November 14, 2023 Joint Meeting of Mountain View City Council and Shoreline Regional Park Community

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Transcript

[00:01:18] Mayor Alison Hicks: Good evening, everyone. We are gavelless tonight, so we'll just start without it. Thank you for joining us for our closed session. Council member Matachek, do you have an announcement to make?

[00:01:35] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yes, I do. Pursuant to government code section 54953. I am participating in this meeting remotely through both audio and visual technology, under the just cause provision, due to travel while on official business of the legislative body. No other person. Over 18 years of age is at this remote location with me.

[00:02:00] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Thank you. As a reminder, all votes will be taken by roll call this evening, because one council member is with us remotely. City attorney lobe will make a closed session announcement, and then the city council welcomes public comment on the items listed for closed session only. City Attorney Logan.

[00:02:25] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: Thank you, good evening, everyone. Um, there are 2 items on the, this evening's closed session agenda. Item 2.one is a conference with legal counsel regarding existing litigation pursuant to government code section 54956.9. The name of the case is Bajan Hajiji versus the city of Mountain View at all. Santa Clara County Superior Court, case number 23 CB 415280. Item 2.2 is a conference with legal counsel regarding a liability claim pursuant to government code section 54956.9. The name of the claimant is Yong Ping Tang. Thank you.

[00:03:07] Mayor Alison Hicks: Would any member of the public joining us virtually or in person like to provide comment on the closed session items listed on tonight's agenda? If so, either raise your hand in Zoom, or submit a blue speaker card. We would take in person speakers first. But I see no in person speakers. I do see one virtual speaker. This is Leslie Friedman, and Leslie, I want to remind you, this is only about closed session items, if you want to speak about, um, general comments or items on the, uh, the later agenda, the study session or later agenda, then you would speak at a later time. But if this is about closed session... Oh, Leslie just lowered her hand. So, um, so with that, I see no public speakers. Um, so we will move to item two on our agenda, uh, that counts, which is the closed session. Council will now recess to the Plaza Conference room for closed session, and return to the council chamber at the close to continue the study session.

[00:04:57] Mayor Alison Hicks: The recession of the Mount View City Council of November 14th, 2023, uh, we're on item two, the city clerk will take attendance by roll call.

[00:05:07] Unknown Speaker: Council member Abe Koga?

[00:05:10] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Here,

[00:05:11] Unknown Speaker: Council member Kameh.

[00:05:12] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Here.

[00:05:12] Unknown Speaker: Council member Metatrik.

[00:05:14] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Here,

[00:05:14] Unknown Speaker: Council member Ramirez. Council member Ramos?

[00:05:17] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Here,

[00:05:17] Unknown Speaker: Vice Mayor Scholtter. Mayor Hicks,

[00:05:20] Mayor Alison Hicks: here.

[00:05:20] Unknown Speaker: You have a corn?

[00:05:22] Mayor Alison Hicks: Now we move on to item three. This is the Moffatt Boulevard precise plan or rezoning scope of work. For this item, Chinese and Spanish translation services are available, and we will now hear from our Chinese interpreter.

[00:05:58] Unknown Speaker: Thank you.

[00:05:59] Mayor Alison Hicks: Well, now hear from our Spanish interpreter.

[00:06:03] Unknown Speaker: My buenos noches, as in as in interpretation, al Español, el boton, interpretación, en zoom, y selecione, el idioma, adequado, pada escuchar, la reignón, en esse idioma. Thank you.

[00:06:17] Mayor Alison Hicks: The purpose of this study session is to introduce potential scopes of work for either the Moffatt Boulevard precise plan, or rezoning and streetscape project, the city council, and receive direction on the approach and key topics for the project. City planner Aki Snelling, and advanced planning manager, Eric Anderson, will present the item.

[00:06:53] Senior Planner Aki Snelling: Good evening, Mayor, Vice Mayor, and members of the council. I am Aki Snelling, senior planner, and I'm joined tonight by Eric Anderson, who is our advanced planning manager. Also in the audience are Artis Shravastova, our assistant city manager and community development director, and also Don Cameron, who is our public works director. As the mayor noted, the purpose of tonight's city council meeting, or start, city council study session, is to introduce the potential scopes of work for the council to consider for preparation of either a Moffatt Boulevard precise plan, or a rezoning and streetscape project, and also, secondly, to additionally receive direction on the approaching key topics to be included in study in the scope of work for the project. The Moffat Boulevard Project area is located north of Castro Street and the downtown area on both sides of Moffat Boulevard. The project is highlighted in the red striped area outlined in the black lines. It's approximately 20 acres and stretches from Central Expressway to the south to West Middlefield Road to the north. The project includes the Community Services Agency on Sterling Road, and the Valera gas station on the corner of Moffett Boulevard and West Middlefield Road, but does not include the Moffett mobile home park and 555 West Middlefield Road, the housing development on the east side of Moffett. The existing uses primarily are one and two story older commercial buildings on Moffitt Boulevard, and the project area is within a half mile proximity of the transit center. The Moffatt Boulevard change area. was identified in the city's general plan. And in 2012, it was recognized for its potential as the gateway to the downtown area. Additionally, the vision includes transformation of the streetscape into a well landscaped and well lit street, providing safe pathways for pedestrians and bicyclists. Policies were also included in the general plan for this area to enhance the public street, encourage a diverse mix of land uses, support parcel assembly, to encourage improvement of existing buildings and properties, and also to provide for well designed transitions between Moffat Boulevard and the surrounding residential uses. The Council's 2023 to 2025 work plan also includes direction to develop a Moffatt Boulevard precise plan as a priority A or the highest priority item. This was carried forward from the 2021 to 2023 council work plan, which was identified as a priority to hold a study session to explore a consideration of a Moffatt Boulevard precise plan. Tonight's study session also addresses a project in the city's recently adopted housing element, which requires either precise plan or rezoning, to specifically be consistent with the housing program, 1.1 GC. This housing program requires Moffat Boulevard to allow development of up to at least a one.85 floor area ratio or equivalent to 72 dwelling units per acre. The housing element requires completion of this project by December 31st of 2025. Moffatt Boulevard is closely related to several planned streetscape projects. The transit centers, Castro Street, Grade, Separation, and Access Project, um, highlighted in the Blue Circle Ab. Um, access at Castro Street, uh, crosses, um, is located at the train tracks and Central Expressway at Castro Street. A pedestrian and bicycle undercrossing will be constructed below the tracks in Central Expressway, um, that provides access between the downtown and the Moffatt Boulevard project area. The great separation project will also allow for pickup and drop off areas, along Moffat Boulevard, relocated bus stops, along Moffat Boulevard, closer to the transit center, and reconfiguration of the Moffat Boulevard, area south of Central Avenue, for protected bikeways, and relocated bus stops. The city council will see the proposed final design for this section in 2024. In June of this year, the city council also adopted the Capital Improvement Program, in which $170,000 was included to develop a streetscape plan for Moffat Boulevard between Central Avenue and Middlefield Road, for transit prioritization, pedestrian improvements, bikeway, gap enclosure, gap closures, and vehicle speed management. This CIP for the project is scheduled to start in fiscal year 2027 to 2028. Additionally, the city is also working on the complete streets project north of Middlefield Road. That would include a Class 4 protected bike way along Moffat Boulevard, between Central Expressway and NASA, repaving of Moffat Boulevard from Middlefield Road, to the city limit at Clark Road, and filling in a 450 foot wide sidewalk gap on the east side of Moffat Boulevard north of Stevens Creek Trail to Lyong Drive. Sorry. Lastly, I also wanted to highlight that, um, the automatic guideway transportation system was conducted in 2017. However, this is no longer under consideration. For rezoning options, staff would like to know, if the council would prefer to one, create a new precise plan for the Moffatt Boulevard project area, or 2 to pursue a rezoning approval, and work with the public works department for a coordinated streetscape plan. As you can see by the table before you, a precise plan would include a vision and guiding principles, additional incentives, integrated, uh, streetscape, and public improvement plans, um, but a higher cost than a rezoning plan. This decision also affects prioritization of the streetscape study. If council selects the precise plan option, the streetscape study would be integrated into the precise plan. If council selects a rezoning approach, however, council can reprioritize and fund the streetscape plan earlier, or retain the schedule in 2027. If council selects the rezoning approach, staff will come back to council to determine how to reprioritize the public works projects. Key topics identified at this time to define the scope of work, are included in the slide before you. Um, Staff would like to ask, counsel, does counsel have feedback regarding the identified key elements and deliverables to include? Surrounding properties that are not within the Moffatt Boulevard project, but are adjacent to the area, include 555 West Middlefield Road, which is a 145 acre site that was approved in 2021, I'm sorry, 2022, as a planned community zone project, allowing for 323 additional residential units, to an existing 402 unit apartment complex, and a one.4 acre park. And also north of Middlefield Road is the Shenandoah Square property, which is owned by the U.S. Army and is outside the city limits. There has been discussion with the army and its representatives in the past regarding potentials for affordable housing, park area, and a potential school site. However, no formal proposals have been developed or submitted to the city for review. And staff would like to ask the question, does council have feedback regarding project boundaries? As for outreach, the strategy would include an inclusive stakeholder engagement, regular updates and dialogue, citywide public notices, community workshops, a project website, and other outreach opportunities that may become available. Key stakeholders would include a robust list, including the Chamber of Commerce, Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association. Those neighborhood groups within the Moffat Boulevard area, such as Moffat Boulevard neighborhood group, the Cypress Point Homeowners Association groups, residents and property owners within the area, and also small businesses on Moffat Boulevard. As noted in the table on the slide, Outreach would begin soon after consultant selection. Staff would also like to ask the council if the council has any feedback regarding staff's proposed outreach approach. Other parallel projects that would also be occurring within this project scope for Moffatt Boulevard included, um, well, occurring at the same time as this proposed project would include the downtown precise plan update. The Castro Street grade separation project, the economic vitality strategy, the holistic review of street parking, and also the dark sky ordinance. In terms of project timelines, The project would start similar to the downtown precise plan update, but would conclude within a shorter timeline. And the reason is that the site is much smaller than the downtown area at 20 acres. And the city is required to meet the housing elements compliance deadline of December 31st, 2025. This concludes staff's report. I have before you the slide with the 3 questions that the council may consider from the staff report. If you have any questions, staff would be happy to answer them. Thank you.

[00:17:52] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, thank you so much. Now, because this is a study session, we allow the public to speak first. So, um, so now it's time for any member of the public, either joining us virtually or in person, to submit a speaker card or raise your hand in Zoom. Um, we have, we will go with in-person speakers first. And the 1st person up as hala al Shawani.

[00:18:19] Hala Alshawani: Hello?

[00:18:21] Mayor Alison Hicks: And everyone will have... We don't have a daunting number of people. Everyone will have three minutes.

[00:18:34] Hala Alshawani: Can you hear me??

[00:18:35] Unknown Speaker: Okay. We can, yes. Yeah.

[00:18:36] Hala Alshawani: Good evening, city council, city staff. My name is Hala. Alshawani. I am a resident in old Mountain View neighborhood, and I have property on Cypress Point Drive, which would be in the middle in the Middlefield Boulevard area. I urge you to press city staff to work with them on a pedestrian plan. It is really imperative that an establishment of a precise plan for the Moffatt Boulevard area is put forth instead of rezoning for the future developments. Residents of that area, including my family, where they live on Cypress Point Drive. They need and deserve to keep all the existing green canopy and actually add to them. There's a beautiful canopy there surrounding the streets right next to Moffat Boulevard. So it's essential that we keep that for our health and sustainability. Two is for walkable, bikable neighborhoods, with sidewalks that are wide, and safe streetscapes. Third is retail shops. We need to retain the retail shops, the grocery stores, perhaps add more essential retail to the neighborhood there. It's a higher density area, so they definitely deserve to have these amenities, just like we do in downtown. The fourth is to limit to the building heights to four story. So that really came about, from the experience that I had, dealing with 555 middle field, Boulevard, and it was really hard to accommodate the neighborhood needs, in terms of heights, because if things are not in the precise plan, they're not going to be able to push for that. And the reason for that is that this state now allows 50% bonus, increase in height. And so we're gonna have, if we limit it to four, then the neighborhood is gonna have at least six story buildings. And there needs to be a balance with that. So I think it would be good to have a limit on that. And I, again, I urge you not not to go with the rezoning, because we don't want to repeat of the 555 middle field project, where we had to make concessions, or the city has to make concessions to the developer, and not keeping the green buffer against the freeway at the end of Cypress Point drive, and many of you. I remember that. So, yeah, please have a precise plan where the high density part of town will be a natural extension of Castro Street. It will be pleasant to walk. It will be wonderful to go. Thank you.

[00:21:46] Mayor Alison Hicks: Next, we have Alex Brown.

[00:21:56] Alex Brown: Oh, hi. Been a long time coming, huh? All right. I'll give you a brief, just want to talk about the 2 of the main questions. Not as interested in the outreach one. Precise plans are more fun. I think you all love exercise plans. Staff is good at them. They do enough of them, enough updates. I think in terms of timing, doing a precise plan, and then being able to amend it over time, like we have so many of the other ones is fine. And also exciting. I think that this is an opportunity to redevelop the area, and I think that we should do the most that we can. I think that in terms of the scope, that trying to limit it to just that one narrow space that is currently in the change area is a waste. When instead we could kind of be more holistic, consider the entire region and also the connections. And you're not going to get nearly as much of that if you limit it to just that one small stretch of road. So, go big. Do it all.

[00:22:56] Mayor Alison Hicks: Do you want to take the other two minutes? Just keep talking.

[00:22:58] Alex Brown: No, okay. Thanks. Thank you very much.

[00:23:03] Mayor Alison Hicks: Next is George Markle.

[00:23:07] George Markle: Hi, I'm with the Cypress Point neighborhoods and the Muffin Boulevard neighborhood group. Just before I came here tonight, I tallied up the results of a poll that we conducted on next door, the results in asking, should the city create a precise plan for Muffin Boulevard or simply rezone? Create a comprehensive, precise plan 89%. Only 11% for rezoning. We have a tremendous opportunity here. This is the gateway to mountain view. We've been calling it that. If you stand at the intersection of Central Expressway, looking south, you see the product of some great investment. We are turning the city downtown area into a wonderful welcoming place, a walkable place with shops and networks, shops and restaurants, and if you look to the left looking south, you'll see the transit center. This really is has the potential to become a really wonderful destination spot. Right by the transportation area. So, when you're looking at that Castro area, you will see, in a couple of years, wonderful development what happens if you do this. There's nothing to see. It's piecemeal. It's a product of decades of rezoning. Let's do this, let's do that, but nothing coherent. We did not have a comprehensive plan. The city has a wonderful opportunity here to complement what we are doing in the South of Central Expressway, we can now do North of Central Expressway. And think of the upcoming resident population, we're adding hundreds of new homes there. At the eavespot and around the corner, on middle field, all those homes, we will have thousands of people. This will provide a wonderful opportunity for businesses. If we can attract these businesses, we have businesses that are for sale that have been, buildings that have been vacant for a couple of years now, they can be purchased, we can collect parcels, and have some really wonderful development. So I'd like you to please consider seriously the potential benefits to our city for not taking shortcuts, as we've done in the past, but investing in creating a precise plan. And by the way, I want to thank Aki, she has been wonderful in her outreach. talking to us, seeking as much input as she can. She's really done a wonderful job on this plan. And I'd like to see her get the work on a precise plan, maybe, huh? Thank you for listening. Oh. Our neighborhood, by the way.

[00:26:11] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you, George. Next, we have Daniel Shane. Daniel?

[00:26:29] Daniel Shane: Greetings. How you doing? I'm Dan Shane. I represent the Cypress Point Community Preservation Group. I'm also a homeowner. I live on Cyprus Point Drive. Um, I think it's unquestionable that the majority of the community wants a precise plan. More of a detail plan. However, we need to make this plan done in an expeditious manner. You know, precise plans, I guess, in the past had taken long periods of time. But if there's a way for the council to expedite the precise plan process, it would be very, very good thing to do, because, and this is our, one of our major concerns, is that, um, developers, they continue to do development on the Moffick Boulevard corridor. They may develop the area before we even have a chance to do a precise plan that can be, like George say, It's a grand opportunity that we have. We got an open slate, really. We can build with innovative ideas, green practices, you know, all the great sustainable things we can do out there. We can make it a lively area. We can make it a fun area. We could bring in services and entertainment for the community. I mean, there is just so much that can be done, but I agree with Alex that, you know, this plan should be extended and widened. To what extent, I don't know. But it seems to be just, uh, everything's connected. You have an opportunity here to really do something exciting. So, I think you should. Thank you.

[00:28:27] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you, Daniel. I see no more in person speakers. Is there anyone I'm missing? Okay. Then we'll move to virtual speakers. The first speaker is Robert Cox.

[00:28:45] Robert Cox: Hey, can you hear me?

[00:28:47] Mayor Alison Hicks: We can.

[00:28:48] Robert Cox: Okay, Mayor Hicks, vice mayor. Show Walter and members of the city council, Robert Cox speaking to you from the steering committee of Livable Mountain View. We have already sent in a letter. So let me just hit the highlights. We enthusiastically endorse doing a precise plan for the Moffatt change area, rather than simply up zoning the area to being compliance with the housing element. Having a Moffat precise plan has been a goal of livable mountain view, since its inception in 2017. This is the time to move forward, that vision, make Moffat a walkable, livable, sustainable extension of our downtown. A simple rezoning would not take into considerations, the needs of future and current residents of the Moffat area. The active participation of Moffat area residents, and recent development discussions before council shows these residents care deeply about the future of their part of the city as we continue to densify. We just heard from Mr. Merkel and Mr. Shane just a minute ago. And, uh, Al Shahwani. We continue to support a high quality pedestrian bicycle connection between the Moffatt area and downtown, connected to a world class transit center. The connection must be safe, well lit, and enhanced by high quality public art. I've heard that there are some concerns, perhaps, about well, we find the money for the high quality public art. This is gonna be one of your best investments that you could do in our future. Uh, it will be, uh, setting the uh, standard for, uh, Mountain View for years to come, so don't cut costs on the high quality public art. We appreciate that at the initial Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association region, outreach meeting, on the downtown precise plan, Moffat Area City Planner, hockey Snelling, was present and took our feedback. Uh, in our vision of the Moffat area. And we look forward to continuing high quality outreach, especially to those who live in, or are living, adjacent to the mob change area. Thank you for listening to our views. I yield my time.

[00:30:58] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Next, we have Cliff Chambers.

[00:31:09] Cliff Chambers: Hi. Uh, this is Cliff Chambers. I'm resident of Mountain View, and I'll be tracking the Moffatt area precise plan, hopefully, as part of, for the Mountain View Coalition for Sustainable Planning. But I'm speaking on myself tonight. I really appreciate what Robert Cox and others just said, and I had a chance to review the notes from the October third meeting that they had, and I'm really in alignment with most of those observations and comments, and I really won't repeat them here. Uh, I also want to have strong support for the precise plan option. There really are significant moving parts for land use transportation, economic development, et cetera, that need to be addressed in, uh, to make this an environment and extension of downtown, and the precise plan is really the best way to address these issues. I really do support the inclusion, or at least strong consideration, of the Senandoah square side in the precise plan. The staff report gave a lot of really good background on this, but it really concluded that there's some, at least early discussions about, uh, the site, possibly in concert with, uh, MVLA. So I think you really need to look down the road to the future and be prepared if those discussions go through. There should be some mechanism for including Shenandoah's site into the precise plan, if that happens. And then, finally, I just like to give a little bit of comment on the scope of work, which I think is overall quite good. But I really am, and many people have commented about it tonight. There's a lot of changes that are going on in terms of potential transportation improvements, and I really urge the council to consider, really, including the streetscape and the TDM element into a much more robust mobility section of the precise plan similar to what was done in the very complex issues for the East Wisdom Precise Plan. I think a comprehensive mobility plan is really what's needed here. So I urge you to urge staff to do that. Thank you very much for your time. Bye.

