{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2015-05-26", "page": 1, "text": "APPROVED MEETING MINUTES\nREGULAR MEETING OF THE\nCITY OF ALAMEDA PLANNING BOARD\nTUESDAY MAY 26,2015\nCONVENE:\n7:01 P.M.\nFLAG SALUTE:\nVice President Alvarez led the flag salute.\nROLL CALL:\nPresent: President Henneberry, Vice President Alvarez and\nBoard Members Burton, Knox White, K\u00f6ster and Zuppan (Arrived 7:\n10 P.M).\nAbsent: Board Member Tang.\nAGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION:\nMr. Andrew Thomas, City Planner, requested to combine items 7-B, 7-C and 7-D into\none agenda item. President Henneberry approved the change.\nORAL COMMUNICATIONS: None\nCONSENT CALENDAR: None\nREGULAR AGENDA ITEMS:\n7-A\nPLN15-0092- 2810 Harbor Bay Parkway-Applicant: FME Architecture\n& Design for SRM Ernst. An amendment to Final Development Plan\nNo. PLN07-0061 and Design Review to construct an approximately\n22,868 square foot two-story building in the location of two previously\napproved 10,400 square foot two-story office buildings. The project is\nlocated on a 2.05 acre site at 2810 Harbor Bay Parkway. The proposed\nproject is Categorically Exempt Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines 15332\nInfill Development Projects\nApproved Regular Meeting\nPage 1 of 8\nMinutes May 26, 2015", "path": "PlanningBoard/2015-05-26.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2015-05-26", "page": 2, "text": "Mr. Henry Dong, representing City Staff, made the presentation.\nPresident Henneberry asked Mr. Thomas about any Sunshine Ordinance issues\nsurrounding the project. Mr. Thomas explained that the additional conditions of approval\nwere added in response to citizen concerns.\nMr. Thomas introduced Mr. Joe Ernst, project applicant.\nMr. Ernst gave an update on the project since it was approved in 2008. He introduced\nMr. Rob Doud, of McGuire and Hester.\nMr. Doud expressed his excitement to move his company to Alameda.\nThere were no public comments.\nBoard Member Knox White said that he appreciated a change made to the plans that\nincluded bicycle parking for employees at the site.\nBoard Member Zuppan said that the design of the building was attractive and preserved\nthe view corridor in the area.\nPresident Henneberry, Vice President Alvarez and Board Members Burton and K\u00f6ster all\nsaid they liked the project.\nBoard Member Knox White motioned to approve the proposal with the two presented\nconditions. Vice President Alvarez seconded the motion. The motion carried, 6-0.\n7-B\nDel Monte Master Plan Six Month Review.\n7-C\nDevelopment Plan and Design Review for a 31-Unit affordable\nHousing Development. Applicant: TL Partners I, LP and City of\nAlameda Housing Authority (PLN15-0185). A development plan and\ndesign review application to construct 31 affordable, multi-family rental\nunits, parking and landscaping on an approximately .81 acre site within\nthe MX Zoning District located on the northeast corner of Buena Vista\nAvenue and Sherman Street within the Del Monte Master Plan planning\narea.\n7-D\nTentative Subdivision Map Application PLN15-0165-1501 Buena\nVista Avenue. (Del Monte.) Applicant: TL Partners I, LP/Tim Lewis\nCommunities. A proposed Tentative Map application for a 7-lot\nsubdivision on 11.06 acres to implement the 2014 Del Monte Master\nPlan at 1501 Buena Vista Avenue (APN: 072-0384-004).\nApproved Regular Meeting\nPage 2 of 8\nMinutes May 26, 2015", "path": "PlanningBoard/2015-05-26.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2015-05-26", "page": 3, "text": "Mr. Thomas clarified that he would present all three agenda items at once.\nMr. Thomas introduced Mr. Mike O'Hara, of Tim Lewis Communities. Mr. O'Hara gave a\nbrief presentation. He introduced Ms. Victoria Johnson, director of development at the City's\nHousing Authority.\nMs. Johnson explained how the Housing Authority manages affordable senior housing in\nAlameda. She said that the City needs affordable housing units in order for senior citizens\nto remain in Alameda.\nMr. William Duncanson, of BAR Architects, gave some context to the affordable housing\nproject being presented tonight, and how it fits into the larger Del Monte project.\nBoard Member Burton asked for a color and material board. Mr. Duncanson apologized\nfor not having a material sample at the meeting.\nMr. Thomas added that staff would bring a sample to a future meeting.\nBoard Member Zuppan asked Mr. Thomas about how the City counted available parking\nspaces, and if a parking count would include weekends and use of Jean Sweeney Park.\nMr. Thomas explained that staff focused on nighttime parking in order to differentiate\nbetween residents and day visitors to the area.\nBoard Member Zuppan asked if there was a way to conduct a study of both overnight and\nweekend parking, and asked how parking at the senior housing complex would be\nenforced.