Hello, this is opens the June 18th Design Review Commission meeting
Welcome
Can we do a roll call, please? Thank you chair
Commissioner case here vice chair basing here chair Newsom here
Commissioner Riley is ill and will be out tonight, but we have three we have quorum
great, thanks, so
First I'd like to make a statement. So
Welcome to the Wednesday, June 18th, 2025, regular meeting of the Walnut Creek Design Review
Commission. As some attendees may be participating in their first Walnut Creek DRC meeting,
I want to welcome everyone and talk briefly about the scope of this meeting and the public comment
process. The Design Review Commission is appointed by the City Council as an advisory body to the
Planning Commission on design review for major development projects, major subdivisions, and
and conditional use permits.
Additionally, the Commission is responsible for approving design review for master sign
programs.
The Commission's role is to review the design, architecture, landscape, building layout and
other related project design components.
The purpose of the meeting is to provide design review feedback and consideration for projects
on this agenda.
Please note that apart from its specialized roles, the Commission is not a decision-making
body on project entitlements or environmental review nor does it make policy or process
decisions. Under the Brown Act and the Municipal Code, the Commission cannot act on items not
on the agenda or not within the scope of its responsibilities. For each agenda item, there
will be an opportunity for public comment on your item, on the item. Thus, if you desire
to speak on an item on the agenda this evening, please hold your comments until the Commission
considers that item. Additionally, we have a section on the agenda titled Public Communications
which is for public comments for items not on the agenda. Each person will have three
minutes to make their comment. Speakers representing a group will be allowed 10 minutes to speak
in lieu of other members of the group speaking on an item. Speakers will not be able to sign
unused time to other speakers. If you desire to provide public comment, please fill out
a speaker card. The speaker cards are in the back of the room. They're yellow. So if you
want to speak, please fill it out and turn the card in. Okay? So with that said, moving
right along, we're going to move to the consent calendar. Do we have any items considered
to be moved on the consent calendar.
The staff recommends none items to be moved,
no items to be moved to consent.
Okay, thanks.
Item 3, public communications.
As promised, this portion is reserved for items,
comment on items not on the agenda.
Under the Brown Act, we cannot act on these items.
During public communications, but may respond briefly
to statements made or questions posed, request clarification
or refer an item to staff.
Do we have any public communications on items not on the agenda?
Seeing none, let's move on.
So before we get into the next thing,
do we propose moving any items on the agenda?
Thank you, Chair.
Yes, the staff would recommend the commission make a motion to switch 4A and 4B.
4B is much less a smaller project.
Okay. That okay for you, Stephen?
Okay. Does anybody want to make a motion?
So moved. Okay. Alright.
So then let's go ahead with item 4B. Oh, hang on. Wait. Hang on one sec. So first,
one more thing before we do that. The disclosure of ex parte communications. So anybody on
this commission been contacted by any members of the public about items on the agenda?
Nor have I. Okay go ahead Steven. Good evening chair, vice chair, commissioners.
My name is Steven Cook and I am an assistant planner with the city's
community development department. Before you this evening is a request of a new
master sign program for Alpine Square located at 1777 Botello Drive. The
associated project number is Y25009. Beginning with site contacts, the
The subject property is approximately 1.5 incurs in size and is developed with an existing
three-story commercial office building totaling roughly 100,000 square feet.
The site is located at the westerly end of Botelho Drive and is directly adjacent to
Interstate 680.
The property is zoned office and the surrounding land uses include multi-family residential
to the north, commercial retail to the east, and Interstate 680 to the west and south,
and a vicinity map is included on the slide for your reference.
The signed subcommittee reviewed the proposal on May 7th of this year.
Overall, the subcommittee was supportive of the Master Sign Program with a few minor
recommendations.
Specifically, they recommended the removal of a proposed freeway skyline sign location
and requested that the site's identification sign include the street name along with the
street number.
Following that meeting, the applicant revised the Master Sign Program to incorporate all
of the subcommittee's requested modifications.
The proposed Master Sign Program contains design guidelines and development standards
that ensures consistent, well-integrated signage
across the property.
It helps maintain visual cohesion, supports wayfinding,
and serves as the basis
for reviewing future sign proposals.
It's important to note that the site contains
an existing sign program.
The intent of this proposal is to update the design
of existing signage and introduce two new sign types.
And for your reference, the sitemap
on the slide highlights using red circles the locations
of the proposed new signs,
which includes two freeway-facing skyline signs
and a garage entry exit sign.
The proposed sign program will retain the four existing
tenant wall signs without any modifications.
Each of these signs measures 31 square feet,
are non-illuminated, and it contains an existing aluminum
panel with one inch deep stainless steel letters.
The existing site identification sign
is proposed to be redesigned, as highlighted in red
on the slide.
The new sign will measure 15 square feet,
remains non-illuminated, and consists
of a new aluminum sign cabinet and a painted finish
with a one quarter inch thick aluminum letter.
The sign subcommittee had recommended the applicant
to incorporate the full site address with the building name
which is reflected on the proposed design.
The existing entry door decals are also proposed
to be redesigned as highlighted in red on the slide.
The updated vinyl decals measure 11 square feet.
It will include both the building name and the site address.
Whereas the existing decals only displayed the street number.
The existing garage wayfinding sign includes blue address numbers and a separate sign
with the directional arrow pointing towards the underground parking garage entrance.
The proposed MSP will remove these signs completely and replace them
with a single consolidated sign that combines directional information and address numbers.
This new sign is highlighted in red, will measure 12 square feet, be non-illuminated
and consist of a one inch deep aluminum panel in a painted finish
with a quarter inch deep painted aluminum letters and numbers.
This is a new sign type, which includes an exit and enter adhesive vinyl sticker that will be placed on the existing roll-up door for the underground parking garage.
The sign area is six square feet, and the sign program proposes two new freeway skyline signs.
Initially three locations were proposed, however, following recommendations from the sign subcommittee, this was reduced to two.
These signs meet the city's sign ordinance definition of freeway signs, as they exceed 20 square feet in size and are located within 500 feet of a freeway.
And because they are proposed to be more than 25 feet above ground level,
they are considered to also be skyline signs and are subject to additional findings.
However, the signs do not meet the findings
and therefore require an exception to the sign ordinance.
Both signs share identical design standards and are located along the upper band
of a building wall oriented towards I-680.
Each sign is proposed to be up to 80 square feet in size
and can be illuminated using halo-lit, facelit and push-through methods.
Staff believes that the intent of the proposed signage is consistent with previous master
sign program approvals in Walnut Creek that have allowed for skyline signs.
For example, in the Golden Triangle area the city has approved multiple 200 square foot skyline signs
facing I-680 and Bart, while in the downtown core area several 60 square foot skyline signs have
been approved along major arterial corridors such as Mount Diablo Boulevard and North Carolina
Boulevard. The proposal will provide an identical characteristic by utilizing two building facades
that are both oriented towards the I-680 and highly visible to passing motorists to increase
tenant identification. The project is recommended to be exempt from CEQA per section 5301 existing
facilities. Staff is recommending the design review commission move to determine the project
is exempt from CEQA per section 5301 existing facilities and adopt the draft resolution
approving a new master sign program for Alpine Square at 1777 Battello Drive subject to the
conditions of approval contained therein. And that concludes staff's presentation.
I'm available for any questions you may have. Additionally, the applicant is
present here today and is also available for any questions you may have. Thank you.
Thank you. Any questions? I don't have any questions. Do we want to make a motion?
Anybody? Public comment, of course. Is there any public comment? Hearing none,
Let's let's move on so any commissioner comments. I have none the applicant addressed our concerns in
signed subcommittee meeting
Okay, so
Now should we make a motion?
