Those present were Commissioners Gooyer, Moran, Sanchez, Vice Chair Hansson and Chair Knorr.

Transcription

1 - CITY OF SAN MATEO PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING NOVEMBER 14, 2006 The meeting convened at 7:30p.m. in the City Council Chambers at City Hall and was called to order by Chair Knorr, who led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Those present were Commissioners Gooyer, Moran, Sanchez, Vice Chair Hansson and Chair Knorr. A motion was made by Hansson, seconded by Sanchez to approve the minutes of the Regular meeting of October 24, 2006 were approved as revised. Vote 5-0. ***PUBLIC COMMENT Chair Knorr opened the public comment period. No persons wishing to speak, he closed the public comment period. ITEM 1 STUDY SESSION PA HAYWARD PARK GREEN, Demolition of existing commercial uses and a land plan that includes mixed-use, transit-oriented development, with office, retail, residential and public use facilities including parks South Delaware Street (APN , - 060) The property is an approximately 12 acre site and is located at the northwest corner of Concar Drive and South Delaware Street. The property is designated Transit Oriented Development in the City s General Plan. PROJECT PLANNER: APPLICANT: PROPERTY OWNER: Lisa Ring, Senior Planner EBL&S Development LLC 1010 S. El Camino Real San Mateo CA Jacksonville Railroad Associates, LLC ARJAX Railroad Associates II, LLC 230 South Broad Street Philadelphia, PA 19102

2 Page 2 Ms. Ring gave the staff presentation, which included a power point presentation. Mr. Alan Talansky of EBL&S Development and Karen Alschuler of SMWM gave the applicant presentation. Chair Knorr opened the public comment period for this item. The following people spoke: Morton and Jacqueline Herman of 737 Guildford Avenue, Mary McAbee of 663 Harrow Avenue, Cheryl Hylton representing 19 th Avenue Park HOA of 633 Edna Way, Marshall Loring of 1741 Celeste Drive, Diana Coughlan of 914 Fleetwood, Michelle Coleman of 814 W. Grant Place, Lynda Hyde of 1725 Eleanor Drive, Bob Nice of 1217 Carlisle Drive, Laurie Watanuki representing Central Neighborhood Association of 1007 E. 5 th Avenue, Dorothy Chow of 223 S. Humboldt St., DeAnn Stoner of 644 Harrow Avenue, and Nancy Howell of 1718 Eleanor Dr. Their comments included the following: Like the existing Kmart, Michaels and gas station. They don t take up extra parking. All these people will be added and where will they park and shop? Are you going to widen Delaware to make it 6 lanes to accommodate traffic from the proposed project? We don t have a world known public transit system. It is inadequate. We are not set up to bring in this amount of people. A 2% increase in population in San Mateo just at this site is crazy. There are 3-4 lanes from Concar to 25 th. How will that work? We never agreed to this. Expect economic rational to be thought out. Developer is looking for the maximum return. 35 units per acre would be more sensible; 420 residential units total is within the envelope of the corridor plan. Like to see the retail, but we need a community center. We don t have a place for people to meet. Kmart is the only discount retailer that is available by SamTrans. If this does get approved we need to ensure impacts are minimized and it includes a community center. Feel the density was not intended for the whole site. It was the intent of the plan to be that dense at tracks and taper down. The office space is 100,000 sq ft. which would be 269 peak trips per hour. The uses in the area need to be looked into. Concerned about the connection with the street grid, especially going onto the freeway. Parking is a concern. Delighted to hear about the underground parking. Michael s is an existing use and is approved but he doesn t feel this type of use was expected in the area. Big box stores are not allowed in the TOD. We are not negative about this project but it has to be done with recognition of the impacts. Regret that this doesn t include the parking lot at JPB. This should be included in this plan. Difficult to go left or right from Sunnybrae. Even if there was a stop light at 16 th Avenue, it wouldn t fix it. Major traffic problem are already developing. If people start using Grant as a major thoroughfare, the community would be cut in half. Support this project. Housing by transit is exactly what we need. Especially for young families. If we don t have infill development, where will they go? Are we going to put