\nMs. Johnson explained that residents are entitled to obtain a decal in order to park their\ncars. There will also be designated visitor spaces and loading zones at the site.\nBoard Member Zuppan asked Ms. Johnson about parking situation in other Housing\nAuthority projects.\nMs. Johnson explained how she and the architect agreed on a set number for accessible\nparking spaces.\nBoard Member Zuppan asked Mr. Thomas about a landscaping plan.\nMr. Duncanson clarified that the site plan includes the landscaping plan for the area.\nBoard Member Knox White asked Mr. Thomas if residents would have access to the\nTDM programs.\nMr. Thomas replied in the affirmative.\nMs. Johnson added that there would be paratransit services specifically for senior\nApproved Regular Meeting\nPage 3 of 8\nMinutes May 26, 2015", "path": "PlanningBoard/2015-05-26.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2015-05-26", "page": 4, "text": "residents.\nVice President Alvarez asked Mr. Thomas if the City could impose eminent domain on the\nproperty. Mr. Thomas replied in the affirmative, but said that the process is an expensive\none. The City's approach with Wind River and Pennzoil has been to proceed with a\nstraightforward negotiation without the use of eminent domain.\nThe Board opened public comment.\nVice President Alvarez made a motion to limit speakers' time to three minutes. The motion\nwas not seconded.\nMs. Kari Thompson, of the Alameda Chamber of Commerce, said she was excited for\nthe project. The senior housing market is badly underserved in Alameda.\nMs. Rosemary Reilly, from Alameda Meals on Wheels, said that seniors need more\naffordable housing in Alameda. She said that her organization has volunteers who deliver\nmeals in Housing Authority buildings, and she said that she was excited that there would\nbe more units for seniors who desire affordable housing in Alameda.\nMr. Arthur Lenhardt, resident, spoke in favor of the project.\nMr. Mark Sorensen, president of Alameda Meals on Wheels, said that it was heartbreaking\nto see seniors who could not afford to live in Alameda. He called the project thoughtful and\ninclusive, and urged its approval.\nMr. Rion Cassidy, resident, said that he counted residences and parking spaces in the\narea. He said that there are between 2.7 and 3.3 parking spaces per resident in the\nneighborhood. The increased number of cars that could come as a result of the project\ncould be disastrous for the City as a whole. He also wondered if the City was negotiating\nwith Wind River, and called eminent domain an expensive and unnecessary procedure.\nMs. Audrey Lord-Hausman said that she was an advocate for senior housing, but said that\nshe was concerned about placing bathtubs in the units, which could be dangerous for\nseniors and people with disabilities. She said that she hoped that this project was the first\nof many more senior housing units in Alameda. She added that there are many seniors\nwho want to stay in Alameda, but cannot afford to remain here.\nMr. Jon Spangler, representing the Alameda Renter's Coalition, said that there are far more\npeople who are looking for senior housing than there is demand on the Island. He said that\nhis organization fully endorses the projects, and hopes that there will be more similar\ndevelopment. Mr. Spangler agreed completely with Ms. Lord-Hausman's comments about\nbathtub placement. He explained there were many issues with traffic on Sherman Street\nthat had to be addressed, and there need to be other pedestrian safety guarantees for\nseniors living in the Del Monte complex. He said that he did not see any bicycle parking\nmade available in the plans.\nApproved Regular Meeting\nPage 4 of 8\nMinutes May 26, 2015", "path": "PlanningBoard/2015-05-26.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2015-05-26", "page": 5, "text": "Ms. Helen Sause, representing the Alameda Home Team, said that that the affordable\nhousing complex addresses a spectrum of incomes that is desperately needed. She said\nthat there are many positives to having senior housing in Alameda, and praised the Housing\nAuthority's maintenance of their other properties. She said that her group urges approval\nof the project.\nMs. Alison Greene of Plan Alameda commended the City and the developer for their work.\nShe said that her group was more concerned about the increase of cars that would come\nto the neighborhood as a result of the development. She said she agreed with Mr.\nCassidy's comments, and that there was little parking available, and that transit issues\nneeded to be taken into account for future developments in the area. Ms. Greene said that\nthere might need to be another option, including eminent domain, in order to make sure\nthat the Clement Avenue extension is fully completed. She said that she was excited for\nthe project, but said that the draft resolution omits the word \"senior\", which suggests that it\nmight not be explicitly mandating senior housing. The affordable and market-rate\ncommunities should have the same amount of parking per unit. She asked to include a\ncondition of approval that would regulate the heavy equipment that would be parked in\nthe area during construction.