[00:33:29] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Next, we have Peter Katz.

[00:33:35] Peter Katz: Can you hear me?

[00:33:36] Mayor Alison Hicks: We can.

[00:33:38] Peter Katz: Thank you, Mary Hertz. I'm Peter Cat, CEO of the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, and, you know, it's been great to hear from the residents and how we're all sharing the same concerns and really coming to the same conclusions. The chamber's excited to see the city focus on Moffatt, and is grateful to have been part of the early outreach. As staff and previous speakers have noted, This area is quickly developing, and has wonderful potential for revitalization. As important, with the closing of the entrance to downtown of the train tracks, Moffa becomes a vital artery from 101 to our commercial centers. Thus, thoughtful design that supports and welcomes visitors and residents alike to our city, as well as creates an area with a personality and sense of place on its own, is an exciting prospect. To accomplish this goal, we encourage counsel to provide a clear vision with specific guidelines, such as those shared by previous speakers, whether by precise plan or by zoning, but to be precise, we also encouraged looking farther down Moffatt than Middlefield. The remaining segment includes small businesses, the Ameswell Hotel, and access to the beloved Stevens Creek Trail, which are all important elements of our city's persona. But sadly, sitting apart rather than well integrated. A larger plan could address this and enhance a vital and blossoming corridor. Thank you very much. I yield my time.

[00:35:00] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Let's see. Next, we have April Webster.

[00:35:12] April Webster: Hi, my name's April Webster. I'm a resident of the Moffat Boulevard neighborhood. I live on Cypress Point Drive. I'm strongly in favor of a precise plan that creates a seamless extension of downtown, and I think its boundaries should be extended on the north end to 85 to include all residential areas in the neighborhood, which don't end at Middlefield. I have lived in this neighborhood for over 13 years. I love my neighborhood. I love being within walking distance of downtown. The transit center, Stevens Creek Trail, a community garden, and being right next to the Bike Boulevard. I think we should prioritize the resources and framework, we need to create a thoughtful and intentional vision for our neighborhood. I think we need to think bigger, bolder, and more holistically about what we want it to look like, what we want to prioritize in it, and how we can create that not only through our built environment, but also through community programs we can put in place. And I think we can only do that as part of a precise plan. I want us to, I thought there's upset, I want to see us prioritize places where we can connect more organically with neighborhoods. I want to see safer and more comfortable streets. Unlike the hostile landscape we have on Moffat. I want the city to help us build a neighborhood that puts people first, and integrates nature, art, and gathering places, one that could be help us build stronger, more connected. walkable, bikable, and climate, resilient, and a people first community. And I want to point out that zoning or a streetscape plan alone can't provide these opportunities to create the vision painted by so many residents tonight. For example, it can't address programs to say small businesses like jail produce, or the Austin Indian Place, Pizza Place, and the same area, programs to encourage businesses to move into the neighborhood. It'd be great to see a coffee shop, or a bookstore, on our side of the tracks, public art, and outdoor music, like an outdoor piano program, and then other design standards that help us create a unique neighborhood aesthetic. So just, in short, precise plan. Thanks, and I seed my time.

[00:37:26] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you very much. Next, we have Albert jeans. Albert, are you there?

[00:37:39] Albert Jeans: Hear me?

[00:37:39] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yes, we can hear you.

[00:37:41] Albert Jeans: Okay, great. Yeah, Albert Jean's still in a state's neighborhood. Yeah, I pretty much agree with what everybody else has said about the need for a precise plan. I would just like to note that because you want this to integrate with downtown, because Castro is now shut off there, it's gonna be really hard to do that integration without a precise plan. I mean, it's gonna have to take some really innovative design, I think, to make a seamless transition from Castro to Moffat there. And like others have said, I would like to see it extended northward. Um, to the NASA Ames boundary, because there's a lot of people that work there, the Ames School Hotel is just built there, and there's a big office building, a lot of those people would like probably to go to downtown, and it's not easy right now. I ride my bike along there a lot of times. It's like April said, it's a very hostile environment. I understand that it may be difficult to include the Shando Square area because it's not our Mountain View technically, and the army doesn't seem to be moving forward very quickly with that. But as somebody else said, if there's some way we could kind of make tingent area, and at least, you know, for the time being, you know, plan, found it. And again, because the current planning area is so small, I think extending it, you know, the planning area, just a pupil.

[00:39:06] Mayor Alison Hicks: Albert, you're cutting in and out. And at this point, you're out. Can you hear us? Okay, well, I think Albert had 30 seconds left. If he wants to come back for 30 seconds, he can, but for now, we'll go to Bruce England.

[00:39:27] Bruce England: Thank you, Mayor. Bruce England, Wisman Station Drive, speaking for myself, although I belong to several organizations in town. Here are my comments. Moffat Boulevard between Central Expressway and Highway 85 all the way up to Highway 85. As potentially, revision stands a great chance of expanding on our downtown corridor in a meaningful way. In part due to pending work on the new Undercross thing, as was noted, and the transit centers is also noted, and also with a new pedestrian mall, and what might come of the downtown precise plan, and with key access already, to the Stevens Creek Trail in mind. One concern I have is that rezoning alone won't cover other considerations that would be covered in a precise plant. So that's one of your options there. For example, rezoning alone wouldn't do things like programming for savings, small groceries, and other small businesses, public places, green spaces, art strategy, and a real comprehensive look at transportation changes. So in this work, please provide ample support for those things for new housing, particularly affordable housing, active transportation improvements, including green complete streets, and with an eye on existing capital improvement program projects that could possibly be subject to further delays as a result of this work. Sometimes those CIP projects get very long delayed. It's unfortunate when that happens. Thank you.

[00:40:48] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. And last, we have, we have Emil Abraham.

[00:40:58] Emil Abraham: Hello? Uh, can you hear me?

[00:41:00] Mayor Alison Hicks: We can hear you, yes.

[00:41:01] Emil Abraham: All right. Um, so I'm a meal. I live at 555 West Middlefield that use Middle Creek. Um, so, so I generally agree with all the other public comments. Um, pursuing a precise plan will definitely allow a more holistic approach than rezoning alone. Uh, I feel like Moffat Boulevard has massive potential to be an extension of downtown. Tons of my neighbors already get their groceries at JL produce, and they eat the restaurants. Um, and I would love to see more small businesses open up along this corridor, and I think a lot more folks would also love to be able to walk or bike to get there too. Um, and all my neighbors also enjoy walking to the downtown and spending their time and money there. So if we can extend the treatment that downtown gets into Moffat Boulevard, I think it's a great way to revitalize the area. Um, and yeah, just like the other folks said before me. I think a precise plan is definitely the best way to make sure we include all the facets and turn a good community into a great livable community. Um, that's it. Thank you.

[00:42:11] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So at this point, I see no more hands on Zoom. Let me make sure that's true. Yes. And, um, and nobody else in person, so this is your last call, and I will be closing public comment and taking the item back to council. First, we'll take questions, questions only, not points of view, from council members, and then we'll move on to answers to the questions we've been asked, comments, and answers to the questions we've been asked. So do any council members have questions? And I will note that we had robust written questions already. So council members may or may not have additional questions. Council member, Abbe Koka.

[00:43:01] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. Just a couple of questions. Um. Wait, what happened to the, is the cycle track project still alive that goes, was supposed to go through, um, I think is, the 100 Moffatt and along Sterling Road, onto, is that Shoreline Boulevard?

[00:43:28] Public Works Director Don Cameron: Yes. All right. Good evening, Dawn Cameron, Public Works director, and thank you for the question, Councilman Rabbi Koga. The short answer is, yes, that project is completing design and getting ready to come to you soon for approval to advertise and begin construction. We were fortunate to receive federal grant funding for that, which is why we need to keep it moving along. That project was part of the overall plan to create a very convenient and direct bicycle connection from the transit center all the way up into North Bay Shore. So that whole bicycle corridor is being developed in phases, where, as you may know, the shoreline transit laying project includes protective bikeways on shoreline, between middle field and 101, and then there's supposed to be a future bike bed bridge, over one on one, by getting from the transit center to shoreline, at Middlefield involved the Great Separation Project. You know, the undercrossing with a direct connection, then to Sterling. And so the project you're referencing will include various bike and pet improvements along Sterling, to you get into the connection with Shoreline at Montecito, and then a protected bike way on Shoreline to connect to the protected bike way on Middlefield. So I hope I explain that, um, cleanly how this is a very comprehensive bicycle plan, being delivered as four separate projects, and they're all in various stages of progress. Thank you.

[00:45:09] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: And then for Moffatt Boulevard, um... What are we... Could you just remind me? Like, what are we planning for that? Especially now with, um, the closure of the, the grade separation being a closure. Is it? And I remember there's some bike, not bike bus stops, I think, or pickup zones that we're looking at along central, I believe, but so quite a bit.

[00:45:44] Public Works Director Don Cameron: Yeah, some of that has been adjusted. For various reasons, one of them being just changes in transit ridership and what's going on with the pandemic, combined with ensuring we could continue delivering the grades separation project as cost effectively and stitiously as possible. So we did go to the council transportation committee last spring and provide a complete update, including some recommendations to phase, some of the essential expressway related improvements to be a future project, and which really simplifies some of the delivery of the project. And that included the installation of bus duckouts along the south side of Central Expressway right up against the transit center. So that portion is now going to be done in the future as a separate project, along with other Central Expressway related improvements. What's still part of the project is to convert the Central Expressway and Moffat Boulevard into section into a T intersection, because cars can no longer go through, which means reconfiguring that intersection, the signal system in there, and allows a road diet of Moffat Boulevard from what is now five lanes at the approach to the intersection down to three. Because for the southbound, we just need a lane that turns left on the central and a lane that turns right, and for northbound, we just need a single lane going northbound. And then, the project included repurposing the right away that's saved from reducing these lanes to add parking protected bike lanes on Moffat from Central Expressway up to about Jackson, and then continuing with improved bike facilities up to Central Avenue, as well as, as was mentioned earlier, moving BTA bus stops closer to Central, and some other, various improvements. So that right now is included in the grade separation project's scope of work. We, if I can just anticipate a next step here, because it was part of the council question, Q and A, if there is a desire to relook at the design of that area in terms of everything related to bikes and pets, there is not time to do that, and still try to deliver the great separation project on the schedule, it's going. So, if there is such a desire to make a look at that streetscape design as part of this additional study, we would have to look at pulling out of the scope of work for the grade step, and just focus on the T intersection, which means we would be delaying those bike improvements. So that's what we put in the response, the question, the answer to, because, again, I know some of the considerations here are what to do about streetscape planning in the future, but once we build some of these improvements part, this part of the grade set, it would be a little more difficult to go back and make changes, or a little more expensive. And we, and we do need to move forward with the grade sub project because of our funding that's, that we've been able to acquire.

[00:49:18] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: And I know we still have a little small gap, but isn't there some time limit on some of these?

[00:49:24] Public Works Director Don Cameron: The issue we're facing with the great separation project that's really the biggest time consideration is the longer it takes to do it, the greater the expensive it's gonna get. Cost escalation right now for construction projects is major. The inflation impacts on labor and materials, supply chain problems have really increased the cost of infrastructure projects everywhere. So, one of the things is, we did receive a new estimate for this great separation project taking into account all the impacts of inflation, everything else going on, and it is coming in significantly higher now. We do have a meeting planned on November 28th, with the Council Transportation Committee, where we're bringing forward this new information, and discussing what this could mean for the scope of work, if we wanted to try to keep the project on schedule, and then asking Council Transportation Commission to help provide a recommendation to the full council to consider in January. And really wanted to be transparent with you about that, because, again, I know you're making a lot of decisions here, and wanted you to know that we do have major decisions still to make on the great separation project. But our biggest concern is, for every year, delay on that project, we are going to be adding millions of dollars to the cost for every year. So we're going to have to deal with those trade offs.

[00:51:00] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: You give it, what's the increased cost right now?

[00:51:06] Public Works Director Don Cameron: The initial increased cost, which we will be sharing, but I'm still waiting for the final details. came in as needing an additional $80 to $90 million. So what we're coming forward with is options for counsel to consider value engineering that could help us bring down the costs, and they could include phasing, meaning that the grade set delivers some pieces here, but we will have to deliver other parts of it as separate projects later on. So, again, I don't want to go sideways with your meeting tonight, that it is a big discussion point, which is why I'm also putting out there that any changes made to Moffatt Boulevard streetscape plans that you want to integrate into the grade set could be very problematic, but another option is for us to explore, do we wait on some of those improvements? Thank you.

[00:52:12] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you. Thanks for the submarine reality. The other question I had was, regarding the housing element, the mention of it, the deadline, and we have to get it done by end of 25, what happens if we don't?

[00:52:33] Public Works Director Don Cameron: Uh, it's it's kind of a whole new world. Um, you know, as we all know, the uh, the state is is really ramping up and has been for the last several years, their their enforcement. We also have a lot of watchdogs in this community that are very likely to, you know, report that information to the state. So it's very difficult to know how the state would respond to missing deadlines at this time. We are in a right at the beginning of our cycle, and so we don't have a lot of peers right now for seeing like who's missed deadlines and what is the state done. especially for this cycle. So our goals right now is to stick with the deadlines in the housing element and try to move forward on them as quickly as we can. Thank you.

[00:53:38] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramos?

[00:53:40] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Mayor. I had some questions relating to, um, changes in boundaries and how does adequate to changes in timeline. So in the staff report, you mentioned Shenandoah Square, and that's probably because it's like technically not part of Mountain View yet, it's better all in, and we have to kind of work with that, and that puts a lot of unknown things. But there are other areas to that could be expanded. How much does that affect the time frame if you do?

[00:54:09] Public Works Director Don Cameron: It really comes down to how quickly is, is, are we able to bring forward and get resolution on that, that ultimate question of the boundary, and what to include? If, so, if, say we extend the project into some of the single family or lower density neighborhoods around Moffat Boulevard, I assume that's kind of the type of thing that you're asking about.

[00:54:37] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yeah, I guess it's not... Not specifically, but just, like, it's a tiny area. Is it like a question of like, if you double the area, does it double the time?

[00:54:49] Public Works Director Don Cameron: Not necessarily, but certainly there is a lot more outreach that we would have to do with those neighborhoods. with anybody that could be incorporated into a precise planned boundary. More outreach does mean more conversations with the community, more potential for kind of controversy and discussion and trying to find win-wins and bringing forward kind of preferred alternatives for those neighborhoods to council, that solve multiple issues that may come up in those discussions. So, it's always possible to move quickly, but you run the risk that you're not giving residents and property owners the fair opportunity to provide input. The big advantage to just sticking with the general plan change area is that the general plan direction has been effectively the policy of the city for 10 years now, right? Those property owners know about the general plan change area directions, right? We can build off of that fairly efficiently. And so if we're changing the general plan direction for any surrounding properties, that could be more complicated with the outreach. Thank you.

[00:56:11] Councilmember Emily Ramos: That's all my questions.

[00:56:13] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramirez?

[00:56:16] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. I have some questions about the timelines for implementing either direction that the council may go. So the precise plan. I think Staffordshire takes around 2 years, typically, or between 2 to 3 years, depending on the level of complexity, what would be the likely time frame for the rezoning approach?

[00:56:46] Public Works Director Don Cameron: Again, I think it depends on how, what ultimately what council wants to include in the project. You know, we're always on sequence timeline. And that's going to be in both projects, right? That's going to be at at least 10 months, just from, you know, picking a preferred alternative to adoption. And so, we did complete, for example, the San Antonio and El Camino precise plans. We completed those in 18 months or so. So less than 2 years, we had a lot of great foundation from the general plan to work off of. And so there wasn't a lot of that kind of 2nd guessing and testing alternatives and trying to reestablish policy and so that was a real asset to just building off of the general plan. So, you know, the general plan's a little older now. So we're not necessarily expecting it to be as streamlined as the El Camino and San Antonio precise plans were. But again, there is a lot to work off of from the general plan. A rezoning approach would certainly have less work, especially if counsel is not interested in integrating a streetscape plan or integrating any of these aspects that are kind of most effectively done with a precise plan, things like kind of targeted placemaking strategies, or targeted small business strategies, things like that. So how much less, you know, on the order of months, probably several months, 2 or 3 months, maybe. But really, like I said, Siq was driving the timeline.

[00:58:46] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Okay, that's helpful. I'm trying to understand if we were to do the bare minimum to meet the housing element requirement. It would basically, it's a one. 85 floor area ratio is the general plan land use designation right now, right? So it would be basically a conforming rezoning. But we don't have a mixed-use corridor conforming district, right? So would the work basically be, we're creating a new zoning district that conforms to the existing land use designation?

[00:59:19] Public Works Director Don Cameron: That's right

[00:59:20] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Okay. That's really helpful. And then, one thing that I'm curious to understand, the general plan already allows one. 85 far, which means help me understand this in theory that if somebody were to come in with a project that uses the density bonus law, that would actually be the basis for the determination of density, right? right.

[00:59:47] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: So what really is the value add of doing a conforming rezoning? If the general plan already permits what we're saying we want to rezone to.

[00:59:57] Public Works Director Don Cameron: Well, we're required to under both the housing element and state law. But I would also say that a conforming zoning can set expectations about, you know, character, development standards, um, expectations for open area and setbacks, and, um, and can also set policies, you may remember from the village center zoning that we did back in January, we had some general policies for things like, um, ensuring pedest access through the sites and public plazas and other standards that helped to implement the policies of the general plan for village centers. So we can address those policies, we can set up standards that achieve those goals, but they would be on a more general level, rather than a precise plan where you can really target it to specific locations on the corridor, or specific needs of specific businesses.

[01:01:01] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Okay. Um, I might have some comments on that later, but thank you. That's helpful for now And this is a pretty general question. Is there a, do you see a way of phasing or sectioning work on if we were to do a precise plan that would allow us to target the, um, the housing element requirements uh, more quickly than some other aspects of the precise plan?

[01:01:31] Public Works Director Don Cameron: I mean, I can imagine several ways of doing that, but you can probably imagine them better than me. I mean, one is that the downtown precise plan has multiple, you know, it has multiple areas. Could we focus on one area and do it 1st or some other sort of serialization that would allow us to maybe meet the housing element requirements and also meet some of what the communities desiring of a sort of holistic, precise plan at the same time. you know, in a serial way. The housing element requires us to take the whole Motha Boulevard change area, you know, that needs to be rezoned and rezoned. That's what the housing element requires. Now, so any kind of serialization would have to, you know, take that action of rezoning, up zoning, providing the development standards and heights and densities for that area that we need to up zone. So, you know, off the cuff, theoretically, we could do just a standard zoning for Moffat Boulevard as an initial action, and then take more time with a precise plan, and then just integrate those standards into a precise plan later on. We couldn't do a geographic approach. Like, because we would have to do all of that this project area by the end of 2025.

