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Director's ReportCUPERTINO CTI'Y HALL 10300 TORRE AVENUE CUPERTINO, CA 95014 TELEPHONE (408) 777-3308 FAX (408) 777-3333 C U p E RT 1 N C7 DEPARTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT Subject: Report of the Community Development Director Planning Commission Agenda Date: Tuesday, Tuly 28, 2009 The City Council met on Tuly 21, 2009, and discussed the following item(s) of interest to the Planning Comrnission: 1. Office Allocation -City Council adopted the Negative Declaration; and approved the Planning Commission recommendation to amend the General Plan to add an office allocation of 483,053 square feet analyzed in the 2005 General Plan; and add the new office allocation to the category of major companies in the General Plan. 2. 1 Results Way -City Council approved the extension of the expiration dates of the planning permits for five years, allowed construction phasing flexibility, and accepted the voluntary payment of $200,000 toward area traffic improvements and pedestrian safety in-lieu of widening McClellan Road with modifications to the conditions. Miscellaneous Items: 1. Energy Efficiency & Conservation Block Grant -Following City Council approval at the June 16~ meeting, the City Manager's office has submitted a request for the Full Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block grant program appropriation of $526,200 to implement a municipal and residential energy audit and retrofit program. The funds will be appropriated to the following projects: - Municipal Audit/ Retrofit Program $438,580 - Residential Audit/Retrofit Program $ 35,000 - Administration $ 52,620 We should receive a response by the end of October, but in the interim we will be proceeding with a detailed Energy Audit. 2. State Budget Update -According to Chris McKenzie of the League, the State will take the highway user tax, 100% of it for fiscal year 2009-2010 and fiscal year 2010-11. It will also take three years of re-development funds at $350 million per year for a combined total of $2.7 billion take away from local government. The League's Board has voted to oppose all raiding of local funds. A lawsuit is being prepared to fight the highway tax take away as unconstitutional. 3. Quinlan Communes Center Terrace (replacing_fountain) -The design of this project is underway and 30% complete. The project is scheduled to be bid in August 2009 and awarded in October 2009 with completion expected in January 2010. This completion date is one month later than that shown in the 2009 Council workplan because of the additional time needed to acquire construction management services. D~-~ Report of the Community Development Director Tuesday, July 28, 2009 Page 2 4. Civic Center Fountain -The new electrical transformer and ultraviolet system will be installed this month. New nozzles for the fountain have been designed and tested, and the thirty new nozzles are now being fabricated. The project is still expected to be completed and back in operation in July as shown in the Council workplan. 5. Villa Serra - On Apri121, 2009, the Council asked for an update on the construction management measures in response to the complaints Villa Serra residents had raised at the March 17, 2009 Council meeting. Consequently, Villa Serra submitted an updated construction management plan including the following: - Parking lot plans indicating parking spaces that will be affected during construction - A table ("Parking Count by Area") of parking spaces confirming the number of parking spaces to be provided throughout various stages of development in the complex - The contractor's construction logistics plan that includes measures to address such construction matters as the project schedule, construction working hours, noise control, notification to residents and businesses, on-site traffic control, truck deliveries, construction vehicle parking and staging areas, clean-up and maintenance, storm water pollution prevention, refuse disposal and inspections - Site plans of the guest suite locations and construction staging storage areas Villa Serra will continue to update the City on its construction activities as they work towards the completion of the project. 6. Ruiz/Naegle Property -Frank Ruiz and Regina Naegle have approached City staff about subdividing their 19+ acre hillside lot at 11041 Stevens Canyon Road, Cupertino (APN 342-19- 002, -003) which they purchased in 1999. The lot is heavily wooded and very steep except the lower portion of the lot which is moderately sloped and developed with a single small house. The zoning is RHS (Residential Hillside) and the General Plan land use designation is Very Low Density Residential, 5-20 acre slope density formula. Application of the general plan density does not allow further subdivision of the property beyond the existing single lot. The owners have presented a couple of conceptual subdivision plans, but appear to be favoring a plan that calls for seven single-family residential lots clustered on the lower 1.86 acres and the protection of 17.8 acres for open space and trails. The General Plan shows this property as a potential, future open space and trail link between Stevens Creek County Park and Rancho San Antonio County Park, but the present property ownership to the east and north consists of Lehigh (Permanente) Quarry and other private property owners. Staff has had informal contacts with Santa Clara County Parks and Midpeninsula