Safeway - Part 54

In the first action since July 29th, it appears that we have reached the Next Step shown on the City website's Safeway Project page.  The public notice sign in front of the store indicates that it will be on the December 14th Planning Commission agenda.  That probably means the environmental review will be heard by at most six planning commissioners since Councilman-elect Brownrigg's replacement would not be chosen in the next month.

Comments

[SKrause]

The traffic study is now available:

http://www.burlingame.org/Modules/ShowDocument.aspx?documentid=5444

I own a home within a few blocks of Safeway. I shop at Safeway less often than Trader Joe's, Costco, and the Asian supermarkets and Mexican produce markets, because I consider Safeway kind of expensive and often lower quality. - try to find products at Safeway that are not made with high fructose corn syrup.

So that is to say that I am not one of the crowd that says we *need* a new Safeway. But at the same time I am not against a new Safeway, nor anti-development of Howard Ave. Like many I just want it to be done right.

As someone who often drives on El Camino I am concerned that the corner of Howard and El Camino has the potential to get backed up into grid lock. It seems to me that when I am southbound on El Camino and want to turn left across traffic on to Howard I often have to wait for north bound traffic to clear an opening for my turn. Sometimes I am at the front of the left turning line and sometimes I am two or three cars back. If memory serves I've never been stuck, not being able to turn across traffic before the light turns red. But I do think I've had to turn on yellow lights sometimes, meaning to me that the traffic situation there is marginal.

From the traffic study I've learned a few things:

The traffic study makes an assumption that there will be approximately 2,209 net new daily trips. [page 91]

From that number it looks at the current traffic patterns around the store [Fig 19] and breaks those numbers in to critical intersections and then adds the traffic increase that will happen at those intersections. [Fig 21 and Fig 22.]

The traffic increase numbers that they come up with based on the 2200 new trips per day seem low. They say that in the morning peak there will be 17 more southbound cars per hour wanting to turn left across traffic at Howard. That's one extra car per every 3 minutes. In the evening they say it is 29 per hour, or about one extra car per every two minutes. If you look simply at those numbers maybe there is not a problem.

But something just doesn't seem right. The small numbers are derived from the 2200 increased trips. Is the 2200 trips a legitimate number? Safeway is going to spend quite a lot money to tear down and rebuild this store. I'm curious how much the project is going to cost and how much Safeway calculates the 2200 trips are worth to them.

My concern is that as the plans stand right now the city and Safeway do not intend to improve that traffic intersection situation nor build in any capacity for growth of Howard ave. The remedy would be to add a south bound left turn lane and of course the only way to do that in that area would be to use space from the west side of the Safeway parking lot.

If my gut feeling is correct and we start to get back ups on El Camino based on increased traffic it will be far too late to fix the situation. Also even if the new much larger Safeway by itself doesn't push this intersection into gridlock we still might find that any further development of Howard Avenue might be what triggers conditions for big backups on El Camino. Keep in mind that El Camino is one of the main arteries on the Peninsula.

It would be shame to think that city planners and the city council had the opportunity to plan for growth during this Safeway project and did not do so.

[Joe]

I got this from our neighborhood rep, Kathy Schmidt, who along with Jim Thomson are doing a great on the new Safeway:

On December 14th, the Safeway Project Planning Commission Hearing and Study was held at City Hall. The purpose of this meeting was to provide the Planning Commission and the public with an opportunity to comment on the Safeway project and the environmental document prepared for the project. The meeting went well and there continues to be overall support for the project from the Planning Commission and the public. There was some feedback and specific requests from members of the Planning Commission and the public that Safeway took note of.

On behalf of our Neighborhood, I raised a concern about the lack of sufficient and convenient pedestrian access near the corner of Howard Ave and El Camino Real. The existing plan showed only one pedestrian entry point for the Neighborhood. It is located on El Camino Real, north of Howard Avenue. This would have required all pedestrian traffic, coming from Howard, to turn and walk north along El Camino Real to get to this entrance and then cross in front the loading dock to get to the front of the store. The only other option would be to walk down Howard, past the store, and then enter the lot near Primrose and backtrack through the site to the store.

I am pleased to say Safeway added another, more convenient and pedestrian friendly access point and pathway in the revised plans they submitted to the city on December 23rd. This new entry is located on Howard Avenue, near the corner of El Camino Real and Howard Ave. You can see this upgrade and other adjustment made to the plans by going to the City website:

http://burlingame.org/Index.aspx?page=1366

[Skrause]

I have edited my above comments (removing my general dislike of Safeway) and sent it as an email to the planning department, the city manager, and the city council.

Maybe I am wrong about this being a potential traffic problem for El Camino as traffic on Howard increases, but it would be nice to have others consider this detail before we proceed with the final permits.

[Steve]

We really want a new Safeway. I hope it happens tonight. If we get the new store I hope it comes with all new checkers to since the ones we have aren't as good as the Millbrae or San Mateo workers.

[Joe]

The Daily Journal recaps last night's meeting at http://www.smdailyjournal.com/article_preview.php?id=122730

Michelle Durand notes:

Burlingame planning commissioners unanimously green-lit a new Safeway in downtown last night, signing off on an updated plan including 19 more trees than original suggested, a pedestrian walkway and a historical marker.

Approval of the plan came with the additional details suggested by the Planning Commission and public last month. The commission liked the idea of a grocery store with rooftop parking adjacent to a two-story office building but wanted the blueprint tweaked to increase pedestrian safety and add greenery.

The trees now total 75, mostly drought-resistant and including seven olive trees in planters on the rooftop parking area. Other changes include a plaque on the base of a fountain on the corner of Howard Avenue and El Camino denoting the location of the historic DeAnza camp.

The plaque and fountain gave some pause. Both resident Jennifer Pfaff and Commissioner Sandra Yie agreed the corner looked a little like an office park while Russ Cohen expressed disappointment.

“I’m hoping we can do a little bit more than that, more than just a plaque,” Cohen said.

Replacement of the fountain with a boulder was one idea suggested by Safeway representatives, supported by Commissioner Tim Auran and placed on a list of items slated for return to the commission as “FYI items.”

January 2011 is the newly forecasted opening date.

[resident]

Monday night is the night. Should be the end of a lot of work by a lot of people.