[01:03:06] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you.

[01:03:07] Mayor Alison Hicks: Question council membership or vice mayor?

[01:03:11] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes. So basically, we have the possibility before us to do the downtown precise plant and the moth precise plan, kind of in tandem. And um, that's really a great opportunity. It seems to me anyway, because they're right next to each other, and we want one to be kind of a gateway to the other. We want a lot of connections. So, could you talk a little bit about what are the synergies that we get from doing them together, and what would we lose in those synergies if we're only doing the rezoning? Thank you.

[01:03:54] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, that's a great question. Um, I think that the big synergies that we get are things like, um, existing conditions analyses, um, you know, uh, some of the reports that we might be able to, uh, to have about, say, retail demand, or or other reports that council may want us to study in order to, um, kind of craft the best, uh, the best planning document. A lot of those existing conditions analyses can be done with both rezoning or a precise plan. I think where you get, and this is kind of building off of a lot of what we heard from the public comment, but in my mind right now, the clearest synergy is really that place making opportunity that you get with the precise plan. You really have limited opportunity for placemaking with a standard zoning district because you're really treating every property the same. Um, and you're not creating um, those um, um, kind of that, that map-based kind of guidance for how do we want this part of the corridor to feel? How do we want it to transition to other parts of the corridor? How does it interact? How does the private property and public property interact in this area in order to support the vision that the community has from for, um, you know, that gateway experience? Thank you.

[01:05:35] Mayor Alison Hicks: So seeing no more questions, a last call, I see no more council questions. So we will move into, I'm going to let us answer all 3 questions, and that will allow people to, um, council members to say what they think. And then if, uh, you want to address something that somebody, another council member has said, you can go back for a second round of comments. And I will, I think, break with tradition. And as mayor usually speaks last, but once in a while, the mayor can speak first. So, I'm just gonna say, I just want to start out by saying that I have been watching this area for 25 years since I moved here, and I've been sort of tragically astounded at the way it's been developing, to feel not like it's the center of our city, but, like, it's 10 miles away, and we all want to just drive through there and drive out. And I've seen one development after another, a key one to me as the hotel, which, some people have told me, has a bar inside, but I wouldn't know, and maybe it doesn't. I don't know, because it's not facing the street, as it would, if it were on Castro Street. You know, it may or may not be in there somewhere. So it's not inviting us in, and it's certainly not inviting us to walk down the street and window shop, and then walk a little longer. It's inviting us to get in our car and drive wherever we're going. So, I was going to get on, make a stump speech in favor of the precise plan, but I feel with what all the residents have said, I really don't even have to do that, because you've kind of, I would just be repeating what you said. So let me see if I can figure out a couple of things that have not already been said. One thing is that the staff report says it needs that it's a gateway to the downtown. I feel like at this point, it needs to be more than a gateway. It needs to be a place in and of itself, which is some of what you were talking about the importance of place making and the reason to do a precise plan. Another thing that I guess no one has brought up yet is, when people talk about downtowns and walkable commercial areas, they often say that approximately every 30 years, you need to refresh and renew them. You know, things have changed, they're out of date, people don't want to go there anymore, particularly in an environment like we have here, a bunch of small towns on the peninsula. Maybe they want to go. I mean, actually, our downtown is studies show. drawing a lot of people from other cities. But maybe after a while, they don't want to go there anymore. They want to go to Palo Alto or Los Altos or Sunnyvale. So we need to kind of keep up with the Joneses, and I feel like we did a major redo of our downtown, approximately 30 years ago, and it's time to do that again and include the other half of our downtown. And as mayor, I've talked to a lot of mayors from other cities, I feel that Sunnyvale's putting major effort into their transidoriented city center. I know that Santa Clara is doing, like, a major new entertainment district, 'cause they got rid of their downtown at one point. Palo Alto was doing the same thing. They're looking at five different kind of walkable commercial areas, um, and saying they want to remain best or be best in class. You know, they want to be competitive in the area. And San Francisco is also looking at, like, three different, um, I forget what they call them, like, a gateway area, Union Square, and a third one that I forget. So, I think we should do the same. I think we need to do the same thing. I think we need to focus on place making, a precise plan, and keep up with the cities around us, in particular, because we're going through major changes in land use with remote work, and coming out of the post COVID environment, where people are shopping online, more. There are differences in what kind of retail, we would need. And I think we need a precise plan to address all those things. So I'm making a pitch for a precise plan. I hope I'm not the only person on council who does that. In terms of boundaries, I'm open, as so many people have said, to look at wider boundaries, people have said, include Santa Rosa, and so go to the sides. I would prefer to go at least to 85. Several people have said at the Moffatt Base. There's, uh, they're going to locate, there's going to be a new location for UC Berkeley, and that's going to bring a lot of people, possibly traveling up and down Mofret from the train station to the new UC Berkeley location, and possibly, you know, making that street more vibrant in a lot of ways that residents have talked about. So, I would be open to widening the boundary, lengthening the boundary. I would like to have, like, Shenandoah, and some of the other areas that I don't think are gonna change immediately. I think we address this area, not very often. So I think we have to think, you know, we don't know what'll happen 40 years from now, we could at least put notes in some of those places to give a hint about, you know, that we want them to be part of the center city. We want them to be vibrant. We don't want to have, sort of, an away from the street suburban style development. And I'd like us to use asset based planning, which is look at the assets that are already there, be they trees or other historic assets like the adobe, and make sure we don't erase those. Make sure we highlight them rather than erase them. I actually think we should be using asset based planning everywhere. And with that, let's see, what are the other... I will leave other comments for later or just let other council members make them. So with that, let's see. Next person is, uh, council member, Kmeh.

[01:12:21] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thank you, mayor. Well, I just want to thank staff in the community. I'm really excited that we're discussing this tonight. It's been many years in the making, and now that I moved. I can be part of the discussion and the conversation, and talk about what a wonderful area this is in the city. I think it's ripe with potential, and tonight we get to help shape that. So for question one, council preference. I agree with the community on moving forward with a precise plan. I do think that, um, because of the conversations we've had over the years, including a very large project that had robust community outreach, I think it gives us a good base. And so I love that 18 months has been thrown out there. Um, you know, will have to meet that that housing element deadline anyways. Um, but I, but I feel like we have a really good foundation and I want to thank staff and the community for that because, um, it's been great. In terms of question two, for counsel, feedback, regarding A, so the key elements and the deliverables. One of the things I wanted to highlight in terms of the scope of work as a is the item 10, the small business retention, there's such great gems as some of those in public comments shared in terms of small businesses. There's a community grocery store, for example. And I myself walked there every weekend, and I'm sure many in the community do. So for me, I just wanted to highlight that as a key element that I'd like to see focused on. And we've seen that too in terms of sharing with the development community. We've seen the project on El Camino, and Castro, where the small businesses were able to return into that development. Um, you know, whether they stare not is up to them, but they were able to return. And so I think that that's something I'd like to see happen as we're thinking about moving forward. with a precise plan. Um, and then, uh, for B, project boundary, um, I've been thinking a lot about this because I, I understand maybe colleagues' concerns on timeline. But I think that given, again, our existing work, I am interested in moving the boundary to, I would say, 85. And I would share with my colleagues, I say 85 because the North Wisman area actually has a neighborhood group that's unified and robust, and 85 right there is the entrance to the Stevens Creek Trail. And so as we're talking through public works director Cameron's, discussion of the streetscapes, the pedestrian improvements we'll be making, I really think there's an opportunity for people being able to go from our downtown all the way to that 85 Stevens Creek Trail entrance. And so that's why I'd like to include it. I don't really feel like going kind of beyond that, just kind of the existing corridor there, because many people use the trail for commuting or other purposes, and I will say, Mayor, when you go to the other side, and they think the hotel you're talking about is aim as well, they have many things there. They have a restaurant, a bar, a coffee shop. It's lovely, and I think people in the community also walk there. And I know they use the trail to get to that hotel and there's also the trail entrance that has been working on with valley water, I believe, for that entrance. Yes, I see public works director, Cameron shaking her head. So I'm really trying to think of connectivity for community, the residents. And so that's where I feel support for that project boundary extension. For question number three, kind of additional feedback for their proposed outreach. I really appreciate how staff has been talking about the parallel city projects because maybe while the community is aware of what's been going on with Moffatt, and there might be a precise plan coming. They might not be as aware of the others. And so I would say, as we're doing our outreach, being able to share about these parallel city projects, would be great, and then hopefully that will lead to, like, further comment on the other projects. And so, um, you know, kind of multiple. I don't want to say birds because we don't want to hit birds. But multiple, you know, rings of influence at the same time. Um, would be what I'd say. So those are my comments. Thank you.

[01:17:14] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. And I did want to clarify, I did not mean the aims well. I meant the, what is it called? It's the Hampton Inn that people have told me that's behind a suburban style berm, and it may or may not have a bar inside. I don't know, but the Ameswell definitely does have a lot inside. Um, council member Ramirez.

[01:17:37] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. And echoing my colleague, Council member Kame. I am also very excited to begin this work, and it's rare that to have such strong and basically unanimous community support for many of the, for a precise plan and for a more comprehensive, review or thinking of the Moffat Boulevard corridor. And I also want to take some time to appreciate the work that staff has been doing with preliminary outreach. We got a lot of kudos for staff from the community. So I think you've done a fantastic job, not only getting preliminary input, but also framing this in a way that helps the council think about how we want to proceed. So a lot of a lot of great work and I'm really excited to begin this work. So while I support a precise plan. I want to be careful not to rush it. Um, and, uh, because I think, especially if we expand the boundaries and we take the time to really think about what the community hopes to achieve. It's probably not something, maybe we could do it in 18 months, but I'm concerned that we might not be able to solicit the level of community support or input that we may need, especially if we are starting to work with property owners who weren't initially thinking that they were going to be part of a change area. So I'm comfortable with taking the time that we need to do this, right? And that makes me think about how we get into technical compliance with the housing element. I think there are a couple of things that influence my thinking. One is that the general plan already allows the FAR and density that we say we're going to rezon to. And there's certainly a lot of value in a conforming rezoning. It provides some clarity on development standards. But I just don't see that as, I think you're right, Eric, that there are stakeholders and watchdogs in our community who will be paying close attention to our compliance with the housing element, but this isn't one that I feel like folks are going to pay too much attention to because the general plan already gives them the development capacity that they need to build the housing that we want to build in that area. So I view that as not that I want to let a lot of deadlines slip, but I'm personally less concerned that that's one that's going to come back and hurt us. And I would say it's analogous to the SB 1333 conforming rezonings that the state also mandates, and there are, as we've talked about a few times. There are some parcels that we have not chosen to align with the general plan for perfectly valid reasons, right? Like, I always forget, Bruce Bauer, right? is a good example of that, where the general clan says residential and the zoning says industrial. Um, so I, and that hasn't been a problem for us. yet. So I feel like I don't I really don't want to, I hope it doesn't become a problem for us. But for as long, I don't think Bruce Bauer is interested in converting to residential anytime soon anyway. So, I do think a precise plan is the right way to go, and I feel like we can afford to take the time that we need to do it right. If we do need to take some type of action. I think the easiest way to do it is to just update the commercial residential arterial zoning district. Kind of like what we did with, um, uh, was it commercial neighborhood for the, um, uh, the general plan, um, village centers, which staff was able to do, um, I think fairly expeditiously in time for, for, um, for that deadline before, um, the, uh, the housing element cycle, uh, began. So I feel like, you know, just updating, it's the general plan is what it is, updating the CRA, zoning district to align with the general plan, um, in order to get technical compliance with the housing, um, it feels like an easy and simple solution to the problem of how do we get into technical compliance by our deadline? If we even need to do that. So for question two, I'm very happy with the key elements and deliverables that staff identified. I don't really have too much to add. I think a council member Kame and the mayor had focused on some things that I also would like to elevate. So I in alignment with them. And I agree also on exploring expanding the project boundary. And I would add as potential objectives. Personally, I don't like p districts. I think we should not have them up to the extent possible. So this feels like a good opportunity to retire the p districts that are along the court or just fold them into the precise plan. And then we have, I think, clarity and some transparency about what is expected of those properties. And then, my colleagues had mentioned, you know, exploring going outward a little bit into the neighborhood, making sure that we reach out to the neighborhood and understand what we could accomplish by doing that and being respectful of transition, but also moving northward toward Moffatt. I think that's a great idea. And I would be interested as the mayor was describing and thinking about, um, maybe a little bit different context, not necessarily a temporal, um, segmenting, but having different sub areas within the precise plan, kind of like what we do with downtown, right? So that way we can capture areas like Shenandoah without upzoning them. But, you know, we could apply, for instance, our streetscape expectations and clarify that we really aren't looking at high density housing there maybe later, but right now it's really intended to help us achieve objective like getting a new school in the area, or maybe 100% affordable housing. Um, so I'm supportive of expanding the boundary, and for question three, I support staff's proposed outreach approach, I think it's very robust, and already, we've gotten a lot of enthusiastic. input from the community, so I think we're on the right track.

[01:23:56] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Vice mayor.

[01:24:03] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Wow, it's nice to have everybody kind of be in sync. Um, I, too, think that a precise plan is a much better idea. I mean, really, the environmental planning commission was founded in the '70s to do long term planning, because we felt that that would work much, much better. I mean, I didn't feel like I wasn't here then, but the people who were here felt like it would just work much, much better for our community. And I think they were right, and it has. And that's the way, that's our custom for carrying out these tailored plans that really, you know, make sure that, uh, the city exerts the kind of control and innovation on our community that we can. And, um, you know, I think it's important to understand, to remember that we can't really control, you know, how much the rents are or how much a building costs, but we can really control that it's designed well, and that it's built well, and that the community is designed well. And precise plans are just exactly the way we typically do that. And, um, I think that Moffat Field is, you know, more than Moffat, the Moffat Boulevard is more than ripe for this. And so I'm glad to hear that other people share that opinion. That's great. I, you know, I'm very, I'm a little equivocal about the boundaries. I'm not sure how changing the boundaries would change the amount of time required, but I do think because of 555 goes to 85, and the Cypress Point HOA goes in that area. It's a logical, it's a logical idea. And certainly, the connection to the Stevens Creek Trail is really important. That is sort of one of the spines of our bicycle network. And getting people connected to it is very important. So, I'm okay with that, but I just wonder how long it will take to get that decision made. You know, maybe we can talk a little later about what the process would be, to make the boundary change and come back to us with that. So that's question one, I think. And then question two is about the key elements, isn't it? of the planet. Okay, so, I, um, this is getting a little more into the nitty gritty of it, but I think this is really, this is just vitally important to me. There are a couple things that are just prime. One is the visioning. It seems like we have a vision that this area is an extension of the downtown. And I don't question that, but I think we should, I think we should just reinforce that, and make sure that everybody agrees with that, and a little bit more about what that means. And so I think the visioning is really, really important. And then another thing that I think is just vitally important here. To make that visioning work, is the streetscape. We, you know, we're going to be making this into sort of a pedestrian wonderland in a lot of ways, because we're going to have this underpass under the railroad track to downtown. So we want to make sure that this area is just fabulous for people to walk around. And that means we have to have a great street tape, escape. I can't say it, sorry, but I know what it is. And, um, so I think that that's very, very important. And, um, uh, and everything else, kind of, the place making, sort of follows from my feeling, kind of follows from that. I'm also a little more confused, and maybe I should have asked this question about the small business retention. I mean, obviously it would be great to retain the small businesses that are currently there. And if there are things that we can do in the precise plan, which is sort of a long term plan to help that, then, yes, they should be included. But given the economic situation in our community right now, we know that there's a lot of things we want to be done, that we want to be done very quickly. And that falls into the economic vitality plan. So I'm a little confused about how those two things work together, and I want to make sure that whatever we put in the precise plan kind of reinforces, or helps, the progress that's made with the economic vitality plan, and they're not at odds. So they really need to work together closely. And then I would just kind of ditto what people have said about the outreach. I think there's a really robust, uh, uh, plan here for doing outreach, and I think that we can, um, really make, um, an even, do an even better job than we might otherwise by doing some combining of the outreach for the downtown plan and the Moffat plan. And I'm sure staff can come up with ways to, you know, to make those work when they're appropriate together, and when they're not appropriate, not together. But I did I didn't see the Windmill Park HOA on the list, and I want to make sure that that gets added. Um, let's see. What's question four? Sorry. Oh, there's 04. Okay. Thank you very much.

[01:30:04] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Now we have council member Abbe Koga.

[01:30:08] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, staff, for the presentation and your work on this. I don't think it's a mystery where I stand on question number one. Having been a part of the general plan update where we had the Moffatt precise plan as one of our change areas. Frankly, if you know, I was hoping that we would have done this way back when, rather than doing some of the gatekeeper projects that had come into this area. I think we should have done the precise plan and planned it out and had the, you know, followed the vision that we had back then when we did the update. So definitely, it's a little late. I guess it's never too late, but it's a little later than I expected, but I think we should go ahead and move forward with the precise plan. And I think it's, you know, it's because of lessons learned from when we just do one-offs and gatekeeper projects. We don't get the full range of the amenities that we need to make an area, not just a bunch of houses, but a neighborhood, including parks and retail and bike, pet access and so forth. And so, um, I think even more now, given that when we are closing uh, auto traffic, um, along here or along the, on the other side, um, the traffic to Castro Street, um, it gives us opportunity really to make it even more bike ped, um, friendly. And I'm excited that we are going to from 5 to 3 lanes and being able to have more space to do that. So, I think this is a, you know, the good time. And maybe that was, that's one benefit of waiting a little longer is that the transit center redevelopment has moved along to a point where this really does make a sense to integrate that connection. So very excited about that. You know, for me, and it's in the visioning of this area of being an extension of downtown. Um, you know, I've, I, uh, traveled to my motherland a couple times this year, um, and I've really focused, frankly, on the transportation and transit, uh, system in, in, in there in Japan. And, you know, one thing, and it's not a mystery. We all know, the transit centers, the stations are centers of retail, frankly. And, you know, I've just wondered why like, what does it take for us here to be able to do something like that? And I find, I would, you know, really am excited to see if that's something we can explore doing in this area and making it a retail, you know, hub and a vibrant place. especially with Caltrane electrification coming in. You know, I have, I mean I am hopeful. I'm optimistic that transit will come back. It's struggling right now, but, you know, I mean, we frankly have to make transit work. So, with that, I think, you know, retail is a good compliment, and I would really like to see this become a retail hub for the community. And I've, you know, talked to Caltrain about this too. Like, how do we make the transit center or that? And, you know, they have land there and we, I think we just really need to explore all those opportunities. So I hope that we can do that. Um, in regards to, um, the boundaries. I definitely am interested in extending North, I believe. And, um, for me, I would like to include Shenandoah because, um, having been involved in some of the conversations we've had with the army, the federal government, um, they have, uh, at certain points in time, they had their plans, and I don't necessarily think they were conducive to what our city's needs and our interests are. And so, um, I guess for me, I feel like we should just go ahead and be proactive and lay out what our vision is for Shenandoah, and then let the army decide if they can match that or not, instead of waiting for them to come up with a project that we have to respond to. I know that we've done that most of the time, we wait for the project, and then we do those, you know, rezonings, but I don't think we, we get what we want when we do that. And so I'd rather go the other way and be proactive here and go ahead and move forward with what we want to see on the site because we do have a lot of needs for the community. And this is a prime location and parcel that I think we can optimize. So I would like to include, at least include Shenandoah. I agree with it. My colleagues, comments, connectivity is really key. So I'm not, you know, tied really to what the boundaries should be. I think sure, 85 makes sense. But definitely I would like to include Shenandoah in this area. And I would ask too, like, I know that we talk, it's federal land, but from my last go days, I believe, you know, last go one, it's us to annex islands, and so we may want to look at moving forward with annexing this land into the city. Um, Let's see. The other... Oh, key elements. I know there's a time, deadline. But I appreciate Counselor Ramirez's comments. I think we should take the time we need to plan this out well. I also think that in light of the other studies and plans we have in this area, we should really take the opportunity to integrate downtown, the transportation plan, retail, economic vitality, as the vice mayor mentioned. I think we, you know, really should look at this comprehensively, and this is a great opportunity to do that. I will say, I understand and I appreciate stuff, you know, being mindful of the deadline. And, you know, of course, if we can follow it, that's great. But in my, you know, hearing the conversations happening at NTC A-bag level, I'm still not clear what happened. Yeah, like you said, what's going to happen if we don't make these deadlines? I think if the intent is, you know, we're on the right track and we're in the right direction, they'll probably give us some leeway. And also, I will mention that, um, the, you know, what has been talked about as the character, or the stick, with these housing elements and plans has been transportation money. And in light of the fiscal cliff, that some of these transit agencies are facing, some of those monies are actually being looked at to fill those gaps. So I'm not even sure if the, like, the Obeg funds, for instance, are gonna be around as a carrot or stick for the housing element. So, you know, I think we just need to move forward and do what's best for our community and plan this out, you know, thoughtfully and take the time we need to do so. So, let's see. And then, in terms of, um, outreach, yeah, sounds like you've done great outreach already. Appreciate the compliments that the community has given to our staff. And, um, I, you know, expect that you will continue on the, on that path. And so, um, thank you for the work. And thank you to the community for all of your input too.

