The Burlingame Voice

New Train Station Parking to Hurt Burlingame Small Businesses

Plans for the proposed new Caltrain Station Expansion will probably close down 8 small Burlingame businesses.

They include:

Anugrah
Heriz Rugs
Butterfly Cakes
Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia
Heriz Music Store
Ruppels Auto
Rock 'n Roll Auto Stereo
BarkStation Dog Grooming

Caltrain has plans for the construction of new platforms and parking to take place south of the exisiting Burlingame Avenue Station, primarily in the block bordered by:

West Lane
East Lane
South Lane ( the street the Chamber of Commerce is on )
Howard Avenue

Current plans detail (1) the closing of South Lane (2) the addition of 118 new Caltrain parking places and (3) the closure of the pedestrian walkway from Burlingame Avenue (east side) across the tracks to the Burlingame Avenue Station.

All West Lane parking and delivery access for these businesses will be lost.

Two businesses, The Bark Station and Rock 'n Roll Auto Stereo, have their front door facing West Lane. Their existence depends on West Lane.

We are asking for your support in requesting Caltrain not to take away this important access and parking on West Lane and to leave the pedestrian walkway alone.

Many of our seniors use this important walkway.

All merchants involved, and many Burlingame citizens, believe the community would be better served if the reconfiguration was done north of the existing station. There is plenty of unused parking already there.

These merchants and many concerned citizens will be attending this Monday's City Council Meeting on Primrose Avenue at 7:00 pm.

Thank you.

Gary Doss
Burlingame Museum of Pez Memorabilia

- Written by pez

Loud and clear!

Isn't there a rule that no political signs of any kind are allowed on city property?

The two presidential signs in the corporation yard behind the High School bleachers and the parks truck with the presidential sticker are certainly showing us loud and clear where their votes will be going on Tuesday. Great to know, but is this allowed ....

- Written by Fiona

Another Town but ...

Measure Q is a very interesting discussion for Redwood City residents and certainly has spawned alot of letter writers in the local newspapers.

We know our Mayor does not want housing on the Bayfront but I wonder if this situation could ever happen despite Mr. Galligan's worry about the wind on the Bayfront!

Could a huge developer ride into Burlingame and spend nearly $1 million to educate the public about highrises, "affordable" housing and beautiful open space for all?

Interesting to me is that Redwood City council members said yes to the project but a grass roots group of 200 residents with very little money are fighting a huge developer who has spent nearly a million dollars in political consultants, shiny flyers and don't forget those misty photos of misty highrises! The opponents have had the NIMBY accusation, the threat that there will be big box stores if they do not allow housing and now accusations of failure to disclose services provided by their attorney who "got the damn thing on the ballot". And don't forget the telephone poll by "yes on Q" asking about the negative campaign tactics by the No on Measure Q campaign. It is all down and dirty.

I look forward to seeing the results of Measure Q because Pete's Harbor and our Bayfront are two of our most treasured open spaces. The election result will be an interesting one.

- Written by Fiona

A Certain Feeling about it

Dana's article in the Daily Journal today confirms what we suspected:

"Burlingame joins elite property list

The location is great, the trees are charming and the average home will cost you about $1.2 million. Beverly Hills? Malibu? No, Burlingame.

The California Association of Realtors listed Burlingame this week as the state's seventh most expensive place to buy a home. The medium price tag for a home in the city of trees went up 35.2 percent in one year. The medium cost was a cool $907,500 a year ago, but is now well into seven digits.

Good interest rates, plenty of homes for sale by laid off high-tech workers and a certain feeling about it? makes Burlingame and Hillsborough (they share a zip code) the place to be, Realtor Steve Crammer said.

Crammer has worked in the area for more than five years and said sales have been through the roof. Five years ago, he sold a house on the east side of the railroad tracks for $700,000, two years later that same home sold for $1.1 million and the next year in 2002 it sold for $1.3 million.

The prices could level off in six to eight months, but they won't decrease, Crammer said. However, it's impossible to know for certain, he added. The median home prices across the state increased by 21 percent since this time last year. At $1,227,000, Burlingame ranks seventh most expensive behind Manhattan Beach, $1.45 million; Beverly Hills, $1.38 million; Laguna Beach, $1.3 million; Coronado, $1.29 million; Los Altos, $1.26 million and Saratoga at $1.25 million".

Perhaps the article could have shown two more charming Burlingame houses to illustrate why most of us are mortgaged up to the hilt to live in a place with "a certain feeling about it"!

- Written by Fiona

Now to Council ...

Christine's article in the San Mateo Times is the latest on the hospital project.

The Planning Commissioners (minus Chris Keele who was absent) voted unanimously to push the hospital project forward. The neighborhood residents had asked for a better plan but the hospital states that they have looked at all alternatives. Our esteemed council will now need to vote for final approval at the Council meeting on Monday November 15th.

We need a new safe hospital but we also need a new health care system - something way beyond the Burlingame City Council and our elected officials in Washington.