\nMr. Jay Ingram, resident, said that approval of the project does not need to be rushed.\nHe said that the design is beautiful, but does not fit the Del Monte neighborhood. He said\nthat much of the view corridor will be gone when the Del Monte building is built, and\nencouraged it to be preserved as much as possible. He said that he appreciated the\nmoney allocated for Jean Sweeney Park, and asked for money to be allocated for\nLittlejohn Park as well.\nMs. Anne McKereghen, resident, spoke in favor of the project. She said that, as a\nrealtor, she supports affordable housing in Alameda, and said that she was excited that\nthe Housing Authority would manage the project. She said that there are many seniors\nthat could benefit from a housing project like this one.\nMs. Angela Hochabout, said that affordable housing has not been prioritized by the\ngovernment. There is a shortage of affordable housing in Alameda, and hoped that\nthere are more developments that follow this one. She asked if there would be a service\nfor seniors who live on higher floor to have their laundry done on the ground floor, and\nagreed with Mr. Spangler's comments on bathtubs. She thanked staff and the developer\nfor their work on the project.\nThe Board closed public comment.\nMr. Thomas clarified that there would be showers, instead of bathtubs, provided in the\nunits and that the plans would be revised accordingly.\nBoard Member Burton stated that the design was attractive and expressed his support for\nthe project, and said that the relationship between this development and the main Del\nMonte building would be a good one. He said that he understood that parking could be\nan issue on the site, but that senior housing usually requires less parking than other\nApproved Regular Meeting\nPage 5 of 8\nMinutes May 26, 2015", "path": "PlanningBoard/2015-05-26.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2015-05-26", "page": 6, "text": "developments. He asked if there could be a study to lower the amount of parking needed\nor to add more handicapped spaces as necessary. He said that he liked that there was\nonly one entrance to the lobby area, and said that although he appreciated that the\ndeveloper and architects make the stairs in the corner an entrance, he wondered if the\nother side could be used as a better secondary entrance. The overall layout of the site\nplan is good, but he wanted more detail about the materials that would be used for the\nbuilding. Board Member Burton said that he liked the colors proposed for the buildings\nand that they open to the street in an inviting way. He said he did not realize that the\nsecond and third floor hallways would be open-air as they could be cold and blustery for\nmuch of the year.\nBoard Member Knox White asked Mr. Thomas why senior housing was left out of the\nresolution.\nMr. Thomas said that the word \"senior\" would be included in the resolution.\nBoard Member Knox White said that the hallways seem like they should be indoor\nspaces, and added that he would like more clarification on the number of parking spaces\nfor the building. He wanted to know if there was a way to add more ADA spaces at the\nsite. He asked Mr. Thomas about the Clement Avenue extension.\nMr. Thomas clarified that the completion of Clement Avenue has to be done by the time\nthat the 250th housing unit is completed.\nBoard Member Knox White said that the tentative map looked good.\nBoard Member K\u00f6ster thanked staff for their work, and stated that he was on the steering\ncommunity for Jean Sweeney Park. He said that about $5 million has been raised for the\npark. He said that he agreed with some of the neighbors' concerns, and commended the\ndeveloper for making the affordable housing targeted at seniors. He said that he agreed\nwith many of Board Member Burton's comments about the location of the entrance lobby.\nBoard Member K\u00f6ster said that the building looked very attractive, and praised the architect\nfor his work. He also stated that he liked the idea of planting grass on unused\nparking spaces.\nBoard Member Zuppan asked staff about the number of elevators in the building. She said\nthat she was concerned that there was only one elevator in the building, and said that it\nmight negatively affect seniors living in the upper floors of the building were it to break\ndown.\nMs. Johnson said that the mechanical technologies of elevators have improved, and that\nthere will be a backup generator in case of an electrical failure. However, she added that\nelevators are designed to stop working in the event of an emergency, so that residents\nwould have to be helped out of the building in any case.