.

All right.

Good evening, and thank you for joining our December 16th, 2025 Special Planning Commission

meeting.

As a reminder, items will be taken in the order they're listed on the agenda.

Before we get started, I want to brief you over public common procedures for the meeting

for those of you 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 three.

Comments on the other agenda items

will be taken only when the item is called.

In-person speakers, please fill out

the speaker's card at the front of the council chamber

and bring to staff.

For those joining virtually,

you may use the raise hand feature on Zoom to speak.

If you're joining the teleconference by phone,

you may raise your hand by dialing 9, star 9, or star 6 to unmute your microphone when prompted.

Please only raise your hand at a time when the item in which you are speaking is called.

Each speaker is allotted three minutes, but that may be adjusted if there are many speakers.

Lastly, we want to note that we each bring different perspectives to the discussion,

and we want to be sure that everyone has a chance to be heard without interruption.

Planning Commission welcomes public comment on items within our purview.

Any speaker whose comments are on topics not under the Commission's purview will be warned and then removed if necessary in order to allow the Commission to conduct their business.

Thank you for your attention and consideration during this process.

I will now turn it over to staff for the roll call.

Commissioner Bond?

Here.

Commissioner Cronejo?

Here.

Commissioner Finch?

Here.

Commissioner Hunter is absent.

Commissioner Robinson?

Here.

Vice Chair Koch is absent, and Chair Sonogorovitz.

Here.

I'm Sue Exline, the Assistant Community Development Director and Staff Liaison to the Commission.

Other staff in attendance this evening, James Dodson.

He's our Assistant Planner.

He's on here joining us virtually.

Rick Jarvis is our Consultant Assistant City Attorney.

Christina Mateo is the Administrative Secretary and Meeting Host.

and we also have

Aline Lancaster

from Housing Online as well

if there's any questions on the

item.

Thank you.

Moving on, item number 2,

AB2449, notifications and

considerations, meaning participation by

teleconference. Do we have

any remote participation notification or

requests from the commission to consider?

We do not.

Okay.

Let's move on to the next agenda item, item number three, public comments.

At this time, we will take public comments from those joining us in person.

Do we have any cards on the dais? No?

And if anyone's joining us remotely, please click raise hand button now.

If you have dialed in, please enter star 9 now and star 6 to unmute your microphone impromptu.

Are there any speakers online?

I'm going to ask Christina.

Oh, sorry.

Sorry about that.

I actually didn't log in tonight, so apologies.

It's all good.

All right.

Thank you.

If there's no objection, I will now close the public comment.

Before we move to item number four, I'll ask staff, is this our first meeting that we have reintroduced the public comment via Zoom?

Yes.

Okay, wonderful.

That's great.

Item number four is approval of minutes.

We have November 18th, 2025 meeting.

Is there a motion to approve the draft meeting minutes of November 18th, 2025?

A motion to approve the minutes of the draft minutes of November 18th, 2025.

All right.

Moved by Commissioner Bott.

Do we have a second?

Second.

All right.

Thank you.

Seconded by Commissioner Cornejo.

Commissioner Bott?

Yes.

Commissioner Cornejo?

Yes.

Commissioner Finch?

Yes.

Commissioner Robinson?

Yes.

And Chair Sonagorats?

Yes.

The motion passes with five and two are absent.

Wonderful.

Moving on, consent calendar.

There are no items on tonight's consent calendar.

We will move straight to public hearing on item 6A.

And our 6A is 1320 Marshall Street.

It's a request for approval of an architectural permit, tentative parcel map, condominium permit, affordable housing plan, and state density bonus request with associated concessions and waivers for a 32-unit townhome development consisting of four buildings with a maximum proposed height of 50 feet, or four stories, including five affordable units at a moderate income level.

I think the assistant planner, James Dotson, will give a presentation on the item.

And he's joining us remotely.

Thank you Chair Senegal-Rat. Hello and good evening, Commissioners, members of the public.

As mentioned, my name is James Dodson and I will be presenting to you the proposed project

at 1320 Marshall Street. Next slide, please. Here's an overview of what my presentation

we'll cover basic site background, the project proposal itself, including affordable or state

density bonus law concessions and waivers being requested. Then I'll go on to the site design,

site and building design, and then on to staff recommendation. Next slide, please.

All right. The project is proposing or the project is proposed for a site just under one acre within

the Broadway Streetcar zoning sub-district of the mixed-use corridor. This corridor was created to

provide opportunities for residential, commercial, and mixed-use development at intensities to support

a potential streetcar line. The surrounding existing uses are, as noted on the image on the

screen, this image is also included in the staff report for reference. The existing site consists

of a warehouse or storage use a church and a restaurant as part of the project scope all

the existing structures will be demolished next slide please

so this project came to us november 13 2024 as in sb 330 pre-application uh this third date is

important as it kind of sets a vesting period for the applicable development standards and fees

assessed on the project. The project proposal itself is for a 32-unit townhome residential

development, which consists of five moderate income, deed-restricted, affordable units,

and four accessible units per California building code requirements. The project

comes to the Planning Commission today as it proposes a maximum building height, which exceeds

35 feet and three stories. This threshold also triggered a design review before the

Architectural Advisory Committee and on September 4th of this year the project was reviewed and

unanimously recommended for approval to the Planning Commission by the Architectural Advisory

Committee. You also have a few details about the project on the slide here in regards to

total building square footage and total proposed parking, which includes bicycle parking.

Next slide, please.

