yeah here we go calling this meeting to order this is the uh february 18th design review
commission meeting welcome may we have a roll call please thank you chair commissioner case here
commissioner riley here vice chair basing here chair newsom here we have we do have one empty seat
um but we do have a quorum excellent okay so consent calendar do we have anything on the
consent calendar for tonight? Do we suggest moving anything?
We have nothing on the calendar, nor do we have any recommendations to move anything
to the calendar. Excellent. Okay. Now, on to three public communications.
This portion of the meeting is reserved for comment 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. Request clarification or refer an item
to staff. Do we have anybody with speaker cards to talk about items not on the agenda?
Hearing none, moving on. So now is the part where we ask about ex parte communications.
Has anybody on this commission had any ex parte communications with any members of the
public? No. Nor have I. Now we're going to go onto the fun stuff. This is going to open
The public hearing, item four, public hearing is open.
So we have two projects.
The first one is 1532 Mount Diablo Boulevard.
Does staff have a presentation?
Hey, good evening, design review chair,
vice chair and commissioners.
My name is Stephen Cook,
assistant planner with the city's
community development department.
This item before you tonight is a proposed mixed use
development located at 1532 Mount Diablo Boulevard.
The project is associated with planning application number Y25050, and I will have a slide prepared.
Okay, the purpose of tonight's study session is for the design review commission to review
the proposed project and provide design-related input and direction.
This study session is the first step in the review process and is required before the
project proceeds to the planning commission for consideration of the design review, conditional
use permit and density bonus entitlement request.
To provide site context, the project site is a .41-anchor corner lot located at Mount
Diablo Boulevard and Commercial Lane.
Mount Diablo is a major east-west arterial road and serves as a primary commercial corridor
within downtown Walnut Creek.
Commercial Lane is currently a one-way northbound street that transitions into a two-way street
north of the project site.
The site is generally flat and is currently developed with a surface parking lot, an unused
auto body building, and an outdoor dining platform.
Vehicular access is provided from commercial lane with connections to several nearby public
streets including Mount Diablo, Locust Street, and Cyber Street.
Pedestrian access is available via the public sidewalks along Mount Diablo Boulevard.
Surrounding properties are developed with smaller, urban-scale buildings and contain
land uses consistent with the city's traditional downtown area and pedestrian retail zone,
including high density residential, commercial office and retail, as well as eating and drinking
establishments.
For background regarding the site's entitlement history, in 2020 the Planning Commission approved
a mixed use development consisting of three buildings ranging from two to four stories
in height.
The project included 42 market rate condominium units and approximately 26,000 square feet
of ground floor retail space.
important to note that the previously approved project also included the
adjacent parcel to the west, not just the subject site for tonight. The same
applicant has since redesigned the proposal to focus solely on 1532 Mount
Diablo, resulting in a single mixed-use building. I'll walk through the details
of the revised project on the next slide, but the prior approved design is shown
here on the screen for reference. The applicant is proposing to redevelop the
site with an eight-story, 89-foot tall mixed-use building
totaling approximately 113,000 square feet.
The project would include 106 rental units,
14 of which are proposed as affordable units.
Residential amenities include a second floor fitness center
and a rooftop deck.
The ground floor is proposed with commercial retail space,
and the project includes two levels of underground parking,
dedicated entirely to residential use.
The proposal also incorporates
publicly accessible outdoor space
and the rendering shown on the screen provides
a visual context of the existing site conditions
and the proposed development as viewed from Mount Diablo.
The project was filed pursuant to Housing Crisis Act,
also known as SB 330,
which limits the city's ability to modify
or reduce the project so long as it complies
with the applicable objective standards.
With respect to density,
the general plan, specific plan and zoning code
does not assign a base density for the site.
However, the previously approved project did establish a base density of 30 units.
The specific plan directs the planning commission to establish the base density on a case-by-case
basis, and consistent with the state density bonus law requirements, when there's no established
base density, the applicant is eligible to prepare a volumetric study to determine the
site's maximum base density.
The applicant did prepare a volumetric study and concluded that 60 units could be accommodated
and is requesting doubling the previously established density,
base density.
And so with the 60 units being proposed as the base density,
the applicants also utilizing state density bonus law
provisions including what is commonly referred
to as stacking density bonus.
While the city has previously reviewed
and approved density bonus applications,
this project would be the first to apply stacked bonuses
in order to provide two tiers
of affordable levels of housing units.
Through this approach, the project
increases the unit count from a base of 60 units
to a total of 106 units.
A summary table is provided on the screen
as a visual reference.
The project includes requests for several concessions
and waivers from development standards.
Most notably, the applicant is requesting an increase
in building height from the required 50 feet to 89 feet,
and that's measured from base to the top of parapet.
The project is also proposing to reduce the sidewalk
setback along Mount Diablo Boulevard which is the required 15 feet and
they're proposing 10 feet 7 inches. In addition the ground floor commercial
space is proposed at a height of 10 feet and 7 inches in some areas whereas 18
feet is typically required. Lastly the applicants requesting approval to locate
the required off-street passenger loading zone at a distance greater than
the standard 50 feet to a residential lobby. In terms of concessions the
applicant is requesting to reduce the required amount of private open space
per unit as well as a reduction in overall parking. The project proposes a
total of 69 parking stalls dedicated to residential use and no on-site parking
for the commercial component. On the screen there are two design options
option A reflects the original design submitted to staff and included in the
project plans. During review engineering staff identified potential visibility
and circulation issues at the rear of the site.
Specifically, vehicles exiting the underground garage
and vehicles traveling northbound
on the commercial lane could experience a site
distance conflict.
And I'll highlight that here on the screen.
So, cars entering up commercial lane could potentially have
conflict with cars exiting out of the parking garage here.
So, in response, staff directed the applicant
to explore a design solution
to address this potential safety issue.
After the agenda was published,
the applicant submitted a revised layout shown here as option B. This redesign relocates
the garage entrance and removes the loading zone from commercial lane to improve circulation
and visibility. So again, the change is sort of flipped and is placed here for the entrance
to the parking garage and then the loading zone has been relocated from commercial lane
here at the rear of the site. In terms of the overall site design, the project proposes
ground floor retail space oriented towards Mount Diablo
with primary pedestrian access from the public sidewalk.
And the hatched area shown on the plans identifies
the portion of the commercial space
that meets the 18 foot ceiling height requirement
while portion at the back of the commercial space
will be requesting the waiver to reduce it
to approximately 10 feet.
The publicly accessible outdoor space,
which is also access from Mount Diablo
and incorporates a courtyard pathway
leading to the residential lobbies proposed.
So that's accessed from the public sidewalk
up the courtyard.
Here's the minimally required outdoor space,
which then extends into the residential lobby.
And then additional ground floor elements
including utility rooms and separate trash rooms
dedicated to residential and commercial uses
are provided onsite.
Excuse me.
Okay, the next slide shows the proposed two level
underground garage. As noted previously, option A reflects the original design and option
B shows the revised layout. While option B improved circulation and site visibility,
it results in a reduction in the total number of parking spaces provided. This slide illustrates
the floor plans on the second floor, floors 3 through 8 and the roof plan. Notably, residential
amenities including a 945 square foot fitness center is located on the second floor as well
as an open-air rooftop deck dedicated for residents.
Here's the fitness center located on the second floor.
And then the image here is the rooftop deck.
The project is subject to the city's objective design review
standards, as outlined in the residential mixed use review
standards and guidelines handbook.
The design was developed to meet the majority
of the city's design review standards,
while also maximizing the allowable unit count
under the state density bonus law.
This facade features a combination of medium
and light brick finish with window trim and railing
and charcoal gray aluminum and steel.
The ground floor storefront includes transparent
and colored glass with wooden slats
above the storefront windows.
Color materials board is provided on the screen
and the applicant also provided a physical sample board
for your reference, which the secretary is passing around.
Okay, this slide shows the remaining building elevations.
The design demonstrates compliance with the city's objective design standards,
including variation in colors and materials, facade rhythm and pattern,
vertical modulation through massing breaks and other articulation elements.
The applicant has provided a table summarizing their response
to each design review standard, which can be found on the second sheet
of the project plans included in the staff report as attachment one.
Okay, the landscaping plan includes trees and shrubs along the street frontage
with publicly accessible outdoor space and in a portion
of the second floor above the residential lobby.
And a corresponding tree
and shrub schedules provided on the screen for your reference.
Again, just to clarify, this second floor would be located
somewhere above this residential lobby.
Okay, and the landscape plan also includes planted areas
on the rooftop deck providing shaded spaces
for residents utilizing the rooftop amenities as well.
Okay, the project is categorically exempt from CEQA under section 15-332 which covers
infill development.
The project site meets all five of the criteria outlined on this slide.
Additionally, the applicant provided CEQA documentation justifying this exemption which
is included as attachment six in the staff report.
Staff is requesting that the design review commission review the project and provide
input on design-related elements including site layout, building architecture, colors
and materials as well as landscaping.
Okay, that concludes staff's presentation for tonight.
Staff is available to answer any question the commission may have.
In addition, the applicant has and their team have prepared a presentation
for tonight regarding the building design and available
to also answer any question from the commission.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Any questions on a staff presentation?
I have a question.
can you please explain to us how the base density was calculated for this project?
Right. So what the applicant proposed for the base density was developing a base project
which was code compliant with all the standards and guidelines required by the mixed use design
standards handbook and with the requirements of the specific plan and the zoning requirements. So
based off that base project.
They developed a project which was able to accommodate
a maximum capacity of 60 units based on that design.
And I think the applicant too could speak
a little bit more about how the volumetric study
was prepared.
Okay, but how does staff calculate that it's,
that it's within the city of Walnut Creek's requirements
zoning and and density of the area. The Planning Commission and for a previous
project and I think you saw it on the Planning Commission established a base
density as outlined in this in the specific plan. This one. By via
conditional use permit of the Planning Commission and which they did and that
and that was for this site was 30 units for the acre and that was as prescribed
by the specific plan. So the city sees that as as the base density. The applicant has asked
as the city and ultimately the Planning Commission to re-establish a base density of 60 based on the
volumetric study which is also prescribed and I believe it's in the Housing Accountability Act
when no density is established by city code. But isn't that city code? Yeah isn't that the
the previous decision? I think it is but that's up to the Planning Commission to
decide. Ultimately they're the authority. Yes. Okay I would decide that but the
applicant doesn't just decide to rebase it on his own it has to be approved.
