The Burlingame Voice

Endangered Burlingame Species

The writing is probably on the wall for every close-in Burlingame bungalow given the economics of tearing down a single-family home and going to condos near the core.  It's really quite sad.  With the monster growing on California Ave. and the number of already-approved projects plus what is in the works, we are on the precipice of a major change in the face of B'game.  That won't come as a surprise to any regular Voice reader, but knowing it's coming and seeing the scraped lot are two different things in my experience.

I was saddened to see this little gem of a very close-in bungalow that, like many others, had been carved into apartments over the years get the death sentence a few weeks back.  It's seriously cute, looks to be fairly well-maintained, and will be replaced by a big box.  I'm too much of a realist to think much can be done about the trend, but I can say I will miss it when it's gone.

Adios 21 Park Ave.  You are about a century old, if not more, and many people have crossed your threshold for the walk downtown and back.  You will be missed.

The location is in the Washington School zone so add the increased density to the Bayswater Ave. proposed project.  I'm not sure where all those kids are going to end up.

Nov 30 Update

An Lo and Behold, driving down Oak Grove yesterday morning I see the remains of two more bungalows.  When I saw the prices of the luxury condos two doors down from here (across from McKinley) a year ago, I knew these two were history--just did not know when.  Now I know....now

Fall Colors 2017

The ginkos on Howard and on Bayswater are looking magnificent, but a lot of the red foliage is quite muted this year.  Like New England, we have not had that quick, hard cold snap that causes the colors to pop, but I did find a nice example of this street tree on Barroilhet Ave that will serve as our Fall tree hugger post.  It's been a great growing season overall with amazing pears and the last tomatoes still on the vine.  We live in a great place to be a tree hugger.  Happy Thanksgiving to all.

CEQA Hypocrisy from the Gov.

When you can find a copy in B'game, the Daily Post is still an informative read--and I don't mean just the Police Blotter.  Last week, Tom Elias had an editorial titled "Brown helps Facebook evade enviro laws".  Enviro is short for environmental and the law he was referring to is the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) signed by Gov. Reagan in 1970.  Elias leads off with this quote

"I've never seen a CEQA exemption I don't like."   --Gov. Jerry Brown

Brown made that observation shortly after starting his second go-'roiund as California's chief executive in early 2011.

This is the same guy who flies all over the world to tout his green policies.  As Elias notes, "He's gone along with the developer and union-influenced Legislature time after time."  The headline refers to a current measure in the Assembly that would

entitle any project that costs more than $100 million and meets union-level wage standards, plus standards for green house gas controls, to get final resolution of any CEQA-related lawsuit within nine months.

You can bet the "final resolution" is not to err on the side of caution and deny the project.  Elias reviews a number of projects besides the Facebook headquarters, but leaves out the biggest, least-green albatross of them all-- high-speed rail.  It bears reminding that a UC Berkeley study found that HSR will never recoup the pollution generated by its construction--and that was true even while accepting crazy ridership numbers.  He finishes with "All this is sure to go down in state history as one of the least green and least positive legacies of his long political career."

Apple Store Reopens

Apple has sent out notice of the B'game store reopening at 10 am on Saturday, Nov. 18th after a six month remodel.  The plywood case has been removed so we can now see the "new" Apple store.  It looks amazingly like the old Apple store except for perhaps some windows on the side; which the Planning Commission asked them to do years ago when the old store was first presented.

But wait, there is more.  One of the roving Voice photogs has passed along a sneak preview of the "new" inside of the store.  And to my eye it looks a lot like the old Apple interior.  They have a couple more days to spruce it up a bit, but unless that happens I fear I will always think of my high school wood shop as I enter (minus the saws, drill presses and lathes).  What do you all think?

The good news is the store will continue to generate nice sales tax revenue even at the new higher Measure I rate.

Ecco's Star Server Departs

Ecco is a stalwart survivor in the tumultuous B'game restaurant scene.  Some might find it a bit too traditional, but plenty of us think it is the go-to stop for a great meal and great service.  Chef/owner Turaj has turned out a well-balanced menu with consistent quality for decades--and that is saying something these days.  A key part of my dining experiences there has been waiter extraordinaire Paul Carrere.  Paul has the perfect balance of familiarity and distance that makes dining a pleasure.  He knows it.  I know it.  For the first time on Tuesday night we talked about it so we both know the other knows it.  The reason to talk was Tuesday night was his last night at Ecco after 17 years.  Paul and his wife are moving to Las Vegas and I have to wish him well, but with a wistful smile that a piece of old B'game is going with him.  Ciao and arrivederci, Paolo.

