Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Recording in progress.

Good evening, everybody. Welcome to the meeting of the Planning Commission of San Rafael, December 9. This meeting is called to order. Nice to see everybody. If we can have roll call, please.

Commissioner Rodney? Here. Commissioner Summers?

Here.

Commissioner Salmini?

Here.

Chair Mercado?

Present.

We have a quorum, and we are expecting commissioner Alvarez, shortly. And we have an excused absences for commissioner Sade and commissioner Haven.

Good. Thank you. Okay. Now to the order of the agenda. Are there any commissioners that would like to change the order of the agenda? Nope. Didn't think so. K. Next, we'll move to the meeting procedures. The city of San Rafael remains committed for all to participate in our public meetings. I wanna welcome everybody for making the time this evening to participate and be here. Margaret, if you can please tell us how public comment will work.

Thank you, chair Mercado. Tonight's meeting is being recorded and streamed live, through YouTube. Viewers can also watch directly through Zoom using the link on the agenda or by dialing (669) 444-9171 and entering the meeting ID 83651049034Pound. We are offering closed captioning for everyone in the meeting this evening on the Zoom option. Select live transcript button on Zoom to enable this feature. And if you experience any difficulties, please feel free to email me, which is planning manager on the website. We're just talking about that. Margaret Kavanaugh Lynch at the city of San Rafael. That's a lot to spell, so search for planning manager, you can find me. And I can see my email, so if you're having trouble, please let me know.

In order to in order to provide oral testimony, speakers must be present. Displayed on the podium is a timer that will help you stay within your allotted time frame. You are invited, though not required, to introduce yourself and say what part of San Rafael you reside in or if you're from outside of the city. If you'd like to request an accommodation under the Americans with Disabilities Act to provide public comment virtually, please submit your request to me, again, at least seventy two hours in advance of these meetings. Those are the rules for this evening. Thank you, chair.

Thank you very much. Okay. So next is oral communication from the public, and this is oral these are remarks on nonagenda items are welcome at this time. So this is not the Locke Lohman project that we'll hear next. Please know that remarks on

the agenda items will be heard at

the time the item's discussed, so that'll be later. So if this anybody has a public comment on something not on the agenda but within the jurisdiction of the planning commission, come on down. I'm assuming not, but you're welcome to. Okay. Next, we'll go to the consent calendar. So we have one item on the consent calendar. That's the draft minutes for November 18. Let me know if there's any discussion. Otherwise, we can entertain a motion.

I make a motion to approve the consent calendar.

I'll second. Great motion. Correction. Approve the the minutes or the whole calendar.

It's our only item.

Okay. Fair enough. K. One second. Great.

Take vote.

Commissioner Summers? Yes. Commissioner Radley? Yes. Commissioner Salvini?

Yes.

Chair Mercado? Yes. Motion passes.

Thank you. Alright. Action items. So the first action item for this evening is the public hearing to consider a major environmental and design review permit and a tentative map to construct a 14 unit residential development project located at 25 Loch Lomond, and we will take staff report when it's ready, please.

Thank you very much. Good evening, commissioners. The public here today. My name is Renee Nicanig. I'm an associate planner, and I'm presenting on the project for 25 Loch Lomond Drive this evening.

Just

oh,

I've gone two slides. The requested entitlements we're reviewing tonight are a major environmental and design review for a project worth over three dwelling units and a tentative map for that will include a future lot line adjustment. For a little background, this project site is part of the overall village at Loch Lomond Marina mixed use community, which was adopted under ordinance eighteen sixty in August 2007 by the San Rafael City Council. At that time, an environmental impact report was prepared, which included evaluation of the entire project entire Loch Lomond Marina site, including this particular parcel. With the certification of the EIR by the city council, they also approved a mitigation monitoring and reporting program, which will be applied to this project, which we'll review later in the presentation.

Just for context, this is a, exhibit from the p d eighteen sixty city council resolution, was showing our project site in yellow. So this project is located Southwest Of San Pedro, excuse me, San Pedro Road, and Loch Lomond Drive. Is part of the San Pedro Peninsula, Loch Lomond Canal North Shore neighborhood. The exist the current property is approximately 23,000 square feet in size. And as we mentioned, as part of P D 1860, the Wetland Overlay District, and it has a general plan land use designation of neighborhood neighborhood commercial mixed use.

Just a little bit more context photo of the site. This is looking North Northwest from Loch Lomond Drive towards what, everyone may be more familiar with, more towards the market, between the market and the existing residences towards the neighborhoods at the north. The proposed project that is being reviewed includes the demolition of the existing structure, shown here at the project site, and the construction of a three story building with one story of excuse me. The Ground Floor with parking and other ancillary uses and then two stories of residences above for 14 total residential units. Some of the elevations provided, east elevation, west elevation.

To note, the second story does have a an open area, above open space at the Ground Floor. The tenant map being reviewed does include a future annex, which will accommodate the, excuse me, southwest corner towards the property to add an additional 5,000 square feet over which the building, will have that outdoor space, and there will be additional parking. The tentative map also notes the future intention for condominiums. We are reviewing this project under the Housing Accountability Act, which, for California state law, promotes infill development of housing. In this case, it limits review of such projects to objective design standards and limits the ability of local government to deny, reduce the density proposed, or may or have the project comply with subjective standards.

Should should a denial, be preferred, findings would have to be made to substantial evidence to to support that the project would have a specific adverse impact on public health or safety and which could not be mitigated. Should this be the desire of the planning commission to deny us, we will require staff to we'll require direction from the PC for staff to make these findings. Just a little a brief overview of objective versus subjective standards. Our objective standards are based on, sort of real world conditions. As an example, on hillside properties, when streets are less than 26 feet wide, an additional parking space is required.

That would be an objective standard. A subjective standard in that same sense would be that these spaces be conveniently placed towards a dwelling unit or the street. So just a little bit of an overview. Subjective standards also include design elements, a part of any project. So under this project is proposing a density bonus.

So under the state density bonus law, which was enacted in 1979, it allows developers to increase increase the density of the project when a certain percentage is proposed to be available to below at a below market rate for individual low income families and below market rate units. If such a project is proposed, the project is allowed one concession or incentive, generally used for larger elements that may get in the way of having a project of this size and then may request waivers to reduce any existing development standards. For this particular project, the density bonus request is based off providing 10% of the base units, which would allow the project to have a 20% increase in density. The subject site is in the neighborhood commercial general plan area, which has a maximum net density of 24.2 units per acre. This site is approximately half an acre in size, which would allow a base project of 13 units.

The project is proposing one unit of, excuse me, a below market one below market rate unit, in which case they could have up to three additional units. However, the project is proposing just one additional units to bring it up to 14. The concession that's being requested is to have this building be residential as opposed to the residential commercial mixed use project that was included in the 2007 resolution for p d 1860. To review the village at Loch Loma Marina EIR, this did review the entire project site as we saw on the previous slide. The site entire site was divided into four areas, and we are tonight this project we are speaking about tonight is located on area b.

And so the the review being done is related to that specific section. The environmental impact report covered a variety of topics, notably land use, aesthetics, traffic, air quality, noise, and several others. This, again, included a mitigation and monitoring program, which was intended to mitigate some of these elements that do have an impact on the environment and were significant. Key measures included wetland protections, traffic and parking, air quality noise, biological resources. The mitigation measures adopted then will be applied to this project as they are relevant.

So subsequent environmental review. Pursuant to CEQA, once an EIR has been done, no subsequent review is required unless there has been a substantial change to the originally approved or reviewed, excuse me, project with quite a few additions there, which I'm happy to go more in-depth to if anybody has questions at all. I'll ask Christina to add to that as well. But just to note, so for this particular project, we are just speaking about Area B and the change from going to a mixed use commercial and residential building with, at that time, a maximum of five units to a solely residential building with 14 units. The size of the building is approximately the same square, excuse me, footprint as the building that was reviewed in 2007.

