PC 04/23/97 - Laserfiche WebLink

The applicant has tried to design the building to fit in a business park setting rather than an industrial park setting. A number of enhancements have been added to the building. The applicant has worked closely with staff and Mr. Larry Cannon to present a building that will fit in this highly visible area. The building height ranges from 20 to 26 feet. The building colors are beige and light brown base colors with dark brown accent colors. The site will be landscaped at the high rate of 25 %. The applicant will also landscape 20 feet onto the adjacent City property (park and ride lot). This will total 30 feet of landscaping along the eastern edge of the site. A small triangular City-owned property to the north will also be landscaped. Landscaping will be used to screen the loading doors. Other screening devices include a three-foot-high berm, solid concrete screening walls, and decorative metal fencing. Mr. Iserson commented that the General Plan Land Use designation was changed in August 1996 to Business Park. This zoning allows for the warehouse/distribution/office use. The City has a desire for well designed buildings in this visible location, more in keeping with a business park image instead of an industrial park image. Initially, staff did not fully support this application. The applicant has worked diligently with staff to change the project design to be acceptable and closer in appearance to an "office building." Staff feels the end result is appropriate for the land use. The FAR is 38.5% which is 6.5% over the General Plan mid-point of 32%. To mitigate the increased FAR level, the applicant has increased the proposed landscaping from 16% to 25%, will provide the trail connection to the arroyo trail, design improvements in the building, agreed to landscape a 20 foot wide strip of land on the adjacent City property. Staff feels these amenities justify the slighting higher FAR. Staff was concerned about the treatment of the loading area. The site plan has been designed to minimize the view of the loading area by locating it on the eastern side of the building. It will be screened with landscaping and is out of view of the elevated Stoneridge Driver overpass. This also reduced the number of solid screening walls needed. A traffic study compared this project with an office building. The trip generation report indicated there would be fewer trips in the morning peak hours but a greater number of trips in the afternoon peak hours than an office building. However, a mitigating factor of the peak pm hours is that the traffic direction of the vans would be in a "reverse commute" direction. Further, staff estimates that 50 percent of the afternoon trips would be "linked diverted" trips. The traffic study concludes that traffic from this project could be accommodated by existing streets and intersections with no significant traffic impacts. The project was analyzed with respect to the West Las Positas interchange. The traffic consultant determined this project would have little effect on the buildout LOS in this area. However, the applicant has been conditioned to contribute its fair share in any future City program created to fund construction of the necessary traffic mitigation improvements. In staff's opinion, this project meets the General Plan's Community Character element as well as the relevant policies in the Scenic Highway Plan. Page 3 April 23, 1997 Planning Commission Minutes