body,date,page,text,path
PlanningBoard,2017-03-27,1,"MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF ALAMEDA PLANNING BOARD
MONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017
1. CONVENE
President Köster convened the meeting at 7:06pm.
2. FLAG SALUTE
Board Member Curtis led the flag salute.
3. ROLL CALL
Present: President Köster, Board Members Curtis, Mitchell, Sullivan. Board Member
Zuppan arrived at approximately 7:20pm. Absent: Board Members Burton, Knox White.
4. AGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION
*None*
5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
6. CONSENT CALENDAR
*None*
7. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
7-A 2017-4101
PLN16-0185 - 1629 Webster Street - Applicant: Daniel Hoy for Sam and
Michelle Koka. A Public Hearing to consider Design Review, Use Permit
Amendment, and Zoning Text Amendment to construct an approximately
14,300-square-foot three-story, mixed-use building located on the
southwesterly corner of Webster Street and Pacific Avenue. The new
building contains approximately 5,000-square-feet of ground floor retail and
a 16-bed senior boarding house on the second and third floors. The site is
located within the C-C (Community Commercial) zoning district. The zoning
text amendment adds boarding houses as an allowable use with use permit
approval in the C-C, C-1 (Neighborhood Business), and C-2 (Central
Business) Zoning Districts. The project is categorically exempt from the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per CEQA Guidelines Section
15332 - Infill Development, and 15305 - Minor Alterations to Land Use
Limitations
Staff Member Dong gave a presentation. The staff report and attachments can be found
at:
  https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2985479&GUID=7626093F-
D83F-4314-96C3-C21FD082C91B&FullText=1
Planning Board Minutes
Page 1 of 8
March 27, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-03-27,2,"Board Member Mitchell asked if the auto shop use permit is required to provide a certain
number of parking spaces.
Staff Member Dong said they are required to provide five spaces as part of the updated
code.
Board Member Curtis asked if there was a certain length of time the initial shared parking
lease must run for.
Staff Member Dong said the lease will run in seven year increments.
Board Member Sullivan asked how many spaces would be committed to businesses on
the site.
Staff Member Thomas explained how the property required a total of 23 parking spaces,
per the zoning code.
Board Member Zuppan asked for and received confirmation that most of the units would
have shared bathrooms. She asked if the property would be deed restricted for seniors.
Staff Member Dong said there would be a requirement that all residents be at least 62
years old.
Board Member Zuppan asked for more information about the location, safety, and
screening for the utilities.
Staff Member Dong explained the layout and description of the utilities.
President Köster asked if the meters could be placed on an interior wall of the building,
rather than facing the sidewalk.
Staff Member Thomas said that they could require the meters to be away from the
sidewalk if they wished.
Board Member Curtis asked if there would be a limitation on how many beds would be in
the facility.
Staff Member Thomas said they could place a restriction on the number of beds as a
condition of the use permit.
Board Member Sullivan said the term ""boarding house"" is an antiquated term and was
looking for an updated description of the type of facility.
Planning Board Minutes
Page 2 of 8
March 27, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-03-27,3,"Staff Member Thomas explained the different terms in the code and state requirements
for different types of facilities.
Sam Koka, applicant, said he worked closely with the West Alameda Business Association
and hopes the project can win approval.
President Köster opened the public hearing.
Sandip Jariwala, president of WABA and owner of Hawthorne Suites, said the project
would add needed business space and housing to the district. He said it would bring
needed foot traffic in the evenings.
Paula Jones, resident, said the neighborhood is lacking in parking and this project could
exacerbate that. She said she was concerned that there would be only one kitchen for the
project. She asked if the facility would require licensing from the state.
Audrey Lord-Hausman said the location would allow the residents who may not be
available to afford cars to have access to transit. She said it would provide much needed
housing.
Rich Krinks said the building would be a great addition to Webster St.
Anni Chapman raised concerns about the contamination issues at the site and asked
whether the boarding house use would be appropriate for the site.
Rony Nathan said the location is ideal for this type of project, with lots of services for
residents.
Linda Asbury, Executive Director of WABA and resident, asked the board to support the
project.
Pat Lamborn, resident, asked if the definition of assisted living facilities in the zoning code
would be changing.
Angela Hockabout said we need this type and other types of housing for our senior
residents.