It is slightly taller, and there is an increase in units. However, because this is a change only to the to the specific area and is still a building of relative size, it does not it is not considered a substantial change to the overall project, and therefore, a sub subsequent EIR excuse me, sequel review is not required. So general findings for environmental and design review. This project is consistent with the general plan as previously noted with the density allowed and proposed with state density bonus law, mix of housing and residential neighborhoods, new development residential neighborhoods, and planned development zoning generally for general plan policies. The project is consistent with the environmental and design review findings of the San Rafael Municipal Code, and that is in in accord with the general plan, the objective standards of the zoning ordinance and adverse impacts, excuse me, have been addressed and will be mitigated by the measures and conditions of approval.

An additional condition of approval is provided this evening. It's condition of approval number 97, which includes an affordable housing agreement related to the project. Copies of this are available to review for any commissioners or member of the audience who would like. Some conditions of approval for the project. A lot of standard conditions that we would put on many projects in addition to very project specific conditions, including those in the mitigation monitoring report, which the project will be required to comply with as applicable.

Staff recommends that the planning commission adopt the resolution as amended and supplemented by condition of approval number 97 and the affordable housing agreement added to the agenda packet by staff today. Alternatively, the planning commission does have the ability to approve with certain modifications or changes, continue, the application in hearing, or deny the project with the findings previously noted for a density bonus project. Well, maybe that's the end of our presentation. Okay. That's all.

Great. Thank you. Alright. I'll bring it back. Any questions for staff?

No questions? I don't wanna acknowledge we had another commission arrived. Thank you for joining. So we're adding condition 97. That's the affordable covenant?

Correct. So that relates to the existing, condition number 39, which requires an affordable housing agreement. The condition that's being added is specific to the agreement. The agreement itself is also included.

Through the chair. One of the reasons we're we're providing the actual agreement at this phase is rule specific requirements about the affordability requirements in order to meet those concessions or state requirements. We thought it was important that both the applicant and, the commission actually have those, and understand those requirements in order to be eligible for the state density bonus law concessions. Typically, these were done after post, like, as a condition of approval. But as we're finding this as being more critical pieces to understand, like, okay. What did I sign up for in order to get these density bonus laws? These are specific, requirements contained within. So that's why it's important to provide them at this phase.

Got it. Thank you. Yep. Super helpful. And I had another question. So is this a condominium?

Yep. So the intent would be to provide the 14 units as condominiums in the future.

Okay. And then the original EIR had this as a mixed use commercial with four units on top?

Five units on top. So it was a a Ground Floor commercial with five units of residential above.

Got it. Okay. And the position we're taking now is that there's no need for further analysis because the 14 units from the previous design in the EIR is it's it's substantially similar. There's not a substantive change, right, requiring additional analysis.

Correct. And Got it. For under SQL, we're we're not just looking if there's a substantial change to the project. It's if the changes to the project would result in changes in the impact classification. So if an impact would go from less than significant to requiring mitigation measures or going from less than significant with mitigation to significant unavoidable, and given the overall development of the Loch Lomond Marina with all the residences and the the boat dock, the parks, the wetlands, the this is a fairly minor change.

Overall, the square footage is about the same size. Unfortunately, the PD is a little bit more general than you would hope for. It doesn't have a specific total. It's about 23,000 square feet plus five units. So we did some calculations based on the average unit size being proposed, and it's basically the same. About 32,000 square feet was adopted before and is being proposed now. The primary change is the addition of a a level. So the original mixed use was two stories, and this is three stories.

Got it. K. Same front print, but higher. Mhmm. Got it. Okay. No questions? Great. Okay. So we're gonna open the public hearing, and we'll let the applicant come on down if you'd like to provide us any information.

Say that again. K. I'm gonna wait. Alright. Let's see if I can I'm sorry if I'm gonna bore a few of you, but I'm a very passionate person, and it took that passion to pull off this market in Loch Lomond that has been there for a long time, a lot of different markets.

My name is Andy Bocic. I'm the owner of Andy's Local Market, and I'll let Colin talk about, my architect, about some of the factual stuff that you'll need to know. But the reason I'm doing this is I have to speak my mind on this because it's been such a passion to pull this thing off. And I received some emails in the neighborhood that were sent out to HOAs from a neighbor, and there was a lot of false acquisitions, and and and for me that that really gets to me. So I I want to tell the story of how I came up with this project, how it happened, why I designed it a certain way.

And I think it's important because I thought everybody knew me there, but there obviously there's people that are new to the neighborhood, and shame on me for not explaining myself more, and so I'm trying to use this platform tonight to explain to those people what I how I came up with this design and how it how it came about. So I'm gonna give you a little history here. I have about a fifty year history in that neighborhood, starting with my first job at Peacock Gap as a dishwasher at 14. I knew the neighborhood pretty well. I always knew that the businesses struggled there at the golf course.

They they always did well with the banquets, but it was always hard to make it work there. In the decades, I've watched the businesses come and go, including Flair Market, P and X Market, Gary's Market, Rake Straw Market, Bruno's Market, Loch Lomond Market, and then I came along with this great idea that I could pull it off. The challenges you know, all the studies for the village when they came up with this project was to put a seven eleven style market out there like Santa Venetia did, and then get rid of the grocery store, which they did in Santa Venetia. My mom had a coffee shop there next to Littlmann's, the Cali Foods, and they just couldn't make it. It's really tough when you got a peninsula, and you don't have a lot of housing on each side.

You know? So but I love the spot, and I said if I make it beautiful enough, I think I could get people to come. So when the developers first approached me, I initially declined due to the site's long record of commercial failures, and ultimately, they agreed to give me the opportunity to design the store and place it on the waterfront at Bobby at the former Bobby's location that always had charm. The only difference was they were paying 500 a month rent, and my cost would be 80,000 a month. So I suppose I supported the vision, improved walkways, better waterfront access, village style neighborhood, grocery restaurant, and I spoke in favor of the concept to build the village.

There was a lot of locals that were against it, and I saw the the vision that the developers were were looking at, and I really bought on to it. And community gave them the thumbs up, and my job was to bring some soul to that side of town. So in 2007 when I bought it, they promised me that I would be able to design and build this store. 2008 comes, and we have a collapse. So it stopped the project in the tracks and left me operating the old store.

To keep the store viable, I personally financed extensive renovations, did it all myself in there. I then after that, I said, okay. I gotta figure this thing out. This is gonna be a tough one. So I traveled to Europe with a buddy of mine from Woodlands Market and a buddy from Tony's Fine Foods, and we went all over Europe to try to figure out a concept that would make this store work.

And the only thing we came up with is you got to buy, Andy, two small stores too, because if you're going have a chef, you're going to have all this stuff, and you don't have the volume out there, you need some some other stores to do it. So I bought the Sun Valley store, and I redid that store. It took me a little longer. I was to get the Corte Madera store, but the plan was always that you need some more volume to make the store work. The Corte Madera store, unfortunately, didn't work.

There was not enough parking, and it was really hard access to get into. So then okay. I'm gonna move along here. It 2016 when we built the new store. It didn't quite go like planned. I thought you build it, they will come. Right? And it was a beautiful store. I mean, every little detail, anybody that knows me, I'm all about the details. So so that's when we did the other store in Cornel Madera.

So then I purchased a property. Okay. So when when it first came available, the developers walked away because they previously approved the mixed use plan was not financially workable, so this property that we're talking about tonight. So when they left, so many customers came to me and say, Andy, you gotta buy that property. You need the parking. You need to do this. And I'm like, god. I need another project like a hole in my head. Right? So I buy it and thinking, okay. This thing's approved. I'm gonna keep the exact same footprint. I'm gonna keep the same heights. This is a no brainer. Right?

Here we are three years later and a lot of stress. So we are now to the final design, and I think we I think we've got it pretty nailed. So I wanted to just explain my design approach because my background, how I got into this grocery business, my buddy from Wizards wanted me to design grocery stores, and I said, okay. That sounds great. And I realized I couldn't work for anybody.