\nMr. Duncanson added that the Housing Authority wanted to have open corridors, and that\nit was more expensive to make the corridors open. Ms. Johnson added that the design of\nApproved Regular Meeting\nPage 6 of 8\nMinutes May 26, 2015", "path": "PlanningBoard/2015-05-26.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2015-05-26", "page": 7, "text": "the building was created in order to protect residents from any storms, but also to protect\nresidents from odors. Mr. Duncanson added that there is a path meant to find a safe place\nfor residents to enter and exit their cars, which is not ADA compliant.\nBoard Member Zuppan asked for clarification about which doors would be used for\nemergency exits and which ones would be used for everyday use.\nMr. Duncanson made the clarifications.\nBoard Member Zuppan said that she would support converting some of the parking spaces\ninto accessible spaces, as well as converting some of the parking to community access\npoints if needed. She said that she appreciated that there are multiple entrances and exits\nfor the building and the balconies in the buildings, but that she disagreed with Board\nMember Burton's comments about the peaks in the buildings. Board Member Zuppan said\nshe agreed with Board Member K\u00f6ster about expanding the parking studies to include all\nof the people who use the amenities in the neighborhood. She said that, if a senior citizen\nloses his or her driver's license, he or she should not lose their parking space, because\nthey may have caretakers who do drive. She said that she disapproved of the height of\nthe building design, but would not impede approval of the building on these merits alone.\nVice President Alvarez said that the building was tall for the area, but said that there are\nno other places for the building on the site. She expressed support for the tentative map\nand the affordable housing plans. She said that she went to a meeting of the Alameda\nHome Team, and noted that the resident parking lot was full; as such, there may need to\nbe more parking spaces. Vice President Alvarez wanted to know what would happen today\nwith parking, and said she was concerned that the solutions to parking issues that would\nbenefit the neighbors. The Del Monte project may not be the problem, but more creative\nsolutions may be needed to solve these issues. She said she understood the frustration\nof the neighbors. Vice President Alvarez said that it may be easier to have the elevator on\nthe outside wall and as close to the stairwell as possible in order to disrupt as few residents\nas possible.\nPresident Henneberry said he agreed with Vice President Alvarez on the tentative map\nand the need for affordable housing in Alameda. He said that the open hallways diminish\nthe \"locked in\" \"feeling of the building and liked the gables on the buildings. He understood\nthat parking is an issue, and that he would support having a weekend parking count, if\nsuch a count were feasible.\nBoard Member K\u00f6ster said that the variation of gable heights in the building would seem\nmore interesting than the current design.\nMr. Duncanson explained the reasoning between the placement of the trash receptacle\nand the elevator in the building.\nMs. Johnson reminded the Board that elevators cannot be used in a natural disaster, and\nthat staff members would assist residents in an emergency.\nApproved Regular Meeting\nPage 7 of 8\nMinutes May 26, 2015", "path": "PlanningBoard/2015-05-26.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2015-05-26", "page": 8, "text": "Board Member Knox White motioned to approve the design review, with the conditions to\nincrease ADA parking. He also added a condition of approval to make the building\nmaterials available to the Board prior to the issuance of building permits. Board Member\nK\u00f6ster seconded the motion.\nThe motion carried, 6-0.\nBoard Member Knox White motioned to approve the subdivision map. Board Member\nZuppan seconded the motion.\nThe motion carried, 6-0.\nBoard Member Knox White motioned to approve the six month review as is. Board Member\nBurton seconded the motion.\nThe motion carried, 6-0.\n8-A\nDraft Meeting Minutes-April 13, 2015\nBoard Member Zuppan motioned to approve the minutes with edits. Board Member Burton\nseconded the motion.\nThe motion carried, 6-0.\n8-B\nDraft Meeting Minutes-April 27, 2015\nBoard Member Zuppan motioned to approve the minutes. Vice President Alvarez seconded\nthe motion.\nThe motion carried, 6-0.\nSTAFF COMMUNICATIONS:\n9-A\nZoning Administrator and Design Review Recent Actions and Decisions.\nMr. Thomas updated the Board on the Zoning Administrator's decisions.\nWRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS:\nPresident Henneberry acknowledged a letter from the Alameda Association of Realtors\nexpressing support for the project.\nBOARD COMMUNICATIONS: None\nORAL COMMUNICATIONS: None\nADJOURNMENT:\n9:48 P.M.\nApproved Regular Meeting\nPage 8 of 8\nMinutes May 26, 2015", "path": "PlanningBoard/2015-05-26.pdf"}