Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Gosh. I feel so spacious. It's like the wild west up here.

She actually sits over there.

Oh, okay. I

know. Right?

Sure. No problem.

No one would.

Yeah. It's probably been seven years.

Yeah. Can start, hon. Seven now.

Oh, we're missing somebody.

Yeah. They

all what are they doing for?

During your first few months. I I will mirror on Zoom. Like, I'm sure if technical is

Well, she's out of the room. You know, you need to announce why you're leaving too. Right? She yeah.

Because my business is so close to the yeah.

Alright. I'd like to call the 02/27/2025 Planning Commission meeting to order at 07:02PM. I would like commissioner Craig to lead us in the flag salute. To the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. I think we can do the roll call.

Good evening, chair. So to start with, I'd like to introduce staff who are participating tonight. My name is Joel Pullen. I'm the planning commission secretary. Joining us from the city clerk's office is, oh, sorry. From the city attorney's office is senior deputy city attorney Heather Lee. Tonight's recording clerk is Kim Salazar, and, our support from IT is Convo. The recording clerk will recognize speakers during oral communication opportunities. Email comments submitted to the clerk or staff have been provided to commission if they were provided, prior to the hearing today. I do wanna note that there seem to be a quite a few potential speakers in the audience.

And so if you plan to speak, fill out the card, put your name and the item number. Make sure you have those two of the items to fill out, and, the clerk will be able to make sure she has a good count when we start the hearing item. With that, I'll start the roll. When we hear your name, please respond. Let's start with, chair Basrai.

Here.

Vice chair Ramamorthy.

Here.

Commissioner Craig?

Here.

Commissioner Ezzi?

Here.

Commissioner Zhang? Here. Commissioner Yi? Here. And commissioner Liu? Here. So we have seven present, well more than a quorum, and, it's, your meeting chair.

I'd like to make a motion or discussion approval of minutes of the last meeting.

No meeting minutes tonight because our last meeting was relatively recent. We're we'll bring those back in March.

Okay. So, then I'd like to open up to disclosures.

We drove around the I I drove around the areas and but I did not speak with anyone in particular.

Thank you.

I also drove to each of the locations. I've read all the emails that have come in and then but I have not talked to anyone.

I've also driven by all the locations and reviewed all of the correspondence, but I have not spoken to anyone on any of the items.

I I was the Maple's sparse side. I talked to the the two business owners downstairs and also one resident upstairs. I also drove by the the mall the Moray site and also the the the temple. I have attended the couple of events from the temple in the past. Yeah.

Yeah. I I've attended the a couple of temple events. So I've been to the temple. I also visited the site. I also spoke with the applicant. I spoke with, a couple of the temple members as well as a number of the residents in the area. With the Eurasia Family Spa, I, spoke with the business owners that are there at that site. I also spoke with the residents that are, across the street and then, also read the public email, with the Thai spa, visited the site, spoke with the business owners there and and some of the other businesses that are across the street as well, and I also read the public email.

I drove by the sites. Did not speak with anyone.

I drove by the sites as well. And in speaking with staff, I have decided to recuse myself from the Eurasia spa because it is a little bit too close to a business that I own. So I'll be recusing myself from that item tonight. Alright. With that, we will go on to sorry. Cleared my notes. Any public oral communications on non agenda items?

Yes, chair. We have three speakers.

Okay.

And I'll call them all up for to get in line. The first is Lizette Poole. The second is Paula Jenkins. And the third is Pat Helton.

Okay.

How long, chair?

We'll give him three minutes. Thank you.

Oops. It's not working. Oh, whoo. Okay. Right into my mouth. Alright. Good evening. I'm here today with a couple of my neighbors. And the issue that we have, hopefully, that we can talk about is both issues are related. One of them has to do with building in our neighborhood, and the other one has to do with the noise in our neighborhood.

Over the past three years, we have been subjected to building in the Glenmore area. We live on the other side of Glenmore, so we share a fence with people who are extending their homes and expanding them. The problem that we are facing is that nobody tells us, and we have no way of knowing, that construction is going to start or when construction is going to end. So I want to play for you a clip that hopefully you will appreciate what happens here.

Can you hear that? Did you hear that?

It goes on from 08:30 in the morning to 04:30 in the afternoon. So if you have a sick child or if you have a sick mother or father, it is impossible to know what to do. There is just no common decency, no common civilized way of of of dealing with this, except of getting angry. And we don't want to get angry. So we can mitigate this by better communication, which is what we're asking for.

So if we could have somebody start an ordinance that would require the person who is going to build to just tell the neighborhood this is happening so you can get prepared for it and you can deal with it. And then the related issue, which my my my neighbor here is gonna talk about is that when these neighbors come into the area, they have no idea how to behave where sound is concerned.

And I'll save the floor.

You have twenty more seconds. You can see it. You have twenty more

Oh, so you can see the problem. The problem is noise on both sides. One of them is construction, and one of them is party. And both of them can be solved by better communication. That's what we're asking. Hi.

I'm Paula Jenkins, neighbor, resident of Fremont. I'd like I know that there is a sound ordinance, but in addition to what Lisette was speaking about, we, in the last few years, have had three times when the back neighbor has decided to have a very large party that includes professional DJs and amplified sound. And I would like to suggest that it would be of a benefit to help this communication to to put some kind of policy in place that could very easily be a a revenue stream for the city, where if you're going to have a large gathering that has a professional sound system and amplified noise in a residential area, that you have to get a permit for that. Because these are things that are planned and have, I mean, 50 to a 100 people attending them. So people are using their backyard instead of having a professional event in a hall or somewhere else.

And these have been a birthday, a graduation, and then I don't remember the other event. Most recently, on August 3, they had a party in the backyard, which the decibel level of the sound was average of 76 and would spike at about a 100. Now this is that's that's a that's a nightclub level of sound. We were sitting in our home. I have video I could share, trying to watch TV at a normal level, and you literally could not hear the television.

The houses were, know, rattling at this at this decibel, which I don't think is reasonable in a residential setting. The current ordinance requires that we then wait till 10PM to call the police. We feel bad about inundating the police lines because they reasonably have something better to do with their time, probably. But it also gives us no leg to stand on when then, if they're busy, one of these went until 1AM. So then you this was a weekday night, not the August 3, but a previous one.

And so kids that had school the next day, this was in September, my husband works at four or 5AM, so going until 1AM is completely unreasonable. So my suggestion would be to create something in the ordinance that if you are going to have amplified sound, it needs to remain under a certain decibel level. And that, as Lizette mentioned, that when you apply for a permit to have amplified sound, that you also inform your neighbors and require maybe that they sign it, saying, we will be having a gathering, and if your property abuts this property, that you have been informed. Because we don't get informed, and we're not next door to them to go ask. Have tried to ask.

We have tried to ask, and there is literally no communication made available to us. We've gone through their HOA as well. So that would be my recommendation,

and thank you very much.

Hi. I'm Pat Helton. I'm another of the neighbors here. I just want to encourage that there is some way of notifying neighbors when there's going to be construction or something like that going on. The construction that's going on now, I believe, is going to last for several months. Yeah. The, the contractors know that it's going to be quite a while. So they're they're planning. But if we could know in advance, that would be very, very good. And and, yes, if we live next door to them, we might see something starting.

But we don't live next door, and the noise still is right there in our yard, in our house. So just to encourage to encourage some communication and previous notice. Thank you.

Sure. Just one, let me make a brief statement. So while the city is not allowed to discuss items that are brought up during open communications during the planning commission meeting, if it's not agendized, I do wanna offer for you to meet with Mark Hungerford who's back there at the desk, and he can take your information. And and we can follow-up with you and with your neighbor as appropriate. Thanks for coming in and stating your case.

Yes. Thank you for that. So I guess we can start with item number one for public hearing. We have item number one, which is the I'll let you start it, Joel.

Alright. Thank you, chair. So we have four items on tonight's agenda. Item one is the Wat Boudounisorn Tipple expansion. This is at 36038 Niles Boulevard to consider a discretionary design review, conditional use permit amendment, and a lot combination for a proposed expansion of the Wabudanasaur Temple living quarters and new educational building and accessory structures and an expanded parking lot on a site containing a historic resource located in the Niles community plan area, and to consider exemptions from CEQA, the California Environmental Quality Act, per guidelines section fifteen three zero three, fifteen three zero five, three three two, and one eight three.

The project planner for the item tonight is here with a presentation and, joined by senior planner sorry, Clarissa Flores, joined by senior planner James Willis. And just for, according to information, the project planner's presentation will be followed by the opportunity for the, applicant to give up to a ten minute presentation, followed by public speakers, and then a five minute rebuttal if needed. We're ready when you're ready, Chair.

We can proceed.

Thank you. Good evening, commissioners. The project before the commission this evening is the Wat Buddha Nisorn Temple Expansion. This slide gives a brief presentation and brief introduction to the topics that will be discussed in today's presentation. The Thai temple expansion will require a discretionary design review due to the new structures and site work being proposed, a conditional use permit amendment to the existing use permit, and three tree removals.

Additionally, a lot combination is being proposed to combine two existing lots into one larger new lot. Lot combinations are processed as a separate instrument by the planning manager, so a condition of approval would require the lot combination to be recorded prior to the issuance of a building permit. The project is located on the North side of Niles Boulevard opposite Rock Avenue. The project site is surrounded by residential uses. A railroad track borders the site at the rear as well.

The historic Kennard House at 36054 Niles Boulevard was built circa 1924. The Thai temple was built around 1995 and is located at the rear of the lot. The use permit for the Thai temple was approved in 1988. The adjacent lot currently has structure and associated accessory structures. Today, the applicant is proposing an amendment to the 1988 use permit approval and a discretionary design of the permit for a new educational building, living quarters, and bathroom and kitchen facilities.

No modifications are being proposed to the existing Kennard House nor the Thai temple. The parking lot would also be recon would also be reconfigured. Sorry. It would bring all parking stalls into compliance and provide a total of 90 parking spaces on the site. Additionally, the project proposes to add six short term and six long term bicycle spaces.

The proposed project will remove 14 trees from the site to allow for the proposed development. An existing pepper tree would remain on the site in the proposed courtyard between the educational building and the bathroom and kitchen facilities. Overall, the proposed project plans to add more than 50 new trees on the site. The proposed project the proposed development would conform to the applicable citywide design guidelines and the applicable development standards that include setbacks, building height, and lot coverage. The design of the educational building and the monks dormitory would be compatible with the existing temple.

