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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 03/01/2001 CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO REGULAR PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES MUNICIPAL SERVICES BUILDING 33 ARROYO DRIVE March 1, 2001 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 Romero, Vice Chairperson Meloni and Chairperson Sim MEMBERS ABSENT: Commissioner Teglia * STAFF PRESENT: Planning Division: Thomas C. Sparks, Chief Planner Steve Carlson, Senior Planner Allison Knapp, Consultant Planner Kimberly Johnson Richard Harmon S gt. Mike Massoni Sgt. Mike Newell BalTY Mammini City Attorney: Engineering: Police Dept.: Bldg./Fire Prevo PRESENTATIONS - None AGENDA REVIEW Chief Planner Sparks recommended that the Commission continue item #2 to April 5, 2001. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - None CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Approval of Regular Meeting Minutes of November 16, 2000, January 18,2001 and February 1,2001. Motion Meloni / Second Romero to approve the Consent Calendar. Approved by majority voice vote. Commissioner Baldocchi abstained from approving the minutes of November 16, 2000 due to illness. Vice Chairperson Meloni also abstained from the January 18,2001 due to absence. PUBLIC HEARING - AGENDA ITEMS S:\Minutes\030101 RPCdoc.doc Page 1 of 7 2. Costco Gas Station/Costco-owner/applicant 481 So. Airport Blvd. UP-00-026 & ND-00-026 Use Permit to allow four island (eight multi-product dispensers and 16 fueling positions) gas station and over 100 ADT at the vacant site across from the existing Costco facility. (Recommending continuance to March 15, 2001) 4. Torani Lucky Investments-owner R. Torre & Co.-applicant 233 E. Harris Ave. UP-00-085 and Categorical Exemption Class 3 Section 15303 New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures Use Permit allowing an 800 sq. ft. one-story expansion of an industrial building in the Planned Industrial (P-I) zoning district.(Recommending continuance to AprilS, 2001) Motion Meloni / Second Honan to continue items 2 and 4 to April 5, 2001. Approved by majority voice vote. 3. ELAN John C. Nichol-owner Ken LeongIDowler-Gruman Architects-applicant 534 B Eccles A venue UP-OI-00l and Categorical Exemption Class 32 Section 15332 In Fill Development Project Use permit allowing a parking reduction for a research and development use. Senior Planner Carlson presented the staff report. He noted that Finding of Approval #1 should say at the end; "when complying with the conditions of the approval for the Transportation Demand Management program". Assistant City Attorney Johnson noted that the additional sentence should go at the end of Finding of Approval #2. Public Hearing opened. Public Hearing closed. Motion Honan / Second Baldocchi to approve UP-01-001. Approved by unanimous voice vote. 5. TERRABAYIPhase II & III Myers Development Corp.-owner/applicant San Bruno Mtn/Terrabay Specific Plan Amendment & Zoning Ordinance Amendment Second Final Terrabay Specific Plan Amendment and Specific Plan District Zoning Ordinance Amendment. * Commissioner Teglia arrived at 7:40 p.m. Consultant Planner Knapp gave a presentation to the Planning Commission. Chairperson Sim asked why the Commission had two sets of Chapter 20.63 and what the differences in the two documents were. Assistant City Attorney Johnson noted that the highlight in the document that the Commission received prior to the meeting indicates further substantive corrections in comparing it to the S:\Minutes\030101 RPCdoc.doc Page 2 of 7 document that went in the Commission's packet. She asked the Commission if they wanted her to identify all the changes or just go over the highlighted changes. After discussing the issue the Commission decided to go through the highlighted changes which were added to the previous document and to continue the item to the next meeting. Commissioner Teglia requested that the Commission received a copy of the Development Agreement between the City and developer on the project. Assistant City Attorney Johnson noted that she would get a copy of the agreement to the Commission. Commissioner Teglia was concerned with the increase in height on the commercial portion and would prefer to keep the building as short as possible. Project Architect noted that the elevator shaft rises over the parapet of the building. He added that the height is no higher than the previous drawing and the total height has not changed. Commissioner Teglia noted that the Commission relies on the specifications and there has been a change because the original height was 275 feet. Consultant Planner Knapp noted that the Specific Plan allowed the developer 275 feet for an absolute height. She added that staff understood that they needed additional height for the elevator. She noted that there was not an issue on the commercial building height during the public hearings and staff felt that this was not a big issue. She pointed out that the residential portion was watched closely to make sure that it did not get any higher. Commissioner Romero noted that he had a problem with the height when it was at 250 and then it went to 275 and now it is at 290. Vice Chairperson Meloni asked what the maximum height allowed in the area is. Consultant Planner Knapp noted that the FAA govelTIS the allowable maximum height and it is 360 feet. She pointed out that the zoning ordinance allows 250 feet. Commissioner Honan stated that the height does not make much difference in this situation. Chairperson Sim noted that this is part of the process and as the process evolves there is more precision given on the technical criteria and requirements. He noted that he will be looking at the elevator's design and massing. He added that the building is away from the residential site and is towards 101. Comnrlssioller Teglia expressed concern over a small allowance becoming a large allowance after it leaves