HomeMy WebLinkAbout12.21.2020 Regular & PC Minutes @5:00MINUTES
REGULAR MEETING
OF THE
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HOUSING STANDING COMMITTEE OF THE
CITY COUNCIL AND
c�LIFOR�IA PLANNING COMMISSION
CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO
P.O. Box 711 (City Hall, 400 Grand Avenue)
South San Francisco, California 94083
MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2020
5:00 p.m.
Teleconference via Zoom
Housing Standing Committee conducted this meeting in
accordance with California Governor Newsom's Executive
Orders N-25-20 and N-29-20 and COVID-19 pandemic
protocols.
CALL TO ORDER 5:01 p.m.
ROLL CALL Present: Mayor Addiego, Vice Mayor Nagales, Planning
Commission Vice Chair Evans, Planning Commissioners
Faria and Shihadeh.
AGENDA REVIEW
None.
PUBLIC COMMENTS
None.
MATTERS FOR CONSIDERATION
Motion to approve the Minutes from the meeting of October 19, 2020.
Motion — Planning Commission Shihadeh / Second — Planning Commissioner Faria to approve the
Minutes from the meeting of October 19, 2020. Yes: Mayor Addiego, Commissioner Shihadeh,
Commissioner Faria, Vice Chair Evans. Abstain: Vice Mayor Nagales.
2. Study session for a Use Permit and Design Review to construct a Mixed -Use Development,
consisting of 27 residential units and 2,865 SF of retail, at 455-463 Grand Avenue.
(Stephanie Skangos, Associate Planner)
Associate Planner Skangos presented the item to the Housing Standing Committee and advised the
application was submitted in June 2020. The existing conditions would be demolished to allow for
the development. The project site consisted of two different parcels with the approximate project
area being 4,000 square feet. There would be retail space on the ground floor, as well as a basement
level parking area and the upper levels consist of 27 residential units consisting of 1 -bedroom, 2 -
bedroom, and 3 -bedroom floor plans with 32 parking spaces provided as parking stackers.
Associate Planner Skangos stated the project was reviewed by the Design Review Board at their
November meeting and appreciated the design of the building with some minor revisions that were
requested. The revisions included some reworking of the fagade, change in landscaping for the
proposed courtyard terrace, and attention to any potential wind issues for the courtyard terrace.
John Imhoff and Rajat Randev, Fractured9, Inc., listed the overall amenities, which included a
courtyard, rooftop barbeque area with views going out to the south hill. All units would be under the
Fair Housing accessibility guidelines. Elevator entries would all be electronically controlled to give a
safe environment for the people living there.
Vice Chair Evans inquired about the scale relative to the surrounding buildings and asked for the
distance between the proposed building and the building next door. Mr. Imhoff estimated the
distance to be 10 to 15 feet. Vice Chair Evans had encroachment concerns as they have had those
issues on past projects.
Vice Chair Evans inquired whether parking would have an additional fee. Mr. Randev advised that
he was not privy to that information and advised the owner had not mentioned an additional fee for
parking. Vice Chair Evans was against people in affordable units to have to then pay for additional
parking because it skewed with the affordability formula.
Commissioner Shihadeh inquired who gets to rent the affordable units and how would the City
monitor that. Chief Planner Rozzi advised that it was coordinated with the Housing Division. They
go through a process of advertising, having outreach for the rental for the affordable units. Anyone
was eligible to apply, but the intention would be to administer and monitor on an ongoing basis as
part of the affordable housing agreement. City Manager Futrell added that the City had a consultant
that every year checks every unit to ensure it remained affordable.
Vice Mayor Nagales asked City staff whether residents that lived in South San Francisco or working
in South San Francisco had priority in the eligibility list. Associate Planner Skangos stated they had
not but were still working through the details. She advised that was something they would discuss.
Staff was primarily focused on the design portion of the project.
Vice Mayor Nagales stated parking was very limited in terms of the number of spots and asked
whether visitors would have to park on Grand Avenue. Mr. Randev confirmed that was correct.
Commissioner Faria inquired whether each resident would have a code to use for the parking stacker
and what the max size vehicle that could be used on the stacker. Mr. Randev advised a stacker could
fit up to a mid-sized SUV. He stated there was only one way to enter, the resident would enter their
code, the gate lifts and the resident would drive into the space, the resident would exit the vehicle,
the stacker would then place the vehicle in an open space.
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Mayor Addiego stated the developer mentioned a property tax incentive to remain what it was today
and for 25 years. He advised that was a big ask as they would not just impact the City, but also
impact the schools and county government.