Reyla Graber said she was concerned with the definition of boarding home in the
resolution.
President Köster closed the public hearing.
Staff Member Thomas responded to the regulatory questions raised by some of the
speakers.
Planning Board Minutes
Page 3 of 8
March 27, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-03-27,4,"Board Member Sullivan said many of the universal design requirements in the resolution
do not apply to this property.
Board Member Curtis said he is concerned about the parking and the length of the shared
parking lease. He said he was concerned that the ordinance change would allow a
flophouse type of use that would not be desirable.
Board Member Zuppan said she was concerned about the shared bathrooms for seniors
aging in place. She said she wanted to make sure the resolution guaranteed that the extra
bathrooms remained available to residents at all times. She suggested we might need a
restriction against hot plates because of fire concerns. She asked if they could require
some units to have a lease that prohibited the resident from having a car. She said she
would like to see the parking lease have options for extensions by the lessee. She said
she wants the utility meters to not be on the street and that the transformer be screened
from public view.
Board Member Mitchell raised concerns about closet doors in the middle of the hallway
posing a hazard during an emergency if left open. He said he agreed with other board
member comments and wanted to make sure the environmental issues were addressed
before proceeding.
President Köster said we need a little more detail on the shuttle service. He said we
wanted to limit it to 16 total beds. He said he agreed that each shared parking spot at the
hotel should have signage.
Staff Member Thomas listed the proposed changes: requiring clearance from regional
regulatory bodies regarding the environmental cleanup of the site; moving the electric
meters to an interior wall of the property; individually signing the off site parking spaces;
limiting the project to 16 beds plus the manager; screening the transformer; reviewing the
hallway doors for fire safety; striking the universal design restrictions that do not apply;
clarify that the shuttle operating hours and stating that it is on demand.
Board Member Curtis added there should be a seven year parking lease and a seven year
extension in place.
Board Member Zuppan said that a requirement that some of the units not have a car is a
good compromise for a project that says they will not need as much parking as the code
requires.
President Köster took a straw vote on including a requirement that three units have leases
that forbid the resident from having a car. The requirement did not receive majority
support.
Planning Board Minutes
Page 4 of 8
March 27, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-03-27,5,"Board Member Curtis made a motion to approve the project with the restrictions
listed by Staff Member Thomas (above). Board Member Mitchell seconded the
motion. The motion passed 5-0.
Board Member Sullivan offered text edits for clarity of the zoning ordinance changes.
Staff Member Thomas summarized the proposed changes to the zoning text amendment:
strike ""assisted living facilities"" from the first finding; add a sentence requiring an
appropriate ratio of occupants per bathroom.
Board Member Sullivan made a motion to approve the zoning adjustment
recommendation with the changes listed by Staff Member Thomas (above). Board
Member Mitchell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.
President Köster called for a five minute recess.
7-B 2017-4102
Public Hearing on the Encinal Terminals Draft Focused Supplemental
Environmental Impact Report (SCH#2016042076)
Staff Member Thomas introduced the item. The staff report and attachments can be found
at: ttps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2985480&GUID=96E72570-
CED3-4AFO-8674-9FF469E30703&FullText=
Board Member Sullivan expressed concern about the lack of publicity of the EIR process.
Board Member Curtis said the safety and schools impacts of all these projects are not
included in these reports.
Staff Member Thomas explained that our school district levies an impact fee on the project,
so the EIR does not look at the impact on schools, per state law. He said they have not
found a safety problem for EMS with the increased congestion.
Board Member Zuppan explained that tonight we are not making any decision about how
many units will be approved at the site, rather making sure the EIR for the proposed project
adequately reflects the impacts.
President Köster asked who is responsible for acquiring and building the Clement Street
extension through the Pennzoil site.
Staff Member Thomas said they have had preliminary conversations with Pennzoil, but
the segment is not yet attached to any project and they do not have a funding strategy yet.
President Köster asked about the changes in traffic numbers caused by the change from
retail to retail/commercial designation.
Planning Board Minutes
Page 5 of 8
March 27, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-03-27,6,"Staff Member Thomas explained that the site is not optimal for retail and they believe there
might be more general commercial uses than retail.
