body,date,page,text,path
PlanningBoard,2017-12-11,1,"APPROVED MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING OF THE
CITY OF ALAMEDA PLANNING BOARD
MONDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2017
1. CONVENE
President Mitchell convened the meeting at 7:02pm
2. FLAG SALUTE
Board Member Curtis led the flag salute.
3. ROLL CALL
Present: President Mitchell, Board Members Cavanaugh, Curtis, Köster, Sullivan.
Absent: Board Members Burton, Teague.
4. AGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION
Staff Member Thomas asked to move Board Communications and Staff
Communications to the beginning of the agenda for some announcements.
**Board Communications***
President Mitchell read a proclamation honoring outgoing Board Member Knox White.
Mr. Knox White thanked staff for their work, as well as current and past board members.
**Staff Communications***
Staff Member Thomas summarized the work of the Planning Board in 2017, including
ADU, Universal Design, and Cannabis ordinances, Main St. Plan, affordable housing, and
the Transportation Choices Plan. He said the permit center did 116 million dollars in
permits in 2017.
Staff Member Tai gave a presentation on the work of the permit center. He said they
served 13,000 walk in customers, issued 5,500 permits, and 32,000 inspections.
5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
6. CONSENT CALENDAR
2017-5000
2018 Planning Board Regular Meeting Schedule
The calendar can be found at:
ttps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3268855&GUID=6C1F3922-
IC9E-481F-9E23-B2133COE14F1
Approved Planning Board Minutes
Page 1 of 7
December 11, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-12-11.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-12-11,2,"President Mitchell said that October 8th is a federal holiday.
Staff Member Thomas said he thinks they should continue the item to the next meeting
because all of the dates are 2017, not 2018.
7. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS
7-A 2017-5010
Hold a Public Hearing to Consider Design Review Approval for Block 9 at
Alameda Point Site A. No further environmental review is required for this
review of the project design
Staff Member Thomas introduced the item. The staff report and attachments can be
found at:
tps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3268859&GUID=0531918(
4993-4D58-9C78-4EB87C84C583
Bruce Feherty, COO of Cypress Equity Investments, introduced himself and gave some
background on his firm.
Kevin Markarian, Pyatok Architects, gave a presentation on the design of the building.
Jessie Markmen, landscape architect, described the landscaping approach to the building
design.
Board Member Sullivan said all the trees in the design do not get very tall and asked if
there were plans to plant taller trees at key locations.
Mr. Markmen said the street trees in the master plan would have much larger trees.
Board Member Sullivan said she was concerned that some of the trees in the plan would
not do very well in such a windy location. She asked that the grasses be green and add
some color to the boxy design. She asked who the customer would be for this building.
Mr. Feherty said that they are doing smaller units for people starting out with lower rents.
He said that other buildings at Site A would have larger units that could cater to families.
Board Member Sullivan asked what type of retail was planned for the project.
Mr. Feherty said that they are too early in the process to know the answer.
Board Member Curtis (inaudible) asked if the 1 to 1 parking ratio would be sufficient for
the project.
Mr. Feherty said they only recently became involved in the project.
Approved Planning Board Minutes
Page 2 of 7
December 11, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-12-11.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-12-11,3,"Sue Xi, project manager, said they have a ferry terminal very nearby and want to have a
sustainable project. She said they will have unbundled parking and manage it more
efficiently.
Mr. Feherty said they are treating the project like a transit oriented site. He said they are
trying to build a more affordable by design product. He said each parking space would
cost $45,000 to create.
Board Member Köster asked about the reduction in the open space requirement.
Staff Member Thomas said that there is not a per unit open space requirement and that
the entire Site A project would meet its open space requirements.
President Mitchell opened the public hearing.
Austin Lee said that a continuing horizontal element connecting the windows would better
reflect the base's Art Moderne aesthetic.
Karen Bey said she supports the project. She said the retail should complement the other
retail at Site A.
Rose Magno said the traffic would be horrendous. She said the developers should help
build new infrastructure to get off the island. She said the buildings look like public housing.
President Mitchell closed the public hearing.
Board Member Sullivan asked what, in today's dollars, they expected to charge for
parking.
Mr. Feherty said it would probably be around $50 or $75 per month.
Ms. Xi said they are considering a system where you would take a ticket and could pay by
the day, week, or month in order to most efficiently utilize the space.
Board Member Köster said he likes the butterfly roof and that the design breaks the
building into three separate buildings. He said the (W. Atlantic) elevation was not quite
there yet and needed some refinement. He said we could add some extra details to play
up the Streamline Moderne elements to tie the building together. He asked how the
parking garage would be separated from the resident courtyard.
Mr. Markmen said that the wall would be solid and they are considering using a bamboo
treatment in front of the wall.
Approved Planning Board Minutes
Page 3 of 7
December 11, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-12-11.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-12-11,4,"in context of plans for the project area.
Staff Member Thomas said the project is consistent with our parking requirements. He
said there is a shared parking lot within a block of this site. He said Site A is putting 10
million dollars toward a new ferry terminal that will be two blocks away. He said every unit
will come with transit passes. He said people have shown a willingness to use alternative
transportation if given the options.
