Good evening and welcome to the August 27th Planning Commission hearing. Would the Secretary
please call the roll? Yes, of course. Commissioner Anderson, let me know he would not be in attendance
this evening. Commissioner Moran? Here. Commissioner Cown? Here. Commissioner Strongman? Here. Commissioner
Kwok also let me know he wouldn't be able to attend this evening. Vice Chair Klop? Here. And Chair
needing here. There are I don't see anything here but just in case do we have
anything on the consent calendar? No we do not. Perfect. There are two
opportunities to provide public comment. The first is right now for items that
are not on the agenda that are the purview of the Planning Commission. So I
do want to ask do we have any public speakers that would like to discuss? None.
I'm seeing none, okay, perfect.
Absolutely.
What I was gonna say is there are two opportunities
to provide public comment.
Is this better, sir?
Is this better?
You know what, and this is a good challenge.
I do need to always speak up.
My husband tells me the exact same thing.
Absolutely, okay, so there are two opportunities
to provide public comments.
the first is right now for items that are not on the agenda that are that are within the purview
of the planning commission. So other is there anybody out there that would like to provide
public comment on items not on today's agenda? Say none. I will go ahead and ask my fellow
commissioners if they have had any ex parte communications. Oh yes. I had a conversation
with the gentleman in the third row about the Taylor um 4b 4b okay okay um so now let's move
on to public hearing the first is the green oasis day spa conditional use permit application number
y 25040 located 1830 mount diablo boulevard does staff have a presentation can you hear me good
Good evening planning commissioners. My name is Gerardo Victoria, Associate Planner Community
Development Department. The project before you today is the Green Oasis Day Spa conditional
use permit at 1830 Mount Diablo Boulevard. Some site context, the day spa will be occupying about
1400 square feet of an existing 2200 square feet vacant building outlined here with the star on
on the aerial map.
And this map is just a close review of that building.
It is surrounded by a mix of commercial uses
and personal services and professional offices
located at the adjacent shopping center
and west and east of the 1830 Mount Diablo building.
The general plan designation is office.
The zoning designation is office commercial.
Personal service users are permitted
with the approval of a conditional use permit.
The business plan calls for the operation of 10 a.m. to 8 p.m., Monday through Saturday,
closed on Sunday.
Two to three employees will be anticipated to be hired.
The day spa will have four treatment rooms by appointment only with clients, services
that they're going to be offering a professional massage, cosmetology, and a hair salon.
So the existing building located on the left-hand side used to be a medical office located
here. The adjacent tenant space is also vacant, we'll get into that in the next
presentation. The new business plan calls, excuse me, the new floor plan calls for
two massage rooms, a skincare room, a hair salon, and a reception area along
with bathrooms and a supply room. The existing site plan currently has 10
stalls located at the rear here. A re-striping of the parking area will
occur will that will provide 13 stalls there is a shared parking agreement with
the adjacent tenant located here at 1822 Mount Diablo there was a parking
study completed that five stalls would meet the demand for the entire building
not just for this business but for the entire building so the standard
conditional use permit findings apply to this project as outlined in your draft
resolution. There is an additional finding that the proposed use is located
in the single-story core area building and shall find that the proposed ground
floor use is compatible with the existing character and uses of the area.
Staff found that the ground floor use is consistent with the existing commercial
character as similar personal service uses operate on the ground floor of the
adjacent shopping center. As this business is an appointment base that
generates lower walking activity than the professional offices that surround it. It
fits well within the established commercial use of the area. So staff
recommends move to adopt a CEQA exemption 15-301 for existing facilities
and to approve the conditional use permit based on the findings outlined in
the draft resolution to allow the green Oasis day spa. Staff is available for
questions. The applicant, Mr. Eddie Salem, is also here for questions.
Perfect thank you so much. Do we have any questions for staff? Thank you for the
presentation. How long has the building been vacant? I believe 4 years, 80, is it
4 years? 4 and a half years. And what was there before? It was a medical
building. Okay is there any other vacant buildings on that site? On the site, yes
the 1822 right now is vacant, they're going to that business is going through
the building permit process. Okay, thank you. Any other questions? Just out of
curiosity, was it just efficiency of the striping that they were able to get
more? Correct, yes. It was just prior, it was not efficiently striped. It was an
old parking lot that was used. There's a shared parking agreement between there
and I think the adjacent business was a pool,
a pool business, though, yeah,
they just restriped it to get additional partner styles.
Okay, perfect, thank you.
Okay, so if there's no more questions for staff,
what I would like to do is now open up the public hearing
item and if the applicant would like to talk,
you have the opportunity of 15 minutes.
If you wouldn't mind, because then we can't hear you.
We're in the same boat.
The property's been vacant for quite a long time.
And so we were approached by Mr. Nicolimi and his client
to have a day spa there, which includes cosmetology, hair,
and massage, also, facials, et cetera.
So, at that time we said, okay, but the small one
was also approached by Reza, who wants to do a tailor shop.
So we decided to put things together
and talk to everybody else.
And I brought everything to the corridor.
And also, I had to commend Walnut Creek
for guiding us through the process,
because it takes a long time to understand everything.
So, basically right now on the parking situation,
it goes way, way, way, way back
when the people next door had 1822.
And the brokers, it's funny about real estate brokers,
some people don't explain things to everybody.
I'm a little different, I like to explain, hold on.
So they had an agreement before the people
bought the property and they had a shared parking agreement.
So the new owners gave us a shared parking
just to work together as a team here,
which is nice to do that in today's age, work together.
Plus we did a parking study,
which Guevara explained about.
So these people are gonna remodel the place,
so it'd be a cosmetology, facials, eyebrows, a haircut,
whatever they need to do, a full salon,
like changes in San Francisco,
like downtown Walnut Creek, something like that,
in that area.
So I'm here to answer any questions you like.
Okay, does anybody have any questions
for the applicant?
Oh, yes.
Hi, thank you for coming.
What was your name?
Eddie Salem.
Eddie Salem, nice to meet you.
So a quick question.
Once this process is completed,
then there's the process of setting up the business.
And I know for massage services in particular,
there are additional permits or licenses that are required.
So you have a plan for all of those?
Here is licensed by the police department already.
All that stuff has been completed
because they had another place in Sacramento.
So everything by the police department has been done,
licensing will be taken care of by the city.
They have no problems doing all that.
So you have a plan for all of that.
There's a plan for everything.
There's also a construction plans
gonna be enhancing the property value,
property also the area there.
Cause a lot of vacancies,
commercial vacancies are very prominent nowadays.
I represent a few in Walnut Creek, so I know.
So I don't think there's gonna be a problem there.
because it's just the the bad stories you hear about somebody who didn't go
through that process. Yes that's why when we talked about this with their
representative Bob that we just I told him I said it's not gonna be a straight
bus it's gonna be cosmetology people who want a facial might do an eyebrow they
want to do whatever the women like to do or the men like to do but it's something
that's more complete as a baseball and then she's all ready for that and they're
all ready to go. Thank you. And then the place has a spaces and has two ADA bathrooms and
they're already. Perfect. Thank you so much. Are there any more questions for the applicant?
Okay. Thank you so much. Thank you, Eddie. Are there any other public speakers that would
like to speak on this particular item on the agenda? Seeing none, I'm going to go ahead
and close the public hearing portion of this agenda item and bring it back to the commission
for any discussions, questions?
It sounds like I actually had a question.
We've had a lot of these items
where we need to be able to find consistency
with compatibility of character and uses in commercial.
Are these one of the items that would be,
I think you know where I'm leading.
Yeah.
Yes, this is something
through our general plan update process we would explore.
What I will offer to the commission to consider
is the general plan process is not super fast.
You typically are looking at two or three years.
If the commission wants to entertain,
I don't wanna, whatever is the opposite of a moratorium,
I suppose, sorry, I'm looking over at legal here.
