Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Rim absent. Commissioner Jolof here. Commissioner Reading here. Commissioner Simmons

here. Commissioner Thompson here. Student Commissioner Wyn absent. Student Commissioner Parish. Thank you. Commissioners, you've been provided with the minutes from our uh meeting that was held on February 17th, 2026. If there are no changes, can we hear a motion to approve?

I'll make the motion. Thank you, Commissioner Thompson. I get a second. Second.

Thank you, Commissioner. We have a motion and a second. Please mark all in favor. Cast your boat. I should say lock your boat. The motion has been moved and seconded and passed unanimously. Um, Miss Chow, do you have any changes to tonight's agenda?

Good evening, Chair Deesus. Uh, no, no changes tonight. Thank you.

Thank you. The next item on the agenda is oral communication. This is the time the commission sets aside for members of the public to address the commission on items that are not on our agenda. Do we have any speaker slips? No. No speaker slips. So, we'll move on. Are there any exparte disclosures communications from the commissioners? Okay. Then we'll move on to our first public hearing. Some protocol to review for tonight's meeting. Staff will make a presentation followed by applicants presentation if any. Then the commissioner commissioners will have a chance to ask questions of the staff and applicant. Then I will open the public hearing for comments from the public. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the commission. Please make sure to fill out a speaker slip. Then I will close the public hearing and we'll have a commission discussion and motion will be made concerning the project. Can we have the staff presentation, please? This is item PH1-P25-0117. Thank you, chair. Um, good evening. The public item before you tonight is a site development plan to construct a 141 unit apartment building located at 1070 South Santa Fe Avenue. Project planning case number is P25-0117. Some information about the project site and surrounding uses. The project site is 2.38 acre located north of South Santa Fe Avenue. The site access is from San uh South Santa Fe Avenue. The side

topography generally slopes from north to south from a peak of 475 ft down to 395 ft and has approximately 80 ft of elevation drop across the site. The site was the project site was previously developed with a two-story commercial office building. The building was demolished in September 2025. There are still some remaining improvements on the site, including a building pad, the rear building wall, surface parking, and drive aisles. These improvements would be used for the proposed project. Surrounding uses uh include auto sales from on the east and west of the project site. From the north of the project site is uh single family residential. On the south of project site is a uh trailer and vehicle storage yard. Southwest of the project site is commercial uses includes some uh restaurants, personal services, uh offices and down a little bit south uh on Postaway is uh grocery store uh Alvesino Market. Further west is more commercials and Vista of the post office. The general plan land use destination for this site is mixed use and the zoning for the project site is downtown Vista specific plan South Gateway District also mixed use 30 units per acre. Project summary. The project is a site development plan to develop a 141 unit apartment building inclusive of 22 affordable units on a 2.38

acre site. The project would include uh 26 studio 51bedroom 65 two-bedroom floor plans from 480 ft to 910 ft². There would be 11 very lowincome units including two studio, four one-bedroom and five two-bedroom units. There would also be 11 moderate income units including two studio, four one-bedroom and two twob um and five two-bedroom units. Proposed improvements include a five-story building with associated site improvements, including cover and uncover parking, landscaping, and open spay amenities. There will be two vehicle driveways along South Santa Fe Avenue. Open spay amenities would include two podium decks, dog park, and rooftop deck. The project would generate A46 daily trips. Um on staff report there was a typo that say A64, but it's actually A46 per the traffic assessment including 68 trips during the morning peak hour and 76 trips during the evening peak hour. Applicable law for this project is the state densities bonus law. The projects qualify for 100% density bonus pursuant to state law. Maximum allowable density per downtown Vista specific plan is 71 units which is 30 units per acre. The proposed density is 141 units which is 59 units per acre by providing an allocation of 15% which is 11 units for very lowincome

