body,date,page,text,path
PlanningBoard,2017-03-13,1,"APPROVED MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF ALAMEDA PLANNING BOARD
MONDAY, MARCH 13, 2017
1. CONVENE
President Köster convened the meeting at 7:03pm
2. FLAG SALUTE
Board Member Burton led the flag salute.
3. ROLL CALL
Present: President Köster, Board Members Burton, Knox White, Mitchell, Sullivan.
Absent: Board Members Curtis, Zuppan.
4. AGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION
Staff Member Thomas asked that the consent calendar item be continued.
5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
6. CONSENT CALENDAR
6-A 2017-4030
Annual Review: Del Monte Development Agreement - Applicant: TL
Partners I, LP. The applicant requests a periodic review of a Development
Agreement related to the Del Monte Warehouse Master Plan. (Item
continued to the March 27, 2017 meeting)
Board Member Knox White made a motion to continue the item to the next meeting.
Board Member Mitchell seconded the item. The motion passed 5-0.
7. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
7-A 2017-4034
City of Alameda Amendment Updating the Public Art Ordinance. The
Planning Board will consider modifications to update and improve the
regulations governing the Public Art Ordinance. The proposed amendment
is categorically exempt from further environmental review pursuant to State
CEQA Guidelines 15305 Minor Alterations to Land Use Limitations
Staff Member Gehrke gave a presentation. The staff report and attachments can be found
at:
https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2977023&GUID=A2F1C5A2-
24-42E7-BCC8-5997578CB17F&FullText=1
Board Member Knox White asked if the ""free admission"" requirement would mean that if
the city funded an event the entire event had to be free for all attendees.
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PlanningBoard,2017-03-13,2,"Staff Member Gehrke responded in the affirmative.
Board Member Knox White asked if there was consideration for partial funding of events
that would have an appropriate portion of free tickets based on the city's contribution.
Staff Member Gehrke said they did discuss that but they decided that public art needed to
be open to the general public.
Board Member Knox White asked what analysis was done to see how removing the cap
would affect housing costs and ability for projects to be completed as we increase fees on
new development.
Staff Member Thomas said that increasing the costs of construction is a real concern and
that this would contribute increasing the cost of market rate units that are constructed. He
said he thinks it will be manageable.
Board Member Mitchell asked for more details about how the staff administrative costs
were being handled.
Staff Member Thomas said they are asking for general fund monies to be used for staff
time needed to administer the public art program.
Board Member Burton asked if the language in the ordinance required dispersal of the
funds every year.
Staff Member Thomas said many years they do not have enough money to issue an RFP.
He said they can clean up the language to make sure they do not imply that there will
always be annual dispersals.
Board Member Sullivan asked how much some of the public art pieces around town cost.
Staff Member Thomas said they usually cost close to $150,000 in the larger projects. He
said, at Grand Marina, for example, there were two pieces that probably cost around
$75,000 each.
Board Member Sullivan asked if they considered using nature as a criteria for evaluation,
now that they are removing the maritime history requirements.
Staff Member Gehrke said they could use Alameda's natural ecosystem as a criteria when
evaluating proposals for how they relate to Alameda's heritage.
President Köster asked if the physical art pieces could be temporary installations.
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PlanningBoard,2017-03-13,3,"Staff Member Gehrke said that on site public art had to be permanent. She said art paid
for through the fund could be temporary.
President Köster asked if any of the programming money could go towards schools'
programming.
Staff Member Gehrke said she would see no reason it could not be included.
President Köster opened the public hearing.
Wesley and Jessica Warren said they encourage the changes to the ordinance so that the
funds could be used.
Mark Farrell and Colin Blake said they put on the Alameda Film Festival. They said they
support the changes to the ordinance.
Philip James said the community wants to support the arts and that requires more
spending. He supported removing the maritime requirement.
Tina Blaine said she has been involved in the process since Beverly Johnson was mayor.
She said the city has been responsive to artists' concerns and she looks forward to the
RFP process.
President Köster closed the public hearing.
