3A Public Hearing 2009 0302 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes January 22, 2009 Agenda No. 09-02 Page 12 of l4 learned that there is apparently a restriction on funding that rules out that option. Still, she said, she suggested that every possible way to achieve that should be pursued. Chair Dlugosh reminded everyone that the vote tonight concerns the Vesting Tentative Map, the Site Plan Review and the Mitigated Negative Declaration, and noted that the public comments are more relevant for City Council's consideration. Commissioner Collier also questioned the number of school-aged children projected for The Alameda, observing that the School District's demographer has been wrong before. The Alameda easily may house as many as 200 school children. For 50 children, the school in lieu fee of $338,000 is adequate; but even a modular classroom costs more than $100,000, and accommodates only 25 students. Commissioner Ponder said that his primary issue is with the project's location, with two railroad tracks and the BART tracks. We don't ask anyone else in the City to live so close to that. He does not like the BART noise himself, and does not like the fact that residents of The Alameda would be there by themselves. There have been past projects that were started and not finished, he noted, citing one at Washington Avenue and Springlake Drive that remains half-completed, so he is worried that this project too may remain incomplete. He agrees with Ms. Young when she described this as a standalone project, because there is no guarantee of anything else. He said he liked the projects he saw on the BRIDGE tour -they were quiet, and he could stand inside without hearing nearby BART trains. They are nice units, not ghettoes. He likes the architecture proposed for The Alameda (formerly Crossings West), better than what the Planning Commission previously saw for The Cornerstone (Crossings East). If we need it, we need it, he said, and it's a good thing for San Leandro to have low-income housing. He added, though, that inclusionary units are meant to be indistinguishable from market-rate housing. Air conditioning remains a big issue, too; one month last summer it was so smoky and hot no one wanted to go outside. People will be crammed into The Alameda with their windows closed against noise. They should have clean air and be able to control their climate. Commissioner Finberg said that she spent six years advocating for business in San Leandro (as former San Leandro Chamber CEO) and has been a resident for l3 years; thus she sees things through two sets of glasses when projects come to the Planning Commission. At the Chamber, she heard very often about the lack of workforce housing in the City and the problems businesses had attracting and retaining quality workers for that reason. Consequently, she considers this project an opportunity to amact business, which equates to revenue for the City, and in turn a better quality of life for everyone overall. As a resident, she said she was fortunate enough to have purchased her home when she did, for a price that would now be considered affordable housing. She probably couldn't afford to buy that house now. She hopes that eventually these rental units will go to purchase opportunities for occupants, enabling people to get the start that Mr. Johnson spoke about. Neighbors and relatives have brought up the subject of ghettoes, but the renderings and photos she showed them shocked them. They said what a beautiful place it would be to live. The changes that have been made, the greenery, the paseos -this is a project that she feels is investing in San Leandro and we should be very proud of it. Commissioner Brannan, who served as Chair of the CAC for the TOD Strategy, had reservations about what affordable housing really was when she started on that Committee. She said that she was educated throughout that process as well as the Planning Commission process. She, too, went on the BRIDGE tour and is glad BRIDGE is the organization that will bring this project to San Leandro, because she was very impressed with the condition of the units, and they are indiscernible from market-rate housing. One of the projects on the tour is right next to a BART station, and inside the building visitors could not hear the BART trains. The resident manager there said they actually have a lot of parking spaces available, because the residents use