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HomeMy WebLinkAbout6.1 Amador Station (PLPA-2021-00019) STAFF REPORT Planning Commission Page 1 of 18 Agenda Item 6.1 DATE: August 10, 2021 TO: Planning Commission SUBJECT: Amador Station (PLPA-2021-00019) Prepared by: Amy Million, Principal Planner EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The Planning Commission will consider a Site Development Review Permit to develop a 3.6- acre site located on Golden Gate Drive adjacent to the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station within the Downtown Dublin Specific Plan Transit-Oriented District. The proposed project consists of 300 affordable residential units in two separate buildings that would be constructed in two phases of 136 units and 164 units, and includes ground floor retail, amenity space, and parking. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Disclose ex-parte contacts, conduct the public hearing, deliberate and adopt a Resolution approving a Site Development Review Permit for the Amador Station project on Golden Gate Drive in Downtown Dublin. DESCRIPTION: Background BRIDGE Housing is proposing a two-phase project on a vacant 3.6-acre site which is located adjacent to the West Dublin/ Pleasanton BART station at 6501 Golden Gate Drive as shown in Figure 1. The property is bound by I-580 to the south, the future 499-unit Avalon West project (formerly the St. Patrick Way Residential project) to the west, the Connolly Station residential community to the north, and Golden Gate Drive to the east. 10 Page 2 of 18 The project site is located in the Transit-Oriented District of the Downtown Dublin Specific Plan (DDSP) as shown in Figure 2. Figure 2: Transit-Oriented District/Vicinity Map The DDSP identifies a pool of 2,500 residential units that may be constructed in the DDSP area. As part of the proposed project, the applicant is required to enter into a Community Benefit Agreement in exchange for using units from the pool. The Community Benefit Agreement is subject to review and approval by the City Council. Since the establishment of the pool, 783 units have been constructed. There are 796 units remaining in this pool as shown in Table 1 below. 11 Page 3 of 18 Table 1. DDSP Residential Development Pool Project Address Units Status Total Units in Development Pool 2,500 Connolly Station 7550 St. Patrick Way 309 Approved 2012 – complete Aster (Bay West) 7544 Dublin Blvd. 313 Approved 2013 – complete Valor Crossing (Eden) 6707 Golden Gate Dr. 66 Approved 2013 – complete Trumark Homes 7144 Regional St. 60 Approved 2015 – complete Avesta Development 7601 Amador Valley Blvd. 35 Approved 2016 – complete St. Patrick Way 6700 St. Patrick Way 499 Approved 2018 Regional Street (Eden) 6543 Regional St. 114 Reserved July 2020 Amador Station (proposed project) Golden Gate Drive 308 Reserved April 2021 Total Reserved Units (1,704) Remaining Units 796 On April 20, 2021, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 36-21 appropriating $7.1 million from the City’s Affordable Housing Fund and authorizing the commitment of $2.9 million in Alameda County Measure A-1 funds to BRIDGE Housing for 136 units (Phase A of the proposed project). This came in response to BRIDGE Housing’s Notice of Funding Availability proposal for the creation of affordable rental housing. In addition, the City Council authorized the reservation of up to 308 residential units from the DDSP Development Pool and provided feedback on the negotiated deal points for a Community Benefit Agreement. Upon submittal of the Site Development Review Permit application, BRIDGE Housing reduced the number of units to 300. As a result, the negotiated deal points include the following: • In exchange for the allocation of up to 300 units, the applicant will build an affordable housing project in two phases. At a minimum, the project will include 136 units (excluding one property manager’s unit) that are affordable to very low-, low-, and moderate-income households earning an average of no greater than 43% area median income AMI, and the remaining 164 units will be 100% affordable at a minimum to moderate-income households. • The applicant will, upon occupancy of the project, furnish, at its sole cost and expense a minimum of 41 units for homeless persons, at-risk of becoming homeless persons, and persons with special needs with necessary and appropriate appliances, furniture, and basic kitchen ware/dishes. • The applicant will, upon occupancy of the project, reserve and construct a warm shell of at least 2,200 square feet of a ground floor café or similar use in the project. • The applicant will provide plaza enhancements to improve pedestrian access to the connection of the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART station. 