pages: PlanningBoard/2021-05-10.pdf, 9
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PlanningBoard | 2021-05-10 | 9 | Director Thomas said it would expire when the County-Wide Health Order ended. He added that the owner did not want to operate without a Use Permit and wanted to be before the Planning Board to have this conversation. Vice President Saheba said that dialogue was important and encouraged that in a mixed- use area it can feel that things could leaner further in one direction than the others. This is part of creating vibrant cities and neighborhoods and he appreciated the conversation on this. Vice-Chair Nachtigall appreciated hearing all the comments from the folks who spoke. She requested that the report, which would look at the future of parklets and closed streets, would have data that spoke to the true impact both good and bad on the community. Director Thomas said they would be taking note of that and would try and bring back as much information as they could. For the benches on Alameda Ave, they were struggling with the normal daytime activities VS the nighttime activities. They knew going in that it was not going to be perfect, and they embraced a lot of changes to deal with the impact of the pandemic. Board Member Rothenberg thanked the commenters and agreed with Vice-Chair Nachtigall that the gathering of data was very important. She gave some suggestions of information that she would like to see that would also provide a diversity of metrics. Board Member Ruiz thanked the members of the public for their emotional comments that would help the board create better policies moving forward. She said it sounded like there were two issues. First being when they change the use of a street neighbors should be notified. Then the second issue was looking at mixed-use areas that did not take into account density and growth. Perhaps the Noise Ordinance should be updated. There were lessons to be learned here as they moved forward with future planning. Commissioner Weitze also agreed it was two separate issues here. For the bar, the truth was probably somewhere in the middle of everyone's comments. For the closed street, he pointed out that the area was in the busiest section of Park Street, and trying to control the noise didn't really make sense. He understood how notifying residents may be helpful but was unsure what it would have done since no one likes change. He believed there were many options here and while he understood how those residents felt it was still a commercial district and that was important to recognize. Commissioner Yuen thanked everyone for their thoughtful comments. She also addressed that there were two separate issues. She was happy to hear that Director Thomas had been speaking with the owner of The Clubhouse Bar to try and figure out solutions for everyone. She agreed with Commissioner Weitze that for the closed street it was a commercial area and that control the noise was going to be tricky. She felt that now was the time to take stock and evaluate what works and what could be better. Board Member Hom discussed the broader concept of mixed-use and outdoor dining. He believed that this added life and character to Alameda. The problems were not an indictment against mixed-use but there were opportunities to improve them. He suggested looking at how other cities dealt with these issues. There were a lot of positives but Approved PB & TC Joint Meeting Minutes Page 9 of 11 May 10, 2021 | PlanningBoard/2021-05-10.pdf |