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City of San Leandro City Council Meeting Date: January 6, 2025 Agenda Number: 8.a. Agenda Section: PUBLIC HEARINGS File Number: 25-001 File Type: Staff Report Adopt a Resolution to Reject an Appeal (PLN24-0040) by Wayne D. Russo (appellant) of the decision of the Planning Commission to Approve a Conditional Use Permit (PLN23-0031) to build an 80-foot high Wireless Telecommunications Facility (monopole camouflaged as a pine tree and related equipment) at 440 Peralta Ave and to Affirm the Planning Commission’s approval of the Conditional Use Permit. APN: 075-0225-001-04. Zoning District: DA-2. Applicant: Tower Engineering Professionals. Property Owner: Donald R. and Jo A. Lee Trust. Appellant: Wayne D. Russo SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS The applicant requested approval of a Conditional Use Permit to build a new Wireless Telecommunications Facility at 440 Peralta Avenue. The Wireless Telecommunications Facility would consist of a freestanding 80-foot high monopole designed to resemble a pine tree (“monopine”) and related equipment. The Planning Commission approved the Conditional Use Permit after a duly noticed public hearing on November 7, 2024 by a vote of 7-0. An appeal of the Planning Commission’s decision (PLN24-0040) was timely filed by Wayne Russo, the owner of the property adjacent to the subject property where the facility is proposed. This appeal hearing was scheduled in accordance with the requirements of the San Leandro Zoning Code. Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the attached Resolution, rejecting the appeal and affirming the Planning Commission’s approval of the Conditional Use Permit (PLN23-0031), based on the recommended Findings of Fact and subject to the recommended Conditions of Approval. BACKGROUND AND RELATIONSHIP TO SURROUNDING AREA The project site is 440 Peralta Avenue, a 57,784 square foot parcel in the DA-2 (Downtown Area 2) zoning district. The L-shaped parcel has frontage along San Leandro Boulevard and Peralta Avenue. The site contains a 23,200 square foot warehouse and a 2,100 square foot garage, with two ancillary parking areas. Nearby properties, to the northeast, include a tow yard, warehouses, public storage facilities, Siempre Verde Park, and single-family residences across San Leandro Boulevard. The site is bordered on the west by overhead BART rail lines and Union Pacific rail lines, with the Cherrywood residential tract further west . APPLICABLE LEGAL STANDARDS The federal government adopted several laws and regulations that severely restrict the City’s land use authority with respect to wireless telecommunications facilities. Those restrictions relevant to the proposed project are briefly discussed in this report. Under the federal Telecommunications Act of 1996, cities have some ability to regulate where Page 1 City of San Leandro Printed on 9/4/2025