Mics are on.

Awesome.

All right, good evening, everyone.

Thank you for your patience.

It is just after seven on Tuesday, November fourth, and welcome to uh tonight's planning commission meeting for the City of Belmont.

I'll start with some um instructions on how to participate and how to attend the meeting.

Um firstly, one can attend and participate in chambers.

Um, this meeting is being uh broadcast live on Comcast Cable Twenty Seven.

It's also streamed live via the city's website at Belmont.gov, and is it is accessible over Zoom, and the instructions for uh accessing the meeting over Zoom are included in the uh agenda.

Uh, for uh public comment, one can comment in chambers by filling out a speaker slip, handing that slip to our clerk, and you'll come up to the lectern, and you'll have three minutes to comment.

Um, one can also participate virtually using the raised hand function over Zoom, and again, the instructions for participating over Zoom are included in the agenda.

Um, uh, if we've received written comments before four PM today, uh, those comments will be read into the record or summarized by um Director DeMello for the item that it corresponds to.

So with those instructions, I think we will now turn to a roll call, please.

Okay, um, Commissioner Adam Kavich.

Present.

Here.

Chair Coolich.

Present.

Uh, Commissioner Jadala.

Here.

Okay, and absent tonight is Commissioner Majeski and Commissioner Twig should be here in just a few moments as well.

Great.

We do have a forum, so we'll get going here.

Um, item two is the Pledge of Allegiance.

If we all could please stand.

The flag is here.

Pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and the Republic.

One nation under God.

Liberty and justice for all.

Thank you, everyone.

An apt pledge on uh election night.

Uh item three is our community forum?

Uh, this portion of the meeting is reserved for persons wishing to comment on matters not on the agenda within the purview of the commission.

Um, if we're in chambers, again submit a speaker slip and you can come to dias, and you'll have three minutes to comment.

Um, and again, if you're on Zoom and wish to comment uh on item three, which is our community forum, this is the time to do so.

We'll turn first to um any speaker slips in chambers for uh item three.

No speaker slips for this item.

We do have one raised hand on Zoom.

Great.

Let's turn to that person, please.

Okay.

Um, go ahead, you'll have three minutes.

I can you please hear me?

Yes, we can hear you.

Thank you.

Uh dear respected uh Belmont City Planning Commissioner, thank you for this opportunity for me to speak.

Uh so uh yeah, I uh I am a chute's wrestler.

I own two lands uh in Belmont, both are zoned, uh HRO2.

Uh I'm just a small property taxpayer uh for the city of Belmont and San Matthew County uh who bought these lands from the same seller five years ago.

Um uh I would like to request to review regarding the certificate of compliance, also known as COC for these lots from my understanding.

Uh these are lots of the seller uh had done the uh merger or the recording uh uh at the same time.

Uh so they uh this suit like from my understanding, it should have exemption on the certificate of compliance.

Uh why I am uh telling that is like uh the uh on the lower lock uh on the cross street, there is another SRO2 uh property that the seller uh around the same time sold uh the property, and that lot already has a building permit, which is uh SRO2.

So that lot has uh uh is also uh SRO2 and from the same seller who sold it around the same time to another uh buyer, which has uh a building permit now, and our lot uh also uh had like the same merger uh recording.

So from my understanding, our lot also should have an exemption of certificate of compliance.

So I would like to request to review uh so that uh we can like after having the exemption for certificate of compliance.

Maybe the next step you might think of uh like building 800 square feet uh two zone uh uh building space.

So there is like long uh way to go, but I also had like opportunity to speak with uh director D.

Mellow today uh evening around 425, and uh uh director did uh uh suggested that uh we will have another meeting set up to understand better to make uh like go through it uh this is my scenario.

So that is very positive news.

So just wanted to uh bring up the uh my uh I'm uh interested to know more about this COC for my property.

Thank you for this opportunity.

Thank you, Director.

Great.

Thank you very much, and thank you, Director DeMelo, for um responding to the individual.

So sure.

Sounds like that's in progress.

Any further comments on this item?

No more raised hands on Zoom.

Great, and director de Mello, anything um received in the C dev uh website before 4 p.m.

today regarding uh sorry, item three.

Nothing else on uh for tonight's agenda under this agenda portion of the meeting.

So great.

Thank you.

So that concludes uh item three, our community forum uh section.

Uh turning now to item four, which is uh commissioner announcements and agenda amendments.

I'll see first if anyone up here in the dias has any announcements to make.

Yeah, uh yeah, just really quickly.

I wanted to say that the city of Belmont um as always is starting to collect applications for commissions that includes this commission the planning commission as well as Parks and rec um and others uh you can find information on the city's website and applications are due um by January the 9th so any citizens that are interested in serving on a commission and and helping out the city in that way is encouraged to apply we always need a diversity of of viewpoints and encourage people to to join thanks thank you I second that and appreciate the public service announcement.

Anyone else great and I'll I'll note for the record that Commissioner Twig is not present.

Great um I'll see from Director Damella whether we have any uh agenda amendments well seeing as we don't have a ton more on the agenda other than the consent calendar and study session item uh we're not suggesting any changes to the agenda so thank you perfect thank you which is then a nice uh transition to item five which is our consent business there is one item um uh under item five it's 5a and it's the approval of meeting minutes for the October 7th 2025 meeting any questions comments corrections with regard to these minutes anyone would like to make a motion to approve I move we approve the minutes that's submitted great I'm sorry second I'll second it great it's been moved and seconded let's take a vote please okay Commissioner Adam Kavich aye Kramer aye Chair Coolidge aye twig aye Jadala aye motion passes five zero for the minutes as presented for October 7th 2025.

Great thank you very much and now uh item six study session we have one uh listing on uh under this agenda item it's uh item six a and it's the Charles Armstrong school expansion project located at uh 1405 uh Solana Drive and um I'll ask my colleagues first to see if there's any um ex party communications or um any other disclosures to make I did a site visit today saying I took a site visit.

Nothing to report.

Nothing to report and I've taken a site visit.

Excellent uh thank you Chair Coolidge members of the commission before Jeremy launches into his staff report just wanted to give you some context about what's before you tonight uh again tonight is a study session we don't conduct them often we wanted to use this as an early opportunity to get the project uh scope uh before the commission before folks uh before the neighborhood before the applicant uh to allow for kind of an understanding of what's being proposed for this site again no decisions are to be made tonight tonight is an opportunity to receive feedback um there's a slate of entitlements that are needed for this project they're described in your staff memorandum and also that's gonna be um uh Jeremy's gonna go over that as part of this presentation uh but again tonight again it's unusual but it's something that that we we do we think it's a good uh opportunity so this item is scheduled for tonight for the commission again a kind of a preview of coming attractions if you will because this item is targeted uh for review in a public hearing setting for all of the entitlements in January and February so we think it's important to get this information out now allow for kind of vetting of comments um again uh under the guise of the scope that's before you tonight again you uh don't have the findings for the entitlements um you don't have the analysis of uh of the project but again it's project intro by staff and the applicant and the opportunity for the community to provide feedback um certainly we'll take that feedback as we continue to advance forward with the project and its review cycle um we are targeting review of this in a similar study session format before the city council at their November 25th meeting um so with that, I want to turn it over to Jeremy.

Again what what you're gonna have is a presentation from staff.

And then, as is customary, you'll have a presentation from the applicant.

And then if there are any questions, again, that are germane to the topic that's before you tonight, then you could ask questions of us or the applicant, and then we'll have the public comment opportunity after that.

So again, no decisions tonight, just introduction of project.

So thank you for your time.

I'm going to turn it to Jeremy, and he's prepared a presentation.

The applicant team is prepared to presentation as well, and then we'll advance through the meeting based on that parameter and format.

So thank you.

Thank you, Director DeMello.

Planner Ruiz, take it away.

Hello, commissioners, as previously noted by my director and as well as those who are attended.

So this is for 1405 Solana Drive, also known as the Charles Armstrong School and its study session for its proposed project scope.

For the study session process, as we do not have many, we're here to just facilitate a project introduction and introduce the project scope for this application.

Furthermore, we're here to identify the applicable entitlements that are requested in conjunction with the proposed project and what they would need to do in order to seek approval.

We're here to accept the comments and answer questions about the project from the planning commission, interested parties as well as the public as appropriate given the current stage of the review for this project.

And as previously noted by my director, there is no action that is requested from you all at this stage of the project review process.

So from historical background, there was, and the staff member amount goes into more details, but in essence, in the 1950s, the site was known as the McDougall School.

Between 1950 and 1982, McDougall School was no longer existing and was converted from that public school designation to a non-school designation.

And in 1984, that's when we began the rezoning into a actual private school operations.

From that, in 1987 in July, the private school that is later to be known as Charles Armstrong, received an approval for the conceptual development plan for that location in associated conditionals use permit and design review.

And there was a resolution that allowed the establishment of further classroom additions that occurred, which happened around September of that year.

And then from January through April 1988, there was several modified approvals for that conceptual development plan that occurred.

The planning commission approved the revised detail development plans, associated conditions for that site, and a procedure or criteria that allowed the school to increase the student enrollment cap for that time period.

