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Welcome to this February 21st meeting of the design review Commission
Shall we do a roll call?
Thank you chair Newsom. We sure can we have Commissioner Killian here Commissioner of Aliyah here Commissioner case
Vice chair curling here chair Newsom. I am here. We have five we have a quorum. We have a full Commission
All right, so before we commence with the public hearing
We have a consent calendar looks like we have the adoption of the minutes January 17th on the consent calendar that it
Yes, okay
Do we have a motion then?
You shouldn't you should make a motion if you want to make an aye vote you may or if you'd like the secretary to do a
Roll count what you just do a roll count
we still need a motion and a second.
I move to approve the minutes of the January,
was that 19th meeting?
17th. 17th, thank you.
You can do the 19th too if you want.
Second.
Okay, so how about the roll call vote?
Roll call vote.
Sure thing, we have Vice Chair Kreling.
Aye.
Commissioner Case.
Aye.
Commissioner Valia.
Aye.
Commissioner Killian.
Chair Newsom.
Aye.
That's five.
Motion carries.
Okay.
Let's move on to public communications.
This portion of the meeting is reserved for comments on items not on the agenda.
Under the Brown Act, the Commission cannot act on items raised during public communications
but may respond briefly to statements made or questions posed.
clarifications or refer items to staff. Do we have any cards? No? All right, so let's
move. Is there anybody in the audience who wants to speak about items not on the agenda?
Hearing none, let's move on. So now we're going to go to the public hearing. But before
we begin. Has anybody had any ex parte communications? No? Good. Did I miss anything? Mr. Secretary?
If you want to mention them. Oh, yeah, yeah. It's, oh, wait a minute. There's no. Okay.
So ordinarily we talk about appeals. There won't be any decision made. This is advisory,
so we're just going to move on to the public hearing. So what projects do we have to talk
about tonight. We have one item for a Holcomb Court condominiums. This is a
study session for a design review and design review for architecture site
planning and subdivision map. All right do we have a presentation. My name is
Brittany Lenore associate planner with the community development department
and tonight we are speaking about the Holcomb Court condominiums for a study
session and so before we begin a little bit I do want to mention that we did
receive a few public comments yesterday and today and so those should have been
sent to you today and so some background a project on this site was approved in
2010 very similar to the proposal you'll see today for five condominium units and
the map was also approved for those condominiums those entitlements have
since expired and so the applicant is coming back for a new entitlement that
would include design review by the Design Review Commission as well as
Planning Commission review of the tentative map for the five condominiums
and so tonight we are focused on that study session. So as of right now the law
is a vacant law at 15 Holcomb Court and it was previously developed with a
a triplex that has since been demolished and right now it is vacant, and the proposal would
be again this five unit town home condo project. There are a few potential variances for setbacks
but I'll get into that in a little more detail later on. So currently along Holcomb Court
you'll see lower density single family and apartment buildings, and that marker at the
back of Holcomb is the site and there is a driveway access easement that leads to 11
and 17 Holcomb courts.
So the zoning designation is multi-family residential and this district is intended
to promote and encourage both single-family and multi-family development and the general
plan designation is multi-family medium which is to provide for development of condominiums
with substantial amounts of open space and landscaping where the visual character really
looks more like single family neighborhoods as opposed to apartment complexes.
And that density under the general plan is 14.1 to 22 units, which translates to approximately
22.4 to 35 persons per acre.
And so as I briefly mentioned, this entire site is around half acre at 23,000 square
feet. The net lot area which excludes any of those driveway access easements or any
roadway easements is around 17,800 square feet. There's that 30-foot wide access easement
that's excluded from that net lot area. And there's also a 10-foot wide easement for roadway
purposes adjacent to Holcomb Court. And so the site is sloped at around 14% average slope
and this photo shows you on Holcomb Court going up that access easement driveway and
shows kind of the slope on the site.
And so here you'll see the elevation facing that driveway.
And so although there are five units that are attached to each other, there is articulation
and various roof lines that break up the monotony of the building.
Materials include a dark bronze metal roofing, stucco and wood siding, and that red box right
right there is a flow through planter.
So that's one of the first variances.
Right now it is proposed in the front setback area
and at the highest point it is partially underground
but on the highest point it is around seven feet tall
and that's facing Holcomb Court, the street.
And the second variance along this kind of elevation
is the proposed ADA space that's in the front setback.
Normally parking is not allowed in the front setback area.
So this will be the building elevation facing
Holcomb Court, the road.
So you'll see that flow through planter there.
And as I mentioned on this side
has that 10 foot wide easement.
And so right now the building line
is right up against that easement.
And the applicant is proposing to quit claim that easement
so that it will no longer be for roadway purposes.
And they are working with the engineering department
to see if that's possible.
If it's not possible,
then a variance will be needed for this current layout
or they'll need to set it back an additional 10 feet
from the edge of the easement.
So this is on that south side,
which is adjacent to 17 Holcomb court.
And on this side, currently,
the second story requires an additional step back.
And this elevation does not show it,
but the applicant is looking at ways
to comply with the regulation.
So this is a preliminary floor plan
that shows an additional step back.
And so if this does move forward for final design review,
That is most likely gonna be the layout
so it would no longer be this flat wall,
but it would be stepped back along this side.
And so that west elevation at the back of the property,
so this is where you'll see the private decks.
And again, there's articulation
and breaking up of those building forms
that kind of help make it not look a monotonous.
The other thing that would help is the various colors
that they're proposing, so there's two color schemes.
This first one is for Units 1, 3, and 5,
which are highlighted in red below.
And you'll see the main color is a white
with some accent darker gray.
Color of the doors would be blue,
and then the garage door would be white.
And the second color scheme for Units 2 and 4,
the main stucco would be more of an ivory color.
The accent stucco color would be darker gray.
And instead of a white garage door,
it'd be a gray garage door.
No, I'm sorry.
And there's also on both those wood siding
to break up with the stucco as well.
And the metal cladding for all the windows and the roofing.
So to go into landscaping,
here you'll see the survey of the existing trees on the site
that was provided in the arborist report.
And so the city arborist has approved or supports
the removal of trees 16 here, which is an oak tree
because it's in area where there's overhead utility lines.
And that tree is indicated as number two
on this site plan here.
The city arborist has requested that the applicant
provide additional details on the trees on the site
because it's not clear if there's gonna be
a tree encroachment permit needed for any work
under the drip line of any of the trees.
So that will be provided as we continue to develop the plans.
But generally, 34% of the site is proposed to be landscaped
and that includes a variety of trees, grasses, and shrubs.
And there's also new hardscape, permeable pavers
at the driveways, as well as a new fence
around the back and the side.
And that would be a view of that new fence,
max height at six feet.
And then on this side here,
you'll see in that blue box are the existing retaining walls
and the proposed retaining walls.
So the maximum being a three foot retaining wall
on that side.
And so currently the project
has not been determined to be complete.
So no CEQA exemption has been applied to the project
as of yet. But we do anticipate this infill exemption in that so that it can if it can
meet the following factors. So it the project as of right now is anticipated to be consistent
with the general plan and the zoning designation. It is on a site that's no more than five acres.
There's no habitat that's been indicated.
There's no anticipated significant effects to traffic, noise, air quality or water quality.
And the site can be adequately served by all required utilities and public services.
And so tonight DRC is asked to review and comment on the following topics, including
the CEQA exemption, the site layout, setbacks, architecture, landscaping, fencing, and that
flow through planner as well as those three potential variances.
And so I'm available for any questions you might have and the applicant is here and ready
with a presentation as well.
