HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 2014-10-15 @6:30 S
SPECIAL JOINT MEETING
n
MINUTES
CITY COUNCIL
LIFO AND
PLANNING COMMISSION
OF THE
CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
P,O. Box 711 (City Hall, 400 Grand Avenue)
South San Francisco, California 94083
Meeting to be held at:
MT TNICIPAL SERVICES BT JILDING
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
33 ARROYO DRIVE
WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 15, 2014
6:30 P.M.
Purpose of the meeting:
1. Call to Order. 'TIME: 6:56 p.m.
1 Roll Call. PRESENT.
Councilmembers Addiego, Gupta and Normandy,
Vice Mayor Garbarino and Mayor Matsumoto
Planning Commissioners Khalfin, Ochsenhirt, Ruiz
and Zemke, and Vice Chair Wong
ABSENT:
Planning Commissioner Giusti and Chair Martin
3. Public Comments —comments are limited to items on the kSpecial Meeting
Agenda.
Mayor Matsumoto explained that public comments would be taken at the beginning of the meeting
and,if time allowed, at the end. Additional opportunities for public comment would be available at
subsequent meetings of the Planning Commission and the City Council. She reminded speakers to
please limit their comments to the Downtown Station Plan.
Rev, Kirsten Spalding of the San Mateo County Union Community Alliance Housing spoke of the
need for housing at all income levels,good quality jobs in both the creation of the development and
in the buildings that are part of the plan, and public transportation options that are affordable and
efficient. Additionally, she spoke on the need for more active transportation
SPECIAL JOINT CITY COUNCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSON MEETING OCTOBER 15,201
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in efforts to improve the health of the community. She wanted to acknowledge and commend staff's
response about how some of the things proposed were already done in the City,but she also wanted
to ensure they was captured in the plan document rather than being things done deal by deal.
William Nack of the San Mateo County Building Trades Council commented specifically on labor
standards, stating that the plan should provide jobs that pay area standard wages. Employment
opportunities should be available for youth through apprenticeships,and local sources should be used
in regards to the workforce and building materials. Language in the plan should encourages a mix of
uses and activities that would lay out the City's vision and requirements for the downtown area so
potential developers have an understanding of what needs to be brought in a proposal.
Tracy Choi, resident and representative of the Housing Leadership Council emphasized the risk of
displacement that residents in the downtown would be facing with due to the planned development.
The risk was very high, as was the preservation of affordability. She acknowledged the City's anti-
displacement strategy and that development was occurring on vacant sites, however, the external
pressure of the market would have significant effects. Ms. Choi requested the City monitor actions,
rent increases and rates of evictions in order to be responsive to the community's needs.
Clarissa Cabansagan, Community Planner with Transform,commended staff for the attention paid to
bicycle/pedestrian, traffic calming and dynamic parking strategies. She encouraged a continued
effort to increase ridership of the Caltrain, as well as biking and walking in the downtown. She also
encouraged the City to explore additional avenues that could help, like the growing car sharing
industry.
Adina Levin of the nonprofit Friends of Caltrain provided follow up comments to transportation
related issues. The corridor was seeing growing cooperation and improvements that would go a long
way towards the efforts of improving the station and increasing its use. She noted the possibility of
public/private partnerships and mentioned another current trend of using transportation management
associations. While large companies like Genentech were able to provide ridership programs to their
employees, smaller businesses and start-ups would be able to get pooled funding through
associations like this. A market change in the acceptance and value of public transportation was
noticeable, so she encouraged taking a second look at these benefits.
Mayor Matsumoto asked how associations compared to the SamTrans"Way to Go" and"Go Pass"
programs.
Ms. Levin stated larger employers were receiving a large portion of those benefits, so the deepest
discounts were going to the most prosperous employees. They were looking for a way to provide
discounts that would work by area rather than employer.
Danny Campbell,resident and representative from the Sheet Metal Workers Union,sat as a member
of the Downtown Station Plan Citizens Advisory Committee. While he was pleased to see
commitment to affordable housing, he hoped the plan would include language that encouraged the
development of workforce housing in the downtown. This would allow our police officers,
firefighters, teachers, civil servants and construction workers to reinvest their incomes in the
community they serve. He encouraged continued work on the plan.
