Title
PLN17-0600 - 1051 Harbor Bay Parkway - Development Plan and Design Review - Applicant: Arris Studio Architects for Shriji Hospitality, Inc. Public hearing to consider Development Plan and Design Review Application No. PLN17-0600 to allow construction of an approximately 133,611-square-foot, five-story hotel with 236 guest rooms located at 1051 Harbor Bay Parkway. The property is located within the C-M-PD, Commercial Manufacturing Planned Development zoning district. The project is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to the CEQA Guidelines Section 15332, In-fill Development.
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Henry Dong, Planner III
Date: October 26, 2020
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Staff requests that the Planning Board hold a public hearing to consider a Development Plan and Design Review application to construct an approximately 133,611-square-foot five-story hotel at 1051 Harbor Bay Parkway. The project includes approximately 236 guest rooms, restaurant, a bar, meeting rooms, sport court and gym, outdoor patio space, and other guest amenities. Staff is recommending conditional approval of the proposal.
BACKGROUND
The proposed hotel is located at the gateway of the Harbor Bay Business Park, on the northwest corner of the intersection of Harbor Bay Parkway and Ron Cowan Parkway. The site is a vacant 3.72-acre portion of the existing 11-acre Plaza One office development originally approved by Development Plan FDP-82-2. The property is zoned C-M-PD, Commercial Manufacturing Planned Development District and is designated as Business Park under the General Plan. Surrounding properties include office buildings to the west, a commercial storage facility to the north, the Oakland Airport north field to the east, and the former Oakland Raiders football facility to the south.
On October 22, 2018, the Planning Board reviewed the initial development plan and design for the proposed hotel development. The Board provided feedback on the hotel design, development plan, and landscape plan and directed the applicant to return with revised plans.
Based on the Planning Board comments received during the October 2018 meeting, Arris Architects and the applicant revised the proposed design plans for the project. The revised Development Plan and Design Review plans are attached as Exhibit 1.
DISCUSSION
Zoning and Hotel Uses: The proposed hotel is consistent with the General Plan, Zoning Ordinance, and the Harbor Bay Business Park Development Plan. Within the C-M-PD, Commercial Manufacturing Planned Development Zoning District, hotels are permitted by right.
Hotel use on the site is also consistent with the City of Alameda Economic Development Strategy recommended by the Planning Board and unanimously approved by the City Council in 2018, which identifies hotels as a critical component of the City’s economic development strategy. Hotels in the Harbor Bay Business Park are particularly important to surrounding businesses in the business park, and they also provide a viable hospitality option near the Oakland Airport. Hotels also generate transient occupancy taxes that provide revenue to the General Fund. For these and other reasons, hotels are an important piece of the City’s Economic Development Strategy.
Airport Safety & Height: The project is located within the Airport Safety Zone of the Oakland Airport and triggers the review of both the Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) for land use compatibility and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for height clearance. The ALUC deemed the project consistent with airport land use regulations. The building is designed as a five-story building that steps down to three stories to meet the airport height restrictions. The FAA has determined in its letter dated August 20, 2019, that the project will not pose a hazard to air navigation. The project, as conditioned, will comply with all regulatory requirements pertaining to airport safety. The draft Planning Board conditions of approval require furnishing clearances from the ALUC and FAA prior to issuance of Building Permits.
Architectural Design: The architectural design of the hotel was revised based on comments from the Planning Board at the October 22, 2018 meeting. The new design incorporates a contemporary style intended to establish a strong presence at the gateway to the Harbor Bay Business Park. The contemporary style is also intended to complement the contemporary Business Park buildings that face Harbor Bay Parkway.
The updated design emphasizes horizontal proportions within articulating façades utilizing high quality textures and materials that are harmonious with the existing buildings in the office development. This design features flat roof forms of variating heights and a decorative parapet with deep overhangs. The sculpted massing of the building, the composition of simple building elements, and the color palette are designed to provide a simple, visually pleasing composition of materials and architectural elements that acknowledges the site's prominent location at the gateway of the Business Park. The proposed building materials includes Trespa smooth finish panels, wood finish panels, and smooth stucco finish incorporating large punch windows, and deep sunscreen elements that mitigate heat gain from the sun, and add dimension and detail to the façades. The ground floor architecture also features generous expanses of glass, decorative trellis over patio areas, and a Porte-cochere at the entrance of the hotel. The design is well-suited to its location and context, is compatible with the adjacent commercial buildings, and will enhance the visual interest of the streetscape. Staff finds the design consistent with the Design Review Manual.
Site Design and Pedestrian Connections: The site plan maintains the “V” shaped building configuration with a Porte-cochere covered passenger drop off at the main entrance. The site plan provides several outdoor patio and seating areas and a sport court for guests. The project will also construct a new pedestrian pathway at the southeast corner of the site to provide more direct pedestrian access between the business park and the Maitland Drive neighborhood.
Landscape Plans: The revised plans also include a new landscaping plan providing a mix of native, drought-tolerant trees, shrubs, grasses, and other low-lying ground cover vegetation that is consistent with Bay Friendly Landscaping Guidelines. In addition, tree canopies outline the parking lot area to provide shade around the site.