I did that in the beginning.
That was a very good presentation.
Thank you.
So next up, do we have a public comment?
Any questions about the presentation?
I have one.
Brittany, the area or the land just to the west of that
on the slope, is that developable land
or is that city open space?
That is a, well, it was previously entitled
as a, you'll see it right there,
a parking lot for one of the car sales,
like an overflow lot.
And then from the parking lot up to the property line
of this project, that parcel of land,
Is that remain open space or is that a future development
or?
Are you talking about the rear of the lot?
Yes.
Going down toward that parking lot?
Correct.
It's a slope.
Yeah.
Yeah, so it's a down slope there.
Yeah, is it just permanent open space or?
It's part of this lot but it's sloped
so it's not developable on that side.
Well, the property line's shown here
and then isn't there a partial land
between the property line and the parking lot below?
No, that's all part of the parking lot site.
So there's like a bump that.
So this property goes down to the parking lot?
Yes, they, yes.
So at the, basically at the top of that ridge
is where that property line is, or the hill, I guess.
Right, and then it slopes down to the parking lot
and there's another, what, 50 feet.
And that's all the parking lot site.
There's only two lots, those two.
Okay, so it's part of the parking lot, okay.
Yes.
Okay.
All right.
Thank you.
And I forgot to mention, I'm sorry, if we can pass these around, those are the color
material boards.
I will give them to you now.
Awesome.
I have a couple questions because I read through some of the correspondence we received, so
some of it might be better for the applicant if they're here.
But first, do you know if these plans would include anything to handle the repaving of
of Holcomb Court, is there any conversation about that?
I don't believe that would be
a required frontage improvement.
I know our engineering department will require
most likely an SDP permit potentially,
which will require frontage improvement,
but I don't believe it would be all of Holcomb Court.
Okay.
And then do you think you could walk us through
what the perimeter fences and walls look like?
Because there was a comment,
I think there might be confusion
about what some of those treatments are.
Yeah, at least the ones we know.
So let me get to that slide.
So that green outline there, that
would be the extent of the vinyl fence.
So it's along the backyard, along the side.
So that would be a six-foot fence.
And then.
Sorry, when you say vinyl fence,
is that like a chain-link fence with fabric on it?
Or what does that look like?
No, it's like vinyl plastic boards, yeah.
And what color or material is that?
A tan color, I don't have a material.
Okay, so it'll look like a neighborhood fence.
But what would? I would expect so, yes.
It would be a tan vinyl.
Okay, thank you.
And then just to expand on those retaining walls.
So there's existing retaining walls along that west side.
Some are going to be removed or a small portion
and then there'd be a new max height three foot
retaining wall that would tie into that existing retaining wall.
Okay.
And do we know the material and finishes of those new walls?
Not that I'm aware of at this time.
Okay.
Cool.
And then the treatment in front of the, at its greatest heights flow through planter.
What does that material and finish look like, and is there like a design to make it feel
less imposing?
My understanding based off the renderings is that it would be finished with stucco to
match kind of the building wall next to it.
You can kind of see it in this view, but beyond that, we're having just preliminary discussions
about possibly lowering that height, because there also needs to be a fence on top of that
so it'd make it even taller, so I expect that to be reworked a bit before we come back for
final design review but that's definitely something we're we're looking at okay okay those are my
questions for now thank you thank you uh britney are there any provisions for visitors parking here
no there's no requirement for visitor parking hello britney um the other commissioners covered a
number of my questions just for clarification this is not a housing accountability act
this is just a regular market rate basic project.
There's no affordability component.
Okay, thank you.
Just one question on the vinyl fence.
What is the city's general position on,
if there's a position on vinyl fencing
versus wood or stone or iron?
Does the city have a like we don't like vinyl or?
current design guidelines are from 1996 and I'm not sure if vinyl fencing was
really around much in 1996 so it doesn't speak to it and it's really a case by
case situation. Okay, maybe I'll ask the applicant just about the choice later
and then could we go back to I don't know what your best graphic is to kind
to visualize the setback variances that they're asking for just because now that I because
it's not a housing accountability act they don't get all the waivers and things that
one would normally get so if you can kind of just walk through visually yeah one more
time sorry so this slide shows that flow through planter so that's the first request that's
in the front setback.
And how far into the setback is it going?
It is right at the edge of the driveway.
So it's entirely within the 20 foot front setback
because the setback is taken from the edge of the driveway.
OK.
But normally, we could have plenty of landscaping
in the setback area.
Yeah, it's just that this is a slope site.
So one side is seven feet and the other side is in ground.
So that side technically doesn't need the variance.
It's just that it's.
So it's just oddball geometry.
So it kind of makes sense to do something
like what they're doing, it sounds like.
Yeah, there's not many opportunities
for a flow-through planter on the site.
And because of the slope,
this is where they've chosen to place it.
Great, and then how about the other,
the one setback was that easement in the back, right?
That was on the side.
Side, sorry.
So this shows, the second easement is the ADA parking space
that's in the front, again, right off the driveway.
And then the third is on this side facing Holcomb Court
because right now there's a property line
and then a 10-foot easement that's dedicated
to the city for roadway purposes.
It's not being utilized right now.
So it just looks like part of the hillside.
And so they're looking at ways they could either
quit claim that easement so it's no longer for roadway
and they could keep the building
where it is without a variance.
But if that's not possible,
then the only way they can keep it there
is with the variance because our setbacks are taken
from either the property line or the edge of an easement
if it's used for roadway purposes.
And because this description is for roadway,
we have to take the easement from the,
or the, sorry, setback from the edge of the easement.
But is it actually used
for any sort of roadway maintenance or anything?
Not at this time, no.
Okay, and then when we're talking about quit claiming it,
who's quit claiming it to who?
The city engineering department specifically
to the property owner.
Got it, okay, that makes sense to me.
And then normally in a front setback,
I guess you can have,
obviously you'd have parking and driveways,
that's normal, but that ADA space,
is it because it's in a side setback?
It's because you can have a driveway.
I mean, if you park in the driveway,
we can't control that.
These driveways are for two car garages
and the requirement is for covered parking.
But this doesn't lead to a covered parking space.
It's just a uncovered parking space in the front setback
and that's the issue.
And is that space required by current law or code
to be on this development?
They do need an ADA space, yes, if required.
Great, I think those are my questions for you.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you.
I have a follow-up question on the ADA parking.
So that ADA parking serves the five units?
Yes.
So there's a path of travel?
Yes.
To all that?
Right now, unit two is indicated as an ADA unit.
But I mean, there's a path of travel
from that parking to unit one to five, four, three, two.
to unit two because that is the ADA unit.
So it's the ADA space to the ADA.
But is the law so specific
that you provide ADA parking only for one unit
or is it a parking that can serve any of the five units?
I'm not too sure on that.
That's more building code question,
but the way the building department explained it to me
is that they need an ADA space
as long as they show an accessible path of travel
to the unit, then that's sufficient.
And because unit two is noted as an ADA unit,
then the path of travel just needs to be to that unit.
And I guess that would be the one that least needs
the ADA parking because it can go inside a garage
and you can park inside.
It doesn't mean that all the visitors
have any kind of mobility problem.
So I guess when you have an ADA parking,
it's meant to serve any of the units.
But that's my interpretation.
I'm not well-versed on that.
So I just, my assumptions, I have never asked that question
to anyone in the building department,
so I don't know specifically.
Thank you.
We've noted that, we'll check that with building.