But if you wanted to do a study session, let's say,
on the item or on the idea of use permits
for these types of land uses,
something that we could discuss further. I can't make any promises at the dice
here that we would be making amendments because again we want to make sure we
go through that general plan update process thoroughly but if it's something
that you at least want to you know just scratch that itch or explore a little
bit it definitely wouldn't hurt and it could probably help influence our
general plan update process. That would not impact our decision tonight on this
project no I yeah I wouldn't I'm not advocating for anything no particular
project yes but if you just wanted to look at compatibility uses it's like
that because my standard complaint is I don't see why we should be having to
deal with this at all it should be it's a building permit maybe a sign permit
process personally so yeah and so in some future what could happen is it would
be a zoning ordinance amendment and again our hope is through the general
plan update we would identify the types of uses that we want to make permitted
by right the types of uses that we would like to have administrative use
permits or conditional use permits so if it's something that you wanted to
explore earlier than the general plan update again I can't entirely say that
that is something that we would fully act upon but it's something that we could
at least have the study session on and that would feed into the general plan
update. I feel like we can discuss that I don't I like that idea under
commission member, commission considerations. So what we're being asked
here is to make the findings to that it's compatible with existing character
and uses and that it would activate an existing vacant commercial tenant space
with neighborhoods serving personal personal use compatible with its
surrounding uses so I'd like to make a motion to approve the resolution for
personal service use green oasis day spa conditional use permit application
number y25-040 through 1830 Mount Diablo Boulevard making me read a whole
lot of numbers so I'd like to make that motion second and I will do the roll
call Commissioner Moran. Yes, Commissioner Cowan. Yes, Commissioner
Strongman. Yes, Commissioner or vice chair clock. Yes, and chair
needing. Yes, it passes. Oh, I'm sorry. So now moving on. Thank you so much for
being here. I'm now moving on to public hearing item B. The project is rez
Res Alterations Taylor CUP application number Y2541 location 1828 Mount Diablo
Boulevard. So good evening planning commissioners my name is Gerardo
Victorio associate planner community development the project before you
today is the Res Alterations Taylor conditional use permit at 1828 Mount
Diablo Boulevard. Some site context the area view or the building with the star
located here is where the res alterations Taylor will be located.
They're going to be occupying about 800 square feet of the existing 2200 vacant building.
It is surrounded by a mix of commercial uses, personal service uses, the general plan designation
is office, the zoning designation is office commercial, personal service uses permitted
with approval of a conditional use permit.
hours of operation for this business will occur between 10 a.m. and 6 p.m.
Tuesday through Saturday closed on Sunday and Monday. It is an employee
operated business with just two employees which is the business owner
and his spouse. They will have a cutting table, fitting rooms, and a clothing rack
by appointment only as well. The services that they are offering are custom
tailoring and alterations and clothing repair services. So on the left hand side
is the floor plan for the will be occupied by the green oasis spa they
will occupy the front facing mount the front facing tenant space facing Mount
Diablo Boulevard it will have a fitting room a clothing wrap a reception area
and a cutting table with a bathroom inside the tenant space. The existing
site plan calls for 10 parking stalls they will be re-striped to provide 13
stalls. As stated in the previous presentation they do have a shared
parking agreement with the adjacent business. The parking study provided
stated that five stalls would meet the demand for this building. These are the
standard conditioner use permits findings as well as the additional
finding that the proposed uses located in the single-story core area building
and shall find that the proposed ground floor use is compatible with the
existing character and uses of the area as stated previously this ground floor
use is consistent with the existing commercial character as similar
personal service uses operate on the ground floor of the adjacent shopping
center staff recommends move to adopt a secret exemption 15 301 existing
facilities and approve the conditional use permit based on the findings
outlined in the draft resolutions to allow the res alterations Taylor staff
is available for questions the applicant Mr. Eddie Salem is also available for to
answer any questions. Thank you so much does anybody have any questions for staff
for this 800 square feet? No? Okay now thank you so much I would like to now
open the public hearing. Mr. Salem I know you just spoke so I do want to offer you
the 15 minutes that you are allowed as part of the public. Absolutely you have
We have 15 minutes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah.
President has been here.
He's a great tailor.
He worked for and still worked for Nordstrom.
Doesn't work for Nordstroms anymore.
Worked for the men's warehouse.
So him and his family, him and his wife
would like to open up a custom tailor shop for themselves
to continue their future doing tailoring.
And I think custom tailoring nowadays
is a very wanted idea.
People are going to go in there, you know, I lost 57 pounds.
I don't know where to go.
You can't go to a dry cleaner.
So anyway, he liked this place.
It also has an ADA bathroom in there,
and it's very located right on the main street
of Mount Dabble Boulevard, 800 square feet.
The design was done so that it has closets
and changing rooms, et cetera, with a bathroom, et cetera.
So, it's a family operated business, two people.
And basically they only open five days a week.
And nowadays in America, we grew up
working on independent small businesses.
I grew up in San Francisco.
My father had a grocery store.
So we grew up as a family operated business.
So I like to take care of people who like to do family
operated businesses.
It's the essence of America, in my opinion.
And nowadays not everything is Whole Foods.
So if there's any questions about that,
it's very simple, easy.
just a tailor shop by permits only and the parking is there.
The easements are there and it's in a great location.
Thanks to all these high rise buildings.
And I'm sure a lot of people come in with their suits and stuff
and do some work there.
Even garrata can have a suit that I've done.
Is there any more questions?
Are there any questions for the applicant?
Yes, Commissioner. Thank you, Mr.
Salem. How many how many extra spaces
we're going to be there after the tailor and the previous business.
Do you know parking spaces?
No, I mean, vacant spaces.
That's it. That's where we build it up, building it's.
So you're two for two.
You're two. That's it. Two for two.
We're not going to see you again.
No, no, you're going to try it again.
That's I know that's not going to see me.
You're going to buy something.
I'll tell you something.
No, I'm just making the point that it's I think it's it's great
that we've filled looks like three or four years vacant.
over four years with local small businesses.
I like to see small businesses prosper.
You ever been to milky flakes in San Francisco?
I did that.
That was my property.
So I leased that out to milky flakes
and it took us, with your help,
I took us almost one year to get that done.
And he's a custom ice cream place with a shell.
You ever eaten there or had the ice cream there?
I haven't taken the kids yet.
Oh, lines out the door.
Huh? Yeah, lines out the door.
I just wanted to make the point.
Thank you, I think.
Thank you so much for your time and consideration.
I appreciate it.
OK.
Thank you.
Are there, I have to ask if there's
any other public speakers seeing none,
then I will close the public hearing portion of this item
and bring it back to my fellow commissioners
for this 800 feet of now activated.
Are we ready for a motion?
Yes, please.
Well, in honor of this wonderful local business
being located here in our city,
thank you so much for everyone's efforts.
I would like to move to determine this project
is exempt from CEQA and adopt the draft resolution
approving the conditional use permit
for personal service use res alterations tailor
at 1828 Mount Diablo Boulevard,
including the supplemental finding
that the proposed use is compatible
with the existing character and uses in the area.
Second.
All right, Commissioner Moran.
Yes.
Commissioner Cowne.
Yes.
Commissioner Strongman.
Yes.
Vice Chair Klaup.
Yes.
Chair Needing.
Yes.
And the motion passes.
It passed.
Thank you so much.
OK, moving on to item C, it's project located at 1532 Mount
Diablo, mixed use development, conditional use permit
and design review application Y2550.
already said the location and staff has a report thank you. Good evening chair
and members of the Planning Commission my name is Stephen Cook assistant
planner with the city's community development department. Before you this
evening is a request of a conditional use permit and design review to
establish a mixed use building located at 1532 Mount Diablo Boulevard. The
The associated project's application number is Y25050.
To orient you at the site, the project is located within the downtown core area along
Mount Diablo Boulevard and directly to Butts Commercial Lane.
The approximately .41 anchor site is surrounded by a variety of retail, restaurant, and other
commercial uses, including the Broadway Plaza Shopping Center nearby.
The site is currently developed with a vacant auto body shop, a surface parking lot, and
outdoor dining structure. The proposed development would replace these
existing improvements with an eight-story mixed-use building totaling
approximately a hundred and eleven thousand square feet and reaching
approximately eighty-nine feet in height. The project includes 104 rental
residential units, 14 of which would be affordable, as well as ground floor
retail space, a publicly accessible outdoor area, two levels of underground
ground parking and various residential amenities.
