Still Fogust
Happy Tuesday Daly Citizens!
Housing is always on the mind of Bay Area residents, and two zoning hearings on the topic are on the agenda for the next city council meeting on September 14th. The first amends the "inclusionary housing ordinance" to give preference to individuals who live or work in Daly City, the product of a disparate impact analysis the city partook in recently with six other neighboring cities.
Another hot housing topic on the agenda: ADUs. Daly City has about 2,200 of them, with 30 to 50 new ones permitted every year. The current rules cap a detached ADU at 1,200 square feet (or 50% of the primary home's size for an attached one, whichever is smaller), require a parking space per unit, and require the owner to record a deed restriction proving they live on the property.
Recent state ADU law has mostly taken those decisions out of the city's hands. The state's housing department informed Daly City that its local density and parking rules "are essentially not legal," and owner-occupancy can no longer be required at all. So the city is repealing its secondary-unit chapter and scrapping the registration program entirely. That being said, we still have local requirements that survive the state's law: a concrete walkway to the ADU's back door, keeping the garage door (plus a 36-inch trash and recycling space) when a garage becomes a unit, and entrances that face sideways instead of straight out front. That repeal is the second of the two September 14 zoning hearings, alongside a cleanup of the definitions and floorplan-review rules in the same chapters (staff report).
Separately, the tenant anti-harassment ordinance renters asked for in May is still waiting on a stakeholder meeting that staff said they would schedule in early June; nothing is on an agenda as of this posting.
Housing is on residents' minds elsewhere too. Last week the Chronicle ran this article "This Bay Area city became a Filipino American haven. Now many can't afford to stay", which was shared widely on r/DalyCity
Westlake Park
The press noticed the movement against the privatization of public parks. SFGATE ran "Daly City rebels against Olympic Club's Westlake Park proposal". The issue was also picked up by an up and coming publication that focuses on upper peninsula news, Peninsula Buzz. (Speaking of which, what do we call the area around Daly City, Colma, South City, Pacifica etc? When someone is referring to "the peninsula" they never mean Daly City. So what are we?)
The next step for everyone reading this: write to the city council demanding that the MOU be rescinded at the next council meeting. This effort has shown that community action can work. Let's keep up the momentum! I hope to see everyone at the next city council meeting on September 14th.
For more details, visit SaveWestlakePark.com.
City Meeting Updates
The Library Board of Trustees met on Tuesday, for the first time since May, so there was a lot to cover.
No library parcel tax this November
The committee that has been looking at a library parcel tax met with city staff and Councilmembers Proaño and Manalo back in June, and its recommendation got reported out on Tuesday: don't put a measure on this November's ballot. The reasons were a compressed timeline, the cost of the polling that normally comes before asking voters for money, and the two-thirds-plus-one vote a parcel tax needs to pass.
In the meantime, the city paid for the library's first holds locker in June's mid-cycle budget adjustment. It is headed for Serramonte Main, and apparently the only other library around with one is San Bruno's.
Side note: Have any of you visited new libraries in other cities? Libraries these days are being built with coffee shops in them (potential revenue stream??), activity centers for kids, tool lending libraries and so much more. As with basically everything in Daly City, things don't just need a coat of paint but rather a full reimagining. Not to knock our current libraries, my kids love them as they are. Go support your local library!
New stuff at the library
The Daly City Public Library Associates reported $8k from Sunlight Giving for digital picture books for young kids, $4.5k from the Hillside Homeowners Association, and a 400-book donation that went out as summer reading giveaways.
You can also now check out a sewing machine at any of the four branches. The kit is a Baby Lock machine with a how-to book and basic tools, on a three-week loan, paid for by a separate grant. Ukulele kits are planned next. (Maybe our libraries are on the right track)
On the other hand, we lost one program that I wasn't even aware existed. Zip Books, the state program that mailed you books the library didn't own, has been discontinued statewide as a budget cut. You can still submit purchase suggestions the regular way.
The board also re-elected Rachel Goodman as President and elected Christina Luna as Vice President. And the local history mapping project is stuck where it was in spring: no technical partner. San Francisco State couldn't produce one, and the city's own GIS staffer has no spare capacity, so the library is considering a paid student intern. If you know a student who is handy with ArcGIS, the library would like to hear from you. Email Director Chela Anderson who has been fielding the questions about the effort.