As the project proposes 50% of the total units to be deed restricted affordable units,

it is then eligible for the state density bonus law, which allows the project to exceed maximum

Density standards, which this project is not requesting to do, and modification to development

standards through concessions and waivers. Under the state density bonus law, this project is

eligible for one concession and an unlimited number of waivers. The applicant is requesting

the one concession that is allotted and then two waivers for the project.

Next slide, please.

So, let me skip a concession.

So for the state density bonus law, I do have a land and lay here with the housing division

that will be able to assist me with the details of this law as it is within their purview.

So but for the next couple of slides, I'll make an attempt to explain what this project is proposing and what is allowed under the state density bonus law.

So for the one concession that is being requested, this is in regards to the project's affordable units, square footage that is being proposed.

The affordable housing ordinance does require that affordable units are developed with comparable unit sizes by square footage and bedrooms.

The bedrooms are met. However, the project is proposing that these five affordable units have a square footage that is of the lesser square footage for all the plan types that are proposed for this site.

As you can see in this chart that I've provided, what would be required is one of the plan one type, one of the ADA units, two of the plan two floor plans, which have a floor area of 1,850, and then one of the plan three floor types at 1,810 square feet.

And this was calculated by the Housing Division to provide an equivalency or a comparable unit by square footage.

And as you can see in the far right column, the project is proposing all the five units to be of the smaller square footage at 1,392 square feet.

Through state density bonus law, a concession is being requested to allow for this modification to the development standards.

And the applicant would also be available later to provide an explanation for why this concession is being requested and how it meets state density bonus law.

Same for the waiver.

So on to the next slide.

We'll get into the waivers.

So for the first waiver, they're requesting a DVR, a modification to development standards, which requires a 30% transparency or opening windows and openings requirement on the ground floor.

This project is proposing the transparency at a 21.4% where 30% is required.

And again, this includes the percentage of windows, doors, or openings on the ground floor.

And again, the applicant would be able to provide a detailed explanation on why this is being requested.

but as you can see where the brick detailing is on this plan, there's some space where windows

could potentially go. However, due to the floor plan design, there are stairs located in those

areas which makes it infeasible for windows or openings to go in that area to help contribute to

to the transparency requirements.

And then next slide, please.

The second waiver is for modifications to the entrances, entrance and entrance or pedestrian

entrance frequency for the site.

The code requires that there's at least one pedestrian entrance every 100 feet.

project is proposing the interest at 160 feet and the pedestrian interests are identified on this

image as the yellow rectangles outlined by the purple line those are the proposed pedestrian

interest pathways and the applicant is indicating what the red rectangles where possible interest

could go, but entrances could go. However, due to the project design, wouldn't make sense in regards to the floor plan as those entrances would go directly into garages rather than the units themselves.

Next slide, please.

All right, then we get into the site design for the project.

As you can see, this project does provide vehicular access on Marshall Street only through a driveway that splits the lot and leads to kind of a hammerhead driveway in between the buildings.

Again, this project consists of four buildings, which houses multiple units, where the total of the 32 units proposed for the project.

Pedestrian access is designated to the outer edges of the site, away from the vehicular traffic,

with the addition of a paseo in between the two buildings on the Broadway street frontage,

which also allows for emergency access onto the site, also providing a break.

And the building frontage at the buildings on the Broadway frontage are parallel to the street.

And per the zoning district, it is preferred that vehicular traffic is designated to Marshall Street and away from Broadway Street as Broadway is intended to be a more pedestrian orientated thoroughfare or street.

So on to the next slide.

For the next slide, we're looking at the open space provided for the spot and the landscaping.

Landscaping identified with all the green tents on the screen.

And then the open space is highlighted with, or usable open space is highlighted with kind of a gold overlay and outline with the purple coloring.

The project does satisfy open space requirements as proposed and actually exceeds the open space requirements.

There's a number of landscaping on the site as well that also satisfy stormwater treatment facilities.

So a number of the planters on the Broadway Street frontage are also bioretention areas, which helps to retain stormwater on the site.

And then you also see some trees being planted with civil cells also associated with those to also retain stormwater onto the site.

This project or the existing site does have the four existing mature trees on the Marshall frontage.

This project will be retaining those trees as part of the project.

And then on the Broadway frontage, there are four street trees, and then the applicant will, or existing street trees, which are proposed to be removed and replaced.

And then in addition to that, two new street trees will be added.

So there will be an increase of street trees on the Broadway street frontage.

And then the site itself provides additional trees, about 12 on-site trees for the site as well.

So in regards to vegetation and landscaping for the site, there is an increase to what is currently there.

Next slide, please.

And then we get into the building design.

This image that you see here would be the street frontage from the Broadway Street side.

As you can see, with the Paseo in the middle and the trees, there's a break in the building.

There's a lot of pedestrian orientated parts.

There's doors and openings on this side as well.

and recessed openings, balconies, different design elements that help contribute to pedestrian-orientated scale or human-scale design.

And, yeah, we do not have a Marshall Street frontage.

However, the applicant will be providing images of that so that you can see that as well.

But this would be the Broadway Street frontage.

And later on, you'll be able to see a rendering of what this would look like on the street as proposed.

Again, maximum height is 40 feet. This building does offer different orientations of the roof pitch to assist with massing or to assist with reducing the building's massing, different kind of planes, levels of planes where there's recess planes and push and pull in the building.

That also helps to add articulation to the building and reduce the building's massing.

On to the next slide, please.

With this slide, I want to make an attempt to kind of address the floor plan design for these buildings.

