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HomeMy WebLinkAbout08.03.00 Minutes CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO REGULAR PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES MUNICIPAL SERVICES BillLDING 33 ARROYO DRIVE August 3, 2000 TAPE 1 CALL TO ORDER / PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The meeting was called to order at 7:30 p.m. ROLL CALL / CHAIR COMMENTS MEMBERS PRESENT: Commissioner Baldocchi, Commissioner D'Angelo, Commissioner Honan, Commissioner Teglia, Vice Chairperson Meloni and Chairperson Sim MEMBERS ABSENT: Commissioner Romero* STAFF PRESENT: Planning Division: Thomas C. Sparks, Chief Planner Steve Carlson, Senior Planner Mike Upston, Senior Planner Adam Lindgren S gt. Mike Massoni Thomas Ahrens City Attorney: Police Dept.: Bldg./Fire Prevo AGENDA REVIEW Chief Planner Sparks noted that there were no changes to the agenda but wanted to announce that the General Plan had received a State award for comprehensive planning. He pointed out that they had received the DSEIR for Bay West Cove and asked them if they were interested in having a Special meeting on August 31,2000 to hear public comments. Being that two Commissioners were going to be on vacation that week they decided that the special meeting would be scheduled on a regular meeting day. Chief Planner Sparks mentioned that the School zone would be returning to the Commission at their next meeting for recommendation to Council. * Commissioner Romero arrived at 7:35 p.m. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - None CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Approval of June 8 Special Joint City Council and Planning Commission Meeting Minutes and June 15, 2000 Regular Meeting Minutes. 2. Neighborhood Sports BarlRodney Magat, Applicant Kelly- Moore Paint Co., Inc., Owner 107 Hickey Blvd. UP-00-046 and Categorical Exemption Section 15301 Class 1 Existing Facilities Findings for denial of a use permit to allow indoor entertainment within 200 feet of a residential district and hours of operation after 12 midnight in the Retail Commercial (C-l) Zone District in accordance with SSFMC Section 20.22.030 and 20.22.070.) (Continued from July 20, 2000) F:\File Cabinet\minutes\2000\080300 RPC.doc Page 1 of 6 3. Travelodge Inn/International Inns, Inc., Applicant Pacific Gas and Electric, Owner 326 Airport Blvd. UP-91-888/MOD3 and Negative Declaration ND-91-888/MOD3 Use Permit Modification allowing use of 93 parking spaces of the South San Francisco Conference Center Parking Satellite Lot situated at 326 South Airp0l1 Boulevard (APN 015-141-030 and 260 and SBE 135-41-50 Parcel 3), for long-term airport parking with 24 hour operations, situated in the Planned Commercial (P-C) Zone District, in accordance with SSFMC Chapters 20.24 and 20.81. (To be continued to September 7, 2000) Motion Te2lia / Second Honan to approve the Consent Calendar with the following abstentions: Commissioner Baldocchi abstained from item #2 due to her absence on July 20,2000, when the item was first discussed. Commissioner D'Angelo abstained from approving the minutes of 6/8/00 because he was not present at that meeting. Vice Chairperson Meloni and Commissioner Teglia abstained from approving the minutes of 6/15/00 because they were not present at that meeting. Approved by majority voice vote. PUBLIC HEARING None ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS 4. Hebrew Academy of San Francisco Steven RajningerlLocus Architecture-applicant Greg & Barry Welch, Owner 325 Victory Ave. UP-00-033 R~view of revised landscape plan. Senior Planner Carlson presented the staff report. Commissioner Honan asked what size the trees would be. Senior Planner Carlson noted that the trees are 24 inch box and 15% 36 inch box. Motion Romero / Second Meloni to approve the landscape plan for UP-00-033. Approved by majority voice vote with Commissioner Baldocchi abstaining due to her absence on July 20, 2000, when the item was first discussed. 5. Items from Staff a. Housing Study Session Study Session on regional housing issues and a status report on housing in South San Francisco. Housing & community Development Manager Fragoso and Senior Planner Upston gave a PowerPoint presentation. F:\File Cabinet\minutes\2000\080300 RPC.doc Page 2 of 6 Commissioner D'Angelo asked if the wages being shown for carpenters and auto mechanics are union wages. Ms. Fragoso noted that the wages come from the California Depm1ment of Employment and does not have an answer. Commissioner D'Angelo noted that many of the positions may be two wage earning salaries. Ms. Fragoso replied that some of the numbers can be lower or higher and mentioned that whether the teacher is making $20,000 or $30,000 they can not afford a house in the community. She then continued with the presentation. Commissioner Teglia asked what the definition of an affordable unit for credit was for 1 or 2 bedroom homes. Ms. Fragoso noted that there are different rents for 1,2 and 3 bedroom units. She added that a one bedroom unit is affordable at a range of $650 and a 2 bedroom unit is affordable at about $800-$900 a month. She noted that the federal standard takes the income and calculates 30% of it, which is considered to be the affordable rent amount. She mentioned that the affordability factor varies based on income and family size in terms of acquisition. Commissioner Teglia recalled seeing a slide that the lower wage earner could afford $900.00 per month in rent and asked if it was the definition for affordable housing for a one bedroom unit. Ms. Fragoso confirmed that this is the definition of affordable rent. Commissioner Teglia noted that SSF rents range from $950.00-$1,050.00 for a 1 bedroom apal1ment. She added that the definition is leaning towards market rate