After reviewing the artist’s renditions of Foster City’s future Town Square, I am very excited by the prospects of what this final project will look like and what it will do for our community. We have finally bridged the gap between concept and reality.
When I came into office four years ago I was eager to work on making sure that this last parcel of public land would be earmarked for the benefit of all our residents young and old. This project will do just that. I was quite impressed with the efforts of all the developers in the way they carefully mixed together the variety of ideas that had been generated from public dialogue last year and developed the vision that will eventually be our “downtown”.
Our objective now is to select a developer who will successfully partner with us and achieve the final design product for this City. I ask my fellow residents to seize the opportunity and offer your opinions about the three different proposals being considered. There is still time for opinions about the mixes of use as this decision on the right developer is very important to all of us and will not be done hurriedly.
I hope the residents of this City realize the basis by which the decision of developing the 15 acres was made. I was a little taken aback when one resident came forward and said she was unaware that we were considering developing the 15 acres at all. I’m not sure what more we can do to get the word out. I do know we continue to face financial uncertainties in the future.
We face many challenges with our maturing neighborhoods and infrastructure and the cost for the wonderful community services we so enjoy all takes money. These challenges must be addressed with broad thinking and careful future land planning and redevelopment.
We live in a different time and must continue to be vigilant of the impacts of a changing environment. Of course the first step towards that end is realizing that change is needed. The final decision may not always be what everyone wants but this process is not about winners and losers but about community engagement.
Our City has stayed fiscally responsible during the difficult economic times because we’ve had to make tough choices; decisions that don’t always please everyone. We must continue to be prudent in the way we set policies in order to maintain the type of service levels that make us such a desirable community in which to live, work and recreate.
During the course of the process of designing this particular acreage, the Council came under attack even most recently in letters to the editor columns. The distasteful rhetoric is unfair and unduly maligning to all of us who finally took a step to make something happen that benefits everyone not just for the near future but farther beyond.
I joined this Council to make sure that decisions being made would continue to serve the community at large and not just special groups. I am confident that we will all enjoy our "Town Square" and wonder why it took us so long to build it.
I invite your comments on this and other issues by emailing me at lkoelling@fostercity.org
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