The proposed buildings would be located towards the rear of the lot, close to the railroad tracks and setback from Niles Boulevard further than the existing structures on the site. The buildings would be located over 70 feet away from the nearest residential lot. The proposed residential, educational, and ancillary uses would complement the temple's current operations. Services proposed include language classes, music and dance instruction, and chanting and meditation sessions. The applicant's proposed hours of operation would be from 9AM to 8PM.

The temple has 10 festivals per year with the number of attendees ranging from 30 to 300 depending on the event. Regardless of the event, the temple encourages carpooling and provides shuttle services to and from prearranged lots when necessary. The temple coordinates with nearby lots such as the California Nursery Historical Park and the Learn and Play Montessori School. They use their sites for over overflow parking when hosting their larger festivals. The temple uses its own shuttles to move people from these lots to the project site.

Staff recommend that planning commission find the project exempt from CEQUA for the reasons enumerated in the staff report, find the project is in conformance with the relevant provisions of the city's general plan, and approve the project as shown in exhibit a subject to the conditions of approval contained in Exhibit B. Thank you. Staff is available for questions as is the project design team.

So we can now open this up for questions from the commissioners. I see commissioner Ramamurti, you have question? No. Okay. Commissioner Yi?

Yes. Regarding the the 90 spaces, how does that compare to what they have currently? Because I know that they use, like, a grassy dirt area in regards to, you know, having cars parked there. Would this new new site plan design help alleviate some of the, parking problems that they experience out in the community?

Yes. The new configuration would be adding, parking spaces. I believe the existing is maybe around 60. Yeah. 60.

Yeah. I was looking at your staff report. It looks like about another 30 to 40 more spaces available that that would then help, the surrounding community. Because I know that I've been to their large, event, I guess, late last year, and I saw the shuttle services being, you know, utilized. But I spoke with the applicant, and when in order for me to park, I think I parked about three blocks away in order to be able to get there to, deliver a certificate on behalf of the mayor and, the rest of the city council. Alright. Thank you.

Any other questions from any commissioners? Alright. We can open it up to the applicant for Sorry. 10 did have a question. Sorry. So

the question is the maximum pitch roof pitch. I think it mentioned in the packet that some of them are actually 12 inch over twelve twelve. How many is it it's very how many places, parts of the roof is it actually over the maximum allowed?

It would just be in the monks dormitory, so you can see in the elevations there. There's two.

It sounds like you might be looking for, like, a percentage. I don't think we have a percentage, you know, at our fingertips, but it's the it's that residential area.

So in the design guideline, what was the consideration for not allowing the roof pitch to go over 12 tall?

This area is zoned single family residential r one. I believe it's six. That standard is meant for single family homes. Religious facilities are allowed to have a different roof pitch because often their types of architecture don't really match what would be expected of a a common single family home type. That's allowed subject to a discretionary design review permit, which is what the applicant has applied for.

Okay. Thank you.

Commissioner Ezzy?

Thank you for the presentation. I just had a question if we can put the site plan back up. I was just trying to understand the the traffic flow in the actual facility. So I think right now, there's one way to get in and one way to get out, right, just sort of directly in front of the temple, if I'm not mistaken. And so as the lots are combined, I was just curious. Is there sort of one way in and another way out, or is it still using kind of that one driveway?

They're they're proposing two driveways, which you can see on the on the site plan. So there's two curb cuts.

I see it. Okay. Thank you.

It might be a good question for the applicant in terms of if they have a if they've developed a, plan for sort of coordinating that. Not sure if they have.

Yeah. That'd be great. If, perhaps the applicant can speak to that when they come up, that'd be great.

Any other questions from any commissioners for staff? Alright. I think we can then move to the applicant for ten minutes.

Thank you, commissioners. Thank you, staff. My name is Bob. I'm the architect on the job, and we are really excited to be here. I know everybody that comes up here says that, but we really are. This job has been going on for ten years, and it's had lots of twists and turns to it. I'm actually the third architect on board. Happy to be here. The first architect passed away. The second architect re resigned retired about during COVID.

So I jumped in about three years ago. And they're letting me run with it, and I'm having fun with it. And in a nutshell, when a project goes on for this many years, there are code changes involved. There are changes of staff, And all these things require lots of revisions from our end. And even though it was frustrating at times, it's helped us to refine the project and feel like we've checked a lot of boxes for any concerns that came up from James and staff and all the powers that be in our six cycles of submittals to Fremont.

So we feel good where we are now. In a nutshell, them being able to buy the lot next door, it is is such a godsend that we were able to add 40 parking spaces, and we were able to add 50 trees. And one of the comments was that they wanted us to preserve one of the trees, the pepper tree that was mentioned. And so our design kind of spiraled out from there and came up with this courtyard scheme. And what's nice about the courtyard scheme is that it's surrounded by buildings and a sound wall, and so it keeps some of the sound inboard in addition to the perimeter fence around the property lines, which is a seven foot concrete block wall that matches what's there now.

So you have these different layers of keeping the sound inboard when they do have some festivals. And part of the courtyard, what's nice is it kind of corrals the kids and it keeps them out of the parking area. And if there's any riffraff along the boulevard, people coming in can't just go right into the courtyard or areas where the kids are. So it has some safety features about it also. And so to the north of the courtyard is the two story classroom building.

And on the Lower Floor, I've I've got a 28 foot wide glass pivot door. That when the weather is good, it opens up. And so they can have their music performances or plays happening inside the building, and the grass area underneath the tree can become impromptu seating or chairs and things like that. So I think the courtyard scheme is working nice, and the Monks dorm is a two story building, and that's to the south. That's further away from the railroad tracks, obviously, for the sound reasons.

So, anyway, we're excited about the project, and Leah's here. He might be able to add some insight to some of the agendas and hours and things like that.

Hi. Good evening. My name is Lee Guio, and I'm the vice chairperson for the temple. My wife dragged me in about thirty years ago, and it's been quite an experience since then. The temple is not only a Buddhist temple but it also functions as a cultural center and there are actually three Buddhist temples, Thai Buddhist temples in the Bay Area.

One is in Berkeley and another one is near SFO. We are the only one with a real looking Thai building so we're very proud of that. Regarding one question that came up was parking and driving. There are two driveways and we're very happy that we were able to the existing driveway I was in the drawing is on the right hand side and the existing parking lot is on the right hand side. The new driveway on towards the left in the front or the bottom of the drawing, the front of the buildings in the bottom of the drawing will provide us the ability for people who are dropping others off to pull in and let them drop off there which keeps that traffic off of Niles Boulevard.

And so we think it's going to work out very well. As was mentioned the original temple, the original Kennard house will remain as they are. The development will be on the new property what we call the new property. There is presently an existing wall between the two properties which will be removed and the new buildings will partially cover that area. So that's the overall viewpoint and if there's any particular questions other questions for us we're happy to address them at this point.

Okay thank you. So we'll open it up for questions from any commissioners to the applicant. Are there any questions to the applicant? Okay. I don't see any. So we can move on for public comment. Okay. Thank you.

Chair, I have one person requesting to speak. That would be Judy Zlatnik. And how long would you like to give her?

Three minutes, please. Thank you.

What's two fifty eight? Okay. I'm Judy Zlatnik. I have to quickly tell you that my background, my father was a missionary, son in China, and lived to go back to China, but took a job for an American company. And in the process, I got born in India.

And I grew up with a fascination for travel in other countries and I feel truly blessed to live in Fremont. I never would have thought I would have a community as diverse and as wonderful as Fremont. Okay. So over thirty years ago, I was on the Planning Commission. And this was before I got kicked off because some of the new council members didn't like my politics.

But anyway, was on planning commission and the Thai people came before the planning commission for the first decision made by the city. And the people in the condos were sort of vibrating because they did not know who was coming and they were bothered. And so I took advantage of the fact that I had been in Bangkok and in in Thailand for a a couple of weeks. And I told them my experiences of of Thailand, that I had never run into a rowdy event anywhere I went in Thailand. And I visited many temples.

Well, it turned out that we found out that the house that our youngest son's favorite babysitter lived in was going to be developed as a Thai temple. And so we became friendly with the temple. We have been friendly with the temple for over thirty years. Promaha not Promaha, Ajahn Prasert met my son when he was coming home from the Peace Corps, and they rode out in the village and took rice to the Ajahn's Village. So it's been a a long and wonderful friendship.

And the temple invites the whole neighborhood in consistently. When they have a festival, they invite everyone. And the neighbors know that they are welcomed there and they go there. And it's it's been an enriching experience from all of them for everyone. And I urge you that when they get this built and they invite you to a an event that you go because you will see the happiest people and the cutest kids singing and dancing than you've ever seen.

So I just wanna say that we all love them, and we walk to their events. We don't park. We we walk.

Thank you, miss Slotnick, and thank you for your Appreciate it. Alright. And thank you for your service, and thank you for your comments.

Any other comments, Kim? No. No other speaker cards. Thank you.

Alright. I I don't know if there's any rebuttal from the applicant on public comment. Alright. If not, then I'm gonna open it up to discussion for the commissioners. Commissioner Ezzy?

Yeah. I just I I really appreciate the work of the community, in investing in our city. As a person of faith, I know these things take a long time. There's a lot of cultural things that you have to balance with the design aspects of putting together a facility like this in a city like Fremont. And so it's really great to see not just the investment from the community, but also the collaboration with the staff and really balancing those things.

And it's really, really wonderful to see. I, for years, have driven by that street on Niles and just sort of thought, wow. This is a really cool place, the architecture and all the other things that come with it. And so I'm I'm really proud that there's a place like this, in Fremont. I think it really adds to the the vitality and the richness of our community, and, I'd be happy to make a motion, to approve the project, when it's appropriate to do so, madam chair. Thank you.

I don't know if we closed public hearing. Did we?

I don't think we specifically said so. So if you'd like to say something, please.

Close public hearing. I'm still working through this second day. Thank you, commissioner Ezzy. Commissioner Zhang.

Oh, thank you, chair. It seemed to me the affordable housing fee is exempt from this religious building. Is there any other benefit they can apply for for this other religious facilities? Like, fee waving or

The project would be subject to development impact fees. The affordable housing fee is is waived for this type of a project. But other than that, they are subject to the same fees that any other development project would be.

