Whenever a major project comes to town the developer is required to divulge how the proposed project will affect the quality of life in Burlingame. The proposed Safeway expansion is no exception. This disclosure comes in the form of a thesis known as an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). The draft of this report is available at both the Burlingame Public Library and Burlingame City Hall.
It's likely that most people won't take the time to read the 250 page EIR. The Burlingame Voice has. Although the report is supposed to be based on fact we think it reads like science fiction. Removal of trees, reduced parking, and disruption of a scenic highway are just a few of the issues addressed and dismissed in the EIR.
Trees To Go
For example, the report states that there will be little impact from the removal of a eucalyptus tree planted along El Camino Real in the 1800's by Golden Gate Park landscape architect John McLaren. 
According to the report, the City of Burlingame has never formally designated the eucalyptus trees along El Camino Real as historic. This is the same theory that caused the demise of many Burlingame landmarks like the majestic Fox Theater, the Encore Theater and the Donnelly House. Another justification made is that 50 percent of the eucalyptus trees have been removed over the years and been replaced by other trees. The operative phrase is replaced by other trees', not driveways.
The removal of a towering Coast Live Oak measuring 62 inches in circumference also rates a 'less than significant impact'. The EIR does however, consider this tree to be important to the community and estimates its transplant at $27,000. The report goes on to say that Safeway Inc, would much rather replace the tree with one having a circumference of 6' at a cost of about $9,000. Can Burlingame feel as good about a new tree with a 6 inch trunk as they do about a 75 year old tree with a 62 inch trunk? Couldn’t Safeway build around it?
Two other grand old trees that qualify for protection are slated for the chopping block. It begs the question 'How many trees can a developer remove from a plot in 'The City of Trees' before there actually is a significant impact on the city?'
Mom and Pop’s Threatened
The only people who should be more concerned about the project than the residents of Burlingame are the nearby merchants. The EIR is only required to address environmental concerns. What troubles The Burlingame Voice is that these types of reports are not required to address the psychology of shopping behavior.
Today, you can by fresh flowers, grab a sandwich, do some banking, pick up some freshly baked bread, get your snapshots developed and even pick up a hot rotisserie chicken along Burlingame Avenue and its side streets. Safeway would like to make it even more convenient by putting it all under one 70,000 square foot roof. Will this convenience affect commerce downtown? According to the EIR there will be 'no impact'. 'The area is already a mixed use commercial/retail area', says the report.
But, there are some 'significant impacts' listed in the report. Considered separately they are cause for concern, considered together they are truly troublesome. Increased noise, building mass, inadequate parking, and substantial traffic congestion are some of the more striking complexities called out in the EIR.
The issue isn't whether the current Safeway should be improved, no doubt it should. The question is, how much is too much? The current combined size of Safeway/Walgreens/Wells Fargo’s square footage is about 55,000 square feet. The new combined total is 27 percent larger. The current Safeway has a basement. The new proposal fills the basement, consequently raising the height of the structure and increasing its bulk and mass.
There is virtually no room to accommodate landscaping that would soften the harshness of a store this size. This approach typifies strip mall design mentality. The plaster facade of the store is tall enough to accommodate larger store signage. Note the rendering above conviently omits the signage all together. With large walls comes large signage. The Sheraton Hotel is an example of this impulse.
Welcome to Pleasanton?
The EIR suggests that the closest store that compares to the one proposed is in Pleasanton. Although Belmont and San Mateo have relatively newer Safeway stores, they are substantially smaller and do not have the mass and bulk of the proposed Burlingame complex. Isn't Burlingame more like Belmont or San Mateo in character and size than Pleasanton?
Stucco is the predominant material used in the design. Note the absence of decorative ceramic tile, wood, brick or stone. The architects have attempted to mimic the charming building frontages in the neighborhood by decorating the 'box' of the structure with what might be termed by some as 'Disneyland' false fronts. The designers added several small kiosks along Primrose Avenue to help mitigate the fortress-like wall. The combined space for the kiosks is about 2000 square feet. So, what kinds of outlets could go into these kiosks, (or even want to) given their small size and knowing that their goods or services may be duplicated just inside the 'mother' store?
Bigger Store, Less Parking!
Traffic and parking have always been problematic in downtown Burlingame and the report recognizes this impact as 'significant'. What hasn't been examined in the report is the suggestion several months ago by former Mayor Mike Spinelli that a reconfiguration of the store's location within the lot could help mitigate some of the parking and traffic concerns. He took the time to draw up a plan that illustrated his theory. Where is that plan today? Why is his plan not included in the EIR?
We believe the traffic impact will become even more significant if the Safeway on Peninsula Avenue and Delaware Street is closed. Although it's been rumored that Safeway has no plans to close that location, one could imagine that with a brand new 70,000 square foot supermarket so close by, the Peninsula Avenue Safeway’s days may be numbered.
Clicks and Mortar?
Safeway Inc. is currently planning how consumers will shop for groceries in the future. They are betting that Internet shopping will be a success. 'Safeway Inc. plans to pick up where defunct on-line grocer Webvan left off...Safeway can pack groceries at their existing stores.' according to an article in the 2/22/02 San Francisco Chronicle. The EIR does not address the delivery traffic or the lack of loading docks for smaller trucks. If the prediction is right, then more people will be shopping from home. Why build a superstore at all?
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