Well they don't decide. They can they can ask. They can ask for a re-
re-establishment and I think that's what they're doing maybe we'll find out
We can get the words from the applicant.
OK, any other questions?
Not of staff, not from me.
All right, cool.
Let's move on to the applicant presentation.
Please introduce yourself when you get your own stuff.
Yeah, thanks.
I'm going to introduce myself when we start it.
I'm Doug Powels from Parry Architects.
And we have been working on the 1532 project for a while.
And I'm going to present the progress that we made.
Talking to the microphone.
OK.
All right, I haven't done this in a while.
Last one was like 10 years ago.
Ah, here we go.
1532, Mount Diablo Boulevard is a mixed use residential project
located within a PR residential retail zone in downtown Warner
Creek.
The proposed project delivers 106 residential units
above active ground floor retail,
consistent with the intent of the pedestrian retail
designation.
You can see here, Stephen had this on his presentation
as well.
Oh, yeah.
So Monte Avila was at the bottom, if I can get there.
Commercial lane is on the side.
It's currently a parking lot.
It's right next to the brick building,
which has a slice house in there.
And it's a good opportunity for a new project
on this parking lot.
The, at grade, the project provides approximately
8,000 square feet of retail space
along Mount Ya'a Boulevard,
reinforcing the commercial corridor.
The building has been designed to meet
the 18-foot ground floor retail height requirement
for the first 45 feet of the retail space.
The residential entry is set back further
to provide unobstructed retail at the front
and to allow for future, for the future 20-foot wide
per seo at the southwest side of the property.
So per the specific plan,
there is supposed to be a per seo,
sorry, there's supposed to be a 20 foot wide per seo
planned right in this area.
We are dedicating 10 foot to this 20 foot wide per seo.
The other 20 feet need to come
for the remaining property on the left to us.
The storefront design emphasizes transparency
and pedestrian engagement.
Parking is located below ground,
which allows the ground floor to maintain active
and uninterrupted by garage and entry,
garage entries along the primary frontage.
The project includes two levels of underground parking,
providing roughly 60 residential parking stalls.
Parking and loading access are provided
towards the north side of the project at commercial lane.
As Steven mentioned before,
we did move the parking all the way back.
Parking access is now here
all the way on the north side and right next to the loading dock. This will help us with
access to the garage. This will actually make a better loading dock. We were concerned about
people not knowing how to drive U-Hauls and getting into this tighter loading dock so this
is a better solution. All the other utility spaces will also be in the back on commercial lane.
The residential component includes a mix of studios, one, two and three bedroom units.
beyond the units themselves, the project integrates meaningful amenities for residents.
The fitness center located on the second floor opens to an outdoor deck creating an indoor outdoor
wellness center. That is shown, I'm sorry on the next page, this is shown right here we have
a amenity space here, fitness center here, this is the outdoor deck that they can use.
private balconies provide individual outdoor access while the rooftop terrace includes a
bar, kitchen and community seating areas. As you can see we have some units, some on on Mount Diablo
Boulevard here and then some on the side which had private terraces but our main outdoor space is
actually here the roof terrace on top which wraps around the roof except for some areas dedicated
for mechanical units, but I will get to the roof a little bit later. The architectural,
so these are the sections, I just want to bring these up quickly. We are up to the fourth floor,
we are a concrete structure, and from the fourth floor up we are a wood structure.
And this shows the retail space here, so in the first almost like 50 feet of the retail space we
We have over 20 feet in ceiling height, and the back of house here will be around 10 foot ceiling height.
So not at the required 18 feet all the way.
We're showing the elevations here.
Architecturally, the project embraces a modern contemporary expression that works well with the character of downtown Warner Creek.
Messing breaks and facade articulation reduce perceived bulk along both Mount Diablo Boulevard and commercial lane.
The ground floor provides a finer grain with transparent and semi-transparent elements to provide for pedestrian engagement.
The primary material is brick, selected for its durability, warmth and connection to the sound surrounding developments.
As you can see on the slide here, this is the retail space here. We're providing a lot of storefront systems here.
Even the bricks here on the side are perforated, so there's a lot of engagement into the ground floor,
the ground floor into the retail space on this corner
and even going around on commercial lane.
The facade is organized in a disciplined pattern
that introduces texture and rhythm to break down
the overall scale of the building.
Recess and material shifts create depth and shadow,
helping the building read as a composition
of smaller elements rather than a single volume.
So we choose a brick facade for the main building.
As you can see here, there is elements of the white brick and elements of the dark brick.
We are trying to, the window pattern is slightly different on each block. We are trying to
introduce, where you see the railings here, we are trying to use Juliet balconies, so these windows
can be fully opened. All the windows are set back between six and eight inches to give the
expression of a more punched window opening to give it some depth and some shadow.
At the corner element right here on commercial lane, we're also introducing another material.
It's a solid phenolic resin panel, a wood panel that's integrated into the window system,
which is also set back from the main brick facade. So it will also create a shadow line.
the corner elements actually here this corner element, this corner element, this corner element
they're actually terraces they're open to open to the air they're not enclosed.
In summary the project delivers 106 residential units on top of active ground floor and we will
leave the this aligns really well with the housing and downtown goals and will contribute
contribute positively to the downtown Warner Creek. I do have our, actually I'm going to go through
these renderings over time, here you can see the ground floor rendering a little bit better,
very transparent, very open, large glass panels, we have these wooden sleds on top,
this is still the retail space, we're just trying to add some interest to it. There are some openings
on this side as well of the retail space and same as when we're going around to commercial
lane. Here you can see all the recesses a little bit better so the windows and the darker panels
are all recessed to create a better shadow line and to give it a little more three-dimensional
facade. We also have these brakes in here similar to this one at Creek Design Standards.
They're also showing up on the other sides to break up the meshing of the building.
This is our facade material board. We show currently a light and a dark brick facade.
Right here there are several different manufacturers that we can choose from.
They all have the NFPA 285 rating for the fire rating. We have a material board going around here.
we introduced some warm solid tunnel lake resin panels, some warm wood panels.
This is really similar to what we used on the on the rice in Walnut Creek.
Same with the Juliet balconies, which we also used on the rice, and then we are trying to integrate
some more articulate brick patterns, either more transparent patterns or more patterns in general
to give the especially the ground floor a little bit more interest. That shows a
little bit more in detail the kind of the the ground floor and the retail space.
We also have some interlayered glass panels glass panels here they have a
woven fabric inside of them from forms and surfaces so they in our mind they
create a little more interest on the ground floor.
As for the landscape, our landscape architect
is in southern California.
He's not available today, unfortunately.
So I have a couple of sentences from him that he wrote up.
So the ground floor along Mount Diablo Boulevard
features street trees, interlocking
pavers, and a linear paseo that provides
strong pedestrian connection and a gracious arrival experience
for residents and guests.
The second floor terrace expands to the adjacent community
room with raised planters, integrated seeding,
and native climate adapted plantings
that support stormwater management and year round
visual interest.
So the second, long button, the second terrace is here.
So there is a managed space right here
which connects to that outdoor space in this area.
The main jewel of this building is actually the rooftop.
The rooftop is designed as a series
of distinct outdoor rooms.
The space accommodates both intimidated gathering
and large events while capturing panoramic views
in all directions.
Amenities include shade structures with barbecue,
outdoor dining areas, bar seedings with TV,
foosball and table tennis, the fireplace lounge,
and a chase seating, all located in different areas.
we focus on the main area to be here.
But we have, as this shows, there is a ping pong table,
there's a foosball table right here,
and there is a more TV, a more private area
where you can have more private parties also with a TV.
So we have these different settings set up on the rooftop
to provide, to bright the building and the residence
with more entertainment in this project.
That's it from my side.
Thank you very much for your time.
Thank you.
Questions?
Does anybody have any questions?
Thank you for your presentation.
First, can you go through how the fire access
works on this property as far as enter, exit, egress,
that type of stuff?
Because I believe there was mention
one part of the road was one way of commercial lane? Correct, that is correct.
Commercial lane is a one-way lane coming from Monte Avila and going in here.
We did talk to a fire consultant and Vartri who was a parking and also a
truck, they do truck templates. They laid out a truck template over the road
here and they determined that the road is wide enough for fire apparatus
access all the way. Does that take into account the dumpsters that the tenants
on the other side of commercial lane store in the alley or in commercial lane?
They should know I'm not aware of that so they should be stored not in the alley
that's correct. Okay but I I believe that they currently are by those tenants so
So just having a study to really understand and sign off by the fire department I think
would be very important for this as far as access goes.
The other question I had regarding that is you said that the off-site passenger loading
was farther than it's stated to be for access to the lobby.
Can you show me where that is?
That is actually incorrect.
We are asking for a waiver to not provide passenger loading, off-site passenger loading.
Oh, completely?
Completely, because there's no, for us, we don't see any viable option to provide this
area.
It's a larger area, it needs to be within 50 feet of the lobby, and we don't see any
way of providing this area.
Okay.
And then in the renders, can you show the PAOS in those renders?
it seemed that when we were looking at the renders,
that public space looks like it's just a shadow to me.
So.
So which one did you?
The PAOS, the public space that you have to provide,
it's supposedly by the lobby?
Oh, sorry.
That would be, we currently only have 10 feet
because the additional 10 feet
will be on the other property,
but this is the outdoor space here right here.
Okay, on the plants, there's something else shown there, I believe, but maybe I'm misreading
the plants.
Yeah, this is it right here.
So this is our property line in the center, and this is our requirement for the 10-foot-wide
public space.
And then with the additional space from the other property, this will be the 20-foot-wide
per sale.
Okay.