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Gustavo Lopez of Coalition for South City expressed concern over the plan's lack of services to that
address the needs of youth and families in the downtown. He failed to see how this plan was unlike
the plans in other urban areas such as New York and San Francisco, and saw a particular concern in
the threat of the displacement occurring in this City as it had in others. 1-le noted the adverse effects
this would have on the City's schools and minority population and requested that Council go beyond
studies by incorporating stronger language in the plan that spoke to these concerns.
Downtown resident, Alondra Aragon expressed a deep concern about the plan placing
accommodations for potential residents over accommodations for current residents. She feared the
practice of gentrification would soon take over, effects of which she had already felt due to the fact
that her family's rent has already been raised by $200. She wanted to know if Council was
concerned about the displacement of families and what they intended to do when this happens,
4. Study Session: Downtown Station Area Specific Plan. (Alex Greenwood,
Director of Economic and Community Development)
Chief Planner Susy Kalkin outlined the process that had been gone through thus far and provided a
timeline on the remainder of the process. Public comment has been received and staff response had
been provided. Public hearings were scheduled to begin in December with the Planning Commission
and in the beginning of 2015 with Council.
Consultant Barbara Maloney of BS design reviewed the Downtown Station Area Plan,touching on
the highlights in lieu of a full review. Review included information on the project background,plan
study area, the vision for the downtown station area, the project process to date, upcoming events,
Caltrain station improvements,station area land use plan,design standards,downtown development
guidelines,street and accessibility improvements,bicycle improvements,streetscape improvements,
eastern neighborhood development and open space, and new public plazas at City Hall and Linden
neighborhood center.
Meeting recessed at 8:04 p.m.
Meeting resumed at 8:1 S p.m-
Council and the Planning Commission expressed support for the plan.
Councilmember Addiego did not see the need to delineate between Grand Avenue and Linden
Avenue, as both would serve well for this type of development.
Mayor Matsumoto questioned the level of noise and impacts on safety once high speed rail arrived.
Consultant Maloney acknowledged there may be some reverberation, but safety concerns were
addressed by the undercrossing.
Commissioners Ochsenhirt and Khalfin had questions related Caltrain's involvement thus far,
platform extension and electrification.
Mayor Matsumoto advised not to look for platform extension per information she has heard through
her involvement with Caltrain Modernization Program ("Cal Mod").
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Chief Planner Malkin stated that some Caltrain staff sat on the Technical Advisory Committee but
were not otherwise engaged. The station planning has all been done, construction was still needed
and this is where efforts were focused.
Mayor Matsumoto requested that City Manager Futrell contact Caltrain and ask them to present at a
future Council meeting.
Councilmembers Addiego and Gupta liked the new parking dimensions for Grand Avenue and
mentioned Santa Cruz Avenue in Menlo Park and Castro Street in Mountain View as including
further designs they would like to see considered. Specifically they noted the green medians that
prevented illegal U-turns while improving the look and feel of the environment.
Councilmember Gupta also expressed concern with the new three-foot buffer law for cyclists
recently enacted by the state.
Consultant Maloney acknowledged that cyclists and parking always presented a challenge, and
further study could be conducted.
Commissioner Ochsenhirt felt the distinction between Linden and Grand Avenues needed to remain,
as he and other residents consider Grand to be the downtown and Linden to be more
residential/neighborhood. He also questioned whether the order in which the plan was following was
correct, as he has always seen business/retail development occur be-fore residential. Lastly, he
thought there was plenty of open space that could be found in areas other than east of 10 1,
Vice Chair Wong stated his preference to travel down less crowded streets when biking in the City.
He appreciated the plan's inclusion of additional greenery in the downtown and particularly liked the
idea of the plazas. Fle saw great opportunity to host screenings of sports events and other important
regional events.
Commissioner Zemke liked the plan and complimented staff and the consultant. He appreciated the
public comments and thought they brought up important issues for which,unfortunately,he did not
have a solution. Speaking as an avid biker, he used Grand and felt the parallel parking would be
much safer. Whatever could be done to improve bike safety was good.
Commissioner Ruiz stated consideration should be paid to existing floor elevations if outdoor dining
was to be pursued. He also noted an ongoing parking issue on Grand when stores have freight
delivered and suggested those be restricted to the alley side or only occur at certain times of the day.
Consultant Maloney stated it was likely the whole sidewalk would be rebuilt to be made level and
ADA compliant.
Chief Planner Malkin recommended a study of truck routes in the downtown, recognizing that the
intersection of Airport Boulevard and. Grand Avenue as troublesome for pedestrians.
