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Home My WebLink About8.2 Attch 5 Peter MacDonal Letter 6-8-11LAW OFFICE PETER MACDONALD 440 MAiN STREET, SUITE 210 PLEASANTON, CALIFORNIA 94566-7371 {925)462-0191 FAX (925} 462-0404 pmacdonald@macdonaldlaw.net June 8, 2011 Ms. Kristi Bascom Principal Planner City of Dublin 100 Civic Plaza Dublin, CA 94568 ~~r~ JUN ~ ~ ~~1~ ~~~~ ~~~ Subject: Supplemental Submittal PLPA-2019-00020 Information for Complete Application per Govt. Code Sec. 65944 Dear Ms. Bascom, On behalf of All American Label (AAL), we hereby provide you with the additional infiormation required to enable the City to process our April 5, 2011 application for Site Development Review (SDR) as complete. You have raised two areas for which additional information is requested: Fire Access and General Plan consistency. Fire Access The site plan we submitted for SDR approval complies with the po{icies of the Alameda County Fire Dept. for the fully sprinklered building we are proposing. From the designated fire access. routes on our site plan, fire vehicles can get to within 200 feet of every point of the first floor of the All American Label (AAL) building, including the proposed building addition. If the conditions of project approval require the acquisition of off-site easements to secure those fi-~e access routes in perpetuity, we will seek to purchase those required easements. Some of the fire access issues may require discussion during the SDR review process, SUCK a5: First, if we are required to obtain an easement from the Swimming Academy to the south, there is a possibility .that the Swimming Academy's single loaded drive aisle could be_ expanded to enable double loaded parking, with an easement over the AAL property. That might increase the Swim Club's parking, to the benefit of the entire neighborhood, but might impact some marginal landscaping on the AAL site. As part of ATTACHMENT 5 Ms. Kristi Bascom, Principal Planner June 8, 211 Page 2 the SDR process, we would want to discuss with Planning Staff whether such an approach would be acceptable to the City. Second, our site plan assumes that the 20 foot public trail located adjacent to the Zone 7 canal along the entire back edge of the AAL building would be available for firefighters to pull hoses when necessary (not fire truck access). if the public can travel on that public trail, there would be no, basis for Zone 7 to exclude firefighters in an emergency. In short, there is an existing and adequate public easement at that location. Third, regarding the approved fire access road through the Park Sierra Apartments to the north, if the SDR conditions of approval require the purchase of a fire access easement, we will attempt to obtain that. We-are already exploring that possibility with the owner of those apartments. From the May 12, 2011 letter submitted by Park Sierra LLC, attached, it is apparent the owner has no objection to use of that approved fire access road by emergency vehicles as needed to access the public trail and AAL now. Moreover, by operation of law, public safety personnel have the right to enter private property such as the fire access route in Park Sierra Apartments as needed in exigent circumstances. As explained by then Justice Burger speaking for the majority in Wayne v. Unifed States, 318 F.2d 205, 212: "But awan-ant is not required to break down a door to enter a burning home to rescue occupants or extinguish a tire, to prevent a shooting or to bring emergency aid to an injured person. The need fo protect or preserve life or avoid serious injury is justification for what would be otherwise illegal absent an exigency or emergency." Perhaps there is a concern that the approved fire access route through the apartment complex might become unavailable at some point in time, before the much older AAL building reaches functional obsolescence. As a PUD zoned properly, the approved fire access route through Park Sierra apartments cannot change withou# an approval from the City of Dublin. Moreover, having been constructed in the late 1990's, the apartment building is designed to handle.,the maximum credible earthquake, and is equipped with fire sprinklers. Thus, the functional life of those apartment buildings is approximately 150 years -with the weak link being the concrete foundations, not the buildings themselves. And, obsolete foundations can be replaced, if it is economically viable to do so in 150 years or sa. The layout of that long thin lot makes it probable that if the apartment buildings ever did become economically obsolete, the same site design -the same long fire access route used to access the back of the property now, would be required to provide access for replacement site plan. Fourth, in addition to the above approaches there are creative alternatives tha# might also meet