President Köster asked if a large project could spend some money for on site art and some
directly on the public art fund.
Board Member Sullivan asked if we have considered identifying what locations would
benefit most from public art.
Staff Member Gehrke said that could be part of the public process as future RFPs happen.
Board Member Burton said he was glad to see this before the board. He said he supports
removing the cap on contributions. He said he supports removing the maritime history
requirement. He said we should not be limited. He suggested clarifying the language about
25% administrative fees.
Board Member Knox White said the artists in the room and the art they put on and support
makes him proud to be an Alamedan. He said he would like to see the item move forward
tonight. He said he was concerned about completely removing the cap. He said we should
consider doing what other cities have done and reducing the percentage for residential to
0.5%. He said he would like to see the purpose statement that better reflects why having
art in our community is good for more than just raising property values. He said he
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PlanningBoard,2017-03-13,4,"supports removing the restriction to maritime related art. He suggested trying to find a way
to make it easy for people to donate money to the fund.
Board Member Mitchell said he supports removing the cap and eliminating the maritime
requirement.
President Köster said he wants to see the proposal move forward. He said he agreed that
the purposes need to be reworded.
Board Member Mitchell made a motion to approve the item with adjustments to the
purpose statement, and to section 65.5 (B) and how the 25% programming
requirement would be monitored. Board Member Sullivan seconded the motion. The
motion passed 5-0.
7-B 2017-4047
Development Plan Application PLN17-0075 - 2001 Versailles Avenue
(Mapes Ranch Project) Applicant: Clifford Mapes. A proposed
Development Plan application to develop 11 lots on a 1.29-acre property
located at 2001 Versailles Avenue at the corner of Fernside Boulevard and
Versailles Avenue.
Staff Member Thomas introduced the item. The staff report and attachments can be found
at: https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2977024&GUID=453065B2-
OD1-4D68-8023-DACABD88F2DA&FullText=1
Board Member Knox White asked if the private drive would have access to Tilden Way.
Staff Member Thomas said it would not.
Board Member Mitchell asked if the 4' setbacks on lots one and two would require a
variance.
Staff Member Thomas said the P-D zoning allows for different setbacks than the usual five
feet. He said the eight feet between buildings should work out fine.
Board Member Burton asked why the private drive was so wide.
Staff Member Thomas said he thought Public Works wanted to use some of that space
for guest parking.
Board Member Burton asked if there were minimum dimensions for the private outdoor
space to meet the requirements.
Staff Member Thomas said there was a requirement for more than 600 square feet.
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PlanningBoard,2017-03-13,5,"President Köster asked if the approval would make the mix of single families and duplexes
stay as is.
Staff Member Thomas said that nothing would prevent a future owner from proposing to
make their property a duplex if the lot were large enough.
Board Member Mitchell asked what the fencing plan was for the site.
Staff Member Thomas said that the perimeter fence would be the next question solved
before the first design review was approved.
Board Member Köster opened the public hearing.
Toby Roebuck said he was concerned about a shortage of parking at the site.
Board Member Köster closed the public hearing.
President Köster asked about the precedent for requiring garages only be used for
vehicles and not for storage.
Staff Member Thomas said they would not be in a position to have staff checking people's
garages to make sure it was not used for storage.
Board Member Knox White said the design of the lots and the curb cuts for this project are
out of step with the neighborhood. He said he would like to see smaller driveways. He said
he was concerned about the lots backing to Tilden and having walls of the home right up
against a very tall retaining wall and fence. He said he does not think there is a parking
problem in this neighborhood.
Board Member Mitchell said he was concerned that these homes would not fit the
neighborhood very well. He said he had concerns about the four foot setbacks and what
would happen when someone tries to add on in the future.
Board Member Burton said he would like to see the private drive be narrowed. He said he
would support narrowing the driveways.
Board Member Sullivan said she would like to see the private drive a little thinner. She
said she does not have a problem with the wider driveways, but she does have a problem
with dumping cars onto the street. She said she would support a solid wall along Tilden
Way.
