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18565 | Vice President Kohlstrand echoed Board member Cunningham's comments, and believed this project would be a good fit for Webster Street. She was excited to see mixed use projects like this, and that it was able to replicate some of the historic features of Alameda's commercial streets that had residential units above ground floor retail. She supported reducing the parking requirements in the business districts, because she did not think by developing a surface parking lot for each use would provide the most effective use of the commercial streets in town. In response to an inquiry by Vice President Kohlstrand regarding parking requirements, Mr. Thomas described the uses for the in-lieu fees, including leasing additional public parking spaces, expanding existing lots or adding new satellite lots in the area, in addition to transit improvements. He added that the possibility of a permit parking system was one alternative that was still unresolved; he noted that the neighbors' input would be gathered as well. Board Member McNamara shared the opinions of the other Board members in terms of supporting this project, and appreciated WABA's input in terms of the detailed information, criteria and conditions they had provided to staff. She also appreciated the change to the awnings, acknowledging that they were a very important part of this element. She also agreed that the certificate of occupancy not be awarded until the awnings were put up. She believed this was a good use of the street and the space, and believed the City needed to be very aggressive in providing some off-street public parking lots. She added that there were no such lots on the same side of Lincoln. She empathized with the neighbors experiencing the parking problems, and encouraged them to call a towing company when people parked in their driveways. President Cook suggested looking into residence parking stickers to protect the residents of the neighborhood. Mr. Thomas noted that would be possible. Board Member Ezzy Ashcraft noted that she supported the concept, and believed this project would be a significant improvement over the existing vacant lot. She sympathized with the neighbors who lived just outside the 300-foot radius, and requested that they be included in any further noticing on this project. She suggested that WABA sponsor further neighborhood meetings. She would condition the approval on having sufficient proof that the hazardous material issue had been resolved. She noted that Condition 5 read, and location of the transformers to service these loads must be approved by the Bureau of Electricity before building permit issuance." President Cook agreed that the Planning Board needed to have input on the location of the transformers, and suggested that a condition be added that they be hidden from public view. Mr. Thomas replied that similar conditions had been modified for Alameda Landing, stating that the transformers should be screened and not located on the public right of way. He noted that they may be located behind the building, adjacent to the auto use, and not on Webster or Pacific. Page 6 of 15 |