[01:38:14] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramos.

[01:38:16] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Mayor. I'll start with question one. I support a precise plans. So it looks like we're getting very close to near unanimous. We do have a council member magic waiting on Zoom. So, but nearly unanimous, so we're quite excited to get that done. Um, the boundaries. Um, I, uh, I support looking into getting wider boundaries exactly how it is. I'm not entirely sure. I don't think we'll really know what we want until we do the outreach. And so that's something. However, I would like to point out that, um, once we get like past Shenandoah Square, it gets a little bit squishy with my conflict of interest because I do live in the North Wisman neighborhood. So, um, as we're thinking about broadly, I think it's, it's, I was told it was still okay to just, like, as I think we thought, probably, but as if staff, one staff comes back with harder boundaries, that's something to consider. Um, uh, Shindo Square. I was, what I was worried about with Shenandoah Squares because it's like, it's federal land and I'm not, I'm not in those conversations. I don't know how those conversations are going. And so I don't know what that time frame would mean because of how squishy that is. Um, it would be nice to have some level of integration. I don't know what that means because it's, it, it feels strange because it literally is technically not even mountain view yet until we officially annex it. Um, So that was question one and two. Um, key elements. Um, I really care about um, the streetscaping of it. Like my colleagues mentioned before, I do view this as an extension of downtown. And I, I, it is right there by the transit station, and I really do want us to take advantage that, like, we have a transit station right there, that we could really expand out and really imagine what the, the, that Moffat precise plan can be. Uh, one of the fun things, speaking of asset-based um, asset-based planning. I like, I learn new vocabulary all the time with all y'all. Um, But one of the things is like using what we have there. We have a wonderful, um, the adobe house is wonderful, but one of the fun things that I like. There's a, I view, when I view of our historic resources. I think about knowing what certain places were. One of the fun things are, and we had a, uh, there was a, a long time ago, there was a great, uh, presentation from the Historical Association about how, um, in one of those areas inside the Moffat precise plan was aero development. Aero development was, um, the company that created some of the original um, rides for Disneyland, the happiest place on Earth. So I think about that as, like, it's one of our seeds of innovation that Mountain View has been, like, known for. Um, it's in our core and that's like one of the stop areas. I believe they had like a small like plaque there marking it. Um, not that, like, we want to hold that building, whatever. I actually don't think the building is there anymore. I think they it changed so much. But I want that spirit in our Moffat precise plan, that that innovation that we can we can do anything kind of thing. Um, Other things, um, Oh. Yeah, I think overall, that is the, I'm worried about, I, I, from what, uh, um, uh, public works director, Cameron, mention about the, uh, if we we do do the precise plan, it might mean some delay in some of the original plans from streetscaping, and, and I'm hoping that this phasing plan might actually be better off so that we don't have to worry about losing that that funding. I know that we will prioritize the transit center. And once we get the transit center, and then we have that. We have more to take our vision from. So I think that that idea, I don't know if that's part of going to be part of our precise planning, or if that's going to be a separate thing, that the public works director will tell will let us know. Um, I believe, uh, council member committee, you're trying to not say, kill male to bullbirds with one son. I always like to say, feed multiple birds with one scone. Let's make that, uh, let's make that happen for this. I think we have the ability to make something really great with this precise plan. I worry a lot about the deadlines from the housing element, but one of the things I think about with the housing element. I've been working with a lot of housing elements. Um, and we're very fortunate in amount of view that we have a compliant one, which is something not many cities in our area can say. But I think when we think about the deadlines, the deadlines and the metrics are there so that we could be held accountable to the overall goal of the housing element. And our housing element is supposed to be identifying the housing needs of our community and responding to them. I think we're doing that with the Muppet precise plant. And as long as we're open with how our Moffat precise plan will do that goal. I think the deadline, um, will be more forgivable. If that makes sense. All right. Thank you.

[01:43:53] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, I hope so. Next, we have council member Mattachek.

[01:43:59] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. And so, I am really pleased to hear how many people are supportive of doing a precise plan. Um, both on the council as well as in the community. Um, I am supportive of doing a precise plan. I think it's really important to take a comprehensive look at this area. And um, do comprehensive plans. You know, we've headed down the path before of, um, doing just the visioning and then decided, Yeah, that wasn't going to work. So we decided to do a precise plan. And I think this is, um, while different. It's also similar in that we should take a look at the whole thing. So definitely part of doing a precise plan. Um, in terms of the 2nd question. Um. I, um, appreciate the list that is in the staff report, and, um, I'd like to just highlight a couple things for me that are really important. Um, one is definitely the land use mix. Um, we, I definitely want to include things like um, parks and open space, neighborhood serving retail, um, green spaces. Items that are elements that make for a very nice area in which you would want to visit or live. Um, and along with that is the streetscape standards. Um, I'm very interested in having a very walkable area, wide sidewalks and good tree canopy coverage, um, public art and placemaking. Again, I'm very interested in that. I think that makes for a very interesting, enjoyable place to visit or live. And the small business retention is very important to me. There are a lot of very interesting little businesses in the shopping center there. Actually, several of the shopping centers there. And it would be a shame to do something that would cause them to either close or move. And so I'm very interested in retaining them. Um, I also want to make sure we factor in, um, as we think about this, um, the state density bonus law. Especially if the boundaries are expanded. Um, many, Developers are making use of that law. And I think we need to think about that, um, when it comes to what we would do in terms of rezoning. Um, I'm, uh, I guess I have very mixed feelings about expanding the boundaries. Um, I can see where it might make sense, um, but I also look at what's there, and some of the unknowns, um, and wonder, does it really make sense? So, um, you know, if you go on the other side of middle field, We've got Shenandoah Square. I guess maybe I have a question for staff. If we resound that, that could potentially impact the value of that property, correct?

[01:47:06] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yeah, I'll put this to the assistant, uh, city manager, community development director.

[01:47:13] Assistant City Manager, Community Development Director: Thank you for that question, council member. Um, um, our teacher, Vastaba, Assistant City Manager, Community Development Door director. Yes, upzoning the property will affect the value of that property.

[01:47:26] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. Yeah, so I guess, um, I, I think I'd like to hold off and find out what the federal government, um, is thinking, um, and we can always have in our back pocket what we want. Um, but I guess I'm concerned about upzoning at this point, um, and the implications of doing that. Um, and across the street, the uh, condo development. Um, you know, typically, when you have all those individual owners, it's hard for that to change. And so I'm not sure. Um, it makes sense to expand it. Um, so I'm actually leaning more toward keeping the current boundaries that we have. Um, and then when it comes to outreach, I appreciate the long list. Um, and the outreach that has been done so far. Um, I was specifically looking to see whether or not Sterling Estates, that neighborhood was included, and it was on the slide that we saw tonight from staff. so I think that's great. Um, I really want to make sure we, um, reach the people who live in the area and really listen to what they have to say. Um, because a lot of them will remain in the area, and this will impact, um, how they experience the area and their enjoyment of it. So I really want to make sure we focus on what the existing residents have to say. Thank you.

[01:48:57] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So now we have, I'll make my final comments, a couple of things, comments on things that other people had said, and one is that, um, on the issue. One of my main concerns is the transportation projects that are underway, that, uh, with the question that council member Abbe Koga asked. And that Ms. Cameron answered, I'm just hoping that, for me, is a quagmire. I wish we could solve that easily and get what, you know, get the grants we want and get it going and get what the residence in the area, and maybe the whole city want in terms of walkable streetscapes and some innovative things for that. But it's really, seems like a quagmire, and I'm hoping, and maybe this is a little idealistic, but I'm hoping that, um, that with the, the, jumping prices, which I don't like, and having to phase it, maybe we can pick what we take out and take out some things that are the ones that the neighborhood would want to work on more. And you can tell me maybe that that's just not possible, that that's the direction I'm hoping this will go in. So that's my comment on transportation projects, because really, a lot of the things people are very excited about are streetscaping, you know, could we do some different things with bike lanes, and could we, you know, wide sidewalks to be parklets at some point, those sorts of things. So I'm hoping maybe we can draw some things out. So the bad side of inflation. You know, the is inflation, the good side is maybe we take some things out and do what we want, what we took out. Always easier for me to say on the dais than you to actually do, I think. So, I wanted to comment on arrow development. That's an asset based management. That's exactly what I mean by asset based management, and I'm hoping there are things that residents know. I know that George Markle has told me about some of the architects for some of the, for, like, the Cypress Point mid century modern architects. Aero development actually did the Dumbo ride. Maybe we can... and Mr. Toad's Wild Ride. So maybe that will inspire some artwork, or we can get some of the originals. As for Shenandoah. I appreciate Council member Matachek's comment on up zoning and raising the price on ourselves. Um, but I'm wondering, so actually, my, one of my main fears with development is that it, so I want wide, tree lined sidewalks, and buildings built up to the, up to the sidewalk, not a suburban berm. So I'm wondering if we can just put some notes in about that in particular. You know, not... We probably, you know, do want more density, but we don't say that. So I don't know if that, if putting some, you can maybe tell me what the wording would be, but put in some design guidelines in terms of sidewalks and buildings being on the sidewalk. And I, and maybe public facing uses, I've actually talked to the school district about if they did a school there, could they put the theater, instead of somewhere in the middle where no one can, you know, if I want to go to high school band performance, I can't find it. Um, something that will invite people who are walking down the street in. Um, and if it's not a school, it would be probably a housing development, and again, public facing uses on a ground floor. So you have comments on that.

[01:52:49] Assistant City Manager, Community Development Director: Great question again. And one of the things staff will be looking for, as the council wraps up this project, is some a majority on what boundaries we should look at. And, um, I think staff has thought about this, um, should it should it happen, should the council want to expand boundaries. And what we would suggest is maybe a two phased approach. An example of that is focusing on the area that's currently in the general plan, because that includes the streetscape. We have developments right now that are applying for development, and we stand the chance of missing the boat on capturing some of those business retention and other incentives. So we could do a two phased approach where we move forward on the precise plan for the area. And then, when do a second phase, later, that could include Shenandoah, and the other areas, if council wants to expand the boundaries. That way, we're capturing some of the general plan, the housing element goals, and the community goals, as developments are being proposed on Moffett. And we could put in language, such as you suggested, Mayor, that provides some of those future thinking, you know, opportunities, and we've done that in precise plans. So let staff come back with some ideas. But we could we could do a two-phased approach. That way we're achieving both the goals, understanding that some of these sites are not yet in play, and the city might want to take the additional town that council has talked about. But we do, we do want some clarity on the boundaries. So we at least know which way to go when we're scoping the project, even if it's in 2 phases.

[01:54:48] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, thank you. So, okay, my last comment was gonna be on condos being hard to change, they are hard to change, but I don't know when we'll look at this area again, and I don't know what happens 30, 40, 50 years from now. I know that my husband is from Turkey, and what happens there is their incentives for, for, they're not called condos there, but they're the same thing. They're incentives for building them higher that are given, and who knows, you may have noticed there's a lot of change in housing legislation in California. Who knows 40 years from now, whether that won't be a thing here, as well. So, I would just like to get a little more ahead of the game than we have in the past, and have a vision for how whatever changes come down the road, how they face the street, so that we can kind of fulfill the vision that residents have spoken about tonight. Okay, so with that, I don't know. Oh, it sounds like other people have a second round of comments. Uh, Council member, Abbe Koga.

[01:55:56] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. So my comment was specifically about Shenandoah. I was not necessarily thinking of just up zoning and I don't, you know, I, you know, there's many ways to, um, to cut the slice of pie or whatever, the, the, the, um, phrases, but I just want, I, I guess what I'm looking for is an opportunity for the council with the community and, and also Congresswoman Eshu. She's been very much, you know, um, keeping an eye on this parcel. The dialogue conversation to come up with what we would like to see on this parcel. In the past when the army did come in with a gatekeeper project, it was, I think, a 1000 apartment luxury apartments. And I personally didn't, I personally did not think that was what we needed here. We have a lot of other needs, whether it's a school or a park or, you know, we talk about another library. So that's what I'm talking about. I'm not just thinking, let's just up zone it and make it more expensive. I'm saying let's figure it, let's look at all of the possibilities and figure out what we need as a community and just put it out there so that when the army is ready to engage, they know what we are thinking because, and it's not just going to be dependent on what they come up with. Thanks.

[01:57:29] Mayor Alison Hicks: Next, we have council member room. Oh, city manager.

[01:57:33] City Manager Kimbra McCarthy: Thank you, Mayor. So I wanted to provide some further context about discussions that have been had with actually the DOD to the Department of Defense and the Army about Shenandoah. So, um, it has been on and off the last several years and this year it is now on. And staff has met, not only with army staff. Our staff has met with Army staff, and also has engaged with Congresswoman SU directly and her staff. And I'll just say this. I think the Army's vision is right now probably not aligned with what the city's vision would be. So it makes sense to look at, potentially, as our community development director said, a 2nd phase of kind of going back to the drawing board, which Shenandoah and thinking about what all the possibilities are, what the community wants. But I think it warrants more exploration. And I would say the conversations are, um, not happening, uh, the army doesn't move fast, if you if you think government is slow at the local level, it's even slower at the federal level. So, I think having some sort of springboard or framework now, given the state of affairs would probably be helpful. So I believe that it would be in the city's best interest to think about Shenandoah in that way and look at it holistically.

[01:59:05] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Council member Ramirez.

[01:59:10] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. A couple of quick thoughts. So first, I agree with Councilman Robbie Coke. I'm not necessarily looking to up zone Shenandoah, but I'm thinking, you know, if it were to be wrapped into the precise plan, kind of like with downtown, it might be segmented as a specific sub area, right? A through J or whatever. And for that sub area, it would just reference maybe as a placehold for now. The development standards for, what is it, the PF zoning district, which is what I think it is. I don't remember exactly. But basically public facilities, right? And if we wanted to say, and also 100% affordable housing. I'd be fine with that too. But I'm very concerned about a 2 phase approach primarily because I think it just exacerbates the problem we've identified about segmentation, right? We're not thinking about the area holistically then. And I would rather come in with a vision for the corridor and what we could achieve with some of the strategies that we've employed elsewhere and other precise plans, using bonus FAR, for instance, to secure community benefits. What I'm worried about is if we just do the general plan area now, which is very small, 20 acres, you know, very small parcels and shallow parcels, um, and then we come back later, we wouldn't have, I don't think we would be doing ourselves in our community, a service because we would have denied everyone an opportunity, an opportunity to think more holistically about what does this corridor look like in 30 or 40 or 50 years. And I agree with the mayor also. One thing we should potentially anticipate is maybe there's something catastrophic that occurs, right? An earthquake, and now, you know, we have, we're still in the middle of phase 2 or a future council has decided to delay that, and we have the existing zoning and the existing general plan, which doesn't provide anything for a community. So I agree. I would rather think ahead, and presume that a future council may not want to revisit this area, and we may not have another opportunity to think about what it should be in 50 years. So I personally, I'm not supportive of doing a two-face approach. I would rather think holistically at once and take some time to get it right.

[02:01:32] Mayor Alison Hicks: So, I mean, I find both of those compelling, unfortunately. I mean, I thought that Ms. Shvostova brought up that there are properties that could redevelop very soon, and they're pretty key ones, and we could lose, you know, some of the small businesses, or they could, you know, we could have no, um... So is there an application right now and informal.

[02:01:55] Unknown Speaker: So, two years later. We'll have our precise plan, and we can't retroactively apply our precise plan to an application that we've gotten within that two year time frame. So if the intent is to head off development that could occur, it's too late, because the application is already it.

[02:02:13] Mayor Alison Hicks: Well, my fear is that there may be another one upcoming. I'm not... Skeptical that. She's notting her head again.

[02:02:20] Unknown Speaker: But we still wouldn't have completed this work. I mean, unless we're anticipating it's gonna come in, you know, 24 months later. The problem, I just, I think, unless we want to expedite this and get it done very quickly. We're not going to get ahead of future development if there's interest today.

[02:02:44] Mayor Alison Hicks: Right, yeah. Vice mayor.

[02:02:49] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Well, I think it's time to talk about what is the process for figuring out what the change in boundaries is. We could just say tonight, we wanted to go to 85, and it'd be essentially the big triangle with Moffatt, Moffatt Boulevard, you know, the Moffatt Corridor. We could do that. Or we could send staff back and say, We want them to study this and come back with a suggestion. I know that there was discussion of them going out for an RFP very quickly. And so, I, you know, I'm concerned with putting off going out for the RFP. So, yeah, I'd like, staff, could you talk to us a little bit about those options, and what would be helpful?

[02:03:40] Unknown Speaker: Sure, we did hear from some council members, I think, saying, interested in hearing what the outreach has to say about expanding boundaries. And we really have to hire the consultant before we go off and start doing that. I think what we can do is we can include in the RFP, a statement that council is interested in, kind of talking with the community, about various, various areas that might be included in this precise planning process. And then we'd obviously talk with the potential consultants about what that would mean for the budget and timeline for the project. And we'd have all that information for you when we come back with the scope. So it wouldn't put off the RFK. Not necessarily, although I would say that, um, it would be, um, I heard various kind of, um, policy values for expanding the boundaries, and if we can get clarity from council on what council is trying to achieve with those boundary expansions, like several council members brought up incorporating P districts. There was a lot of discussion around Shenandoah, for certain policy reasons, but also goals for kind of more comprehensive transportation planning, like, you know, planning the Moffatt Corridor a little further away or connections to the Stevens Creek Trail. So those were all different things that we heard. And if we can just kind of get some, you know, council agreement that those are the types of things that you want us to look at when we're expanding the boundaries, that would be really helpful.

