Downtown Revitalization

By Ann Keighran

Burlingame recognizes the economic benefits of a continued effort to enhance assets enjoyed by residents and visitors to the City.

My seven years experience on the Planning Commission, and eight years on the City Council in addition to my involvement on the Downtown Plan Implementation Committee has provided me the opportunity to assess and implement ways of increasing the vitality of our Burlingame Avenue downtown area. We need to improve the connections between Burlingame Ave and Howard Avenue. We need to provide opportunities to bring pedestrians down our side streets to shop and dine.

I was a member of the Planning Commission, and opposed the initial proposed Safeway project due to the fact of its size and lack of integration to our downtown. As I was a member of the City Council in 2007, thus in a position to initiate a more proactive approach in replacing the inadequate store, I encouraged Safeway to come back to the table to talk with the city to introduce a new project. Council-member Baylock and I developed a Safeway working group which consisted of a variety of community stakeholders who helped develop a new project that would be beneficial to both Safeway and the City of Burlingame. The application for the new Safeway was submitted in April 2009 and approved with flying colors in February 2010 and was built by December 2010. We now have a reasonably sized Safeway that incorporated roof top parking, protected a heritage Oak tree, added a rooftop garden and included retail on both Howard and Primrose Ave which increased the vitality of those streets immensely.

Burlingame Avenue is currently in transition. Council-member Jerry Deal and myself worked with the architects, landlords, merchants and public works department with public in-put in developing the new streetscape plan. With the backing of the whole City Council, improvements such as widened sidewalks, antique lights, new underground infrastructure, hanging plants, additional trees and new gateways are being installed. This was a collaborative effort financially. The estimated project cost is $16.5 million dollars. $10.3 million dollars of the bond proceeds comes from the property owners and parking rates. Approximately $4.4 million comes from the city's sewer and water enterprise funds. $500,000 from Gas Tax funds and $760,00 from the storm drain fee funds. Approximately $520,000 comes from Apple Computers Trust funds and Transportation for Living Communities Grant.

I also have worked on the Council approved Downtown Specific Area Plan which defines a vision for our downtown area. Adding shops, entertainment, and attainable housing in the Downtown area close to public transit, which should attract new residents and more shoppers. It is also important to incorporate public amenities such as a town square and entertainment options. Additionally, the plan must provide a parking garage that is aesthetically pleasing and will increase the amount of parking both for the community and merchants. Our public works department conducted parking studies which were presented to the Council in 2012. Community forums were held in February and March to obtain public input.

In October 2010, the City Council adopted the Burlingame Downtown Specific Plan. The plan set forth policies to provide a framework which looked at better utilizing our city parking lots for further development of mixed use housing and public use space. To get this plan moving forward, Vice Mayor Brownrigg and myself were appointed to serve on the Downtown Plan Implementation Subcommittee. Both of us have worked diligently to make this happen.

Downtown Broadway continues to be a priority for me. Over the last eight years, there clearly has been an increased pedestrian vitality. It is now difficult to find parking in that area, which is a clear indication of success. New retail and restaurants have brought the locals to this area. In conjunction with the Broadway merchants, we have created a vision and a positive path for Broadway. I continue to help with the organization of the pet parade on Broadway which attracts approximately 1500 people each year.

If my efforts discussed above support your re-electing me to the City Council, I will continue my efforts to leverage each opportunity to enhance Burlingame.