REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
File #: 2016-7212
Location: 1050 Kifer Rd. (APN: 205-50-001, 205-50-029, 205-50-036)
Zoning: MXD-I/II (Flexible Mixed Use I/II)
Proposed Project: An application on a 21.7-acre site:
USE PERMIT: to redevelop an industrial site, including construction of two four-story office/R&D buildings and two parking structures resulting in 755,144 square feet and 80% Floor Area Ratio (Intuitive Surgical).
Applicant / Owner: Intuitive Surgical
Environmental Review: No additional review required as per CEQA Guidelines 15168(c)(2) and (4) - environmental impacts of the project are addressed in the Lawrence Station Area Plan Program Environmental Impact Report (EIR).
Project Planner: Noren Caliva-Lepe, (408) 730-7659, ncaliva-lepe@sunnyvale.ca.gov
Report
REPORT IN BRIEF
General Plan: Lawrence Station Area Plan (LSAP)
Zoning: MXD-I/II (Flexible Mixed Use I/II)
Existing Site Conditions: Office/R&D
Surrounding Land Uses
North: Office/R&D (in the City of Santa Clara)
South: Office/R&D and railroad tracks
East: Office/R&D (proposed Greystar mixed-use site, see 2016-7882)
West: Office/R&D (existing Intuitive Surgical office building)
Issues: Aesthetics and consistency with LSAP
Staff Recommendation: Alternative 1 - Make the required Findings to approve the CEQA determination that the environmental impacts of the project are addressed in the Lawrence Station Area Plan Program (LSAP) Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and no additional environmental review is required; and approve the Use Permit subject to LSAP the LSAP Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program in Attachment 7 and recommended conditions of approval in Attachment 4.
BACKGROUND
The project site is currently comprised of three parcels totaling approximately 21.7 acres, containing four office/R&D buildings totaling 362,679 square feet. Surrounding uses primarily consist with office/R&D uses. The Lawrence Caltrain Station is located less than half a mile southeast of the project site. The site currently contains the corporate headquarters of Intuitive Surgical, a medical robotics R&D company that occupies several properties within the City.
The site is within the LSAP, which was adopted by the City Council on December 6, 2016. The LSAP designates the site as Mixed Use Transit Supporting North and is zoned MXD-I/II - Flexible Mixed Use I/II., which allows uses such as mixed use (residential and office/research and development uses on a single site), high-density residential (up to 68 dwelling units per acre), and office/R&D uses (up to 150% floor area ratio, or FAR).
Proposed Project
The proposed project includes construction of two four-story office/R&D buildings totaling 392,465 net new office/R&D square feet and two parking structures. One existing building would remain. The project would result in a total gross floor area of 755,144 square feet and 80% Floor Area Ratio (FAR). The project also provides publicly-accessible open space, including two pockets of landscaped seating areas along Kifer Road and Sonora Court, and a 25-foot wide multi-use trail along the site perimeter.
See Attachment 1 for a map of the vicinity and mailing area for notices and Attachment 2 for the Data Table of the project.
EXISTING POLICY
General Plan and LSAP Goals and Policies
Attachment 3 contains relevant General Plan goals and policies, and makes reference to the recently-adopted LSAP. The LSAP was created to promote and guide redevelopment of the area near the Lawrence Caltrain station. The major elements of the LSAP include the following:
* Provide diverse types of land use;
* Provide density closest to the station;
* Improve access to and around the entire area, and to areas beyond the LSAP area;
* Develop a plan to allow developments and public improvements to create a character and identity unique to the area and consistent with that found in Sunnyvale;
* Provide flexibility in future redevelopment to allow a plan responsive to the change land use pressures and market changes; and
* Ensure any changes made use sustainable and environmentally sensitive elements.
Applicable Design Guidelines
In addition to the guidelines contained in the LSAP, the Citywide Design Guidelines, Bird Safe Buildings Design Guidelines, and Parking Structure Design Guidelines were used to evaluate the project.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
A Program-level Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was prepared for the LSAP (State Clearinghouse No. 2013082030) per the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which identified broad environmental impacts resulting from the proposed development intensities in the overall Plan. Certification of the LSAP EIR included a mitigation monitoring program (MMRP) with provisions to reduce the potentially significant impacts to a less than significant level, although some impacts of the LSAP will remain as significant unavoidable after mitigation (see LSAP MMRP in Attachment 7). Statements of Overriding Consideration were adopted in conjunction with the LSAP in acknowledgment of the presence of the remaining significant and unavoidable impacts.
An Environmental Checklist was prepared to determine whether the environmental impacts of the proposed project are within the scope of the LSAP EIR, or if changed environmental conditions result in new or substantially more severe environmental impacts, as compared to those considered in the LSAP EIR. The Checklist also considered whether there is new information of substantial importance showing that new or substantially more severe environmental impacts would occur compared to that evaluated in the LSAP EIR (see Project Environmental Checklist in Attachment 5).