I believe that it only needs to serve the ADA unit,
but that's a good question.
Does it have to travel for all units?
Oh no, I didn't have anything.
Okay.
They have done a nice job of covering my questions.
I mean, the only question I have is,
I mean, looking at that eight and a half foot setback,
it seems like, is it true that they're trying
to accomplish that as that was what that discussion was?
So for the, this side here, for the second store,
is that what you're-
Yeah, they're working on that.
That's where they're working on the additional stepping,
right?
Yeah, and so that was recently feedback that was given.
And so right now all they have available
is the preliminary floor plans,
but this is their desired layout
to not require variance on this side.
And for clarity, that's the second floor floor plan
that's shown here that's meeting that setback
shown by the red line.
The first floor only needs a five foot setback.
Okay, that's good.
That was one of the comments that was received
from the community, so glad to see they're working on that.
That was the only question I had beyond the others.
So I guess we'll move on to one more.
you mentioned the roof, roof is not seen anywhere, right?
I mean, you have a parapet.
So there are shed roofs that are above the garages.
You can see that on the front elevation.
Let me go there.
So there are these eyebrows above the bedroom windows
and then shed roofs that are above the garages.
Okay, got to.
Thank you.
Okay, so.
Sorry, I have one more question.
I'm sorry.
This doesn't qualify as multifamily housing
that needs some kind of common open space, does it?
Cause it's condos.
Am I crazy?
No.
I'm just confused cause I'm like,
there's an ADA stall, but then I don't know.
I'm getting myself confused.
So in our M2 zone, we don't have open space requirement.
Okay.
Thank you.
I'm good.
Is that it?
Yeah.
Okay, we're moving.
No, we're waiting now, okay.
All right, okay.
All right, you're allowed one more thing
because it's your last meeting.
I'm good.
You're good?
Okay.
Thank you, sir.
All right, so moving along.
There is a little history on this project.
I don't know if Brittany touched on it or not,
but this project was previously approved
and did we mention that?
Okay, good, okay.
I don't know where my ears are to my house.
Not yet, it's coming.
I think now is the time for the applicant's presentation, correct?
Presentation.
You covered everything so well.
We can go through a little bit of history here and a little bit of work.
Good evening.
Is this on?
Good evening.
My name is Ray Dormé with Mastercraft Residential.
Thank you for hosting me tonight and holding this design review, I guess, previous to the
next design review.
But we wanted to kind of get your input on exactly what we're thinking.
As mentioned before, this project was previously approved many years back.
We were involved in that approval process as well as the overall development.
Unfortunately, I want to say, and I can't remember the timeframe, but there was a lot
of confusion on the extensions to the map.
When we went in to file for the final map, we were told that it had expired.
And we went back and forth with our attorney, the planner at the time and the city attorney
to try to figure out how to get this thing pushed through and developed.
And fortunately we couldn't find a way of doing that.
So they said, well, why don't you go ahead and submit a new application.
We felt that the project was a little bit tired.
The elevations needed some, you know, massaging a little bit, colors brought up to speed,
a little bit, want some elegance to the property.
So we said, sure, that's fine.
But unbeknownst to us, during the process,
we found out a lot of little things
that sort of bit us in the butt,
like the easement on the side,
which we had no idea that was even an issue,
or the ADA, which we accommodated,
but that was another thing that kind of stood out.
There's a few other things that changed over the years,
the code, you know, water quality and all that. There's solar, green. My company's
always been green and solar. Every project we've built has always been green.
In fact, we probably started the first all-green, all-solar community here in
California back in 2006, 2007. But anyway, we're here tonight to really go
over what your thoughts are of our new project. We have looked at the affordable
housing element, we looked at ADUs, we looked at putting a lot more units on
on the property, quite frankly,
we don't wanna go that direction.
We know parking is tight.
We know our neighbor's down below.
There's a lot, there's not much space down there.
We figure let's go small, keep it like we had originally
in terms of the footprint and just move forward
and see what comes out of it.
You had a couple questions regarding I think colors
and materials, and we can answer.
I can answer that here tonight if need be.
I like to see the project look as good as possible.
So for example, on the walls, they
need to blend in to the building.
They need to make sense.
They can't just be a hodgepodge.
You're driving up, and it looks like, oh my gosh,
just staring at you.
The same thing with the vinyl fencing.
There's different colors and materials out there.
There's stuff out there that looks like wood.
And we could do wood if we want to go in the wood route.
It's just what's best.
So at this point in time, it's kind of a placeholder.
but we can refine that as we move forward.
Other than that, I really don't have much else to say
other than like I said,
I think the product looks really good.
We've redone the inside.
We've heard some of the neighbors
and their questions regarding setbacks and windows
and we wanna work through some of that.
As we move forward,
we unfortunately weren't able to do that here
for this meeting,
but Brittany and I and Justin
we're currently working on solutions for that.
And then there's questions regarding the street,
which I agree over the years
that I've been driving this property,
it has really kind of deteriorated.
We know that we're gonna redo our ramp coming in, our street,
but I'm not sure about the potholes.
The Holcomb Accord is a hodgepodge of private easements.
I think there's some public streets there,
And I'm not sure who owns, maintains or does what.
But just driving it today versus last year,
it's seen its better days.
I don't know what the solution is,
whether we chip in 50,000 or whatever the dollars are
for street improvements and get some of it fixed.
But we're definitely gonna wanna see that done
somehow, some way if we move forward,
especially for marketing purposes.
So anyhow, that's, I'm here if you have any questions,
hopefully that kind of helps out a little bit of who we are
and the project is, like I said, there's,
we have the same screenshot,
so I'm not sure if you want to kind of go through that
or not.
Some floor plans are in there if you want to see that,
but yeah, let's see here.
So my company's been around, God, for 1995.
We've built up and down the state from San Diego
all the way up here.
We do multifamily, single-family.
We build custom houses from 5 million
to affordable housing, 150 to $200,000.
So we kind of know when we get into a market
what the buyers want and what's reasonable.
We try to accommodate our neighbors
in the city and what they want.
We all don't look at the bottom line all the time.
It's what works best for everyone.
Some of our projects here, the Gatsby Hollywood, was the first, that's actually in Los Angeles,
the first small lot subdivision in Los Angeles, their first all solar, all green project at the
same time. We also have little small, small lot residential projects that we built up and down
the state. This was in Costa Mesa, California. There are 1,200, 1,300 square foot houses.
Little cottages, very, very cute. Built that up and down the state. And then we've done larger
projects. Kalamazaz is one of them. That is in Southern California, 268 lots, parks, and all good
stuff like that. Let's see here what else. One of these screens we had the old architecture
and you don't see it here. It had a lot of wood plank to it, a lot of old facades. We've
really updated that over the years. The footprints themselves because of the
constraint of these slopes have really remained the same. We've tweaked them a
little bit backwards and forwards with planning and building and safety and
engineering just to make sure it worked. We wanted to keep the street easement
that is there consistent to what it is today. I think it's 30 feet. I can't read
that right now. Floor plans were tweaked somewhat. We enlarged some of the bedrooms. We just
sort of massaged the insides. I think they live a little bit better. Each house is just
a tiny bit different, but pretty much they all have views out to the main center. Second
floor is there. Landscape plan has been greatly increased from the last concept,
a lot more planting overall, greenery, and then the elevations. Unfortunately I
don't have the before and the after, but the elevations I think are a big
improvement from the last generation. Like Brittany had mentioned, we're trying
to break up the individual units by using different materials, textures, and
colors. I think all in all, and this really doesn't do itself justice when you actually
see the end product, it's going to look a lot better. And that was our idea of the inside.
