The Burlingame Voice

Art Deco in B'game and Beyond

The Burlingame Historical Society meeting drew about 75 people to the library last night.  They came to hear local architect and Planning Commissioner Richard Terrones talk about the history and characteristics of the Art Deco style.  Richard delivered a solid hour on the origins of the style punctuated with a zillion photos of buildings' exteriors and interiors, posters, furniture and planes, trains and automobiles!  I found the differentiation between "Hard Deco" and "Soft Deco" particularly enlightening.

As always the Burlingame-specific examples drew a lot of interest.  The Wells Fargo building on the Avenue, Sterling Cleaners, Adeline Market, and early views of Washington School got the crowd fired up about Moderne.  Using his professional knowledge, Richard took Q&A on a variety of related topics like the current "Dwell" movement, Eichlers, the old Post Office and Deco buildings elsewhere in the Bay Area.  If you aren't a member of the Historical Society, getting the newsletter and attending the quarterly meetings, you are missing out.

Apple Wakes Up Too Late

This story in yesterday's SF Chronicle made me really, really sad;

Steve Jobs made Apple into a top American retailer by designing crisp, modern stores with features reminiscent of the company’s products. Glass boxes and aluminum panels abounded.  But as Apple moves to turn its stores into experiences — places for concerts, art exhibitions and photography classes — the tech giant has begun to pursue distinctive yet familiar buildings that its customers might admire as well. 

In Washington, Apple has set its sights squarely on the Carnegie Library in Mount Vernon Square. One of thousands of libraries built nationwide with funds donated by steel tycoon and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, it opened in 1903 as the first desegregated public building in the city.  Apple officials say they plan to restore the building to its original grandeur and outfit Carnegie as a place to hold free concerts, art exhibitions, workshops for teachers and coding classes for children.

Finding historic buildings with stories rooted in their communities are part and parcel to the experience Apple is trying to create, Siegel said. The company has opened stores in a former restaurant bay in New York’s Grand Central Terminal, in a Depression-era brick storefront in Brooklyn, and in a 130-year-old former bank in Paris.

Rather than plastering the buildings with the familiar logo, Apple’s designers say they will focus on restoring the building’s historic character. It can take a little work to find the store’s signs and logo — which is the point.

Gee.  Some of us tried to get Apple to just that in B'game.  We had a gorgeous, original Bank of Italy -- later BoA-- building and Apple insisted on tearing it down for a glass and stone box even though they had some of the right instincts elsewhere like South Pasadena where the council probably stuck to its guns more.  One might say "better late than never" but in poor Burlingame's case it's not better late than never.  Unless the plan is to recreate the Bank of Italy building.  Don't bet on it happening behind the wall.

Will we learn anything from this to apply to the old Post Office?

The Grand Plan. Part 3. This is what it will look like

I managed to give you a sense of the many projects that are in the pipeline here in Burlingame. Some of which are quite large in scale—a few hundred housing units here and few hundred more there. Totaling an addition of over 10,000 more residents.

To give you a better sense, there is nothing like a picture to tell the story. Here are just a few...(taken from the city's own website.)

And an announcement of an upcoming meeting regarding a large residential development on Myrtle Rd. A meeting many of you may want to attend.

A picture is worth a thousand words. Note: These are just a few projects being discussed or approved. I could not find images of the proposal on the former Post Office Site

Above: 920 Lorton

Above: 225 California Dr at Highland

Above: 556 El Camino Real

Above: 1600 Trousdale

Above: Ariel view: Former Hyatt Cinema site, Bayshore Blvd.

Above: 1491-93 Oak Grove

Above: 988 Howard Ave.

Above: 1433 Floribunda

Above: Douglas Ave.

Above: Next to current Peninsula Hospital

Above and left: High density housing on Lot F with associated 5 story parking garage. Note: This project not yet approved.

Below: Upcoming meeting regarding project on Myrtle Rd and Bayswater

There goes the neighborhood

Back in the late 90’s I helped a candidate run for Burlingame City Council. The slogan for the campaign was, “You’ll miss it when it’s gone.” Referring to how Burlingame was rapidly losing its character. Every candidate for city council since seems to say they care about Burlingame's charm and character and that they want to protect it. With the exception of the candidate who so boldly stood behind the message, (and myself) it seems the message is simply lip service.

Cities don’t change overnight; their character is lost over decades. It’s been 20 years since the “you’ll miss it when it’s gone" phrase was coined and yet today it’s more evident than ever that the pace of the erosion of Burlingame's character has increased.