Okay
Anybody want to make a motion? I make a motion that we approve
the
Recommendation for CEQA exemption and the update to the master sign program
Okay
need a vote
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
All right, so let's move on to item A, which is the Mitchell Townhomes.
Do staff have a presentation?
Yes.
Good evening, commissioners.
My name is Simmer Gill, senior planner with the city.
We are here tonight to gather DRC's feedback on the Mitchell Townhomes project that will
be located on a 22 acre site that's currently occupied by the Walnut Creek
Shade Lens Executive Park. The application number is y24-026 and the
applicant Jonathan Fern and his team are here tonight as am I to answer any
questions that you may have after this presentation. And just to quickly orient
you with the site, the two parcels that will be combined are located fronting
shade lens and the backside is Mitchell Drive. The site currently has 11 office buildings
which is known as the Walnut Creek shade lens executive park. These buildings will be demolished
for proposed construction and the zoning is plan development and general plan designation
is business park. As you can see on this map to the left, there is a mix of surrounding
uses such as commercial, retail, office, and residential. The Villa Monte housing senior
housing community is located to the south and there are residential uses that are located
to the east across Oak Grove Road as well as the new Oakmont senior housing facility.
The entitlements were approved but it's not under construction yet but the location for
that will be to the north of this project site and then of course everything else around
It is like the Shadelands sports mall, medical facilities, as well as office uses.
And here's a closer look at the site.
There are 12 buildings on site that are part of the Shadelands executive park.
11 buildings are on the two larger parcels that will be demolished, and the three-story
office building thus identified as number 12 facing Oak Grove is on a separate parcel
and that will remain.
And the two other adjacent parcels that consist of the Bank of America building at the corner
of Oak Grove and Shadelands and then the Montessori daycare slash school for kindergartners is
also on a separate parcel and that will remain.
And here are some site photographs just looking into the building, into the parking lot off
Shadelands Drive and off of Mitchell Drive and the map basically identifies where the
the buildings are located on the site with these stars identifying the locations.
And before we get into the project details, I just wanted to go over some background.
On October 18 of 2023, a preliminary SB 330 application was submitted to the city pursuant
to state law and also pursuant to builder's remedy.
And then on October 24 of 2023, the city's housing element was certified by California
Department of Housing and Community Development, also known as HCD. The
application was submitted six days prior to the city receiving that
certification from HCD on the housing element. And on April 9th, the formal
planning application was submitted to the city for this project to move
forward. The application was deemed incomplete due to outstanding items in
that first round of submittal. After receiving a second round of submittal on
June 28 of 2024 the city did determine the application to be complete and did
begin processing in accordance with all of the applicable state and local
regulations. And subsequently the applicant has been working with the city
by submitting additional plan revisions, approximately three additional rounds of
plan review after the application was deemed complete to address any remaining
project comments. So now moving on into the project proposal, as mentioned earlier the
11 existing office buildings will be demolished for construction of the new 422 unit multi-family
townhouse development. It is a three-story design with a mix of building types. It will
have covered garages and outdoor decks. The units are arranged across 83 buildings and
the height will range from 38 to 40 feet.
And a total of 955 parking spaces will be provided
and 111 of those spaces will be
along the new internal roadways.
The remaining spaces will be in garages.
And 510 new trees are also proposed
as part of the new landscaping pallet,
as well as a shared open space area,
centralized community areas consisting of rain gardens,
bioretention facilities as well as a dog park.
And as part of this project, the applicant
is also preserving eight of the existing trees on site.
I will go into the location more later in this presentation.
And 457 trees on site will be removed.
Those 28 trees were approved by the city's consulting
arborist due to the condition of the trees, of the species,
And the remaining trees will require planning commission consideration as they were in fair to good health.
And I also wanted to touch on CEQA.
So given the size and scope of this project, the city did determine that a environmental impact report is required.
So in order to identify and evaluate any potential impacts the project may have.
And the EIR is currently in process evaluating all environmental factors.
And a notice of preparation was also prepared, and a scoping session was held late last year
in December to gather public and agency input on the environmental issues that needed to be studied.
And public comments were also used as part of the preparation of that EIR.
And all environmental topics were considered during the initial study of the project.
and these are being analyzed in full detail in the EIR and all sections of the EIR that are listed
here are being drafted and under review and the city is ensuring that they're thoroughly analyzed
and any potential impacts will be properly addressed and the draft EIR will be released
for public comments at a later date as mentioned earlier still currently under review with the city
Once the public draft EIR is circulated and the final EIR is prepared,
then that will be considered by the Planning Commission at a later date.
So tonight, Design Review Commission's role is to provide feedback and input on the project
and the feedback that we gather today will be presented to Planning Commission at a later date.
We don't have a scheduled date at the moment.
We have to wait for the EIR to be completed before we can schedule to Planning Commission's
consideration.
And Planning Commission will consider all of the items that are listed on this slide.
And this project is also being processed under the Housing Accountability Act and SB 330.
So essentially the city's review is limited if the project meets all of the applicable
objective standards. It is covered under the HAA as a residential project providing multiple
housing units and the project is consistent with the city's objective development standards
as well as the design standards. Additionally, the builder's remedy provision under the HAA
does place additional limits on the city's authority to deny an affordable housing project
that includes affordable housing units. And the builder's remedy allows a developer to
to propose a housing project that is more dense
or is not consistent with the city's zoning and general plan.
Therefore, no legislative action or amendments
would be required.
Sorry, I'm gonna need a sip of water.
And since this project, or sorry,
this parcel is zoned business park,
it doesn't have specific residential development standards.
So the city did determine
what would be the best fit development standard
for this project.
So in addition to the business park zoning standards
and the city's design standards,
the project will also align with the development standard
of the most comparable residential zone,
which is the M2 multi-family zone.
And the proposed density of 19 dwelling units per acre
does fall within the density range
of the multi-family medium density.
And here's just some information on the density bonus.
The project is providing 55 units
that are dedicated to low income.
So for that reason, under state density bonus law,
the project is allowed to request unlimited waivers
to any development standards that may preclude
the feasibility of the housing development.
The applicant is requesting 10 waivers
and no concessions are requested as part of this project.
Here is a list of those 10 waiver requests from the city's development standards.
The project does still meet the development standards, but just with reduced, for example,
the minimum front yard setback required for a multi-family project would be 15 feet.
The applicant is providing 10 and so forth.
The city did review all of the waivers against the city's objective standards.
The project will continue to comply with the city's objective standards, providing fire
emergency access in case of a fire, meeting all building code and safety requirements,
as well as storm drain C3 requirements, which are all of the city's objective standards,
and none of those are being waived.
And here is the proposed tentative map.
The subdivision will create 82 new lots.
And the three adjacent parcels east of the property will continue to remain.
And here is a detailed site plan that essentially shows access to the site will be gained from
Mitchell and Shadelands Drive which then connects to internal roadways of the development.
And it is a cluster layout which shows the different townhouse building types or configurations
that are laid out throughout the site.
And the applicant could probably go more into this, but the project will be completed in
two separate phases.
And so here is a detailed site plan.
There are two architectural styles being proposed, and it's identified as neighborhood one or
N1 and N2.
So the neighborhood one has both, sorry, both neighborhoods have four plans in each style,
so a total of eight plans for the entire development.
one neighborhood one has six building types and the height will be 38 feet building height and
and two which is the larger building type seen here in the the shaded yellow area are the four
four through seven plexus and will have a 40 foot building height and the unit sizes range from
1288 to 2157 two to three bedroom townhomes four bedroom units are proposed in plan four of
neighborhood too. And two car garages are also proposed for each unit and then plan one under
the neighborhood two does provide tandem garages for about 38 units. And now moving into the
building architecture. So here is just a overall look at the variations in the architectural styles
and color schemes. Each town home or neighborhood N1 and N2 does feature two distinct architectural
styles identified as style A and style B with each having two different color schemes so
with a total of four color schemes per neighborhood. And the variation in color and styles does
comply with the requirements of the city's objective design standards which does bring
variation across the site. And the intent is basically not to have identical color schemes
next door or across from each other. And I believe this project meets that.
