Burlingame City Council sets annual goals

“There’s a lot of work that’s gone on,” City Manager Lisa Goldman said. “It’s pretty impressive particularly given all of the craziness with COVID … we didn’t just keep the wheels on the bus, we moved a lot of really important projects forward.”

Housing

On the housing front, Community Development Director Kevin Gardiner said the focus moving forward would be on policies and programs to support the city’s needs. That could include increasing affordability requirements for new buildings or working to preserve existing affordable units, things for which councilmembers voiced support.

The city currently requires 10% of units in new multifamily residential buildings to have below-market rate rents, but Vice Mayor Michael Brownrigg said he’d like to see that figure increased.

“All housing is important at this stage on the Peninsula, that said … we have a crying need for [affordable housing],” he said. “Seeing if we can increase the number of affordable units in new construction, I’m a big believer in.”

The city will be reaching out to stakeholders in coming months as it works toward new policies. Councilmembers suggested teachers, city staff, child care providers, service workers as well as labor representatives. Councilmember Donna Colson pointed also to religious institutions, some of which have large parcels on El Camino Real and have expressed interest in using their land for housing.

Gardiner noted that while identifying more sites for housing could also be an option, the city had already planned for several thousand units to be developed in coming years. State law requires Burlingame submit plans to allow for 3,257 units by the end of the year; other cities on the Peninsula are facing similar requirements.

“Some communities are doing a mad scramble to find out where they are going to put that housing, this community already did that work as part of the general plan update,” he said.

Grade separation

Furthering work on the Broadway grade separation, an ongoing effort to raise the Caltrain tracks to create a bridge over Broadway and construct a new train station, will continue to be a key priority for the council. Design for the project is nearing completion but the city still needs to find close to $300 million to pay for the majority of construction. The city is seeking more than $100 million in federal or other grants and could get another $120 million from county Measure A transportation sales tax funds.

“We seem to be at a standstill on this funding,” Colson said. “I just don’t know how to break through this logjam, I hope we can use every available resource that we have to get this hopefully done in the next five, 10 years.”

The council currently has a grade separation subcommittee of two councilmembers, but Colson said the effort should be expanded to the whole council.

According to Councilmember Emily Beach, who chairs the county’s Transportation Authority, federal funding for grade separation projects has been limited, but a regional push for such improvements along the Caltrain corridor could aid Burlingame’s effort, particularly given the passing of the federal infrastructure law. Public Works Director Syed Murtuza said the project was expected to be under construction by late 2024 or early 2025.

Sustainability and transit

Among sustainability efforts, councilmembers indicated support for setting a target date for the city to become carbon neutral, establishing electric scooter and bike share programs, strengthening electric car resources and incentivizing the switch to electric leaf blowers and electric appliances in homes. Those individual policies will be further developed and discussed at future city meetings.

For traffic safely, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists, Beach suggested the city adopt a “vision zero” goal, similar to those in cities including South San Francisco, San Francisco and San Jose. The policies take a data-driven approach to making road safety improvements aimed at eliminating traffic related deaths and injuries.

“It is proven that communities that adopt these vision zero policies reduce injuries and fatalities,” Beach said. “It empowers staff to make recommendations that are absolutely uncompromising about safety for all modes.”

Brownrigg voiced his support for the idea, though other members of the council said they were unsure Burlingame had a need for such a measure that would carry added costs. Councilmember Ann O’Brien Keighran said personal responsibility and enforcement also needed to be highlighted when it comes to traffic safety.

corey@smdailyjournal.com

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