Other revisions: The revised plans also include the following changes:
1. New exterior materials and window design.
2. A detailed lighting plan meeting Dark Skies standards.
3. Sustainable design solutions and Green Building features such as water conservation, rooftop solar, green roof, and electric vehicle charging stations.
4. Landscape plan with improved water efficient plant selection.
5. Increased total parking on site consistent with previous hotels approved in Harbor Bay Business Park. Bicycle storage and electric vehicle parking are provided along the south and west sides of the hotel.
Development Standards: As shown in Table 1, the project is consistent with all of the development standards for the property.
Table 1 summarizes project compliance with the applicable development standards.
|
Table 1: Project Complies with C-M/PD District Development Standards. |
|
|
Requirement: |
Proposed: |
Compliance: |
|
Maximum Building Height |
100 ft. |
60 ft. |
Complies |
|
Maximum FAR |
None |
0.8 |
Complies |
|
Max Lot coverage |
40% |
21% |
Complies |
|
Min Landscaping coverage |
30% |
30% |
Complies |
|
Front Yard Setback (Harbor Bay Parkway) |
50 ft. |
84 ft. |
Complies |
|
Minimum Side Yard Setback |
20 ft. |
42 ft. (west) 81 ft. (east) |
Complies |
|
Minimum Rear Yard Setback |
20 ft. |
47 ft. |
Complies |
|
Vehicle Parking |
295 spaces |
627 spaces |
Complies |
|
Bicycle Parking |
9 short term 9 long term |
10 short term 10 long term |
Complies |
Vehicle Parking: The Alameda Municipal Code (AMC) Section 30-7 establishes required parking for hotels at a rate of 1.25 spaces per room, or 295 total parking spaces for the proposed 236-room hotel. The existing Development Plan for Plaza One establishes shared parking for all users within the development site. As proposed, the hotel has legal access to all 443 parking spaces within the surrounding parking lot, in addition to the 185 new parking spaces located within the hotel’s property lines.
Since some of the parking is shared with adjacent office uses, a traffic and parking analysis was prepared to demonstrate adequacy of the proposed parking count. Using data from the Institute of Transportation Engineers’ standards, and data from other hotels in the Harbor Bay Business Park, the study concluded that the actual parking demand for the hotel is much less than the 295 spaces required by the AMC, and the 185 parking spaces within the hotel site is sufficient to meet the anticipated demand. It’s also important to note from the study that the peak parking demand for office and hotels differ as office parking demand is primarily during the day while hotel parking demand is during the evening and weekends. Therefore, the proposed parking will adequately serve both the hotel and adjacent office uses.
Transit Demand Management (TDM) Measures: Consistent with other hotel projects approved by the Planning Board in recent years, the project proposes the following TDM measures:
• Free shuttle service from the hotel to destinations within a three-mile radius, including the Oakland International Airport, BART, Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal, Park Street, South Shore and all Harbor Bay Business Park occupants. The on-demand shuttle services will be available from 4:00 am to 1:00 am daily (21 hours per day).
• Complimentary bicycle rentals for hotel guests.
• Free commute-hour shuttle provided by the Harbor Bay Business Park Shuttle Service to Coliseum BART.
Conclusion: In conclusion, staff believes the revisions to the Final Development Plan and Design Review plans are a significant improvement over the plans presented in 2018. Staff is recommending the Board approve the revised plans based on findings contained in the draft resolution for approval (Exhibit 6).
PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENTS
Property owners and residents within 300 feet of the project’s boundaries were notified of the public hearing and given the opportunity to review and comment on the proposal. Project notification was also provided to the responsible regulatory agencies including the ALUC, FAA, and the Port of Oakland. Public comment letters received on the proposal are attached as Exhibit 2.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15332 - Infill Development Project the project meets all the requirements for the infill exemption as described in detail in the draft resolution. The project is consistent with the CM-PD zoning, General Plan, and Harbor Bay Development Plan. A survey for burrowing owls, wildlife and migratory birds, and sensitive species was conducted by WRA Environmental Consultants at the project site on January 15, 2018, and no evidence of the presence of these species were observed on or within a zone of influence of the site. (Exhibit 3, Biological Resources Survey.) A traffic and parking analysis conducted by Kittelson and Associates (Exhibit 4) determined the new hotel proposal does not result in any significant traffic or parking impacts to the surrounding area. The project also received an approval letter from the Alameda County Airport Land Use Commission and the Federal Aviation Administration in regards to compliance with the safety, noise, and height development requirement of the adjacent Oakland Airport. The Noise Assessment conducted by RGD Acoustics (Exhibit 5) determined that the project can meet city, state, and county noise level requirements through the implementation of standard CNEL building requirements. The proposed project will not result in any significant traffic, noise, air quality or water quality impacts. The proposed project is not likely to cause substantial environmental damage or substantially and avoidably injure endangered, rare, or threatened fish or wildlife or their habitat.
RECOMMENDATION
Hold a public hearing and adopt a draft Resolution approving Development Plan and Design Review Application No. PLN17-0600 to allow construction of a 236-room, five-story hotel located at 1051 Harbor Bay Parkway (Exhibit 6).
Reviewed By,
Andrew Thomas,
Planning, Building and Transportation Director
Exhibits:
1. Project Plans
2. Comment Letters
3. Biological Resources Survey
4. Traffic and Parking Analysis
5. Noise Assessment
6. Draft Resolution