My name is Richard Delaney and I live in the original Baywood subdivision. I have read the proposal to declare the entire subdivision a historic district and have actual experience with the designation.

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I am opposed to the proposal for the following reasons:

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The proposal, if adopted, puts additional restrictions and costs on all homeowners in the district. I live in a non-historic home in the subdivision, which was built in 1941. It has no trademark tile roof or design. It was not built by a famous architect and nobody important has lived here. I may need to build an ADU to live in as I get older. My daughter will likely put an addition on top of the garage if she inherits the home. I had to replace 2 picture windows and found that it cost three times as much to match the original. Nobody in California could do it correctly and I had to order them from Arkansas. Only one contractor would take the installation job.

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ALL OF THESE WOULD BE PROBLEMS AND REQUIRE APPROVALS IF THE HOME WERE IN A HISTORIC DISTRICT.

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The city adoption of the proposal will add additional staffing and costs to the city. The city would have to hire addional staff to run the program and those in the district would demand addional services and tax breaks.

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To a great extent, the goals of the proposal are contrary to the needs of the city and state direction. San Mateo had just over 100,000 residents and more than 100,000 jobs. We need additional affordable housing, and the State of California agrees. That should be our housing goal, not protecting certain neighborhoods.

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Those advocating the proposal do not represent many of the people who live in the subdivision.

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I attended the Historic District Meeting and there were less than 50 people there. I saw no young families or recent move-in families. People select San Mateo because of its location and schools, not because of the trademark historic homes.

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The designation is currently available to those who want it and there is no need to force everyone to be involved.

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If Baywood is selected as a historic district we will all have to comply. Designation is not about your house complying, it is about making your neighbor comply.