3 Page 3 them in the Central Valley which creates more smog and CO2 emissions? We need to do this for intelligent development in the 21 st century. In favor of this project with a lot of modifications. Should be solar panels and rain gardens added. Possibly reuse of gray water. And like to see more planting in the area. Massing option 1 & 3 are nice. Park should interface with the public and it doesn t. It should be realigned from Charles and Delaware. Should include disabled access through the project to the train. Don t want to see a parking garage over there. Would like a lot less residential density and more retail uses. Ask to consider providing financing themselves for police, fire and other emergency needs. Project is too dense for the site. Is this park going to be 1 ½ acres of park, that means you do not include that 1 ½ acre to be used as extra housing. Consider building a structure that is large enough for community activities. As president for SMUHOA, members have told me that they are concerned about traffic throughout San Mateo. We should look at traffic, traffic circulation and parking for the city as a whole instead of piecemeal with each development. Present land use study should not go forward without considering parks. Central Neighborhood HOA feels improvement to Kmart is quite ambitious. Concerned about cumulative effects with the police station. Delaware area and such will all be housing eventually. Grade separation for 25 th & 28 th will be 8 yrs away. Concerned about traffic from the east to the west with no way across. There is too much mass. Open space is right in the center. Reminds her of the Metropolitan. Rather have more open space throughout the project, rather than just in the center. Sunnybrae HOA feels this is a great project, but in the wrong city. Come down and drive that neighborhood. Not enough room. Highway 92 is a parking lot already. Saw 5 accidents before reaching 280 in the last rain. The traffic is awful. Bay Meadows affects all of this. Delaware to Norfolk gets hit with all this traffic. We are changing too much. 600 homes is too much. Kenmark is going to be high density and we don t know the effect of that yet. Hillsdale Garden Apts. is going to be high density. How many people will go to work on a train? Also, that park is not made for anybody but the new project. Sunnybrae School is an elementary school. How safe will the children be? We hear about children being run over. People are too busy nowadays. Accidents happen. Concerned about this. Roundabout in Sunnybrae is not sufficient for even the parents going in there. None of us want to hear about a child being struck out there. Agree with Bob Nice that the density of all the projects along this corridor is going to be huge. A ton of new families without any more facilities or fields for all these children you are bringing into the neighborhood. Very disappointed. This needs to be considered. Community Center is also very important. The park is just for the new development. The development looks stunning. Agree with the traffic and density issues. What can be done about this. I realize Mr. Talansky said they will utilize the public transportation system, but we don t have an efficient system here. How many people here ride the train more than once a month? How do you get people to use public transportation? The train only goes north and south. It isn t that useful. Highway 92 is a parking lot pretty much 24 / 7.

