Welcome to the March 4th, 2026 Design Review Commission.
Welcome everybody.
It seems like we have a new commissioner here tonight.
You want to?
We do.
I'd like to welcome Commissioner Jeffrey
Prose to the Design Review Commission.
Jeffrey is a local architect and been living in town
for two years, for two years.
Welcome.
Welcome.
With that said, can we do a roll call?
We can't.
Commissioner Prose?
Commissioner Case?
Here.
Commissioner Riley?
Here.
Vice Chair Basing?
Here.
And Chair Newsom?
I am here.
Okay, we have a quorum.
We have, for the first time in quite a while,
we have five commissioners.
Yeah, thanks for joining us.
So, I guess the first thing up
is to elect a new chair in that vice chair.
So, do we want to have a discussion about that?
Anybody want to nominate anyone?
I would like to nominate Commissioner Base.
I second.
OK.
Anybody else?
All right, so should we then do a vote?
Yes.
OK.
All right.
Commissioner Case.
Yes.
Commissioner Riley.
Yes.
Commissioner Prose.
Yes.
Chair Newsom.
Yes.
Vice Chair Vasting.
Abstain.
Abstain.
4 0 1 is a win. You can go ahead and switch chairs. All right.
So the next item on the agenda is the election of the vice chair. Do we have any nominations?
I'd like to nominate Commissioner Riley. I second that.
Okay.
So we have a vote.
Commissioner Oh, I'm sorry.
That was was that Commissioner Case that made that motion?
Yep.
Commissioner Case.
Yes.
Commissioner prose.
Yes.
Commissioner Riley.
Sure.
Yes.
Commissioner Newsom.
Yes.
And Vice Chair.
Well, it's chair now.
Chair.
Oh, and Commissioner.
Commissioner Riley.
Oh, what did I miss?
Chair fasting.
Sorry, okay, that is, sorry about that.
That is 5-0, if you'd like to take your new position.
Rearrange.
Should we switch the names in front?
I can do that.
Well, it's confusing if we don't
because I don't think I look much like Phil.
Thank goodness.
If we can avoid confusion we probably should.
chair sees it better.
So the next item on the agenda is the consent calendar.
Do we have any items on consent?
We do not have any items on consent nor does staff suggest moving any to consent.
Okay.
Great.
And the third item on the agenda is public communications.
This portion of the meeting is reserved for comments not on the agenda and if you would
like to speak on something that's not on the agenda, please fill out a speaker card and
turn it in up here.
Is there anyone who would like to speak on anything other than what's on the agenda?
No?
Seeing none, is there any ex parte communications by any commissioners?
Anyone related to this? Okay. Thank you
So moving on to the public hearing and study session
Do okay great
Hey
Good evening design review commissioners. My name is Jessica Gonzalez senior planner and tonight
I will be presenting the design review for Oceana
Getting started with the project site
The project site is an existing two-story building located at the corner of Bonanza and Locust Street at 1555
Bonanza Street. Oceana is a fish bar restaurant that proposes to occupy the existing building
that was formerly occupied by Yacht Club. The proposal is to use the ground floor as
restaurant space and the second floor as office space.
And in summary, the project scope includes adding a first and second floor addition to
the existing building, remodeling the exterior, constructing a new trash enclosure, and adding
some landscaping as well as a new patio area.
Just for some context, there's some photos on the screen that show the existing building.
The photo at the top is the building site along Locust.
On the bottom is Bonanza Street.
Just a quick overview of the entitlement path for the project.
They have applied for an AUP to serve alcohol that has already been reviewed and issued
by planning staff.
The project is before the DRC tonight as a study session for input and review and will
later be reviewed by the planning commission for their final decision.
Jumping into the site changes on the left side of the screen we have the existing site
plan.
And this is the proposed site plan on the right.
As I noted they are proposing to construct a new trash enclosure which is circled on
the screen.
The proposal also includes a two-story addition and outdoor dining patio facing Bonanza Street.
Just following up on those two items, the photo on this screen shows a rendering of
the outdoor patio area.