President Köster said the level of service designation for Grand and Buena Vista did not
seem realistic due to the delay caused by people turning left onto Grand.
Board Member Curtis asked why the multifamily units are said to produce so many fewer
vehicle trips than the townhomes.
Staff Member Thomas explained the standards the Institute of Transportation Engineers
use to project trips from different types of units.
Board Member Zuppan asked if those projections are regionally adjusted.
Staff Member Thomas said they are not. He said there are studies that show ITE rates
over estimate the number of trips generated in urban areas with good transit.
President Köster opened the public hearing.
Philip James said the EIR comments from CalTrans saying they do not expect a significant
impact were telling. He said the high rise would be far from the street and surrounded,
visually, by the neighboring Brooklyn Basin project.
Charles Olsen said the project is very large and will have a major impact on the
neighborhood.
Angela Hockabout said we are a city with a vulnerable population living in substandard
housing. She said we need every bit of housing we can get. She said when we refuse to
build housing, we create homelessness.
Jim Smallman said this proposal has more than double the number of units called for in
the housing element. He said we do not have fire equipment that could reach a building
of that size. He asked what percentage of the units would be affordable.
Karen Bey said she strongly believes that construction of the infrastructure for water transit
should be a condition of approval for the project. She said there would be a lot of new
people here and they could support more retail and we need to amenitize our new
developments.
Paul Anzel said they have seen their rents rise dramatically and lost neighbors to
increasing rents. He said this housing is essential.
Michael Goff said he is concerned about his ability to stay here due to the shortage of
housing. He suggested studying the environmental impact of not building the project and
pushing the residents out to far flung cities with long commutes.
Planning Board Minutes
Page 6 of 8
March 27, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-03-27,7,"President Köster closed the public hearing.
Board Member Sullivan said she is concerned about traffic and the fire equipment needed
for a high rise building.
Board Member Curtis said we do not have the width of roads needed to accommodate the
amount of traffic generated by the project.
Board Member Mitchell asked for more information on the impacts of the project on the
school district's resources. He said Littlejohn Park would be impacted by the project and
we might need to evaluate the parking situation there. He asked if there was a way to
collect impact fees to fund future transportation needs to get off the island.
Staff Member Thomas explained the process for updating the Transportation Element,
charging impact fees, and fair share contributions. He said the city is working hard on
transportation issues and making progress.
Board Member Zuppan said she does not believe the details in these traffic studies. She
said she is concerned that the sample times are not adequate to capture the real impacts.
She asked why we do not use multiple methods to come up with the traffic impacts. She
said it is about additional travel time, not just the increased vehicles, that create
environmental impacts.
Staff Member Thomas said travel time would be a new metric to study. He said the
analysis would say that traffic is slow now and adding more cars would make it slower. He
said the question is what you do in response to that information.
Board Member Zuppan suggested we do more measurements to ensure the data are
realistic. She called out the avian impacts and how those mitigations could affect the
design of the project.
President Köster said the water is the key to unlocking the site. He said water taxi will be
important for residents and visitors to the site. He said the impact of not doing a project
would also have a large impact.
Board Member Zuppan said she wanted to make sure we adequately captured the noise
measurements at the site.
Board Member Mitchell asked if we are measuring the impacts of drivers using Alameda
as a shortcut for 880 congestion.
8. MINUTES
*None*
9. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
Planning Board Minutes
Page 7 of 8
March 27, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-03-27,8,"9-A 2017-4097
Zoning Administrator and Design Review Recent Actions and Decisions
Staff Member Thomas said they approved some design reviews and a recreation building
at Krusi Park. He said they did not approve 1624 San Antonio yet.
9-B 2017-4098
Future Public Meetings and Upcoming Community Development
Department Projects
Staff Member Thomas said the proposed changes for 2nd units and parking requirements
for additions would be on the next agenda. He said Big O's use permit would be up for
revocation at the April 24th meeting.
10. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
11. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS
11-A 2017-4095
Subcommittee for Alameda Marina
President Köster said they met to discuss the commercial core of the project.
11-B 2017-4096
Subcommittee with Commission on Disability Issues regarding Universal
Design Ordinance
*None*
12. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
13. ADJOURNMENT
President Köster adjourned the meeting at 10:36 pm.
Planning Board Minutes
Page 8 of 8
March 27, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf