Burlingame Municipal Code Title 25 - Public Access, Flood, and Sea Level Rise Performance Guidelines
In December 2021, the City of Burlingame, California, passed Title 25 into its zoning ordinance, creating guidelines and development performance standards for ensuring public access and resilience to flooding and sea-level rise. These standards include minimum buffer zones, shoreline building and infrastructure elevation requirements, drainage standards, and real estate disclosure requirements.
To make Burlingame more resilient from floods, any property built within the newly-designated overlay must conform with the zones designated on a map accompanying the ordinance. Any new buildings must comply with Title 25 and be certified by an approved engineer. Additionally, Title 25 created stormwater drainage requirements: 100% of drainage “from impervious surfaces must be captured and retained.” The capacity to retain the stormwater drainage must be “sufficient to keep the first 1.25 inches of rainwater without discharging onto neighboring properties.”
Title 25 also establishes new buffer zones to preserve accommodation areas between the shoreline, creeks, and development. These buffer zones extend 100 feet inland from the San Francisco Bay Shoreline to “accommodate and maintain built and natural shoreline infrastructure for sea level rise protection, environmental enhancement, and public access trails.” Burlingame may grant building encroachments if they do not inhibit a planned project by the San Mateo County Flood and Sea Level Rise Resiliency District. Property on the shoreline of the San Francisco Bay or other covered areas must have access to the Bay Trail “from and through” the site of their property.
Title 25 covers properties in Burlingame lying on the San Francisco Bay and properties bordering the Sanchez, Easton, Mills, Gilbreth, and El Portal Creeks. For each property adjacent to a creek, a minimum buffer zone of 35 feet must accommodate a trail with similar trail connectivity guidelines.
Finally, Title 25 requires that any “site-specific sea level rise analysis” must be disclosed in real estate transactions. Additional hazard disclosures are necessary, including anticipated sea level rise, geologic hazards, groundwater inundation, and coastal or fluvial flooding.
Publication Date: December 6, 2021
Related Organizations:
- City of Burlingame, California
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- Laws
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