I have questions about that publicly accessible open space in the specific plan and maybe
Chip knows.
Is it meant to connect all the way through or is it meant to kind of terminate in half
in this project and half in the future project?
That there's no requirement for it to go.
To go all the way through.
Okay.
Okay.
Because I just was I think maybe in line with my fellow commissioner I was trying to understand
how that's a publicly accessible open space
as opposed to just a promenade to the lobby, right?
So I don't know that it's conveying usability
beyond somebody who lives there.
And then I think you answered this,
but I just wanted to confirm
the open space that's above the retail.
Is that accessible?
Was it to the amenity space or who has access to that?
There's one to the left.
And that's the amenity space one.
to the left, which is the amenity space, right here.
So this has access to the amenity space, possibly a gym,
and then there are smaller terraces right here,
and then right, shifting over right here.
These would be private terraces only accessible by the units.
OK, and as I'm guessing, there's
going to be some kind of control of not hanging a beach towel
all over the edge or something.
OK.
We don't want that either.
And then the main open space will
be on the roof, which will be open to all
the residents. Right, okay. Just, I don't know, just curious why the why the style
change, like the architecture had the really interesting kind of slatted wood
facade and I realize it's a different density, right, but did that drive the
change in the style to this more kind of blocky Scandinavian look? It's also an
architecture change. So the previous project was submitted by Woods Baggett, and we were
hired to do the state density bonus and get the taller project designed, and this is what
we came up with. Okay. Okay.
Any other questions? Hi. Thank you for your presentation. So along those lines, you're
looking for a waiver of the minimum sidewalk setback requirement so that you have a narrower
sidewalk than the buildings adjacent to you, is that correct?
No, my understanding is from the planning department that there's a requirement for
a minimum of 12 foot or 15 foot sidewalk, but the planning department itself at a really
earlier stage asked us to reduce that in order to align with the adjacent buildings next
to us. It's my understanding. So that's why it was a planning department's suggestion
to keep it at 10 feet. My recollection.
From the previous project?
Yeah. For the previous project, correct.
Okay.
And we took this over from the previous project and assumed this would be acceptable for this
project as well.
So while we're on the subject of the adjacent retail and restaurant building that's been
there for quite a while and has some valued tenants in it or valued occupants in it, my
question relates to your location of the terrace and the extension of the building closest
to that building as opposed to flipping it.
Why is the entrance to your retail space further away
from the existing retail and on an island by itself,
when if you flipped that, you would
have your retail along the same line as the rest of the retail.
And there would be this poke out thing
that blocks everything that that teleferic has relative to view or atmosphere would be on the
other side and would create a setback that would alleviate or mitigate some of the impacts that
you're going to have on the surrounding I'm sorry are you talking about yes I'm talking about that
you're talking about this massing here that massing we usually as architects we usually try to
Try to strengthen the corner, so bring a higher
or a denser massing element on the corner.
This was one of the reasons.
And we do feel the retail is still going all the way true.
So there's retail access.
The doors might be shifting, but there's retail access
all the way along up until the corner.
So this retail is really close to the slide sauce next door.
I understand your massing concept and breaking up the front.
My question is why isn't it on the other side
to try and mitigate some of the damage
to the adjacent retail building
that uses those upper floors for atmosphere and view
for their patrons.
That's just something we can look at it,
but it makes sense.
Great. I agree.
Let's see, where are my other?
So you mentioned that the first several floors are concrete
and the top four floors are wood construction,
and that meets with fire department requirements.
They don't have any problem with that
in light of what the commissioner said
about the access around the building.
That's correct.
That's a really similar approach
what was done at the rise.
Okay.
I think that was all my questions for now.
So basically, just to restate what the question
that I asked earlier,
there is a city of Walnut Creek decision
and code relative to this 60 base density units.
And that's kind of open to negotiation
with the planning commission, is that correct?
Okay, okay, thank you.
If I can just throw some light on the density.
So I think in one of the exhibits
was the state density bonus letter.
And the way the state density bonus law works is I
think the base density means the number of units allowed
under the zoning ordinance, the specific plan,
or the land use element.
That is how the state law has been written.
Now, in none of the zoning ordinance specific plan
or the land use element, there's a numerical density,
a prescriptive numerical density for this particular site.
And now our base study, which gets to the 60 units,
is very close to the volume that was permitted by,
that was entitled in the previous design,
which had 42 units.
So in terms, so it's the same volume
which stays within the 50 feet height,
50 feet envelope that was permitted by the city.
But we have smaller units.
And smaller units because of a couple of reasons.
One is this particular program allows us
to have a better financial feasibility
so that we can build it.
The second thing is larger units tend
to have higher gross rents needed.
And you kind of price out a lot of families
who can actually now afford to have basically accessed some
of these 106 units.
So the base units that the base study that we did was, again,
pretty similar in terms of the overall rentables
the square footage as was entitled for the previous design.
It's just smaller units and then we use
the stackable density bonus on top to get 206 units.
Hey, Dev, can I ask you to state your,
identify yourself, please?
Yes, sorry, sorry.
Dave Mukherjee with the Alliant team,
we are the developers and the sponsors for this project.
So, just to follow up on that and clarify,
if you don't mind, so the original project
that was a two to four-story design,
and you've now got an eight-story design.
The original project was a five-story project,
so the base density that you see
is still a five-story project
that we've provided a base density code compliance project,
which is there in the planning set.
And then we can use the state laws
to use state density bonus to add more units.
And that is what has been kind of described
in this state density bonus letter
that was in one of the statutes.
Doesn't make sense to any of you.
I'm sorry, I'm still confused.
So you added more stories,
so you're expecting to double your density
because you've got more stories, is that correct?
Yes, so the state law, the two state laws
which allow us what is called stackable density units,
which we are using on the base study to get 206 units.
Regardless of the base allowed in Walnut Creek.
Got it. Thank you.
Can I shed some light on it?
So, like I said earlier, the state law allows an owner
to do a volumetric study based on the development
on the development standards on that property.
Setbacks, FAR, that kind of thing,
apply a average unit size and voila,
you get your base density.
And the way the line really has performed
that volumetric study is correct.
The city would say that base density
was already established through a conditional use permit.
So that's the difference.
I have a question.
Can you explain how you guys intend
to manage the low parking capacity,
how that works for the residents?
So this is a TOD site, downtown Waller Creek.
The part is very close.
So what we are seeing more often than before
is more households and more families
and more renters are willing to actually not bring a car
and basically use public transport.
And that is one of the things
that we are really motivated to do,
which is basically incentivize
and kind of encourage our residents
to use the public transport and not have a car.
So we feel very confident about kind of having
very low per unit parking count than previously.
Okay.
Another question, what public transport?
It's not really BART adjacent.
BART is about a mile, so we have bike parts,
we have a place to kind of have the bike,
and if I'm not wrong, I think there's a city shuttle
which runs, which is fairly frequent,
that kind of goes to the BART.
And I think there are two or three major bus stops as well.
So it's not just BART,
but I think there are different modes of transportation
along with the bike parking that we have in the project
that hopefully will incentivize and encourage
like residents to use less car going forward.
Done?
Okay.
Just talking about the setbacks.
So looking at this elevation,
so the one that I see on the left there,
how far away is that from the property line?
It's 10 feet. 10 feet.
10 feet from the property line.
So I guess theoretically you could put another building
just like this, 20 feet away from it.
It would be eight stories and that's awfully dense, right?
So okay, fire access, cricket brought that up.
Have you talked to the fire department about this building?
We did briefly talk to them.
we are in the mix of getting an appointment with them.
So, we are in the process.
Yeah, I mean, okay, thanks.
That's it for questions.
I think next up on the agenda,
we're done with your presentation then.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Next up would be public comment, right?
Yeah.
Okay, so now it's time for public comment.
see there's a number of people here you have to turn in a speaker card to to
speak regarding this matter and you have two minutes a lot of people here so hold
to your two minutes please let's go ahead do we have any cards no no cards
for this huh okay so moving on commissioner comments closing the
closing the public hearing.
Commissioner, comments?
I mean, I can, if you want.
Go ahead, yeah.
I think you've heard us all say it
about this base density bonus thing,
essentially asking to double what was established before.
So we, in a project like this, a housing project,
we have certain guardrails,
but I think we have a concern in Walnut Creek
that things be of scale.
And really, really we need confirmation
from the Planning Department where the guardrails are
in terms of housing,
because they're the ultimate jurisdiction of authority,
not us, we don't have a jurisdiction.
So, you know, really, from where I sit,
I just advise the Planning Commission
to review the base density established,
base density that was established
as part of the previous application
and whether that's still valid.
That'd be my first comment.
because this eight story building is very much
out of character for this part of town.
Nothing's more than three stories.
That's my first comment.
Fire access is something that really has
to be worked on here.
That street commercial, as it stands right now,
is kind of a fire trap in my opinion.
There's nothing that this project does
in spite of its huge impact to improve that.
I'm an architect.
I do this stuff for a living.
That needs to be a 24-foot lane,
and there needs to be separation between that lane
and the building so they can get an articulated fire truck
to service the building on two sides.
This building is too deep to be served on one side.
It's too tall, and that's straight up a matter of fire code.
Sidewalk depth, I don't know how we can cling to
the minimal sidewalk depth from the previous application,
but then ignore the density bonus and the other.
So I encourage the planning commission to look at that.
I encourage, you know, that volumetric study
to be looked at as part of it,
but really it's about that density bonus.
I think the architecture,
I really like the architecture.
I like the more subdued color palette.
There's some nice sophisticated materials.
They're not going cheap on the materials.
There's nice articulation and depth.
I think if I could improve it,
I mean, I'd like it to relate that kind of base,
I'd like that to relate more to the buildings around it.
Everything around this is two or three stories.
That element you have is about one and a half stories.
I think it could be improved in that way.
I think in terms of the ground floor retail waiver,
we worked a lot.
I was on this committee where we talked,
we did these designer view standards.
And I know dropping the height of the lowest floor
is gonna make it very hard to lease to certain tenants.