Regional Open Space District staff about their possible interest in a dedication of land or trail easement. County Parks is not interested in the property and Midpen has not returned telephone calls yet. We are concerned about the proposed density since the conceptual residential proposal is very tight and will have significant grading, drainage, geological, emergency access and tree removal issues. Staff is also concerned with the precedent-setting nature of allowing a residential density increase on hillside lands. Staff has suggested that the applicants pursue a General Plan Amendment Authorization if they choose to pursue this development. The Authorization is a pre-step to a General Plan Amendment, which gives the City Council the ability to entertain or not entertain a change ~,~~ a Report of the Community Development Director Tuesday, July 28, 2009 Passe 3 to the General Plan at a public hearing without the applicants having to spend significant funds on predevelopment costs. 7. Environmental Affairs Update -Funding for the initiatives of the Santa Clara County Cities Association's Green Building Collaborative (GBC) and the city's Sustainability Task Force is being pursued through two grant opportunities: (1) a $500,000 application through the Environmental Protection Agency's Climate Showcase Communities and (2) a $50,000 application through the Bay Area Air Quality Management District's Community Grant Program. 8. Detailed Energy Study -Siemens On Site -Over the past decade, we have implemented many measures to conserve energy and water. In an effort to accelerate existing conservation activities throughout the city, while also establishing a process to comply with burgeoning regulatory requirements, we have competitively selected Siemens Building Technologies to conduct a Detailed Energy Audit (DEA). The DEA is necessary to establish baseline energy consumption and to identify capital improvements that would result in energy and resource savings. At a minimum, the following energy conservation, water conservation, and renewable energy generation measures will be audited: Location: acility Improvement Measure: City Hall Quinlan Community Center Corp Yard Sports Center Senior Center Monte Vista Rec Center Blackberry Farm Pool Interior Lighting x x x x x x Exterior Lighting x x x x x x Energy Mgmt System x x x x x x Premium Efficiency Motors x x Solar PV x x x x Solar Thermal x x x x x Irrigation citywide Street & Park Lighting citywide Siemens began the audit on July 15, 2009 and will spend 60-90 days visiting each of the above sites intermittingly. Siemens engineers will be leaving sensors to track city consumption of various resources. Upcoming Dates of Interest: Ju113-Aug 7 Nomination Period open Nov 3 Election Day (no Council meeting, Council may consider an alternate date) Enclosures: Staff Reports G: ~ Planning ~ AartiS ~ Director's Report ~ 2009 ~ pd7-28-09.doc t72~3 COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT CUPERTINO CITY HALL 10300 TORRE AVENUE • CUPERTINO, CA 95014-3255 (408) 777-3308 • FAX (408) 777-3333 Summary Agenda Item No: Agenda Date: July 21, 2009 APPLICATION SUMMARY: Consider General Plan Amendments, Application Nos. GPA-2009-01, EA-2009-03, City of Cupertino, Citywide (continued from June 2, 2009): a) Adopt a Negative Declaration b) Consider increasing the office allocation in the General Plan RECOMMENDATION: The Planning Commission recommends that the City Council: 1. Adopt a Negative Declaration; and 2. Amend the General Plan to add an office allocation of 483,053 square feet analyzed in the 2005 General Plan; and 3. Add the new office allocation to the category of major companies in the General Plan. BACKGROUND: On June 2, 2009, the City Council discussed the office allocation item and asked staff to bring the item back for Council consideration after the Initial Study is completed and reviewed by the Environmental Review Committee (ERC). Please refer to Attachments A & B for the full office allocation discussion and background. DISCUSSION: Environmental Analysis The original General Plan Environmental Impact Report, adopted by the Council in 2005, was a comprehensive environmental analysis with mitigation measures associated with the maximum build out scenario. Even though the residual office allocation (483,053sf) was included in the build out assumptions analyzed in the 2005 General Plan EIR, the preparation of an Initial Study for the office allocation is still necessary in order to comply with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requirements (Attachment C) for the Initial Study. The subsequent Negative Declaration did not identify any additional impacts or necessary mitigations beyond those that were already part of the origina12005 General Plan EIR. I~-~-`~ GPA-2009-01; EA-2009-03 July 21, 2009 2 of 2 Environmental Review Committee (ERC) On July 2, 2009, the ERC reviewed the office allocation Initial Study and found that the additional office allocation could not have a significant effect on the environment and recommended that the City Council adopt a Negative Declaration (Attachment D). Submitted by: A i Shrivastava, Director of Community Development Ap roved by: David Knapp City Manager ~:_ _` Cx ao City Planner Attachments: Attachment A: June 2, 2009 City Council staff report Attachment B: June 2, 2009 City Council meeting minutes Attachment C: Office Allocation Initial Study prepared by DCE Attachment D: Recommendation of the