So the meeting for tonight for the design review commission will is now in session.

Can we have a roll call?

Can we have roll call, please?

Thank you, Vice Chair.

Commissioner Case?

Here.

Commissioner Riley.

Here.

Vice Chair Basing.

Here.

Chair Newsom is on vacation, I believe.

And we have a quorum.

Great.

So are there any items on consent?

There should be on on the agenda there should be the adoption of meeting minutes for September 4th, November 20th, and December 4th of 2024.

I can make a motion that we adopt the meeting minutes.

I second that motion.

Okay.

Commissioner Case?

Yes.

Commissioner Riley.

Yes.

Vice Chair Basing.

Yes.

Okay.

Let's see.

Motion carries.

Okay.

Moving right along.

Nice.

Zero action approved.

Are there any public communications for items not on the agenda this evening?

Okay, seeing none.

Are there any ex parte communications that any of the commissioners need to report on?

No.

No.

Okay.

Thank you.

So now shall we begin the public hearing?

Yes, staff has a presentation.

Uh good evening, design review commissioners.

My name is Stephen Cook, and I am an assistant planner with the city's community development department.

Before you tonight is a proposed amendment to the master sign program for the John Meir Medical Campus located at 177 La Casa Via.

The project is designated as application number Y25031.

For some site context, the parcel is located along La Casa Villa as highlighted in blue on the vicinity map.

The site contains an existing three-story medical office building, which houses the Hoffman Cancer Center.

This site is a part of the larger plan development that makes up the John Muir Medical Campus.

In 2022, the design review commission approved an amendment to the master sign program to include the new medical building on the project site.

That approval included several exceptions to the city's sign ordinance, such as several skyline signs, freestanding signs, and increases in the overall sign area.

Since the most recent approval, the applicant is requesting a further amendment to the master sign program with a few updates, and I'll walk you through those changes beginning with the proposal to modify the existing entry wall signage.

Under the previous approval, the signs were labeled Outpatient Center and Cancer Center.

The applicant now proposes to replace those with the donor name, Hoffman Cancer Center.

Each sign will measure 13.5 square feet and will feature facelit internally illuminated channel letters in the color black with the two inch deep aluminum return.

Before and after renderings along with their corresponding locations are included in the slide for your reference.

Uh with four-inch deep aluminum returns.

While the city sign ordinance limits the heights to 25 feet, the proposed sign reaches approximately 27 feet at its highest point, and as such, approval will require the design review commission to make several specific findings, including that one, the good design criteria is required for a higher sign, two that the business is identified by the sign occupies all floor space adjacent to the wall where the sign's being placed, and three, that this higher sign enhances the building's architectural appearance.

While staff is confident that the DRC can make the necessary findings, there's some concern about the potential visual impact on nearby residences, especially those directly oriented in the direction of the skyline sign, and to address potential nighttime lighting impacts on nearby residences.

Staff has included a condition on the draft resolution that restricts illumination between 10 p.m.

and 6 a.m.

daily.

To summarize the proposed amendments to the master sign program, first the applicants again requesting and modify the two existing entry wall signs to integrate the donor's name, to the skyline sign will also include the donor's name, and three to increase the total allowable sign area from 530 to 567 square feet uh for the 177 Lacasa via parcel.

So CEQA section uh well the sequel exemption guidelines under section 15301 existing facilities is recommended for this project.

Staff recommends the design review commission to move to adopt the resolution approving the master sign program amendment for 177 Lacasa Via at the John Muir Medical Campus, subject to the conditions of approval contained therein.

And that concludes the presentation for tonight.

Staff is available for any questions, and furthermore, the applicant is also present and available for any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Do we have any questions?

I don't have questions of staff, but I might have a question of the applicant.

Okay.

So my question is of the applicant.

Did you consider the the conflict with the potential nearby residences with the lighting that says the Hoffman Cancer Center?

And are you okay with that limited schedule and based on your opinion of that light illumination?

Do you think it's going to be an issue?

So, there's currently an address, a building address that's also similarly illuminated.

It's it's the same exact fabrication, same details, it's just the 177 address.

So the idea is that this sign would be the same illumination levels, and in the past couple years, so far we haven't heard any complaints from the neighbors, and so the intent was to match that illumination and then shut it off at 10 p.m.

to six a.m.

per the recommendation.

And so that shouldn't be an issue because it is an outpatient facility, and the hours are limited to um regular business hours, and so uh there's no need to search for in that like middle of the night as a destination.

Right.

Could could you state your name for the record?

Oh, sorry, this is Mickey San Miguel.

I'm the applicant.

I'm sorry.

Nikki San Miguel with Clear Story.

I'm the applicant.

Okay, that was my primary question.