4 Page 4 I am on the MTC Transportation committee for disabled persons. We are trying to coordinate for this area and need more vocal people and the transit system is moving in the right direction. No other persons wishing to speak, Chair Knorr closed the public comment period. The Planning Commission requested clarification on the following issues: Attended the neighborhood meeting and listened to the neighbors concerns. What is the height of the current Kmart building? Ms. Ring stated Kmart is 45 ft. in height and Michael s is 25 ft. in height. What is the actual number of square feet that Kmart occupies right now? The Kmart retail portion is 85,000 square feet and 25,000 square feet of retail at Michaels. Block 2, on Delaware you suggest going a full 55 ft. at Delaware, but lower next to the train station? Applicant stated that he wants buildings that work with each other and relate to the 19 th Avenue Park neighborhood across the street. How does the project do this? Do you have a conceptual ratio of apartments versus condos? The applicant stated the gray townhomes and the others would be apartments and condos but don t have a ratio yet. The building at the end of the park would be lofts since it is will be a unique building. Park and the main street leads to the station. The train station is a great place to have people cross through. Have you thought about how bicycles would work within it? The applicant stated the areas that could be used as a bike way but not all be car areas. What is the plan for an area to be seen from the train? The applicant stated the loft building, which is more artsy, would be seen. Consulting with the JPB to discuss options with the train station parking. The applicant stated they have had discussions but they do plan to come forward with a proposal for them. They wish to tie it together to have the area come together. Connectivity, shared parking, operating a shuttle to the Hillsdale Station. Not just physical but also operational discussions. What is the proposal for BMR units? The applicant stated they would give 10% throughout the project. Do you plan to use the density bonus? The applicant stated they feel the corridor plan gives them the density bonus already. Is there anything in the proposal that is not consistent with the corridor plan? Ms. Ring stated additional information will need to be provided, but generally it is with the corridor plan guidelines. What kind of timeline are you looking for in the Development Agreement? The applicant stated this is premature at this point. Would think approximately 8 year window to start demolition and construction. Across the street is the Kenmark Project. What is the height of that? Ms. Ring will look into this. What is the rough amount of parking required? Applicant stated they will do what the city requires. They plan to analyze the transportation demand. Commissioner stated many people would rather up the parking. Possibly put in a parking garage, but below grade would parking would also work. Want to make sure what we provide will not impact surrounding

5 Page 5 neighbors. One level below, right into their buildings. It would be fitting for each unit. The townhouses would have garage spaces like we have in other areas around the city. Response to Comments by Staff: The statement that the Rail Corridor Plan doesn t include lots of park space just isn t true. Mr. Munekawa stated there are a number of open space areas throughout the corridor plan. Also, the 12 acre park at Bay Meadows. It will also be looked at in a site by site manner as these areas are developed. The park in Bay Meadows will include active and passive uses. It is a little shy of the downtown central park size, but it is close. Will there be a CEQA review and traffic analysis? As part of the analysis for this project we will confirm the findings of the previous EIR. Also, with every project within the TOD, there will be a trip reduction and traffic analysis plan which will include projected parking and traffic and show ways to reduce those trips. The goal of the plan is to reduce parking by 25%. We will study the traffic and look for answers. Fees are covered to fund traffic mitigations to help the traffic in the area. This will be looked at in a comprehensive approach. The Planning Commission made the following comments: Pattern of blocks and streets proposed as part of the Conceptual Land Use Plan: The businesses are existing now but if they wanted to redevelop, they couldn t. That isn t right. This city is being very autocratic at this point. Mr. Munekawa stated that if Kmart decides they want to redevelop, then a TOD is established. As a matter of fact, many Kmart buildings in this portion of the US have closed. We will take a look at the tax revenue from these uses. The site is pretty land locked. Don t want narrow residential streets. Want to consider pedestrian and bike safety. TOD doesn t have a boundary. Needs to integrate with the JPB parking lot. Kmart won t have much time left. They sublease the 2 nd floor. That is the only way they can make money. Need to study if there will be cut through traffic in the Sunnybrae and 19 th Avenue Park neighborhoods. Need to look at the shadows issues, especially at the park. Views and privacy at 19 th Avenue Park homes are important. Need to contact CalTrans before environmental review to see what will happen with Highway 92. This is a world class design team. They have the knowledge and experience to do this. Framework Streets look very TOD. Quirky streets work very well too. Push height away from Delaware. The community will have to completely agree with you in order to get all this. If you can convince the community, we will invite you in. Concerned about the one building closest to Concar and the train station. Can it really be used as residential? The quality of the freeway is terrible and there has always been a problem here. During peak hours it is very difficult to get on the freeway. Good to keep Michaels in there. Coffee shop, cleaners, deli will also be nice additions.