I will say that the fees are the our fee structure takes into account the differentiation between industrial commercial. So it's adjusted for them already in the NEXUS study for the fees themselves.

Thank you.

Commissioner Yee.

Yes. You know, I've been to their temple several times, and I see the care and consideration that they do for the community that's surrounding them and beyond. And and, Judy, I remember you when we were both much younger. I've been here almost forty years. So I remember you as a planning commissioner, so I I I remember you.

Yeah. I I do. But one of the things I wanted to share with the rest of the commission here too is that I can understand why they need to build this because I see how the monks had to be resourceful for the three buildings that they're there right now with the roof leaks, and I see the cinder blocks that are on top of them with the, you know, with the vinyl tarps in order to keep the rain out. And I I see the need of why they need to do this. And at the same time, I know that Lee had asked me for this permit for a large tent.

And he and I had spoken that if the building is built, then you wouldn't need this 40 by 40 foot pop up tent to help feed the community. And at the same time, not have to come to us and go get that permanent in a second. But I I see all the advantages of what your design is trying to do, and I commend the architect for two things. One, to actually be able to see the blueprint diagrams there on-site so that I act I can actually see it this large rather than on my little laptop computer to actually better understand, you know, what you're trying to design. And I also commend you on the second thing.

I know that when I spoke with the other your colleague there, he was surprised that I found your YouTube video that did the fly flyover of the site, which gave me a much better understanding of what you're trying to build there. And I can understand why the urgency and the need. And so I guess when it's appropriate, if he's doing the, you know, the motion, I'm gonna do the second.

Great. Thank you. Commissioner Ramamurti.

I just wanna say that I have visited the temple many years ago with my kids, and it's a beautiful place and architecture. It adds color and vibrance to our city, and I'm really impressed with what they do there. And I just wanted to say I can't wait to approve this.

Great. Thank you. And and I'll just add as a proud Sikh living in Fremont, when my family started building the Sikh temple outside, and now it's known as Gurdwara Road, and meetings at my parents' house and business to see how it came up. And now what the Fremont Sikh temple is, I look forward to seeing the Thai temple become just as eminent in the Bay Area and bring be be Fremont's destination for the Thai community. So thank you very much for bringing this forward. I will take commissioners oh, commissioner Zhang.

Oh, I I I can skip that.

Okay. I mean, I

have attended couple events from the temple, and I see the joy and see the people celebrating. That's random wonderful experiences for me. Yeah. I'm really glad to see this experience.

You have a very happy commission here to see the vibrancy of your community. So I'm gonna take up commissioner Ezzy for his to make a motion to approve staff recommendation for the item number one on the agenda tonight. And I will take commissioner Yi's second. And so with that, I would ask all commissioners to vote on item number two, under number one. Alright.

Alright. Chair, that item passes by unanimous vote of those commissioners present, of all present, and is an item that's final unless appealed to the city council within ten calendar days.

Great.

Could I I just wanted to say thank you very much to all of you and to the city. We all work for the same goal I believe and that is the improvement and the enjoyment of all the people in Fremont. So thank you very much and we invite you to come at any time and enjoy our facility whether it's the old one or the new one. So thank you again.

Thank you. Let me clear this out for you. So I think we can now move on to item number two which I'm going to be recusing myself. Do I have to explain it again?

Oh, no. It's fine. You already did it during disclosures. And so we're gonna have a brief switching of the guard here for vice chair Ramamurthy to run the Eurasia family spa CUP item while chair, boss Rai, leaves the room temporarily. We'll call you back. Okay.

Switch seats.

No. It's fine.

Is it fine?

Yeah. Because the voting will work better there.

It will.

She might be able to reach over and click it.

Can you do that? Okay.

Okay. It'll come up here. Right?

Actually, I'm not familiar with this, particular item.

I just have to press this. Okay. I think so.

I just saw that we went. Okay.

Confidence. Can someone pull the door shut so we can isolate that noise? Thank you.

Yeah. We'll stop the next item on the agenda, Eurasia Spam. At this time, I invite the presentation to the staff.

I'll go ahead and read the item while they make their way up. So this is the Eurasia Family Spa CUP conditional use permit at 37112 Maple Street. This is considered a conditional use permit to allow massage establishment in an existing 1,180 square foot tenant space in the Centerville community plan area and to consider a categorical categorical exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act or CEQA under guidelines sections fifteen three zero one and fifteen one eighty three. And so here tonight with the presentation is Kevin Lee. And so after again, just for cognitive purposes, after Kevin Lee's presentation, the applicant will have up to ten minutes to present, followed by public speakers at the timelines specified by the chair, and then finally, a rebuttal, if needed, up to five minutes by the applicant at your when you're ready, we're ready chair.

Thank you. Thank you, Joel. Good evening to the Planning Commission. My name is Kevin. I am the staff planner assigned to PLN202513, the Eurasia Family Spa conditional use permit.

This, project, the applicant is seeking approval for a conditional use permit to convert an existing 1,180 square foot commercial space at 37112 Maple Street, Units A And B for the operation of a massage establishment. To provide some background, on the existing building, the site is located in the commercial town center general plan does designation. It is zoned town center pedestrian and also within the transit oriented development overlay. There are two existing buildings on-site, one of which is a two story mixed use structure with three residential units on the second story and several commercial tenant spaces on the Ground Floor. The proposed project would occupy two of the units on the Ground Floor of the two story building.

The applicant's proposed business will provide massage therapy services, including specialized treatment for prenatal and geriatric care and also wellness programs. The proposed hours of operation are from 10AM to 9PM, seven days a week, with appointments to be made over the phone or by walk in. And as required by ordinance, all employees providing massage services will be licensed by the California Massage Therapy Council and registered with the city's finance department. To speak on the permitting requirements, the all massage establishments are required to obtain two separate permits, a massage establishment permit with the finance department and a conditional use permit with the planning division. The massage establishment permit involves a background check on the operator and requires continual compliance with the municipal code as it relates to operations, employee attire, health and safety standards that will govern the continual use of the massage establishment.

As part of this massage establishment permit, yearly renewals are required, per finance division regulations. And as mentioned before, there's also a conditional use permit requirement. The applicant has completed all these steps and have met the finance requirements for their massage establishment permit, including the background check to be issued one of these permits, which is now pending approval of a conditional use permit, which is before the planning commission tonight. The conditional use permit considers the project in the context of land use compatibility as well as reinforces the, massage establishment permit requirements and standards as well. Planning staff has analyzed the report as summarized in the staff report and recommends the finding if the project meets the intention of the general plan and the standards within the zoning ordinance.

To speak on some of these measures to ensure that the proposed use complies with city standards for public safety and welfare, in consult in consultation with the Fremont Police Department. The police department has no concerns regarding the operator nor proposed use in the proposed location. The applicant has agreed to install interior security cameras with thirty day video retention to support any public health and safety or welfare causes as requested by the police department. The police department has also conducted a background check on the operator as well as investigated any calls for service of the applicant's previous location on Fremont Boulevard, which the previous location is being demolished as part of a larger development project, and has expressed no concerns, and did not find any calls for service of the applicant's previous location relating to illicit activities. The finance division has tentatively approved the applicant's massage establishment permit pending approval of the conditional use permit as mentioned before.

In conclusion, staff recommends that the planning commission find the project exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act under CECO guidelines fifteen three zero one and one five one eight three, find that the project is in conformance with the general plan and zoning requirements for the project site, and approved conditional use permit PLN twenty twenty five thirteen based on findings enumerated in the staff report and subject to conditions of approval found in exhibit a. And I can take any questions at this time.

At this time, I open questions from the commissioners to the to the staff.

Yes. Kevin, when it comes to that CCTV, system, how long has that ordinance been in place from the Fremont police?

Not exactly sure on the timeline, but my understanding is this is a common request from the police department. For this application, when presented to the applicant, they were in agreement and had no issues with installing the CCTV.

So then the CCTV that's going there in the interior would be able to cover the, like, the whole entrance of that lobby area that's designed.

Right. And it's not required in the bathrooms?

Yeah. Where it's yeah. The yeah. Yeah. They're laughing out there. Yeah. I don't think you wanna have a camera in the bathroom. But okay. Well, that that kinda helps alleviate some of the concerns, I guess, in terms of, you know, potential illicit activity. Right? Because like you said, they're required to maintain minimum thirty day video recording. So if there's ever a complaint, then you have a video recording of, put you know, if there is a true complaint. Right?

And also the, having the operational camera is a continual condition of approval.

So they'll yeah. Okay.

Good. Are required to have that capability to have that re recording on hand.

Okay. Great. And then I guess my next question is that at that at that location, weren't there two other massage businesses in the past?

Doing a search, there have been two conditional u use permits issued for massage services not located on the same side as the proposed use, but on the other side.

But in the general vicinity?

In the same building. Correct.

On the same building. Mhmm. Okay. And it's the first it's the older one. I think the first one is the one that was, shut down for, illicit activity, but the second one closed because for whatever reason they closed, they decided to shut it down.

One of the permits naturally expired due to the expiration of the conditional use permit after having the use abandoned.

Right.

The other permits, according to the documents that I have, also reflect the same expiration of the timeline.

Okay. So no illicit activity then?

Not located on the documents I looked at.

Okay. Alright. Thank you.

Commissioner Liu?

So, Kevin, you mentioned that you guys did a background check of the operator. How many locations do they operate, and how many places do you do they have?

After speaking with the applicant, there is the only existing location on Fremont Boulevard. I I unfortunately don't have the exact address, but that is the only address associated with the applicant at this time.

Do they have, branches in other cities, or is it beyond your scope of, background check? Are you required to, check their, past performances?

The background check on the operators conducted by the police department. As due diligence for my own research, I reached out to our police department liaison to look at the existing location registered with the applicant. I did not do a search on other locations, but my understanding is there's only one other location. It's a small family business.

Okay. So for for this particular Eurasia massage establishment, you have found nothing illicit in in the past?

Correct. Talking with the police department liaison, there were there was one call in regards to a claim that an employee stole a ring, but the police department liaison also mentioned that that report was rescinded because the person found the ring in his own possession. And that was the only report that was made from a call of service, and there was no mention of illicit activities within the past ten years.

Okay. Thank you.

Yeah. My question was back to the cameras. So the cameras are required only on the inside. They're on any on the outside. Right?

On the interior. Yes.

Okay. Thank you.

This point, we invite the applicant, and you have ten minutes to do the presentation.