I've also included some elevations of the new trash enclosure, which will be designed
to match the new building colors.
Moving into landscaping, the green areas on the plan show the proposed landscaping, which
consists of planters which are street oriented and will be planted with grasses, ferns and
creeping figs that will be planted along the building.
Here's some elevations of the proposal for the new design.
The elevation at the top of the screen shows the facade along Bonanza Street and the elevation
at the bottom of the screen shows the elevation that will be facing the rear lot.
The project includes painting the building a light seaforn green with bronze trim and
accent colors.
The elevation at the top of the screen shows the site of the building which faces Locust
Street and the bottom of the screen is the elevation that will be facing the rear lot.
The design includes blue and white mosaic tiles on the exterior, blue awnings and a
Florida ceiling decorative metal gold scrim that will highlight and accent the corner
of the building.
So here's the colors and materials palette for the proposed project.
As you'll note, the color scheme consists of blue, bronze, and the gold, as well as
the light seafoam.
Just some additional proposed rendering.
So this is showing the proposed design along Locust Street.
Here again the outdoor patio, the corner of the building and some close ups showing the
mosaic tiles.
And so with that, staff does recommend that the DRC review and comment on the following
topics including building design, colors and materials, the outdoor dining area as well
as the proposed landscaping and provide a recommendation to the planning commission
on the designer view application.
I'm available for any questions.
also have the applicant team here who is ready to make a presentation as well.
Thank you. Do we have any questions of staff? Thank you. The applicant team did
want to make a presentation as well, so I'll pull that up. Good evening DRC
Commissioner. My name is Roland Gabin. Thank you for the opportunity to speak
with you tonight regarding the project on deck Oceana located at 1555 Bonanza
Before we discuss the project, I would like to share some background on our family history here in Walnut Creek for those that don't know.
My family has been part of the Walnut Creek business community for about 45 years.
This is where we've built our lives, raised our families, and invested in the city's future and past.
We're proud to have contributed to Walnut Creek transformation into a vibrant community
that it is today.
Our father being a first-generation hospitality, we are, my siblings and I represent second
generation and tonight we even have the third generation in the audience attending his first
DRC meeting.
Our family's history in this community began in 1980.
Our first location was 1516 Bonanza Street, formerly La Ultima.
It is now housed as Havana.
From there we moved to 1401 Mount Diablo Boulevard, where we opened the Walnut Creek Hofbra House.
In the 90s, we opened a second location at 1548 Bonanza Street, formerly Hubcaps Diner.
We operated Hubcaps for 28 years, and we decided after that we needed to rebrand.
We rebranded the space into Broadrick Road House, which exists today.
In the year 2000, we acquired Original Melz Diner at 1394 North Main Street, which we
proudly owned and operated for 22 years.
We also became one of the largest franchisees of Original Melz.
For over two decades, we served as a true gathering place where families celebrated
milestones and memories.
It was definitely a community.
When it was time for another change, we leaned into the future again.
After opening two of our fried chicken concepts, world famous hot boys, we knew our third location
should be in Walnut Creek.
And it was the perfect corner to get loud and home our third world famous hot boys.
Working closely with the City of Walnut Creek and the Arts Commission, we executed and we
we executed what became the largest mural in town,
creating an artistic landmark
and bringing new energy to the space.
And finally, in 2022, our recent project,
we introduced Lita, Bay Area's Little Miami,
right here in Walnut Creek,
a chef-driven, modern approach, Latin Caribbean cuisine.
Through every chapter, we have embraced change
while honoring tradition.
The proposal we are introducing tonight is rooted in respect for Walnut Creek character.
This is not just a development piece for us or another location, it is a continuation
of our family's long-standing commitment to the downtown core.
We view 1555 Bonanza as an important piece of the downtown history and future that will
We will support local activity, honor old memories, and contribute to the thriving city as a whole.
We value your feedback tonight and look forward to working together to ensure this project meets the high standards our community deserves in a timely manner.
Thank you for your time and I hope you love the design as much as we do.