I had to do it on my own, so I bought the old Loch Lomond Market. So on this design approach, I have a little slideshow, and I went around looking at all the different homes in Loch Lomond, San Pedro Road, Peacock Gap, to try to get a grasp on what kind of architecture are we talking about, because that's the stuff that I really love doing. Right? So I'm going to play that little slideshow, and I'm all okay. So I just hit this right here.

Okay. I just don't okay. So this was the concept after looking at all the houses. My I I do love mid century, you know, the look. Right now, it's kinda coming back. And all of that area is the sixties, seventies, eighties. It's kind of like they tried to do that. Right? And now we're actually getting better at some of this stuff, you know, some of the looks. And so that's what inspired me. Right there. Go ahead to the next one. And then I started just going around, that was I think in Peacock, just keep going. That was Peacock, those are condos. This was in Loch Lomond.

Keep going. This is right across the street, this Loch Lomond. This is in Loch Lomond. This is right above the school in San Pedro Road, coming into my store. This is on San Pedro Road, going towards Peacock. This is in Peacock. Keep going. This is by my house in San Pedro Road. This is right across the street from the store in Loch Lomond on San Pedro Road, on the other side. This is the school as you're approaching my store, so this is what you're going to see right before you get to the condos.

You got San Pedro School, you got a big neon sign, and this is the spot right here where the old dentist office has been vacant. Right? Okay. So that if you look at that architecture, you're going, okay, man. I got my hands full here. There's a lot of mixed different styles here. Right? But it was all built in that era that they were trying to go mid century modern. So I came up with this, and Colin, I can't take all the credit. This was on there because this is where I grew up in Santa Venetia.

Do I go back to the other one? This is what they did when I grew up. They put a seven eleven in, they got rid of the market, and this is still there to this day. And so that's kind of what they saw for the vision in the front there, you know, in Loc Loman. But this crazy guy came along and said, I can build it. Go ahead to the next one. Like, this city calls me all the time. They want to they love to have an Andy's in there in corner, and I said, I think I'm done. I think so but all these communities, the small stores are going out of business. They just can't compete with the Costcos and stuff.

It's really hard. So it takes a special kind of entrepreneur and operator that's got to be really hands on to make these things work. So this was Sun Valley when I bought it. This was the first day when we started demoing it. Right? This is it after I was finished. And the reason I wanted to show this is because I always feel talk is cheap. You know? It's like, what's what's the proof? What what did you do in the last twenty years? You know? So I wanted to show it. This was the Locke Lomond market when I bought it. This is it when I finished. I don't like doing anything funky. I don't I want it to be classy, so I really get my feelings hurt when people say, oh, that's not going to fit in the neighborhood, and you go, wow. Okay. So we'll go to the next. This is the interior. You just go through those.

They're just showing the interior of the store that every little detail I get into, you know, I was in there grinding the steel and building this place. So, okay. So that kind of takes care of that, just to give you an idea. Right? And then I think I'm gonna let Colin step up here and do his presentation on the building.

Thank you for your time too. Appreciate it.

So does this clicker actually advance the slides? I then it's to the next one. Yeah. It looks like it does.

There we go.

Anyway, good evening, everyone. Nice to be here. Thank you for coming. I was the architect for two previous iterations of this building, and actually met Andy through the design of his market. And, I must say that Andy is kind of a dream of a client because he is so attuned to detail, we we work so well together. And together, we came up with what I am very proud of. And this building, the first two iterations, as Andy said, were, were done by developers who looked at the retail component and said, it doesn't work. And I actually took the second one all the way through construction documents and bidding. And at that point, they said, we're out of here. This just doesn't work for us.

So this proposal, I think, makes much more sense both economically and for the housing stock of Marin.

So

so anyway, we just wanna this is so this has been in the process for twelve years. I was I was originally involved in 2013, and, so this is where we have finally wound up. This is just some statistics that show how difficult it is to make retail work in Marin County and especially this location. So as Andy said, we're we're actually maintaining the same building footprint of the previously approved project, but it's also no higher. We were at 30 feet 35 feet before.

We are at 35 feet now. It had a much more varied roofline, but that's one of the things that made it way too expensive to build. So this is a more simplified version, and I think fits better with, it's more compatible with Andy's existing market now. And as Andy pointed out, we're we're we're striving for a mid century modern look. This is a site plan that shows, one one of the comments made apparently by this this letter to the the HOA was that we didn't have proper access for fire fire apparatus, firefighting apparatus.

The green line shows what is actually a compliant zone for fighting fires for the building. That's where all the apparatus can be can be deployed. This is just probably the best way to show you the the context. We actually have designed two other buildings, this being a boat a boat repair building and this being one in the foreground was a, harbor master building, but the original developers did not elect to build those. They're ready to go in terms of construction documents.

And this just illustrates the massing of the project. The important aspect of this aside from the units is the is the courtyard of the or the pavilion on the 2nd Floor that's actually, intended for all the users, all the all the, owners of the condos to use as a community space. And, that's an idea that was not present in the old scheme, and I think this is really Andy's idea. And I think it's a wonderful idea to just encourage community and have people gather. And there's a pavilion there.

You can do barbecue. You can do parties. You can do all number of activities. And, I I think it really works, it kinda makes the project. And then this is just a series of photos to show the look. Some of the interior, this shows the context with the rest of the site. This is just an aerial view showing how the units work. It's a little complicated for this show, but just gives you an idea. There's really a better shot of the the the pavilion and the plaza. Just some ideas of how that can be used.

Outdoor barbecue with a couple of, couple of barbecue units. Just a night view. Trying to make it warm and inviting. It's it's modern, but it's but it's not hard, cold modern. This is just some, snapshots of the interiors of some of the units.

Again, to to foster community, we've got a low fence going around, an open fence that allows people on both both sides of the fence to talk to each other, and that's it. Any questions?

Thank you. Yeah. I'll bring it back to the commissioners. Have any questions for the applicant team? Doesn't look like it. Oh, please go ahead.

The land, that is under the open space or the community space mentioned in the report that you haven't purchased it yet? Or is there

It's my part of my store, but I'm going give it to the audience just because I love that deck.

And if you wanna Yeah. If you wanna come down so because we have people online, they can't hear you on the mic. Yeah. So come on down. That way, they can hear you at home, please.

No. That is a property that I own, and I'm gonna do a lot line split because I felt it was so important to have that patio and bring people together. And then it also gives extra guest parking. One of the big things I've seen a lot with these units that people are doing one parking space, and it's really naive because everybody has two cars. And so I really went all out to provide 2.3 spaces per person. So everybody has two, and then there's everybody has one electrical charging unit. And and then you also have a storage garage inside the underground so that you could have your kayaks or whatever you want in there. So

k. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other follow-up questions? Okay. So we'll open it up now for the public. If you have comments that you would like to provide, you're welcome to come on down. There'll be two minutes per each public comment. Just come in here. Please make sure we can hear you on the microphone.

Good evening, commissioners. I'm David Jacobson. I'm a thirty two year resident of Loch Lomond. I'm here tonight to support the Harbor Flats project. A number of reasons why. First, I've lived through the nearly twenty years of watching this get developed since 2007, and it's been a that corner has been pretty blighted, and this would be a substantial improvement to that current blight. Number two, it's a very attractive architecture. It blends in with the buildings to the side, to the market, so it's very mixed for even more uniform appeal than than we see today. Third is the lower density. So I think Andy is pretty smart.

He looks at he had an opportunity to go up to 16 units from what I understand from the documents, and he's gone to the 14. So it's not pushing the equation all the way, making it a little bit easier for the for for the folks around him. Lots of parking. As we all know, Sanderfel can be very challenged by parking, and it's very important to leave parking for Andy's Market because we we want that market to stick around. The the prior five did not.