6 Page 6 Not enough open space. Linear park is long and narrow and doesn t serve the areas around the site. It doesn t feel like there is open space there. The streets as a whole work well though. Massing Need to respect the next door neighbors for shadowing. Park facing post office site need to have lower stories over there. Should stagger away from Delaware Street. 55 ft. height limit throughout the site is to much. Need more open space. Massing more towards the railroad tracks was the plan. Scale down to the residential uses next to the site. As an overview, nervous about the fact that these projects are being approved without seeing them in action. 600 units are way too much. The first project that goes in, you start with a more minimum development and go from there. This is at the maximum development for this lot. Can t be a guinea pig when we won t see it built for 8 years. The EIR is hypothetical. Don t have enough data yet. When we talked about 55 ft. height limit, the thought was to be tapered from Delaware to the train station. So it is the farthest from the 19 th Avenue park neighborhood.. Alternative access modes bikeways Everybody is not going to take the train. Shopping, we need to be more realistic on parking. Use and location Decrease the number of units; 35 units per acre is 420 or so units. Increase the retail. Suggest allowing Kmart to go back in there. She sees many seniors that take the bus to Kmart. What about the traffic backup at the off ramp at 92? Hope to have less density. Want Michaels to stay but it is out of our hands what will happen. Agree the park is designed for the development. If it came out to Delaware it would seem more for the public. No real problem with 2-3 story on one side and 5 story behind it but it will look massive. Not really a view corridor. In favor of the concept that if you have a park, residences around it should be high to frame it. Concerned about potential of 3000 units on Delaware. That is over 6000 cars and over 6000 people. 2% of San Mateo population just on this site is way too much. They are asking for a development agreement. We gave 8 years to Kenmark, 18 yrs for Bay Meadows. They plan to sell blocks after this. Don t know what will happen. No grade separation except 25 th Avenue, Highway 92 and 9 th Avenue. JPB won t have money for these for at least 10 years. The east west connection is of great concern. Traffic and circulation, density, and heights. TDM policy to get train pass from work that offers unlimited train rides for a year. Requiring people to have a one year pass will help ridership.

7 Page 7 We need to have homes for all different kinds of people. Need a balance that won t be harmful to the people here. It is possible that it be consistent with the plan and not cause harm to people in the neighborhoods. Views and privacy impacts are important. Traffic is the big thing. If parking is not an issue, it won t be a big thing. Clean water impacts could be big. Do have water supply concerns. We are going to need to be more green--green building, sustainable development elements are important. This could be an opportunity for higher BMR units. State grants may be available from recent housing bond for BMR units. This should not be a luxury development. The city has just renamed the 16 th Ave channel to Leslie Creek. It was named after the Leslie Salt company. I lived in Hayward Park and took the train to San Francisco every day. Recently it took 2 ½ hrs to get to Hayward Park Station from Belmont due to the new train schedules, so I am concerned about the train schedules. Two of the Commissioners did not approve the corridor plan due to traffic. It is gridlock. Really think we need to pay attention to traffic. The next generation is the we in we need more housing. Children as they grow up, you guide them. Where are these children going to play? They will live in a three story condominium. They will be urban children, not suburban children. We need to look at the big picture. It is going to be a major impact. Haven t seen anything for senior housing. BMR units aren t enough. Looks more interesting than the constant 5 stories. Need to work with the community. This being a study session, no action was taken. ITEM 2 STUDY SESSION: PA , KAISER MEDICAL OFFICE BUILDING PRE-APPLICATION, Construction of a new 66,500 square foot medical office building at 900 Franklin Parkway. (APN ) The medical office building is proposed to be constructed on a vacant site bordered by East Hillsdale, Franklin, Saratoga, and Highway 101. The property is zoned BMSP (Bay Meadows Specific Plan). PROJECT PLANNER: APPLICANT: PROPERTY OWNER: Kenneth Chin, Associate Planner Kaiser Permanente 333 Twin Dolphin Drive, Suite 200 Redwood City, CA Bay Meadows Land Company

