The Burlingame Voice

Post Office "Remarkably Well Preserved"

There is big news about the main B'game Post Office on Park Rd.  Its future has been in doubt due to the financial condition of the Postal Service that is leading to elimination of Saturday delivery in August among other actions.  But the local site has special characteristics that may (should!) affect what can be done with the building.  The news is that a Historical Structure Report prepared by Tetra Tech, Inc. in Oakland has determined that the Post Office is eligible for National Register of Historical Places status on two different criteria:

Criterion A: The Burlingame Main Post Office is significant under Criterion A for its association with the New Deal-era public works programs and policies under the significant theme of Politics/Government, as defined in

National Register Bulletin 13: How to Apply the National Register Criteria to Post Office.

Criterion C: This property is significant under Criterion C within the historic context and significant historic theme of Politics/Government. The property embodies distinctive characteristics of a post office designed and constructed between 1930 and 1942 in plan, structure, design, and ornamentation. The Burlingame Main Post Office contains many distinctive elements of its type — post offices constructed between 1930 and 1942 by the federal government, as exemplified by the standard interior spatial arrangement, and high-quality materials and workmanship.

The report notes the building's Spanish Eclectic architecture, but is especially glowing about the interior: 

The interior of the post office has been remarkably well preserved. Though many post offices retain "high style" interior features such as marble wainscoting, few remain as unaltered as this one. Original bank-teller style service windows have been retained in contrast to the usual policy, which replaced these windows at most post offices with open counters for service decades ago. Most post offices have also replaced the original post office boxes, but Burlingame retains the originals, which match the metal trim so prominent in the lobby. Details like metal-trimmed bulletin boards, the service desks discussed above, and even pen holders have all survived the post office’s 71 years of use.

Most of us already knew this was a building with special original features and a warm, bronzed feel about it that reminds one of a time before post offices started to feel like a Kinko's...a time when the postal eagle flew proudly.

BHS Principal Departing

The BHS parent email list got this message from the principal this morning

Dear BHS Community:

I will be leaving BHS at the end of this school year. At this point in my life, I need to be working closer to home in Santa Rosa. I have been honored to serve as principal at BHS for the past five years. It is a great school and whoever takes the position will be working at one of the best high schools in the Bay Area. I want to thank the staff and parents who work together to provide a first class high school experience for our amazing students.

All the best,

Chris Holleran

I had some interaction with Mr. Holleran over the years as a parent and found him to be a leader and helpful.  I wish him well in the next phase.  With much of the construction completed, this is sort of a plum job as such jobs go!

Dog park in Washington Park?

This Saturday, there will be a meeting at the Recreation Center regarding the proposal that dogs be allowed off leash for extended periods of time. Currently they are allowed off leash hours during morning hours and the discussion as I understand it will be centered around whether evening hours should be afforded local dogs and thei owners.

Preliminar research indates to me that Washington park does not possess a single attribute that a dog park is suggested to have in any fundamental way to ensure success for both dogs and their owners.

Consider attending if you feel as I do.

Details:

Location: Burlingame Rec Center

Time: 10am-12noon

Date: Saturday, February 23

High-Cost Rail Part 86 $5K Well-spent

Last night the B'game City Council voted to contribute $5,000 to a lawsuit that seeks to ensure that the High-cost Rail Authority does what it is supposed to do regarding spending Our Money.  Unfortunately, said lawsuit is necessary since the dolts at the Authority cannot comprehend or comply with the simple written English provisions of Prop 1A.  Voting for the donation: Mayor Ann Keighran, Vice Mayor Michael Brownrigg and Councilwoman Cathy Baylock. Voting against: Councilmembers Jerry Deal and Terry Nagel.

You would think this would be a slam-dunk 5-0 vote with the only discussion being whether to up the donation, but it wasn't.  Terry Nagel has been a massive disappointment on the whole High-cost Rail issue for quite awhile so this confused "no" vote is just par for the course.  But Jerry Deal appears to be swaying away from what is best for B'game and the question around town is "Why?"  I'll be seeing him this weekend and plan to ask him directly.  I'll let you know if I get anything but handwaving about Caltrain electrification being so damn important.

B'game Real Estate Data Galore

I like data.  I like information more.  And I like knowledge even better.  There is a model for this called, naturally, the data-information-knowledge model.  A simple version is here.  So the recent mail piece from local realtor Michael Robles was useful since it had a bit of each type of stuff.  The data included the realty areas of B'game and the number of sales in 2012 which are, according to Mr. Robles' flyer

Area #        Area Name                    # of Sales

460            B'game Park                    23

461            Downtown                        1

462            Lyon-Hoag                        32

463            Oak Grove Manor            14

464            B'game Gardens                11

465            B'game Terrace                28

466            Easton Addition                71

467            B'game Gate                    10

469            B'game Village                    10

470            Ray Park                            16

471            B'game Hills                        36

472            Mills Estates                        18

That tallies to a total of 270 sales.  Then the information comes--that was the highest volume in seven years and area-by-area stats are provided that show year-over-year changes in median prices, etc.  We have discussed the local pricing picture here and this more detailed information notes that Lyon-Hoag actually had the greatest increase in median price (22%) and average price (23%).  I don't know Mr. Robles but I like his brochure and his local roots so here is his web site.

Watching Millbrae's Example

I found today's Daily Journal article titled "Alleged Shoddy Construction Brings Lawsuits" interesting to B'gamers for two reasons.  First, I constantly hear comments about how rigorous the single-family residential building inspections can be in B'game during construction.  100+ units appear to be a different story.  Second, we could easily be looking at one or more projects like this on the Post Office site or nearby.  So this excerpt about the Millbrae big condo projects' inspections caught my eye

Two Millbrae condominium developers with units between $599,000 to $1.28 million recently faced lawsuits over shoddy construction that includes severe structural issues, water damage and cracking — and although city inspectors signed off on the projects, they are immune from legal action.