Traffic. I come and go through that intersection all times of day and night, and it's very seldom is there more than two cars at the light. So I from my humble opinion, 14 new spaces is not gonna make a big difference. The height is reasonable. You look at the sight lines of the pictures.

You look at the there's a yacht club as you come into the area, and it's got a very tall building. The school has a very tall parking structure sorry, a solar structure with big rooftop units. So this is consistent with some of the density along this the park and along the property and along the the parkway, San Pedro Road. And lastly, most importantly, I'm a property manager here in Marin County, and it's been extremely difficult to fill commercial as everybody knows, and particularly in isolated areas like this. So there's a overabundance of commercial, and there's certainly a shortage of housing.

And so this basically solves two problems. This doesn't doesn't create a new problem with commercial and helps solve the residential problem. So I hope that you'll consider the this tonight favorably, and, hopefully, you'll vote yes because it's a lot of folks are very behind this project. So thank you very much for your time.

Appreciate it.

Good evening. I'm the president of the Homeowners Association of San Pedro Cove. San Pedro's Cove property is about a 100 feet away from this development. We've been involved with the Strand from its inception and worked with the developers and and participated in, you know, the helping move of the whole project moving forward. It was our understanding of what the project was going to be until last week.

We first heard about this development and change of the intended use last week. We have had no opportunity to comment. We've had no opportunity to review the plans. We've had no opportunity to work with Andy and talk about what he's proposing. This is significantly different than what was previously proposed.

It's three stories, it's not mixed use, it's higher density, and the architecture is far different than what the rest of the Strand is. It's not compatible. Andy showed many, many pictures of other homes in the area. Not one was of The Strand itself. And I am very concerned about that as to whether this building is compatible in its current design with the rest of The Strand.

Now it may turn out that this is an appropriate building. I don't know. Our board has not had the opportunity to review the plans, comment on the plans, or say anything. I don't know if this is standard procedure that we weren't notified, but none of the residents in the area and I've talked to the HOA president of the Strand itself, they weren't notified. The people across the street at Loch Lomond were not notified.

We've seen nothing other than the posted notice that was placed at the property. So I'm not here really to comment on the plan itself, or whether it's appropriate, whether it's a good use, whether mixed use ought to be abandoned, and we ought to move forward with the units. I'm just here to object to the notice requirements that should have been issued, and I'm asking you to delay any action on this until our board has the opportunity to work with Andy and review it with him and know what's moving forward and can comment one way or the other as to whether we think it appropriate. Thank you.

Chair and commissioners, good evening. My name is Steven Bryant, and I wanna start by stating my support for the applicant, Andy Bosich. Whether holding Summerfest to support our schools or keeping the market open through the struggles of COVID, Andy has constantly acted as a vital community hub for East San Rafael. However, I must distinguish between the applicant whom I support and the application record before you today, which contains three material safety defects that must be cured prior to approval. The zoning conflict, the plan show the building is already at its 35 foot height limit allowed by PD eighteen sixty, yet public works condition 79 requires raising the floor for flood safety.

The application does not contain a height waiver, so complying with the flood rules force an immediate zoning violation. Fire safety. Because the building height exceeds 30 feet, the fire chief's memo requires a 26 foot aerial fire lane. The current site plan at 20 feet does not depict this mandatory access width. Invalid safety data, the foundation findings rely on a geotechnical report from 2017 for a two story building that was never built.

The you're being asked to approve a three story structure on Bay Mudd based on obsolete calculations for a smaller building. Given the applicant's positive history with the community, I would like to see the applicant cure the application defects. Therefore, I respectfully request that you continue this item and direct the applicant to submit revised plans that correct the record to resolve these safety contradictions. This is responsible, reasonable and fair. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening. I'm Dennis Evans, who is the president of the Strand Homeowners Association. I would like to address the the concerns that our association has and and actually reinforce some of the other comments that have been made. A lot of it has to do with the lack of notification. Our HOA was not notified of this project until finally the sign boards were put up on the street.

Apparently, the notice that was sent out was sent to our prior property manager who no one even knows who that is, let alone got the message from it. Some of our residents who are adjacent from the project received notice, some did not. So it was very sporadic. There's been concern by our members about some of the design features. And as a result, we would request that a continuance be be be granted so that we can take the opportunity to work with Andy, with the community, with the other communities around and try to resolve some of the issues.

We've sent in some fairly detailed information to the design committee. And we think that maybe just working with Andy, we can resolve these issues and support for the project. We want Andy market to be in the community. So we're not against him doing his project. We just wanna have a a chance to work out some of the details. Thank you very much. Thank you.

Good evening, commissioners. My name is Darius Deviti. I serve on the board of San Rafael Chamber of Commerce. I'm I'm the chair of the police advisory and accountability committee. I'm on the San Rafael Fire Foundation, and I'm also a board member of the Peacock Gap homeowners association. But today, I'm here as a resident of Peacock Gap and a business owner here in San Rafael. Andy's market is not just a business. It's a place that community comes together. As you're aware of, so many businesses are struggling to keep doors opened, but Andy's Market has developed roots not just in the community, but in people's hearts. It's a place my family rides our bikes.

We take our dogs for a walk. It's a place where my kids learn how to ride a bike, actually. They get incentivized by getting a bag of chips or getting a Snapple, so it motivates them to get out of the house and actually ride their bikes over there. It's a place where we go listen to music. It's also an amazing place because it's such a diverse place to hang out. It really resembles projects who Andy is. You know? It's like blue collar people, first responders, contractors. Then you meet, like, finance guys. Then you meet, you know, people on all spectrums of income. And I think that everyone feels welcome going there. They feel like home. To me, it's like my our second home. On one instance, they have an amazing coffee shop there. My wife, my whole family went there to get coffee and croissants.

And then we got in the car. We're gonna go see the movie Mary Poppins. I realized we forgot to pay. I asked my wife, did you pay? She said, no. And then so I picked up the phone. A woman by the name of Paige picked up. I said, I'm so sorry. We left without paying. And she says, don't worry. You can come back whenever you want. You can pay. Andy is not just in it for the money. He's in it for the community. He's a very conscious man. He's very picky about what he does, and when he does something, he delivers on the promise. I know our city is evolving. I know we're transforming. I'd like to see someone like him to be able to be part of this new chapter of San Rafael. He's a son of an immigrant.

The guy got here, he started washing dishes. He went to school. He went to high school. He went to San Rafael High. He's truly a representative of what San Rafael is, what the future of San Rafael is. I like to see him to get a shot at this. I've been here before I presented other people, but I feel like this is the guy that we need to take more seriously. Whenever a home comes up for sale in our neighborhood, the real estate agent at the bottom says, walking distance to up, please. It says walking distance to Andy's. So not only he elevates the community, he also brings up people's property value because of what he's accomplished. Thank you.

Thank you. I appreciate it.

Hi. My name is Albert Savedra. I've been in Locke Woman for thirty years, so my neighbors call me a new guy. I met Andy when he opened the market, and I just wanna echo what the last guy said. You've not met a more passionate person. This guy works so hard. He's involved in every aspect of his business. If he says he's gonna build something that's gonna look good, he's gonna be there every single minute sweating it out. I saw him work through COVID. He was finding toilet paper.

He was finding, you know, hand sanitizer, things nobody could find. You know, Steve talked about Andy doing Summerfest. He didn't just do Summerfest. He brought the community together. He introduced me to a lot of people at the schools. You know, he's just involved. You know, he really cares about San Rafael. And, you know, as as the last speaker said, San Rafael can use more visionaries like Andy. I've met so many people from the community, not just from Locke Lomond, not just from Peacock Gap. People come down for his concerts, from Novato, from Tiburon, all over.