Nice open space. People can enjoy themselves on the deck and enjoy the views. There we
go. So that's one of the old renderings. What we had in mind at the time, I'm not really
sure but I like the new one. Any questions for the applicant? Yeah I'll
start. Hi just jumping around in a particular order starting with the ADA
parking space can you not just slide unit 3 and 2 back toward the slope to
get the distance you need to keep the ADA parking out of the roadway? Brittany we
We massaged at ADA quite a bit and we moved it from I think a couple different units.
Do you know what the reasoning for that was?
At the back of the law, it is pretty sloped at a 30% slope which is part of the code undevelopable.
As I'm understanding it, it's the portion of the path of travel that's within the existing
and roadway shall we say?
Is that where the variance comes in?
Or is it just the fact that it's located
in front of the units, the open parking spot?
It's the fact that it's located in the front setback.
So the first 20 feet from the edge of the driveway back.
The first 20 feet from the edge of the driveway back.
So okay, is the issue that you just can't have
an uncovered parking space in front?
Is that the issue?
okay.
The existing retaining wall to be,
to remain that was on the south end of the project.
It looked like if what I think is out there,
is that the concrete, the little four foot wall,
the kind of meanders?
Is that the one that's?
I believe so.
Yeah.
Yes.
Like it was in disrepair and it really wasn't straight.
I mean, a section went in and out and everything.
Correct.
Does that work with your,
because it looks like your vinyl fencing and everything,
there's a gate you want access back there
and you have a front walkway and everything.
So I'm wondering, first of all,
if that retaining wall moments looked at it,
if it's gonna survive all this
and it should be just straightened out in a new wall there.
It's gonna have to be reworked, I agree.
Okay, yep.
Can you tell me what happens, the privacy walls,
are there any between, for example,
between unit three and four on the front entry?
What, when you're going in, what will the person see
as they go through the, not the front door,
but I guess the front entry gate,
and it looks like there might be 10 feet
of some sort of a wall, what is that?
Let's see, is that the garage?
I mean, are we fencing?
Well, again, say unit four and unit three.
Unit four is set back further.
So we hadn't planned for any privacy fencing in the front.
The idea was to keep it open.
What are your thoughts?
I'm curious, I mean, you have a gate there.
So for example, the first one in there is unit three
and you have a gate or whatever.
Then you walk about 10 feet
before you get to the front door.
Right.
So what separates that space from your next door neighbor
or is that just a common walkway?
And if that's so, why is that gate there?
Correct.
Do you actually really need the gate is your question?
Or do you just keep moving up?
Well again, I'm trying to find out the separation
and what kind of privacy, you know,
is that a little four foot wall?
a wall that goes up to the ceiling?
No, it'd just be a little like a five foot fence
that's separated.
I wouldn't do masonry, I would think there.
I think it'd be too harsh.
You want something that's relatively light
in terms of the texture and feel.
Okay.
Let me jump to the back again, for example,
between unit now three and two,
where you have the rear decks kind of joining themselves.
Again, what kind of privacy,
or if I met on the deck on unit two,
is it just the open railing
that's separating me from my neighbor, or?
How do we have that called out?
I'm not sure if we called that out.
Yeah, I'm thinking we're gonna wanna put
some sort of permanent screen of some sort.
I don't want anything that is too obtrusive
from the exterior, so I'll have to be mindful of that.
But if I'm a resident there, I'm gonna want some privacy.
So what that is, we can fine tune that on the next meeting.
Okay, I guess staying with the back,
I don't quite, is there gonna be grading there?
Or I think from what Brittany says,
once you get beyond the setback,
is that natural grade or are you slicing off
a little bit of the top of the ridge there?
There will be some grading within that area, very minor though.
So what we're showing there is existing contours, is that correct?
That's correct.
Okay, so we don't have a new grading plan, or at least I didn't see it in the…
So I guess my question is, do you have an idea, I mean, are you taking off four feet
or…
I can't see the contours there, but there is some grading there at a couple of those
locations.
They did submit a grading plan,
but I don't think it was included in your set.
Next time, we'll make sure that it is.
Okay.
I think overall, we wanted to minimize the grading
on any slope.
Yeah.
Well, where I'm going, my concern is what the public at large
is gonna see from down below, going along Broadway,
looking up there, and the back of this.
And I know there are some existing pines and everything
on the lower slope, but I'm not quite sure
you know, what they're gonna see the back of your building,
which I guess leads me into the architecture.
I kind of like the front and the side,
but the rear, if you could go to that elevation,
if you could bring that up, okay?
It seemed kind of boxy and plain.
Is there any, for example, the windows,
how were they installed?
Is there gonna be some relief to where the windows are set in,
where there's a four inch reveal, for example,
in the wall to get some shadow depth.
That was our, you can see it there,
there's some reveal there in the back.
It's very minor, but there is reveal there.
Can you go to the rear elevation?
Yes.
Let's take a look at that front.
Yeah, so to me again, kind of these series of boxes.
So again, the windows and the,
Well again, you have a flat parapet, so is that hiding,
for example, your AC units and everything, condensers,
where are they gonna be located?
Is that gonna be on the roof or are they gonna be
just like a home unit?
We're gonna have some rooftop units out there.
I don't know exactly where they are.
I also have solar on top of the roof.
So there probably will be a little bit of a parapet
to hide some of that.
You're not gonna wanna see it.
Right, okay.
Yeah, you can't see the reveals there on the windows.
I can see that, I can have that drawn up differently
next time.
Okay.
And I apologize, I'm just jumping around here now.
To the bioretention area now, I'm not sure if Casey asks this,
but what is the finish of that,
especially on the seven foot wall?
Is that a concrete finish, a stucco,
or something to match the building?
I was envisioning a stucco finish on that,
something to be consistent with the overall elevation,
color is to be determined,
but it probably should be the same color.
So it blends in.
And then we'd have some trees and shrubs
to help shield some of that,
so it doesn't look as big or as tall.
That's my questions for right now.
Let's stop right now.
You're up.
Sir Carlos.
looking at the rear elevation. Why didn't you align the windows in the dark area?
Why didn't you align them vertically? I mean why the movement there?
I think a lot of it's elevation driven. You're talking about alignment.
Windows are very much the same size, but they are offset.
So, I mean, architectural, you wouldn't it be better if they were, it's just a question.
I don't know why the architect drew it this way.
I know he was trying to keep all the distances from the floor of each unit to the bottom
of the window consistent.
He didn't want to have different elevations.
I think the elevation, the way it's moving, also,
how to play in what the windows are doing.
We usually keep windows at four feet, something.
No, no, I understand that.
What I'm talking is the vertical alignment.
The vertical alignment.
Oh, the windows, second floor windows
versus first floor windows.
If you look at that long downspout,
the upper one is further to the right than the lower one.
And it looks like it's so easy to align them
and probably it'll make them look better, so personal.
Take a look at that.
Yeah, I see that on that one elevation.
Back to the potentially seven foot tall treatment thing,
is there an opportunity to terrace that?
Like if it has to remain that large and in that location,
is there a way to reduce the wall so it's presence?
I can look at that.
OK.
That's my question.
This is more of just the curiosity.
So, it's, I think it's unit four that you've pushed back.
Is that the right unit number?
And it allows for, since you did that,
it allows for something I actually like,
looking at the front, the way you side loaded the garages
to break up instead of looking at five roll-up garage doors.
So, I really, that's something I really liked
in your design.
