San Mateo Community Development Director Announces Retirement

San Mateo Community Development Director Lisa Grote announced Thursday that she plans to retire on Sept. 4 after 30 years of public sector service.

Grote has been with the city of San Mateo since 2010 and previously worked for the county of San Mateo as the Director of the Planning and Building Department.

Before joining San Mateo County, Grote spent 11 years with the city of Palo Alto, where she served for six as Zoning Administrator and five as the Chief Planning Official. Prior to Palo Alto, she worked for the city of Sunnyvale as a Principal Planner. 

Her planning career began in the State of Washington as a Planner for the city of Bellevue and as a Transportation Planner with King County. She received her Master’s Degree in Urban Planning from the University of Washington in the early 1980’s. 

During her retirement she plans to focus on volunteering with the San Francisco Ballet and the local elementary school in Redwood City where she lives, along with traveling, cooking and spending more time with friends and family.

“The City of San Mateo is an exceptional organization and I am very happy to have had the opportunity to contribute to the many exciting projects and programs that are occurring here,” said Grote.

“Being part of the executive team was a true honor and I consider myself very fortunate to have been part of it for the past three and a half years. While I am looking forward to exploring many other interests in retirement, a big piece of my heart will always remain with local government. It is the place where national, international and local initiatives come together and result in real improvement in people’s lives. I will miss everyone at the City of San Mateo. It is a premier City and first rate organization.”

In her role as Community Development Director, Grote oversaw the city’s Building, Code Enforcement, Economic Development, Neighborhood Improvement and Housing and Planning Divisions.

During her tenure the Department achieved many significant accomplishments including: approval of 660 residential units in six different development projects, approval of over 10,000 building permits, selection of a new citywide permit tracking system, overseeing the dissolution of the San Mateo Redevelopment Agency and furthering the city’s economic development and sustainability efforts. 

These accomplishments took place during one of our nation’s most severe economic downturns, which resulted in 17 positions, or a third of the positions being cut from CDD.

As the economy has slowly recovered, she has been taking steps to supplement staff resources and help move towards a departmental structure to serve our future needs. This process will continue following Grote’s retirement. 

“Grote has had a remarkable career,” said San Mateo City Manager Susan Loftus. “[She] has made significant accomplishments within the Community Development Department, to the City organization and the residential and business community.

“Grote has been a tremendous asset to the City’s executive team. Grote faced many challenges as San Mateo’s Community Development Director as she implemented two major staff reductions due to both the huge drop in building activity and the dismantlement of the redevelopment agency. She handled these challenges with professionalism and sensitivity and was able to accomplish a great deal while she was here. Lisa will be missed and we wish her all the best in future endeavors.”