Project Description & Introductory Memo

Saint Matthews is proposing a Master Plan with Use Limitations and Traffic & Parking Management Plan, a School Gymnasium and an additional 108 parking spaces for a total of 306 parking spaces. The newly proposed building is proposed to be approximately 11,683 square feet. The only programmatic room in the proposed new building will be for the existing before and after school care program. Nothing in this application creates any new or more intense uses at Saint Matthews. It is also important to note that, per this submittal, Saint Matthews cannot proceed (will not be issued a Building Permit) for the School Gymnasium until all traffic and parking improvements have been verified by the City.

This submittal also includes the following documents (All of these documents can be found via the following link http://stmatthewcath.org/gymnasium/):

• Comparison of 2009 vs 2010 Submittal
• Responses to 2009 Staff Alternative Actions
• Master Plan
• Use Limitations
• Environmental Review
• Traffic & Parking Management Plan
• Proposed Findings
• Owner Proposed Conditions of Approval

The City is currently conducting the environmental review for this project. Upon completion of the draft environmental review document it will be available for public comment. The City will then conduct public hearings to consider both the environmental and merit aspects of the proposal.

Saint Matthews has been working since June of last year to respond to the input it received from the Planning Commission, the Planning staff and the community. The Application includes responses to the issues raised in the June 2009 staff report under Alternative Actions - Item 1 and via the 2010 Pre-Application process including the July, 2010 Planning Commission, Study Session . This includes the following:

1. Development of a Master Plan which can be codified into an Overlay Zone in accordance with the City's Municipal Code Section 27.60.
2. Working with neighborhood groups to develop acceptable criteria for the regulation of onsite activities, including special events.
3. Provision of onsite parking that, in conjunction with the Use Limitations, meets the minimum parking requirements for the new building.
4. Evaluation of the use, expansion and demolition of the existing auditorium building. This included consideration of a small addition to the existing auditorium building instead of a new building.
5. Determination of how Saint Matthews can better utilize existing buildings so less new square footage is required to be constructed.
6. Redesign of the building in response to prior comments by the City's design consultant, staff, and the Planning Commission
7. Preparation of a Traffic & Parking Management Plan

The provisions of the Master Plan and Use Limitations, the Traffic and Parking Management Plan and the Parking Improvement Plan specifically detail how Saint Matthew will meet the City's parking requirements. A Civil Engineer, in consultation with the Traffic/Parking Engineer and Landscape Architect, prepared this Parking Plan and it has been reviewed by the City.

These documents represent a distinct and substantive change from Saint Matthew's previous submittal. In total, these documents will significantly improve upon the existing parking conditions at Saint Matthew and the neighborhoods that surround it. There is nothing in any of these documents that creates any new or more intense uses at Saint Matthew.

The following is a list of the new and key provisions within these documents:

1. The current proposal is for a School Gymnasium as documented within the Master Plan and Use Limitations. The previous submittal was for a Community Center.
2. The allowable types and level of usage at Saint Matthews is established via the Master Plan and Use Limitations and will be codified through an Overlay Zone per the City's Municipal Code.
3. A Use Limitation stating that Saint Matthew's shall not use the existing Auditorium nor the proposed School Gymnasium one half hour before or after its regularly scheduled church masses on Saturday evenings or on Sundays until after 1:30pm except as needed in preparation for and in conjunction with the masses. Given the current regularly scheduled Saturday Mass times of 5:00 and 7:00pm, this provision means that St. Matthews will use neither the Auditorium nor the new School Gymnasium between 5:00-8:30pm on Saturdays and until after 1:30pm on Sundays. This is a critical provision that eliminates the potential for the Church, Auditorium and new School Gymnasium to be used simultaneously during peak Church building usage, except as provided for in the Major Events provision of the Use Limitations in Section 3 of this submittal.
4. Use Limitations prohibiting the use of the School Gymnasium or Auditorium during the 11 major masses during the year except as needed in preparation for or in conjunction with the masses. This provision has been added to further eliminate the potential for simultaneous uses of the Auditorium and School Gymnasium during other, non-regularly scheduled Saturday or Sunday Mass times in which the Church building is used to a significant degree.
5. A Use Limitation with stringent requirements for all "Major" and "Minor" events designed to mitigate any impacts, on the surrounding neighborhoods, of these events to less than significant. This includes provisions for weddings and funerals.
6. The addition of 108 parking spaces to the existing 198 parking spaces for a total of 306 parking spaces. The Hexagon Report documented a peak parking requirement of 273 parking spaces, assuming the above stated Use Limitations. (Hexagon Report - Updated 9/18/09 - Recommendation #9)
7. A comprehensive Traffic and Parking Management Plan for all activities of the school and parish.
8. Parking and traffic improvements identified in the Parking and Traffic Management Plan (including the creation of 108 new onsite parking spaces) and the Hexagon Traffic Report as mitigation for the proposed school gymnasium project will be constructed and be operational as the Phase I implementation of the St. Mathew's Master Plan; prior to issuance of any building permits for the school gymnasium.
9. A Use Limitation for the proposed School Gymnasium limiting it to athletic events related solely to Saint Matthew School. This includes provisions prohibiting any competitive games outside the school's existing athletic programs and prohibiting the rental of the School Gymnasium or Auditorium to outside organizations.
10. The aesthetics of the project have been carefully considered by Saint Matthews, its architect and are responsive to the input of City's design review consultant, the Planning Commission and the community.
11. The proposed new gymnasium's current design fits well in the context of the other parish buildings. To be complimentary to the existing structures similar colors and building materials are used throughout the proposed new gymnasium. The proposed building shape is similar to the existing Auditorium form, which is directly adjacent. The east and west ends of the new gymnasium are dropped by approximately ten feet to help reduce the overall mass of the building.
12. The deletion of two of the Meeting Rooms proposed in the previous plan which reduces the square footage of the new building by [1,378] sq feet or an approximately 10.55% reduction. The only programmatic room in the proposed new building will be for the existing before and after school care program.
13. Use Limitations specifically identified for each of the buildings on the Saint Matthew property. This includes allowed types and hours of use as well as the maximum numbers of students and employees.
14. A requirement that Saint Matthew pay for a City of San Mateo Parking Enforcement Officer to patrol the area around Saint Matthew during Special Events to determine potential violations of conditions of the parking and traffic requirements of the Special Events/Use Permit and to enforce the City Parking code on neighboring streets.
15. Similar provisions as proposed in the previous submittal have been included for a Facility Use Master Calendar and a Parking Traffic Advisory Committee.
16. Proposed Findings and Conditions of Approval documenting that the project will not adversely affect the health, safety and welfare of the community and that the project conforms with the City's General Plan.

For more details on Saint Matthew's submittal for a Master Plan with Use Limitations and Traffic & Parking Management Plan, a School Gymnasium and an additional 108 parking spaces please review the documents within the following link: http://stmatthewcath.org/gymnasium/.

Return to online petition »