When I look at Unit 4, it kind of seems like almost a premium unit with the views
that might have out of the back of the unit pushed out.
Was there just barely, was the sloping or grading just about right where you could push
that one back because I think Commissioner Killian was asking about, you know,
why you weren't able to push any of the other ones back, maybe like maybe 2, Unit 2?
did it just sort of happen to work out in your favor
that you could push unit four back?
It was, right, because we have two siting garages
and one front end, and I think that one had to be pushed back
in order to meet the turn radiuses, the backup,
I think, worked all into that, whereas the other two,
it really didn't need that.
So that's sort of kind of,
And we're trying to be consistent with the overall previous approval at the same time.
Got it.
But yeah, it feels good.
Yeah, it looks nice and yeah, maybe you can charge more for that unit for it.
Talk a little bit about the vinyl fence that just, this looks like such a nice building
that you're creating and the other developments you let us see earlier, I'm trying to wonder
or why you would use, and maybe that's just a placeholder,
could you use something more like a trex,
those deck boards, they look like wood,
but they're not what I understand,
not wanting to deal with wood and the maintenance
and the issues that comes with that.
No, exactly, there's different types of vinyl fencing.
There's a cheap vinyl fencing
that just looks like a piece of plastic.
And then you have your wood-looking vinyl fencing
that looks like wood, it feels like wood.
And a lot of times you can't even tell,
but yet it has a durability and it lasts a long time.
not seeing the stuff fall down. So we've been using that a lot lately in our
higher end houses and it's been well received. We can do wood here. I don't
know if it really goes with the architecture so much but you also have
different variations with the vinyl in terms of colors. So that's the other part
of it. You could go wood and you look at the dark I guess redwood or you can go
different colors. So those are something that's something I can bring the next
meeting. So you can see the different types of vinyl that
are out there.
Yeah, I was just trying to make sure it's not that that lower
end looks like a rectangular channel. You know, I don't think
would be fitting a nice development.
You see looking kind of exactly that. So you're talking more the
it's plastic or recycled materials, like a trex deckboard
would be looks like wood feels, you know, but it won't rot.
Correct. Okay, that that would work. And I'm just looking to see. So I think I heard you say earlier,
you willing to chip in a little bit, possibly to the maintenance or improvement of the court?
Yes, there will be, we obviously we want that window to look good too. Obviously, there's,
like I said, there's so many different components going on with that street right now. Who owns what?
Hot holes galore all over that
Especially at the entry coming in
So that needs to be addressed and I'm not sure how long it's going to take for this to get through
So right I know if I'm living there. I'd like to have
Something done relatively soon
I'm not sure if this is another one-year process or two-year process to get through the whole system and that's a private court
I think I heard I believe I believe it is I believe there's part of it city-owned. They also believe it's private
So I'm not sure what agreements the residents have in order to maintain that who has the maintenance agreement who has the ability to go
Ahead and fix it. I don't know those answers. Okay. Yeah that there was a lot of public comment about
the condition the drivability the width and then once that it's being constructed
You know, what can you do to minimize people from not being able to get to their homes on the court, etc
Right. We always carry something in our budget during construction
to fix that, so we know the construction itself
is gonna tear up the road a little bit,
so we're always redoing little streets,
or doing potholes, or whatever it may be,
so we carry that in our budget.
But again, I don't know what the dynamics are
with that street.
Great, those are my questions, thank you.
I mean, I think they asked a lot of my questions as usual.
I think, how, looks like you've done
a lot of single-family homes.
How does this being a condominium shape
the way you select finishes.
Condominium associations, you know they,
at the end of the day they own it,
and there was a person who once told me
that condominium associations were essentially
organized to sue builders.
So how do you mitigate that, like in the finishes?
Is that why you choose vinyl or,
how would it be different here?
It's a great question.
So we have a forensic consultant that specializes
in this type of review.
So we're actually going through the design process.
They're called C Forensics.
There's other companies like that.
They'll review your plans, and they'll
make sure that you're building properly.
Now, they can't guarantee that you're not going to get sued.
Anybody can sue you.
But they minimize the ability of somebody collecting from you.
And they even go so far as, once they review the plans,
they'll go out to the site during construction
and take 150 pictures and document everything
and give you a file to the homeowner.
So if that homeowner ever wants to sue, well, hey,
your stucco wasn't done correctly.
Oh, yeah, here it was.
So when you get the guys trying to chase you for a dollar
and they see that, they run away.
So that's been what we've done.
So going back to the finishes,
then they'll go ahead and say,
okay, right, this sink right now
or this water heater is not working correctly
and we've had problems with their recalls.
And that kind of drives into it.
The same time, we wanna know, okay,
what does the buyer want for this type of market?
You know, do you like the farm sinks?
Or do you like the stainless steel?
Do you like the Taj Mahal granites?
Or do they like, so those are items that we have to,
and the insights have to really understand also,
both the market and the price point,
as well as what the buyer wants internally.
And we may give them that option
to select something for the insights.
You know, they may want special toilets,
or they may want upgraded flooring.
I think the sticks and bricks, though,
will remain the same.
Obviously, we're not gonna change from wood to steel.
I mean, my concern is that what this thing's
gonna look like 10 years from now.
Right.
Because you drive around this neighborhood,
I live in this neighborhood,
so drive around this neighborhood
and you see decisions that were made
to use things like wood siding
or in some cases, wood fencing.
And nobody owns them.
It's not, if it's owned by five people,
nobody's gonna maintain it.
I mean, I think, I mean, when you come back,
you know, some of the rationale when we make comments
would be good to say, we're doing this
because of maintenance, that would be helpful.
That's all.
So you're absolutely correct.
So a lot of the products, like the wood siding itself,
has to be a special wood siding.
I don't want anything up there.
I don't want a mahogany up there
that over the years is going to warp.
Or you can have to finish it every year.
So you're absolutely correct on that.
Be good if that review happened.
It happened before you came back again, so you go, we're using these finishes because
of X, Y, and Z.
That's all.
So then...
I have one question, Chair, based on your line of questioning.
Can you...
Are you able to control or memorialize the required amount of maintenance with the CC&Rs
that'll go with the development?
Yes.
So that might be another way to,
I know that's out of our domain
as design review commissioners,
but that's probably a good way to make sure
some of that gets taken care of.
We'll definitely record CC&Rs on here.
But again, as we know, houses, they need maintenance.
No matter where you live or what you put on them,
They have to have maintenance.
And how do you get the average folk out there
to paint it every seven years?
Most people don't know they have to paint their houses
every seven years or five years, depending on where they live.
But our CC&Rs are, I think they're pretty,
we have different levels for different areas
that I think the multi-family one will have
a certain bite to it that we have.
And there's a few of them that we could share with you,
need be if you want to see a copy.
Moving along.
So I guess now's the time for public comment, right?
See if there's any more questions.
Any more questions?
I have one just to beat this a little bit further
on the ADA parking.
Again, what makes it out of compliance is the path of travel
because it's in the right away, is that correct?
I'm sorry, you're asking about the variance?
Right.
The variance is simply because there's a parking space
the setback.
It's not a parking issue, it's a setback issue.
Where else is it supposed to go?
Driveways are supposed to be 18 feet long.
Right.
But the ADA parking would be in the front somewhere, right?
Yeah.
And that's kind of a special situation to be considered with a variance request.
Okay.
Point of order.
Okay.
So we're going to open up the public hearing.
Do we have anybody who wants to speak?
If so, come up, bring your card.
Introduce yourself.
You have limited time to talk, so come on up one at a time.
