3A Public Hearing 2009 0302 - Laserfiche WebLink

Metadata

Thumbnails

Annotations

Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes January 22, 2009 Agenda No. 09-02 Page 4 of 14 In the course of a number of meetings with the San Leandro Unified School District, the District identified a demographer who was hired to work with the BRIDGE team, with more meetings involving staff and a School Board subcommittee regarding the addition of school-aged children expected to live in the development. The demographer determined that approximately 50 new children would come from The Alameda, and 10 from The Cornerstone. At this point, Ms. Tan said, everyone seems to be in agreement that the payment required is appropriate mitigation. Largely as a result of public and staff feedback, she reported that a number of changes have been made to the San Leandro Crossings design. Those affecting The Cornerstone will be addressed in another Planning Commission hearing in March. As-for The Alameda, the changes generally incorporate more articulation, primarily to the west facade, further breakdowns of scale and massing, in part by adding windows on the Martinez Street facade, and more parking (six additional stalls). The proposal calls for major improvements, including heavy landscaping on Martinez Street, undergrounding utility lines, significant sewer line relocation and upgrades, a new traffic signal at Parrott Street and San Leandro Boulevard, and a new public paseo connecting the west side of Alvarado Street through San Leandro Crossings to BART (and eventually into downtown). In addition, the developer has been working with fair housing attorneys to make a commitment to market The Alameda so as to give preference and priority to people who live and/or work in San Leandro. Architect David Baker (David Baker + Partners - DB+P), a Fellow of the American Institute of Architects (FAIR) who has teamed up with BRIDGE on projects since BRIDGE's inception, covered the project's design approach. This includes reflecting colors and roof lines of historic buildings in the area, taking cues from the vernacular buildings to increase the articulation, particularly on the street facade, adding balconies and patios, differentiating the building base by making it darker to help "ground" it, using the roofing, awnings and board-and-batten siding such as what original industrial buildings in the area used. All of these elements will help break up the building's mass, as will what Mr. Baker called "volumetric ups and downs and ins and outs." Features also include stacked wooden courtyard decks and staggered metal balconies on the north and south facades. The sand-float stucco finish incorporates a Mediterranean or Spanish flavor. Fronting the project will be a wide, mixed-use path to accommodate pedestrians, strollers and bicyclists, and three vegetated swales. Porches and stoops with decks on top have been added to units that front the. sidewalk, further activating the street facade. The project also incorporates "green stairs," awell-lit staircase with airy ambience. Mr. Baker pointed out a special "K" door for the lobby entrance designed by a woodworker/artist, a bike room near the front entrance, "program space" that may house a childcare center, ground- and podium-level play areas, and a community garden suitable for gatherings and barbecues as well as plantings. He said that a lot of hard work has gone into this project because it will be the very visible first phase of San Leandro's first TOD project. Noting that the west side was particularly challenging because it is noisy, a corridor has been added to insulate dwelling units from sound, as well as vine-covered green walls, an articulated surface and fewer windows to minimize the heat from the afternoon sun. The project is being designed for Green Points rating, with which DB+P has considerable experience, and Mr. Baker said The Alameda will have about twice the number of points needed for LEED Neighborhood Development (ND) certification. Landscape Architect Chris Pattillo (PGAdesign inc) indicated that the number one driving objective for the project is to create a lush landscape incorporating a tremendous amount of diversity, which is a key element to creating a sustainable landscape. The species selection will be limited to water-conserving vegetation that considers the site's various micro-climates and that requires limited, if any, use of pesticides and herbicides. Ms. Pattillo noted that the paseo connecting Alvarado with Martinez and proceeding to the BART station with a new pedestrian crossing is a key TOD component. She added that the paseo will serve adjacent residents west of