Why wasn the Walgreens store on Burlingame Avenue and El Camino not required to provide free parking?
The developer of the Walgreen’s project chose not to provide on-site parking given the relatively small site area and the presence of a number of public parking lots within close proximity to the new store. Additionally, re-development of the former “Chevron” site with the new store resulted in the creation of three new metered public parking spaces on the Burlingame Avenue frontage of the site, due to the elimination of driveways associated with the former service station. As background, the City of Burlingame’s Zoning Regulations do not require on-site parking for ground floor retail uses on Burlingame Avenue; hence, no parking was required for the ground level of the new Walgreen’s store. However, construction of the mezzanine level of the store (used for administrative offices and storage) would normally require additional parking. It was the conscious decision of the developer of the project to seek approval of a variance from the requirement to provide parking for the mezzanine a