fire safety concerns. For example, improvement of access through to the public trail at the location of the Swimming Academy might allow betterfire access to Ms. Kristi Bascom, Principal Planner June 8, 201 ] Page 3 both AAL and the Swimming Academy. Or, the water line that serves the apartment complex could be extended under the 14 fioot wall to provide a fire hydrant with any needed equipment in the vicinity of the proposed building addition. Or, the approval of the building addition could be conditioned on an agreement that if the Park Sierra fire access route became unavailable, that building would have to perform specified alternate compliance or be tom down. In a business friendly City, the staff works with the applicant to provide for public safety in practical ways. 2010 CFD 503.1.1 (attached) provides the Fire Marshall with explicit authority to work with applicants to solve access issues. The SDR process is the process in which reasonable public and private needs are weighed and resolved. General Plan We have a solid case based upon the history of the General Plan that the reference to .4 FAR is intended to be descriptive, and not a mandatory maximum FAR. If we make that case to the policymakers, and they reject it, then we will proceed with the required General Plan amendment. And, should the pofcymakers find that the FAR of .4 is mandatory, there is also a good case for amending the General Plan to raise the FAR to .5 to be compatible with the existing density of 17 out of 27 properties in the Sierra Court area, to encourage revitalization, and to be consistent with the .5 FAR allowed for warehouse uses in East Dublin. in fact, the controlling section of the General Plan, for the Business Park/Industrial designation reads: "Maximum attainable ratios of floor area to site area (FAR) are controlled by parking and landscaping requirements and typically result in .35 to .40 FAR's. Examples: Claris Avenue, Sierra Court." General Plan p. $. That language is deliberately descriptive and not mandatory. It is also notable that this General Plan wording has stayed exactly the same since the City of Dublin adopted its first General Plan in 1985 (1985 General Plan p. 5, attached). Perhaps that long time consistency in the General Plan wording is influenced by the fact that at least 17 out of 27 properties in the Siena Court area exceeded the 40% floor area ratio in 1985, and would have been made non-conforming buildings if the 40% floor area ratio had been mandatory rather than descriptive in 1985. There is further historical information in support of our thesis that the FAR section of.th~ General.. Plan_was never intended_to be mandatory. But, suppose that some planners and policymakers have required that some subsequent developments in Sierra Court conform to a .4 FAR maximum. If the meaning of the General Plan can be amended by interpretation, and we are skeptical of that, then there is no reason that it cannot change back by interpretation, in light of more accurate historical information. If the decisions in which the .4 FAR became mandatory were discretionary determinations, like PUD rezonings, rather than fora quasi- ministerial processes, like an SDR app{ication, that is also relevant. for quasi- legislative decisions like PUD approval, the policymaker is allowed to consider "any rational basis" for its decision, and thus may require more stringent standards than set forth in ordinances and policies. But, for aquasi-ministerial determination like SDR Ms. Kristi Bascom, Pxzncipal Planner June 8, 2011 Page 4 approval, involving a permitted use, the policymaker is obiigated to apply existing laws, and its decisions must be supported by "substantial evidence". Complete Application As you know, the Permit Streamlining Act (Govt. Code Section 65940 et seq.) relates solely to information requirements for a complete application, and a local agency cannot require implementation of conditions of approval as a prerequisite to processing an application. The required information must be listed by the local agency prior to the application submittal (Govt. Code Section 65942). Neither the fire access easements nor general plan amendment are contained in the City of Dublin list of required information for processing a Site Development Review application. However, in an_ effort to be as cooperative as possible we have provided the requested additional information abou# how we plan to address the issues you raised. The future of a substantial Dublin business with 25 employees depends on getting reasonable and timely answers from the City to the questions addressed in this letter. The number of hearings with the SDR process is only two -one with Planning Commission, and one with City Council, if appealed. At that point we would all have sufficient direction to plan for the future of this