Hi, everyone. My name is Marianne, and this is the advocate, Hua. I'm Hua. Because Hua has a kind of problem in speaking English, so I come here for translate. So we totally understand that the concern of the neighborhood. So that's the reason. We're gonna just prepare a respect massage and a zero tolerance sign. And when we finish the construction inside, we will enlarge the sign and put it in the window. And that the purpose for Hua is use this sign to protect herself and her employees. And if you like, we could pass it to all the commissions.

And, also, we follow all the Fremont city department. We have a list for all the customer to sign their name, address, and telephone number, and we're gonna add the employee's name to have a very, very detailed record for our service. And for Hua, this is, how to say, the base of her business, her career, and is support her family a lot. And we take it very seriously. And today, we'll also invite Hua's employee here to say hello to the neighborhood and to all of you.

So also, Hua and her employees, all of them has California license, and we also bring the license.

You can put that on the on the top there, and they can bring the camera to show the document you brought if you'd like to put it on the blue square. If you'd like to put the document there, the public can see that document as well.

No.

I meant the sign. Apologize. Not that.

Oh, the the sign. I have a copy of the sign here. Sign. Perfect.

Thank you.

So here is what we have here. And we understand that the concern of our neighbors in the plaza, but we will try our best to cooperate. So if you have any question we would like to answer. Thank you.

Thank you. I would open up for the public comment. Kim, do we have any speakers?

Yes, Vice Chair. We have two speakers. The first is Manjinder Saini.

The applicant may be seated.

And I'm sorry, vice chair, how long would you like to give them? Three minutes? Okay. Thank you.

Thanks for giving this opportunity to speak.

We keep changing.

Oh, is it? Hello? Right. Is it good? Okay.

Thanks for giving us this opportunity to speak. And about this business, it's like, this the reason I'm here is it comes from a very, like, known knowledge in our neighborhood about this business, which was about two or three blocks away previously at Fremont Boulevard. And there are many many visitors or many many people from the neighborhood who have visited that place and have raised the concerns. And I have also distributed an Google reviews two Google reviews to you guys to see what kind of things people are saying. We we have experienced, and we we we know that there are some shady and suspicious activities have gone in the previous location.

And I'm I don't know why that has not been caught by police department, but there are you can if you just search their previous location, go through all the reviews, and you would find what what they what people are saying about them. My concern is, like, we have bought these properties, like, expensive properties in the neighborhood. I like, me and my neighbor have our houses across the street, And we are here with young kids, and we also have our parents with us. And our concern is, like, when we are raising the kids, we don't want to see the kind of crowd such places attracts. And the record is there on on Google reviews if you if you go through.

So that is our main concern. We also are concerned about having such businesses in the neighborhood where we have bought our expensive properties, and it may have a potential to reduce our property value. And if this business is flourishing there, I don't know if we we would be able to attract any prospective buyers if we go tomorrow to sell our houses. And there are definitely a a strain on the public resources like parking. I don't know how many parking lot what we have.

And, currently, we we have a very beautiful relationship with this bill like, all the residents and the all the commercial units in this business. We we go there. We buy things. There's a state a piano shop where my neighbor sends his kid for a for a for a lesson. So we have been going through a very beautiful relationship, beautiful neighborhood. And we are a little concerned, like, what will be the composition once this business is there and whether a unity will be in in in danger. Thank you very much.

Our next speaker is Varah Casarineni.

Thank you, chair, and the planning commission. I'm here actually to oppose whatever the pro you know, the spa the planning commission on, in fact, the city's permitting. With your permission, I would like to ask mister Kevin to bring up the the, what do you call, the plan. Can you show that, mister Kevin? I'm not seeing it here.

I would like to bring in very interesting thing. We're not seeing it here. Yep. If you see the not in scope, do we know what it is? That's actually a piano school where kids go and play.

My son goes there and plays at 7PM on weekdays. Okay? And I'm pretty sure it is a very big concern for any parent where, like, you know, his kid go to where the wall is shared with his pa, and the piano school is right there, okay, with the wall share. I don't know what planning commission not planning commission, in fact, city is doing when they are permitting this kind of stuff. I'm not blaming anybody, but they have to consider these things, especially when the kids are around.

Okay. Can you actually move one more slide before? Not the plan, the whole vicinity. If you see that, right, that that spot, that red spot, right opposite is the neighborhood. Second lot from the left is a hospital. Third lot is learn and play Montessori school. Okay? Again, a big school where almost like 50 plus kids, very, very small kids, who are coming every day. Okay? This is not a right proximity to have this kind of I am not denying that's a business, but it's not actually a very respectable business, at least in the neighborhoods. And I really don't suggest giving permissions for such kind of businesses in the

neighborhoods. Okay? And

there is a vet hospital too, not to forget that. So so those are my concerns. And other than what Manjinder was saying, right, please consider whatever from my home is right opposite to it. Okay? That thanks. Anyways, I I have more time, but that that's what I want to bring here. And, you know, please understand our concern. There is one more there is this not spa, but there is what do you call it? The salon is right opposite to it, and the customers always park on the street. So we always have concerns about it.

Nobody addresses it. Okay. We bring up, try to bring up to the city, try to bring up to the police. They actually kept it to our parking signs, but nobody clear. Just want to bring up those concerns that we have as a neighborhood. Thank you so much for your time today.

Any more speakers?

No, vice chair. We have no more speakers.

I would like to invite the applicant for any rebuttal. Okay. Can the applicant please come forward so I can open up the questions for the commissioners if you have any questions for the applicant?

Yeah. My question my first of several questions, how long have you been in business? Twelve years. Twelve years. Okay. Can you describe to me what this business is going to look like once it's all built out?

So the purpose is really pure and simple. So they just want to bring professional massage service, deep tissues massage service to the customer, and that's all.

Okay. So it's not going to be like what we see like a day spa up in Napa Sonoma?

Oh, actually, it's kind of misleading because the name is similar. In Russia, day spa is a totally different store. We have nonbusiness with that one.

No. No. No. I understand that. I'm just trying to determine what type of I mean, how your environment, your you know, how this massage if it's like more like clinical. When I say clinical, like being almost like in a hospital where the there's just these rooms and they just administer the massage.

Yes.

That's how you're gonna be doing that. Okay. I was I just lost the train of thought. I was gonna maybe somebody else will ask a question, and it will come back to me. But okay. So then that that's what you're trying to create as your environment for the for the oh, now I know what the question how how many patients or how many how many customers would you anticipate that you see normally in a day?

So

the average is only seven to eight.

Seven to eight. So almost like about one an hour roughly for your business Mhmm. That your hours that you're operating. Yes. Okay. So then that kind of helped to address some of the concerns that I hear from the public in terms of parking. Because I know parking is a little bit difficult there. But you're saying just roughly about one one customer per hour. Mhmm. So okay. Alright. Those are all the questions I wanted to ask you. Thank you.

Thank you. Commissioner Liu?

Yeah. You know, just to be fair to you so that you're aware what we were given by one of the opponents to your business. So the the people spoke who spoke against it earlier gave us this zero Google reviews saying that there are old ladies already want $40 tips, and they also offer something else for 200. They're crazy. And another reads, please avoid this massage center.

They charge 30 for full body massage, and we'll ask if knee below for 40. What the heck? Whatever this lady at the counter forced to give tips, I'll never visit again. I'm not sure these are for Eurasia Day Spa or we or you Eurasia's Family Spa. I am a little confused, and I just wanna give you a chance to to defend yourself or

So

to give you a rebuttal.

So things Hua take care of this erasure family spar. She has no idea about this review, But she can confirm if that happened in her store, she will be, like, 10 zero tolerance for that behavior, and she will just fire the employee as soon as possible.

Okay. Thank you.

Yeah. My I I just realized I wanted to ask another question. I saw the other employees that you had that stood up. Are those all the employees that you have?

No. Actually, one is my husband. The other one is husband. Okay. Yeah. They just come to support.

Oh, okay. So how many employees do you employ at your business?

So,

basically, she only has two employees for daily. So plus herself, so far, only have three.

Just okay. So including herself Including herself. Makes three. Okay. Yeah. Alright. Thank you.

Commissioner.

Thank you. I had a question about the licensing. So it's my understanding that the city process through revenue and and that whole system requires licensing by the state agency. Is that correct?

That is correct.

Okay. But absent the city's requirement, and this is for the applicant, if the city did not have that requirement, licensure by the state is optional in this field. Is that correct?

I'm not quite sure what I 100% understand your question. So if I have any kind of misunderstanding, please let me know. So for the lie massage license for the employees and for Hua herself, it's just renewed by the state massage renewal, I think.

How often how often does that renewal happen?

Two years.

And what is the process that you have to undergo to get the license and have it renewed?

Okay. So also all of them went to a massage school for to study. And after they graduate, the school will support them to apply for the license, and that they will renew everything online by themselves. So for the this massage department that they have online system and that they just apply log in to their account and renew.

Is there a mechanism by which somebody can lodge a complaint to the state agency?

Okay. Since she run the business and she has no idea for the complaint from the customer or neighborhood, so she is not aware of that.

No. There there may not have been a complaint against you. But if I was a customer or somebody else and I wanted to make a complaint to the state agency and say this person should not have their license renewed, is there a way for me to do that?

Yes. You can just, connect with the department directly.

Thank you.

And I just pulled up the California Massage Therapy Council website, and there is a shortcut to file a complaint.

And you're right. It is optional if not for our process.

Yes. You know, I'm I'm trying to address an email that was presented to us by the public. I know I I already met with the owner of the piano's teaching studio that's next door. She made mention that I guess the previous massage place that was there, one of the reasons why they left is because of noise coming from the piano classes being conducted there, and I had no idea that that individual also lives upstairs. And she looks like I can certainly see from the shoes that are there, there's small children.

So, you know, they're running around. Do you believe that there's gonna be any issue for you if, you know, the noise that's emanating from a piano class that's next door to you as well as a family that's living right above you?

Okay. So actually, it's what understand that the concern from the piano school, but actually, for their class time is after 7PM. But after seven she don't have many customer to serve. So basically, it's close to their close time. And secondly, when she has the right to do the instruction inside, she will just choose the soundproof materials, try to reduce the sound. So it won't be a good a big problem to her.

Okay. Alright. Thank you.

Okay. I have one question, not replicant. You've mentioned cameras in the lobby. Are there cameras in the massage area?

No. It's only required in

the

interior lobby to see who comes in.

