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Planning Commission approves special use permit for daycare at Western Hills Church
Summary
The San Mateo Planning Commission voted 5–0 to approve a special use permit allowing Western Hills Church at 3399 CSM Drive to convert about 2,976 sq ft of its first floor into a licensed child daycare serving up to 60 students and five staff, subject to conditions and building permits.
The San Mateo Planning Commission on Jan. 28 approved a special use permit allowing Western Hills Church to convert part of its campus at 3399 CSM Drive into a child daycare center that would accommodate up to 60 students and five staff.
Assistant planner Elle told commissioners the 2-acre site, near San Mateo City College, includes a roughly 22,000-square-foot church building; the proposed daycare would use about 2,976 square feet on the ground floor. Elle said the site has 103 on-site parking spaces, exceeding the combined parking requirement for the church and the proposed daycare, and that staff had prepared a circulation and traffic operations plan with five designated drop-off/pickup locations and staggered start times. "The facility would accommodate up to 60 students and 5 staff," Elle said.
Pastor Scott Dunford of Western Hills Church described the congregation's long presence in the city and said the church's underused children’s wing could provide neighborhood-serving childcare. "Our hope and prayer is that one day we would be such a blessing to the city of San Mateo...we want to be a blessing at the size we are right now," Dunford said.
Commissioners asked staff to clarify several operational and code issues. Staff said the applicant must secure building permits to bring interior spaces up to current building and fire codes. Commissioners also questioned play-area fencing and signage: staff said the existing three-foot fence is outside required setbacks and is acceptable, and that municipal code generally prohibits signage for daycares in residential zones, so standard signage conditions remain but signage would not be allowed.
Staff concluded the project is a neighborhood-serving use consistent with the general plan, is screened out of vehicle-miles-traveled review under local CEQA thresholds, and is categorically exempt under CEQA Guideline 15301 (existing facilities). With those findings and conditions of approval, a commissioner moved to adopt the resolution to approve the special use permit; after a second, a roll call vote recorded a unanimous 5–0 vote in favor. The commission noted that any commission decision may be appealed to the City Council within 10 calendar days.
The Planning Commission closed the item after the vote.
