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101-City Council Staff Report.pdf COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT CITY HALL 10300 TORRE AVENUE • CUPERTINO, CA 95014-3255 TELEPHONE: (408) 777-3308 • FAX: (408) 777-3333 STAFF REPORT Agenda Item No. ____ Meeting Date: November 1, 2010 Subject Modifications to a Use Permit (U-2008-02) for an approved hotel by the Shashi Corporation Recommendation Consider approval of modifications to a previously approved Use Permit (U-2008-02) to reduce the amount of parking spaces including reductions (size and scope) in the restaurant/bar and conference areas, and clarify the green building requirement for an approved 138-room hotel. Description Modifications to a previously approved Use Permit (U-2008-02) to reduce the number of parking spaces, reduce the conference area from about 4,194 square feet to 1,000 square feet, reduce the restaurant/bar area and scope from public-serving to hotel patron-serving, clarify the green building requirement for an approved 138-room hotel. Application No: M-2010-07 Applicant: Dipesh Gupta (Shashi Corporation) Address: 10165 N De Anza Blvd. APN: 326-34-057 Background On October 26, 2010, the Planning Commission held its hearing and reviewed the application. It was recommended for approval on a 5-0 vote with modification to staff’s conditions of approval discussed later in the staff report (Attachments A & B). Please refer to the October 26, 2010 Planning Commission staff report for a comprehensive background of the project (Attachment B). Discussion Planning Commission Recommendation The Commission was generally supportive of the reduced parking request. The Commission discussed the appropriate level of parking demand for the hotel and the various factors that would influence the hotel parking usage such as valet service, shuttle programs, and proximity to large corporations, restaurants and shopping areas. The Commission also discussed a one-year review of the project to identify any potential issues, and possible ways to supplement project parking including: potential shared parking agreements with adjacent properties, and ancillary parking along Alves Drive if any parking issues arose. The Commission did not support the request to remove the LEED (Green Building) requirement but provided clarified wording on the condition regarding the requirement to obtain LEED certification. However, in order to reduce the cost of the project, the Commission recommended that the public art requirement be waived instead to help further reduce the cost of the project (approximately $63,000 at a quarter percent of an approximately 25 million dollar project). The Commission felt that there is limited space on this property for public art and the high quality building architecture and materials would offset the loss of a public art piece. The Planning Commissioner recommendations are summarized as follow (See Attachment A for detailed wording): 1) Approve a parking ratio for the hotel of 0.60 spaces per guest room (83 parking spaces for a 138- room hotel). 2) Require valet parking up to 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, which would supplement parking up to 20% (providing a resulting parking ratio of 0.72 spaces per guest room). Applicant shall submit a valet parking plan to the City for approval prior to building permit issuance. 3) Require the applicant to provide a shuttle service for hotel guests. 4) Review project parking after one year of operation. If overflow parking problems are identified, the use permit shall be reopened and remedies shall be considered. 5) Reduce conference room area and restaurant/bar area and eliminate swimming pool to reflect a business service hotel per staff’s recommendation. 6) Clarify Condition #8 regarding LEED certification processing for this hotel project as follows: At the building permit stage, the applicant shall register his project with Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI). After the building permit has been finaled, the City may grant temporary building occupancy upon the completion and submittal of the LEED certification application for Silver designation to GBCI. Final building occupancy shall be granted by the City upon the granting of LEED Silver designation by GBCI or a determination by the Community Development Director that the applicant has made a good faith effort to obtain the LEED Silver building certification. 7) Waive requirement for public art (Condition #11) 8) Allow Director of Community Development to revoke use permit modification through a Director’s Minor Modification, except retain modified Condition #8 (Green Building) in permit. Staff Response to Specific Planning Commission Questions Waiving the Public Art Requirement The Commissioners asked if it were possible to waive the public art requirement as a mechanism to reduce project costs for the applicant. Staff response: In consultation with the City Attorney, staff notes that the public art requirement is both a general plan policy and ordinance and there is no provision to waive the requirement or reduce the percentage contribution toward the arts. The City Council, however, has the discretion to direct the applicant to work with staff to consider alternative and/or creative formats of art that can help reduce the cost to the applicant. Please note that the final art proposal would still need to be reviewed by the Fine Arts Commission. Parking Along Alves/Bandley Drive The Commission questioned the availability of street parking along Alves and Bandley Drive. 2 Staff response: Alves Drive between North De Anza Boulevard and Bandley Drive has an estimated 20-22 parking stalls on both sides of the street and discounting for existing driveways and the fire lane restriction that is required in front of the approved hotel. According to City Ordinance, there are no parking prohibitions or time-of-day restrictions on Alves Drive, but there are parking restrictions on North De Anza Boulevard and Bandley Drive. Potential Parking Mitigation The Commission asked staff to clarify what are some of the potential parking mitigations in the future if parking problem is identified. Staff response: If parking becomes an issue, even with the valet service and shuttle service, and the Planning Commission has the ability to modify the use permit conditions to remedy the parking problem. Available solutions include: • Requiring the applicant to negotiate a long-term shared parking agreement with a nearby property owner who has available parking • Formally crediting the Alves Street parking to the hotel, although the parking is already unrestricted • Prohibiting the use of a fixed number of hotel rooms to bring the hotel operation in line with the available parking supply (last resort measure) Green Building Requirements At the Commission hearing, questions were raised on the process and timing of the green building certification. Staff response: The green building certification process will not delay temporary building occupancy. In fact, part of the certification process requires the building to be occupied and operating in order to monitor interior environmental conditions. The draft Green Building Ordinance, currently being reviewed by the city, applies to all building permits after the effective date of the ordinance, regardless of whether they were approved before the Green Building Ordinance was adopted. The applicant has been informed of this requirement. Therefore, if the request to waive the LEED requirement is approved for this project, it would only be applicable as long as the applicant applied for a building permit prior to the Green Building Ordinance becoming effective. Public Comments A resident who spoke at the original use permit hearing requested that the City should not approve the parking reduction request due to concerns on potential parking overflow onto nearby City streets or adjacent commercial properties. Further concerns were expressed that the City should not entertain crediting street parking for the hotel until it looks at existing street parking usage. Fiscal Impact 3 4 Construction and operation of the proposed 138-room hotel is estimated to add $463,600 annually in transient occupancy tax. Reduction in size and scope of restaurant and bar area will lower potential new sales tax revenues. Prepared by: Colin Jung, AICP, Senior Planner Reviewed by: Gary Chao, City Planner; Aarti Shrivastava, Community Development Director Approved for Submission by: David W. Knapp, City Manager Attachments A. Planning Commission Resolution No. 6614 B. Planning Commission Staff Report dated 10/26/10 C. Approved Plan Set