And moving on into the neighborhood one style A, scheme one, I've just put up some renderings
of the three plex that you see here. Again, the buildings are configured like two, three,
four, five, and six-plex layouts,
but I'm just gonna go over the three-plex,
and the key map here does show
the location of that three-plex,
and this is the only building in the,
in neighborhood one that is a three-plex layout,
and I also wanted to point out
where the end units face the street or open space areas,
similar to this three-plex design.
It will have a side-facing second floor deck,
otherwise all of the other units have
either rear facing decks or front facing decks,
but this one in particular,
this is an example of one that has a side facing deck
and you can see that on the renderings here.
And this is style B, scheme two.
I did wanna point out that the neighborhood one
has two plex and three plex design,
whereas the N2 does not.
That has the larger layouts,
which starts at the four plex to seven plex.
And this is just essentially showing the detail of the materials that are being proposed under Style A
and this is Style B. And it's essentially stucco wood fiber cement with metal and stone veneer
accents. And I'll just quickly go run through the floor plans. This is floor plan one for neighborhood
one. Each unit does include a rear loaded garage and a flex optional room on the ground
floor. The second floor has living room, kitchen, great room and outdoor deck. The third floor
has bedrooms and bathrooms. This layout basically continues into plan two. Again, you can see
that deck that's facing on the second floor. This is the third floor plan, three bedrooms.
This is the plan for which as mentioned earlier, this one does have that option for a side
deck instead of the rear front deck.
And this is neighborhood two, style A scheme one, again, these are the larger four to seven
plex building configurations and a total of 200 units located across 38 buildings will
have this layout.
Floor plans two, three and four do include bedrooms and bathrooms on the first floor.
Floor plan one has the tandem garages and floor plan four under this neighborhood will
have four bedroom units.
And here's style two, scheme B. This one's showing the sevenplex as you can see there's
that tandem garage located in between.
And here's the Style A for Neighborhood 2, just again, more details on the materials
and then the variation as Style B uses fiber cement lap siding whereas Style A uses a board
and batten siding and Stucco is used along both, however, just to break up the façade,
there are some material changes.
This is neighborhood two floor plans.
The first floor has a tandem garage, as you can see here,
and then right above the first floor tandem garage
will be the great room kitchen,
and the bedroom is located on that second floor,
along with the deck.
All other units in this neighborhood plans
two through floor include a rear-loaded garage
and a bedroom on the first floor.
and second floor is mainly living areas,
kitchen, great room and outdoor decks.
Again, third floor, bedroom, bathroom, same layout.
They just get larger as we go.
So this is plan three, which is a three bedroom.
Again, that option of the bedroom on the lower floor.
And this is the largest floor plan, plan four,
and the four bedrooms are proposed in this floor plan.
And now moving on into the landscape plan.
510 new trees are proposed that range in size
from 15 gallon to 36 inch box trees.
The applicant is also preserving eight of the existing trees.
Seven are redwoods that are located in that central area
that I have with all the stars.
And then there is a oak tree to the northwest
that has a star that's also being preserved.
And then the area that says offsite
and is highlighted in that purple are all of the offsite,
the adjacent neighboring trees that will also be preserved.
And as part of that 510 trees that are scattered
throughout the development,
I'm just gonna highlight some of the ones
that are along the street frontages.
24 inch box London Plain trees
will be planted along Mitchell.
24 inch box redwood ash trees are planted along Shadelands
and the 36 inch box coastal live oaks
are located within mostly the central open space area.
And the 24 inch box evergreen elms
will be located along the east side elevation,
which is the elevation closest to the adjacent tenant,
Bank of America and the three story office building
that will remain.
And here's just a more closer look at the landscape plan.
This shows the central open space amenities,
which includes benches, barbecue areas,
and some shade trees and planting in front
of all of the units, as well as dog parks,
bike parking, and then the cluster mailboxes
that are scattered throughout the site.
I believe this one at least shows the detailing of it.
And as part of this project,
there will be a removal of 457 trees
that consist of coastal redwoods, cedar, redwood ash,
evergreen, and London plain trees.
I did wanna point out that none of these trees
are considered highly protected species
under the city's tree preservation ordinance.
What that means is they're not considered
indigenous species such as like a walnut
or a live or a valley oak.
And in addition, the applicant is,
to offset the loss of these trees,
the applicant's actually planting more trees
than what was on site, 510 new trees,
as well as trying to preserve what they can on site.
And there are a total of 31 offsite trees
that will be either impacted by this construction
or will be near the drip line of this construction.
19 of these will be protected during construction,
and most of those are the more mature larger trees
that are located along the northwest
to the left of the slide that's shown in that green box.
And then five will be removed
and they're actually located on the right side
with that larger box in that parking lot area
adjacent to this project site.
There are seven other offsite trees that are being removed.
They are undersized so could actually be removed
without permits. And with that staff does recommend that the Design Review Commission review and
comment on the following topics that consist of site design, building design, and elevation styles,
landscape plan, and tree removals. And the input that we received tonight it will be forwarded to
the Planning Commission for consideration of this project and the entitlements. And before I conclude
my presentation. I just wanted to add that staff did receive several letters of support and several
letters expressing concern with the project and all of those have been incorporated as part of
the agenda packet tonight. I believe one additional copy did come after hours but a paper copy should
have been presented to you as well as additional copies for the public in the back. And the applicant
tonight also has a presentation but I am happy to answer any questions. Any
questions? A lot of staff. Thank you. Thanks. Let's go ahead with the applicant
presentation then. Please introduce yourself. Make sure the microphone is
live. Thanks. Great, well thank you. Good to be everybody. My name is Jonathan
Fern. I'm senior vice president of development with signature development
group. I'm joined here this evening by our consultant team. We have K2GY Architects,
it's our project architect. The Gasara Partnership was our landscape architect and then CBG Engineers
who's our civil engineer. We're here for any and all of your questions. Just to kick
it off, I'm going to give a quick overview. Simmer's very comprehensive presentation took
some of my thunder away, so we'll keep it my word short. But then we'll turn it over
to David Burton at KDGY to talk about architecture a little more and then Nick Samison at the
disorder partnership to talk about landscape. We are likely going to be extending those
bike lanes as well. We'll talk about that a little bit later. As Semmer showed, we'll
have internal walkways throughout. This will not be a gated community. This will be open
for pedestrians to migrate through, through Mitchell and to Shadelands. Cars obviously
We can not do that, we have two exits on Mitchell,
two exits on Shailins, but there's no connecting the two.
We felt that it was best to kind of have the traffic,
if you will.
And as Simmer mentioned, we are not wanting
to chop down every tree that's on site,
so there are a number of mature redwood trees
that we are looking to keep,
and we've organized our central open space
kind of around those.
We won't talk more about the increase in trees,
we've covered that, 111 parking spaces
that are set on the internal streets,
as you can see, for guests and visitors.
And then we have 30 bike parking spaces
that will be sprinkled throughout the open spaces as well.
Last but not least, 55 units, 13% of the total,
will be offered to low-income households.
That is per the builder's remedy law,
but that's nearly double the city's requirement
of 7% at low.
Won't spend too much time here.
Some recover this as well.
We've got eight distinct floor plans,
two distinct product types, ranging from two bedrooms,
two and a half bathrooms, to four bedrooms,
three and a half bathrooms.
Just a couple of highlights.
Each unit will have kind of its own private open space
that's in addition to the common open space,
two car garages for each floor plan.
EV charges will be installed day one for each unit.
The project will be fully electric.
There's no gas for this project.
to keep in line with the new reach codes.
