The Burlingame Voice

Monsters continue to invade Burlingame

Approximately two years back, it seems, both the Burlingame City Council and the Planning Commission agreed to take another look at Burlingame's floor area ratio ( FAR.) As far as I know, that has yet to happen. Will they? Should they? (Photo above is an example from my neighborhood taken just days ago.)

Leaf Blowers - Part 2

What to do, if anything, about leaf blowers in town is back on Tuesday night.  It was a hot topic back in June on the Voice and was one of Ricardo Ortiz' best zingers during the election.  The council took it off-line back in August to study it and have come up with the following results.  They current proposal is to divide the city into sections and limit each section to a different day of the week per this map.

The study notes

This approach does not distinguish gasoline from electric, nor does it completely prohibit the use of gasoline blowers.  The thinking was that although electric blowers do not add carbon monoxide to the environment they stir up as much dust and allergens and are almost as noisy as gasoline powered blowers.   Given the concerns and cost implications of the switching to electric blowers for the professional gardeners the consensus of the committee was to minimize the hours of the week that residents are exposed to any type of mechanical leaf blower.

Of course, the challenge is "which problem are we trying to solve?" since some want to stop carbon emissions, some want to reduce the ambient dust from any type of blower and some worry only about the noise.  The gardeners have to worry about scheduling not just B'game customers, but the surrounding towns' customers in the same day, along with rain, sick days, holidays and, of course, the cost of going to electric.  Furthermore, they worry that battery-powered blowers won't last for a full day of work so that would require homeowners to add front and back electrical outlets that are estimated to average about $1500 per home.

I happened to be in a San Diego neighborhood back in September and the gardeners were using battery-powered blowers.  I have to admit they were very quiet and appeared to be as efficient.  We will see what comes out of the study session on Jan 3rd, but several well-informed wags in town think the different-day-per-section of town idea is crazy and unenforceable.

B'game Colors

As the days get shorter in the City of Trees and we deal with drains and gutters choked with leaves, here is a little something to remember

Even is something is left undone, everyone must take time to sit still and watch the leaves turn.

Elizabeth Lawrence

I may just be me, but the yellow foliage in town seems to be doing very well, the orange is OK and the reds are having a very muted year.

Burlingame is Mayberry in so many ways.

Here's proof. There ain't nothin' like the feeling surrounding the "Little Big Game."

 

Council Debate 1.0 - A Bit Rep..e..tit...ious

I'm struggling to get excited about writing up last night's City Council debate--and for once it's not because of the candidates!  The League of Women Voters traditionally hosts these debates in City Hall and the moderator is intentionally from somewhere else and knows neither the candidates nor the local issues.  Unfortunately last night that led the moderator to ask a long series of what was essentially the Same Question Over and Over again about the city budget.  It's certainly a critical question and there are divergent opinions between the incumbents and the challenger, but four or five angles could have covered it.  It would have been even more informative if the League had realized that with only three candidates, a one minute time limit per question is unnecessary and counterproductive to learning what they really think.

So putting the format limitations aside, the main debate was over finances.  Challenger Ricardo Ortiz summarized his perspective in his closing statement when he asked, "If everything is running so well, why is there no money for the Broadway overpass?  No money for the Burlingame Avenue streetscape upgrade? No money to upgrade playing fields or build a rec center?  No money for the pension liability?"

The incumbents, Terry Nagel and Jerry Deal, used their time to highlight how reserves have increased lately , how open the budget study sessions are, how the budget increase has been held to 2% this year and how Ortiz' suggestion to bring in more hotels to bring in more Transient Occupancy Tax isn't sound business (in their opinion).  Ortiz' returned several times to the Grand Jury report that he quoted as saying the city needed to put away $6.7M but was $3.9M short while the incumbents noted that the on-going employee negotiations were private sessions that could not be discussed in midstream.  Both fair points, but not the kind of fireworks B'gamers have seen in the past.

On other issues, Nagel noted that the proposed Peninsula Ave interchange has been discussed many times and "we have managed to beat it off" each time.  While Ortiz noted three options and said he didn't like any of them, the incumbents basically said they didn't have enough information.

