Title
PLN19-0477 - Use Permit and Design Review- 2390 Mariner Square Drive - Applicant: Banner NorCal Developer, LLC. Public hearing to consider Design Review, Parking Reduction, and Use Permit for a new, six-story self-storage building and outdoor storage for boats and recreational vehicles with associated landscaping and fencing. The proposed building is approximately 72 feet in height at its tallest point and approximately 110,844 square feet in size. The applicant is requesting a reduction in required parking pursuant to Alameda Municipal Code (AMC) Section 30-7.12. The project is located within the M-2, General Industrial (Manufacturing) Zoning District. The proposed building is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15332 - Infill Development and 15183 - Projects Consistent with General Plan or Zoning
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: David Sablan, Planner II
Date: March 9, 2020
BACKGROUND
On January 27, 2020 the Planning Board held a study session to review a Design Review and Use Permit application for a new six-story self-storage building, approximately 110,844 square feet in size, with outdoor recreational vehicle and boat storage and associated landscaping and site improvements. The staff report and exhibits are available online at: <https://alameda.legistar.com/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=4308591&GUID=8AA18066-7066-48E2-94EF-5C5191AD3F97>
At the study session on January 27, the Planning Board took public testimony and provided comments on the overall project. After the meeting, the applicant coordinated with staff to address comments provided by the Planning Board. The applicant has submitted revised plans (Exhibit 1) and requests the Planning Board hold a public hearing to consider Design Review, Parking Reduction, and Use Permit.
DISCUSSION
Design Review
The following summarizes the Planning Board comments made at the January 27 study session and the applicant’s response to those comments. The applicant has also provided a written explanation of their changes (Exhibit 2).
Building Design
• Remove or reduce glazing. The Planning Board noted that the windows above the first floor are non-functional. This is because the building is for storage and not for people to occupy, and the design of the building should not try to hide this fact. The applicant has removed most of the building glazing above the first floor, with the exception of the southwesterly corner of the building, the most prominent portion of the building. The applicant would prefer to maintain visual interest at this corner of the building but differentiating it with glazing and changes in siding material.
• Provide organization or order to pattern of multi-shaded panels. The building is clad in metal panels with horizontal grooves along the third through fourth floors, and for portions of the second and sixth floor. The panels are different widths and painted in white and three shades of gray. Previously, these panel widths and colors were randomly mixed throughout the building. In response to Planning Board comments, the applicant has made changes to these panels and their placement to provide organization to their placement. The panel widths are based on the width of the different storage unit types inside the building. The placement of the different widths and colors are now symmetrically organized. The sequence of widths and colors for floors two and six match each other. The widths and colors for floors three and five match each other. The fourth floor has its own unique sequence that serves as the central axis of the symmetrical layout.
• Remove variation in parapet height. The previous roof design had three different parapet heights. The corner element has an overall height of approximately seventy-two feet and four inches (72’4”), outside of the corner element the parapet height dropped by two feet, and halfway down the building the parapet dropped another two feet. The Planning Board commented that these varied parapet heights do not add any architectural interest to the building and are unnecessary. The applicant wishes to maintain the taller parapet height at the corner, but has removed the second drop in the parapet.
• Green Building Initiatives. The Planning Board requested information regarding any green building initiatives proposed for the building, such as solar panels on the roof. The City currently enforces the 2019 California Building Standards Code (CBSC). The Building Official states that adherence to these 2019 CBSC exceeds the green building initiatives of LEED certification. Among the requirements include making the building solar panel ready to facilitate simple installation of solar panels in the future. In addition to the 2019 CBSC green building initiatives, the applicant is also proposing to coat the roof in a membrane that will reduce heat reflecting off of the roof and aide in combating the height island effect within the neighborhood.
Decorative Screening Wall
• The Planning Board had concerns about the overall height of the proposed screening wall along Mariner Square Drive. The applicant originally proposed a six foot (6’) tall metal screen wall along approximately 215 feet of the Mariner Square Drive frontage to screen the outdoor storage area, setback five feet (5’) from the public right of way. This screening wall will be on top of a three foot and six inch tall (3’6”) retaining wall, so the top of the screening wall will be approximately nine feet and six inches (9’6”) above the grade of the sidewalk. To create visual variation, the applicant has recessed two sections of the wall up to ten feet (10’) from the sidewalk. The longest portion of the wall to be setback only five feet from the sidewalk will be approximately 84 feet long.
City Property at Mariner Square Drive and Marina Village Parkway
• The applicant has agreed to work with the Public Works Department to refurbish the landscaping on the City property at the northeast corner of Mariner Square Drive and Marina Village Parkway. At the Planning Board’s request, the applicant has included this corner in their landscaping plan (Sheet L1 of Exhibit 1). The applicant is proposing a drought tolerant ground cover of Magenta Rockrose and Creeping Myoporum. Staff will review plans submitted for a site improvement permit for this property to confirm substantial compliance with this preliminary planting plan.
The Planning Board also requested additional renderings depicting the building as viewed from the north, which has been included on Sheet A5-5 of Exhibit 1. Additionally the applicant has revised the other building elevations to reflect the design changes and to better reflect the proposed grade changes and landscaping, and has provided a preliminary photometric plan (Sheet A4-2 of Exhibit 1).
Parking Reduction
The City’s Off-Street Parking and Loading Space Regulations, AMC Section 30-7, do not provide a schedule of required parking for self-storage facilities. Per AMC Section 30-7.6, when a land use is not listed then the parking standard shall be the same as the most similar use specified. For this project that would be the warehouse/storage standard of 0.67 spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor area, which would make the required parking for this project 74 spaces. The applicant had a trip generation study prepared that demonstrated the parking demand for this project will be much lower, based on the 2017 International Traffic Engineer (ITE) Trip Generation Manual and traffic counts at similar self-storage facilities. To mitigate the reduction in parking the project is conditioned to provide long-term bike parking for employees and to prepare several off-site transit improvements that will improve traffic safety and improve the bicycle and pedestrian connections between the San Francisco Bay Trail and Cross Alameda Trail.
Use Permit
The rest of the parking lot will be dedicated to boat and RV parking, with capacity for four boats, ten standard RVs, and two smaller RVs. The aforementioned wall along Mariner Square Drive will screen the vehicles from the public right of way. To avoid vehicles being abandoned on-site, the applicant requires that all vehicles stored on-site be in working order and have valid vehicle registration. This outdoor storage is accessory to the self-storage facility and is of fairly low intensity.
Conclusion
The changes proposed by the applicant in response to Planning Board comments have improved the overall site layout and building design. The request for a parking reduction remains the same as what was presented at the January 27 meeting. The off-site improvements to Mariner Square Drive to mitigate the reduction in parking are included as conditions of approval in the draft resolution (Exhibit 3).
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Staff has determined that this project would qualify for a categorically exemption from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15332 - Infill Development. On a separate and independent basis this project also qualifies for CEQA exemption pursuant to Section 15183 (projects consistent with General Plan and Zoning).
RECOMMENDATION
Hold a public hearing and adopt the draft resolution (Exhibit 3) to approve a Design Review, Parking Reduction, and Use Permit to build a new six-story self-storage facility with outdoor storage for recreational vehicles and boats.
Reviewed by,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
Exhibits:
1. Project Plans
2. Letter from Applicant
3. Draft Resolution