I'll let you guys go and see if something flows up.

So I'm wondering, will outpatient center be anywhere on the building anymore, or will it just be the donor's name?

There is no longer going to be an outpatient center as a destination within the building.

Everything is either identifying the Bering Pavilion as a building and then the Hoffman Cancer Center as a subdestination within the Bering Pavilion.

So I guess you're I don't really understand.

So there won't be any signage saying that there are outpatient services on the exterior of the building.

So the outpatient specialty center was intended to be a separate entrance from the cancer center entrance, and now that um the cancer center services are expanding and very prevalent in the building, it's become the dominant service.

And so uh there isn't a need to call out the two separate centers anymore, it's just the cancer center, which also has outpatient services included.

So the intent was just to streamline all wayfinding to one destination, which is the cancer center, instead of having to try to parcel out patients to an outpatient specialty center versus a cancer center.

Will there still be blood draws and those types imaging those types of things happening within that building not related to the cancer center?

Correct.

There will be, but the majority of the services are at cancer services.

Okay.

Thank you.

Do you have any more questions?

Um I just wanted to ask, since it is creating a couple of these exceptions, like it's a little bit higher and it's a little more square footage.

Did you guys study what it would look like to stay within those parameters?

So we did study it at the original application.

And when we looked at it at the lower levels under the 25 feet, it was either obscured by tree lines or the canopies obscured the visibility to the sign.

And so based on that precedence, we wanted to align the signs so they have this consistent datum line and it's just uh more architecturally similar.

And then in terms of square footage, uh the size, um, we're aligning architecturally to the width of the windows, and so you can see like it's very intentional, and so that's the size that we're trying to work with and just uh make it look as architecturally intentional as possible.

Okay, those are my questions.

My question is you're leaving the other signs intact, correct?

And then you're changing the one that says cancer center to include the sponsor's name Hoffman.

Not entirely.

We are taking down all the cancer center letters and the outpatient center letters on the canopy, because to drop in the new message, you have to um there's gonna be holes that are going to result, and so there's going to be some metal facade that's going to need to be replaced as a result.

So even though the message is just expanding by adding the the donor's name, the Hoffman name, technically we have to put in a brand new sign.

Okay.

Thank you, commissioners.

So if there are no more questions, what um close the public hearing and move to comments.

Oh, public comments.

Are there any public comments?

Okay, seeing none, do the commissioners have comments.

Um my only hesitancy, I I think that lighting looks good and all of the other adjustments, and I understand it's a large excuse me, large building and clear signage is really important.

Um, as someone who uses this facility and my family uses facility, I think that it will be confusing if it just says cancer, the Hoffman Cancer Center on it and doesn't state that there are outpatient services there.

Um I know that that is probably out of the range of this meeting, but I do know that for anybody going to do blood work are going to get imaging, it could be confusing if there's no signage saying this is the building you would go in to get that work done.

Um there's already multiple buildings out on that John Muir campus, and so it's just getting more and more difficult to find where you need to go.

And so losing that simple sign, I think might make it a little bit more confusing for people.

Thank you.

Um I feel like the criteria that we were charged with making sure Matt some of the exceptions was was met.

I feel like it aligns better with the architecture, and I am imagining it needs a little more square footage because it's a longer word, um, and I I took a look at the other signs and stuff in the packet, and there it seems pretty consistent with like the family of signs going on there.

So in that vein, I think it's you know, I I would like to trust that you guys know the directional signage that's necessary better than I would.

Um, so I I think, you know, design review-w wise, it looks good.

Okay, thank you.

Um I have no further comments.

Does anyone want to make a motion?

Um I liked the suggestion for the the timing of the light, so I want to make sure that's part of the condition of approval, which I think you guys already requested, but other than that, I say we approve as recommended in the staff report.

I second.

That was the that was it.

There it is.

So to be clear, is there was there a condition about the timing?

There is.

Yeah, yeah, so it's already in there.

Okay, great.

Um let's see, Commissioner Case.

Yes.

Commissioner Riley?

Yes.

Yes.

We have a motion passed.

Okay, yay.

Okay.

Since that was the only item on the agenda.

Do either of the commissioners have any other considerations?

Nope.

No.

All right.

Are there any um staff reports or announcements?

Um, you have a schedule by any chance.

No, that's all right.

That's all.

I I we have um some staffing issues and and uh and we're we we had an item, I believe, for the next meeting, which I think was the twenty sixth.

August sixth.

Yeah, August sixth.

But uh we w w that item got moved.

Um, and I think we're gonna have some staffing issues that day, so we'll likely cancel that meeting, but more to come on that.

Okay, otherwise that's all I got.

Yeah.

Great.

All right.

No other comments.

This meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.