Several technical studies were prepared to analyze site and project-specific environmental conditions, such as noise study, Phase I and II, geotechnical investigation, biological study, air quality and greenhouse gas study and arborist report.
In addition, a transportation impact analysis (TIA) was prepared to analyze project-specific traffic impacts (see project traffic study in Attachment 6).
Review of the project, including technical studies, confirmed the project is consistent with the certified LSAP EIR analysis and did not reveal new impacts that warranted further investigation. Therefore, staff finds that the environmental impacts of the project are addressed in the LSAP EIR and no additional review is required as per CEQA Guidelines 15168(c)(2) and (4).
DISCUSSION
Present Site Conditions
The site is currently developed with four buildings totaling approximately 362,679 square feet in size, three of which face Kifer Road and one faces Sonora Court. The existing buildings are surrounded by surface parking and landscaping, with large trees along the street frontages and site perimeter. Several curb cuts provide direct vehicular access to public streets. A public sidewalk is provided along a portion of the Kifer Road frontage, which was installed with the construction of 1020 Kifer Road in 2013.
Use Permit
The MXD-I/II zoning allows for a flexible mix of uses, including either residential or office uses, or both. The proposed project would maintain the existing R&D use of the property.
The proposed project includes demolition of two existing single-story buildings facing Kifer Road and one two-story building facing Sonora Court. The recently-constructed one-story building located at 1020 Kifer Road, along the western property boundary, will remain. The applicant proposes to build two four-story buildings and two parking structures. Construction would occur in two phases, with the second phase occurring approximately two to five years after the first phase. Below is a summary of the proposed phased construction for each building, which correlates to the project plans in Attachment 8:
Phase I
Phase 2
1020 Kifer Rd.
Remain
Remain
1050 Kifer Rd.
Demolish and construct R&D Building 1
Remain
1090 Kifer Rd.
Remain
Demolish and construct R&D Building 2 and Parking Structure 2
1127 Sonora Ct.
Demolish and construct Parking Structure 1
Addition to Parking Structure 1
Floor Area Ratio and LSAP Incentive Program
The LSAP requires applicants to provide community benefits in the plan area through incentive-based zoning. The adopted Incentive Program provides a list of incentives for applicants to choose from to maximize the build-out of their properties. The MXD I/II zoning designations requires a minimum FAR of 35% and a maximum of 45% when not using incentives. With incentives, the FAR may increase from 45% to 150%. The applicant proposes 80% FAR with a full list of community benefits and incentive points in Attachment 9.
Community benefits include publicly-accessible amenities on the project site, such as a 25-foot wide multi-use trail and two pockets of open space along the street frontages. The multi-use extends along the west and south property lines, and allows for pedestrian and bicycle access from Kifer Road to Sonora Court. This is a key component of the LSAP to facilitate more direct access to the Caltrain station through Sonora Court. As implementation of the LSAP, detailed specifications for the trail will be created and implemented in the applicant's project plans (see Attachment 4).
The two pockets of publicly-accessible open space will be located along the east side of the Kifer Road frontage and near the multi-use trail facing Sonora Court. These two areas total approximately 21,582 square feet and will including landscaping and seating areas. The open space along Kifer Road is intended to relate to the retail/restaurant uses on the ground floor of the Greystar buildings, while the open space along Sonora Court will primarily be used by those utilizing the multi-use trail.
Architectural Design
The proposed architecture can be considered contemporary or modern and relates to the existing 1020 Kifer Road building that will remain. The two four-story R&D buildings include high quality materials, such as beige gridded pre-cast concrete, varying glass types (clear, white fritted, and grey spandrel), and grey metal mullions and soffits. The shape of the buildings provide architectural interest, with varying wall and glass projections that help to break up the visual mass from the street. The corner entries are recessed and tucked under the projecting upper floors, similar to the entry features found on the 1020 Kifer Road building. A key element of the buildings is the roof terraces on the second floor that face Kifer Road, which helps to further activate the street frontage. The buildings are connected by an enclosed corridor on the third floor, which introduces a blue metal element into the color palette. The proposed architectural design is consistent with the guidelines contained in the LSAP by utilizing high quality materials, creating interesting pedestrian-scale elements that promote activated streets, and massing that is respectful of the surrounding properties. In addition, the building materials and surrounding landscaping have been thoughtfully designed to comply with Bird Safe Design Guidelines.
