Title
Report regarding the Design Review request for the Community Civic Campus Library, Parks & Recreation and Community Theater/Council Chamber schematic design. (Tony Rozzi, Principal Planner)
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RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission, by motion, provide schematic design comments for the City Council’s consideration.
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BACKGROUND
The Community Civic Campus project (Project) proposes to build new Police, Fire, and Library and Parks and Recreation facilities on a phased approach due to timing and funding constraints. The Project will be built at the northeast corner of El Camino Real and Chestnut Avenue and southeast corner of Arroyo Drive and Camaritas Avenue (APNs 011-326-030, 093-331-070, 093-330-040, 093-331-080, 093-312-050). The current facilities are seismically unsafe and/or undersized/underequipped to meet the growing needs of our community and new facilities are needed. The focus of the Planning Commission’s review at this meeting will be to provide comments on the completed schematic design of the Library, Parks & Recreation and Community Theater/Council Chamber for the City Council’s consideration.
Phase One - Reviewed by Planning Commission on April 18, 2019
The new Police Station will be designed to the requirements of the current Essential Services Buildings Seismic Safety Act of 1986 (Health & Safety Code § 16000, et seq.). It will be a functional building with efficient spaces to meet the operational needs of the public safety departments. The Police Facility will include a 911 Emergency Center, support police patrol, and provide spaces for administrative records, communications, investigations, property and evidence, classrooms, physical training, and a firing range.
Phase Two - Under Consideration at this Hearing
The new main community center will include a welcoming lobby and atrium area for multiple users, a large multi-purpose room which will support public meetings, as well as theatre performances, a new Library Hub, a new Parks and Recreation Hub, and outdoor space for passive and active recreation. Shared spaces between the Library and Parks and Recreation will allow both departments to maximize their programs for the community.
The new Library Hub will provide larger, quieter spaces that more fully support reading, studying, and the use of technology. Teens will have their own “hang out” spot. Four adjacent study rooms of various sizes will help students complete their homework. The Children’s Library will increase in size. In the expanded space, families will enjoy story times among the books in an area comfortably furnished. Early literacy stations will be added to the expanded picture book room for preschoolers. Set apart from the children’s area, the Adult Library will become a quiet reading sanctuary with views, natural light, and comfortable seating. Finally, state-of-the-art, technology-based learning experiences will be offered in the Discovery Center. The new library and discovery center will feature programs covering a wide range of interests, from basic literacy and computer operation to writing code and building robots.
The new Parks and Recreation Hub will provide flexible, adaptable classrooms and meeting rooms, in addition to specialized activity spaces to allow customized programs. The largest activity space will be larger than the current Social Hall. The new Social Hall will have storage for tables and chairs, as well as dividers so that smaller activities can also be offered while maximizing space utilization. The dance studios will be larger with appropriate flooring and adjacent dressing rooms. Classrooms will be designed for young children with adjacent restrooms to expand programming and will provide safety and operational control for staff supervising the children. A teaching kitchen will allow for cooking classes that can accommodate more students. Classrooms equipped with sinks, floor drains, and durable furnishings and finishes will allow for “messy” art and other creative activities. The combination of adjacent classrooms and meeting rooms will accommodate small conferences and meetings that require a lecture area and break-out rooms. There will be several small music conferences and meetings that require a lecture area and break-out rooms. There will be several small music rooms for piano, guitar, voice, or other types of music instruction.
Phase Three - Future Review
The Fire facility will include three apparatus bays, storage, living and dining areas, separate sleeping quarters for males and females, administrative offices, and 14 parking spaces for staff and public. These functional areas will provide the best environment for our fire employees and apparatus to efficiently and safely serve our community.
Recent Project Outreach
The SmithGroup is the project master architect, selected by City Council in early 2018. The master architect team has been working on understanding the project goals, conducting outreach to understand the desires of our community, and preparing Master Plan options for City consideration. Outreach focused on program validation, and obtaining public input regarding design preferences and user experiences. The following meetings were held with City Council, Commissions, and Committees and at special events:
• City Council Study Sessions
• Parks and Recreation Commission (including Friends of Parks and Recreation)
• Library Commission (including Friends of Library)
• Planning Commission
• Cultural Arts Commission
• Bike and Pedestrian Committee
• Measure W Citizens’ Oversight Committee
• Design Review Board
• Neighborhood and Focus Group Meetings
• State of the City Address/Townhall Meeting
• Streets Alive! Parks Alive!
Outreach was supplemented with printed information, surveys, website information, social media and email blasts.
DISCUSSION
The focus of the Planning Commission at this hearing is to review the conceptual design for the shared Library and Parks and Recreation Facility that includes a Council Chambers. The project remains schematic and imagery included with this report was developed from a physical model that will be shared at the meeting on May 30, 2019. The project plans are not yet complete and therefore, planning staff has not been able to evaluate consistency with the El Camino Real/Chestnut Avenue Area Plan (ECR/C) District zoning requirements. Staff anticipates that a future application to the Chief Planner for any waiver or modification of zoning standards will be required once design is complete. For now, Planning Commission comments on the model and design for the City Council are requested to aid with the discussion of Phase I and II at a City Council hearing in June 2019. City Council approval of schematic designs for both phases will allow the project architect to complete design and development plans in preparation for a public bidding process.