or subsidize, and asked if there has been consideration towards strategies trying to create housing stock that the market rate will be closer to the affordable range. He noted that the homes being built now are mansions compared to the homes built in the City 20 years ago. He mentioned that the creation of 2 bedroom homes at an affordable rate would help the housing need. Senior Planner Upston noted that the cost of the home also entails the cost of the land. Commissioner Teglia noted that if the restriction is on from the beginning the acquisition costs will be lowered. Ms. Fragoso noted that what happens in most instances is that the property is sold before any project proposals are submitted. Commissioner Teglia mentioned that these are being developed based on the current zoning and expectations that a PUD allows them to go higher. Commissioner Teglia asked what the definition of replacing the homes one for one was and if the new homes count in the legal aid settlement. Ms. Fragoso noted that the legal aid settlement only applies to the Downtown Central Redevelopment Area and not to the others. She noted that the agency is responsible for making the one to one replacement if the owner won't replace the one lost unit. Commissioner Romero noted that high density makes him nervous and residents do not want to see high density residential in certain areas. He added that a good example of that was the residual site next to Costco and that he would like to see more Transit Oriented Development in there. Ms. Fragoso noted that if the City makes an effort to meet half of the ABAG numbers it will require medium to high density developments. Commissioner Romero asked if there was a penalty to not meeting the ABAG requirement and if there are any benefits to meeting the requirements. Ms. Fragoso noted that it subjects the City to legal liability if the ABAG projections are not met. She added that the City is required to incorporate the ABAG projections into the Housing Element and if it is not done the General Plan can be challenged. Commissioner Romero was concerned that there is a cel1ain amount of space available and wants to develop what is left in a manner that will benefit the community without overdeveloping. Commissioner Honan noted that the prices are still going higher and are not getting lower. She asked if ABAG had any idea when they would go down. Ms. Fragoso noted that South San Francisco's prices are lower in comparison to other cities in the County. Commissioner Honan noted that high density homes will help the housing issue and mixed use will also benefit the City especially with transit oriented homes. F:\File Cabinet\minutes\2000\080300 RPC.doc Page 3 of 6 Commissioner Teglia added that mixed use is the perfect solution for high density areas. He noted that the rest of the City could revert back to small units, which is what is characteristic to the City. Vice Chairperson Meloni noted that the Commission is always interested in having good design, which drives the cost factor. He added that the Commission needs to be upfront with the design requirements. He asked what criteria is used by ABAG when the formula is developed. Ms. Fragoso responded that they look at job / housing balance. Vice Chairperson Meloni noted that the City is close to being built out but the City can redevelop certain areas. He asked how a new City would meet the projections if they would be built out and there is no room for growing. Senior Planner Upston noted that the ABAG projections are based largely on population and job creation numbers. He added that it applies to all cities and the intent is to provide additional housing to meet the jobs/housing balance working with the State. Vice Chairperson Meloni asked if cities could go to another City and develop there. Ms. Fragoso noted that cities are looking into allowing Agencies to contribute to a housing project. Chief Planner Sparks noted that finding the right balance is difficult and ABAG looked at that and gave more weight to the areas that are creating more jobs. TAPE 2 Commissioner D'Angelo asked what was the available open space in the City. Ms. Fragoso noted that Sign Hill, the golf course and City parks make up most of the City's open space. Commissioner D'Angelo noted that he would like the existing open space stay open space. Commissioner D'Angelo noted that in East Palo Alto homes are being sold for $455,000 or higher. He noted that trying to compete with or trying to legislate and fund affordable housing is an impossible task for the City. He added that any Redevelopment money should be used for city employees and first time buyers. Commissioner Baldocchi noted that she had been at the Community Economic Development and Housing Public Policy Committee meeting for the League of Cities and mentioned that there would be good policy direction from the State, which will provide more money for incentives on building more housing. She noted that affordable housing can be built with good design and maintaining some open space that would benefit the units. She mentioned that there are some high density units that were well designed. She disagreed with comments made that it is not appropriate to build high density around transit oriented villages. She mentioned that the direction of transit oriented villages is two have high density along with mixed use. She added that the entire County is moving towards high density housing near transportation corridors. She noted that it is time to step up to the plate and do something about the housing issue. Ms. Fragoso pointed out that Greenridge was an example of work force housing. It is medium density and attractive, along with open-space. She added that the State has a surplus and has designated about $500 million for housing