While the two parking structures are tucked towards the back of the site, the structures will be visible from neighboring properties and Sonora Court. The parking structures are primarily composed of precast beige concrete panels, with openings placed throughout to break up mass and reveal yellow or blue-colored metal accents. Gridded metal screens are also introduced along portions of the elevations. The parking structure elevation that is adjacent to the multi-use trail will include a green screen panel along the first floor to help soften the look along the trail edge. The parking structure design is compatible with the architectural style of the buildings and helps to screen vehicles from view. Therefore, the design of the parking structures complies with the LSAP and Parking Structure Design Guidelines.
Development Standards
The LSAP contains specific development standards that are evaluated below. The project complies with all development standards, as discussed below and included in the project data table in Attachment 2.
Site Layout
The two new R&D buildings will be sited along the Kifer Road frontage, and helps to transition to the existing building at 1020 Kifer Road. Areas between the buildings are primarily intended as private outdoor amenities areas for employees, including seating and recreational courts. Two parking structures will be tucked behind the R&D buildings, one of which is sited along the southern property line adjacent to the railroad tracks, and the second is near the eastern property line, adjacent to the pending Greystar development.
The project complies with all setback requirements contained in the LSAP, including an increased minimum side yard setback of 20 feet when adjacent to residential uses. The side setback adjacent to the Greystar building ranges from approximately 70 to 85 feet, which helps to minimize potential impacts to future residents of that development.
Building Height/Stories
The LSAP allows building heights up to eight stories and 85 feet. Buildings 1 and 2 will be four-stories in height, with an overall height of approximately 70 feet 6 inches. Roof screens will be integrated into the building, and extend the height of the buildings to 83 feet. Parking Structure 1 will be six stories and approximately 62 feet in height, with the elevator reaching a height of 72 feet 4 inches. Parking Structure 2 ranges in height from four stories and 42 feet 2 inches adjacent to the Greystar property line up to six stories and 62 feet 4 inches interior to the site.
The proposed building and parking structure heights comply with height limits. The reduced parking structure height adjacent to the Greystar development helps to further reduce impacts to future residents.
Circulation
The existing site contains seven driveways along Kifer Road and one driveway along Sonora Court. The proposed project reduces the driveways along Kifer Road to five. The main driveway that will be used as the primary access to the site is along the west property line, which allows vehicular access into Parking Structure 2 and through Sonora Court. A secondary driveway is located along the east property line, which allows for access into Parking Structure 2 and also connects through to Sonora Court. This shared driveway provides vehicular and emergency access for the subject property and the adjacent proposed Greystar property This shared driveway is an essential element of the LSAP and Intuitive Surgical and Greystar projects as follows:
* Allowing Greystar to use the shared driveway on the Intuitive Surgical property allows the proposed mixed-use Greystar building on the western portion of that property to be moved to the west which allows a new access road to provide a future connection to Sonora Court and the Caltrain station.
* The loop road alignment was originally shown in the LSAP on the Intuitive Surgical property already developed with a relatively new office building. Given the unlikely redevelopment of that property, staff worked with Intuitive Surgical and Greystar to develop an alternative alignment in order to provide the LSAP goal of improved access from Kifer Road to Sonora Court.
* In place of the loop road along the already developed Intuitive Surgical property, the applicant has agreed to build a new bicycle/pedestrian path to extend from Kifer Road to the terminus of Sonora Court. This improvement accomplishes an LSAP goal of providing improved access to the station for all modes of travel.
* Providing a shared driveway for the two projects reduces the number of driveway openings along Kifer Road, which provides a safer bicycling and pedestrian experience and improves traffic flow.
Parking
The LSAP requires a minimum of 2 parking spaces and maximum of 3.2 parking spaces per 1,000 square feet of building area, or a minimum of 1,510 spaces and maximum of 2,416 spaces for the project. The proposed project includes a total of 2,074 spaces throughout the development, 80% of which are located within the two parking structures. The remaining 20% are surface parking spaces, which are primarily existing spaces that surround the 1020 Kifer Road building.
Bicycle Parking and Amenities
A minimum of one bicycle parking space per 6,000 square feet of building area is required, 75% of which must be Class I (secured) and 25% Class II (racks). The project complies with this requirement by providing 126 bicycle parking spaces for the project, 95 of which are Class I and 31 are Class II.
As part of the Phase 2 construction, a portion of the first floor of Parking Structure 2 will be modified into showers and storage lockers. These amenities will help to promote bicycle use for the employees.
Landscaping and Tree Preservation
The LSAP requires a minimum of 20% of the site to be landscaped, or 189,373 square feet for the project site. A preliminary landscaping plan was provided and demonstrates that the project exceeds the minimum requirement by providing more than 36% or 342,248 square feet of landscaped areas. Landscaping is comprised of groundcover, limited turf, shrubs and trees.