households. AB 1287 allows for a density bonus of 50% or 36 additional units and on top of that by providing an allocation of 15% which is 11 units for moderate income households AB1287 allows for an additional 50% density bonus or 36 additional units. The project qualify for four concessions and unlimited waiverss. Density bonus parking requirements is uh half a space per unit for sites within half a mile from transit center. The project site is within half a mile from a transit center uh which is the uh sprinter station off of civic center. So their required parking space is uh 71 spaces and the project proposed 165 spaces. The density bonus concessions are as follow. First is to reduce the front yard setback to 1 foot7 inches. Downtown Vista specific plan requires for 15 ft. Second is to reduce the minimum open space to 13,554 ft. The downtown plan required 28,200 ft. Third is to increase the building height to 67 feet. The downtown plan allows for maximum 45 ft. And fourth is to reduce minimum parking spaces dimensions to 9 by 18 ft. Bista development code uh require minimum of 9 by 19 ft. Density bonus waiverss request are as follow. First is to reduce the garage parking aisles width to 24 feet. Vista

development code required for 32 feet. Second is to eliminate minimum building step back. Downtown Vista specific plan require 10 ft step back above the third floor. And third is to eliminate the loading space. Uh downtown Vista development code require one one loadings pay per 25 parking spaces under the state and city bones in the law. Concessions and waiver of any development standards must be granted so that the project may achieve the proposed density. So this is the site plan. Um I put some color analysis on so it's easier to to uh look at. So the orange line is the building footprint representing the where the building would be. The purple lines, the purple arrows uh represent the vehicle uh circulation. So vehicular access to the site would continue to be provided by two existing driveways that are located on the east and west end of the project site along South Santa Fe Avenue. On-site circulation would be provided by a 20 foot wide drive aisle around the proposed apartment building and provide access to the exterior parking spaces and the po and to the proposed garage parking b uh garage parking garage located on the eastern side of the building. There are two pedestrian entrances to the building. One is through the building lobby at the western end of the building and there's another pedestrian entrance on the eastern side of the building. The yellow rectangle on the bottom right of the site plan is the location of the

bus stop that is right next to the project site. There would be 165 parking spaces, one 103 spaces would be in the garage. Uh 24 cover parking spaces and 38 open parking spaces. This is the first floor plan which is the parking garage. There is one staircase and one elevator on each side of the building. The trash enclosure and dock part are located on the west side of the building and the mail room can be accessed from the garage. The second floor plan includes 35 units, two amenity decks, a fitness center, and a lounge room. The affordable units are identifying the floor plan. Um, AFM stand for moderate income affordable units and AFVL stand for very low in very low income affordable units. The third and fourth floor are identical with 37 units on each floor and the affordable units are also provided on this on these two floors. The fifth floor includes 34 units including the affordable units and a roof deck on the southwest corner of the floor plan. There are seven types of floor plan proposed for throughout the project building uh ranging from 480 ft to 910 ft². There are two studio floor plans,

two one bed, one bath floor plan and three two bed, two bath floor plans. This is the landscape plan. Uh downtown Vista specific plan require 5% of the site to be landscape. The proposed 36% uh of landscaping, 13% would be uh landscaping and 24% would be the natural slope at the northern side and this natural slope would be remain undisturbed. And there would be some shrub around the building and around the at the side perimeter there would be some trees at the back and at the front of the building. There are four main common open spaces. The two decks are located on the second floor. The first amenity deck includes some outdoor seating, outdoor dining areas, barbecue island, outdoor TV. The second second amenity area is uh includes some fire pits, game tables, recreational areas, some more outdoor dining, outdoor seating. The third amenity is the dock part that is on the ground floor and the fourth area is the roof deck on the fifth floor. This is the uh perspective rendering for architecture. Um at the front, this is the front of the building looking from South Santa Fe Avenue. The proposed building architecture design as contemporary modern articulated with varied building faces, decks, windows, and a blend of exterior stuckle colors. The project design incorporated a pronouns base at the ground floor level to create a separate story using