12 Page 4 of 18 • Any affordable housing credits created by virtue of the construction of affordable housing for the 136 units of the project shall accrue to the City. Any affordable housing unit credits created by virtue of the construction of the remaining 164 units of the project may be shared with the applicant to assist with the financing of the project, if needed. These credits will be limited to the applicable category from which they are created. If the credits are not needed to finance the project, then the credits shall accrue to the City. Any credits the applicant received will not be allowed for use within the DDSP area until the City has exhausted its own credits. The City Council directed Staff to proceed with processing the project entitlements for consideration by the Planning Commission and prepare a Community Benefit Agreement for the City Council to consider. Proposal BRIDGE Housing is proposing to construct 300 affordable residential units in two separate buildings that would be constructed in two phases of 136 units (Phase A) and 164 units (Phase B). The proposed project includes ground floor retail, amenity space, parking and overall site improvements such as landscaping and the completion of the BART plaza. ANALYSIS: Site Development Review Permit The DDSP contains allowed uses, development standards, and design guidelines for all projects within its boundaries. The development standards contained in the DDSP are purposefully permissive to allow flexibility in project design and implementation. The two proposed buildings meet all the development standards of the Transit-Oriented District (DDSP Section 4.2). An overview of those standards and a comparison to the proposed project is provided in the table below. Table 2. Overview of DDSP Development Regulations Development Regulation Standard Proposed Density Range 30 to 85 units per acre (108-306 units) 83.3 units per acre (300 units) Building Height 8 floors / 90 feet 5 floors / 61 feet Setbacks: Golden Gate Dr. Interior 5 feet min. 15 feet max. (80% of bldg. façade) 6 – 12 feet 17.5 feet 13 Page 5 of 18 Development Regulation Standard Proposed I-580 Freeway 5 feet min. 10 feet min. 24 feet Parking: Residential 1.5 spaces per unit / 450 spaces .79 spaces per unit / 238 spaces1 Commercial2 1 per 300 SF / 7 spaces 7 spaces Guest Parking Loading Spaces Up to 15% of required parking None Included in residential parking requirement 3 spaces 1 Recent changes in State Density Bonus Law allow qualifying projects, as a matter of right, to obtain lower parking requirements than what would otherwise be required by local government standards. See parking section below for additional information. 2 Commercial parking requirement based on “Eating and Drinking Establishment - Take out” Site Layout and Circulation The two proposed buildings would be sited on the east and west sides of the parcel and would be separated by a central drive aisle (Lane A). Refer to the site plan in Figure 3 below. The east building (Phase A) would be oriented along Golden Gate Drive and Entry Drive. The west building (Phase B) would be oriented along Lane A and Entry Drive. The vehicular access to the project would be from Entry Drive, a private street located on the subject parcel, that shares access with the Connelly Station residential community to the north and connects to both Golden Gate Drive and St. Patrick Way. Lane A connects to Entry Drive and provides access to both parking garages. The area of Lane A south of the parking garage entrances is designed as a pedestrian open space and preserves its function for emergency vehicle access. All amenity and common spaces including community rooms, lobbies, mail rooms, and property management offices are located on the ground floor along the Golden Gate Drive and Entry Drive frontages. Loading and drop-off parking spaces are provided along Entry Drive adjacent to Phase A. On the southeast corner of the parcel is the future BART plaza, which will continue to be owned by BART. As part of the Community Benefit Agreement, the applicant is responsible for the construction of the BART plaza. Per draft condition of approval #18, final design is subject to review and acceptance by the Community Development Director in collaboration with the Public Works Director. 14 Page 6 of 18 Figure 3: Site Plan Architecture and Materials The architectural concept for the development is contemporary five story buildings with four floors of residential above ground floor parking, ground floor retail, and amenity space. The exterior finishes include a variety of contemporary building materials including, cementitious panels (vertical and horizontal), masonry veneer, stucco, glass and metal screens, railings and awnings. Each building’s façade is articulated through the use of a three-story architectural element of grouped windows and varying window patterns that create visual interest at different levels. The roofline has a traditional contemporary form with taller elements on the prominent corners. The prominent corners of the Phase A building, which include Golden Gate Drive at the BART plaza and Golden Gate Drive at Entry Drive, are defined by their height and vertically oriented metal panels. A long decorative screen projects from the building façade along the second, third and fourth floors adding a unique element. Figures 4 through 6 provide views of the Phase A building from the BART plaza, Golden Gate Drive and I-580. 