[02:05:29] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Thank you. Yeah, well, I'm glad to hear that you think that we can sort of go forward, and it's certainly better to have outreach about this than it is to just make a declaration tonight that's way better. But at the same time, we're under a deadline of sorts, and we don't want to upset the schedule too much. So, yeah, I like your suggestion. So I can say, I heard mostly, most people say, at least to 85. And then other thing, the other things that council members said were a little more vague, but mostly to 85, I think, because of the Stevens Creek Trail connection. And for me, it's also because the distance, when we're talking about transitoriented development, the distance between, you know, and kind of our city center. It's the other half of our city center. The distance between El Camino and the train station on Castro is not exactly the same to the foot, but is very, very similar. to the distance between the train station and '85. So for several reasons, I think that if we're thinking about, you know, when we're thinking about, what are people willing to walk, if we say they're willing to walk from El Camino to the train station, they're probably willing to walk from, yeah, 85 to the train station. And so, I've heard a lot of people say those things. I don't know if there are additional reasons out, Mr. Favostova.

[02:07:04] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Just one point of clarification, just so that staff can get input on what to include. We've heard Shenandoah. We've heard going to 85 and we've heard P District by which we assume 555 and 100. Okay. So those are the projects we will talk to the community about and come back. Um, and then. The other P district is the condo complex on the north side of the field. Okay, on the north side of Middlefield, across from Shenandoah, across Moffatt, is that of interest? Because then we can go to the community and say, these are the properties we're talking about, and then come back to council. Okay. I have, I can take a straw pole on that. I think that would be helpful. And I do have council member Mattachek waiting to... It's a member manager.

[02:08:00] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Oh, sorry, I had a question. Um, I guess... I wasn't necessarily talking about just upzoning Shenandoah. I guess when, um, staff comes back to us. I'd like to understand, um, What can the federal government do right now, and if we change any zoneing on it, not necessarily just upzoning, but if we change, you know, part of it might be public facilities. Um, what are the implications for the value of the property? Because it's not just the city that might be interested in it, there might be other, um, agencies that might be interested in it. And I do want to understand the implications for the value of the property, for any change to the zoning. Thanks.

[02:08:50] Mayor Alison Hicks: So, is that a preliminary question for staff now, or that's something when they go out and talk to people you want to understand the answer?

[02:08:59] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Well, I don't know if staff can answer it right now. That'd be great, but if not, I'm happy to wait until we revisit this.

[02:09:05] Unknown Speaker: Mayor and council member Matachek. So, we wouldn't have the answer to that now. This is something that staff will need to look into and bring back to council, um, it's definitely gonna involve some research about, um, changing the zoning, the rules around federal government's autonomy or authority. And then also, we can look into annexing, just so that we know what it even entails. So I think that staff can bring that back to council.

[02:09:33] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. There's our preliminary answer. Thank you. Council member committee.

[02:09:40] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: I was just gonna say, um, I'm comfortable with where we're landing, and I think that maybe it's not even that it's a recommendation to expand the project boundary, but just to explore, and I, what I'm hearing are just the different options, and just more information, and I, I think, kind of, it gets to the heart of what you're talking about, which is, we don't know when we're gonna see this again. So we might, if we're going to stay just within the project boundary to Moffatt, then at least we know we looked at other things, what was or wasn't feasible, the implications, and I think perhaps it would make the council more comfortable. And so that would be what I'm hearing, and hopefully that's enough for us to move forward, but I think we're just trying to figure out the different...

[02:10:28] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Instead of taking a straw pole, you're just wanting, or this could be the straw pole, just that staff would explore, going to 85, including P districts, and including Shenandoah.

[02:10:42] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Yes, and I think with the, the question that Councilman Matachek brought up about what it could do to the, you know, assessed value, and then what the city managers just mentioned about looking into the annexation as well. I think all of those are things of interest, and that would be, I guess, my proposed draw motion. If we need that still, but... It'll take a second.

[02:11:06] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, so straw poll on have staff explorer, going to 85, including P districts and including Shenandoah, all those in favor. Oh, okay. So one abstention and, uh, all those in favor except for with the, all those, uh, opposed. When opposed, and abstentions, one abstention. Okay. So I assume the uh, key elements and deliverables and the outreach. There were a lot of comments on those. Do you need any more clarity?

[02:11:59] Unknown Speaker: No, I just heard, um, a kind of affirmation of what we had in the staff report with some emphasis, for certain ideas like, um, small businesses and streetscape and placemaking.

[02:12:15] Mayor Alison Hicks: Great, because that's what I heard too. Okay, so any final comments? Okay. It seems then, like, uh, Like we're done with this, would you, you all like a short break? Okay, 10 minute break. will be back at 8 o'clock.

[02:12:48] Mayor Alison Hicks: Good evening, everyone. I'm going to now welcome you to the joint meeting of the Mountain View City Council and Shoreline Regional Park community of November 14th, 2023. We will start with the pledge of allegiance.

[02:13:08] Unknown Speaker: Allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic, which it stands, foundation, under God, indivisible, liberty, and justice for all.

[02:13:26] Mayor Alison Hicks: We are now on item 3 of the agenda. The city clerk will take attendance by roll call.

[02:13:33] City Clerk: Council member Abi Koga?

[02:13:35] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Here,

[02:13:35] City Clerk: Council member Kimei.

[02:13:36] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Here.

[02:13:36] City Clerk: Council member Mattachek.

[02:13:38] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Here?

[02:13:39] City Clerk: Couns member Ramirez.

[02:13:40] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Here.

[02:13:41] City Clerk: Council member Ramos.

[02:13:42] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Here?

[02:13:43] City Clerk: Vice mayor show Walter?

[02:13:44] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Here.

[02:13:44] City Clerk: Mayor Hicks?

[02:13:45] Mayor Alison Hicks: Here.

[02:13:45] City Clerk: You have a corn?

[02:13:47] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So, now, um, I'm gonna say that in recent weeks, several of our neighboring elected decision making bodies have been subjected to disruptive racist verbal attacks by anonymous callers during virtual public comments. The city of Mountain View is fully committed to racial, religious, and cultural equity, and justice as we strive to create a welcoming, safe, and inclusive community for all. The council welcomes respectful and non threatening public comments regarding matters over which the council has jurisdiction. Comments deemed otherwise, pursuant to the council code of Conduct and the government code, may be grounds for terminating a speaker's comment period. That will go to item number four, which is the consent calendar. These items will be approved by one motion. Unless any member of the council wishes to remove an item for discussion. If you'd like to speak on this item or the next item, oral communications on nonagenda items in person, please submit a speaker card. And if you want to virtually, raise your hand in Zoom. Would any member of the council like to pull a consent item? Vice mayor.

[02:15:15] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Well, as is my custom. I don't really wanna pull one. I just want to make a few comments. In particular, 4.one, that talks about the recycling and waste reduction technical advisory committee, and that's a committee where recycling and waste reduction specialists from all over the county, get together, to work on things of general interest, and support each other. and share further our recycling goals for the county. It was very useful. I served on it when I worked at Valley Water for a few years. And I'm really glad that Mountain View is taking part. So that's about that. Then we are, we're going to be improving our boathouse, which is something that many of us will enjoy greatly when it's done. And then, 4.3 is the annual water and sewer main replacements. And I just want to bring this up because sewer and water are just really important parts of a civil society. And it's very important that our city maintain our system and keep it running carefully, and that's what this is about. And then we just celebrated the shoreline community recently, the 40th anniversary, and this item, the next one is the shoreline landfill, gas cap, and Leeche Management Prob maintenance. That has to be done in perpetuity. So this item is about taking care of that ongoing maintenance. So I just wanted to share that with the community. Thank you.

[02:17:01] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So thank you for those important and exciting details. We will now take any public comments either in person or via Zoom. I see no speakers uh, in either forum. So, I'll now bring the item back for council action. And note a motion to approve. The consent calendar should also include reading the title of the resolution attached to item 4.1. And also, the city clerk will take a roll call vote, as we have a council member participating remotely this evening. So, I see a motion by the vice mayor and a 2nd by council member committ. Vice mayor, you're going to read the...

[02:17:53] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes, I move the consent calendar, including item 4.one, adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View, authorizing the city manager, or designee, to execute the First Amendment, to the agreement creating the Santa Clara County Recycling and Waste Reduction, Technical Advisory Committee, for Teleconference Options, to be read entitled only, further reading waived, and all of the rest of consent calendar.

[02:18:22] City Clerk: Roll call vote. Vice Mayor Show Walter.

[02:18:26] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes.

[02:18:26] City Clerk: Council member, Kamei?

[02:18:28] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Yes.

[02:18:28] City Clerk: Council member Abbe Coco? Council member Manachek.

[02:18:32] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yes.

[02:18:33] City Clerk: Council member Ramirez?

[02:18:34] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Yes.

[02:18:34] City Clerk: Council member Ramos?

[02:18:35] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yes.

[02:18:36] City Clerk: Mir Hicks?

[02:18:37] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yes. Ocean carries unanimously. Great, so now we're on item number five, which is Oral Communications. This portion of the meeting is reserved for people wanting to address the council on any matter not on the agenda, and speakers will be allowed to speak on any topic within the city council's subject matter jurisdiction for up to 3 minutes. State law prohibits the council from acting on non-agenda items. If you'd like to speak on this item, or the next item in person, submit a speaker card, um, or if you want to speak virtually, uh, raise your hand in Zoom. I see the city manager. No. That's in error. Okay. So are there, I don't see any speakers, either in person or virtually. So, we will now move on to item 6.1 on our agenda, which is the downtown business improvement areas and allocation of 2024 business improvement area revenues. Council member Abbe Koga, do you have an announcement to make?

[02:19:49] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Yes, thank you, Mayor. I am recusing myself from participating in any discussion or determination about the downtown business improvement areas, one and 2 due to the proximity of personal residence to both improvement areas.

[02:20:03] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay. Thank you. And I will also be recusing myself from participation in discussion or determination about the downtown business. Improvement areas one and 2 due to the proximity of my residence, to both areas. Vice mayor?

[02:20:27] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: All right. Well, business improvement area assessments are subject to majority protest by the affected businesses. Written protests against the proposed amendments are submitted by mail, delivered to the city clerk's office by 5 p.m. today will be counted. At the end of this hearing, we will determine whether or not a majority protest exists. Economic vitality manager, John Lang, will present the item.

[02:20:58] Economic Vitality Manager John Lang: Good evening, mayor and city council. Tonight, we are holding the second public hearing in the annual renewal process for the downtown business improvement areas. The 1st meeting on October 10th, 2023, was to review and preliminarily approve the BIAs. There are 2 business improvement areas. BIA number one, which includes all businesses along Castro Street, and the side streets, and BIA number two, which just includes the businesses within the 100 to 300 blocks of Castro Street. The BIA assessments are used for specific programming and services to support downtown businesses, any changes to these areas and services, do require majority vote by the downtown businesses. In the annual report prepared by the Chamber of Commerce, the 2024 projected revenues for both areas are approximately $39,700. Tonight, there are 3 recommendations for city council consideration. First, to adopt the resolutions to levy annual assessments in BIA number one and number 2 for calendar 2024. And then the last one is to authorize the city manager to allocate the 2024 revenues, MBI in BIA's number one, number two, to the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, to fund a contract for services, with the Mountain View Chamber of Commerce, to accomplish the purposes of the areas. This concludes my presentation. I'm open for questions. Thank you.

[02:22:39] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Alright. Do any members of the council have questions? All right, seeing none. Would any member of the public joining us virtually, or in person, like to provide a comment on this item? If so, please click the raised hand button in Zoom, or submit a blue speaker card to the city clerk. Okay, we'll take in person speakers first, but I'm seeing virtually no movement in the audience, and no speakers on Zoom. Okay. So, um... Thank you. So now it's time to close the public hearing, and we'll accept the report from the city clerk regarding any written protests.

[02:23:34] City Clerk: The city did not receive any written protests for either business improvement area.

[02:23:40] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. All right, thank you. Well, I'll now bring the item back for council deliberation and action, and note that emotion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolutions attached. The city clerk will take a roll call as we have a council member participating remotely this evening. And, um, I see that council member Kameh has moved. So, go ahead.

[02:24:05] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. Thank you, vice mayor. I move that we adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View, confirming the annual report of the Downtown Mountain View Business Improvement Area, number one, and levying the annual benefit assessment for 2024 to be read and title only for the reading waived. And adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View, confirming the annual report of downtown Mountain View Business Improvement Area number 2 and levying the annual benefit assessments for 2024 to be read entitled only further reading waived.

[02:24:44] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Any comments? No? Clerk, could we take a roll call, please?

[02:24:49] City Clerk: Council member Kamei?

[02:24:50] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Yes.

[02:24:50] City Clerk: Council member Ramirez.

[02:24:52] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Yes.

[02:24:52] City Clerk: Council member Mattachek?

[02:24:54] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yes.

[02:24:54] City Clerk: Council member Ramos?

[02:24:55] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yes.

[02:24:56] City Clerk: and vice mayor of Walter.

[02:24:58] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes. Motion carries unanimously. We should welcome council member Abby Koga and Mayor Hicks, back to the dais. Can they hear us?

[02:25:10] Unknown Speaker: Yeah. Yes.

[02:25:14] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay, well, we can do that. while we have a little changing of the guard up here for the next item.

[02:25:39] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you, Vice Mayor. We are now on um, item number 6.2, which is 50550 Ellis Street, Hotel and Office Project. Would any council members like to make disclosures? No. Okay. Oh. Oh, Council member Mata Check. Would you like to make a disclosure?

[02:26:12] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. Yes, I would. Um, I believe I met with the developer. a very long time ago. Um, either by myself or as part of the Wagonwell Neighborhood Association. Um, but it was so long ago. Um, I really can't remember the date. Thanks.

[02:26:31] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Uh, Vice Mayor, are you gonna...

[02:26:39] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: I just have to say, um, pretty much ditto to what, um, uh, council member Manachek, I think I met with the developer approximately two years ago.

[02:26:54] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yeah, I think I did as well.

[02:26:56] Mayor Alison Hicks: So, long time ago. Any others? I don't see any of those. Okay. So, um, now we will have, uh, senior planner Ellen Yao, an advanced planning manager, Eric Anderson, present the item.