alternate colors and a stone accent material. The roof lies enhanced by parapets with detailed trim and cornises that create distinctive architectural character. The primary entrance for the building is defined by a tower element creating a sense of prominence. The two podium courtyards on the second floor are to break up the street facing facade preventing continuous frontage and also provide some visual relief uh along the street frontage. Here are some additional perspective renderings and um the collar and material board. These are the architectural elevation drawings. The building height varies due to the slice low by gray and parapet angles. But per the definition of building height of vista development code, the building height is 67 ft measure from the grade uh the average grade to highest point of the building. General plan consistency the uh general plan land use destination is mixed use which allow for multifamily residential the density conformmed with general plan downtown Vista specific plan and state density bonus law density uh design qualities and revitalization. The project design would enhance the South Santa Fe corridor and the project would increase overall housing supply for Vista diverse needs. Zoning conformance and objective design standards. The project would be consistent with the downtown Vista specific plan, South Gateway development standards such as minimum drilling size, minimum landscape area except for the

concessions and waiverss allowed under the state NC bonus law. The project would comply with the city's objective design standards for site design, access, and building design. Early design review topics. The project was presented to the planning commission in June 17, 2025. And these are the four main uh comments from planning commission. First is the building setback. Planning commission recommended the building to be set back to not be like right at the front of the the the project site. Uh a concession is being requested to wave the front step back requirement along the ground floor. of the buildings incorporates multiple setbacks that provide visual relief and variation along the frontage. The distance from the property line range from 1 1' 7 in to 7 ft 10 in. Second plan commission requests some uh shaded street trees. The applicant has added nine street trees along the front edge of the building between the street and the pedestrian path. The planning commission also comment on the structural support poles um at the back of the building. Um and the structural support on the rear side of the building has been incorporated into the design of the building. Fourth is planning commission also uh recommended the the uh top two or three floors would be step back. A waivers's bill request is to wave the required step back above the third floor. The two podium courtyards on the second the second floor are to break up the street facing facade preventing continuous frontage and providing articulation and visual relief along the street frontage. Environmental review. The project is

exempt from environmental review under California Environmental Quality Act SQUA in accordance with section 15332 infield development projects. The proposed project meets the following five infield conditions of class 32 exemptions. A it would be consistent with the applicable designations and policy of the city general plan and zoning ordinance. B. It would be developed with city limits on a site no more than 5 acres that is substantially surrounded by urban uses. C. The project site does not contain any habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species. D. Approval of project would not result in significant effects related to traffic, noise, air quality or water quality. And E, this site can be served by all require public utility and services. Staff recommendation is to adopt resolution 2026 approving a site development plan to construct a 141 unit apartment building inclusive of 22 affordable units on a 2.38 acre site with associate parking, landscaping, and site improvements located at 1070 South Santa Fe Avenue. And that concludes staff report uh for this public hearing. Um uh staff is here to answer any question. The applicants is also here to answer any question and they would also have their own presentation.

Thank you Daisy. That was a comprehensive presentation. We appreciate that. Um do we have any questions from the commissioners for staff? Not for staff. Do you have any questions?

Of course. Okay. I will now open the uh public hearing. Um do we have anybody from the public? Ches I believe the applicant has a presentation and if they we'll put the presentation up and they can come up and do that. Thank you.

Thank you. Hi, good evening. John Reing with Ambient Communities. My present. How do I get it back? Well, it's good to be here again. Um, I also have our design team and planning team here with me tonight, uh, in case the commission has any technical questions. Um, but first, thanks to Daisy and city staff for giving a very comprehensive, uh, overview, which has already covered a lot of the salient material. So, I'll focus my presentation on the key planning and design elements of the project. There might be a slide that I'll just skip over, but uh, this is this is about 10 minutes. These are the current pictures of the site showing the perimeter construction fencing along South Santa Fe. The current site at 1070 South Santa Fe was demolished in late 2025 down to the foundation and existing retaining wall. As a point of reference, in 2024, the city approved a prior project for the site which included the adaptive reuse of the prior two-story office building for a total of 96 multifamily units. And after the approval of the prior project, the combination of inflated construction costs, increased finan uh financing

