SMDJ: Millbrae general plan delayed

• Nicholas Mazzoni Daily Journal staff 

• Nov 21, 2022

• After working for nine years on its general plan, Millbrae’s City Council pushed back its approval until it reflects information regarding airport noise, environmental issues, building height limits and grade separations that some said if left out could negatively affect future grant opportunities and the health of residents.

  The general plan was last adopted in 1998, with amendments related to housing and circulation in 2006, 2009, 2103 and 2015. It is required to be updated regularly to comply with changing state law. It includes land use, circulation, housing, economic development, noise, safety and recreation and arts. The plan was unanimously approved by the Planning Commission in October, however, when it reached City Council for further review multiple councilmembers felt like it was missing vital information.

  Councilmember Ann Schneider raised concerns that noise mitigation coming from San Francisco International Airport was not properly addressed in the general plan and for those reasons she wasn’t able to approve the plan as it is.

  “What breaks my heart is in various sections throughout the plan where transportation comes up, we simply roll over for Caltrans, we roll over for Caltrain, we don’t even mention high-speed rail, we roll over for SFO, which has had devastating impacts on our city,” said Schneider.

  The plan is already out of date, Schneider said, and doesn’t list anything about SFO’s sea level rise plan, which states it will fill in 5 acres of mud right off the city’s border.

  She wishes staff would have addressed her concerns to discuss some of the airport-related issues before Tuesday’s meeting. Schneider serves as a member of SFO Airport/Community Roundtable, which addresses community noise impacts from aircraft operations, and is concerned about the health risk of airport noise.

  Agreeing with Schneider’s airport noise concerns, Vice Mayor Gina Papan suggests using nature-based solutions for mitigating airport noise.

  “I think we can easily plant some trees instead of sound walls that just bounce the noise around,” Papan said after the meeting.

  The city decided in 2015 to initiate a comprehensive general plan update along with a downtown and El Camino Real specific plan and related environmental reports. It also includes multifamily residential design standards and the housing element update. But it will mean El Camino Real through Millbrae will scale down its six lanes to four. The plans call for a “reimagining” of the street, including wider sidewalks, improved crosswalks, more trees and better lighting are some of the aspects that will have both commercial and residential developments.

  Part of the changes also mean El Camino Real could see some higher densities and taller buildings. The maximum height allowed on El Camino Real is a mixed-use area reaching up to 125 feet immediately south of Center Street. In an effort to break down the massing, the buildings north and south of the building step down to 85 feet between the intersections of Capuchino Drive and Victoria Avenue. On the west side of the BART station, the height allows 121 feet and across the street on the westside of El Camino Real, the massing steps down to 65 feet. On the west side of the train tracks along Murchison Drive, the height ranges from 85 feet to 100.

  Papan had notes regarding building heights for two parcels near Chadbourne and Magnolia avenues listed at a 65-foot limit. It would be a prime opportunity to raise the building heights for these parcels to 85 feet to increase housing needs, she said.

  Wording needs to be more specific too, she said. It should include a study on grade separation, which is a method of raising the train tracks above the ground allowing the traffic to flow freely below. If it doesn’t, Papan said the city might risk not being eligible for grant funding for any future grade separation.

  “I think that shortchanges us for receiving funding in the future,” said Papan.

  Councilmember Anders Fung added that a grade separation grade on Murchison Drive offers an economic opportunity to connect the east and west side from the train tracks.

  The city added biotech facilities and is also very close to Rollins Road in Burlingame which is being redeveloped to include multi-family housing.

  “I think it should be part of the plan here so that we can bring in the daytime traffic to the westside for economic opportunities,” said Fung.

  The council directed city staff to include the missing details from its notes that will eventually lay out the future development and other changes in the city through 2040. The council will meet again on Dec. 1 in a second attempt to approve the plan.

  nick@smdailyjournal.com

  (650) 344-5200 ext. 105