Concerns Over New Burke School Expansion Plan

By Judith Kahn

The Katherine Del Mar Burke School is located in the Sea Cliff neighborhood, near Lincoln Park. The all-girl school was founded in 1908 and has been at its present location for 30 years. 

But meeting new challenges for a school, including increasing enrollment, is sometimes difficult. For this school, it is a particular challenge because of the long, narrow configuration of its three-and-half acre property.  

School officials plan to construct a new building on the northwest corner of campus. It would be two stories tall, containing 10,000 square feet that would house three science labs and an improved music and drama classroom with performance space. 

The school is seeking permission from the SF Planning Commission to proceed. If approved by the commission, construction would commence in June, 2006 and be completed  by September, 2007 - in time to commemorate the school's 100th anniversary.

The ground level of one of the school's current buildings, located in the center of campus, would become a new library if the plan is approved.  

What is upsetting to both members of the Lincoln Park Homeowners Association and the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association is that the entrance to the new building would be on El Camino Del Mar, a residential drive in the heart of the Sea Cliff. Members of the two neighborhood groups say the expansion will increase traffic chaos on 32nd Avenue, which is where most of the students' parents double park to drop off and pick up their children. They want stricter enforcement of the "no-double-parking policy" on the narrow street. 

Jennifer Gridley, a trustee at the Burke School, said plans for the new building are not final. She said the school will be hiring a traffic engineer in order to prevent more traffic problems if the entrance to the new building is located on El Camino Del Mar.

Norman Kondy, president of the Lincoln Park Homeowners Association, said the neighborhood has lost a number of parking spaces to white zones and can not afford to lose more.

There are also some who object to the design of the proposed building, saying it looks too industrial and is not appropriate for the neighborhood.

Gridley said representatives from the school are willing to continue to meet with people in both organizations to see what other compromises can be made in relation to the project.

She said residents in the area were first informed about the project in 1994. Because the school is located in a residential zone, Burke has to acquire a Condition Use Permit.

According to Gridley, under the city's planning code the school is allowed to build the building and construct a library on campus with the stipulation that residences in the area are informed and get an opportunity to have their grievances addressed.

Kondy claims that within the last 30 years, the school's square footage has expanded in leaps and bounds and its student body has more than doubled.

But Gridley disagrees on the interpretation of the numbers. She claims that the school's enrollment has increased by 19 percent and the square footage of the campus has expanded by 50 percent over the last 30 years.

One of the items the neighborhood associations are requesting is a 30-year master plan for the school, which would make clear the school's long-term intentions.

But Gridley says the associations' request for such a long-term master plan is unreasonable.  She also said the school has no plans to increase enrollment beyond its current 400 students.

James Argo, president of the Lincoln Park Neighborhood Association, says the school has no institutional memory and that  groups have to revisit planning issues at the school every eight years, with new batches of parents getting involved in the planning process. He feels the school's plans for expansion are unclear and ill conceived or inadequately planned.