Proposed Community Benefit District

Proposed Millbrae Downtown and El Camino Real Community Benefit District - ON PAUSE 


Due to current economic uncertainties, Millbrae’s City Council has decided to pause the effort to form the proposed Millbrae Downtown and El Camino Real Community Benefits District as of April 22, 2025. The formation of the proposed district will be revisited sometime next year. 

If you have any questions, you are welcome to contact the Community Development Department at (650) 259-2342.

Proposed Millbrae Downtown and El Camino Real Community Benefit District (DECRCBD)


The Downtown and El Camino Real Community Benefit District (DECRCBD) is a property assessment district being proposed along El Camino Real, Broadway, Millbrae Avenue, and the Millbrae Station area of the City of Millbrae. This property assessment district will be formed under the 1972 Landscaping and Lighting Act and will serve Millbrae property owners in terms of providing clean sidewalks and gutters, beautification efforts, public space development and management of the public rights-of-way in Millbrae.

For the past few years, the City has been working with downtown and station area property owners on the establishment of a new Community Benefits District. Millbrae has many positive assets, and the City believes that establishing a Community Benefits District would serve as both a tool and a catalyst to help bring the business community to the next level by improving upon existing services and enhancing the City’s image and appearance.

Local property owners vote to create Community Benefits Districts to fund special benefits and services above and beyond what routine city services provide, to keep their districts attractive, thriving, and well-publicized. Benefits districts are a tool that gives property owners and small businesses the means to fund and implement shared services that they might not otherwise be able to provide or afford individually. Having shared benefits and services through a Community Benefits District helps reduce individual expenses for businesses and property owners, such as beautification efforts, business support services, security, placemaking, façade improvements, marketing, public space development, and special events management. The assessments, approved by the property owners, are collected as part of their yearly property bills and then given to a newly created non-profit organization to advance the district’s goals and priorities. Property owners and businesses in the district then serve on a board of directors to decide and direct themselves how those shared services and benefits will be provided. Those services and benefits create greater demand for the businesses, retailers, restaurants, hotels, apartments and services along Broadway, El Camino Real and the Millbrae Station Area, attracting visitors and new capital to the downtown and station area. Properties outside of the district do not pay an assessment and their property taxes do not increase. 

The annual cost of a benefits assessment is much less than assumed. Most individual property assessments within the proposed benefits district will cost less than the price of a daily cup of coffee, but collectively the assessment is projected to bring $711,000 in initial first-year funding. In fact, over half the properties in the proposed benefits district will pay less than $150 per year. Public agencies will also pay into the district, with the City of Millbrae contributing $39,712.54, the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission contributing $33,782.47, BART contributing $13,628.68, and SFO contributing $8,536.84 in their first year’s assessment. The district could be further supported by an additional $250,000 of funding from potential parking meter revenues if approved and implemented in downtown and the Millbrae Station area.

To learn more, please review the following:

For an overview of how the proposed district is formed and how properties are assessed, review our presentation or read the most recent City Council staff report from March 25, 2025.

On March 25, 2025, the City Council directed staff and the consultant to modify the District Management Plan to remove all residential condominiums and single family homes from the district's boundary and to move certain properties at the south end of El Camino Real and along Old Bayshore Highway from Zone 2 to Zone 1. An updated Management District Plan will be posted here when completed to reflect the direction. 


Each of the 608 property owners within the proposed benefits district recently received a petition in the mail. This initial petition will be used to gauge support and, if successful, will enable the proposal to move towards balloting in an election. If enough of these petitions are signed and returned by property owners, meeting a 30% threshold by assessed valuation, then the formation of the Community Benefits District will move forward to an election by mail-in ballot sometime in May or early June. The petitions have been provided in both English and Chinese, accompanied by a cover letter, a plan summary, and a return envelope. If you feel the concept should move forward to balloting, simply sign and return your petition. Signed petitions in support of a Community Benefits District ballot measure must be returned by Wednesday, April 30, 2025. Signing and returning the petition does not commit you to a particular decision during balloting. 


Milbrae CBD Boundary Proposed

City of Millbrae Proposed Community Benefit District (CBD)

In August 2023, the City Manager, with support of the Millbrae City Council, initiated a study of Millbrae property and business owners to respond to their concerns for the ongoing parking management issues in Downtown, along El Camino Real, and around the Millbrae Station area, as well as their desire to see greater commerce, greater demand and overall business revitalization of this growing Peninsula City.   

The City has many, many assets and believes the time has come to take the property and business community to the next level of enhancing the City’s image and appearance.  The proposed Millbrae Community Benefit District would be a financing mechanism, funded by Downtown and Millbrae Station area property assessments to be generated by and controlled by commercial stakeholders. The purpose of creating this new district would be to create a funding source to pay for new commercial services and activities.  Those new services and activities would result in creating greater demand for the businesses, retailers, restaurants, hotels, apartments and services along Broadway, El Camino Real, and the Millbrae Station area.   

