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Recommendation to Rename Road B in the Harbor Bay Business Park to “Penumbra Place” pursuant to the 1998 City Council Policy on Corporate Address Designations for Private and Public Streets, PLN16-0161 - Road B in Harbor Bay Business Park - Applicant: Penumbra, Inc.; and
Adoption of Resolution Integrating Corporate Address Policy Provisions into the 2007 Policy for Naming City Property, Facilities, and Streets. [The street renaming and consolidation of street naming policies are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act per Section 15061(b).] (Community Development 481005)
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To: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
From: Jill Keimach, City Manager
Re: Public Hearing to Consider: a) Renaming Road B in the Harbor Bay Business Park to “Penumbra Place” pursuant to the 1998 City Council policy on Corporate Address Designations for Private and Public Streets, PLN16-0161 - Road B in Harbor Bay Business Park - Applicant: Penumbra, Inc. and
b) Adoption of Resolution Integrating Corporate Address Policy Provisions into the 2007 Policy for Naming City Property, Facilities, and Streets. [The street renaming and consolidation of street naming policies are exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act per Section 15061(b)]
BACKGROUND
In 1998, the City Council adopted a policy for Corporate Address Designations for Private or Public Streets (Corporate Addressing Policy) to encourage the citing of corporate campuses in Alameda (Exhibit 1). The policy outlines eligibility criteria, process, and requirements for naming a street after a corporate identity and was incorporated into the Street Naming Policy in effect at the time. Wind River Way was the first street named under these provisions.
In 2007, the City Council consolidated the Street Naming Policy with the Facilities Naming Policy (Exhibit 2). The consolidated Policy for Naming City Property, Facilities and Streets (Street Naming Policy) left the Corporate Addressing Policy as a separate policy.
On April 25, 2016, the Planning Board recommended the City Council approve a request by Penumbra, Inc. to rename private street Road B in the Harbor Bay Business Park to “Penumbra Place” pursuant to the Corporate Addressing Policy (Exhibit 3). Road B is a private access road leading to a cul-de-sac that provides access to several office buildings off Harbor Bay Parkway. The company recently expanded to occupy all buildings along this private street and wishes to simplify its addressing for reasons discussed below.
DISCUSSION
A. Reasons to Rename Road B to Penumbra Place
Penumbra, Inc. is a technology company that develops complex medical devices. Penumbra’s corporate headquarters are located at the Harbor Bay Business Park. In recent years, company growth increased its demand for office space. The company’s footprint recently expanded to include six buildings at Harbor Bay Parkway and Road B. The company is now the largest private employer in Alameda with over 1,200 employees, and it expects to double its hiring over the next two years.
Renaming Road B to Penumbra Place has the primary purpose of helping the company streamline its regulatory filings in over 70 countries where it sells products. Having all of the company’s products and regulatory paperwork under a single address dramatically reduces the time frame for releasing products on the market. The company’s recent expansion into buildings on Road B adds urgency and importance to this request as it attempts to register business operations under a single corporate address. The Post Master has assigned “One Penumbra Place” as the mailbox for the Penumbra campus.
Allowing the use of “Penumbra Place” as the name of the street leading to the Penumbra campus would also enhance the company’s corporate identify and would, in turn, help promote economic development by providing additional incentive for other corporations to locate to Alameda. Because Penumbra occupies the buildings accessed via Road B, the street renaming would only affect the buildings within the corporate campus itself.
B. Compliance with the Corporate Addressing Policy
Penumbra’s request complies with the eligibility criteria and requirements in the Corporate Addressing Policy, as follows:
1. A corporate address designation may be approved for a street in those instances where the corporate campus which the street serves is larger than one acre encompassing at least two buildings in a commercial area.
Comment: Penumbra currently occupies six buildings along Road B covering an area greater than one acre.
2. The roadway to be named must be developed as a street. The street to be named must be full radius return and be acceptable as a street under City design standards for sidewalks curbs and intersection configuration.
Comment: Road B is an existing private street that was constructed according to City design standards at the time of construction.
3. The street to be named must be located in an area of the City designated in the General Plan as Community Commercial Office Business Park Mixed Use or General Industry on corporate property greater than one acre in size with two or more corporate buildings on site.
Comment: Road B is located within the Harbor Bay Business Park, which is designated as Business Park on the General Plan and complies with the size and building requirements as discussed above.
4. The name to be used must be distinct from all other street names used in the City of Alameda to eliminate possible confusion during an emergency response.
Comment: Penumbra Place is a unique name distinct from other street names in the City. The use of Penumbra Place will have no impact on emergency response. The name also conforms to the 2007 Street Naming Policy, which prescribes the suffix “Place” for cul-de-sac or dead-end streets.
5. The only buildings to be addressed from the named street, which is under the full control of said corporation, shall be those which are owned or leased long term and are used for the operation of the corporation for which the street is named. In general, buildings shall be addressed from the street which the main entrance faces. All addressing must be approved by the City Building Official.
Comment: Penumbra has control of all the buildings along Road B. The Building Official has confirmed there are no issues with the proposed addressing.
C. Integrate Corporate Addressing Provisions into the Street Naming Policy
To streamline the number of official City documents on related subject matter, staff recommends integrating the Corporate Addressing Policy into the Street Naming Policy, which would result in a single policy guide for all matters pertaining to street naming in Alameda. A draft of the combined policy document is provided in Exhibit 4, for which minor formatting and non-substantive text clean-up have also been included.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no financial impact to the General Fund to rename Road B in Harbor Bay Business Park to Penumbra Place or to consolidate street naming policies.
MUNICIPAL CODE/POLICY DOCUMENT CROSS REFERENCE
Renaming Road B to “Penumbra Place” would enhance the Penumbra’s corporate identify and promote economic development by providing an additional incentive for other corporations to locate to Alameda. The street renaming and consolidating of street naming policies are consistent with the General Plan, Alameda Municipal Code, and State law.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Renaming Road B to “Penumbra Place” and consolidating the City’s two street naming policies will have no significant environmental impacts and is exempt from further environmental review under the California Environmental Quality Act Section 15061, as it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment.
RECOMMENDATION
A. Approve renaming Road B in the Harbor Bay Business Park to “Penumbra Place” and
B. Consolidate the 1998 Corporate Address Policy and the 2007 Policy for Naming City Property, Facilities and Streets into a single document.
Respectfully submitted,
Debbie Potter, Community Development Director
By,
Allen Tai, Planning Services Manager
Financial Impact section reviewed,
Elena Adair, Finance Director
Exhibits:
1. 1998 Provisions for Corporate Address Designations for Private or Public Streets
2. 2007 Policy for Naming City Property, Facilities and Streets
3. Draft Consolidated Street Naming Policy
4. Planning Board Resolution