Generally, the proposed 80,000 square foot building design includes a transparent façade for the community facility with undulating glass cladding and well-developed entrances from both El Camino Real and the public plaza off of Antoinette Way. The building’s support structure and internal demising walls will be exposed, maximizing light and interaction with the outdoors. The approximately 20 feet grade change from El Camino Real towards Antoinette Way has created an opportunity to tuck a portion of the building into grade and provide a combined 220 parking spaces (approximately) as under building and surface spaces to support the community facility. Forty bicycle spaces will also be provided. Drop off parking and turn around space is included in the current site plan, and the proposed garage will include a green wall for architectural compatibility.
The public park will include synthetic turf, age specific playground space, and an experiential garden built into the grade of the site. Native and City specific trees and plantings are proposed. Collectively, this site and the adjacent properties controlled by the City but intended for private development contemplates a phased development of the Oak Avenue extension. In the interim, that area will be a combination of open space, pedestrian and bicycle access, and surface parking.
Design Review Board Comments
The project was shared with the Design Review Board at their May 21, 2019 meeting and received very favorable feedback. A summary of comments are provided below:
• Police Facility Redesign - like the simpler volumes and massing, preferred the copper trim concept;
• Police Facility Redesign - like the IDs and badge;
• Police Facility Redesign - using glass to make it welcome is a very smart decision;
• Could consider removing trees from the corner of ECR/Chestnut to focus the corner of building;
• Likes the pedestrian refuge at ECR for entrance;
• At north end, feels like there is a void or lack of design - consider a vertical ring of trees or landscaping option to tie in with the playful nature of the south end of the building;
• Find opportunity for an outdoor space that will be visual from the distance;
• Opportunity to add color or pattern within the frit design in the glass - at an angle with tiny lights in the floor;
• Opportunity for sculptural entrance to the ECR side to make it an announcement;
• Supports the planting and landscape plan - very good improvement;
• Take the lead of the macro view on landscaping and adjust actual planting plan;
• Think about tree planting along exterior of Police Facility as panels with some break;
• Initially disliked the original design - really prefer the updated model and cladding choices;
• Curious about heat gain and loads related to the fritted glass design;
• Really like the lighting up of the Council Chamber for visibility and night experience
• A rooftop terrace could be considered;
• This will be a very interesting architectural building in the community and on the peninsula;
• Site is playful with nice amount of programming element; and
• Taken all the problems with the site with BART and easements, project team has developed a really nice form - doesn’t seem concessionary with the limits on-site.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY ANALYSIS
The El Camino Real/Chestnut Avenue Area Plan envisioned a combination of new private development and public buildings on these parcels, and the General Plan was updated to incorporate this vision. The General Plan designates this parcel as El Camino Real Mixed Use, High Intensity (ECR/C-MXH), a designation intended to accommodate high-intensity active uses and mixed-use development. The following uses are permitted in this zoning designation: retail and department stores; eating and drinking establishments; hotels; commercial recreation; financial, business, and personal services; residential; educational and social services; and office uses. Government offices are also a permitted use under this ECR/C-MXH designation.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) prepared for the Project (Community Civic Campus Phases I-III including the Police Station, Shared Parks and Recreation/Library/Council Chambers facility, and replacement Fire Station) was a Subsequent EIR (SEIR), which specifically considers whether the Project would result in new significant impacts not identified in the 2011 El Camino Real/Chestnut Avenue (ECR/C) Area Plan EIR, or if the Project would cause a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant impacts. The SEIR reviewed the Project and its potential environmental impacts, and otherwise relies on the analysis and conclusions of the previous 2011 ECR/C Area Plan EIR .
The Draft Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (DSEIR) for the Project was made available for public review and comment on July 12, 2017, for the mandatory 45-day review period. The comment period closed on August 28, 2017, and the City held a public hearing at the August 17, 2017 Planning Commission hearing, for verbal comments. Comments and responses received were published in the Final Subsequent Environmental Impact Report (FSEIR), and both documents are available for review on the City’s website at the following link: <http://weblink.ssf.net/weblink/0/fol/341385/Row1.aspx>. The Planning Commission considered the DSEIR at a public hearing on November 16, 2017 and recommended approval to the City Council. The City Council considered and adopted the DSEIR on December 13, 2017. Together, the DSEIR and FSEIR constitute the SEIR for the Project.
As noted above, the purpose of the SEIR was to identify any new significant or more severe environmental impacts than those disclosed in the 2011 ECR/C EIR. There were no instances where the Project would result in a significant environmental impact. The proposed Project is expected to generate significantly fewer project trips in the morning and evening peak hours for vehicle use, and fewer daily vehicle trips than assumed in the analysis in the original 2011 ECR/C EIR. Existing mitigation measures in place for the 2011 ECR/C EIR will still apply and appropriate new mitigations were introduced to reduce likely impacts of the Project. As part of the overall Project evaluated under the 2017 SEIR, the Library, Parks & Recreation and Community Theater/Council Chamber has been fully analyzed and is consistent with CEQA requirements.
FISCAL IMPACT
This item has no impact on the City budget and relies on Measure W funding with a project budget of $210 million. Budget for design has already been approved by City Council through the annual budget approval process.
CONCLUSION
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission, by motion, provide schematic design comments for the City Council’s consideration.
Attachments
1. Project Architecture and Site Narrative
2. Site Plan, Model Views, and Landscaping Plans