An arborist report was prepared and evaluated a total of 198 trees, 152 of which are considered to be "protected" per Sunnyvale Municipal Code 19.94 with trunks that are at least 38 inches in circumference. The arborist found many of the protected trees on the property to be in poor structural condition, due to poor pruning. For example, several Canary island pines located at the back of the property were severely topped under the existing utility lines. Other protected trees are proposed for removal due to declining health and conflicts with proposed buildings and infrastructure (see arborist report in Attachment 10).
The most visible trees are those along the street frontages. City staff walked the street frontages with the applicant's team to assess these trees. Based on the City Arborist's direction, the recently-planted trees in front of the 1020 Kifer Road building will remain. The several existing carob and tulip trees, and one redwood tree along remaining Kifer frontage will be removed due to poor structure, health or due to conflicts with new sidewalks. Several healthy redwood trees are proposed to be preserved (trees #80-83, 86, 101, and 102) and will require exploratory excavation prior to site demolition and sidewalk installation. Exploratory excavation is also recommended for several healthy cedar trees along the Sonora Court property (trees #18, 19, 33 and 35).
A final landscaping and tree preservation plan will be required prior to building permit submittal, demonstrating compliance with landscaping requirements, water-efficiency provision, tree preservation recommendations, and tree replacement standards (see Conditions of Approval PS-1 and PS-2 in Attachment 4).
TRANSPORTATION DEMAND MANAGEMENT (TDM)
The LSAP requires new development in the Plan area to implement a TDM program with a daily trip reduction target of at least 20%and a peak hour trip reduction target of at least 35% (see Conditions of Approval PF-9, AT-9 and AT-10 in Attachment 4).
GREEN BUILDING
A minimum of LEED Silver is required for the non-residential construction. The project exceeds green building requirements by targeting LEED Gold for the new buildings. The existing building at 1020 Kifer Road was constructed as LEED Silver and will remain (see checklists in Attachment 11).
FISCAL IMPACT
Normal fees and taxes are expected. Standard fees, such as traffic impact and housing mitigation fees, are required prior to issuance of a building permit and are included in Attachment 4.
PUBLIC CONTACT
As of the date of staff report preparation, staff has received no comments from the neighbors, tenants or property owners or the general public. Staff conducted standard noticing and posting below:
*?Published in the Sun newspaper
*?Posted on the site
*?Posted on the City's website
*?Provided at the Reference Section of the City's Public Library
*?Posted on the City's official notice bulletin board
*?Posted on the City's website
* A total of 1,368 notices mailed to Sunnyvale and Santa Clara property owners and residents within 1,000 feet of the project site
* Notices were also sent to the project interested parties list, Ponderosa Neighborhood Association, and City of Santa Clara.
Planning Commission Study Session - August 22, 2016
The Planning Commission Study Session was held on August 22, 2016 to review conceptual plans. Staff provided information about the LSAP and the applicant presented the proposed project with an architectural fly-over. The Commissioners complimented the coordination between Intuitive Surgical and Greystar on fulfilling the goals and visions of the LSAP. Key issues discussed included architecture, sidewalks and trees. The applicant has addressed these comments in their current plans.
Community Outreach Meeting - September 22, 2016
The applicant conducted a joint community outreach meeting with Greystar on September 22, 2016. The meeting was attended by approximately ten neighboring property owners, residents and Councilmembers. The project was positively received by those present.
ALTERNATIVES
1. Make the required Findings to approve the CEQA determination that the environmental impacts of the project are addressed in the Lawrence Station Area Plan Program (LSAP) Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and no additional environmental review is required; and approve the Use Permit subject to LSAP the LSAP Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program in Attachment 7 and recommended conditions of approval in Attachment 4.
2. Make the required Findings to approve the CEQA determination that the environmental impacts of the project are addressed in the Lawrence Station Area Plan Program (LSAP) Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and no additional environmental review is required; approve the Use Permit subject to LSAP the LSAP Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program in Attachment 7 and modified conditions of approval as required by the Planning Commission.
3. Do not make the CEQA Findings and direct staff as to where additional environmental analysis is required.
4. Deny the Use Permit and provide direction to staff and applicant on where changes should be made.
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Recommendation
Alternative 1: Make the required Findings to approve the CEQA determination that the environmental impacts of the project are addressed in the Lawrence Station Area Plan Program (LSAP) Environmental Impact Report (EIR) and no additional environmental review is required; and approve the Use Permit subject to LSAP the LSAP Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program in Attachment 7 and recommended conditions of approval in Attachment 4.
Staff
Prepared by: Noren Caliva-Lepe, Senior Planner
Approved by: Andrew Miner, Planning Officer
ATTACHMENTS
1. Vicinity and Noticing Map
2. Project Data Table
3. Recommended Findings
4. Recommended Conditions of Approval
5. Project Environmental Checklist
6. Project Transportation Impact Analysis
7. LSAP Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program
8. Proposed Site and Architectural Plans
9. Community Benefits/Incentive Points
10. Arborist Report
11. Green Building Checklist