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policy. If use of the lift is not supported, the site will not be permitted to have ground-floor residential as proposed, as it would not meet the DSP policy. Discussion Point #1 1. Can the two lower spaces of the parking lift count toward meeting the PMC-required off- street parking spaces? 2. Does the Commission support an in-lieu parking agreement and fee for the off-street parking spaces the applicant is not able to provide as required by the PMC? 3. Does the Commission support use of the parking lift to meet DSP Policy LD-P.20? Building Design The Downtown Design Guidelines and Downtown Specific Plan policies apply to the subject property. Full project details are not provided with the Preliminary Application so full analysis of compliance at this time is not possible. However, some of the guidelines and policies can be evaluated. Of note, the guidelines speak to ensuring architectural compatibility of new construction through character and style of surrounding structures. Staff has raised concerns to the applicant about the architectural style of the proposed building as the style of the proposed building is not consistent with the Craftsman architectural style of the existing commercial structure at the front of the site. Further, the DSP requires new ground-floor residential to be designed to minimize visibility from the commercial street-front. While the existing two-story commercial building helps minimize visibility of the unit from the street, providing similar architectural style and detailing will help decrease the unit's street presence and provide additional compliance with the DSP policy. Staff finds the residential building design should be significantly modified to provide more consistency with the Craftsman architectural style and detailing of the commercial building. However, the applicant has noted they prefer to move forward to the Workshop with the design as proposed. See Figure 9 below for a side by side comparison of the existing commercial building on the site and the proposed residential building. Figure 9: Existing and proposed structures on-site w w e wigRor ' 'VI. leit tIOP Aa .wraY Aside from architectural compatibility, another point for consideration is the building's massing and scale. The building's massing should be sensitive to the neighboring one-story residence P20-0568, 218 Ray Street Planning Commission 9 of 11 spaces (the quantity is determined by the answer to the first question posed to the Commission). Downtown Specific Plan: As aforementioned, Downtown Specific Plan Policy LD-P.20 requires the project to be fully parked on-site if ground-floor residential is proposed. The DSP does not indicate the type of parking that may be used for complying with the policy and the Commission has some discretion regarding compliance with the policy. The lift potentially offers a creative solution to meet parking requirements per the DSP, though this is not a parking solution that has been proposed or accepted in the City to date. Several Bay Area cities do allow use of parking lifts as a means to satisfy parking requirements. If the parking lift is supported as a parking solution to meet the DSP policy, the site will still be deficient for purposes of the PMC parking requirements as noted above but will comply with the DSP P20-0568, 218 Ray Street Planning Commission 8 of 11