0:12 Hello and welcome to the July 9th Planning Commission meeting.
0:15 Will the Secretary please take the role?
0:19 Commissioner Anderson?
0:21 Commissioner Moran is absent.
0:23 Let us know ahead of time.
0:26 Commissioner Strongman.
0:34 Do we have anything on the consent calendar?
0:41 Okay, there are two opportunities for the public to provide comment.
0:45 The first is for each item on the agenda when the agenda comes up, or right now, which is a comment that is within the purview but not on an item on the agenda, which we only have one tonight.
0:59 So are there any public comments on items not on the agenda?
1:04 Seeing a lot of shaking heads, okay.
1:08 So now I'd like to go with item number four.
1:13 Um, any ex parte communication also lots of head shaking.
1:18 So with that, let's move on to item number four, which is the public hearing.
1:23 We have one item, which is Project YC D architecture, conditional use permit application number Y261 located at 1402 at Newell Avenue.
1:35 And it sounds like we also have a presentation from staff as well.
1:44 Good evening, planning commissioners.
1:46 My name is Jessica Gonzalez, Senior Planner, and tonight I will be presenting the conditional use permit for YC plus D.
1:57 Getting started with the project location.
1:59 The project site is an existing single story building located at 1402 Newell Avenue.
2:05 The site is zone central retail.
2:08 I have included a portion of our zoning map on the screen showing the project site.
2:14 As you can see, the area is surrounded by a mix of zoning districts, including Broadway Plaza, pedestrian retail, central retail, and office commercial.
2:25 And so as such, the surrounding uses for the site include various offices, commercial, and retail uses.
2:35 Just some more project context.
2:37 I've included some photos of the building on this screen.
2:40 The photo on the left side shows the building side facing Newell Avenue.
2:45 The photo on the right side shows the proposed project location and tenant space.
2:57 So some understanding on the application.
3:00 YC plus D is an architectural firm that proposes to occupy one of the three existing tenant spaces at the building.
3:09 A conditional use permit is required to allow office use on the ground floor in the Central Retail Zoning District.
3:16 As such, they have applied for a C UP.
3:23 Some details on the proposed use.
3:30 Um with administrative tasks, office work, and occasional in-person meetings.
3:35 Proposed hours of operation are Monday through Friday, 9 a.m.
3:40 Closed on the weekends.
3:54 I've included the existing floor plan for the entire building on the screen.
4:02 So here again is the existing uh floor plan with the proposed tenant space highlighted.
4:09 The proposed tenant space was previously occupied by a medical office.
4:16 So here's the proposed floor plan showing the changes that will be made.
4:21 Um interior work for the office includes really just breaking up the tenant space to provide for uh small conference rooms and work areas.
4:31 Aside from the interior tenant improvements shown on this screen and parking restriping, uh no other exterior changes were proposed.
4:43 Getting into parking, um, as I mentioned, the previous tenant use was medical office, um, and that had a parking requirement of six spaces for that um unit space size.
4:57 Uh the proposed professional office use would only require four spaces.
4:59 As such, the change in use reduces the overall required parking for the site from 17 spaces to 15.
5:11 And so under our parking ordinance, required parking is only triggered when the change of use increases the required parking by 10% or more.
5:20 As such, no parking is required because the change of use actually reduces the required parking.
5:27 Nevertheless, uh 21 parking spaces are available for the building through the 10 spaces on the parking lot and some additional off-site parking agreements.
5:42 So in order to approve the conditional use permit, the planning commission must make the standard findings shown on the screen.
5:49 As noted in the staff report, staff believes the findings can be made.
5:54 As I mentioned, there is no additional required parking, and there were no health or safety concerns identified.
6:05 Additionally, in order to allow office in the central retail zone, the planning commission must make two additional findings, which are shown on this screen.
6:15 One is that the site is not suitable for retail use, and the other is that the proposed use is compatible with the area.
6:25 As noted in the report, the main building entryways do not face new, making the building sub-optimal for retail use based on lack of visibility.
6:36 Additionally, the site is surrounded by existing offices and the office commercial zone, making office a compatible use with the area.
