{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2017-03-27", "page": 1, "text": "MINUTES\nREGULAR MEETING OF THE\nCITY OF ALAMEDA PLANNING BOARD\nMONDAY, MARCH 27, 2017\n1. CONVENE\nPresident K\u00f6ster convened the meeting at 7:06pm.\n2. FLAG SALUTE\nBoard Member Curtis led the flag salute.\n3. ROLL CALL\nPresent: President K\u00f6ster, Board Members Curtis, Mitchell, Sullivan. Board Member\nZuppan arrived at approximately 7:20pm. Absent: Board Members Burton, Knox White.\n4. AGENDA CHANGES AND DISCUSSION\n*None*\n5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS\n*None*\n6. CONSENT CALENDAR\n*None*\n7. REGULAR AGENDA ITEMS\n7-A 2017-4101\nPLN16-0185 - 1629 Webster Street - Applicant: Daniel Hoy for Sam and\nMichelle Koka. A Public Hearing to consider Design Review, Use Permit\nAmendment, and Zoning Text Amendment to construct an approximately\n14,300-square-foot three-story, mixed-use building located on the\nsouthwesterly corner of Webster Street and Pacific Avenue. The new\nbuilding contains approximately 5,000-square-feet of ground floor retail and\na 16-bed senior boarding house on the second and third floors. The site is\nlocated within the C-C (Community Commercial) zoning district. The zoning\ntext amendment adds boarding houses as an allowable use with use permit\napproval in the C-C, C-1 (Neighborhood Business), and C-2 (Central\nBusiness) Zoning Districts. The project is categorically exempt from the\nCalifornia Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per CEQA Guidelines Section\n15332 - Infill Development, and 15305 - Minor Alterations to Land Use\nLimitations\nStaff Member Dong gave a presentation. The staff report and attachments can be found\nat:\n  https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2985479&GUID=7626093F-\nD83F-4314-96C3-C21FD082C91B&FullText=1\nPlanning Board Minutes\nPage 1 of 8\nMarch 27, 2017", "path": "PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2017-03-27", "page": 2, "text": "Board Member Mitchell asked if the auto shop use permit is required to provide a certain\nnumber of parking spaces.\nStaff Member Dong said they are required to provide five spaces as part of the updated\ncode.\nBoard Member Curtis asked if there was a certain length of time the initial shared parking\nlease must run for.\nStaff Member Dong said the lease will run in seven year increments.\nBoard Member Sullivan asked how many spaces would be committed to businesses on\nthe site.\nStaff Member Thomas explained how the property required a total of 23 parking spaces,\nper the zoning code.\nBoard Member Zuppan asked for and received confirmation that most of the units would\nhave shared bathrooms. She asked if the property would be deed restricted for seniors.\nStaff Member Dong said there would be a requirement that all residents be at least 62\nyears old.\nBoard Member Zuppan asked for more information about the location, safety, and\nscreening for the utilities.\nStaff Member Dong explained the layout and description of the utilities.\nPresident K\u00f6ster asked if the meters could be placed on an interior wall of the building,\nrather than facing the sidewalk.\nStaff Member Thomas said that they could require the meters to be away from the\nsidewalk if they wished.\nBoard Member Curtis asked if there would be a limitation on how many beds would be in\nthe facility.\nStaff Member Thomas said they could place a restriction on the number of beds as a\ncondition of the use permit.\nBoard Member Sullivan said the term \"boarding house\" is an antiquated term and was\nlooking for an updated description of the type of facility.\nPlanning Board Minutes\nPage 2 of 8\nMarch 27, 2017", "path": "PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2017-03-27", "page": 3, "text": "Staff Member Thomas explained the different terms in the code and state requirements\nfor different types of facilities.\nSam Koka, applicant, said he worked closely with the West Alameda Business Association\nand hopes the project can win approval.\nPresident K\u00f6ster opened the public hearing.\nSandip Jariwala, president of WABA and owner of Hawthorne Suites, said the project\nwould add needed business space and housing to the district. He said it would bring\nneeded foot traffic in the evenings.\nPaula Jones, resident, said the neighborhood is lacking in parking and this project could\nexacerbate that. She said she was concerned that there would be only one kitchen for the\nproject. She asked if the facility would require licensing from the state.\nAudrey Lord-Hausman said the location would allow the residents who may not be\navailable to afford cars to have access to transit. She said it would provide much needed\nhousing.\nRich Krinks said the building would be a great addition to Webster St.\nAnni Chapman raised concerns about the contamination issues at the site and asked\nwhether the boarding house use would be appropriate for the site.\nRony Nathan said the location is ideal for this type of project, with lots of services for\nresidents.\nLinda Asbury, Executive Director of WABA and resident, asked the board to support the\nproject.\nPat Lamborn, resident, asked if the definition of assisted living facilities in the zoning code\nwould be changing.\nAngela Hockabout said we need this type and other types of housing for our senior\nresidents.\nReyla Graber said she was concerned with the definition of boarding home in the\nresolution.\nPresident K\u00f6ster closed the public hearing.\nStaff Member Thomas responded to the regulatory questions raised by some of the\nspeakers.