This building that I put here are the floor plans for building C, which would be on Marshall Street side, the right side building,

if you're looking at the plans on the top right building. This building does have

basically sections for the units or sections in the building where each section has floor plans

for two units themselves. So as you can see where I highlighted with the blue outline,

that would be one of the ADA units within, or two of the ADA units within the

building C floor plans. On the floor, on the first floor, you have a garage with tandem parking

for each unit. And then there's the second floor, which would be for, you know, one of the units.

And then the third floor is shared by two of the units. So there's a split floor

on the third floor for two units. And then the fourth floor would be designated

to the second unit, which is different from the second floor. So it's an interesting floor plan.

I thought it was worth to try to explain how these units are situated within the buildings.

This is pretty consistent through the other buildings as well, where the buildings are sectioned and allows for two floor plans per section.

And you can identify this through the garages with the tandem parking.

Plan 5, which is the outer building, are the building adjacent to Marshall Street.

And so Building C and Building D would have the Plan 5 design element.

Those buildings have a step down, so the maximum height of those units is 40 feet.

And it is only one floor plan.

They have a one-car garage or two-car garage, and it does not have the tandem parking, so it'll just be a standard two-car garage with parking adjacent to each other, and then it's three levels for this floor plan.

Next slide, please.

So here you see a rendering of the building as it would be developed in the future.

If, you know, as proposed, the building is situated adjacent to the what could be assumed for the future hotel that was proposed and approved, I believe, last year.

adjacent to the building on the left side. This is the Broadway Street frontage. You have the two

buildings and then the Paseo in the middle with the street trees that are also being proposed.

This project was found to be consistent with all the development standards with exception to the

development standards associated with the two waivers and the concession.

and as such onto the next slide staff is recommending that the planning commission

adopt resolution 25-12 approving architectural permit tentative parcel map condo permit

affordable housing plan state density bonus with concession and waivers pursuant to the state

density bonus law and the CEQA exemption subject to conditions of approval for

project located at 1320 Marshall. That concludes my project. I'm available for

any clarifying questions. As stated earlier, I also have a Lynn and Lay here

with the housing division that could assist with any affordable housing or

housing specific questions. The applicant is also available once they get their

presentation to answer any additional questions. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Dotson, for your very

detailed presentation. Are there any clarifying questions that the Commission would like to ask

staff at this time? I do have a couple of questions. I would like to follow up on the

questions raised by the Architectural Committee on the previous meeting regarding this project.

there was talk about public art which

this particular project does not

require but it was also

talk about particular

improvements along the public paseo

entering from Broadway

street side

you showed a frontage

cross section on the Broadway

there was a street tree in the way

I was just curious if there's any improvements

I think the packet materials did show some

improvements or

some implementation in that particular paseo

Yes, there will be some improvements in that area, such as gates, seating, and some additional

vegetation. But I'll let the applicant speak to that in more detail when they get their

presentation.

Great. I have a couple more questions, but I'll let Commissioner Robinson to ask his

questions first.

Yes, my question is regarding the replacement trees on Broadway.

Does the landscape plan call for a specific size, like 36-inch box, for example?

I know that's highly specific.

I'm curious to make sure that the tree canopy remains consistent along there for what is already mature.

and if you don't have the answer right away, that's okay.

Give me one second to scroll and see if I can't answer it,

then the applicant again is here

and they would be able to answer that question for you.

But it looks like, yeah,

I'll allow the applicant to answer that question.

I believe they're replacing the existing trees

with similar size trees and then adding the two new trees

with the same type of trees as well.

I'll let the applicant provide the details of that.

Thank you.

Great.

Yeah, I think the landscape palette calls for 36-inch boxes,

but I'm not sure whether the resolution itself is detailed

in terms of what is the requirement in the agreement.

Speaking of landscaping, I do have a question about the waiver

regarding open spaces on the ground floor.

so there are stairwells because of this very, what I consider actually quite ingenious design of stacking units

in a very compact square footage area.

You know, there's that wall that's kind of a brick layer that's facing the Broadway frontage,

and I think we have talked about trying to put some landscaping in that blank wall to be able to cover that,

and, you know, I was looking at what the choices are here.

I think the landscape architects suggested California wild grape.

I'm curious whether that's

slated for the

fenced walls around

the two neighboring properties or on the front side

facing Broadway because I know there's some plans also

to cover the

fences facing the hotel and then

on the other side the commercial properties on the

south side of the property

that was a lot of words but

I guess maybe I'll just wait for

the applicant to come in and then

they will answer that question

yeah the applicant could speak to that

Yeah, any other questions for staff at this time?

All right, seeing none.

Thank you so much, Mr. Dodson.

We will now...

Oh, sorry, Commissioner Cornejo has a question.

Sorry.

This question, I think, will be for, like, the housing staff that was mentioned there.

I'm just curious if there's, like, a different process since this development has only a couple of units available

versus like a housing development that has many more units?

Is it the process different for a resident to apply or it's the same?

Hi, Lynn Lancaster, housing leadership manager.

I'm happy to answer that question.

So these would be ownership units.

And so these would be sold to, you know,

qualified moderate income households at a below market price.

And so we would go through our standard ownership process for affordable units.

Okay.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you, Mrs. Ellen.

All right.

We are moving on to the applicant presentation.

Is there a presentation you'll be giving tonight?

Okay, great.

Wonderful.

can everyone hear me okay yes good evening redwood city planning commission staff members of the

public. My name is Darian Denler, and I'm here from City Ventures and very excited to be here

to present the Redwood Square Project, located at 1320 Marshall Street and 1662 Broadway.