the planning process. Consultant Planner Knapp noted that there will be specific language that allows a maximum of 290 feet in height to allow an elevator shaft. Chairperson Sim noted that the entire building needs to be maintained at the discussed height and the additional 15 feet are being allowed for the elevator shaft only. Commissioner Romero thanked Mr. Myers for the additional 16 units in the residential pOltion. He noted that the applicant is short 485 parking stalls that is going to be resolved through valet or assisted parking. He added that the there is still a shortage in parking even if the entire garage is being used for parking, including the 300 outside parking spaces. He asked for an explanation on how the valet parking will work. Monroe Townsend noted that the developer has tried to provide flexibility. He pointed out that they are not sure on how the assisted parking will work at this point because every garage is different. He noted that in assisted parking operations in San Francisco the amount of capacity has increased 100% over the leeway striped spaces. He pointed out that in San Francisco Myers has completed a garage with 39 striped stalls that parks 85 cars daily. He pointed out that they are not expecting to have an urban operation in South San Francisco but they are trying to respond to the congestion concerns on the peninsula. He added that they are introducing the assisted parking operation concept into the City. He pointed out that they will try to encourage other forms of transportation because assisted parking is not convenient for people and tends to discourage them from using it. He noted that they would compromise and build less than the required parking stalls and include assisted parking if there are more cars than projected. He pointed out that they have 1550 legal spaces and 200 spaces will be made for valet parking. He noted that they are trying to give themselves some flexibility because they do not know how the parking will work out. Commissioner Honan questioned how the developer can give a number of parked cars if they do not know how the parking lot will work. Mr. Townsend noted that they do know what they will build. He noted that removing S:\Minutes\030101 RPCdoc.doc Page 3 of 7 half a level, which was set back into the mountain, reduced grading and excavation. Mr. Townsend pointed out that this removed 213 stalls. They do not know how efficient valet parking will be but have created parameters from which to work. Commissioner Teglia noted that valet parking was not part of the original design and it was an approach to the lack of parking and an increase in demand as time went on. He pointed out that it is a cost savings not to build, grade and excavate and asked why the stalls were not being built or go down a level. Mr. Townsend pointed out that the cost factor is important and was informed that the City was not encouraging single occupancy vehicle trips to the City. He noted that it seemed that they would gain a double advantage because assisted parking seems to discourage employees from driving. He noted that they were concerned with the market that requires 3 spaces per thousand feet of rental space, which is where the 1785 parking spaces comes from and are trying to maintain it as a capacity. Commissioner Teglia noted that valet parking would not discourage much and the TDM program will doa better job taking people out of cars. He pointed out that there will be more cubicles, more people per floor and an increase in parking demand. He noted that this is the opportunity to properly design the parking from the beginning and suggested that the parking be built. Commissioner Romero agreed with Commissioner Teglia and noted that there is a deficit in parking and this will create a burden on the labor force in the building. He noted that an employee will have to pay for his car to get parked. He suggested that the valet parking is going to be considered it should be attached to the executives within the building. He also noted that there has to be sufficient parking for staff and the labor force that will be working in the building, so they will not have to be out of pocket with the money that will be spent on parking. Mr. Townsend noted that their TDM program is very aggressive and are trying to encourage people to take public transportation. Mr. Myers pointed out that valet parking is not the same experience as in San Francisco where you have to pay and give a tip. He noted that the service is built into the parking operation and they will be staffing the parking operation to facilitate the move and flow of cars. He added that he has done this for many years and it has worked but they are leaving their options open. Commissioner Romero asked if there will be a daily or monthly fee for using the service. Mr. Myers noted that for the operation of the garage there is and the TDM has those requirements. Commissioner Romero noted that they have not had experience with these because most of the parking is free. He added that charging for parking is something that has to be avoided. Mr. Myers noted that he was trying to respond to the issue of valet parking being a traditional part of office development. He stated that the City has large parcels and large vacant open parking lots compared to the Terrabay development where they have structured parking with a significant cost. He pointed out that one of the mitigating factors of the cost is either reflected in the rent for the tenant or the tenant and employee picks up the expense. Consultant Planner Knapp reminded the Commission that the TDM requires paid parking just as it is in Bay West Cove. She noted that the Commission has to decide how they want the paid parking. It can be through valet or have paid parking for all striped stalls. Mr. Myers noted that they are not proposing that employees have an additional fee and any parking fees will be dealt by the employee or the in the tenant