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park would be landscaped in turf. While it will be a City park BRE has prepared graphics as to what it could look like which he displayed and described. Councilmember McGovern questioned whether or not the two courtyards would be used more if relocated by the pool. Mr. Dolan stated staff can further explore this with the applicant, although the park setting will be quiet and away from activities of the pool area. Mr. Dolan then presented the circulation system of the project and said staff will work with the applicant on the connection to the trail going around from the middle of the project. He then described the tot lot and public park amenities. Councilmember Sullivan said the task force never discussed a size for the park but the public was hoping for a plain, field-type of park. He questioned how the concept was developed. Mr. Dolan reiterated that land is at a premium and also the difficulties associated with designing projects at a 30 unit per acre density. When the developer made the concession to agree to include a park there was some discussion about what kind of parks could be accomplished. Reference was made to Veterans Park on Peters which he said is roughly the same size. The proposed park is L-shaped and runs adjacent to the trail alongside the project and the grass area is 48' x 120' or a small soccer field size. Mr. Fialho added that not shown in the photograph is that the park backs up to the vacant, undeveloped parcel in excess of 10 acres which is owned by W.P. Carey and leased by Shaklee. Staff has been communicating with the owner in the hopes to acquire more land to add to that space over time. In conclusion, Mr. Dolan recommended the Council provide feedback, particularly architecture, site plan, and exceptions, i.e., the minimum frontage of live/work along Gibraltar, the exception to the storefront depth, and the requirement in the guidelines of 40 feet. He said not discussed is the issue of internal streets. There is a requirement in the guidelines that talks about the provision of an internal street to make this seem more like a neighborhood. An internal street would be one that has travel lanes, parallel parking on each side, a planter, a sidewalk and more landscaping. Staff has been working with the applicant on both sites to try and replicate this and there are a few arrangements that work and meet that guideline. But, in both cases that layout is not very efficient and it eats into the open space. He offered to present graphics that would show what would be lost if doing a true internal street; however, the reduction in open space is significant. In this case, it is an exception because of the value on the open space that staff can probably support. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio opened public comment. Bob Linder, BRE Properties, said from their standpoint they are not sure about the long-term viability of retail fronting Owens because it is located within the business park and traffic and residents leave the area after 5PM. They propose providing 5,700 square feet of great retail space at the corners that have the depth per the guidelines as well as floor to ceiling heights on both the live/work and also the retail. When designing these as live/live units, it is difficult to design a residential unit with a 40 foot depth because it will feel like a bowling alley to whoever leases out that space. With regard to parking, he said, relocating spaces outside the area makes it inconvenient for residents of the 4-story building. This is of benefit to them because they have an elevator at the ground floor up to the 4'" floor. The other issue is that if parking is lost, they will also lose density. As mentioned by Mr. Dolan, it is difficult on the low end of this density to get 30 units to the acre. Reducing any more units will make them under the guidelines. With respect to the park and open space, Mr. Linder said there were comments about the pool and recreation area. It is more a product of the configuration of the triangular site that makes it difficult. The buildings, fitness center, the leasing facility and the clubhouse are all the same size and are based on City Council Planning Commission Page 5 of 11 February 8,2012 Joint Workshop Minutes