Redwood City gave the nod this week to a developer’s plan to raze an auto dealership near downtown and replace it with 33 condominiums.

The project by San Ramon-based KB Home at 601 El Camino consists of two- and three-bedroom for-sale units ranging from 1,120 to 1,837 square feet in five three-story, modern Mediterranean buildings. Honda Redwood City currently operates out of the 1.2-acre site. The project received unanimous approval from the Planning Commission on Tuesday.

The plan includes two covered parking spaces for each unit, a total of 66 spaces, as well as one ADA-accessible guest stall. An additional 21 public parking spaces will be constructed by the developer along Hopkins Avenue, between El Camino and the railroad tracks, as well as pedestrian-friendly bulbouts along El Camino and Hopkins. The plan includes a 30-foot-wide courtyard for residents near the center of the project that will include lighting, picnic tables, benches, trash receptacles and eight bicycle lockers.

A few commissioners took issue with the small number of bicycle lockers, given that the city’s El Camino Real Corridor plan is aiming to make the corridor more bike-friendly. That plan has not yet been adopted but could come before the commission as early as next month for review, staff said.

Some commissioners also bemoaned the lack of affordable units in the plan, but staff pointed out that it would be up to the City Council to make that a requirement. As part of the project, KB Home will pay impact fees toward an affordable housing fund, as well as parks, transportation, water and sewer, and school fees.

Two local residents with opposing views spoke about the project.

Doug Caraway said the commission should be ashamed if it approved the high-density project, saying the city lacks water, sewage and parking capacity to support it.

“You’re bowing to people that want three-bedroom units,” Caraway said.

Timothy Bauman, who lives near the planned project and said he would like to live in a similar location when he is ready to purchase a home, cheered the project for its design and being close to public transit. The site is roughly 200 feet from SamTrans stops and 1,800 feet from Caltrain.

The project is in an area of the city zoned for high-density residential projects that can go up to four stories and 50 feet in height. Commissioners applauded the developer for not going to the maximum height, because the zone also encourages “proper transition … to adjacent lower-density residential uses,” according to a staff report. The height of the buildings will be 38 feet, 10½ inches.

Commissioner Muhammad Safdari addressed Caraway’s comments, saying that Redwood City is a diverse community with all types of housing needs.

“I’m a renter and have roommates, and I want to find a house here, so it’s important to build these,” Safdari said.

Commissioner Giselle Marie Hale, who, along with Safdari and Commissioner Connie Guerrero, wondered why the developer wasn’t providing any below-market units at the site, said she was hopeful the council would soon begin discussing a possible ordinance making it necessary for developments of a certain size to build affordable units on or off site.

“When we get those impact fees, then we have to find places to make them real … and that’s the hardest part,” Hale said.