Turning now to the floor plan,
this slide illustrates the proposed ground floor
and underground parking levels.
The ground floor includes approximately 8,483 square feet
of commercial retail space
with direct access from Mount Diablo Boulevard.
Along the western portion of the site
is a pedestrian walkway that provides access
to the residential lobby.
This walkway also functions as a publicly accessible
outdoor space and include seating and other public amenities.
At the rear of the site, along commercial lane,
the project provides a loading area,
as well as vehicle access to the underground parking garage.
The two underground parking levels
provide a total of 49 parking stalls
dedicated to residential use only.
Moving up through the building, this slide
illustrates the upper level residential floor plan.
Because of the taller ground floor commercial space,
a portion of the second floor is occupied
by the upper volume of that retail space,
while the remainder of the floor contains residential units.
The upper floors are primarily dedicated
to residential units.
The eighth floor also includes residential amenities,
including a fitness center and an outdoor terrace
with seating, a fireplace, and an outdoor kitchen area.
Turning to the building's design,
the project was evaluated against the applicable standards
and guidelines contained in the city's design review standards
and guidelines handbook.
Overall, the building incorporates a variety of materials and architectural treatments intended to provide articulation and modulation across the building elevations and reduce the appearance of the overall building mass as recommended previously by the City's Design Review Commission.
On the screen is a sample of the proposed color and material palette, and present in front of you is the physical material samples, which have also been provided for the Commission's review.
Before discussing discussing the project's density staff would like to briefly provide some contacts regarding the state housing laws that apply to this project
First the Housing Accountability Act limits the city's ability to deny or reduce the density of a qualifying housing development
That complies with the applicable objective standards
Second Senate bill 330 establishes the applicable development standards based on the project's preliminary application and
And finally, state density bonus allows qualifying
housing developments that provide affordable units
to receive additional density,
as well as concessions and waivers
from certain local development standards.
Under state density bonus law,
the first step is to determine the project's base density.
State law directs the city to look at the maximum
residential density permitted
under the general plans land use element,
specific plan, or zoning ordinance.
Staff reviewed each of these applicable documents.
In this case, neither the general plan's land use element,
the Locust Street, Mount Diablo specific plan,
or the pedestrian retail zoning district
establishes a residential density
expressed in dwelling units per anchor.
Because there's no applicable
residential density standard
expressed in dwelling units per anchor,
state density bonus law requires the applicant
to establish the base density
based on the realistic development capacity of the site.
To demonstrate that capacity,
applicant has prepared a base density study which is included within the project plans.
Essentially the study creates a hypothetical development that complies with the otherwise
applicable development standards for the site, including standards related to height,
setbacks, floor area ratio, building design, and parking. The study then evaluates the number of
residential units that could realistically be accommodated within that code compliant building
envelope. And based on that analysis, the applicants' base density study identifies
a realistic capacity of 60 residential units. Therefore, 60 units serves as the base density
for purposes of calculating the project's density bonus. Starting with the base density
of 60 units, the project proposes two levels of affordability. First, nine units would
to be restricted to very low income households.
This represents 15% of the project's base density
and qualifies the project for 50% density bonus.
The project also provides five units
for the moderate income households,
representing approximately 8% of the base density
and qualifying for an additional 27.5% density bonus.
Together, these affordability levels
result in a total density bonus of 77.5%.
Applying that bonus to the 60 unit base density results in approximately 47 additional units
for a maximum permitted density of 107 units at the site.
The applicant is proposing 104 units, which is three below the maximum.
State density bonus law also allows projects to request waivers from development standards
that would physically preclude construction of the project at the permitted density.
There's no limit on the number of waivers that may be requested.
For this project, the applicant is requesting six waivers.
First is for the building height,
with approximately 89 feet proposed,
where 50 feet would otherwise be permitted.
The second is for the sidewalk depth
along Mount Diablo Boulevard,
with approximately 10 feet, seven inches proposed,
where 15 feet is required.
The third relates to the setback along commercial lane
to accommodate vehicle turning, movements,
and access to the parking garage.
The fourth allows a portion of the ground floor
to have a reduced height of approximately 10 feet,
seven inches, or an 18 foot floor to floor height
would otherwise be required.
The fifth eliminates the requirement
for a passenger loading zone.
And finally, the sixth allows a reduction in the width
of the publicly accessible outdoor space
from 15 feet to approximately 10 feet.
Separate from the waivers, date density bonus
allows qualifying projects to receive concessions
from certain development standards.
And based on the project's affordability levels,
The project is entitled to three concessions
and the applicant is requesting all three.
The first concession allows a reduction
in the required amount of private outdoor space.
The second allows a reduction
in the required number of parking space.
And third allows the modification
to the city's parking aisle
and parking space dimensional requirements.
The project requires the approval
of a conditional use permit and design review.
Staff has evaluated the project
against the required findings for each entitlement
and has provided the supporting analysis
within the staff report
and draft resolution included as attachment one.
Based on that analysis,
staff believes the required findings can be made.
In regards to environmental review,
the project qualifies for the class 32 categorical exemption
for infill development under CEQA.
The project is consistent with the applicable general plan
and zoning requirements,
occurs on a site of less than five anchors
within an urbanized area,
does not contain significant biological resources,
and would not result in significant effects
related to traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality,
and can adequately be serviced
by utilities and public services.
And the supporting technical analysis
is included with the project materials.
Based on the analysis presented this evening
and contained within the staff report,
staff recommends that the Planning Commission
adopt the draft resolution,
determining the project exempt from CEQA
and approving the conditional use permit
and design review subject to the conditions
approval contained therein. That concludes staff's presentation for
tonight. The applicant and their project team are also available this evening to
answer any questions that the Commission may have. Thank you. Thank you so much.
Does anybody have any questions for staff? Commissioner Strongman? I'll start
out. Thank you for the presentation. First of all for the parking, how are they
going to be divvied up there is only was it 40 49 parking spaces and you have 104
units that's correct 49 parking spaces dedicated to residential zero dedicated
for commercial in regards to operating characteristics I'd like to defer that
response to the applicant team next question are the commercial space is it
are they envisioning more than one commercial space or breaking it up so
as proposed it's one commercial area but I defer the response to the applicant
and could you walk me around the pedestrian flow around the building it
wasn't clear on the diagrams I was looking at the pedestrian accessible
outdoor area particularly down on the ground level can they somebody walk
around completely around the building or is there something restriction there oh
I see so commercial lane is gonna be maintained as a roadway in terms of
pedestrian walkways it only the only accessible route would be through Mount
Diablo and through the western portion of the building that extends towards
the residential lobby but it wouldn't wrap around. So there's no way to actually
walk around it then? Okay. Yeah that's correct. And for also driving traffic
they would enter through Locust Street only? Or they could access commercial
lane directly so that's a one-way northbound so they could go northbound
turn left and then proceed it into the parking garage. But they also southbound
it will be a one-way street then that's correct and thank you any more
questions for staff Commissioner Moran thank you Stephen well well put I'm I
kind of want to just I want to make sure I understand the way that we're coming
up with the numbers just for my own understanding and for maybe people
watching this and people in the future who are wondering how we came up with
the numbers so indulge me a little bit if you would. That correct me if I'm
wrong but there's no real base that we have because it's zoned pedestrian
residential right and if it wasn't then according to the general plan or zoning
there would be this this number right that we could use but we don't have that
number right because of the zoning. That's right am I oh yes. Am I good so
far yeah yeah and because we don't have the number we need to use the
volumetric study right and that is looks at setbacks and what you could reasonably
put in a spot like that right and the applicant is the one that did the
volumetric study and we we looked at that from the city's perspective and
said that we agree with it after you kicked it down to
HCD is that am I still going to the right spot here? Yeah
Further so the statue it does provide that the maximum
Residential density is based on your zoning general plan land use element or a specific plan
So as you stated, there's no density number in there
And then the statute provides if that's the case you have to do a volumetric study
Factoring all of the objective standards before density bars waivers concessions are applied to see how many units you could fit on the site
and the statute provides that the applicant can produce that base density study and if it
Incorporates all the objective standards are applicable to that site the city has to accept it
And so in this case that is that is a crime by statute groups
And so in this case that I can prepare that the city looked at it saying, you know
We have all the objective standards applicable and therefore the statute would require the city to accept it got it
a
Couple more good. Thank you. So now we've got 60 units right based on the the base and from there and
This again, this is just so I mean the math is confusing
I'm not asking you to go over again because I think it was really thorough.
