The Burlingame Voice

225 California Redux

The DJ is reporting on Monday's Planning Commission meeting where the plan for a new four story retail/office building garnered better reviews

The Burlingame Planning Commission commended the new look of a mixed-use office project proposed to be built at 225 California Drive during a meeting Monday, Sept. 28.

The project returned for a second design review, after commissioners, residents and business owners identified a variety of concerns in July regarding how well the four-story building worked into the existing character of the neighborhood near the city’s Caltrain station.

But commissioners lauded a revised version of the building, which appears much more traditional in architectural style than the initial, modern design.

The engineering feat that remains to be fleshed out is

Below ground, three levels of parking are proposed to be built, which would offer a total of 130 spaces, when combined with available parking on the street level.

At least access to this deep garage is now from Highland Ave. instead of the one-way alley in the back.  It's a little hard to see in the artist's rendering but there are trees out front.

Man Waved Ax on B'way

Since last week's Grim Reaper post proved so popular, here is another local police report from the Post.

A man was arrested in Burlingame after he waved an ax and mooned another driver, police said yesterday.  The run-in began Thursday at 11:13 am on the 1100 block of Broadway when a man was driving out of a bank parking lot to cross the roadway.   But in doing so he blocked traffic, said Capt. Mike Matteucci.

Another man honked his horn at the man, causing the other driver to get out of his car and yell, police said.  He then allegedly drove forward slowly going less than 5 mph and hit the man with his car.  He then went around the man and drove off but got stuck at the next stoplight.  At that intersection, he allegedly got out of his car and waved the ax around his head.  He then also pulled his pants down and showed his behind to the man blocking traffic.  He was arrested for assault with a deadly weapon and indecent exposure.

For real.  The less colorful version is found here.  Search on 9/24 using the "Public Disturbance" filter and a Brandishing Weapon pin will come up.

Council Candidate Forum - Part 1

OK, OK, alright.  Yes, I have delayed writing my analysis about Thursday's Candidate Forum for a very good reason.  I believe one candidate stretched the truth in six instances and I am doing a bit of fact checking before I call her out as a liar.  You deserve that much, dear reader.

In the meantime, let's just talk about the event itself.  This was my seventh or eighth Candidate Forum put on by the League of Women Voters.  They get worse every election.  The LWV sends someone who knows nothing about B'game because that is how they think they remain objective.  Mostly they just appear clueless.

The scuttlebutt in council chambers afterward was how few of the real B'game-specific questions that were submitted actually got asked.  I took seven pages of notes and here were some of the topics:

• What are the senior citizen issues these days?
• Where will the money for the new Rec Center come from?  (Great question, not such good answers).  Many questions later the LWV emcee asked about General Obligation bonds instead of following up immediately.
• What will you do about low income housing?  (Ugh.  We are the fourth densest city in the county with 52% renters already.  That stone has no more blood.  Later came the Rent Control question over again.  I'll be addressing that in the Part 2 post.  In the meantime, ask yourself what is the difference between "rent control" and "rent stabilization"?  
• Then "what should we do about Climate Change"?  Two questions later the same thing on "Sustainability".  Then another one about "Community Choice Energy" like B'game is going to become its own power company.  What BS.  You would think Putin, Obama, Xi and the Pope were on the dais.
• My favorite was a few questions later about the "Role of libraries".  Everyone was in favor of libraries.....are you surprised?

And yet there were two clear winners that did not surprise me one bit.  When I get a response from City Staff regarding one central question, I will give you a more complete review.

B'way Observations

I always appreciate tips from regular readers and I got one today about the Broadway intersection.  I've heard a few complaints (separate from the crane mishap) about delays and long hours of the day when nothing seems to be happening, but in the meantime one reader notes

At least 5% and as many as 10% of the cars coming south on 101 and getting off at Broadway are making illegal u-turns at Rollins causing a very significant risk of injury to many drivers. Have not seen any police presence there whatsoever. I am planning to contact Burlingame PD as well.