Environmental Review Committee j~r2-5 G:\Planning\PDREPORT\CC\2009\GPA-2009-01(officeallocation)ccREVISED.doc COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT CITY HALL 10300 TORRE AVENUE • CUPERTINO, CA 95014-3255 (408) 777-3308 • FAX (408) 777-3333 CUPERTINO SUMMARY Agenda Item No. APPLICATION SUMMARY: Consider a Major Amendment (M-2009-02) modifying the: • Architectural and Site Approval (ASA-2008-05) • Use Permit Modification (M-2008-03) • Tree Removal Permit (TR-2008-06) • Director's Minor Modification (DIR-2008-32) Meeting Date: Tuly 21, 2009 for the purpose of extending the expiration date of these approvals for six years, phasing construction, clarifying conditions of approval, and modifying the traffic and signal improvement condition. See Attachment A -Letter from ECI Two Results, LLC, dated March 24, 2009. * Since the applicant's initial submittal, the request to extend the expiration date of these approvals has been changed to five years. See Attachment B -Letter from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, LLP, applicant's attorney, dated June 9, 2009. RECOMMENDATION: The Planning Commission recommends approval of the Major Amendment per the model resolution. Staff further recommends that Condition of Approval No. "4b" be deleted in its entirety since the condition has already been fulfilled. BACKGROUND: On September 17, 2008, the City Council approved the redevelopment of the 19.8-acre Results Way office park (ASA-2008-05, M-2008-03, TR-2008-06), consisting of the demolition of five buildings containing about 139,632 square feet and the removal of 303 trees, and the development of three new, two-story office buildings containing 155,500 square feet, atwo-level 204-space parking structure, surface parking areas and ~~~ Tim Kelly (for ECI) M-2009-02 July 21, 2009 landscaping improvements that include planting 321 new trees (see Attachment C). In addition, on November 4, 2008, the Director of Community Development approved a facade remodel of Building #5 (DIR-2008-32) to do a minor remodel on an existing building consistent with the design of newly approved office buildings (see Attachment D). Typically, development approvals expire two years from the date of the approval. In this case, the Council approvals expire in September 2010, and the Director's approval of the minor remodel expires in November 2010. Due to difficult economic conditions, the applicant, John Hamilton representing ECI Two Results LLC, is requesting: 1. An extension of all development approvals, including the Director's Minor Modification, to a date five years from the granting of the approval of this extension; 2. Construction phasing flexibility; and 3. Modification of Condition No. "4b" relating to street improvements. In this case, the applicant is proposing to provide $200,000 towards street improvements to reduce traffic congestion and increase pedestrian/bike safety around the project site (see Attachment B). The applicant's objectives are to provide assurances to their existing tenants and potential new tenants that they will be able to remodel Building #5 and construct new buildings as the economy improves and their space needs increase. DISCUSSION: On June 9, 2009, the Planning Commission considered the modification request and recommended (5-0 vote) the following: 1) Approval of M-2009-02 per the model resolution, revising condition #4b (see Attachment E); and 2) Adoption of the Applicant's Letter dated June 9, 2009, related to the voluntary financial contribution (see Attachment B) Please refer to the June 9, 2009 Planning Commission staff report and meeting minutes for the detail project summary and discussion (see Attachments F & G). 2 D~~7 Tim Kelly (for ECI) M-2009-02 July 21, 2009 Public Input One resident spoke in favor of the project, and two letters of support were received from the Chamber of Commerce and from the Monta Vista Senior All-Night Party Co- Chair (see Attachment I). Additional Staff Recommendation: Condition "4b" requires the applicant to provide 10 feet of dedication towards street improvements along the McClellan frontage. Since the Planning Commission hearing, staff has discovered an existing roadway easement recorded in 1971 along the property's McClellan Road frontage. Therefore, the current dedication requirement is no longer required and staff recommends deleting the McClellan Road dedication condition (Condition no. 4b) from the Planning Commission resolution. Staff's recommendation for deletion is highlighted on the Planning Commission resolution (see Attachment E). Prepared by: Colin Jung, Senior Planner Reviewed by: Gary Chao, City Planner Submitted by: Aarti Shrivastava Director of Community Development Attachments: Approved by: David W. Knapp City Manager Attachment A: Letter from ECI Two Results LLC dated March 24, 2009 Attachment B: Letter from Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP, applicant's attorney, dated June 9, 2009 Attachment C: City Council Action Letter dated September 19, 2008 Attachment D: DIR-2008-32 Approval Attachment E: Planning Commission Resolution No. 6657 Attachment F: Planning Commission Staff Report dated June 9, 2009 Attachment G: Planning Commission Meeting Minutes dated June 9, 2009 Attachment H: Sheet L-1.2 titled "Parking, Refuse & Circulation Plan Attachment I: Email and letters from the public Attachment J: Mitigated Negative Declaration & Notice of Determination H: Groups/Planning/PDREPORT/CC/2009/M-2009-02 cc ~~