The Burlingame Voice

10 lbs of Vehicle in a 5 lb Sack

The Wall Street Journal has a piece on the dissonance between Americans love of ever-larger vehicles and the ever-shrinking parking spaces they hope to squeeze into.  This has been a pet peeve of mine for sometime so indulge me for a moment while we look at the Journal's facts

Many downtown garages and parking lots sprouted in the late ’70s and ’80s when sales of smaller cars were on the rise. The standard parking spot in the U.S.—about 8 feet to 9 feet wide and nearly 18 feet deep—has budged little since.

Compact-car spaces, generally 7 feet to 8 feet wide and 15.5 feet deep, are becoming more commonplace in some congested cities, as builders try to squeeze in more parking.

Ford Motor Co., which recently announced it was killing off several slow-selling car models, expects nearly 90% of its North American sales will come from SUVs and trucks by 2020.  Drivers of more diminutive rides are equally frustrated by the parking pinch. Taller trucks and SUVs block views, park at weird angles and make it difficult to get in and out. 

B'gamers are susceptible to the problem in older and in newer parking lots.  The Safeway lot is a great example--tons of SUVs in "compact" spaces.  In a perfect world--or at least my perfect world-- planners would not even consider "compact" spaces.  They should just assume every space is going to be used by all sizes of vehicle and force the parking requirement to comply.  It will only get worse too as we dig deeper for more parking a la California Ave. and the other huge developments coming soon.

Roundabout Round-up

By popular demand, here is a new post on the California Dr. roundabout that is now under construction.  We discussed it 15 months ago here, but a new post is in order since the project is "in the dirt".  Here is the link to the City website for the project description, bid documents including the winning bid from Redgwick Construction that beat out the other four bidders.  If it comes in on budget this will be a $3 million dollar investment ($3,014,305 to be exact), but alas it does not have a cannon to replace the one that sat there until it was reportedly melted down during WWII.  That would have been a nice touch around Memorial Day so if any B'gamers have an extra cannon or know where we can find one, this is the place to let us know!

Just in time for Memorial Day, here is a photo of the cannon that has been provided by the B'game Historical Society.  It was apparently used as part of a promotion for the move Treasure Island showing at the Peninsula Theatre in 1934.

"Housing Advocates" Please Go Away

I am thoroughly sick and tired of the so-called housing advocates trying to pressure every City decision to add more housing.  In yesterday's Daily Journal we get two more examples.  First, the piece on redeveloping a piece of Bayfront land that is sitting mostly idle is on the docket for a meeting tonight with the State Lands Commission and the city and residents

State officials received an application from H&Q Asia Pacific in 2016 to develop a new hotel and park at the site, prompting a neighbor of the property to offer an alternative proposal to preserve the land as open space.

SPHERE Institute, a public policy research firm headquartered in the area east of Highway 101 along the city’s Bayfront, expressed an interest in leading the financing campaign to preserve the wetlands which exist on the property.

Housing advocates have also called for the site to be built into a residential development.

Really?  These clowns have no idea what it would take in city time, energy and expense to support ANY housing on the Bayfront.  There is no school, no police patrol to speak of (I know, I've done a drive-along with BPD), fire/ambulance coverage takes a lot of effort and will never be great without a new station that will never happen, and the weather sucks for the most part.  Just stop already!  Then this little gem of an idea pops up in the Rec Center article in the same edition

Under the direction from councilmembers, the architect will craft new designs and bring the issue back for further consideration in June.

While design revisions were considered, housing advocates suggested developing some residential units on top of the facility as a means of combating the city’s affordability crisis.

Stop already.  It's a Rec Center, not public housing.  The whole community is wondering where the heck the parking is going to come from for the recreation part and these clowns want to add housing?  Unbelievable.  We have a huge amount of housing already "in the dirt".  That's enough until all the other support services figure out how to handle the influx that has already been approved.   Oh, and just for good measure, we are back in a drought situation regardless of how much rain we get this week. 