[02:27:24] Senior Planner Ellen Yao: Thank you and good evening, mayor and city council members. My name is Ellen Yao, senior planner, and I'm the project planner for this project. I'm joined by Advanced Planning Manager Eric Anderson. The item for your consideration this evening is a office and hotel project located at 50550 Ella Street. The project site is located at the corner of Ellis Street and National Avenue. It is zoned P 41 East Wisman Precise Plan, and it is within the employment character area North. And it has a general planned land use designation of high intensity office. The site is currently surrounded by office uses on all sides, except for one commercial use, specialties restaurants, which is located across Ellis Street by the 101 on ramp. The project site is comprised of 2 parcels that total approximately 2.16 acres. And they're currently developed with 21 story office buildings with surface level parking between the buildings, and all of that will be demolished as part of this project. The applicant requests a planned community permit and development review permit to construct a new 6 story, 201 room hotel, and a new 4 level fully automated parking garage that is wrapped by the hotel on 3 sides in the southern part of the site. And a new two-story office building in the northern part of the site. A provisional use permit is being requested by the applicant for a parking reduction to allow 192 spaces in lieu of the required 209 spaces for the hotel. And they're also requesting for a heritage tree removal permit to remove 8 heritage trees. Additionally, the project requests approximately 74,000 square feet of non-residential hotel bonus FAR, and this is allowed as part of the East Wisman precise plan, bonus FAR program, which we'll discuss later in the presentation. A virtual neighborhood meeting was held on October 27th, 2022, and 7 people attended. The attendees generally had logistical questions about what was happening in the hotel in terms of restaurant and tenancy, but they also expressed general support of the project's mix of uses, both the hotel use in the office, and the public Paseo. The project was reviewed twice by the development review committee, once in November of 2022 and another in June of this year. No members of the public spoke at the 1st DRC meeting. However, we did receive one letter regarding the importance of citywide tree preservation policies. And at the meeting, one person asked about, um, ramp accessibility, um, off of the Paseo to Ellis Street. The applicant has worked cooperatively with staff to address many design recommendations, such as frontage tree preservation, enhanced seo amenities, and improved hotel massing and window detailing. Staff has included design conditions in the resolution to address the remaining design refinements. This also includes revised conditions that require building and Paseo design review because of the changes they made between EPC and council hearing. Finally, the project was reviewed at an environmental planning commission hearing on October 4th. Prior to the meeting, staff received 2 letters from the public regarding Redwood Trees, Preservation, and during the meeting, 2 members of a public, one of which wrote a comment letter. They requested the tree preservation, and they also expressed support of the project's bird safe design, transportation demand management measures, public space, and then the bicycle and pedestrian friendly design on the site. Overall, the EPC found the project to be a positive addition in the East was an precise plan area due to the project's mix of uses, the public sale, the lead platinum buildings and the payment of community benefit funds. The EPC was supportive of exceptions to the streetscape design and the hotel's loading space requirement reduction. However, the EPC expressed particular concern about the proposed redwood tree removals in the Paseo and along Ellis Street. And they supported deviation from the street wall requirement to preserve those treats, those trees. The EPC recommended the city council adopt the staff recommendation to approve the project with one addition to the staff recommendation, which was that the applicant work with staff, to explore additional opportunities to preserve more of the existing trees, even if it deviated from the required street wall requirements. without substantially modifying the project. The project is gonna provide a two-way driveway. It's accessed off of National Avenue, and it wraps along the Western and northern property lines, and it exits on the Ellis Street through a one exit only driveway. This will reduce the current 4 driveway cuts to 2 in order to maximize sidewalk continuity and provide a pedestrian friendly experience. The project also includes an enhanced paseo between the buildings, which you can see in brown. We'll discuss that in detail later. The hotel is designed with 3 primary volumes, a key corner tower, a horizontal street wall comprised of the 4 lower levels, and the 2 upper floors are set back. The facade that faces the Paseo steps down to 2 stories to interface with the 2 story office building and provides a more intimate setting for the pedestrian Paseo. The hotel has a simple and modern design with a mix of smooth and textured materials, including EFIS, trespah panels, metal panels, and wood like paneling. The hotel frontage. On Ella Street features entries to the hotel lobby, the restaurant and a bar, and a covered outdoor patio, which you can see on the right image. And then along national avenue, the hotel facade provides entries to the shop front and the porte cochere waiting and loading area shown in the left image. The 2 story office building is located to the north of the hotel. Um, is located along Ellis Street, and the building includes high quality and finely textured materials along the 1st floor. Such as stone look porcelain tile and a projecting 2nd story element that adds interest to the glass facade. The north facade uses warmer tones to individualize a separate entrance, and the main building entry, which you could see here in dark, is oriented towards and helps activate the Paseo. And it includes steps seating that integrates with the steps of the Paseo at Ellis Street. The office was originally designed to meet the East Wisman precise plan street wall standards, which requires that building facades be set back, um, or located within 20 feet of the planned inside edge of a public sidewalk, uh, along Ellis. However, in response to EPC's recommendation to preserve additional trees, the applicant has modified the project by setting the office building an additional 11 feet from the proposed sidewalk. These revisions will save an additional 3 redwood trees, which now preserves all 5 redwood trees along the Ellis Street frontage for the office. However, the hotel remains in the same location, but it complies with the precise planned street wall standards intended to maintain that facade consistency on the LSD frontage. Also, in compliance with the East was a precise plan, the project proposes a 10 foot wide pedestrian Paseo that runs east-west and connects with the multi-use path, Paseo proposed by the adjacent development, 600 Ellis, with the construction of this Paseo. The 2 portions will be connected and provide direct public access from Ellis Street, and it will complete 2 thirds of the block. This is shown circled in red in the diagram to the left. The Paseo is situated between the hotel and office as a combined common open space. This provides additional area beyond the required 10 feet width, all of which is going to be publicly accessible. So the space includes amenities like movable tables, built-in seating implanters, and direct access into both of the buildings. Again, in response to EPCs recommendation to preserve the additional trees. The applicant revise the Paseo area, and it will now preserve 4 additional existing mature redwood trees that were previously proposed to be removed. The revised design proposes larger planter boxes to house those existing trees, and they will be replacing the concrete hardscape that was proposed with space decking to reduce impacts to the root areas of the trees and provide for better water filtration. This is also an improvement to the current conditions where the trees are located between surface parking. The center image shows the entrance of the Paseo from the Ellis Street entrance and the image on the right is a bird's eye view from the 600 Ellis project. As discussed earlier, the applicant has revised their site plan to save 7 additional heritage trees, including 3 redwood trees along Ellis Street and 4 redwood trees in the Paseo. In total, the revised project proposes the removal of 8 heritage trees and 9 non-heritage trees while preserving 20 heritage trees that's on site and 8 non-heritage trees. The remaining tree removals are necessary. Do the proposed vehicular path of travel. The building envelope, risk from demolition and low suitability for preservation due to construction impacts. This project will require 25 replacement trees. However, there is limited space for all the replacement site due to the existing trees that will be preserved and the circulation needs of the site. So the project is providing 20 on-site replacement trees, and we'll pay an in-loof fee for the rest of the replacements. The project also provides for an additional 9 trees, but these are within the public right away street trees. The project will result in almost a 10% net increase in tree canopy coverage at full maturity, and it provides at least 75% native planting. To minimize the number of vehicle trips in an out of East Wisman precise plan area, the plan requires that all new office projects include specific transportation, demand, site design features, and operational measures. This includes a TDM plan that provides detail on the implementation of the plan and the reporting of the TDM measures. This project has provided a plan that meets the requirements, and this includes compliance with the East Wisman trip cap, and also the implementation and annual monitoring of a TDM plan. This includes measures like joining the Mountain View, TMA, provision of bike storage, repair facility, and showers. Subsidized transit passes and guaranteed ride home program and ride matching services. Additionally, I want to talk about the parking, the east wisdom and precise plan provides parking ratio maximums and encourages shared parking for mixed use developments. Since a recent state law, AB 2097 took effect at the start of this year. Cities are prohibited from enforcing parking minimums for developments located within one half mile of public transit. However, this law doesn't apply to hotels, so the required 209 spaces still is in fact for the hotel. So you can see on the top of the chart here. The project is providing 192 spaces, which is less than the required 209 for the hotel. So, um, the shared parking is recommended for mixed use development. So, in order to do that, they have to provide a parking study. So the project provides 109 192 total spaces shared between the 2 uses, and the parking study shows that at various peak hours, the expected parking is below the provided, as you can see, in the chart on the top. Also, the project exceeds the required bicycle parking by providing 24 secure long-term parking spaces and 32 short-term parking bicycle racks. The long-term parking area is located in an enclosed room in the office building to the north, and it includes showers, and the short-term parking spaces are located throughout the site. So the project, um, substantially complies with the East Wisman precise plan employment character area, but it does request minor exceptions to the public sidewalk standards for National Avenue and Illustrate and the required number of loading spaces for the hotel. These exceptions will allow for the preservation of existing heritage trees and reduces surface parking, loading spaces, and excess of the uses operational needs. So to preserve existing redwood trees located along Ellis Street and National Avenue, the new sidewalk will meander around the existing redwoods while portions of the sidewalk will remain monolithic as it stands right now. As designed, the sidewalks will vary from 6 feet to 8 feet. This is to achieve those wider sidewalks for enhanced pedestrian experience. However, during construction, if it's necessary, the sidewalk with may be reduced in order to prioritize the tree preservation. The zoning code requires one parking space, one loading space for the 1st 30,000 square feet of floor area and one space per 20,000 square feet of additional floor area for non-residential uses. Therefore, the hotel is required to have 6 loading spaces and office is required to have 2 loading spaces. While the project does meet the requirement for the office, the applicant has requested an exception to the hotel use, because the hotel is a limited service hotel that doesn't have large conference rooms or banquet space, which typically would require more loading. Now, the reduction of loading spaces is also consistent with 2 other hotel projects with similar service approved by the city. Additionally, the MTA did not identify issues with this reduction, and the hotel will be allowed to utilize the 2 spaces that are designated for the office, if needed and available. So in total, the site will have 4 loading spaces. The project includes a request to utilize non-residential, um, bonus floor error ratio, um, that's allowed under the East Wismer precise plan. This, anything that exceeds the base FAR of one. But the East was been precise plan does allow for mixed use developments to go up to 2.5 FAR. In order to earn that bonus FAR for the hotel, the project must meet an enhanced green building standard, and provide community benefits contribution. The project complies with both. They are proposing buildings that are lead platinum and providing a community benefits contribution proportional to the .79 additional FAR above the base. And this is based on rates adopted by the city council. It amounts to about 460,000. The project is not requesting the project is not requesting bonus FAR for the office, and so they are not providing community benefits for that portion. In conclusion, staff recommends that the city council adopt the initial study and approve the planned community permit, development review permit, the provisional use permit and the heritage tree removal permit. City staff is present available for questions, and the applicant team is here and we'll speak on their project. Thank you.

[02:43:28] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yes, thank you. We'll now have a presentation from Tom Jess, architect for Aris Studio Architects.

[02:43:42] Tom Jess: Good evening. I am Tom Jess with Eris Studio Architects. And first off, I just want to thank you for the opportunity to present this project. This is, sorry, I'm going to be changing my glasses a lot to read and talk. But this is a project that we've been working on for quite a while. And I also want to make a special thanks to staff. Ellen has been great to work with. It's been a very cooperative process, and I believe, honestly and wholeheartedly, that this is a better project that we're presenting to you today, than we started with at the beginning, and a lot of that, thanks, goes to. to her and the whole staff that's worked with us on this. So what we're presenting is a hotel that, and an office building that was, you know, designed in conjunction with the East Whisman Precise Plan, and wanting to see that come to fruition here. We're adding a visitor serving accommodations there. We're developing a key corner, as identified in the plan, we're enhancing and adding a pedestrian connection, which goes above and beyond what's the minimum requirement, which is at 10 feet. We're going quite a bit wider than that. There was a lot of work, making sure that that was an attractive and easily accessible space to the public. There'll be signage and identification. We've worked with the DRC to get that space nice and wide. So that's gonna be a nice amenity. And I know there was a little bit of discussion earlier and hear about whether or not you can tell whether there was a bar inside of a specific hotel or something along those lines. So this is something that we've done, is we've pulled all those features to the street. We've had direct entrances. We have an outdoor patio, trying to really activate that street and make that a pleasant pedestrian experience going through there. And as was mentioned, and I want to be brief in this presentation, because Ellen did such a great job walking through the whole project. But I did want to just point out, in response to the EPC's comments regarding the trees, and the heritage trees are something that we take very seriously, and we take into extraordinary measures that are implemented through the arborist report and conditioned in the project, both during construction and post construction, to ensure that we're doing all we can to make those trees to make it so that those trees have the best chance of survival and thriving. In fact, the arborist has mentioned that the condition after construction will be significantly better than their existing condition, where they're confined within asphalt, where we're gonna be able to get more water down to the roots, and so forth. So just to kind of touch on the heritaged redwood tree subject real briefly. There's a total of 28 heritage trees on the site, 25 of which are redwood trees, our original proposal that we submitted and took through DRC up to the EPC, we were preserving 13 of the 25 redwood trees. At the EPC, there was comments from the public, as well as the members of the committee, and we went back, and we modified the office building, so that previously, we were in compliance with the street facade, but requirements that are in the East Westman precise plant. But now we've moved them back, moved the building back to its original footprint, so that the trees that are there now can remain, so that preserved that grove of trees in that area, which is a significant modification of the plant. But it makes the project better and the trees are going to be preserved. And then within the paseo, We had to adjust a few grades in there, adjust the accessible ramp. We need to make sure that we provide accessibility. We change the materials of the ground surface from concrete, which required compaction to an open spaced wood decking, which does not require compaction. So that's gonna preserve the tree's roots. We've enlarged the planters, which compromise the usability of the space a little bit. There's a little bit less seating now, but the planters are larger, and the trees become the focus of that space. So we were able to preserve that grove of trees that's running through the space there. The only ones that we're removing are directly adjacent to the hotel building, and we did go back and look at that as well. However, the depth requirements of a hotel, the parking and so forth, that we just couldn't make that work. So we have done all we can and used our creativity and the cooperation of both the owners and the arborist, as well as the landscape architect, to make sure that we're doing all we can to preserve the maximum number of heritage trees and specifically redwood trees that are on that site. As I mentioned, want to keep this nice and brief. So, in conclusion, this is a project that we hope that you, that we're very proud of, that we hope that you'll find an ability to support, and we're here to answer any questions you may have. I believe we still have representatives from the landscape architect, the parking lift manufacturer, the arborist, on the, uh, Zoom, but with the timing, I'm not positive they're still on there. I haven't gotten confirmation, but I believe that they are. if there's any questions there. as well as a representative of the owner. So thank you.

[02:48:51] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Thank you very much. So now we'll go to questions from council members. Do council members have any questions? Council member Ramirez.

[02:49:09] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. One question for staff. There's been a lot of community interest in the tree removals, and I'm curious to understand what level of discretion the council has in evaluating and making a determination regarding the tree removal permit.

[02:49:36] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: City attorney Jennifer Luke, I'm sorry, I was looking for my raised hand button, couldn't find it, but I can answer that question. Let me start out by saying local agencies generally have discretion to approve or deny development permits for commercial projects. So your discretion is much broader in commercial projects than it is for housing projects. However, but an approval or a denial for any such permit, including a heritage tree permit, can't be, um, cannot be arbitrary. So California law requires that a local agency issue findings in support of its approval or denial of a permit, and the findings must be supported by substantial evidence in the record, and the findings must be sufficient for a court that was reviewing a challenge to the grant or denial to understand the basis for the grant or denial. It doesn't stop there with state law. You are also beholden to the requirements in the Mountain View municipal code. And in the code, there is some specific criteria that is set forth with regard to heritage tree removal permits. There are four criteria of which you need to find at least one supports removal. And typically, staff would identify the one basis for which removal would support removal, and then there are some balancing criteria that you must also consider, and the balancing criteria can either weigh in favor or against, um, removal or grant or denial of the permit. And then the specific section of the Mountain View code requires you, if you're going to deny the permit, you actually have to provide, and I'm quoting, a written statement of reasons, for the denial, and you need to cite to the facts in the record for the denial.

[02:51:30] Mayor Alison Hicks: Right, thank you. Other questions? Oh, Council member Mattercheck.

[02:51:41] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. Um, I do have a couple questions. Um, and I'm not sure staff will be able to answer this, but, um, When you talked about, um, the sidewalk might have to be less than 6 feet due to um, tree roots. Um, Is there any estimate of like what percent of the sidewalk is sort of at risk for being even more narrow and how much more narrow it might be?

[02:52:14] Unknown Speaker: Yeah, I'll briefly answer that question. And if public works has any additional comments or our forestry coordinator, that'd be great. Right now, the sidewalk is monolithic, so it's at a certain distance, and I think most likely that should be satisfactory. Of course, the 6 to 8 feet does cut into the root system just a little bit more. So I think it will depend on the actual construction conditions, whether, you know, to balance whether to cut some of the roots or provide a little bit more wider sidewalk. But the redwood trees generally have root systems that can survive a little bit of cutting, and so it will depend on the conditions. Do I understand your question to be, like, what percentage of the length of the sidewalk might need to be less?

[02:53:07] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yeah.

[02:53:08] Unknown Speaker: Um, We may be able. Oh, the applicant may be able to answer that.

[02:53:17] Public Speaker: So we sincerely don't believe that we're going to need to go less than 6 feet. However, the only reason we requested this was in case there's a special situation that comes up related to one or two of the trees, and we're only talking a short distance, maybe 10 to 20 feet, um, around the trees, that would potentially be impacted. As, um, staff mentioned, the existing sidewalk that's there now is adjacent to the redwood trees in front of the office building, and it's functioning now, the redwood trees are surviving now. So, we wouldn't go any narrower than what's there existing. It's just, I believe, that's about a 5 foot sidewalk, if I'm not mistaken. So to go another foot wider, there may be some roots there. We don't know until we go in and do the work. So it's a very small percentage, and we're only talking a foot or so. But the minimum handicap accessibility requirement is 4 feet. So it will not be any less than four feet.

[02:54:14] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay. Um, and then if the sidewalk was not meandering, and I do like meandering sidewalks. And how many, and the trees were removed, how many street trees would be planted? Um, do you have that exhibit that you can maybe pull up? It would help illustrate it.

[02:54:37] Unknown Speaker: The site plan with the trees? Yeah, can you give me a moment?

[02:54:57] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Correct. Yes.

[02:55:14] Unknown Speaker: So that's a very good exhibit right there. So you can see the precise plan, um, calls for a detached sidewalk with a landscape section between the sidewalk and the tree and the street, and that area directly in front of where it says bar and seating follows the precise plan. So you can see there's 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, street trees in that area right there along Ellis Street in the center of the site. So if we were to follow the precise plan, that pattern of street trees would continue for the entire frontage. So I don't know the exact number, but I'm guessing there'd probably be three on the left and maybe five on the right. So another eight additional street trees. But it would compromise the two heritage trees in front of the hotel that are being preserved, and it would compromise at least two, if not three, of the heritage trees in front of the office if we did the detached sidewalk all the way across. And then along, um... National? National. National. I think we still have the detached ones. We just made it further and made the green space wider between national and the sidewalk in order to accommodate the trees there.

[02:56:30] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay. Uh, thank you. That's very helpful. Um, and I think that's all I have. Thank you.

[02:56:43] Mayor Alison Hicks: So I have just an informational question, I guess, for staff. Um, I'm a little troubled that this questions around trees come up, like, all the time, and I'm wondering, and always at the last meeting, when there's not that much that can be done. What are applicants told? So I hear that the EPC looked at it. and asked for some changes. Sounds like after most of the architectural work was done. It just makes me curious, what are applicants told in the beginning? Like, right when you first meet with them? So, it seems to me they should be told that usually, during EPC meetings and council meetings, residents will bring up, you know, concerns about trees. So I'd rather those be brought up in the very beginning, rather than now.

[02:57:32] Amber Blzinski: Sure. Hi, Amber Blzinski, assistant community development director. So, you know, generally, that is the sentiment that they receive when an applicant is first coming into us. I think that a lot of the planners spend a lot of time looking at the different trees and site design, and a lot of suggestions are made very early in the process. And I think a lot of trees that, you know, maybe an applicant came in and proposed to remove are actually saved at that point. Um, I think, too, I will say that, um, we are making a very concerted effort to go and walk the sites and look at these trees. And I think, um, in the future, you will see less tree removals, uh, based on that work that, um, you know, we are pushing right now with all of our development projects. I think right now, you're seeing some projects that, um, you know, we did make suggestions on this one in particular in the beginning, um, but also, you know, sometimes when you're trying to meet some of those other requirements, you give a little, and I think we're hearing loud and clear that, you know, the trees are important and we're going to make, you know, a bigger effort to try to walk and see and look at all of these and see what we can do to save more trees.

[02:58:55] Mayor Alison Hicks: Great. Thank you. Great answer, and I'm just, you know, they're evolving processes. And I just want to kind of find out what all of us can do so that this doesn't keep happening at the end so that we front load it. And what changes council might have to make to front load it as well. So thank you. Any other council questions? Okay, so then, uh, with that, uh, it's time for, um, questions or comments from the public, um, if there are, uh, people in person who, who want to make comments, please submit a speaker card, or if, or if you're virtual, uh, raise your hand in Zoom, I, each person will have three minutes. And at this time, in person, I see Lucy West.

[02:59:59] Lucy West: We spoke at the EPC meeting that was on October 4th about this issue, the trees. I want to start off by saying no environmental issue is insignificant because then every environmental issue becomes insignificant, and we end up with problems like habitat loss, extinction, and climate change. The developers arborist reports overlook the quality and exceptional health of 8 mature heritage redwood trees that would easily outlive us all if they weren't destined for the wood chipper. The study of environmental significance in the developer's arbors port also do not adequately address the loss of habitat, and the fact that redwoods are the most powerful carbon sequestering organisms on the planet. It is, therefore, extremely unlikely that replacing 8 heritage trees with 20 to 30 saplings of an unknown species will meet the carbon sequestrian capabilities of the original 8, let alone have the ecological benefits that an endemic species like redwoods have. These redwoods are in tight clusters, and require much less water because of their highly developed root systems and efficient teamwork. Selectively removing redwoods from their clusters will undermine the health of the younger trees. Another topic that the developers, our worst report, failed to mention. I challenged the city of Mountain View to be braver with their requirements for new developments, particularly because the rate of global warming continues to increase exponentially, and a new residential development has already been approved at the other end of Ellis Street. I also want to mention the meager feet for removing these trees. I think it's like somewhere around $750 I don't know if it's been, um, improved recently, but these trees are gigantic, and just, like, that's such a tiny amount of money from one of these trees. I think that's really like depressing. Be brave, city of Mountain View, protect the environment. What's the point of classifying trees as heritage if they're going to be cut down anyway? Let's see. Um, and, uh, you can do better than the meager feet. The cost of a 1000 new trees would be a minuscule part of the developer's cost for the project. I'm not trying to hinder the development. I am just trying to hold the city and developers accountable for creating a new sustainable environment that they promote so heavily on their website, especially in 2023, when we really can't afford to screw over the environment anymore. Precedent has already been set on this project, the 7 heritage trees were recently pardoned. There are, sorry, 8 trees. There are 7 more heritage trees on the site. Why can't we save them as well? And, uh... Um, I don't know if any of you guys have actually been out to this site, but I went there the other day, and these trees are really, really big. They're proper national park quality trees. They're enormous, and they're the picture of health. The fact that you guys can stand by and watch eight of them be cut down. It really makes me question your commitment to the environmental goals that you promote. Thank you.

[03:03:04] Mayor Alison Hicks: So, I see no more in person speakers, but virtually I see Leslie Friedman.

[03:03:21] Mayor Alison Hicks: Leslie, are you there?

[03:03:30] Leslie Friedman: There, I hadn't gotten a mute sign. Can you hear me now, please?

[03:03:33] Unknown Speaker: Yes, we can hear you.

