Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Recording in progress

Looks like the microphone wasn't quite on. Let's try again. So, good evening. It's July 20th, 2026, and 7 p.m. I will now call the regular Planning Commission meeting to order. This meeting is being televised via the Zoom video conference platform. Ms. Mattenpoor, please conduct the roll call.

Good evening.

We'll continue with the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Jimenez, can you lead the commission, please? Let's see, next item, public communication. Persons wishing to address the planning commission or any subject not on the agenda may do so now. Please note, however, the commission is not able to undertake discussion or action tonight on items not on the agenda. Items may be referred to staff for appropriate action, which may include placement on the next available agenda. Public comments will be limited to three minutes per speaker. For members of the public attending via the virtual Zoom meeting, that wish to make a comment, please use the raised hand feature or dial asterisk nine if connecting via phone audio only. When it is your turn to speak, staff will bring you into the meeting so that you may provide your comment or concern. At this time, Ms. Mattenport, are there any items not on the agenda? Any speakers?

For attendees joining via Zoom, please click the raise hand button if you would like to speak on the matter not on the agenda. And for attendees who are joining us by phone, you can dial star and nine. I don't see any hand raised here.

Okay, so there are none for items not on the agenda. Very good, so we'll move to the next item, the Consent Calendar. Let's see, at this point, all matters listed under the Consent Calendar are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion on these items unless requested by a member of the Commission or a member of the public prior to the time the Commission votes on the motion to adopt. Does any commissioner wish to pull an item for discussion? Seeing none, I will at this time entertain a motion for the consent calendar.

I'll make a motion that we accept the consent calendar as posted.

We have a motion. Is there a second?

I'll second it.

And we have a second for the roll call. Those in favor, state aye. Any opposed, say nay. And Ms. Mancor, can you do a roll call, please?

Vice Chair Rubio?

Aye.

Vice Chair Mostwalker? Aye. Commissioner Morrison? Aye. Commissioner Jimenez?

I just had a question. Since I was absent, am I abstaining or is this an aye if I'm in agreement of the item?

You're welcome to vote on minutes when you're absent for them. It's just you're attesting that your colleagues and city staff have accurately represented them in the record. But if you choose to abstain, you're welcome to. But I always advise that you're fine to vote if you want to trust your colleagues. Aye.

We have Commissioner Esso Sago.

Thank you for allowing Mr. Issa Segal to vote. So in that regard, the motion passes, five in favor and none opposed. Moving on to the public hearing. Let's see.

conditional use permit cup 26-02 for a retail store at 1560 sycamore avenue so at this time i have the staff report please good evening chair and commissioners tim rood community development director tonight's presentation for this conditional use permit item will be given by our contract senior planner larissa alchin who will be joining us by zoom

Thank you, Director Rude. I just want to make sure that you can hear me okay. I apologize, my camera is not on. I don't believe I can have my camera on unless I'm promoted to a panelist, so excuse that.

We hear you fine, Ms. Elchin.

Perfect. So good evening, Chair and Commissioners. The item before you tonight is Conditional Use Permit 2602. and for a retail location at 1560 Sycamore Avenue. Next slide.

Bear with us a moment. We're trying to get the presentation on the full size of the screen. There we go.

Okay, thank you. As an overview, this site is zoned community commercial. Dollar Tree is refusing to occupy the former Rite Aid building, which is approximately 1,200 square feet. Any retail store over 2,000 square feet requires a CUP in this zoning district, which is why it's before you tonight. The hours of operation are proposed to be between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m. daily with approximately 10 employees. Next slide. As a brief background, the building was mostly recently operated at Rite Aid Pharmacy. It sits adjacent to the senior housing development at 1550 Sycamore. The two properties do share a parking and access easement under common ownership. On February of this year, the community development director determined the prior Rite Aid tenancy had been abandoned under the requirements of the municipal code. A notice was sent of that determination, which was not appealed, which is why a new use permit is required before any new tenant can occupy that space. Next slide. The proposed floor plan is primarily interior tenant improvements, new fixtures, coolers, freezers, office space, employee areas, and the like. No change to the building footprint. Exterior elevations or site layout are proposed. Also, no signage is proposed with this CUP review. Any signage in the future for that building would require a separate administrative design review permit. Next slide. Staff conducted a parking analysis with the parking easement in mind. The municipal code requires 2.5 spaces per thousand square feet of retail space when not located in a shopping center. The site has 67 total spaces. 16 spaces are committed under a shared easement for the senior housing property, which still leaves the 51 spaces available to the retail use, which is nine spaces over the required minimum, which is 42. So the project complies and no changes to parking supply or layout are proposed. Next slide. For the operation and waste handling, delivers are anticipated to be once a week via the existing delivery door and loading area. Cardboard is managed on-site baler, which is stored inside. And then trash and organics are served by the existing dumpster on that side of the building where the loading area is. And no parking spaces are used for waste storage, staging, or collection. Next slide. For consistency analysis, the general plan consistency was reviewed Three policies before you on the slide are shown generally the project is consistent with the general plan policy to a, which is the balance of commercial development with designated Intensity ranges these occupies an existing building, which was built for retail and there's no Expansion of use or of the building. Policy B4 provides a variety of shopping and is to provide a variety of shopping services and opportunities that reduced residents need to leave to the community. This store offers an additional retail option at accessible price points. And Policy 13A is to attain compatible land uses that minimize adverse impacts. These occupies, again, an existing building that was built as a retail next to retail uses. and no new mass or intensification is proposed. Next slide. And then for the zoning consistency, the use is consistent with the Community Commercial Zoning District. The retail store is over 2,000 square feet, which requires a conditional use permit. And the development standards is consistent with those development standards as there's no change to building footprint, setbacks, floor area, height, and there's no change to parking supplier layout. So all the development standards within the municipal code are maintained and no signage is proposed under this application. Next slide. The staff report lays out an analysis of all the findings required for conditional use permit, which are provided for your review. It is compatible with adjacent retail uses and the previous use that was there. There's an adequate access and surface capacity and no unmitigated environmental impacts were found. Each of these findings is discussed in detail in the staff report. Next slide. And then the environmental determination was that the project is categorically exempt from CEQA pursuant to this class one existing facilities exemption. This is just a new tenancy of an existing building with a similar intensity and use. There are minor improvements are interior improvements to the building and no ground disturbance or expansion of the building. There also was no unusual circumstances related to this project, and the exceptions to the exemption apply. Next slide. As conclusion, the project is consistent with the general plan, the community commercial zoning district, the conditional use findings, as well as the parking requirements for that type of use. The project is categorically exempt from CEQA, and staff recommends that the Planning Commission consider and approve the resolution, finding the project exempt and authorizing the operation of the general retail store. Next slide. Okay, I think that's it. Thank you so much. Let me know if you have any questions.