Thank you.
You gotta go full screen probably for it to work.
Good evening.
My name is Brandon Marshall.
I'm an architect with Fogg Studio.
Helping the Gabins develop this project,
Jessica gave you a great broad overview.
I'm just going to touch on a few things
and go through at a high level the design.
I just want to say it's pretty special to have a family
like this willing to invest at the quality they do.
As an architect, I don't see it a lot and not cut corners.
So the way they've looked at this building
and how they're really touching every inch of it
to refresh it and bring it back.
I think it's pretty special
and we're hoping to get feedback from y'all
and move on through the process and build something great.
So at a high level, I think we've already kind of touched
on the scale of the building.
There's a two-story building there
with a small outdoor, indoor dining space that was added
that's gonna be removed
and then a new two-story addition in its place.
In addition to that, about a 400-square-foot outdoor dining
space that we're hoping activates Bonanza.
So yeah, so this is the one-story indoor outdoor space
right now, and then the two-story building
with a small one-story addition.
There's a little bit of history to this site.
This used to be two different storefronts
and was combined by the previous owner.
This is the site plan showing, in the blue, generally
the remodel of the existing building.
And then the orange is where the addition would be.
I just wanted to point out a lot of the work that's
being done with the landscaping is in relation
to stormwater control, including the pervious paving
in the area called Courtyard in the Rear.
The rear paved area is really meant for service access
for the restaurant and not for vehicular access.
So again, the existing floor plan,
I think we've kind of covered that.
The upper level is kind of a rat's nest
that's gonna be completely kind of gutted and refreshed.
I'll get to the proposed plan in a second.
I actually did wanna touch on the location of the stair.
One of the things that we studied with the Gabins
was where to place the stair.
It's in a pretty inconvenient place
for a, I guess, a full commercial kitchen.
And you'll see in the proposed plan
that it's a pretty extensive kitchen
and it's gonna provide, you know,
like I said, a full service.
So relocating the stair to the addition
was a key component of this design.
The existing roof plan right now,
all of the mechanical that supports the two-story
is housed in this enclosure.
And then there's some minor mechanical equipment
on the lower volume.
So again, the stair was somewhere in this area.
And really to pull off this concept
and continue as a seafood and oyster bar,
they needed more space for the kitchen.
And really pushed hard to make the dining space
not only accessible off of the street side,
but also more efficient.
So the addition here is gonna be more dining space
that feeds to a small outdoor dining area on Bonanza.
And then, like I said, a stair that
will allow access to the upper floor, which is largely
going to be office seen for the operators.
We'll see this in the renderings.
But the new addition has a sloped parapet
that will house a significant amount
of the new mechanical equipment to serve the building.
You can see that here.
One of the elements to kind of break down the scale
on the Bonanza side was an overhead patio, a covered patio,
that will provide some weather protection as well as
outdoor lighting.
And like I said, break down the scale.
One of the other things that the owners are interested in
is a door that really opens up the indoor and outdoor
on good weather days so that the space really
breathes and flows well.
Jessica touched on the materials.
I did want to touch on one of the subtle materials which
is a proposed laser cut metal scrim that will protect
portions of the curtain wall.
So the entire skin is going to get kind of refreshed.
The curtain wall that's there, the two story, the frontage,
will get fully replaced.
And with that, portions will get protected
by this scaled scrim that kind of feeds off
of the nautical theme.
So it's maybe hard to see, but some of the scrim
will cover the existing CMU plaster wall.
And some will go in front of the curtain wall.
And then the intent is to use that as a vine wire type
system and have living plants on that to really soften
both sides of the building.
Again, the mosaic tile, kind of a scaled nautical theme,
really trying to break down the scale of that smaller portion,
as well as give it a little bit of texture and color.
You can see that closer here.
This is the existing planter.
Again, we're using pretty much all of the plantings
to contain stormwater, filter it,
and then send it, if necessary, back out
to the city storm system.
