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Home My WebLink AboutMin - CC - 1979.09.26.ffi'e +3+BURLINGAME, CALIFORNIA CITY COUNCIL STUDY I\,IEETING September 26, L979 A study meeting of the Burlingame Council was called to order by Mayor Irving S. Amstrup at 7 240 p.m. on Wednesday, September 28, 1979, in Conference Room B of the Burlingame City HaII- PRESENT: COUNCILMEMBERS AM.STRUP, BARTON, MANGINI ANd MARTIN (Councilman Crosby excused) STAFF: Schwalm, Coleman, KirkuP, Yost BUILDING HEIGHT GUIDELINES FOR SHORELINE DEVELOPMENT Mayor Amstrup announced the sole item for discussion at the study *.6ting woutd be height regulations for buildings along the shore- Iine. Public reaction to the proposed Holiday Inn, approved by unanimous Council vote, pointed out the need for a definj-te state- ment of policy. Councilmembers and Staff discussion followed- A suggestion was made that buildings.!9.angled to avoid the ap- p..rii." of bulk and wall to wa1l buildinqs along t!9 shoreline- Floor area ratio of 1.0 permits a building along full frontage of parcel. height appearance from latter being viewedConsideratj-on should be given to bulk and the Freeway as well as from the BaY, the primarily from planes or the water. state propertlz already has limited usage; permitted-. A special permit from the City is required at aII other locations. no office buildings are for office develoPment bayfront areas, with and a variance aP-Height limits shoutd be established for all provisions for percentage of lot coverage, plication procedure. permrtf,ed building height should be determined by buitding use. The present height limit in the bavfront area is 35 feet within 100 teet of the shoreline, and 50 feet beyond 100 feet. Consideration should be given to building heights which differ in various areas of the balzfront' Establishment of height and floor area ratios in themselves will not solve the probleir because a one story building with bulk will obscure bay vigw more than a ta1I building' Office buildings affect traffic problems. City could set floor area ratio be15w FAR 0.9 if the iim is a traffic level below D. specific guid.elines should be prepared for counoil consideration lboking t5ward an adopted resoiution. Such guidelines would be helpfui to developers who might otherwise expend tirne and funds on itoposals of questionable acceptability' It may be useful to increase the landscaping requirements, thereby limiting lot coverage, with the possible requirement that the 15 percent landscaping exclude the shoreline portion of a Iot. In the quidelines or review process.bonus points could be giY91. for FAR, part ing-"iiteri., t'andscaping and orientation of building for view Preservation. Although the Hotiday Inn proposal was _accepted by unanimous council vote, iot aII hoteli are lanbmarks and in the same category, de- termination of acceptability would depend on the proposed project. There are advantages to projects which require fewer city services' 439 435 It could be be attained dernonstrated that the by planning more than sarne total construction can one building. Review lines shoufd be retained at 50 feet, and guidelinesstate office buildings over 60 to 70 feet (5 storles) willceive careful scrutiny. shou l-d re- Consideration of building placement on a parcel in the light ofplacement of existing structures on adjoining properties couldbe made even though this results in advantage to the prior de- velopers. Clusters of buildings preferably should contain no more than 3buildings. The development of buildings in the Bayshore Highway,/ Burf\,r'ay Road environs meet this criteria and only an addition ofthe stature of a Hyatt Regency should be considered at thatlocation. Clusters of buildings in the vicinity of Airport Boulevard/Anza Pacific Place would be more acceptable, although more high clusters are not desirable. It is preferred that view corridors be preserved, perhaps bykeeping the structures through the center of Anza area 1ow. Isthe object view from Skyline or the Freeway? Of the remaining property available for development, only a fe\,lparcels will not be j-nf luenced by BCDC. A danger of too strict guidelines is that it may deter gooddevelopment. The aim shoufd be for the most attractive develop- ment possible. Staff was directed to prepare proposed guidelines for Councilconsideration in enacting a resolution for recordation suf-ficiently soon to be helpful to developers who are formulatingproposals for presentation. f'o11owing a ten minute recess l,layor Amstrup invited public comment . Mr. Paul Edward Hanson (1414 Paloma) commented about the concernof citizens who had met followins approval of the Holiday Inn.In view of the 50-foot height review in the business district,they were surprised when the 160 foot Holiday Inn was approved. He said he was satisfied after hearing tonight's Council dis-cussion that Council would place restrictions upon bayfront development. Mr. Joseph Ashe (1480 Alvarado) disapproved Council-man Martin'sparticipation in any matters related to development of the bay-front because of his interest in the Raiser Corporation. He approved the strorg direction indicated by Council toward control-ling "fast buck artist" developers. He believes it is importantto look at each project to determj-ne its overall contribution to and impact on the waterfront. Councilman Martin responded to Mr.Ashe's first comment. He stated he had disqualified himself onall items in which he could have even a remote conflict of interest. A11 projects in which the Raiser group has any interest alreadyhave permits, and the preliminary contract with Hotiday is completed. The City Attorney advised him he no longer has a conflict of interest. Mrs. Dolores Huajardo (1414 Cofumbus) stated that strong legislationwould make it clear to developers what the City will require forproject approval. She also said that highrise buildings cause 1and.value increases, which make adjoining prooerties too costly forother than more highrise buildings. I,Irs. Annette Giomi (1500 Forest View) asked the councilmembers toset firm limits on height and buLk of buildings which will bebinding upon future councils and will give notice to landowners oflimits for development, thereby controlling to some extent l-andvalues. She questioned Council about reference at a recent BCDC 4:+S 436 meeting to a proposed rest stop at the eucalyptus grove on Bayshore Freeway. Councilmembers and staff reviewed neqotlations with the stateabout the proposed project and the effect upon traffic flow. Mrs. Marti Knight (23 Dwight Road) voiced the concern of senior citizens on Peninsula Avenue about the effect upon their properties of an enlarged traffic exchange in that area. She commented on the cost of added police and fire protection connected wj-th development of the bayfront. Referring to the Generaf Plan Sej-zmic Element she questioned the effect of earthquake and flooding upon large dev- elopments in the Anza area. l{r. Kirkup discussed construction re- quirements for coping with possible problems and added that the buildings in the bayfront area would probably withstand earthquakes better than those in the East Mi11sdale area. In response to her question staff and Councj-I assured her the City would not be liable for earthquake damage to buildings. Mrs. Ciomi questioned Council further about future configuration of development on the Bayfront and suggested legislation which would guarantee the height and number of buildings and clusters. she was ieminded by staff that such legislation could be changed by a majority of votes at any time. Council reiterated that it was aware of and guided by the expressed wishes of citizens, and that its intention is to work for attractive, quality development in Burlingame. The purpose for emphasizing the desirability of the type of development which would increase revenues to the City in room and sales tax while not overtaxing City services is promoted by Council's efforts to provide many public.oriented services such as extended library services and parks while retaining the lowest property tax rate in the County. The meeting was adjourned at 10:00 P m .6 ./" -/-/ /^ Cr. ,.-z/,, r,-,'7'/ 7L L L Efelyn fi: Htl-l City C1erk