The reason that we had that in the design view standards
was so that you could have any kind of tenant,
including food service.
10 foot ceiling, I've done hundreds of retail spaces.
10 foot does not work for anything food related.
And it's, I think it shouldn't grant the waiver,
but I also, I don't think it should be built
whether they get the waiver or not.
So that's my comments in a nutshell.
Anybody else?
Okay, so I think if we're gonna do really dense,
this is the place to do it.
So I'm not that worried about the density.
I actually like that there's not a ton of parking
because I do think we gotta shift our behavior,
but I also have two cars.
So I can't practice what I preach, but I like that thought.
I do want to make sure that the patio area that's
shown right now above the retail is maybe
the wood slats extend higher or something.
I don't know.
And maybe I'm reacting too much to this rendering,
but it feels really exposed, and I don't want it to be visible.
I think that the publicly accessible open space,
I mentioned this in my questions,
feels like just a walkway to the lobby.
I wish there could be some more draw there,
because I think we've gotten a few
of these publicly accessible open spaces
that really aren't, right?
And so it doesn't feel like it's adding
to that community value,
so there needs to be something there that feels worthwhile,
and maybe it's, I don't know, I don't know what it is,
but something more to make that feel less
like an extended lobby space.
I don't know. I'm trying to think how that's going to relate to the other 10 feet on the
other side, but we just, we can't control that. But there's something else that can
happen there and I'm not sure what it is. I think being mindful of the relationship of the shading
and the balconies to the neighbor that what's currently the teleferic restaurant is important.
That's a pretty well-used space and I like that that building is visually interesting,
so I don't want it to negatively impact that adjacency. And then for me, I think it does feel,
it feels tall and dense and I don't know if the vertical materials and windows are helping that.
I wonder if there's some way to reconsider the finishes or massing to not intensify the
verticality but actually make it feel like it sits a little more in line with the surrounding
buildings kind of like my fellow commissioner mentioned. I don't have a huge issue with the
10-foot sec back, I like that we're putting in the trees, and I like that there's an idea to have
a continuation of retail down the street. So I think that's that's good. I like that.
Most of what I have to say has already been said, but just to reinforce that fire and access and
that safety around that building, even as it is right now, that when you come off locusts
and you go onto where commercial is, it's already very dense there and it can get kind
of backed up so that traffic flow really needs to be examined. I also noticed on the same thing with
the shadowing on one of the other renders you could really see how much shadow this caused.
I don't know how much power we have to say that it needs to somehow be smaller in that regard,
but it would be nice. It does definitely feel like it's imposing and even the suggestion that
was made by my fellow commissioner about switching where that outdoor space is,
I think would make a difference. I also feel like the publicly accessible outdoor space
is a missed opportunity and planning saying our public outdoor space is for something that may
or may not happen in the future with the adjacent lot is kind of not fulfilling that requirement,
so if that could be looked at I think that that would be really helpful.
So again, I echo everything everybody said
and reiterated, Chip, but I do wanna go back
to the concept that we've discussed on other projects,
which is a step back.
So the beginning, the face of the building
starts at a level, as Cliff mentioned,
that is consistent with the adjacent buildings
and the adjacent massing and then the building,
when it gets back a little ways goes higher.
And I think that would help
with some of the comments that you had.
And it also helps with the comments that we had
about mitigating the impacts
on the adjacent building tenants and occupants
and the patrons that use those businesses.
I'll circle back for a second.
I think we're all kind of saying the same thing.
I think if you go back to the initial base density,
I think for me, base density was established.
And if you rift off that and you get this the right size,
it allows you more space to step,
and it puts buildings in less shade.
It also allows more space around the building.
I'm all for pushing the envelope.
I've worked for developers.
This is pushing a little too hard for me.
All right, so Mr. Secretary, do you want to
address and upsize that?
Let's round up, see if we can find consensus.
I think this, what I heard is that,
but the issues I've got really have marked are,
to take a look at,
what's the base density here?
Is it the volumetric base density
or does the density that's been established via CUP prevail?
A lot of the issues that came up are really directly tied
to density.
That would be to be mindful of the shading
to the adjacent building.
That would be, reconsider the massing.
It was materials, but mostly the massing
and the materials were tied to the size of the building,
as I recall.
Then also a step back, specific plant step back at 35 feet.
That's also a density issue.
So those will be just be kind of wrapped up into that.
Comment?
There's also the sidewalk with,
I don't think that it seems as if the sidewalk
was maybe a 50-50 split here.
Who is okay with a 10 foot sidewalk with the sidewalk waiver?
Okay, so not supported.
Okay.
And the ceiling waiver support.
And remind you, that was the back of house portion
the retail space, not where any customers would be. I don't know if that changes anything.
That's where the kitchen would be. You can't have a 10-foot ceiling in the kitchen. No
room for ducks. Support or no? I agree with Cliff. Oh, sorry. Where am I? I agree with
Phil. I don't know if I agree with Cliff or not. Sorry about that. It's kind of my name
I'm like confining everybody's names.
So that sounds as if that's not supported.
No, it's not supported and I have recent experience with them.
I said, please just open the restaurant three months ago.
I have the publicly accessible open space could be better developed.
I didn't really hear anything about the size of it, just that it's location usefulness.
Like it's programming.
That's what I'm reacting to, yeah.
Or even how it interfaces with the street
and the front of the building.
I just don't feel like you'd even really know
it was there, or somewhere you could go.
It's also tied to the density, right?
So you're pushing as much as you can,
maybe just pull back a little bit.
It seems as if the architecture itself
was somewhat supportive.
Yeah.
In general, it's attractive.
If the building remains this big,
maybe take a look at some of the materials for a change?
I mean, I think so.
I think the key might be trying to base,
trying to rebase it vertically
to kind of better relate to the adjacent buildings.
If it's this high, maybe look harder
at flipping that corner mask into the other corner.
I definitely hear what he's saying about the fact
that it's a corner, but commercial's not really a corner.
It's not really a major street.
So I get it, but I don't get it.
Okay, corner element, all right, corner element.
Maybe dissolve it a little bit, flip it, do something.
Okay, so that was the corner element location
and how its effect on the retail entry, okay.
Right.
Okay, I think I've got it wrapped.
one, two, three, four.
We have the five issues, the biggest issue being
how is base density gonna be considered?
We talked about the fire access,
but that's something for the fire department
to deal with, right?
Contra Costa Fire Protection District has looked at this,
they've provided comments.
I don't, Stephen, I don't believe there's any critical.
It's still pending review.
Okay.
All right.
That's it then.
Okay.
So that's the end of this matter, so we can move on to the next one, which is the RH restoration
hardware.
The staff has a presentation.
Gerardo is going to bring up some material samples.
Good evening commissioners.
My name is Gerardo Victoria, Assistant Planner Community Development.
The project before you today is the restoration hardware commercial
development located at 1000 South Main Street. Just some historical context for
you. This is Walnut Creek's most prominent intersection and commercial
property. Mr. William Slessher in 1848 built a small cabin between what is now
Main Street and Mount Diablo and establish a community known as the
Corners. The Corners was later renamed to Walnut Creek in the 1800s. Commercial
properties over the years in the Corners intersection include the Corners
property right here, which is the Tiffany Building, the Broadway Point
building which is the Pottery Barn and the Broadway Plaza development right here. The
RH development is going to be located in this area right here. So this are the current buildings
at the Corners intersection. You have the Nieban Marcus building here that's located
here off of South Main Street. Across the street to the west of this building is the
Pottery Barn building located here across the street. On Main Street is the
Teleferic building located here, and then the Tiffany building located here. And as
you can see all of these buildings in this area are multi-story buildings. So
the project calls to merge two lots. This slot right here is the Chico
building lot and then the existing Neiman Marcus lot on a 1.14 acre site
adjacent to the existing Broadway Plaza development. The proposal is to
construct four commercial buildings totaling approximately 29,000 square feet.
It will include new landscaping, new lighting, new trees, and tree removals. So
these are the two lots located right here existing and then this is the new
lot right here with the RH development. So the general plan designation is
pedestrian retail the zoning is plan development PD 2122. This is the existing
site the Neiman Marcus site right here. This is the Pottery Barn right here and
then you got the Teleferic building right here and the Tiffany building
right here. It is surrounded by a mix of commercial and eating and drinking
establishments and this would be the new development right here. So this is
South Main Street, Mount Diablo.
These are the four buildings.
You have a gallery here, a gallery here, a gallery here.
The restaurant with the kitchen in the middle right here
with another gallery over here and right here.
So this is the site plan or new commercial buildings.
Paver stones and decomposed granite walkways
located on the interior of the site right here.
Pedestrian access is accessed through these gates
located here where the green arrows are.
They can also get to the back of the building
through the galleries located here, entrances right here.
These fences facing Mount Diablo
and facing Broadway Plaza do not open,
and parking is provided
in the existing Broadway Plaza garages.
So we are before you tonight for your recommendations
to the Planning Commission at this study session.
It'll be scheduled for the Planning Commission's consideration at a later date.
So, this is a south elevation facing South Main Street.
As you can see here, it's smooth coat, stucco right here with cornices at the top of the
building, 20 feet in height with fabric awnings.
As you can see here, these are the gates that open located here and here, and then there's
another gate right here facing right here.
This is the west elevation facing Mount Diablo.
So this fence does not open, it's located here, and it's got the same smooth coat stuck
in with the cornices and the trees with fabric awnings.
This is the east elevation facing Broadway Plaza.
This fence right here does not open, and it's got the same smooth coat, stucco, cornices
and fabric awnings.
So these are some renderings for the project.
This rendering right here,
Restoration Hardware is facing South Main Street.
This is facing also South Main Street,
if you can see the decorative fencing.
Staff does have some concerns regarding the paver stones
and the decomposed granite with handicap accessibility.
Other concerns that staff has are the variation
in materials, the variation in colors,
the vertical variation in height,
and the treatment at corner buildings.
And this is the front facing of the restaurant.
So this is the fence, it's a 10 foot fence
that does not open located here.
And this is the gate that's also the same height
that opens facing South Main Street.