We get to 104 based on the bonus density numbers, based on how many affordable units there are,
right, and compounded and so forth.
That's correct.
So the maximum residential density allowed is 107, but based off the feedback and redesign
from the previous design review commission, the applicant voluntarily reduced the unit
count by three.
the proposed residential units is 104.
Okay, yeah.
I think that's all I have for now, thanks.
Commissioner, I count.
I think this is a question in this direction perhaps as well.
Just wanted to clarify because we have an attachment,
that's the communication with HCD between staff and HCD,
but then there was a public communication that said,
we wanna commend staff for seeking formal guidance
HCD on this question. My understanding from the attachment is that formal
guidance was not requested. Yeah so we did reach out to HCD in writing via
email. We did not go through there what could be referred to as a formal
technical assistance or technical advisory assistance where you submit
through their website. And the reason we did not go through that is because
through the different email exchanges HCD made it very clear that this is the
proper method. We confirmed that with Claire and our legal counsel and in
addition HCD also provided letters that they have put formally to other
jurisdictions that really reaffirms that statute. And so you know in
consideration of timing and really wanting to be effective we went ahead
and accepted the volumetric study and moved the project forward. Any other
questions for staff. Yes, I do just have one more question on a different topic
than that. Just looking at the parking, do we as a city have requirements about
amount of electric car charging stations that need to be included? Sure, and I'll
be very upfront. I can't speak in-depth about this, but the California Building
Code does have requirements for certain EV charging stalls, for the number of EV
charging stalls that you must have as well as ADA EV charging as well. Green
building code, reach codes, all. And I'm sure the applicant's technical team
could probably speak to that a little more as well. So I have a question you
might be able to answer it. For the sidewalk it was the objective standard
was 15 they took it took it down to 10. Would that have required a land
dedication? If they would have had to provide a full 15 feet? Is that why?
Oh, for the reasoning for the the request. I believe the the request
outlined that the reduction of the required setback was to accommodate
housing development so I think there was there would have been a reduction in
the number of units if that 15 foot setback was met so that was incorporated
as a waiver to accommodate residential units. So I know that waivers are
intended to allow the development otherwise it would physically preclude
it but I guess I'm when I looked at the site I almost feel like this is like
San Francisco where it's literally right at the property line so I was trying to
figure out was a land dedication required of the applicant in order so
that sidewalk did not fit in the setbacks that were a part of the
objective standards which very very long and I can also ask the applicant.
Yeah, I may defer that question to the applicant.
Another question I had and this is for not just you Stephen you're doing great
but also for staff. It's interesting because the housing element contemplated
a certain density which I get because that that would have only yielded 20 and
65915 very specifically said that that's we're not using housing element to
define density. But what's interesting is that it does allow specific plan and
when you look at the specific plan on page 46 it contemplated development on
on that site, granted it was just an illustrative
and it wasn't an objective density standard,
but I'm just curious, was there some sort of objective
standard that created that mixed use concept,
which I counted something like 30-ish units,
just out of curiosity?
You know, for the specific plan,
there's a couple of factors there.
The specific plan was also looking at consolidating parcels,
so it's not quite the same site
and it's not quite the same vision either.
really what specific plans, you know,
the intent and purpose is to envision what could be,
but not necessarily to set the standards of what should be,
if that makes sense.
So it's not setting a density standard,
rather it is giving you an idea
of what possibly could be developed there,
and it's setting the intention for the land use.
Is that the answer, sorry.
Yeah, and intent is a really big thing
about making findings, and so,
But I agree that the density wasn't written,
Claire is like, Pam, it wasn't written.
I hear you.
Well, just to add to that,
the statute does specify the density
is a dual units breaker.
So that's what the city would be looking for
if it were to rely on this.
Not an illustrative.
Correct.
I just thought it was,
I know how much the city spends on updating specific plans.
And then it comes to us,
granted this one I think was updated in 2010.
So I know there must have been something,
an idea behind it because I even saw the amount of one, two, and three bedrooms.
That's why I just asked.
And then last question before I open up the public hearing is regarding parking, it states
that the overflow parking lot on the west would provide parking for the commercial.
LSA did their Cat32 exemption. Was there any studies on the vacancy of that
parking lot for it to be able to withstand the additional traffic from
the commercial? So for the traffic component I defer that question to the
city's traffic engineer Matt Redmond for response. And I saw it Matt I saw the VMT
And I saw that it had the screening so I saw that and I saw the TDM measures which were very very helpful
That was just like my one question about the parking since it was a
Concession that was asked. Yeah. Hi Matt Redmond traffic engineer for City of Walnut Creek
So can you just repeat the question just because I want to be clear on you
Absolutely in an LSA's report for parking it says for the commercial
That they would park at the overflow parking lot on the West
That that would be the commercial parking since they weren't providing
commercial parking on site and then that was
Kind of everything that I saw because obviously the transportation was analyzed
Like it should write per law VMT and then the subsequent TDM measures and I was just wondering was there a
Review that fair. I think it was fair and pierce
that that they
Analyze whether that parking lot actually had a bit you had capacity to handle the additional commercial
Yeah from my review of the documents. I also did not see any review of that commercial lot
in terms of the occupancy and the usage of that lot, so
I
Think it's you know, it's a public lot like we have many in the downtown
and so I think it may have been overlooked or assumed that there's capacity there.
Okay. Any more questions? Oh yes, Vice Chair Call.
Thank you. Just a quick question for you Steven and maybe actually it's a
question for the developer but I was really pleased to see in the write-up
about all the different changes that were made as a result of the design
review committee's feedback. Is there is there a way to sort of summarize what
those changes were or will the applicant tell us what changes they made or. Oh yes
the applicant has a presentation and would go over those changes that they
move to the building. Thank you. Any more questions for Stephen? Did great.
Thank you so much. Okay now I would like to open up the public hearing portion of
of this item and so if the applicant would like to come up you have 15
minutes kindly state your name who you're with oh wait for actually I'll
just do a brief introduction while Steven's pulling up good evening
commissioners my name is Mark Loper I'm with Ruben Junius and Rose on behalf of
the applicant we're very excited to be here today before I introduce the
architect to do a design presentation I just want to take a moment to say thank
you to your staff for all of their hard work over the last year or so on this project and
in particular Steven Cook who has worked closely and tirelessly to get this project before
you today.
So with that, I am going to introduce Steve Perry from Steve Perry Architects to walk
you through the project and then I'll be back at the end and I can also answer I think all
of the questions that you all had too.
Good evening.
Just peri-architects, not steep peri-architects, but thank you.
Thanks for having me tonight.
I'm hoping this is simple.
Oh, okay, okay.
So, there it goes.
Sorry about that.
Can we, I just wanted to see if it changed.
Can we go to the first slide, please?
So, as we mentioned, this is, it's a mixed-use development,
residential development that addresses the critical housing needs of Walnut Creek.
It also provides a strong retail presence and a presence for the for the residents also.
And I think Stephen you had some slides showing this so we can go to the next one.
This slide shows some of our inspiration and just basically the neighborhood character.
And you can see on the bottom left starting to pull from some of the architectural simple
architectural forms. The upper upper left is more pervasive brick patterns throughout the neighborhood.
And then the upper right there's kind of interesting infills in some of these simpler buildings and
and we're pulling from that, and then on the bottom right,
not so much covered dining,
but just a really activated ground floor.
So next slide, please.
So this is looking from Mount Diablo.
Starting with the massing,
we've created a strong vertical presence for the residents
on the right with warm accents.
And then to the left, we push back the massing.
And this allows for an infill element on the ground floor.
And this gives a really strong identity to the retail
and distinguishes against the residential.
And then as you turn the corner, we have the courtyard.
And this is also something that's
been developed with staff, part of our process with staff.
And then on the courtyard itself,
we have a glowing wall with light coming through
and also vistas from the storefront
and through to the courtyard.