Okay, thank you, Ms. Elchin. At this time, I'd like to open the public hearing.

The applicant has a presentation that they would like to make as well, Chair. Yes.

So I'll open the public hearing first. And the applicant, can you please come up to the podium and make the presentation? Perhaps there's someone online that's the applicant.

Commissioner Steph had understood that a representative of the applicant team would be attending to make this presentation.

I believe there are members from the applicant team in Zoom in the waiting room or in the audience. Please raise your hand if you're part of that team.

Good evening, Commissioners. My name is Lee Prince. Can you hear me?

Yes, yes, we can hear you.

Okay.

Go ahead and open the public hearing, and if you're with the applicant, please proceed with the presentation. Thank you.

Yes, I am with the applicant. We provided a PowerPoint. Is it possible to pull that up while I make a few comments?

We have it on the screen right now.

Okay, perfect. I can't see it on my end, but I'll go through it. So good evening, planning commissioners. My name is Lee Prince. I'm a land use attorney with Fox Rothschild representing Dollar Tree. With me this evening also on Zoom to answer any questions you may have are Scott Kipnis and Alex Chu, Felicita Jacobo, and Ricardo Hurtado from Dollar Tree. First, I want to thank staff for their thorough work presentation regarding the project's code compliance. Second, I want to give you a brief overview of Dollar Tree. Dollar Tree is a value retailer that sells everyday household goods at affordable prices, including cleaning supplies, food and beverages, health and beauty products, kitchen and dining items. toys, party supplies, stationery, craft supplies, and seasonal decor. Nationally, Dollar Tree operates more than 9,000 stores across 48 states and employs over 153,000 associates, reflecting a well-established and financially stable retail operation. Dollar Tree offers residents a convenient, affordable shopping option close to home, reducing the need to travel to other cities for everyday essentials. Finally, I want to note there is no sign as part of the conditional use permit application. You see that noted in red on the slide. These images are provided for illustrative purposes only and show images of the existing building branded with the Dollar Tree. Next slide, please. This is a simple change in tenancy. Dollar Tree is like Rite Aid, except that it does not include a pharmacy. Dollar Tree will occupy the existing Rite Aid building with interior tenant improvements only. As staff indicated, the hours are 8 to 10 p.m. daily. There's no plan to sell alcohol. Adequate parking is available, and in fact, most employees will use public transit. The cardboard will be baled and stored inside. There's a single four-yard dumpster in an existing rear enclosure, and the amount of waste produced by the Dollar Tree will be similar to a single-family residential household because you're just looking at the break rooms, the bathrooms, and similar spaces. It's not significant. Also, I think it's worth noting that there's a corporate energy management solution that turns the lights off about a half hour to an hour after close, ensuring there's No impact on surrounding neighbors. Next slide, please. So this slide just covers the community and planning benefits. Dollar Tree provides accessible retail for residents, affordable everyday goods within the community, reducing the need to travel to other cities and making an opportunity available to the neighboring senior residents. It activates a vacant building, returning it to a productive use, avoiding any blight or any other negative impacts. It adds employment opportunities and economic activity and contributes to local sales tax revenue. As staff noted, there is no new traffic or parking impacts as comparable to the previous Rite Aid use, and there will be minimal garbage and recycling will be managed. Thus, we respectfully request that you approve the conditional use permit for this general retail store to simply change the tenancy but allow the use permit. Next slide, please. As I noted with me at the beginning, there's a group of us on Zoom here and available to answer any questions you may have. Thank you for your time. Let us know if you have questions. Thank you.

Very good. Thank you, Ms. Prince, for the presentation. At this time, I would like to have the speaker cards. At the moment, for the public, we have two speaker cards. We have Mr. Michael Charles Davis. Could you come up to the podium?

May I ask a question? Yes, go ahead. Okay, before I introduce myself and get into my time, I'd just like to know, Ms. Fox, or the lady who just presented, is she a member of the corporate entity that will be coming in, the Dollar Tree entity, or is she a third party?

Well, can the applicant speak to the question?

