PC 051315 - Laserfiche WebLink

sidewalk level. He indicated that when they looked at the back of the lot, they saw that the parking designed for the previous building did not really work in terms of ingress and egress. He continued that they then stretched the building to the back and picked up that upper terrace deck to bring attention from the street level to draw people for entertaining in the evening time. He noted that they developed a tower to have this lantern sort of effect at night that would light up the street and make the building come alive and interact with the public. Mr. Volkmann stated that they studied the Downtown Specific Plan to make sure they had a traditional building that moved into the 21St century. He added that they are excited about their project and look forward to it moving forward. In connection with Commissioner O'Connor's earlier comment regarding enclosing the space, Mr. Volkmann stated that in any community, enclosing the lower dining space and bringing it out would subject it to parking requirements at that point. He added that if somebody came in to do a renovation and enclosed the upper deck, that would also become a conditioned space at that point, and then again and would have to meet the parking requirement for that additional square footage. Commissioner Balch stated that looking at the architectural plan of one of the earlier plan layouts, he noted that the path of travel is on the neighboring or adjoining property to the north. Phil Volkmann confirmed that there is an existing recorded easement that runs across the back of the property which is used for exiting. Commissioner Balch then referred to Space B up front that projects out into the path of travel and noted that there is a tree and a wall. He inquired what the distance is between the tree and the Patio B wall. Mr. Volkmann replied that they will have the minimum requirement of six feet. He indicated that they hired a civil engineer, the civil plan has been done, and all those spaces have been checked to make sure there is adequate space for accessibility around it. He added that this will be checked again during construction. Commissioner Balch inquired if that is measured from the grate or from the tree trunk Mr. Volkmann replied that they would typically measure it from the grate to avoid any issues arising from a wheel that rolls over a grate. Mr. Otto explained that if the grate is there and it is level, the grate can be used as part of the required four- foot clearance up to the opening of the hole in the tree well. He noted, however, that oftentimes the grates may not be level, and for safety reasons, the measurement is taken from the edge of the grate. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, May 13, 2015 Page 5 of 32