{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2008-04-14", "page": 1, "text": "Minutes of the Regular Planning Board Meeting\nMonday, April 14, 2008\nCouncil Chambers, City Hall\n2263 Santa Clara Avenue - 7:00 PM\nPresident Cook called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.\nROLL CALL:\nPRESENT:\nPresident Cook, Boardmembers Ezzy Ashcraft,\nLynch and McNamara\nABSENT:\nVice-President Kohlstrand and Boardmember\nCunningham\nSTAFF PRESENT:\nAndrew Thomas, Planning Manager/Secretary to the\nPlanning Board; Farimah Faiz, Assistant City\nAttorney; Cynthia Eliason, Supervising Planner;\nSimone Wolter, Planner I; Althea Carter, Executive\nAssistant/Recording Secretary\nMINUTES:\nMinutes for the meeting of November 13, 2007\nContinued to April 28, 2008.\nMinutes for the meeting of February 25, 2008\nMotion (Ezzy Ashcraft)/Second (Cook) to approve as amended.\nAyes: 4; Noes: 0; Absent: 2. Motion unanimously approved.\nMinutes for the meeting of March 24, 2008 (pending)\nAGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION:\nNONE\nSTAFF COMMUNICATIONS:\n(6-A.) Future Agendas: Andrew Thomas reviewed future agenda items and\nnoted the Esplanade appeal will be heard at the City Council meeting scheduled\nfor April 15, 2008.\n(6-B.) Zoning Administrator Report: There was no Zoning Administrator meeting\non April 1, 2008.\n(6-C.) Report Re: Status of Broadway/Jacksor Phase II: Andrew Thomas\nprovided a review and update on the status of this project. The City of Alameda\nhas been working on this project with Caltrans and the City of Oakland for 10-15\nPage 1 of 7", "path": "PlanningBoard/2008-04-14.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2008-04-14", "page": 2, "text": "years. Many options have been presented regarding modification of the Posey\nTube and freeway exits on 1880. Caltrans has determined that one option, to cut\nthrough the Posey tube and create a \"hard\" right turn upon exiting the tube, is not\nfeasible and was rejected because the tube is not a tunnel and enabling\nmotorists to make a hard right turn could result in an increase of rear-end\naccidents.\nAnother option considered was creating a new on-ramp at 6th and Market\nStreets. Although not as effective as the previous option this option is good for\ntransit (bus/BART) connections and provides multiple options for vehicles. This\nstudy has a greater impact on Oakland since some property owners will be\nimpacted by any proposed solutions. It will probably be 10-20 years before any\nconstruction will begin. It is challenging for cities to continue to rely on \"building\"\ntheir way out of traffic problems. Short-term successes in Alameda may be seen\nthrough project development conditions of approval.\nCity Councilmember's from Alameda and Oakland meet quarterly to discuss\ntransportation issues. This is an ongoing effort and will be a long process.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft commented that transportation is a regional not just\na local problem. We need to continue to pursue opportunities to get people out\nof their cars.\nORAL COMMUNICATION:\nAndrew Thomas advised the Board of a pending design review item for a location\n(Kohl's) at Alameda Towne Centre (ATC).\nPresident Cook asked how the design fits in with the Master Plan Amendment.\nAndrew Thomas responded by saying Alameda Towne Centre's (ATC) Planned\nDevelopment Amendment (PDA) allows for expansion of floor area. ATC can\nintroduce new tenants through the design review process but cannot increase\ntenant space (square footage).\nPresident Cook requested the item be placed on the agenda for the next\nPlanning Board meeting on April 28, 2008.\nPresident Cook inquired about the status of Clif Bar.\nAndrew Thomas responded that Clif Bar was concerned about the lack of food\nchoice options in the area and their employees' ability to bike to work.\nPresident Cook mentioned the board would like to hear about these concerns\nfrom Staff and not from reading it in the newspaper.\nCONSENT CALENDAR:\nPage 2 of 7", "path": "PlanningBoard/2008-04-14.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2008-04-14", "page": 3, "text": "NONE\nREGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:\n(9-A.) Cynthia Eliason presented the City Council approved Local Action Plan for\nClimate Protection. This item was for discussion purposes only. No action was\ntaken.\nPresident Cook asked how zero waste is achieved since there is always\nsomething that doesn't fit in a bin. Staff responded that zero waste is a goal.\nPublic comment was opened.\nCitizen Bill Smith commented on emissions and zero waste.\nPublic comment was closed.\nBoardmember Lynch inquired whether Stopwaste.org assisted with preparation\nof the report. Staff responded in the affirmative. Stopwaste.org was instrumental\nin putting together this collaborative effort.\nBoardmember Lynch commented on initiative #2 page 29. Retail trips account\nfor the highest use of vehicles. How is this issue addressed? Staff responded\nthat these issues are considered as individual projects are reviewed.