On high-speed rail, both Deal and Ortiz reiterated their opposition to the project from the beginning and their on-going opposition to all configurations while Nagel was much more guarded saying that she was definitely opposed to the four-track option but in her capacity on the MTC she was working to get to "yes" on a plan that would secure the federal funding.  Here are the candidates

Debate 2.0 will be held this coming Sunday, Oct. 30th from 4-6pm at the Burlingame Women's Club on Primrose across from the Post Office.  Hosted by the Citizens for a Better Burlingame, it will feature the candidate asking question of their opponents as well as longer answers.  See you there!

Peninsula Ave. Redux

It seems like we just finished the Peninsula Ave. overpass project and the City of San Mateo is already looking at changes there.  If you live nearby, you will probably want to go to the meeting in San Mateo where

Staff will provide graphical illustrations of these two remaining options which are either installation of a median on Poplar Avenue or southbound ramps at Peninsula Avenue.

Details:      Wednesday, October 19, 2011 at the Main Library, 55 West 3rd Avenue

                  Registration: 5:30pm – 6pm   Workshop: 6 ‐7:30pm

If it's not one thing, it's another..................

Hiring Laborers off the Street

Today's Wall Street Journal has an article about the Ninth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals decision supporting day laborers right to congregate on the street while looking for work.  There is no link since the article is behind the WSJ paywall, but it notes:

A federal appeals court Friday struck down a Southern California city's ban on day laborers soliciting work on street corners, saying it infringed on the worker's free speech.

The ban was an attempt to reduce obstructions to traffic and pedestrians, but "Judge Smith said the ordinance 'regulates significantly more speech than is necessary to achieve the city's purpose of improving traffic safety and traffic flow at two major Redondo Beach intersections.' "

From my perspective, San Mateo's day laborer work center at 400 E. 5th Ave. has worked very well for both the laborers and people hiring people.  Let's hope this decision by the more overturned Court in the country doesn't mess that up.

Love Those Ranchers..and the Eichlers

Yesterday's Wall Street Journal had a front page article about the onset of historic status for post-WWII ranch houses as they reach the age of maturity.  A man named Richard Cloues in Atlanta is starting the effort

But with a growing number of the homes turning 50 years old--the age at which the National Park Service says most buildings may be considered for the National Register of Historic Places--Mr. Cloues is leading one of the first state efforts to protect them....Applications from ranch owners seeing historic status for their homes have risen sharply in recent years, according to the National Register.

B'game has a number of ranchers like this one

 
and the article made one point that I hadn't considered so clearly.  It notes that as Baby Boomers age, ranchers are gaining popularity because they are single level.  I think we have a bit of housing stock that excites even more passion amongst owners--Eichlers.  I had a great chat with a new B'game Eichler owner yesterday.  She is charged up about her upcoming restoration.  Here are a couple of other local examples that don't need restoring

 
 
Sweet!

Radios...Radios...More Radios

The issue of a new flavor or wireless antennae/radios going onto poles in the city is on tonight's agenda as well.   We started the conversation here.  Now there is an actual photo of the one at Stanley and Peninsula that have been submitted to the city.  Here it is:

 

This will be just an update at the end of the meeting (i.e. no action item or vote will happen).  As I mentioned in the last post, pole attachment rights are pretty complex and the FCC (i.e. the Feds) even have a say in this around the country.  With wired phone, DSL, Cable TV and modems, electricity, city tree trimming and street lighting and now wireless providers in the game, there's plenty of stakeholders with skin in the game. 

Safeway - Part 68 Sidewalks

The modifications to the street in front of the heritage oak tree are moving along as well.  The City eNews notes

Between Aug 1st & Aug 5th, new sidewalks, curbs, gutters and driveways will be installed on both Primrose and Howard; between Aug 8th & Aug 12th, the asphalt on Primrose will be excavated out and resurfaced, at that same time, a portion of Parking lot "K" (behind Walgreen's) will also be resurfaced; between Aug 15th & 17th, Howard will be resurfaced. New striping will be installed on all roads Aug 18th.

But the Big News came in a Mercury Times piece yesterday about the Millbrae store being approved.  Right at the end October 14th was announced as the opening date for the B'game store.   So next March, the traffic flow reverses and Millbrites start coming to B'game for groceries.