I'll add it to my list for the Chief as well, so thanks.  In other news, the two months might be even tighter than usual at that intersection

Beginning this Sunday evening, September 27, 2015, and continuing through November 22, 2015, PG&E will be working at the intersection of Rollins Road and Broadway between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 5:00 a.m. every night except Saturday. PG&E’s proposed work involves necessary improvements to an existing PG&E underground electrical transmission main. As the work is within the intersection, there will be lane reductions on all approaches. 

As of yesterday when I went through the whole maze twice, here is what the dirt pile on the east side looked like.

Housing Manipulation: Press Edition

Today's Daily Journal has an article about 1111 Douglas Ave. that I found pretty short-sighted.  It leads off with

After an 18-unit apartment complex in Burlingame was sold Aug. 13, many tenants received notices that their leases will be terminated for no cause so new ownership can renovate the property.

And goes on

“This is not an eviction; it is a no-cause termination brought about by the recent purchase of the property and the subsequent need to update/renovate the property,” Safadi wrote to one of the tenants....Safadi wrote in the letter that the building has gone without significant upgrades for 50 years.

I'm no real estate attorney, nor any other kind of attorney, so I had to look up "no cause termination".  Here is the Nevada version.  That seems like a lot of process sans a policy or strategy.  As a legal layman, it would seem to me that updating some of the 50+ year old downtown housing stock to current code could also be viewed as investing in the community.  We certainly have an example of what happens when little investment happens, like here.  We are coming up on two years for that fire on Donnelly with no fix......that isn't helping the rental situation!  Maybe that is worth an article as well.

By the way, if you read the whole piece including

Some of the tenants have reached out to Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto for legal advice.  “This case is a textbook example of how unfettered real estate speculation is tearing apart our communities,” said Daniel Saver, a housing attorney with the agency.

Do not be fooled by the use of the noun "agency" in the article.  They are not a government agency as you can read here.

Trousdale: Senior Wellness Center

The Daily Journal has a piece describing the latest development on the lot that used to house the old hospital

The groundwork is set to be laid by Burlingame officials for a massive residential and health service development proposed by the Peninsula Health Care District slated to be built near Mills-Peninsula Medical Center.

The Burlingame City Council will address during a meeting Monday, Sept. 21, a proposal to get a head start on the environmental review of a project which could bring as many as 250 housing units to an approximately 8-acre site near the intersection of Trousdale Drive and Marco Polo Way.

An official environmental impact report will be required for the project, but it is too early in the process to begin, said Burlingame Community Development Director Bill Meeker.  The council stands to approve during the meeting Monday a service agreement between the health care district with David J. Powers and Associates to conduct some initial steps of the environmental impact review, said Meeker.

It looks like the Hospital Redevelopment category will be vibrant for quite some time.  I'll take senior housing with multiple levels of care in one place near the hospital over so-called affordable housing right downtown ANYTIME.

Grim Reaper Visits

When I read the above-the-fold headline in today's Daily Post I did not expect it to be a B'game story.  But it is!  I have edited out the individual's names but here are some excerpts

The owner of a business in Burlingame is being sued by a union for destroying an effigy of the Grim Reaper that was placed in front of his business during a protest.  The owner of the Broadway Tennis Center is also accused of attaching a member of the Carpenter's Union, Local 217.  The incident happened on May 1 (editor's note, May 1 is International Workers' Day for socialists, communists, etc) when the union members set up two temporary banners and a four-foot high grim reaper prop on the sidewalk in front of the tennis center.

The suit claims the tennis center owner punched one union member in the shoulder after he began recording the incident on his cellphone.  The owner kicked and threw property belonging to the union protesters, such as their ice chest, the suit claims. He then went back to his truck and deliberately ran over the grim reaper the suit said.

After the owner left, Burlingame police arrived and conducted an investigation, which resulted in the owners arrest.

