3B Public Hearing 2007 0904 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Joint BZAlPC Worksession Minutes Agenda No. 07-15 August 9, 2007 Page 70f9 Planning Secretary Livermore (who served as TOD Project Manager) reiterated what Commissioner Feinberg pointed out, that the CAC looked at this issue and also explored the financial feasibility. In a downturn market, it's hard to remember what a hot market is like; by the same token, it's hard to imagine a downturn market. She doesn't expect immediate development of these projects, because developers have largely taken a step back to wait and see. Still, the housing market goes through cycles, and during the TOD Strategy study, developers looked at the long term and how to assemble parcels in a future-oriented manner. Across the country, mixed-use development, smart growth, attention to resources, greenfields, commute times and so forth make higher-density residential developments, often in a mixed-use setting in a transit-rich environment the wave of the future. Those properties, she added, are selling. The developers will do their homework on figuring out exactly which products will sell. No one expects this to happen overnight; this is a 3D-year plan, and right now, many of the opportunity sites support viable businesses that are expected to continue for some time. Those property owners control their own destiny, but at some point in the future, a combination of land value and demand for new housing will trigger a change. Commissioner Ponder inquired whether the CAC looked at the how the TOD Strategy translated into proposed zoning changes. Planning Secretary Livermore said no. Commissioner Finberg added that while the specific code language was outside the scope of the CAC's activities, the CAC was able to make a visual comparison, with overlays of the strategy proposal placed over the current situation. Planning Secretary Livermore reiterated that the purpose of the plan is to allow opportunities for mixed-use development and residential development at higher densities, which layover an existing matrix of uses that exist currently, either outright permitted or conditionally permitted. The proposed Zoning Code amendments respect all three elements. Planning Chair Reed noted that Castro Valley is in a situation where there is discussion of neighborhood parking permits and BART charges for parking. Business people are concerned about how this would affect their operations long term. He doesn't want to see San Leandro exacerbate its parking problems and find itself in a similar situation. Planning Secretary Livermore said that at this time, the strategy includes a lot about parking, and the plan incorporates the expertise of an excellent traffic consultant, who addressed a total of nine traffic capacity strategies and 15 parking strategies within the BART area alone. Overall, the CAC explored 20 different parking strategies. She also noted that there is a surplus of parking downtown that is not necessarily being used as effectively as it could be if some changes were made. Thus, for example, people could use reservoir parking areas to leave their vehicles while walking to several destinations instead of moving the vehicle from block to block to block. Another example is the proposed introduction of a short segment of on-street parking on San Leandro Boulevard, where there is currently no parking available. It would reduce the street from seven to five lanes in that segment and enhance the pedestrian connection between BART and downtown. Yet another is making Hayes Street one-way for a short distance, adding angled parking to increase the number of parking spaces. In terms of charges for BART