Minutes 2005 1121 - Laserfiche WebLink

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MINUTES Page 3 City of San Leandro City Council and San Leandro Redevelopment Agency J oint Meeting~November 21, 2005 This being the time and place for the Public Hearing on the above matter, City Manager J ermanis introduced Community Development Director Hanson Horn. Mr. Horn gave background on the matter, noting that the issue of guidelines for commercial condominium conversions was first raised by the Council when it reviewed the proposal for 433 Estudillo. The Council expressed concerns regarding the public noticing requirement, adequate notification to existing tenants, and the City's ability to promote exterior building upgrades as necessary. Mr. Horn stated that the resulting draft ordinance has been through a public review process via the Planning Commission. The ordinance attempts to balance the desire for additional review with a streamlined administrative process. Planner II Sally Barros gave a short PowerPoint presentation describing the proposed ordinance containing Zoning Code amendments for non- residential condominium conversions. The Hearing was then opened to the public. Lou Filipovich, San Leandro resident, addressed the City Council, commenting on various documents that were issued by the City several years ago regarding public participation and public hearings. There being no further comments from the public, and without objection, the Public Hearing was closed. Vice Mayor Badger expressed interest in seeing the notification radius increased to 500 feet. Councilrnember Grant agreed with Vice Mayor Badger that there should be wider notification. She asked if these building conversions need to meet current Code requirements. Staff clarified the circumstances that would trigger conformance with new Code requirements. Councilrnember Grant expressed concern that a building converted to condominiums would not necessarily meet current Code standards. Mr. Jermanis pointed out that projects will undergo a thorough review and may not be approved if Code compliance, aesthetics, etc., are deemed unsatisfactory. He noted that these guidelines currently do not exist elsewhere, and the Council has taken an important step to ensure that commercial tenants are treated in a fair and equitable manner. Ms. Barros added that William Schock, the City's Chief Building Official and Zoning Enforcement Official, has carefully reviewed the ordinance, including the Code compliance issues. Councilmember Starosciak inquired about the notification practices in other cities. Mr. Horn commented that most cities provide the minimum 300-foot notification, although some will increase the notification radius selectively for larger projects. Mr. Horn indicated that the notification issue is being reviewed by the Planning Commission and Board of Zoning Adjustments, and the two advisory bodies will be forwarding their recommendations to the City Council for consideration. He noted that increasing the notification radius to 500 feet would approximately triple the number of notices sent out and would increase costs to the applicant and require additional stafftime to administer.