3A Public Hearing 2009 0302 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes January 22, 2009 Agenda No. 09-02 Page 2 of 14 Item b: Public Hearing a). Matter of PLN2008-00031 (Assessor's Parcel Nambers 075-0047-002, 075-0047-003- 2, 075-0047-007). Site Plan Review of 100-unit affordable housing project located at 1333 Martinez Street (adjacent to the San Leandro BART station within the San Leandro Crossings project) and Vesting Tentative Map PLN20008-00054 that creates four lots including lots for condominium purposes. The property is zoned DA-5(S) and PS(S). Applicant is Westlake Development Partners, LLC. This project tiers off of an Environmental Impact Report prepared for the Downtown San Leandro Transit-Oriented Development Strategy (TOD) that was certified in September 2007. The City has prepared, noticed and circulated a Mitigated Negative Declaration for this project. Comments on the Mitigated Negative Declaration were required to be submitted to the City by December 17, 2008. The final Mitigated Negative Declaration includes the comments received by the City on or before December 17, 2008. The mitigation measures identified in the Mitigated Negative Declaration address all potentially significant project-related impacts; taking these measures would result in no significant impacts. Therefore, there is no substantial evidence that the project may have a significant effect on the environment. Secretary Livermore, who had served as Project Manager for the TOD Strategy, provided background. Over an ] 8-month period, from January 2006 to September 2007, the TOD Strategy development involved three community meetings with about 240 residents in attendance and a 27-member Citizen Advisory Committee that held 10 meetings..The City Council approved the TOD Strategy on September 4, 2007, at which time the Environmental Impact Report also was certified. The proposed development involved in tonight's Agenda item complies with the TOD Strategy. Senior Planner Philip Millenbah indicated that the Planning Commission's consideration of the Site Plan Review application is due to a zoning code amendment (effective November 20, 2008). When a project requires two or more permits, one of which requires Planning Commission review, the zoning code now requires the Planning Commission to review the other applications. In this case, the Vesting Tentative Map requires a Planning Commission's decision to forward to the City Council; the Site Plan Review piggybacks with it under terms of the recently enacted amendment. Last October, the Planning Commission held a work session on the 1333 Martinez Street project, as well as the site of a proposed 200-unit condominium development, Phase I of the proposed San Leandro Crossings. The Martinez Street project is the only one included on tonight's Agenda. The Vesting Tentative Map that the Planning Commission is being asked to review contains lots for the 100-unit affordable housing development, for a BART replacement garage and for future condominium development. Noting that considerable community-wide discussion has taken place regarding school impact fees relating to this development, Mr. Millenbah referenced staff report pages 6-7, which indicate that school fees are the subject of extensive state law. In this case, the applicant will pay the San Leandro Unified School District approximately $338,000, which will serve as the entire mitigation of any environmental or developmental impacts that the proposed project may have on the School District. Pursuant to California Government Code, he explained, the City may not deny the applicant's permit for reasons related to school impacts provided that the developer pays the required school fees. He noted, too, that staff prepared a Mitigated Negative Declaration tiering off the Environmental Impact Report that was prepared as part of the TOD Strategy development and was certified by the City Council on September 4, 2007. Staff identified 27 project-specific impacts that were not identified in the TOD EIR but are addressed in the Mitigated Negative Declaration.