6:49 So for those reasons, uh staff does recommend that the planning commission move to adopt the draft resolution approving the conditional use permit under application Y26061, allowing YC plus D to occupy 1402 newall.
7:04 That does uh conclude my presentation.
7:06 I'm available for any questions.
7:10 Does anyone have any questions for staff?
7:17 Thank you for your presentation.
7:19 Curious, do the other two medical offices on the building uptain a C UP when they moved in?
7:26 So I did some research on this site, unfortunately was not able to find any old conditional use permits.
7:32 It looks like the construction day, I believe was in the 1950s.
7:36 So I believe, you know, I'm not sure when those uses were established, but they could be legal non-conforming uses.
7:42 Okay, follow-up question.
7:44 Do we know if there was ever any retail in this building?
7:47 Not that I'm aware of.
7:54 Any other questions?
7:57 How long has that front medical used to be medical been vacant for?
8:03 We'd have to defer to the applicant for that.
8:06 No, that's that's fine.
8:08 Um, any more questions before I open up the public hearing?
8:13 Uh just uh interested about the South Newell area specific plan.
8:18 I wonder how many other little plans we have tucked away, but clearly, clearly uh this complies with that, but is this something we need to update at some point?
8:32 Yeah, I think um not to sound like a broken record, but as we enter deeper into our general plan update, this is absolutely something that our team can look at.
8:44 Um, and if we want to craft policies that re-examine our specific plans.
8:53 Seeing no more questions, thank you so much for that presentation.
8:56 I'd like to now open up the public hearing.
8:59 If you mentioned the applicant is here.
9:04 Yes, and they do have a presentation that I'll pull up.
9:13 It's um, I think believe you have 15 minutes.
9:18 We're getting there.
9:21 If you if you could and state your name, thank you so much.
9:34 And then this is a dance.
9:29 Um thank you to everyone here, um, the commission.
9:41 Um, thank you for the opportunity to present to you, describe, uh, give you some context about who we are and what we do as an architecture practice.
9:52 Um, I'm here representing YC Plus D.
9:57 I'm um the owner and one of the principal architects uh with the practice, and here with me is um Dara Doragi, who is my partner and also uh principal architect with the firm.
10:10 Um we have been in practice for about nine years now here in Walnut Creek.
10:17 Um we um work in a diverse range of projects ranging from the very small to very large um ground up construction.
10:28 Um currently we are um primarily working in education sector.
10:35 Um we do a lot of projects all um all along um California up and down California in um uh with projects in uh Shasta Um Lake County Sacramento and here in um in the East Bay as well and then down in uh Bakersfield and Los Angeles County.
10:58 So we do we do projects over um California.
11:02 So as you can see here, this is a sample of what um the types of projects that we've been working on recently and um I'm gonna move on to the next slide.
11:12 Um what you see here is our um current office.
11:16 Um, and um when I started the practice in 2017, um I was a solo practitioner, started the business um within my home office, um so that was 2017 and 2021.
11:31 Um Dara joined the practice, and um 2023 we moved downtown to um industrious uh workspace, um a co-working space where we have um currently two uh suites that we occupy.
11:47 Um as you can see here, our day-to-day operations involve um, you know, working uh designing um and collaborating with um each other, um, our consultants and um clients um and meet with consultants and clients in uh through virtual meetings and occasionally we do host um some um meetings in-house but uh very infrequently.
12:15 Um and as you can see here, we were in two offices, we're kind of bursting at the scenes, and so um earlier uh this year, um late last year, we decided to look for um commercial office um kind of um opportunities in the downtown area.
12:33 We do enjoy being in uh downtown Walnut Creek, um, and you know, we we live in Walnut Creek.
12:40 Um we want to um have our establish our business here and um you know we we like the downtown um vibrant um you know sort of the the vibrancy of the downtown and um the the opportunity um to allow our our younger staff um coming from other areas of the um of the bay and um and a little bit beyond to take advantage of um being in um a vibrant downtown environment um for their day-to-day you know in their day-to-day life.
13:14 Um we do um uh we are mostly in office.
13:19 Um we uh do not uh you know work uh off site um frequently uh just because of the nature of um our work we do um a lot of uh collaboration on large projects as a team and um so it it behooves us to to come together as a team in person.