Wow. This has the feel of an NFL play where two offsetting flags should have been thrown.  Using the Grim Reaper as a "prop" carries a very pointed message and might even rise to the level of a chargeable offense in this PC day and age.  Did the union members get a permit to protest?  Where they only on the sidewalk?  And how do you figure it out after the fact?  Just so you know I ain't making the whole thing up:

High-Cost Rail - Part 115 Central Valley Update

I haven't had an update in awhile from one of the most diligent opponents to High-cost Rail, but his latest update had some encouraging news about the Central Valley

Status of the HSR Project in the San Joaquin Valley – Despite the bluster and bullying from Sacramento, in less than two years the State must turn back most of unspent Federal funds to the US Congress.  Construction has not begun on the first 29 mile section southwards from Madera towards Fresno.  With 50 other states’ (Federal) money, the High-Speed Rail Authority has purchased about half the land needed to build that section and destroy homes, businesses and farms.  At a meeting in Chowchilla in April we learned of the sly and threatening tactics the Authority (and its friend the Public Utilities Commission) have used when trying to get farmers to sell; but by and large the farmers along that section have forced the eminent domain process to be put in place, and in the last quarter we’ve seen a dramatic slowdown in the pace of property purchases. 

Thinks at the Federal level are a bit more fuzzy given all of the stakeholders 

          Status at the Federal level – The Denham Amendment (Rep. Jeff Denham – R, CA) was inserted into the Transportation Spending Bill in mid-year and passed the House of Representatives.  It requires the State to return to the original terms of the Federal-State contract to use federal funds, which required a matching contribution of 50% for each tranche.  In late December 2012, the Federal Railroad Administration and the State changed the terms of that contract, allowing only federal money to be spent before any matching took place.  If the Transportation Spending Bill gets passed by the end of this September, it will force Governor Brown to dip into state reserves to match the roughly $1Billion the feds have contributed so far.  And it would begin to ‘bleed’ the almost non-existent state funds for planning and engineering – which are ‘off-limits’ to any legal challenge.  If Congress goes for a Continuing Resolution at the close of FY15 (September 30th) the Denham Amendment will be put back into next year’s spending bill.

And there was some modest good news on the legal front too as the anti-HSR legal team got some documents allowed into the record that should help the suit.

Fire Suppression the Natural Way

Our wildlife category is growing every month.  Today another local snapped a photo of a herd of goats that are eating up the weeds near Kincaid's out on the bayfront.  Pretty cool.  Anyone else got a lot they need clearing while the goats are in town?

RIP: Dan Anderson

A full year has passed since I noted that an old friend, Dan Anderson, was fighting Lou Gehrig's Disease and now I must note that the fight has ended.  The Daily Journal has a great piece that highlights the many avenues of contribution that Dan made.  The avenue that he was both an activist and a true subject matter expert on was the hospital redevelopment so here is a patchwork of the quotes in the article on that topic

(Cathy) Baylock said she also remembers Andersen’s participation in a variety of other community concerns, such as his role as part of Citizens for a Better Burlingame, which influenced the size and shape of the Safeway store before it was built at 1450 Howard Ave.

She also recalled his tireless work to influence the development of Mills-Peninsula Medical Center, during which time he spent countless hours fighting for the interests of neighborhood residents.  “He was a great activist,” said Baylock.

(Former councilman and mayor Joe) Galligan said the council relied heavily on Andersen’s perspective when deciding the best way to address the medical center issue.  “Because he was a positive influence, not a negative influence, we listened to him,” he said.

Andersen’s willingness to attend public meetings and fight in the best interest of residents gave the Burlingame community a faithful ally in a fight against a medical institution some did not trust, said Galligan.

Ultimately, finding a resolution which served the wishes of residents was due in part to Andersen’s hard work, said Galligan.  “There are a lot of people we can give credit to, without a doubt Dan watched every movement,” he said.

My thoughts and sympathies go out to Carolyn.  The circle of life can be very bumpy in places and I hope she is headed for smoother times.