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HomeMy WebLinkAboutRA Minutes 2000-12-04SRRA MINUTES (Regular) 12/4/2000 Page 1 IN THE COUNCIL CHAMBER OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL, MONDAY, DECEMBER 4, 2000 AT 7:30 PM Regular Meeting: San Rafael Redevelopment Agency Also Present: Rod Gould, Executive Director Gary T. Ragghianti, Agency Attorney Jeanne M. Leoncini, Agency Secretary ORAL COMMUNICATIONS OF AN URGENCY NATURE: None. CONSENT CALENDAR: Present: Albert J. Boro, Chairman Barbara Heller, Vice -Chair Paul M. Cohen, Member Cyr N. Miller, Member Gary O. Phillips, Member Absent: None 7:55 PM Member Phillips moved and Member Miller seconded, to approve the following Consent Calendar items: ITEM 1. Approval of Minutes of Regular Meeting of Monday, November 20, 2000 (AS) 2. Monthly Investment Report for Month Ending October, 2000 (MS) - File R-123 3. Resolution Authorizing Execution of a License Agreement with Brandon Tire for Continued Right of Access to Property as Described in Exhibit "A" (Map of Property Attached) for the Operation of said Tire Business (RA) — Fila R-d�7 RECOMMENDED ACTION Approved as submitted. ITEM REMOVED FROM AGENDA AT THE REQUEST OF STAFF. RESOLUTION NO. 2000-38 — RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SIGNING OF A LICENSE AGREEMENT WITH BRANDON TIRE AT 773 LINCOLN AVENUE IN SAN RAFAEL TO ALLOW BRANDON TIRE THE RIGHT OF ACCESS TO OPERATE SAID TIRE BUSINESS AYES: MEMBERS: Cohen, Heller, Miller, Phillips and Chairman Boro NOES: MEMBERS: None ABSENT: MEMBERS: None SRRA MINUTES (Regular 12/4/2000 Page 1 AGENCY CONSIDERATION: rd 5 SRRA MINUTES (Regular) 12/4/2000 Page 2 RESOLUTION APPROVING THE RELOCATION PLAN FOR 162-172 BELVEDERE STREET, SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA ("CAHIP") — File R-434 Stephanie Lovette, Senior Development Specialist, stated this was the final relocation plan for 162-172 Belvedere Street. It had been distributed to the tenants and Ms. Lovette added that a meeting was held with the tenants on November 16, 2000, at which questions they had were answered, as evidenced in the attachment to the relocation plan. Ms. Lovette indicated that a tenant was present this evening who wished to address the Agency, in Spanish, with an employee of the Pickleweed Community Center, Jeannette Sotomayor, translating. Carlos Cermeno, tenant 162-172 Belvedere Street, stated he and his family live at these apartments and he was very grateful for the fact that now they would have a better future. He stated the old landlord promised to repair the house but never did and he was tired of his promises. Mr. Cermeno stated they always paid their rent and the fee to take care of things, and sometimes had to pay the price for others. He added he worked at the Church and the leader invited him to this evening's meeting. Chairman Boro recapped for the audience that basically Mr. Cermeno resides in the apartments which the city hopes to acquire, and he is very grateful to the city for this. He and his family have lived there for a number of years, with inadequate conditions; he is looking forward to moving into the units as the Manager. Stephanie Lovette added that Mr. Cermeno is an 11 year resident and works for the Church in San Rafael. Member Miller moved and Member Cohen seconded, to adopt the Resolution. RESOLUTION NO. 2000-39 - RESOLUTION APPROVING THE RELOCATION PLAN FOR 162-172 BELVEDERE STREET, SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA ("CAHIP") AYES: MEMBERS: Cohen, Heller, Miller, Phillips and Chairman Boro NOES: MEMBERS: None ABSENT: MEMBERS: None RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CONTINUED NEGOTIATIONS WITH MONAHAN PARKER INC. FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE "B" STREET PROJECT AREA — File R-406 Nancy Mackle, Economic Development Director, stated the "B" Street Project Area is closely linked with the Marriott Hotel Project on the PG&E site, adding she was pleased to announce that Marriott and PG&E had signed a purchase and sales agreement on that property. The hotel property includes a new home for the St. Vincent de Paul Diningroom, which gives the Redevelopment Agency the ability to move forward on the redevelopment of the "B" Street Project Area. Ms. Mackle reported they had been working with Monahan Parker on the present proposal, with several iterations. She made a correction to the staff report, substituting in Phase One, (Page 2) 7,200 square feet of ground floor/corner retail for 5,000 square feet, and in Phase Two (Page 2) substituting 3,825 square feet of ground floor retail for 5,000 square feet. Ms. Mackle stated that these are still conceptual plans with the basic concept being offices over retail. Housing being demolished would be replaced with four townhouses. If directed to continue, Ms. Mackle stated she proposed to look at property acquisitions, traffic, height, parking and other details, to ascertain the viability of the proposition, in view of the fact that there are a lot of assumptions in it at this conceptual stage. She stated it would take a few months to get to the next stage and was asking for an SRRA MINUTES (Regular 12/4/2000 Page 2 SRRA MINUTES (Regular) 12/4/2000 Page 3 extension of the Exclusive Right to Negotiate Agreement for six months, to enable them to confront some of the important issues, beginning in January 2001. Member Cohen requested clarification on whether traffic and parking impacts would follow these documents. Ms. Mackle replied that as part of the