President Köster said he would like to see five foot setbacks on lots one, two, and three.
He suggested a possible connection point for pedestrians from the Tilden Dr. to the private
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PlanningBoard,2017-03-13,6,"drive. He said he supported narrowing the private drive. He suggested that these homes
come back to the board for design review.
Board Member Knox White said he was concerned about how the wall along Tilden Dr.
would look as a gateway to Alameda.
Board Member Mitchell said he would like to see a more substantial wall than just wood.
He said ivy was an interesting idea.
Board Member Knox White said he would support moving the proposal forward tonight if:
the setbacks one lots 1, 2, & 3 were changed to five feet; approvals for the footprints of
lots 9 & 10 were removed from the approval until they knew what the wall would look like;
and no more than one double wide curb cut was implemented on each Versailles or
Fernside.
Board Member Mitchell said he would like to not see the wide garages on Fernside, but
would be okay with them on Versailles.
Board Member Knox White said he would be okay with that adjustment.
Board Member Sullivan said she would not support limiting the driveway widths.
Board Member Knox White made a motion to approve the plan with conditions: the
driveways on Fernside will be no wider than 10 feet; no changes to the driveways
on Versailles; removing lots 9 & 10 from the approval; amending the fence condition
to say that a fence implementation plan must be approved with the first design
review plan. Board Member Burton seconded the motion. The motion pass 4-1
(Sullivan).
7-C 2017-4049
Planning Board Recommendation that the City Council Accept the City of
Alameda Housing Element 2016 Annual Report and Implementation
Priorities. The review of the annual report is exempt from the California
Environmental Quality Act
Staff Member Thomas introduced the item. The staff report and attachment can be found
at:  https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2977026&GUID=3C7D4917-
F085-4AF2-B7EF-2BB319083DA3&FullText=1
Board Member Knox White asked why we missed our goal for collecting our affordable
housing fee.
Staff Member Thomas said those funds are tied to commercial development.
Board Member Mitchell asked how assisted living factored into this report.
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PlanningBoard,2017-03-13,7,"Staff Member Thomas said they have not approved any assisted living in some time. He
said there would be some ordinance changes coming forward.
President Köster asked if the middle income housing needs a recommendation to go to
council.
Staff Member Thomas said the Main St. Plan is the first to codify the affordable by design
units. He said if Council approves it, they will expand it to other areas of the city.
President Köster opened and closed the public hearing.
Board Member Knox White asked that the data on how long design reviews take to
process be included where appropriate. He suggested several areas to include in order to
bolster the report's findings.
Board Member Mitchell said he is fine with the report. He said he would like to have a
workshop on our inclusionary percentages.
Board Member Burton said he supports moving the report forward.
President Köster said he supports moving the report forward with Board Member Knox
White's comments included.
Board Member Knox White made a motion to send the report to council with the
board's comments incorporated. Board Member Mitchell seconded the motion. The
motion passed 5-0.
8. MINUTES
8-A 2017-4029
Draft Meeting Minutes - February 13, 2017
Board Member Knox White made a motion to approve the minutes. Board Member
Sullivan seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
9. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
9-A 2017-4031
Zoning Administrator and Design Review Recent Actions and Decisions
Staff Member Thomas gave a report on recent and upcoming design reviews.
9-B 2017-4048
Future Public Meetings and Upcoming Community Development
Department Projects
Staff Member Thomas listed items coming to the next meeting.
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PlanningBoard,2017-03-13,8,"Board Member Mitchell asked if they would be following up on the 750 square foot addition
rules.
Staff Member Thomas said they would be reviewing the policy at the April 10th meeting.
10. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
11. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS
11-A 2017-4032
Subcommittee for Alameda Marina
Board Member Knox White said they have met twice and they are trying to establish a
framework for discussing the commercial development at Alameda Marina.
11-B 2017-4033
Subcommittee with Commission on Disability Issues regarding Universal
Design Ordinance
*None*
12. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
13. ADJOURNMENT
President Köster adjourned the meeting at 9:37pm.
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