And then beginning November 2002, the school received approval for a conditional use permit to increase again the enrollment cap from 220 to the now permitted 260 students at this site location.

That approved enrollment camp increase did not involve any increase in permissible floor area for that campus, so it was just the number of students that increased, but not any expansion of existing buildings.

However, through that reviewed period, it was ultimately reviewed by the planning commission and city council, but was disapproved.

That stated, what is Charles Armstrong currently being proposed?

So the school has filed for a development review application in order to construct several new buildings in two phases for their campus.

Phase one will detail with about 11,900 square feet for a new academic wing.

And phase two will detail with about 11,100 square feet for a new proposed athletic building.

Furthermore, additional site improvements such as the landscape plaza, stormwork management system, slope, uh stabilization and utility infrastructure will be done throughout that course of both phases.

But they're also proposing operational changes due to this increased construction.

For instance, they are seeking to increase enrollment cap from the again noted 260 students to the now 290 students.

The current average daily attendance is approximately 200 to 240 students, and the hours of operations for the school will remain unchanged.

So again, only the enrollment cap is being seeked to be increased, but nothing in regards to hours of operation will occur.

Furthermore, in order to support their enlarged student body, they are proposing to increase faculty staff by 11 new members.

Only it is expected that administrative and support staff are going to remain and not increase, and just more so faculty members for teaching, will be the proposed reasoning for that increase capped for them.

So what entitlements are they in seeking?

So in order to receive approval, they have to do a plan development amendment.

This focuses primarily on the conceptual development plan, CDP, and the detailed development plan amendments.

This is ordered in order to address for the new construction as well as the operational standards changes.

It also would address the increase of permitted floor area for the campus due to the construction of these new buildings, as well as the enlarged enrollment cap, as they are again going from 260 to 290.

These requests as noted differ from the approved 1988 conceptual development plan, and they are different from the 2002 conditional use permit.

As noted, the conditional use permit, which is connected by to the detailed development plan, is to modify that student population cap as well as address those operational standards and its use as a device to carry forward those changes.

Furthermore, they are also seeking a design review as they are proposing new buildings and a tree permit, as they are approximately removing 40 trees, as well as proposing replacement trees, and in order to address those construction, cutting trees that are considered protected status will trigger that requirement.

And lastly, they are proposing grading permit.

That is to address the combined volume of the excavation as well as fill that exceeds the normal city amounts of 50 cubic yards, as well as disturbance amount of more than 2,000 square feet.

So as noted, there was originally two phases for construction for seeking these entitlements, those being phase one, again the academic wing, which are broken down into academic building A, B and C, which detail as the music room, the movement room, as well as the art and makerspace areas.

So in the top right, you can see that is where the academic building is, as well as on the southern side, there is the athletic building noted.

Noted here is there is a phase three, but they're not seeking for entitlements for that portion, as that is for interior renovations to existing spaces, and that is far in the future.

To showcase for those wondering about the how it's going to look for the landscaping as well as the trees, this is just for reference the landscape plans, and the trees are going to be on the perimeter for its new placings.

As well as for those who may not have the opportunity to have looked at the plan set and have no idea what these images may look like for the academic buildings.

We provided some section drawings for what it's provided, and you can get a rough estimate as to what it's supposed to look like.

For instance, this is for academic area A for that art and maker space from a side section, and then academic area B for the movement areas, its side C again from its front and side, and as well as the athletic building.

So as noted for the study session, there are further attentive public hearing schedules, that being in November 25th of this year of 2025.

The City Council will be also conducting a study session similar to what you all are having tonight, with a similar format to provide informational background as well as to give a general introduction to this project.

On January 6, 2026 of next year, that will be the official planning commission hearing where you will all be reviewing and providing recommendations to the city council on the project entitlements as well as the actual established ordinance and resolution for the project.

And then in January 27th, the City Council public hearing will review your recommendations, the public uh the project entitlements, as well as again that ordinance and resolution, and it will be the first reading of those uh noted items for this proposed uh project at hand.

And then lastly, on February 10th, um, that'll be the city council meeting, in which case should the project have received a city council approval established on January 27th.

This will be the second reading for the project uh regarding its ordinance and resolution.

And that will be all for the staff presentation.

Um so again, we're gonna turn to the applicant's presentation.

Again, we would ask that you withhold any questions.

Uh again, we we don't do this very often.

We uh didn't want to present the entirety of this project before the commission and council um in the January-February time frame with having this kind of introduction not occur.

So um we certainly think it's important for the commission to become educated about the project, the council to become educated about the project, the applicant to provide a presentation, but it's also in the spirit of public outreach.

Um the applicants have held a uh outreach meeting earlier in October and received some feedback.

We think these are good opportunities to solicit input from the public to allow folks to raise their you know questions, comments, concerns, or support for the project before the decision maker, again, in a no pressure setting, if you will, because again, you aren't under the pressure of having to make a decision or make a recommendation on any of the project entitlements tonight.

But again, this again preview of coming attraction.

So it's a good opportunity.

We think it's good in again in in the spirit of transparency and outreach to allow for this kind of event to occur.

So, with that, um if you could hold questions if you have any, um, again, that are germane to what's before you tonight.

Um, we turn it over to the applicant, they'd make their presentation.

Again, if you have questions, then you could um ask them of staff or the applicant, and then we'll turn to the public comment section of the meeting.

So thank you.

Not sure if Carlos was talking about no pressure for you or no pressure for me, but you know, no pressure anywhere, no pressure zone.

We're good.

It's good for everybody.

So uh thank you, commissioners.

We really appreciate the opportunity to be with you tonight.

Uh, this is a project that is uh near and dear to our hearts and uh very important to the school, and we look forward to spending the next little while with you, uh giving you some context for why we're moving ahead with this project now, uh, and having some folks uh provide additional architectural details about the project, and then we'll see where the evening goes from there.

So my name is Neil Tuck.

I'm the head of school at Armstrong.

I'm in my fifth year as head of school uh at Armstrong.

I'm in my ninth year as part of the school leadership, and actually my 14th year is part of the school community because my youngest daughter Skylar uh was a student at Armstrong from second grade through eighth grade and graduate in 2019.

So uh I look forward to setting some context for you tonight, and if we get the chance to answer answer any questions, we're happy to do so.

So we um sorry, next slide.

We'll be coordinated here.

Um so we like starting every important meeting uh that we have involving Armstrong by reading our mission, and this is certainly one that more than qualifies for that.

So I'll go ahead and do that.

Charles Armstrong School unlocks the unique potential of students with dyslexia and related learning differences, changing the trajectory of their lives.

And you know, as the head of school uh and as somebody who had a child to go to school, uh, this is not just a job for me.

Uh, this is something that truly is uh something that is deeply in my heart and that I care so much about because I've seen the difference it's made for my daughter from my family, and I've seen now, having been part of the community for 14 years, 14 years, how many students have benefited from an Armstrong uh education and who truly have had the direction not only of their lives but their families' lives uh and frankly everybody involved in uh their families uh sort of outer community uh in their lives as well.

So one thing that's really important to us, and we can switch slides, is uh our school really does focus on on four values, and I know a lot of schools say that, but having been there now for a while, I know this is something we really try to bake into as many things as we can.

And I wanted to start by just mentioning those four values tonight, because I understand that uh when a school project uh when a school wants to move ahead with a project like this, it can be contentious.

And I know also you're gonna certainly hear from people tonight that 20 years ago we uh the people that were part of the school proposed something similar, and we just really promised ourselves as we went into this process that we were gonna take a positive outcome outlook on this, and that we really were gonna try to live up to our values and make sure that we are doing everything we can to follow those values as part of this process, and we will continue to do so throughout this process.

So those four values, and this is where we coordinate.

Uh, the first is kindness, second is respect, third is growth, and the fourth is reflection.

And again, we're gonna try to do our best to hold ourselves to each and every one of those as we go through tonight and as we go through this process.

We can go to the next slide.

So I want to just again set a little bit of context.

I mean, we're gonna potentially people who are speaking tonight may throw around some terms.

I've already thrown around the term dyslexia.

So I thought it was important to kind of define a few terms for you just so we're all a level playing field, we don't assume everybody has uh expertise in this educational area.

So the school was founded in 1968 to serve students with dyslexia and related learning differences.

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability characterized by difficulties in word reading andor spelling that involve accuracy, speed, or both, and secondary consequences include reading comprehension problems.

You all probably people in your lives who have uh have dyslexia.

Uh dyscalculia is a specific learning disability with impairment in mathematics, which can affect calculations, problem solving, or both.

And dysgraphia is a neurological condition in which someone has difficulty with writing skills for their age.

So, although our school, like every student at our school has dyslexia, there's also a lot of other related learning differences that we focus on, and we try to really uh make sure that we are uh doing everything we can to address those needs for students.

Okay, next slide.

So, some basic facts about our school.

We moved to uh the current Belmont campus in 1984, so we have been here for a while.

Uh, we typically serve, I put two thirty to two fifty students when I kind of look across the broader set of time in students' second through eighth grade.