initiatives and it will be filtered down for first time homebuyers, rentals, emergency shelters and will keep a close look as to where that many goes. Commissioner Baldocchi agreed with the job/housing balance but is concerned with the salaries being commensurate to the housing prices. She noted that a biotech employee is making $62,000, which is not enough to live in SSP. She noted that it is good to have a job / housing balance concept in order to have people living and working in their communities. She asked how the creation of jobs and housing would be able to work when the jobs are not creating the salaries needed to purchase a home. Ms. Fragoso noted that there is not an answer for that question. Commissioner Romero asked what had happened with the renovation of the Willow Gardens project. Ms. Fragoso noted that when the initial report was brought before the Commission and the City Council the value of the buildings were $400,000 for each four-plex building. She added that since then the prices have increased to F:\File Cabinet\minules\2000\080300 RPC,doc Page 4 of 6 $750,000 per building, which doubles the projections for the project and has slowed down the process. She noted that the City was able to purchase two of the buildings, however, by now the City should have acquired six buildings, bur very few have gone on the marked. She added that those buildings that have are being sold for higher amounts than projected. She noted that because the projections are off from the original one staff will have to return to Council to have the increase approved. Chairperson Sim noted that he serves on housing boards in San Francisco and Oakland, and has seen a commercial developments go in and they include some kind of affordable housing for those projects. He asked if this has been done in SSF for commercial projects. Mr. Fragoso noted that there is not a requirement like that and the Redevelopment project areas will have an inclusionary housing ordinance, which will require developers to provide 15% inclusionary units in a project area. She added that many cities implemented this for both residential and commercial and had a positive and negative effect on various cities. Chairperson Sim noted that there are three factors to the job / housing balance. The first is community support and how the issues are talked about, yet there is never a follow up on the comments. He asked to get a reading list of books that talk about good designs for affordable housing. The second factor being the economy wise and being able to fund a project. The third factor is land use and the seeing what is available. He mentioned that these three factors have to work together but it is very difficult to do so. Ms. Fragoso noted that it has to be dealt with on a project by project basis. Chairperson Sim asked if there was a group of people who could work together to find affordable housing. Ms. Fragoso noted that there is not an organized group that lobbies for affordable housing, but the City works in a consortium with the County. They try to come up with strategies for affordable housing. She added that there is a new group that will go to Council and Planning Commission meetings if there is opposition to a project they will provide information and speak on behalf of the affordable housing project. Vice Chairperson Meloni asked if the ABAG Housing requirements preclude the City from developing in certain areas, such as East of 101. Ms. Fragoso noted that they don't preclude that, but there is an agreement with the airport not to build in that area. Vice Chairperson Meloni asked if it has to do with the noise factor. Chief Planner Sparks replied that the noise is mostly south bu because of the new runway it might spread. Vice Chairperson Meloni noted that the city may start looking at loft type housing in that area. Chairperson Sim asked if there was a housing fund that can be generated out of every development. Ms. Fragoso noted that they have a strategy that is called acquisition and rehabilitation. She mentioned that the Depa11ment focuses on building and preserving the housing stock that is critical and affordable. She noted that it is important to concentrate on buying blighted property, restoring, maintaining and renting it as affordable. Vice Chairperson Meloni noted that if there were a housing fund it could be put into the Redevelopment Agency funds to redevelop Downtown. He mentioned that if the developer is providing more jobs and is increasing the housing need then they should contribute to a housing fund. He added that the City will get sued if the housing is not provided and not the developer. Ms. Fragoso noted that it is correct because it is the City's obligation. Commissioner Baldocchi suggested that staff contact the State Library to get information on housing and reading materials. Chairperson Sim asked to have some information on what other cities are doing with their job / housing balance issues. Ms. Fragoso noted that she will rep0l1 back to the Commission. 6. Items form Staff - None 7. Items from Commission - None 8. Items from the Public - None F:\File Cabinet\minutes\2000\080300 RPC.doc Page 5 of 6 9. Adjournment Motion Honan / Second Te2lia to adjourn the meeting. ~/~W// ~/.....' / ./ ~#.J Thomas C. Sparks Secretary to the Planning Commission City of South San Francisco The meeting was adjourned at 9:30 p.m. Eugene Sim, Chairperson Planning Commission City of South San Francisco NEXT MEETING: Regular Meeting August 17, 2000, Municipal Services Building, 33 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco, CA. NOTE: Staff Reports can now be accessed on the web site. www.ci.ssf.ca.us (Economic & Community DevelopmentlPlanning webpages). TCSlbh F:\File Cabinet\minutes\2000\080300 RPC.doc Page 6 of 6