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft referred to the last document in the plan (Appendix\nF). She asked whether environmentally preferred purchases (for example\ncleaning products used by City maintenance staff) would move forward to\nbecome an ordinance or stay on the back burner. Staff responded that the intent\nis to move the document forward as an ordinance. Styrofoam was the first\ninitiative but others will follow.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft inquired about the steps required to create a new\nordinance. Staff responded by detailing the process involved in establishing an\nordinance from Staff to the Planning Board to the City Council.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft inquired whether staff would look to other cities for\nwhat they have done in this area. Staff responded in the affirmative.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft inquired about the timeframe for implementation of\nthe plan. Staff responded that a timeline has not been set.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft acknowledged Simone Wolter (staff) for her\ncontributions to the plan.\nBoardmember Lynch inquired whether bike lockers will be provided outside the\ntheatre. Staff responded in the affirmative.\nPage 3 of 7", "path": "PlanningBoard/2008-04-14.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2008-04-14", "page": 4, "text": "Boardmember Lynch mentioned riding his bike along Park Street and was\ndisappointed there was no place for bike parking. He suggested the City may\nwant to look into places for bike lockers and bike parking. President Cook\nconcurred with Boardmember Lynch. Staff responded that they will mention bike\nparking and lockers to city staff working on the citywide bike plan.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft commended Cynthia Eliason for the bike parking\nprovided outside Peets and noted there is no bike parking available outside\nLong's on Santa Clara and Oak Streets.\nBoardmember McNamara said it would be nice to have everything in place but\nthis is a great first step.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft agreed but commented that Alameda is a bit late\nsince 10 other cities have already adopted the ordinance.\nPresident Cook thanked staff, Simone Wolter and Boardmember Cunningham for\ntheir work on the project. The Planning Board can take the lead on\ntransportation and land use initiatives. Work/live ordinances are sensitive topics\nin Alameda. The City Council considers whether actions are consistent with the\nLocal Action Plan. Project consistency with the local action plan should also be\nconsidered by the Planning Board when reviewing projects. Including this\ninformation on staff reports would be helpful. If possible, without creating\nadditional work, President Cook would like Staff to periodically advise the Board\nabout the status of these initiatives either annually or semi-annually.\nAndrew Thomas responded in the affirmative. Staff will add a section to future\nstaff reports regarding project support of the Local Action Plan. Priority setting is\nkey.\nCynthia Eliason mentioned that the City Council asked how monitoring of this\nordinance would occur. This is under discussion. Staff is interested in tracking\nimplementation not just numbers.\nNo action was taken.\n(9-B.) Cynthia Eliason presented the staff report recommending the City Council\napprove Green Building requirements for City building projects, capital\nimprovement projects, and public-private partnerships.\nStaff pointed out that this requirement affects City projects (such as fire stations,\nrenovations, Carnegie), and public/private partnerships (such as Alameda Point).\nPage 4 of 7", "path": "PlanningBoard/2008-04-14.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2008-04-14", "page": 5, "text": "Boardmember Lynch thanked staff for bringing this item forward. He asked why\nthe recommendation is for the minimum standards. Staff responded that the\nmodel ordinance was used as the template with minimum requirements.\nBoardmember Lynch stated it would be helpful to compare these requirements\nwith what is stated in the Local Action Plan. President Cook suggested removing\nthe word \"minimum\".\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft distributed copies of information about the\nordinance she retrieved from the Stopwaste.org website. She mentioned the\nminimum is a suggestion not a requirement. Cities may choose their level of\nparticipation. By June 2009 Alameda is required to adopt a bay friendly\nlandscaping ordinance in order to continue to receive funding from\nStopwaste.org. Is there a reason Staff is not implementing this ordinance now?\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft would like to incorporate bay friendly landscaping\ninto the ordinance tonight. In the city of San Francisco it is not uncommon for\napplicants to wait six months for building permits. San Francisco expedites\npermit processing of LEED certified projects. Would this process work in\nAlameda.\nStaff responded in the negative. Incentives are difficult to provide in Alameda\nsince we currently enjoy a ten day turnaround on permit processing.