Uh, we have 78 faculty and staff, so a very low student teacher ratio, which is kind of core to what we do.

Uh 12 of those faculty and staff live in Belmont or San Carlos.

Approximately 30% of our students receive tuition assistance.

We believe it's really important to focus on accessibility for students and to have availability of funds to fund students.

We will fund up to 90% of a student's education in order to get them to Armstrong, and approximately 40% of our Armstrong students identify as students of color.

So we serve a very diverse diverse socioeconomic uh community.

Uh to say a little bit about our academic program, our whole academ uh academic program is designed to serve the needs of students who learn differently and have often struggled at their prior schools.

Most students come to us and they've really had a hard time at the previous school and they're looking for a solution, and we provide a solution that in many cases again is life-changing.

Some of the things you'll see at our school, we have small learning groups, particularly for reading and math.

Uh, we have a very strong specialty program.

Specialties, what we call art, design thinking, movement, P and music.

Uh, because we find that students that have dyslexia and again these learning differences often thrive and need the need these outlets to feel good about themselves and to build their confidence.

And we believe very strongly in a strength-based education where we're not just focused on where student has deficits, but we're also really focused on where they have strengths and to build up that confidence from those strengths.

Um if you stop by our school, you'll see highly trained and motivated faculty and staff.

People look to work at our school because they want to have the impact they know they can have at our school.

You also see, I had friends from New York visiting, they were kind of shocked.

You'll you'll see a very joyful learning environment.

I'm not trying to cast dispersions on New York, spend some time living there, but they were just shocked when they walked into our classrooms and saw just how joyful the atmosphere is and how much the students enjoy being at school, which again is such a contrast to where they often were at their previous schools.

Um at our school, we really think students feel understood by faculty and their peers.

Whereas at their other schools, they may have felt very othered, and they may have felt like, okay, we're I'm not like everybody else here.

Literally, every student, every student has dyslexia, every student has a learning difference, and so everything we're doing and everybody they're around is focused on them as opposed to, for example, pulling them out of class.

And then finally, we want these students to go out into the outside world and be very successful.

So we focus a lot on self-advocacy and a lot on resilience because we want them to be ready for the outside world when they leave Armstrong.

So one thing that sometimes comes up when you're talking about an independent school, and I've heard people talk about this when it comes to our school, is well, are you really serving the local community?

And you know, are you part of the community?

And first I'll point out that like we've been at the we've been here for 41 years.

So this isn't we're not trying to build a new school here.

Uh, this is a school that's actually been there, been here longer than the prior school that was on the same same property.

So we've been here for a long time.

We've served over 175 students from Belmont and San Carlos who have attended Armstrong.

We currently have 22 students who are either from Belmont or San Carlos so about 10% of our student body.

61% of the students that are currently at the school are from San Mateo County.

So if you expand that radius a bit and think about serving the county that we're all in we serve the overwhelming majority of our students come from locally and then if you look back over time we've literally had 1300 students who have attended Armstrong over 1300 and have been from the county.

It's also just really important for you to know that we we put our kind of money where our mouth is when it comes to building building the strength of the Belmont educational system.

We provide free training for Belmont and Redwood shores school district teachers on dyslexia because we want students with learning differences to be successful at your local schools.

So sometimes you'll hear from people okay only 10% of your students are from San Carlos and Belmont and I would tell you like that's that's sort of appropriate like if 50% of our students were from San Carlos in Belmont that would mean that the San Carlos and Belmont schools were not meeting the needs of those students.

So thanks for thankfully the local schools are meeting the needs of a lot of students that have learning differences and other special needs but some students need a little bit more.

Some students need a little more tailored education or can thrive in a little bit more tailored environment.

So I think 10% actually is a great number in terms of feeling like we're taking some students out of the Belmont and San Carlos systems that need our support but we're also doing our best to make sure that the students that remain in your schools also have teachers who are really well prepared to teach them and again we're doing that for free and we've made a big commitment to that.

Also wanted to say because it can get lost in the context of these conversations like we love being in Belmont like we love I've again been part of the school for 14 years.

It's been an incredible community for us there are so many things about the community that we love.

It's a beautiful community it's a safe community our teachers love being there neighbors and vendors you know we're gonna you're gonna hear tonight I'm sure some some neighbors that want us to do things differently but the reality is if you talk to most of our neighbors including a lot of the folks even in the room two months ago before we proposed this project they would say they love our school and they love our mission and they appreciate our school and they greet us warmly Daniel here from later you know waves to them at the top of the driveway we really feel like we have a great relationship in general with our neighbors we also benefit from having a mutual easement involving McDougall Park where we have access to the park between 8 a.m and 4 p.m for a P and for a recess and for athletic teams and we've had that literally you know since since 1984 and it's it's worked out well and we're very appreciative of that.

We have outstanding school research officers who have helped us through some tricky situations over the years and have always treated our staff and and faculty and students with respect.

Belmont has literally put itself on the map when it comes to education and we are thrilled to be part of that thriving educational sector in Belmont and be one of the kind of leading schools that does what we do and contribute that to the plethora of schools in Belmont and and that really just we love helping reinforce that identity.

We've worked at uh and been welcome at Belmont events like trunk retreat I think we gave out a thousand uh brain squishy things uh last week uh to to Belmont residents which is great and we've hosted a national nights out and been uh visitors at others and we love we love that and we'll also say Belmont the Belmont staff uh has treated us very thoughtfully uh throughout this process so we benefit a lot from being in Belmont go to the next slide the reality is we also try to be good neighbors and we contribute a lot to Belmont and this is also something that if you hear a little bit about like 20 years ago it's it's a different world now we we are doing so many things that make us uh I think good neighbors not because we have to but because we want to those of you that did site visits will see you know we had a lower we have a lower uh parking lot uh that's sort of adjacent to our new playground is uh that's that's not part of the easement that that Belmont has but we keep that open every night and every weekend so that Belmont residents who are participating in soccer and softball and taking advantage of our campus on the weekends uh it is open, it is for their use.

And if we didn't do that, all those cars would be in the neighborhood.

All those cars would be people would be parked way down the street and have to carry their softball stuff or soccer stuff, you know, for 10 minutes just to get on to our campus.

So we're thrilled to do that, and we are appreciate the opportunity to serve the community that way.

In terms of recreation, we have two playgrounds on campus.

We built a new one literally adjacent to the park.

We put it as close as we could to the park so that families, when they're there for soccer or for softball, and they have a younger sibling who is bored to tears because they're watching their you know tense softball game, can go and play on the playground, and the parents know they're safe and don't have to worry about it.

We also have three full basketball courts that we're always seeing people out playing on.

We also happen to be the only flat area kind of in the in the neighborhood.

And so we see people learning to ride bikes, walking.

Uh we have ADA ramps that allow people to get down to McDougall Park without having to go down what is a relatively steep driveway.

We recently installed an AED at this at the city's request.

So I can go on and on.

We also have San Carlos neighbors who've uh cut gates in our fence and actually have their own sort of special access to the park and to our campus.

Uh, which hey, that's great because we want people to enjoy our campus.

Uh and I already mentioned that we've trained teachers and we've had a lot of students.

So we also, frankly, I'll just say this up front we definitely have an openness to neighbor feedback.

We've already done three different uh neighborhood meetings.

Uh, we're thinking about stuff that they've shared.

We appreciate that this is changed and people don't like change, but we are truly open.

We want to be good neighbors, we want to be great neighbors, and so we're open to all that.

So let me get on to the project and pass it on to the architect.

So I'll be following a little bit of what Jeremy said.

Uh we have a three-phase plan.

Phase one, which we would like to start next May, is an academic wing along the east side of the campus.

Uh, for those of you that did a site visit along kind of where the hillside is.

Uh, we purposely we spent a lot of time thinking about that.

That part of it would be tucked away and think there's really minimal impact on neighbors.

We understand the gym uh is something that has more of an impact on neighbors.

That phase one will have three, and there's a little bit that we'll sort of clarify a little bit.

Three specialty classrooms, again, what we call kind of music, maker space and art.

It's got one science lab, uh, which will be our second science lab, we're really desperately in need of, and then kind of six standard classrooms.

Uh, it also has a faculty workspace, uh, it has a conference room, it has a small multi-phase space, and it has speech language office.

So that's what we're planning on doing first.

And then the second piece of it is uh phase two, which we're looking at doing tentatively 2031, 2032.

Uh again, I won't go into detail there, but it's an athletic and community center that's on the upper blacktop.

So we're keeping the lower blacktop open behind the school because we need that for student pickup and drop-off because Belmont wants us, and we understand to do continue to pick up and drop off behind our school.

So we're putting on the upper blacktop because that's the only real other place we have on campus where we could actually put a gym.

Uh, that will also have a couple of small PE offices and a kitchen for student lunch prep, which is frankly really important.

Uh, I'm sure you're all familiar with this.

Providing lunch to students has become become a big equity issue because there are students that are on uh on meal programs, and rather than have them feel signaled out, what schools are doing is providing everybody with a free lunch, including faculty, uh, which appreciated a lot, uh, so that nobody feels stigmatized by having to hand in a voucher for a free lunch or anything.