And then one other thing here, we
did reduce the building by one floor.
and I'll get into that a little bit more here in a second,
but next slide, please.
This is looking on the east side, next to the alleyway.
We are somewhat buffering the dumpsters on this side
and the quality of the alleyway,
but we are still allowing for some large windows
that allow vistas into the retail
as you walk down the street.
Next slide, please.
This is our ground floor.
And this is a much more highly detailed kind
of rich, layered, detailed storefront here.
This has a slat wall on the top that
allows for some interesting light coming through.
And it's more of a skeletal form that
plays against a strong brick.
And then you'll see later we do have some interlayered glass
it gives it more of this layered feel to it.
Next slide, please.
This talks about the changes we made to the height.
You can see on the left where we had an additional floor
on Mount Diablo, and then pulling it down
and creating a amenity space, an outdoor space on the top level
to the right.
Next slide.
This is looking from the east, and you can see on the right
where we've taken a floor down also just at Mount Diablo.
Next slide.
And I think we can go to the next slide.
And so these are the plans once again.
The two left plans are the parking below to the right.
That's the ground floor.
We have the retail, the volume retail up front at 20 feet.
And then at the back we have it at about 10 foot six,
in foot seven and then the courtyard next
to the retail has planters at the rear.
It has a water station, water filling station and then
to the right at the commercial lane we're also looking
at maybe doing some planting there.
So next slide please.
our upper floors showing the volume space on the left and then a terrace on the third
floor in the middle plan. Then we have just those four stacking above and then we have
an amenity space on the top that's set back from the Mount Diablo frontage with an outdoor
space wrapping around. Next please. This is a diagram that shows really the
ideas of original city planners on boulevards. Boulevard's typically allow
for taller buildings and a lot of times you'll see a one-to-one ratio and with a
90-foot width we still are below that one-to-one ratio with our
are high right now.
Next slide, please.
And our elevations, which are a little dense
on these small sheets, but I think we can go to the next.
This here shows more of the detail
of the storefront for the retail.
And you can see the green glass where
we have interlayered glass that falls behind the slats.
And then that's going to give us more of a layered feel.
Next slide, please.
And our material palette.
So you can see on the bottom right,
this is a perforated brick wall.
This is going to be on the courtyard.
This will allow light to come through and vistas
to come through.
You can see on the left our primary palette, which
a light brick and a darker brick. Next, please. And this just gives it a little
more detail on the courtyard here where we have a draped sunshade creating a
shade over the some seating in this area. And then we have to the upper on the
left in the middle we show where we have we have the exit coming out of this
side and also our textured brick and so I think that's it for our presentation
and we're happy to answer questions just a few other things commissioners just a
A few project benefits.
I think the biggest one, this project
would create 104 new housing units,
including 14 that are affordable,
which would help Walnut Creek meet its regional
housing needs allocation, housing production goals
across a range of income levels.
The project will also be appealing to individuals,
roommates, and couples, and families alike.
41% of its units will have two or three bedrooms,
which ensure that a range of people
looking to move to downtown Walnut Creek
have attractive housing options.
And again, the project adds housing.
In the heart of Walnut Creek's downtown,
the city's most walkable location,
new residents will shop at nearby stores,
eat at restaurants, and activate this part of the city
at times of the day when there are relatively few shoppers.
They may even walk down the street
and go to the newly approved day spa or tailor.
Speaking of retail, on the ground floor, the project replaces a parking lot in an unused auto repair shop with about 8,500 square feet of retail, and it's intended that that will just be one retail space.
This retail will further cement Walnut Creek's status as the East Bay's preeminent shopping destination.
The project also improves the pedestrian realm.
It includes paving and street trees,
as well as that 10-foot public paseo.
And I'm also happy to answer follow-up questions
about the 10 feet.
For context, the 10 feet that's on our property line
is one half of a 20-foot wide paseo
that was called out for in the Locust Street-specific plan.
So it's our hope that if the other property to the west
ever redeveloped, that that full paseo would be built and they could kind of be merged
together and treated as one pedestrian amenity.
Finally, the project will create both temporary construction jobs and permanent retail jobs,
creating employment opportunities for Walnut Creek residents across a range of education
and skill levels.
In terms of the design modifications, the primary design modification, and you heard
Steve talk about this, was reducing the size of the top floor, and that's the
eighth floor, and replacing that with an open-air terrace. This terrace is set
back at least 20 feet from the property line moving back from Mount
Diablo, and then on each corner, and I think it's important that each corner
goes back about twice as deep, to 40 feet. So that really influences the way that
the building is red for people that are walking down or driving down Mount Diablo.
As staff mentioned, this voluntary setback did require the project to eliminate two units,
which is something that you never want to do, but we think that this tradeoff results
in a better overall design that's more compatible with both current and future development along
Mount Diablo.
a quick note on density bonus.
And I think this goes, Commissioner, to your comment.
Under state law, state law now allows
what's called a double density,
which means that if with the right amount
of affordable housing, you could go from 60 here to 120.
We're not doing that.
We're sticking at 104.
120 would probably mean a full eighth story,
and then at least a half ninth, if not a full ninth.
and we're not going after that.
I'm happy to walk through any of our waivers
or concessions in detail.
We have images that I think we might be able to show
for each of them.
Okay, so to wrap up,
we think this project is a great opportunity
to replace a surface parking lot
with a vibrant mixed-use, mixed-income residential project
helping the city meet its Rina housing requirement
while also adding retail, all in the heart
of Walnut Creek's walkable and pedestrian-friendly downtown.
Thanks for your time.
Our whole team is here, and we're
happy to answer any questions.
I can also stay up here and answer
some of the original questions, or I could sit down.
Yes, you made it right on time.
So now, if you want to hang tight,
I'm going to ask my fellow commissioners if they have.
I have questions, but I'm going to let you guys go first.
Who would like to go first?
Commissioner Moran and then Commissioner.
OK, Commissioner Strongman, then.
Please answer those questions.
Yes, so the first question was about about parking
and who gets to park with a lot of these buildings.
The way that it works is that you charge to rent a unit.
And then if you want a parking space,
then you can pay to have an additional parking space.
It's called unbundled parking in Planner-Speak.
And that way, folks, this is the most walkable part
of Walnut Creek.
A lot of people might not want a car.
And so they don't have to worry about being forced
to pay to have a spot.
And then the second question, Commissioner Strongman,
was about the commercial space.
The intent is that it would be one large commercial space.
And then EV parking, it's 10%,
that's what the rules require.
And so I think that rounds up to five of the spaces here.
Well, I have a question on the retail.
What is, how would they utilize the lower ceiling?
So that's a very good question.
So for context, the majority of the retail space moving back
from Mount Diablo is the 18 feet.
But we requested a waiver to have the portion in the rear
be 10 feet, because if it was 18 feet,
it would eliminate four residential units.
I think that it would either be back of house space
if it's a more traditional retailer, perhaps your service
and prep space if there's some sort of a restaurant.
But the idea is that the retail is laid out in a way
to recognize the realities of how retailers work.
So it's in the back.
Pedestrians walking by on the street
wouldn't even know that it's shorter in the back.
And, Chair, could I offer one more answer to a question?
There was a question earlier about right away dedication.
I did wanna clarify that the waiver
is not requesting to reduce the sidewalk.
It's requesting to reduce the setback from the sidewalk.
So hopefully that clarifies your initial right away question.
Yes, it did.
I thought it was that the sidewalk wanted to be 15 feet.
So it's just the distance of the building to the sidewalk.
It's typically 15 feet,
and they are requesting to reduce that down.
OK, that makes sense.
Question ran.
Commissioner Strong would instill a lot of my questions.
But I just have a maybe philosophical.
So we approved a project a couple months ago
here, which kind of had the same parking to people ratio,
give or take.
I'm curious, is there any literature or studies
whatever because I what I would wonder is okay I want to run a unit there but
now all the parking is they've already been bought right is there is this is
the philosophy that's okay because we're still gonna find enough people that are
gonna want to live downtown and just simply not have a parking space or it's
just seems like a bit of a leap of faith to me because we're still in the suburbs
and people still have cars I think it's good that we know we're entering the
the area of having more dense housing
where they're just simply using the parking spaces for it.