Hello.
Can you hear me?
All right.
I'm Corinne Hisomodo, and I live in Walnut Creek.
And I'm a resident of Holcomb Court.
I've lived there for about eight to nine years now.
And as long as I've lived there, the lot has been vacant.
It's been nice to have an open space.
I've taken my son there since he was little.
And the neighbor kids, we go up there and play,
and we can see the view.
And at night, we can see the stars.
I just think it's a shame that space has to be developed.
I mean, I know we have our public parks,
but it's nice to have land available to you,
especially close by, to use.
And we live on a, as you can see,
I'm opposed to having this development.
Mainly because it is a short, dead, and narrow street,
and it's already congested with many residents there.
Cars are coming often.
There's only one way in, one way out.
Our kids like to play on the street,
even though it's not a very nice street, because we've
been told the city won't touch it because it's private.
So it would be a little bit more amenable to this project
if they were going to fix the roads.
But even then, ideally, I would just
like that space to be a community garden.
And there'd be no development there.
And the street fixed in my ideal world.
But I am opposed for it because I
think there's going to be more traffic.
And I know it's only five residences,
but we already are congested.
Construction, when it occurs, that's going to be atrocious,
I feel, because, again, there's going
to be construction coming and going.
And it's going to be very loud.
It's going to be disruptive to our neighborhood.
I also think that it is kind of there for the wildlife.
We have deer coming through our street all the time.
And they like to come to my yard.
And they like to eat all of my vegetation.
It'd be nice to have a little space for them
to go to to eat some vegetation there.
I have been told by a neighbor at the end of the street,
am I up?
My time's up.
I can't speak anymore?
Can I just finish the sentence?
OK.
At the end, that there's a rodent problem.
And so I feel like this would be even worse in that situation
because they'd be disrupting the habitat there.
Who else?
My name is John Rowe.
I live in Alamo.
I'm the owner of the house at 1807 San Miguel Drive,
which is right on the corner of Holcomb Court and San Miguel.
I just want to say I'm not opposed to this project,
but I am concerned about the increased traffic
on Holcomb Court, which I think we've already talked about,
and I really appreciate the fact that you're addressing that.
The street is full of potholes
and we don't have any plan to repair that or repave it.
So the other consideration is the project is uphill
from my property and we have had a problem with drainage.
So I would just ask that while you're doing the plans
for this project that you consider the road situation
and the drainage.
While I'm here, I might just point out that
on San Miguel Drive, my house and the house next to me,
on Margarito, there's only two houses on that block
and we're the only section on San Miguel,
pardon me, that does not have a curb
sidewalk. I don't know how that happened, but it has a big effect on drainage. We
don't have any drainage drop boxes there. So again, the drainage has been a
problem and I'm concerned that this project could make it worse. But again,
I'm not opposed to it, but just would ask that you take those into consideration.
Thank you. Anyone else? Okay. Hi, I'm Steve Monash. I also live on Holcomb
Court. I'm not opposed to this project either, but I am concerned as others
about the condition of our street, and I would like to see maybe some requirement
for improving the street, not maybe will improve the street, but we're only going to
improve our section and that would be really appreciated by everybody on our
block I'm wondering if the city ever had any consideration for taking over this
street even though I'm guessing I already know the answer but I wish it
was that would be the case or would there be a requirement for curb gutter
and sidewalk on any portion of the street the cement wall that you guys had
mentioned and talked about and just want to make sure that you're aware of
making it as appropriate as possible for us that are all on the downhill side of
that and have to stare up at it and hope that it's something that is more
appealing. So that would be appreciated and then that same downhill side from
there, I think you called it the north view, it'd be nice just to make sure that
drainage is properly there that John had mentioned because water flows downhill
and we're all downhill from that, and that's it.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Anybody else?
You need a card, right?
Yeah, you can get up there and speak and fill it
up while you're talking.
Hi, Joel Burley.
I also live in Holton Court.
Agree with what Steve said.
We'd really appreciate that we decide
before the development is done what
we're going to do with the street.
It definitely needs to be improved, maintained.
As Steve said, I wish, since I live in Walnut Creek
and I pay Walnut Creek taxes and I wasn't here
whenever they made that crazy decision to make it private,
I wish Walnut Creek would just take over the street
because I do pay it on taxes.
And then I would also just ask you to consider
just the construction plans already,
You can't drive through the street
with a number of cars parked on both sides.
When it's garbage day, you could be sitting there
for 10 minutes waiting for the garbage truck to go through.
So if we're talking about a long period of time
that it's gonna be construction,
I would just request that the council
take some consideration that we have a plan for that.
So, because it's definitely gonna make it a real challenge.
Like if you went down to the street and took a look at it,
Anytime during the day on a Thursday when there are trash vehicles going down like you'll see like or delivery trucks or
You know Amazon vans
Already
You are stuck behind those this car is not miss taking my kid to being late to school because you had to wait
So if there's gonna be extended construction as a result as there needs to be a plan up front
Thank you
Anybody else?
All right
applicant do you want to respond to these comments?
Spoke to my engineer today regarding the basin that we're going to look at
stepping that wall to see what we can do there.
I do know that a good amount of flows that come off that driveway
will be diverted into that basin. To what extent I don't know I don't have
the the actual calculations. I'd say it's
probably a big portion of it so I'm hoping that reduces
is the amount of flow out to Holcomb Court.
And I also agree with the traffic and the trash cans.
And again, that's one of the reasons
why we didn't want to go crazy on the site
and start putting all this ADUs up there.
I think construction plan is warranted here.
This is a tight site.
So the organization of how it's going to be built
is going to have to be closely monitored.
And with supply, where it's gonna be supplied,
how the crews are gonna get there.
And we've built in tight spaces before,
tighter than this, believe it or not.
So we'll have to put a plan together
exactly how that's gonna get built.
And you'll be surprised how tight we've built.
Basically, driving people in is what we've done in the past.
So that's like on Thursdays,
something's gonna have to be thought through on that.
What else?
I can't do anything about the deer, unfortunately.
But again, we're trying to keep it as nice as possible
with landscaping.
And again, you didn't see the house
that was existing there many years back that was demoed.
I think this will be a big improvement to the community.
Thank you.
So now we move on to commissioner comments.
So what's that?
Oh, and end of the public hearing.
So let's move on to commissioner comments
and let's just go down the line if that's okay.
All right, generally I'm in agreement with this.
I think it's very tight, but again,
I'm not sure what you're gonna do
with the ADA parking variance.
I would be supportive of the bioretention variance.
I think that's where it's gonna go,
but I think there are ways to mitigate that
with additional landscaping and the texture or the color
to make it appear part of the architecture.
So I think that can be mitigated.
The way I'm looking at the driveway
just for some of the neighbors,
he's widening it, so there's gonna be about a third
that's gonna be new anyway,
and then by the time he puts his utilities down the middle
and connects the sewer and everything,
There's going to be a lot of patchwork.
I wouldn't be surprised, as he indicated,
for marketing and everything, that his section anyway
is probably going to be paved anyway.
Now what the remaining driveway is,
something to be determined by the rest of the owners,
I guess.
My concern, starting with landscape,
we didn't talk about it really.
But first, I think the landscape architects
needs to revise the plant polity, especially the oak trees.
again, everybody likes oak trees,
but this is such a small project.
You just don't have room to be putting in
a dozen oak trees that are gonna be growing 60 feet across.
It's just gonna be a nightmare for your units,
especially with flat roofs and everything,
trying to keep them clean.
