Small businesses are complaining about how long it takes to go through planning and building; we are driving business away
–Business is booming; everywhere you go in Burlingame, you see construction.
–A recent call for bids for one commercial lot brought in 18 bids within the first 48 hours.
–There are simple explanations for the delays affecting a few small businesses, such as the Broadway Grill (the applicant chose not to seek seating for diners upstairs at first, then changed his mind and tried to seek an exception to the state Fire Code) and La Corneta (the owner did not build according to the plans approved).
–We have created materials to share with small business owners through the Chamber of Commerce, advising them not to sign leases until they understand city requirements.
–We have a new Community Development Director who supervises the planning and building divisions together. He often schedules “all hands” meetings for applicants with departments involved in the permitting process before an application is submitted or to resolve problems.
–The council has approved the hiring of a new Community Development Coordinator, whose job will be to help bring new businesses to Burlingame and retain the ones we have and to serve as a point of contact for businesses interested in locating or expanding in Burlingame.

A man who owns property across from the Recreation Center can’t do anything with his property because the city might use eminent domain to seize his land for a new community center.
–The proposal to build a new community center on private land was brought to the council back in 2001.
–After 9/11, it was not feasible to build any major projects. In June 2006 the council identified flood control as a far more urgent priority.
–There is no way of knowing when, if or where the City Council will decide to build a new community center.
–Using eminent domain is never an attractive option for cities.

We shouldn’t be spending money on superfluous things like tree studies, the charrette, Centennial, the trolley, consultants and police dogs.
–The actual cost for arborist work on “Tom the Tree” was $5,775, and the city spent $2,500 for a civil engineering study, so the total city expense was $8,275.
–The charrette brought 80 architects and associates to design future visions for Burlingame’s downtown. They volunteered from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. and generated hundreds of designs. The total cost for the day was a $15,000 scholarship to the American Institute of Architects and $6,200 in actual expenses for food, drafting supplies and mailing costs. The logo for the SOBA Charrette was designed by Russ Cohen, free of charge.
–The $50,000 set aside for the Centennial is seed money that will be paid back with revenues from Centennial events. In addition, we hope to generate profits that will help fund a lasting commemorative project.
–The Burlingame Trolley is provided through a partnership with the city, Broadway merchants and Burlingame Avenue merchants, as well as six major hotels. Last year the city paid $88,000 toward the Trolley, and it transported 38,635 riders. If you figure that the average rider spends $50 in taxable goods, they generate about $2 million annually in gross sales to our stores and restaurants.
–Consultants are a wise investment when you need specialized information for a limited time. Example: Some council candidates have hired consultants.
–The Burlingame Police Department has received voluntary donations that will cover the cost of two police dogs.

Sidewalk repairs don’t cost $500,000 a year; the state pays for $150,000 of that; we are only getting a small amount from residents each year anyway, so why can’t the city pay instead?
–Prior to 9/11, the city was spending $550,000 per year on sidewalk repairs. In order to address current needs and the backlog of repairs needed, we should spent $900,000 annually on sidewalk repairs.
–The state does not provide funds for sidewalk repairs. In Burlingame, as in most cities, we use our gasoline tax monies to fund street resurfacing.

People are tripping over sidewalks and getting hurt; why can’t the city fix the sidewalks around the Recreation Center?
–The council included funds in this year’s budget to replace the sidewalks on Burlingame Avenue around the Recreation Center. The work should be completed within the next two months.
–We have not had many people report injuries associated with sidewalk tripping hazards.
–We’ve been waiting more than 10 years for a new Safeway; we are losing tax revenues that a new store would bring; the council is at fault for not working with Safeway.
–Safeway walked away in 2003 and refused to return; this is the first council that has succeeded in getting Safeway back to the table.
–Grocery stores are not among our biggest tax generators because food isn’t taxable.
–This time Safeway is working with community representatives from a wide variety of groups in a collaborative process.
–The resulting project will have community support and is likely to sail through the planning process.

The council takes too long to get anything done.
–The council values citizen input regarding major issues; in most instances, it does not delay decisions.
–The tree debate expanded into a larger discussion of how our community wants to handle aging trees as they impact our infrastructure.
–As a result of this community conversation, we now have a comprehensive Urban Forest Management Plan to guide us as other trees begin to cause problems. It includes options about what to do before trees become impossible.

