SMDJ - Millbrae sells land to get monument back

Millbrae sells land to get monument back

Sign taken down, City Council seeks replacement


Millbrae city officials are seeking to replace a city monument sign after it was taken down during the development of the new Alexandria Center — 560,000 square feet over four buildings and a parking structure private project on the corner of Rollins Road and Millbrae Avenue — for Life Sciences.

The City Council agreed to sell the 826-square-foot city-owned parcel that overlaps a public plaza, an amenity building and a portion of landscape. The city hired a private appraiser, Associated Right of Way Services, that found the value of the parcel to be worth $229,000.

“What’s disturbing is the loss of a monument,” Vice Mayor Gina Papan said, adding she hopes there will be a secondary agreement to replace it.

She hopes that the project developer will make a secondary agreement to replace the landmark.

Councilmember Anders Fung clarified that there was an implied approval to demolish the monument to make the public plaza possible. The city should never have approved the plan to develop on city-owned properties when the developer doesn’t actually own, or have land-lease, or development rights on that property, he added.

“I would say it is not only that they purchase the land that they intend to build on but also to replace the monument that was lost,” Fung said.

City Manager Tom Williams believes that the problem they are trying to resolve is an opportunity to upgrade the city and replace the monument sign with the developer who understands the circumstance and verbally agrees to replace it.

“I think that we have a willing applicant that will help us provide the resources to replace the monument sign. And I think this is an opportunity to greatly improve the intersection,” Williams said.

In addition, Williams said 3,000 jobs will result from the project and those workers will be spending their money on local businesses on Broadway and downtown.

Yet, Papan said that the only way to resolve the sale is to have in writing the condition that the developer will pay for the replacing of the monument. Papan’s concern was trying to protect the city by asking for the agreement to be in writing.

“If the parcel sale agreement is not approved by the City Council that will hold up the project,” Williams said.

The sale was approved unanimously. The agreement to replace the monument will come back for approval.

The land was previously used as a staging area for construction of the grade separation at Millbrae Avenue in the 1990s and no longer has any public purpose, according to a city staff report.

nick@smdailyjournal.com

650-344-5200 ext. 105

Source: https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/millbrae-sells-land-to-get-monument-back/article_b25fbb96-363f-11ed-bd2a-73ea9859c48b.html

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