15 Page 7 of 18 Figure 4. Partial South Elevation from BART Plaza Figure 5. View from Golden Gate Drive looking south toward Entry Drive Figure 6. South Elevation – I-580 The buildings are further accented with various color and material changes. The ground floor is clad with masonry and articulated with window and architectural awnings at the parking garage entries and other non-residential spaces such as the property management offices, 16 Page 8 of 18 lobbies, utility and bicycle closets and the community room. The second, third and fourth floors are grouped in large blocks that project beyond the ground floor. This area is separated from the fifth floor through the use of horizontal siding, the addition of balconies, and varied colors of horizontal bands of cementitious panels. The fifth floor and upper most story is highlighted with tall narrow windows, decorative awnings and vertical siding. The ground level of the Phase A building along Golden Gate Drive and Entry Drive is highlighted with a property management office, community room, and retail space that fronts the future BART plaza and will help to activate the streetscape. Building perspectives and elevations are included in Attachment 2, Sheets A2.0-A4.5. Landscape Design The landscaping is designed to enhance the two building’s architecture while complementing the already established landscaping in the surrounding developments and on the street, including the more recent streetscape improvements along Golden Gate Drive. The landscape is also functionally designed to buffer the proposed buildings in key locations such as along 1- 580 and the future residential development to the west. The DDSP encourages the use of landscaping on all sides of buildings, along streets, walkways, driveways and private outdoor spaces. A combination of trees, shrubs and groundcovers are also encouraged which may be provided in planters, pots or in the ground. The DDSP supports the inclusion of shade trees along walkways and near buildings. These encouraged features are included in the proposed design. As previously stated, the area of Lane A between the two buildings south of the parking garage entrances is designed as a pedestrian open space and preserves its function for emergency vehicle access. This pedestrian promenade is enhanced with decorative pavers, reclaimed redwood benches and planting areas. In addition to the ground level plantings, the buildings are designed with courtyards above the parking garages. The east building (Phase A) has two smaller courtyards allowing for residential units in the middle of the building. The west building (Phase B) is a circular layout with one centralize courtyard. As shown in Figure 7 below, the design concept for the interior courtyards provides a combination of planting area, artificial turf, children’s play equipment, sand pit, wood decking and a BBQ with seating. 17 Page 9 of 18 Figure 7: Courtyards The plants selected will provide year-round seasonal interest, with a mix of evergreen and deciduous plantings. The plantings will be drought tolerant with water management features that will allow the site to use a minimum amount of water while creating an attractive and thriving environment. The conceptual landscape plan is included in Attachment 2, Sheet L0.01, with details on Sheets L0.02 and L0.03. Parking With the passage of Assembly Bill 2345 (State Density Bonus Law), an affordable housing project located within ½ mile of an accessible major transit stop is entitled to a reduced parking requirement of .5 space per residential unit. As noted in Table 2 above, the DDSP requires 1.5 spaces per residential unit and up to 15% of the required parking for guest spaces. The project proposes a total of 245 spaces in two ground level parking garages, including 238 spaces for the residential units and guest parking (.79 spaces per unit), and seven spaces for the ground floor retail. BRIDGE Housing agreed to prepare a parking study for the project to evaluate the adequacy of 18 Page 10 of 18 the proposed parking. The City engaged CHS Consulting Group to conduct the parking study, which evaluated parking based on the following: 1. Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) Parking Generation Manual; 2. Comparative Parking Data from existing BRIDGE Housing sites; and 3. GreenTRIP Connect Dashboard parking analysis tool. ITE Parking Generation Manual CHS first conducted a parking demand analysis using the ITE Parking Generation Manual Land Use Code 223 (Affordable Housing) for a general urban/suburban setting located within ½ mile of transit. This land use exhibited a range in parking demand from 0.32 to 1.66 parking spaces per unit, with an average demand of 0.99 parking spaces per unit. The proposed project includes 66 studio units of permanent supportive housing for tenants who would not own cars and would not receive on-site parking spaces. Therefore, CHS assumed a baseline of 234 units and 2,200 square feet of retail use for the ITE analysis. While the ITE analysis shows that the reduced parking ratio would meet the project’s estimated parking demand, it was noted that ITE’s parking demand tool draws from nationwide parking data. CHS, therefore, conducted further analysis for the proposed project utilizing parking data from existing BRIDGE Housing peer sites and GreenTRIP, as these resources provide a more accurate assessment of current Bay Area parking conditions at affordable housing developments in similar local land use contexts. Comparative Parking Data (BRIDGE Housing) CHS reviewed parking supply and occupancy data of other existing BRIDGE Housing sites with similar characteristics (multistory, transit-oriented developments with 100 percent affordable housing programs) and on-site parking ratios are at or below the proposed project’s parking ratio of .79 spaces per unit (or .82 