Housing Manipulation: A Workshop That Worked

Regular Voice reader David Harris also contributes on occasion and has kindly provided this summary of a recent Housing Workshop held by the City.  David writes:

No matter where you stand on the issue of housing, affordable or otherwise, the city’s workshop on February 10 at the Lions Club was a well thought out and well attended effort to learn what residents are thinking and what their concerns are. Rather than a series of speakers addressing the audience, much of the meeting consisted of groups of residents huddled around tables exchanging ideas and sharing responses to questions posed by a facilitator.

“How does the housing climate affect you and the people you care about?” and “What are your hopes for the future of our community?” were a couple of the ice breakers that got conversations started.

Various housing options such as Accessory Dwelling Units (Granny units), multi-family units, live/work units and employee housing were presented, and pros/cons discussed at each table.  Residents were asked what their concerns were about each, and what other ideas they might have to create additional housing.

A few factoids that were shared and are available from the presentation on the city’s web site:

• San Mateo County has created about 79,000 jobs between 2010 and 2016, but only about 4,900 housing units.
• The median price of a home in San Mateo County has doubled and average rent of a two-bedroom apartment has increased 66% between 2011 and 2017.
• 30,000 people live in Burlingame. Nearly 39,000 people work here. Of those who work here, 38% earn less than $40,000 a year.
• Homeowners comprise 47% of the city’s population. Renters comprise 53%.

One can’t help but notice the imbalance between new jobs and new housing that seems to playing out each day as we watch a lot of commercial development (e.g. 300 Airport Blvd, north of Coyote Point) move forward lately and traffic congestion keeps growing.

After the meeting, one official told me that one of the reasons for the meeting’s format is that Burlingame has some big decisions coming up in the years ahead. It’s easy to know what residents are against, she said. But figuring out what they will support is a tougher challenge. Hopefully, this meeting helped provide some useful insights and perspective. Another, planned for April or May, is to focus on prioritizing options.

I appreciate David's recap of this workshop.  I am quite worried that some of the Big Decisions are being made without consideration to the quality of life in B'game.  This Monday night is a prime example of that with city parking Lots N and F on the slate for development of the "Village at Burlingame" affordable housing.  I have been hard pressed to find any current residents who think this is a good idea or that it will make a dent in the "affordability problem" with several thinking it will actually make things worse.  More than once I hear people ask "We can't afford a new, seismically safe Rec Center, but we can build affordable housing?".  Maybe we need a workshop on that trade-off.

A Time for Leadership

Last Wednesday's Daily Journal covered the proposed office development on the parking lot next to the Avenue train station.

Burlingame officials offered largely positive reviews to plans for a large office building proposed adjacent to the downtown train station, despite concerns the project may worsen the city’s transportation struggles.  The Burlingame Planning Commission unanimously agreed to push forward the proposed redevelopment of a car lot at 250 California Drive into a four-story office building.

The revealing part of the article and the meeting was in the quotes

Before voting in favor of the proposal and making it clear he supported the developer’s interest, (commission chair Peter) Gum shared development criticism he commonly receives from residents.

“What I hear on the street is please stop building and please stop the traffic congestion,” said Gum, according to video of the Monday, Feb. 12, meeting.

Gum acknowledged though the commission is required to consider projects according to the city’s zoning code, which allows for redevelopment of the property, so he voted in favor. He also made his preference for the site clear.

“I would suggest building nothing there, or keep it significantly smaller,” said Gum.  “It overpowers the most important building we have, which is the downtown train station,” said Gum.

So even Planning commissioners who hear the concerns--and there are lots of them--and seem to agree with them, apparently feel powerless to do anything to rein in over-development.  The public is not happy.  Last weekend I got talking to someone I had never met before and who had no idea who I was nor had she ever heard of the Voice.  The first sentence out of her mouth after hearing that I also lived in Burlingame was "Can you believe that building?"  Of course, she was talking about the monster on California Dr. across from this new proposed office building.