And then there'll be solar ready,
and some solar will be installed day one per code.
So talking about some of the community benefit discussions
that we've been having with the city
and some of the conversations we've actually been having
with the folks at the Via Monte senior facility as well.
There is concern about traffic on shade lands
and safety on shade lands.
So we want to be a part of a solution at that.
and one of the things that we are talking about,
potentially installing, assuming we understand
all the implications is a roundabout
at Shailin's and Viamante, as you can see here.
And then towards the eastern end,
we are looking to install a raised crosswalk.
One of the things that we've heard
is that for folks that are coming off of Oak Grove,
it's very difficult currently to exit out of the driveway
at the Viamante Senior Facility to make a left turn.
So what we're hoping is that a raised crosswalk
will slow down cars, so it's easier to make
this left turn movement from the Viamante community
as well as our community as well.
In addition, we'll be installing bike lanes
on both sides of the street.
And then in addition to the bike lanes
that are directly in front of our project frontage,
we are looking to extend bike lanes
the full length of shade lanes from Wigget to Oak Grove Road
and then on Mitchell, both sides of the street
from our project frontage to Oak Grove as well.
So why are we doing it?
Why here?
We just think it's really a great place
to have a residential, have a residential use.
And I think you're seeing that more and more
in the Shailin's business park.
It's just walkable to a number of different things
as we've seen.
You've got schools nearby, you've got retail nearby,
you've got breweries nearby, you've got office uses nearby.
So there is really, I think, an opportunity for folks
to not have to get into their cars here.
And we think that the actual design is very contextual
with the surrounding neighborhood.
And so we're really excited about it.
Hard to see this, I guess, but the entitlement schedule.
As Simmer mentioned, we submitted our preliminary application
back in October of 2023.
Have since gone a number of rounds of city,
we've addressed all of their comments.
So we are here this evening
at the Desire Review Commission Study Session.
We're working to get our draft ER out on the street,
as Simmer mentioned, hopefully later this summer,
and then we hope to be in front of Planning Commission
and Council for their consideration in Q4 of this year.
So with that, I'm gonna turn it over to David Burton
at K2GY to talk about the architecture.
Good evening, happy to be here
and presenting this project to you this evening.
Some of this has been covered,
so hopefully not too much repetition.
We've organized a site here into two distinct neighborhoods
as it's been talked about that are come together
along central spine of open space.
Neighborhood one is the blue buildings
located off of Mitchell Drive,
and neighborhood two is the yellow buildings
located off of Shadelands Drive.
Each neighborhood has two points of vehicular access,
which has been noted, two from Mitchell Drive
and two from Shadelands.
We've created a loop street network for each half of the site,
such that all residents enter the neighborhood on a street
and then only have a short drive down an alley
to get access to their homes.
We wanted to try and give that good street
frontage for everything.
That network also allows us to distribute on-street guest
parking evenly across the site to get that in good proximity
to all the homes.
All buildings are oriented to have front doors and balconies
looking out onto the streets, or onto a passe,
or a central green space to ensure that those public spaces
have a warm and inviting character.
We've developed a fine grain pedestrian and bike network
that ensures walkable blocks and connects
the two halves of the site to each other,
and connects everyone to the central open space.
Nick Samuelson will talk about that a lot more
when he gets up.
Each neighborhood has two distinct architecture
to give it its own identity.
We've chosen two farmhouse inspired styles
for each neighborhood.
Neighborhood one, which you see here,
style A has a more modern expression with tight overhangs,
more vertical proportions,
asymmetrical corner elements and cooler color schemes.
Whereas style B is a bit more traditional
with deeper overhangs, bracket details
and less vertical proportions, and a little bit warmer
colored palettes.
Neighborhood 2 also takes that farmhouse style architecture
as its inspiration, but uses forms, materials, details,
and colors to make it distinct from those in neighborhood 1.
Style A is the more traditional one here,
and it employs, again, deep overhangs,
eaves with bracket details, exposed rafters,
and more extensive use of wood.
Wood looks siding and stone to near
then you would find in Neighborhood 1.
It also has more vertical proportions
and uses darker, more saturated colors
to make it distinct from the traditional style
in Neighborhood 1.
Style B is more modern of the styles here,
and we are using shed roof forms
to make it here very distinct from Style A,
and also to make it very distinct from Neighborhood 1.
Lapsiding is introduced
to help create different textures on these buildings,
and stone veneers used to highlight the entries.
Like in style A, darker, more saturated colors are used
to make the architecture more distinct
from that found in neighborhood one.
This diagram shows how we're proposing
to distribute the building styles
and color schemes around the site
to achieve the most diversity along street frontages,
piscios, and along the central green space.
One simple example of this is that along Mitchell Drive
frontage at the top of the site.
There are seven buildings along the street
and we're able to achieve a good diversity
such that buildings of the same style
do not sit adjacent to one another
and buildings of the same style and the same color scheme
are separated by around 500 feet or about a city block.
So you really won't see identical buildings
sitting next to each other as you move about the site.
And then just wanted to leave you,
my portion of the presentation with this rendering
showing the view along Mitchell Drive.
This gives you a good feel for how the design articulates
individual homes, while also creating
composed overall building.
Gives good eyes to the street through use of large areas
of glazing and balconies overlooking the street,
and gives prominence to everybody's front doors.
And now I'll turn the presentation over to Nick
Samuelson to talk about the landscape design for the site.
Hi, I'm Nick Samuelson with the Gazardo Partnership.
We're the landscape architects.
And when we're looking at conceptualizing the landscape
We really first wanted to look at the connectivity through the site to the open spaces and to
the surrounding neighborhood because there are a lot of nice things around here and these
open spaces provide a variety of experiences and uses as you move through them from the
rain garden that's on the west side over to the dog park that's over on the east side.
The rain garden will provide nice backdrop
for the picnic area we have with some grasses
and native planting that provide habitat for wildlife as well.
The dog park on the other end, we
have a larger artificial turf area for the dogs
to run around and some benches for the people
to sit there too with their dogs under the shade
of the jacaranda trees we're showing there right now.
The heart of the site really for us
is the central open space where we have,
we're able to provide a large lawn area for play,
some barbecue and picnic areas around there,
and we were able to keep some of the trees
and add some oak trees in there too
that the paths meander around.
And then when we were looking at our planting,
we did want to provide some native oaks where we could,
so we focused those in in the bigger areas where we had room
and tried to provide larger shade trees
for canopy over the streets.
The materials will be concrete
with some interval color concrete
and we'll have some accent paving
that kind of mark the plaza spaces
with some decomposed granite as well.
I think most of it was covered pretty thoroughly before,
so I'd be happy to answer any questions about that too.
All right, thanks.
So that's it for our presentation,
but we're certainly happy to answer any questions
from the commission, and our whole team
is here for you guys, thanks.
Thanks, great presentation.
Do we have any questions?
I have a couple questions.
There was a helpful graphic that showed
the context of Safeway, and there was that little
Bart logo, is that where the shuttle may be?
Exactly, right, exactly.
I just wanted to understand that.
And then I saw in Simmer's presentation
the phasing, it looked like that central green
is gonna be in phase one, is that right?
and then the rain garden other half is phase two.
Correct. Cool.
Okay.
I wanted to ask,
do you have any sort of idea
of what the demographic might be?
You know, obviously these are two, three, four bedroom,
you know, units.
So we obviously think there's gonna be,
you know, folks that will have be starter families,
of course, we think definitely there's an opportunity
for folks to have move down opportunities.
but, you know, young professionals, you know, folks looking to start their first house.
Okay, cool. Were there any Hydra modification things considered so that so much of the open
space doesn't need to be stormwater, like silvacells or anything, anything like that?
Oh, we had a conversation about this, but I don't know, do you want to take this?