So we really want to be, we cannot do that on campus right now.

And then phase three are relatively modest renovations.

I realize that uh it's sort of an unknown there, but that's again 10 years off in the future, and we'll we'll come back when we get to that point.

Why this project?

Um, so we're proposing it for a number of reasons.

First of all, uh I'll talk in a second about specific challenges, but uh we really need additional facilities.

Uh we are we're bursting at the seams.

Uh we really don't feel like we're maximizing our educational program for our current students.

In addition, we've asked for a small, you know, I think very modest increase of 30 students under our CUP because we are anticipating increased demand uh for our services.

Uh Senate Bill uh 114 requires all public schools now to do K through 12 um assessments of whether students have reading difficulties, and so we are expecting that more families are going to find out that their students have reading challenges, they're gonna be interested in uh trying to see what they can do for those students.

Hopefully, a lot of them will get served by our public school system or excuse me, or parochial schools or other independent schools, but inevitably a fair number are going to find their way to Armstrong where everything we do is designed around students like them.

I'm gonna take one sip of water.

I'll also just touch on a little bit later some of the CUP amendments, uh, but the bottom line is in general that's to approve the additional space, the cap increased cap of 30 students, and some operational issues, which really I think got put in place and really are very limiting to the school.

And the project's also kind of relevant now because we think this is an opportunity to provide additional benefits to Belmont.

Um we have offered to contribute and have made a commitment to contribute up to a hundred thousand dollars as part of this project to do McDougal Park improvements because we know that's an important uh important site for our neighbors.

Uh, and we're absolutely open to discussing potential gym access.

I think we all know anybody who's got children involved in sports, know how precious gym space is, and we've already offered to park and rec to figure out a responsible way to offer the city in a way that's respectful of the neighbors additional time because we are an elementary and middle school, we're not gonna have a lot of night games, we're not gonna have weekend games, and so there will be gym court availability that could frankly complement what Belmont already has, or it could complement the community center work that's gonna get done where I know there's a gym proposed, but I know it's I believe it's not gonna be in the first phase of what's done at the community center.

So that's a little bit about why the project.

Um I'll wrap up by telling you just a little bit some of the challenges we're trying to overcome.

We're stretched to capacity, uh, scheduling is very difficult and inflexible.

We can't add more students in certain grades.

Uh, I think I skipped on the other page the fact that we're seeing more demand for middle school because a lot of parents are just waiting and they're figuring out later that students have learning challenges, and by the time they get to fourth and fifth grade and they're looking for middle school, they're desperate because they know their students are not going to be successful at their current schools.

Uh, and then as I mentioned earlier, we really want to improve our specialty spaces.

And then we also just don't have certain things.

We don't have a gym.

I believe, tried to do my research that every San Carlos and every Belmont middle school has a gym, and a lot of them have had a gym for for quite a while.

Um, we don't have sufficient uh community space, community gathering space.

Uh, if we want to get our whole whole all our students together and their families, we can't do that.

We have a multi that's not capable of high uh holding anything more than our student body.

Um our faculty and staff, and this is probably the most embarrassing thing, like literally do not have a workspace.

A lot of them do work outside when the weather permits.

They'll sometimes do prep in their cars or make a personal phone call in their cars.

Uh, we use every square inch of the campus that we can for student education, and we really want to better serve our faculty.

And then finally, I mentioned that we want a kitchen uh just for uh student and faculty lunch service.

So it would be very limited in terms of use, maybe an occasional special event, but that is not the purpose, that is not the main purpose of the kitchen.

And then finally, some of our current CUP limitations.

Uh we have zero access to the campus on weekends, uh, while neighbors actually can freely use it, so it's a little, it's a little ironic.

Um, literally, if a teacher leaves their phone on campus, like this has happened.

They they leave their phones on campus and they ask for permission to get their phones, and we have to tell them no, you have to wait till Monday morning seven.

Nobody's allowed on campus or prescription meds.

I mean, it's just is it's pretty unworkable.

Um, we have no ability to hold school community events on weekends when families are not working.

We really want to be able to do at least some events on the weekend when families can not have to skip work to attend an event.

Um, we have a limitation of not being on able to be on campus um after nine o'clock.

We actually have a little bit of a discrepancy in what term you presented.

We we are asking for a one-hour extension of that, and just most mostly not for events, but just so I can get stuck in the office till 10 o'clock instead of being stuck in the office till nine o'clock.

Uh, and then we also really uh want to discuss our ability to allow some neighborhood pickups during a handful of special events during the school years, like literally like two, three or four.

Um, we just had this with Halloween last week.

It like makes zero sense for families to come on campus for Halloween, go back to their cars and then circle back and have to come to our driveway to pick up their kids when they could have just walked to their car with their kids and gotten out of the neighborhood.

Instead, we create more traffic problems through some of the rules that are in place.

We we basically would love to be trusted that we don't want, we don't want traffic either.

Our parents won't want traffic, we don't want traffic, we don't want the neighbors to be inconvenienced.

If we used a little bit of judgment and a little bit of grace, we think we could actually cut down on some of the traffic during what some of these special events.

And then finally, there's some historic uncertainty about whether we can train outside teachers about dyslexia on campus.

And if there's like one thing we accomplish through this whole process, it's hopefully an understanding that if we can train more teachers on how to work with students that have learning differences, that'll be a good thing for everybody.

So I won't spend a lot of time on the next page.

A lot of these are just kind of the counter to what's on the previous page, asking for the square footage to do the project, the 30 student increase, which is only 11.5%, the ability to access our own campus.

I already discussed that, and then a reasonable approach to dismissals after certain special events.

Um we are, you know, McDougall Park is always something that we realize is precious to people.

We are asking ideally to have one or two weekend days during the year when we can have a community picnic and use the field.

But that would all be subject to agreement with Belmont Park and Rec and would certainly never ask for any additional exclusive use of the park.

It would all be a matter of using shared shared space at the park.

So I will conclude there.

I'll thank you for hearing uh the context I provided and for your attention to what we're doing today.

Hopefully, this was helpful in terms of creating some idea of what we're doing and why we're doing it.

And I'm gonna pass it over to our architecture team for our presentation of a little more detail on what we're doing.

Great.

Thank you for that presentation.

I can have a sorry.

My name's Jorge.

Um, architect with uh Ratcliffe Architects here in uh the Bay Area.

We're the one of the oldest architectural firms in the country uh west of the Mississippi.

So we've been around for quite some time, but we have a focus on K-12 environments, one of the studios that I work with, and uh there's been an incredible opportunity working with Armstrong on this project.

One of the things that I want to just walk you through is how the project was uh situated and how it's um set on the campus and some of the reasonings that we have onto.

As you can see right now, how the campus is laid out is kind of a traditional um vernacular style that we have in California about how these finger schools are laid out, and you've seen them across with a lot of the outdoor circulation, outdoor uh connections with the campus.

And if as you visit the campus, you can see how the campus kind of rolls down or comes down from the Solana Drive towards the south, basically, bottom of the page.

If we go to the next slide, you'll get to see as Neil was describing, where we're adding the different environments with the academic spaces that are to the right of the page, basically to the east, kind of nesting following the topography that the current buildings uh have.

With the support spaces down at the bottom where we have the gym area where we have the support of the kitchen.

One of the things that I did notice on the summary from staff was the kitchen is not 3,400 square feet, it's about 1,400 square feet.

The back area is about that area of 3,400, but there's also support areas for the gym from restrooms and uh locker spaces and PE offices.

So one of the things that we did look into is, and you'll see this in a second, but the profile of the buildings are to kind of be nestled and not really overdo the the height because of the topography and the context with uh with the site.

With regards to the uh shape of the buildings, it's start with the idea of how we can teach with these uh buildings, and we'll talk about that in a second with the elevations.

But uh if you look into the um bottom of the um of the page where we have the gym area, these are environments as uh Neil was saying that are definitely seen in other schools.

We're not proposing anything that's different or exotic to what would be a school of this size.

If we were doing a public school, we will be looking at much larger areas for the same population because of the standards that uh the state has.

One of the things that the school, as Neil was uh saying was that we have um an incredible teacher to uh student ratio, and that's very important, but also the spaces are tailored to that type of uh learning.

And that's important how we design these spaces, they're not large environments, nothing's oversized, and we have to be very careful when we come to any of the campuses that we work on to is how do we bring that?

What energy are we proposing onto a campus?

If we go to the next slide, please.

So I'll just ask if I notice you have you're on crutches.

If any point you want to transition to taking a seat, just let us know, we can hopefully try to accommodate that.

Thank you.

So just let us know.

I appreciate it.

The the key, again, is as you can start seeing from the view from Solana.

Is we have uh a building that barely peaks over the the profile of what we can see from the from the street.

That building, the very first building that peaks to the left is about 22 feet in high.

The next one goes up a little bit higher, and that's what you're seeing back there.

But none of that peaks over what we can see the the landscape on the on uh on that side of the campus to the to the east.

So as we go to the next slide, and you come in into you start seeing now how the buildings are coming down.

There's uh a profile that the roofs have on the existing architecture.