13:37 So this um is an opportunity for us to um find a space to um you know give us sell some um a little wiggle room um and also allow us the opportunity to uh grow the business um as we um you know move ahead yeah um let's see so um again appreci really appreciate um jessica's um presentation and recommendation and uh with that um i'll take any questions you may have perfect thank you so much any questions for uh commissioner quonk all right thank you so much for the presentation uh it's very informative and I can tell you put a lot of love into the plans especially since it looks like you designed it yourself yes so um how exciting um I I give me a second so I I think you mentioned you're currently in downtown yes yes we're in um industrious co-working space which is on the second floor of um um above Lululemon and um I mean it's yeah Broadway Plaza basically and uh what do you like about the place that you're that you're looking at um we again we we like being downtown um you know the proximity to all the amenities and shops um you know giving our um sort of um team members the uh and ourselves the opportunity to to walk around um you know during the day when we need to take some fresh air breaks um and and really just you know take advantage of being um in close proximity to all the shops and restaurants and um really just the vibrancy of the downtown environment and I think that's a really big plus for us to draw um talents from over the Bay Area and beyond um and you know we we live in Walnut Creek uh we're about 15 minutes uh commute depending on the traffic on the Ignacio um and we we you know tell when we interview um you know younger staff member uh um sort of candidates to join us we we really encourage them to look at walnut creek as you know uh a place to to come and you know grow um and um yeah so so we like we like being downtown um and yeah you have anything would you like to add any sure and it's a central location for us too so what Yan said it's very close to all different amenities across the main draw thank you thank you any other questions no you're fine sorry I need to put my glasses on I just want to say I was I was glad you showed the the current space I was looking at at your design for the new space thinking it was actually pretty tight um but then I realized looking at you in a tighter space now was that you know my first job in architectural office was 1970 and my last one was I think 1976.
16:52 So I didn't I couldn't figure out where you're gonna put all these giant drawing ports.
16:57 And I noticed there weren't any times have changed in the digital age now.
17:09 I just had a super quick question when I was reading about the parking um are you leasing spots at Broadway Plaza?
17:18 Yes yes um so currently we um that's our parking arrangement for all the employees and it is one of the perks um that we provide um and we uh do uh uh want to continue that um as even after we move to the new space got it so do you have so you if I read it if I read the staff report you have Broadway Plaza adjacent adjacent to and then the lot next door which is the same owner so you have multiple places to park um Broadway plaza yes so it's Broadway Plaza and then across the street close to uh Apple store across the yeah yes yeah oh yeah we do have two lots of yeah so there's multiple places for your employees or frankly civil engineers yes exactly to MEPS to come over um okay nothing thank you so much you're welcome um thank you and then I are there do we need any cards for public speakers nope I have nothing perfect thank you so you do not need to come back up to talk because we do not have many public speakers so with that I would like to close um the public hearing and bring it back to the commission for any conversation considerations questions I totally support the project but I would like to chime of my co uh commissioners that we do need to rethink these zonings and sp special use um special districts because there all they need is a building permit it's been medical probably since the 50s or offices since the 50s so why we make it trying to force retail into a thousand square feet about the only retail that would work there is a pot shop which is not legal in the city of Wallach Creek.
19:21 Thank you Commissioner Strongman.
19:25 Commissioner Anderson yes um yeah it seems like you know the the reason for the CUP is you know is it really you know not suitable for retail and and you know is it okay to have office there on the first floor and I've worked about two blocks away from here for two decades and I'm not sure I even knew there was a building there.
19:46 So I I don't really think it's good for retail.
19:49 It's just uh it's not yeah not the place to do it.
19:56 So I'd like to make a motion yes for approval of walnut creek planning commission resolution oops for a conditional use permit application number Y 26061 Professional business office Y C and D architecture on 1402 Newell Avenue.
20:15 Let's take the roll.
20:18 Alright uh Commissioner Anderson?
20:20 Commissioner Cowan?
20:22 Commissioner Strongman?