Disposition and Development Agreement they would have to be well advanced in designing the project before executing the Agreement, and traffic and parking would be part of that process. Member Miller inquired if there was still time to look more closely at considerations in terms of housing. Ms. Mackle responded that while there was some time to look into this they wanted to keep the project moving. She stated they did at the outset look at housing but had some parking considerations, adding the project had no Agency subsidy and if a housing project were included, she estimated a subsidy from the housing fund would be required. Member Miller stated he was not looking at housing on a large scale, rather as an element in the project. Member Heller requested clarification as to the total number of apartments to be replaced and the number of townhouses to be added. Ms. Mackle responded that four units would be added to replace the four to be demolished: two on Second Street and two on "A" Street. She clarified that the properties on "B" Street, and housing units above them, approximately 12 units, would be retained, and at an affordable rate. Chairman Boro, alluding to Member Miller's question, requested that Ms. Mackle, in going forward, pursue the possibility of providing some additional housing and ascertain what the subsidy requirements would be. Member Cohen inquired if the townhouses were new or replacements, and asked about parking conditions. Ms. Mackle responded that the townhouses were replacements and deferred to the applicant, John Ellis, on the parking question. John Ellis, Architect, stated he was the designer for the conceptual study and reported that the "B" Street project referred to has below grade parking and at the rear of the site, adjacent to Lone Palm Court, there are four dwelling units which would be accessed by pedestrians from Lone Palm Court, with parking access at the rear. The remainder of the site has surface parking, partly underneath the building and partly in the courtyard behind, with the upper two floors being used as offices and the corner retail. The endeavor was to try to maximize the amount of square footage on the site in relation to height and bulk, while looking at the scale and compatibility with adjacent properties. Regarding the "A" Street project, Mr. Ellis stated this too has below grade parking, surface parking at the rear, retail at ground floor and two levels of offices above. Member Cohen stated a letter had been received from Dave Zappetini, Zappetini & Son Inc., 1112 Second Street, San Rafael, raising some issues, one of which was a minor inconsistency between the staff report and drawings, to the effect that the drawings represented 7,200 square feet of ground floor retail on "A" Street, but the staff report referred to a three-story building with 5,000 square feet. Ms. Mackle clarified the correct numbers as being: 7,200 square feet in Phase One and 3,825 in Phase Two. Chairman Boro confirmed receipt of Mr. Zappetini's letter and invited him to address the Agency. Mr. Zappetini stated their biggest concern, as property owners, was the increased traffic that would be generated by this project. He pointed out that with 60,000 plus square feet of new buildings, consulting with the City Traffic Engineer might save time and effort in deciding if this was a viable proposition. SRRA MINUTES (Regular 12/4/2000 Page 3 SRRA MINUTES (Regular) 12/4/2000 Page 4 Chairman Boro confirmed with Economic Development Director Mackle that consultations are part of the present process. Member Phillips invited Mr. Zappetini to expand on the market values segment of his letter. Mr. Zappetini replied that when this process began in 1998, meetings were held with Mr. Parker at which appraised values were discussed, and at that time the Pasand Restaurant was appraised at $850,000; it has now sold for $1.5 million. Mr. Zappetini added he wanted to make everyone aware that the cost of doing business in downtown San Rafael was becoming very expensive and wondered if through Mr. Parker's pro forma, higher values had been factored into the process. Member Phillips inquired if this would impact this evening's action. Ms. Mackle replied that tonight's action would be to authorize her to work with the developer to fine-tune the entire process, including looking at the financials and appraisals. They have some number assumptions at present, which will be reviewed to see if they are realistic. Member Phillips asked for clarification on the fact that even if the property values were significantly higher than, or close to, Mr. Zappetini's figures, it was still worth reviewing the study and going forward. Ms. Mackle replied in the affirmative, adding that the developer had been watching the numbers as they proceeded to bring it back at this point in time. Mr. Zappetini concluded he was just trying to eliminate the long process involved, thus saving some time and effort by the city. Member Phillips moved and Member Heller seconded, to adopt the Resolution. RESOLUTION NO. 2000-40 - AYES: MEMBERS: NOES: MEMBERS: ABSENT: MEMBERS: AGENCY MEMBER REPORTS: RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING CONTINUED NEGOTIATIONS WITH MONAHAN PARKER INC. FOR THE REDEVELOPMENT OF THE "B" STREET PROJECT AREA Cohen, Heller, Miller, Phillips and Chairman Boro None None There being no further business, the San Rafael Redevelopment Agency meeting was adjourned at 8:15 PM. JEANNE M. LEONCINI, Agency Secretary SRRA MINUTES (Regular 12/4/2000 Page 4