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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMin - CC - 1995.04.22313 CITY OF BURLINGAME JOINT CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY MEETING Saturday, Apil22, 1995 Holiday Inn CrownePlaza Board Room Mayor Marti Knight convened the joint study session of the Burlingame City Council and Planning Commission on the above date in the Holiday Inn CrownePlaza Board Room at 9:03 a.m. CouNcn PRrsrvr: HnRRtsoN, Kt.rtclrI, O'Megotw, PecthRo, SPI.IELLI PLA].INING COITIUTSSTONERS: ELLIS, GELTTC.EN, JECONS, KTY, MTIVT< Srnrr PRrsrxr: ARcYRrs, CoLrueN, MoNRog Ornrns:BunrnrcAMe Avrxur MpRcuervr Seu Mnt-our The Mayor revised the order of the agenda to first discuss Item 3, parking demand in downtown in Burlingame. 3. PnnxrNc DeunNo rN DowxrowN BuRtncnur The city planner reviewed her staff report which summarized the parking variances granted by the council and planning commission in Burlingame Avenue commercial area subareas A and B during the period January 1982 to March 1995. She also discussed the current north and south distribution of public off-street parking and the increase in the parking supply which the city has created in the last five years. Mayor Knight questioned whether we should limit additional restaurants in subarea B or in some way extend subarea A. Councilwoman O'Mahony noted that we may have problems if we extend subarea A, but we needed a study of the demands of 9-and lO-hour parking places, hour-by-hour, Monday thru Friday. The city manager noted that the city has expended $5 million in the last five years to add 189 parking spaces on Broadway and Burlingame Avenue, and our current charge is 10 cents per hour while our cost for adding a new parking space is over $26,000. Councilman Harrison felt we needed to look at the revenue side and that possibly a 25-cent per hour charge might be more realistic. Councilman Spinelli agreed noting that many people use quarters for convenience rather than dimes. He felt we also needed to look at adding more 24-minute meters in certain areas very close to commercial uses in order to increase turnover. Vice Mayor Pagliaro noted that the purpose of subarea A was to encourage retail and commercial activity. He Favored changing all the existing parking to 2- hour to force longer term parking into spaces further out. He also felt we needed to look at double decking certain lots. Councilwoman O'Mahony felt that the future of the fire site was important to parking in the area. Mayor Knight had heard that the Pottery Barn to be placed on this site will be orienting its building toward the Donnelly side. Planning Commissioner Key felt that we needed to look at parking abuse by employees as one part of the parking study. She noted most of the Donnelly frontage is owned by one landowner. Planning Cornmissioner Galligan thought the city should approach the property owners on Burlingame Avenue and Donnelly and encourage them to increase the parking for 314 the area. Planning Commissioner Jacobs felt we needed to look at the one-way street proposal for Donnelly very carefully to be sure it doesn't disrupt the traffic flow. Planning Commissioner Ellis noted that the parking demands of today are different than the past and will be different in the future. The city manager reviewed the city council discussion of valet parking at the prior meeting where it was noted we will be evaluating making Donnelly a one-way street in order to add parking. At that same meeting, council introduced an ordinance to regulate valet parking. Planning Commissioner Mink noted that we do not have a long-term vision and plan for the downtown area. We need to be more proactivc to use parking to encourage the type of commercial development we would like to see. Councilman Spinelli agreed we should be looking to the future so the city can take a lead and look at more ways to encourage development in the Howard Avenue area. Planning Commissioner Mink felt that we should be planning for mixed use from Burlingame Avenue all the way to Peninsula in the old area which was called subarea C. Mayor Knight agreed that we should be looking at the zoning and land uses in subarea B and C along Howard and the potential for mixed uses. She also said council had received a letter from a merchant on Burlingame Avenue, Meyer Bunje, suggesting the city put long-term parking away from the downtown area and remove meters. Councilman Harrison noted that the city manager has estimated that by increasing parking rates from 10 cents an hour to 20 cents an hour, we could raise approximately $400,000 a year for additional parking. It was also noted that the current l-hour free parking on Burlingame Avenue and Broadway cost the city approximately $40,000 a year in lost revenue. Councilwoman O'Mahony questioned the logic of the l-hour free parking on Burlingame Avenue and stated that times have changed. Council asked Sam Malouf for his comments. He conveyed that the merchants seem to support the idea of more 24-minute meters; they also feel that there should be 2-hour parking on Burlingame Avenue and the side streets where we currently have 1-hour parking. He noted people need more than one hour to eat and shop. Also people like to shop for more than one thing. He thought thatZl cents per hour may be acceptable if more parking was to be added. Mayor Knight said we may need to look at a third deck on the library parking lot. Councilman Spinelli would like to look at purchasing additional property along Donnelly so that we have more parking options in the future. Councilman Spinelli would like to see more of the merchants along Donnelly encouraged to fix up the backs of their property. Councilman Harrison felt that we may be able to put a structure on lot C and link it over the street to lot A, but we needed to be careful of the aesthetics. Planning Commissioner Mink would like to see the city have a 25-year plan similar to Santa Barbara where the businesses are assessed based on gross sales to pay for additional parking. He noted in Santa Barbara the first 1% hours are free, but over that time, parking is expensive. Planning Commissioner Key stated that Monterey also uses bridges over the street in the Doubletree