The leaf drop plus as those oaks get larger,
I think it's gonna be dangerous to be planting oaks
that close to this type of a unit.
But having said that, I think my biggest concern
is the screening from down below
that the public at large is gonna see
the rear of this property.
So I would expect when the landscape comes back
that it's fairly heavily screened
with some evergreen plants, but more appropriate to size,
to the space that you have.
And some of the things she's put in there may sound good,
but I don't know if it's gonna work.
For example, these little rain barrels.
Again, you can't access them, it's on the downward slope.
I just, for the irrigation, why are you doing it
other than the feel good aspect of it?
But basically the last rain is gonna fill it up,
you're gonna use it once, and if you can use it.
But again, I don't see the owners
being able to access any of this anyway.
So again, just be more realistic
of the type of landscaping that you have here.
also access to the back area.
I don't know how you're gonna get there.
The one against Holcomb Court is on a two to one slope.
So I don't know how you're gonna access that gate.
And on the southern side,
it's such a pinch point there.
So I think you gotta show exactly how that's gonna be
workable and provide a path of travel for the gardeners
or the owners or whoever needs to get back there.
I like the colors and the front and side elevations.
I like that you've upgraded the driveways with the pavers.
I think that adds to it.
I think it's in the details and again, I don't really see,
you know, unless you're going to take square footage
out to, you know, reduce some of the units.
But again, I don't know if that's going to solve some
some of the bigger problems, so I think this is just acknowledging that this is such a
tight site, and you've squeezed in what you can.
The easement along Holcomb Court, I would agree to abandon that because if they're going
to widen that street, you're going to be having some pretty good retaining walls to flatten
that out if you're going to merge it to Holcomb Court.
So I don't see that ever happening, so again, I would agree that give them the 10 feet and
allow the units as they're presently situated.
So those are my comments.
That was very thorough, Brian.
Thank you.
So I'm going to start with the I like.
I do like the massing.
I do like the siting of the buildings.
I looked at the old drawings, they were very good as well.
I mean, they reminded me of a period of architecture
where architecture was really important.
It doesn't mean that it's not important right now,
but it carried a lot of meaning.
And I like those drawings.
I like the way this is being put together,
understanding all the limitations
and all you're trying to achieve here.
So I like the way it's going.
Yeah, I agree.
Thank you for coming in for a study session.
We like them.
Sorry, this took us a minute to get through.
But I just made a list of the things.
I think you know most of them.
So just some potential treatment for that seven foot wall.
The northern elevation and the renderings
has a lot of trees and shrubs.
And I realize the landscape plan is really preliminary,
but I think it'd be nice if there was a lot of screening
and buffer on the edge since it's facing Holcomb Court.
The window alignment was just something
I'd like to hear more about.
Make sure we talk about the drainage, the road,
the traffic, the construction plans,
all those things you already heard.
And then, I don't know if there's a solution for this,
but I love the comment about the open space
and is there some way to kind of play up
that you've got a little bit of this natural area
and you don't really want to program under people's decks.
I don't know the answer.
I'm just throwing it out, it would be cool.
And it'd be a nice nod to the community
in the neighborhood that there's like something there.
I get that it's steep, but like maybe there's a trail.
I don't know, just throwing it out there as an idea.
Thanks.
Overall, I think it's a really nice project.
I like the way it looks.
It looks to be a high-quality project.
The interior rendition you showed, if it looked like that,
those would be very nice units. I guess my main concern is I think the you know
the impact for the neighbors really revolves around that it's unfortunate
that Holcomb Court seems to be a privately owned road where whoever those
private owners are really likely will bear responsibility for ongoing
maintenance at that of that road so all that be being said anything that can be
done to help out to make that you'll be making it better for your homeowners and
just guesstimating at what these units all sell for you'll probably want it to
look a little nicer as they drive up and imagine driving up and out all the time
and that'll provide nice benefit to the neighbors as well because they are
are losing, you know, I empathize with them,
you have an open lot there for years
that lots of private property is gonna be developed.
I've seen a lot of housing projects come through.
This one seems to be particularly nice to me
for a multifamily development.
And my final comment is I think the variances
that are being requested to make this project work,
they all seem reasonable.
I can't come up with anything
where I would be like, that's unreasonable
to be looking for that variance
because they all seem to make sense
to fit a nice project in here.
And none of the variances, at least to me,
feel like they're out of line or onerous
or anything like that.
It all seems very reasonable.
So thank you.
Well, again, everybody's done a nice job
of capturing a lot of things I was gonna say.
So let me just add a few more things.
So I think just to reiterate this issue with the roads,
I think all we can do in this committee is encourage that you work with the neighbors
to improve those roads.
I'll be interested to see when this comes back what the various other county and city
agencies will require.
I mean, this is a fire road, so is Contra Costa Fire going to accept that road the way
it is?
I don't think so.
But we'll see.
I'd say somehow when you come back, the same group of people is going to be here, talk
about your plans for construction.
You're going to have to have some mitigations.
You hear the things that they've said about the time of day and that type of thing.
So you're going to want to be sensitive to that.
I think as far as the architects, I'm one of the two architects here, I'd say I generally
support the direction that you're going.
I would say that the color boards that you have are nice.
I think I would make them a little more different.
I would think about maybe making something a little darker.
They're very close to each other.
And they're almost uncomfortably close.
I like the fact that they're light,
but the body color is almost identical.
So, you know, there's just mixed,
I'd like to see the same tonalities in different shades
as opposed to like, there's like a yellowish one
and a whitish one and a yellow one and a blue one.
I mean, it just needs to get flushed out a little more.
I think the renderings probably do a better job
than those materials.
So just, I think that just needs a little work.
This is modernist and we're gonna be looking very carefully
at the details when they come back.
Because as you know,
if you look at that interior view of the building,
That's what we're hoping for on the outside of the building.
It's like really clean.
Somebody mentioned the reveal, the setback of the windows.
This being a modernist design,
I'm gonna be sensitive when I see this again.
In a modernist design, you don't want a big, deep reveal.
This isn't like a Spanish style house,
but you wanna see it reveal.
And based on what you're showing on the inside,
I think you can get there.
I just think we need to see more detail.
elevations, you can see people were picking them apart.
Things don't line up.
What are these extra lines?
I think it just all has to be flushed out a little more.
And I trust you're gonna do that.
Screening of HVAC.
I mean, usually when these things come in,
we don't see the HVAC screens.
We're gonna wanna see that when you come back.
We're gonna wanna see how the trash cans are enclosed
so that you don't see them
right up in front of the building.
You heard many people talk about the ADA parking.
I, for one, it doesn't bother me that it's there.
I think, but right now, the way that it's drawn,
it's a bit of a blunt instrument.
I know I do this for a living,
so I know that you can, with materials, make that go away.
The best thing that could happen is if it was less visible.
And by the way, for whoever that person is
who has that unit and they're in a wheelchair,
they don't want it to be super visible, right?
So, maybe it's just the way it is,
but obviously I'm an architect and I start to design things.
I mean, can you shift the unit
so that is recessed more into the site?
I don't know.
It doesn't bother me so much, just as it just kinda stands out.
It's like the most prominent thing on your front elevation.
You're gonna wanna make that more nuanced.
They talked about the window alignment.
I picked up on that too.
I mean, I think it's just a matter of details.
Just get into the detail.
I mean, that's all I really have.
That's it.
Well, I think I've collected most of the issues
and if I missed anything, make sure you let me know
and we'll run down.
What I like to do is make sure that the applicant
goes away with a sense of,
now it's a word I'm looking for.