[03:03:34] Leslie Friedman: Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you, Miss Mayor. I'm, I'm very upset. About the whole attitude towards trees here. They are beautiful. They're enormous, and they're old, but it is not just an aesthetic. Reason for saving these trees. I'm sorry to be blunt, but these trees are saving us. It's not the other way around. I was glad to hear the representative talk about how they have made some changes from what I heard a month ago at the EPC meeting. However, saying, as he did, that these trees will actually be better off, once these changes have been made, well, except for the trees that are dead. They're not gonna be better off. I think that over and over, I have heard, um, the city of Mountain View talk about its dedication, to preserving its environment. You have to understand. First of all, Ms. West is correct that they sequestered pollution and carbon. However, the other half of that is, when they are cut down, all the gunk that they've been absorbing, that's gonna be released. is a fact. I want you to give some thought. to the fact that the world is different than it was even 10 years or five years ago. We need to face the fire that is happening in the world and realize it is happening here in Mountain View. The trees are doing their job. The needles of the redwoods... prevent the particulate matter from going into our lungs, yours and mine. They can kill people. The redwoods are the best air filter on the planet Earth. We need to face that. We need to face what is happening. It's time perhaps to change. some of the regulations that are what we're bound by for heritage trees. We need to put the priorities, our buildings saving us, or are the trees doing something to help us? The concrete itself, increases the ozone poison in the, that we live with. Do something worthwhile, which is also a potential help for your health. What you've got here is a mini newer woods. Do something innovative. Preserve these trees. Make the sidewalk go into the area of the development, not just around it. Thank you.

[03:06:48] Mayor Alison Hicks: Your time is up. Thank you so much. Next, we have Bruce England.

[03:06:57] Bruce England: Thank you, Mayor. Bruce England, Wisman Station Drive, speaking for Green Spaces Mountain View. Um, I spoke on this at the EPC meeting related to the project and just want to echo comments about um, trying to save as many of the viable trees as possible as part of this project. I do understand that because the project is compliant, that there's not much that city council can do to move the bar and to set requirements. However, sending a strong message to the developer that you have that you and the community have an interest in saving as many of these trees as they can is important. And it also highlights the work that will be done through the biodiversity strategy and urban forests plan coming up to make sure that just as a matter of general policy, um, that we don't lose, um, trees in general, through these projects and through other ways. So, but definitely looking forward to that plans development, with this in mind. Thank you.

[03:08:03] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So I'll do a last check and last call for speakers. See no more speakers. Um, so I will now bring the item back for council deliberation and action, um, and note that any motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolution attached to the report. And the vote will be taken as a roll call vote. Are there comments or motions at this point? I see a comment by council member Ramos.

[03:08:52] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Mayor. Part of me feels like I'm just about to step in it. I actually, in between this, right before this, this item came out when we were in our break, I had an opportunity to talk out into the public. And one, I got to meet some, an individual who sends us a lot of emails. And then he was like, oh, sorry. And I was just like, no, it's important for the community to tell us what they want. We may not agree. We may not be able to do what they want. But it's always important that they do take that time and tell us what they want. I do think a lot of our options are limited and may not do all of what the recent public commenters may have wanted us to do. I still want to encourage them to still come out because it really, it, it, what's important is that tells us what the community wants. And as we move toward, um, as the mayor had mentioned before, maybe front loading a lot of the, the, um, the questions of how can we save these trees very early on in the project? And that is important. I appreciate, um, the work that was done to save, um, the heritage trees from the time the applicant initially proposed their project, and I appreciate the work that the applicant, the staff, and the community had done, to save as many trees as we can, um, is something that I think, uh, as we go forth with, um, project approvals and stuff like that, that I want us to encourage, and, um, encourage the to still continue to speak out about what they want us, what direction they want us to go on things like this. Like I said, the answer may not be what you want tonight, but it doesn't mean that we're not moving toward it. Um, so thank you for that.

[03:10:56] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you, council member Ramo? Ramirez?

[03:10:59] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, Mayor. I largely agree with council member Ramo. So 1st I'll share, as she did, my appreciation to staff and the applicant for working diligently to comply with the direction provided by the EPC. I had an opportunity to review that meeting. It was a very robust discussion. And I think you all did a very good job trying to modify the project as quickly as you could to preserve as many trees as you could. And I'm very happy to support the final product. And I agree with what council member Ramos said, I think it's important to hear from the community, the priorities and concerns, because even though we're not going to be able to make findings to justify the denial of the heritage tree removal permit tonight, it will inform our work on some of the regulations that we're developing, for instance, the Moffat Boulevard precise plan, or the biodiversity strategy. Maybe there are some things we could do in that context reviewing the criteria that we currently have in place for heritage heritage tree removals or in other work related to development standards, things that maybe we could do, as we've done in this case, to allow for deviations or adjustments to preserve heritage trees. Although I will share, there is a limit. There are some other things that we're trying to achieve, like create attractive pedestrian environments or safe bicycle facilities, and as important as preserving trees can be. We also want to make sure that we continue to preside, bicycle and pedestrian facilities that our public will want to use. So, with that, I'll move the staff recommendation, including adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View, approving a planned community permit, and development review permit, to construct a new six story, 168,647 square foot, 201 room hotel, with a four level parking garage, and a two story, 37,611 square foot office building, replacing two commercial office buildings, a provisional use permit for a parking production to allow 192 spaces in lieu of 209 spaces required for the hotel, and heritage tree removal permit to remove eight heritage trees, all on a 2.16 acre site located at 500 and 550 Ellis Street, to be read in title only for the reading wave.

[03:13:32] Mayor Alison Hicks: So we now have a motion in a second. This is council's last chance if they want to make additional comments. And I will make, I'll make an additional comment, but I'll just be saying what I implied earlier in my question, I think there is much more. I think we should evolve our processes, and I think there's more we can do, and I'm looking forward to possibly the active transportation plan, or the biodiversity plan, informing some of those things. I know that we have with other projects. The Fenwick and West project comes to mind, the one in our downtown, where there's a large tree that was saved, and it's really a community gathering point. So I think we can do more of those things in the future. And I think, you know, I've been on council for five years, and this seems to come up with every project, so it's really something that we have to move on. And I think the community for coming out and making these comments, because it's brave to do, you're kind of bucking the system, and you do make a difference, because I think that, you know, I'm committed to making sure that we're not constrained in this way. in the future. Um, Council member, come in.

[03:14:41] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, thank you. I mean, I hadn't raised my hand. I think that counsel feels similarly, which is, we want to make sure that we're prioritizing our heritage trees, and I think that I was heartened to hear public comment about noticing that we've prioritized it with our urban forest plan and our biodiversity plan that are imminent, and we have our parks and rec strategy coming forward. So I think council is trying as to move as quickly and swiftly as possible to be responsive to the community input. And so I do, you know, echo the thanks to the applicant and staff. And I actually see a lot of staff in the room. But I would also share that on the council side, it's always great to hear from the applicant ahead of time before the meeting and so that we can try to coordinate and work through some of the issues as well. And so I think that that can also be helpful in the process. So I'll be supporting it, knowing that we have a lot of work to do to make sure that we are prioritizing our environment. Thank you.

[03:15:52] Mayor Alison Hicks: Vice mayor.

[03:15:54] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: I just have a question. Do we know what the schedule for construction is on this?

[03:16:06] Unknown Speaker: Nothing is set in stone, but the initial plan is that it'll take at least about a year to do the construction documents and get the billing permit acquired, and then it's 18 months to 24 months for construction.

[03:16:19] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: So as far as you know, the financing is in order.

[03:16:22] Unknown Speaker: I'm not privy to that, and I think the financing's going to evolve over the next year, while we're working on the drawings.

[03:16:27] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Thank you.

[03:16:34] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, I see no more comments. Last call for comments. Uh, there are no more comments. It's time for a roll call vote.

[03:16:44] Unknown Speaker: Council member Ramirez?

[03:16:45] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Yes.

[03:16:46] Unknown Speaker: Council member Ramos?

[03:16:47] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yes.

[03:16:47] Unknown Speaker: Council member Abbe Koka?

[03:16:49] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Aye.

[03:16:49] Unknown Speaker: Council member Kame?

[03:16:51] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Yes.

[03:16:51] Unknown Speaker: Council member Mattachek?

[03:16:53] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yes.

[03:16:54] Unknown Speaker: Vice marriage of Walter?

[03:16:55] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes.

[03:16:55] Unknown Speaker: Mayor Hicks?

[03:16:56] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yes.

[03:16:57] Unknown Speaker: Ocean Carries Unanimously.

[03:17:03] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, now we move on to 6.3, which is a mixed use development at 705 West Dana Street. Would any council members like to make disclosures? Council member Abbe Koga.

[03:17:22] Councilmember Margaret Abe-Koga: Thank you, Mayor. I met with the applicant. I wanna say it was pre-COVID, so it's been a long time, but I did meet with them. Thank you.

[03:17:33] Mayor Alison Hicks: Vice mayor.

[03:17:35] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: I had a brief conversation with the Abacanthis afternoon.

[03:17:40] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Kamet.

[03:17:42] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great. I met with the applicant multiple times over the years. Thank you.

[03:17:47] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member, Mattachek.

[03:17:50] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. I also met with the applicant a very long time ago. Thank you.

[03:17:59] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, I also met with the applicant pre-COVID, I think. So, with that, um, we have, uh, senior planner, Creta Penelar, and principal planner, Diana Pancholi, will present the item.

[03:18:16] Senior Planner Christian Pinoyar: Good evening, council members. My name's Christian Pinoyar, senior planner, and I'm joined by Diana Pancholi, principal planner. And today, we're here to present the commercial development at 705 West Dana Street. The project is located on the southwest corner of West Dana Street and Hope Street. The site is currently developed with an auto repair building, which has been vacant for several years. The general plan designation for the site is downtown mixed use, and the zoning district is in the P 19 downtown Precise Plan Area H historic retail district. The surrounding uses to the site are a one to two story commercial buildings, a utility building, and a city owned parking lot. The building immediately adjacent to the site is a restaurant tenant, Kakuroto. The project is requesting a planned community permit and development review permit to construct an 18,800 square foot commercial building, with 2 levels of upper floor office, ground floor retail, a ground floor office lobby, an underground parking garage, and a corner plaza area. The project is requesting a provisional use permit for a ground floor restaurant use and upper floor administrative office use. A heritage tree removal permit to remove one redwood tree is also proposed as it's located within the proposed building footprint. The project is compliant with the downtown precise plan area standards, but the applicant is requesting exceptions to the development standards for ground floor transparency and retail death to accomplish superior design. The limited site area and service requirements results in complications to meeting the retail death requirement, and a reduction is needed. Additionally, due to the combined requirements of meeting ground for transparency, and locating the electrical room on West Dana Street, the electrical room is currently designed as transparent glazing. Staff is supportive of modifying the ground floor transparency requirement to accomplish a design that successfully screens the electrical room. The project includes a driveway via Hope Street to access the one level of underground parking and a corner plaza area that includes passive seating, modular plantings, inground landscaping, and restaurant seating. The restaurant tenant and public elevator access to the underground parking can be accessed via West Dana Street. The applicant has voluntarily offered the underground parking lot to be available to the public during non-business hours, weekends, and holidays. A public parking agreement will be recorded as a condition of approval to ensure public parking is maintained. So the project site has 3 existing heritage trees, including a heritage redwood tree, which are proposed for removal due to their location within the building footprint and the location of the underground parking garage. The heritage tree is in fair to pour vigor and is drought stressed. Because of the limited size of the existing planter that the trees located in, the tree will continue to be drought stressed. It is not feasible to preserve the tree and construct the proposed underground parking structure. Due to the size of the tree and asymmetrical root zone, the applicant's arborists noted that it is not a suitable candidate for relocation. The city arborist has agreed with this conclusion. Therefore, tree removal and replacement is recommended. The other trees proposed for removal are two non-heritage trees, which include a Hollywood juniper, which is in poor condition, and an almond tree that is in fair condition, but due to the building location and site constraints cannot be preserved. The 3 trees will be replaced by 10 on-site trees. The project proposes to plant 10 new trees on site and 2 additional street trees. The existing tree canopy coverage is 3.one%, and the proposed results in 9.7%. Due to the underground garage and small site area, there are limitations on the type of tree species that could be planted on site, the plantings that have been selected are suitable for a more limited planting area. The project proposes 75% native landscaping and is conditioned to maintain 75%. So here are some renderings of the project, the proposed building architecture features a transitional style that incorporates mid-century modern elements, such as flat planes, simple ornamentation, and monochromatic color choices. The building uses smooth cement plaster, terracotta tiles with varying textures, wooden composite wood at the storefront, and metal in the awnings, railings, and cornice. The massing brakes above the service area and garage entry help emphasize the massing at the active corner area. The Development Review Committee recommended further refinement to plaza design and garage entry, which have been included as conditions of approval. During the review process, the applicant hosted a neighborhood meeting in April, with staff in attendance, mailers were sent to properties within 700 feet, 50 feet of the project site, but no members of the public attended this community meeting. The project was then reviewed by the development review committee at 2 public meetings and was recommended for approval with specific design conditions. The zoning administrator and the subdivision committee reviewed the project and the lot line adjustment at the public meeting in October, and recommended conditional approval of the project to the city council. At the same hearing, they approved the associated a lot line adjustment to merge 2 lots. Lotline adjustment final approvals were made by the subdivision committee, so this decision is not forwarded to city council. No public input was received prior to or during the city attended neighborhood meeting, development review committee, or administrative zoning subdivision committee hearing. In addition to the meetings described above, the applicant held 4 private meetings with Old Mountain View Neighborhood Association between 2020 and 2023. Following the last of the developer held private meetings, the old Mountain View neighborhood association did send a letter to the city council in May this year, noting they met with the developer on the project, discussed concerns related to parking and project design, and voice support for the changes made to the project. While the staff report discusses the final design and parking program for the project, it does not include the discussions in private meetings since staff was not invited or informed about them. Old Mountain View, Neighborhood Association, and developers typically keep staff informed of these meetings, so this is unusual. Staff has reached out to the neighborhood association to ensure that we stay in contact in the future. So we have invited the group to submit comments and concerns to staff, even if they have been addressed in private meetings. So these comments can be discussed in the staff report. In conclusion, staff and zoning administrator recommends the city council find the project to be categorically exempt from Sequa, and then to adopt a resolution to approve the project per the conditions of approval attached to the report. This concludes staff presentation, and staff is available to answer any council questions. Please note the applicant is here tonight and has a brief presentation.

[03:25:39] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yes, thank you very much. We'll now have a presentation from Boyd Smith and Lundsmith with the Smith Development and Amanda Borden architect with KSHA.

[03:25:56] Boyd Lundsmith: Great, thank you. Good evening, Mayor Vice Mayor and City Council members. The 705 West Dana Project. Cresa just mentioned, before you tonight is a partnership with the Lee family, who owns the site and operated Lee's Automotive there for decades, on the last 4 plus years, as has been noted, has been an iterative and productive process working with the city and the neighbors to come up with a project that achieves the goals and visions of the downtime precise plan. And we've done extensive neighborhood outreach. If you want to go to the next slide really quick. highlighted some of the main kind of benchmarks over the last several years, but since 2020, met with the neighbors and had a great productive meetings with them. I don't want to turn the time over to Amanda to further discuss the project.

[03:26:43] Amanda Borden: Thank you. I'm Amanda Borden with Quartz Sincere Hagey Architects. You can go to the next slide. So, um, Cretia did a really great job of introducing the project, but, um, here in this context plan. You can see our site in the middle. We are a block off of Castro Street. And in the immediate vicinity are one and two story commercial buildings, and then just slightly farther out, we have some two and three story residential projects as well as some additional commercial next. Thank you. Oh, when we went back. Um, so this slide here are photos of the existing one and two story commercial buildings and the utility building that are directly across the streets from our project, and in the lower left is the sushi restaurant that Krisha mentioned, um, and directly to the right of that restaurant is Blossom. which is kind of an alley that accesses the surface parking lot, and to the right of that is a new entitled project that is a three story building with a roof deck on top, just for some context and scale of the future of this neighborhood next. So these are pictures of the site as it exists today, which was an auto repair shop, but is no longer in use next. The next 2 slides are just a summary of the downtown precise plan measures that we are in compliance with. Cretia noted those as well. In the upper right, you can see a shading of our site. The green area is the buildable area, based on the feedback we've gotten from public works, on the required corner site triangle and driveway site triangle distances next. This is some additional downtown precise plan requirements that we are in compliance with, and a lot of these have been updated in the last year, and our project was then modified to comply with the new revised downtown precise plan requirements. That included changes to the windows, the sizes, the proportions, the transparency at the ground floor, et cetera. Next. So our proposed landscape plan, Krisha already mentioned the trees. We've got a lot of trees we're proposing on the plaza. Those are within raised planters that have integrated benches, and then we also have a variety of other types of planting, including in ground planting. So we're actually recessing the slab above our parking garage below. And we've got the public elevator off of West Dana Street. And you can also see here where our building was recently modified to comply with the revised downtown precise plan to have a massing break at the 2 ends on either side of the main corner. So that's at the driveway, and then also at the stair, just adjacent to the sushi restaurant next. This imagery here is showing the two proposed on site trees, which are the Saratoga Laurel and this olive tree in the lower right, the Chinese pistache on the left is the street tree, and then we also have, in the upper right, the two images are the proposed light pole fixture we have on the plaza, and then directly to the left, on the top there is the proposed raised planter with the integrated bench. Next. This is the rendering from the corner, that you guys have already seen, but this is to show that, you know, the way that the building was designed was to have a primary massing of two stories, and you can really see how that's emphasized at the corner, with our warm, white blend of terracotta. So that'll be a blend of one color, but multiple textures, and then the where the building steps back on either side there. That's a warm, neutral blend of terracotta, also with multiple textures, but in a single color. So, we think that's gonna be a really nice feature here at the street facades. The ground floor is comprised of wood, storefronts, and steel canopies, which you'll see in another future slide better. And then the upper stories have painted metal windows with wood fin panels in between, and those are intended to match the wood look. but be of metal. And then you can see at the 3rd floor. We have a terrace that wraps around the 2 street facades, and the 3rd floor is set back, and part of this was to help mass the building appropriately for the neighborhood. So, this view from Hope Street is showing our lot line elevation on the left there, where we transition to having a planted facade adjacent to the driveway. And then we've also incorporated a rated glass wall there so that we can still get natural light and views into the tenant space, even though we're right on the lot line there. Next. And this is showing the lot line wall above the sushi restaurant, and there, what we've done is we've continued the terracotta back about 8.5 feet, and then we've transitioned to a cement plaster that'll be matching in color to that warm neutral blend. And above that at the 3rd floor, we've used the warm colored fin panels more extensively to round out the 3rd floor in that facade design. And you can also see kind of at the middle of this elevation is where we have our public elevator access next. So the last 2 slides here. This is just a detail slide showing a typical retail bay. So this is the proposed wood storefront with a wainscot that's made of a wood fin panel system, and then we have standalone planters, and then also the raised planter with the integrated bench, and we have a steel plate awning that's supported by vertical and diagonal rods, and that has a combination of solid metal plate infill and mesh infill to provide some kind of variety at the groundscape for the pedestrian experience. And then on the right here, on the column, you can see our custom light sconce, which is similar to the proposed lighting at the plaza, so those will complement each other. Next. And this is the last slide. So this is just the material palette for reference. So in the upper left, we have this cream color, which is kind of the warm white color for the main emphasized corner elements, and then we have that sand color, which is more of the neutral color. And those 2 terracotta blends will have a concrete base, which will be potentially that kind of warm gravel color, just below the cream. And then we have two cement plaster colors, which are similar in color and tone to the two terracotta blends. And those are intended to wrap those two lot lines as an extension of those elements. And then you can see the wood windows. They're at the bottom center, and also the wood fin panels for the ground floor. And then to the right there is the main metal color for the upper level windows and fin panels, which will match the wood color. And then we have two metal accent colors, the light gray and the dark gray, which are used at the cornices and other trim elements.