You know, he's making a name for San Rafael. People know this place. People come from the East Bay. He he draws crowds. He brings people together. He creates community. And I think that's really the most important thing that a that a city can hope for. If you look at what's happened over on the West End, it's really kind of started kind of blossoming. Downtown is having its challenges. Right? But on the East Side, this guy is bringing the community together. And between the West End and the East Side, you're gonna have a really cool city pretty soon if you keep getting guys like him and giving them opportunities. So I fully support him. You know? I've been there thirty years.

I've seen a lot of change, but Andy's always brought positive change. So I hope you vote in in favor of Andy. Thanks.

Thank you.

Commissioners, thank you. I appreciate to take this time. I'm I'm kinda surprised, to be honest with you. I've known Andy for over thirty years. And being in the being in business here out in San Pedro, we have a beautiful a beautiful community.

And, you know, communication is both ways. I've never been to Andy's story that he wasn't out there meeting everybody, explaining what he wanted to do, the quality of what he was putting together. So it's it's hard to believe that that communication isn't handled in both directions. I mean, this project has been out there on the streets and here you have a quality gentleman that has really built that. The neighborhood across the street, I know the majority of those people over there, they're good people.

There should be some form of communication, not stopping this project at this time. You know, this community lives on an island. We have many different roads out there. We have county roads, city roads. We have a lot of activity out there. And here you have a man that has a passion to to bring these young children and kids, to our community. We don't have to worry about his investment. His investment is investing back into the community. And I'm disappointed to hear that this is new knowledge because Andy is not that kind of fella fella. He's not that kind of man.

He was been raised in this community, and he is part of this community. He has too much passion. I own a grocery store outside this community. And, you know, if you go down to Andy's and you want, midget pick pickles or you want whatever, Andy gets it for you right now. You may never sell it in a bottle, but he's there to support. And so I am disappointed. I apologize. But I am disappointed that at this eleventh hour, we have no knowledge about a beautiful man like this that does so much, his concerts, the kids. We can allow our children, my grandchildren, to come into his store and not be mugged. We can park our cars and not have our windshields busted out.

This is the quality that he puts out. So I encourage you, commissioner, let's make this thing happen. It's too beautiful of an element for our community. Thank you.

Thanks for the comment.

Hi. I'm Francine Falkowen. I have been a homeowner in, Loch Lomond, my husband and I, for twenty three years. We bought out there twenty four years ago and rebuilt. And I don't think there's any question.

The people love Andy out there. He's done so much for the community. But there is a question about the height. Seventeen, eighteen years ago, this room was filled many times to standing room only where we came and talked about the size of the strand and how it was gonna make an impact on our community to have all these buildings that were three stories tall and that there were going to be, like, almost 200 units. And we got it down to 88 units and two stories.

And we worked really hard with the planning commission and the developer and the community and everything to get it down to only two stories so that people's property wouldn't be devalued by their losing their views. I don't have a view, so it's not an issue for me, but it's an issue that we all went to bat for. Hundreds of people came and, you know, got this worked out that we would not have any three story buildings in that area. And I feel like it's a breach of trust to not have told anyone in any of the neighboring communities that this was gonna be happening, you know, and that there was there was a possibility of a three store building. The other thing from my personal vantage point is that the building doesn't look anything like the Strand Buildings.

It doesn't look like it belongs to that part of the neighborhood. It's a beautiful design, but it doesn't look to me like it belongs there because of the look of the Strand. It looked like it was looks like it was a beautiful design with the patio and everything that was plopped down across the street from something that doesn't look anything like the same character. So I have no objection to him building there. I'm not crazy about having more people move in. We didn't want, like, five or 600 people. We wanted okay. We'll live with 350 people being three blocks away. So it's gonna be maybe 50 people more. That's okay.

But it's like not three stories. It's like we we all agreed on that, you know, almost twenty years ago, that nobody wanted it. And now here it is, and we didn't get to hear about it in advance. We hear about it last week that this meeting was happening. Okay? So that doesn't feel fair. And we love Andy. He's wonderful. He's done a lot for our community. Hasn't got anything to do with him. It's got to do with height and no notification, no chance to come and talk about it. Okay? Thank you for listening. Appreciate it.

Appreciate it.

Good evening, commissioners. I'm Matt Brown. And, Andy's okay, I guess. But but I wanna talk about the project. And, you know, good planning looks forward. It looks to the future. It's responsive to market demands currently and in the future. This project, as I understand the codes, this project is, starts at the second level because the FEMA regulations have changed and new construction in the flood zone needs to build above the flood zone. So that's why we had this project starting on the 2nd Floor. The commercial demand, I'm a commercial real estate broker and have been for nearly forty years here in the county.

Commercial demand in these little areas that are out of the the main central business district suffer. And, when Andy told me that he was interested in this property, I said, dude, you build that building, you're gonna get killed. Who's gonna rent it? And so being responsive to those market influences, it makes absolute sense to make this residential. More people means more shoppers, means more vitality. And I, I certainly support this project. I think it's a good project, representative of good planning, really good architecture, and good work with the staff. So thank you very much. Appreciate your attention. Thank you.

Hi. Thank you for your opportunity to speak. My name is Brooksley Dixon. I'm here to express my strong support for Andy. Sorry. Our local grocer, local visionary, community organizer, local employer, someone I'm proud to call my dad. I'm really not crying. I just get really worked up when I speak in public, so I'm sorry. It's not my strength. It's his.

In his proposal to develop a mixed use residential complex at 25 Lock Loman Drive, I realized that we've changed this to not being a mixed use. However, as everybody has stated, it didn't make sense. If you drive downtown, all of our buildings are empty. The building that has sat there on the corner for years has been empty. I'm sorry that some people may not have heard about the changes.

However, it is not a different height. It's still 35 feet. I think it was stated earlier in the factual piece. There's a lot of miscommunication. One of those things that's not being miscommunicated is that his commitment to quality and service combined with style and beautiful spaces have been his foundation. He literally creates connection. I don't know how many of you have operating grocery experience, but there are so many rules. There are so many guidelines. There are so many things that we cannot disregard, and building isn't gonna be any different for him. This isn't his first building.

As he said, he built the store. He's built houses in the past. I have grown up watching him create. I think it is your job, and I know I'm out of time, but I would like to make this last point is that this building is about building more opportunity, more community, more aesthetically pleasing spaces. This is about this I believe, as elected leaders, your role is to listen to voices of our community, ensure that every concern is heard, and I guarantee you, he feels the same way.

At the same time, it is equally important to provide clarity and leadership when misinformation or misconceptions arise. Decisions should be guided by facts and data and long term interests of the city, not by fear or misunderstanding. Often when projects are introduced, a lack of clear information can lead to fear and unnecessary opposition. This not only wastes valuable resources but delays progress that benefits the entire community. And I understand people wanna say, but they aren't raising their checkbooks to help and be there when it comes time to these valuable resources that could be wasted.

Thank you very much.

We allow mis conceptions to dominate. Okay. I appreciate your time. I would like to make one last thing. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, commissioners. My name is John Mancini, and I've been a longtime resident of Loch Lomond and Peacock Gap. And I've watched what I called the bladed property that was the Bruno's market be transformed by Andy. I was so happy, and I think a lot of us were. I've known Andy for a long time.

The accolades that I've heard here tonight, I can only echo myself. I've appreciated Andy for, his passion and his desire to make things better. And, you know, he said a few things to me that have always stuck in my head. I walked in a store one day, and I I saw him trying something different. I you know, you walk in their store, they're always trying new things. And I said to Andy, I go, god, Andy, you're always changing this place. You know what he said to me? He goes, if I don't change and make things better, people are just gonna drive all the way down. They might as well just go to Safeway. I'm not disparaging Safeway, but when we walk into Andy's market, we feel like we're at home.

We feel like we're doing business with somebody that cares about us. And if I had to build a grocery store and I had the the money and Andy had the time, he'd be my guy. And you know what I would do? I'd say, Andy, have at it because I know it's gonna be a quality piece of architecture. It's gonna blend in.