costs, and changes in state law led ambient communities to withdraw the prior application and redesign the project in the beginning of 2025. So, after three years of collaborative efforts with the city of Vista, we're very excited to present the current plans for 1070 South Santa Fe, which will further the goals and objectives of the city's general plan 2050. And Daisy covered a lot of this in her presentation, but I'll just uh quote the general plan 2050. South Santa Fe Avenue's proximity to key employment centers, schools, and transit services, including the Sprinter Rail Line, makes it an ideal location for higher density residential and mixeduse projects that support transit oriented development. Increased density would leverage the corridor's strategic location, creating opportunities for mid to high-rise residential developments that provide housing options for diverse household types while reducing the need for automobile reliance. End quote. So, we feel that the redesign of CASera embodies this statement and furthers the city's desire for higher density within the South Santa Fe corridor. I'm going to skip this slide because Daisy already covered this so well and uh went through what the planning commission's comments were uh back in June 2025. So, I'll just recap over the course what what we've been working on. I think five or six uh plan review cycles. Daisy, over the course of the last year, we worked with our architectural team who are here today and city staff to address each one of the planning commission's comments. We added additional street

trees and planters along South Santa Fe. The ultimate spacing of these trees, however, is dictated by your city's vegetation ordinance and is at the discretion of your fire marshal who worked closely with us to ensure that all vegetation meets the city's zone zero guidelines. Uh secondly, as you can see in the rendering, we stepped back the building footprint along South Santa Fe, breaking up the massing through setback variation, materials, and architectural facade treatment. Uh the top level of the building was completely redesigned to address uh uh some of the other comments. Uh, and we added an architectural uh pediment and um uh some crown molding and uh um and there was a um a rooftop deck that uh I'll show you in a second that was added at the northwest corner varying the the mass uh and we also varied the the building massing uh to completely break up the roof line. And then lastly, uh there was a there was a commission comment about the rear of the building uh that we we took to heart and we we agreed and so the rear facade was redesigned to maximize the tuck under parking and it also incorporated the exterior structure into the facade which ties together with the rooftop pediment. On the left is the 2025 version and then the on uh the right is the 2026 version. So, these are the conceptual colors and materials. Daisy went over these uh very well in in in a lot of detail, but as you can see, we chose a combination of earth tones, and lighter colored vertical massing to break up the look

along the street. So it, you know, it culminates into a combination of materials, colors, massing, setback variations, and landscaping to create a very inviting pedestrian scale along the streetscape. So as you can see in the table on the right hand side, the proposed projects is 141 units, including 22 affordable units. The proposed project uh is a mix of studios, ones, and two-bedroom units ranging in size from approximately 480 ft to a maximum of 910 ft. Uh the this configuration of unit size and type is in line with the demographics of the Vista subm market. This averages out to 708 square feet per unit and works out to just under 60 units per acre on on about 2.4 gross acres. Um, and the pro the project also proposes 166 on-site parking spaces in a combination of surface and podium garage parking areas. U, for reference, the prior project that was approved in 2024 was 96 units. It had 77 parking spaces and it resulted in a parking ratio of8 spaces per unit. So now we're going to a parking ratio of 1.2 which is uh about a 50% increase. It's also an increase above the uh uh the state law requirements. Uh staff touched on the open space requirements. I just want to point out uh the proposed project when you uh compare the requirements to the private open space and passive open space um you

end up with a net surplus of uh of 12,000 square ft. It's not all it it's not all apples to to apples, but it shows that, you know, we're we're we're doing a uh we're doing a very creative job in in in providing a lot of of of um uh open private open space and passive open space areas. So this is a picture of the existing condition along the street on the left and then you have the proposed uh condition of our our streetscape on the right. Um the landscape buffer on the right hand side between the building and the sidewalk extends out 5T from the edge of the building facade and the sidewalk extends out another 5t and traverses under the street tree canopies. The street trees are planted 10 feet from the building edge and the canopies um are required by fire code to be five feet clear from the building. So this is all the zone zero stuff. The fire code also requires the tree canopies to be separated from 10 feet uh 10 ft from tree to tree. So I'm I'm saying all this because we we love landscaping. We love making our projects uh green around the around the edges and there's parameters that we have to work within and uh these are very important safety requirements that uh that we reviewed with the fire marshall. Um so you can also see that there's on-site parking, there's a bike lane, and there's additional pedestrian buffer. So this is a this is a a a very very good um diagram of a complete street um along the edge of the project. As you can see in the top

