North Fair Oaks Neighbors Want Catering Business Out

North Fair Oaks residents plan to petition the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to eliminate a business from their neighborhood, a move that is costing one small business owner thousands of dollars.  

“We are trying to work with them as much as we can, but they want us out of there,” said Sandra Perez, owner of Bay Area Catering & Events.

Perez opened a kitchen at 3821 Fair Oaks Avenue in unincorporated San Mateo County about three years ago. The building in which her employees cook food for events used to be a residence; it is still surrounded by homes. It is zoned for commercial use, which is a problem for some residents who live nearby.

Andrea Houghton lives about two houses away from Bay Area Catering & Events. She said that one of the biggest problems is the noise coming from the building.  

“There’s a big industrial-sized fan on top of the building that runs from 6 a.m-8 p.m. every day,” Houghton told Patch.  “It’s like a constant humming noise. In addition to that, the building has a refrigeration unit that kicks on and off throughout the night,” she said.

She said the county made a huge mistake allowing a business with a client list this large to operate in her neighborhood. The space was rezoned for commercial use in 1941 when the original owner wanted to sell produce out of the home, according to David Bui, who is working with Houghton get the land rezoned. The original intent is no longer a reality, he said. 

Bui says the catering company is a detriment to the neighborhood that creates unsafe conditions for residents and unpleasant odors.

“This business is not open to the public and serving the area,” Bui said, referencing a clause in the current zoning ordinance that allows the commercial business to operate in a residential area.  

“It is polluting the area with the smell,” Bui said. “It’s horrible like fish, most of the time. Sometimes it’s like garlic with some kind of meat,” he told Patch.  Residents also took issue with the company's delivery trucks.

Bui said parents in the neighborhood often push strollers on walks by the building. Because the neighborhood does not have sidewalks, they must travel on the street, where delivery trucks go faster than they should. 

Bui said he and his neighbors tried working with the county’s Planning Commission to solve these problems. They've been working on resolving this for more than a year. However, he said commissioners didn’t understand their concerns for neighborhood safety, and instead presented them with a plan for expanding the location into multiple businesses.

Residents are now organizing and preparing to approach their elected representatives with a petition that calls for the land to be rezoned for residential use only. 

On Tuesday at 11 a.m. 114 people had signed the change.org petition that will be presented to Warren Slocum, District 4 representative on the Board of Supervisors in the near future. 

Meanwhile, Sandra Perez, says she’s invested more than $250,000 into the business and is doing everything she can to comply with county laws.  She is actively working to reduce the environmental impacts of her business, she said.

“We’ve spent more than $2,000 to buy carbon filters that will be installed on Friday,” Perez told Patch on Tuesday morning.

She also noted that she bought a $6,000 hood to soften the noise.

“We have a five year lease and need to be there for at least two more years,” she explained.

When asked if she would consider opening a restaurant at that location, so residents could benefit from having her business in their community, she said, ”If the neighborhood doesn’t support our business, why should we spend more money to make a restaurant there?” 

“No business has survived in that location; mine is the only one that has survived,” she said.

Perez is considering moving her kitchen to 3215 Oak Knoll Drive in Redwood City by the end of 2013.