I'm joined by Keon Malek from the City Ventures team and Dan Hale from Hunt Hale Jones Architects,

the architect for the project. I'd like to start with a brief overview of City Ventures,

who we are, and what we do. We are a California-based residential developer. Our Northern

California Division has projects as far north as Sebastopol and as far south as San Luis Obispo

County. We are a sustainable developer, so all of our projects are solar, all-electric. We utilize

energy-efficient materials as best we can, so that includes low water usage fixtures, nest thermostats,

low impact or native landscaping, and all the homes come pre-wired for EV charging capabilities.

as an infill developer our focus is developing underutilized parcels within existing city limits

to provide the attainable for sale housing that the communities that we work with in the bay area

really need and we implement different styles different architecture different site planning

and frankly just different projects depending on the long-term goals of the city and the

particular sites dynamic. We started this project a while ago, and I won't go into detail on everything,

but we had a few different iterations of the project to get to where we are today. And, you

know, I really appreciate staff support and direction during that process. They were tough,

but fair. And in September, we received a unanimous approval from the Architectural Advisory Committee.

and I am here to respectfully request your approval of our vesting tentative map and our architectural permit.

Many of you are familiar with the site and James did a great job of kind of breaking down its current and former uses,

but I want to reiterate that it's approximately a one-acre site, primarily building,

and a good portion of it is used for industrial storage and some outdoor storage on the northern portion as well.

It's entirely pervious.

The site is located less than a mile from, you know,

schools like Hoover Elementary, Sequoia High School,

and even closer to downtown Redwood City and everything good that comes along with that.

So this really is a great location and an opportunity site for some more infill housing in Redwood City.

So this is a 32-unit for-sale development broken up over four buildings.

We're utilizing a stacked townhome style condominium product.

The buildings that are fronting onto Broadway, that's A and B,

have the entries on a stooped porch that faces the public street,

which in designing those, we really wanted to create a strong pedestrian entrance and experience

as you're walking along Broadway.

Over on Marshall's side, as James was mentioning,

we kind of feathered down from the four-story to a three-story,

which, you know, kind of lowers the level as you're entering from the vehicular access.

And these homes are going to be marketed to first-time homebuyers, young families,

and anyone looking to either deepen or establish their roots here in Redwood City.

The project is also proposing deed-restricted affordable housing that's dispersed throughout the site.

so as you're coming down westbound on Broadway you'll see the project and we're really excited

to have gotten the direction from the Parks and Recreation Department to replace those frontage

trees we were talking about there are currently four ornamental pairs that aren't in the best

condition and they'll be replaced with six new trident maples over on the Marshall side

we kind of navigated it's where the majority of our utilities tie in we were able to navigate

those utilities in a way that preserves the existing cork oaks over on that side and there

are these power lines that are kind of hanging over and and the trees are growing up into them

so part of the project will be to underground those lines and hopefully those those trees will

will thrive once those have been removed.

Kind of back onto the Broadway side,

our landscape architect was super excited

to see the Trident Maples

due to the fact that once they're in their fall state

and have those colors,

it'll mesh really well with the coloring

of that Spanish style.

And once these homes are occupied,

you'll see plants coming over the balconies,

you'll see the bioretention planters on Broadway

and the trees,

so it'll be a nice lush frontage.

In terms of the sidewalk, consistent with the approved development next door, they'll be 12.5 feet wide, and as I understand it, consistent with the request for new developments on Broadway.

We proposed a traditional spanner-style architecture, which aimed for a 360-degree view.

So there's articulation on every side of the building, whether you're inside the project looking at the buildings or, more importantly, of the public-facing sides.

We really focused on making sure that there was articulation and design elements there as well.

The colors and materials that we proposed and were reviewed at the AAC were proposed with the goal of giving the project a natural and warm, welcoming feel.

I'd like to take a moment and express my appreciation to the projects planner James

we've worked closely for a while and and the rest of the city staff and everyone has been great to work with and you know readily available for any questions that have come along

During the process and and lastly, I'd like to thank the planning commission

For taking their time today to listen to my presentation

And I hope we've put together a proposal that the city would like to see come to fruition

So with that, I'll conclude my presentation, and I'll be right over here for any questions.

Great. Thank you so much for your presentation.

At this time, are there any clarifying questions that the commission would like to ask the applicant?

Commissioner Finch?

Yes. One question about the Paseo and the pedestrian walkways on the sides of the project.

I'm guessing from the plans that Paseo is private access just to residents with the gate,

and then the walkways on the sides are public?

They will both be private.

Oh, okay.

Are there gates on the side walkways as well?

You might not see them in the plans, but there will be gates there, yes, over on the Broadway side.

Okay, okay.

and then um one other question was um about the uh the number of parking spaces um just i'm just

curious how did you come to the number of 64 two per unit two per unit yes sir okay and what how

did you come to two per unit uh it's each garage holds two spaces they're uh tandem garages for

the majority of the the homes outside of the uh two three story over on marshall side which are

side-by-side garages. Okay. And do you foresee, or like, do you, is that just kind of what you

expect people will want to buy in this kind of development? Um, you, even though it is kind of

in a more transity ish area. Totally. Yeah. And, and for young families and kind of, um,

the target demographic for these homes is, is young families. Typically they'll have one,

two cars at, at most. Uh, so it's, it's worked out pretty well, uh, with, with the two car garage

for each home. Okay. And I do appreciate, I think the tandem is a nice way to do it where

it minimizes kind of the amount of frontage that the garage takes up. And if people just want to

use it for storage or something, instead the extra space, I think it gives some nice versatility. So

I think that's a, it's a nice design for a two car garage. Yeah. Thanks. Thank you.