uh rendering the building is designed to vary in massing and height set back in color and material. And I'll add that the 40 over1 podium um if you look at the general plan update 2050 uh it's consistent with the height and character of the renderings that are proposed for for the South Santa Fe corridor. Um in the bottom site plan you can see how we incorporate the existing grade atgrade surface parking around the edge of the site with a new surface level podium garage. This combination created the most efficient and cost-effective parking um arrangement or configuration for the site and allowed us to reduce grading and preserve the back half of the site. On the top level of the building facing to the west, we added a beautiful 600 square ft rooftop amenity for residents to enjoy. And as you can see, our architect captured an amazing view from the top of the project, capping off the most prominent corner. And uh that and this would create a place that is uh fantastic, a place where somebody can go up and enjoy a cup of coffee and take in the incredible views and catch the sunset over the Pacific Ocean. On the second level, the project contains two amenity deck areas as as Daisy mentioned. Um each one is over 2,000 square ft and would contain outdoor furniture, shade covers, fire pits, and barbecues. And in total, there's 7,400 square ft of common area amenities, which is an increase over uh it's an increase of 500 square ft to the original EDR application.

And we we also look at the success of our projects are are contingent on the lifestyle that we create. And we we do this through highquality amenities and a and a very amenitized uh project for residents to live in. Um and here are some conceptual ideas for incorporating outdoor lounge areas and fire pits. Here you get an idea of a conceptual um type of outdoor furniture and recreation areas. As I mentioned earlier, there's over 7,000 square ft of common area amenity space um including a 1,000 square foot fitness center uh with red light sauna that connects to the outdoor podium deck. There is a 630 square foot uh resident lounge, a 500 foot co-work area, a 600 foot rooftop deck, and a 350 ft dog park area. This is a conceptual design of the entry area and the attached co-working spaces. This is a conceptual design of one of the shared co-working spaces. And these are uh conceptual renderings of the fitness space on the top left. The arrival area on the on the bottom left. That's the arrival area from the garage. Um the top right is uh a a concept rendering of a co-working conference room and uh on the bottom right some of the co the common area workspaces. And this concludes our presentation and we thank the planning commission for

giving us the opportunity to be part of the city of Vista downtown specific plan. Um, I'll sit back down and be available for questions. And our team is here as well to be available for questions. So, thank you very much. Thank you. I'd

like to call on the commissioners for for discussion. Is that a is that order for is that right to be in order? Okay, good. I just want to make sure I'm open the public hearing. So, I will open the public hearing and if we have any speakers. Do we have any speakers tonight? No. Okay. Then the public hearing is closed. And I'm opening the for commissioner discussion. If you'd like to speak, just press your speaker button. Commissioner Jolith.

Uh, thank you to staff for the report and thank you to the developer for for your presentation. Um, I did get to see this development in the early design review and I appreciate that. I appreciate the collaboration that you've done um with staff and with fire department so we could get our street trees. I'm a homeowner so I'm aware of zone zone zero. That's important. We want to stay safe. Um, so thank you for the street trees. I think you've put a lot of thought into the amenities. I like the layouts of the units. They seem very sensible. Um, it it looks like a really nice place to live. I have one little item and it has to do with the lighting that is on um the shared space on the second floor where the lighting is um installed at the north end. Um it appears to be in the center of the two private balconies of those apartments. Do we have that? It could be like E 1.2A or 1.3A. Yeah. So, the apartments at the top on each of these balconies, there's a light that's posted in between. And so, I'm just concerned about whether that light might come into their apartments and if we can shield that. Um, I can have um the architect of the project um clarify to see how high the lighting is and if there's any um shielding for the lighting. Um so yeah, if I can have uh the architect clarify that.

Hi, good evening. Damian Titano Zoom Architecture. Um, so I understand your concern that light would be probably placed I'll call I'll call it 12 ft above the the pad or above the the podium area. So it would be shooting out from the building. So therefore it would go there's the requirement for one foot candle for every space that's in that podium deck.