spaces per unit inclusive of the commercial parking spaces). Five peer sites with similar program characteristics were selected including four in the San Francisco Bay Area and one in San Diego, California. Two additional sites that are not transit-oriented sites in the San Francisco Bay Area were also compared. GreenTRIP CHS employed GreenTRIP to estimate the proposed project’s anticipated parking demand based on similarly sited Bay Area affordable housing projects and assessed the ability of transportation demand management (TDM) strategies to reduce parking demand at the project site. Similar to the ITE analysis, CHS assumed a baseline of 234 units for the GreenTRIP analysis. The conclusions of the GreenTRIP analysis for the proposed project’s residential parking demand are consistent with the ITE parking demand analysis and the parking demand data gathered from BRIDGE Housing’s peer sites Based on parking analysis prepared by CHS, the proposed project’s parking supply of 245 19 Page 11 of 18 spaces would exceed parking demand and would not result in a parking deficit. Due to the proposed project’s affordable housing program and its location within a half-mile the West Dublin/Pleasanton BART Station, it would meet the State Density Bonus Law requirements for a reduced parking ratio of 0.5 spaces per residential unit (150 spaces). The commercial space would be required to provide up to seven spaces for a combined requirement of 166 spaces. The proposed project would provide 245 parking spaces, exceeding the requirement by 79 spaces. Refer to Attachment 3 for the CHS parking study. Public Art The City’s public art requirement does not apply to 100% low-income housing projects. If the affordability levels of the project were to increase, public art would be required pursuant to Dublin Municipal Code Chapter 8.58 Public Art Program Contribution. CONSISTENCY WITH THE GENERAL PLAN, SPECIFIC PLANS, AND ZONING ORDINANCE The project is consistent with the General Plan land use designation of Downtown Dublin – Transit-Oriented District and the DDSP. The DDSP was written as a comprehensive plan for future development in the Downtown area. The Specific Plan contains the allowed uses, development standards, and design guidelines with which all projects within the boundaries must be in compliance. The proposed project, with the allocation of residential units from the Development Pool as described above, is consistent with the DDSP and the City’s Zoning Ordinance. The proposed project has been designed to be compatible with surrounding residential and commercial properties, while encouraging the appropriate integration to activate this key area of Downtown Dublin. In addition, the proposed project will contribute to the implementation of the vision of the DDSP and the housing opportunities offered in the DDSP area. Downtown Dublin Specific Plan Guiding Principles A set of guiding principles are included to help prioritize the direction and development strategy for Downtown Dublin as a whole (DDSP Section 3.3). The purpose of the guiding principles is to define a framework for future land uses, development standards and design guidelines. In addition, guiding principles for Downtown Dublin as a whole, guiding principles have been identified for the Transit-Oriented District (DDSP Section 3.3.3). Those that apply to the proposed project are as follows: • Promote transit-oriented development to create a distinctive and active district; • Identify opportunity sites for future development that incorporate mixed-use and provide public and/or private plazas and outdoor gathering areas at strategic locations; and • Encourage underground and/or above ground parking structures. 20 Page 12 of 18 Downtown Dublin Specific Plan Vision The established vision of the DDSP is to make Downtown Dublin “a vibrant and dynamic commercial and mixed-use center that provides a wide array of opportunities for shopping, services, dining, working, living and entertainment in a pedestrian-friendly and aesthetically pleasing setting that attracts both local and regional residents.” The development of the subject property is an important incremental improvement to advance this vision. The proposed project also supports the narrower vision for the Transit-Oriented District which is “to encourage the development of the area with land uses that support and complement transit uses, particularly the West Dublin BART Station. These uses include high-density multi- family residential and those that are generally more urban that the surrounding area”. In addition, a pedestrian-scale, walkable environment is encouraged through the development of plazas and connectively within the District and areas outside the District. The proposed project with its completion of all frontage improvements and site design will further the vision of the Transit-Oriented District. Downtown Dublin Specific Plan Design Guidelines The DDSP establishes design guidelines for development within the plan area (DDSP Section 4.4). The proposed project meets the key design guidelines of the DDSP (DDSP Section 4.4), including: • Using high-quality building materials and treating all building facades that are visible from the public realm with similar architectural elements, materials, and colors; • Incorporating treatments into the building design to ensure articulation and