The two developments each have more than 100 units along El Camino Real — 88 Broadway and Park Broadway. With Peninsula housing demand growing, land at a premium and a regional goal of transit-oriented multi-unit development, such housing is becoming more popular but can lead to a series of legal tangles once problems are revealed in time. While one group was able to reach a settlement, mediation continues for the other. But there may be a trend in the need to seek lawsuits.

Building up comes with different challenges than single-family homes. California has building codes, most recently adopted in 2010, regulating anything built in the state. Cities that have issued building permits are charged with inspecting the buildings to meet those codes. However, the employees and the city are immune from legal action if problems are found with that construction.

Millbrae officials declined to comment on the requirements of building inspectors. Neighboring cities also declined to comment about the requirements of their inspectors. Experts say the challenge appears to be the inability to really watch over every detail on such large projects. Ultimately, California law puts the need to fix problems to the developer. Developers are also given a chance to address the issues under California law and must be invited to mediation before legal proceedings can really begin. Mediation has become a clearly defined process.

Something to think about as we perhaps will looking at something of this scale in our downtown

 

Tree Alert on El Camino

Leave it to Mrs. Giorni to be a day or two ahead of me.  I stopped to take the photo of the proposed condos on El Camino a couple of days ago, but she has saved me the write-up which I will paste here from her comment on the Historic Eucalyptus Grove post.  Thanks, Pat, you are a gem.

There is a proposed condominium project going through the Planning Commission right now that involves the removal of the grove of protected trees on 1509 El Camino Real. You all know the location, at Adeline and ECR. The project is in early stages so now is the time to rally opposition to the grove's removal and stop the already approved but not yet issued permit to cut these trees.

Believe me, you are going to miss them when they're gone. Their absence will create a noticable hole in our Tunnel of Trees, replaced with an imposing building along that entire frontage. There are story poles now, at the back of the property to indicate the proposed height of the structure. What those story poles do not demonstrate is what the property will look like without those trees because the poles do not extend along the sides or front. Drive or walk by the site and imagine NO TREES softening the structure.

What is equally disturbing will be the precedent set if the City allows the removal of this old growth that sits less than 50 feet from our Historically recognized Eucs. How does the City continue to maintain a strong defense against Caltrans if it cavalierely allows commercial development to trump aesthetics and environmental concerns?

Stopping the removal of this many trees have to at least start as a neighborhood effort.  Impactful things spread from that seed--pun intended.  Here are two photos that together tell the story.

Update:  I've received a copy of a flyer offline that suggests

If you oppose this proposed 4-Story Project, please write our Planning Commissioners before Feb
21, 2013 to voice your opinion and be sure to sign our petitions circulating the neighborhood!

[email protected]

It also came with a much better photo of the trees in question including the Bunya Pine that is not really a pine at all

Parking Hunt - Where or If?

From the City's e-News we get this reminder about tomorrow's meeting

The City is in the process of studying the feasibility of various options to address the parking needs of the Downtown Burlingame Avenue business district. The City is interested in obtaining residents and other stakeholders input in the Study. This is an opportunity for Burlingame residents to review options of potential sites to build a future downtown parking structure. The Burlingame City Council has requested staff to explore options and make recommendations concerning the preferred location of a new parking structure that might be built to meet increased parking needs in the downtown business district.

The meeting is tomorrow (Tuesday) in the Lane Room at the main library from 6-8 pm.  Let's hope someone suggests that the perceived need for a parking structure is way overblown and that will all that is possibly changing downtown at the Post Office and elsewhere, this is premature at best.

Mega-city = Mega-stupid

It appears the Daily Journal and the Daily Post simply republished some press release from the "Mega-city" presentations at last Thursday's State of the Valley conference.  You would have had to pick up the Post in print to see it since there is no web presence.  The front page piece in the Post has the exact same quotes and the exact same sentence as the DJ about

Stretching from the rolling vineyards in north Sonoma County to the sprawling estates of southern Santa Clara County, the Bay Area has 6.9 million residents living in 101 cities, centered in the tech-rich Silicon Valley and San Francisco.

It's word for word.  Now perhaps one or both papers will start asking the tough questions about what happens to citizen representation on local issues when the constituent count climbs dramatically?  Or what happens when the special interests can consolidate their "resources" on fewer elections and fewer candidates?  Or do we really want one homogenous city from Sonoma to somewhere south of San Jose?  I thought diversity was viewed as good these days.  Heck, the state is working so well, perhaps we just eliminate municipal and county government all together.

High School Transfer Politics

The Daily Journal is keeping an eye on the SMUSHD deliberations about when and where to allow high school kids to transfer between schools in the district here.  The two interesting bits from a B'game perspective are

District enrollment is projected to increase by more than 1,400 students by 2022. But most of that growth is happening in the southern part of the district where many of the recently approved intra-district transfers take place. By contract, students in San Bruno and Millbrae, where growth has been stagnant, haven’t moved throughout the district as freely.

I'm thinking Heather meant "by contrast" instead of "by contract" and the spell checker let it through.  The relative desirability is interesting too

Over the last two years, the district received 949 requests to change schools and granted 526. Of the requests, most students were looking to attend — in order of most requests — San Mateo’s Aragon, Burlingame and Hillsdale high schools or Mills High School in Millbrae. Requests for Capuchino and San Mateo high schools were both under 60 for the two years.

With all the tradition and improvements at BHS, I can see why more kids want to go there (here).  Now all we have to do is iron out the pool maintenance issue....