So it would go into their private patio because those corners actually are some private patios and then it goes to the common patio. So it would go to that but it wouldn't invert back into the building because there's the face of the building and so it would be about 4 feet above there. Say there's a sophet into that c into that window and into that element. It would only be heading towards that. Now what potentially is you're saying it would be coming into the units from the opposite side but I don't think that that's any different than any other kind of common lighting for a multif family project. So I don't think that this condition is anything unique or different than and it and it wouldn't be going inside the unit directly for for the units directly below it in my opinion. If we need to shield it in any way if it does become a problem we can easily do that. But I I think that it actually sits flush above the set and only points out.

Okay. Yeah, that's my only concern. Um you know sleep is important, right? The bedroom's next to the private patio, isn't it? Yep. And and so we wouldn't want light going in there and keeping people awake. Yeah, absolutely. Um and if uh again, we will definitely study the patterns of it. And if we need to relocate that so that it it doesn't have that conflict, we just have to make sure that there's one foot candle throughout the whole patio. So, or throughout the whole deck so we can Yeah. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Um and and great work. Thank you,

Commissioner Thompson. I was really happy to see the shade trees. I think it's going to be really nice to walk there. And it did seem like you really tried to incorporate all the previous um commissioners comments. And it's nice that there's going to be more balconies, too. That looks really good. So, I overall I'm really excited for the project and I drove by and I think it'll definitely lift up the community there. Thank you, Commissioner Simmons. Hello. Hello. I have several questions, so sit tight. Uh, okay. So, the first one I have is, and I'm glad the there's some fire here, too. Um, for the third story setback waiver, I believe it's waiver. uh what safety measures are or is there any safety concern because there's a setback for uh safety reasons and that's why the city has that standard and I'm just wondering what if any um safety issues might come back from minimizing that setback for it was from the third floor up correct

setback right uh oh a step one of the waiver would the the step back above the third floor which mean that downtown specific plan would require a 10 ft step back at the fourth floor coming and up. Thank you. I read it as setback. Yeah. And uh no wonder you had a weird look on your face.

That makes sense. Okay. Uh my second question, um thank you for I actually want to make a comment really quick. I love this project. I think that area really is going to benefit from it. It's going to elevate the area and it's just um I I think it's perfect for for what we need. Um when it comes to parking, are there going to be any assigned spots or is it all free parking? All assigned

is it all assigned and then which uh so each unit would have an assigned spot and there'd be some additionals. Okay, thank you. Um my next question is there's quite a bit of open space in the back that's um there's quite a bit of space that's going to be landscaped in the back of the building if if I'm correct. Is that right? The hillside.

It it's a large hub. Okay, thank you. Uh the la last but not least, we have the reduced parking uh because of the density bonus. And I, you know, I'm sure this comes up, I know it comes up all the time, just you know, parking and safety. and I do appreciate that you are going above what is required of you for the additional spots. Um, however, in order I wanted to take a deep dive into this regarding the half mile and for somebody to actually reach within a half mile of that transit center, they would actually have to trespass on private property. So, I just wanted to get into that a little bit to see, you know, for at least from the staff perspective. Um, I did a little deep dive and uh you would know more. That's why I'm asking you, but some information that I came across is that under the no obstructed access as it relates to California density bonus law and parking reductions does not include the ability to trespass. And there have actually been um ordinances in place in certain cities that have you know further defined the no unobstru unobstructed access and you know as a community member we I feel that we're all swallowing the the state's requirements of us and I