But I'm just wondering, can you speak to that at all?
Sure, I'm happy to.
I can say that, and I'll speak sort of broadly
for a lot of my developer clients who built projects
back when cities had relatively higher
minimum parking requirements.
Most cities, and I'm not sure,
and Swana Creek is the same,
at least in their more dense urban cores have reduced,
if not eliminated minimum parking requirements altogether.
My clients who got their projects entitled
and then had to build a certain amount,
a lot of that parking sits empty.
And so I think that there's an understanding
that maybe it's an inconvenience for somebody initially
when they don't have a car.
Maybe they don't even have cars.
Maybe they take public transit.
I know I happen to, not to get too anecdotal,
but I happened to walk from Walnut Creek Bart
right past this site last Thursday,
and it took 20 minutes.
It's a very pleasant walk.
I think the idea is that there's a little bit of a stick
and a little bit of a carrot when it comes to parking.
Thank you.
Thanks.
Commissioner Cowan, thank you.
I wanna think a little bit about what this looks like
from the perspective of people who may decide to live there.
So you talked about how there are two and three bedroom units
that could be families.
So what would it look like for the family
who then is trying to get their young child
to the elementary school?
Have you thought about what that path looks like?
Do they all need cars or?
There's public transit, there's bus, my wife drives our elementary school aged kids on
the back of her e-bike up and down the Oakland Hills getting to two different schools.
They can walk, they can do a ride share, they could drive their own car.
I think that there are plenty of ways.
And again, I think that when people are presented with a situation that isn't typical of the
way that suburban land use planning has gone, they can adapt.
Okay. Thank you. And then in terms of the affordable units, how are those dispersed
throughout the building? Are they a range of studio through three bedroom?
I defer to staff. I don't know the exact rules. Most cities require equal distribution, and
And then they also require an equal unit mix.
So a range of one bedroom, two bedroom, three bedroom,
spread kind of throughout the project
so that they're not isolated in one area
and they're not all the smallest studio.
That's what I wanted to make sure of.
Yeah, exactly.
Yeah, and I can confirm that.
There is a condition of approval that the applicant team
complete a inclusionary housing and density bonus agreement
with our housing division.
And it's through that agreement that we ensure
that there is proper, even dispersal of the floor plans.
Okay, great, thank you.
And I think I had one more, just back to the sidewalk,
or the setback, the 15 feet to the 10 feet, seven inches.
If you are walking from the corner of Mount Diablo
and Maine past Slice House,
will you notice that you suddenly have less space
because this building is gonna be really tight
between the building and the street?
I actually think that it matches
the current sidewalk width.
So it will feel no different.
It'll just feel like the sidewalk is continuing
once you pass commercial lane
and you're walking past the project site.
So the sidewalk width is the same,
but then the distance that the building is back
from the sidewalk, is that different?
No, well, sorry, go ahead.
Sorry, yes, so the sidewalk itself
will be the same width all the way through.
This building will be a little closer to the sidewalk
than the other buildings near it
that are meeting the 15 foot setback requirement
because this will be set 10 feet and seven inches.
Okay, and then I know when I'm walking from Maine down,
so like right in front of Slice House,
they've done a really good job
trying to protect pedestrian safety by having like landscaping right between
the cars and the sidewalk are we gonna is that what the trees are there I can
I can address that as part of project being processed and as was mentioned by
the chair we we had a transportation study done and and part of what the
transportation team did was along commercial recommend
that the ground floor be set back so that vehicles
could get by including emergency vehicles.
And then they also have directed a number of safety measures
which include a no right turn lane so that no cars
inadvertently try to head south down commercial,
a speed bump, a curb that cars can drive over.
And then the design of the building itself
is not pedestrian friendly.
So nobody's gonna get confused
if they're walking down commercial.
They won't try to walk down commercial probably?
Yeah, no, I was just thinking about
if you're just walking down the sidewalk
of County Ablo to that piece.
Part of the reason why we located the parking and loading
at the rear of the building is exactly that.
that I think that it would be not great urban design
principles to have a parking garage entrance
right smack dab on Mount Diablo.
But more importantly, that creates a safety issue
with cars coming in and out.
In this way, that minimizes that and forces
cars to make a right hand turn and then to continue up
away from the site.
Any other questions for the applicant?
I have some questions.
Before I ask the questions, I do want to say that not a lot of people use provision be
you know to do the piggyback so I'm just saying that because I and I know that it costs money
right in order to provide that additional because you have to meet the first metric
before you even hit provision be in 65915 so I am going to just state that that that's
That's important. And the city really cares about affordable housing.
So what I want a couple of questions is for the I saw this was a cat
thirty two exemption for the water.
This is a lot of units.
It says that the urban water management plan accounts for regional growth
consistent with projections 2040. I get that.
And it says because a project is consistent with applicable general planned use designation,
it has already been accounted for East Bay Mudd's water supply and demand analysis and
adequate water supplies are available.
There was no density contemplated in the land use.
So I'm just curious how that finding was met.
Respectly there was, it says that residential is allowed and it says that multifamily residential
is allowed.
And then it set the massing of the building which were then allowed by state law to use
the density bonus to increase as long as we do affordable housing.
And then I'd also say that water usage is viewed not necessarily in urban settings on
a project by project basis, but it's based on overall site capacity.
And so East Bay Mudd doesn't evaluate each and every single development in terms of a
Class 32 exemption.
I mean the way I've always, I'm just curious.
I've read a lot of urban water management plans, you know, and so, and there usually
is a contemplated density and I wholeheartedly agree with you that bonus units don't kick
you out.
just curious because when I read that I was like huh yeah I think it's one of
those areas where when there's a general plan specific plan zoning that doesn't
have dwelling units per acre that that density is assumed based on other
characteristics of of the zoning which would think be things like height and
massing and setback and you fit your units within that and then another
question that I had. I've never, I've never had to ever seen it, never had the
need for a volumetric study to be done and I understand like it's a provision
in 65915, so I totally get it. I saw that you had studios ones, twos, threes and
there were certain percentage breakdown when the original volumetric study was
completed, that same amount of unit sizes or average unit size and unit variety
That was kept. Yes
Yeah, that was carried over. It was carried. Yeah, okay, cuz I and
You're a land use attorney when I saw that I was thinking to myself
There's no objective standard to set the minimum size of a unit
so in theory when you did the volumetric study you could have
literally just did a bunch of studios and bug up the base the base density pursuing to state law is
So I just but I want and I couldn't tell yeah
But I'm glad that that was the case that what you presented and I trust staff so much
And I kind of figure that that was the case. Yeah, and and we we made we tried to perhaps
Over explain that we we showed
Both the number of units and the density bonus percentage and then also the square footage and the density bonus percentage
so the idea is to is that we
We carried everything through
And in fact, I can tell you that there are some places that don't check that issue in much detail
But we we made a point of designing the building to comply with those. Okay?
Thank you. Thank you
If there's no more questions from mark this mark
I'm going to
Now open it to any public speakers if there being a public speakers you would have two minutes. I
believe we have two three and if you would kindly
And I and I and and just so just we're where a public speakers do not get 15 minutes you you get two
Otherwise we'd be here all night. Although my husband's probably putting my kids down
Mr. William Smith, please
Good evening planning board. I'm a relatively new resident Walnut Creek
I moved here about four years ago
But I'm familiar with the seat you sit in because before I moved here
I was the chair of the Alameda County Planning Commission
So I support you what you're doing through this project is a great one. I've I've been a big supporter of affordable housing and
And transportation and so I love the way it's masked in the near public transit. It's in a city center
So it's exactly all that we want. You've got parking cut back. So I'm very pleased with that and I didn't have a question
I think that volumetric study keep reporting to is what was reformed is the form-based design
That the HED said was a little difficult to get through. Well, it looks like the home-based design is going pretty well so far
So maybe you have to give them a response on that
The other thing I enjoyed was your picture of showing the street. That was the shiniest street I've ever seen. It looked like you polished it in that!
You're an AI image, AI image probably. Also with regard to your question of somebody asked about parking and
parking and the head plane, EV parking. Well, I'm a big bicyclist. So is there secure bike parking?