\nPlanning Board Minutes\nPage 3 of 8\nMarch 27, 2017", "path": "PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2017-03-27", "page": 4, "text": "Board Member Sullivan said many of the universal design requirements in the resolution\ndo not apply to this property.\nBoard Member Curtis said he is concerned about the parking and the length of the shared\nparking lease. He said he was concerned that the ordinance change would allow a\nflophouse type of use that would not be desirable.\nBoard Member Zuppan said she was concerned about the shared bathrooms for seniors\naging in place. She said she wanted to make sure the resolution guaranteed that the extra\nbathrooms remained available to residents at all times. She suggested we might need a\nrestriction against hot plates because of fire concerns. She asked if they could require\nsome units to have a lease that prohibited the resident from having a car. She said she\nwould like to see the parking lease have options for extensions by the lessee. She said\nshe wants the utility meters to not be on the street and that the transformer be screened\nfrom public view.\nBoard Member Mitchell raised concerns about closet doors in the middle of the hallway\nposing a hazard during an emergency if left open. He said he agreed with other board\nmember comments and wanted to make sure the environmental issues were addressed\nbefore proceeding.\nPresident K\u00f6ster said we need a little more detail on the shuttle service. He said we\nwanted to limit it to 16 total beds. He said he agreed that each shared parking spot at the\nhotel should have signage.\nStaff Member Thomas listed the proposed changes: requiring clearance from regional\nregulatory bodies regarding the environmental cleanup of the site; moving the electric\nmeters to an interior wall of the property; individually signing the off site parking spaces;\nlimiting the project to 16 beds plus the manager; screening the transformer; reviewing the\nhallway doors for fire safety; striking the universal design restrictions that do not apply;\nclarify that the shuttle operating hours and stating that it is on demand.\nBoard Member Curtis added there should be a seven year parking lease and a seven year\nextension in place.\nBoard Member Zuppan said that a requirement that some of the units not have a car is a\ngood compromise for a project that says they will not need as much parking as the code\nrequires.\nPresident K\u00f6ster took a straw vote on including a requirement that three units have leases\nthat forbid the resident from having a car. The requirement did not receive majority\nsupport.\nPlanning Board Minutes\nPage 4 of 8\nMarch 27, 2017", "path": "PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2017-03-27", "page": 5, "text": "Board Member Curtis made a motion to approve the project with the restrictions\nlisted by Staff Member Thomas (above). Board Member Mitchell seconded the\nmotion. The motion passed 5-0.\nBoard Member Sullivan offered text edits for clarity of the zoning ordinance changes.\nStaff Member Thomas summarized the proposed changes to the zoning text amendment:\nstrike \"assisted living facilities\" from the first finding; add a sentence requiring an\nappropriate ratio of occupants per bathroom.\nBoard Member Sullivan made a motion to approve the zoning adjustment\nrecommendation with the changes listed by Staff Member Thomas (above). Board\nMember Mitchell seconded the motion. The motion passed 5-0.\nPresident K\u00f6ster called for a five minute recess.\n7-B 2017-4102\nPublic Hearing on the Encinal Terminals Draft Focused Supplemental\nEnvironmental Impact Report (SCH#2016042076)\nStaff Member Thomas introduced the item. The staff report and attachments can be found\nat: ttps://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=2985480&GUID=96E72570-\nCED3-4AFO-8674-9FF469E30703&FullText=\nBoard Member Sullivan expressed concern about the lack of publicity of the EIR process.\nBoard Member Curtis said the safety and schools impacts of all these projects are not\nincluded in these reports.\nStaff Member Thomas explained that our school district levies an impact fee on the project,\nso the EIR does not look at the impact on schools, per state law. He said they have not\nfound a safety problem for EMS with the increased congestion.\nBoard Member Zuppan explained that tonight we are not making any decision about how\nmany units will be approved at the site, rather making sure the EIR for the proposed project\nadequately reflects the impacts.\nPresident K\u00f6ster asked who is responsible for acquiring and building the Clement Street\nextension through the Pennzoil site.\nStaff Member Thomas said they have had preliminary conversations with Pennzoil, but\nthe segment is not yet attached to any project and they do not have a funding strategy yet.\nPresident K\u00f6ster asked about the changes in traffic numbers caused by the change from\nretail to retail/commercial designation.\nPlanning Board Minutes\nPage 5 of 8\nMarch 27, 2017", "path": "PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2017-03-27", "page": 6, "text": "Staff Member Thomas explained that the site is not optimal for retail and they believe there\nmight be more general commercial uses than retail.\nPresident K\u00f6ster said the level of service designation for Grand and Buena Vista did not\nseem realistic due to the delay caused by people turning left onto Grand.\nBoard Member Curtis asked why the multifamily units are said to produce so many fewer\nvehicle trips than the townhomes.