So this is the landscape plan.
They are proposing to eliminate 11 trees,
10 of which are street trees.
This maple tree right here has been approved
by the city arbors to be removed.
Over 20 trees line the project,
located on the interior here, here, and here,
and then they have some palm trees facing South Main Street
and facing Mount Diablo.
They do call out eight fake trees right here in gray
that are facing Broadway Plaza.
So staff anticipates using the categorical
15, 332 infill exemption as outlined in the staff report.
Staff requests the Design Review Commission to review and provide input on the following the site design and appropriateness
the building architecture the colors and materials
landscaping the lighting and the fencing
Staff is available for questions
The applicant the CEO of RH Terry Friedman and his team are here. They also have a presentation
Thanks any any questions for staff? No
Did you did you talk about lighting?
Do I miss that? I did not.
Okay, maybe the applicant could talk about that when they come up. Okay. All right.
Let's move on to the applicant presentation then. Good evening commissioners. My name is Gary Friedman. I'm the chairman and CEO of RH.
I've been here 26 years.
I actually have history with the corners. I was
president of Williams-Sonoma Incorporated for 14 years and I designed and developed and had built
the Pottery Barn and the Williams-Sonoma at that intersection. So I'm back again.
We're going to take you through an agenda that looks like this.
Oh, down goes the next slide, thank you. You're going to spend a few minutes just
talking about who we are, give you a few examples of our work, kind of frame the opportunity as we
see it on this corner, and then share our plan, which would be a first-of-its-kind
RH design compound in Walnut Creek, so that one doesn't exist anywhere else in the world.
Next slide? Okay. So, today, RH is the leading luxury home brand in North America. We have
sales of approximately $3.5 billion. When I joined the company 26 years ago, we were
a $300 million company losing $40 million a year
on the edge of bankruptcy.
So I invested money to keep it out of bankruptcy.
I had to raise money three times in the first year.
To stay out of bankruptcy, everybody told me
it couldn't be done.
We have a motto in this company, we use it as recruiting,
as we say, we're looking for a few good people
who don't know what can't be done,
because a lot of times, if you know what can't be done,
you'll never innovate and invent and find out
what's possible.
We are known for creating the most compelling collection
of luxury home furnishings presented
in the most inspiring spaces in the world.
This is just one of our spaces.
This is RH Boston.
It's a gallery at the historic Museum of Natural History
that was built in 1860.
We completely re-imagined and restored the building.
It was actually only the second building built
in the back bay of Boston, the first building,
was the church, of course, which makes sense.
The next slide here, we say we're
obsessed with great architecture.
We either find it and re-adapt it, or we build it.
Spaces that are a reflection of human design,
a study of balance, symmetry, and perfect proportions.
Here you can see a drawing of the Vitruvian Man,
circa 1490 by Leonardo da Vinci.
Our philosophies and architecture
actually date back all the way to Vitruvius, who
is known as the first Roman architect in the first century
BC.
We have modern copies of that, his book, De Architectura,
the 10 books on architecture in our architecture and design
library in RH England and also in our architecture and design
library in RH Paris.
Next slide.
We like to say we don't build retail stores.
We build inspiring spaces, spaces
that blur the lines between residential and retail,
indoors and outdoors, home and hospitality,
spaces that activate all of the stences
and spaces that cannot be replicated online.
This is a picture of RH England,
the gallery at the historic Einho Park.
It's a 17th century 73 acre estate with three restaurants,
the largest herd of white deer in all of Europe
and our first architecture and design library,
which has historic volumes from not only
Petruvius, and Da Vinci, but also Palladio, Schimozi,
and Alberti, some of the foundational architects
of all time.
On the next slide, you can see kind
of a portion of the rear of the property.
And we spent four years restoring and rehabilitating
this property.
Next slide.
You can see one of the three restaurants.
This is our Loja restaurant.
We serve pizza and pastas.
And underneath that wooden Loja, we also
serve around fire pits and fountains
all throughout that space.
The next slide, I just want to share some of our latest work.
We opened in September RH Paris on the Champs-Élysées right
off the Avenue Montaigne.
And to play the video, what do I have to do?
OK, great, thank you.
It includes a letter I wrote to the city of Paris.
RH Paris, you saw that we have two restaurants actually,
one on the second level terrace overlooking the garden.
and one on the top two floors, the top floor on the rooftop.
We actually are one of only seven companies in the world
that globally operate more than 20 restaurants at the high end.
We have 26 restaurants today,
and we'll have 40 restaurants at the end of two years from now.
So we don't license them.
We believe brands with more control
will become more valuable than brands with less control.
So we don't license anything, partner with anybody,
anything we decide to do,
we decide to own and operate it
because we believe no one will care more than we do.
Let me take you through the next slides here.
Okay.
Let me try to frame the opportunity as we see it.
We began with a study of the site,
the current building, its size, massing,
and relationship to the curbing streets, sidewalks,
and converging eight lanes of traffic on this busy,
but today lifeless corner.
The current building occupies 210 feet of frontage
on Mount Diablo, the current property and building,
270 feet on Main Street,
and 200 feet facing the mall courtyard.
That's approximately 700 feet of frontage in total.
And from another perspective,
That's almost 500 feet of street-facing retail
that is currently windowless, opaque,
structure with a single entrance
on the most important intersection
in Walnut Creek from our point of view.
Next slide.
We like to frame problems,
and that's how we usually come up with solutions.
We'd say the size of this problem is not small,
as we see it.
And the opportunity to transform
this architectural albatross
that lacks any sense of humanity
into an inspiring space worthy of the prestigious corners is enormous.
This is an aerial view of what we call the first RH design compound.
We would build the first one here.
It's a design and hospitality experience consisting of what acts as six independent structures.
It's actually five independent structures if you count the center restaurant, which
is a, it's connected to that building, but it's actually its own structure.
But it acts as six independent structures connected by beautifully landscaped garden
courtyards with heritage olive trees, trickling fountains, and a dramatic atrium restaurant
anchoring the project.
This is another view from Mount Diablo, so you can see how it intersects from kind of
all sides.
The next slide, the architectural vernacular of the design compound reflects the California
a style, a californ contemporary style that is simple and timeless.
I should mention here, what we submitted to you is 20 feet in height.
We're actually proposing to build 22 feet in height.
We believe it will have nicer proportions at that level all the way through.
The structures are a combination of Venetian plaster with dramatic punched
openings with European proportions.
buildings are enhanced with detailed crown moldings and integral awnings. Here's a view in
the evening. I have that done right after you ask the question. Now, actually, if you saw our
buildings, we were known for architecturally lighting many of the buildings. If you wanted
to see some in the Bay Area, you can see RH San Francisco with the historic Beltahum Steel
building in the dog patch where we are the we're the first tenant to sign anything
In that part of San Francisco, we actually announced our project before we knew there
was going to be Chase Center, which is two blocks down.
So we like to be pioneers.
We like to do things from a leadership point of view versus a followership point of view.
Let me just get to this next slide.
Here you can see the view from Main Street.
will read is kind of three buildings with two garden courtyard entrances. They'll actually
be one, two, three, four, five entrances altogether, replacing the one entrance to the building
that is here. On this view, you can see – whoops, let me go back. This view is looking more
from the advantage point. You can see Apple's awning kind of coming out here. We're actually
holding the building back, creating a pretty simple progression in the promenade of buildings.
And we're proposing to create some outdoor space, almost like a small park with a couple of specimen
trees. We're thinking maybe you put some benches there, although we're not sure of any of the
homeless issues in Walnut Creek that might be a problem, but you know with owners acts as a
small park, a sitting area, and a place of refuge. This is what the interior of the garden
courtyards look like with decomposed granite and bluestone pavers, heritage olive trees.
You can see the trickling fountains kind of right to the left and right of the olive trees
that kind of percolate all the way through the space. It gives you a nice sound,
breaks down the sound of the traffic. And you can see from every vantage point, these all look
relatively same. You will see the restaurant and the atrium in the middle.
Here's a view of this at nighttime and you can see you know all of our projects
are beautifully architecturally lit in the evenings. All the buildings are
connected. You can see above the olive trees here you can see kind of a steel
and glass kind of trellis and that allows for progression between the
buildings without getting wet if there is rain or inclement weather. Here's
another view as you come kind of around the corner you can see kind of a peekaboo
into the restaurant to the left and just how you navigate around here pretty wide
and open pedestrian friendly pathways. This is a view of the same pathway in
the evening. This is the entrance to the restaurant. We are proposing that there's
32 seats of outdoor seating too that's not shown in this plan or we will be
proposing. It's just the inside. This atrium building is I think about 85%
transparent. It has large skylights in the top of it. I don't know if I've got
it. There it is. If you look up through that left side you can see these two big
running skylights on the top as well as glass up and down the front and the
interior. So in summary, let's get to this here, we like to say there's a big difference between
buildings and spaces. Most retail stores are archaic, windowless boxes that lack any sense
of humanity. They're void of fresh air and natural light. Plants die in most department stores and in
most retail stores and we believe that can't be good for humans either. That's why we don't build
retail stores. We build inspiring spaces that are filled with fresh air and natural light,
spaces with garden courtyards, rooftop parks, heritage olive trees, trickling fountains,
some with fire pits and fireplaces, but most importantly spaces that activate all of the
senses and spaces that cannot be replicated online. Over the last 20 years, and you know,
if you think about the advent of the internet, the vast majority of retailers have shrunk in their
stores or close their stores were just the opposite. We're building the largest specialty
stores in the history of the world. We're passionate about the opportunity here in Walnut
Creek and are prepared to make a significant financial investment to redefine what we believe
is the most important corner in Walnut Creek. So thank you for the consideration.
Do you want me to stay here to take questions? Thank you. Any questions?
I have a question. Will you explain the compound? I mean I understand the
restaurant in the middle, but what are the outlier buildings? Are they like showrooms?