Okay. Thank you. Okay. Thanks. Any more questions for the applicants or the commissioners? I see none. Thank you so much. And now I open for deliberations.

We're closing the public hearing?

We're closing public hearing and open the com for deliberations, the commissioners. Have a motion to approve?

I can make a motion.

Okay. Thank you, commissioner Craig. Any second?

Can you state the

motion? Sorry.

Motion to approve.

I will second it. Okay.

By. No. No.

Sorry. You're muted.

Motion Muted again. Motion to approve the application by Eurasia Spar, by Commissioner Craig, and the motion seconded by Commissioner Liu. And let's vote.

Chair, the motion is unanimous by those present, noting Chair Boss Rai's recusal on the item. And the action of the planning commission is final unless appealed to the city council within ten calendar days. And with that, I think we can take a short break and, welcome the chair back for the next item. We're about ready for a steno break. I'd recommend we do that here.

Ten minutes?

Yes. Ten minutes break.

Thank you.

She's always doing the opposite. When your mic her mic was on, she shut It was still the opposite.

I was just the opposite.

Yeah.

Yeah. You're doing the opposite.

I think we can get started again. Thank you, and I'm welcome to be back. So I think we can go on to item number three, which is the Thai spa, conditional use permit.

Alright. Well, I'm gonna go ahead and read the title here. The Thai spa CUP conditional use permit at 1895 Mowry Avenue is to consider a conditional use permit for a Thai massage therapy spa in an existing 1,656 square foot tennis tenant space in the central community plan area and to consider an exemption from CEQA per guideline sections fifteen three zero one and fifteen one eighty three. And we welcome back our project planner, Clarissa Flores, who has a presentation followed by up to ten minutes from the applicant, public speakers, and then a five minute rebuttal up to a five minute rebuttal. Ready when you're ready, Cher.

Thank you. The project before the commission this evening is a conditional use permit for a massage establishment at 1895 Mowry Avenue in Unit 101 D. The proposed project would be located in an approximately 43,000 square foot medical office development. Surrounding uses include medical offices and centers, residential uses, and the Fremont BART Station. The project site is designated city center in the general plan and is zoned city center urban office.

Both the general plan designation and the zoning classification of the site accommodate the type of business being proposed. Today, the applicant is proposing a conditional use permit to allow a massage establishment in the sixteen fifty six square foot tenant space. The applicant is also proposing tenant improvements consisting of new walls for the creation of seven treatment rooms and a building code compliant bathroom. Fremont PD has reviewed the project. Security cameras will be installed at the entrance of the facility with video storage of at least thirty days.

The applicant's proposed hours of operation are Monday to Friday from 11AM to 9PM and Saturday and Sunday from 10AM to 9PM. The proposed project would comply with the regulations applicable to massage establishments contained in the Fremont Municipal Code, including but not limited to the requirements of a reception area displaying a valid certified massage therapist certificate in said reception area. In addition to the conditional use permit, the applicant will be required to obtain a massage establishment license from the revenue division. The revenue division has confirmed that the applicant started the process in December 2024 and has indicated that they will issue a massage establishment license if, Thai Spa receives a CUP from the Planning Commission. Staff recommend that the Planning Commission find the project exempt from CEQUA for the reasons enumerated in the staff report and find the project is in conformance with the relevant provisions of the city's general plan, and approve the project as shown in Exhibit A, subject to the conditions of approval contained in Exhibit B.

Thank you, and I'm available for questions.

I'm gonna open up to questions to the staff.

Commissioner Yi? Yes. Clarissa, could you pull up the plans again? Okay. So you mentioned the CCT CCTV cameras in the in entrance way. I also noticed that when I was walking around there, they actually have a backdoor towards the main courtyard, and you can actually access that without having to go through the front. Would it be possible to actually put a CCTV camera in the back so that we can actually see if anybody's coming in going out into the back door?

Yeah. Yeah. The security cameras would be required at all

entrance the applicant's saying yes.

Oh, yeah. So all entrances would have security cameras.

Okay. So they okay. So we've got because that's what I was concerned. When I heard entrance, I'm thinking front, but what about the one in the back? Because I was kinda surprised that I can actually go into the courtyard area unimpeded and be able to go through into the back and see the back door?

Mhmm.

Okay. Alright. That that answers my question. Thank you.

K. Any other questions from any commissioners for staff? Okay. Commissioner Ezzy?

Yeah. In the prior item, we had a lot of discussion around sort of the requirements, for a facility in a in a business of this nature. To what extent are the requirements that we're asking this applicant to comply with in terms of the Fremont Municipal Code, the police department, all the various other things consistent across kind of both businesses?

Yeah. The the requirements, being required for for both projects are the same, both from planning department, police review, and, revenue. Yeah. Like, all the license process.

Yeah. The licensure requirements and all the other things are consistent across this type of business, generally?

That's correct. Okay.

Any other questions from any commissioners? Alright. We can open it up to public comment. At this point, we can give the applicant ten minutes to speak.

Good evening, everyone. I am Pat Hoffner, and I just want to tell you about breakout why I am get in this business. I am a dedicated mom and housewife. I stay home raising my two student. One is go to medical school right now, and another one go to UCSD. After the while I took care of them, I have really, really bad migraine. Almost every week, I end up on ER emergency room at Washington Hospital. And after that, it's just like I it's called my cocktail migraine cocktail that I have. They injected me. And I try to find a way that I don't need to end up on the ER.

It's not only that. It cost so much money even I have the insurance. And I try to go to chiropractor for three year. It did not help me, and then I went to the

Acupuncture.

Chiropractor, and then take me, like, acupuncture, and still did not help me. I tried everything that I could. And finally, I just let do let me try the getting the massage. Right? And finally, I done couple section. I can see much improvement on myself because I have over here very tight. It trigger my migraine. It trigger my my head. That's why I'm just like I stop everything and start do three times a week for massage. And after that, my migraine getting much, much better.

I don't have to go to ER often. And finally, my migraine just, like, stopped. I just thinking like, wow. This is so good. And I just feel like I want everyone to do this instead, like, take the medication.

Even you take, like, pain pill, like, whatever, like Tylenol or Advil, it's gonna be only, like, short time of the period for helping the headache. Right? And after I see that this is, like, much better, I start open the business at Union City. My business doing pretty well because I I did helping with a lot of customer, even the doctor or the nurse. All, like, people, like, have, like, office syndrome that they sometime they just can't even, like, sleep because of the back pain and can't even go to work or workout.

I have a lot of customer complain about that. And since that, I have a lot of customer from Fremont have to drive all the way to Union City. It take, like, twenty five minute to go to my work to my my place. They even how come you don't go open at Fremont? It help us a lot to commute because I have small kid. Sometime I work during a day. I just can't go. And when I when my kid at evening, it's so hard for me to just, like, take off to go to massage. I said, oh, let me think about it. Let me think about it.

And finally, Fremont is my hometown. I live in Fremont. I just think that I want to help my community to get this benefit to help them instead, like, go to, like, take the medicals, pill, or whatever thing. Yeah. This is the story that I want to open the at Fremont, and my partner will talk about benefit from getting the the Thai massage.

Yeah. Good evening. So then I just want to give, like, a quick list of, like, oh, the benefit that the Thai massage or the massage can help you. Right? It can help, like, relieve, like, headache, reduce the stress, reduce, like, the back pain.

And then, like, in any kind of, like, muscle, stiff joint pain, those kind of things, like, the Thai massage, I have, like, a a unique technique where it's press pressure and then stress your body to help improve those condition. Right? And then I'm heard from, like, Carissa that the public also have, like, a few concern regarding to our business. One of them is, like, the increasing in traffic. We understand that concern, but then, like, for this facility, there is two main entrance.

Right? One is coming from, like, the Fremont Avenue, and then the other one is from Parkside. So be with the dual access, it's designed to distribute the traffic more evenly, right, and then minimize the congestion. So it would not create any would not create significant impact in term of, like, increase the traffic. And then for us, like, our busy hour is the busiest hour is, like, after the school and then after the office hour, which is avoiding, like, the peak traffic time for the the commuter.

Right? And then, like, also, yeah, our busy hours would be, like, on the weekend as well. So then the other office would not open at that time. Pretty much, like, the same comment apply for, like, the parking space. The facility has a lot of parking space.

There's, like, almost, like, a 100 parking space at the center. And then there's also underground parking that hasn't been utilized. So in the situation that, like, the packing shortage, we can, like, manage and work with, like, the landlord to go park on underground. Right? And then, like, also assign the parking space for our staff underground as well.

So in term of, like, the negative impact on, like, the neighborhood, our spa would have, like, no exterior modification. So then there shouldn't be, like, any impact to, like, the neighborhood or, like, the medical facility at all. Yeah. So I think that's pretty much it. Do you have anything to add?

Any question?

Any commit questions from the commissioners? Commissioner Zhang.

Thank you, chair. When you say you don't have a picture modification, would you but what kind of a banners or signs you would have put outside?

So the sign would just be, like, the sign, the name of the business. Right? Yeah. So it wouldn't have like, we couldn't modify any, like, building. We would just, like, set up, like, the sign with, like, the business name.

How big would the sign would be?

Now

yeah. Yeah. Maybe, like like, this monitor.

Mhmm.

And then it has to be under the standard of, like, the the HOA as well. Right? So then we need to get approval. It has to be comply with the rule similar to, like, the other business in the center.

Okay. Mhmm. Another question about the the unit city side. How many customers do you have typically in a day or or during the weekend?

We have around the weekday, like, ten to fifteen.

The whole day?

Yeah. Like, ten to fifteen hour or sometimes twenty, and the weekend can be, like, between forty to fifty hour. Yeah. But fifty, it's some days, it's only forty hour. Yeah. Uh-huh. Yeah. It depend, like, sometimes busy, sometimes not busy. Yeah. But I have a lot of client from Fremont.

Thank you. Commissioner Yu?

Yeah. I just want clarification. You I hear you say forty hour. You you mean forty per 40 or 50 per day, not 40 or 50 per hour

Yeah.

Patients. Yeah. I was gonna say yeah. I just wanna make sure. I was gonna say, wow. You were really busy.

No. No. No.

Okay. My my okay. I all joking aside, my question is how long have you been in business? I know you had the other business. So how long have you been in the massage, you know, spa business?

Me?

Yeah. Well, I guess because you have partners. Right?

