Title
PLN13-0175 - 2100 Clement Street - Applicant: City Ventures. Study Session for Design Review, Development Plan, Vesting Tentative Map and Density Bonus to Permit Construction Of 58 Townhome Units on A 2.78 Acre Parcel Located at 2100 Clement Street. The Project is Subject to Environmental Review Under the California Environmental Quality Act.
Body
CITY OF ALAMEDA
Memorandum
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Andrew Thomas, City Planner
Date: March 9, 2015
Re: PLN13-0175 - 2100 Clement Street - Applicant: City Ventures. Study Session for Design Review, Development Plan, Vesting Tentative Map and Density Bonus to Permit Construction Of 58 Townhome Units on A 2.78 Acre Parcel Located at 2100 Clement Street. The Project is Subject to Environmental Review Under the California Environmental Quality Act.
BACKGROUND
On February 18, 2015, the City received a revised application from City Ventures to redevelop 2100 Clement Street, located generally between Willow Street to the west and Eagle Avenue to the south. The proposal is for development of 58 multi-family residences. Three warehouses currently occupy the site.
The applicant proposes to construct four two-story row house buildings along Willow Street and nine three-story row houses in the interior of the project, for a total of 58 units. Resident parking would be provided in attached two-car garages, with an additional 21 off-street parking spaces located on interior lanes, for a total of 137 parking spaces. The project will have one main vehicular access from Eagle Avenue, with two emergency vehicle access (EVA) exits along Clement. There are also multiple pedestrian accesses from Eagle and Clement Avenues and a common open space area.
At this time, City staff is reviewing the application materials for conformance with the City of Alameda Municipal Code submittal requirements and residential development design standards. The draft Project Plans and related application materials are available for public review on the city website at www.alamedaca.gov <http://www.alamedaca.gov> and attached as Exhibit 1 to this staff report.
Site General Plan and Zoning Designations: The project site is designated as Mixed Use and is located within the MU-5 Northern Waterfront Specified Mixed Use Area in the General Plan and is a housing opportunity site in the General Plan Housing Element. The property is zoned R2-PD (Two-Family Residence District with a Planned Development Overlay).
Site Conditions and History: The subject property at 2100 Clement Street is a 2.78-acre parcel (approximately 121,096 square feet), with frontages on Clement, Willow and Eagle Streets, along the Clement truck route and four blocks from Park Street transit. The site is currently occupied by three warehouses.
To the north of the site across Clement Avenue is the Navy Operational Support Center, to the east is Thompson Field, and to the west and south are single family homes with some multi-family and community commercial interspersed throughout.
The buildings at 2100 Clement Avenue were constructed in 1942, as the Pacific Bridge Company's Shipbuilding Yard No. 2. Based upon an initial historic analysis by Page and Turnbull, the site does not include historically significant architecture, and is not associated with any historically significant individuals. 2100 Clement Street does not appear eligible for inclusion in the California Register of Historical Resources or the City of Alameda's Historic Resources Inventory. None of the buildings on the site are currently listed in the National Register of Historic Places, the California Register of Historical Resources, or in the City of Alameda's Historic Resources Inventory. The property does not appear in the California Historical Resources Information System (CHRIS), indicating that no record of previous survey or evaluation is on file with the California Office of Historic Preservation (OHP).
Project Description: The project, generally, includes two types of building arrangements: triplex homes (12) and row houses (46) for a total of 58 residences, eight of which are proposed as affordable units (see discussion below).
Triplex Homes - Along Willow St, four two-story buildings are proposed for a total of 12 residences. The view along Willow Street will appear as two-story duplexes, with two separate entry porches. Both of the duplex homes have three bedrooms upstairs, in addition to a ground floor den that can be converted into a bedroom. These units range from 2100-2800 square feet, and each have a private yard. The third residence in each building is a 1400 square foot carriage unit which has an entry door on the side of the building. Solar panels will be installed on all roofs, and each home has an attached two-car garage.
Row Houses - Along Eagle Avenue and the interior of the project site, nine buildings of three-story row houses, for a total of 46 homes, are proposed. Front doors on these residences front on Eagle Avenue or on the interior landscaped paseos. Each row house has a private front yard and balcony. The row houses range from 1500-1900 square feet of living area and each have three bedrooms upstairs. Twenty-three of the row houses also have a full bathroom and bedroom on the ground floor. A mechanical well on the roof of the row houses allows for both solar panels and air conditioning units to be installed out of sight on the roof. Each home will have an attached two-car garage.
Affordable Housing Plan - The project includes a "base plan" with 49 units. The project will provide 5% of the units (three units) as Very Low Income, which qualifies the Applicant for a 20% density bonus. In addition two low-income units and three moderate-income units are proposed for a total of eight affordable units. The applicant is not requesting any incentives or concessions as defined in the Alameda Municipal Code Section 30-17.10. The applicant is requesting a waiver from Alameda Municipal Code 30-53 Prohibition on Multifamily Housing to allow the 13 separate buildings that include more than two units.
Architectural Design: The architectural design for the project is intended to reflect and compliment Victorian architecture that can be found throughout Alameda. As shown in the plans, the building designs include a combination of wood siding finishes and low slung shingled roofs with either gable or hipped roof lines, and wood accent features such as balconies, shutters, covered entries, etc.
Open Space and Amenities: A centrally located common open space is included for a total of 4,300 square feet of park space (maintained by the homeowners association). This space includes community amenities such as a gazebo and seating areas, and turf play area. In addition, an average of 260 square feet of private open space (ground floor and balcony) per home is proposed for a total of 646 square feet per residence to meet the minimum requirement of 600 square feet of usable open space per Section 30-4.2-d.9 of the Municipal Code, see also Project Data page SP, Exhibit 1, Project Plans.
Circulation and Parking: The project will have one main vehicular access point from Eagle Avenue, with two EVA exits along Clement. There will be a pedestrian-only access point from Eagle and Clement Avenues. Access to the front door of approximately 22 of the 58 homes will be provided by internal 26-foot wide landscaped "paseos". The rest of the front doors will face either Willow Street or Eagle Avenue. None of the homes will have a front door on Clement Avenue. All the parking garages will be accessed by a rear alley running along the back of each unit.
Each home will have a two-car garage (tandem or side-by-side parking arrangements) accessed from the internal alleys. There are 21 guest parking spaces provided, for a total of 137 parking spaces. This is a ratio of 2.36 parking spaces per home. One hundred and sixteen (116) bicycle parking spaces are provided, for an average of two spaces per residence.
Transportation Management Plan: The applicant is proposing to provide annual funds for shuttle services to BART from the site and AC Transit passes for all households.
The project site is within approximately a half-mile walk of Park Street transit and commercial services, the Alameda Free Public Library, Haight Elementary School, several churches, and the Alameda Theatre. The Park Street corridor provides AC Transit service directly to downtown San Francisco and to the Fruitvale BART station to allow people to get to regional job centers.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
Staff is currently evaluating the potential impacts of the project on the environment. The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) requires analysis of agency approvals of discretionary "Projects." A "Project," under CEQA, is defined as "the whole of an action, which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment." The proposed Tentative Subdivision Map, Density Bonus and Design Review is a project under CEQA.
RECOMMENDATION:
At this time, staff is requesting that the Planning Board and the public comment on the proposal. Staff will return at a future meeting to the Planning Board with a draft resolution and final Planning Board action.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, City Planner
Exhibits:
1. Applicant's Proposal