We did not want to replicate that.

We wanted something to be a little bit different.

If you look a little bit closer into the facade, for example, of the main building, there's the series of squares that grow together.

And if you ever looked into what about the golden ratio or the Fibonacci series of how things come together, that's what we want to teach the kids there.

So the shape of the roofs also relate to that, and that's how we weave all this together.

But the scale, as I said, is very important.

It's very important for the student population that we're serving here and how it connects to the rest of the campus.

Go to the next slide.

Looking over from the gym, one of the key things that we've seen about is how do we connect to the outdoors?

The the the studies have shown the importance of this outdoor connection and the key of bringing the light air and the flow through the inside out is very important.

If we go to the next slide, you get to see how on the other side where we have the students um uh playing here is basically a protected area.

We've kept the parking that is currently working with the pickup and drop-off zone.

We are not modifying that, we're really keeping that away, and that's kind of key when you're working with a uh school separating that vehicle traffic from where the students are gonna be.

This just shows where we're looking towards the dining area outdoor pavilion that we have uh proposed, and uh the area that we're willing to serving from the kitchen side.

The buildings are situated as I said to step down as we go to the south.

Next slide.

Any questions?

I think we'll reserve questions until the full suite of presentations and the applicant are done.

Yeah, do we have any other that's possible?

That's it.

Yep.

Great.

Why thank you?

Thank you.

So again, here's an opportunity for the commission.

If you have questions for either staff or the applicant, again, we're in a study session environment.

Um we don't have the full tilt of the evaluation of the project entitlements before you.

Um, this is an introduction of what's going to be coming for you and what we anticipate in that January time frame.

Um again, there are a number of entitlements that they need.

We'll have the full analysis of those entitlements for the plan development amendment, the conceptual development plan, the detailed development plan, the operational aspects of what they're proposing for the project to increase the enrollment from 260 to 290.

The two components are the main components of what they propose to expand as part of that conceptual development plan, which is the um academic component of the building as well as the athletic component of the building.

So uh stay tuned for future uh meeting on this.

Again, if you have questions for us or the applicant, we can answer them now, but again, we aren't going to be talking about um things like the environmental evaluation of the project, the project entitlements.

Uh, again, this is project introduction preview of coming attractions.

So, um so uh send your questions to us, and again, if there's no questions that you have, that's fine as well.

Again, tonight is an outreach opportunity to kind of get the feedback as well.

So, okay.

Anyone want to start with questions?

I have a couple questions.

Go for it.

Just let me know if this is to be determined, and I it's an inappropriate question.

But uh it didn't look like there was any effect on parking one way or the other.

Is that the anticipated?

It would be the same number of parking spaces?

Correct.

Correct.

And um uh the rendering that showed that how showed the street view.

Did that also include um or you rendering future landscaping, or was that uh you see what I mean?

Is it uh you're gonna replace 40 trees, so uh, yeah.

So are you so the um site plan that you saw uh at least on staff's presentation as well as the applicant's presentation show the two components of building proposed?

Yeah, which show the kind of um how the buildings nestled down from the site from Solana down as well as the flat portion of the site that has the um athletic building, and then the components that make up the new landscaping that's proposed to support both of those components, as well as the trees that are proposed to be removed, as well as the tree plantings that are proposed to be uh placed in that area.

Um there are no new plantings as I understand we're along the Solana frontage, they're mainly along the portions of the site that are most affected by the new buildings to provide that kind of kind of buffer area between buildings and surrounding area.

Okay, uh and the the gym looks quite compact.

It's a I assume it's a middle school sized junior high school size uh uh basketball court, is there allowance for bleachers?

I guess I'd have the app.

There's a very small component.

This is not a competition gym.

Okay, this is a very small component so the students can sit there as well.

We've done this at other schools and that's very adequate for this age population.

Thank you.

Um I guess I had a question just for um context, because I've only been on the planning commission a short time.

Um are other schools, the public schools in Belmont also considered PD planned development?

How does that work?

So when Nesbitt did their expansion, did they have to apply for permit?

Like how did that work when they did that?

Um Jeremy, were you gonna jump in?

So for public schools, they actually are outside of our uh jurisdiction.

Um they have to go to the state architect for any approvals and they go through their whole state process for any of them uh for any private schools here who are working within our lands um that are under PD uh nominations, then they would have to go through the similar process for us, in which case, again, uh amendment to the detail development plan, planning commission, city council.

Okay, so when Nesbitt built their new building that didn't go through planning commission city council, nothing but just they just talked to the state.

Correct.

That's correct.

Yeah, so again, we we have other private schools that are under the same plan development zoning where then they would have to go through this process of a CDP DDP, uh, but in the public school process, it's not run through the city.

So okay, thank you for that context.

Sure.

I have a follow-on question as a newer commissioner.

So this PD, you know, dash institution, what else falls within institution?

Uh religious uh centers, community uh outreach centers, uh state designated um portions um for agencies, those would generally be like institutions.

Okay, and uh because I'm newer, I was look reading through the housing element, I didn't see a lot of detail around PD.

Is it all you know flexible and not not one off but just customizable because of the nature of these developments?

This this property is uniquely for a school.

Uh it is it is not designed for a housing, it's it's just designed, it was transitioned from a uh uh public school site and a park to a private school site back in 1984.

So it's um unique set of uses are geared specifically to schools.

There is no component in their approved conceptual development plan, detailed development plan that allows for anything other than a school uh and any potential expansion thereon uh of it.

So there's no other changes.

Again, certainly they aren't seeking changes to allow a different use than what already exists, which is a school.

Um what they're seeking is to have uh new buildings, more buildings that would modify that conceptual development plan within their planned development designation, so no other use.

Thank you.

And so are there is there somewhere where it's codified as to what the setbacks are and that kind of thing, or is that all worked, you know, you work with with the city on it?

Yeah, so the conceptual development plan that was established in 1984 and then in 1988, um uh establish the kinds of buildings and the allowance of buildings and the uses for that that that site.

Should this project make it through the public review um stage uh by commission and council, that CDP, that conceptual development plan, which then would provide the specifics and the development standards for this particular property in terms of maximum uh um building allowances, setbacks of buildings to other uses, you know, parking areas, heights, all of those things would be custom tailored for this for this site.

Got it, thank you.

Great.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Yeah, I had a couple of things.

So just following from Commission Kramer's comment.

It does look like the proposed trees along Solana are shown, right?

So there's a plan, uh, the academic, the existing site plan shows the existing trees, and then they then we've got the proposed landscaping, right?

I think I would ask Jeremy or the applicant to corroborate what is being proposed along the Solana frontage, because we know that there are trees proposed along the frontages along the components of the site that are um that are adjacent to the buildings proposed.

Yeah, it's it's a little and for those of you that did uh the site visiting maybe because of where it's situated.

Um there right now we're not removing any trees from Solana Drive, and we're not adding any trees because we think the the building, the closest building to the street is a one-story music building that it's not clear you're gonna even be able to see from the street, and the building behind it is a two-story building, and again, it's not clear whether that will even be very visible from the street, maybe just the tippy top.

We are certainly again we are open if it planting some trees there would in some ways provide a benefit to our neighbors in terms of shielding them further from being able to see uh part of the buildings.

We're certainly open to that.

Right.

So again, that site plan.

If you wanted to take a look at it again, again, no buffer street tree plantings along Solana, everything is designed along the sides of the property directly adjacent to the areas where they propose new new buildings.

Sure, I see.

And I had a few just practical questions.

One is about like deliveries and bins coming out of that kitchen and to this and which street they are left on how they get there.

Well, we're starting to get into the particulars of the project.

We're starting to get into the weeds now related to it.

So we will answer those questions about uh all the operational components, but if there's there's an easy answer that the applicant can provide, great, but again, you're gonna get a much more expanded analysis of the project and all the operational components with it when you see it again in January.

Okay, and in January, will it be a single application for both sites or both phases?

It is for the entire plan development set of amendments, which should be phase one, again, of what they've described as phase one, which is the academic component, and then phase two, which is the um multi-purpose gym component.

Again, they're proposing two different time periods as to when, again, should they receive approvals, they would propose different time periods as to when these could potentially be constructed.

Phase one, the academic phase, would then get started again if they receive approvals in summer of 2026, and then phase two, which is the athletic gymnasium component, is that 2031-2032 time period, but what they're seeking approval of in that plan development amendment that you would see in January would be for both of those components.

Sure.

So the study session today, it's on the master planning, not on the detailed design.

Well, it gives you a snapshot of the master planning, and then we will be going into even more fine-grained details on this master planning as part of the public hearing run of this project in January.

Okay.

So again, today is really an overview, what is being proposed as part of this property and the entitlements they need and the public hearing schedule that we anticipate being followed for this project and providing a public comment opportunity.

Okay.

So again, I know folks are anxious, they want to roll up their sleeves, they want to start to dive into the entitlements, dive into the findings, dive into the environmental evaluation, but that's not how we wanted to structure tonight.

We didn't want to throw it all at you in January.

