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Honorable Mayor Hosterman and Members of the Council February 10, 2011 Page 2 project can work, both physically as to fitting the product on the site to meet the required density of the Core Guidelines, and make the project economically feasible. 1. Setbacks. Don Reber successfully explained to the Task Force, and we explained at the Planning Commission. that there is a problem fitting 30 units per acre onto Parcels 1 and 2 with housing types (tuck under and garden style) that are economically feasible to build and still meet the setback requirements of the Guidelines. At one edge of each parcel the Guidelines anticipate a trail, on the street side edge of each parcel the Guidelines anticipate deep suburban setbacks, and internal to the projcct we have open space requirements whici are unusually high for a TOD setting. At the Planning Commission hearing we explained that we cannot meet the Guidelines standards if both the trail and the setbacks remain un- amended. The Planning Commission expressed their preference to preserve the trails and approved reduced setbacks as follows: - Willow Drive: 20 feet not 22 feet. - Hacienda: 25 feel not 35 feet. - Gibraltar: 20 feet not 25 feet. BRE is fine with the obligation to build the trail from Owens Drive, along the eastern property line of parcels 1 and 2 with the trail terminating at Hacienda Drive. Building that trail is not our issue. Again, our concern is that we arc physically constrained from building the trail and complying with the setback requirements of the Guidelines as un- amended. From our point of view, the proposed street setbacks are so deep as to undercut the new urbanist look of the project. We believe the Planning Commission recommendation is actually an improvement to the TOD project, provides needed certainty, and is essential to having an economically feasible project. We don't believe that the proposed trail that encumbers the west side of Parcel 2 serves any purpose from a practical standpoint. In order for folks who might live in housing on Parcel 3 to access that trail they will have to cross Gibraltar Drive midblock. Their preferred path of travel will more likely take them to the BART station via either the Iron Horse Trail or the sidewalks along Willow Rd. 2. Gibraltar Retail /Live Work. To move beyond the debate that has been going on since the Task Force was formed, BRE agreed to having the entire Owens Drive frontage be retail and live -work space. We accept this obligation with knowledge that similar existing TOD retail in Dublin and Pleasant Hill has remained vacant since being built. In the case of Dublin, the Avalon Bay project located at the BART station has not leased any square footage of its ground floor retail in close to four years of effort. We believe that the Pleasant Hill BART project also remains 100% vacant after nearly a year of operation. We are certain in our position that retail space and live -work space anywhere on our projects will be difficult to lease, chronically vacant, and a financial drain on the project. Again, in order to move the Guideline process along to completion we conceded the point for the requirement on Parcel 1.