Return of the Cougar

EssEff is all about multiple mountain lion sighting in the city this week.  The Comicle led with the story yesterday including some cool video footage.  I you get the text notices from the County about traffic, weather and the like, you know there are mountain lion sightings down here all the time.  The last one I got was on Oct. 24th.  From the report, it sounds like this young male cougar will be coming back down to our neck of the woods

It was not clear whether the sleek feline was the same animal that created an uproar earlier in the week when one was seen lurking around mansions in the Presidio and Sea Cliff.

Fish and Wildlife officials initially thought Friday that the puma was a female, but Chris Wilmers, a wildlife ecologist at UC Santa Cruz and the head of the Puma Project, said it is “a typical young dispersal-age male who takes a wrong turn.”

“We’re pretty sure it’s from the Peninsula because otherwise it would have had to walk across the Golden Gate Bridge or swim across,” he said, “so we’re going to drop it off on the Peninsula, where it is most likely to have come from.”

I've seen deer in the flatlands of B'game on occasion so it's not inconceivable that a mountain lion would come down from Skyline as well.  Be on the lookout since this latest guy likes to roam and he's on his way back.

Wind Power Credit$

Clean energy arrived in B'game last year and the City newsletter provides an update on its implementation:

A lot has happened since Burlingame joined Peninsula Clean Energy (PCE) last year: 

• 14,747 accounts enrolled in PCE (98%).
• 240 accounts buying 100% renewable energy in ECO100 rate.
• $1 million in savings to customers.
• 39 million pounds of greenhouse gas emissions avoided which is like removing 3,788 cars from the road for a year.

Enrolling in PCE, especially their 100% renewable energy option (ECO100) is the single easiest step a person can take to support energy innovation and reduce emissions. If you haven't already, sign up here. Keep up the good work Burlingame residents and businesses.

The last time I drove over the Altamont Pass I was surprised at how many of the wind mills were idle.  The economics of these turbines has always been a bit cloudy and the discussion as I drove with a buddy revolved around the maintenance costing more than the power was worth.  It could be that or just the raw economics.  The tax reform discussion going on in D.C. caused the Wall Street Journal to provide this little tidbit

Since 1992 the wind industry has lived off a “production tax credit” that begins with construction of a turbine and lasts 10 years. The original value of the credit was 1.5 cents a kilowatt hour but the law included an annual inflation adjustment. As Warren Buffett explained in 2014: We “get a tax credit if we build a lot of wind farms. That’s the only reason to build them. They don’t make sense without the tax credit.” This also explains why producers are known to sell their output below cost merely to cash in on the subsidy.

By 2015 the credit was up to 2.4 cents per kilowatt hour at a cost to the feds of $2.6 billion. That’s when Congress passed legislation to reduce the production tax credit 20% a year, starting in 2017, with a goal of ending the subsidy after 2020—though a turbine that qualifies up to that last year would continue to receive credits for 10 years.

One draft of the tax plan gets rid of the credit altogether, but the wind lobby is blowing back hard against that move.  Three of the nine clean power sources we use are wind including Altamont.  I wonder it that will hold up if the credit is blown away?

Council Incumbents Return

The City Council election ended pretty much as expected although Steve Duncan was able to increase his vote count by about two and a half times from 2013.  1,500 votes is still a steep hill to climb.

Here are the final counts:

ANN KEIGHRAN	29.72% *		2,622
RICARDO ORTIZ	29.59% *		2,610
MICHAEL BROWNRIGG	28.85% *		2,545
STEVE DUNCAN	11.84%		1,044

 

I took this photo before the election, but I figured it would come in handy today.

Gas Taxes - 12 cents?? Not So Sure

The 12 cent per gallon gas tax that squeezed through the Legislature and was signed by our train-loving Guv went into effect this week.  Your diligent reporter decided to document the event via the Peninsula Ave. Shell station's signage.  Here is the tale of the 12 cent tape--two days before:

And two days after

I'll also add Laura's comment from the No on "I" post

I heard someone speaking earlier this week that said with the new current gas tax bills, by 2020, we in the Bay Area will paying $1.58 per gallon in gas tax. That's State and Federal taxes. That's $23.70 in taxes on a 15 gallon fill up. Diesel would be more. We are at $.76/.78 right now. Sorry, can't remember exactly, as I was in shock over the $1.58, but thought he said that the increase to the $1.58, was to help pay for the HSR.

So there you have it.  Death by a thousand cuts and people wonder why "the Bay Area is so expensive"?  Maybe it's because .12 becomes .20 unnoticed or maybe it's because some of us keep voting for that.