PC 03-22-2016CITY OF CUPERTINO
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
6:45 P.M.
CITY OF CUPERTINO
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING
AMENDED/ APPROVED MINUTES
MARCH 22, 2016
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS
TUESDAY
The regular Planning Commission meeting of March 22, 2016, was called to order at 6:45 p.m . in the
Cupertino Council Chambers, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, CA. by Chairperson Takahashi .
SALUTE TO THE FLAG
ROLL CALL
Commissioners Present:
Commissioners Absent:
Chairperson:
Vice Chairperson:
Commissioner:
Commissioner:
Commissioner:
Alan Takahashi
Margaret Gong
Geoff Paulsen
Don Sun
Winnie Lee
Staff Present: Assistant Community Development Director: Benjamin Fu
Colleen Winchester Asst. City Attorney:
APPROVAL OF MINUTES: None
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS: None
POSTPONEMENTS/REMOVAL FROM CALENDAR: None
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS:
Emily Poon, Villagio resident:
• Explained that the retail building located south of Rodriguez Avenue at So. DeAnza Blvd. had three
eateries in the building facing south DeAnza, including a bakery, Curry House and formerly Ameehes
Amici's Pizza. The new Korean Tofu and BBQ Restaurant replaces Ameehe Amici's Pizza which is
scheduled to open June 1st. Said. The neighbors would like the city Planning Department and the
Planning Commission to know their concerns about the odors from the BBQ restaurant that might
permeate the air so much so that they may not want to open their windows. Said they lack
information and are seeking help. They would like to make sure that the infrastructure to vent the
odors properly is in place in the tenant improvement plans. She said she was one of the original
Villagio owners from 2007 and one of the early volunteers on the homeowners'association board, and
she had access to the roof where the venting systems of the eateries are located. Showed 3 photos of
existing venting systems of Ameehes Amici's, Curry House and Quiwa Bakery . The roof equipment
belonging to Curry House looks unkempt; Curry House was the first restaurant to sign a lease with
Villagio retail ; at that time the HOA had their hands full with many developer issues and could not
pay attention to what was installed. The roofing material has been stained with grease, now it is
covered by two cookie trays. If the Villagio residents had voiced their concerns to the Commission in
Cupertino Planning Commission
2016
2 March 22,
the early days Curry House might have a better venting system. Will the BBQ restaurant continue to
use the venting system left by Ameches? Amici 's Said she felt their system looks the best of the three;
however, Ameches Amici's is a different style restaurant and generates much less grease than a BBQ
restaurant whose venting needs are greater. Will the BBQ smell affect the 3rd floor condos more
because they are directly above, or will the 4°1 floor condos be affected more because they are closer
to the vent on the roof? In conclusion , she said she would like to voice her concerns so that the city
Planning Department can work with the new BBQ restaurant owners to ensure that an adequate
venting system will be in place.
Hirai (no last name given) Villagio Condo resident:
• Said he had the same concerns as Ms. Poon regarding the ventilation systems and the odors coming
from a new restaurant which will generate more smoke from cooking BBQ food. Said he was
concerned about the smell of the BBQ food when he is at home. He said he I iked the proximity of his
condo to places he can walk to, and areas where people can frequent without being inconvenienced by
different odors from establishments in the neighborhood.
Frank McCabe, Villagio Condo resident:
• Said he shared the concerns expressed by previous speakers. Said they have had a difficult
relationship with the retailers who have not given the residents the opportunity to express their
concerns or voice their issues. Said he felt it was ironic that the residents were given the opportunity
to veto neighboring places for opening alcoholic beverages but are not given the same opportunity for
other environmental effects that the places may have . Overall would like to second and third the
comments voiced so far; the primary thing they would like to ensure is they have adequate response
from retail that they will make sure they will consider the residents as well as the retail.
Niraj Kanthi, Villagio Condo resident:
• Said he also concurred with comments from other condo owners; his condo is directly above the
former restaurant and he never had any issues with odors, hygiene or noise and was hopeful that the
new restaurant owners would take appropriate care to ensure that no new problems would arise such
as those some of his neighbors are confronted with.
Rick Montague, Villagio Condo resident:
• Said he was an original condo owner from 2007, and concurred with previous speakers. He pointed
that there could be potential problems with the venting system if it is improperly installed, causing
humming noise or vibrations in the equipment. The Curry House had similar problems and it took
over 2 years to correct. The residents are asking that consideration be given to the BBQ restaurant
venting system which would likely need more venting than a pizza restaurant.
Tripti (no last name given) Villagio Condo resident:
• Said she resided in a unit directly above the restaurant and concurred with comments from previous
speakers . She said the issue of odors from the eateries may negatively affect the property value
which in Cupertino is not a trivial matter because of the high property values. The residents have no
input about what businesses go in their neighborhood although it may negatively affect their property
values.