understand that there's ramifications for if we don't, but I wanted to uh put on record that I and I'm not sure what the process would be, but the city is being forced this the people that have to live here and the future residents of this of this project are not technically a half mile by the major transit center. There's going to be limited parking. I know people are going to be on the street uh parking along the street. And how can we have the city really work with the obstructed access aspect of this density law to ensure that residents and future residents of this lovely community that they're building really actually fall within that half mile without having to trespass or be in a dangerous position in order to access that public transit. Paty, I'll I'll go ahead and respond. Amanda Guy, assistant city attorney for the city of Vista. So, under state density bonus law, um the definition I had provided to you previously spoke to the fact that it's judged by as the crow flies essentially. So, it's one point on the property for the major transit stop and one point on the property for the proposed project. So, I just want to clarify that's how it's defined and applied under state tensity bonus law. It is correct that there needs to be quote unquote unobstructed access in the staff report on page 11 of 187 under traffic impacts. This statement is included that the walking route from the project site to

the station is without discontinuity of sidewalk or obstructions which would make the ability to walk traverse this route easy and convenient. So I would ask perhaps the applicant to elaborate on that because that's based on the traffic report and their assessment. So I would recommend that they provide maybe some additional commentary on whether there's obstructions or not. uh if they're going off assuming they're going off the route that would be reasonable for somebody to take between that location and the um the sprinter station then that is over.5 miles

that they don't have to be one and the same. So the definition that is used to judge whether it is within 0.5 miles is as the crow flies. But whether something provides unobstructed access is not judging it. It can be longer than 0.5 miles. Okay. Commissioner Reading.

Good evening. Thank you, staff, and thank you for the presentation. Also, my question is concerning the differences between the EV ready and the EV charging um spots that are in the garage itself. What is the general definition is it of the EV chargers? Will there be chargers in place? And for EV ready, is it just outlets for each of those assigned spots? Um, if I can have the applicants um to clarify on the definition of um the EV spaces.

Okay. Um I can tell you right now that every entitled project I have is already out of date. So we're constantly chasing the building code. So we haven't submitted for building code yet, but when we submit for building code, then we will comply with whatever the current standards are. Um my understanding is they've eliminated um how is this they've changed the percentages and they've increased the amount of um ready spaces which is receptacle doesn't actually provide a charger but it's receptacle in a significant number but then there's also provided chargers. I can't give you I I it might be in this package and I'll look at it of with whether or not we've documented it but there's a chance if this was submitted in well actually our last submit was February so it should be current. Um, but whatever the code says at the time when we submit is what we'll build. So, the entitlement has nothing to do with what we're actually going to build on that part. Does that make sense?

It does. And going along with that for the assigned spots, which we said they're all going to be assigned, will future residents be able to opt in for an EV ready or an EV charger slot, or is it just I guess I don't understand how is it. Some of them are EV ready, some of them are not. Based on this plan,

um I believe that we're obligated to have and and and when I say significant up to 80% capability as far as the capacity of those spaces and then again there's a percentage of receptacles and a percentage of chargers. Um it wouldn't be based on the tenant. What happens in multif family is an assigned it's a parking management plan with the um the operator and so if any of those spaces are available that are EV spaces they will shift people around that need them um and then if we ever get to a point that there's more EV than there are cars or our chargers um then obviously they would have to make adjustments at that point. Um but we're meeting all the codes that we have to right now. And the code is just for level one charging, correct?

There's multiple stages, I believe. Yes. Okay. Thank you very much, Commissioner Thompson. I just wanted to mention um it would be nice if there was bike storage if you want some people to bike. Um especially if there's studio. Is it in there? Okay. I have it in my package. There is a bike there's a huge bike storage. There is. Okay, great.

Um I just don't know if it's in any of the exhibits that are shown on there. Um but yeah, I think that I'll see if I can quantify the area, but on the the the ground floor um area. Okay, it's actually not in this entitlement. It's in the construction drawings that we're preparing as a large storage bike storage. Okay, awesome. Yeah, cuz if you want people to ride bikes, that would be great. And then I, you know, it is right by the bus stop, so even if it's not next to the the train, there is transit like right there. Yep. Um, and then are there going to be batteries for it to go with like the chargers and the solar and stuff or is it just solar?

Um, right now I and I apologize. I don't I haven't seen the last solar um uh design. Right now there are no batteries on site. Um everything is taken care of just with the inverters. Um I think in the solar uh design there is intention or they have places for them. So they talking about the future there are places that they have to reserve for future batteries for that. Um but I think in our current design there aren't any batteries. Okay, great. Thanks. Yeah, I would definitely consider the batteries with the current solar situation. Commissioner Jolith.