3. Study session for a preposed 480 unit multi -family residential project at 124 Airport
Boulevard and 100 Produce Avenue (Tony Rozzi, AICP, Chief Planner)
Chief Planner Rozzi gave a brief introduction on the project and stated it was interesting because it
was kind of the first test case of a project moving forward after adopting a land use vision under the
General Plan. The project was intended to follow in the general density requirements that were now
allowed and accepted under the land use scenario. There remained a lot of questions and details that
staff needed to work out with the applicant as far as specific zoning. Staff was bringing this project
forward so the Housing Standing Committee could get a sense of the architecture, density, layout,
site circulation, what was happening at the ground level and some of the significant improvements
the applicant was proposing as part of their community benefits package. Staff requested feedback
on two things: 1) What they were doing at the ground level and 2) The architecture and the broad
strokes of their improvements that they were proposing for the community. This project had gone to
the Design Review Board a couple of times and staff received a lot of good feedback and
adjustments.
Zack Anderson, Development Director for the Hanover Company, stated they had worked very
closely with City staff to refine the project. The base project consisted of 400 units, plus a 20%
density bonus in exchange for providing 10% low-income units on site. The 480 total project units
were split between the two standalone buildings, Building 1 and Building 2, 294 and 186 units,
respectively. Each building's unit mix consisted of studios, 1 -bedroom, 2 -bedroom and 3 -bedroom
units. The parking ratio for the project was roughly 1.17 parking spaces per unit and would be
providing double the City's requirement for long term bike parking.
Mayor Addiego inquired whether occupants that lived in one building also had access to amenities in
another building. Mr. Anderson advised the idea was that there would be shared amenities between
the two buildings, but they would have the ability to operate independently as well.
Vice Chair Evans inquired whether parking would have an additional fee. Mr. Anderson advised that
the City of South San Francisco allowed to unbundle up to 50% of the parking spaces per the City's
ordinance. Vice Chair Evans stated the point of her question was that if the project had affordable
units and charged them additional rent for parking spaces, it took that rent out of the affordability
range. Scott Youdall advised that the inverse of that is 50% would be bundled and they would make
sure that all the affordable units in the project remained in the bundled category to address that
concern.
Commissioner Shihadeh was concerned the project site area would be overwhelmed with all the
additional housing units. He suggested making improvements to the crosswalk and intersection as
part of the community benefits enhancement. Mr. Anderson advised as part one of the community
benefits mentioned that had been proposed, would be to upgrade the portion of the intersection
between the two buildings.
JOINT HOUSING STANDING COMMITTEE MEETING DECEMBER 21, 2020
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Vice Mayor Nagales inquired how garbage pick up would occur on the site. Mr. Anderson advised
the trash trucks would not drive into the buildings; property management would bring the trash bins
out to the curb on trash days. Building 1 would potentially utilize the Uber pickup and drop off area
on San Mateo Avenue so they wouldn't block traffic.
Vice Mayor Nagales inquired whether the developer had considered increasing the 10% affordable
housing units for the site project. Mr. Anderson stated 10% of affordable units was what they were
prepared to offer for the project. Otherwise, given everything going on in the market, there was a
potential issue in terms of the finance ability of the project. Vice Mayor Nagales asked whether the
developer considered splitting the 10% in terms of 5% for very low and 5% low income. Mr.
Anderson advised that looking into the current San Mateo County Housing Authority rents,
unfortunately, they could not amend the affordable housing units.
Mayor Addiego liked the design of the proposed buildings and inquired whether the developer had
constructed other projects in South San Francisco in the past. Chief Planner Rozzi confirmed they
had; they were the architects for the first phase of the Sares Regis project.
Mayor Addiego was concerned about other similar projects experiencing break ins into the bike
locker area and inquired how they were planning to combat the same experience. Mr. Collins stated
the bike locker area was a discreet secured locked room that was not part of the parking garage.
Mayor Addiego questioned whether the proposed pool would come to fruition for the final plans.
Mr. Youdall advised they were planning for the pool and had the appropriate clearances and access
in the garage below. Mr. Anderson added they were very deliberate about the placement of the pool
within the courtyard to ensure the pool had as much sunlight as possible year-round.
Housing Standing Committee members were concerned the projects on Airport Boulevard would
cause an abundance of traffic when accessing the northbound entrance to Highway 101. Mayor
Addiego inquired when they would receive the traffic studies for the project. Chief Planner Rozzi
stated they got a traffic study as part of the CEQA document that is currently in draft form but would
share with the Housing Standing Committee members as soon as it was available.
ADJOURNMENT
Being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 6:56 p.m.
Submitted by:
Gabriel Rodrigue , Deputy City Clerk
City of South San Francisco
Approved by:
Mark ddiego, Mayor
City of South San Francisco
Approved by the Housing Standing Committee: K / to / uZ�
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