One of the things that we are proposing
is to remove the corner of the entry
to really get, to let it breathe a little more,
make it more accessible for people entering,
and also deal with accessibility
and the difficulty of the sidewalk that slopes.
This is the view, as Jessica pointed out,
of the outdoor dining area.
You can see the outdoor covered space
as well as, again, the plants.
And I think that's it.
So I guess we're open to questions, if there are any.
And thanks for your feedback.
Any questions?
I have a question.
On the materials page, there's a stainless steel trellis
system.
And I wanted to understand where that occurs,
because I like the ficus, but I want
to know where that's going.
You know what I mean.
So where on the building elevations is that?
that's gonna support this wall here. Okay. So that it's gonna be a stucco
construction with an elevated stainless steel fine wire. Okay. And the the vines
for that will be planted in grade in planters? Correct. Which sorry which one?
At grade? Okay. Okay. Yeah. Okay. Thanks. I got one. I'm interested in the SCRIM
and how all that works, that the two-dimensional elevations don't really match the rendering,
so at least I don't understand how they do. So maybe we kind of walk through that. It
looks more substantial here on the two-dimensional ones. It actually, it doesn't, it's not clear
that that scrim continues on, so I want to find out exactly what we're getting. Does
that make sense?
Yeah, so I think the renderings,
it reads better because of the shadow.
Two dimension elevations,
it's just a hatch over the building model.
I would say largely most of the glazing
is gonna be protected by the scrim,
and in some cases we've extended it over,
as I mentioned, the stucco really
to just combine those surfaces
So it's not just A, B, and the scrim, I think,
kind of lightens the entire kind of heaviness
of those big CMU walls.
So, yeah, I would say the first two panels
of the curtain wall and these two panels,
as well as another two four foot sections on locusts.
And then similarly, I don't know if this is obvious,
on Bonanza, there's a section of the glazing
that will be completely transparent
and then multiple sections that'll be protected
by the scrim.
I'd say it's mostly decorative.
But, you know, this is a two story curtain wall
and I don't know how many of y'all had been
into the yacht club, but it gets a lot of sun.
So this is gonna do some work.
I just think it would be important how it gets detailed.
That was my only question.
Yeah, I think the goal is for the curtain wall
to support it with a kit outrigger.
And it's not gonna be set off significantly,
maybe four inches, depending on the,
the scrim and that structure is different
than the curtain wall, right?
Like you're, I mean, like is,
are you putting the curtain wall
in front of the CME wall where that?
No, no, and that's gonna be really the trickiest detail
is it's gonna have to attach to the CMU wall
where it's this last section here.
And then it's also gonna have to attach
at the vertical mullion,
which again will be an Arcadia kit system.
The panel of the scrim will be custom made,
but made to fit that system.
So really, the outriggers that support the edges
over the CMU will have to work with both the movement,
structural movement but also just how to cleanly attach it. I mean here it looks
like you're extending a portion of the curtain wall over the CMU it looks it
looks like I mean it doesn't show as clearly here as it does in the
elevation other elevation but it looks to me which which I support I mean it
looks like you have those vertical mullions extending over the CMU in a way
it's just it's not as clear in the two-dimensional elevation yeah that's
that's the trick that you're gonna have to work through.
I think it's definitely a detail that's gonna have
to have a lot of attention because they're,
again, we've got vertical mullions that it's pretty simple
to attach an outrigger to.
Proprietary systems make those where it transitions
to being supported by the solid wall.
There may be a frame that's gotta
kind of connect everything together.
Yeah, Arcadia probably will help you with that.
They're really good.
Yeah.
Yeah, it's probably your first choice.
The good news is that the Gavins have a glazing
sub who knows the Arcadia system well,
is working on each of these attachment points.
The trick will be fitting that off-the-shelf system
with a custom laser cut panel.
I had one more question.
So if you go to the other Venenza elevation.
Nope, wrong way.
why did you decide to can't that roof
instead of making it reference the existing building?
So no, on the addition,
because that actually slopes up, right?
Correct.
Yeah, so the goal was to create
a rooftop mechanical shroud
with part of the building massing,
but also respect the existing building,
which is kind of a nice building, right?
