01 - Laserfiche WebLink

conditions of approval are a direct reflection of all the hard work and compromise on the part of staff, the development team and the public. While not an easy process, the ultimate product manages to maximize the size of the units, create new apartments with a heavy load of amenities in an attractive neighborhood setting, and connect it all with residential serving retail development. The project is ideally situated near shopping and has great connectivity to local and regional parks. Rob Steinberg, residential architect, described the 3 clusters as a community of villages, each with a slightly different character but knit together by a series of common open spaces. He described open space amenities and showed several site elevations demonstrating how the varied building heights add dimension and character to development. He also showed elevations depicting the mission revival style of the rear cluster and described some of the architectural changes made since the original proposal, all of which illustrate the level of thought and quality that went into the project design. Ken Rodrigues, retail architect, said the site circulation focused on forming very strong pedestrian connections from adjacent neighborhoods into the retail center. He explained that they took many cues from what does done at Pleasanton Gateway, and tried to expand those through the full arcade, patio areas and promenade that works its way around all of the shop entrances. He showed several elevations depicting various design elements which include individual dining areas off of key restaurant locations, water features and pedestrian oriented drive aisles. Finishes include a great use of brick throughout the retail portion and an interesting mix of wood, canvas and aluminum awnings. Councilmember Brown said she liked the design but thought the use of a seamed metal roof was rather unusual. She asked and Mr. Rodrigues confirmed that copper is not proposed as part of the design. Mr. Rodrigues said he felt the standing seam roof, which is used over some of the taller lighting pavilions, mixes very nicely with the residential finishes as well materials seen throughout the downtown. Vice-Mayor Cook-Kallio asked if the project provides any direct connection to Iron Horse Trail or East Bay Regional Park District trails. Mr. Pringle demonstrated the connection with Iron Horse Trail on the site map. He explained that they are also pursuing entry to the arroyo, which requires coordination with PG&E who owns a small portion of the property that is required for access. Mark Priscaro said that he reviewed the Housing Element's 2011 transportation analysis and more recent traffic impact analysis for this project, as well as exchanged several emails with Mr. Tassano. He stated that both reports fail to accurately assess or offer viable mitigation to the negative impacts and increased congestion on both Bernal Avenue and Stanley Boulevard between the project site and First Street, both of which are single lane in each direction. He read several excerpts from both the 2011 and 2013 studies and asked the following questions with respect to each segment: What did Mr. Tassano mean in stating that the roadway capacity is sufficient to handle the increased volume? What does a 20% or 25% increase in traffic translate to in car trips? What will the congestion be and how will it affect traffic flow? He read again from the 2011 study with regards to Stanley Boulevard between Valley Avenue and Sunol Boulevard and disagreed with the assumption that regional improvement of SR 84 will provide sufficient mitigation or that Bernal could handle additional volume. He said that Mr. Tassano conceded these two reports are essentially an educated guess and said he is not as comfortable with "guesstimations." He predicted the project would result in serious gridlock during peak hours and an increase in cut through traffic that would adversely affect existing neighborhoods. He asked that the Council direct Mr. Tassano and his team to identify more effective solutions to resolving these impacts before approving the project. Sheena Nagpal said she strongly supported the project as both a resident and local business owner. City Council Minutes Page 6 of 10 August 6, 2013