building addition. Applying to apply for a general plan amendment, or appealing the incompleteness determination just delays everyone, including the City staff, from getting the answers we all need from the policy makers regarding the future of the proposed building addition and the AAL manufacturing plant. Please accept our SDR application as complete and start the SDR approval process. Very Truly Yours, Peter MacDonald Cc: Mr. Brad Brown Mr. Wallace Doolittle_ _.. _ __._ _ . __ Mr. Charles Huff Ms. Jeri Ram Mr. Eric Casper Ms. Nancy Feeley Mr. Tim Sbranti Attachments: May 12, 2011 letter from Park Sierra LLC Fire Access Requirements - 2010 CFD 503.1.1 P. 5, 1985 General Plan Proposed Site Plan for All American Label r i ~,~~~ ~l ~~~~ A p A R Y M H N Y Fi O M E S May 12, 2011 1'a whom )t may CanGern: Park Sierra LLC is the owner of Park Sierra apartments at 6450 Dougherty Road, in pubEin, California. As part of the Park Sierra project, we developed fire access Eaves in accordance with City of bubfin standards, including a connecting gate to the public trail an Zone 7 property adjacent to Park Sierra apartments. As property owners we understand that in responding to exigent circumstances beyond our property it may become necessary for emergency vehicles to use the fire access route through our property to the public trail and property beyond, such as adjacent properties at the end of Sierra Court. Although we consider our consent is such use redundant, we have no objection to use of the fire access lane through Park Sierra by pubic safety personnel to access property beyond our property in exigent circumstances. Park Sierra LLC 130 Yantis, Suite 200 Aliso Viejo, California 92656 By: its Manager pale: 6450 Dougherty Road, Dublin, CA 94558 925/5600050 Fax 9251560.0082 email: parksierra@sheaapartments.cora www.sheaapartments.com/parksie~ra CA D12E License # 01382566 CHAPTER 5 FIRE SERVICE FEATURES SECTiaN 501 GENERAI. 501.1 Scope. Fire service features far buildings, strictures and premises shall comply with this chapter. SECTION 5t7a FlRE APPARATUS ACCESS ROADS 503.1 Where required. Fire apparatus access roads shall be provided and maintained in accordance with Sections 503.1.1 through 503.1.3. 501.2 Permits. A permit shall be required as set forth in Appendix Chaptex 1, Sections 105.6 and 105.7. 501.3 Construction documenn~. Construction documents for proposed fire apparatus access, lacadon of fire lanes and con- siructiondocuments and hydraulic calculations forf~re hydrant systems shall be submitted to the fire depaxtment for review and approval prior to construction. 501.4 Timing of htstallation. When fire apparatus access roads or a water supply for fire protection is required to be installed, such protection shall be installed and made service- able prior to and during the time of construction except when approved alternative methods of protection are provided. Tem porary street signs shall be installed at each street interseetian when constraction of new roadways allows passage by vehi- cles in accordance with Section 505.2. SECTION 502 DEFiNiTiONS 502.1 Definitions. The following wards and terms shall, for the purposes of this chapter and as used elsewhere in this code, have the meanings shown herein. FIRE APPARATUS ACCESS ROAD. A road that provides fire apparatus access from a fire station to a facility, building ar portion thereof. This is a general term inclusive of all other terms such as %ire lane, public street, private street, parkir-g hot lane and access roadway. __ _.. _.__ TIRE COMMAND CENTER. The principal attended or unattended location where the status of the detection, alarm communications and control systems is displayed, and from which the system(s) can be manually controlled. TIRE DEPARTMENT MASTER KEY. A limited issue key of special or controlled design to be carried by fire department officials in crommand which wilt open key boxes on specified propertits. IFIRE LANE. A road or other passageway developed to allow the passage of fire apparatus. A f;re lane is not necessarily intended for vehicular traffic other than fire apparatus. KEY BOX. A secure device with a lock operable only by a fire department master key, and containing building entry keys and other keys that may be required for access in an emergency. 503.1.1 Buildings and facilities. Approved fue apparatus access roads shall be provided for every facility, building ar portion of a building hereafter constructed ar moved into ar within the jurisdiction. The fire apparatus access road shall comply with the requirements of this section and shall extend to within 150 feet (45 720 mm) of all portions of the faca7Sty and allportions of the exteriorwalls e~f the first story of the building as measured by an approved route around the exterior of the building or facility. . Exception: The fire. code official is authorized to increase the dircension of 150 feet (45 720 mm) where: 1. The building is equipped throughout with an ap- proved automatic sprinkler systeminstalled in ac- cordat~ce with Section 903.3.1.1, 903.3.1.2 or 903.3.1.3. 