We wanted to give you kind of this first introduction, kind of snapshot of what's being proposed, so then you could be better prepared when we bring everything to you in that anticipated time frame in in the new year.

Okay.

Great.

I guess I'll wait till January then.

Thank you.

I think you touched upon my question, which and I'm not asking for a legal analysis.

I'm not asking for any detail.

Just is there going to be an environmental impact analysis of any form?

And if so, when would that happen?

Uh yes, there is an environmental evaluation that is under that is that that is that is that is underway for the project, and it will be part of the report and entitlements that'll be presented to the planning commission and city council in January.

Great.

Thank you.

That was my only question.

Any further questions, follow-up questions before we uh I have one.

Yeah.

They build a gym, they're they're K through eight, so it's more the most one of the most comparable ones.

I don't remember if they have a gym or not.

I think there's a gym.

They have a multi-purpose room, which is a yeah, it has big enough for basketball and has a stage on it as well.

But that was built a long time ago.

Okay.

Their newest building was a two-story uh when they became a middle, it's a middle school building, basically.

It's classrooms.

Yeah.

Thanks.

I think Bowdich has a similar kind of gym stage multi-purpose situation going as well.

So yeah.

Great, okay.

Uh anything else before we turn it over to public comment.

This is not a public hearing.

It's public comment, so uh perfect.

Nope.

Nope.

Nope.

Okay.

Thank you for your comments.

Appreciate it for staff and the applicant again.

Let's want to allow all the time that we need to allow public to comment on the project again at this stage of the review process.

So yeah, no, thank you.

That's that is important to underscore.

Thank you to staff and the applicant for their presentations.

And um for those of you who want to, you know, get this in the record and and let the decision makers know your thoughts kind of as this project percolates, this is your time to do so.

So um super important.

Um, and uh, I guess we'll take public comment in chambers first.

Okay.

Um first up we have Richard.

Um, Richard, if you'd like to come up to the lecture and you'll have three minutes.

Uh Richard Huff.

Apparently we have multiple Richards in the room.

I really don't know what to say.

I mean, I've been here since 1979 and when the school proposed to move into our neighborhood.

I invited them into my living room.

And they promised that they would not have any more than 12 cars, 12 um teachers.

And then over the years it kept going more and more.

And I think what I'll just say is please keep an open mind and hear what the neighbors have to say because we're gonna revisit the history of how they conducted themselves over the years.

Thank you.

Great, thank you.

Thank you.

Um, next up we have Eric Bluesteen.

Blue Stein.

Good evening.

Yeah.

So uh my name is Eric Bluestein.

I'm a member of the uh Board of Trustees on the project steering committee as well as the chair of our buildings and grounds committee.

Thanks a lot for your time tonight.

Um, tell you a little story about how my family found Armstrong, and it's quite common to a lot of other families who ultimately found Armstrong.

Um, and about 12 years ago, my daughter was in first grade.

She was at an excellent school, great teachers, good sized classes.

Um, and she was very typical, kind of socially.

A nor normal kid, I guess you'd call it.

Um, but uh she was up every night crying, bawling.

Um, she said she wasn't ready for second grade.

She she couldn't get there.

She was uh completely debilitated in school.

She didn't understand what people were saying to her.

She wasn't uh able to read, she wasn't able to write.

Uh ultimately, uh this was incredibly difficult for my wife and I to watch, obviously.

Um, and many others have gone through something similar, and some here in this room.

Um she tested for dyslexia, dysgraphia, dyscalculia, which you saw uh Neil had up on the screen defining, which is uh, and we ultimately found out about Armstrong, and one night we said to her, what if there was a school that you could go to where there was all other kids who have the same learning challenges as you.

What do you think of that?

And we said, think on it, let us know.

PS, we're getting calls from parents the whole rest of the week.

Your daughter's gone to school and said, I'm changing schools.

There's a school that's suited for me, it can it can help me, it can meet me where I'm at.

And ultimately, that was obviously our decision.

Our seven-year-old decided she was going to the right school, a new school.

Um, and uh she attended the second through eighth grade, she thrived, she grew, and she is now in high school doing quite well.

Um, Armstrong is the only school of its kind that's helped over thousands of kids like my daughter with these same issues.

There's really no other school that can handle the severity of what she has and what a lot some of the other kids have.

Um, it helps them meet them where they're at educationally, um, become more helps them become more confident, they become self-advocates, and that's all key for them as they grow.

Um, unfortunately, as Neil pointed out as well, we have major space constraints and a limited C UP, right?

Um, Armstrong essentially has been forced to turn away these kids who desperately need this school and don't have another school to go to.

Um I can tell you, I don't know.

Was that beep my three minutes?

Yeah, it was a 30-second warning.

Oh, okay.

Even better.

I'll be quick.

Um we've thought long and hard in the project steering committee and working with the architecture team about how to create a well-rounded school.

And ultimately, you know, we've conducted thoughtful, comprehensive surveys of the teachers, the families, uh, to understand how can we serve the kids better and how can we get more of them.

And uh I'm in commercial real estate, and I can tell you that the buildings are tasteful, they're efficient, they're very well placed.

So I've seen some bad projects, and um it's it's uh there's a seamless addition to the to the campus, and we'd urge you to support us here, and we are certainly open to understanding people's concerns, so thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next, we have uh Daniel.

Good evening.

My name is Daniel Swisson, and I am the facilities manager at Charles Armstrong.

Uh I choose to work at Armstrong because I love the environment.

The people I work with, and the students and families that I get to support every day.

Many of you have seen me before.

I'm the person standing at the top of the driveway every morning and afternoon, managing the flow of traffic.

Traffic and safety are my top priorities, and I take that responsibility seriously.

I know many of our neighbors personally, and so many of them speak positively about Armstrong and our mission.

I built real relationships in this neighborhood, uh, and I value them.

I genuinely feel like part of the McDougall community.

Our neighbors love using our campus, and they use it frequently.

Kids running around and riding bikes, one of the only flat surfaces in the neighborhood.

Families walking through the halls, people using our playgrounds, covered picnic tables, basketball courts.

After hours, uh after school hours, and on weekends, our entire campus is open, not just the park.

Uh, is well used by the community.

We also maintain a great relationship with Belmont Parks and Recreation, uh, providing them any access that they need to maintain that uh that part.

I work hard every day to minimize our traffic impact, and I welcome anyone to come and stand with me at the top of Solana Drive in the afternoon or in the morning to see our system in action.

Uh traffic and safety are huge priorities for the Armstrong leadership team.

Uh we've created a finely tuned system, and I play a huge role in protecting Solana Drive by ensuring all drop-offs and pickups happen behind the school in accordance with our CUP.

Uh, one improvement that we're seeking with our current CUP is to adjust dismissal procedures for a few special event days, uh, which will actually improve traffic uh rather than create a line of cars waiting for access to the back of the school.

I know there are people who disagree with the uh proposed location of our gym.

However, because of our CUP requirements, we have worked extremely hard to place it behind the school in a way that minimizes impact to our neighbors.

Having our proposed athletics and community center on the upper blacktop behind the school is crucial.

It allows us to continue using our proven drop off and pickup system in the lower parking lot adjacent to the field, keeping traffic off of neighborhood streets.

As a facilities manager, I am part of the team working on this expansion project, and I would oversee the construction.

My team knows that I hold people to a high standard, and I am very protective of our students and of our neighborhood.

I'm proud to say we're always trying our best and looking for ways to improve how we operate to minimize the impacts to our neighbors.

I hope that you all would join me in strongly supporting Armstrong's plan.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Up next, we have Zachary.

Hi everyone, my name is Zachary Donis.

And if there's two things that have been relevant in my life, it's the City of Belmont and Charles Armstrong School.

I have grown up in Belmont.

I've been a Belmont resident my entire life.

My brother's sister and I grew up on Clee Street, and we all attended immaculate hard of Mary School.

My brother and sister graduated from IHM.

I did not.

In the fifth grade, I was diagnosed with dyslexia, dysgraphia, and dyscalia.

And my family knew in order for me to be successful, I needed to find a school that catered to my needs.

Fortunately for me, this school was less than a mile away.

I attended Armstrong through sixth grade, seventh grade, and eighth grade and learned many different values and ways that I could learn.

I learned to advocate for myself.

I learned to stand up for myself.

I learned how to read and write, but most importantly, I learned how to work with my dyslexia rather than fight against it.

I also met many friends who I'm still friends with who went to Armstrong with me.

They traveled one to two hours to get to campus while I practically walked across the street.

I also had some friends who, you know, who stayed in hotels Monday through Thursday and then went to their other homes through the weekend because their families knew how important this education was to them.

I'm currently a faculty member at Armstrong in my ninth year.

And I have seen the growth and transformation through many different kids.

And I had the pride and joy to have helped maybe this much of it, where the kids show up every single day and they do the rest of the work.

They show up every single day with their families to better themselves and to better the community and the dyslexic community.

Because we lived on Clee Street, which is right across the street from the gym.

And it just so happened to be I bought a house two years ago across the street from Notre Dame High School.

So I can't keep away.

And with that, I support the Notre Dame values and the expectations because I know these girls, including our students, are gonna be tomorrow's leaders.