Yeah. I am. They just my partner.

Okay. So collectively, how long have you guys been in business?

Five or six year.

Yeah. Okay. About five or six years? Yeah. And then how many employees, including yourselves?

Including myself right now, I have, like, 10.

And that's at the other site? Yeah. So how many do you plan to have at this site?

This site, probably, like, when we start maybe three beginning.

Okay.

Yeah.

Alright. Have you reached out to the medical offices that are in the in the same building?

Yeah. They're so happy that if we open them because they say, oh, I need it. I need a massage. I will I I wish open soon. Open soon. I need it.

I mean,

I don't have to, like I just lunch break. I go there. Yeah.

Okay. So you spoke to the dental office that's next door

Yes.

With the woman and the mom that's there?

Yeah. Okay.

Open. Yes. Please. And then, you know, like, I have nurse because they working so hard. Right? A lot of nurse that are working so hard with, like, take care of patient, and they they just, like, need it. Sometimes they come, they do two hour because they said, oh my god. It's a lot of work. And then I just say, yeah. I understand.

So I'm gonna ask you the same question I did for the other applicant. Can you describe to me what what your what your business is gonna look like on the inside? You heard what I asked. Was that it's gonna be something like NAPA

more clinical.

Is more clinical? Yeah. To kinda match with the medical offices that are there?

Yes. Yes. Yeah. Absolutely. I I want my spa look like clinical.

Okay.

That's what I want.

Now I want to go But you also put something similar to this, like, you know, the sign to make sure that people understand that, you know, you you are a a professional

Yes.

You know, business.

To be professional.

Think, you know, otherwise because, you know, there's always, unfortunately, that stigma.

Yes. Right? Totally understand. Since I opened one, I totally understand. That's why I really want to target that my place look like clinical.

You you also have the sign at your

Yeah. I always I already have the sign in my place that this is professional massage. If you ask anything else, it's just like probation. Yeah. Like, I put the side there. I don't want to deal with that. Yeah. Even I will put the side at my place, the new one that I'm going to.

Okay. Alright. Thank you.

Yeah. Commissioner Craig.

Yeah. So this will be your second location then. You're gonna keep the other one. And then is it how big is your other one compared to the like, it's a similar size location?

Or

This one, bigger. Okay. Uh-huh. Just slightly not so so much bigger. I have the employee room much bigger than the old one. Yeah. That's

Yeah.

That one is 1,200 square feet. Yeah.

Okay. Thank you.

Commissioner Liu?

So the license required to operate a, quote, unquote, more of a clinical massage place is the same as the other one, Eurasia Family Spa. Right? You guys have the same licenses?

Yeah. Yes. Yes. So

then what what kind of different kind of emphasis or techniques do you use to make it clinical?

Because I have the Thai massage. People go Thai massage. It's just not because of they they want to relax. Mostly, people come to massage. They have stress. They have back pain. They have shoulder pain. They have headache like me. Even have migraine. Even find a massage, please get the massage right away. I stop it to like, stop to make sure it's not escalate until I have to go to ER. That's mostly people come to massage. They just want to, like, helping body to be better.

So you don't have any experience with, you know, chiropractor's type of business, or do you have knowledge or training in that at all?

Chiropractor that I I don't see, like, why it's different because of I saw my masseuse type people. We crack people. Even, like, customer come, they expecting that we're gonna crack them. Like, when we swing or stretch them, you can hear the the pop up at the back and thing like that. That's why when I see I went to chiropractor for three for four year. I don't feel like I get better. Chiropractor, after I left the chiropractor, I feel like, oh, I feel good. Only, like, short period. Like, probably the last of the day, like, four, five hour. And then the pain still coming back.

Because I feel like massage when you get a massage, you pressure on all the muscle, make the muscle, like, loses up instead very tight, and the knot that form we massage it, press the knot to make it go away. That's why I just think that the massage is better than chiropractor because myself that I did do the chiropractor for three or four year and even acupuncture at the same time.

Since you mentioned the word, like, crack open or something, did did it ever happens that there were some incidents in the past where people actually got hurt?

No. I haven't had that in my spa.

Okay. That's all the questions I have.

Commissioner Ezzy?

Yeah. Is it appropriate for me to ask a couple of questions to miss Flores?

Yes. You can either do that now, if you wanna keep the applicant up here, or you could do it later as well.

I'm happy to do it now. No problem. So I was just looking at the the the six points that were sent in, via email. I think we were all sort of discussing. The applicant was talking about them as well.

So there's this concern about increased parking and traffic. There's negative impact on neighborhood character, proximity to the rehab center, presence of hospitals and medical practitioners, etcetera. As I understand it based on what I'm seeing here in the findings for approval, this sort of the the the facility generally, the building and the neighborhood and kind of the parking and all that, is generally sort of outfitted for this type of thing for the most part, right, beyond kind of what we're doing in the conditional use permit. There's other sort of commercial, medical, other types of facilities in that area. They have customers that come and park and use the facilities in the same way that I think this applicant would use, etcetera.

Can you just help me understand some of those dynamics in terms of just the consistency between the use and kind of the nature of the neighborhood and existing facilities that are already there?

Yeah. As mentioned, this was developed as a, like, a medical office facility. So, yes, there's a lot of dentistry, chiropractors, physical therapy in this building. And, yeah, I mean, traffic would not be an issue. This has been reviewed by our traffic engineer. There's, I believe, a 178 parking spaces on the site if you count the underground parking. So a use like this not only is it, you know, contemplated in our zoning and general plan and and allowed with a conditional use permit, but, you know, you could argue it it is also a good complement to the existing, surrounding uses.

Okay. Yeah.

Thank you.

Commissioner Ramamurti. When you said

clinical, do you work with insurances to cover the massage cost for the big your customers' patients?

No. Because of if you if you want to take the accept the insurance, you have to have the doctor in the office to sign whatever to to give it to insurance. But since we are not a doctor, we cannot accept the insurance. But I have a lot of customer. They come in, and then we can give the the invoice.

Then they can do that and do reimbursement by themselves. That's what we provide. Like, a lot of company like Google, I have a lot of customer from Google, Apple, or some company that they accept the invoice, then they can reimbursement by themselves.

Any other questions from any commissioners? Alright. We can let the applicant be seated. And is there any public comment?

No, chair. We have no one requesting to speak on this.

Okay. So I think we can close the public hearing since there's no comments. Any questions from the commission to staff or the applicant at this time? Commissioner Liu.

Hi, Carissa. Did you do similar background checks of the operator like Kevin did?

Yes. Yes.

As Anything turned up?

No. No. We would not be recommending approval.

Right.

Yeah. Oh,

okay. No. But PD, conducted their extensive background check. They also did a site visit to the exterior, and, again, as a condition of approval, is requiring the security cameras at the facility entrance. But, yeah, PD has has reviewed, the site and the operators.

Thank you.

Any other questions to staff? So we're open to deliberation and taking any motions at this point. Commissioner Zhang?

Thank you, chair. Generally, I I kinda welcome business to to the city until our citizen can benefit from your from from this new type of business. But the the my concern is that the location of this business is in the office setting, and many of the surrounding business are the dentists, dentals, and, rehab centers that make me feel this your business doesn't feed this caricature of this building and also the this money business. So I I cannot support this this proposal.

Commissioner Yi?

Yeah. So as I went to all the various businesses throughout the building as well as across the street, so I wanted to find out from their perspective, you know, would this be a compliment or a detriment, you know, to their businesses? It was kind of a mixed bag. About half of them said yes, half of them said no. But I can assure you one of the things that was very consistent was their patients.

Every single one of the patients who I've heard overheard my discussion with the owner of the business, whether it's a dentist's office, cardiologist, and the like. Right? And even the facility that's across the street, the the the people were going like, oh, that'd be nice to have something like that to to complement the area. And I know there there are other businesses that are, you know, down down the in the other medical office buildings, like, you know, 1999 and, you know, and further on, you know, especially when Clarissa mentioned physical therapy. So on one hand, I look at this as an another form of physical therapy.

You know? Because, you know, hearing hearing the passion of, you know, the applicant here saying that it helped her, you know, with her condition. And and I can see that that's the mindset of what she's saying rather than, you know, some of the concerns that other people may say that, oh gosh. It's a massage parlor and, you know, what what kind of illicit activities. But, know, you agreed to have cameras in entrance and, I guess, in the back to make sure that it's all covered.

And when I spoke to the business owners, that was something new to them. And that made them feel a lot more comfortable. Even though they were still apprehensive, but because the cameras are gonna be there and you are required to maintain those video recordings for at least thirty days so that if there's any complaint, there's a record. And so that's where I feel a lot more comfortable, you know, for both the project. You know?

So we had the first one, and now we have this this one before us. And I understand what commissioner Zhang is saying. But then having known many of the people that are there, I I consider this as as a compliment rather than something that's unusual. So I I myself would recommend this, you know, staff recommendation on this project.

Commissioner Liu?

Yeah. I will I will concur with commissioner Yi. And I think just the positioning of the nature of the business from a more of a clinical aspects of their service as well as the location being very close to the other medical offices. And I think it's just to me, it seems a pretty smart move and and good choice for their business and versus the other one being very close to the neighborhood. So so I have a little bit of a come almost opposite opinion as what commissioner Zhang was, you know, concerned about.

I think this would be actually a better location than the other Eurasia family spas choice. So I would definitely support it. Commissioner Zhang?

Sorry. That's a mistake. Sorry.

Oh, okay. Sorry. Commissioner Ramamurti?

Up until COVID, I used to go for a massage personally, like, to the massage and replace every month. It's very therapeutic, and it's very relaxing. And I would prefer personally if it is in a location where the other medical services are. I feel confident and comfortable to go in there than like the one that we approved previously. Eurasia, this is I think it's much more a better place.

I understand what he was saying, but I think as a woman and as someone who goes in there to massage, being in a medical facility is much more, you know, appropriate, I feel. That's just my opinion I wanted to share.

And, commissioner Ezzy?

Yeah. I'm I'm prepared to support the project today. The one thing I would just flag, and it's not it's not my job to sort of give you marketing advice. That's not our role up here. But I think what you're hearing in the prior discussion and what you're hearing here, I think, from commissioner Zhang as well is, you know, you're obviously in a community, and the the the folks that you're with appreciate the fact that they're medical practitioners or dental practitioners and all of that, and perhaps you have a strategic opportunity to kinda complement that.