Sure, I mean, I'll answer. I'm a land use attorney with the law firm of Fox Rothschild, so I am not specifically part of Dollar Tree. But there are folks on the line who, if you have specific questions, could help answer.

Fair enough. So retained by the organization that intends to enter and was it mixed use or whatever you said of that building. So we don't have a representative from Dollar Tree on this call, or do we?

There are representatives from Dollar Tree on the call. Okay. Fair enough. Thank you. Why don't you start with your comments?

Let's start with an introduction. My name is Michael Charles Davis. I've been a resident of Hercules for 16 years. By trade, I am a chief information security officer and compliance officer for a robotics company in San Francisco. Additionally, for the last 10 years, I've been volunteering my time without pay next door at the senior center teaching kids karate, three to six classes per week. So that is who I am. I live on Redwood Road. My wife is here as well. My comments are not specifically to address the Dollar Tree. My comments are more general in terms of the business development of our community. I would like to just briefly touch on the waterfront. I've been driving by the waterfront looking for a hustle and bustle of businesses and maybe a green field versus a graded parking lot for over five years. I don't know why we don't have businesses there. I can only guess that perhaps a previous council was outmaneuvered by a more sophisticated and predatory development firm, and we don't have control of the rents there. I don't know why. I can't imagine any of you, as I look through the room, believe that's acceptable and that's what we want. That was never the aim. It may be where we are, but now I ask you to fight for this community. You were not put in these positions to simply fill vacancies. You were put in these positions to fight for us, to establish a legacy going forward. What makes Hercules different? It's rhetorical. But what makes it different? How is it different than Vallejo? How is it different than San Pablo and Richmond and Pinal? How are we different? Why are you here? The path that we're on, I see there will be no difference between these cities. And maybe that's okay. Maybe that's me. Maybe you don't agree with me. So my comments are general and I am asking you to fight for our community and our legacy and think about the quality of the businesses that you're bringing into this community. Think about that. Who are we bringing in and how do they benefit us? We have a tire store. We have a self-storage facility. How do those benefit our community? I'm not saying they shouldn't be there, but this is the thought process that needs to be had. And if you are hitting roadblocks on the waterfront, then go around them, go over them, blow them up, get a commission, organize community members, and let us brainstorm with you. Let's sue the developers if we have to. Let us have a special assessment. And we will pay to help build our community the way I believe all of us in this room, including you, would like it to be. Thank you. I believe I'm at time. So I choose to.

Very good. Thank you for your comments. Since these comments were not specific to the item on the agenda, Director Rude, I think he was addressing items that perhaps could be agendized. Could you sort of look in...

I think we should just continue with public comment, and then if you have questions for staff at the end, you can ask. I see. Yeah.

Okay, thank you. So we have a second speaker card. Ms. Cassandra Lavelle? Please go up to the podium. Thank you.

I'm just kind of curious if you guys could give me a little more information about the vetting process as far as putting businesses in Hercules.

But do you have anything specific to the Idleman question, which is the family tree store?

Yeah, I mean, this is in general. So some of the buildings that you guys are planning on putting in, the last two buildings, one and— the other building that you guys are planning on putting in i think that it doesn't suit our community so as far as you're my community if you could give me a little how did you guys find these people to come in instead of other pla other buildings or other offices or other spaces or other people

Basically, these locations, the other one you're referring to was the old store, are privately owned buildings. And it's the owners of those buildings who are out. Often, in that case, they hire a company who searches for tenants. And so those people then apply to the city, bringing those tenants to the city. so you guys don't choose no no the planning commission only gets things once they're applying for locations and then of course we go through whether you know it's meeting the permits etc okay thank you thank you let's see i don't have any additional speaker cards uh are there any uh speakers on the zoom call

um attendees via zoom please raise or click on a raise button if you want to speak about the subject or attendees who joined us via phone please click on star nine

Okay, looks like there's no additional.

I think we have more in the chamber. Yeah, thank you.

Oh, there's one more speaker. Please go up to the podium, please.

So my name is Devlin Jackson. I live in the Promenade community. And I think consistent with what Ms. Davis had asked about is the Dollar Tree placement. When I spoke to Mr. Hood last meeting, I asked what's going on here. Within two weeks, we've got this proposal for the Dollar Tree. So all that happened within two weeks. and i asked mr hood about the dollar tree on the last meeting i was here for the last meeting about the um goodwill goodwood i was here for that that meeting within that time frame we already have this proposal for the dollar tree that came back quickly Okay, well, I proposed that question to Mr. Hood, and he said he wasn't aware of anything. So within two weeks, we have something coming in.

Just to clarify, this application has been under review for at least six weeks.

Okay, well, I've asked that question to you. So I guess what's concerning is that these things are just kind of flying under the radar, and the proposal from Ms. Prince, she said it was good for the community. It's low income. The people aren't going to be here. And back to what Mr. Davis' comments are, is that we continue to get things that Dollar Tree doesn't, benefit me we keep waiting for things to come in that are gonna benefit the community and we're not getting anything and I think that's where mr. Davis saying are you guys fighting for us can we we're just okay this is good enough and it doesn't really raise the the community that the value of the properties are going up but then after a while there's nothing that says hey we're any different than Richmond San Pablo we just keep staying the same and i when i bought into this community it was supposed to be developing it was going to be a walkable community that's the reason why i bought into this community and that was going to be a great community and then it just stalled and it stalled and i've been here for 14 years and it's stalled and nothing more there's nothing more that's been added on to this community and as mr davis has mentioned are you guys fighting for us to get better stuff in here so it's a benefit to me so i can walk down to the community the last last proposal it's good for the people it's a hundred low you know rent units that doesn't help me and it's 100 units on the prime real estate that doesn't help so you know the only question i have the only question i have is why why are we just getting these things last minute and they're coming in i asked mr hood And it's been six weeks, but now we're getting it.