One in five students have, or one of five people have dyslexia, and how cool would it be to be a part of a community saying yes, let's enhance the Armstrong uh program from how amazing it is now to make it even better tomorrow.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next we have Jeff.

Hi, thanks for having us here tonight.

Uh I'm Jeff Chriswall.

Uh, my family and I have lived on Dartmouth Avenue backing up to Armstrong School since uh uh 1998.

Uh actually, it's been a very good relationship with the school since that time.

We love living next to the school, hearing the kids play, hearing the sports, hearing the outdoor events.

It's all been great.

And there's no doubt that the work they do is fabulous.

Everything they do to help uh kids with learning disabilities is absolutely fantastic.

We we're all in with that.

Um, however, the current plan for the athletic building is essentially a repeat of the one that was presented back in 2005.

Um basically shoehorning a similar size three-story industrial building into a residential area that plugs up against our backyards, obscuring views from our houses and from our yards.

Uh there's also noise concerns with uh gym buzzers, slamming metal doors, uh HPAC units, and loud music on a routine basis.

Uh they're adding a kitchen, which they didn't have before.

And what we're concerned about are smells and odors coming from the kitchen, which backs up right against our fence, uh similar to a restaurant, those types of odors.

And lastly, as has been talked a little bit about before.

Uh increased traffic is a worry.

Probably mostly for the McDowell neighborhood.

And that's that was a major concern back in 2005 was the increased traffic due to an event center gymnasium.

And I would add to the increased traffic that we've seen from the other schools in the year, including Carlmont High School, uh, Notre Dame, and uh Terrelinda schools.

If you're there between 7 and 8, 8:30 in the morning or I don't know, 2 30 and 4 o'clock in the afternoon, you know what I'm talking about.

So there's been a lot of comment on nextdoor.com already in support of the school, which is fine, but I don't think the people realize uh the impact that this uh gymnasium athletic center will have on the uh local community and the neighbors backing up to that uh particular building.

Uh they should think about what it would be like to have a building like that uh in their backyard, essentially.

So we respectfully ask that the this expansion of the uh gymnasium be denied, as before, and that the school maybe consider a satellite location for a similar type of facility that won't impact the local neighborhoods in this way.

And I'd love to have you guys come by our house and take a look at the site from our backyard.

Uh be glad to have you over so you can see what we're talking about.

Thanks very much.

Thank you.

Uh next up we have Donna.

Hi there, my name is Donna Geise, and I live in San Carlos, next to the Chris Wells, just adjacent to the Belmont border near Charles Armstrong School.

I'm here to express strong opposition to the proposed expansion at Charles Armstrong's school.

I want to be absolutely clear.

I support Charles Armstrong's mission and deeply respect the vital work they do for students with dyslexia and learning differences.

This is not a critique of the school's purpose or community.

However, the size and scope of this expansion present serious challenges for both the Belmont and San Carlos neighbors nearby.

First, traffic and public safety are my biggest concern.

The surrounding streets are narrow, residential, and not designed for volume for the volume of this institutional traffic this expansion would bring.

Traffic has only worsened since 2005, the last time an expansion was proposed.

With no corresponding improvements in road capacity or infrastructure, approving this pro this project would grace greatly worsen congestion, slow emergency vehicles, and divin diminish livability for residents.

Second, the extended construction phase will disrupt our daily lives with heavy equipment, noise, dust, and large trucks navigating our neighborhood in our quiet streets.

Construction activity will likely block parking and narrow travel lane, can creating additional safety risks.

Finally, the scale of the new construction, over 23,000 square feet, is starkly out of scale with the surrounding low density residential zoning.

The proposed gymnasium will generate noise and environmental impacts well beyond what Belmont's ordinance or general plan allow, threatening the neighborhood, the neighborhood's character and quality of life.

If this expansion cannot proceed without causing last, if this expansion cannot proceed without causing lasting harm to public safety, the environment, the neighborhood character, I ask you to not deny approval.

Thank you for considering these important concerns.

I trust you will protect our community's well-being as you review the project.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Alisa.

Hello.

Good evening.

My name is Alyssa Warall, and I am the chief of staff at Charles Armstrong School.

I'm also a parent of an alumni.

So I've experienced firsthand the impact of an Armstrong education, the feeling of community, and the many ways Armstrong transforms how families understand and embrace learning differences.

I am also the project lead of this project, and I want to emphasize the thoughtful planning that has gone into every aspect of this proposal.

Our focus has been twofold: designing spaces that allow us to continue fulfilling the mission, our mission to unlock the unique potential of students with dyslexia and related learning differences, changing the trajectory of their lives, and also mitigating the impact on neighbors.

From what I hear 20 years ago, Armstrong wasn't paying close attention to their CUP.

And there was definitely room to improve our neighbor relations.

Things are quite different now.

We have been working incredibly hard to develop good relationships with our neighbors based on mutual respect.

We follow our CUP carefully and provide many community benefits.

Additional parking for families when they're here for softball and soccer, kids and adults playing basketball, using our playground and blacktop for bike riding, and using our ramps and stairs for exercise and dog walking.

We've developed a very productive relationship with Belmont Parks and Rec as well.

We now have bathrooms available for sports families and has installed a new AED for community health and safety.

Beyond our campus, as Neil mentioned, we also partnered with Belmont Redwood Shores School District and San Mateo County Office of Education to provide training to teachers on dyslexia and related learning differences, allowing them to better support their students throughout the district.

Here's why this expansion matters.

There are more neurodiverse kids today, and more people are aware of neurodiversity and dyslexia than ever before.

One in five people have dyslexia.

At Armstrong, dyslexic students are not the one in five.

They become the five and five.

This creates a community where they build confidence and develop key skills that can take them into the world.

They find a true sense of belonging.

Our program focuses on small class sizes and teacher support, which requires more classroom space than typical schools.

We have transformed every inch of our current space into learning environments to the point where faculty doesn't have any space for prep, planning, or to participate in key IEP meetings.

Our dedicated faculty deserve the professional space they need to do their best work.

Thank you very much for letting us continue to serve our students.

Appreciate it.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next up, we have Mark.

My name's Mark Moore.

I am the very proud chairman of the board of trustees of the Charles Armstrong School.

I'm also the father of Patrick, who spent seven years at Armstrong and graduated in 2021.

We are so grateful for your consideration because the Charles Armstrong School really is an extraordinary place.

It is truly unique in its mission and without peer in execution in effectiveness in educating children with dyslexia.

Smart, capable, hard-working children come to us frustrated and broken by their experience in their mainstream school.

We pick them up, employ distinct educational techniques along with a lot of love, and turn them into confident, accomplished learners.

That's what happened to Patrick and to thousands of others across our 58-year history.

How do we do it?

I think there are two hallmarks to our school.

The first is more philosophy than pedagogy.

At Armstrong, we flip the switch on dyslexia.

Dyslexia is not a limit to overcome, it's a strength to nourish and celebrate.

That's a powerful insight for young people.

Imagine a group of uh fourth graders at a museum on a field trip, and the docent says, Where are you from?

We're from Armstrong.

Oh, what's that?

Oh, I'm dyslexic.

Another kid, I'm dyslexic too, a third kid.

I'm dyslexic, and I've got ADD.

And they say it with pride and with confidence and strength as their superpower.

The second hallmark, and this is where our plan comes in, is that we look and feel like every other school elementary and middle school.

We have competitive sports teams.

School dances, parent events, a blowout musical production in the spring.

Kids aren't going somewhere different.

They're going to school, and that and one that fits their learning style.

We love our campus in Belmont.

It's breezy and open with a distinctly California vibe.

Over the years, we've improved it, adding playgrounds and parking and amphitheater and a garden and free refurbishing classrooms.

We have never added any square feet of buildings to our wonderful campus across 41 years.

We now need to modernize and expand our campus as we prepare for the next 60 years and beyond.

We need more classrooms, flexible and designed to accommodate our teaching approach.

We need state-of-the-art specialty classrooms, art, music, movement, a maker lab to nurture those interests where dyslexic kids often excel.

We need an athletic facility that can serve as a community center.

We need dedicated teacher space, and yes, we need a hot lunch program and proper kitchen.

We really do need lunch at our school.

Please know that we've been deliberate in creating these plans.

They have taken honestly six years.

Six years we've been working on this.

And we are absolutely committed to being good citizens of the city of Belmont for many years to come.

Thank you so much for your consideration.

Thank you.

Thank you, Karen.

Hi, I'm Karen Shane.

I've been a resident since 1963, and I'm a former alum of McDoule.

Went there for kindergarten.

You guys do the math.

I don't know if anybody else is here.

Okay, so this is deja vu for me.

Something you brought up, Joanne.

Commissioner Joanne, sorry for the disrespect.

Um my daughter went to a private school.

We wanted to add 30 people, it were students.

It was 230 to 260.

It was in a rented public school place, which I think this is as well.

Basically, or has a use permit.

And then all of a sudden, the city decided we wanted it back.

And it went from 200 to 500.

And the residents had nothing to say, couldn't say anything about it, and which is to your point is that we're only talking about 30 students here.