I watched as the pre fab components were delivered by giant crane yesterday for a home on Trenton Way. The photos illustrate, in part what I am talking about. Decades ago many were concerned about Mediterranean McMansions dominating our neighborhoods. Perhaps they were called that because McDonald’s typical architecture at the time was of Spanish influence. Today, take a look at any number of McDonald’s remodels. They are postmodern in style. Perhaps we just need to look to McDonalds to see what Burlingame is trending toward?

For the record, I like postmodern architecture, but we have to examine whether our neighborhoods can support it. The planning department has a tool called "neighborhood consistency" yet they rarely use it to argue that the architectural style simply does not fit into the character of the neighborhood. I made this argument before the commission suggesting that not everyone has the right to add a second story. Especially if that request is the only house on the block that will have a second story. Approving it sets the stage for changing the consistency of the street.

Some might argue that Burlingame’s charm is its eclectic housing stock. If you use that argument I believe you have to, pardon the pun, dig a little deeper. You have to compare the stock of the street, compare heights, widths, rooflines, etc. On streets the have not yet been disturbed by new construction, a rare fined, you will notice that while the architecture from one house to the next might be different, the mass and bulk, the set backs, the roof heights are similar.

It’s not up to me to decide on who can build what or how it can be built. I have expressed my opinion before the city council and as part of the city council that one simple way to begin is to examine the Floor Area Ratio to determine if houses are being built too large for their respective lot size. In the last 20 years there has been no political will to examine the issue in any real way.

Clearly I have felt that this discussion should have taken place long ago. However it is now that I once again remind our city leaders that it is time to put in place real policies that truly do protect Burlingame’s character or else, we will all miss it when it is gone.

Polishing Apple

I'm a little behind but did want to make note of an insightful piece in Friday's Daily Journal about possible changes to the Apple store.  Here are the high points:

The Burlingame Planning Commission unanimously agreed to postpone approving a proposed renovation of the Apple Store and instead directed architects to draw up plans better respecting the aesthetics of the city’s shopping district, according to video of the Tuesday, Oct. 11, meeting.

Apple is rolling out a new look for its store and is seeking approval to redesign the company’s Burlingame location to reflect the sleek design featured prominently in its brand of phones, computers, tablets and other devices.  Officials gave glowing reviews to the proposed renovated look of the store front facing Burlingame Avenue, but took issue with the rest of the building which featured little more than the company’s trademark silver paint and logo.

“The challenge for us is that this building is architecture as product design. It comes across as a product and I understand that is what you are all about. But a building is not a product. We want buildings to do certain things for the community beyond selling things,” said commission Chair Will Loftis.

There's a bit of lost history with this location.  It was originally the Bank of Italy building which evolved into BofA and then other bank branches.  My wife managed the branch when it was a BayView Federal location (now US Bank).  Back in 2002 Apple insisted that even an original Bank of Italy building wasn't significant enough to restore and repurpose.  It didn't fit the image.  I seem to recall Apple saying they just didn't do that kind of thing, but then five years ago I saw they did just that in Old Pasadena.  Here it is

So my advice to the Planning Commission is stick to your guns and get us the best possible design.

Post Office post mortem

Sorry I am getting to this late in the game. The downtown Burlingame former Post Office site was the subject of an open house meeting Wednesday night. Here's a photo to give you an idea of what it being proposed. I will post some opinions that were posted here on another thread because I think it's important for this discussion to be al in one place for easy reference.

First however, my brief opinion: Two years ago I ran for City Council. I wasn't planning on running, but there were strong rumblings of major housing coming to downtown Burlingame. I thought it was the wrong thing to do two years ago and I still think that today. Downtown is not the place for housing that is this dense—148 units. And that is on top of the other dense housing developments that are being proposed on the fringes of downtown. Hey, I'm not against adding density to Burlingame, but our general plan calls out specific areas of town where density is better suited. Perhaps our downtown plan calls for housing as well, but I wasn't on the council when that particular document was approved and I would't have voted for it. I won't comment on the architectural style here because to me, no matter what the style, it will impact downtown in a negative way. 

If you agree or disagree, post a comment. I will post the other comments from other post directly below.

Thoroughly Modern Mayberry

The Wall Street Journal Mansion section is always a good weekend read.  This week it describes a number of new developments that go all-in towards recreating "the essence of quaint small towns" that "recreate village life".  It makes one wonder why people who already have quaint walkable neighborhoods want to screw them up with high-density housing, modern office buildings and big parking structures?