Thank you for your comments. Let's see. Are there any additional speakers that would like to address the commission? OK. No, Chair Rubio.

I don't see any .

Since there are no more public comments, then I will close the public hearing. So at this time, I will take questions from the commissioners. If you have questions or comments to staff or to the applicant, let's start. Why don't we start from my left here with Councilmember Sesego? Do you have any comments or questions?

I have a few questions, both for staff and for the applicant. I guess maybe we can start with staff. And before I ask my question, I'll simply say that I know that we're not deciding today whether this is the ideal tenant. We're simply deciding whether it satisfies a conditional use permit. And so I just want to put that out there before I ask my questions. So this particular property occupies a prominent commercial location. So how does this tenancy support the city's long-term vision for the Sycamore Avenue commercial district?

Just to clarify, are you asking questions of the applicant team?

So this particular one is for staff? Is for staff, okay. I have both, one for staff.

If we have questions of the applicant team, Chair, if you could just confirm where the public hearing remains open while the applicant team is still allowed to ask questions, and then once you turn it directly to staff and for your deliberation, then we'll close the hearing after that. So just for the record, you can reopen it, and we'll have the applicant team ready for questions.

All right. Thank you for the clarification, Ms. Crowell. So it looks like some of the commissioners may have some questions to the applicant, so I will reopen the public hearing, and then we can address the questions to the applicant, and then the applicant can respond to Mr. Sesego's, Commissioner Sesego's questions. Please proceed.

Okay, so that was for staff. Then I can come back for staff later then. Let me, I'll move to the applicant. I guess, so Hercules has a median income, median household income of $129,000. And with that, how will Dollar Tree ensure that its operational model, whether it's customer volume, service levels, remain compatible with the Sycamore Avenue corridor?

Is there someone from the applicant's team that could address the question from Commissioner Isoseyo?

So I'll jump in. This is Lee Prince. I'll kind of defer to Ricardo. I do know that Dollar Tree is in all demographics and high-end areas as well, but I'll defer to him and let him answer your question in more detail. Ricardo, maybe if he could raise his hand, you can locate him.

On the Zoom call, there is no one listed as Ricardo. Perhaps there's someone else that can actually address the question. If you're on the call and you're here in the meeting, Could you use the raise hand feature in Zoom so that we can allow you to speak?

Press star 9 if you're joining by phone.

Give us a second. I think we're working on who the best person to answer your question is. I may I may ask you suggest that you call on Scott Kipnis. I mean, I will say $129,000 median income for a family of four in California.

Even family. Could you state your name and the firm that you're with so that the for the record, we know who's speaking? Since no one from the company is in person here, perhaps you can introduce yourselves.

Sure. This is still Lee Prince. And so I was just trying to see if I could answer while we were waiting to figure out what happened to our Dollar Tree representatives. We're trying to help him get on. Somehow he got kicked off. I was just going to comment, you know, I do a lot of land use work in and around the Bay Area and $129,000 is for median income for a family of four is still a family that needs to think about finding values. and making sure that they're capable of, you know, stretching that dollar. And I think that a value retailer like Dollar Tree does have something to offer here and does meet, you know, the needs of all folks in a community, regardless of income. And with that, I'll see if Scott, were you able to get a hold of anyone or do you want to jump in?

I'll have to do it. He can't get on. He can hear you, but he can't speak. Can you hear me?

Yes, we're...

This is Scott Kipnis. I'm with Fox War Child as well. I've been Dollar Tree's National Real Estate Council for the better part of 25 years. Dollar Tree is a value retailer. It's located in high-end demographical areas all up and down the Bay Area from Moraga, Walnut Creek, Berkeley, Colma, California, South San Francisco, it wouldn't have those stores operational if it didn't have shoppers to come into those stores and shop the stores. Whether or not you seek party, you seek greeting cards for birthdays or anniversaries, it's no different than what you can buy in other retailers except it's at a greater value. So I do think we fit within the gamut of the question that we bring value to the community.

Commissioner Isasego, do you have a follow-up?

No, I do not disagree with you. I know there's dollar trades in Danville and all the high-income areas. So I guess to drill down, most of my question was on... you know, the compatibility within the Sycamore Avenue corridor. Not necessarily from an income perspective. I quoted the income perspective just to paint a picture, but just the dollar tree, you know, like regarding perhaps exterior appearance, landscaping, lighting, lot maintenance, employee safety. So that kind of compatibility is what I'm looking for.

I guess to answer your question, the site is not being changed. The site was the site that was originally developed for writing. The company takes very seriously its security concerns for its employees and its customers. I don't feel comfortable discussing those procedures in a public forum, but needless to say, it has... much experience in protecting and doing what it feels it needs to do to protect its customers and its employees. One of the things that Lee mentioned was that the lights will go off sometime between a half hour and an hour after the store closes. And I think what she was referring to were the sign-banned lights, so it wasn't interfering with the community. They do leave on certain lights that are for safety purposes, and that's usually discussed in conjunction with the police department and the fire department. As far as any further site improvements, that would be a question for the owner of the property. Dollar Tree's not intending to do any work on the site itself.

