body,date,page,text,path
PlanningBoard,2015-11-23,1,"APPROVED MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF ALAMEDA PLANNING BOARD
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 23, 2015
1. CONVENE
President Knox White called meeting to order at 7pm.
2. FLAG SALUTE
Board Member Burton led the flag salute.
3. ROLL CALL
Present: President Knox White, Board Members Burton, Henneberry, Köster, Mitchell,
Sullivan, Zuppan.
4. AGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION
*None*
5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
6. CONSENT CALENDAR - None
6-A 2015-2304
2016 City of Alameda Planning Board Regular Meeting Schedule
6-B 2015-2305
Planning Board Rules and Procedures. Approve Revisions to the
Planning Board Rules and Procedures to Improve the Public Hearing
Process. A change to the Rules and Procedures is not a project subject to
the California Environmental Quality Act.
Board Member Burton moved to approve the consent calendar. The motion was
seconded by Board Member Henneberry. The motion passed 7-0.
7. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
7-A 2015-2302
PLN15-0030 - 615 Haight Avenue - Applicant: Stefan Menzi on behalf of
Joseph and Melanie Snell. - CONTINUED FROM OCTOBER 26, 2015. A
request for Design Review approval for a two-story addition to be located
at the rear of the existing structure. The proposed addition will be twenty-
six feet and six inches (26'6"") tall and meet all required setbacks. This
project is categorically exempt from further environmental review
Approved Minutes
Page 1 of 8
November 23, 2015
Planning Board",PlanningBoard/2015-11-23.pdf
PlanningBoard,2015-11-23,2,"pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines,
Section 15301 (e) - Existing Facilities - additions to existing structures
provided that the addition will not result in an increase of more than
10,000 square feet.
Staff Member Sablan gave the staff report. The staff report and attachments can be
found at
https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2514194&GUID=82A5696B-
D359-46B3-B039-EDC6C5D37446&FullText=1
Board Member Burton asked about the bay window projection into the setback.
Staff Member Thomas said that the zoning ordinance allows projections beyond the
setback for items like bay windows.
President Knox White opened the public hearing.
Bao-Long Nguyen-Trong spoke about his concerns with the project.
Stefan Menzi, the applicant's architect, spoke about the plans he made and addressed
issues brought up by the appellant.
Melanie Snell spoke about the efforts made to work with their neighbors and mitigate
any impacts. She said they have done the best they can and were as accommodating as
they could be.
President Knox White closed the public hearing.
Board Member Burton thought it was a good addition. He wanted to make sure the trim
details matched the original house.
Board Member Burton moved to approve the design review with stipulation that the trim
details of the windows, door and eave match the existing house. Board Member
Henneberry seconded the motion. The motion passed 7-0.
7-B 2015-2303
Proposed Text Amendments to the City of Alameda Medical Marijuana
Dispensaries Ordinance (AMC Section 30-5.15): Recommend that the
City Council adopt a proposed amendment to the Medical Marijuana
Dispensaries Ordinance, to define and prohibit the commercial cultivation
and distribution of medical marijuana in response to the recently adopted
State of California Medical Marijuana Regulation and Safety Act. The
Approved Minutes
Page 2 of 8
November 23, 2015
Planning Board",PlanningBoard/2015-11-23.pdf
PlanningBoard,2015-11-23,3,"proposed amendment is categorically exempt from the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section
15305, Minor Alterations to Land Use Limitations.
Staff Member Thomas gave the staff presentation. The staff report and attachments can
be found at:
 https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2514195&GUID=024BB4EC-
2A0-4106-A000-08A58CD5BAF6&FullText=
President Knox White asked what the Police Department's input was.
Staff Member Thomas said he spoke with the Police Chief and he was supportive of the
proposed changes.
President Knox White opened the public hearing.
Karen Bey supported closing the loophole.
A speaker (name withheld) spoke in favor of the benefits of medical marijuana and the
lawful approach dispensaries take to avoid problems.
President Knox White closed the public hearing.
Board Member Mitchell asked about the difference between personal cultivation and
commercial.
Staff Member Thomas explained how cultivation for personal use is handled in the
municipal code and that the proposal does not change that.