To follow up, I mean, each garage still also contains a bike storage unit. Is that right?

Yes, sir. A bike storage unit as well as the three bins for compost recycling and trash.

Got it. Okay. I mean, just to follow up on Commissioner Finch's question, like if you were to propose a project with one parking per garage versus two, I mean, I see from around the Bay Area you have many projects in different both infill and outfill developments. Would that be not as attractive of a unit than having two even tandem garages?

yeah it would likely be difficult from a marketing perspective but also potential strain on the

surrounding neighborhood if people do maybe initially purchase with one car and then end

up getting one or even two more cars and then they're parking on street parking and so typically

two is kind of the sweet spot got it thank you um i have more questions but we'll let commissioner

cornejo ask no please i have a long list okay thank you um do you have any like imagery on like

what the parking would look like, the garage,

and maybe the open space that this development would offer people?

Yeah, I don't think I have any imagery of the garage themselves,

but I do have a photo of the floor plan that might be helpful for that purpose.

It kind of extends into the unit.

Is that your question?

Yeah, well, I know I have two questions.

One is on the parking, and then the other one is on the open space.

Oh, okay.

So just focused on the parking, I was just curious just to envision, like, if people have really big cars,

or is it going to be made more for, like, a smaller car?

That's why I was asking the question.

Got it.

Absolutely.

And the garages are designed with the width.

We went deeply on this on a different project, but they're wide enough to hold trucks and larger cars.

A sprinter van, maybe not, but trucks, yes.

Okay, great.

And then on to my other, the other part of my question is like, I'm interested in seeing,

since I'm envisioning perhaps families or families that have pets, like what is the

outdoor space for this, for this development?

Yeah, absolutely.

And, and I'll, it's, it's more of a, a leisure area where there's trees, planting, benches.

So it's more of a, less of a, you know, there's no dog run or anything like that, but it's

a place for people to sit outside, maybe read, enjoy the sun, and enjoy the trees. But it's a

substantial little area on the, and I'll go back to the site plan. So it's that area that you're

seeing to the left of building C and to the right of building D, which is a nice pervious pathway.

there's benches, the trees, and the planter boxes for homeowners to sit and enjoy the outside.

And then I know someone asked about if it's gated. So this space would be, is it gated?

From the Marshall side, it will likely not, well, it will not be gated. From the Broadway side,

we'll have gates in between buildings A in the property line and buildings B in the property

line but over on the marshall side it will be open got it got it okay i'm just like thinking

about like kids riding their bikes or like enough space for you know people to get some fresh air

but um i think it's going to be a beautiful building i like the color palette that's my

personal preference but thanks for answering those questions of course yeah thank you commissioner

cornejo yeah i think these private roads i guess what's called paseo lane into pillow street given

and the low traffic volume do seem to lend themselves to, well, less risk of collisions,

especially if children are playing or someone's walking their dog.

I do have a list of questions.

One is on the plans, there were some solar panels indicated on the roof.

They were dashed in the plans.

I'm curious.

You mentioned at the beginning that this is a sustainable development.

So is the installation included, or is the plan to be included in this particular build?

Yes, it's included.

It's not an option.

and it comes standard with every building, every home.

Got it. Thank you.

Next question I have is about, do you know by chance what are the material of the balcony fence?

I really like the look from the Broadway side where the public will be seeing.

I'm just curious what the choices were made on the, there's multiple verandas, I guess you were saying.

Right.

And I'm just curious, what is the material of the guardrail material?

I may defer to Dan on here.

I'm going to assume it's an ornamental iron, so some sort of metal.

I'm getting a nod.

So you will match, presumably, the gate in the Paseo on the, I guess, street level as well.

And I appreciate the sketchup of the gate and the pergola that's proposed in that area.

I think it will add something nice visually to add that in that place.

Next question I have is regarding the ADA units.

I looked at the plans very carefully

and I'm curious about how does one

let's say if they have particular mobility issues

let's say a person in a wheelchair will be able to access

I know they're vertically stacked units

which I think is a really great plan in terms of being

able to use this space but how would I go

from main floor

in a garage all the way to the fourth floor

if I have mobility

challenges? Absolutely

so the four units that you're seeing as

accessible are required by the

California building code for any

multi-family building above one story. And as the code reads, it requires accessibility and

adaptability for the first floor, but it's quiet on the upper floor. So we have proposed the

accessibility and adaptability for the first floor. Got it. Okay. First floor being the garage.

Yes. And there's a powder room that you'll see, which is the adaptable portion to allow,

you know, restroom access for a visitor.

I mean, the floor plans propagate through all four, I guess, four floors,

and then I presume these spaces are wider in these particular units

in case you have, you know, a wheelchair to maneuver in this particular area.

Is there a way to retroactively fit this particular unit with a device

that would be able to lift a person in a wheelchair to a second, third, or fourth level?

Yes, there is optionality for a lift on the stairs,

but that would be at the option of the potential buyer.

Got it.

Okay.

So the ADA units inclusion, which I really appreciate that, you know,

there's a dearth of them all throughout California,

and it's really a challenge for someone with disability to find appropriate

housing choices, especially in a market like this.

So it sounds like the state has kind of brought this upon this particular

project.

So if I, I guess my question is then for the proposed units that are deed restricted to be affordable to the medium income level, those are regular units, not the ADA version?

Yes.

And then what are the possibilities of potentially dedicating at least one, if not two, of the ADA units to be the deed restricted to be affordable for the medium income level household?