The city has hidden pots of money and could well afford to pay for sidewalk repairs and fund a new community center.
–Our budget has not recovered to pre-9/11 levels and we do not have enough funds to restore services that were cut in the wake of 9/11.
–We used to spend $8 million to $10 million a year on infrastructure. Now we need to spend at least $4 million to maintain our infrastructure each year, and we have only been able to set aside $1 million until this year; this year we are spending $2 million on infrastructure, but we still need to find $2 million more.
–The current council is committed to finding revenues to cover the cost of sidewalk repairs. One option is to raise the transient occupancy tax charged to hotel guests from 10 percent to 11 percent ( San Francisco’s is 14 percent), which would bring in $1 million more per year.
–Funding a new community center is a much more expensive prospect. The current council has identified flood control as a higher priority than a new community center and will consider funding methods for flood control early in 2008.
–There are lots of other things we would like to fund, too, including more library hours, additional police officers and more maintenance of streets and parks, but we must live within our means or find new sources of revenue.
–Our Finance Department continues to win awards for accurate reporting and full disclosure. We invite anyone to inspect the city’s budgets and financial reports.

Burlingame’s parking situation reminds me of the old adage about restaurants. People want to eat in a restaurant that has a line around the block; they don’t want to eat in one that’s empty. In fact, we are very lucky. We have two retail oriented areas in Burlingame and both–Broadway Avenue and the Burlingame Avenue area–are successful. The perception that there is not enough parking is in fact a sign of our success.

When there becomes an abundance of empty parking spaces in our shopping districts there may very well be plenty of empty storefronts as well.

As a past chair and member of Burlingame’s Traffic, Safety and Parking Commission we developed, along with staff, both meter pricing strategies and way finding strategies. I personally designed the banners that help driver’s find our public parking lots. Recent studies indicate that turnover in Burlingame Avenue’s prime parking locations is higher, meaning more spaces are available, more often. More people are parking in underutilized lots. There is also a parking permit program that helps merchants encourage their employees to park in outlying lots. These tactics have apparently eased some of the burden in downtown Burlingame. In fact they have become a model for others towns in the midst of developing downtown strategies.

Trees give so much more than character to our town. Our city forebearers recognized this and made sure that our community would be leafy and elegant for generations. It behooves us to do the same.

Our trees provide shade, fresh air and make us feel better. American Forests, a non-profit conservation organization, suggests that 40 percent tree to act as a canopy, preventing heat islands—a build up of heat from the sun pouring onto dark, non-reflective surfaces, like roofs and parking lots.

In addition, trees help us control storm water runoff. One hundred mature trees capture about 250,000 gallons of rainwater per year by absorbing the rain and slowing the flow of storm water.

Trees also clean pollutants from the air. Just 100 trees, for example, remove 5 tons of carbon dioxide from the air a year—about 1,000 pounds of pollutants.

In fact, they are a great source of good mental health. Texas A & M University studies showed that those hospitalized recovered faster if they had a view of trees.

So, when someone saves a tree in Burlingame they aren’t simply saving one tree, they’re actually helping to save the planet.

You may have heard the phrase, “everything old is new again.” In Burlingame, a more accurate phrase would be, “everything old is still old.”

That’s because as we celebrate the city’s 100th anniversary, we also must recognize that our city’s infrastructure is also 100 years old. It is in serious disrepair because of its age and needs some serious TLC. We have been putting band-aids on our town’s underbelly for far too long. The only way to give our infrastructure the care it deserves is to find the funding to do it.

Funding and fixing our storm drains, sewers and sidewalks is not a glamorous campaign platform, but I have never been one to shy away from speaking candidly. Put plainly, now is the time to make Burlingame’s foundation stronger and safer, before it’s too late.

As an ardent local history buff, and as President of The Burlingame Historical Society, I have developed a passion for older structures. However, I believe that some old buildings outlive their original purposes.

Adaptive Reuse is a process that adapts buildings for new uses while retaining their historic features.

I am happy to report that lately, we are seeing some extraordinary examples of such projects in our downtown centers. The Broadway Grill restaurant inside an old Bank of America, a restaurant inside the old Broadway Train Depot on California Drive, Sam’s Sandwiches inside the old Greyhound Bus Depot on Howard Avenue, Steelhead Brewery inside an old car repair garage on California Drive, a car dealer inside an old bus factory along Carolan Avenue, are just a few.

But we can and should do much more to encourage developers to pursue these types of projects whenever possible. Projects like these reduce our landfill, cut down on sprawl and add tremendously to the ambiance and unique charm of our city. We need to help facilitate these projects because they are ultimately beneficial, not only to the owners and operators of businesses, but also to the residents and visitors who like the look and feel of this town.

The downtown Burlingame Specific Area Plan will explore this practice and will also survey the inventory of historic buildings in our downtown area in determining the future of development downtown. I will do all I can do to assure that adaptive reuse becomes a growing source of pride and prosperity.