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138 | establishment that needs the loading zone or has a lot of loading. She explained that the merchant is not interested in having a loading zone because that would restrict parking. So, she said double parking occurs and that can still happen with this cross-section. She went on to say that loading/unloading would occur in the bike lane in the painted buffer and motorists could go around. She understood that this configuration is not ideal, but it happens all the time and staff felt having the bike lane blocked every now and then to load and unload was the tradeoff for having a bike lane. She also mentioned that this is a corner establishment so they could still have loading and unloading occur southbound on Webster Street. Commissioner Miley asked staff if the bulb-outs at the corner of Webster Street and Central Avenue will impact delivery vehicles from being able to turn whether they are going north or south on Central Avenue from Webster Street. Staff Payne replied staff does not believe SO and the plan was designed to accommodate trucks. Commissioner Miley recommended that staff work with the business district in order for the streetscape to be designed appropriately for that intersection. Staff Payne replied staff can do that, but they are not at that level of design. Additionally, from what she has heard the area was designed a little tight so it is hard to get in and out when trying to park on Webster Street. Commissioner Miley said people shop online a lot and as a result FedEx and UPS double park and take the travel lane. He asked Alameda Police Department if a car double parked is in the travel lane is it against the law to go around using the center lane. Commissioner Bellows repeated the police officer's answer and said a vehicle cannot drive into the center lane just to pass a double parked vehicle, the vehicle must wait. Commissioner Miley asked Staff Payne what is the cost of conducting an EIR for the project. He also explained that this plan is talking about paint and curb extensions. So, he wondered if an EIR was required and has an EIR been done for other projects similar to this plan. Farima Brown, Alameda Attorney's office, stated that there will not be an EIR for this project because after a lot of due diligence by staff including City Planner Andrew Thomas and herself the plan is the poster child for a CEQA exempt bicycle project. She explained there are several grounds for its exemption outlined in the staff report, but the strongest one is public resources code 21080.20.5, which was specifically designed for this type of project in urbanized areas. She went on to say the plan is statutorily exempt, which is a contrast to projects that are categorically exempt. Furthermore, the project is also exempt from a variety of categorical exemptions, which are outlined in page 15 of the staff report under Environmental Review, 15301C and section 15304H. Commissioner Miley stated that other speakers compared Central Avenue to other roads such as Shore Line Drive and Broadway. However, he felt this project is similar to Fernside Boulevard and Broadway, which he drives on every day. He asked staff to talk about the door zone within the bicycle lanes and how they reviewed that and came up with the width. Page 13 of 17 |