In a highly attended meeting last month, residents of a traffic-ridden area surrounded by Redwood City, Atherton and Menlo Park expressed frustration that a private school could expand in their neighborhood, adding 155 more students and staff across the street from its existing campus. They say they already bear the brunt of development that cities with smaller underserved populations would not accept. They detailed how calls to the local sheriff’s office over safety concerns — visitors blocking their driveways, parking on curbs or in “no parking” areas, and creating late-night noise — are not taken seriously.

San Mateo County, which governs North Fair Oaks, is set to make a decision on March 19 on whether Synapse School can build a 9,260-square-foot second campus at 3375 Edison Way. It’s a project the local community council is advising against. 

At the end of February, neighbors in the unincorporated area of roughly 13,000 people that spans about 1.2 square miles packed a community meeting. Attendees noted that the county and the sheriff’s office have done little about complaints of unsafe conditions caused by Synapse School and SportsHouse, the indoor recreation center where the new K-8 campus is proposed. They cited issues with SportsHouse in particular. The rec center at 3151 Edison Way is open until 10 p.m. seven days a week.

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North Fair Oaks residents did feel heard by their community council, which voted 4-2 on Feb. 26 to recommend that the county deny the permit for Synapse to grow. They say there is not enough parking between the two facilities’ parking lots already. 

One resident described SportsHouse as a “terrible, terrible” neighbor during the meeting. The school has an established relationship with SportsHouse, which began leasing out space to the school for recreational use during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Synapse Head of School Jim Eagan. SportsHouse is owned by the Marcus and Sara Maita Family Trust and the Wood Family Trust. 

‘Neglected for generations’

Resident Stephanie Barrales described how Edison Way has significantly changed since SportsHouse, formerly a beer distribution center, arrived in 2011. Nearby businesses also include an investment firm, the nonprofit Riekes Center and biotech offices, as well as blocks of restaurants on bustling Middlefield Road. Less than a mile away, 179 new affordable apartments opened recently.

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Don't let Google decide who you trust.

“After school, my grandmother and I would walk to the taco truck around the corner,” Barrales said at the meeting. “I remember the peacefulness on Edison Way. Now it's chaos. You have parents circling for parking. You get the occasional aggressive parent or relative idling at the end of our driveways. Teenagers that just got their driver’s license racing down the streets. And people not respecting the ‘No SportsHouse parking’ signs. … This neighborhood cannot take any more humans or cars.” 

View of North Fair Oaks and Menlo Park, Calif., 2019.

At the February meeting, neighbors shared that the sheriff’s office has done little when residents call with complaints about patrons of the school and indoor sports complex. Some chalked this up to a conflict of interest since the sheriff’s office has a substation inside SportsHouse. In a staff report for the meeting, the county noted that it has received letters documenting parking spilling over into the neighborhood. 

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“I’m trying to understand how two buildings that already have traffic issues and parking issues, when you add 155 more people ... how this in real terms is going to actually work,” said council member Kelly Parisi at the February meeting.

Ever Rodriguez, who lives near SportsHouse and is president of North Fair Oaks Community Alliance, told SFGATE in a phone call that communities like North Fair Oaks have been “neglected for generations.” 

“Essentially, they are asked to bear the burden of things that other cities … would never accept,” he said.

Gaby Valencia, who has lived in North Fair Oaks for 29 years, said there’s a mismatch between the needs of her working-class community, where the per capita average annual income is $49,000, and the school’s offerings. Annual tuition at Synapse, which is allowed to have a maximum of 310 students enrolled on its first campus according to its use permit, starts at $42,400 per year, according to its website.

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“Most families in North Fair Oaks could not afford to send their kids there,” Valencia said in a phone call with SFGATE. “When you think about the negative impact that this school has in our community, you can’t balance it with the potential benefits, because the potential benefits are not coming … to anybody in this community.” 

Synapse parents, including ones who live in North Fair Oaks, said that the staff makes an effort to help manage traffic.

Eagan said in an email to SFGATE that the school is disappointed by the council recommendation, but it respects the process and appreciates neighbors taking the time to share concerns. 

“Synapse is a small not-for-profit elementary and middle school that has served families in the North Fair Oaks community for more than a decade, and we have worked throughout that time to partner thoughtfully with our neighbors,” he said. “... Traffic and parking on nearby streets are challenges for our school as well. Synapse is one part of a neighborhood where residential and business activity has grown in recent years, and we want to help build thoughtful solutions that improve conditions for everyone in the community.”

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San Mateo County Supervisor Lisa Gauthier, who represents the district, said she has met with the North Fair Oaks neighbors and said parking enforcement is important.

“Ultimately, when you look at what is happening in that area and what we can do, I believe it’s [county] Public Works that’s going to do something with a parking management system,” she told SFGATE in a phone call.

The exterior of SportsHouse in North Fair Oaks, an unincorporated area of San Mateo County.

Synapse, co-founded in 2008 by Karen Stone McCown, who also founded the Nueva School in Menlo Park (now in Hillsborough and San Mateo) in 1967, proposes having up to 140 students and 15 staff within the existing 70,667-square-foot indoor recreation facility. Synapse’s website says its curriculum is focused on social and emotional learning, innovation, and “leading edge academics.”

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The school would like to convert about 5,000 square feet of paved space to accommodate outdoor classroom and gathering spaces. In the application, there’s an amendment to the use permit for Synapse’s first campus with the following conditions:  

Patrol, monitor and direct parking onsite and to the school’s first campus parking lot when parking at the second campus is full

Post signs at the front of the building indicating the location of the shared parking lots

Require employees to park in available spaces in school parking lots

Notify guests that police may be called and their vehicles may be towed if they block residential driveways or fire hydrants

Encourage employees and guests to carpool and use ride shares when possible

Announce reported street parking violations on its speakers

The county approved SportsHouse’s use permit for indoor recreation in 2011, according to the staff report. The permit application notes that SportsHouse provides recreational and youth sports opportunities in an area “where there are few spaces available for these types of activities.” 

The council’s recommendation is slated to be presented to a county zoning hearing officer on March 19 at 10 a.m. for a final call on the permit. This is a public meeting, which takes place in Room 101 at 455 County Center, Redwood City. It will also be broadcast on Zoom.

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Residents told SFGATE that they would consider appealing the hearing officer’s decision if they approve the permit. In that case, the permit would go to the county Planning Commission within 20-30 days for review, according to Gauthier. The Board of Supervisors would be the last stop for approving or denying the permit, she said.

“It’s a balance between having businesses in the community and making sure that the residents are taken care of and finding that balance is delicate,” Gauthier said.

SportsHouse could not be reached for comment by publication.

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