[03:34:35] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, thank you. Okay, thank you. So, at this point, we take any council questions that people might have. Are there any council questions? Council member Metachek.

[03:35:00] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. Um, I do have a question for the applicant. Um, I'm curious as to why um, You only allowed the posting of a portion of the package online.

[03:35:21] Public Speaker: Um, so yeah, apologies. In hindsight, we probably would have handled that different. What we did was we provided the drawings that we thought were relevant, which included the pretty much the drawings you guys saw tonight here. So the drawings that weren't provided, I would say, were less interesting than the ones that were, but we're happy to provide the full package to anybody in the public that's interested in seeing it.

[03:35:48] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Great, thank you. Um, and then, um, let's see here. When, uh, proposed development, um, happens within or near the boundaries of a neighborhood association. Do we have a formal process or is it informal process or is there not a process? Um, to also notify those neighborhood associations?

[03:36:22] Community Development Director Aarti Shrivastava: Our Tisha Vastava, as a city manager, community development director, um, we have a formal process of notifying the 750 foot radius, and then we have an informal process of identifying neighborhoods, um, and then we also have people sign up to get agendas for DRC, um, ZA, council and EPC. So depending on who signs up, they all, they get all the agendas. In this case, all Mountain View neighborhood association did get all the agendas. Uh, uh, but then, for the, I believe um, when the, when the applicant sent out the neighborhood notices, that's sent out by the applicant. They may not have sent it to Old Mountain View for the neighborhood meeting. But they did then contact old Mountain View and have separate private meetings. So there's a little bit of the city meetings. Old Mountain View was invited, and then when the developer held meetings, you know, staff was invited to one neighborhood meeting, but not to the others. So there was a bit of mix and match with the developers meetings. So it's up to the applicant to reach out to neighborhood associations. Typically, staff gives. Yeah, typically, you know, informally we let people know. In this case, old Mountain View is very involved and they get all the notifications. So, we're not sure exactly what happened with the developer when he held his own neighborhood meeting.

[03:38:03] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Okay. Thank you. I think that's all the questions I have for now. Thank you.

[03:38:09] Mayor Alison Hicks: And, uh, council member Mattachek, would you like an answer from the developer because they have their hands up as well.

[03:38:15] Public Speaker: Sure. Sure. I just wanted to add, so we did me with the, um, with a group, old Mountain View Neighborhood Association in September of 2022. That was before the formal notification that was held in earlier this year in April of 2023. So, we did have a Zoom meeting, somewhere in Tendon, somewhere on Zoom. There was about 15 to 20 participants. And then what happened, I don't know exactly what happened, why some people got the notice, some didn't, but we followed all the protocols from the city to send out the notice. Um, and then there was, um, I think one or 2 specific members of Old Mountain View neighborhood association that mentioned they could not attend the meeting, then they notified the other members, that the meeting was taking place. I guess there was some conflict. So we didn't actually have any participants that specific evening in April, but as a follow-up, we did have a meeting in May. And in that meeting in May, we opened it up to anybody who wanted to come, but it was the opinion of the few individuals who came, that there was not widespread interest to open it up to the whole group again. So that's the protocol that we followed.

[03:39:27] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, thank you. Vice mayor?

[03:39:33] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes, thank you. I have a couple questions for the African as well. Um, I'm curious. What's your timeline for construction?

[03:39:44] Public Speaker: It's probably a similar answer to the last development that was up here. It takes about a year to go through the construction permitting process. So, hopefully, uh, 2025. But again, it depends on a variety of factors, but we do plan to, hopefully, 2025 time frame.

[03:40:05] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Okay. And when do you expect to demolish the building that's on the site at the moment?

[03:40:12] Public Speaker: Uh, we're open to any ideas you have on that. It's a bit of an isor right now, so anytime is okay. But I think that's also part of the permitting process. I mean, the city can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think we have to have an active permit to build something prior to being able to demo.

[03:40:30] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, I, I have heard from, um, heard from some constituents that they do think that this site is, uh, kind of blighted, and it would be nice to have the building demolished as soon as possible and just have it open, um, until, until construction. So perhaps the developer and the city could work together to get that site cleaned up. That'd be wonderful. Okay, and that's my question. Thank you.

[03:41:04] Mayor Alison Hicks: Okay, more council questions? I don't see any... Okay, so now it's time for public commentary, if any members of the public joining us virtually, or in person, would like to provide comment. either raise your hand in Zoom, or, um, submit a speaker card. I am not seeing any speaker cards for in-person comments. So I'm going to go to virtually. We have Robert Cox.

[03:41:39] Robert Cox: All right, can you hear me?

[03:41:40] Unknown Speaker: We can hear you.

[03:41:42] Robert Cox: Okay. Mayor Hicks, my vice mayor, show Walter, and members of the city council, I'm Robert Cox, speaking on behalf of Livable Mountain View. We sent a letter to the council yesterday raising our concern about the paragraph in the staff report that said that the applicant had an in-person meeting. Uh, community meeting on April 17, 2023 to introduce the project and seek project feedback. But no members of the public attended the meeting. And there wasn't anything else in the staff report about public outreach. I'm very glad to hear, you know, in the presentation tonight, that the additional information has been, uh, relayed to the council about what had occurred and the input that was given. I want everybody to know that there was a large amount of public interest in the project, and just echo what they're saying, that we did have for meetings with them. One on the phone, twice in person in their office and once in a zoom meeting where they acknowledged 15 to 20 people had attended. Uh, it was a robust discussion with many points of view. I, Including, uh, comments to build a building design, removal of the heritage tree, and why there's any is a small amount of underground parking. I want to highlight that. You know, while our neighborhood association as a matter of policy does not take a position on development projects. We very much like to have the issues we discussed, mentioned in the staff report, as they are done normally. And so, I'm glad the staff reached out to us. twice as receiving this letter, and we are actively discussing waste, ensure neighborhood association leaders are notified. When a neighborhood meeting is scheduled about a project, headed for council vote. We're always interested in that. But beyond that, we are still concerned that the project plans for this development, we're not made available to the public in their entirety, as has been the case for every other development. We have reviewed over the last 15 years. Although, although developers are no longer required to make all of their plans publicly available before a council public hearing, we encourage staff to urge them to do so, and brainstorm about incentives that could be provided to induce them to comply voluntarily. Transparency should be the hallmark of participatory, democracy, and we very much would like to be the ones who get to judge what we think is interesting and what is not. So, um, thank you very much for listening to our views, and I'll give you the rest of the time back.

[03:44:32] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So, seeing no additional speakers, I'll take the item back for council deliberation and action, and note that a motion to approve the recommendation should also include reading the title of the resolution attached to the report. And when we take a vote, the city clerk will take a roll call vote again. Oh, I see. We already have a motion by council member Kamet, and a 2nd by council member Ramos. Um, so council member commit.

[03:45:06] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Great, yeah, I'd love to make a few comments before. making the motion. So, um, I actually feel like this project I've been talk, we've been talking about for so many years, um, that I thought, oh, did we, was it already entitled or was it, was it, but I think, um, I was surprised to get some of the feedback from residents because I do feel like it's been at least 5 years, if not longer, that the applicant has been trying to work on something, um, to bring to council. And so I just wanted to share, and hopefully we can just take care of it tonight, which is, you know, disclosing the full project and to the community and maybe you have those emails and you can send it the link to them so they can see.

[03:45:56] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: I do agree that it's the 1st time on my time being on council where it wasn't publicly disclosed the entire all renderings. And so would love to be able to just kind of ameliorate that tonight. and make sure the public knows that it's all available. So I'm making this emotion knowing that that will happen. Um, and then the only other thing that's of concern that I know staff is already thinking about is just how we address parking as for the staging area, when we have, um, our lot next door affected by it. And I think we're going to hear more. We're doing our downtown parking strategy. We're looking at our downtown precise plan, and I think we're going to hopefully see a lot of development in our downtown. And so that's something that's in the back of my mind. But I do appreciate that, um, after all this time, there is a final project coming forward, that it is taking account that it is on a prominent corner, um, there, and, um, the design elements that were incorporated to give it a sense of place, um, and also kind of integrate into hopefully, uh, what we'll see, um, the rest of Dana Street. So, I move that we adopt a resolution of the city council of the city of Mountain View, approving a planned community permit and development review permit to construct a 3 story. 18,800 square foot mixed use, commercial building with ground floor restaurant, an upper floor office with one level of underground parking, replacing an existing auto repair shop, a provisional use permit to allow the restaurant use, an upper floor administrative office use, and a heritage tree removal permit to remove one heritage tree on a .23 acre project site at 705 West Dana Street, to be read in title only for the reading waived.

[03:47:57] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. So now that we have the motion, and the 2nd we can take additional council comments, council member Ramirez.

[03:48:05] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Thank you, mayor. I'll be very quick. So I agree with Council member Kameh. And I'll only add my thanks also to staff and the applicant for providing parking that would be accessible to the public voluntarily. I know AB 2097 complicates the city's ability to regulate parking, but I think this is a good demonstration of collaboration with the city and a nice community benefit. So thank you very much.

[03:48:34] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Mattachek?

[03:48:38] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Thank you. Just a few comments. Um, I like the suggestion about um, having staff encourage applicants to um, allow the entire packet to be posted on the website. I think it's good to have the transparency. And you just never know what somebody is interested in. And so just to have the information there readily available, I think is very helpful. Um, I um, would also, uh, like to encourage staff and the applicant to see if there is a way to, uh, demolish the existing building sooner rather than later. Um, because it, um, is, uh, well, the site would probably look better without it. Let's put it that way. Um, I also noted that uh, the old Mountain View neighborhood association, um, doesn't take positions on, uh, development in the neighborhood or in the city, um, and they haven't for years and years and years. And so, I went back and read the uh, email we received. And, and actually, I do believe that was a personal opinion. If you look at the email. Unfortunately, the title of the person's position in the Old Mountain Brew Neighborhood Association was included. Um, and so I could see where there could be confusion about, um, what, whose position this actually was, but I do believe that was an individual um, position and not that of the neighborhood association. Um, and then just lastly, um, I'm, I am concerned about the use of that uh, parking lot, a portion of it for construction staging, that is one of our busiest parking lots. Um, that's the one that I have volunteered in before, um, to remind people to take their stuff with them. And it is busy. So to take space away from one of our busiest lots is concerning to me. Um, and I'd like to see going forward if we could figure out other ways of accommodating, um, staging for construction rather than using city parking lots. Thank you.

[03:50:51] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you, vice mayor.

[03:50:54] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes, I just want to echo what everybody said. I thought this was a really well written council report, so thank you very much for that. And I really appreciate the concept of shared parking that is very much being a, you know, a good community member, and that's, you know, that will... that's just very much appreciated. And then the other thing is, I really liked the plaza as part of the design. I think that will be a nice place for people to just stop and talk for a minute, or meet people before they go into the restaurant. And, um, so I, um, I applaud you for that. And as I mentioned earlier, I hope that you can lean off the site earlier rather than later. Thank you.

[03:51:45] Mayor Alison Hicks: Council member Ramos.

[03:51:47] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Plus one on getting that site cleaned up for as quickly as you can. I actually remember, I guess, before it was an o shop, or during it was an o shop. I think this is where the Mountain View General store was. I got so much Mountain View swag from there. It would be nice to see this area back into our debt, making our downtown vibrant and essentially expanding what our downtown offers. So I'm very excited to see this project come through. It's very interesting with the new state law about what you're allowed to disclose and not due to copyright reasons. I had long conversations with our city attorney about that being like, I don't understand. Why would that be? Um, uh, but it, it, it is kind of interesting, and I'm glad that we don't have to deal with that, at least at this point, and we will see the full, um, the full renderings, um, that our community is kind of used to having access to. So thank you so much. I'm happy the second. you.

[03:52:55] Mayor Alison Hicks: So I'm going to make my comments as well. I think there are 2 things that I really appreciate about this project, and one of them is what other people have commented on the shared parking. I wish you could find some way to get our other developments to do that as well, since this was voluntary. Maybe, uh, it can set a good example, because, uh, there, we have many underground, underused, uh, parking garages. And if they were all used in this way, I think we wouldn't have to, we're doing a parking structure, and I think we could use that land for some higher and better use. So, spread the word. And the second thing is that I just, I really appreciate the design, a great deal. I think it's one of the, I live downtown, and this is one of the nicest, one of the nicer buildings that's been developed in recent years. I appreciate... I think it goes really well with the downtown. I appreciate that it's both transitional, so it kind of goes with the older buildings without, you know, trying to pretend that it was built 100 years ago. But it also kind of tips its to mid century modern design at the same time. I really like the materiality, you know, not a lot of fake stone and stucco, fake stucco panels. I really like the, you know, I think the cladding is, is, um, you know, the terracotta and wood. And I appreciate, I think, you're required to do this, but I appreciate the wainscoting on the bottom, so you're not looking in the window at people's feet and, you know, you can display the things you wanted to display. So, it's all really well thought out, and I think, a great example, and I hope there will be others like it. Downtown and in the Moffat area and other places as well. So with that, if there are not other comments, we can take a roll call vote.

[03:54:49] Unknown Speaker: Council member, May?

[03:54:50] Councilmember Ellen Kamei: Yes.

[03:54:51] Unknown Speaker: Council member Ramos?

[03:54:52] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Yes.

[03:54:52] Unknown Speaker: Sounds member Abbe Koba. Council member Matachek?

[03:54:56] Councilmember Lisa Matichak: Yes.

[03:54:56] Unknown Speaker: Council member Ramirez?

[03:54:57] Councilmember Lucas Ramirez: Yes.

[03:54:58] Unknown Speaker: Mayor Sh Walter?

[03:54:59] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yes?

[03:54:59] Unknown Speaker: Mayor Hicks?

[03:55:00] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yes. Ocean carries unanimously. Okay. So with that. We are moving on to item number 7 on our agenda, which is council, staff and committee. reports.

[03:55:22] Mayor Alison Hicks: Let's see. I gotta find my people. Vice mayor.

[03:55:32] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Well, now that I can do that, I'm trying to find my paper, but, um...

[03:55:36] Mayor Alison Hicks: Well, do you want accounts?

[03:55:38] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: Yeah, somebody else to go first.

[03:55:39] Mayor Alison Hicks: Yeah, right. Emily, go first.

[03:55:42] Councilmember Emily Ramos: Thank you, Vice Mayor, and Mayor. Just a small announcement. So, and bear with me. So since 2022, there have been conversations relating to the changes to the traditional rotation of council leadership. Earlier this year, council voted to have the policy and procedures committee review and proposed clarifications to the vice mayor and mayoral rotation. I had concerns because my experience had shown that these issues can cause division and bitterness among governing bodies. I watched when Palo Alto City Council deviated from their no more rotation in 2015 and how they had to deal with the uncertainty since then. I also watched the week long drama that engulfed the city of San Mateo this year when they struggled to select a mayor. And now there's an article about the local school district scrambling to provide equal opportunities to leadership among their colleagues. So, in contrast, the Mount View City Council had a strong tradition of rotating based on seniority, and giving all council members a chance to serve in leadership roles. This tradition holds, even when majorities shifted or when council members hold different opinions or perspectives from the rest of their colleagues. It is an important factor to maintain the collegial environment and good governance that our council enjoys. So, I don't want to water seeds of the vision that have been planted throughout our region in similar jurisdictions. So continuing on that metaphor. I'm pulling that weed out by announcing that I don't plan to seek the vice mayorship next year. So basically, I don't intend on adding myself to the leadership rotation until after the election, should I choose to seek election. As I mentioned before, we enjoy the strong traditions of congeniality. But as we have seen from neighboring jurisdictions, maintaining that environment can come down to individual choices. And so I'm making that choice for myself. Um, I'm honored to have been appointed by a super majority of council members. And I like to think that a factor in that decision is how I care about each one of my colleagues and how I strive to find ways to work toward mutual goals among all of you. I always seek to be part of the solution and not the problem. So I'm hoping that this helps be part of the solution. And I look forward to continuing to serve Mountain View residents as a council member to the best city. Thank you.

[03:58:08] Mayor Alison Hicks: Well, thank you. Now we have the vice mayor.

[03:58:16] Vice Mayor Pat Showalter: I would just like to report that I attended the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Board of Directors meeting last Wednesday, and, um, we voted to, uh, a new CEO, uh, Monica Padilla, who has been with the, um, Silicon Valley Clean Energy pretty much, since its obception, and is believed to, um, uh, be by far the best candidate. And, um, also, we discussed, uh, um, green prime and green smart, which are the two sort of groups of choices that everybody has to, um, is able to make in terms of the energy that they buy, whether it's, um, uh, completely, how carbon free it is or not. And, um, for many years, well, not many, it's only been six years since we've been operating, but for that time, Silicon Valley Clean Energy has been able to acquire, um, pretty much 100%, or close to 100% clean energy. But that's getting more and more difficult. Basically for two reasons. One reason is because there are a lot more CCAs, like the Silicon Valley clean energy, that are trying to buy the same clean energy and renewable energy. And while there are a number of projects in the mix to produce more renewable energy. Many of them haven't come online yet. So there's going to be apparently a period of between 5 and 10 years, where it may not really be possible for Silicon Valley killing energy to supply us with 100% clean energy. They're going to do their best to do that. And one of the decisions that was made to make that much more likely is to include nuclear power in the mix. So, um, I gained a tremendous amount of respect for the people who serve on the Silicon Valley Clean Energy Board, because this was very technical, and it was, I was quite, um, quite, uh, uh, something to jump into. Fortunately, the CEO gave me a briefing before, but I liked to thank Margaret for all the hours she must have put in over the years to come up to speed on all of this. Anyway, thank you. Thats my report.

[04:00:58] Mayor Alison Hicks: Thank you. Do we have more reports? With low on reports. reports this time around. Okay. In that case, um, we'll go on to item eight, closed session report, city attorney lob, do you have a closed session report?

[04:01:16] City Attorney Jennifer Logue: I do. Thank you, and good evening. In closed session this evening, city council took final action on item 2.2 on the closed session agenda, which was a conference with legal counsel regarding a liability claim filed by Yong Ping Tang against the city of Mountain View. Mr. Tang's claim sought $100 million in damages for injuries. He allegedly sustained as a result of a dog bite from a dog that was not owned or under the control of the city or any of its employees. Council voted with seven eyes, zero nos, and zero abstensions to deny the claim. Thank you.

[04:01:58] Mayor Alison Hicks: So we are now on item number 9 on your agenda. This is adjournment. The next city council meeting will be held on December 5, 2024, and this meeting is adjourned at... You're right. It says that, but it's 2023. Thank you. This meeting is adjourned at 9:52 p.m. I just read. I don't think, I just read.

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