8 Page Park Place, Suite 290 San Mateo, CA Mr. Chin gave the staff presentation, which included a power point presentation. Michael Kaye of Kaiser introduced the applicant s team. Roger Hay, Ratcliff Architects and Jim Horn of Jim Daisa and Associates gave the applicant presentation. Chair Knorr opened the public comment period for this item. The following people spoke: Norman Wood of 3817 Orinda Drive, Frank George of 3716 Kenwood and Greg Grialee of 3809 Pasadena Their comments included the following: In favor of converting an empty piece of property to a medical facility that will serve the community. Site has been an eyesore for a long time. It is a horrible place. The location is awful. This will create less traffic issues. Will serve the community. Traffic-entrances Franklin entrance is fine but one on Hillsdale see people coming out and making a U-Turn to come back down Hillsdale. No other persons wishing to speak, Chair Knorr closed the public comment period. The Planning Commission requested clarification on the following issues: You are requesting a change of use, what will the City get out of the change of use? It seems we will get acres and acres of parking and more traffic. The applicant stated that Kaiser s commitment is to be a long term member, serving the needs of the community. Michael stated we are committed to the health of the community. They will hold classes for health education, illness prevention and healthcare. Plaza on the corner as a public amenity. Also, the boulevard is a necessary link for the bicycle bridge. The bicycles would like to be on the south end. Preferred option is on the north side, since that is where the links are. Why was the north side removed from the crossings? Mr. Quan stated that the topography of the lot on the north, you have to have proper clearance for the landing. It would limit the development on the north side. Are there different options, such as having a steeper ramp for bicycles and a separate handicapped ramp? Because Kaiser said no, they did not proceed. Are the offices going to be on the third level? Where are the medical offices? The applicant stated medical offices on 2 nd and 3 rd floor with retail below. What kind of diagnostics would be available? The applicant stated there will be x-ray and blood draw for the lab onsite. No MRI but there will be a CT Scan. With medical clinics would surges be onsite? The applicant stated they will have all procedures not requiring the patient to be knocked out.

9 Page 9 Thought of putting any of the parking underground to reduce surface parking? The applicant stated that due to the high water table, it isn t possible to go under. Whole foods has underground parking right across the street. There is a massiveness of paving. How can you deal with the issues of stormwater appropriately? Since you will be handling byproducts of blood, how is disposal of this handled? The applicant stated it won t go into the general sewer system. The waste is contained and transported off site. Is Kaiser open to continuing discussions with Public Works about the bike bridge? Yes Commissioner Moran stated that in she worked on team preparing an EIR for a Kaiser project. Kaiser was not involved in her selection as a subconsultant, nor did Kaiser directly pay her consulting fees; however, the funds ultimately came from Kaiser. She has consulted with the City attorney and does not believe that this past small contract presents a conflict of interest in regard to her participation in the Planning Commission's review of this project. The Planning Commission made the following comments: Water feature looks wonderful. Not sure it will work though with the wind. Like Kaiser coming to San Mateo and reuse of empty site. It is just the details of the plan. Generate huge number of people with the use. With the parking you end up with a really small building on the site. Looking for a certain look and feel for this entrance of the city. It seems a shame to have such a small building on this site. It is the cheapest option but what is the best thing for the City. Concerned about the bike bridge option at Saratoga because from Saratoga to Hillsdale is so dangerous. We can t encourage bikes to go there. It is very dangerous. It would make more sense to have it on the north side. The City and Kaiser need to discuss these options. Don t want to approve a building with practically no tax revenue and cost the city more money for design and construction of the bike bridge. Important entry building. Needs to be a great building. Would be great to see a green building across from our new green police building. Kaiser has built many other green buildings. Large visible parking lot needs to have an excellent stormwater treatment plan, role model for city development. No need for mechanical treatment. Could compromise and put in a medical building to alleviate the travel to Redwood City. This makes sense. Suggest 3,000 sq ft of retail. Frankly it would be nice to have an eatery with moderately priced food. Like the fact that the building is more compact but the impervious surface is too much. Style of building doesn t quite fit in with Whole Foods. Fits better with Police Dept. Less like a medical type of office building. Possibly have a rounded stone monument entrance like the one on 3 rd avenue. The build to line to Saratoga is 20 ft and the applicant is proposing 37 ft with a blvd. Is that still Kaisers property so they would maintain that? Mr. Chin stated yes.

