REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION
SUBJECT
Title
Study Session: Tasman East Specific Plan
Report
BACKGROUND
The City of Santa Clara 2010-2035 General Plan identifies the Tasman East Focus Area, bounded by Tasman Drive to the south, Lafayette Street to the west, the municipal golf course to the north and the Guadalupe River to the east, as a Focus Area intended to support new higher density residential development during the timeframe of the General Plan. The City began preparation of the Tasman East Specific Plan in 2016 in order to establish land use policies that will guide the implementation of new development consistent with the General Plan vision. The Specific Plan process has provided multiple opportunities for community input including four community meetings and four City Council study sessions.
Preparation of the Specific Plan is scheduled to be completed for Planning Commission consideration in October, and City Council consideration in November of this year. A Draft Environmental Impact Report (EIR) has been prepared and public circulation of the document closed in mid-September.
The purpose of the session is to provide the Planning Commission with a summary of key features of the Specific Plan and to describe the next steps in the Specific Plan process in advance of the public hearing on adoption of the plan.
Vision
The vision set forth in the Tasman East Specific Plan is to create a new high-density five to eight stories residential neighborhood in Santa Clara focused on an inviting streetscape and urban amenities, including retail uses with outdoor seating, urban-scaled parks that complement the built environment, and a network of greenways that allow for additional pedestrian connections through the neighborhood. Streets within the Specific Plan area will include wide sidewalks, park strips with large trees, and ample space for businesses to place tables, chairs and umbrellas. Parks, plazas and other open space amenities will have an urban character and be planned to support a wide variety of “placemaking” activities. The draft plan is available at <http://santaclaraca.gov/government/departments/community-development/planning-division/specific-plans/tasman-east> .
Land Use
Consistent with the envisioned urban character, residential densities in the neighborhood are planned to be a minimum of 100 dwelling units per acre. The City has previously identified a goal for the Plan to support 4,500 dwelling units along with neighborhood serving retail and amenities. The Specific Plan area is approximately 45 acres in area, with 7 of those acres dedicated to road network and an additional 10 acres planned for useable open space, leaving approximately 28 acres of land available for development and suggesting an average density of 160 dwelling units per acre (DU/AC) in order to achieve 4,500 units.
As a part of the planning process, the staff is considering a recommendation to creating a new General Plan land use designation, Transit Residential, which would allow residential densities from 85-350 dwelling units per acre (DU/AC), along with supportive commercial uses. This General Plan designation could be applied to similar Future Focus Areas.
The Specific Plan Land Use diagram also identifies potential locations for park space, greenways, a mixed-use “main street”, and other public amenities, as shown in Attachment 1. The main street, at the center of the Specific Plan area along Calle del Sol, will be a focal point for the new neighborhood. A new Zoning District would be established along with the Specific Plan to facilitate development of the Specific Plan area consistent with its vision.
DISCUSSION
Roadways and Access
As noted above, a key feature of the Specific Plan will be a new main street along the existing Calle del Sol alignment, which includes an extension of the street north to connect to Calle del Mundo. The Specific Plan also incorporates the extension of Lick Mill Boulevard through the Specific Plan area from Tasman Drive northward to the future CityPlace industrial park. In providing these new roadways, the Plan seeks to balance vehicular circulation needs with placemaking goals, providing a variety of street types that can accommodate regional and local vehicular traffic, bicyclists and pedestrians.
Development of the Calle del Sol extension is contingent on obtaining the land needed for the proposed right-of-way, and on solving a number of infrastructure challenges, including relocation of the Primavera lift station, a major piece of sewer infrastructure, and the re-location of a cellular antenna.
The Specific Plan land uses will leverage adjacency to the Lick Mill Light Rail Station, utilizing a robust Transportation Demand Management (TDM) Plan to minimize vehicle trips. As the Specific Plan is implemented, new projects will incorporate measures responsive to the evolving nature of transportation, including commuter behavior, availability of first and last mile connections to transit, and other advancements such as ride hailing and ride sharing technology.
Park Spaces and Greenways
Consistent with City Council input from February 6, 2018 study session, the Specific Plan establishes an ambitious Park Space and Greenways plan to provide 10 acres of open space area. These open spaces are distributed over smaller districts identified within the Specific Plan, with the open space areas in each district anchored by a publicly dedicated park. These parks will be connected to each other and to the Guadalupe River trail by a series of greenways, as shown in the Open Space and Greenways diagram, Attachment 1. The combination of publicly dedicated parkland, publicly accessible greenways and open spaces, and private amenity spaces (given half credit per the parkland dedication ordinance) will account for the ten acres of outdoor amenity space under the plan.
