REPORT TO COUNCIL
SUBJECT
Title
Approve a License Agreement with the County of Santa Clara to Allow Use of Parcel A of the City's Onizuka Site for a Temporary County Cold Weather Shelter for the 2015-16 Winter Season, and Find that the Project is Categorically Exempt pursuant to CEQA Guideline Section 15304(e)
Report
BACKGROUND
On September 1, City Council directed staff to work with the County of Santa Clara to consider establishing a temporary County cold weather shelter (CWS) for the 2015-16 winter season at one of the City's Onizuka parcels. The City owns two parcels at the Onizuka site:
? Parcel A is an approximately one-acre site located at Innovation Way/Mathilda Avenue, south of the City's existing Fire Station 5 and north of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) parcel.
? Parcel D/E is an approximately 4.6-acre site located at Innovation Way/Moffett Park Drive, south of the education center that is currently being constructed by Foothill-De Anza Community College District (FHDA).
Council expressed a preference for locating the temporary County CWS on Parcel A. Staff indicated that approval at either of the Onizuka parcels could be authorized through a limited term license agreement. Council also requested that County staff provide monthly status reports on finding a permanent CWS location and on the operations at the temporary County CWS.
Following the September 1 meeting, City and County staff have been meeting weekly to collaborate on selecting a preferred site for the temporary County CWS. County staff has investigated both city-owned Onizuka parcels (A and D/E) to determine the feasibility of each site for the proposed shelter facility. Issues considered include pedestrian and transit accessibility, emergency vehicle access, utility connections, and related site design and engineering issues. Both City and County staff concluded that Parcel A was preferable, primarily due to better pedestrian/transit access, and fewer logist...
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