Foster City
Foster City History
Beginnings
In 1958, developer T. Jack Foster took a $200,000 option to buy Brewer's Island in an unlikely venture to build a "new city," to be named Foster City, with Bay Area business magnate Richard Grant. The engineering challenge of creating Foster City from the marshlands of Brewer's Island required enormous financial backing. By 1962, T. Jack Foster put $4.7 million of his own finances into altering the desolate landscape. However, a great deal more money was required to bring his dream to fruition. To finance the venture, Foster (who by 1960 had bought out Grant's interest in the development) convinced State Senator Richard J. Dolwig of San Mateo, and his associate. State Assemblyman Carl Britschgi, Jr., to sponsor and eventually pass a special act of the California Legislature: State Senate Bill 51, which created a "municipal improvement district." Named "Estero," this new district was, in technical terms, classified as a "public corporation." The first of only two such districts created in the history of California (the other was in Santa Barbara), it was authorized to issue over $85.5 million in bonds in elections between 1960 and 1967.
The city incorporated in 1971, following a long battle with the Estero Municipal Improvement District over high taxes resulting from bond debt. Coupled with the refusal by Centex Corporation to pay taxes in 1975 (Centex is a development firm from Texas which purchased the Foster Family's interest in Foster City in 1970), the financial picture appeared bleak. Centex and the City eventually settled out of court, which marked the beginning of stability in Foster City. The tax burden stabilized as more homes were built in the District.
Expanded use of planned communities was an outgrowth of post-World War II Great Britain, when urban destruction resulting from bombing during the war left Britons facing the daunting challenge of rebuilding their cities. At that time, the choice was made to rebuild according to a plan, rather than as the cities had been originally developed and built. The success of the "new city" concept resulted in its gaining popularity in the United States. Two of the original planned communities were in Reston, Virginia, and Columbia, Maryland. In California, Foster City was soon followed by Irvine. By 1973 there were over 50 planned cities in the United States and others around the world.
Planned communities typically develop around a pre-determined threshold population level. This threshold serves as the basis for determining the number of homes, shops and industries to be built on the land and allows coordinated development of these elements. The planned nature of population growth allows neighborhoods to develop intact and purposefully avoids the commercial thoroughfares that commonly divide neighborhoods in other cities. Industrial and commercial development is kept away from the neighborhoods, resulting in a quality of life that is difficult to achieve in unplanned communities.
Built to Withstand a "100 Year Flood"
The scope of the engineering concept that created the land that Foster City sits on was truly dramatic. 2.5 million yards of material were excavated to create the lagoon (impoundment basin). The lagoon is 218 surface acres, containing 425 million gallons of water. There are 16.5 miles of drainage channels, and four traffic bridges span the lagoon. For water inflow, three automatic gates bring in up to 71 million gallons per day from the Bay. In the rainy season (from November through February) four 66-inch diameter pipes, two of which are connected to two massive 700 horsepower diesel motors, can expel an amazing maximum of 250/000 gallons of water from the lagoon to the Bay every minute.
In all, the City's lagoon drainage system was designed to withstand a storm of "100-year return frequency" (that is, a storm of such severity that it has only a one percent probability of occurring each century) and it works extremely well. During the devastating storms of 1982, which were very close to a 100-year frequency severity, the City of Foster City experienced no flooding, while surrounding cities in San Mateo County experienced major drainage problems. From the time the impoundment area was constructed to the present day, Foster City has never experienced draining flooding.
Foster City's Struggle to Become a City
High taxes, born of an increasing bond debt, particularly as bonds were sold to cover interest on previous bonds ("capitalizing interest"), gradually alienated the Foster City residents from the developers. The Estero Municipal Improvement District Board of Directors came under heated attacks by the Foster City Community Association (FCCA), led by an attorney who specialized in bonds, Wayne McFadden. Property taxes in Foster City were the highest in San Mateo County (about 3.75% of the value of the property), and the residents paying such taxes were understandably clamoring for citizen political representation (remember that the value of property determined the size of voting power, thus favoring the developers). McFadden led the FCCA through five years of intense legal and political battles with the District Board, until the FCCA finally managed to attain the incorporation of Foster City on April 27,1971. With incorporation, Foster City was established as a Council/City Manager form of local government, having a five-member City Council/District Board (the District continued to exist along with the City) - this is the form of government which continues today.
Wayne McFadden became the first Mayor of the fledgling new City of Foster City. However, similar to a colony which revolts until it becomes a free nation, yet subsequently enters a period of extreme political strife, Foster City residents fought the developers politically and in the courts until they gained incorporation, and subsequently entered a period of intense political dissension. McFadden was characterized in the press at the time as "dominating his community like no other single politician in San Mateo County." Indicative of the continuous instability of the situation in those early years, Foster City hired and fired thirteen different City Managers between 1971 and 1977. Foster City had four separate City Managers in 1971 alone and repeated this alarming phenomenon with four more City Managers in 1977. Since 1977, however, the City has experienced stable leadership and steady growth in population and property values.
Canada Goose Population
The Canada Goose is a migratory bird, but due to the favorable conditions offered locally, has taken permanent residence in and around Foster City. The birds' reluctance to migrate has yielded an unsustainable rate of population growth, with the number of geese in Foster City doubling from 181 in 2020 to 323 in 2021, and up to 393 in 2022, with a peak count of 367 June 2023.
In 2023, City Council approved a resolution authorizing a first amendment to professional services agreement with Wildlife Innovations Inc. for expanded scope of work for development of an integrated Canada Goose Population Management Plan, including environmental review to allow additional data collection and activities and revise the scope of services to specify only nonlethal techniques for population and habitat management.
Foster City’s interest throughout this process is to protect public health while improving and maintaining water quality and offering a better experience for visitors to its beautiful parks and waterways. Community members wishing to do their part should leave wild birds alone and remember not to feed them. Additionally, please throw away, recycle, or take all trash from City parks to avoid attracting wild animals. Park cleanup kits are also available to rent from the Parks and Recreation Department.
Today’s Foster City
Foster City today abounds with cultural arts programs, the Leo J. Ryan Park & Amphitheater, Hillbarn Theatre for amateur theater stage shows, hotels, retail stores and restaurants, and a beautiful lagoon where activities such as kayaking and windsurfing, or electric boats, such as those rented at Edgewater Marine, are allowed.
Foster City boasts over 160 acres of park and open space land including bike paths, dog exercise areas, a lighted softball field, numerous soccer and youth baseball fields, tennis courts, basketball courts, picnic facilities, bocce ball courts, walkways and pedway, and a wildlife refuge.
Text courtesy of:
https://www.fostercity.org/community/page/history-foster-city
https://www.fostercity.org/community/page/creation-foster-city-built
https://fostercitylife.org/construction-of-foster-city-1960-1980