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process for housing projects that "freezes" applicable fees and development
<br /> standards in place at the time of application submittal (as opposed to at the
<br /> time a project is "deemed complete"), requires the City to develop and make
<br /> available a Pre-Application checklist, including a list of specific submittal items
<br /> prescribed by the state, and limits the total number of public hearings on a
<br /> project (that is consistent with the General Plan and zoning) to no more than
<br /> five, with "hearing" broadly defined to include any workshop or meeting of a
<br /> board, commission, council, departmentor subcommittee.
<br /> Feedback from the Planning Commission and Key Area of Interest and Concern
<br /> In January 2019, the Planning Commission participated in a design training led by VMWP that
<br /> focused on critical issues and best practices for project review. In summary, while the projects
<br /> discussed had many notable positive attributes, potential areas of improvement and key
<br /> discussion topics included:
<br /> • Better transitions and interface between commercial and residential portions of mixed-
<br /> use projects
<br /> • Upholding the hierarchy of streets and thoroughfares
<br /> • Recognizing tradeoffs in site planning, provision of parking, and range of unit types and
<br /> density.
<br /> Further, the feedback from the Planning Commission as a result of the self-guided site tours as
<br /> of the writing of this agenda report is summarized below, by the following topics: site planning,
<br /> parking, building orientation, building design, building articulation, building materials and
<br /> detailing, and other topics. Please note, that while the following summarizes responses in the
<br /> key areas based on responses from three Planning Commissioners received to-date, feedback
<br /> from other Commissioners, along with a more comprehensive synthesis of the results of the
<br /> online survey will be provided as part of the presentation for this meeting.
<br /> • Site Planning: Site circulation is the organization and design of streets, alleys and
<br /> walkways. Site circulation sets up the organization of street, building, alley/parking,
<br /> building, walk or paseo and open spaces so that the visual impact of parking and
<br /> utilities are minimized, and pedestrian connections and spaces are lined by buildings
<br /> entries and "active frontages." Then streets, walks and open spaces are designed with
<br /> walks, trees and pedestrian-scaled lighting and parallel parking. Often, the objective is
<br /> to prevent a residence's front façade and porch from facing a garage door across the
<br /> alley.
<br /> A question in the online survey asked about the configuration of the alley at the project
<br /> located at 536 St. John Street, with the intent of soliciting feedback on whether the alley
<br /> minimizes visual impacts of the project to the street; the survey also highlights that the
<br /> alley that results in garages situated opposite entries and does not provide for a
<br /> separate pedestrian walk to the front doors of the homes at the rear of the project.
<br /> Feedback thus far from Commission members in response to the utilization and
<br /> configuration of the alley at this site is mixed.
<br /> • Parking: The location of parking and its relationship to the street, pedestrian walks and
<br /> open spaces play a role on its visual impact, as well as on the project's building design.
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