fees. Commissioner Romero did not disagree with the entire concept of valet parking and having it available for the executive staff members with a surcharge in the lease fee is acceptable. He noted that executives and staff need to have assigned parking, where staff does not get a fee. Commissioner D'Angelo noted that the employees traveling long distances are not going to use public transportation. He asked if the intent was to make employees use public transportation and provide housing for these individuals. Chief Planner Sparks noted that this is desirable and to the extent that this can be effective staff would like it. Commissioner D'Angelo noted that many of those not living in the City will need to drive and was concelned with those individuals starting work on staggered hours will have to be ddving around looking for parking because they prefer not to pay. He noted that a shortage of parking from the start does not always work even when the issues are engineered. He added that people are not subject to change. Chief Planner Sparks noted that there will have to be some behavior modifications which will not come easy but the City cannot provide large amounts of parking as it has done in the past. He stated that there has to be a disincentive and they are trying to S:\Minutes\030101 RPCdoc.doc Page 4 of 7 address the issue as comprehensively as possible. He noted that the developer has been meeting with the biotech firms in order to put together their marketing plan to employers in the east of 101 area and City resident employees. He mentioned that they are taking aggressive TDM measures and the Commission has identified potential pressure points and others are going to try to be flexible and work it out. Commissioner D'Angelo noted that Mr. Myers is in a difficult position because City staff is going in one direction while the Planning Commission is headed the other direction. Mr. Myers noted that everyone is trying to get over the finish line and when there are traffic conditions, legislating of policies, and changing habits it is hard to get all the concepts together. He added that their proposal helps the developer get the project over the finish line while meeting the ordinance parking requirements, as well as, the market demand. He noted that the issues on the developers side will not jeopardize the residents. Commissioner Honan believes that valet parking is interesting and would like it clarified being that it is a new concept for the Commission. She noted that there will be surface parking and two garage parking facilities. She questioned if these are all full is that when the parking stalls will be converted to assisted parking. Mr. Myers noted that assisted parking is provided from the beginning in order to provide a service to the tenants. He noted that they try to provide a seamless parking experience for the customers in the building. Commissioner Honan asked if someone will be available early in the morning to valet park the car. Mr. Myers noted that a person can elect if they want to park their car or go through the assisted parking service depending on the circumstances. He added that if all the valet employees are busy, the person driving to work can leave their car trusting that it will be parked because it is in a secure area. He added that some of the people call ahead of time and their car is waiting for them. Commissioner Honan noted that she is mainly concerned that cars will be backed up idling to be parked. Mr. Myers noted that they are beyond the valet capacity and there will not be a problem with capacity in the assisted parking service. He noted that in the instance that there are many cars in the garage waiting to be parked and all parkers are busy the driver can drop their car in a secure environment. Commissioner Honan asked if the fee for parking will be the same. Mr. Myers noted that there will not be an additional fee because it is a service. He stated that this is to make sure that the garage will run efficiently. Commissioner Teglia noted that one of the many uses for valet parking is convenience and the other are requirements. He stated that there is no reason why the required number of parking spaces can be provided along with the assisted parking service. He noted that valet rates are $20-$25 a day while non valet parking garages are $15 per day. He pointed out that this will change the price one way or the other. He stated that the issues are TDM, which can be used from both ends. The City can try and reduce congestion and the developer will try to reduce parking requirements. He encouraged valet parking but feels that the 200 stalls that could be built in should be built into the project. He mentioned that this brand new building is starting off with little parking and the building use will increase. He recommended that staff review this issue once more and try to put the level that was deleted back into the project. Vice Chairperson Meloni questioned that the those traveling to do business will need a place to park their car. He noted that the businessman should not have to pay in order to park their car. Commissioner D'Angelo added that there will be center in the area that will be encouraging public use. Mr. Myers noted that the parking garage relative to the performing arts center has a specific set of operating hours. He noted that the performing arts center has no cost for parking and the capacity will be easily accommodated at no expense. Commissioner D'Angelo noted that it would be an infringement if it were to be used during the day. Mr. Myers noted that the performing arts center would not be used during normal business hours and only those in the building would be using it. Vice Chairperson Meloni pointed out that if the center will be used by those in the building there will be more trips to the office building and not sufficient parking. Vice Chairperson Meloni asked what the hours of operation of the valet parking will