\nStaff Member Thomas explained the standards the Institute of Transportation Engineers\nuse to project trips from different types of units.\nBoard Member Zuppan asked if those projections are regionally adjusted.\nStaff Member Thomas said they are not. He said there are studies that show ITE rates\nover estimate the number of trips generated in urban areas with good transit.\nPresident K\u00f6ster opened the public hearing.\nPhilip James said the EIR comments from CalTrans saying they do not expect a significant\nimpact were telling. He said the high rise would be far from the street and surrounded,\nvisually, by the neighboring Brooklyn Basin project.\nCharles Olsen said the project is very large and will have a major impact on the\nneighborhood.\nAngela Hockabout said we are a city with a vulnerable population living in substandard\nhousing. She said we need every bit of housing we can get. She said when we refuse to\nbuild housing, we create homelessness.\nJim Smallman said this proposal has more than double the number of units called for in\nthe housing element. He said we do not have fire equipment that could reach a building\nof that size. He asked what percentage of the units would be affordable.\nKaren Bey said she strongly believes that construction of the infrastructure for water transit\nshould be a condition of approval for the project. She said there would be a lot of new\npeople here and they could support more retail and we need to amenitize our new\ndevelopments.\nPaul Anzel said they have seen their rents rise dramatically and lost neighbors to\nincreasing rents. He said this housing is essential.\nMichael Goff said he is concerned about his ability to stay here due to the shortage of\nhousing. He suggested studying the environmental impact of not building the project and\npushing the residents out to far flung cities with long commutes.\nPlanning Board Minutes\nPage 6 of 8\nMarch 27, 2017", "path": "PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2017-03-27", "page": 7, "text": "President K\u00f6ster closed the public hearing.\nBoard Member Sullivan said she is concerned about traffic and the fire equipment needed\nfor a high rise building.\nBoard Member Curtis said we do not have the width of roads needed to accommodate the\namount of traffic generated by the project.\nBoard Member Mitchell asked for more information on the impacts of the project on the\nschool district's resources. He said Littlejohn Park would be impacted by the project and\nwe might need to evaluate the parking situation there. He asked if there was a way to\ncollect impact fees to fund future transportation needs to get off the island.\nStaff Member Thomas explained the process for updating the Transportation Element,\ncharging impact fees, and fair share contributions. He said the city is working hard on\ntransportation issues and making progress.\nBoard Member Zuppan said she does not believe the details in these traffic studies. She\nsaid she is concerned that the sample times are not adequate to capture the real impacts.\nShe asked why we do not use multiple methods to come up with the traffic impacts. She\nsaid it is about additional travel time, not just the increased vehicles, that create\nenvironmental impacts.\nStaff Member Thomas said travel time would be a new metric to study. He said the\nanalysis would say that traffic is slow now and adding more cars would make it slower. He\nsaid the question is what you do in response to that information.\nBoard Member Zuppan suggested we do more measurements to ensure the data are\nrealistic. She called out the avian impacts and how those mitigations could affect the\ndesign of the project.\nPresident K\u00f6ster said the water is the key to unlocking the site. He said water taxi will be\nimportant for residents and visitors to the site. He said the impact of not doing a project\nwould also have a large impact.\nBoard Member Zuppan said she wanted to make sure we adequately captured the noise\nmeasurements at the site.\nBoard Member Mitchell asked if we are measuring the impacts of drivers using Alameda\nas a shortcut for 880 congestion.\n8. MINUTES\n*None*\n9. STAFF COMMUNICATIONS\nPlanning Board Minutes\nPage 7 of 8\nMarch 27, 2017", "path": "PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf"}
{"body": "PlanningBoard", "date": "2017-03-27", "page": 8, "text": "9-A 2017-4097\nZoning Administrator and Design Review Recent Actions and Decisions\nStaff Member Thomas said they approved some design reviews and a recreation building\nat Krusi Park. He said they did not approve 1624 San Antonio yet.\n9-B 2017-4098\nFuture Public Meetings and Upcoming Community Development\nDepartment Projects\nStaff Member Thomas said the proposed changes for 2nd units and parking requirements\nfor additions would be on the next agenda. He said Big O's use permit would be up for\nrevocation at the April 24th meeting.\n10. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS\n*None*\n11. BOARD COMMUNICATIONS\n11-A 2017-4095\nSubcommittee for Alameda Marina\nPresident K\u00f6ster said they met to discuss the commercial core of the project.\n11-B 2017-4096\nSubcommittee with Commission on Disability Issues regarding Universal\nDesign Ordinance\n*None*\n12. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS\n*None*\n13. ADJOURNMENT\nPresident K\u00f6ster adjourned the meeting at 10:36 pm.\nPlanning Board Minutes\nPage 8 of 8\nMarch 27, 2017", "path": "PlanningBoard/2017-03-27.pdf"}