visual interest by utilizing techniques such as changing direction of the wall or façade, altering the height of the rooflines, providing projecting elements such as canopies, balconies, trellises, and breaking up large surfaces with logical changes in materials, texture, or colors; • Use of bold colors as accent features only and maximizing the use of muted or soft colors; • For residential uses, porches, balconies, and courtyards and providing ground-floor access to both individual and common building entrances; and • Finishing materials and color used on all building facades should be complementary to cone another and appropriate for the architectural style and character of the building. REVIEW BY APPLICABLE DEPARTMENT AND AGENCIES: The Building Division, Fire Prevention Bureau, Public Works Department, and Dublin San Ramon Services District reviewed the project and provided Conditions of Approval where appropriate to ensure that the project is established in compliance with all local ordinances and regulations. Conditions of Approval from these departments and agencies have been 21 Page 13 of 18 included in the attached Resolution (Attachment 1). ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION: The proposed project is located within the Transit-Oriented District of the DDSP, which was the subject of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR), State Clearinghouse No. 20100022005. The DDSP Final EIR was certified by City Council Resolution No. 08-11 on February 1, 2011. Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the proposed residential development is: (1) exempt from further environmental review under Government Code Section 65457 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15182; and (2) under CEQA Guidelines Section 15168, this residential project is in conformity with the DDSP and within the scope of the project analyzed in the DDSP EIR, and, therefore, no further CEQA review or document is required. Government Code sec. 65457 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15182 - Exemption Pursuant to Government Code sec. 65457 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15182(c)(Residential Projects Implementing Specific Plans) of the CEQA Guidelines which states: "Eligibility. Where a public agency has prepared an EIR on a specific plan after January 1, 1980, a residential project undertaken pursuant to and in conformity to that specific plan is exempt from CEQA if the project meets the requirements of this section….If after the adoption of the specific plan, an event described in Section 15162 occurs, the exemption in this subdivision shall not apply until the city or county which adopted the specific plan completes a subsequent EIR or a supplement to an EIR on the specific plan. As identified in CEQA Section 15162 and briefly described as follows, supplemental environmental review is required only when there are new or substantially more severe significant environmental impacts which require major revisions to the EIR due to project changes, substantial changes with respect to circumstances under which the project is undertaken or new information of substantial importance, or other standards under CEQA section 15162 are met. On February 1, 2011, the City Council approved the DDSP to guide development within the 284- acre Downtown Dublin area and create a vibrant and dynamic mixed-use center (Resolution No. 09-11). Pursuant to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), a Final Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (State Clearinghouse No. 2010022005) was prepared for the DDSP and certified by the City Council on February 1, 2011 (Resolution No. 08-11). On May 6, 2014, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 49-14 adopting an Addendum to the DDSP EIR for changes to the DDSP. The changes included increasing the number of residential units permitted in the DDSP area by 1,200 units and decreasing the amount of commercial square footage permitted by 773,000 square feet, creating minimum density thresholds for the Transit-Oriented and Retails Districts, and restricting residential development on the west side of San Ramon Road in the Retail District. 22 Page 14 of 18 On December 3, 2019, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 126-19 adopting an Addendum to the DDSP EIR for changes to the DDSP. The changes included an amendment to the General Plan and DDSP to allow an increase in the allowable commercial floor area ratio in the Transit- Oriented and Retail Districts to 2.5 and 2.0 respectively, combining the new residential dwelling unit allocation into one pool for all three districts, and amending the parking standards in the Village Parkway and Transit-Oriented Districts. On July 21, 2020, the City Council adopted Resolution No. 79-20 adopting an Addendum to the DDSP EIR for changes to the DDSP to implement the Downtown Dublin Preferred Vision approved by City Council on November 5, 2019. The changes included a new street grid of both public and private streets in the Retail District, siting of the Town Square, combining the remaining allocation of new non-residential square footage from Transit-Oriented and Retail Districts into one pool for the two areas, adding lodging as a permitted use in the Retail District, and modifying the design guidelines in “The Core” area of the Retail District