It's time for some leadership from the City Council.  If there are no zoning code terms in place to slow things down then it's time to enact them.  I'm not talking about spot re-zoning targeting an individual project--that is clearly illegal.  We need a general change.  It needs to address height, mass, trees (or lack thereof) and water availability.  We're well into drought conditions but no one seems to think that is a problem until restrictions are imposed.  With the Summerhill project now in progress and several more well along, it's time to take a breath, take stock and slow down.  Here is the Carolan Ave. claw as a visual reminder of what is already approved.

A Bit of Music on Our Quiet Avenue

The lack of entertainment on the Avenue continues to plague our otherwise vibrant downtown.  We have no lack of eateries and we seem to be able to attract bakeries even when the newest one (Panotiq) barely lasted three months--Dynora is coming soon.  But without any regular clubs or bars hosting frequent music, we have to get out and support those that offer something for the ears.  I was pleased to hear the semi-regular Thursday night gig at Barracuda with Sam Peoples on keys and Lynne Billig singing.  They were joined by guitarist Michael Sims from L.A. to provide a but of music for our entertainment drought-stricken Avenue.  Lynne told me they would be on the Avenue proper busking under the pergola next month.  In meantime, wouldn't it be great if the City put one-one hundredth of the effort on development to include some entertainment development?

Here's the Thursday night band.

Wurlitzer Fountain Returns

There is a small ray of hope that not all of Olde Burlingame will be lost in the rush to overdevelop our downtown and residential neighborhoods.  The Winter edition of the B'game Historical Society newsletter verifies early rumors that the Three Dancing Maidens water fountain that has been "out for repair" will actually return and be placed behind Malouf's.  If you aren't a Historical Society member, you should be.  I won't try to repeat the lengthy history of the fountain that Joanne Garrison wrote for the newsletter, but I will repeat the credits she mentioned.  Fred Shifferle of the Wurlitzer Trust and local realtor Greg Terry and Sam and Gloria Malouf were key to getting this bit of Olde B'game back in one piece.  Here is the photo from the newsletter.

An "Affordable Village"?

The Daily Journal gave an update to the on-going "affordable" housing saga in B'game late last week.  We've discussed how B'game has been expensive since its very founding here and I'm more convinced than ever that nothing the City tries will make much of a dent in that.  I've had several conversations with SF refugees and Silicon Valley people hoping to move north to follow the companies moving north that cause me to believe we will always be a prime destination.  And if we do something big enough (i.e. more than the 132 units being discussed now) it will have even more of a deleterious effect on the quality of life and education in B'game.

The Burlingame City Council discussed a joint effort with San Mateo County’s Home for All initiative aiming to kick-start community conversations this year regarding ways to make the city more affordable.

The pilot program is slated to launch Saturday, Feb. 10, with an initial discussion regarding affordable housing plans and policies standing to impact Burlingame.

“We will be getting a pulse of the community and seeing what people are thinking about,” Planning Director Kevin Gardiner said of the event to be coordinated by community engagement consulting firm Common Knowledge Plus and Home for All, which is a county program aiming to close the local imbalance of available jobs and homes.

Central to the initial talks will be the city’s vision to build the Village at Burlingame affordable development, slated to include 78 workforce housing units and 54 units set aside for seniors on a surface parking lot at Park Road and Lorton Avenue, south of Howard Avenue.

I'm reminded a bit of the old Boutique & Villager when I hear the working name for this "village", but I'll bet the ethos that existed when the B&V existed would not have looked kindly on this sort of thing.  Those were days when the small scale feel of the town was embedded in the press' mindset.  The results of the rent control vote would seem to say the general public still has some of that ethos, so I hope the Council really does listen to more than the squeaky wheels.  You would think with the building boom that is already going, the Peninsula Ave. overpass and B'way underpass concerns, the drive-in and PAMF projects under full steam and no new Rec Center in sight, there would be enough things to worry about without reducing downtown parking......

 

Another Ugly Addition

Yet another national chain has arrived on the Avenew and degraded the visual environment - in the front and back of their store.  Here is the Athleta sign on the BACK of the store looking into the parking lot.  Really?  Maybe they are trying to save the city a little money on parking lot street lights, but it ain't working for me.  I really hope someone in Planning measured the total size of the front and back signs and that it is within code.  If it is within code, code is too loose.

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