Thank you.

Commissioner Sesego, I believe you had some questions for staff, or is that all?

Are you good?

Okay. All right, so we'll move on to the next commissioner. Jimenez, please. Do you have any questions?

I do. I just have one. My questions, I think, and comments are mostly for staff and the applicant. I think one of the questions that I had was my experience of visiting that area. There's a high traffic of high schoolers once school is out. I know McDonald's is... pretty crowded, anywhere in that immediate area. It's just a place to hang out for kids of that age, quite frankly. There's not a whole lot of places they can go to. And it just attracts customers. It makes it an unpleasant experience. I myself have tried to visit, and it's horrible, for lack of a better term. So I guess my concern is, now we're bringing in this discount store that's attractive to high schoolers who are penny-pinching. And I don't want that to now be a place of, unlawfully loitering or hanging out that then just becomes a place that nobody wants to frequent. And then we see an excess of trash. And I'm a parent, so I try to be empathetic to these spaces that tend to draw teenagers and whatnot. But what would you, as an incoming tenant, do to control the crowd? I used to be a resident of Pinole years ago, and now when I visit that shopping area where the Trader Joe's is, you can't go there between 3 and 5 because it's full of high schoolers. That just makes it difficult to park, makes it difficult to visit the establishments, and quite frankly, to a certain extent, I don't feel safe, especially if I'm there with a young child. And so I'm worried that that's what the Dollar Tree will turn into, quite frankly. if we bring this type of establishment. So I don't know, have you thought about that? And if not, as I bring this up now, how do you intend on addressing that?

So this is Lee Prince again from Fox Rothschild. I will say Dollar Tree does not sell tobacco, so there's a little less incentive maybe for some of the concerns that you have of people hanging out. Certainly the store doesn't encourage loitering. I'm unaware of any safety issues or concerns with Rite Aid in processing this application for the last two months with staff. There's been no mention of a safety issue, given that this store is very similar to the Rite Aid that was present there before and that no issues had been previously raised. It's not something that had been brought to our attention as an issue.

Yes, continue.

That's fair. That hasn't been brought to your attention. And you're right. I don't think I experienced that with Friday. But I do think that the Dollar Tree attracts a different crowd, to be fair. And so knowing that... How would you deal with that? And I'll give you an example. I know Walgreens has implemented, the same shopping center I just referred to earlier, they've implemented a rule where they can't have a large crowd coming in at once. Young adults are asked to leave their backpacks at the door. Is that something that you have done in the past in other communities? Because quite frankly, I'm not excited about it.

So I will punt that to Scott Kipnis, who can probably answer a little bit better than I can. However, I would say that if it did become an issue, right, that those are the types of things where we can contact the police department. And then once they do become an issue, I'm sure that it would be addressed. It would be a benefit not only to the community, but to the store if any issues arose that they'd be dealt with. But I'll throw this one over to Scott and see if he has any additional thoughts to share.

Yes, this is Scott Kips with Fox Rothschild. I'm not aware of any stores in your area that have had loitering issues or that kids have taken over or have caused disturbances. If one were to happen, the regional director for operations, she's on the line. She can't speak. She'll tell you that protocol would be to contact the authorities and have the authorities remove people that are loitering. We don't allow loitering. We don't encourage loitering. We don't want loitering. Most of the customers that probably frequent the store in this area are people like you, parents, buying for their kids or buying for parties or buying for value. Just because you have money doesn't mean people don't want value. I don't think it encourages any less of a reaction on loitering. And Felicia, who is our regional director, her hand has been raised. I don't know if you can see her. I don't think she'll say anything different than what I'm telling you. If they saw loitering and it was an unsafe condition, they would call the authorities. And they would be up to then the public authority to remove loiterers. But again, I'm not aware. In Moraga, Walnut Creek, Daly City, Moraga, Richmond, just did a store in Richmond, got a conditional use permit in Richmond. did one in I think it's a daily city, South San Francisco coma. I'm not aware of that. So we'd be sensitive to it. But obviously, we can't predict what the future will bring.

We can only try to react to it.

Thank you, Commissioner Jimenez. To my right.

let's see well we'll continue with uh commissioner morrison i do have a question but i don't know without having a representative dollar tree this might be new but um i see on the application everything that's being done inside fine and it says basically right there's no new construction going on there's not going to be any building expansion of the building at all but i just wanted to know if they're planning on doing any updating of the building itself and that has become fairly run down. It's in fair to poor condition. Rite Aid didn't do anything for years. They took trellising off the side of the building into a couple of areas, didn't repaint, awnings that are pretty well worn out and other things. I want to know if they're going, planning on at least, you know, giving it a nice fresh coat of paint and cleaning things up. Old signage that was taken down, of course, there's all marks on the building from that too. Dollar Tree won't be matching that. So I just want to know if some more plans are done at least to, you know, Refresh the outside of the building.

If I may, this is Scott Kipnis again. And let me clarify. Lee is a California attorney. I'm National Counsel for Dollar Tree. We're in the same law firm. Alex Chu, who is our design professional at Dollar Tree in-house, is on the line. I don't know if Alex can speak, but I don't know. To answer your question, the inside of the store would be refreshed. The whole inside of the store would be new. Generally speaking, when the signs get installed on a sign band that has damage, the sign band is repaired by either the landlord or Dollar Tree's sign contractor. As far as the outside of the building, I think one of the conditions was that the landlord cleaned up the building. So someone should do that. I can't say that's a condition of work that we would be doing, but we would want to present a product that we feel proud about, not a dirty building. Well, that's the owner of the building who would generally be in charge of something like that, but I don't see that as unreasonable to try and address.

