12 Agenda Report - Laserfiche WebLink

The Planning Commission directed staff and the applicants to provide for off-street bicycle traffic; further improve the Home Depot's building design; mitigate traffic on Valley Avenue and Santa Rita Road; define traffic routes; limit the uses to low traffic- and parking-generating uses; and preclude fast food restaurants at the "pad" building. Public Hearing The Planning Commission heard the proposal at its public hearing held on December 13, 2006. The public hearing minutes are attached (Attachment 7). The applicants presented a revised project with a significantly modified Home Depot design. They stated that Home Depot would be willing to work with a specific truck route, that 30 to 40 percent of the trucks were Home Depot-controlled, that the limitation on seasonal sales should be modified to include other types of seasonal sales and that the Johnson Drive Home Depot store would remain open, but may be remodeled. Those in support of the proposal stated that traffic on Valley Avenue is a Stoneridge Drive-to-EI Charro Road problem, not a Home Depot problem, that it will alleviate cross-town traffic to the other Home Depot store or to Livermore, that its tax revenue would be increasingly valuable to City as it reaches buildout, and that this project would enhance this gateway site and would create service retail businesses for neighborhood residents. Concerns expressed at the meeting included weekend traffic and noise levels; that the proposal will aggravate traffic congestion and noise on Valley Avenue, Stanley Boulevard, and Santa Rita Road; that the development will increase safety risks to school children; that delivery trucks on Valley Avenue would increase; that the proposal would be better located near the freeway; and that the Stoneridge Drive extension should be completed before this project is considered. After hearing all public testimony, the Planning Commission then closed the public meeting and voted 4-0-1 (Commissioner Fox in opposition) to recommend approval of the proposal with the following conditions: . Modify the condition addressing truck trips and truck routes of vehicles over which Home Depot had control and to allow no deliveries during the hours of services at the Congregation Beth Emek; . No loading doors shall be painted orange; . Liquor stores are excluded from the list of conditional uses; . Identify specific seasonal sales for temporary use permit processing; . Modify the condition regarding the undergrounding of the 60 KV lines to add language that staff will work with the applicant and the appropriate agencies to look into the possibility of undergrounding these lines; . Incorporate all of the architectural designs recommended by architectural peer reviewer Larry Cannon; . Add a condition to prohibit any grill facilities at the Lot 2 building pad; and, Page 6 of 21