Board Member Henneberry expressed support for the ordinance amendments and
stated that Alamedans already have good access to medical marijuana.
Board Member Zuppan said she supports closing the loophole.
Board Member Burton supported closing the loophole for now but revisiting potential
commercial options in the future and clarifying potential questions about where
cultivation for personal use is allowed.
President Knox White supported examining a conditional use permit for commercial
cultivation in the Adaptive Reuse Area of Alameda Point. He said Alameda should
examine whether it wants to be involved in this business. He stated that it is not much
different than what Spirits Alley already is and noted the potential tax revenues.
Approved Minutes
Page 3 of 8
November 23, 2015
Planning Board",PlanningBoard/2015-11-23.pdf
PlanningBoard,2015-11-23,4,"Board Member Henneberry moved to approve the item. Board Member Sullivan
seconded the motion with the clarification that the language distinguishing commercial
and personal cultivation would be revised before it goes to the City Council. The motion
passed 7-0.
7-C 2015-2308
PLN15-0050 - Amendments to City of Alameda Public Art Ordinance.
Public hearing to consider a recommendation that the City Council
approve amendments to Section 30-65 Public Art Ordinance. The
proposed zoning amendment is categorically exempt from further
environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines 15305 Minor
Alterations to Land Use Limitations.
Staff Member Thomas gave the staff presentation. The staff report and attachments can
be found at:
https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2514200&GUID=E0E8BF8A-
F3CD-4EEC-9CF2-8FB0018CA74A&FullText=1
Board Member Sullivan asked why the proposed administrative limit of 20% was so high.
Staff Member Alan Tai explained the consultant recommendation of 20% as an industry
standard best practice.
Board Member Köster asked about the control of the location of public art within projects
and whether the program could support an artist in residence.
Staff Member Thomas said that they handle each project individually but that planning
for the location is not a requirement of the planning process. He said the City Council
could decide to fund an artist in residence program.
President Knox White asked how much the public art fund has been billed for staff time
to manage the fund.
Staff Member Tai said that it varies year to year from only a couple of hours and up from
there.
Board Member Zuppan suggested indexing the cap to inflation. She asked about public
access to programs funded by the public art fund.
Approved Minutes
Page 4 of 8
November 23, 2015
Planning Board",PlanningBoard/2015-11-23.pdf
PlanningBoard,2015-11-23,5,"Staff Member Thomas said their approach was to preserve flexibility in the ordinance
and let specific criteria be included in the RFPs.
President Knox White opened the public hearing.
Jim Smallman spoke about previous efforts to reform the program and potential ideas for
how to use the funds.
President Knox White closed the public hearing.
Board Member Zuppan expressed concern that the benefit of the program be clearly for
and accessible to the public. She wants to remove the cap or index it to inflation.
Board Member Henneberry agreed that we should index the cap and said that the
maritime focus should retained.
Board Member Burton agreed with raising the cap and indexing it to inflation.
President Knox White expressed support for indexing the cap to CPI. He suggested the
program potentially be run out of a different department, instead of Planning, that does
not have to fund itself. He expressed concerns about opening the fund up to being used
for maintenance costs.
Board Member Henneberry moved approval of item 7-C as amended to index the cap to
C.P.I. and to encourage the maritime focus. Board Member Sullivan seconded the
motion. The motion passed 7-0.
7-D 2015-2309
Proposed Text Amendments to the City of Alameda Zoning Ordinance
(AMC Chapter 30) regarding permit streamlining for residential property
improvements and other miscellaneous administrative, technical, and
clarifying amendments. Public hearing to consider zoning text
amendments that would streamline permitting for residential property
improvements and other minor administrative, technical and clarifying
amendments to improve usability of the zoning regulations. The proposed
amendments are categorically exempt from further environmental review
pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15305, Minor Alterations to Land
Use Limitations.
Staff Member Tai gave the staff presentation. The staff report and attachments can be
found at:
Approved Minutes
Page 5 of 8
November 23, 2015
Planning Board",PlanningBoard/2015-11-23.pdf
PlanningBoard,2015-11-23,6,"ittps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2514201&GUID=A7D5B39D-
F91A-44C9-92A5-AE307C5B9913&FullText=1
Board Member Mitchell asked for clarification of the parking requirements.
