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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAttach 10 CityCounMinutesCm. S"oranti discussed the possibility that maybe the makeup of the City Council in San Ramon could'change and the new City Council in December could possibly look at the budget again. Is this an option worth entertaining? Ms. Blaschka stated this option was presented and will be discussed by the Board. She advised that she is not the one making the call. The cities have to come to some agreement insofar as what makes sense. Cm. Sbranfi asked how many years the TVCVB operated without San Ramon. Mr. Ambrose stated he thought they had been in about 4 years. R originally started out as the Pleasanton Convention & Visitors Bureau in 1988. On motion of Cm. Oravetz, seconded by Cm. Zika, and by unanimous vote, the Council approved and authorized the City Manager to execute the agreement. UPDATE ON GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT (GPA) STUDY FOR PROPOSED IKEA FURNITURE STORE ON UNDEVELOPED 27.4-ACRE PARCEL LOCATED AT THE SOUTIW, AST CORNER OF. D .UBLIN BOULEVARD ~ HACi~A D~ 9:07 p.m. 8.2 (4Z0-30) Senior Planner Andy Byde presented the Staff Report, which updated the City Council on the progress of the GPA Study for the proposed IKEA Furniture Store. Staff requested dir~tion as to the adequacy of the level°f information for the proposed retail center. Staff has been evaluating the project and is nearly complete with the fiscal study and traffic study. Additionally, Staff is evaluating the site plan and the architecture of the proposed IKEA furniture store.....Representatives from IKEA have stated they will submit the following discretionary permits: General Plan Amendment, Specific Plan Amendment, Planned Development Rezoning - Stage 1 and 2 Development Plan, Site Development Review and a Parcel Map. IKEA representatives have stated that a complete application should be submitted by the end of July, with anticipation that the project should be ready to bring before the Planning Commission and City Council by late fall, pending the completion of the environmental review process. Opus West will be developing the retail space as a "lifestyle center", and is approximately 8 months to one year behind IKEA. cITY COIJi~Cm MIr~iES VOLUME 22 REGULAR MEETING July 15, 2003 PAGE 487 ATTACHMENT Cm. Zika stated he was under the impression that we wanted this all.at once. assurance do we have that this will.be developed in a timely manner?. What Mr. Byde replied at this point, there would not be any assurances beyond what's contained in the DA. Cm. Zika stated we've been burned._ before, so unless there is something in writing and some commitment, he cannot support this as we have no leverage. Mr. Ambrose discussed difficulties involved when Hacienda Crossings developed. Design decisions were made befOre tenants were identified, which resulted in plenty of friction. The hard part is it is difficult for the developer to say when tenants are available. The City's control is typically spelled out in the terms of the DA. Cm. Zika stated he felt we could end up with IKF_A and nothing else. Mr. Ambrose stated it is. dependent upon how we construct the DA. Mr. Byde advised that the current site plan they are reviewing for IKEA, all indications thus far is they have every market desire to recoup some costs and sell the retail portion.' Cm. Oravetz asked when the traffic study will be ready. Mr. Byde stated it has been an exhaustive study. It should be released within the next month. D~ug Greenholz, representing IKEA, stated they have been working very hard with staff over the last year as well as with OPUS to bring a project forward by July. They are applying for Stage 1 and 2 for the 27 acres. They started this process over a year ago and were encouraged by the reception they got from City officials and listened to desire to have other users on the site other than just IKEA. They hope to bring developments that will compliment Hacienda Cr°ssings as well as IKEA. It is more the idea of higher scale boutique type tenants. They have spoken with a number of developers and they selected OPUS because of their track record and their ability to perform. Their project is straight forward, but OPUS needs t0herdcats 'and'theY have to go through a more difficult process. IKEA would be purchasing the entire Z 7 acres but would be building on about 15 acres and have strong motivation to sell the remaining property as soon as possible as they will be carrying this on their books. They are very eager to kick this process off and anticipate being before the City Council in late fall. VOLUME 22 REGULAR MEETING July 15, 2003 PAGE 488 Cm. Oravetz asked how long the East }'alo Alto store took. Mr. Greenholz adxrised that they started mid July of last year and are scheduled to open in August. Randy Ackerman, with OPUS, thanked the City for allowing them to talk about their project. They started working with Doug and are very excited about this project. This will build on what has happened in Dublin and will kick it up to the next level project. They have hired BCB Architects to do some design for them. Drawings were distributed and displayed. Who are the tenants going to be has been asked. They are talking to tenants that he felt the City will be excited about. It takes longer for them to do their thing because they will be working with multiple tenants and to put all the leases together. They know what they're doing in this respect. He is confident that as they move through the process, they anticipate they will be able to provide further information regarding the Site Development Review process in less time and they hope to have their portion built by summer of 2005. Vm. McCormick asked if they have selected a landscape architect yet, and stated she hopes they will look at public art. Mr. Ackerman stated they have not, but public art is so noted. Cm. Oravetz stated he really likes Walnut Creek and asked if they are going to model this after Walnut Creek? Mr. Ackerman replied Walnut Creek is lucky as there is a plaza system there already. Part of the challenge here will be to create that element. Here we have constraints of freeway, Hacienda, etc. However, once you come into the site, you w/Il have IKEA on site. They will have 2 or 3 restaurant sites which will be a draw to the center. Mayor Lockhart pointed out they will be close to the pedestrian center. Are there any opportunities for parking other than just flat paved parking? It is appealing to not have a sea of cars around