Yeah, thank you commissioners. My name is Megan alfernes. I'm with CBG the civil engineers
the project
Does require is providing?
Hydro modification in the way of an underground storage vault in the north
West portion of the site and that makes up for the area that the where the project is slightly increasing the impervious surface
for the site
in terms of other
methodologies methodologies for
bioretention like silva cells. Typically those are a lot more of an expensive component and as well
as they are also lined so there's not as much opportunity for infiltration. So as proposed we
believe that the bioretentions are the best solution along with the required hydromodification component.
Okay. Could you explain to me, and maybe not you Megan, but someone identified to me where
the private open space? Is that just the balconies? Or is there anywhere on grade there's private?
It's really just the balcony for the units. Every unit has a balcony.
Okay. I think those are my questions. Thanks.
you already asked several of them. Thank you. So I just wanted to get an idea of the scale
of the open space and as Commissioner said what the use could be for some of those
bioretention areas and what the finished materials are on them. Are they are people allowed on them
And where do the kids go?
I mean, that's kind of my main concern with this
is the health and safety aspect of having all of these,
this grid of driveways and streets.
And if you're hoping to attract families
or young families with their starter homes,
where are they gonna ride their bikes?
And where will they be able to gather
or have a space to play
if everything is essentially the bioretention?
Well, certainly not all of it is the bioretention.
So we do have a pretty substantial passive space
that's in that central open area right now
in the rain garden over there to the left.
There's also areas to congregate
and certainly in terms of riding their bikes,
I mean, there are gonna be pathways all the way
through this project.
It'll connect into the larger bike network.
actually adding bike lanes as well. I don't think you're gonna just ride your
bike in the in the 22-acre, you know, plan, but there's certainly, you know, I think
there's plenty of space in that central open space to grow, to hang out, you
know, to walk your dog, that kind of thing. So, related question, these walkways in
between these face the buildings that are facing each other, the front doors
face. What is that distance? Are they looking directly into each other? Is there room for
two kids on bikes to pass on that walkway?
At the Paseos, we generally have around 21, 22 feet in between the buildings. In the blue
section up above, there's a kind of central Paseo that runs kind of across the site, and
about that wide. Clearly the ones, the kind of central green spaces, those
spaces are a good bit wider. I think we have a, correct me if I'm wrong, about a
10-foot wide bike pedestrian path that connects all the way through there. And
then in the yellow phase neighborhood too at the bottom, again there's that
central paseo. That one actually we are able to get a bit wider. I can't remember
exactly how wide that one is, but we're able to widen that one out a good bit
more so we do have some decent amount of space in between the buildings I have a
question I forgot to ask so you intentionally there you mentioned that
there's not connection to Oak Grove and I think it says it's a six foot good
neighbor fence so if somebody were trying to get to Chick-fil-a come down to
And then go through like past Viamante right and that's intentional we don't want to put people onto Oak Grove. I'm just trying to click because up at the top like the northeast corner there's like a little walkway that looks like it's leading kind of to the Montessori.
Yeah, I mean, I guess we just don't we don't own that property so we didn't want to put cut through on it. Yeah, okay.
Yeah, okay, nobody's likely to park in that parking lot because there's one little walkway that connects to it down in the
southeastern edge
Yeah, but that would put you on to a sidewalk that's on Shadelands if I'm
That you're talking about that bottom southeast corner
Southeast it's like the two vertically yellow elements with the three purple trees in the middle and then no
There's no there's no there's no connection. There's no connection. Okay, okay
So there's a six foot good neighbor fence along that whole edge. Okay. Yep. Okay. Thank you
anything else
Just I mean just a just a few questions. I mean I'd say
starting along that same line
I
think that
Know the challenge in housing is very much needed everywhere. I mean I think in in the Bay Area
I think it's seven hundred thousand or a million housing units shortage anticipated. So in this sense, it's a really good start
I'd say the issue with these kind of developments in the housing is that you
don't think about the secondary effects of everything around you guys are it's
great you're doing the bike lanes I mean I think I guess it's a question so like
as a as a function of the EIR the EIR is I assume the yeah I was not going to
come back and say anything about the density bonus or anything like that I I
think that's law so I'm not gonna ask that question but like all the public
schools or like the elementary school that presumably serves this is across
Oak Grove I mean are there would there be improvements planned on Oak Grove to
keep kids safe as they walk to school? There are bike lanes on Oak Grove
currently and there's there there's I think the city is working on safe routes
to school you know we are we can do so much we're we're you know assisting as
as we can with creating bike lanes,
creating the roundabout on Shadelands
to make things safer to get to work and to school.
It's not just the kids here,
it's kids in the woodlands and other areas of the city.
So this doesn't obviously sit in a vacuum.
So we do what we can, but we obviously,
we're limited in doing everything.
I mean, true enough, I mean, it's just that, you know,
the way that zoning laws are now,
I think more making a statement.
You know, things are not totally logically zoned.
I mean, obviously, Shadelands is under,
needs to see some changes.
It's probably a step in the right direction.
I think, I think at this point,
have you talked to the fire marshal about the clearances,
like these are three-story buildings.
Can the trucks get in there?
Can they swing there?
We have, that was a requirement from the city.
OK, so that's already been done.
OK.
Maybe just a question of some questions of the architect
about how the colors work.
I guess, really, for a person walking down the street,
how do you differentiate a kid walking home from school,
or you're having guests over?
How are they going to know, particularly
on the whole blue section where everything's kind of the same,
how will people be directed?
Not quite sure I understand well, I mean, it's is I mean go back to the probably best on the plan
so
So, I mean is there enough texture and differentiating here for people to actually figure out
Where they're gonna stop it neighbors visitors
As we talked about there there's two different styles and they they have pretty different characters to them in terms of depth of overhangs though
way that the buildings are articulated and things and then each of those has two different colors, so
You know, you know, you're not gonna
Find yourself like oh, there's two buildings that are exactly the same color and everything right next to each other
How do I know which one I'm going to so there is that variety as you go down the street?
and
Certainly there's address signs for every every unit at their front door and everything
As long as you know the address of the person whose house you're going to visit, you'll
find that.
But we think there's a reasonable amount of variety as your eye goes down that street.
Thanks.
Subject to an opinion, I suppose.
I mean, I think that's all my questions.
So I think we're going to go on to-
I have a related one.
Go ahead.
You have another question?
one that Commissioner Newsom and also Case have asked.
How do you consider any massing changes?
Any, for instance, on an end unit
instead of four bedrooms or three bedrooms
and making it a two bedroom
so you could have a little bit of a disferentiation on height
so that moving down the street
or people walking through the neighborhood
have a little more to guide them.
And then secondary to that, what is the way finding?
Are there way finding signs throughout the project
guiding you to address numbers, or the amenities
that you do have, the dog park and things like that?
In terms of the massing, in some ways would be
a nice thing to do, and for better or worse,
those corner units are your most desirable units.
and so that ends up being your largest units
because that's gonna be the most valuable
and desirable ones to folks.
So it would be counterintuitive
to the economics of the project to carve that out
and make those the least desirable units.
So that's the, for better or worse,
that's the answer to that one.
Well, that might mitigate the desirability
of that location might mitigate
a little change in the floor plan.
But that's my comment.
Still questions.
So yeah, just related to the wayfinding question,
yes, there will be wayfinding.
That is something that we'll do.
It's a post entitlement kind of task.
But certainly, yes, we'll have signage that guides folks
both to the amenities and to the various units
within the project, so.
Anything else?
So now public comment, right?
So do we have any comment cards turned in?
And I remind folks that if you have a comment,
you have three minutes.
If you're speaking for on behalf of a group of you,
you have 10, so.
I have three cards.
I think there might be some more.
You can bring those up when you come up,
but let's go with these three first.
Okay, Ed Sheppard.
Thank you.