to encourage walkable and pedestrian-friendly development. DDSP EIR and the subsequent Addendums analyzed the construction of approximately 2.2 million square feet of non-residential development and 2,500 residential dwelling units, included in the DDSP. Of the 2,500 residential dwelling units, 1,900 unit were allocated to the Transit-Oriented District. As shown in Table 1 above, the proposed project’s 300 units are within the already contemplated residential development activity in the DDSP. The project is consistent with DDSP. Approval of the proposed 300-unit residential project would be within the development threshold of the 2,500 residential dwelling units allocated for the DDSP. In addition, the proposed project conforms with the development regulations and design guidelines established in the specific plan in which is located as shown in Table 2 above. As provided in Government Code Section 21166 and Section 15162 of the CEQA Guidelines, when an EIR has been prepared for a project (DDSP EIR), no new environmental document shall be prepared for the proposed project, unless the Planning Commission makes one of the following determinations under Section 15162(a): 1. Substantial changes are proposed in the project which will require major revisions of the previous EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; 2. Substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances under which the project is undertaken which will require major revisions of the EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; or 23 Page 15 of 18 3. New information of substantial importance, which was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time the EIR was adopted, shows any of the following: a. The project will have one or more significant effects not discussed in the previous EIR; b. Mitigation measures or alternatives previously found not to be feasible would in fact be feasible, and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects of the project, but the project proponents decline to adopt the mitigation measures or alternative; or c. Mitigation measures which are considerably different from those analyzed in the previous EIR would substantially reduce one or more significant effects on the environment, but the project proponents decline to adopt the mitigation measure. The City conducted a review to determine if the proposed project met any of the standards requiring the preparation of supplemental environmental review under CEQA and concluded that the project is within the scope of development analyzed by the DDSP EIR and subsequent Addendums. The circumstances under which the project is to be undertaken have not substantially changed since the DDSP EIR and subsequent Addendums were prepared and will not substantially change with approval of the project. The DDSP EIR adequately described the impacts of the project for the purposes of CEQA, and no mitigation measures or new alternatives are required other than those previously disclosed and analyzed in the DDSP EIR and subsequent Addendums. Approval of the project will not create any site-specific operations giving rise to environmental effects different from those examined by the DDSP EIR or requiring the preparation of an Initial Study. The proposed project is subject to the DDSP Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program. Consequently, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15182, the project impacts are covered by the DDSP EIR and its Addendums. Based on a review of the project, the environmental analysis in the DDSP EIR and all the information in the project record as a whole, the City has determined that there is no substantial evidence that any of the standards are met. As part of this determination, the City had an analysis of parking and noise impacts prepared for the project to ensure that potential impacts in those areas did not present new or substantially more severe significant impacts than presented in the DDSP EIR. The results of the analysis is provided below. Therefore, pursuant to Government Code Section 65457 and CEQA Guidelines Section 15182, the project is exempt from CEQA and no further environmental review is required for this project. Section 15168 – WITHIN SCOPE OF CERTIFIED DDSP PROGRAM EIR 24 Page 16 of 18 The DDSP was prepared as a Program EIR under CEQA Guidelines Section 15168 to be used as the CEQA review for future implementing projects. Section 15168(a) defines a “program EIR” as one prepared on a series of actions that can be characterized as one large project and are related geographically and by other shared characteristics. Section 15168(c) states that later activities in the program EIR must be examined in the light of the program EIR to determine whether an additional environmental document must be prepared. If the agency finds that pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15162, no subsequent EIR would be required, the agency can approve the activity as being within the scope of the project covered by the program EIR and no new environmental document would be required. Operation Traffic Analysis The DDSP EIR assessed the transportation impacts of the DDSP by generally identifying large areas for development. For the subject property, the DDSP EIR assumed a 150-room hotel since this was a potentially known project at the time the DDSP was