Other Business
The Personnel Board met on August 13, and its agenda included approving the minutes of its July meeting. I went looking for approved minutes from any of the board's meetings this year and couldn't find them on the city's portal. That could be a posting gap, or the minutes may simply not be finalized. I need to figure out which.
Nothing new on the vehicle license fee shortfall since the last post. The thing to watch is whether the fix makes it into a state budget trailer bill by the end of August. I'll keep you posted.
The Women's Commission meets Thursday the 27th. No agenda is posted yet but the last meeting indicated they were planning a violence education event for November 5.
Important dates
Friday, August 28. Last day to pre-apply for the six Point Martin below-market-rate townhomes. Daly City residents. Details
Monday, September 7. Write-in candidate filing opens for the three council seats and runs through October 20. Papers from the City Clerk, (650) 991-8078.
Monday, September 14, 7 p.m. City Council, City Hall, 333 90th Street. The two housing hearings above, plus open public comment. Email [email protected] to ask for Westlake Park on the agenda.
Thursday, September 24. First pre-election campaign finance statements are due, covering July 1 through September 19. Our first look at who is funding the council race.
Around town
TONIGHT! Tuesday Fun Night Tuesday, August 25, 6 to 7:30 p.m. Westlake Library, 275 Southgate Ave. Drop-in, a different activity each week, kids and adults. Free.
Teen Art Workshop: Light and Shadow Book Wednesday, August 26, 4 to 5:30 p.m. Serramonte Main Library, 40 Wembley Drive. Teens, first come first served while supplies last. Free.
Fixit Clinic Wednesday, August 26, 5:30 to 7 p.m. John Daly Library, 134 Hillside Blvd. Bring one broken thing; tools and volunteer coaches provided. Adults.
Financial literacy workshops for youth and parents Thursday, August 27, 5:30 to 6:15 p.m. Peninsula Books, 441 Westlake Center. First of a three-part series; register for one or all.
Colma summer concerts: Smokin' Slice of Mojo Thursday, August 27, 6 to 8 p.m. Colma Community Center, 1520 Hillside Blvd. The last one of the summer. Free, bring a chair.
Pop-up with Made with Madie Friday, August 28, 5 to 8 p.m. Peninsula Books, 441 Westlake Center.
Silent Book Club on San Bruno Mountain Saturday, August 29, 10 a.m. to noon. San Bruno Mountain Park, 555 Guadalupe Canyon Blvd, Brisbane. Adults. Register for free parking, courtesy of the Parks Foundation.
Play & Learn with Help Me Grow Fridays, 10:30 to 11:30 a.m., through September 18. Serramonte Main Library. Ages 0 to 5. Free.
CARD SHOW CON Saturday and Sunday, September 5 and 6, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Cow Palace, 2600 Geneva Ave. Ticketed; kids 6 and under free.
The library storytimes are back on their weekly schedule into September: Serramonte Tuesdays and Baby Bounce Wednesdays at 10:15 a.m., John Daly Wednesdays at 6 p.m., Westlake Thursdays at 10:15 a.m. and Bayshore Thursdays at 6 p.m. All free.
Everything past two weeks out is on the events calendar.
Other Alerts
The Westlake slurry seal runs through September 4. Same rules as before: on your street's day it is closed 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., and anything still parked after 7 a.m. gets towed at your expense. Signs go up 48 hours ahead. The schedule is on the construction projects page.
Housing help for seniors. San Mateo County's Housing Readiness Program runs through December: one-on-one housing help by phone for residents 62 and up, with help available in Spanish, Tagalog, Mandarin and Cantonese. Call (650) 348-6660. Details
Restaurant news, one in each direction. Ongpin has closed after a long run, and neighbors are saying goodbye on r/DalyCity. Meanwhile Undercover Fries confirmed it is opening a storefront at Serramonte Center, no date yet. And a storefront near Seafood City is getting a fresh coat of red paint; nobody on Reddit knows what is moving in. If you do, let us know.
Until next time!