There is secure bike parking. It's not in the it's in the parking garage not in the in the units. Is that correct?
All right, all right good so many thanks for that so I wish you all the best oh and then the most important thing
It's not your fault. It's just the whole where the whole system works
But don't think that you're making progress with this building and solving the affordable housing problem
Because we have to build probably more than one affordable unit for every market rate unit to even keep it from getting worse
So this is going to actually contribute and make it worse
We have a lot of work to do on that and I hope that in the next few years
You'll I'll be able to work with you to make it better
Working at the state level now. Thank you
Thank you
Mr. Craig
Lazer ready
No, no, no
Thank you. I'm here tonight representing the
Housing Action Coalition and other yimby. Yes in my backyard
Organizations throughout the region that are very interested in seeing
affordable housing and all housing
Building communities such as Walnut Creek. I don't live in Walnut Creek, but I work in Walnut Creek
I spent a lot of time in Walnut Creek and I it's great to see the leadership in this city of a project of that scale
That's really good to make a dent in the
Housing shortage we're facing
regionally and
You know
Ten years ago a project of this scale at a planning commission meeting and you would say that the one people showing up are yimbies
Why I am be wise?
Who would have guessed we're all the nimbies. I think things are changing politically aren't they I think it's
The affordability issue the housing issue is hitting home in communities such as Walnut Creek and throughout the Bay Area and through
California and
better late than never
you know, I think that
We need to we have a lot of ground to make up for
I'm actually a
Resident Martinez. I've been working hard to get housing progress there and I'd love to see a
Project like this of Martinez and I have very good relationships with
Planning officials and mayor and we've to return over a new leap there. We used to be one of the biggest NIMBY towns
In the Bay Area and that's not true anymore. At least that's what the public officials telling me there
So they better not be lying to me or they'll be hearing about it. So
I'd love to see something like this and forever love underutilized
properties in our downtown area.
So great to see this project moving forward.
Great to see the public support.
Thank you.
Thank you, Craig.
And then the last speaker card I have is
Ms. Brianna Morales, Morales.
Sorry, might as well use my accent.
Good evening commissioners.
My name is Brianna Morales
and I am with the Housing Action Coalition.
We're here tonight in support of the project.
We're really excited and encouraged to see the commission consider a project that will
help tackle our severe housing shortage in California when residents are being pushed
out of the Bay Area and not able to continue living in the communities that they grew up
in.
This project turns a vacant, underused piece of land into 104 new homes, 14 of them being
affordable that would be long to the residents of Walnut Creek.
The ground for retail is also something we're encouraged by.
We want to see more activity in homes, in retail, in transit, in job-adjacent, in fill
opportunity stasis.
We're also, you know, asking for the housing crisis to be addressed with the sort of urgency
it deserves here.
We spoke about them earlier, but it bears repeating
that the project team has showed flexibility
in their designs and have been responsive
to the Design Review Commission's concerns.
We also are encouraged to see cooperative,
positive partnerships with state entities like HCD
when it comes to asking good faith questions
and getting clear responses in return.
As somebody that works at a housing organization,
this will be really helpful for other cities.
And we hope to see more housing projects
come in different cities that echo
that type of working relationship.
If we wanna see young families settling down here,
we need to provide them housing.
I actually have a friend who, in the past couple of months,
moved out of Walnut Creek.
Funny enough, he had a car, but he did not have a home,
and he did not have the variety of housing that he needed.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Come on up.
Thank you, Mr. Oh, Ethan Ramirez.
Yes, thank you.
I'm a long time resident in Walnut Creek.
I grew up in the Serenap.
And I just wanted to comment that
I'm not against the project,
but it looks like a,
just a very unaesthetically pleasing building,
very low effort, and it doesn't mix with the rest of the aesthetics of Walnut Creek in
general, especially the buildings around it, which I think if you look at the buildings
around it, they've done a wonderful job adding to the atmosphere of Walnut Creek. There's
brick, there's pillars, there's just the surrounding area that it makes it, when you drive downtown
it looks like a luxury experience. This building, it looks plain, it looks cheap,
it's kind of a monstrosity. And I think, I mean, again, not to be labeled as an
envy, but you look at it, it looks like, you know, just like a Lego. And I think as
professionals and for a place like Walnut Creek you can do better you know
it can anything you know we've seen these units throughout the Bay Area and
the low effort on the design portion of it I just would like to see better as a
citizen. So thank you. Thank you. Are there any other public speakers? So now
the applicant has five minutes if you would like. You have the opportunity, you
don't have to, but you I want to give you the opportunity, five minutes to come up
here and speak. I don't think we need to say anything. We're happy to answer more
questions and I'm sure the architect, if people would like, would be happy to talk
about what I think is a very thoughtful and appropriate design. Thank you.
Commissioner Moran. I'll take you up on that because I think that that's actually
germane to what we're discussing. I know that was discussed and we're looking at
the materials and so forth here but if somebody can maybe just give us a 30,000
foot view of what the elements were chosen specifically to match the you know
I think you used the rooftop as a reference point and just you know a thoughts about that.
Excuse me, I'm a little bit of a chess today.
So first, the building is brick and it will have a kind of a texture to it that will also
be accentuated with a lot of the brick details on it.
if you can go back a couple slides, that's fine.
So the brick details here on the left,
those will be transparent.
So you'll have a kind of a,
the brick will be open in some respects
where the light can come through the wall.
And then on the upper left in the middle,
we do have a textured brick
that creates a little trellis for different planting
to come up.
And if you go to the material board,
you can see these types of brick textures here.
And so the brick texture up in the upper kind of middle right,
that's the textured brick.
It won't be exactly like that.
It'll have a texture to it.
It'll allow for planting to crawl up on top of it
and have seating below.
And then to the right, it'll be similar to what
you see in the upper right where you have this light coming
through this brick wall here.
So it's not a cheap plaster.
It's not a cheap product.
It'll be a brick product.
And so if you go back to one of the renderings.
And then on the lower right, you can see the retail.
We have a translucent glass where
it'll have this kind of filigree in the glass.
And it has an interlayer with a green seaweed feel to it.
And then that's going to come up behind the wood trellis
up above, the wood slats above.
And once again, that's going to have
light coming through in the evening, it's going to create interest, it's going to create
a more dynamic retail there. And then if you go back to the exterior again. And so on the
top, we do have planting that's going to come around the edges. So you do get this kind
of visual connection with the top of the building and this kind of pedestrian almost feel to
the top of the building, and then on the right that's where we have, that's just a
vertical element there and that's really to create more of a residential presence
and on the very corner those will be balconies so it won't have, it won't, this
might look a little flat but it'll have balconies, it'll have a lot of ends and
so it'll have a lot of texture to it.
So, okay.
Can I just ask a follow-up to that?
Yes.
When this was at Design Review,
did they ask you to flip it, basically,
so that the area on the right that's so close
to where the rooftop restaurant is
to have that happen on the left?
We had a discussion on that.
Yeah.
And our thoughts were,
There's a couple ideas going on here.
First, we wanted to engage the Paseo.
And that's in this specific plan.
And that Paseo is the walkway on the far left,
on the west side.
So that allows us to have spill out room for the retail.
So if it is dining, it could spill out there.
Or it could just be for waiting.
But it allows us to engage that outdoor space like that.
And then turning it to the other side,
we do have the dumpsters there.
And so it's not really high quality space there.
And so we are trying to buffer that a little bit.
But we do do that in a way where it's still interesting
and it's not just a blank wall.
So those are the thoughts about the massing of it.
Okay, and that was related to what you were saying before about trying to keep the pedestrians on this side away from where the cars
Are okay. Yeah, and if you go go back a few slides
But then the upper floors are related you couldn't just you couldn't shift the upper floor without changing them
You see we we can only for the building out at this element. Yeah, and that allows for
pedestrian safety and it also keeps
people exiting the building. They don't exit right onto commercial way and so
that allows us a lane for that and then it also allows us for planting and some
nice kind of more pedestrian touches there. Since you're there, what are the
amenity areas for this building? It's on the top floor. Is that that rooftop? Yes.
deck yeah I was looking at C2's they always have the best drawings. So in
yellow here yeah that's the amenity space on the top floor. And market rate
and affordable have access? Of course yes. Okay thank you so much. If there's no
more questions then I'm gonna go ahead and close the public hearing portion and
and bring it back to the Commission for discussion, questions, vice chair, claps, sorry.