The reason I ask this is because I've been to institutions like in my college, for example, there's an ADA particular dorm room or something like that.

And usually because of the set of circumstances, it does not get used by the person who will really need this.

So I almost feel like it may be a missed opportunity to have this built.

You go through all this effort to really change your floor plans to make it ADA accessible.

And many times people who have disabilities have also financial challenges to meet homeownership standards of this area.

So I think it would be very much beneficial for the community to have a unit as nice as this,

and it is also ADA accessible to be also affordable.

So I'm just throwing that out there in terms of what are the possibilities of having that happen.

Absolutely.

I think the, I guess the, I'm not going to call it a concern, but the full adaptability

is at the option of a potential buyer.

And all of our BMR units are of the standard.

So if an affordable, a potential BMR applicant were to, it becomes a little bit convoluted

when...

Sorry, I'm just trying to

best phrase it.

I may

defer to Keon on this one.

Sure.

I can jump in for this one. My name is Keon Malik.

I'm also with City Ventures. Thank you for the question.

I think your question is

a great question. I think you're saying, you know, is there an

opportunity for an ADA

unit to also be a BMR unit?

The reality is that there is the opportunity.

However, we

We tend to stray away from doing that because of the complexity of optioning or not optioning

certain BMR units.

They are deed restricted.

There's a lot of regulation on that.

And so even when it comes to optioning certain appliances or certain counter types, it's

hard to option optionality on BMR units versus the market rate units.

So we tend to stray away from that because it's hard for the HOA to manage those.

But we understand where you're coming from, but it just adds a layer of complexity that can end up becoming a mess for the HOA to handle.

I see.

So, I mean, would it be a requirement, for example, for a person who would want to buy this particular unit to have a reason why to use the ADA unit?

Is that what you're saying?

It would be restricted to also have a customer or a person who would live here also need to have this ADA unit versus general population.

Is that the complexity where it comes from?

The complexity is the BMR units, they need to be standardized units across the board.

And it's just hard to have some that are and some that are not options.

They need to be standardized.

That's really the bottom line we're coming to, that we're up against.

Thank you.

But to come back to my original point that these ADA accessible units are able to be upgraded as the person who moves in there to have ability to access all four floors, or I mean the three floors of that particular unit, even if they're mobility impaired.

Right. With a lift, that's an option. Yes.

Okay. Great. Thank you.

Thank you.

So speaking of which, I mean, this may be a question for staff.

You know, we have very few projects come in front of us that are, you know, home ownership opportunities.

I think this is wonderful, but I'm curious, how does the deed restriction work for 30 years in this case?

So that means that if someone buys it and then they sell it before 30 years, the next owner will still be covered by that deed restriction.

Is that how that works? Maybe Alvin, Ms. Lancaster can clarify.

Yeah, I'm happy to answer that.

So when these units, the affordable units are sold, we will sign a resale restriction with that particular home buyer restricting the unit for 30 years.

If they choose to sell before that 30-year window is up, they will be required to sell it to another moderate income home buyer at a below market price.

And we would then sign a new resale restriction agreement for another, a new 30-year period with that new homeowner.

Oh, I see. So it can potentially stack into a much larger number of years.

Yes.

Okay. Thank you.

Potentially. It just depends on how long that homeowner ends up living in the unit.

Got it.

Thank you so much for the clarification.

That's very helpful.

All right.

I think I have...

Oh, Commissioner Cornejo, please.

Yeah, and I'm not sure if the question is for staff or the developers.

I'm looking at the layout, and I'm just wondering, where is the nearest crosswalk?

Is there...

Because I'm just thinking about walkability and it being, you know, really close to schools

and just picturing people.

moving around.

I don't know if you have the answer to that question.

If there's a crosswalk on the side that is not gated.

For over on the Broadway or Marshall side?

What side isn't gated?

The Marshall side.

Yeah.

So I'm like, if I'm walking around, where would I cross?

Do I have to go to the corner and then cross the street?

Is there a crosswalk there?

or i believe there's a crosswalk at beach but i would i would have to confirm that okay yeah i

mean and i'm not sure who has control of all this but i'm just putting it for the record like i think

is important that we have you know walkability and like pedestrian safety and just especially

if we're thinking about like kids going to school and people walking their dogs um i walk a lot so

I'm always looking at it from that angle.

Yeah, I mean, not to put Mr. Dodson on the spot,

but I think as far as I know that the city itself is planning to implement

a complete streets framework on Broadway between Maple and Chestnut Street.

I don't know if that includes introducing crosswalks,

because I walked this site actually recently just to see this particular project.

there's a very large gap of no crosswalks at least no marked crosswalks all the way from maple to

chestnut which is almost I don't know point eight mile it is it is an impediment for for pedestrian

intersection so I don't know if mr. Dawson has any more details into into how this will be improved

or whether new sidewalks will be added sorry no sidewalks crosswalks I don't know that detail

I don't have information on the new crosswalks that are being added.

There is a crosswalk on Broadway and Beach Street, which allows for crossing across Broadway.

Then you can also go across Beach there as well.

As far as Marshall, I think the nearest crosswalk would be Maple Street and Marshall, which is where the Kaiser Hospital is located.

Great.

Yeah, I mean, I think it's obviously a bigger conversation and looking into other things that are going on for the city.

But just as a reminder, it's good for all of us to be safe when we're walking.

and as the city progresses and there's new developments,

just kind of making sure that that angle doesn't fall through the cracks.

Right. I agree.