I mean, it has its place.
It's old, but it's nice.
And so one of the concerns was making something
that was going to kind of overshadow it.
So it's sloping down to really try and respect
the scale of the existing building
while still trying to be compatible with it.
So it's sloping to maybe three or four feet
here, up to seven or eight feet where all the equipment's
going to be.
But the equipment is below the, is behind the higher section,
Then I guess you're going to have all the duct work below, right?
As in...
Well, like, you know, you know, like you have the rooftop equipment and, you know, I played
these tricks many times myself, I mean, you know, you have the rooftop equipment and now
I have to go...
I'll have all the main feeds for the ducts.
I don't want to see them, follow what I'm saying.
Yeah.
When you taper that down to zero,
this is more of a comment than a question,
but I think I got my answer.
Yeah, the goal is we're not going to see it.
That'll be my comment when I get there.
I think that's probably the city expectation as well.
Yeah, yeah, I think so.
All right, that's all I got.
I have a few questions.
First off, I think the massing has articulated pretty well.
I think you kind of picked up on the scale
of the existing building.
you know, that second storefront that was there
and then brought the new one with the setback.
So I think that's working pretty well.
And the justification of,
or juxtaposition of building planes,
I think that kind of helps to keep a breakout of the match.
I think the small scale that's in the neighborhood,
I think wants to be maintained with that layering of planes.
And I also think that the scrim use,
I think has showed some promise.
I think with some layering and enrichment
of kind of the building's opaqueness and translucency.
But one thing I do have a question I have
is about the couple things is the windows
that kind of wrap around that along the corner
for the bathroom, how are those windows there?
How are those going to be animated?
I don't know that having a view into a corridor
and bathroom doors or bathrooms is usually a desirable thing.
So is there some other treatment
or is there something you plan for the windows
that hasn't been expressed in these drawings?
I think, I'm not sure if you got,
We're at the interior design level yet.
Or if you've been in Lita, the same designer
that worked on Lita is going to be doing another layer behind.
So it's not just going to be a sheetrock level four wall.
It's going to have some texture.
We're retaining and refreshing what are currently
some awnings that hang over those windows.
And then one of the things we have really touched on
is the lighting to try and accent
some of the horizontal features of the building.
But absolutely, I didn't touch on this in the plan,
but one of the things that we pushed for
was the ability to exit out of this corner
and provide a good flow and obviously provide
what we need to for the restroom.
Because I think previously the building was underserved
with the two unisex toilets.
I think he had to go upstairs if there were, anyway.
That problem's gonna be solved
And we looked at this probably 20 different ways how to maintain the glazing, which we
think shouldn't really change because it improved that street facade.
But yes, it's a great comment.
I also wonder about keeping the awnings.
I understand design process and iterations, but I'm wondering if the existing awnings
aren't kind of forming a direction of the project where I think that around the corner
around Bonanza, you're introducing new language
with the trellis system, you've got a trellis
at the upper level windows, which I'm guessing
is elemental, so it casts shadows and light
across the street, so I got two questions.
One, why would it not be repeated at the lower level?
Because I understand outdoor dining,
but I don't know that inclement weather dining is going
to be there, and I worry about shadow in too dark back
behind their facility.
Are you talking about on the north or on the west?
On Bonanza, on the east side there,
where you got the outdoor dining patio, that roofing,
or if it's more like the upper level.
It's a, yeah, it will be a low slope,
weatherproof membrane roof.
That's the proposal.
I question if that's appropriate.
But then I'm also wondering if that same language
you now developing a new language for the building,
if you don't want to bring that around
to this elevation as well.
In lieu of the angled fabric canopies.
Certainly, at a minimum, the frame,
I don't know if you've looked at the old,
she had a view of the old frames
they're kind of wood and a little more expressive.
The frames, I think, would be simplified,
but yeah, it's a fair comment.
Yeah, I think we just have to kind of enliven the facade
and tie the building together on both facades.
