Friday May 2

History in the making

City compiling properties with historical value

By Mark Abramson / Daily News Staff Writer

Burlingame planners and consultants are studying the city's past while they look to the future.

The city has compiled a list of 23 properties that could be eligible for state or federal historical registries, or both, as work continues on a plan for future development in the downtown area. Another 51 properties have been identified that are not eligible for the registries, but have characteristics that represent the city's history and architecture.

"This is part of the downtown specific plan," said Burlingame Community Development Director Bill Meeker. "The purpose (of the list) is to identify properties that may warrant preservation. This is kind of the first step in how to address the historical properties."

Putting together the list entailed surveying more than 500 parcels in the downtown area, bounded by Oak Grove and Peninsula avenues, El Camino Real, the Caltrain tracks and Anita Road.

Placing a property on a registry would in many cases subject it to greater environmental review before the owner is allowed to make any significant changes. And under California's Mills Act, the owner of a historical building would be eligible for property tax breaks of up to 60 percent if he or she signs an agreement with the city to preserve the property.

City officials were slated to explain the ramifications of the list to property owners at a special meeting Thursday night.

The citizens advisory committee for the downtown specific plan wants to get the property owners' input before it decides how to address historic buildings and makes a recommendation to the planning commission, said Kevin Gardiner, the consultant for the plan. The commission could agree with the recommendation and ask that the city council approve it or make its own recommendation.

"When you are doing a big planning effort, like a downtown plan, you don't want to be making policies in a vacuum that affect historic resources," Gardiner said.

Last week's court ruling against Redwood City illustrated the consequences of not adequately evaluating historic buildings when developing a downtown specific plan. A San Mateo County Superior Court judge said the city's plan needed to include a comprehensive study of historic buildings. Until one is completed, the plan can't be implemented.

Burlingame addressed historic buildings for its downtown specific plan by hiring San Francisco-based consulting firm Carey & Co. That firm combed through the Burlingame Historical Society's archives and examined other documents.

Burlingame Historical Society President Russ Cohen described the list as "hugely important."

The city attempted to catalog its historic properties in 1982, but failed because it did not hire an unbiased third party, such as Carey & Co., Cohen said.

"The council should formally adopt (the list) so they send a signal to the community that they value those buildings," said Cohen, who is also a former city council member. "I think the consultant has done a good job, and looking at the list, I think he is correct."



E-mail Mark Abramson at mabramson@dailynewsgroup.com.