Mayor Matsumoto wanted to explore prohibiting deliveries on Grand altogether. If that could not be
done, than restricting deliveries to certain times should be looked at.
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Vice Mayor Garbarino clarified that what was presented was a plan, not a project. He thanked the
public for their comments. He agreed that something needed to be done to address the City's
affordable housing needs and was certain the remainder of Council agreed, In regards to comments
from the Labor Council, he stated that while he currently makes the request of developers to hire
local, pay prevailing wage, etc., he could not demand it of them. He asked the Assistant City
Attorney if language encouraging developers to adhere to certain labor standards and practices could
be added to the plan. The Vice Mayor also made comment about the bike lane on Airport Boulevard
not being workable towards the northern end, around the underpass prior to the freeway entrance.
Overall, he liked the concepts included in the plan and thanked all that had a part in putting it
together.
Attorney Rosenberg reviewed the language that was included in Land Use— I policy("LU-I"). Ile
explained that the City could also consider separate Citywide recommendations or support in theory
Citywide, but could not require unless City funds were being used for the project. Attorney
Rosenberg would keep LU-I in the plan and continue to look at additional language.
Mayor Matsumoto requested that Commissioners and Council look at the language used in the
matrix and confer with staff on what was agreeable.
Councilmember Gupta noted his appreciation for staff and their efforts in gathering input and
creating the plan. Through the process,he felt that knowledge had been greatly improved and people
understood the options better than they had previously. The plan was a critical step in the City's
evolution and he cautioned that it would cost a considerable amount to accomplish. Attention should
be paid to the money part of it at all times. Councilmember Gupta also commented on the risk of
displacement,noting this as an issue that the ABAG Executive Board was currently dealing with. He
did not want to ignore the issue but at the same time,he did not want to see the plan stalled. Lastly,
he commented that when we have concentrated development like this, attention must be paid to
providing adequate green spaces and playgrounds for the neighborhoods.
Councilmember Addiego expressed excitement for the plan and felt that it was coming at the right
time. He was in agreement with Commissioner Zemke's and Councilmember Gupta's comments
about the fact the 79 percent of renters may be in harm's way and that the ultimate success of the
project puts them at greater risk. He felt perhaps the City was not looking hard enough for the
answers. He wanted to follow Ms. Choi's suggestion on monitoring the situation to better
understand what was happening in the community. While there were families in South San
Francisco with long-time property interests who tended to be gentler with their residents,there were
still a lot of unknowns about current circumstances. What he found particularly troubling was the
fact that the City could not place its own residents in the affordable units that it does develop. Give
this fact, the reality was that the 1000 units did not really address the situation. He felt the issue
should be put into the light of day, as a lot of landlords move silently in the community. He
requested staff look at see what other communities are doing.
The rest of Council was in agreement with Councilmember Addiego and suggested perhaps the
Housing Endowment and Regional Trust ("HEART") could provide information and numbers. It
was also asked if there was a way to ensure more residents could be selected for affordable housing
units.
SPECIAL JOINT CITY C017NCIL AND PLANNING COMMISSON MEETING OCTOBER 15,2014
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City Manager Futrell commented that city funds could be used to hire a consultant to run the data.
Attorney Rosenberg stated he would provide Council with a memo on how those issues could
possibly be addressed.
Mayor Matsumoto commented that the City would need to look into funding of the Caltrain station
relocation and the expense of that would easily reach $20 million. Regarding displacement, she
asked Attorney Rosenberg to determine what could be done in cases where the City contributes
property in lieu of money towards a development. Would a Development Agreement allow for the
relocation of City residents into properties that met these criteria? Lastly, the Mayor noted a
development in downtown Redwood City done by Larry Tarter of Pinnacle DB as an example of
something she would like to see in the downtown.
City Manager Futrell summarized Council's direction and stated staff would provide follow up on
specific items, make revisions and generally follow recommendations. Ongoing communications
would be through email and Friday packets as the plan continues to move forward towards the next
session.
5. Adj ournment.
Being no further business Mayor Matsumoto and Vice Chair Wong adjourned the joint meeting at
9:15 p.m.
Submitted by: App oved
cklk�, Ito
App
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Anna M. Brown k�dry�' 4atsumoto
Deputy City Clerk, City of South San Francisco Mayor, City of South San Francisco
Alan Wong
Planning Commission Vice Chair
City of South San Francisco
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