And then on the site plan and the floor plan
at the, behind the building,
which is where the retention facility is in that pavement,
I'm wondering if there isn't again,
I'm kind of going back to the language
you've introduced about this,
the layering and the building elevation.
I want that can't be,
and I do kind of see that in the floor plan
because I can see standing outside,
seeing, you know, diners that have booth,
and then at the oyster bar and then in the kitchen,
I think it's really quite rich and draws people in.
But I wonder if the landscape that,
by requirement you need to put in the back,
it can't be act accentuated,
and take that stair you have,
and rotate 90 degrees so it gets to the kitchen wall,
and then partially open that dining room window
to the back so that you have, again,
more of this kind of layering and enrichment.
Because I think there's nothing that draws people
more into restaurants than seeing activity going on.
And that's just a thought.
Yeah, one clarification.
The rear area won't be used by the patrons.
It's 100% service and what we're calling courtyard.
The permeable pavers are really getting us
to see three compliance.
Sure, understood.
And allowing us, I think, to only have
to treat 50% of the existing roof,
because if not, we're going to have a lot more landscaping,
a lot more planners.
And so the plan is to provide access
to the upper level for the employees that
are working in the office through that back service area,
but not access for the general public.
Thank you.
Thank you.
I just have one question that comes off
of what Commissioner Case said about the FICUS.
When you look on the plans, on the planting,
what's labeled as the planting plan,
the beds that would be where that FICUS would be
against that wall aren't on this plan.
You're talking about at the scrim where it's very shallow?
No, I'm talking about where the outdoor seating area.
Oh, yes.
So that bed, wherever you're planting.
All right, yeah, if we look at this,
where you are proposing that you're planting that ficus
against that wall, there is no cutouts in the ground.
Yeah, I don't know, David, if you want to speak to that.
But I think the idea is to cultivate this plant
from the perimeter, from the edges.
So I lost the mouse, but.
So from this perimeter here,
because the renderings show plants growing
a lot of this wall.
Exactly.
I know we don't have a lot of space here,
but I think really realistically,
it's gonna be at the perimeter.
I don't know that we have the detail sorted out yet,
but I will say that the operators have experience
with the, you know, with the, you know,
we're not showing, yeah.
You're not showing where it's getting planted in that?
In the corner of climbing the walls, right?
Yes, correct.
I mean, the plan was to put it,
where's the pointer on this?
The plan was, and we missed it on this,
to do a small cut out here for it.
Okay, okay.
on this side the intention was you know that fight is to grow around this corner
okay okay as I agree that it's a really nice feature so just making sure it
since it was overlooked on this that it gets yeah could you identify your
introduce yourself please for the record hi David Gaben one of the owners
of Oceana. Okay, great. And then along again, along the same lines as about bringing the
style around the building, did you consider doing that same feature at all along that
west side of the building so that it is there's that cohesion? Along Locust? Yes. I think
We do show some of that here.
So that's what you have in there?
Again, I mean, this isn't gonna happen overnight.
Right.
Like somebody's gonna have to maintain this
and cultivate it and help it grow,
but the intent is that- But that's what,
you have specified in that?
Yeah, it's growing all the way along here
and maintained such that-
Yeah, and just to clarify, along locust,
The cutout is already in the ground.
There's already a small little planter that's there.
That's one of the reasons we chose
to keep that planter there and have the Ficus grow up,
to sort of try to match what's happening on Bonanza.
Because this is the portion of the building
that you're keeping, the majority of this portion
of the building, just refurbishing it.
Yep, that entire building is existing.
Yes, thank you.
other questions? I have one. It's just a practical one and it's because my
niece opened a restaurant in Santa Cruz in October. So number one thank you guys
for your continued participation in Walnut Creek and for helping it out all
these years. I've watched and I've appreciated that because I've been here
my life too. In the existing plans there shows like an employee
area and lockers and things like that, I'm assuming you're going to use some of those
offices for those functions.
And again, it's just a practical question.
No problem.
So are you talking about the existing plan?
Yeah.