In a shift away from gated golf course communities, with their cul de sacs of Tuscan villas and Normandy castles (ed: what part of B'game does that remind you of?), these ungated developments are designed to create a strong sense of place, with neighbors, a coffee shop and the town dentist within walking distance.  Picture Andy Griffith's Mayberry with high-speed internet."

And no rent control.  A president of one of the architectural firms involved says "We are trying to bring back the DNA of towns and small cities that has been lost--in some ways it's storytelling."  What story will we be telling 20 or 30 years from now?  Will it be one of sadness as we look at the cookie-cutter James Chu designed houses sprinkled among the original bungalows, Eichlers, and Tudors of Olde Burlingame?  Will we look at the Avenue and wonder how we messed up?  I hope not.  Here are two stories being written now:  one bad, one very hopefully to be good.

Hotbed of Development

The front page of today's Daily Post has a headline "City is hotbed of development" by Emily Mibach.  The city is us - B'game.  Emily has assembled a convenient list of recently approved or proposed projects including:

556 El Camino Real, 1128-1132 Douglas Ave., 21 Park Rd., 1491-1493 Oak Grove Ave., 1509 El Camino Real, 103 El Camino Real, 1214 Donnelly Ave., 1300 Bayshore Highway, Peninsula Wellness Center at 1740 Marco Polo Way, 988 Howard Ave., 225 California Dr., 300 Airport Blvd., 1600 Trousdale Dr., 1818 Trousdale Dr., 1800 Trousdale Dr., 1008-1028 Carolan Ave. (Summerhill), 1225 Floribunda Ave., 1433 Floribunda.

That totals 18 projects including some as large as 450 new bedrooms.  Maybe Trump was right and there really isn't a drought in California?  I really have no idea where the water will come from, nor the classrooms, nor the parking spaces.  You have to love the juxtaposition of the headline with the Cheesy Deals advertisement!

You'll Miss it When it's Gone

The Daily Journal ran a piece about the incursion of tear-downs, McMansions, Taco Bells--choose your term of choice.  The only new aspects of this since my wife first ran for City Council twenty years ago are that other towns besides B'game are feeling the pain too and the Modern style of architecture has cropped up in neighborhoods.  Our own Jennifer Pfaff was quoted extensively, as she should be

In Burlingame, the crux of community concern is not so much the size of homes, as it is gradual shift away from the traditional look in neighborhoods, according to Jennifer Pfaff, president of the archives for the city’s Historical Society.  Pfaff said trends have moved in Burlingame toward building more modern homes, which has resulted in a loss of some of the city’s classic architectural style as existing properties are redeveloped.  She added the shift is especially apparent due to the relatively small property lot sizes in Burlingame, and the difference between new, modern homes sitting in near proximity to older, classic homes is clearly visible.

“It may not change if you are looking at a house by itself as a freestanding structure, it isn’t quite as serious as when you are looking at rows of houses very close together,” she said.

The effect of changing community character is cumulative, said Pfaff, which has increasingly taken hold over recent years. She said the result has become large, bold structures with flat faces toward the street which creates an almost boxy look for neighborhood where many modern homes sit together.
Requiring more setbacks toward the sides of properties, leaving additional space for trees and landscaping, would help prevent the increasingly popular aesthetic from overwhelming the community, said Pfaff.

I seriously doubt anything will be done about any aspect of this issue, but perhaps I am just jaded by history.  Anybody recall the campaign postcard that read "You'll Miss it When it's Gone"?

Teardown or remodel? It's a taxing question.

Everyone knows the trick. “Leave one wall standing” and the project is not considered a teardown, it’s categorized as a remodel. It’s simple, the owner’s want to save $$ on taxes. I get that. The problem is these projects are not remodels. Not even close. They are teardowns from the inside out. Some might say this is a loophole that cost cities, counties and states revenue. The question is: why do cities, counties and states continue to allow this to happen?

Sure I could whine about the fact there are six of these “remodeling” projects going on in my neighborhood—one next to me, one across the street from me and three behind me—all at the same time. I would not consider any of them simple remodels. I have included pics to prove my point. However, I’m not going to whine. Instead, I am going to point out that the city is losing much needed revenue, ( I have called for a teardown fee numerous times in this forum and in public.) So you can see I feel strongly about it.

Let’s consider a teardown fee, but first we have to redefine teardown from remodel and that may be a state matter. OK, Senator Jerry Hill, Assemblyman Kevin Mullen, Congresswoman Jackie Speier…you want to raise some serious dough? Consider looking into this loophole. Let’s not fall for the “leave one wall standing” BS.