Dear Feds-- Please Ignore Us

Monday's City Council vote to try to skirt additional protections for the historically significant downtown Post Office building was quite disappointing.  As the Daily Journal writes

Most of the Burlingame City Council wants the sale of the downtown post office to be free of federal historical preservation requirements that can tie local control with the exception of Councilwoman Cathy Baylock, who disagreed.

During its meeting Monday, the council voted 4-1 to send a letter to the U.S. Postal Service requesting that preservation covenants not be added as a requirement of sale for the property at 220 Park Road. Doing so, the majority said, would tie local control and the historical considerations would be covered under the California Environmental Quality Act. Baylock, on the other hand, said the practice is customary and could act as an extra form of protection for a historical aspect of Burlingame’s downtown.

Let's hope the Feds do what the Feds do best in this case--ignore the letter.  Either of the "Top Two" proposals on the table would mangle the downtown as we know it and may not past muster on any sort of preservation of the building.

Comments

[fred]

What possible use could it have if you preserve the post office? Again, I think this development of the parking lots is a huge mistake. If the community wants a town square buy the post office. The exorbitant increase in parking rates should cover a five million dollar building. Even if the city did buy it, I don't see how the current set-up with the clerk windows and the big concrete room in the back could be effective for any type of business or community space.

[Joe]

While I agree with you 110% on the parking lot, your take on the building is exactly wrong. The "community" Already Owns The Building.

The "community" has been paying for it one stamp at a time since 1942. The Postal Service is an "independent establishment of the executive branch of the Government of the United States", (39 U.S.C. § 201). What is going on now is an attempt to privatize it as a reaction to aggressive pension-funding requirements: i.e. the Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (PAEA), which obligates the USPS to fund the present value of future health care benefit payments to retirees within a ten-year time span – a requirement to which no other government organization is subject. If Moonbeam had the same requirement, we would be selling the Capital building on Sacramento.

As for its potential uses for any type of community or business space, just because you cannot see any doesn't mean none exist. How about we let the free market with more creativity have a go at it--subject to full historic preservation restrictions? The same goes for four of our five councilmembers. They should stop trying to rig the game for whatever reason and let the process proceed. The good news is the Feds will very likely just ignore them and if they don't the city will blow a few more tens of thousands of dollars on legal fees. C'est la vie.

[hillsider]

Too much deferred maintenance on the capital building to sell. Brown would prefer to build a bigger new one with money we don't have. There's more union jobs involved that way.

[fred]

The community of Burlingame does not own the post office, the federal government does. The city of Burlingame can purchase it on behalf of the community. They could knock down the post office parking garage, expand the public parking lot to make up for the spaces being lost on Burlingame Avenue.

That post office building would need to be gutted to make it useful for anything other than a postal facility. If you keep the counter windows, the p.o. boxes, the back room in order to preserve the historical aspects of the interior, not even Leonardo Da Vinci could be creative enough to find a practical re-use.

[gettingcreative]

I have posted this before, but here it is again. Just with a little imagination look what this elementary school turned into. The same could hold true with our beautiful post office, and you don't need to be Leonardo Da Vinci to have that kind of vision. Most of our council members have no vision.

http://www.mcmenamins.com/KennedySchool

[hillsider]

You wouldn't need Leonardo to turn it into an awesome teen center. Move all the stuff out and move some basic kid stuff in. Done. It even has a nice spot on the side for them to smoke instead of in Washington Park. Come on Fred this is a no brainer.

[Joe]

I was speaking a bit metaphorically, Fred, the point being it has been a public building for 70 years and should stay that way. Looks like at least one letter writer to the Daily Journal agrees:

Editor,

Regarding the story, “City seeks more control on post office plan” in the April 3 edition of the Daily Journal, I am personally biased on the subject of any plans regarding the downtown Burlingame post office: The building has been such a part of this community since it was constructed. As a historical site, we as caretakers should demand that its value to the community be maintained for future generations.

Downtown Burlingame is still “digesting” the addition of retailers and congestion already seen from all the recent construction. Citizens are still trying to figure out how to navigate around all the congestion, as “Avenue” side streets are now congested. The additional traffic with the residential development at the intersection of Peninsula and San Mateo avenues is sure to add congestion.

Once construction starts on high-speed rail at the foot of Burlingame Avenue, there will be detours aplenty. It’s time to hold off on new projects while we as a community consider historical matters and what kind of downtown Burlingame we want to pass down through the generations, rather than have eyes on additional tax revenue.

Parking tickets on the “Avenue” will be history, as current trends indicate. Eventually, it will have to be closed to auto traffic. Like Third Avenue in Santa Monica, the “Avenue” will be an outdoor shopping mall. Is being an outdoor shopping mall what Burlingame wants to be known for? You rock [Councilwoman] Cathy Baylock! Your efforts have only just begun to make their vibrations known. Anything less than thinking this through for the long term is pure insanity. I long for the days when business on “the Avenue” was family owned and operated, and the Fox Mall was a movie theater. Oh, to meet a friend for a latte at the family-owned Cafe Bistro.

Keith McNamara

Burlingame

[gettingcreative]

Agreed! Cathy Baylock rocks and is the only council member with ANY sense. How can the council not think of the long term effects. I remember the Fox Theater and much more. This is no longer the Burlingame I came to love, but I do love somebody who sticks to her guns about things she feels passionately about. The rest of them are just wimps.

[Anne]

It looks like we have found our first two plaintiffs.