I was hoping being the leaser of the building and it's your store, not yours, because we don't have Dollar Tree on the line. I understand. I would be concerned about that. Okay. That was my only question.

Thank you. We consider ourselves a tenant in time, so we improve the inside of the store. Usually the owners of the buildings improve the exteriors of the store, but we will raise your concern with the owner of the building and encourage that someone clean up the outside of the building.

Okay. Perhaps the owner of the property may be on the call.

Alex said he raised his hand, by the way. I don't know if you can see him.

Hi, hello.

Hi, my name is Alex Chu. So I am the architectural project manager with Dollar Tree. To address the question with the exterior, it is in our lease agreement that our landlord do have to repair and freshly paint the building. And actually, the rundown condition was noted at the time we were evaluating our design, where the sign was removed. But there's also, I think, some with signing that were chipped and broken as well. So all of that concern has been brought up to our landlord. So as a condition of us accepting possession from the landlord, once we have a signed lease, they do have to repair the exterior and freshly paint the building.

And Alex is with Dollar Tree Corporate. Yep.

There you go. Okay, thank you very much for the answer. You're welcome.

Do you have a follow-up, Commissioner Marston? No. Okay. Commissioner Moswalker?

Excuse me. Yes, I have a question. It seems that you have a lot of stores in other locations very close to Hercules. Will those stores remain open or do you plan on closing any of those locations because of this new store or not?

To my knowledge, as Scott Kipnis again, the stores that are open will remain opened, whether they have natural explorations or leases or not, I'm not aware of. But as I said, I think the closest store to you would probably be the Richmond store, which we just opened about a year ago, a year and a half ago. Okay. I'm not aware of those closing, no. The idea was to get a store into your... your municipality not to get one in yours and close in on all.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner. Most welcome. Let's see. I do have a question about the merchandise mix for the store operations. Is there someone on the call that can speak to that? I don't think the attorney can answer the question about a merchandise mix for the tour. Well, my question is just for the record and perhaps no one will answer it, but my question is essentially how is the merchandise mix determined for your individual stores and whether the merchandise mix is tailored to the community that it's located in or is this merchandise mix determined at a central location and pushed out to all different stores in the region. My question is essentially, will the products sold at the store be tailored for the community or just random items that end up on the shelves?

Again, this is Scott Kipnis. I believe initially the merchandise is determined formulaically by the size of the store and in conjunction with what our stores sell. In this circumstance that, let's say, batteries sell more than they tend to sell in other stores, the store would carry more batteries than a similar store because batteries are turning over on the inventory. Likewise, if there's some product that the community asks for and it gets to the store manager, to the district managers, the regional director, and they have the opportunity to acquire that merchandise, they can sell specific merchandise in the store. But generally, the stores in the area carry similar merchandise, the idea being that you can buy a set of Juul screwdrivers on one coast, and you can buy the same set of Juul screwdrivers on another coast. But the company is not tone deaf to the community. If there's an availability of a change of product, and it has the opportunity to acquire that product, it would do it.

Let's see. Thank you for the vague response.

I wasn't trying to be vague, honestly. It's a hypothetical down the road, and I don't know. I know in some areas or specific merchandise that only one or two stores would carry, but that's what's available off its standard merchandise package.

Okay, thank you. Let's see, that's all of the commissioner comments. Commissioner Sesego, did you have a comment for staff?

I did.

Okay, so no more public comments from anyone? Okay, so I will close the public hearing.

I think you have some public comments. I just closed.

So we can... We can start with Commissioner Sesego with the questions for staff.

It's just, so for staff, it's just that this retailer will be occupying a prominent commercial location. And so I guess I'm just trying to understand how this tenancy supports the city's long-term vision for the Sycamore Avenue commercial corridor.

how the use will do what with respect to the corridor?

I'm trying to understand how it fits into Hercules' long-term vision for that particular corridor.

I think fit is kind of a subjective matter, but the Commission's charge tonight is to evaluate the proposed use with respect to consistency with the general plan. So slide 7 of the presentation discusses some of the general plan policies that are called for. Our general plan economic development element was written in 1993, but that's the document that we have in effect to make these determinations. So the use, as Larissa mentioned, is consistent with the designated intensity ranges for the community commercial use. We have a policy calling for a variety of shopping and service opportunities that reduce residents' need to leave the community. I guess staff would posit that an empty store does not provide any shopping or service opportunities, and a store of any kind would provide more opportunities than a vacant one. And then compatible land uses that minimize adverse impacts We're not aware of, you know, adverse impacts that this particular retail use would generate in excess of any other similar retail use. I understand that there are concerns about potential, you know, future behavior, but when looking at the consistency with the general plan, you know, that's not really a factor that, you know, we are looking for a determination of consistency with.

My other question was related to intensity. I'm just trying to understand that. How does staff define intensity in this context?

Well, intensity is defined in the general plan through the use of floor area ratio, which is the ratio between the square footage of the building and the square footage of the lot. And it calls for a range of 0.2 to 1.0. I don't know, Larissa might have the actual number, but generally I think it's probably toward the bottom end of that range. And of course, it's an existing building that was previously approved. So, you know, the use is sort of by definition, you know, consistent with the prior use, and therefore there's no change to the intensity or floor area ratio on the site.

