City, Local Private School Consider Land Swap

The City of Burlingame is moving forward with consideration to approve a land swap with a local parish - a move that is being met with mixed reactions from the public. 

The proposal would exchange City Parking Lot G for a large parcel at 161 Highland Avenue, a parcel which St. Catherine of Sienna Catholic church is in the process of purchasing. 

St. Catherine's interest in the deal was prompted by the need to build a gym and multi-purpose building for the congregation and school. 

The terms of this sale has put the city under a time crunch, and the city council will vote on adopting a resolution to approve the land swap at their next meeting. 

According to a survey of interested groups neighboring City Parking Lot G, the most reccommended options for the swap include elevating St. Catherine's gymnasium project to allow for at-grade parking during the week, and reducing the size of the land swap to retain 11 city-operated parking spaces. 

Groups that participated in the survey include CALL Primrose, the Burlingame United Methodist Church, the Downtown Business Improvement District and residents - all of whom voted for a land swap of a smaller size than St. Catherine's and the City of Burlingame are currently considering. 

"I am extremely adament against this proposal," said a Burlingame resident who lives across the lot on Howard Avenue. "The loss of spaces in Lot G is short-sighted."

Representatives from St. Catherine's school have said that the school is willing to allow City Parking Lot G to be operated by the city for a minimum of one year during construction of the proposed gym. 

CALL Primrose collected over 200 signatures from residents who use the non-profit's services and regularly park in city lot G to do so; the signatures were a vote in favor of preserving parking for the non-profit's use. 

Councilmember Michael Brownrigg offered his views on the proposed land swap. "The city is not, from an economic point of view, hurt, and a school is helped," he said. "Schools are a draw for young families to move to Burlingame, providing revenue through property taxes."

Councilmember Ann Keighran also seemed in favor of the swap. Keighran said that using St. Catherine's proposed construction as a multi-purpose building will "bring more people into the community."

Those people would in-turn spend their money in Burlingame. "That is part of our success, to draw people to our downtown businesses," said Keighran. 

Council will consider a vote to approve the land swap on June 20.