101-Draft Minutes 05-28-2013.pdfCITY OF CUPERTINO
10300 Torre Avenue
Cupertino, CA 95014
CITY OF CUPERTINO PLANNING COMMISSION
DRAFT MINUTES
6:45 P.M. May 28, 2013 TUESDAY
CUPERTINO COMMUNITY HALL
The regular Planning Commission meeting of May 28, 2013 was called to order at 6:45 p.m. in the
Cupertino Community Hall, 10350 Torre Avenue, Cupertino, CA. by Chair Don Sun.
SALUTE TO THE FLAG
.
ROLL CALL
Commissioners present: Chairperson: Don Sun
Vice Chairperson: Paul Brophy
Commissioner: Margaret Gong
Commissioner: Winnie Lee
Commissioner: Alan Takahashi
Staff present City Planner: Gary Chao
Assistant Planner: George Schroeder
City Attorney: Melissa Tronquet
APPROVAL OF MINUTES:
1. Minutes of the March 26, 2013, Planning Commission meeting:
• Vice Chair Brophy requested that the first sentence of the second bulleted point be deleted.
“Said he did not support any kind of rezoning of land from commercial to residential even
when the cases have been overwhelming”
MOTION: Motion by Vice Chair Brophy, second by Com. Lee, and carried 5-0-0 to approve the
March 26, 2013, Planning Commission minutes as amended.
WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS: None
POSTPONEMENTS/REMOVAL FROM CALENDAR: None
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS: None
CONSENT CALENDAR: None
PUBLIC HEARING:
2. CP-2013-01, EA-2013-01 Review of Five Year Capital Improvement Program
City of Cupertino (FY 2013-2014 to 2017-2018) for conformity to the City’s
General Plan.
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George Schroeder, Assistant Planner, presented the staff report:
• Explained that the application is for the Planning Commission’s annual review of the city’s 5 year
Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for FY 2013-2014 to 2017-2018 for conformity to the city’s
General Plan. Each year the Council adopts the five year spending plan for capital improvements
throughout the city; funding is not fixed or committed during the five year term; funding may shift in
the second to fifth years as priorities change and project schedules can either accelerate or decelerate
depending on the lifetime of the project. The City’s Municipal Code requires that the Planning
Commission review the CIP for consistency with the General Plan and make a recommendation on
the environmental assessments. Overall the first year funded projects and CIP are consistent with the
General Plan. A full list of the 9 projects is contained in the staff report and the findings for
consistency (Page 13-15).
• Based on the findings of the Initial Environmental Study, the ERC recommended the granting of a
Negative Declaration for the review of the CIP since no significant cumulative environmental impacts
were found. Each project will have its own separate environmental assessment.
• Staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt the resolution to find the CIP consistent with
the General Plan; also recommend a Negative Declaration for the project to the City Council
excluding the Stevens Creek Corridor project which was reviewed previously. The Planning
Commission’s environmental assessment recommendation will be considered by the Council at the
June 11, 2013 budget adoption meeting.
Melissa Tronquet, Asst. City Attorney:
• Said that the item was agendized for discussion of consistency with the General Plan; the
Commission’s purview is limited to how the projects relate to the General Plan and whether they are
consistent or not. Questions about specific projects are not appropriate unless they relate to the
General Plan consistency.
Chair Sun opened the public hearing.
Jennifer Griffin, Rancho Rinconada resident:
• Said she was pleased with the scope of items presented to the City Council at its last meeting, and she
felt Cupertino was reaching out and addressing many areas that will help the residents. She was also
pleased with all the park development, and the trails being addressed. She said that park land is
sorely needed in the eastern part of Cupertino, and the city is looking at securing the Lawrence/Mitty
park property.
Chair Sun closed the public hearing.
Vice Chair Brophy:
• Said they were fairly routine items, and he did not see any controversy from the perspective of
conformity with the General Plan.
Com. Takahashi:
• Said he felt it was a good mix of projects with regard to needed elements and infrastructure
improvement; and was consistent with the General Plan. He concurred with staff on the
environmental impact.
Com. Lee:
• Said the items and projects listed in the CIP conform to the General Plan. She recommended
approval and approval of the Negative Declaration for this year also.
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Com. Gong:
• Concurred with Commissioners and commended staff on the excellent staff report; everything is
consistent with the General Plan.
Chair Sun:
• Concurred with Commissioners on the general structure.
Motion: Motion by Com. Lee, second by Com. Takahashi, and unanimously carried 5-0-0 to
approve the 5 year CIP program, Application CP-2013-01 and recommend approval of
the Negative Declaration EA-2013-01.
OLD BUSINESS: None
NEW BUSINESS
2. Planning Commission Work Program
Gary Chao presented the staff report:
• Each year the Planning Commission considers adopting a Work Program; after discussion and
adoption, it is forwarded to the City Council for review and approval. The work program is driven by
the Council’s goals and objectives for the year; Exhibit 1 includes the comprehensive work,
objectives and goals. The General Plan Amendment is a city initiated project. The city is embarking
on a focused General Plan Amendment to look at increasing the development allocation in the
General Plan as well as taking the opportunity to look at approximately 7 potential growth sites and
evaluating some of the development potentials and the parameters for these sites. The amendment is
in the initial stage of stakeholder outreach and the Commission will have the opportunity to formally
review the input collected by the consultant from the stakeholder outreach and the community
outreach. Formal public hearings and three community workshops will be held later in the year.