Commissioner Jimenez?

Would this be the appropriate time to just maybe share some comments, but not necessarily questions to staff? Because I think I'm pretty clear. I think that the staff report was perfectly clear. You know, as Director Root touched on, we're being tasked with determining whether the application before us meets the general plan findings, as well as the conditional use permit findings that we have to make. So despite all the thoughts that we have, I'd be remiss if I didn't share my concerns. You heard some of them earlier. For me, quite frankly, the loss of pharmacy is a big one that hasn't really been touched on. There's an adjacent senior community to the property that, so I'm told, relied heavily on this pharmacy. I know we have Safeway. I don't think the hours... are as generous as what Rite Aid used to offer, and just the accessibility to it was much different. So while I want to grieve that, we also aren't in a position to require the next tenant to provide that, make up for that loss. But it is a true loss, and it's unfortunate that we can't dictate you know, who replaces them. And I think this is also another lesson learned why it's important to have community input. I think as we are on the heels of opening up our general plan update, asking for more community input, this is a reminder for anybody that's tuning in to please be involved because we don't want another outdated general plan to bind us to approve anything that comes before us and we have to accept bird in hand and not be selective. And unfortunately, that's what it boils down to. We're relying on really outdated policies. At least that's how I'm interpreting it, you know, because I'd like to, you know, strong arm this tenant into putting a lot of things in place, but as has been presented to us by staff, it does meet the policies that have been established. I guess I did have a little bit of a question. I know you said subjective in terms of how we determine, you know, compatibility. And maybe, Director Root, I want to put you on the spot. And if this is maybe a larger conversation, we can table it. But, you know, Policy 13A does talk about attaining compatible land uses that minimize adverse impacts. So when we talk about adverse impacts, is that limited to just physical impacts? um or you know some of the things that maybe are mentioned tonight like um I don't know, security or, you know, yeah, you know, Commissioner next to me here and myself, we were just chatting earlier about, you know, some of the not so glamorous stories we've heard of Dollar Tree as a tenant in other communities and what comes with that. And there are, there's actually data to support that. So can that be taken into consideration when we talk about these adverse impacts?

We'll look to the city attorney for that question.

Sure. So I think you might be, thank you for the question. I think you might be referring to what I'll call finding number five. If you look at your resolution, one of the findings, the five findings that you need to make this evening in order to approve the project is that there are no potential significant adverse environmental impacts that can't be feasibly mitigated and monitored. Environmental impacts are defined in CEQA by the California Environmental Quality Act. They are physical, indirect or direct physical impacts to the environment. And staff is recommending that you find that this project is exempt from CEQA and that there are no unusual circumstances that would indicate that there are any environmental impacts that would occur. I would note, though, that um sort of in line with your with your question you know there are other findings that require you to determine say for example that the location size design and operating characteristics of the use are compatible in design scale coverage and density with adjacent uses and that there are you know adequate access to you know traffic and public services and that kinds of thing um and that the proposed use is is consistent with the general plan those are the types of findings i i think i kind of hear you getting out more than the environmental impact one so i would i would say that to answer your question succinctly no environmental impacts or physical impacts for the environment but if you have questions about the other findings i'm happy to answer yes and i think that's i probably posed the question incorrectly thank you ms kral um i think i was referring more to number one i think maybe saying that it's not consistent with the general plan in that one of the policies

does touch on adverse impacts. And so I was wondering if that could be a way to, I guess, to kind of summarize all the concerns that we're having. And I don't want to speak for anybody else, but I know the concerns that I'm having. I know for CEQA impacts, I know there aren't any environmental impacts, that's pretty clear. But could that, since given that, I guess adverse impacts can be interpreted in many ways, is that a finding that one could make to have reservations about approving the project.

So the retail use, the proposed retail use is the same as the previous retail use. So it would be challenging, I think, to make the finding that the retail use had become incompatible.

Not this specific retailer, but retail in general is what we're saying.

Yeah, our zoning code and our general plan don't distinguish among different retailers.

So it's a lateral move in this case. Got it, okay. Thank you.

Thank you. Let's see, Commissioner Morrison?

I don't have any questions of staff.

Thank you. Commissioner Moswaka?

I don't have any questions.

Thank you.

I'm sorry, Commissioner Isasega?

I just wanted to note that there's a public comment in the audience.

I've already closed the public hearing. Actually, Commissioner Jimenez has a question, so why don't we do that?

would it be possible and maybe this is for our city attorney and then of course I have to ask my fellow commissioners that they would be willing to entertain should this commission be inclined to approve the item can we add a condition of approval for let's say to have like a community liaison that would be accessible instead of shifting the responsibility to the city to have know Hercules PD come out anytime there's an there's an issue could that responsibility be placed on the applicant by having a community liaison in place and that's just like quite frankly just like a contact it's not having somebody there at all times that anybody can cause and code enforcement officer it's truly just to have somebody that we can reach or anybody from the public

Yeah, there's not a legal problem with that at all, but I'll direct that to Director Rood just to confirm logistics and that kind of thing and how you might want to award that.

I do have example wording if we're willing to entertain that motion or that condition.

I think we'd also need confirmation from the applicant that they're able to meet that condition because it sounds like it might involve additional staffing and expenses that they may not have been anticipating. If the applicant is amenable, you may certainly add conditions.

