The Burlingame Voice

Tax Slippage?

I had a chance to speak to the president of ride-sharing company Lyft a couple of months ago.  The whole Lyft - Uber business model and the disruption these companies are bringing to the taxi business is unfolding in front of our eyes.  The same can be said to a lesser degree for one of the top B'game sources of bread and butter:  our hotel business.  The Transient Occupany Tax (known as the 'TOT') is a major source of revenue for B'game given our proximity to SFO and the number of hotels we have on the Bayfront.  Think $18 million in 2013 per page 37 of the CAFR found here -- higher than either property or sales taxes.

Both new businesses got me thinking about B'game's solvency and liability.  I checked with the City about taxi company revenues and they are pretty minimal.  Specifically:

The business license is $100 + $25 per taxi.  Finance collects the fee and the insurance certificate of automotive liability of $350,000 (naming the City of Burlingame  as the certificate holder), then waits for BPD to do the background check and fingerprinting.  Once that is complete, the City sends the business license.

The TOT threat from VRBO and AirBnB and the like is a bit different and some cities are starting to ask the question.  The San Mateo Times noted last week that 

Some members of the Palo Alto City Council are calling for an in-depth examination of online booking services like Airbnb that allow people to rent their homes to travelers on a short-term basis.

On Monday, Vice Mayor Liz Kniss -- along with council members Karen Holman, Larry Klein and Gail Price -- is expected to ask the council to schedule a study session no later than March 31, 2015, to discuss whether such businesses need to be regulated in Palo Alto.

One of the chief concerns raised in a colleagues memo by the four council members is the potential loss of transient occupancy tax. Palo Alto has 300 to 400 Airbnb listings per night and stands to lose $210,000 in the coming year.

Aside from the financial impact there are potental liability issues, code enforcement (or non-enforcement) issues and, as we are seeing in some neighborhoods in B'game, parking and neighbor concerns.  One really has to wonder if addressing this issue trumps things like fretting over affordable housing as the City is apparently doing here

As a means of promoting affordable housing policies contained within the Burlingame Downtown Specific Plan as well as the City’s Housing Element, the City of Burlingame is issuing a Request for Proposals (RFP) seeking qualified developers interested in partnering with the City to develop City-owned Parking Lots F and N, located in the southern portion of Downtown Burlingame, with affordable housing.

I'll leave aside the question of whether the City has or hasn't learned it lesson about "partnering" with developers from the Post Office fiasco ("What?  Our preferred developer didn't win the bidding?) and just question whether staff time is better spent on more immediate and more solvable issues?

 

Taxing Schools

We just passed the renewal of two parcel taxes for B'game schools, but there is the eternal question of "Will it be enough?"  An article in the Daily Journal highlights an Unintended Consequence that many in California forget about.  I grew up in a state where the schools were under the control of the city councils including the budgets so councilmembers and city staff had more skin in the game when it came to providing sufficient classroom space et al.  Replace "Foster City and San Mateo" with "B'game" below:

With student enrollment growing in Foster City and San Mateo, elementary school district officials are thinking outside of the box to compensate for the impact of new housing developments on already overcrowded computer labs, classrooms, increased traffic and new Foster City students having to attend schools in San Mateo.

Generally, thinking "out of the box" is good, but in this instance I have to ask if some "inside the box" thinking might be in order.  Even though the school board and council are separate shouldn't each worry about the concerns of the other?  Before we add hundreds of housing units in town near North Park and at the Post Office, is anyone asking where the new resident kids will go to school?  I don't think they are and that is a predictable shame.

Postal Opinion

My dear wife has her first opinion piece as a private citizen in the Daily Journal today.  Kudos to Jon Mays for reaching out to an "expert" on the topic of our downtown Post Office.  It's been a topic of interest here on the Voice for awhile as you can read by clicking on the category to the right or here.

Cathy offers three opportunities to the new owners and the community at large.

Local landmark: An opportunity exists to preserve one of the most important structures both to Burlingame’s history and its historic downtown.

Lucrative tax benefits: With the city’s recent adoption of the California Mills Act (for property tax abatement) coupled with federal tax credits available for commercial restoration and AB 1999-Economic Development and State Historic Tax Credits, the new owner has the opportunity to reap huge financial incentives for adaptive re-use of the building.

