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this meeting was nothing compared to some of their meetings and there are still issues. He <br /> thinks there is lack of consensus on some fundamental issues which should be addressed. He <br /> hoped that there is a way to move forward to the Planning Commission and City Council hearing <br /> process and still engage the Task Force in parallel. <br /> Councilmember Sullivan said the vision statement is very good and important; however, it <br /> focuses on this as a residential development, which is an area of disagreement. The idea of <br /> these properties being a mixed use transit - oriented development inherently means there is <br /> retail, services, and walk ability. The vision statement needs to more strongly reflect language <br /> about "complete, integrated communities containing housing, shops, work places, schools, <br /> parks and civic facilities essential to the daily lives of residents ". <br /> Regarding retail, the task force focused a lot on it because it is a new idea, but many are at <br /> opposite ends of the spectrum. The retail study done analyzed and indicated that 45,000 square <br /> feet of retail can be supported. He did not want retail stealing from other businesses in town but <br /> more for residents here, the office, and BART passengers. He is concerned that the minimum of <br /> 10,000 square feet is too low. If it gets too low, it will not be viable. <br /> Regarding live /work units, he supports the idea as a way to ramp up to additional retail and not <br /> preclude the City from using space that cannot be used for retail later. If residential is built all <br /> the way out to Owens, they will lose the opportunity for retail forever. He thinks a good <br /> compromise is to build the retail proposed with live /work units that can be converted. <br /> Councilmember Sullivan said he supports the reduced parking and depending on what is built, <br /> there is plenty of documentation and evidence to support it. He supports narrowing Owens with <br /> the focus on retail at Owens. To make retail viable, they need the proximity to BART, as he <br /> would use it daily on his way home. By narrowing it, it provides a hometown kind of feel and it <br /> allows one to walk between stores and across the street without having to try to cross Owens. <br /> Putting retail on the existing Owens will not work, and it will fail without parking. On the non -core <br /> standards on page 13, it states "site area per dwelling unit ", there is a minimum of 30 units per <br /> acre and a maximum of 55 units per acre. He thinks 55 units per acre as too dense. He thinks <br /> there needs to be an average per site to allow a range of densities that does not exceed that <br /> average. <br /> He was glad to see the PUD and CEQA language incorporated into the guidelines, has been <br /> supportive of the dispersed or inclusionary concept for the affordable units, but he is also <br /> interested in some of the comments Becky Dennis raised regarding services to affordable <br /> housing units. He would like to learn a little bit more about what she is proposing and keep this <br /> open for discussion. He is also interested in the idea of requiring local jobs and stimulating local <br /> business with the project and incorporating them into the standards. <br /> Regarding BART, he said the City needs to get some stronger signals from BART as to what <br /> they want to do with the property and when, especially if retail on Owens is being discussed. He <br /> asked BART representatives to firm up some of their plans and ideas. <br /> Regarding flexibility and feasibility, the property owners have been consistent about what is <br /> feasible and asking for the maximum flexibility. His problem with this is that if we provide this, <br /> what the City has done over the last year will have been a waste of time. He wants the area to <br /> look like the guidelines, and while there needs to be flexibility, there has to be enough teeth to <br /> end up with standards of the guidelines and not "vanilla apartments" which will not be walk able, <br /> that people will drive to and from, and will not provide the type of community envisioned. <br /> Joint Workshop Minutes Page 9 of 13 December 16, 2010 <br />