Economic Base
A healthy and diverse business mix allows Burlingame to weather economic cycles and provides a range of job opportunities for residents. The revenues generated by businesses—such as hotel taxes (transient occupancy taxes), sales and use taxes, and business license fees—allow the City to provide high-quality services for residents, employees, and visitors. These amenities and services further reinforce Burlingame’s reputation as a highly desirable location for businesses, creating a virtuous cycle that benefits the entire community.
Opportunities to expand the business mix in Burlingame are provided through flexible land use policies in all business districts, with the implementing zoning regulations able to accommodate evolving business practices. Whereas the Rollins Road and North Bayshore districts historically have been centers for industrial and airport support activities, this General Plan applies the Innovation / Industrial designation to these areas to accommodate creative industry businesses as well. The Bayfront Commercial designation allows for greater development intensities for office and hospitality uses to encourage recycling of underutilized properties. And in Downtown, commercial properties along Howard Avenue can support either retail or office uses over time, based on market shifts.
The following goal and policies focus on maintaining a diversified economic base by accommodating a variety of business types, supporting major revenue-generating activities that support municipal services, and maintaining Burlingame’s competitive advantages.
Goal: ED-1
Maintain a diversified economic base that provides a wide range of business and employment opportunities capable of ensuring a healthy and prosperous economy for generations to come.
Encourage development of new office, research, and technology spaces to diversify the types of businesses in Burlingame, specifically focusing on the Rollins Road, Bayfront, and Downtown areas.
Provide opportunities for flexible building uses, such as live/work uses or conversion between types of space, as appropriate, in the Rollins Road, Bayfront, and Downtown areas consistent with land use policy.
Support the continued presence of automobile dealerships in Burlingame at appropriate locations where they benefit most from clustering and regional exposure, and where impacts on surrounding uses can be minimized. Recognize and respond to the evolving nature of automobile sales in a manner that continues to benefit dealerships and the contribution of such businesses to the local economy.
Protect and grow hotel businesses by supporting such uses and ancillary activities on properties located along the Bayfront and, as appropriate, as boutique operations in Downtown and Broadway.
Ensure that major commercial development projects contribute toward desired community benefits of urban design, land use, sustainability, resiliency, affordable housing, and community health while also expanding the economic base of the city.
Track trends in the “sharing economy” (for example, private home rental and car sharing) to assess their impact on businesses in Burlingame, and implement appropriate responses to ensure that identified trends/practices do not adversely impact local businesses and residential neighborhoods and do contribute revenues.
Agency Coordination (AC)