\nBoardmember McNamara inquired how staff will assure the Board's direction will\nbe incorporated into a landscaping ordinance. Staff responded that Build It\nGreen and LEED principles and suggestions would be used as models.\nBoardmember McNamara inquired what the timeline for completion of this\nordinance is. Staff responded there is a six month rollout.\nPresident Cook stated she also would like to see voluntary standards\nimplemented in the interim and inquired if a continuance of this item would give\nstaff time to prepare and present voluntary bay friendly landscaping guidelines.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft inquired whether there was any reason why\nStopwaste.org's bay friendly landscaping model ordinance could not be applied\nin Alameda. Staff responded that it could be used as a stop gap voluntary\nprogram for private developments. Boardmember Ezzy Ashcraft commented that\nshe would like the bay friendly landscape guidelines incorporated into the\nordinance.\nPresident Cook identified two issues regarding the ordinance. There is no\nreference to bay friendly landscaping or voluntary green guidelines for residential\nproperties. She suggested using the City of Oakland's ordinance as a guide.\nPage 5 of 7", "path": "PlanningBoard/2008-04-14.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2008-04-14", "page": 6, "text": "Boardmember Lynch suggested further study of the available options. He\ninquired what Staff wanted to accomplish tonight and in the future. He stated\nthat implementation costs should be considered as well as what impact\nimplementation would have on the budget. He would like to see a 5-year plan\nand suggests there are things that can be done to move this issue forward.\nCynthia Eliason responded that education of city staff is an important part of this\nprocess. Smaller ordinances will be presented to the Board (fireplaces, etc.).\nStaff is not resistant to voluntary compliance. It is simply a matter of available\nresources.\nBoardmember Lynch requested staff to comment on the last two clauses of the\nresolution and inquired whether the Resolution could be modified to include the\nOakland bay friendly landscaping ordinance. Staff responded that the resolution\ncould be modified to include additional whereas'. President Cook stated the\nmodifications should be included as \"resolves\" not \"whereas\".\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft suggested adopting two resolutions with one\nmirroring the City of Oakland's civic ordinance that applies to municipal projects.\nShe commented that page 2, first whereas of the resolution is too vague for the\npublic.\nCynthia Eliason, Farimah Faiz and Boardmember Ezzy Ashcraft discussed\nwhether it was appropriate to adopt an ordinance that had not been previously\npublicized or if the item should be presented at the next Board meeting.\nAndrew Thomas suggested the bay friendly ordinance resolution be presented to\nthe Board at the April 28, 2008 meeting or as a consent item at the May 12, 2008\nmeeting.\nPresident Cook suggested Boardmember Ezzy Ashcraft work with Staff on the\nwording for the resolution.\nThe public hearing was opened.\nSpeaker, Bill Smith, spoke in favor of this item.\nThe public hearing was closed.\nWRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS:\nAndrew Thomas mentioned an upcoming meeting of the Alameda Point Task\nForce.\nPage 6 of 7", "path": "PlanningBoard/2008-04-14.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2008-04-14", "page": 7, "text": "BOARD COMMUNICATIONS:\nBoardmember McNamara discussed the Bridgeside project and reminded staff\nthat the Board had previously requested responses to several questions\nregarding the project. She would like staff's response at the next Board meeting.\nPresident Cook suggested a site visit. Boardmember Lynch inquired whether a\nfield trip to the site could be listed on the agenda as \"Item 9-B\" for example.\nAndrew Thomas suggested an organized site visit on a Saturday may be more\nappropriate.\nPresident Cook inquired about Staff's response to previous questions on the\nMeasure A Summary Report. Staff responded that it would be on the next\nagenda. President Cook inquired whether the overview requested by\nBoardmember Cunningham was being provided. Andrew Thomas responded in\nthe negative and stated that the Planning & Building Director suggested a\nsummary report should be the first step.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft mentioned the Theatre Gala is being held next\nmonth on Wednesday, May 21st from 6-10 p.m. Tickets are $100 each and\ncontributions will help restore the theatre mural.\n9-B. City of Alameda - 2263 Santa Clara Avenue. President Cook reopened\nItem 9-B and asked if there was a motion.\nBoardmember Ezzy Ashcraft moved to approve the amended and modified\nresolution. Approved as amended 4-0.\nADJOURNMENT:\nThe meeting was adjourned at 9:42 p.m.\nRespectfully submitted,\nAndrew Thomas, Secretary\nCity Planning Board\nThis meeting was audio and video taped.\nPage 7 of 7", "path": "PlanningBoard/2008-04-14.pdf"}