Candidly, I was in opposition to the strand, only, not for the density issues, but I did not like the design. Of course, I formed my opinions when things were basically being, built, and I didn't like the strand at all. Now that I see the way the Strand has evolved, I walk my dog there almost every day. It's a terrific area. And I think what he's proposed, I think, listen, if there's any compassion with you guys at all, give this guy a chance. That's all I'm asking for.

Thank you. Thank you.

Hi. My name is Zin Bar, and I am a local resident across the street from Andy's Market. And oh, here are my notes. I wanna say, like many others said here, I love the shift that, our neighborhood ex in our area experienced with Andy's development and all the gifts, that he gave us, and I'm not gonna repeat what people said. We enjoy it regularly, and I appreciate it.

At the same time, I feel that city that that vision and planning on the city level is lacking. And I think Andy here is leading you, but I I think before before approving the pro the plan, you have to think a little deeper and a little farther into the distance. And my concern is twofold. Number one, regarding density. I know only 14 units, and I know you thought about about a lot of parking, but I think that's not where it ends.

If you talk to the San Pedro Road coalition, you'll hear a lot about the safety on the road. Is there any thinking about the safety on the road? Are we going to have to add more traffic lights? For example, exiting Marina Boulevard is dangerous as it is with that many more cars. It's going to increase.

So this is just one example of how we can't only think about this lot. We have to think of the bigger picture. If we're and I I realize we need more housing, and I support that, but it it seems like we need to think bigger if we are going to have more and I'm not an urban urban planner, and I want to ask you, if you're talking to an urban planning planner or planners when thinking about increasing the density of an area. Are you considering maybe adding or improving public transportation, which now is close to nonexistent? So these are things that are like, Andy, your plan may be great, but where's the city's vision?

So that's one thing. My second concern, and I know local businesses are struggling, and I acknowledge it. And, again, where is the city's vision trying to support them? And how can how can you, and maybe we as a community, say, we want to have services? My dentist and my cleaners were kicked out of there.

I love being able to walk there, and now it's gone. And we're going to add more people using the same road to get any services and to get to any service. So can we think of any way to increase the the ability that mixed use building will actually survive. I think that's called for. And I feel like this plan, the way it is right now, mean to the local residents means two things.

It's

I'll say, can you your time is up. Can you Yes.

Just this is increase in the in the density and the impact of the density and decrease in the ability to go get services. And so I ask you to help us residents strengthen our community by getting local services rather than sending me to Larkspur or Nevada to get anything but groceries.

Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening. My name is Michelle Dugan. I've lived in the Glenwood Peacock Gap area for about seventeen years. I'm also a small business owner. I'm here in support of the project. As far as going from mixed use to residential, q two twenty twenty five in San Rafael commercial occupancy was about 20%. Residential, the most recent figures, it's about 4%, and it is declining. We need housing. One of the ways we support our community with services is through revenue. That's how cities and counties are able to provide services.

Not only will there be property tax collected from each of the condos as it's sold and annually, there's a transfer tax when a property is sold. 50% of property tax goes to schools. Good schools build good communities. 12.2% of the San Rafael property taxes collected from the county and property tax, 12.2% goes to the city of San Rafael. We need those funds. As far as density goes, we are talking 14 units that are two and three bedrooms. I looked at the plans. I did a quick calculation, somewhere between forty and fifty people. That's not the 300 and something units of the Strand. I happen to have a master's in business.

That's where this is coming from. I also happen to have a master's in architecture and have a design firm. Congratulations on what looks like to be a transitional architecture that fits in with both some of the more modern places we have and some of the more traditional architecture. I don't love the architecture of The Strand. I feel like this fits in nicely. As far as community, community is important, safety is important. Residential areas tend to be more safe than commercial use. People care about where they live. Andy's built a community. We have a strong community in East San Rafael, and I think this only makes it stronger. Thank you.

Thank you.

Well done. Thank you, commissioners. My name is David Burbay. I'm a thirty three year resident of Peacock Gap. Obviously, we don't care much for Andy, frankly. But his projects are magnificent, and he does an amazing job. Having said that, my understanding today as I listen is that we're looking for a variance for mixed use to residential. That's the that's the issue that's before you today. Am I correct in that? So in my mind's view, it's pretty clear that we do not need any more mixed use in Somerville.

We have dozens and dozens of empty storefronts up and down 4th Street. We need residential. I raised two kids in this county. They've gone off to college, gone off lived somewhere else. And they say, hey, we want to come back, dad. Want to come back, they can't afford it. There's no housing. There's no stock anymore. We need to build housing. As far as the design review and what's going on to this process, I've known about this project.

People have known about this project. I'm not sure where the disconnect is, but what I see, what I've seen, to me, fits the neighborhood, fits the character of what we need to do. And the man at the helm, oh my god, he will never ever let you down. He knows how to make these things work. So I totally support this project. I ask you that you continue with the process and not hold it back any further. Twelve years is way too long to be holding this project back. Thank you. Thank you.

Good evening, members of the commission. My name is Riley Heard. I'm a direct neighbor and supporter of this project, but I'm also a land use attorney specializing in state housing laws. If this were an Andy popularity contest, we'd be out of here already, but we're here about the project. Okay? And there's been a big change since the original master plan, and that's state housing laws. And I've spoken here from this podium about them many times. We now use objective standards only. You have a new land use element that set a much higher density for this site. You could easily do 26 units here, Very simply, with 15% very low and 15% moderate.

So for once, I stand before you with a project with no waivers, not even coming close to the full allowable density bonus, a single concession and ample parking, this should be very refreshing for everyone who's in the room. There's no variances that are needed. The height fits. Storeys, two, three. It's the same height as what was approved, so that's an odd distinction.

Geotechnical issues are handled by the building department. They're not a design issue. CEQA, fifteen one sixty two applies, but so does fifteen one eighty three, which is tearing off of previous reviews. Loch Lomond was studied to the death. And residential has much lower trip production than commercial, much lower parking demand and the height is the same.

So it leaves us with the concession for the mixed use requirement. HCD has weighed in with absolute specificity that a concession under state density bonus law may be utilized for relief from commercial requirements. It is concluded. That is what is sought here. Not a waiver, not a variance. It's a concession. And the reason is, as the commercial broker said, there's no demand. We have no density out there. There is no support for those commercial uses. So I leave you with this.

Time kills all deals. Okay? There is no time for delay or continuances. Notice has been given. A lot of the comments tonight ignore the requirements under state housing law, and I would encourage you to approve this much needed residential project this evening. Thank you. Thank you.

Anyone else before we close it? Please come down.

Good evening, our city representatives, and all other interested parties too. I'd like to take a moment to perhaps entertain all of you. We are gathered here together to discuss a project here you see. It's a nice new building proposal by our citizen of the year, Andy. Now I think most will agree that Andy has already shown he's a community minded fellow as his grocery stores have grown.

He's already contributed thousands of dollars to our local schools and provided that his progressive vision for our community is a vital tool. Now, I realize there may be a few who do not agree with this plan, but I'd like to address the elephant issue that's actually the problem at hand. You'll agree that Andy's building will indeed add a few more cars to our main Point San Pedro corridor that to some could raise the stress level bar. But I sub submit to you that really, when one analyzes the facts, you'll agree as you'll be showing your complaints that you'll retract. Because the 29 or so new vehicles that might be driving down our road is equivalent to a fart in a windstorm when comparing the smart train traffic load.

The single biggest thing that our city needs to do is to fix the traffic nightmare caused by the ground level train station zoo. Our train our smart train is magnificent and is an asset long overdue, but us San Rafael residents feel that we were screwed. We expected that this traveling mode would enhance our city life, but being on the ground street level creates nothing but added strife. Get that station elevated, then your constituents will agree that even with some added vehicles, our roads will be congestion free. You'll also need to put on your thinking caps and figure out a way to better sequence the traffic lights.

