HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - PC - 2003.06.23 SSCITY OF BURLINGAME PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
501 Primrose Road, Burlingame, CA
Monday, June 23, 2003
SPECIAL STUDY SESSION
6:00 P.M. – 7:00 P.M.
Council Chambers
I. CALL TO ORDER Chair Bojués called the June 23, 2003, special study session of the Planning
Commission to order at 6:05 p.m.
II. ROLL CALL Present: Commissioners Auran, Bojués, Brownrigg, Keighran, Keele,
Osterling and Vistica
Absent: Commissioners: None
Staff Present: City Planner, Margaret Monroe; Senior Planner, Maureen
Brooks; Project Consultant, Karen Kristiansson; City Attorney, Larry
Anderson
III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA There were no changes to the agenda.
1. 1783 EL CAMINO REAL, ZONED UNCLASSIFIED – SPECIAL STUDY SESSION TO PRESENT
PROJECT TO RECONSTRUCT MILLS-PENINSULA HOSPITAL
Chairman Bojués noted that this is a special meeting of the Planning Commission to hear a presentation by
Mills-Peninsula Health Services regarding the proposal to reconstruct Peninsula Hospital at 1783 El Camino
Real. He noted that an environmental scoping session would be held at the Commission's regular meeting
on July 14, 2003. The scoping meeting would be open for public testimony.
Bob Merwyn, CEO of Mills-Peninsula Health Services, gave a brief overview of the proposal, and noted
that the project resulted from a change in State law, which now requires a stricter seismic safety standard for
hospitals. He stated that the hospital originally retained an engineer to look at the option of retrofitting the
existing building, but that the cost would be almost as much as the cost to build a new structure, and the
result would be less desirable. Mr. Merwyn noted that the goals which they are trying to achieve with this
project are: to provide a clinically safe environment; to be patient and family centered; to be flexible and
efficient; to be neighborhood sensitive; and to remain fully operational during construction. The new
hospital structure would be base-isolated to withstand a large earthquake. To accommodate the residential
neighbors to the south of the site, the proposed project moves the loading docks away from the residences on
Davis Drive, takes the noisy functions and moves them north, provides a 100-foot wide greenbelt with a
public walking trail along the property line next to the Davis Drive residences; lowers the parking garage
one and one-half floors below grade to decrease the height of the structure; steps down the hospital building,
with seven stories at the north and five stories towards the Ray Park neighborhood, and places the office
building closer to the residences to act as a buffer to the night time activities of the hospital.
Oren Reinbolt, Project Manager for the hospital replacement project, emphasized the need to build the new
structure without closing the existing hospital during construction, and noted that everything would be
replaced. He described the proposed facilities and reviewed the site plan, as well as comments made by a
second opinion architect hired by the District concerning the project placement on the site and the options
City of Burlingame Planning Commission Minutes June 23, 2003 Special Study Session
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for driveways and traffic circulation. Mr. Reinbolt stated that by using base isolation, the hospital would be
able to survive the greatest earthquake in the next 500 years without damage.
Commissioner questions: what is the long-term use proposed for the vacant portion of the site closer to
Marco Polo Way; does the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission (PUC) water line which cuts through
the site extend across Trousdale and continue up Magnolia Avenue; what water facilities are within the 60-
foot wide easement, will these facilities be seismically upgraded along with the hospital; what is the height
of the existing building versus the proposed building; has the applicant looked into how the proposed new
entrance will impact traffic on Trousdale since it does not align with the shopping center entrance or with
Magnolia Avenue; were other locations of the driveway along Trousdale considered; what is the function of
the driveway on the south side of the site next to the single family residences; how was it determined how
much of the parking would be surface parking versus how much was placed in the garage; how is parking
allocated between employees, the office users and the general public; El Camino Real is a major
thoroughfare with many bus routes and the site is close to the new BART/Caltrain station in Millbrae, is
there any provision for pedestrian access from El Camino Real.
Mr. Reinbolt noted that Mills-Peninsula Health Services has no plans for the vacant property near Marco
Polo, that area would be reserved for the Peninsula Hospital District's use; he noted the water line continues
north on the Magnolia alignment, the 60' wide easement contains a five-foot diameter water main; the San
Francisco PUC has looked at this section of the main and determined that it is in good shape for the next 50
years, if the water line were to leak, the water would not get into the hospital building but would be routed
around; the new building would be about 18 feet shorter than the existing building, preliminary reports from
the applicant's traffic engineer indicate that if there are turn lanes from both directions on Trousdale and
signals are timed and sequenced with Magnolia Avenue, the new driveway would not impact the level-of-
service on Trousdale Drive; the traffic circulation will be looked at more closely during the Environmental
Impact Report process; they have looked at other locations for the driveway, but chose this one because it
would have a gentle slope and would provide for a flat surfaced parking lot to serve the hospital, it could not
be moved closer to Marco Polo because Trousdale frontage parcels are not in their ownership and would be
costly to acquire; the driveway on the south side of the site is a fire lane from El Camino Real to the point
where there is now a driveway from the hospital into Ray Park, that driveway would be closed, the fire lane
would have a control gate for emergency access only and could be used as a walking path by the
neighborhood; regarding the allocation of parking, would prefer that there be more surface parking, but need
to have parking available during construction, so first half of garage will be built early on; employees will
park in the outlying surface lots, with the public using the closer surface parking and the garage, with some
parking surface parking allocated to the emergency room; at the end of the project the second half of the
parking garage will be built to provide parking for the new office building; no public pedestrian access is
provided from El Camino, although there will be an employee entrance near the loading dock; non-
employee pedestrians will need to travel up Trousdale to the front of the building by way of the landscaped
access driveway to the emergency facilities.
Continued Commissioner questions: does the applicant anticipate there will be any design changes from
what we see now, if so, when would we see these changes; the structure located closest to El Camino Real,
will that be for air conditioning facilities or is it a generation plant; in other medical facilities, it is
sometimes proposed that a hotel be located nearby for family use, is that an element the hospital will
consider; how does the existing versus proposed hospital building compare as far as view obstruction from
uphill properties; how often is the helipad used; regarding the base-isolation design, what would cause the
building to move more than 30 inches.
City of Burlingame Planning Commission Minutes June 23, 2003 Special Study Session
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Mr. Reinbolt noted that they don't anticipate any changes to the physical layout of the site, changes could be
made to the cladding of the structure, brick has recently been added to the proposal, there is also pre-cast
concrete and glass towers on all four sides; the structure closest to El Camino Real houses the cooling
towers, the generation would be inside the building behind this; a hotel would be desirable for a quaternary
facility such as Stanford, this facility will be tertiary, so it is not seen as necessary; it is expected that there
would be less view obstruction from the hills with the project since the new building would be 18 feet
lowerr ; the helipad is used about ten times a year now, it is included in the proposal to offer flexibility for
emergencies; it is not expected that the building would move more than 30 inches within the moat during an
earthquake, that would be beyond anything currently predicted.
There were no more questions from the Commission. It was noted that the scoping meeting for the hospital
replacement Environmental Impact Report will be held at the Commission's regular meeting on July 14,
2003. The meeting was adjourned at 7:00 p.m.
XI. ADJOURNMENT
Chair Bojués adjourned the meeting at 7:00 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Tim Auran, Secretary
minutes06.23.03-SPECIAL MTG.doc