San Mateo County planning panel approves Olympic Club parking expansion and eight pickleball courts

The San Mateo County Planning Commission on Feb. 11 approved a resource management permit, use permit and grading permit for the Olympic Club to reconfigure its main parking lot and construct eight pickleball courts at 599 Skyline Boulevard.

Planner Luis Topete told commissioners the project would expand the existing 259-stall lot to 353 stalls, requiring roughly 31,000 cubic yards of grading and the removal of 87 trees. Topete said the applicant has obtained a consolidated Coastal Development Permit from the California Coastal Commission and staff has determined the project is exempt from environmental review under CEQA Guidelines sections 15301 and 15303. "Staff's recommendation is that the planning commission approve" the permits by adopting the findings and conditions contained in Attachment A, Topete said.

The proposal calls for a net increase of 94 parking spaces, construction of a 548-foot retaining wall, new drainage and stormwater management facilities, and the installation of seating and ADA parking adjacent to the new courts. Topete told the commission that of the 87 trees identified for removal, 78 are in San Mateo County and nine are in the City and County of San Francisco; 37 county trees would have a circumference greater than 55 inches and therefore require resource management approval. "A minimum of 74 replacement trees are required; the project proposes 200 replacement trees," Topete said, noting the county arborist reviewed and approved the removals and replanting plan.

Applicant representatives said the club does not intend to expand membership or generate new regular traffic: "We are not expanding our membership for pickleball…we just get heavily impacted, especially on days when we have weddings or memorials," Troy Flanagan, director of golf maintenance, said. Abhi, the assistant general manager, said operating hours would mirror the tennis facility and be approximately 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., six days a week.

Commissioners pressed the applicant on access and safety onto Skyline Drive, which the applicant said is a Caltrans-controlled roadway and subject to separate approvals. The applicant said it is pursuing mitigations, including limiting some exits to right turns, and that the parking-lot work is the priority: "We want to get the parking lot done…we want to start April 1 if we can get through the permitting," Flanagan said, adding the parking phase would take about six months.

Neighbors'concerns about noise and lighting were addressed in the hearing. Abhi said a noise study was prepared and is available to the commission; the applicant said the court location is roughly 1,600 feet from nearby residences and that planned mitigation includes solid absorptive barriers and consideration of lower-noise paddles. On lighting, the applicant said plans specify downward-facing fixtures at 3,000 Kelvin and staff and the applicant said fixtures must conform with applicable county lighting rules.

A motion to approve the resource management permit, use permit and grading permit (county file PLN2023-00401) passed on a 5-0 roll call vote. Commissioners Burrows, Garcia, Gupta and Nugent and Chair Serrano voted aye.

The planning commission's action approves county-level permits; the Coastal Commission has already approved a consolidated coastal development permit, and the project will proceed to building permits and implementation subject to the adopted conditions and any further required agency approvals or permit-level reviews.

• Action: Planning Commission approved resource management permit, use permit and grading permit for PLN2023-00401 (vote 5-0).