While I have Mr. Dodson online,

I do have a question about the step-down requirement towards Marshall Street.

I know the architect has done a great job of making this project look good from all angles,

having articulation and reduced massing with tile roof.

I think it's a wonderful job.

My question is, you know, across the Marshall Street,

there is a multi-family high density multi-story building i'm curious where the requirement for the

step down towards marshall is versus having it same as on broadway that strictly 50 feet

oh you're muted

yeah uh sorry about that the uh the step down on marshall street was optional um that was a design

element that was uh proposed by the applicant it is not a requirement by the code

all right thank you there are sorry just to clarify there are like some design

uh criteria that speaks to massing um and articulation in a design but as far as an

objective design standard there is none for a step down being on the marshall street side

okay all right thank you for clarifying um any other questions from the commission that we'd

I'd like to ask the applicant.

Seeing done, thank you so much for your presentation.

Really appreciated all the information.

If there's no questions, I will now open the public meeting.

In order to see how many speakers I have,

I ask everyone who wishes to speak on this item

to please raise your hand now in Zoom.

And if you're in person,

please fill out the speaker's card to give it to the staff.

When we're ready, we will call your name

and you will make your way to the podium to speak.

Are there any in-person speakers?

Are there any speakers joining us remotely?

No.

There are no speakers.

Okay.

If there's no objection, I will now close the public hearing,

and I will open a meeting for committee discussion.

Commissioner Finch.

Yes, I think overall it's a great project.

I really like the level of pedestrian access.

I feel like it's very pedestrian first with multiple access points on Marshall and on Broadway.

I love that you've minimized the curb cuts, only one curb cut on Marshall Street.

That's really great.

And, yeah, the floor plans are really interesting, really creative use of the available space there.

I love the stoops on Broadway.

Love stoops.

Those are great for the kind of street liveliness.

And then I think just two kind of suggestions are,

I saw there was some red curb on Marshall Street.

It might be nice to just make those bulb outs instead of red curb,

just because, I don't know if that red curb is required by code.

I don't, but people might park in the red curb.

I see a lot of people park in red curb around town

so if you really don't want people to park there

it might be better to do concrete

and then my other comment was just around the gates

it would be nice if the side paths

were accessible to the public

it doesn't have to be advertised as a public walkway

but that block of Marshall, Broadway, Beach

and Chestnut is just a very long block

and I feel like this property,

it would be a great place for a cut through

between Broadway and Marshall.

So it would be really nice if the paths

on the sides of the project were accessible to the public.

And yeah, I think even with the concessions and the waivers,

I believe that this conforms to the spirit

of the mixed-use corridor zoning district

and so I would be in favor of approving it.

Thank you, Commissioner Finch.

Commissioner Butt.

Thank you for your presentation.

Thank you, city staff, for putting together this very thorough report.

And I also want to say I appreciate your usage of the land here.

It's the floor plan.

I saw this in my packet earlier.

I was very excited by how many units you managed to put in that space

and how it still seems to be something that would be very attractive

to anybody who wants to live in the area.

We spoke earlier about the one or two garage

and the fact that you were able to have two parking spaces per unit

and still this much floor space within four stories is amazing.

It's in a very nice neighborhood,

and a lot of people are going to have access to our great downtown,

so I'm fully in favor of this project.

Thank you, Commissioner Butt.

Any other comments?

I wanted to just reflect something about

I mean it's interesting what Commissioner Finch

brought about public access

I do agree it's a super long block

to go from Maple all the way to Chestnut

I have actually just crossed a couple of weeks ago

I think there's a couple of hotels

that do allow driveway

that you can walk all the way through

but it's technically private property

but it does cut through

I think there's a balance here to be made

between public access to go through all the way

versus security of the people who live there

especially if it's a narrow side path of only four feet wide next to a fence so I think maybe

the HOA or the residents can decide what the what the best solution for that particular

question is. Commissioner Robinson I saw your hand briefly go up.

Sorry I don't know can you hear me? Yes. Okay good yeah thank you very much for the presentation

and the very good city staff report.

I am familiar with this housing product.

It is very innovative to fit this many units on a site like this.

I've driven by this.

I like what the rendition shows for the architectural style,

and I think it's a very well-done project, and I'm very supportive of it.

I do understand the concerns about access and our pedestrian access but I do think the HOA and the

residents will have significant concerns about security as this is still a not a not a not a

necessarily an established residential area and even though there are some you know many tall

buildings nearby housing residential units if we're going to see you know more attainable

housing in redwood city this is probably what it's going to look like for people that can afford it

so that we don't just go all ultra luxury so for those reasons thank the city staff thanks city

ventures for a really good presentation and i definitely support it thank you thank you commissioner

Robinson. Commissioner Cornejo.

Thank you for

the presentation and

I just wanted to echo with

our chair and the

comments that were made on public access.

I'm just thinking about if

I was an owner myself

I would want a lot of privacy

and not really have random

people coming in and out

of the property.

I think that's something to keep in mind.

I'm not really sure how you move forward

on that but um i do feel like especially with downtown and just i there's been a lot of

unsafety issues or things that happen that are unfortunate so um just making sure that

those that are going to be moving into that space feel as safe as you can possibly make them feel

thank you commissioner cornejo yeah i mean i always speaking last i just want to underline

everything that everyone has already said.

I think this is a very attractive project.

I really want to commend the design team and the

architects on a cohesive

and really attractive design

in Spanish revival style.

And it's

missing middle housing. We're something that we've

tried to, you know, get as

much as possible in Rebo City. It's something

that we strive for.