I live in the Woodlands,
just east of Oak Grove,
across the street from this development.
My main concern in those of my neighbors is traffic.
If you'll put up with me,
I'm gonna try to predict what's gonna happen.
I've lived in this neighborhood for 40 years.
And so I see that the flow of traffic every day.
One problem we already have with the shade lands
is there's very few entrances and exits.
It's only two ways in from Oak Grove,
only two ways in and out from Ignacio Valley.
All the, most of the businesses and medical facilities
are to the west end of the shade lands.
And so people coming from the north
to visit those things are not going to go down Oak Grove,
get on Ignacio, go down to Wiggett or Lennon Lane
and go into those buildings.
They're going to come through Mitchell.
And so now we're adding, first of all, let me just say,
in the mornings and the afternoons,
there's a big congestion getting in and out of the shade lands, especially from Ignacio
Valley. So people in this and then, I'm sorry, and then in the afternoons, the two high schools
on Oak Grove get out and it's almost beep and creep there for a while. And presumably
some of these people, a lot of these people will be using those schools. Foothills down
the way to the middle school. So I just see adding maybe two cars per unit, adding 800
cars to this. Yes, you can get out and walk to Safeway and walk over to the orchards,
but that's not what people are going to be doing to get their kids to school and to get
to work and get to their doctor appointments.
And so in the evening and the morning,
it gets really congested down on Wiggett and Landon Lane,
trying to get into the west end of the Shadelands.
Now we're adding all that congestion
over here on Oak Grove of people trying to get
to those medical buildings and other businesses in there.
So I see one traffic circle.
I, I'm sorry, is that my time?
Yeah.
I predict if you don't make them solve it,
it'll fall on the city.
And that's my main concern and those of my neighbors.
Thank you.
Patty Bittenbender?
Thank you, can you hear me okay?
My name is Patty Bittenbinder, and I live at Villa Monte,
which you can just kind of see there,
right across the street on Shadelands.
It's a senior living community, and it is located,
it will be located directly across from that project,
across Shadelands.
I am chair of the resident council,
and representing about 250 seniors who live in Villa Monte.
And as far as I know, we are currently the only residents
living in the Shadelands area.
We have neighboring areas, Woodlands,
and behind the Whole Foods Shopping Center,
and those are usually single families.
You mentioned that on the other side of Mitchell
is Oakmont Properties, which is maybe going to be built there,
which would be another senior facility.
our concerns are primarily safety and traffic is a big one so we could be throwing up to a thousand
cars onto shade lands and Mitchell Oak Grove and Ignacio which are already heavily impacted by
traffic. In particular concern for us is the driveway that is the easternmost driveway onto
Shadelands is directly across from the only exit we have from our garage.
And I think that that is a safety hazard for both the Mitchell Town Homes Project and
for Viamante, and would like to see that exit moved west to the other end so that there's
one at North Viamante and one at the other side.
But in terms of design, looking at the waivers that have been requested, we are concerned
about the front setback.
We have a very large setback, as you can see.
We have just across the street a line of landscaping, a large bike and bicycle and walking path,
than another large landscaped area
before you get to our building.
And so we do not front directly on to shade lens
and we would like to see more setback
on this property, on the Mitchell property.
Also, it would be nice to be able to break up
that long line of buildings that will be across
from Bank of America all the way to Copa Sports.
In addition, the density for the area that it's in,
and considering how sparse the business park is,
the density is a bit much for the area.
While we welcome housing in Walnut Creek,
we're not sure that this is a good fit for this property,
the Shadelands area. Thank you. Do you have any questions? Thank you.
Thanks. Next up? Wayne Morris. Thank you commissioners and staff. My name is Wayne
Morris. I'm a resident of Viamante and I'm here as a representative of the
subcommittee of the Resident Council. Although we have many concerns about the
development. Tonight I'm just going to speak about the proposed tree removal
and green space. I received the proposal in January and I can honestly say three
adjectives describe my reaction. I was shocked, I was appalled, and I was
disappointed. I was shocked because we got the proposal literally days after the
wildfires in LA had been put out. And here we're given a proposal that would
destroy 457 mature trees. We're not talking 15-gallon trees. These are trees
that have been growing for 50 years. Trees that can help mitigate the
environmental impact and can also slow down wildfires. So to have this proposal
after the worst urban wildfire in the state's history was shocking. Then the
more I looked at it I was absolutely appalled. There are 103 Coast Redwoods
on the property. 103 Coast Redwoods. Only seven are currently proposed to be
preserved. Ninety-six coast redwoods are to be destroyed and the arborist has
reported that 82 of these redwoods are in good condition and the vast majority
are suitable to be preserved but again only seven out of a hundred and three
redwoods. These are over 150 foot tall and you can go in more than one area of
of the proposal and feel like you're in Sonoma County the way the redwoods are
growing. Then finally I was disappointed that there is no green space along
Shadeland Strive. The other three borders all have at least some green space.
Shadeland Strive, as you can see on the map, is a solid wall of three foot tall
townhouses only 15 feet from the curb. The existing buildings on the property
are set back much further. These are three-story buildings 15 feet from the
curb and a solid line with absolutely no green space. In January I wrote to the
Planning Commission and suggested one way to address this is to remove the
three or four buildings that are directly across from Viamante that would
constitute just 5% of the proposal and could give space for additional green
space. Be happy for any questions or comments. We have comments at the end. Go
ahead with the next. Thank you. Thank you. Jan Warren. Hi, Jan Warren. I live in the
Woodlands 39 years along with Ed. He's got a year on me. And I live just off of
Peachville so I come out of one street and pass another one and I'm across so I
go down this area a lot. And I first want to thank you for bringing this
project to us because it will allow people to actually own housing which we
know, allows you to build wealth. And there's I thought there would be more than the amount
of 7% for affordable housing, but it is something that's badly needed. I have a question regarding
disability access. I have been over to the condos that are in the county area off of
Jones and, you know, the the Oak Grove condos. Awesome. So if
you've got building something like that, great. I'm not sure
that you're using the same kind of materials. And I don't see
that you have the nice front porch area. But it's a good
concept over there. And I was very pleased with what they did.
And it was, I thought, priced well. But I'd like to know are
The 55 affordable housing units spaced around
whatever area they can be in, rather than lumped together.
I never find my stuff.
Let's see, bicycles.
I was having a hard time reading through
where it talked about and I was just guessing
because I couldn't look at all the pictures.
Takes too long to download.
But the bicycles is an area around the gathering place
in the middle.
And there's space, I guess, some other places.
But it's almost like, well, if you're
going to encourage biking with all the great improvements
you're making, are people just going
to have to hook them up in their garage with everything
else they've got?
I just wonder about the bicycles.
And I saw someplace, 2% of, and I guess that's 2%
that they're providing a place to keep them.
I don't know.
Also in terms of community benefits,
I'd like to put a plug in for the wonderful bus that
comes to the Shealands.
I know that it comes through in order
to help people get to work there.
But I use it to go to the city and other places over to Bart.
And it'd be great if we have this many people who
are going to be moving in to have something.
We have long wanted to have something, of course, downtown,
going without a million stops.
But the bus seven, and I forget the number of the other one,
that does go downtown, to have that dig chuck
in the middle of the day is tough.
And that requires my husband to come
pick me up somewhere to bart.
So I'd like that to be considered.
I was trying to figure out the,
what was I trying to figure out?
Let's see, uh-oh.
Okay, I'm gonna do a second for the tree guy.
I agree with his comments,
although I know the redwoods are too big.
If you can't, you can't cancel out, sorry.
Thank you.
Next.
Hi, everyone.
My name is Leora Tonawako Ross.
I'm a Walnut Creek homeowner,
and I support this proposal.
I went to the University of Oregon
for my masters in architecture,
and I went there because they were the number one school
and sustainability architecture at the time.