I just want to thank everybody for their time and coming out and presenting and
for responding to all the feedback that you've gotten and thank you for
presenting us a very interesting plan. Any other comments? Yeah. Commissioner Moran.
I'd second that. There's a lot of thorough plans and I think that was nice
to give Stephen Cook his due.
I'm sure you guys worked really hard on this.
You know, I think that people rightly are going to say
that this is big, and it might take some getting used to.
But I believe that we can't let perfect be the enemy of good,
especially when we have an opportunity
to put housing downtown where it belongs.
I think the waivers are something that we can grant, but it certainly takes some thought
in terms of reducing the sidewalk, the height, the parking, you know, and this is a new thing
for downtown Walnut Creek, and we're constrained by the state and what we can and can't do
as a body here, but I don't believe that that's an excuse and that, you know, if we want to
say we want housing downtown for seniors and young people and people who are
going to work downtown then I think we need to approve this and those are my
thoughts.
Did you want to say something?
I agree. I think that it is crucial for us to be building housing downtown and
infill housing is great. It is going to be challenging for, I think, our city to
get used to something this tall in this area.
I remember when rooftop seemed like a super tall building
in the area.
The rooftop is no longer the rooftop anymore.
Comparatively speaking, it will be, I think,
shadowed by this building.
But it is housing that we need.
I appreciate that you did include the bike room, which
I believe is not down in the basement with the cars.
It's in the lobby area, correct?
If I read that correctly.
Yeah, exactly, yeah, and so people will be able to explore
the different transportation options,
and I appreciate that you included
the Guaranteed Ride Home program that our county has,
because I think a lot of people
are not aware of that program as well,
so these types of things will have to be promoted more,
and we'll need to come up with,
we need to continue to work on our transportation options
that are not cars to get people around our city.
So yeah, I think it's a good project and a needed project
and the direction that we need to go.
Thanks.
So kind of paying off of that,
that's why I always appreciate about,
anytime I'm looking at a transportation report
when I see TDM measures that have to do with behavior,
because when you have this type of product,
there is a different type of concept,
a different type of thinking.
I mean, I remember myself living in 500 square feet
or 600 square feet with my now eight-year-old, right?
And she lived in a beautiful closet in San Francisco
and she's just fine.
It had a window.
And so what I would like to say about this,
because I know the Housing Action Coalition is here,
this commission is very well versed in law
And I'm just so proud to sit on this commission.
And I know I probably asked some difficult questions.
So thank you for bearing with me.
I'm an engineer, so.
What I would like to say is also the fact that,
and we discussed this before,
that provision V, which is the additional affordability,
it takes a lot to even get there.
And that provision was added as part of many,
many, many, many updates to state density bonus law.
So for me, I don't particularly see a lot of folks
taking advantage, not advantage,
but leveraging that ability to use provision B
in 65915 state density bonus law,
and it's because it takes an incredible amount
of affordable housing to go first.
So with that, I'll get off my soapbox.
Would anybody like to make a motion?
I will. Based on the findings as set forth, the commission hereby grants
approval. The conditional use permit and design review application number Y 25050
for an eight story. Uh, 11, uh, 111,000 square foot mixed use development at
1532 Mount Diablo Boulevard.
Take me one second. Second.
Take the role and parole. Commissioner Moran. Yes. Commissioner
Yes. Commissioner Strongman. Yes. Vice Chair Klopp. Yes. Chair Needing. Yes. The
motion passes. Okay now onto Commission considerations and so there's two items
that we wanted to bring up here. Thank you. We lost half our audience. It
doesn't matter. I still want to bring this up. So there was one item
that we had discussed regarding, potentially eliminating CUPs,
but what I wanted to bring to the commission for a consideration.
And I think this is important.
And Commissioner Cown kind of brought it up.
When I review other staff reports of other jurisdictions,
I'm used to always seeing a site plan with the locations
of the affordable housing and the various ami.
And I would like that that for the staff to take that into consideration, please, to require objectively that applications provide the location in the affordability with the various, you know, very low, whatever the AMI might be for us to be able to review because a lot of what we are approving, you know,
pursuant to state law, is based on the fact that we're hoping some amazing
affordable housing is being provided. So that's one. Okay. Oh, yes, Commissioner.
Can I just, do you mean where the affordable units are gonna go in the
building specifically? Is that what we're talking about? Yeah. Nor a lot of other
jurisdictions, you're not allowed to get your entitlements until you show them
exactly what units are affordable and then what what level of affordability
that unit has just so we make sure that it meets it meets the intent of our
inclusionary housing policy which really is supposed to be a like-for-like because
affordable can mean one thing to one person another to another there's an
objective definition and as was stated they're going to be required as a
condition of approval to come up with that specific plan with with the city's
housing department so is there not a way that that order of operations could
occur potentially before we get it so that we could see where they're putting
everything because we're relying on that process we trusted no we definitely
Yeah, so so that's just one commission consideration
But yeah that having it be presented here would mean that the public could also yes
be a part of that process and see where those are because there are cases where a
Developer may decide to put them all in one corner and there be only the studio apartments and they can't access the amenity on
The roof something like that. Right? I don't think the city would let that happen
happen, but it would be more transparent if possible.
To be able to show that to the community would be helpful.
Definitely something staff can incorporate.
Good slash kind of bad timing.
We just updated our density bonus application.
But it's still fresh.
It's so ready.
We could just make a little quick something to it.
I also did wanna say I really appreciated
seeing LSA's actual report for the CAT-32.
I love reading that and sometimes I notice
when we have those type of categorical exemptions,
I don't always get to kind of geek out on that.
So thank you so much for providing that on the agenda.
And then I think the third item was would,
how does the commission feel about the staff
considering having some things that we don't have to approve?
I'm looking at you, Commissioner Strongman.
CUPs for office uses that are compatible with the,
what was that wording?
Compatible with the existing area.
Yeah, I guess I've seen in the last year or so
quite a few come through as,
why are we making them do all this paperwork and studies
where you're just changing the building.
Why can't there be a real estate office in that building?
Why do we have to have a whole thing for a tailor shop?
I think we need to be a lot more flexible
of what we allow and where we allow it.
And what I can offer,
because now that more time has passed,
I was sitting here thinking about it.
I may have spoke faster than I really was thinking,
because perfect opportunity is at the joint session
that's coming up.
I wanna, I apologize, I think it's October 22nd.
There's a joint session between the Design Review Commission
and the Planning Commission where we're actually evaluating
the existing conditions report
through the general plan update process.
And this is a perfect time for us
to have that larger discussion.
So, sorry, it didn't come to me quickly
when I was speaking earlier in the meeting,
but so in just a few weeks,
you guys can very much have that study session
and have that discussion.
I think it would also be good to have examples.
I was just like right off the bat,
I'm thinking to myself there was a dentist practice.
The architecture office.
Yes, the architecture of the dentist.
So now we are pumping them out.
Taylor, what was the other one that we just did?
Oh, spa.
So I think kind of having that list because we might forget,
even though everyone here is brilliant.
Any other commission considerations?
Okay, commission member staff report.
I know you're just presented, right?
Yeah, no, Transpac is the first of-
Okay, sorry.
So it'll be the next meeting, I'll update you.
Okay.
So I kind of already teased it, joint session,
October 22nd, and since I have you
as a captive audience right now,
I did shoot out an email and most of you replied,
but I apologize to make you answer me again.
We're just looking to take attendance.
So if, yes, yes, I see lots of nodding.
Everyone is going to be available that night.
Okay, thank you so much.
And then-
Everyone's gonna be there.
My only other item is just to close the loop.
The last time we all met, there is a request
that you guys also receive
the Design Review Commission schedule.
You should be getting that.
So just when, okay, see the nodding heads.
I saw it go through.
I just want to make sure you're all reading your emails.
No, so that's it from staff, thank you.
Okay, if there's nothing else, then 747 will adjourn.
Thank you.