South San Francisco Planning Commission Regular Meeting - February 3, 2022

The Planning Commission held a regular meeting on Thursday, February 3, 2022, at 7:00 PM via Zoom. The meeting included approval of previous minutes, a public hearing on a draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the 101 Gull Drive development project, and the annual reorganization of officers and committee assignments. No public comments were received.

Consent Calendar

• Minutes Approval (December 2, 2021): The Commission unanimously approved the minutes from the December 2, 2021 regular meeting. (Motion: Commissioner Faria, Second: Commissioner Murphy; Roll call: 6-0-1 [Commissioner Funes absent]).

Public Hearing

• 101 Gull Drive Draft EIR Comment Period: Staff presented a report on the 45-day public comment period (December 29, 2021 – February 11, 2022) for the Draft EIR on the proposed 101 Gull Drive project. The project involves construction of a new 166,613-square-foot, 7-story office/research & development building with an attached 4.5-story parking garage (419 parking stalls) on a 3.8-acre site in the Business Technology Park (BTP) District.
• The Draft EIR identified one significant and unavoidable impact: vehicle miles traveled (VMT) per employee would exceed the city’s threshold of 15% below regional average. A Transportation Demand Management (TDM) plan is required but cannot guarantee reduction below significance. This impact is common to office/R&D projects east of Highway 101 not within a half-mile of Caltrain.
• Hazards and hazardous materials were found to be less than significant with mitigation.
• Commissioners asked clarifying questions about VMT mitigation and how this compares to other projects. No public comments were received. The Commission took no action; the final EIR and project entitlements will come before the Commission at a later date.

Administrative Business

• Annual Reorganization of Chair and Vice Chair: The Commission elected Sam Shihadeh as Chair for the coming year (motion by Commissioner Evans, second by Commissioner De Paz Fernandez; unanimous 7-0). Alex Tzang was elected Vice Chair (motion by Commissioner Faria, second by Commissioner Murphy; unanimous 7-0). Outgoing Chair Michele Evans was thanked for her service.
• Standing Committee Assignments:
  • Housing Standing Committee: Chair Shihadeh, Commissioner Evans, and Commissioner Faria as alternate.
  • Historic Preservation Ad Hoc Committee: Commissioner Murphy, Commissioner De Paz Fernandez, and Vice Chair Tzang.
  • The General Plan Update Committee (Chair Shihadeh and Commissioner Murphy) was noted to continue its work.

Items from Staff

• The February regular meeting was canceled; the next meeting will be in March 2022.
• Staff provided an update on the General Plan engagement schedule, including joint Planning Commission/City Council study sessions on March 2, April 6, and April 20, 2022 (6:00–8:00 PM) and an in-person open house on March 22, 2022.
• New administrative assistant Christina Cruz was introduced; she will attend the next meeting.

Items from the Commission

• Commissioner Funes reminded the public of the COVID-19 testing site on Linden Avenue and the availability of free N95/KN95 masks at local pharmacies.
• Commissioner De Paz Fernandez noted the possibility of a fourth vaccine shot becoming available.

Adjournment

The meeting adjourned at approximately [time not specified].