Bicycle and Pedestrian SAFETY Committee Chairman's #43 Report

Article Source: David Nigel - Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

CHAIRMAN’S BULLETIN - Number 43

Saturday, August 4, 2018

“So Many Changes”

I am writing this bulletin with mixed emotions as we are all aware of the pending retirement of our wonderful professional, mentor, and colleague, David Woltering, our Community Development Director. I am so sad that David will be leaving our City, but happy that he will be pursuing his aspirations of regional involvement … as he is known throughout the world as a leader in his profession. I will personally miss David very much and wish him well in all his future endeavors!

David has served as our professional leader to BPAC with great efficiency, leadership, and mentoring skills … and BPAC has made tremendous gains and progress under his tenure.

In an article in Robert Riechel’s San Bruno Patch, David wrote the following:

Notice of the Retirement of Community Development Director David Woltering from the City of San Bruno

Robert,

I want to let you know that I will be retiring from my position as Community Development Director with the City of San Bruno. My last day of work in City offices will be August 24, 2018. I have appreciated the opportunity to serve the San Bruno Community these past 5 ½ years as its Community Development Director, overseeing the Planning and Building & Code Enforcement divisions. I am extremely proud of the work and accomplishments of the members of the San Bruno organization during this period, including the Community Development Department staff, the Planning Commission, and the Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC) with whom I have worked most directly. Accomplishments of the City of San Bruno organization are truly based on team efforts; it is rare that a single department or individual completes a task or provides a service without support and collaboration from others within the organization.

This 5 ½ year period has been particularly active and exciting for San Bruno, starting with the adoption of the Transit Corridors Plan (TCP), a plan to revitalize San Bruno's downtown and surrounding area; passage of Measure N by 68% of San Bruno voters in 2014 to support realizing the vision of the TCP; seeing many long obsolete, vacant and/or vandalized buildings come down including the Melaka restaurant, the El Camino Cinema building complex, Lee's Buffet, the Budget Motel, the First National Bank Building, TGI Friday's restaurant, the office building at 841 San Bruno Avenue, and the residence and outbuildings at 324 Florida where there will be a new City park. As these sites have been cleared, new buildings are being planned or have been approved and are going up, including the mixed-use (commercial/residential) project with 83 apartments above 7,000 square feet of commercial development that replaces the El Camino Cinema building complex on San Mateo Avenue. And, other sites, like the 4.5 acre Mills Park Plaza property on El Camino Real, are being considered for redevelopment. Work has continued and generally completed on the rebuild of the homes that were destroyed and damaged during the tragic PG&E gas line explosion and fire in the Crestmoor neighborhood. A new 152-room hotel has been approved in The Crossing development near Jack's restaurant on El Camino Real. A new 70-unit residential subdivision has been approved adjacent to Skyline College which will include 30 affordable, multi-family units for faculty and staff of the San Mateo County Community College District. The City's first comprehensive Bicycle and Pedestrian Master Plan, known as the "San Bruno Walk 'n Bike Plan", was approved in 2016; and, based on that Plan, the City obtained a grant for over $900,000. to build the City's first protected bicycle lane on Huntington Avenue across from the San Bruno BART station. The City adopted affordable housing impact fees and a commercial linkage fee on new development to help pay for affordable housing in the community. With restitution funds from the PG&E gas line explosion and fire, the City, working with the San Bruno Community Foundation, and with the benefit of considerable public engagement and feedback, is moving from planning to design development and the construction of a new, replacement Recreation and Aquatic Center at City Park. Additionally, the City is working with YouTube, other property owners in the City's Bayhill district, and the wider community to develop a long-range plan, the Bayhill Specific Plan, to guide how this area could be developed/redeveloped over the next 20 years and beyond, while addressing impacts and balancing property owners' needs and interests, including YouTube's facility expansion interests, with broader community interests. And, during these past 5 ½ years, the Community Development Department, working with other City departments, has addressed countless code enforcement complaints, including matters of deferred property maintenance, non-permitted and unsafe construction, illegal dumping, graffiti, inoperable vehicles and hoarding.

At this point in my career, I am interested in pursuing more focused work at a regional level. In recent years, I have done research and prepared and presented papers at International Making Cities Livable (IMCL) conferences in Rome, Italy; Santa Fe, New Mexico; and Ottawa, Canada. The topics have included San Francisco Bay Area Housing issues; Tech Campus development impacts and options; and, Transit-oriented Development. These along with Climate Change, are among the topics that are front and center in the San Francisco Bay Area and need focused work to address related issues with the objective of making our Bay Area cities even more livable. As I move forward, I intend to focus on that range of work at a regional level.

Again, I appreciate and am very thankful for the opportunity to have served the citizens of the City of San Bruno these past 5 ½ years and, with my co-workers and elected and appointed officials, help make the quality of life in San Bruno even better!

With my best regards,

/s/ David Woltering

In other news, Walt Bird, Past BPAC Chairman wrote:

“I came across the following news item about Tactile Paving on the BBC news link. I think it is worth sharing, as I do not think the ADA covers this at all.

Walt.”

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/newsbeat-44861574/tactile-paving-a-visually-impaired-person-s-guide-to-the-streets

Our next BPAC meeting is schedule for and will take place Wednesday, September 12th 6:00 pm at San Bruno City Hall … Our continuing staff support will be Rucha Donde, Associate Planner, Community Development Department and Madeline Lopez, Executive Assistant, Community Development Department and David Wong, Engineer, Public Works Department.

So many changes at City Hall with the retirement of City Manager, Connie Jackson … as we welcome our new City Manager, Jovan Grogan.

Our Community Services Director Kerry Burns also retired and our very capable Executive Assistant at the Parks and Recreation office Ludmer Aker has moved to Colorado…. and now we are losing David Woltering.

We will continue to serve our City to the best of our ability and dedication as our future is bright and exciting.

Wishing everyone the very best.

/s/ David

David M. Nigel, Chairman

City of San Bruno

Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee

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Robert Riechel

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Photo Credit: San Bruno CA Patch Archives

Source Credit: David Nigel

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