2. Fire apparatus access roads ea~mot be installed be- cause of location on property, topography, water- ways, nonnegotiable grades or other similar eanditions, and an approved alternative means of fore protection is provided. 3. There are not more than two Group R-3 or Group 503.1..2 Additional access. The fire code official is autho- rized to require more than one fire apparatus access road based on the potential for impairment of a single mad by vehicle congestion, condition of terxain, climatic conditions or other factors that could limit access. 503.1.3I3igh-piled storage. Fire department vehicle access to buildings used for high piled eomnbustible storage shall comply with the applicable provisions of Chapter 23. 543.2 Speciflcatlons. 1?ire apparatus access roads shall be installed and arranged in accordance with Sections 503.2.1 through 503.2.7. 503.2.1 Dimensions. Fire apparatus access roads shall have an unobstructed width of not less than 20 feet (6096 mm), except for approved security gates is accordance with Sec- tion 503.6, and an unobstructed vertical clearance ofnot less than 13 fee# 6 inches (4115 mm). 503.2.2 .Authority. The fire code official shall have the authority to require an incxease in the minimum access widths where they are inadequate for fire or rescue opexa- aans. 503.23 Surface. Fire apparatus access roads shall be .designed and maintained to support the imposed loads of 2007 CALIFORNIA FIRE CODE b1 Page 5. 1985 General Plan Residential; Medium Density (6,1 to 14.0 units per gross residential acre). The range allows duplex, townhouse, and garden apartment development suitable for family living. Except where mixed dwelling types are designated, unit types and densities may be similar or varied. Where the plan requires mixed dwelling types, listed policies specific to the site govern the location and distribution of dwelling types. Assumed household size is two persons per unit, Recently reviewed projects in the medium density range include Parkway Terrace (7,8) and Amador Lakes west of the 17ougherty Hills {13.5), Residential: Medium-High Density (14.1 to 25,0 units per gross residential acre). Projects at the upper end of this range normally will require some under-structure parking and will have three or more living levels in order to 'meet zoning ordinance open space requirements. Assumed household size is two persons per unit. Examples of-medium-high density projects include The Springs {17.8) and Greenwood Apartments (I9,8). _ Cam~ercial/Industrial Retail/Office. Shopping centers, stores, restaurants, business and professional offices, motels, service stations, and sale of auto parts are included in this classification. Residential use is excluded except in the Downtown Intensification Area. Retail/Office and Automotive, This classification includes ail retail/office uses and adds auto dealerships, auto body shops, and similar uses. Residential ases are not permitted, Business Park/Industrial. Uses are non-retail businesses (research, limited manufacturing and distribution activities, and administrative offices) that do not involve heavy trucking or generate nuisances due to emissions, noise, or open uses, Residential uses are not permitted. Maximum attainable ratios of floor area to site area {FAR) are controlled by parking and landscaping requirements and typically result in ,35 to .40 FAE2's, Examples: Clark Avenue, Sierra Court. Business Park/Industrials Outdoor Storage. In addition to the Business Park/Industrial uses described above, this classification includes retail and manufacturing activities conducted outdoors such as mobile home or construction materials storage, Example; Scarlett Court. Pl~?11C/SeI[ll~UbliC ~J _ _ _ _. .. P~lic/Semi-public Facilities. Uses either than parks awned by a public agency that are of sufficient site to warrant differentiation from adjoining uses are..labeled, Development of housing on a site designated on the General Plan as semi-public shall be considered consistent with the General Plan, Determination a$ to whether housing should be permitted on a specific semi-public site and the acceptable density and design will be through review of a Planned Unit Develofanent proposal under the Zoning Ordinance. Examples: Public and private schools, churches. ParksJPublic Recreation, Publicly owned parks and recreation facilities, OPen Space. Included are areas dedicated as open space on subdivision. maps, slopes greater than 30 percent, stream protection corridors, woodlands, and grazing lands: 5 ~'~ f N % m ~. / 'h. a 1 C M~ ~~ t '~ ~ % . ••~ e ••~ ~ ~~ ~•~ ~~~ ~ Q •~, .~~ ~