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Mills Canyon: Almost ready for affordable housing? ECR?

With the winter storm damage to Mills Canyon being repaired per this DJ article, perhaps it's time to look at that open space's suitability for satisfying some of our RHNA housing requirements.

The winding trails of Mills Canyon in Burlingame took a hit from harsh winter storms with the popular lower route washed out from tree failures, but work is almost done to complete a reroute.

City Arborist Rich Holtz said the city is aiming to have the trail completed and opened sometime in the coming weeks. Damage from the January storms caused a landslide on the lower portion of the Ed Taylor Loop Trail.  In March, the city contracted a company to develop a trail reroute, which costs around $65,000, for about 600 feet of damaged trail.

We already know that claiming the area is a "wildlife sanctuary" like Woodside tried will not work.  The Sacramento nags won't have it, so maybe it's time.  Six or seven stories would seem to fit nicely and give the top floors a bit of a view!

Just Kidding—I just couldn't wait until next April Fool's Day for this.  But what is not funny is the steady incursion of EssEff-level problems into our little burg.  This Tuesday, 9pm photo of a newly erected tent on El Camino at the B'way bus stop is the latest example.  I've heard of vagrants camping out at the Bayfront and along the Caltrain tracks in the trees, but right on ECR?  Maybe it's time to collect TOT.

Bway tent

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23 responses to “Mills Canyon: Almost ready for affordable housing? ECR?”

  1. Joanne

    Wow, this is a first in Burlingame! Wait till more come and start wandering through the neighborhood!
    Don’t know why anyone would want to pitch a tent right there!

  2. Michelle

    Last summer there was a tent next to the path right past the dog park/Bayside field. I called and reported it and a cop came out shortly and the tent was gone the next day. If this isn’t nipped in the bud early we will become SF with tent cities. There are county resources for those who truly need help.

  3. Joanne

    Exactly Michelle! The city cannot allow that one tent otherwise we will have a massive and expensive cleanup effort!

  4. hollyroller@ gmail.com

    Have any of you walked California Dr. Between Broadway and Trousdale to Millbrae Ave?
    That area has been a “Bum Nest” at least the 20+ years I have lived here. They don’t bother anyone. Let them do the best they can. If one F’s Up, don’t take it out on the rest. I am sure if anyone walked that “Route,” I guarantee you will find a minimum of 7-8 Tents and “Latrines.” Long Term.
    It is exactly like a “Steinbeck.”
    Check it out. Bring you Cell Phone. Before you get back in your vehicle throw your Shoes back towards the Tracks.

  5. hollyroller@ gmail.com

    Has anyone seen the “Professional Camper Community” living @ the Bay Front?
    Again, Millbrae Ave to Burlingame Ave?
    Ask the Burlingame Public Works Dept.
    ask the Burlingame Elders and the City Manager to provide “whoever wants it.
    How much does COB pay to clean up after these Bums verses giving them a Home?
    I would like a Number vs. an excuse. I say Home.

  6. Paloma Ave

    Holyroller,
    All I can say is you are the biggest idiot on this site. You embarrass yourself on 99%+ of your posts.
    I have lived here since 1981 and drive California and Rollins on a regular basis.
    I hear Oregon has a law that allows you to put yourself out of your misery.
    I’ll even pay for your ticket, first class!

  7. Jennifer Pfaff

    There actually is what an appears to be a camp/camper settlement in the parking lot at the northern edge of Coyote Point–maybe these are workers on various developments who don’t want to travel several hours to get here(?) No clue. I don’t know about Rollins firsthand, but have overheard (other) discussions about quasi encampments on the side streets.
    Around the station and lower end of the Avenue there are a couple of “regulars” who come and go. I’m not equipped to judge, but many appear to me to have some mental illness and/or on drugs to some extent or another; the challenge is assessing whether they present a danger to themselves or others.
    Maybe 6 or so years ago, a fire broke out on the south end of the railroad station by South Lane (Stationmaster’s Apt.) from someone who was camping under the wooden stairs– fortunately an early morning walker called it in.

  8. hollyroller@ gmail.com

    Whatever happened to “Shirley?” Broadway?