Millbrae’s assets include: 

  • SFO and its growth projections, along with the tens of thousands of people who work there, not including the dependent businesses that serve the airport can provide an ongoing strong customer base; 
  • This is the only place where CalTrain and BART meet, giving employees, customers and visitors mass transit access from San Jose to Dublin and Antioch; 
  • Downtown has easy freeway access from both the 101 and the 280; 
  • A changing demographic in the city, particularly among the younger residents, who understand business and appreciates high density development in its Downtown; 
  • Millbrae already has approved over 1,000 residential units to be built in the next few years 
  • Over 800,000 square feet of new biotechnology laboratory space in the Station area 
  • Millbrae is very walkable and just needs attractive new amenities and enhancements 

A new Millbrae Community Benefit District (CBD) Steering Committee will be formed with the goal of discussing what the special needs will be for this growing community, how those needs will be funded, eventually culminating in a vote of Downtown and Station area property owners to endorse a plan and vote on the formation of this new Millbrae Community Benefit District.  The consultant hired by the City to conduct this effort for Downtown Millbrae is New City America, a company that has formed more similar districts in the entire Bay Area than any other company over the past 25 years.  

New City America has formed similar districts in Downtown Redwood City, Willow Glen/San Jose, San Leandro, 12 districts in San Francisco, 12 districts in Oakland and a number throughout the East Bay. These include the Japantown Community Benefits District in San Francisco, the Downtown San Leandro Community Benefits District, the Little Italy Association in San Diego, and the Redwood City Improvement Association (RCIA), among others.

What are Community Benefit Districts?

Local property owners create Community Benefits Districts to fund special benefits above and beyond normal city services that keep their districts attractive, clean, safe, orderly, and well-publicized. Having shared benefits and services through a Community Benefits District can help reduce individual expenses for businesses and property owners, such as for marketing, maintenance, cleaning and security. The assessments, approved by the property owners, are collected as part of their yearly property bills and then given to the newly created non-profit organization to advance the District’s goals and priorities. Property owners and businesses in the District serve on the non-profit organization's board of directors to decide and direct themselves how those shared services and benefits will be provided.

Community Benefits Districts can fund and provide shared services such as:

  • Marketing and Promotion of the District
  • Special Events Hosting and Management
  • Maintenance and Beautification Services
  • Community Ambassadors
  • Security and Monitoring Services
  • Landscaping and Lighting
  • Enhanced Sanitation and Pavement Cleaning Services
  • Brand Identity and Representation of Property Owners
  • Banners, Public Art and Seasonal Decorations

Timeline and plan for the implementation of the Millbrae Community Benefits District: 


September 18, 2023:  Interested property and business owners met at City Hall for the first time to hear about potential benefits from the creation of the new Millbrae Community Benefit District and the need to form a Steering Committee.

October 18, 2023:  Interested property owners met at the library and heard a presentation about the special benefit services (those over and above current City Services) that could be provided by the formation of a Community Benefits District and discussed those services that may be needed or desired in the Downtown and Millbrae Station area.

November 28, 2023:  Interested property owners and businesses heard a presentation and discussed what type of services could help Downtown and the Station area become more vibrant, walkable and attractive, as well as creating a strong offensive strategy through public relations, social media and events, to draw positive attention to the community.

Summer 2024:  The consultant working for the City, New City America, will work with the property owners to determine the costs of those services and how they could be funded. City staff and consultants from New City America will reach out to key stakeholders about their interests.

September 2024:   New City America sent out a mailer introducing property owners to the proposed Community Benefits District, followed by a presentation before the City's Economic Vitality Advisory Committee.

November 2024:   New City America reached out to property owners of parcels within the proposed Community Benefits District to verify and ensure that their property information is being accurately identified. New City America obtains property information from a company called Parcelquest, however Parcelquest is not always accurate. In order to ensure that property owners are accurately represented, New City America sent a mailer out to property owners within the proposed district requesting their assistance with reviewing and completing an enclosed Property Verification Form. 

January 2025:   New City America prepares a “Management District Plan”, that articulates the types of services the property and business owners would want to see and how much an annual budget would be needed to provide the services.  The two sources of funding the special benefits could include both property assessments as well as new parking meter revenues, planned to be implemented in Downtown and the Millbrae Station area in 2025. The plan is posted on this website and will be updated based on City Council direction from their March 25, 2025 meeting.

March - April 2025:  Each of the 608 property owners within the proposed benefits district received a petition in the mail. This initial petition will be used to gauge support and, if successful, will enable the proposal to move towards an election. If enough petitions are signed and returned by property owners, meeting a 30% threshold by assessed valuation, then the formation of the Community Benefits District will move forward to an election by mail-in ballot. The petitions will be provided in both English and Chinese, accompanied by a cover letter in both languages, a plan summary, and a return envelope. Signed petitions in support of a Community Benefits District ballot measure must be returned by Wednesday, April 30, 2025. 

May 2025: If the petition is successful and endorsed by 30% of the property owners, by dollar amount, the City Council will schedule consideration of a "Resolution of Intent" to initiate the formation of the district and authorize a mail-in ballot procedure whereby each property owner will receive a ballot allowing them to vote “yes” or “no” on the formation of the new CBD. 

June or July 2025: Upon the completion of the mail-in balloting period, a hearing will be scheduled before the City Council to accept public testimony regarding the proposed district, followed by the counting of ballots by the City Clerk. If a majority of the ballots are in support, then the City Council will vote on a "Resolution of Formation" and the assessments will be forwarded to the County Assessor for placement on the subsequent tax bill. This will be followed by the formation of an interim board of directors for the district, who would then be responsible for determining the composition of the board and the executive management. 

Future Community Benefit District Steering Committee Meetings:

We encourage Millbrae businesses and property owners to reach out to us with any questions about the proposed Community Benefits District.

If you have questions or would like to be involved in the Millbrae CBD Steering Committee, please feel free to contact Christy Barberini, Management Analyst, at cbarberini@ci.millbrae.ca.us, (650) 259-2341 or email mail@newamerica.com, or call (888) 356-2726.