Lasting legacy: This magnificent building along with its 1.4 acres of land and the possible use of the adjacent city parking lot, could be developed as an enduring public/private use space incorporating a public square, recreation space for families as well as a spot to hold a farmers’ market and other worthwhile community events a la Redwood City’s Courthouse square or San Francisco’s Ferry Building.

I won't make the fatal spousal mistake of adding to or modifying anything she says, but do click through and read the whole piece.

Perking up Park Rd.

I had a chance to chat with one of the owners of the Vinyl Room bar a couple of months ago while they were remodeling.  Juan Loredo came across as a really nice young guy who is having fun and building a business with his partner.  You will recall I've had some fun in the bar before.  The Daily Journal also caught up with him since the bar is now reopened for business.  They note

With the Burlingame Avenue Streetscape project, Vinyl Room at 221 Park Road has decided to do renovations and took a spin off the name Vinyl Room for creative inspiration. In addition, soon-to-open businesses like the Indian restaurant and the coffee and wine bar H29 should draw more customers in, so the bar is extending its hours.

The DJ missed the coolest part of the remodel in my opinion.  It notes that "An art wall features 200 wood panels that are the size of album covers." but Juan's plan is to attach iconic album covers to the wood panels which will be very cool.  Here's the panels.

If I had a bit more time on my hands I would help him out with that part.  I wish them good luck along with the new wine bar and the Roti replacement.  As you are checking out the Vinyl Room be sure to notice the building's facade where Juan and Jose have resurrected the original "Cocktails" graphics.  Nice preservationist touch.  Let's hope it doesn't get overshadowed by some monsterous new building on the Post Office site!

Affordable Myths

The Daily Journal is reporting on the Council study session on so-called "affordable housing" downtown.  I shiver whenever I hear the term "affordable housing" in a government-driven context because the Law of Unintended Consequences is upheld so often.  Trying to create "affordable housing" in one place usually means increasing the cost of housing in another, nearby place because of the displacement effect.  It also ignores what economists call "externalities".  That link to Wikipedia talks about the costs of "unregulated markets" actions, but that is just Wiki progressivism since a "regulated decision" like this one can be even more harmful.  In this case, one of the main external victims would be the school system.  You need only read the ever-growing post on the Hoover situation to know the school crowding issue is real.  The article notes 

During a Monday study session, the City Council heard a presentation from the firm Pacific Western Community that proposed whether take two city parking lots and construct affordable housing for working people, or workforce housing, on one lot and construct a public parking structure on the other. The two proposed downtown lots are Lots F, located on Park Road and Howard Avenue, and Lot N, located just east of Lot F on Lorton and Howard avenues.

The piece goes on to note

“The most appealing part of the proposal is we would get several hundred parking spots downtown — that would be huge,” Nagel said. “There are many, many questions. This is just the start of the process. It’s important to have all types of housing available. People who work for nonprofits, teachers and others are the backbone of our community — people who are not paid huge paychecks. We’re hearing from them loud and clear we need to do something about this problem.”

I'm thinking it may be time for a Freedom of Information request to the City to review what we actually are "hearing loud and clear" that people want the City getting involved in on housing.  Anyone wanna bet it would be a very short file coming back?  And if you see how many of the comments come from B'gamers I'll bet it is even shorter.  By the way, maybe we should see what happens with the Post Office before the Council even thinks about getting in bed with another developer?  The last date didn't work out so well with Grosvenor!

Our New Post Office

The sale of the downtown Post Office was reported awhile back and I had heard rumors of the new location for as well, but this letter posted near the mail slots confirms it.

If you are having trouble reading that on-line, it says 1100 Howard Ave. is the new location.  That is the current Calico Corners site shown here

One has to wonder if this move needs some sort of permit from the City.  Afterall the parking on this corner can't come close to that available at the current location.  Straightforward prediction:  we will have a traffic mess on our hands at Howard and Highland.  You read it here first.

Designing Design Tech into Mills

Today's Daily Journal article on where a new charter school will be located was very timely.  I had just finished reading a Wall Street Journal article about the New York State governor and legislature's deal to smack down the new NYC mayor who is anti-charter school.  New York State passed a law requiring NYC to find rent-free space for charter schools in government buildings--with a stick that if no room can be found "the city would be required to pay up to $40 million for the charter to rent private space."  The piece mentioned that California has a very similar law except California school districts can charge charter schools rent.  The DJ article notes

A new charter school focused on hands-on projects and design concepts could soon be occupying space at Mills High School starting this fall.