And so in terms of how you're positioning the business and what you're doing on the exterior and all of those sorts of things that I would just advise that you keep that in mind. Again, it's not my position to to sort of suggest how you market yourself per se, but just putting it out there to make sure that, know, you I'm sort of making the implicit sort of explicit in the discussion today, but, you know, I am prepared to support the proposal.

Okay. Seconded?

There wasn't a motion yet.

Oh, okay.

Formerly. So I'll add to that. I'd like to see less vacancies around here. Those offices, a lot of them have been vacant for a really long time. So I would take a motion from any commissioner

Alright. I'll I'll make a motion to accept staff recommendation on this project.

Any second? Okay. And so we can vote.

The motion is six to one with, commissioner Zhang dissenting. And so the action of the commission is final unless appealed to the city council within ten calendar days.

Alright. Thank you very much. We can now move on to, item number four, which is the 2024 annual progress report.

Alright, chair. When the as the planners come up, this is the 2024 annual progress report to consider an annual progress report on the status of implementation of the general plan and the 2023 through 2031 housing element to consider exemptions from the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to SECUA guidelines fifteen zero six one, fifteen one eight three, and fifteen three seven eight. So the project planner, planners tonight are Winnie Mui and Mark Hungerford.

And just to clarify, we're getting the annual report, not to recommend doing an annual report.

Right. So this is a kind of unique item. So what

I'm just making sure this is not to approve it. Yeah.

Yeah. We well, they'll go go through the details, but, you know, this is this is not a you're not doing anything. You're you're receiving information.

Got it.

That's what I wanted to make sure. Thank you.

Yeah.

Alright. Good evening, planning commissioners. Staff is presenting the 2024 annual progress report or APR to the planning commission tonight as an informational item. The housing element is one of the required seven elements of the city's general plan. As a refresher, the general plan is the blueprint or constitution for how the city will develop.

The housing element is an eight year plan that assesses the condition of housing in the city, establishes a road map for accommodating the projected housing unit demand, and sets citywide goals, objectives, and policies for housing and the housing needs of the community. We're currently in the sixth cycle of the housing element, which plans for the period of 2023 to 2031. The sixth cycle housing element was adopted by the city council on 01/10/2023 and certified by HCD, the State Department of Housing and Community Development, on March 03/22/2023. The annual progress report is required to be submitted to the state every year by April 1 to report on the city's progress of housing production for the prior calendar year 2024 and the city's efforts to implement the housing element programs that are aimed to protect the housing stability of existing residents, preserve and improve the existing housing stock, and produce new housing at all income levels. Following this agenda item tonight, the APR is scheduled to be presented to the city council on March 18 and then will be submitted to the state prior to the April 1 deadline.

Regional housing needs allocation, ARENA, is the number of housing units that the city must plan for in its housing element. The state assigns ARENA number to each council of governments in the state. For the Bay Area, we're in the ABAG Association of Bay Area Governments Region. ABAG was assigned approximately 441,000 units for the six cycle housing element. ABAG then distributed the 441,000 units to each Bay Area city and county.

Fremont was assigned approx almost 13,000 units that it needs to plan for, broken down into the four income categories seen here. The city is not responsible for building these units, but rather we need to have the policies, the programs, the zoning in place that would allow for the construction of approximately 13,000 units in in the planning period. In 2024, the city issued building permits for 194 housing units. This is an approximately 42% drop from 2023 where 334 units were issued building permits. A total of 931 units have been issued building permits to date for the six cycle housing element.

This leaves the remaining RINA balance of 11,966 units. A few things to note. Of the 194 units that were issued building permits, 62 of 62% of the units were for affordable units. Fremont's generally in line with other cities within Alameda County in regard to unit production. Looking at 2023 APR data since we don't have the 2024 APR data yet for other cities, in 2023, Fremont met 3% of its RENO targets.

In comparison to some of the other Alameda County cities, Oakland also was at 3%. Berkeley was at 4.7%. Dublin a bit higher at 10%, but that 10% were for all above moderate units. Union City was at point 7%, and Pleasanton was at point 3%. So as you can see, a majority of jurisdictions in Alameda County and likely many other jurisdictions in the state are in the same boat of not meeting its housing production targets, likely due to factors such as inflation and market instability, high construction costs, and labor shortages.

Also, what is not listed on this slide are projects that have received entitlement either in 2024 and even in prior years. In 2024, a total of 999 new housing units received entitlement. This includes projects that were approved by the planning commission, the zoning administrator, and ministerial projects that will likely be issued building permits this year and in the near future. In terms of ADU production, in 2024, the city issued building permits for a 133 ADUs. This is an approximately 66% increase from 2023 where only 80 building permits were issued.

There's been a general upward trend of ADU production beginning in 2018. We anticipate that there will continue to be an upward trend given the number of state laws that continue to be passed every year to further streamline ADU approvals and given the significant interest we see from home homeowners regarding ADUs. Senate Bill nine or s p nine is a state law that went into effect in 2022. S p nine allows for, in single family zoning districts, ministerial approval of urban lot splits and two unit development. We're we've also seen an upward trend of s p nine applications.

In 2024, a total of 17 s p nine applications were submitted, which is a 240% increase from 2023 where five s p nine applications were submitted. In 2024, a total of five s v nine applications were approved, so we anticipate we will also continue see to see an upward trend of s v nine applications given state laws that continue to be passed every year to further streamline s v nine projects and continued public interest. In 2024, a total of 230 affordable housing units received entitlement. This includes the Osgoode family housing project that was in a 100% affordable housing project. There were also a few affordable housing units included in the Witherly Lane Homes project and Mission Oak project.

Also, in March 2024, as part of the 2023 notice of funding availability or NOFA, the city council awarded grant funding to three affordable housing projects. These three projects would result in another 486 affordable housing units in Fremont. Currently, two of these projects are under review for entitlement, and one is in for preliminary review and is about to be ready to be submitted for formal entitlement. Here are some select highlights of actions the city took to help facilitate housing production. The housing element has a total of 94 programs that need to be implemented throughout the planning period.

These programs are implemented by multiple departments and divisions with within the city, including planning, housing, human services, code enforcement, and other divisions. Some of these highlights include new objective design standards for historic homes that was before the planning commission in December and a batch of code updates that were presented to the planning commission in November that removed the Warm Springs master plan requirement, increased the minimum term limit of affordable units from thirty years to forty five years, and extended the expiration date of discretionary approvals for housing projects from two years to four years. In regard to permit streamlining, the review time line was reduced for ADU applications. The city provides an expedited review for affordable housing projects and introduced a new over the counter plan check review program. In 2023, the city issued a NOFA for affordable housing projects As mentioned in the previous slide, the city council awarded 34,000,000 in funding for these three affordable housing projects.

So in conclusion, staff is recommending that the planning commission recommend to the city council that the APR is not subject to CEQA and to direct staff to submit the APR to the state. And staff is available for any questions.

Open it up to any questions from any commissioners.

Commissioner Yu. Yeah. You know, we're we're we're in the early stages of this eight year cycle. And as I'm looking at the numbers, I'm just wondering if we're gonna actually reach the almost 13,000. You know?

Because it looks like we're kind of behind the eight ball right now, and we gotta find a way to somehow increase that our production numbers in order to meet that almost 13,000 goal. And I guess my question to to you is what are other things that we could do as a city in order to help, you know, reach that goal? You know? I'm just wondering if it's to you know, we are already talking about trying to streamlining the permitting process. We have the online, you know, process as well to try to make it easier for our residents.

Is there any other things that we should be looking at to to try to streamline and and and make these processes quicker? You know? Because I know that there's other, you know, external issues like, you know, interest rates, labor costs, and all that. Setting that aside, is there anything that we can do as a city to try to help?

So I'll take that one. During our presentation, we not only covered the actual production, but we also covered the stuff that's in entitlement. And I think that the stuff that's in entitlement in the entitlement pipeline that has been approved is illustrative of where we are. You know, we have about, you know, one twelfth probably of Arena that's already been approved that's sitting there ready to be pulled. Those permits are are ready to be, you know, processed and those housing units to get built.

But the the economic climate right now is affecting how long people are taking before they move forward with their housing projects. And you see it when we come forward to you with extensions of of previous approvals, for example, where someone's taken two or three years and they're trying to extend it so they can, they can take advantage of that in a little later time. And I think that's what everybody's dealing with in the state right now is projects that are ready, but not ready financially for some reason. I think that there are good ideas all around for making this process better. I we're open to, you know, your feedback, though this isn't intended to be a, you know, sort of a work session.

It's it's more to kind of to tell you what's what's going on, but we're all ears. We wanna build more housing. We wanna comply with the state's requirements. Sometimes the there's a lot of money, and there's a lot of things that have to align beyond our purview to make these things happen. So that's that'd be my response.

Yeah. No. I I totally understand. I mean, there there's a lot of external issues that are beyond our control. And even then, you know, as a planning commissioner, we've given green light to all these different projects. And just like you said, Joel, it comes to the economics because we have these projects that we give the approval, but then the applicant can't really do anything at the time because they're waiting for the right time to pull the trigger if they can qualify for a lot of these construction loans and and anything else that they need to have done. You know, like you said earlier, just a minute ago, is labor. You know, if there's a shortage and the cost, you know, it's a compounding both at the same time.

I do wanna toot our horn on something. I know there's a lot of lot of progress we can make, and so I'll do this carefully. And that is going back to something that Winnie said in the presentation. The percentage of the affordable is that we're producing, even though the numbers are low, is well above the typical 15% our affordable housing ordinance would would drive. We're at 60 some odd percent of our units are being produced at the Yeah.

I was I was pleasantly surprised to see that, you know, which is way higher than the what the state is mandating to us.

And that combined with our NOFA is beneficial. I will say if if you look at past performance, our number in the last housing element was 5,455. I think that was drilled into my head. Yeah. That's thousand fifteen to 2023.

Right.

And if you remember, 2015 to 2023 was, was an upcycle. Right? 2015 to 2016 were probably the the fastest years of that upcycle, and so we built a lot of housing in that time frame. And we did, meet our numbers on the market rate side over and above, but we, but we, have struggled along with other jurisdictions on the affordable because the affordable struggle is the amount of money available to subsidize those units either through affordable housing ordinance or through state, you know, partner funding, etcetera. So, there's there's wins, there's still a lot of room to grow.