Hotel/Convention Center area and has not fould a problem. Mayor Knight indicated that she would like the merchants' input about the proposal for changing Donnelly to one way. Sam Malouf mentioned that the merchants are meeting regularly about the parking issue, and they currently seem in favor of the one-way Donnelly idea. Councilwoman O'Mahony would like to see the Chamber of Commerce take a bigger role in keeping the merchants apprised of their concern and improving communication. Sam Malouf said there is much parking abuse on Burlingame Avenue which should be addressed by stricter enforcement. Council and commission moved to the next agenda item 315 GAME The city manager reported on the city council action of April 17 where they requested proposals from twelve firms for a study of the streetscape in the Burlingame Avenue and Broadway commercial areas and parking in the Burlingame Avenue commercial area. It was noted item 5-the source of financing portion of the study-had been deleted by the city council. Proposal deadline is May 31. Mayor Knight indicated that many merchants do not understand the process and would like to see more handouts made available to them. Vice Mayor Pagliaro supported the concept of extended hours for permit applications and aslied for a feasibility report from staff. Planning Commissioner Mink asked if there was any way to simplify our procedure for informing people about appeal rights to reduce repetitiveness at our meetings. The city attomey suggested that we may want to add a note to our agendas on this subject. 2. THE SrGN CopE The council and commission next discussed the sign code and the issues of freeway oriented signs and auto row signs. Currently our code prohibits freeway oriented signs. Council and commission discussed the difficulty in defining when a sign is freeway oriented or not and whether the company name is used for destination identification or product advertising. Planning Commissioner Ellis asked if we should revise our code so that freeway-oriented signs are not strictly prohibited since we have been approving signs which some would feel are freeway oriented. Planning Commissioner Galligan thought our code was prohibiting billboard type signs. He felt we should either try to eliminate all freeway-orientated signs with some type of amortization program, or we should revise the code to allow them within certain standards. Planning Commissioner Jacobs mentioned she liked the variation that has developed in signage. The city planner asked if we wish to allow offices the same parapet signage we have allowed with hotels. After additional discussion, it was concluded that the code regarding freeway-oriented signage should stay as it currently exists. With regard to auto row signs, Planning Commissioner Galligan asked whether we care that they look as bad as they do and whether the auto dealers ought to get together to decide what they would like to see. After additional discussion, it was agreed that auto row is over ll AVENUE AREA AND BRoADWAY CoMMERCIAL AREA I. UPDATE oN ZoI.IING AND PRoCESSING SIMPLIFICATION The city planner reviewed the staff report and the curent items in process which are trying to simplify our processes and asked the council for any additional suggestions. Councilman Harrison said he would like to try and reduce the processing time by adding more discretion for staff on simple items and increasing the number of items which may be taken care of over the counter. Councilwoman O'Mahony would like to see a one-stop permit center and that more projects be discussed in an office environment rather than over the counter. She felt we needed to increase our customer orientation and would like to consider some type of flex time to expand the office hours available homeowners and other applicants to receive permits. She continued to be very upset by what happened at 1232 Cabrillo. Planning Commissioner Key believed the city should undertake some type of public relations program to indicate how we have improved our services and to begin to reverse the negative reputation that we have acquired in some circles. 316 signed; but we did not wish to address the issue at this time. 5. Housnc ElruBn'r Uponrr-Wonr PnooRnu The city planner noted that under our housing element the city has an obligation to annually review our progress and review the work program for the coming year. This is our opportunity to do the review. A list of programs for 1995 was presented. Planning Commissioner Key said her priority would be to try to get the current nonconforming second units incorporated into our housing stock. Councilwoman O'Mahony would like to see some type of fee based residential inspection program. Councilman Harrison stated his three priorities were the nonconforming second units into the housing stock, increased use of mixed commercial residential projects, and encouragement of development on the five sites identified for affordable housing. Planning Commissioner Galligan thought San Francisco's required inspection on sale was a good idea. It would force increased compliance with the health safety and zoning items. Vice Mayor Pagliaro would like to see the city consider affordable housing using air rights over current city parking lots such as lot G behind Brothers rest;aurant. He asked that staff review the feasibility of this and report back to council. Councilwoman O'Mahony agreed with Councilman Harrison's three points. She asked staff to check to see if the Bridge Housing nonprofit housing group is still active. Mayor Knight asked that the senior commission continue to be consulted about the housing element. Staff noted that the element included a program to provide information on housing options and alternatives for seniors. The recreation department now prepares and distributes some of the information to the senior population. The commission could assist them by organizing volunteers if they wished. The housing element's requirements are presently being met by the handout. couNctt- cotvttrlevrs There being no other discussion, Mayor Knight opened the meeting to public comment. FRorrr rHg FLooR There was no public comment. AnrouRtttvtplrT The meeting adjourned at 11:39 a.m. v Judith A. Malfatti City Clerk