HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.1 SB 343 AdditionAugust 10, 2021
SB 343
Senate Bill 343 mandates supplemental materials that
have been received by the Community Development
Department that relate to an agenda item after the agenda
packets have been distributed to the Planning
Commission be available to the public.
The attached document was received by the Community
Development Department after distribution of the August
10, 2021 Planning Commission meeting agenda packet.
Item 6.1
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From: Tom Evans <offrampmusic@LIVE.COM>
Sent: Sunday, August 8, 2021 2:55 PM
To: Planning Commission <PlanningCommission@dublin.ca.gov>
Cc: Amy Million <Amy.Million@dublin.ca.gov>; City Council <council@dublin.ca.gov>; Linda Smith <linda.smith@dublin.ca.gov>
Subject: comments re: Amador Station plan review
Dear Planning Commissioners,
I understand that you will be reviewing the Amador Station on Golden Gate Drive project this Tuesday. I have two major areas of
concern for this project. The first is regarding the needs of the homeless that will take residence in this building. It is not enough to
check a box (“homeless are now housed”) and feel we are done. I recommend that we assure permanent full-time personnel skilled in
social services that are dedicated to mitigating problems that come with welcoming homeless people into our community.
The second concern that I have is parking. Bridge is proposing a sub-standard amount of parking that will worsen the parking problem
that we already have near BART. Ask the local merchants and the people of Dublin if they think there is a parking problem near BART.
(By the way, has anyone done that?) “BRIDGE Housing agreed to prepare a parking study for the project to evaluate the adequacy of the
proposed parking” – it would be naïve to think that the results would not be skewed in the proponents favor.
I also have a question. Since BART remains the owner of this property, what guarantees does Bridge have that BART won’t raise rent in
10 years to some unreasonable rate. Would Bridge have to sell? Would this become market-rate apartments?
Please consider my comments below during your review of the project. I think there needs to be improvement.
Respectfully,
Tom Evans
Dublin, CA
925-997-9625
Care for those occupants in need
There will be 41 units designated for homeless or at-risk homeless people. I think it’s great that Dublin will help homeless people.
However, it is not enough to just give them space in this new large, crowded apartment building and then walk away. Many of these
people need additional help to make it work. In Alameda County1 (ref. 1)
41% of homeless have psychiatric or emotional conditions
27% of homeless have physical disability
26% of homeless have a drug or alcohol abuse problem
29% of homeless have PTSD
BRIDGE’s solution to care for these 41 households is to send somebody out once a week to check on them. I’ve had a chance to reflect
on that. Assuming that it’s one person and an 8-hour day and that they can spend maybe 7 hours helping these people, that’s an
average of about 10 minutes per household for care. 10 minutes per week per household is not enough! If the City of Dublin wants to
help homeless people then the City needs to make sure that there is permanent resource behind it which would include multiple, full-
time people to help with their needs in order for this to be successful for both the recipients and the public.
Argument for more Parking
When presenting affordable housing funds available ($8.5 Million) to the City Council, the Staff report showed 446 parking spaces for 334
units.3 (ref. 3) BRIDGE now proposes 234 parking spaces for 300 units.
1. Excluding the units without parking spaces for this study is unjustified. There should not be any units that are excluded.
a. 25% of the homeless population live in their vehicle2 (ref. 2) Are they now required to forfeit their car?
b. depriving parking is depriving the renter of owning a vehicle which affects prospects for jobs. Who is going to pay the Uber bill for all
of these people not allowed to own a vehicle?
c. people that don’t drive still need other people to visit and care for them. Those visitors need a place to park. There is no off-site
parking.
2. ITE method shows 0.99 spaces per unit is needed.
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3. Using only BRIDGE projects for a peer comparison is a biased sample.
Off-site parking was not considered but can be a big factor. There is no off-site parking for Amador Station.
The quality of public transit was not considered which is also a big deal. People in Dublin have a greater need for a vehicle or
Uber due to a very weak transit system.
Overnight parking may be a reasonable measure of utility. It does not address the need for visitors/attendants during the day.
4. GreenTRIP is interested in reducing vehicles, driving, emissions, etc. It is not a tool to find how much parking is typically needed. It is a
tool that tells you how many spaces you can get away with if you want to be green. The GreenTRIP calculator uses primarily for input
1) type of neighborhood, 2) location of land parcel, 3) number of units, 4) estimated sq footage of apartment, 5) expected monthly
rent, 6) affordability of units. Just manipulating these six inputs I obtained results from 234 to 330 spaces required depending on the
assumptions made for the input. [see table below] Why does the rent charged for the units affect the number of parking spaces so
much? The GreenTRIP calculator does not openly consider:
how many people in the building have jobs
the quality of the surrounding transit system
5. The ability to get around on public transit in Dublin is extremely weak. Check out our bus schedule and routes. Being near BART does
not get you to the majority of destinations you need to go – local job, doctor appts, daycare, school, church. A car and a parking space
are important unless you have unlimited funds for Uber or Lyft.
6. Were local businesses interviewed to get their opinion on how much parking is needed?
7. Our current state of parking spaces near the West Dublin-Pleasanton BART station is poor. There is currently not enough parking. Add
a 300-unit apartment complex with less than 1.0 space per unit and it will just make things worse.
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1. Applied Survey Research https://www.appliedsurveyresearch.org
2. GreenTRIP Connect https://connect.greentrip.org/map-tool.php?addr=94568
3. Staff Report – Affordable Rental Housing Funding Proposal (November 17, 2020)
I did not have the exact number of different units available, therefore I took my best guess
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