Right. And I I and for the other, planning commissioners that haven't been here as long, that last cycle, Fremont was only one of five cities in the in the state to actually meet those arena numbers. I, you know, I I still remember being on the state meeting, and they're going, oh my gosh. You're from Fremont. You're one of the five. So, you know, we can do it. You know, we just have to you know, especially this go around where the numbers are much higher. But I think that if we do it right, we can we'll we'll make it.

Yeah. I and I'm just gonna do a shameless plug, but for those planning commissioners that are going to Planning Commission Academy, and I'm I'm really regretful I'm not gonna be able to go next week, ask. Let's see what other cities are doing because I think it's a great opportunity for those of you who are going. When I went to see other solutions, see what other cities are doing, to your fellow planning commissioners because I think everything's on the table. Fremont does a good job.

But we are a fairly young commission in in in light of how Fremont works, and you'll see that next week when you guys are at Planning Commission Academy and to talk to them about that. So I'm gonna sorry. That was my PSA for you, Ben. But it was a great I really wish I could go next week, but I can't. Commissioner Zheng.

Thank you, Tara. Correct me if if I'm wrong. For for the most of project, we have approved a paid loan fee a life a loan fees to a wide building with affordable housing. So even we though building a project build, we still won't get that number up. Isn't my understanding correct?

Yes. A lot of projects still pay the fees. However I

would say majority of the the project we have approved.

We're seeing a change in that, and there's some complicated reasons why we're seeing a change in that. More often projects these days in our objectively compliant world by state law are taking advantage of something called density bonus, and they're building the units on-site in order to specifically get waivers and concessions for their design. And you've seen some of that in the projects coming forward. And so I'll say that that tide is changing a little bit in combination with the fees going up for townhouse, particularly in in single family. So, Mark and Winnie may be able to add more to that, but, we are seeing a little bit more nuance there.

Yeah. That's correct. And to kinda piggyback on what Joel was saying, so when we do get in lieu fees, they go into a pot that's managed by our housing division, and those fees are what we use when we do our notice of funding availability to attract affordable housing developers where we can finance their finance some of their project to get sort of targeted, you know, 100% affordable projects in the city with really deep levels of affordability. So those fees do go to good use in the form of those NOFA processes.

You you say on that part of the $3,334,000,000 that we we build those affordable?

Correct. Yeah. So that $4,034,000,000 dollars was from in lieu fees that were collected for market rate developments.

Do you know how how many how how much percent are from in lieu fees? How much percent are from general funds?

Or, like like So those NOFAs are completely comprised. Those notice of funding availability, which is basically like a a contest. Show us how cheaply you can build a unit given our money and what other funds you'll bring to the table. And so someone will come along and say, I can build a unit if I if you give me let's say, I'm just gonna throw out a number, a $150,000 per unit, and I'll cobble together the rest of the funds from the county and the state and other other programs, and I'll build that unit. So it leverages our affordable housing fees.

There's also some funds called the boomerang funds, and I'm not an accountant, but, basically, it's, money that the city has, seen fit to reinvest in affordable housing after the, cessation of the redevelopment agency, and that money comes back in affordable housing as well. Okay.

A follow-up question about, can you pull slide six from your presentation? Here. I I feel that we have a, like, a half probably probably even less half of the s p nine application get approved. Do you know what the reason they got rejected? Or

I wouldn't say they're rejected. Likely, they're still in review. Mhmm.

Okay.

Sometimes they can be kinda complicated, so it may just take a bit longer from when they're received till they're approved.

Do you know how many are actually rejected?

I don't think we've denied any s b nine applications.

Oh, okay. So they are still in the pipeline

Yeah. Year.

Yeah. There's specific crite if the city were to deny an s b nine application, it needs to be related to, I believe, public health and safety. There's very limited criteria in which we can deny an s b nine application.

Sounds good. Thank

you. Commissioner Ezzy?

As the newest commissioner on the commission, I had a few foundational questions for you. I'm wondering if you could help me out. So how how do the targets take into account space that you have to build and kind of how your general plan is set up? Is that too complicated of a

question for you? That's not too complicated of a question. I I participated in some regional meetings before Winnie came along, so I'm gonna call back to that to Got it. Okay. Question.

There is a very, very long meetings that happened before the arena got the regional housing needs allocation got sent to the actual cities and other jurisdictions. When ABAC got the the Association of Barriers governments got the 400 and some odd thousand housing units to, you know, dispense among the the regional jurisdictions, they went through a process with meetings run by, I think it was Jesse Aragine from Berkeley was the chair the last time around. And these meetings went through and kind of analyzed available land. You you had cities talking about we have a lot of open space, you know, and we have, you know, industrial areas, and we have adjacencies that are problems, and we have a, you know, a lower or higher job base. And so all these pieces went into the puzzle, and they actually pulled our general plan and zoning data, Association of Barrier governments did, combined it with everybody else's.

And from a land use with housing and a jobs and sort of economy and transportation standpoint, they balanced those units delivery to all the house to all the jurisdictions in a way where no one was really happy, but people understood is the was the objective, why they were, kind of attributed the way they were. And so, you know, like, for example, the jobs in the South Bay, it's a strong reason why the San Jose's and those those folks got a lot of numbers trying to match more of where the jobs are with where the housing is gonna go. There were some, let's say, more rural jurisdictions that successfully reduced their capacity because they didn't wanna be building in fire zones and in the periphery in the rural areas. So it's a very complicated set of meetings that went on for a long time, and I know that there were some other local, politicians and and, interested parties that also watch those, but that's what led to the our number.

Got it. Okay.

I had a couple of additional questions. Mhmm. So how does how does an ADU factor into the targets or getting credit to does it?

Yeah. The ADUs definitely count towards into our arena. So going back to when the housing element was being developed, you're able to project what you estimate the number of ADUs will be produced every year in the eight year planning period. So ABAG, they took an analysis of the Bay Area region. They did a study of what the affordability of ADUs was, and they came up with this formula where they said, you know, based on our study, 30% can be counted as very low, 30% as low, 30% as moderate, and 10% as above moderate.

So of the 133 ADUs that we issued building permits for in 2024, we counted we did the thirty, thirty, thirty, ten.

Got it. Okay. Last question. The NOFAs that go out, what is the mechanism by which those go out and get, like, marketed, if you will? Is it just, a press release? Or

Yeah. So our our housing division leads that effort. There is definitely promotion of that on our our website through various city social media channels and our development digest. And the the housing division works very closely with affordable housing providers, and so they have a very wide distribution network that they publicize it to. Got it. Okay.

Thanks. Any other questions? Commissioner Liu?

Yeah. It looks like we're we were very successful in producing ADUs over much more so than SB nine. Supposedly because maybe SB nine is much harder to to do due to the complexities in loss splits. And San Jose, I think, was became the first city to allow ADUs to be sold separately. So where does Fremont stand in terms of the timelines in allowing ADUs to be sold, you know, as a in independent unit without doing a loss split?

Yeah. So the the state bill you're referring to is AB ten thirty three. It is a new bill that went into effect last year, I believe, and it gives cities and counties an option. So it's not a requirement, but it allows cities and counties an option to allow homeowners, property owners to possibly sell their ADUs separate. But the city has not taken up on that yet, and we haven't received any direction from the city council to go to that route.

Okay. So are there any studies that show that the ability to sell an ADU will actually accelerate or encourage more ADUs to be built or and and sold? And how did you guys talk to San Jose to get any data points?

We haven't spoken to San Jose. And as you mentioned, I think San Jose may be the only city that's taken up on that so far, so I'm not sure how much data there is related to that.

And I can add to that. I think that the data right now is a moving target. Both you've mentioned ADUs and SB nine, and it's sort

of

a logarithmic, you know, increase in scale. I mean, you you go back to the original ADU laws in 2004 that actually Fremont's, you know, folks that went on to the, state legislature had a hand in. And and even after that, Fremont's really been a a big part of ADU production. And if you look from back there, the ADU numbers just kind of ticked up, ticked up, and then you can see they've kinda taken off in the last few years. And it took two or three years from the bills getting passed for people to get around their head around the idea and to start building them, and now we're seeing really a critical mass. I think our number we estimate in the housing element was about 60 a year.

Yeah.

And so if you look at that number, 60 a year, we were we were estimating, saying, well, that looks like a fair number. And you can see we're twice that a year or two in. Right? And so I expect that number will just continue to grow. And I think we're gonna learn things as we go along.

One of the things that you might not, think about with home additions and ADUs and and s p nine is what's stopping them is often financing. You're taking a a structure, you're building that structure, and you're selling it to someone else someone else, and you have a mortgage on your property, you're breaking a line and selling a piece, how does that work? Do you have to have the property sold off, or are you, you know, renegotiating? Or so there's a lot of things that the homeowners have to deal with to to be able to figure out how to produce that additional housing that I think the market will figure out and it'll speed up.

Okay. Thank you. Also looking at the general renin numbers in housing element, in eight years' time, we're gonna add 13,000 units. Now the last time when we had a massive number of new units being added was maybe ten years ago when the Walnut Springs Bus Station and surrounding vacant land, large parcels of vacant land were made available to turn into housing. And do you think in order to meet that 13,000 units target, are we going to actually develop on currently large parcels of vacant land to meet the targets?

I I don't know exactly the specifics of every single site in our housing element sites inventory. But our housing element, we are required to identify exactly, you know, where every location of possible units could be to meet that almost 13,000 units. I don't know if we have large sites.

Yeah. There are a combination of underutilized sites with buildings on them and vacant sites within our housing element. We have already zoned, and that was a requirement of the housing element that we passed in 01/10/2023. They got certified that year. We already had those sites available, and the state had signed off on those sites, plus a buffer, which was intended to accommodate for the fact that people may not develop those sites exactly as we intended, and then we would still have enough units to build the number we need to build.

I think you're also anticipating there may be other sites, and there are definitely gonna be other sites that weren't in that list, but have a willing, you know, seller and, you know, the right situate right set of circumstances come along where they become one of the housing sites. And we've already seen that, some sites that we didn't anticipate that someone came along and built on. We may need, as we go forward over the next few years, additional zone sites as our buffer shrinks if people aren't developing as many affordable housing sites as we anticipate. But we feel we're well well situated with the available land that we have, around the city to do that.

So right now with the additional housing that we've got, were they, like, almost all all high density housing, or what's the percentage of new single family homes being built?

Yeah. Very small. I don't know if you'd know the number from the from the data.