CCMIN020812 JT WKP - Laserfiche WebLink

patios before getting into units, sections showing compliance with TOD guidelines, the corner plaza, and main amenity spaces. Councilmember McGovern requested also using 1,000 square feet for the leasing office area on Site 2 as well, and Mr. Yau said they can review this and verify square footage and features. Mr. Yau continued the presentation, displaying emphasis of entries going into the space, the 4-story building along Owens with an elevator lobby, the 3-story garden buildings, caps and tops on the buildings, live/work along Owens with 12 foot ceilings, the revised Site 2 internal streets plan, circulation, open space, hardscape and softscape features, softening with architectural features for Site 2. Councilmember McGovern said she thinks the reason for this meeting is to check in with the Council because they have not seen what the Commission has. For the developer, it would be better that the developer does do this because when it comes to the Council, BRE will know concerns ahead of time. She forwarded several questions to staff and received answers. She definitely has concerns about opening large developments without connection to trails for walkability. She supported Mr. Dolan's idea for Site 2 for an intermediate area onto the Iron Horse Trail. She thinks not seeing the buildings without trees is difficult; she recognized trees will not grow very fast and asked to see more pictures of the project without tree growth and hopes the plan includes fast-growing trees for softening. She knows the developer is trying to fit Site 1 into the buildings next to it, and she wants it to be inviting. She voiced support for the entryways and suggested softening them even more with trellises and plants. She voiced concern about the plaza on Site 1 especially given comments that retail may not work, and suggested it be built with a gathering place for people. If retail does not work, it is a lot of space to lose for people and not have it built more for residents. Regarding Site 2, Councilmember McGovern said she is worried there are 10 buildings and wants the open space to be able to be used by all residents. She thinks also important is for the City to work with Shaklee to increase the size of the park. When the project comes to Council, she asked that the buildings plan, landscape plan, and trees be presented. Councilmember Sullivan referred to the list of things requested for feedback and said he appreciates the opportunity to hold this workshop. This is an extremely important project for the community and this will also set a precedent for what comes next and the City needs to ensure it does what it can for the community and its acceptance. Regarding the lack of internal streets, ideally he would like to see this given the enhanced neighborhood feeling but he can understand issues of this and be flexible. He would like to keep this as a standard for other high density developments and wants to make it work where it can. Regarding retail and live/work, this was an issue of the task force from the beginning and BRE said they could not make it work from the beginning. Through this year long process, they tried to come up with a way for mixed use, and he thinks there are many benefits for mixed use. The live/work concept was the huge compromise for him and reached after a year. He thinks the retail on Site 1 is completely inadequate and will not allow a viable retail base to be built. He agreed to this compromise and also to the live/work compromise, but he would not like to see it degraded further. He would like to keep the live/work the way they had it, and suggested re-arranging things as commented by Ms. Dennis. He thinks Commissioner Narum is right in that the open space plaza might not be in the right place and the corner might be appropriate for some additional retail to make it more viable. He would like to see staff and BRE play around with that a bit, but he wants to keep the live/work requirement. Regarding garage doors, it is hard to visualize what the developer is asking for, but on the level of detail on first floor elevations, it goes to his comments on items C and D. Frankly, he said he is not happy with the design at all, as it looks too austere, very industrialized, and does not have the look of Pleasanton, and asked for more work to be done. He asked for something more classic and timeless. He said when he was on the Commission, they reviewed a project on Hopyard and Gibraltar which was an ultra- City Council Planning Commission Page 9 of 11 February 8,2012 Joint Workshop Minutes