be. Mr. Myers noted that the hours of operation would be from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. and after hours the keys would be given to a security officer. S:\Mil1utes\030101 RPCdoc.doc Page 5 of 7 Chairperson Sim noted that if there is extra parking there may be a community benefit from a large master plan of the downtown area. He mentioned that parking is always a necessity for the downtown revitalization. He suggested that a shuttle system could be put in place. Commissioner D'Angelo was concerned that the community center was being precluded from any public use and that is a negative aspect. He added that a major pmt of the use of the center has been excluded from during the day. Assistant City Attorney Johnson noted that the Development Agreement addressed the item in November and the terms are subject to further refinement in the operating agreement that the sponsor will negotiate with Planning and ECD staff. She noted that the hours of operation should be such that the facility is available to members of the commercial building during normal working hours and available as a community performing mts center after working hours. She concluded that this may be modified on a case by case basis pursuant to the operating agreement. Chief Planner Sparks noted that the Commission has brought up many competing interests. He noted that if the Commission feels the number of stalls is inadequate then they can recommend that the Council increase it to a specific number. He did not recommend that this be returned to staff for guidance and it is a matter of judgment. Commissioner Romero noted that staff recommends on page 6 of the staff repOlt that valet parking may be used to the maximum extent. He pointed out that this anticipates that 400 will not be enough. He questioned why staff used the phrase that the "parking structm"e may be used at the maximum extent feasible. Consultant Planner Knapp noted that the intent of the sentence was to discourage more grading, encourage the use of valet pm"king, to allow less surface parking and more landscaping on the surface. Commissioner Honan asked if the parking lot would be made 100% valet pm"ked how many cars could be parked. Mr. Myers noted that the there would have to be enough persOlmel to park 2000 cars. Mr. Townsend stated that the requirement as to how many parking spaces are needed for valet is driven by the market. T.t\.RE2 Conunissioner Honan asked for the Police Depmtment's input on valet parking. Sergeant Massoni noted that there is not any valet parking in the City although there are developments that will have it. He added that in reviewing valet parking plans it seems that they will work out but it still has to be evaluated. Commissioner Baldocchi noted that the Bay area has changed. She mentioned that South San Francisco is between San Francisco and Silicon Valley and is benefiting from the economic boom. She added that the communities in the peninsula do not want to deal with transportation and high density housing. She was concerned with paid parking and noted that the Commission has to be open-minded to the concepts. Commissioner Teglia noted that traffic can be addressed by the TDM program. He mentioned that the building should have the 2.86 spaces per 1000 square feet and noted that valet parking will be used to increase the capacity. He recommended allowing valet parking, with a stringent TDM, and require that the minimum amount of parking spaces be adhered to. Motion Teglia /Second D'Angelo to approve the second amendment of the Final Teuabay Specific Plan text and Amendment to the Terrabay Specific Plan Zoning district with modifications of the specific language with increase in height for the elevator shaft, as discussed; and that the minimum parking requirements of the City will need to be adhered to. Consultant Planner Knapp clarified that the minimum parking requirements identified in the Specific Plan, 2.68 parking spaces per thousand square feet. S:\Minutes\030101 RPCdoc.doc Page 6 of 7 Motion Honan / Second Romero to continue the item to give the Commission an opportunity to think of the discussion and the changes made to the Specific Plan zoning ordinance. Chairperson Sim asked for a roll call vote on the first motion made by Commissioner Teglia: AYES: Commissioner D'Angelo, Commissioner Teglia and Vice Chairperson Meloni NOES: Commissioner Baldocchi, Commissioner Honan, Commissioner Romero and Chairperson Sim ABSTAIN: None Motion Failed Chairperson Sim asked for a roll call vote on the second motion for continuance to March 15, 2001 made by Commissioner Honan: A YES: Commissioner Baldocchi, Commissioner Honan, Commissioner Romero and Chairperson Sim NOES: Commissioner D'Angelo, Commissioner Teglia and Vice Chairperson Meloni ABSTAIN: None Motion passed. Item continued. ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS 6. Items from Staff Chief Planner Sparks noted that the Council may appoint Commission members at their next meeting on March 14,2001. He suggested that the Commission continue their reorganization to April 5, 2001. The Commission agreed with Chief Planner Sparks' recommendation. 7. Items from Commission Vice Chairperson Meloni and Commissioner D'Angelo noted that they would not be in attendance at the next Planning Commission meeting. Sergeant Massoni introduced his replacement, Mike Newell, to the Commission. He thanked the Commission for allowing him to work with them. 8. Items from the Public 9. Adjournment Motion Romero / Second Honan to adjourn the meeting. Approved by unanimous voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 9: 16 p.m. Thomas C. Sparks Secretary to the Planning Commission City of South San Francisco Eugene Sim, Chairperson Planning Commission City of South San Francisco NEXT MEETING: Regular Meeting March 15, 2001, Municipal Services Building, 33 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco, CA. S:\Minutes\030101 RPCdoc.doc Page 7 of 7