I just noticed that there wasn't any facility labeled in the new plan.
That's all.
I just want to make sure we're, I understand where you're in.
In the upstairs.
Oh, upstairs.
Yeah.
It's upstairs existing.
Upstairs existing.
Yeah, and you know we're still working on the interior design, but absolutely the health
department requires us to have lockers and have an area for the employees, so yeah absolutely
part of the design will absolutely have an area for them.
I thought so.
I just thought it had, I mean it's just not labeled.
Thank you.
Yeah, probably.
Any other questions?
We have to see if there's anybody in there.
So at this point we'll open up the public hearing if there are any members of the public
that would like to make a comment or statement.
Seeing none, we'll close the public hearing.
Commissioner comments.
I do have a comment.
First, I just want to reiterate that I like the vines to make this happen.
Sounds like you have a plan.
And then second, the maiden grass, I'm guessing that's a miscanthus that gets really big.
I just think you might want to consider what goes it,
because I know there's a narrow little planters,
but other than that, I think it looks cool.
Thank you.
I'll make a few comments.
So first of all, again, echoing,
we really appreciate your folks' commitment
to Walnut Creek.
I've always, my family's always enjoyed
going to your restaurants.
I've been to all of them.
Even the ones that don't exist anymore.
So thanks for that.
I really, I think the architect pointed out
that there are some merits to the building as it is,
and there's some memories, you know, the yacht club.
I like the mass of the yacht club.
I'm glad that you maintained it
and respected it and modernized it.
I think, like I said,
I think if we try to craft this into comments,
I just think, you know, when it comes back,
just make sure that the scrim is well detailed
and that the rhythm continues across
from the curtain wall in front of the CMU.
I think that's gonna be important
that you have a consistency to pull off
what is really a nice design.
I appreciate the comments that we've got
about the FICUS and the SCRIM.
I think on the FICUS works particularly,
I think one of the things I like about what you've done
and what you've respected is that
This is a long, long storefront on three streets.
And it used to be multiple businesses.
And if you were to try to blend it all
and try to make it all one thing,
it would be out of scale with all the other businesses.
So I like the way that you've respected the fact
and tried to break down that facade
into three real statements, right?
There's the corner, there's the locust front
with the tile and the canopies.
I think that's pretty cool how it steps back.
And then, of course, the new building is different.
I think, that said, I think there's, you know,
comments about, you know,
things that I think could be improved.
I think what Commissioner Prose said about
looking at the window, windows,
particularly around the restroom,
not super comfortable with the idea of looking in,
people walking by and having those toilet doors open
and close, like the way you've maintained the windows,
but can you, could you do a frit on the glass
so that it's not so visible?
So like consider, I don't know necessarily
that it's frosting, but you know, like friting,
so like that's a graphic treatment to the glass.
That might be something to do to try to soften
that view into the bathrooms.
That's one idea that I had.
Other than that, I, looking at the tile,
that tile is a big departure from what that building is.
So I had to think about that a bit,
but when I really think about it,
I think about the three buildings, three parts,
I think it works.
And it definitely speaks to what you're trying
to convey that you sell within.
So I think that's cool.
You know, on the bonanza side, the addition,
I think that one of the things that really makes it work
is that Ficus is really, really a cool idea.
I think when it comes back to...
We'll never come back here,
but really it has to be worked out
that Ficus has to be able to grow and get to that point
where it can actually grow up the building.
Right now, I'm not convinced that it can.
Those platters are kind of thin,
so you're really gonna need to think about
how to execute that in a way that works.
And I appreciate what you did
by canting the roof of the addition.
I just think the comment I want to make
is no visible HVAC or duct work.
So if the angle of that can has to change a bit,
I think we're good with that.
But what we don't want to see,
I've been through this many times myself,
you put the HVAC on the roof
and you don't think about the duct work.
Think about both and make sure we don't see it.
even if changed a little bit when it comes back
in working drawings, I think that's fine.
Those are my comments.
I echo what my fellow commissioner said about
thank you for staying in Walnut Creek
and being part of this community
and everything that you do.
