uh now uh the public hearing portion of our agenda, um, uh item 7a. Uh this involves uh 1301 shoreway, and uh there's a series of actions associated with this particular item.
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