PC 021214 - Laserfiche WebLink

Commissioner Allen stated that she is also good. Commissioner Pearce inquired if the traffic study is coming with the application Mr. Otto said yes. Commissioner Pearce stated that it looks great. She indicated that she had some concerns about the amount of parking, but those concerns are satisfied. Acting Chair O'Connor asked Mr. Otto what the comparable impact is as far as traffic is concerned: based on the number of parking spaces, if that were to be utilized, how that compares to what was already approved for the site. Mr. Otto replied that he does not have the numbers yet, so he is not able to give a definitive answer as to what the comparison might be. He indicated that the apartment project had different numbers based on the number of units; additionally, the trip pattern is different on residential versus office. He indicated that it is basically reversed, although there was a retail component that had a little bit of standard traffic like an office building. Commissioner Ritter stated that he had his office at that location for 15 years, and they moved out recently. He indicated that in Christmas time, the traffic is horrible without any new developments. He noted that they will add 3,200 parking spaces and added a stop light near where the new level garage will be located, but he is concerned with the traffic flow during the peak seasons as the place gets really packed then. He noted that the big time is between 7:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. when everyone shows up, and then at 4:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m. when everyone leaves. Commissioner Ritter stated that the other concern he has is that there is really no crosswalks to get over to the mall, and people just basically walked across the street to go to the mall to eat lunch and hoped nobody hit them. He asked staff to make sure that as they redesign all this, there is an easy way to push the pedestrians to cross there somehow. He indicated that he is sure they could probably get past those once the traffic study is done. Acting Chair O'Connor stated that he does not have anything to add but that he is surprised that there are no crosswalks like where the BART area is and the BART garage. Mr. Otto stated that there was a crosswalk recently installed from the BART parking garage next to the driveway there across to the mall. He noted that the problem with the mall is that there are no sidewalks from the mall buildings to the parking lots, so the crosswalk basically goes into the mall parking lot with no sidewalk to walk on. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, February 12, 2014 Page 25 of 38