I really like the building.
I really like how the tile work relates to the scrim
and those two speak to each other.
I also really like the way that you've changed
the front door and recessed it, sort of clipped that corner.
I think that'll make the both entering
and exiting the building nicer,
as well as breaking up the sort of the scale of that building.
So in general, I think it's a really nice design
and I look forward to it opening.
And I echo all of the commissioner's comments
with the door set back on that corner
and the material, the use of the different materials
breaking up the frontage so that it's more pedestrian scale
and it looks more like there are separate buildings
and it's not so big, but I also really appreciate
that you kept the bones of the yacht club
because it is a cool building.
Thank you very much.
Seeing no further comments, I'll close,
Commissioner comments.
So Commissioner Prozas is a portion of the item
where we reach consensus on some items that I've noted
and I don't always catch them all.
So if there's some that I've missed,
and Commissioner Case, you may have said something
about grasses that I didn't catch.
Is that something that should be noted here?
No, I think they heard me.
It's just the type of grass that might get big.
Review grass type.
Okay.
Okay, so the issues that I've noted here,
and some may or may not be necessary,
but we've got a few minutes.
So I think everybody agreed that the scrim was nice,
but we wanna know how it's going to work,
maybe what the separation is,
I'm thinking maybe a section drawing that shows that.
Or a detail.
A section and detail.
Or just, I'd be fine with just a detail, right?
That'll show us.
Okay, okay.
Is that, we got three?
Okay.
I had one that showed show employee break room,
but we're not really here for the use.
So, roof to nuts, I'll give it as a great comment.
Rooftop equipment, should we shade that in in a drawing
and see what that looks like?
And that would include the ducting?
Yeah. Okay.
Great.
Take a look at doing something with the glass
at the bathrooms, potentially some kind of fritting.
Fritting, yeah.
Yeah, okay.
Something to obscure the view from the sidewalk.
It's more okay.
Fully okay, but it's pretty good.
Okay, and we've got three waving heads, good.
Work out how the ficus is gonna be grown along Bonanza.
Where's the dirt?
Yeah. Right?
Yes. Okay.
Okay, let's see, got that.
Add something, take a look at what kind of a matrix
the scrim is gonna provide for the ficus.
You know, like when that ficus starts to grow,
scrim is not really something
that's designed to receive plant material.
So, might need to have some of that cabling
or something wherever the ficus is over the scrim,
so that it doesn't damage the scrim.
Literally.
on that? Yeah, okay. And then one was review the grass type, it might be too
tall. And I want to add, you know, an effort to kind of use the architectural
language and tie the locust and the bonanza side together with that trellis
or awning condition, you know, not a fabric awning on locust and then a metal
awning on bonanza, but more consistency in the material language. An awning
material consistency along street frontage.
OK, I think that's it.
Next item.
So that closes the public hearing on this project.
Next item is commissioner considerations.
Do any of you have any input or items for consideration
by the rest of the commissioners?
Thank you.
Thanks for coming.
Nope.
OK, seeing none.
Does anyone have an announcement
or does staff have any staff reports?
Look at this selection of the science on this.
I will in a second, but yeah.
You're right, we need a science committee.
We can ask for volunteers for a science up.
The current science up is commissioners.
It's us.
Riley and Basta.
Do we have any volunteers?
Thanks.
Do we have any volunteers for science subcommittee?
Did I see a hand?
Yeah, you saw two who was the other one
So moved, okay, and I don't think we need to do a roll call vote on that it's a voluntary
Thank you very much
All right
the only announcement I have is that there's a
one item for March 18th, that's joy bound and Joey bound wants to do a
Doggie where I shouldn't say doggy cuz I'm sure it's not only for dogs, but a pet daycare facility on their campus out in Shadelands
Yeah, I thought you were going to say they were going to bring another we're going to be pets at the meeting
Could be fun just an idea
And FYI I will not be at the next meeting
Commissioner Riley will be in charge. Oh
Any more announcements
No, seeing none we're adjourned. All right. Okay great