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with diagonal parking. To the extent diagonal parking is necessary all along, modifications to the <br /> medians will be asked to be paid for by the applicant. On the other side it will stay exactly as it is now, <br /> although he was not sure about Gibraltar because the median must be change. <br /> Councilmember Sullivan questioned and confirmed that improvements will be made on the BRE side of <br /> the median of Gibraltar, and on the other side of the road Mr. Dolan would confirm whether it stays <br /> exactly the same as is. Councilmember Sullivan said this could be a long time where one side is <br /> narrowed with diagonal parking and the other side, an internal freeway system and he questioned <br /> whether this was envisioned during the task force meetings. Mr. Dolan stated this is what is currently <br /> envisioned and was unaware of discussions going either way during task force meetings. Vice Mayor <br /> Cook-Kallio concurred with Mr. Dolan. She said she thought there was some conversation in terms of <br /> when BART was coming in and who was going to pay for it, but this was not delineated in stone. <br /> City Manager Fialho noted there are three ways to accomplish improvements. They can be phased, <br /> there could be a reimbursement agreement with the developer, or City funds could be used to make the <br /> improvements. Mr. Dolan said he would have some concern with the City guessing what would work <br /> with the BART project because staff does not know how this will play out. <br /> Councilmember McGovern questioned the need for the amount of diagonal parking if live/work units are <br /> reduced in number. Mr. Dolan noted that the diagonal parking helps the developer comply with their <br /> guest parking requirements and pointed out that parking is the biggest challenge for projects at the 30 <br /> units per acre density level. He said a lot of discussion occurred during task force meetings about how <br /> this would be easier if the buildings were bigger, higher density, and had a lot more mass as it leaves <br /> more ground area to accomplish all the circulation in the parking. When getting down to this scale, <br /> which is on the lower end of high density, it is hard to do some site planning and this project was more <br /> challenging due to the site's shape, as well. <br /> Councilmember Thorne referred to staff's comment that if the live/work depth was extended to 40 feet <br /> additional parking would need to be taken, and he confirmed some of the internal garage spaces would <br /> be lost as a result. There are a few extra spaces and the project is very close to the requirement, but he <br /> was not sure how the numbers would ultimately work out. Councilmember Thorne clarified with Mr. <br /> Dolan that if the numbers did not work out, an exception for this would replace the other exception. <br /> . Councilmember Sullivan said there was a lot of discussion about parking and a reduced parking ratio <br /> because of the mixed use and high density, and he asked if the developer went with the reduced ratio. <br /> Mr. Dolan said the developer is attempting to meet the parking standard included in the guidelines. <br /> Vice Mayor Cook-Kallio said at the time the project comes to the Council, she asked if the City will have <br /> some idea how far out BART is. Mr. Dolan said staff can work on trying to determine this. <br /> Mr. Dolan then presented additional photographs which portrays the project as a smaller scale, a view <br /> of the proposed park from the trail, one of the key corners at Gibraltar and Hacienda, and the entrance <br /> on Gibraltar Drive, which he said has more of a residential feel than the Site 1 project. There are two <br /> types of live/work unit; the type proposed on Gibraltar is actually the two-level example where the work <br /> space is on the bottom floor and the residence is above on the second floor with internal connection. <br /> He then presented plans showing significant landscaping around the perimeter, at the entrances, in the <br /> central area, and noted this project has two internal courtyards between two buildings. The developer <br /> has taken opportunities to break up the concrete with lots of little landscape areas particularly around <br /> the parking lots. <br /> Councilmember McGovern said the pool area looks much smaller than the area on Site 1 and Mr. <br /> Dolan agreed and said it is offset somewhat by the fact that the public park is located on Site 2. The <br /> City Council Planning Commission Page 4 of 11 February 8,2012 <br /> Joint Workshop Minutes <br />