So this is Lee Prince, if I may. Not to be too specific, But I don't see the necessity of such a condition. I think if there is an issue, I don't see the need for a community liaison. In between calling the police department, which is appropriate in certain situations depending on what is going on, I would think that someone could call the store and ask to speak to a manager to discuss their concerns without adding this additional category of person to reach out to. I'm just not understanding the basis, you know, certainly the store manager is a community liaison if there are issues, you know, you call that person.

Thank you. Any additional comments or questions for staff? Okay, well, I have one. Let's see, I realize that the specific items and the specific points that the retail use meets all of the requirements, but by virtue of the applicant not being present or on the Zoom call itself, and not being able to address the majority of the questions from the commission, I am disinclined to be in favor of this particular retailer, simply because the attorneys are answering all the questions. When a commissioner is asking for, is there a contact point that could be, we get an attorney saying, all we're going to do is call the police. This tells me that this retailer, if when they're coming in to put this store in our community and they're not even prepared to reach all of the questions that the commission has, I'm disinclined to think that they will actually react positively should any issues come up. A lot of the questions have been what-if scenarios. And yet we have two attorneys saying all we're going to do is call the cops. So put the burden on the community. So even though it meets the letter of all of the different requirements, I am disinclined that this tenant will be a good... a good fit with the community, simply because they're not making an effort to actually address any of the questions that we have.

If I may, there are six folks.

We closed the public hearing already.

Okay, I just wanted to let you know there are six folks on the line from Dollar Tree and I just wanted to clarify, I didn't say that we would put the burden back on the community and that you would only have to call the police department. I recognize that there may be some situations where that's appropriate, but that there would be responsiveness by Dollar Tree from a store manager or a director or a district manager to respond to the community's concerns that I asked follow-up as to why a liaison was necessary when there are already people in place from Dollar Tree who would be willing to answer and deal with the community and their questions and concerns.

Thanks for letting me. This is an opportunity to do so and you're not here so what can we say? So we'll move on and at this time I will entertain a motion.

Chair, if I may.

Well, if we have the discussion, go ahead. Commissioner Morrison, what was your comment?

The concern is with not having the difficulty of the Zoom and not sure if we're talking to anyone directly from Dollar Tree, and that's who we would like to speak to. It's great representatives. They're fine, but they're not Dollar Tree. They're not. After they're in the building they're gone then we're dealing directly with dollar trees and that's what we'd like to deal with and need to deal with directly now so i my idea is that we postpone this and hold another meeting and for dollar tree to hopefully come i'm not thrilled with zoom meetings there's too much technical difficulty i'm going to contact the city council about this and i would like to see a dollar tree representative come to a meeting that we can schedule for them that would be my

Thank you, Commissioner Morrison. I'll open up the comment from Commissioner Morrison for discussion among the commissioners. I, for one, am in favor of a continuation as Commissioner Morrison has suggested.

Well, yeah, I actually think that it's a good idea. I mean, and also, I know you said you'll have a manager. I mean, I wasn't aware, actually, of issues with Dollar Tree, but I worked in retail, and I managed stores. And are they training the managers to deal with issues? And will they know what to do and how to handle it? I mean, that's a concern now that I'm hearing all of this. But also, yes, I agree with you, not showing up doesn't feel good.

Right Aid definitely had trouble with shoplifters. My wife was there often where they had to contend with shoplifters. So it's not a matter of what Dollar Tree is going to attract. Home Depot has a tremendous problem with shoplifters. I used to work there. And as you've seen in the last couple of years, they've taken lots of measures to cut it down. But I've still seen things move outside of the store in the last few weeks. But anyway, so I wouldn't put this on Dollar Tree to be creating a problem. It's a problem that already existed.

Any comments on my left?

Okay.

Director Root, I believe you had a question or a suggestion for the commission.

I was just going to suggest that if the Commission was not inclined to make the findings for approval tonight, that you continue the item to a date certain of your next scheduled meeting on August 3rd in order to allow the applicant to present more information in response to the concerns that were raised tonight.

I think that's a very good idea. That's what I would like to see happen.

Well, at this time, I will entertain a motion from the commission either to continue or to have a vote on the actual item before us. put a motion forward that we continue this meeting to our next meeting august 3rd i believe correct and invite dollar tree to have the representative present we have a motion from commissioner morrison do we have a second second and we have a second from commissioner jimenez at this time we'll take a a roll call um Ms. Mattenpoor, can you do the roll call? Yes.

Chair Rubio?

Aye.

Vice Chair Moswalker?

Aye.

Commissioner Morrison? Aye. Commissioner Jimenez? Aye. Commissioner Acasaga? Aye.

So then the motion passes 5-0. As I understand it, it will be moved to a future meeting.

The hearing will be continued on a date certain of August 3rd.

We will have a continuation for the meeting at the next regularly scheduled meeting. That's all of the items that we have on the agenda, and we will move on to the Planning Director's reports and announcements.

Nothing new tonight, Chair.

And moving to the Commissioner of Reports and Announcements. We'll start at my left, Commissioner Issa Segal.

Nothing for me, thank you.

Commissioner Jimenez.

Nothing for me.

Commissioner Morrison.

I don't have anything this evening.

Commissioner Morse-Walker?

Nothing to report.

And for myself, I have no items to report as well. So that's all of the items on the agenda. And so I will now adjourn the meeting. And for the next regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting will be Monday, August 3rd, 2026.