Redwood City Planning Commission Regular Meeting - December 5, 2023
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Redwood City Planning Commission Regular Meeting - December 5, 2023
The Redwood City Planning Commission held a regular meeting on December 5, 2023, at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers, 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA, with remote participation via Zoom. The meeting was adjourned at 7:58 PM. Commissioners present: Alvarez (arrived at 6:08 PM), Chu, Koch, Lazarus, Vice Chair Crnogorac, and Chair Hunter. Commissioners absent: None. The meeting included public hearings on the Architectural Advisory Committee (AAC) Work Plan, the Planning Commission 2024 Regular Meeting Calendar, and Phase 2 of the Stanford in Redwood City project (Blocks C and E), along with a parking reduction for Phase 1.
Consent Calendar
- No items were on the Consent Calendar.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made in person or submitted via email for any agenda item.
Discussion Items
- Approval of Minutes (November 7, 2023): The minutes were approved by a 5-0 vote (Motion: Crnogorac/Chu).
- AAC Work Plan for FY2023-24 & FY2024-25: Senior Planner Rojas and AAC Chair Spotorno presented the proposed work plan, which included updates to the mission statement (adding "strive" and sustainability language), recurring goals, and two new goals: review of objective design standards for residential development and improved recruitment for AAC vacancies. Discussion focused on the need for licensed architects, recruitment challenges (two unsuccessful recruitment cycles), and plans to update AAC eligibility criteria. The commission voted 6-0 to recommend City Council approval.
- Planning Commission 2024 Regular Meeting Schedule: Assistant CDT Director Exline presented the proposed calendar. The commission voted 6-0 to adopt Resolution No. 23-25.
- Stanford in Redwood City Phase 2 (Blocks C and E): Consultant Principal Planner Laux and applicants John Donahoe (Stanford University) and Molly Swenson (Stanford Medicine) presented the project. Block C: two office buildings (228,039 sq. ft., up to 88 ft, 5 stories), 26,077 sq. ft. amenity space, 905 parking spaces. Block E: a 265,000 sq. ft. medical office building (up to 150 ft, 9 stories), 834 parking spaces (structure and surface). The request also included a 50% reduction in Phase 1 parking requirements (Blocks A, B, and portions of C) based on post-COVID demand analysis. The Architectural Advisory Committee and Subdivision Committee had recommended approval. The commission discussed parking ratios, bike parking, community benefits (e.g., $1 million for neighborhood streets, bus shelter program, water tank), and building height exceptions. The commission voted 5-0 (Commissioner Chu recused) to approve three resolutions: Resolution No. 23-22 (Block C), Resolution No. 23-23 (Block E), and Resolution No. 23-24 (Phase 1 parking reduction).
Key Outcomes
- Approved the minutes of November 7, 2023 (5-0).
- Recommended City Council approval of the AAC Work Plan for FY2023-24 and FY2024-25 (6-0).
- Adopted the Planning Commission 2024 Regular Meeting Schedule (Resolution No. 23-25, 6-0).
- Approved Planned Community Permits and Tentative Parcel Maps for Phase 2 of the Stanford in Redwood City project:
- Block C (505 Broadway): Resolution No. 23-22 (5-0, Chu recused).
- Block E (440-210 Broadway): Resolution No. 23-23 (5-0, Chu recused).
- Approved a change to the Phase 1 permit parking requirements (Blocks A, B, and C): Resolution No. 23-24 (5-0, Chu recused).
Meeting Transcript
Good evening, everyone, and welcome to the Planning Commission meeting of December fifth, twenty twenty-three. And as a reminder, items will be taken in the order in which they are listed on the agenda, with one exception that I will go over later on. Before we get started, I wanted to briefly go over the public comment procedure for the meeting for those of who may be joining us for the first time. Public comments on the approval of minutes, consent items, matters of commission interest, and items not on the agenda will be taken during item number two on this evening's agenda. Comments on other agenda items will be taken only when that item is called.org by five PM today will be read into the record by the staff liaison and also made part of the final meeting record. In-person speakers will be called in the order in which the speaker cards have been turned in. Comments that were emailed to PC at Redwood City.org by 5 p.m. today will be read into the record by the staff liaison and also made part of the final meeting record. And finally, both in-person and emailed comments are subject to the three-minute time limit. So I will now turn it over to staff to call the roll. Thanks, Chair Hunter. Commissioner Chu here. Commissioner Koch here. Commissioner Lazarus. Here. Commissioner Alvarez is absent. Vice Chair Sona Garetz. Here. And Chair Hunter. Here. And just to note that we do anticipate Commissioner Alvarez to be here in just a few minutes. So for the purposes of this meeting, I would also state that I'm Sue Xline, the Assistant Community Development and Transportation Director and Staff Liaison to the Commission and other city staff that are attending. Apollo Rojas, senior planner, Mary Lowe, contract principal planner, Anna McGill, principal planner, Ryan Kuchenick, senior planner, Karen Murphy, a consultant attorney. And Christina Mateo, administrative secretary, and meeting host. All right. Thank you. There is one small change to the our agenda tonight. And so before we move on to the next agenda item, I want to inform those joining us tonight that we'll be moving agenda item 6A, and that is the Planning Commission 2024 regular meeting calendar. We'll be moving that to be heard after agenda item 5A, which is the AAC work plan to accommodate Commissioner Chu, who will need to recuse herself from the Stanford item, which is public hearing agenda item 5B. Are there any objections from the other commissioners to uh to moving the uh the the agenda items? All right. Then if if there are no objections, we will do that. Um at this point, we will go to agenda item two, public comments on the approval of minutes, consent items, matters of commission interest, and other items not on the agenda. And we will take public comment from those joining us in person only. As we, as I said a few minutes ago, we are temporarily suspending public comments from Zoom. Um I have no uh speaker cards. Uh uh if there is uh I see nobody motioning, so um, we will go on to the next item, which is the approval of minutes. Um is there a motion to approve the meeting minutes of November 7th, 2023? Still moved. Vice Chair. Second. All right, we have a motion and a second. Roll call, please. Commissioner Chu. Yes. Commissioner Koch. Yes. Commissioner Lazarus. Yes. Vice Chair Sunagar Retz.
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