10 Page 10 Not sure of the parking deck. Should it be on the other side? Shouldn t look like a plain old parking deck. Safety of vehicles and people on Franklin Parkway. Trying to get to the extreme left side. The people speed up like demons. Maybe add a blinking sign. Trying to get to the Kaiser entryway will require traffic to slow way down. Facility cannot be expanded. Is the parking sufficient? Is there any way to have a pedestrian bridge over Franklin parkway? This is the 3 rd proposal. This has the most traffic of all of them. Traffic seems to be an issue except when it is medical use. If we are going to max out the traffic they need to give some benefits to us. Have a problem with the plaza. It is a lot of dead space. Side building is not going to work. Not enough there to make this plaza active. No one is going to walk on Saratoga. Where are they going? It will be dead space with a wall. ¾ of space is parking. Parking underground, people on the ground. Acres of asphalt. Building design is important since this is our gateway. This needs to be a statement. Architectural features, building features, and active uses. Agree a hotel would have been nice but don t see a hotel going in there. At least the community can use this. This is geared towards a car, so it is a good spot for it. The sea of asphalt is more than we planned. Plaza will be totally unused. Blvd may be a nice thought but hundreds of people walking across to get to the market. This won t work. Like concept 3, this is a lighter image. Not a big fan of the Franklin design. It is a mediocre building with really nice finishes on it. Defeating your own purpose with the stone, brick base at the bottom. Doesn t fit it. Like the way the building is going. It does have a sense of relationship to the Police Station. It needs to be its own building. This really needs to be a statement. It is exposed. Needs to stand out. The small building of retail isn t going to work. Do some rethinking of the plaza. It doesn t flow with the parking garage either. Pedestrian safety around the site is crucial. Possibly add a Signal Ahead sign coming off the freeway. Plaza won t be very useful. But the design of the plaza serves an important purpose, to direct the crossing for pedestrian traffic. No crosswalk to Franklin from Saratoga/Hillsdale section. Really dysfunctional. Very important priority for the city. Land use Plan does work; this is a good spot for traffic. It is not impacting the neighborhoods. Plaza and area needs to have more thought given to it. Retail triangle will not work. Looks more like the Police Station. If it could somehow get softened up. Parking structure could work with a civic art wall. Could have it as an homage to the whole project. Tremendous idea for Bay Meadows. Get creative with this. The boulevard is nice and like the scale of it. Needs to look good coming west on east Hillsdale as well. Coming across Hillsdale will be where it is seen from. That is your real opportunity. Make the community meeting room so it is a separate entrance.

11 Page 11 We are looking for a 4 sided building. EIR Review Need detailed list of the changes from the specific plan. Helpful to understand the revenue implications. Mr. Munekawa stated we can look into this. Need to have another study session on this item. This being a Study Session, no action was taken. COMMUNICATIONS/ANNOUNCEMENTS 1. Communications from Staff a. Upcoming Meetings i. Contact IT with lack of microphone performance. ii. Downtown Specific Plan Workshop on November 16, 2006 at the Central Park Recreation Center. iii. Nov 28 th Planning Commission Meeting will have the Bay Meadows Design Guidelines Public Hearing. iv. Joint City Council / Planning Commission study session in January or February on the Downtown Specific Plan. 2. Communications from the Commissioners a. Asked staff if the revised version of the design guidelines could be provided early. 3. Other - None ADJOURNMENT There being no further items before the Planning Commission, Chair Knorr adjourned at 11:45 p.m. on.