adopted. In 2018, a signal warrant analysis was completed in conjunction with the St. Patrick Way Residential project (PLPA-2017-00069) for the intersection of Golden Gate Drive and St. Patrick Way. The study found that a traffic signal was not warranted by the project alone; however, it did note that in the future (before 2040) with additional projects (including the Amador Station project), the signal will be required. This finding was consistent with the DDSP EIR Mitigation Measure 3.9- 1. This mitigation measure requires the City to collect impact fees from developers in the Specific Plan Area for the Tri-Valley Transportation Development Fee as well as the Western Dublin Traffic Impact Fee programs prior to issuance of building permits. This will fund local and regional transportation improvements. The signal at Golden Gate Drive and St. Patrick Way has already been identified in the Western Dublin TIF program and the payment of the required TIF fees addresses this previously identified impact. Noise Impacts The DDSP EIR identified the impact pertaining to the increase of noise levels in the area from mobile sources (vehicular traffic) at existing and future uses. To mitigate this impact, the City adopted Mitigation Measure 3.7-3. This mitigation measure requires that future development within the DDSP project area located adjacent to I-580 prepare a site-specific acoustical analysis subject to review and approval by the City. The mitigation required that the acoustical analysis evaluate resultant noise impacts in comparison to the City’s noise criteria for Land Use Compatibility for Community Noise Environments. Feasible project specific mitigation measures are required as part of the project design to reduce noise impacts at future noise sensitive land uses, including but not limited to: 1) site design; 2) operational restrictions; 3) barriers; 4) setbacks; and 5) insulation. An acoustical assessment dated July 2021, was prepared by Kimley Horn on behalf of the applicant. The assessment evaluated future uses at the project site and potential noise levels they would be exposed to. The assessment includes an evaluation of the existing conditions and concluded that the primary noise source was traffic on I-580. As required by Mitigation Measure 3.7-3, the assessment made project specific design recommendations to address 25 Page 17 of 18 noise levels to 49 effected units. The recommendations are as follows: 1) Upgraded windows and entry doors on the affected units; and 2) The final site design should implement centralized heating/ventilation/air-conditioning units (HVAC) on all the affected units. With implementation of the above recommendations, the interior noise levels at the project would not exceed the 45dBA interior threshold required by the California Building Code and the Dublin General Plan. Based on the project record as a whole, the proposed project is within the scope of the project covered by the DDSP EIR and subsequent Addendums. The circumstances under which the project is to be undertaken have not substantially changed since the DDSP EIR and subsequent Addendums were prepared and will not substantially change with the approval of the project. As supported by the operational traffic analysis and noise study, the EIR adequately describes the impacts of the project for the purposes of CEQA, no mitigation measures or new alternatives are required by the project other than those previously disclosed and analyzed in the DDSP EIR and subsequent Addendums. Approval of the project will not create any site-specific operations giving rise to environmental effects different from those examined by the EIR or requiring the preparation of an Initial Study. The proposed project is subject to the DDSP Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program. Consequently, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15182, the project impacts are covered by the DDSP EIR and its Addendums and no further environmental review is required for this project. NOTICING REQUIREMENTS/PUBLIC OUTREACH: Two City-led Community Meetings were held on June 30 and July 1, 2021, to provide Dublin residents with information about the proposed Amador Station residential project. No residents attended the meeting on June 30. One resident attended the meeting on July 1 along with four members of the applicant team. Staff provided a presentation that included an overview of the new Community Meeting concept, the City’s development review process, and the proposed project. Questions were asked about proposed parking and on-site services available to address resident issues (i.e., residents that might have drug/alcohol abuse and/or mental health issues). In accordance with State law, a public notice was mailed to all property owners and occupants within 300 feet of the proposed project to advertise the project and the upcoming public hearing. A public notice also was published in the East Bay Times and posted at several locations throughout the City. A Planning Application sign was posted on the project site and the project was also included on the City’s development projects webpage. A copy of this Staff Report has been provided to the Applicant. 26 Page 18 of 18 ATTACHMENTS: 1) Resolution Approving the Site Development Review Permit 2) Exhibit A to Attachment 1 Project Plans 3) Parking Study prepared by CHS 27