A clear understanding of the entirety of the design review commission.
So some of the issues, and I'll just run down them and make sure we have consensus.
We need three.
That's really what we need.
Rethink the oak trees.
So the tree plantings on the deck, do we agree that that's an issue?
Do we provide direction to the applicant to address that?
Looks like I got three heads nodding, okay?
The rear elevation, we've got some issues there.
The decks, how the decks work out and possible,
how they interact with the neighbor.
We've got window alignment.
It's a little boxy maybe and work out some details
on that rear elevation.
Access to other parts of the site.
Commissioner Killian made up, brought the point up
of access to the rear slope and other areas
for maintenance, et cetera.
I think the ask is to show how that would be accomplished
in a path.
It sounds like everybody supports the quit claim.
We really don't make a recommendation on that,
but we can let it be known.
Okay.
Let's see, landscape screening on Holcomb Court.
Along Holcomb Court, along that side.
That's the north elevation.
A construction plan, which would include a traffic plan.
We typically require that anyway.
So and I think the applicants already agree to that,
but I think we're all in agreement on that.
Okay.
Fence samples.
Oh, can I add to that on the fencing whether it's,
I think the thing is to make sure that it's a,
you know, the post, you know, or maybe steel
or whether they're vinyl clad or wood or not,
but that seems to be always the failing part
and then the whole fence is sagging one way or the other.
So, okay.
board post and it's construction since it's kind of nailed together good we
wanted to take a look at oh one one issue was is path of travel only
required for unit 2 or is it required for all units we'll check into that yeah
that'll show on that'll show on a site plan retaining wall finishes yes let's
see and we need more detail for final as we always do we're gonna want to see a
a couple of sections, maybe a section
through the whole building, reveals window finishes
and lining up the windows,
not just on the rear elevation but on all elevations.
It's a further development of the architecture, correct?
Okay.
Mr. Secretary, on the prior item,
you said retaining wall finishes.
Is that inclusive of the big front planter?
Mostly of, yes.
Okay, thank you.
And then, I'm sorry, Chair, you mentioned something
about the materials and I didn't really catch that.
I mean, there were a few things in the materials.
I mean, first off, more refinement on the color board,
just maybe a little more unified colorway.
They're kind of all over the place.
And then, you know, talking about the materials
in a way that are gonna be maintain,
make the materials maintainable.
Okay.
You have a five unit condo here.
The condo association is gonna have no power
and it'll just, nothing will ever happen.
It'll be like that road.
Okay, frankly, that's what's gonna happen.
So just pick materials that are maintainable.
Okay, the applicant spoke about a forensic specialist
that they talked about.
There might be a report that might be available
that you could chill us or is that they'll have one on the, great, okay, suffice, okay,
okay, is there anything I missed?
The class 32?
You would just, you would?
We're not ruling on anything tonight.
No, but ultimately that's going to be as CEQA requires the first,
the first, nothing can be approved before CEQA is approved.
So what you're going to be asked to do is to approve a CEQA determination of categorical
exemption.
Okay.
Well, I didn't see anything there that I would take exception to on the list.
Okay.
And that's another thing.
Do we all support a class 32 CEQA exemption?
We all know what that is.
You go back.
Yeah, sure.
Class 32 exemption's been around for, I don't know, eight or nine years.
it's an infill exemption for urban developments
under five acres.
It's, in my opinion, it's for projects exactly like this.
And it has these five tests to look at.
And remember, it's an exemption.
So there's no findings of fact
or substantial evidence required to make these findings.
And that's that the project is applicable
or consistent with the general plan.
In fact, the general plan's minimum density for this property is five units.
If it was four, it wouldn't be in compliance.
That it occurs within city limits.
It's less than five acres.
There is no visual evidence of habitat.
There's no rock outcroppings for snakes.
There's no loose soil for burrowing owls.
no water for amphibian creatures and fish. There's significant effects related to traffic
and we talk about that in the sequel world. That's VMT. That's vehicle miles traveled
and it doesn't come anywhere near the threshold. Or noise, air quality or water quality for
or a construction of a five unit condominium.
And then it is adequately served by all utilities.
They've been noticed, they had no comments
with the exception of, with the exception of trash,
and they didn't have any issues except that they just said,
make sure the receptacles are on the street on pickup day.
Did I miss something there?
No, okay.
So then if this categorical exemption is agreed to slash approved, it essentially turns into
just a straight negative declaration?
No, it's an exemption.
So it's no classification, it's just an exemption.
Exempt from CEQA.
Got it.
Thank you.
And in the end, this body has to make that determination, but not today.
Does somebody go out there and tell us there's no water, blah, blah, blah, or do we have to
do that?
I can do that.
I'm just wondering, because if it is all those things, then it's fine, right?
But who does that?
We do it, Steph.
Okay.
I have a very high confidence level that it meets these tests.
Okay.
And I don't know that it matters, but the previous project that was entitled here did
get a class 32 exemption.
Okay.
Has it been around that long?
Yeah.
32?
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay, better make sure no little critters have moved in.
Yeah.
Okay.
Cool.
All right.
So, is that everything?
Yep.
Okay.
Cool.
Ready?
So, we're done then, right?
I mean, was there anything else?
We can close that item.
I'm done with the public.
That's why you didn't have a yellow sheet.
I keep throwing them out.
I keep throwing them out.
What am I going to do without you, Charles?
I'm going to cry.
I'm going to cry.
Jeez.
Okay.
So with that done, we move on to Commission considerations.
This portion of the Janus for items that are not required to be publicly noticed but when
a formal staff presentation, question and answer period, public input, or discussion
among Commissioners is helpful.
I do have a few.
I would be remiss if I did not recognize Commissioner Krelling in his last meeting.
He served four years.
I think he has perfect attendance.
Perfect attendance.
Free ice cream sandwich at lunch.
Let's schedule that lunch and ice cream sandwich.
Charles, your comments and your take on projects
does exactly what the citizen at large is supposed to do.
Kind of takes a different twist on it
and looks at it from a different angle.
And boy, have you done that.
You've done a good job of doing that.
We will miss you.
but I understand a congratulations is an order
on your appointment to the Transportation Commission.
Yes, thank you.
Congrats, yay!
I will, I've learned a lot from all of you.
I've really enjoyed working with you on this,
both my fellow commissioners, secretary,
and all the staff as well.
I can't tell you how much I've learned
and really enjoyed my time on DRC
and I just thought it would be fun to try
different subject matter for the next four years. So with that that brings us
to there's a new design review commissioner appointed to replace
Commissioner Crowling. His name is Peter Weingarten. He'll be here at the next
meeting. He is an architect. He will be representing the design review
commission as a citizen at large but he is an architect and I believe he works
with Gensler. Which begets at our next meeting we'll start with an election of a new chair
and vice chair. So let me know if there's for any reason that you would not be open
to chair or vice chair. You can either do that now or you can do that in an e-mail or
a smoke signal or send a pigeon my way. Nasty look. Is that it? That's all I got. Okay.
Okay.
Commission member and staff reports or announcements.
I would just like to thank you as well, Charles.
It's been a pleasure.
You've been a great mentor for me, so thank you.
I will again state that I will miss working with you, and it's been a great two years
having you on board, so I've enjoyed it.
All right.
And I'm still going to figure out how to meet you before some of these meetings at the coffee
place, and then I'm going to sit now back there and bother you guys once in a while.
Heckler.
We're looking forward to it.
All right.
With that, we're done.
All right, adjourn.
Okay.