Showrooms, yeah, all showrooms. They'll be an architecture and design library. They'll be a
interior design offices, one of the buildings. One at the end will act as an interior design
business. Inside of our single businesses, we have not just the retail business and the
restaurant business, we have, we're the largest residential interior design firm in the world now,
and so we have a kind of a separate inside to be integrated in the compound but the building on
the left side on Mount Diablo will act as our interior design and be signed like that from the
outside. We also offer interior architecture services and landscape architecture services.
We also have a trade business that serves the interior design trade. So we have a dedicated
team that services interior designers. We act as almost a support team for them. We do renderings
and plans and so on and so forth for their businesses. We also have a contract and hospitality
business that services hotels, restaurants, and so on and so forth. So there's kind of multiple
of businesses integrated within a compound
as well as the hospitality experience.
Why are some of the trees these preserved ones?
Because there's a culvert that runs through the property
and there's a basement that was built
by the previous tenant, Neiman Marcus,
and that the cost to replace that basement
would be kind of a project killing, if you will.
So there's no dirt to plant the trees in that.
So they're preserved, they're kind of freeze dried.
You wouldn't be able to tell it's not real.
Okay.
Yeah, I can't tell they're not real.
I mean, they're real trees,
but they're just kind of freeze dried and preserved
and they'll look like every other tree in the project.
Okay.
Yeah.
And then there's three nearby that
that are a different species of olive.
Why that too?
I know these are specific.
They shouldn't be the same.
We're not even another species?
Yeah, all heritage olive trees.
Even the freeze dried ones.
And then you mentioned that there may be outdoor seating.
Where would that happen on the site?
Oh, outdoor dining?
Yes.
Right in front of the, let me just try to hop back here,
right in front of the restaurant.
But I'm going to, here we go.
Go to that slide right here.
So on each side of that entrance, whoops,
on. There'd be seating there and right across from that and then in between the next two olive trees
there and in front of that there'd be 32 seating seats right kind of in the front of the restaurant
to have indoor outdoor seating. Okay okay why do we have to take the Sycamore trees out on
South Main for the project that might be a team? Yeah they're just really in discord with what
what we're gonna build.
I mean, we kind of believe that the landscaping
ought to be harmonious with the architecture
and there ought to be a singular view of kind of the project.
Okay, because it looks like we're putting new ones back in.
Some, yeah.
Okay. Yeah.
Okay, and then I think that may have been it.
Yeah, I have, actually, one more thing.
There's the, what you called kind of like an area of respite
between Apple and the new proposed compound
where there's some big trees.
I think a big portion of that is bioretention, right?
But I do like the idea of it being like more than that.
Is that what you're envisioning?
Like it not just being planting with a couple trees,
but like actually celebrating that space.
Yeah, any ideas that are popping in your head?
Yeah, I mean, I think,
Because I think that is kind of like a courtyard space that's
dead right now, because there's nothing in that building.
And so it focuses everything in front of Apple.
And then they have issues and always
have to have all these bollards and stuff.
So it doesn't feel like somewhere you want to hang out.
So I like that you guys have put the building on an angle.
And I think it'd be cool if there was a really big gnarly
specimen oak tree or something, and made that space feel
like somewhere you could linger.
And it's not just a reflective glass of these super long
buildings.
walnut tree with the logo of walnut tree. Yeah. Yeah. So maybe we'll do a walnut tree.
Yeah. Celebrate walnuts. Yeah. Right. Yeah. But yeah, I think that's what we're thinking.
Some kind of specimen tree, some kind of a sitting area, an area where people can sit
in the shade, take a break. Yeah. From shopping, walking around. Final, final question. Sorry.
There's also in the renderings, there's like lanterns and little fountains and potted plants
and stuff, and those aren't on the plan, but those are a part of the ultimate build-out,
like that little, the little extra jewels.
Yeah, those fountains aren't little, they're, I think they're 2,000 pound solid carved limestone
from France.
Cool.
So they march down, and if you wanted to see them, we actually have them at RH Yountville.
We have a small compound there that's connected, and we've got some of those fountains there.
Okay.
And is there any fire pits or any fire elements on the plan?
We had some, and then we were advised not to do them or?
We-
Here.
Yeah.
I asked where they were last night.
I was preparing to come in.
I'm Michael Babylon with the design team at RH.
We will anticipate to have some within the merchandise areas.
There'll be merchandise fire pits. At one point, we had anchored fire pits that were obstructing the circulation that's yeah
So we worked with staff to kind of remove those but we would still like to provide water fire and lighting elements
Okay. Thank you
Okay, so series of questions the first is looking at the architecture of the building
Your presentation was really about architecture and preserving architecture and I just would like an explanation on how
the proposed design
relates to a Northern California vernacular because it's beautiful, but when I look at it
I really see a warm Southern California type of
environment so just if there could be some how those relate. Yeah, I don't know if they're I mean
Maybe you could tell me which of the other three corners
are at California vernacular,
because they look like a whole bunch
of different things to me.
But I think what we're trying to do is build something
that's timeless, that's beautifully proportioned,
that has a real indoor-outdoor feel.
So if you think about the street-facing,
all the street-facing buildings,
those are about 70%, I think, transparent,
I think it's 70, 30 or 65, 35 between plaster and windows.
And I mean, there's all kinds of famous architectural
vernaculars in the world and they all seem to kind of,
a lot of them are in California.
So if there's a preferred one, we're open to listen.
I was just asking the question as it relates to the-
Yeah, I think that the overall essence of it
is very much an indoor outdoor experience.
I mean, I don't think anybody's built a compound.
A retailer's ever built an interconnected
indoor outdoor compound, you know, anchored by a restaurant.
And I think that in and of itself
reflects a California point of view,
very much of an indoor outdoor living.
Kind of made famous by Michael Taylor,
who's one of the, you know, famous interior designers.
Some called him a pseudo architect.
I helped design the Auberge du Soleil in the Napa Valley,
and we actually just purchased his business recently.
But he's called the godfather of the California look.
And so I can show you guys some swipes at another time.
Or we can send you some of the inspiration swipes
that are all from kind of northern California.
I guess so on the relationship to that, I'm from Marin.
familiar with your store in Corda Madera, I have been many times to the store on Melrose
in Los Angeles. I'm wondering why an opportunity wasn't taken to have a roof deck because it
seems like that's something that's already happening downtown and would be a really nice
edition on that corner to give it a presence. Yeah, I mean, I think that's a possibility.
I think it's also the current owners of the development
that we would be leasing from weren't interested
in leasing a part of it.
They wanted to lease the whole thing.
And so what we tried to do is say, how do we take,
what was it, big department store pad?
And how do you create something that
has a lot of humanity facing consumers,
lots of entrances and exits that lights the transparency.
Looks beautiful from all angles,
whether you're driving this way or that way, this way.
Casey had mentioned how we pivoted the front corner
by Apple because when you're driving around that corner,
you're able to kind of have a focal point
coming around that corner.
So, I mean, if someone wanted to spend the money
and build a three story thing there
And you know, we, you know, but it would, you know, for us it wouldn't work financially
to take the entire space, which is, to take the entire space is very expensive, to take
that corner and all the progress.
So what we try to do is say, okay, we can't take a part of it.
What would we do with the whole of it?
And you know, so that's how we came up with this.
But the whole center, the whole center of it will be filled with light, which is what
I love.
kits every part of it and the when you look at this the path of the Sun here
and how it comes across and comes down kind of almost you know over the the
top of Maine you know during the summer it's gonna kind of wash into that
central courtyard garden and the transparent restaurant you'll be sitting
there looking into garden so yeah. 100% yeah so that sort of gets to my last
question is it's kind of multi-part so kind of the intent of those walkthroughs
and their intention is the public if their intention is RH visitors sort of
what is the intention as part of that are you gonna have your outdoor
furniture sales there or is it gonna so it's going to be like the yeah we're the
largest high-end outdoor furniture company in the world so so we design
things obviously. So it's the outdoor showroom. It's outdoor showroom, it's outdoor travel,
let's in light and a place where people can sit down, take a load off, enjoy a glass of wine.
And so on that note, is it also the primary access to the restaurant is through those?
all five of the entrances from the corner of Mount Diablo and Maine,
coming down around Maine and around that other corner,
all five of those plus the two garden courtyards from that side
all converge onto the interior courtyard which is where the restaurant is.
So I guess then the question would be to get to the restaurant
people do have to walk over the bluestone pavers.
Is there a way to access the restaurant and not go through
that blue stone paper. We have blue stone papers and probably 40 developments around the world.
You know we don't have any problem from accessibility or other issues. I mean it's
all handicap approved. It's all accessible so. Great. Yeah. Just in the renders the way that
they were laid did not express that. There's there's a I think one and a half it's two inch
gap in between, but it's filled with decomposed granite, but we've never had one not passed
accessibility.
Great.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I have a follow up question to one of those.
So the benches and outdoor furnishings that are displayed in the walkways.
Are those for people like waiting for a table or is it like I've come in with my coffee
and I have no intention of going to the restaurant and it's like a public space?
What is the purpose of those?
We don't have an objective of building a loitering space.
Let's just say that it is our outdoor furniture.
It's all for sale.
Someone's waiting for a table, so and so forth.
People just want to kind of camp out for a long time.
We might kind of say, it's not really public space,
but it acts as public space.
All of our rooftops that we built act as public space.
Every once in a while, we've had people
on Melrose Avenue in Los Angeles,
show up at Thanksgiving with their giant,
foil-wrapped turkey and laid out Thanksgiving
for 20 of their family members.
We said, look, we, happy Thanksgiving,
but it's like, it's the day before Thanksgiving.
This is not the intent we have here.
We want it to be open, we want it to be accessible,
but we're not really a public park.
Okay. Yeah.
Thank you. Yeah.
Hi. Hi.
Thank you for your detailed presentation.
Thank you.
So I have follow-up questions to all of those questions.
And a number of notes here from my reviews.
My one question is specifically about the corner
you mentioned and also a staff mentioned
the predominance of that corner
and the historic nature of that corner.
And I just,
I have a question similar to crickets,
which is, Walnut Creek is Walnut Creek,
and there are different buildings on the different corners,
but it's not Palm Desert,
and it doesn't, the treatment of that corner for me,
my question is the allowed height there is 35 feet,
which would give your corner building
a little more presence,
and a little less linear blending
into everything else that you're doing.