Although Design Tech High School’s leadership wanted it to be housed at Burlingame High School, the San Mateo Union High School District said there isn’t space at the growing Burlingame school. Last week, the district approved sending a letter to the charter offering six classrooms, each with 960 square feet of space, at the Mills location for the new school. The school initially requested at least eight classrooms and the district previously had offered five.

You can click through for the financial details, but the Mills vs. BHS location negotiation boils down to this

“Burlingame is a built-out site,” said Liz McManus, deputy superintendent of business services. “There’s a bubble going through the Burlingame Elementary School District. We have to look at our long-term projections with our capacity. In the 2014-15 school year it will flow into our schools and continue to grow for the next 15 years. We don’t anticipate the growth pattern to be as strong at Mills and it’s a beautiful campus.”

It sounds like the SMUHSD is being much more reasonable than the new major in New York City--not that it's hard to pass that hurdle.  I've also been thinking about the "bubble" Liz identifies.  It may be more like a giant, hot air balloon if this, this, this and this all progress the way these project could go.

Post Office Suggestion

Having just spent about 15 minutes in line at the downtown post office, I have three suggestions for the USPS.  Since this location probably isn't going to be sold anytime soon due to its clear historic value and designation, not to mention its central location and the on-going parking hubbub that would preclude any overstuffed project for awhile, how about giving the lobby a coat of paint?

The yellowing scotch tape bits, the holes and hangers from signage that is no longer there and the general grime of daily use could be fixed up in a couple of days by any commercial painter.  Next, since the acoustics are so good in the lobby how about a little music?  As the wait grew interminable and no one was talking, including on their cell phones, the buzz of the florescent lights was palpable.  Even something completely harmless like KOIT on a portable radio would be an improvement!  Think retail therapy to go along with the Valentine's Day card display!

Lastly, having only one window open should be a rare event.  I have no idea what the guy in the leather hat's postal business was, but it must have been complicated to take so long.  One doesn't need to be an expert in queuing theory to figure out the impact of a single window especially on Saturday mornings.

Postal Protection: Berkeley-style

I must say it is not often that I find a great example of how to run a local government in Berkeley, but today is one of those days.  The example bears directly on our own Post Office's future as we have followed here.  The SF Comicle is reporting on a US Congressional vote

Berkeley's hopes of keeping its century-old post office off the auction block have gotten a boost in Congress, where a bipartisan House bill urges the Postal Service to refrain from selling historic buildings, including Berkeley's, while the U.S. inspector general investigates whether the agency is violating preservation laws.

Now one might think why does Congress have to have a vote to tell a federal agency to follow the law, but that appears to be the state of things these days.  The more interesting part is the Berkeley council's perspective

Protesters have camped out at the site, and Berkeley Mayor Tom Bates, the entire City Council and Rep.Barbara Lee, D-Oakland, have implored the Postal Service to spare the Berkeley landmark.

Now the House is weighing in with language that calls on the Postal Service to "suspend the sale of any historic post office" while the Inspector General looks into the agency's compliance with the National Historic Preservation Act.

Hope springs eternal that the sun is not setting on our own historical gem.

Wishful Thinking on Our Post Office

I happened to come across a lovely example of adaptive reuse of a classic post office building that we B'gamers can only dream about.  The Willis Annenberg Center's website is here.  It notes on the About page that

This new venue transforms a Beverly Hills city block, facing Santa Monica Boulevard, between Crescent and Canon Drives, into a vibrant new cultural destination with two distinct, elegant buildings: the historic 1933 Italianate-style Beverly Hills Post Office and the new, contemporary 500-seat, state-of-the-art Goldsmith Theater.

Together these two structures embrace the city’s history and future, creating a new cultural landmark. Within the treasured Post Office, existing spaces are re-imagined into the 150-seat Lovelace Studio Theater, a theater school for young people (opening in 2014), a café and gift shop.

The problem is that with an exclusive negotiating agreement in place, something truly transformational for downtown is, well, excluded.