San Mateo council reviews downtown survey; staff outlines cleanup, retail and safety actions

Jennifer Chen, the city’s economic development manager, presented an updated downtown-survey findings report and a staff action plan at a San Mateo City Council special meeting on Jan. 21, 2025, asking the council to confirm or modify staff recommendations.

The survey and action plan matter because the results are intended to guide city and partner work on cleanliness, retail mix, public seating and safety through the 2025–26 fiscal year and to inform a future downtown area plan. Staff said the results will shape work tied to Council Priority 23 (the “Blue Sky” downtown priority).

Chen told the council the survey was developed collaboratively, offered in multiple languages and promoted across the city’s digital channels and partner networks. She said the survey was live from Aug. 19 through Sept. 3, 2024. In the presentation Chen described broad outreach and at one point said the survey had “gathered over 1,300 responses in just 2 weeks,” and later reported “we've received 183 responses.” The presentation did not reconcile those two counts; staff later described the sampling as statistically significant but did not provide a single definitive response total during the meeting.

On substance, staff summarized four priority gaps between how important users rate downtown attributes and how satisfied they said they were: cleanliness, variety of stores, public seating and safety. Chen said overall importance averaged 87 (on the presentation’s scale) while satisfaction averaged 77, a 10-point gap the plan aims to narrow.

Staff outlined current and planned actions: the city allocates $500,000 annually for downtown power washing and custodial services that cover a core 14-block area (pressure-washed twice per year) and a broader 21-block area (once per year); stairwells and public trash bins are serviced five times per week; the Downtown San Mateo Association (DSMA) contributes about $100,000 for daily porter services; six three-bin trash stations have been installed; teen volunteer clean-ups are planned; and staff will explore adjusting wash frequency and collaborating with merchants on parklet maintenance. Chen said the city, DSMA and the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce will continue coordination and that staff are pursuing quarterly broker meetings, cross-training city staff on economic development services, and retaining a retail consultant to help fill vacancies and assess future retail spaces. Interim zoning standards are being developed to support downtown needs until the zoning code and area plan updates are complete.

On public safety, Chen said a police lieutenant coordinates the downtown unit, homeless outreach, mental-health clinicians and parking staff; the police have launched a business-watch program and conduct regular safety initiatives that pair enforcement, engineering and public education.

Public comment and business groups were broadly supportive. Lou Cohen said the work “is all stuff that we've been doing for years… and it's just getting better and better,” and singled out Chen and Lance Hall for praise: “She's the key to the success of downtown. She's been there steady as rock.” Mackenzie Jacobic, executive director of the Downtown San Mateo Association, said the DSMA will use the survey results to inform next-year budgeting and event planning. Erica Wood, head of the San Mateo Area Chamber of Commerce, said the data show short- and long-term opportunities and offered the chamber’s help with communications to highlight downtown’s strengths.

Councilmembers asked for follow-up and more detail in several areas. Councilmember Diaz Nash recommended repeating the survey annually and producing an executive summary for broader public distribution. Councilmembers pressed staff for clearer outreach to Spanish speakers after staff reported relatively low Spanish-language response rates. Several councilmembers asked about interim uses and outreach for the recently-vacated Dräger’s site; Chen said the building is privately owned, is highly specialized (about 60,000 square feet on two floors) and that staff have begun outreach to the property owner about potential interim uses. Chen also said the project’s conditions of approval require a ground-floor grocery space of roughly 16,000–17,000 square feet, and that a different use would require the developer to return to council.

Other council requests included: better wayfinding and clearer names or signage for garages; more public information about how residents can report parking or delivery-vehicle obstructions; consideration of nightlife and evening activity as part of downtown marketing; regular status updates (several members suggested six months); and use of technology or proprietary tools (for example, CoStar and a customer-relationship-management system) and a retail consultant to produce data-driven recruitment materials for retailers.

Staff repeatedly emphasized that the city does not own most downtown property and that landlords and private developers control tenant decisions subject to zoning and approval conditions. Multiple councilmembers and business representatives urged continued partnership among the city, DSMA and the chamber to implement the plan.

The council did not take formal votes on the plan during the special meeting but asked staff for follow-up on specific budget and maintenance questions and for periodic reporting on progress.