Is there a possibility that you could take advantage
of that 35 feet and give us a little bit more presence
on that corner?
I just don't know what I'd do with it.
It would be a fake facade and then look like it's
kind of at discord with the rest of the compound.
So we see the compound is one integrated kind of statement.
And when you see it at 22 feet,
If anybody's ever in Los Angeles, we just bought a business
and the real estate, a high-end design showroom
called Formations in Denison Lane.
The Denison Lane building is actually the inspiration
for this building.
It's been there for 30-plus years.
I think it's one of the most beautifully-proportioned
pieces of real estate.
It's 22 feet in height.
When you're standing there as a human,
it feels impactful when you drive up to it.
I mean, it's not gonna feel like the Neiman Marcus did,
You know, I think I would say to our teams you have to, you know,
have a balanced perspective, not a singular point of view.
I mean, you can say, hey, we want this height, but in what context?
And, you know, in the context of just having the height,
you could say Neiman Marcus looked good.
You know, and I'd argue Neiman Marcus is a cacophony.
I mean, it's mostly opaque walls with no windows.
I mean on the best corner, and even the little glass thing that's on the corner that, you
know, I don't know if it's an art glass thing or what it is, it's opaque.
There's no door.
There's no entrance.
And I've lived in the Bay Area my entire lifetime, and I've been over here a lot, and no one
is walking around in that area, in that building.
No one's walking in and out, and if you walk in, you kind of want to walk out, because
there's no natural light in that space.
There's no fresh air in that space, so, you know, I think the idea is what can be done
with that space?
I mean, if someone's really big and someone wants to build a big retail store that's 35
feet high and we've built them bigger than that, it's not economically viable for us
to do that here.
Might be for someone else or might be, you know, good for someone to use the current
space and punch some holes in it somehow.
So, you know, what we tried to do is say, you know, what can feel, to us like California,
I mean, beautiful heritage olive trees, you know, marching around the site and through
the site, some palm trees at the focal points, feels very California, maybe more southern
California.
We're building in Palm Desert, it doesn't look like this, we're building right at the,
you know, right now.
I mean, I, you know, we can darken the plaster if the light plaster looks a little too light.
But I believe it will be the most beautiful and architecturally beautifully proportioned
building in all of Walnut Creek, I mean, a series of buildings.
And we've done a lot of really great projects, some of them have been on this planet for
almost 200 years that have been preserved and so, but it's all about our point of view.
I mean, like, you know, I'd ask, I mean, tell me which building's your favorite one on that corner and why?
I mean, you know, it's, you know, it's the debate.
We're trying to look at the bigger picture and say there's a big piece of property on the best corner, Walnut Street, Walnut Creek.
It's had something that had lacked any sense of humanity, any sense of light.
No light went into that corner anywhere.
and you know what can you do with it or you know what could we do with it that works for our
building that maybe works for the community um but we like to say don't let perfect be the enemy
of great you know because otherwise things never get started and never get done so uh you know
we think this is massively better than what's there like not a little better massively better
than what's there. It doesn't mean you have to agree with us, you know, that's our point of view,
and it we believe it'll work for our building. I mean it'll work for our business and,
you know, and I think we're, you know, we're a pretty good bet for Walnut Creek. We've been
doing this for a long time. I've been here 26 years and we're the best in the world at what we do
from a business point of view and we think we're the best in the world for what we do
from an architectural and design point of view. So relative to your discussion about the openness
and the compound and the fluidity of the access, why are there two gates that are locked? What is
the reasoning for the locked gates? Yeah, I mean it's just a matter of cost to operate. You know,
we like to be able to greet people when they come into our spaces and welcome people and so on and
so forth, and the cost to operate every gate or every entrance, like full-time, is- it's already
an investment to operate five entrances, you know, so that's the only reason. And what I would say,
They also say on the one side, on the two sides,
the gates that are not open,
there's elevation issues and elevation changes
would require stairways and require ramps and things.
It's a very expensive site just to get going here
because you've got the culvert
and you have this drainage issue.
So if you look at what we've done
and you've got a ramping issue down Mount Diablo
when you're coming from the intersection.
So, you can see a kind of a retaining wall that's growing,
that's all planted with the drainage requirements
for the site.
The drainage requirements here are the most complex I've ever
encountered in any of the projects I've worked on.
So, that also was a consideration.
Do we need to put an entrance here and another ADA, you know,
entrance and so on and so forth, and one on the other side
where there's a grade change?
We believe those are the least important entrances because there's not another retailer facing
this way, you know, and we're right here.
The other-the thing on the corner-I think it's-is it still a PF change?
I'm not sure.
It might have closed, but going-you know, going around the corner, there's entrances
on this side, so we just felt the most energy, the most activity, the most flow into this
project is going to come from the two end corners and Main Street where we're going
to propose valley parking and so on and so forth right there which I believe Neiman Marcus
also had in that same space.
So following up on the culvert comments and your description of your fountains and the
questions about the live trees and not live trees. We have a number of other
properties in Walnut Creek that have to deal with those drainage and culvert
issues, especially in Broadway Plaza, that have large-scale trees in large
planters. Could you conceivably do something like that and have live trees
in similar basins to your fountain basins and keep it clean? It's just gonna
going to look different.
Thank you.
I think we have how many olive trees do we have, 32 olive trees on the site?
Forty total heritage olive trees, all planted fully down to the ground in the base, and
they're all going to look magnificent.
And then, you know, we wind up, I think, what do we have, eight on that side?
Eight on that side that would be in planters.
It would just create a level of discord and people would go, well, why did they do that?
I guarantee if you've ever been to R.H. Youngville,
we actually built the restaurant with a glass roof,
and I dug down in the ground,
and I built giant planters inside that building.
My idea was to have live olive trees that you dined under,
and in the first year, they died.
And I still have the bases,
and we replace them with freeze dried,
all the branches and stuff.
Nobody can tell, I can't even tell when I go in there.
But if, you know, if you were gonna be a nap anytime soon,
you wanted to go to R.H. Anfield,
if you go into the main restaurant part,
you'll see something like that.
Nobody can tell.
We have inside, outside, it's all these,
all the trees are aligned.
We open the windows.
Nobody has ever went, oh, these are fake,
because the whole wood structure in base is an original,
all the branches are.
all you've got is you know some of the little things with the leaves.
Otherwise it's a 100% olive tree, it's just been
preserved. I guess the concern that we've expressed is
removing live trees and replacing them with non-live trees. There are no live
trees over there. No and on the street. Yeah. So if you
could look at that and also look at some cohesiveness with Walnut Creek
as you mentioned it's not necessarily a palm tree city. I understand your design and I understand
it's classical and I get that but maybe just take another look at that before you go to planning
commission. Okay we're still in questions. Anybody have any more questions? There's a lot of
a lot of explorations there. I'm not going to make comments now but I think I will say this I
looking at the breadth of this, I'm going to get to a question, but there's a lot of sameness across
the frontage. Is there a way to open up your kit of parts a bit to provide maybe a different feel
and cadence along the street at scale with not Broadway Plaza but the rest of Walnut Creek?
Can I ask you to be a little bit more specific? Yeah, well it's, I mean if you look, if you look
if you look at the elevation, I mean, everything's very low
and the forms that, you know,
you're using columns that are all the same.
Is there a way to, to vary the front edge a bit more?
It all looks, it all looks, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah.
Okay, well, that, that'll be something
I'll talk about in my comments.
That's, and I'm not gonna make comments right now
because I think if we're done,
we're gonna go to public comment, right?
Yeah, I mean, thank you very much.
Nobody has anything else.
That's the end of your presentation, right?
Yep.
Okay, cool.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.
So, let's go on to public comment.
Do we have any public comment?
I have not received any cards,
but doesn't mean we don't have any public comment.
Does anybody want to turn in a card
and make a public comment?
No, a lot less spectators tonight.
Okay, good.
This will go quickly.
Let's go on to commissioner comments.
Does anybody wanna begin?
First of all, thank you very much
for your educational presentation.
And also I commend you on rescuing
older historic buildings.
I did that for a living for a while
and I'm very much appreciative of that.
And that sort of goes back to my comments
about Walnut Creek being sort of Walnut Creek
and not Palm Desert.
That was because we do have a limited number of buildings
that we can restore and or copy here,
but maybe as the chair stated,
you could take a look at varying that a little bit
so that it fits in a little better with the surroundings
and with the feel and architecture of Walnut Creek,
which is a little more Northern California traditional.
That would be my comment.
So I want to reiterate that where
we have the stormwater area, I think
it'd be cool to do some kind of fun special specimen tree,
something special there.
I feel like there is a lot of talk
about the integrated indoor-outdoor.
And I don't totally see that aside from the restaurant.
So I just would love to see some way
that it's like if I weren't shopping for furniture
and I weren't looking for interior design,
what's pulling me there in addition to the restaurant.
And this is just my wish list, so bear with me.
But I was like, I don't know,
maybe there's like a cafe or something.
In terms of the outdoor spaces and the renderings,
I see that there's trellises.
I wanna make sure those like have glass
or some kind of weatherproof, which you mentioned,
but it wasn't obvious to me in the plans
because I think it's cool
if that has like a year-round opportunity.
All glass, great.
I would love the idea of some of the chandeliers
or cool light features outside.
So maybe it's like catenary.
I like the idea of fire pits.
I mentioned that.
I don't know if that's a possibility.
I love the fountain.
I see in some of the renderings in the background
there's like vines and stuff on the architecture.
But I also don't see that on the plan.
So I think I appreciate that the landscape architecture is
very simple, and I like that.
But I also think there might need
to be a little bit more garden in your garden.
So like something a little softer there,
which is why I mentioned maybe like the planters and stuff.
In terms of the architecture,
I had a similar gut reaction when I opened it.
I was like, oh, that looks much more like
kind of Rodeo Drive than I had expected.