Lisa Warren, resident:
• Said there has been a lot of controversy about Valko, etc. trying not to focus on that but it needs to be
brought up because the thank you is related to that; most of the Commissioners were on the Planning
Commission who recommended to City Council not to allocate 2 million square feet of office space,
etc . and a lot of the discussion going around is lumped into the city . It is an attempt to say that it
wasn't everyone and it is unfortunate that the recommendation was not considered. It was brought up
Cupertino Planning Commission
2016
3 March 22 ,
a few meetings ago that it might be nice to bring back story poles requirements for residential
construction. It would be good to go, instead of going backward in what is allowed in Rl which is
what has happened in the last few years. Progress was being made toward a better situation and it has
now gone backwards; is there a possibility of any discussion to reconsider it again?
Chair Takahashi closed Oral Communications.
CONSENT CALENDAR: None
PUBLIC HEARING: None
OLD BUSINESS: None
NEW BUSINESS:
• Planning Commission Work Program for 2016-2017
Recommendation: Review and recommend that City Council adopt the Planning Commission
2016-2017 Work Program.
Benjamin Fu, Assistant Director of Community Development:
• Reviewed the background of the Planning Commission Work Program as outlined in the attached
staff report. The Planning Commission may consider adopting a draft work program each year which
is forwarded to City Council for review and approval. The proposed work program is primarily based
on the Council 's adopted goals for 2016-2017. Other projects may consist of potential private
developments that may be seeking to undergo the development review process. There are 8 projects
anticipated for the Planning Department in fiscal year 2016-2017. The Council discussed the work
program at a March 1, 2016 study session ; there may be additional items based on Council feedback
in April 2016. The 8 projects include: (1) Online permitting system; (2) Outreach; (3) Implement
"paperless" permit application system ; (4) Review parking requirements; (5) Apple Campus 2; (6)
Vallco Shopping District Specific Plan (7) Hampton Apartments; and (8) Marina Plaza Mixed Use
Development.
• Relative to the online permitting system, Mr. Fu said that the Planning Commission would not
directly be affected by the permitting system; the Community Development Department will be
working on the project, trying to provide a better service to the public regarding communication with
the public for status update on permits .
Chair Takahashi:
• Relative to outreach, it was suggested that a clear definition of the duties of each Committee and
Commission be communicated to the public to help them better understand their role in the decision
making process and other areas. Said that No. 4 is something they anticipate studying in the
upcoming fiscal year.
Com. Paulsen:
• Parking is reviewed often; it comes up most often when there is a variance requested. Will the city be
looking at all variances granted over the past ten years? There is data there, as well as actual data;
variance is granted; project was completed and parking works and doesn't work; it seems that it
would be a valuable data point, actual experience. That is a comment/recommendation. No. 2 is
understanding this in terms of state required reduced parking requirements related to a formal housing
and projects prior to development in transit areas. Said he understood the State is pushing down to
reduce parking requirements in those specific applications in order to promote more public
transportation.
Cupertino Planning Commission
2016
Benjamin Fu:
4 March 22,
• Said they would be talking to current large companies in the city and getting their projections as well.
He said he anticipated bringing back something for review so they are aware of the process.
Com. Paulsen:
• Relative to their role in the agenda item, he questioned if they would possibly see the results and
outcome of a new parking ordinance .
Benjamin Fu:
• Said there were many reports and studies that staff has to go through in order to initiate such studies;
which is something they will be working on.
• Apple Campus 2 -next 4 items cover some of the main development; Apple campus 2 is providing
status of phase 1, anticipated to be complete by end of upcoming fiscal year; outdoor dining stations ,
maintenance buildings and reception buildings. Occupation of Phase I can be anticipated to be end of
next year. Vallco Shopping District Specific Plan discussed earlier; Hampton Apartments and
Marina Plaza are two other larger projects being reviewed in the process. Items to bring up for quick
discussion and Council consideration, He noted that Heart of the City Specific Plan relative to trees,
add language that only large species of trees; and was pointed out adds significantly to both the
beauty and the value of the Heart of the City. Staff will note that in their recommendation to
Council. Will defer to Public Works on the individual species and their details.
Chair Takahashi:
• Relative to the City Council Work Plan tables (Item 5 Public Works) Update conceptual plans or De
Anza North DeAnza south; want to understand what the conceptual plan was.
Benjamin Fu:
• The Council 's work plan received is the work plan for all the departments; Community Development
and Planning does not have a lot of involvement in some of the development of other programs. Said
he would explore it and bring it back to the Commission.
Chair Takahashi:
• Item 3, develop a traffic impact fee system; seems like an area that touches a lot of organizations and
the Commission would be involved. Council is involved and curious about details.
Benjamin Fu:
• Said it is related to the mobility element of the General Plan. There are specific policies that direct
staff to develop and implement a citywide transportation plan to accommodate cars , pedestrians and
cyclists and to engage the transportation impact fee for new developments .
