County Planning Commission Approves ‘SportsHouse’

Though the official decision from the Board of Supervisors won’t come until Dec. 13, developers are one step away from building a in the North Fair Oaks area. The County’s Planning Commission unanimously approved the project 5-0 Wednesday.

“We are hopeful that the Board of Supervisors reacts as positively as the planning commission did,” said developer Joe Fernando in a statement.

More than 50 citizens attended the Planning Commission hearing, Fernando estimated. Over hundreds of letters of support were also included in the staff report with no public comments against the project.

The complex will be housed in the currently empty Maita beer distributors warehouse that has been vacant since 2009. Owner Marcus Maita and Joe Fernando, the former owner of billiards and volleyball club The Players in Belmont, teamed up in September to build the complex at 5th and Edison Avenues. They have been brainstorming the facility’s plan for months, working with the North Fair Oaks community to incorporate requests and address concerns, and . 

Some residents still have concerns about noise and increased traffic around the area, but these obstacles have not been barriers to approval of the project.

Despite the developers’ attempts to allay concerns, commenter “becky” left her on the Patch article “I won't be using the facility and know it will make traffic worse as well as a lot of people all around our areas.”

However, Maita said that some residents seem to have forgotten that just a few years ago, large big rigs carrying beer were going in and out of the warehouse 24 hours a day. The county wants the complex to close by 10 p.m., but developers hope to close it by midnight.

Plans call for construction to begin as soon as January with a tentative opening in late spring or summer.

"We need to begin promoting leagues and camps and clinics soon,” Fernando said. “Any interested coaches, clubs, camp directors or city recreation departments are encouraged to stop by for tours."

Plans already call for softball clinics from superstar Maureen Brady, Tom Brady’s sister, as the director of the softball program and a catering contract with Astaria restaurant in San Mateo.