And this build these buildings are old, they all they need to be updated.

Also, all the schools in Belmont, and I don't know about San Carlos, but most of them, but the high schools and everything, everything has been updated.

And oh, by the way, Cipriani does have a gym.

So that's in that's a grammar school.

I don't know about Fox.

So I'm in support of this.

I had to go from Cipriani to McDougal or Charles Armstrong, and had to drive.

And these houses also were built in the 50s at the same time that the school was.

So when you bought your house, you knew what was there.

And if it was a public school, you would have no choice on what the building would look like and how many students would go.

So just be grateful for what you've got now.

That's all I gotta say.

Thanks.

Thank you.

Okay, um, last speaker slip we have here, uh, Colleen.

Hi.

Good evening.

Um, I'm Colleen Carter, and I've been a Belmont resident since uh 2001.

I'm here tonight to speak in strong support of the Charles Armstrong School.

Like many of you, I have grown roots in this community.

Um, as a softball coach, I spent countless, I don't even know how many hours at McDougal Park watching my daughter and her teammates play.

I've personally seen the benefit of the existing agreement where the black top and fields are a valuable resource shared by Charles Armstrong and the broader community, used by neighbors for walking, biking, and play when school isn't in session.

It all has always seemed to me to be a model of uh maximizing a shared community resource.

Uh, when I joined Armstrong's team three years ago, I had heard so many good things about Armstrong from colleagues in the Bay Area.

But being on the inside there has uh shown me the incredible life-changing work that's happening there.

Armstrong serves kids with dyslexia and other learning differences, kids who before they came to our school are often told they aren't smart enough or are shamed for their differences.

I get to watch our teachers patiently help these students find their confidence.

More importantly, they are just kids while they're there.

They're playing sports, they're making friends, they're realizing that in fact that they learn differently is a good thing.

It's not just tolerated, it's valued.

During our uh recent community picnic, I asked a few uh fourth fifth graders what they like best about the school.

So their answers pretty much say it all.

One girl said, the teachers are patient and they know how to help me.

And my favorite comment was a girl who said, because it helps me and it's just fun.

The request before you is to add instructional space, uh, which is central to Armstrong improving on its mission.

Our students need smaller classes and facilities tailored to their specialized needs so they can find and explore their strengths.

Investing in Armstrong's facilities is an investment in educational innovation that benefits children in our community and beyond.

In closing, Charles Armstrong is exactly the kind of community-minded high-quality neighbor that I want in my town.

Amongst educators for kids with dyslexia, Charles Armstrong is already considered one of the best.

I urge you to support this project and ensure that a school of this caliber can continue to innovate, improve, and thrive right here in Belmont.

Thank you.

Thank you.

So that concludes our public comments in chambers.

Is that correct?

In chambers, yes.

Great.

So I guess we'll do one last call for anyone in chambers if they have any comment.

Okay.

Seeing none, we'll, I guess, turn to um folks on Zoom.

Okay, um, we do have one raised hand on Zoom.

Um, Zoom.

Please go ahead whenever you're ready.

Hello.

Uh good evening.

My name's Help Elvisavida, and I'm a Belmont resident living in the McDougall neighborhood, right across the street from Armstrong's entrance on Solana Drive.

Armstrong has been an exceptional neighbor.

They genuinely care about our community and about the families who live nearby.

Daniel, the facilities manager who manages traffic at the school looks out for all of us.

Every day he makes sure my daughter Laura stays safe while she waits to be picked up for her own school carpool.

And as a parent, that means a lot.

Daniel is there every day with a smile, and I feel comfort in knowing that we have someone watching out for my family and my home.

Armstrong has been a part of this neighborhood since the 1980s, and it was an elementary school site long before many of us moved here.

And when my family bought our home across the street, I was fully aware what that meant.

Traffic during pickup and drop-off, kids outside playing, and the sounds of a school day.

And those are simply part of living near a school.

And to me, that's the price you pay to be a part of the vibrant connected community that Charles Armstrong has created.

I didn't expect how much community we'd actually find with Armstrong.

The kindness, the collaboration, and the genuine care they show to everyone around them.

And I know traffic and safety are often concerns, but to be honest, we haven't experienced major issues from Armstrong on Solon Drive.

Their staggered dismissal system works smoothly.

There are sometimes backups, but the there's other schools in the area.

There's Central San Carlos Charter, uh Carlmont, Notre Dame.

I don't think all of that can be blamed on Armstrong.

My family's benefited from having Armstrong as a neighbor.

We use their playground and their blue basketball court regularly.

Belmont doesn't have enough public basketball courts, so my daughter's team has limited practice options.

And being able to walk across the street and use their courts has been such a gift, and the school's always welcomed us.

And what stands out most to me is how Armstrong fosters a genuine sense of inclusion.

Even though my child doesn't even attend their school, we've been invited to their musicals and events, and we've happily gone to them.

It's clear that they want to connect with the neighborhood and not just coexist with us.

And it's not just us.

Our contractor who helped build our dream home went to Armstrong.

As did the realtor who sold us our home.

And that says a lot about the school's long-standing impact and its deep roots in this community.

And as a baker, I even have Armstrong staff volunteer to taste test all my recipes, including my latest cookbooks.

And every time I'm on campus, it feels joyful and full of positive energy.

Research consistently shows that schools are the beating heart of any neighborhood.

They foster belonging, build trust among residents, and even improve safety and stability.

Studies from science and the European Journal of Psychology and the American Institutes for Research have shown that when schools and neighbors support one another, their entire community benefits.

They have stronger relationships, safer streets, and see a deeper sense of connection.

Our local school has done that for us, and they've looked out for my family, our home, and our neighborhood.

And expanding their capacity means expanding that sense of neighborhood and community for everyone.

Armstrong does incredible work supporting kids with learning differences, and I fully support their new building plan.

Expanding their campus means they can reach help more people.

And that's something Belmont should be proud to stand behind.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you.

No further raised hands on Zoom.

Great.

And I'll note I guess for the record that we did have some written comments that were provided to us.

Yes.

And I imagine they're part of the record and available to the public if they want to.

So when the agenda got published on Friday, uh through 4 p.m.

today, we did receive seven public comment letters.

And then we received two additional comment letters after the 4 p.m.

cutoff.

And again, I think you asked for a summary.

You actually heard a couple of the folks speak tonight that actually submitted public comment letters.

Certainly folks indicated support for the proposal.

That's that that's before the decision maker ultimately.

And other folks indicated support for the school and its mission, but also had concerns about the context of what's being proposed, the intensity of development, and then potential impacts that they see on the neighborhood.

So that kind of captures it all.

Again, we're gonna have this same exercise that we're gonna go through in January.

The council will take this up again uh in a study session format at their November 25th meeting.

If there are no other outstanding comments from the commission, I would say this has been a good opportunity for everyone to be educated about what's being proposed, the entitlements, and then allowing for a public comment opportunity.

We'll continue to have the opportunity to receive comments uh on this project because we may get them.

So that's it for me, unless there are any questions from the commission about next steps, but again, no action before you tonight.

You will see this a project again as anticipated in the January time frame.

Any further questions or comments?

The commissioners, I have none.

Okay, great.

Thank you to all for participating and um uh looking forward to the next step in the process.

Okay, great.

All right.

So that concludes um our study session item uh six.

We have no public hearings uh this evening.

Um so we'll move to item eight, which is uh other business and updates.

Anything.

Uh yeah, so you have uh a planning commission meeting on November 18th.

We're still putting the agenda together.

We will have a couple of public hearing items, I think at least one or two single family uh design review items, and then you're gonna receive a presentation on the hip hip housing group in terms of some of the good work that they're doing.

And then you have a slate of meetings scheduled in December, your two hearings in December, December 2nd and 16th, I believe.

Uh is that the correct dates?

I think it's the second and sixteenth.

And then we'll launch into the kind of holiday shutdown period, and then we'll take it up again in January, February.

Uh, you will have uh uh quite a bit of activity in the January-February time period in terms of large-scale projects.

Again, the the project is before you tonight is anticipated for public hearings, and then we may have another large scale project as well.

Um, we may have a zoning text amendment project that also may be before the commission, but we're still carving out the schedule.

So we appreciate the commission following up with staff in terms of your availability for meetings.

Thank you very much.

Um, if there are any other kind of tech setup things that we need to work on with you, we will do that.

Uh, but um, just in terms of kind of overall events that are happening.

Uh the council does not have a meeting a week from today, uh, which is Veterans Day.

Um, City Hall is open that day.

There is a um event that's planned at 10 a.m.

on City Hall uh property for the veterans uh event, and then the council will have its meeting uh November 25th, where they have a full slate of agenda items.

Um they have a December 9th meeting, uh which is largely ceremonial, but there will be some business on that uh meeting, and then they do not have a second meeting in December.

So that's kind of the rest of the year, and uh looking forward to the balance of this year as well as good business being conducted in the first part of next year.

So that's it from me.

Great.

Thank you for that.

Seeing nothing further, I think we'll adjourn.

It is 8 41.

Thank you.

We're adjourning.

Thank you, everyone.