Yeah, just just a point of information. Um, as an EV driver, I've been driving electric since 2011. And so I've seen having no chargers to having chargers and then having a lot of competition for chargers. Um, which can be interesting. uh people get very spicy, but um if you've got the fast chargers, those are the cars are going to finish and people are going to want those cars moved. And if you have just outlets, that can sometimes be more convenient because I could just park and trickle charge and not worry about someone yelling at me to move my car because they need the charger. So, just I'm not sure how it's changed since um I haven't been parking in a massive parking lot since probably 2017. Um but that was my experience with competing for Chargers. So, something to think about.

Thank you. So, I have a few things to say. First of all, thank you to the um developer for your presentation and we appreciate that. I appreciate that. and staff. This is quite a change from the last iteration that you had brought us and um I welcome that change. We need housing um we need housing that looks this good. It's five stories is a lot um in in my opinion to look at to go from two stories to five stories. But you did a good job in your design. I like the colors, the landscaping. Um I was put off initially on the first draft um of the two stories of this the shortened setback but on the street side I was concerned but I see here you still incorporated a sidewalk they're still able to walk um it's a difficult position to be a community member and a planning commissioner um because we have to of course listen to what the state's done and what the state's allowances are and density bonuses and waiverss and our community just sees these quote behemoths unquote kind of just going up along these along South Santa Fe and the transit corridors and um some might see that as insulting or you know we're just going to town on growth and we're a little bit upset about that or how can we stop this or what can we do to to make uh to not have so much um in such a smaller area but you know we're we're bound by the state of California for density bonuses for waiverss and that to learn that all design standards are subject to being able to be waved. It's not just hey we can raise the height if we want to or we're we're limited to setbacks. You know literally any design standard can be um chosen as a waiver. So we sit up here as community members.

I sit up here as a community member. I live very near this project and it's the first one of its size coming in to my area. um near Mar Vista and South Santa Fe and we've had several um smaller developments go in and it's impacted our streets and of course you know that's that's the way it is because the development that we need and we need housing. um listening to our uh our attorney talk about as the crow flies, what's the diff? You know, the the point of the the building to the to the um sprinter station is a half mile as the crow flies, but if you try to walk it, it's going to be a little bit longer than that. But the good news is there's a bus station right there. You can take the bus over there. Um so I think you've ticked all the boxes on, you know, what we what we need in this city. I'm glad you came to our city to to develop here. Um, I like the project as far as the looks of it concerned. If we have to have um 141 units on that street, you've done great with I think with the massing. Um, I love the view deck. Um, I'm I I just want it to be clear because it's such a two hats to wear as a community member and a planning commissioner. Um, I know there's going to be a lot of people sort of up in arms like what what's happening here? But growth is, you know, something we have to allow. And to that end, I appreciate the project. I appreciate the design from the architect. Um, and with that, if I have no other um, comments from the commissioners or we can entertain a motion. Commissioner Jolive. Uh, I'll go ahead and, uh, motion to approve the project. I'll second.

Commissioner Reading seconds. Can we get a vote, please? Lock it in. Lock in your vote, please. The motion passes five to nothing for for the all that are present and we can move on to reports. You're welcome. Do we have anything Paty? Do you have anything you'd like to um there's any reports from uh commissioners or nothing here on this speaking?

All right. Well, good evening again, Sher De Jesus. Commissioners, um as far as upcoming meetings, um it looks like we're not going to have a meeting in May. So, you can take a break and we'll be back on looks like June 2nd. Uh we'll be having the next meeting. There's at least a couple of items for that agenda night. Uh and I don't know if uh Director Vodka has anything that he wanted to share with the commission. He's nodding. No. So, I don't have anything else either. Thank you. I also have any questions for staff?

I don't have any questions for staff. There's now anybody have anything like to say then to that. And do we and we have nothing from um community development director. Uh yes and the students can come up and get signatures when we um adjourn the meeting which is right now. Thank you.