And when you do, you'll hear hooray. In the meantime, we appreciate your efforts to help Andy through his dream to improve Loch Lomond while adding housing too. There are many here tonight that feel blessed to what Andy's done with his top notch grocery store right there and his soon to see apartment home run. Vote yes. Thank you.

Commissioners, hi. My name is Susan Arati. I'm a homeowner at The Strand. We all love Andy. I'm not going to sing a song or do a pose or tell you my history or that. We want him to be successful. We want this project to be successful. I am here to, I do have some concerns. The architect said that the footprint is identical to the previously approved, but there's no plans shown to support that. I have some safety and health concerns as well.

I think Steven pointed out a couple. I have a few myself. The commercial 22,500, I believe, was for the entire site. I also have concerns about the notification. I served on the board of the village association.

This lot is part of a master association in the village. And I don't believe Andy presented this to the village association because the board didn't know anything about it either. So his friends and people that go in there may know all about the project, but the village association who has jurisdiction over the entire place, a lot of the other homeowners associations didn't have proper notice. So I'm just wanting to point out, Andy, we would like to support you, include the village association, maybe even the Strand, show us what was originally planned and approved, what is changed it's three stories, not two it was two with a peaked roof, now it's three with a flat roof. Setbacks seem to be different to me, but I don't have the documentation that you do.

So if it is substantially the same as what was approved, and that is why you're not needing a new EIN, then maybe you could put those documentations up so that we could go, Okay, great. Now I see it. Now I see it's the same as before, just slightly more beautiful. And then we can get behind it, because I would really like to get behind it. Thank you.

Thank you. Alright. Last call. Okay. We are gonna close the public comment. Thank you, everybody. We'll bring it back. The way it works now is after public comment's done, we bring it back to the commission. We deliberate, maybe questions for staff, and then we see where it goes. So I'll bring it back if anybody wants to start with follow-up, initial thoughts, issues.

Otherwise, I'll just pick on you, and I'll make you do it in a poem.

Question to the staff through the chair. We've had a lot of, people talk about the noticing. Can you describe how the project was noticed and to the public? Thank you.

Yes. So this project was noticed based on our general noticing standards and policies as chapter 14.29 in our municipal code, which includes notice to property owners, residents, and associated HOAs within three hundred feet of the property. Those addresses are they come from county data that we rely on through our GIS. So if the data from the county is so reference to the previous HOA was in the county information, so that's where the notice did go to. Notice was posted on-site, fifteen days prior to the hearing in addition to a notice in the newspaper, a little bit more than fifteen days before the hearing.

K. So normal procedure. Thank you.

Good question. I have that too. Any other follow-up questions based after public comment? If not, add a couple. So there was also a lot of questions on the height consistency. Thank you for raising your hand. This is just for us to deliberate. There's no more public comment. Yeah. Thank you, though. So height consistency, I assume you have a lot of questions that I thought were fair questions too because I was kinda struggling. So can we just kinda clarify the the height that sort of originally contemplated and analyzed and sort of where the project is today? What's the difference? What's not? Maybe it's a design difference. I'm not an architect. So for me, the simplest way of explaining it would be great.

Yeah. So just to clarify, what was approved previously was a planned development permit, which is a zoning classification category that is specific to the project. And the the criteria and specifications about what was approved is fairly vague. So the language in the PD, it has general guidelines. It it like, we weren't looking at the level of detail of windows and doors and and treatment, so it does have a 35 foot height limit for that area.

Okay.

So the PD is at a higher level, and then this and once the site plans come in and specific plans, that's when you get into more of the detail.

Correct. So the the PD outlines general development standards. It's specific to the site. And to comment on, what one of the commenters brought up, typically, when we look at density bonus projects, as we've seen many, almost every single one has requested a height waiver. That is not the case. So we, we really could be seeing a lot higher development on the site.

And my understanding is because that's there's a standard and there's a waiver that was given, the limit we are very limited as to how we would not be able to approve that if it meets that criteria. Correct?

So the the 35 foot height limit for the PD is that that's the zoning standard for this portion of the site. Under state density bonus law, if they had requested additional height, we would likely be, you know, looking at approving that. Yep.

Oh, the PD high limit is thirty five?

Thirty five. Correct. Yeah.

Okay. In other words, it's it's within the high limit.

It complies with the PD.

Thank you.

Thank you. Anyone else in staff, were there any questions or comment raised by public that you felt like need to be addressed at this time? I know I'm putting you on the spot. We didn't. Those are the only ones that I that jumped out at me. I think everything else was already addressed through various presentations. So

Through the chair,

there were a couple other comments that we would like to clarify. So a geotechnical report will be required through the building permit process that will look at the structural engineering of the particular building. The proposed project has been evaluated by the fire department. Our typical development procedure is we have a more conceptual approval at the planning stage, and those details are refined through engineering and additional details in the building permit. So they'll be looking, through the building permit process, we'll ensure compliance. The fire department, fire marshal will evaluate for fire code. Our building department will evaluate for California building code, and planning will ensure compliance with what is approved at Planning Commission.

And then one more follow-up. Has DPW also looked at

it? Correct.

And as with specifically, I know there were some flood zone issues brought up. I did pull up the map. Actually, out of curiosity wise here, pulled up the flood map and the elevation. It's so close. I'm not terribly concerned about it. Not to mention that anything that is not habitable space does not have the same burden of being elevated above the floodplain storage garages. That's all okay.

Correct. And the lower

floor is parking and None

of that is required to be raised, just as a technical, thing to the rest of the board.

Yeah. Thank you. Okay. Those are my comments. I believe that were questions that I had in follow-up. So if we want to provide some initial feedback, I'll start on this side.

Alright. I'll start. I have spent a lot of time in that area. My mom has worked in the existing building. She's worked in the dental office. Before the dental office, there was a travel agency back in the eighties, late seventies. She worked for both dentist offices. So I'm very familiar with the area. I grew up in Glenwood. I spent a lot of time up in that area as a kid down at Loch Lomond.

I too have have said well before I ever became a commissioner so that Andy has Andy and Troy have built a community down there, and I I fully expect that this is just part of that community. They've done an amazing job down there. Speaking to Andy's personal status, he's loved by everybody, but but he's really done a great thing for the city in that area, and I I can't see a reason to not want this. Thank you.

Yeah. I was concerned initially when I read all of the reports about the use changing from mixed use to residential. But from what I'm hearing tonight, for the most part, it doesn't look like there's a market for any commercial business in that area. And I would do wanna remind those that have brought that up is that it's a concession under the state density bonus law, so that is a given. And I like the design. I too spend a lot of time out there with my dog, and I have relatives that live in the area, and they live in Mid Mid century home that looks like your building. So I think it's a good project. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks. Hello? Okay. I think it's, you know, I think the the change from mixed use I mean, things have changed in the last fifteen, twenty years, and I think we have to respond to what the community needs now. And I don't think the community needs a mixed use building at this site. It's been proven in other communities with all the vacancies. Even in new buildings, they can't rent the spaces to make it pencil. So it doesn't make any sense, especially when we need this housing. So, that's my feeling on that subject. The Hyatt, I think we've buried it out.

It's essentially it is the same footprint, by the way. He did include the former footprint in the documents and and this new building. It is very close to the same footprint. So to call that concern, flood zone, we just talked about this. But back to Andy, I mean, he's done the right thing all the time. You know? But speaking to the project, I think it's really well designed. I think you've hired a great architect. I like the way it fits in. I like the elements he's he's proposed.

I think it's gonna be a nice addition. I think that some of these residences that are and some of the some of these single story residences across the way and I know over in the cove I mean, physically, as the crow flies, we're pretty darn far away. This isn't some building that's right on top of you. And it's 35 feet high, which isn't much higher than a typical residential zoning code. You know?