And this was 15 years ago.
And what I learned there was that the most environmentally
responsible thing you can do is to build housing in infill.
So in places like this where it's kind of already paved
over and to build densely so that people
can live close to transit, close to bike paths and bus stops,
and really have walkable lives.
I also have two kids that are at Marwood,
and we are kind of, sometimes we are the traffic
that people are talking about, you know,
on Ignacio Valley or along Oak Grove.
And we do our best to bike, but it's not safe,
as you all know, and something that struck me was,
as the school year started this year,
a lot of parents at Merwood know me as like the biking lady
because I bike every single day.
And I got seven text messages from moms
who are coming into Merwood saying,
okay, how do you do it?
How is it safe to go?
And the reason why they were getting in touch
is not because they're like crazy bike people like me,
but mostly because the traffic is so bad, right?
So traffic gets to a certain kind of point.
And I would say that that initial valley in the afternoons
is like that now.
I have to take my kid to dance class
at the community art center and bike or drive,
depending on the timing.
And the traffic is terrible.
And honestly, terrible traffic incentivizes people
to figure out another way to get there.
And biking is a way that's more fun.
It's not more safe yet, but we're working together
and we're trying to build a community of people
who can sort of live more sustainably
and we're doing that here in Walnut Creek.
So it's a long way of saying, I really like this project.
I think it's sustainable.
It is part of the neighborhood that I'm in
at least three times a week to go to the farmers market
to take the kids to the community art center.
And I appreciate all of your work in evaluating it.
Okay, so commissioner comments.
You wanna begin, Casey?
You're both looking at me.
Okay.
Yeah.
actually we're closing the public hearing can I ask two clarifying
questions that I thought of when we were getting public comment chip can I do that
yes to in response to public comments yeah okay we can just if the chair would
reopen the public area reopen the public please could you show us where the
affordable units are I heard that question come up we don't have that
that slide but we have a diagram, they are dispersed throughout the community and dispersed
throughout a plan and plan type and bedroom type so but they are dispersed.
And then could you speak to the setback on Shadelands because I heard you say you guys
are adding a 10-foot sidewalk and I do see green space so what is that actual setback?
It's a 20-foot setback.
Okay.
It's a 10-foot sidewalk, 10-foot setback behind the sidewalk.
Okay.
Yep.
Thank you.
are my comments I understand that Oak Grove the property between this oh sorry
closing the public hearing again okay okay so I understand the property
between our project site and Oak Grove is not ours but if there was some way to
think about connectivity there in the long run that might be great not a
deal-breaker but just figured I'd throw it out there I recognize that silva
and stuff are expensive, and I think a lot of this looks like it's storm water,
and from what I know, typically that's not that usable. It's got the section
that's like kind of kitty litter-esque and you can't really be on it. It might
be something that you could look at, see if there's a way that also makes it so
you can save more trees, because I know when you do the bio you have to grade it
out, so I'm just saying those things to say them, do with them what you will. As
the project evolves, I'd love to have more understanding of the amenities. I
see that we're laying out spaces for like decomposed granite and I see some benches
and stuff but I don't really know what's in there and I asked about the demographics
to try to understand if I should say we'd love to see a playground or we'd love to see
I don't know more shade structure something like that but I'm under the impression that
this is just kind of the layout and we'll get to that later but I just want to mention
that I think it needs to have a little more programming other than like here's some lawn
and here's a rain garden I think it needs more to pull you out there especially if this
This is the usable outdoor space for all these units, because the balconies are the only
other outdoor opportunity space they have.
In that same vein, I appreciate that there's some usable green, but they feel kind of bifurcated
by these pathways.
I do want the connectivity, but I wonder if there's just a way to think about the circulation
and movement through the sites who have some of those usable greens.
They don't all have to be like little mini fake soccer fields, but like just try not
to chop it up too much so that it feels
like there's getting some recreation opportunity.
The main north-south, we called it the central walkway,
I like that.
I like the connectivity and making
sure that you can get through this whole site
in one straight kind of motion.
But I wish it was a little more obvious.
It feels like the width of the sidewalk changes,
and you go through the central space,
but then you're sort of in people's side yards again.
And so I just, I think it would be nice
if that felt more prominent,
like it is really meant to be more of a public connector.
This feels like you're kind of wandering
into a neighborhood and you're like,
is this okay and is this gonna get me through
to the other side?
I'm not really sure.
If all of the bio has to stay,
which I imagine a world it may,
but if there's a world that it's not quite as significant,
that would be great.
But maybe there's a way to spend all the money
input boardwalks or like overlooks or something,
and I'm just trying to make them feel more usable,
or maybe there's a little butterfly garden pollinator,
something, so it feels like it's not just
storm water treatment.
Kind of said that already.
I do like the comment we heard in public comment
about trying to integrate with the buses.
I was thinking about the BART shuttle,
but I also think maybe just making sure
there's opportunity connect to buses.
I love the idea of people not using their cars
as much, I know that's not entirely feasible,
but I can imagine a world where we get better at that.
I want to be better at that.
I am having a little bit of a hard time
of the long run of driveways.
It doesn't bother me as much when it's on the Paseo side.
I don't know solution, but that is intense.
That is a visually different character than we're used to.
So I think you guys are trying to articulate it
as best you can, but that feels pretty dominant
on the site.
I don't have a recommendation of how to change it,
but that was my gut reaction when I looked
at the site plan is those grids and long runs
of garage driveways are tough.
So I don't know if maybe there's like trellises
over the garages or, I don't know, something,
but that's hard.
And then I think my last one,
it's like weirdly specific compared to everything else.
On the planting plan, I can see there's some ash trees, and they have nothing against ash.
I just noticed in the arborist report that most of them seem to be not doing very well.
I was like, maybe we shouldn't be putting more of those out there again.
I do agree that it's a bummer to lose a lot of trees, but I also want to just say that
when I looked at the arborist report, not a ton of them were wildly healthy.
A lot of them were parking lot trees.
I appreciate that you guys are saving some, but again, maybe with the re-looking at the
bio we might be able to save a few more that would be great mature trees help
make a site like this not feel quite so high-density because the bulk of the
tree helps bring the scale down a little bit okay that's it thank you I hate to
do this to you but I also have some questions based on the public comment if
If there are questions of the applicant, that's fine.
Yes.
So thank you, Commissioner Case.
You articulated some of what I wanted to talk about, too.
My question is, relative to the comment about the facing
driveways, have you looked at any alternatives
from the Viamante Senior Center that faces your roadway?
could you maybe flip those four-unit buildings
with the big-unit building so the driveways aren't exactly
opposite, something like that?
Yeah, we actually did look at that.
We actually talked to that with traffic.
And counterintuitively, I don't know if it's counterintuitively,
but actually, where it is right now is the safer location,
because you're actually looking at who's across from you
when you're pulling out of the driveway, if you flip it, then you have an offset intersection
and that's actually more dangerous.
So that's why we kept it the way it was.
Okay, thank you.
I think that answered that question.
And then my other question was relative to the disability access.
I had that on my list as well.
And I wondered if any of these units could at all in future be disabled possibly in some
future point in time the way that they are currently designed or if there is
access throughout the site for folks trying to gain access to their friends
or so 10% of the units are already designated as accessible okay yeah and
they're spread out as well in the 10% okay that answers my questions thank you
how about your your comments so my comments relative to mousing and then
also relative to some of the things that Commissioner Case said about the landscaping, the softening
and the massive 40 feet alleyways that are cold and basically not a human scale and not
something that is going to make people want to feel or they won't feel comfortable walking
down those streets because they're primarily for cars.
But I did wanted to call your attention to another project
which you probably are already familiar with
which is the Summerhill project.
It's called Oak Grove and it's on Oak, a block, yeah.
So when you walk down those driveway streets and you're
in that tunnel it just feels very overwhelming.