Staff Member Tai explained that people could not pave over their front yards for parking
and that this was seen as a pilot program.
Board Member Burton asked about lot size requirements for multiple houses versus
second units.
Staff Member Thomas said that you cannot build more than one unit per 2000 square
feet.
Board Member Sullivan asked for further clarification of the parking requirements in the
staff recommendation.
Staff Member Thomas said that the 2nd unit requires the property to have two
independent parking spaces.
Board Member Zuppan asked about the mechanism for enforcing alternative
transportation program requirements for the larger projects and whether a similar
solution could apply to granting exemptions to second units that do not meet the parking
requirements.
Staff Member Thomas said that monitoring can be difficult but they could look at options
to address those scenarios.
President Knox White opened the public hearing.
Christopher Buckley from Alameda Architectural Preservation Society said the second
unit proposal could drastically change Alameda's single family neighborhoods. He
opposed the reduction in lot size requirements as written. He also was concerned with
encouraging more accessory buildings.
Dennis Owens, chair of the Historic Advisory Board, spoke in favor of the proposed
changes. He said young adults like his own child are having a hard time finding housing.
He said tandem parking should be allowed in order to allow better designs to come
forward.
Steven Aced said he was concerned that allowing second units on lots smaller than
7500 square feet would radically change neighborhoods.
Approved Minutes
Page 6 of 8
November 23, 2015
Planning Board",PlanningBoard/2015-11-23.pdf
PlanningBoard,2015-11-23,7,"Karen Bey spoke in favor of the second unit changes and thinks the City should be more
liberal allowing second units but focus on quality.
President Knox White closed the public hearing.
Board Member Burton said he supports changing the second unit ordinance in order to
build affordable housing. He would support relaxing the parking requirements.
Board Member Köster expressed support for the 2nd unit changes. He also supports
looking at alternative solutions to the parking problems and removing the minimum size
requirement which might encourage some attractive micro-units.
Board Member Mitchell said he supports the compromise that the staff recommendation
represents in terms of the parking requirements.
Board Member Sullivan said there should be a minimum of three parking spaces
between the two units.
Board Member Zuppan said she wants home occupation signage to require a permit
with design review. She said she supported addressing the parking problem with more
creative solutions in the manner that is done with TDM programs on larger projects and
allow tandem parking. She said she does not want to see people paving over their yards
in order to meet the parking requirements.
President Knox White expressed concern that the parking requirements would result in
little or no progress being made with second units. He said the people living in the units
should make the decision about how the parking should be prioritized. He said this
would be a small dent in the long term housing supply problem and would not drastically
change neighborhoods. He supports allowing the tandem parking.
Board Member Burton moved approval of the ordinance amendments with an
amendment to allow tandem parking. Board Member Henneberry seconded the motion.
The motion passed 6-1 (Sullivan opposed).
8. MINUTES
*None*
9. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
9-A 2015-2306
Zoning Administrator and Design Review Recent Actions and Decisions
Approved Minutes
Page 7 of 8
November 23, 2015
Planning Board",PlanningBoard/2015-11-23.pdf
PlanningBoard,2015-11-23,8,"Staff Member Thomas said several design reviews were recently approved.
President Knox White pointed out that when the Planning Board calls an item for review
instead of an appellant that the applicant incurs the cost of ""time and materials.""
9-B 2015-2307
Future Public Meetings and Upcoming Community Development
Department Projects
Staff Member Thomas said the 12/14/15 meeting would be focused on Alameda Point.
10. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
11. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS
11-A 2015-2298
Report from the Alameda Point Site A - Ad-Hoc Sub-Committee
Board Member Burton summarized the discussions around the building design at Block
11 of Site A and the ""naked street"" in front of the building.
11-B 2015-2299
Report from the Boatworks - Ad-Hoc Sub-Committee
*None*
Board Member Zuppan wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving.
12. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
13. ADJOURNMENT
President Knox White adjourned the meeting at 10:11pm.
Approved Minutes
Page 8 of 8
November 23, 2015
Planning Board",PlanningBoard/2015-11-23.pdf