A single family house can be up to 30 feet in this town. So this building at 35 feet, but it's hundreds of feet away from you, I don't think it's gonna have some big massive, impact on you. And then as the last cautionary tale from the from the attorney who spoke, if this doesn't work for Andy and he bails out of it, you know, I'd be really concerned someone's gonna come in here and put a 26 unit, six story building in this site and have you not be able to say anything about it at all. And that is a big risk because that's what's happening all over town. I think you guys are fortunate by having this building here versus him giving up and getting something far, far more impactful to you that you will not be able to say a word about with a clever developer.

This guy is doing the right thing.

Thank you.

Good day, everyone. So I have the opportunity to review their report. And as a visionary and urban planning designer, I saw the, and I support, really, the methodology about, innovations with the superblock. And I see and I reviewed this block, and I see that I saw the, different areas, the picture, and include housing in that space. We keep that alive, what is important as well.

And I see that there are no waivers, and it complete with all of the codes as I review. And I really support the project, and I see this as well because, I mean, I there is schools at different areas and services. And 14 units is nothing for that space and easily can be approved. So and I see I saw as well as a a visionary in our plan. So this

is in

a faster road in that place. It's in the other side of some housing and neighbors as well saying, I I see that I saw that you are supportive for a lot of the community. My unique suggestion is just to connect more with them because I see that all of are supporting it. And this project, I I think it would be great for that space.

Thank you. Alright. I'll I'll wrap it up because everybody's been here. It's getting late. Thank you, everyone. I appreciate all the comments tonight, the poem as well. That's the first for me in a very twenty years off Nandini in various capacities. So that one, I'm excited about. But I I think I'll highlight sort of what we all said. Agree. Think it's a great project. Good job. You it's exactly what this needs in the area. It's a good adjustment. It's what the state's requiring. It's what HCD is pushing. Right? Retail isn't working, bringing housing. I think you're a good great community leader. What I've heard is maybe this notice issue with the HOA and the neighbors.

That's not our purview. The city complied. The projects complied, so that's good. Keep it in mind going forward through the building phase, all of that. That's your job. Really work with those neighbors as I know you do. So that standpoint, I think, is there. I think the design is is good. I think this is an interesting change for this area, and I think that's part of the tension. Right? Usually, I would say there was a comment about the frustrations of the traffic and so forth, but first time ever, I can say there was a poem that highlights the frustrations we have of the infrastructure issue. Well, that's not the project requirement. That's that's us. And so we hear that. But I don't think the project's gonna impact that in any way.

So from my standpoint, I think we can make all the findings. I think it's a good project going forward. I'm excited for it. And so on that note, if we want to make a motion, we can. I do know that we have couple of changes with the new condition that was added tonight, so let's be mindful how we make that motion so we get it right for staff. Staff, would you like to guide us into that motion?

Staff's recommendation is that the Planning Commission adopt the resolution as amended and supplemented by condition of approval 97 presented this evening and the affordable housing agreement added to the agenda packet.

Thank you. Any commissioners want to go for it?

Try. Okay. So I make a motion to approve a major environmental and design review permit and tentative map to to construct a 14 unit residential development project with a density bonus request, and including the draft condition of approval 97 that clarifies the maximum sale price for the low income affordable housing unit as well as an amendment to the affordable housing agreement as an exhibit to, to the agreement. Thank you.

K. Well, I think we have that for staff. Clear direction on that motion?

Thank you.

We'll take a second from anybody. I will second that. Thank you. We have a motion and a second, so we'll take a vote.

Commissioner Alvarez? Yes. Commissioner Summers? Yes. Commissioner Rodney? Yes. Commissioner Salvini?

Sorry.

Yes. Chair Mercado? Yes. Motion passes unanimously.

Thank you.

I

just wanna thank you guys, and I'll make you proud.

Thank Thank you.

I will tell you one last story. It took me twenty years to build a house in San Selmo, and I fought the neighborhood. And when I was finished, they said, Andy, that's the most beautiful house in San Selmo. And I said, yeah.

But you killed me for twenty years. Thanks, Andy.

Thank you, guys. Alright.

Good night. Chair Mercado?

Yes.

If you could read the appeal language into the record, that would be advisable, mister.

So required to read into the language. Any interested party can appeal this decision of the planning commission within five working days before filing a cover form. If you could please go outside. Thank you. I'm gonna start over so it's clear that it's on the record.

Any interested party can appeal the decision of planning commission within five working days of filing a cover form letter stating the reason of the appeal and the corresponding fee. Please contact the planning manager for more information. Alright. I think if you can hear us, we can hear you. We wanna go to the planning.

The hearing is gonna there's the planning commission meeting will continue, so you can sit down and enjoy the next item or take the conversation outside. Thank you. We're still thank you. It's alright. Okay.

We will now move on to the director's report to a very full house.

Thank you. I'll provide the summary this evening. This item is the annual meeting of the planning commission, which includes the adoption of the regular calendar for 2026 along with the selection of the planning commission chair and vice chair and approval of the oh, we don't think we have the approval of the hearing deadlines that we did we don't do we need to do update that? I don't think so. That wasn't part of this.

My apologies. The staff report, apologies for for the little bit late notice on that, but is distributed on the dais this evening and has the recommended hearing dates for 2026. We coordinated with the city manager's office to ensure that we're meeting all required, protocol regarding city council dates, hearing, issues with holidays, and are recommending the only modification being the cancellation of the December 22 hearing in anticipation of light attendance before the holiday. We do have one just notification of a potential special meeting on January 6, and we will, circle back if when we have more information about that date. And before I go on to the election of the officers, are there any questions about the calendar?

Through the chair, if I just have one clarification, and this is just recognizing with some of the new state laws that are in place, there's some real target timelines. And, really, what Christina kinda alluded to, we, by law, have to actually schedule a hearing within thirty days and when certain trigger points are made. So there may be a need to actually, host a special planning commission meeting in order to meet those, legal requirements. So I just wanna give a heads up to the planning commission. This is a regularly adopted, regular calendar schedule for the planning commission, but there may be times where we actually need to pull for, availability for a special planning commission meeting. So

Thank you. Any questions on the potential dates?

If we had it January 6, would we then not have one

on the thirteenth? We will likely have one on the thirteenth. So we have several projects that are under various state laws that have very specific timelines. So we are waiting. And, as soon as we we know, we'll be communicating where those dates are gonna fall.

Is is the potential Jan six meeting, the Erwin Street?

There are multiple projects that are falling within that timeline. So, once those are confirmed, then we'll set those dates. But as I said, there are certain threshold triggers that need to be met and that those dates come into play, if that's the case. Essentially some big projects. That's correct.

Alright. If there are no additional questions, then we'll move on to the election of the officers. The chapter two, section seven of the board's commissions and committees rules and procedures outlines that the Planning Commission annually conduct a meeting to select the officers. There's a rotating criteria based on the seniority or and tenure of service. In table one, we've provided a summary of the the tenure for the existing commissioners.

Based on the right rotation criteria, the, commissioner Rodney, who served as vice chair in 2025, is next in line to serve as chair. And for vice chair, next up is commissioner Summers. And in, the the next action would be for the Planning Commission to consider taking a motion on the chair and vice chair.

Do you want to defend yourself and oppose that motion?

No. I make a motion that we approve, commissioner Rodney as the chair for 2026, commissioner Summers as vice chair. I'll second.

Commissioner Alvarez? Yes. Commissioner Summers?

Yes.

Commissioner Radby? Yes. Commissioner Salvini? Yes. Chair Mercado?

Oh, yeah.

Motion passes enthusiastically and unanimously. Do had a

poem, I'd bring it up.

Do we need a separate motion for the calendar?

I no. I think it was incorporated. I think it's fine. Yeah. Alright. So that brings that. Commission communications. Anybody got any gossip? You gotta explain why a guy came up to the podium in the middle of the hearing? No? Okay. It's getting late. No updates there. Any other updates from staff before we adjourn? No? Great. Okay. This meeting is adjourned, and we'll see you next year.