Broadway plans spur opposition in Burlingame

Amsden also presented a variety of suggestions of bettering parking, designing more experiential and flexible retail spaces and easier access to the area.

However, some of the 20 or so in attendance asked developers to be mindful of the boundaries of the Broadway district, which is only two and a half blocks long and a thoroughfare between El Camino Real and California Drive, and keep them regularly updated of developments and meetings.

“The consideration is, you’d have to ask people, do you want a second Burlingame Avenue at this location?” building owner Dave Simpson said. “No!” some in the crowd chorused in response.

Amsden said the economic development and success of businesses in the area — there are currently 31 restaurants, 26 retail stores, 39 other storefronts and 529 workers in the area — is an extremely important element of the plan’s design.

“Economic development is a key piece, and what that really means is supporting the businesses that exist right now and the businesses coming in and how can different policies or changes on the city’s end up to support that,” Amsden said.

These local businesses and the pedestrian scale of the neighborhood were noted as an asset of the Broadway district, whereas narrow right-of-ways, parking, intersections and lack of central gathering areas were listed as challenges.

Suggestions to bolster economic activity included experiential retail — multi-use spaces with a variety of retail or activity options in one place — permanent outdoor dining or outdoor markets, and the potential for mixed-use buildings with housing located on the second floor.

Parking and transportation was another integral element of the proposed ideas for the district, with spirited discussion around angled, parallel and multi-level parking.

Ross Bruce, a Realtor on the street and the former president of the Broadway Burlingame Business Improvement District, said that while he personally thought parallel parking is best, discussing increasing the density of the area via increased housing or mixed-use buildings could mean the feasible parking solution is multi-level parking areas behind restaurant and retail.

“That’s the first thing because it doesn’t matter where we are whether we have diagonal or parallel parking, if we’re talking about increasing the density, we simply need a place for people to drive in and park, or live and park,” he said.

By contrast, others wanted angular parking as it is now and said creating parallel parking would be a waste of space.

Caltrain station opening delay?

Another crux element of the plan revolves around the reopening of the Broadway Caltrain station, which John Kervanian, Broadway Burlingame Business Improvement District president, said was hitting snags.

The train agency was looking at opening the station after the electrification process was complete, but now believes it makes more sense to wait until the larger grade separation project is finished, Caltrain spokesman Dan Lieberman said.

This is because the current design of the station creates bottlenecks in both train and nearby car traffic, Lieberman said — but some community members say this delay is unwelcome.

“The Caltrain staff is recommending to the Joint Powers board not to go forward with the opening until the grade separation is done. And we are not in favor of that. We don’t want to wait because the by the time the grade separation is done and open, we’re looking at five to six years,” he said.

The Broadway Specific Plan, though separate from the grade separation project, is working to align itself with Caltrain’s plans, Amsden said.

Amsden also broached several ideas to meet outdoor gathering space needs and create a “living room feel” with potential plazas, outdoor space, programmed special events or parklets, although community members reiterated throughout the meeting that the thoroughfare nature of the Broadway district might make such ambitions challenging to accomplish.

The development team will continue to hold workshops and pop-up events to garner community input as the process continues — the plan will likely be presented in December 2024, Amsden said previously.

Go to burlingame.org/business_detail_T54_R322.php to learn more.

holly@smdailyjournal.com

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