you. Mr. Ackerman explained that they have tried to create quads of parking and they know they need to deal with this for landscaping. He stated the site plan displayed is very basic. Mayor Lockhart discussed the difficulties with the parking situation at Hacienda .Crossings. There are no sidewalks and no saf~trians. VOLUME 22 REGULAR MEETING July 15, 2003 PAGE 489 Mr. Ambrose adv/sed that the City Council will get the SDR for IKEA and a site plan as well as some written standards and guidelines, but you won't see the actual elevations for the retail center. Cm. Sbranti commented he thought when they get the IKEA proposal, the detail of the other center will be pretty much like what was shown tonight. Mr. Ambrose clarified they won't see the architecture of the buildings. Cm. Zika asked how c.rifical, is it.t~hat you get off Digital Drive onto this street? Also, with regard to the lifestyle center, there won't be things like cleaners, beauty salons, etc.? Cm. Sbranti asked what is your threshold for what is accepted? Mr. Ackerman stated the tenants ~!1 ~ !~e..Z .Gal!~rY, Ann Taylor Loft, Williams Sonoma, lottery Barn. These are the types of tenants that will pay to be here. Restaurants will be sit down successful type operations. They have told architect to design a theme, but tenant identity must fit within the theme. This is a challenge. Mayor Lockhart asked if they could provide a better example or picture of landscaping and how it interfaces with the roads around it and the businesses next to it, where sidewalks would be, and how the streets would lay out?' She stated the Council needs to have a basic tmderstanding of how things relate to each other there, where they will put public art, how people will get from point a to point b. Mr. Ackerman stated they just want to make sure they are in the same place and work with Doug and refine and move forWard. Mayor Lockhart stated they want to know how it works together, both sites. Interfacing of the two projects and how this works with surrounding businesses are important. Cm. Sbranti asked if in late fall, when the IKEA project comes forward, will you be able to identify 5 or 6 tenants? Mr. Ackerman stated they hope to be able to do this. They are doing letters of intent and hope to then enter into leases. Cm. Sbranti stated he felt this is an important component. The better idea the City has, it helps the City COuncil to understand. VOLUME 22 REGULAR MEETING . July 15, 2003 PAGE 490 Vm. McCOrmick stated she is interested in seeing the architecturaI design style. This would be good for the City COUncil to see this. Mr. Byde stated as part of the stage 2, there will be more detail. The whole theme thing will be presented, materials used, etc. Vm. McCOrmick stated she was concerned that they haven't even seen or approved the project, and here they are talking about trees, sidewalks', etc. Cm. Sbranti stated he sees this lifestyle center as being a destination in itself, and asked if the traffic study takes this into consideration? Mr. Byde replied it does and it evaluates all the openings and fixed points, restaurant versus retail space, etc. Cm. Sbranti asked ff the lifestyle center is a component of the project. If the State Legislature changes some of their tax assumptions, there may be components we have to re-examine as part of the fiscal analysis. Mr. Ambrose stated the issue is the rules of the game may or may not change. We have to move forward. Cm. Sbranti stated he would like to see some kind of analysis at the time this project comes before the City Council. Mr. Ambrose stated all California cities are in the same boat. Do we stop business because of the State? The concern of OPUS is as they move through this process and more and more of what they want to see is presented and then they start to critique their project very finely before it is a SDR package, could IKEA get delayed based on their project? ' 1 Mayor Lockhart stated the concern is to move both forward and to make sure we re a.! on the same page with regard to what's going to gO on that site, This is valuable land and a great location and both sites can develop and be something we are all proud of. Mr. Greenholz stated this is why they wanted to have a Stage 1 and 2, but without the fine detail level of a SDR. The City Council clarified that it wants more detail, but not to the level of a SD1L CITY cOIJNCIL MINUTES VOLIJME 22 REGULAR MEETING July 15, 2003 PAGE 491 Cm. Zika stated he wants assurance that it will be developed within a reasonable amount of time. To the extent feasible, the Council requested that they identify some of the tenants. FINANCIAL REQUEST ti. OM AMERICA SUPPORTING AMERICANS (ASA) COMMrFFEE FOR ASSISTANCE WITH AIRFARE FOR MEMBERS OF THE CITY*S ADOFIZD MILITARY UNIT TO PARTICIPATE IN THE °:WELC. OME HOME" CELEBRATION SCHEDULED FOR AUGUST 16, 200:3 10:01 p.m. 8.5 (150-85) Assistant City Manager Joni Pattillo presented the Staff Report and advised that at the July 1,2003 City Council meeting, ASA Committee Representative Sue Hores asked that the Council agendize for future consideration, a request to provide additional financial assistance to help with airfare for 2 - 4 representatives from the City's adopted military unit, Delta Company of the 2nd Battalion of the 502nd Infantry, to participate in the Welcome Home Parade and BBQ on August 113th in Livermore. ASA is requesting $1,1300 to purchase 4 airline tickets. Ms. Pattillo advised that if the Council approves this request, a Budget Change would be necessary to allocate funds to the City Council's Community Promotion account from the General Fund Unallocated Reserves. Sue Hores stated a lot of the details are being refined. They met with Livermore and Pleasanton representatives yesterday. Part of the problem is, most of our unit is in Iraq right now. One soldier was wounded and is back in Fort Campbell, and he would be riding in the parade and take part in the ceremony. There will be an air flyover and a 21 gun salute. Nashville is the closest aLvport to Fort Campbell, KY. Our representatives would be flying in on August 15ta. Hacienda Business Park has expressed a desire to help with funding in a general way. Operation MOM is a non-profit group and anything that Dublin raises will be segregated and go into our own account. She stated the Mayor is helping to work on room reservations. Mayor Lockhart asked how soon we will know how many are coming? Ms. Flores replied right now, we know one, and we may have a couple of the wives come as representatives. VOLUME 22 REGULAR MEETING July 15, 2003 PAGE 492