It feels a little more classical than I expected,
maybe oversimplified because when I heard
it was gonna be restoration hardware
I was very excited about that, by the way.
I pictured kind of the visual character
that I'm seeing in the restaurant, which
is more of like the greenhouse vibe.
You can kind of see what's happening inside.
And the buildings that are on the perimeter
feel a little more sterile than that to me.
I really like that the glass goes high
and it makes a statement.
But the rest feels a little underwhelming, maybe.
And that's just a gut reaction, and I'm not
able to give insight architecturally
to how to make it different.
But I figured I'd mention that opinion
so that you know it's there.
Other than that, I do think it's really great
to have a refreshment of that spot.
It does feel like a dead zone.
I'd love to be able to move through the gates,
but I understand why they're not open.
But having some of that permeability to the space
is really cool.
And integrating it with the corner with Apple,
I think, is really cool.
So I'm very excited about the project,
but just wanted the opportunity to cast my opinions.
So, thank you.
I'd like to echo that I think it's really exciting
to have something happening on this space.
I moved, right after I moved to this city,
the Neiman Marcus went in and it was so exciting.
Something was gonna be there and then it quickly went out.
And so, having it's such a vital, important corner,
I also think that restoration is a great asset
and it is also very well suited to the commercial spirit of Walnut Creek, so it's I think a
very nice marriage.
As far as the access that Commissioner Case was mentioning, being someone who uses that
space frequently, I understand needing to have just the staffing and having both those
gates open, but it might be helpful even if it's just on weekends to have the gate that
is facing Apple, having that one open,
because you often, many people are gonna be parking over
in the larger Broadway Plaza parking lot,
and they'll be coming up through maybe past Nordstrom.
And so it would just be another nice access to have.
So I understand that that might not be possible,
but it would, as far as just the flow of it,
I think that would be nice.
And that's about it.
I appreciate it being here.
I think we have sort of a reaction to the facade
because of its brightness.
I'm in no way saying that the other three corners
are beautiful architectural examples.
I think that you showed us a beautiful architectural example
and that was your presentation.
And so it's this lead up and then,
oh, well, okay, I get it.
And it's beautiful, but, you know,
I think we all want like the bank building.
We don't have it anyway.
Thank you.
There's a lot you guys said that I won't repeat.
I think I agree with a lot of it.
I mean, interesting discussion about the vernacular.
What is the California vernacular?
Is it a mission style?
What is it?
I mean, if you look at all four corners,
all the architecture is very different.
And you know, it has its merits and not,
but I think that, you know, the context.
if there is a context here is,
I think this building will be a great improvement
from what Neiman Marcus was,
and I think it was great you presented those blindsides
and how the permeability of this
is going to be a real big improvement.
That said, I'm actually a fan
of some of these projects you mentioned.
My son has his office down there by in,
down south of Market right by the Bethlehem Steel building.
My wife said, did restoration hardware build that building?
And I go, no, that's the Bethlehem Steel building
because I grew up there.
But I mean, it's amazing how you guys embrace architecture
and do that.
And I've been to the Yountville place
and that, which this reminds me a lot of this,
the scale of this is bigger than Yountville.
And it's a great kid of parts in Yountville.
It's also, there are a lot of great examples
and you've shown a lot of examples,
But I think the word underwhelmed,
I don't like to use that,
but I'll say, I challenge you guys.
I have no question that the detailing of this thing
will be exceptional based on the work that I've seen
and I do study what you do.
I think, expand your kid to parts a bit.
I mean, look at, just throwing out one example
of something that I've seen,
like that Bethlehem Steel building.
There's a lot more detail in it, right?
And I'm not, I'm very aware that this is a big stretch.
It's a big piece of property
and it costs a lot of money to stretch that much program.
And I bet the lease is big,
but if you can articulate things a little better
and modulate things so that you introduce
some different forms along the frontage
because the frontage is huge.
I mean, the color, the colorway,
it's kind of your colorway.
I don't have a problem with that.
I think maybe you could vary the color a little bit
in some ways, but obviously you want to own that whole frontage, and I think you should.
I just think maybe, are there columns or forms or other things that you can introduce that
kind of break down the monotony of it, because it's just so huge.
I think, you know, it is an important corner.
It's equally important to the other four corners.
The height at 22 feet, I thought it was very interesting
tonight that we're presented on one corner,
an eight story building that's entirely out of scale
and is absolutely right up against the property line.
And then here you guys are at 22 feet
and you're actually volunteering to push back
and actually make the permeability.
I think you're gonna have a lot of success
with the permeability.
I think there's, if there's a way you can push
that height up somehow, I don't know how,
but, and obviously you're not gonna add more program,
you're not gonna add a roof deck, I understand why,
but if it could be raised a little bit more,
somehow I think it'd be helpful.
Maybe the middle building could be taller
and the other ones on the side could be smaller,
just to get some different modulation
because it's such a broad area.
You know, you've done a nice job
of breaking the block down in cadence,
but maybe breaking it down in height,
maybe having some different heights subtly might help.
Again, we're just tinkering here.
I think, what else?
I mean, and the corner expression,
expressing the corner is really important.
Maybe it's just the middle building
that just pops up a little bit.
I think the pedestrian experience you're creating
is really cool.
I just look at the success, you know,
Viola V across the street has something at a smaller scale.
They have this tree, it works very well for them
and the people in this town really react well to that.
And so I think that's really great.
I think I'm gonna defer to the landscape architects
to talk about the landscape architecture.
We did get a comment about the DG.
Obviously that's part of, you have that up in Yountville,
I've seen it.
You know, can you stabilize the DG?
Can you use less of it?
It might just be good to look at that
because this is different than Yountville
or a place like that because, you know,
there's just gonna be a lot more traffic.
And I think you're gonna have a really good reaction.
People are gonna come in and sit in those areas.
And it's probably gonna be a lot more traffic
and I have a lot of DG at my house
and I know I'll just get pulled out onto the street.
So maybe a little bit less, maybe stabilize it.
I think that the other thing is,
the matter of the fencing.
So obviously you need to fence off
these pedestrian ways after hours, it's a business.
You have high value things in there.
But the fixed fences, maybe there's an opportunity there
where instead of just having them blocked off,
maybe if you recess them a bit.
You know, we didn't talk about this tonight,
but one of the things we talk about in Walnut Creek
is public art.
Maybe since you have these recesses,
maybe that's an opportunity to do some kind of a feature
there, some sculpture or something
that we're always looking for places
to put art in Walnut Creek.
And those places might be a good spot
because if you have that and that's the feat,
and that's what you're looking at, not a fence,
it might just be pulled off a little better.
That's all I had.
Anything else?
I have one more thing.
If you're revisiting the cadence down South Main,
if there's an opportunity to integrate
the existing street trees that are pretty significant
that are there, I think that would be good
because those are pretty mature trees
and it's a nice ambiance for that street.
Can you repeat that?
try to keep the street trees on South Main,
if there's a way.
The sycamore.
The sycamore trees, yes.
Not the liquid amber.
The one, that's Mount Diablo, the ones on South Main,
so across from Lenscrafters.
Yep.
Anything else?
Okay, you wanna try to capture all that?
That hour of comment.
Overarching comments, or that everybody agrees
It's a prominent corner and the architecture is not overwhelming but not underwhelming.
There might be a few things to take a look at specifically at the corner.
Do a corner statement.
I like some of the words Chair used.
Take a look at the monotony and modulation and articulation.
specifically that horizontal for the long front edges.
Yeah, okay.
Maybe a color, who knows.
But take a look at it.
Maybe suggest a couple different variations to show
to the planning commission and maybe say why
or why not these would work.
Yeah, okay.
Let's see, that's two of those.
The gates, the specifically the closed side.
Understand the Mount D1.
There was a comment there to maybe take a look
at opening the Broadway Plaza side now and then on weekends?
Just let it be, let us move through it.
I mean, that was one of the goals
of all our downtown specific plans was like permeability,
let people move through a space.
So I think, yeah, I think it's a good connection there.
And then that's a main way for people who are parking that way.
Right.
It's also customer accessibility,
because people are coming from those two big parking lots
on that side through it's the easiest way.
Yeah.
And so I think there's some consensus there.
And there is also a comment to if that's not
possible to look at recessing those a little bit
and maybe looking at locations for public art, maybe both.
Sure.
OK, good.
Let's see.
Stabilize the DG.
I think that's going to be an ADA compliance building permit
thing or as site development permit thing, building permit thing. As I look at the engineering
department over there. Let's see. Take a look at the street trees on the South, on the South
Main side. Yes. Okay. Those, and those, I think they're London Plains, Sycamore? Yes.
If they can be. Yeah. If they can be. Yeah. And I think, I heard a comment earlier from
public works that that as far as street trees go they're towards the end of
their useful life as a street tree because they're starting to do damage okay
so that could be an issue okay let's see there was other other comments about
take oh the trellis's did have glass and everyone was confirmed was as far as
landscape as landscaping goes there was some comment about the vine should the
vines be shown on the landscape plan, did they add value?
Yeah.
Okay, is there, are we, yep.
Especially if the sort of the facades remain simple.
Simple, yeah.
How they are now, I think it adds depth naturally.
Let's see, I think everybody was on board
with the further development of the stormwater area
between Apple Store and RH, yep, okay.
And I think that's all I have.
yep that's good for me i think you got it yep yeah thank you guys for staying in walnut creek
when none of us said that 26 years that's great yes thank you we're excited thanks that's that's
the end of that commission considerations uh is there anything any commission considerations uh
I have, there are some items coming up for the design review commission in the next few,
in the next few meetings. I don't have those items with me. I thought I did, but I do not,
but the design review commission will be a little busy. March 4th you will get your fifth commissioner,
a new commissioner that was appointed last night and also extended commissioner case for four more
years and that is all I've got. Are you a third termer? I didn't know that was
allowed. Special exception. I'm excited that's great. Okay yeah we're excited
that you're sticking around. Okay good any commission member or staff reports
our announcements. I think we just had them, right? Yeah. We're done! 8-14. So many, my
wife has a cold like that.