It's also a path for homeownership. We don't have

many projects that come in here that are

that provide this particular

path. And on top of that, with five or four

units so four of them are potentially AD accessible I think having that ability

at least option is good and nice to have and and I think in terms of concessions

and waivers required you know the waivers are really due to the orientation

of the building and how it's oriented where the where the entrances are so I

think those are very minor and in the concession in reduction of square

footage for these units is is reasonable considering the amount of housing that's

being provided so I think thank you for for making all the numbers work and yeah

I would also very much like to move this project forward.

Are there any other questions or comments by the Commission?

Otherwise, I will entertain a motion.

Commissioner Bott.

Motion to adopt Resolution 25-12, approving the architectural permit,

tentative parcel map, condominium permit, affordable housing plan,

state density bonus law, with concession and waivers

pursuant to the state density bonus law, with sequestration,

subject to the conditions of approval for the project located at 1320 Marshall Street.

All right, we have a motion. Do we have a second?

Second.

Second by Commissioner Cornejo.

Before we move, I would like to open the floor for any further discussion on the motion on the floor.

Any other comments on the commissioners?

Seeing none, I will ask the staff to do the vote.

Commissioner Bod?

Yes.

Commissioner Cornejo?

Yes.

Commissioner Finch?

Yes.

Commissioner Robinson

Yes

And Chair Suna Goraz

Yes

The motion passes by five with two absent

Great

Congratulations

Wonderful project

Wish you all the best

All right

We have the next item is a matter of commission interest

We have a planning commission liaison updates

Next line

Yeah thanks

I just wanted to provide a few updates on some of the city council meetings

that have happened since we met last.

Several items that had either been before you

or kind of are in your sort of area of interest

went before city council.

Thank you.

On the 24th, the request for modifications

to the Elk Hall Yards Affordable Housing Plan,

state density bonus, concessions and waivers,

and on lots A and D for Elk Hall Yards,

that was on the 24th and that was approved.

On December 8th, there were several Mills Act items.

One was a Mills Act update

as well as Historic Resources Advisory Committee work plan.

The City Council had a study session.

Several items were discussed in that study session,

but one thing to kind of,

I will just pull out sort of one item

that had a lot of discussion on it

was about whether or not to have an automatic renewal at 10 years or to you know kind of

rethink that renewal i think as you know city staff is working on a historic preservation

ordinance update this the feedback from that session will be incorporated into as well as

feedback that that you all had and the hrac had at the previous work session as well will be

incorporated into the historic preservation ordinance update as we're doing that yeah just

to clarify, what is the current

protocol once it gets

10 years? What happens?

It's automatically renewed.

With a new

improvement plan? No.

It just stays as long as

both the city,

if they are maintaining the

property,

and if the applicant

does not want to

get out of the contract

for some reason.

Commissioner Robinson.

What will the process be for renewing the plan?

Will that go through the Historic Resources Advisory Committee and then to Council?

Or what will the steps in that process look like?

I'm just reporting kind of on some of the feedback that we had that the City Council had in their study session.

There's not a new plan for sort of what that looks like.

So right now it is the same as it is and has been.

but that was one of the suggestions and one of the kind of, I would say, more substantive discussions was on that concept.

And so that plus several other items around the Mills Act.

So we'll be coming kind of, you know, we'll take all of that feedback and bring it back for, you know, more of a conversation.

Where will that conversation start?

Will it be historic resources?

for the for the yeah they'll be part of the historic preservation ordinance updates so

i don't know that we've fully laid out that process but the the hrec the planning commission

and the city council will all be part of that conversation thank you yeah i plan to follow

that one closely yeah um yeah if you're interested it's you know it's the sessions are recorded and

it was a pretty substantive and lengthy discussion about that. So lots of good,

lots of good information there. If I have follow-up questions regarding, in particular,

data that I believe was shared involving the number of Milzak residences and the tax revenue

LOSS TO SCHOOLS. WHO WOULD I REACH OUT TO ON STAFF?

YOU'RE WELCOME TO REACH OUT TO ME.

OKAY. THANK YOU.

WE DID NOT... THAT INFORMATION WAS GENERATED

THROUGH DIFFERENT SOURCES, BUT YES, PLEASE

GO AHEAD AND REACH OUT TO ME. THANK YOU.

THERE WERE ALSO FOUR MELZOC CONTRACTS

that were approved.

Three historic designations as well as

the three Mills Act plus the fourth one that was

the Mills Act.

The fourth one was the 1018-1020

Main Street. That was the one

that was just a Mills Act because it was already historic property.

The other three, 730 Edgewood,

839 Blanford, and 979

Arlington, those were all approved

with both the historic designation and the Mills Act

contracts were approved

as well on December 8th.

The other item on December 8th

was the extension of the 1540 Maple Development Agreement extension,

the Fourth Amendment to that.

So busy few council sessions.

To kind of look ahead, we are canceling the January 20th, 26th Planning Commission meeting.

There are no items on that agenda, and that is all I have.

I know that particular

city council meeting there was also discussion about

the downtown parking garages

and city owned parking lots and EV

charging curious if there's

an update on that or I should just go and watch

that item

that item was actually not

happening on it didn't

happen on the last meeting

it is not it is

being I think it's tentatively scheduled

for February right now

so

um all right we'll hear more of it yes later yes okay great um are there any other commission

updates from the commissioners all right if not i wish everyone very very happy holidays ahead

uh hopefully some relaxed time and that concludes our tonight's agenda next planning commission

meeting is scheduled for not January 20th but February 3rd. All right.