20:29 I just had one little side comment I don't think it's generally well known what they're referring to when they say industrious so I don't think people know that in the in Broadway plaza there's a second floor live work space that's very flexible like if you have meetings you can have a membership there you can have you know office space it's a very interesting concept and I don't think it's very well known but that's why they know already this area and they have parking already in Broadway Plaza because they're upstairs there.
21:01 So um but it's a cool space really cool space.
21:07 Well the one thing I would like to say is that this commission is especially um gracious and thankful for local businesses.
21:16 So I just the fact that you live and work in this city so we thank you for continuing to choose Walnut Creek and you're sending all of your amazing and talented employees to the retail which we worked really hard on which is Broadway Plaza which we're very very proud of so I just want to thank you for that and commend you for that.
21:36 Okay any commission thank you um any commission considerations I think you did you attend something yes um well I don't know whether it's a report or a consideration yes I attended the Trans PAC meeting this morning um as the commission representative for Walnut Creek and my mic is not on thank you.
22:02 I attended the TransPAC uh meeting this morning and uh it was actually a very instructional meeting sort of foundationally for me uh to understand how uh CCT the CCTA executive director was there and to understand how CCTA was founded uh based on a tax measure that was uh passed in 1988 which was measure c and then subsequently replaced by measure j in 2004 uh and measure that has um oversight of all the funding and gives CCTA its authority to be sort of the orchestra leader of all the multiple planning or excuse me transportation uh organizations and systems within the county.
22:50 So that tax measure expires, measure J expires in um 2034.
22:56 So CCTA is in the process of doing public uh information gathering, etc., to set the plan for the next iteration.
23:08 Um so it will involve uh significant uh personal outreach outreach by them as an organization, public outreach, uh things in the news, etc.
23:19 to ask about transportation issues and transportation planning.
23:22 There are surveys that are up on the CCTA website for any person to give input.
23:28 Um and their goal is to have that plan developed by 2028 so that it can be then formatted into a legislative packet that would go to the voters to replace then measure J in that next iteration.
23:42 So uh just want to put that on everyone's radar that that's going to be a really important thing for us all to support given what we hear about transportation in our community and the concerns and what are what the next 25 years is going to look like with changes in technology, work patterns, uh, traffic patterns, building patterns, etc.
24:04 So uh that is my report.
24:09 Any other reports before I bring it to the staff?
24:13 I forgot to ask you, do you have any considerations?
24:20 Just a uh comment, not a commission consideration.
24:25 So I don't know if I'm on commission consideration.
24:31 Um, so I just wanted to say thank you to uh staff and the city for uh hosting the joint commission meeting um for the Walnut Creek 2050, because similar to uh CCTA's plan for the future, our general plan update is really crucial, and having not just the planning commission but all of our commissions together, I thought was very uh helpful to hear everyone's different perspectives and also to understand what the plan is going forward for all the different community input that's needed.
25:01 So I just wanted to say thank you for that.
25:07 Any other commission considerations or commission member staff reports announcements?
25:13 I will chime in for announcements.
25:14 I'll piggyback off of um that thank you.
25:17 So thank you for your thank you.
25:18 Um I do want to just highlight for you all um that on July 21st, we will also be doing a study session with the city council on the general plan update.
25:28 And then um, in case anyone is interested, all throughout August uh to September, we're gonna have a bunch of different community pop-up um activities.
25:40 So off the top of my head, I know we're at the Locus Um Street Festival.
25:45 We will be at I think Broadway Plaza has something called Once Upon a Time Fair Festival.
25:51 I'm sorry, I'm still learning the ropes here.
25:53 Um, and then we'll also be at the Shade Linds Farmers Market.
25:56 So a couple different dates throughout those next two months.
25:59 Um, and of course, we have a wonderful website if anyone wants to check it out, or if if you know anyone in the city is or the community is reaching out to you, please refer them to walnut creek 2050.com or dot org, either one will get you there.
26:14 Um, and so lots of good information there, and you'll have um more opportunities to provide some input.
26:20 And then my last thing for you all is just to let you know we don't have any items for the July 23rd meeting.
26:28 Um there will be a more formal cancellation, but I because I have that information now, just wanted to give you the heads up.
26:34 Um, but in August, we do have uh trending projects for both meetings, and that's all I've got.