Title
A public hearing to consider a Final Development Plan Amendment (PLN 21-0299) to reduce the front yard setback for a two-story R&D office building located at 1310 Harbor Bay Parkway from 50 feet to 49 feet. The project is located in the C-M-PD (Commercial Manufacturing, Planned Development) Zoning District. A Final Environmental Impact Report for Harbor Bay Isle, including the Harbor Bay Business Park, was certified in 1974 and the 1988 Addendum to the EIR was prepared in 1989 in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15162, no new significant impacts have been identified and no additional CEQA review is required.
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board.
From: Andrew Thomas,
Planning, Building & Transportation Director
executive summary
The applicant, srmErnst Development Partners are requesting on behalf of South Loop I, LLC a Final Development Plan Amendment to reduce the front yard setback for a two-story R&D office building located at 1310 Harbor Bay Parkway from the required minimum 50 foot setback to a minimum 49 foot setback. The building is a newly constructed.
background
On June 24, 2019, the Planning Board approved Resolution PB19-13 for the construction of three new flex R&D buildings, totaling approximately 310,945 square feet. Resolution PB19-13 approved a Planned Development Amendment, amending previously approved FDP85-2. Resolution PB19-13 was approved in compliance with the development standards set forth in PD81-2, which requires a 50 foot front yard setback from Harbor Bay Parkway.
The building at 1310 Harbor Bay Parkway is a newly constructed two-story R&D office building being built for Penumbra, Inc., a leading medical device company founded in Alameda in 2005 and having grown to 2,000 employees today. The building is just across the Parkway from the main Penumbra campus at 1351 Harbor Bay Parkway. This new facility will provide space for research and administrative staff, and make space for Penumbra’s new Real System unit which has developed a customized device, receiving FDA clearance in 2019, to meet the specific therapeutic needs of a wide range of patients (<https://www.realsystem.com/aboutus/>).
The new building will accommodate an anticipated 800 additional employees and a small conference center and café amenity for the entire Penumbra campus. Penumbra is expected to take occupancy in late July/early August 2021.
ANALYSIS
Two of the three buildings approved under Resolution PB19-13, located at 1310 and 1410 Harbor Bay Parkway, front on Harbor Bay Parkway and have nearly identical facades facing the public right-of-way with a shared parking area, landscape and storm water bio retention facilities between them. They share a common access drive off of the Parkway.
The buildings were approved with a required 50 foot front setback from the property line in accordance with PD81-2. The property line sits another 7’ behind the back face of curb along the Parkway, resulting in a total distance of 57’ between the street and main building facade. Within the 50’ setback area, there is an initial 30’ deep lawn area and 5’ public sidewalk consistent with Parkway frontage elsewhere in the business park. The remaining 15’ of the setback area includes other forms of landscaping and may include small employee decks, patios, public art and walkways to and from building entrances.
The building at 1310 Harbor Bay Parkway requires a reduction in the front yard setback from 50 feet to 49 feet due to a surveying error that occurred during the design and construction of the building. An updated survey completed in connection with the sale and permanent financing of the building at 1310 Harbor Bay Parkway discovered that a prior surveying error has resulted in the main building façade being constructed up to 10 inches over the setback line, resulting in an actual Parkway setback of approximately 49.2’. This encroachment into the setback area is barely visible to the naked eye (see attached photos) and has not impacted the quality of landscape or function within the band between the building and public sidewalk. The public sidewalk and remaining landscape area are not impacted.
The surveying error has resulted in the newly constructed building encroaching approximately 10” into the Parkway setback area but without any material impact on the form and function of this setback area. The building and site otherwise remain in compliance with the project previously approved by Resolution PB19-13.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The City previously prepared and certified/adopted the Final Environmental Impact Report for Harbor Bay Isle (EIR) and the Addendum to the EIR (together, Previous CEQA Documents) in accordance with CEQA, which contemplated development of the entirety of the Harbor Bay Business Park. None of the circumstances necessitating further CEQA review are present, thus the City can rely on the Previous CEQA Documents. The reduction of the building setback from 50 feet to 49 feet does not change the CEQA conclusions from the original approval. No further review is necessary.
RECOMMENDATION
Approve draft Resolution approving a Development Plan Amendment to reduce the required minimum front yard setback for 1310 Harbor Bay Parkway from 50 feet to 49 feet.
Respectfully Submitted by:
Andrew Thomas
Planning, Building, and Transportation Director
Exhibits:
1. Aerial Photograph of 1310 Harbor Bay Parkway
2. Draft Resolution approving Development Plan Amendment.