- Written by Fiona

The County's Best

The San Mateo Times have published the County's Best. Of course the winners are the true favorites that deserve to win the award:

Chicken Chicken for Lunch Spot and Casual Dining/Family Restaurant
Copenhagen Bakery for Bakery
Brother's Deli for Delicatessen
Morning Glory for Clothing Store/Independent (Womens)
Malouf's for Clothing Store/Independent (Mens)
Stacks for Breakfast Spot
Kern's for Jewelry

The awards should also have gone to:

Weimax for the best descriptions to tempt you to buy a certain wine
Hola for the best chicken mole though wish they stayed open later on Mondays!
Jim at the Burlingame Garden Center for delivering plants on an early Sunday morning so volunteers could get busy on those Burlingame Avenue planters
Il Piccolo for the best coffee house and ambience - way and beyond any others
Dr. Tanisawa for the the best optician and the friendliest service
L'Atelier for the best interior design and the offer of a cup of tea!

Of course they are all in Burlingame and deserve to have won!

- Written by Fiona

Kitchen Remodel

Many Burlingame residents have complained due to the surcharge over of many kitchen appliances and lack of service. A solution has been brought forward. A company out of Daly city has been assisting many home owners with their remodels. Their patience and skills have out performed the local competition and have also driven the cost of remodel down. The company CG APPLIANCE EXPRESS has served the peninsula since 1956. They are willing to come out to your home and will install in a timely fashion. If you need their assistance you should contact them for your next remodel or appliance upgrade. www.cgapplaince.com
Builder Pricing Available

- Written by kitchens

How Will You Vote?

Many people I know are stressed about how to vote in the coming election.

What do you feel strongly about? I urge you to vote "yes" on Prop 1A to stop the state legislature's habit of raiding local tax dollars from cities and counties to pay for programs mandated (but not funded) by the legislature. If it passes, the new law will go into effect two years from now. (Gov. Schwarzenegger argued that the state's finances are in such dire shape that it can't happen sooner.) A "yes" vote on Prop 1A will translate into millions of dollars for Burlingame that will help preserve essential services like fire, police and libraries.

If you want to see what I think about the other state propositions, as well as local measures and candidates, visit my Web site at www.terrynagel.com/main.php?Page=459

Terry Nagel

- Written by Terry Nagel

Murder at the Monument

From today's Examiner - and another example of great things happening in Burlingame:

"With criminal investigation shows dominating television stations, Peninsula residents will be able to get a real-life look into a successful investigation that happened on their own soil. The Burlingame Historical Society recently announced that it will host a lecture entitled "Murder at the Monument," the inside story of how Burlingame police solved a homicide at a Burlingame train station. The story will be told by Burlingame Police Chief Jack Van Etten and retired detective and police commander John Parkin.

"It's kind of like an episode of 'CSI: Burlingame,'" Van Etten said in a written statement, referring to the popular "Crime Scene Investigation" TV show. "As the lead detective in the case back in '86, it was my responsibility to make all the puzzle pieces fit together." In March 1986, Caltrain ticket agent George Grant was found by his wife dead and lying in a pool of his own blood inside the train station after he failed to come home after his normal work shift.

Russ Cohen, president of the Historical Society, said the idea to tell the story came when he was talking to the police chief about past crimes. Van Etten mentioned that he still had his notes from the 1986 murder case. While refusing to go into details, Cohen said the case had enough twists and turns to make for an entertaining night. "That's really what was interesting to me -- not the murder itself, but how it was solved," Cohen said. "There's murder and sex -- it'll make for a good story." Not coincidentally, the tale will be told on Oct. 29, just two days before Halloween. "I think it will get everybody in the Halloween spirit," Cohen said. "We'll tell everyone a little ghost story."

The event will be the latest in a series of attempts by the Historical Society to present the city's history in an accessible and entertaining manner. The society recently discussed the history of the Crosby N. Gray Funeral Home with a public tour of the mortuary, including the casket and embalming rooms. On-site tours and lectures of Kohl Mansion and Burlingame High School have also been organized. Cohen said the Historical Society's meetings have been well attended recently, and he expected "Murder at the Monument" will be no exception. "We're trying to make history fun," Cohen said. "I don't believe that history has to be dull."

The presentation will be held at 7 p.m. Oct. 29 at the Burlingame Train Station, at the intersection of Burlingame Avenue and California Drive."

History is never dull at The Burlingame Historical Society!

- Written by Fiona

Polishing the jewel

Suddenly, Burlingame Avenue is overflowing with flowers. A group of dedicated citizens awoke this Sunday before dawn and assembled on Primrose Avenue to undertake the chore of replanting flowers into all 21 planters along Burlingame Avenue.

These citizens, part of a group called ,a href="http://www.betterburlingame.org" target="_blank">Citizens for a Better Burlingame along with students from Burlingame High School donned bright orange shirts emblazoned with the groups logo on the front and the words "Citizens Beautifying Burlingame" on the back. The task was done in less than 2 hours and all celebrated the accomplishment with a complimentary breakfast provided by Copenhagen bakery and cafe held at Chicken!Chicken!

Key to the program's success is The Downtown Burlingame Improvement District, who is providing funding for the watering of the plants, The Citizens for a Better Burlingame who organized the program, The Burlingame Beautification Commission for blessing the program and the numerous sponsors who "adopted" planters.

It is wonderful to see such citizen involvement helping the downtown business district look its best for visitors and residents alike. Burlingame will remain the jewel of the Peninsula as long as we continue to polish it.

- Written by russ