How much longer will Safeway torment both the community and itself with its intentions to rebuild a grocery store in Burlingame?
It is becoming increasingly obvious that while the community does not like the store in its present form, the new store plan is too big for the pedestrian-friendly downtown.
Safeway has wanted to redevelop the aging store for at least five years and has received opposition since the first plans were drawn. Still on the table is a new 66,910-square-foot structure that would contain a 45,728-square-foot Safeway, a 15,295-square-foot Walgreens and 5,887 square feet of retail space on Primrose Road and Howard Avenue.
Opponents say the store will remind them of a Costco and with its face toward El Camino Real, will turn its back to downtown. On Monday night, the Planning Commission echoed earlier concerns over size, bulk, traffic flow and pedestrian access. Aside from one commissioner, all said the project will not fit downtown. Present are the same concerns that were expressed when the commission rejected the proposal in May.
Seven months and $200,000 poorer, Safeway and a city-appointed consultant presented supplementary documentation to the Planning Commission whose members said they still were not happy with its findings.
In his comments, Planning Commissioner Michael Brownrigg said the environmental impact report was a sideshow to the real issue
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