  9. hollyroller@ gmail.com

    I just read your comment. WHHAAAAA.
    I worked there. I have picked up “Body Parts.” The Suicides that “make the news” are one tenth of the facts. SF to Gilroy.
    Do a FOI.
    “Trumper.” Right?

  10. HMB

    If your bike has been stolen, odds are you’ll eventually find pieces along the railroad track between Burlingame and San Bruno. Lots going on behind the trees and shrubs.

  11. hollyroller@ gmail.com

    Dear Paloma.
    Take a Hike….
    From CalTrain Station in San Mateo to Millbrae Ave.
    It might be hard on your Segway. Nevertheless, I know you can do it.
    Of course, Let a friend or relative know when you are going and when you will return.
    Take a Go Pro. Please stop to interview the people you meet… Or meet you.

  12. Paloma Ave

    Holyroller – Has someone gotten under your skin?

  13. Ram Emanual

    https://www.sfchronicle.com/politics/article/federal-judge-blocks-san-rafael-s-proposed-ban-18301847.php
    One sick judge.

  14. Sign me up

    There’s a guy sleeping on the bus stop bench on El Camino with his stuff. Nice look for Burlingame on the Avenue weekend.

  15. The horror, the horror.

    Don’t mind Holyroller. Every forum has a “holyroller”. Just think of her as BV’s Otis from The Andy Griffith Show.

  16. resident

    True. So true.

  17. Joe

    What could go wrong with this? Once a church has no parking space, cars will overflow onto street parking in commercial and residential areas.
    Religious institutions and nonprofit colleges in California will be allowed to turn their parking lots and other properties into low-income housing under a new law aimed at combating the ongoing homeless crisis.
    The law, signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom Wednesday, rezones land owned by nonprofit colleges and religious institutions, such as churches, mosques, and synagogues, to allow for affordable housing. Starting in 2024, they can bypass most local permitting and environmental review rules that can be costly and lengthy. The law is set to sunset in 2036.
    Religious institutions and nonprofit colleges in California will be allowed to turn their parking lots and other properties into low-income housing under a new law aimed at combating the ongoing homeless crisis.

  18. hollyroller@ gmail.com

    There are no Good Solutions. I “heard from a San Mateo County Rep that negotiations are underway to set up an “agreement” with the “Bayside Golf Center Inc. to lease the land for a SA Refugee Camp. Starting @ 11/01/2023.

  19. Forrest Gump

    That is only two weeks away and I have not seen any information on it. Is there a reference somewhere?

  20. hollyroller@ gmail.com

    Hi Joe.
    I feel physically threatened by recent Posts from “Paloma Ave.” towards me. If there is anything you can do before these “comments” from “Paloma Ave” escalate, please consider “intervening.”

  21. MBGA

    “There are no Good Solutions.”
    ?????
    Wrong, as usual. There are very good solutions. Everybody who came here illegally needs to leave. There are millions of them that came into our country in the last few years. When they leave you will be surprised how quickly the housing crisis ends.

  22. resident

    Check this out
    Across the country, cities have begun experimenting with artificial intelligence to map potholes, reduce traffic and fight wildfires. In San Jose, officials are now harnessing the rapidly evolving technology with another goal in mind: detecting homeless encampments.
    Three times since December, a white city-owned Toyota sedan affixed with a half-dozen small cameras has cruised through South San Jose to collect footage of parked cars and RVs. The images were then fed into different AI systems developed by four private companies to determine whether people were living inside the vehicles.
    The open-ended pilot program, thought to be the first of its kind nationwide, may soon also seek to identify tent encampments and could one day expand to a permanent fleet of vehicles that crisscross the city.
    Come on Burlingame. Get with the latest technology. You can start on Rollins.

  23. Joe

    Thanks. For those looking to read the whole article, it’s here:
    https://www.eastbaytimes.com/2024/04/07/san-jose-ai-homeless-camps-rvs/
    I like the bit at the start about mapping potholes!!! Maybe we can get Waymo robotaxis to do that for the City. If so, we may need a bigger server at City Hall.

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