*First, thanks so much to everyone who offered input on 25A Orinda Way to the Planning Department, and who attended the four hour (!!!) meeting on Tuesday night.*
Tuesday evening the planning commission reviewed the most recent plans for 25A Orinda Way. For those who are new to the planning process, in a nutshell, here’s how it works. The Planning Department Staff works with applicants to pull together their proposals. Then, Staff and the applicant present plans to the six-person Planning Commission (volunteer citizens) who then votes “yay or nay” on proposed projects.
In the case of 25A Orinda Way, Staff recommended a course of action based on their review of the proposed plan prior to the meeting - in this case the December 8 planning study session that we covered. In what seemed like an easy recommendation, Staff suggested that the Commission approve Tandem’s proposal for 25A Orinda Way, including some variances (on parking), exemptions (on property setbacks), issue a commercial use permit and sign off on the design. Easy enough, you say? Well not so fast, said the Commissioners… they had plenty more feedback and asked the developer to return and present revisions on Tuesday, March 22.
Here is our play-by-play.
Building to the Lot Line
On the issue of the “Zero Setback” exemption: the project will be built nearly to the lot line on all four sides. City code requires a ten foot setback. This exemption is easy enough to grant on three of the four sides (sides and rear). The commission raised the concern, however, that on the street side, a narrow sidewalk poses a challenge for pedestrian pass through.
Several “pinch points” were identified. These are spots where trees, architecture and landscape features come together to narrow the sidewalk to the point where only one pedestrian could pass (and forget about that double Bob stroller). The commission pointed out that while the sidewalk would be no narrower than it is now, the anticipated increase in pedestrian use would put pressure on these pinch points.
The commission presented to the developer a few options to mitigate this problem. First, ground floor commercial space could be pushed back from the street and an “arcade” created to allow for pedestrian traffic. What's an arcade, you ask? See below.