• The Council has directed staff to prepare the potential tree ordinance amendment. A short tree
ordinance amendment was done recently to clarify public trees and the misdemeanor or infraction
associated with enforcement of the tree ordinance. The Council also wants staff and the Commission
to look at a comprehensive tree ordinance consideration to address possible ways to provide
incentives to people for planting the correct trees that they cherish and want to protect. There is some
feeling that some of the rules are counter-productive and discourage people from planting trees such
as an oak tree. The focus will include that as well as generally making the process more efficient
even in cases where people accidentally remove a tree. That process will potentially initiate later this
year and may come back to the Commission in the Fall.
• The third item is the potential amendments to the Heart of the City Specific Plan (HOCSP). The City
Council directed staff to evaluate language in the HOCSP associated with street side yard setback
requirements from commercial projects.
• The fourth item is the housing element; the City is required to update the housing element to
accommodate the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) numbers per state law. RHNA
helps quantify the housing allocation for each jurisdiction that’s required during a specific planning
period. The current housing element was adopted in 2010, and expires in 2014, therefore an update
of the housing element is due. Staff will be working on outreach and community process for potential
housing sites and determining how to fulfill the numbers as part of the RHNA requirements per state
law and has until December 2014 to accomplish the task.
• The fifth item is update to the below market housing manual and nexus study. The Council directed
staff to embark on a nexus study to establish affordable housing impact fees appropriate for rental
units to comply with some of the recent court cases. The study will also review residential BMR
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manual and mitigation policies in addition to the fees.
• The last city initiated item is the Climate Action Plan; several years ago it was discussed but did not
get funded nor authorized by the Council. The Council has now directed staff to move forward with
the Climate Action Plan in order to address regulatory requirements being enforced by the State
Attorney’s Office. The public and community stakeholder outreach efforts have begun; the public
hearing for this is set for winter 2013.
• Said the private projects which may be reviewed include the Apple Campus 2, which is nearing
completion on the draft environmental review process and will be available for public review and
comments from agencies. Parkside trails near the terminus of Stevens Canyon Rd at the boundary of
Cupertino; about 18 residential units closer to Stevens Canyon being proposed; possible opportunities
for trail connections to the Fremont Older trail as well as the trail system along the side of Deep cliff
Golf Course and connecting to the McClellan Ranch area. The Cupertino Inn and Prometheus Office
Complex are projects that would go the Planning Commission near year end, if the General Plan
Amendment moves forward with some of the allocations and some of the development potentials for
the two sites.
Chair Sun opened the meeting for public comment.
Jennifer Griffin, Rancho Rinconada resident:
• Asked if rental apartments complexes had to provide BMR units. She expressed concern about
picking residential areas for future ABAG housing sites and said she did not feel it was a viable
solution for Cupertino. It is merely putting a bandaid on the issue, and having to piecemeal it into
some type of housing down the road. It will result in Stevens Creek Blvd. having 11 story housing
with no value commercial along it.
Gary Chao:
• Said the issue would be discussed in the housing element update. He commented that the BMR nexus
study and the mitigation manual or procedure brings Jennifer Griffin’s point to light. There have
been cases the court has ruled on; it is important to make sure that the policies are consistent with the
court’s rulings. The State mandates the arena numbers, Cupertino does not have an option as the
State puts forth Cupertino’s responsibility in its regional effort in balancing the housing, it focuses on
some kind of integrating transportation policies with land use policies as a comprehensive approach
for the entire bay area, and Cupertino is part of that collective group to address that.
Chair Sun closed the public comment portion.
Melissa Tronquet:
• Explained that a motion was not needed as most of the work program items were directed by the City
Council.
Vice Chair Brophy:
• Said that the present process is that the Commission generally ratifies what the Council decides. He
suggested that the Planning Commission be afforded the opportunity to provide input because of their
experience in development issues.
REPORT OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION
Environmental Review Committee: Vice Chair Brophy reported that the CIP item was discussed.
Housing Commission: No meeting
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Mayor’s Monthly Meeting:
Com. Gong reported:
TIC Committee: Key initiative is the KMTV community TV station, located in Mountain View. They
recently upgraded their 25 year old equipment with fund raiser funding received; City of Cupertino
contributed $50K.
The cell coverage located at Rancho Deep Cliff has gone live; the TIC has initiated a study with staff and
in 2-3 months will evaluate options and ask the Planning Commission to modify regulations.
The Public Safety Commission: Conducted a semi -annual survey to analyze student bike use and
patterns; reports will be available soon.
Housing Commission: asked all Commissions to consider possibilities for 24 month transitional housing
options for homeless veterans; it would be an ABAG requirement fulfillment; there is federal funding
available now.
The Council heard an appeal to the Bombay Oven issue regarding a setback problem.
Com. Takahashi:
Reported on the April Mayor’s meeting. Overall the city is in good financial shape; hotel sales and
property taxes are up in terms of revenue.
Housing Commission: There was a discussion on BMR; discussions about developers contributions.
TIC cell phone coverage survey was in process; Big Bunny Fun Run showed a significant lack of
coverage. Teen Commission: Walk One Week was underway; Art Commission: Working on a public
art catalog featuring 22 pieces of public art currently in the city. Bike Ped Commission: staffing the
Bike to Work Day in May; discussions of the McClellan Corridor and DeAnza bike and ped access and
Stevens Creek trail. Library: adding new wi fi access point because of Yelp complaints; 13% increase
in attendance; Parks and Rec: announced that Carol Atwater was acting Parks and Rec Director.
Economic Development Committee: No meeting
REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT:
Gary Chao reviewed actions from the June 11 City Council meeting.
ADJOURNMENT:
• The meeting was adjourned to the June 11, 2013 meeting at 6:45 p.m.
Respectfully Submitted: ____/s/Elizabeth Ellis__________________
Elizabeth Ellis, Recording Secretary