4C Public Hearing 2014 0721 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Excerpts from the Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes May 15, 2014 Page 3 of 9 Commenting on the potential stacking of cars on Washington Avenue as a reason for denial, Ms. Williams pointed out that residents can use their remote controls to activate the gate prior to entering the driveway, and the speed of the gate swing is adjustable. She noted that Eden Roc Apartments, to the south of Floresta Gardens, doesn’t back traffic up on Washington Avenue even though its electronic gate is only a single car wide and has a shorter ingress than the Floresta Gardens HOA has proposed. Addressing the General Plan’s discouraging gated communities because they could lead to fragmented neighborhoods and disconnection from larger communities, she said she sees none of that in the surrounding gated complexes. She said Floresta Gardens is the only non-gated community in the area on Washington Avenue, and none of the others began with gates. She said she’d like to know when they were modified and under what circumstances they got through the City’s process when staff is recommending the Floresta Gardens project be denied. In terms of the proposal changing the characteristics of the surrounding area, Ms. Williams mentioned the shopping center to the north, and a gas station, diner, strip mall and four apartment complexes to the south and east. Each of these apartment complexes is gated, she pointed out, leading her to question how gating Floresta Gardens would change the characteristics of its surrounding neighbors. She noted that a cement wall has surrounded the development for 36 years, and they’re only aski ng that the last 50 feet be inaccessible to unauthorized vehicular and pedestrian traffic. In closing, Ms. Williams referred to a statement from Jennifer Rees, Caliente Drive, who has children ages two and four. Her front door faces the main area of the complex, where the fastest cross-traffic passes. She asked whether it would take an accident that hurts or kills a child who steps out of their front door before the City realizes the bottom line is safety. Are the 165 -plus residents of Floresta Gardens not entitled to live in a safe environment, she asked. She asked which Commissioner would want to face Ms. Rees under those circumstances if this request for residential safety is denied. Commissioner Collier said she’s torn, because she doesn’t favor gated communities, but if a gate is needed, it would have to be farther back than the three car lengths represented by 51 feet. She said that there should be room for at least five or six cars, as is the case with signalized left -turn lanes. Planner Penaranda suggested that the gate company representative might respond. Shawn Trask, owner of R&S Overhead Garage Door Company, said he’s the second-generation owner of R&S, which has been doing business in San Leandro 50 years, installing and servicing thousands of gates in the community. He said this proposal hasn’t come forward suddenly; R&S has been working with Floresta Gardens for five years. He said in working on gates through San Leandro’s Planning Department over the years, it’s typically a 20-foot setback, a 20-foot opening and automatic egress for fire. He said Traffic & Engineering would want to get as much traffic off the street as possible. He said he’d know of accidents at other gated complexes on Washington Avenue, because he services all of them. St. Moritz Garden Apartments, he said, is set back only deep enough to have room for one car at a time; in fact, five complexes on Washington Avenue have three times less setback space than what’s proposed for Floresta Gardens. He also indicated that a turnaround, which is not incorporated anywhere else in the City, is part of the Floresta Gardens proposal. Mr. Trask said that because he makes his living installing and servicing gates, to be told, “We don’t like gates in San Leandro” when he came to work with the Planning Department left him frustrated, especially when he knows the proposal meets all the criteria in terms of setbacks and opening widths. He said this proposal is a particularly well-designed modification. Further, he said, residents will get in promptly with remote controls and there are ways to keep the gate open during busy periods, such as commute time. Commissioner Hernandez noted that pool security was cited as a reason for the gates, but he thought the original PD documents covered it. Planner Penaranda said the pool is fenced, as required, but perhaps there’s no daily security and non-residents are getting in despite the fact that the gate is locked. When Commissioner Hernandez asked why a full-security gate is being proposed for the Washington Avenue access, whereas the access gate to Fremont Avenue is not a full-security system, Mr. Trask said the back gate allows free egress to both vehicles and pedestrians but prevents entry from the back of the property so non-residents cannot use it as a shortcut.