Vice Chair Gong:
• Under Community Development No. 3 says consider an amendment to the General Plan for the
ABAG housing allocation.
Benjamin Fu:
• The final housing element was completed on May 31, 2015; that is showing that it has been
completed ; it is staying on because we want to ensure that it is consistent for all the documents. The
implementation of the Young Artist Award is complete.
• Said Com. Paulsen suggested setting a goal of 100 senior housing units per year projected for the next
5 years and also to include backyard, rear yard units with increased flexibility and also consider
public private funding for developments for senior housing type projects.
Cupertino Planning Commission
2016
Vice Chair Gong:
5 March 22,
• Said she agreed with the request to add senior housing specifically with the incentive for development
and prioritization of current Cupertino residents because in fact it would open up additional housing
units if current Cupertino residents moved into the senior housing units, it would open up their
current Cupertino residence for an influx of new seniors.
Com. Paulsen:
• If they had low cost housing are they allowed through HUD funding to restrict to Cupertino residents
only?
Vice Chair Gong:
• Said she did not specify low cost housing, just prioritization.
Colleen Winchester:
• Said she would have to look at local preferences which impact not only our Municipal Code but also
state and federal law to see if that type of restriction could be upheld.
Com. Paulsen:
• Requested that she the Asst. City Attorney look into the Market Rate as well as subsidized
flexibilities and preferences. A little more indepth look at how does the housing plan affect the
schools, based on data from other higher density developments.
Colleen Winchesteer:
• The city attorney Stated that the LeRoy Green Act ties the city's hands with respect to if the
developer is paying the fees as required by state law; that it cannot be a consideration for purposes of
approval of a project. What it can be is you can be looking at the environmental impacts which is
why the EIR does address schools to the extent of an EIR should be looking at the traffic analysis,
traffic around schools, environmental issues relating to the schools. This is an extremely important
issue to the community; we have Prop 50 and these are our legal constraints; it sometimes falls on
deaf ears; these are important issues to the community and we do look at them for purposes of
environmental impact, but that also is why a development agreement concept where developers offer
to provide more than what is legally required and the city can accept it. That is how the city in certain
circumstances achieves results that would otherwise be difficult.
Com. Paulsen:
• Emphasized the importance of No. 2 Outreach; members of the public have commented that they
wished there had been more outreach conducted.
Benjamin Fu:
• Final concern from Com. Paulsen was for consideration of removal of limitation of outdoor seating
currently at restaurants which is currently at 20% of the seats. It can be forwarded to City Council for
consideration.
Vice Chair Gong:
• Consider a Cupertino Area Transit-(CATmobile) electric fee-free shuttle service for city of
Cupertino.
Com. Paulsen: Chair Takahashi:
• There is a transportation analysis /study in the City Council work plan. It is one that is important to
the community as a whole as well as of interest to the Commission based on how it always comes as a
major concern with regard to any projects; with any land use comes traffic concerns. Be cognizant of
Cupertino Planning Commission
2016
6 March 22,
what the studies are saying and what the possibilities are to enhance transportation and ideally reduce
congestion in conflict with sustaining some level of growth. It is a city planning challenge.
Cem. Paulsen: Chair Takahashi: (RI Ordinance):
• Suggested a study to identify or determine if there are some means of modifying the Rl Ordinance to
specifically address a little more tangibly the scale and harmony element of a new project. There
have been some appeals go through the Commission, whether it was the major element associated
with the appeal, and that is really the only grounds they had to stand on; because the applicant
followed the Rl to the book based on property size; that case is still bothersome. Is there a way to
reassess the Rl Ordinance to address in a more tangible way the scale and harmony?
Vice Chair Gong:
• Suggested a requirement that could enhance the ordinance to include interior line of sight.
Com. Paulsen:
• Asked Mr. Fu to discuss emerging outreach technologies in this regard. Rather than put story poles up
on the site, could a house be built in a virtual picture that interested parties could look at from
different angles or walk down the street in real virtual time and see the land. Is that technology
available?
Benjamin Fu:
• Said the technology was available and the applicant may be able to provide that at their own cost. It
would be up to them if they wanted to provide such a service. The line of sight is something staff
could explore and request as part of the submittal.
REPORT OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION
Environmental Review Committee: No meeting.
Housing Commission: No meeting.
Economic Development Committee Meeting: No meeting.
Mayor's Monthly Meeting With Commissioners: No meeting.
Report of the Assistant Director of Community Development: None
ADJOURNMENT:
• The meeting was adjourned to next Planning Commission meeting on April 12, 2016 at 6:45 p.m . . o _/}u ,! 94#(/
Respectfully Submitted: l /l J//.L{,a.h''eel... i_~:l,,
Elizabet'(9is, Recording Secretary
Approved as amended: April 26, 2016