And if there's any way as Commissioner Case suggested
that you can find a way to soften that so that you have happy people and also I would
note that they're not sold out and part of even though they're immediately accessible
to BART and nobody has to get in the car there, it's not a friendly place to live.
So I'm sure that you'd have more success if you were able to address some of the concerns
that Commissioner Case had.
That's my comment.
that's it yeah okay so so I mean I'll say first off I mean the housing is
needed I mean I think about how long I've lived here I mean I I know this
neighborhood well I first started working on we get in 1985 so that's 40
years ago and I'll tell you then it was kind of a kind of a nothing place in my
of mind and I think things like this are beginning
to making shade lands more vibrant.
But they can't be done in a vacuum.
Unfortunately with projects like this,
you know, the state mandate is in effect.
We can't really talk about density.
We can't really talk about setback.
We can't really talk about zoning.
And sadly, we can't even talk about trees
which are so important in Walnut Creek.
the, essentially our hands are tied.
We can't, we're not here to talk about those things.
I mean, I think we've articulated in the best that we can.
I think what my fellow commissioners have said
is really important.
I mean, this is gonna be a neighborhood in Walnut Creek
and people are gonna live here.
And so I think it's, all we can do is encourage
the developer to think about the people
who are gonna live here and think about,
think about the neighbors and be a good neighbor.
And I know you want to do that.
I just think sometimes we get a little focused on what we can do.
I work for developers.
I know how that can be.
I know the economics of it.
But I mean, I think the thing is that there's more value created.
I mean, if you can't sell the units, then that's money wasted.
They're sitting there waiting.
Prices have to drop.
I think little things like this where you can actually reactivate bioswales, relocate
bioswales to save some trees and more sensitive solutions can actually help you guys sell
the units and in the short term it will be visible to buyers and long term it will be
good for the residents.
But like I said, I can't really do much about it.
But I think a lot of the comments that came out were really good.
And I noticed that unlike some of these other, and we've had a few of these come up with
the builder's risk and density bonus, I'd say that the thing that's really good about
this is I think you really have some support from the community.
Nobody's saying the housing is not needed.
Nobody's saying not in my backyard.
just making comments to kind of make the project better. And so remember that. I'd say to
the public that, you know, there's an EIR, and the EIR is about, if you don't know what
they're about, they're going to talk about all these same things in public safety, traffic,
walking, trees, bikes, transit. I've been on the receiving end of these. These things
are going to be brought up. And sadly, like somebody said, it does fall on the city. The
city's hands are tied. They have to receive this project. There's a state housing mandate.
They have a housing element that they have to fall. But at the end of the day, it's in
the developer's best interest to make a project that's attractive for people to buy them,
all of the comments that you've heard from us and from them are really going to help
you succeed. I hope you know that. I think, so what can I say? I mean, I'd say, you know,
my comment is make this a neighborhood. You know, I think the color and materials are
actually very thought through. I think they're good. I'd say that, but think about it at
a street level, somebody walking along the street, are there a couple more materials
that you can put in your quiver, maybe just a couple more materials in a few more colors
that will make it easier for people to differentiate and find their way around the neighborhood.
Just more texture. I'm not going to talk about the density. I mean, I know, I've been through
this a few times. I know that's not going to happen. Again, I think I really support
what Casey said about the amenities. I think that's only going to help you. And, I mean,
only other comment, new comment I might have is just I think the raised sidewalk
across I think it's shade lens I think I think that's a good idea I think it's
gonna be important though you know it's a very as it's been said it's a very
important bus thoroughfare so make sure that tabletop is wide enough so that the
buses don't crack their cases on it I one of my projects I designed did that
So make sure it's wide enough so that actually people don't,
you know, the buses don't damage themselves
because that's a very expensive day.
Thanks.
So I think we're just gonna kind of collect those comments.
I mean, do you wanna?
Yeah, I've got a few here.
It looked like there was some agreement
on most of what Commissioner Kay said,
and I'll see if I can recap that.
It was further develop the amenities.
to be in touch with the intended community.
Programming, yeah.
Rethink some of the recreation opportunities
for the green areas,
or maybe that goes along with that same comment?
I was thinking of saying better usability
and programming in common open space.
Does that make sense?
Better usability and?
Programming.
Programming, yeah.
Okay, so I can combine that.
Okay, great.
There was a, I'm gonna need some help with this
because everybody kind of agreed to,
there's kind of a reconcilation of the streets,
the green spaces and the sidewalks
and I think there's a paseo width is what it comes down to.
Is that right?
Say that again, sorry.
There was reconciliation of the streets,
the sidewalks and the green spaces
and I think those in reference to what were described
as a paseo in the presentations.
that'd be the wider streets going in this map shown
on the screen, the vertical ones, I think.
Actually, they're both ways, so.
The sales in my mind are the open space
or the green network between the buildings.
So I don't like that phrase.
Okay.
So you're saying, is that coming from our comment
our issue with the long line of garage doors? Yes. Okay. And it was kind of wrapped
in with the green space as well. I didn't really catch it all. Okay I was attempting to summarize these so bear with me. I was saying
evaluation of stormwater area and possibilities to reduce it or make it
more usable. If you guys hate that tell me. Then I said human scale, long garage
rose not ideal. And then for Phil I wrote more materials, color, and texture.
And then you also had the comment about the the the green swath down the middle
changing sizes so that it wasn't clear that that it was a spine yeah that it
was a spine. And I agree with that as far as usability. I mean I think you guys
have done a good job trying to promote the connectivity in throughout and beyond the
site. I like that. So I just want to make sure that remains paramount, and I would just
love that. The light pink trees in the middle to be really dominant as a pedestrian pathway.
So if you don't live there, you know you can walk through there. But you can cut those
words down, Chip. I think that's what that was, was a dominant
Pedestrian pathway and in the presentation from simmer it was central central walkway. I think you called it
Got it. Okay, and and I think we had I
think everybody was a
Those a comment from everybody right we can find consensus there. Okay great
Okay
Do do something to enhance the bio retention areas? Mm-hmm
Yeah, okay.
And try to save some of the trees in the methanol possible.
Pardon me?
Try to save some of the trees in the methanol possible.
That was next, I've got.
Okay, sorry.
Yeah, okay, yeah, long runs of driveways.
It's possibly look at trellises, I think, back on that one.
Also, yes, and look for ways to save more trees.
seem to be a consensus item. Particularly the redwoods, not so much the ash.
Redwoods are kind of a thing around here. You need a lot of water though.
Yeah. Okay, and the other one was in the new palette
was to rethink the ash trees because the arborist report didn't necessarily grade those that
well. Good comment. Okay. Okay. Great. I think we're there.
So we're done with that.
Yes.
All right.
Thanks, everybody, for those great comments.
So I'd say let's talk about commission considerations.
What are we considering?
Mr. Secretary, any commission considerations, any items on the agenda that are not required
to be noticed, but were a formal staff presentation question and answer period would be helpful.
Nope.
None.
No.
mission member and staff reports or announcements.
Do we have any reports or announcements?
I have one.
We have the July 2nd meeting will be canceled.
So go ahead and make those 4th of July plans.
Excellent.
And I have another one just for your information.
So that there is a survey currently underway
for the sign ordinance update.
It's primarily directed toward businesses
and property owners in this first phase,
but you can access it via the city's website
and it's on the banner up front
and it's like help with the sign ordinance.
But it's really in trying to get the more utilitarian side
of the signage, so what the business community desires
and then that feedback will be taken in
into the subcommittee that's between
Planning Commission and Design Review Commission, and then sausage will be made, and then we'll
go back out with another survey with some more visuals that go with it.
So just to give you that update.
Okay.
Cool.
Okay.
That's it.
Adjourn.
All right.
Thank you.
743, where is my thingy?