Board Delays Horizon Recovery Center After Burlingame Left Out of Process

The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors hit pause on a plan to hand a County-owned Burlingame site to Horizon Treatment Services for a behavioral health recovery center — after County Counsel admitted he never notified the city where it would be built. Six public commenters and Burlingame's mayor used the brief special meeting to challenge the site choice, the broken process, and the risk of losing grant funding if delays mount.

• Horizon Treatment Center decision postponed after County acknowledges Burlingame officials were never notified of the special meeting — six months into the process

• Burlingame mayor calls the process "messed up," raising sea level rise, liquefaction, and therapeutic suitability concerns about the 826 Mahler Road site

• Housing and community advocates push for an alternative San Mateo site, warning that further delay jeopardizes grant funding already in place

• Consent items approved 5-0, including certification of the June 2, 2026 primary election results and two labor resolutions

The board convened a special meeting to approve a framework granting Horizon Treatment Services control of the County-owned property at 826 Mahler Road in Burlingame for a recovery center. Instead, the item was pulled before any substantive board discussion — after County Counsel Nibbelin acknowledged a significant procedural failure.