Board Member Sullivan said there is more than just commute hour driving in town and
asked what is being done to accommodate those needs.
Staff Member Thomas said they required the project have retail on the ground floor in
order to provide services. He said Alameda Landing is nearby and will be well served by
transit.
Staff Member Ott said they have all the funding in place for the ferry to be built in 2019
and operational in 2020.
Approved Planning Board Minutes
Page 4 of 7
December 11, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-12-11.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-12-11,5,"Board Member Curtis said the young people will be throwing parties and asked where all
those people would park.
Staff Member Thomas said they could use the nearby public parking lots or on street
parking.
Board Member Curtis said that this is a great experiment, but if we are wrong, people will
be fighting over parking.
Staff Member Thomas said that people will be able to drive, but they need to provide
options in the context of a growing region that is not building more freeways or widening
roads.
Staff Member Ott explained the parking management plan for the base. She said they
want to keep control of the parking in the public control in order to respond to changes in
demand in the future. She said the strategy is based on data from other cities which have
been successful and includes the use of parking lots that can be redeveloped as parking
structures when demand is sufficient to fund the cost of garage construction. To manage
demand, all public lots and garages would be available to the public and Alameda Point
residents and employees and parking charges will be managed by the City as a trip
reduction strategy.
President Mitchell pointed out that areas which have residential mixed with their retail,
unlike South Shore, do not have vacancies.
Staff Member Thomas summarized potential conditions to add to the resolution consistent
with the board's comments. He said they could add conditions regarding the tree, grass,
and bamboo selection. He asked if the board would like to see the front elevation and/or
the treatment of the garage elevation come back to the board or if they would like to just
give direction to staff.
Board Member Köster said he would like to see the front elevation come back for final
approval. He said he would also like to see a perspective of the interior courtyard.
Board Member Mitchell said he is comfortable with the garage entrance treatment being
dealt with at the staff level.
Staff Member Thomas suggested that they could approve the resolution and require the
outstanding elements come back for final approval.
Board Member Cavanaugh said he would like to see more options for the rooftop.
Approved Planning Board Minutes
Page 5 of 7
December 11, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-12-11.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-12-11,6,"Board Member Curtis said that the longer we delay the developer, the more uncertainty
and cost concerns there are for completing the project.
Staff Member Thomas said they can approve the resolution with conditions to bring the
front elevation, courtyard details, and rooftop options back for review before permits are
issued. He said that would give the developer the certainty they need for financing and
final planning to move forward.
Board Member Köster made a motion to approve the resolution with the conditions
to bring back for final approval the final designs for the front elevation, interior
courtyard, and rooftop options. Board Member Curtis seconded the motion.
Board Member Sullivan said she still had reservations about some of the landscape
selections.
Staff Member Thomas suggested that they bring the landscape design back with the other
items.
Board Member Köster accepted the suggestion to add a condition of approval to
bring the landscape plan back for final review before issuing building permits. The
motion passed 5-0.
8. MINUTES
8-A 2017-5002
Draft Meeting Minutes - October 9th, 2017
Board Member Köster said on page 4 he wanted to name the Park Merced project as the
one where residents get a monthly $100 rideshare voucher included in their rent.
Board Member Sullivan made a motion to approve the minutes with Board Member
Köster's amendment. Board Member Köster seconded. The motion passed 4-0-1
(Cavanaugh).
9. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS
9-A 2017-5005
Zoning Administrator and Design Review Recent Actions and Decisions
Staff Member Thomas gave a brief report. The staff report and plans can be found at:
https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3268857&GUID=B8E1DA78-
6489-49C4-8625-D5617C081BD7&FullText=1
9-B 2017-5009
Future Public Meetings and Upcoming Community Development
Department Projects
Approved Planning Board Minutes
Page 6 of 7
December 11, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-12-11.pdf
PlanningBoard,2017-12-11,7,"Staff Member Thomas said they have provided an updated calendar of future agendas
and are trying to see if they can schedule a joint meeting with the Transportation
Committee
for
January.
The
schedule
can
be
found
at:
Ittps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=3268858&GUID=30D3A7EB-
3117-4CB3-ABA6-81AAEC228B25
He said the Harbor Bay Hotel would be coming back in January and starting the process
over.
Board Member Köster asked if BCDC would make an approval first this time.
Staff Member Thomas said BCDC would wait for an approval from Alameda before
considering the project again.
Board Member Cavanaugh asked what the reason was for the denial.
Staff Member Thomas said BCDC decided the project was not consistent with their policy,
but that it is a large board and a strange meeting.
Staff Member Thomas said that the city would cover the lodging and conference costs for
any members that wish to attend a planning academy conference in Monterey in April. He
said he also included some information about running efficient meetings and new
California housing laws in the packet.
10. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
11. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS
Board Member Curtis wished the board a happy holidays and new year.
12. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
*None*
13. ADJOURNMENT
President Mitchell adjourned the meeting at 8:40pm.
Approved Planning Board Minutes
Page 7 of 7
December 11, 2017",PlanningBoard/2017-12-11.pdf