The Burlingame Voice

Another Time, This Place

I don't want to push the misplaced Stop Sign post down from the top, but the Voice needs to stay fresh so here is a little "thought piece" that starts 69 years ago.  If you find it boring, just scroll down to comment on stop signs, scooters, wildfires, SFO runway noise, our lack of water security, BHS woes, empty stores on the Avenew, etc, etc.

I always loved Herb Caen's take on EssEff life.  In the '80s and '90s, I read him every day and twice on Sundays.  I also read and reread his books.  His 1949 classic, Baghdad by the Bay, starts off chapter 28 with this paragraph

San Francisco, brought to life by the lusty, gusty roars of the gold seekers, has never taken itself too seriously.  From the very start there has been life and laughter in Baghdad-by-the-Bay, with every citizen a potential comedian, every stuffed shirt the inevitable butt of a joke, every facet of the city's life wide open to the snide observation.

Herb would be so disappointed by the EssEff of 2018.  There are so many stuffed shirts strutting around SF that it is positively regressive--in a progressive sort of way.  The City is a mess and I am afraid the effluent will taint B'game even more than it already has.  It's bad enough that they control our water supply, let their airport disrupt our sleep and keep trying to make socialist rent control seem mainstream.  The November ballot will be packed with sneakily written propositions and innocent claims about dangerous initiatives.  Let's hope we can channel Herb Caen and keep our sense of humor and whatever the noun is that goes with "snide".

H2O: Perhaps There is Hope

Members of the SM County Historical Society are being treated to a fantastic quarterly newsletter in the Spring issue focusing on "Water for San Francisco" which also means water for the rest of us on the Peninsula.  Two lengthy articles cover the history of the companies developing the dams, reservoirs and pipelines that form the complex system that ends at our faucets.  Society President Mitch Postell leads off with the early history noting that water was a concern as far back as 1850; causing competing companies to dam rivers, flood towns like Searsville and buy land around reservoirs to safeguard the surrounding watersheds.

Our local historical scribe, Joanne Garrison, follows with an article that delves into the contributions of William Bowers Bourn II who became the president and controlling shareholder of the Spring Valley Water Company in 1908.  Bourn was already wealthy and was able to upgrade facilities while simultaneously trying to sell the company to the City of EssEff; instead of the city building the Hetch Hetchy system.  SF bought the company in 1929 and built Hetch Hetchy--and has done very little since.

But today's SF Comicle article describes the partial funding for some long overdue upgrades to our water storage systems across the state.  Eight projects are listed as getting about half of what they need from Proposition 1 bond money.

Collectively, the projects would add about 4.3 million acre feet of water storage across the state, the equivalent of about a dozen of San Francisco’s Hetch Hetchy reservoirs.  “Getting the money is a greater step toward water reliability for the Bay Area region,” said Oliver Symonds, a spokesman for the Contra Costa Water District, which was allocated $459 million for the proposed $980 million expansion of Los Vaqueros Reservoir.  With its allocation, the Contra Costa Water District hopes to break ground in two years on raising the dam at Los Vaqueros Reservoir in the East Bay hills by 55 feet.  The district intends to share its additional supplies with other Bay Area providers, including the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission and the East Bay Municipal Utility District. Those agencies are expected to help foot the balance of the project’s cost.

The Prop. 1 funding for water storage is the most the state has allocated since construction of the State Water Project, which consists of 21 dams and hundreds of miles of canals, built largely in the 1960s.

So it is a start, but just as it is wise to index things like wage increases or tax brackets to inflation, any water supply plans need to be indexed for population growth (as well as ensuring that agriculture and trees are not starved for water).  As Yosemite is being closed for the first time since 1990 due to a 37,000 acre wildfire and memories of the Santa Rosa fires are disturbingly fresh, we need to ask the question of whether or not Sacramento, San Mateo County and the City of B'game are really doing enough?  I think not.  In the meantime, do you have at least 15 gallons of water tucked away at your house?

  

County Budget Not Holding Much Water

The Daily Journal article about the San Mateo County budget being approved caught my eye as it painted a picture of responsible fiscal management and planning for the inevitable downturn in the economy.  County manager-soon-to-be-retired John Maltbie noted

He acknowledged the county’s success in making summer reading programs available through the county’s library system as well as the some $100 million spent in the last five years or so on affordable housing projects to create an estimated 1,770 units in the near future as signs of progress.

That caused me to look a little deeper into the budget where one finds

On May 16, 2017, the Board approved a Measure K allocation for affordable housing of $40.5 million over two years with the possibility of increasing that amount by $3.25 million if Peninsula Clean Energy repays its loan to the County early. All together, affordable housing will receive about 25 percent of Measure K appropriations over the next two years. Unlike in other counties, these funds come from existing resources, resulting in the reduction of Measure K contributions for other program and projects.

It is anticipated that these funds will support the construction of roughly 1,400 new housing units, which is a tiny fraction of the need for over 25,000 additional affordable housing units in the County. Not enough to change the trajectory of the increase in rents or housing costs. (Additions to the Housing Department budget will be submitted as a June Revision.)

We know that the 1,770 incremental units are just the County's additions.  Cities are spending more money and private developers are building as fast as they can.  So the natural question is "Where will the additional water come from?".  One can search the 900 pages of the budget for any indication that some sliver of $2.8 billion dollars might be spent on additional supply--but that search would be in vain.  I know because I did it.  The 143 appearances of the word "water" mention conservation at County facilities, stormwater treatment, supply for boaters at the marinas, water quality, a new tank in Pescadero, and a toilet rebate program for Pescadero, BUT not a word about any sort of new water supply.  Get ready for draconian water restrictions friends.  

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.

ECR: SamTrans & Smart Lights

I'm all for smarter technology being applied to our municipal infrastructure, but it has to be a matter of correct priorities.  In a Daily Journal piece today, down at the bottom after the route changes are described, we read

SamTrans has plans to further improve travel time on El Camino Real by 2021 with the Traffic Signal Priority feature, which will allow buses on El Camino Real to more efficiently navigate traffic lights. Buses will be equipped with transponders that interact with traffic signals to extend green lights for buses or move the standard light cycle faster so they spend less time waiting at red lights.

We're pretty lucky in that there should not be a ripple effect on B'game cross streets because there aren't many lights near ECR, but mostly I have to wonder if perhaps CalTrans could focus on the horrible condition of the road surface in B'game before we dive into an Internet of Things experiment?  The ever-present flooding should be fixed first, then a new layer of blacktop is definitely in order.  Michael Brownrigg had the flooding as a campaign intention--I hope it's in the works.  The latter seems like it is hopeless.

Drive-in Update: More jobs, more expensive housing and water

If you have not been out to the Bayfront lately here is a photo of the big 301 Airport Blvd. project's progress.  Suffice it to say it is rolling along.  With B'game real estate prices up more than 25% year-over-year and rents up about 14% (see the post directly below this one) it would appear that forces are in place to keep us on that trajectory.  Here is the next big demand driver.

Of course there are no new water sources for any of this and, in fact, the Chronicle just reported

Water bills in San Francisco are set to rise steadily over the next four years, after the approval of a rate schedule by the city’s Public Utilities Commission.  The city’s combined bill for water and sewer services will climb by an average of 8.4 percent, or around $10, each year through 2022, according to the commission.

So you know we are not far behind since we all feed off of Hetch Hetchy which they control.  Build it into your family budget now.

Development Bookends

Today's Daily Journal covers our bookends -- San Mateo and Millbrae going a bit nuts.  The Millbrae piece reports

Following hours of detailed analysis and passionate discussion, (Millbrae) officials ultimately accepted the proposal to build 444 housing units, more than 270,000 square feet of offices and up to approximately 30,000 square feet of retail space in three towers up to 10 stories near the BART and Caltrain station.

Well, the analysis couldn't have been that "detailed" or it would have noted the mess this will make of Millbrae Ave. (which is already a bit of a mess) and it would address where the water is supposed to come from.  It would appear the EIR process is a joke in Millbrae.  On our southern exposure, San Mateo just can't seem to get enough as the DJ reports here

How a 935-unit residential development proposed to replace the Concar Shopping Center in San Mateo will affect the services and stores members of neighboring communities use was among the concerns residents aired at the Planning Commission’s Tuesday study session.

Though the project, dubbed the Passage at San Mateo, is set to retain a Trader Joe’s and 7-Eleven on site and also provide a dining hall, park space and a transit hub open to residents of nearby communities, Sunnybrae resident Barbara Niss found the loss or relocation of well-used amenities like Rite Aid, Trader Joe’s and the nonprofit Peninsula Ballet Theatre to be disheartening.  For Niss, new projects like the 12-acre Station Park Green project — which will add 599 housing units, 2 acres of parks and open space, as well as 25,000 square feet of commercial space and 10,000 square feet of office space across the street from the project — already promise to affect the area.

An just for kicks the hacks at the SF Chronicle editorial page try to take to task all of the candidates to replace Jerry Brown as governor for not supporting the abusive SB827

The leading candidates have plenty of proposals to ramp up government spending on housing for the needy. What they generally oppose is any threat to sacrosanct “local control” over what may be built. And the fact is that local control caused the housing crisis and will perpetuate it in the absence of courageous leadership.

Since when did local control deserve to be in quotes?  Only in the mind of socialists and myopic thinkers.  At least the gubernatorial candidates appear to have some sense of right, wrong and responsibility.  Let's hope it stays that way.

"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. 

H2O - Plenty of Restrictions

It could not be clearer to those who can see-- we Californians will never have enough water.  What is completely muddy to me is why our politicians and leaders don't see that and thus decline to do anything about it EXCEPT add more usage restrictions.  Yesterday's Chronicle notes

Recognizing California’s increasing propensity for parched weather — this winter being no exception — state water officials are planning to resurrect many of the temporary water restrictions that were enacted during the recent five-year dry spell and make them permanent.  “These rules are about a larger suite of actions designed to build resilience to future droughts and climate change,” said Max Gomberg, a senior environmental scientist for the state water board.

Translation:  Get ready for even more draconian restrictions.  Here are the proposed restrictions:

• Watering lawns in a manner that causes runoff
• Using a hose without a shut-off valve to wash a car
• Hosing down driveways and sidewalks with potable water (like any of us have much access to any other kind of water!)
• Using potable water in a fountain or decorative water feature (like I said.....)
• Watering within 48 hours of rain (So you all stay home and manage your sprinkler timers)
• Irrigation of median strips by cities and counties (Nice for a City of Trees...NOT!)
• Laundering of towels and linens at hotels without first asking guests (Waste of time, it happens all the time)
• Residents being punished by homeowner associations, cities or counties for practicing water conservation

And in the meantime, leaders cannot figure out how to restrain over-development even when they know it's the right thing to do for the community even aside from a lack of future water as noted here.   Creating mock affordable housing to squeeze even more people into the Bay Area makes even less sense.

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.