Greenways will form a pedestrian network between park spaces. Greenways will include landscaping, and will be public in character, meaning that the greenways will be at grade, visually open, and easily understandable by a person on foot. These pathways extend beyond the Plan Area, and offer connections to nearby regional open spaces such as Ulistac, the future CityPlace Central Park, and the City of Santa Clara’s Youth Soccer Park.
Multimodal Connectivity
Intentional placement of greenways, active building frontages, retail, and sidewalks enhance and encourage walking within the Specific Plan and to the nearby light rail stations. Bicycle paths will also connect the residents within the Specific Plan to nearby employment and entertainment destinations, such as those planned in the City Place project.
Affordable Housing
The Specific Plan is proposed to include an affordable housing strategy for the Specific Plan area. The City’s recently adopted Affordable Housing Ordinance includes a pipeline provision so that residential project applications submitted to the City prior to August 1 of this year are not subject to the new 15% inclusionary requirement provided they complete the entitlement process prior to December 1, 2020. As drafted, the Specific Plan would extend this deadline by one year to August 1, 2019, accounting for the extended timeframe of the Plan preparation coinciding with the preparation of the Specific Plan, but also commit all projects filed prior to that date to meet a 10% inclusionary requirement following the same terms as set in the Citywide ordinance. The City received a total of eight applications within the Tasman East Area prior to August 1, totaling 3,353 units that would fall under the pipeline provision and be expected to produce a minimum of 335 units of affordable housing per the Specific Plan. Other project applications may be submitted in the next year that could take advantage of the additional time proposed for the Tasman East Specific Plan should the Plan be adopted as proposed.
Incentives for High Density
The Specific Plan establishes an ambitious target of 4,500 new residential units. As previously discussed with the City Council, this would likely require some use of more expensive construction types (e.g. Type I or Type III which make use of steel and/or concrete) which may be infeasible under current market conditions. Other cities seeking to promote high-rise development have provided reductions in park impact fees and/or affordable housing requirements to offset higher construction costs. While all projects in the Plan Area are anticipated to be over 100 dwelling units/acre, Council may want to consider incentives for higher densities requiring more expensive construction.
The active developers in the Specific Plan have proposed the following incentive for projects that provide densities greater than 120 dwelling units/acre or 140 dwelling units/acre. The intent of this incentive is to increase both the total number of units and the total number of affordable units produced within the Plan area by better utilizing the available land. The following two phases are proposed based on filing dates:
Phase 1 includes all residential projects with applications filed prior to August 1, 2019 and that receive planning entitlements prior to December 1, 2021
Phase 2 includes all residential projects filed on or after August 1, 2019, and residential projects filed prior to August 1, 2019 that did not receive planning entitlements prior to December 1, 2021.
Table: Proposed Incentive - Progressive Reduction in Affordability Requirements
|
Density Range |
Phase 1: Required % Inclusionary (100% AMI) |
Phase 2: Required % Inclusionary (100% AMI) |
|
≤120 DU/AC |
10% |
15% |
|
>120 DU/AC & ≤ 140DU/AC |
8% for portion of project over 120 DU/AC |
12% for portion of project over 120 DU/AC |
|
> 140 DU/AC |
5% for portion of project over 140 DU/AC |
10% for portion of project over 140 DU/AC |
All of the affordable units provided in each residential project in both Phases 1 and 2 would need to meet an average 100% Area Median Income affordability level.
As shown in the following table, the overall result of this incentive would be to produce both more market rate and more affordable units by encouraging developers to build at higher densities.
Table: Units and Affordable Units Produced by Example Project at Different Densities
|
Project Density |
Total Units (1 Acre Site) |
Total Affordable Units Phase 1 Project* |
Total Affordable Units Phase 2 Project* |
|
120 DU/AC |
120 |
12 |
18 |
|
140 DU/AC |
140 |
13 |
20 |
|
160 DU/AC |
160 |
14 |
22 |
*Where fractions of a whole unit are part of the required number of units, developers are given the option to either provide a proportional in-lieu fee for the fraction of affordable housing unit required or provide an additional unit.
Community Meeting Spaces
Providing public amenities will be an important part of the Specific Plan placemaking strategy. As presented at the previous City Council study session, the Specific Plan would require the that one community room (2,000 sq ft) be made available for use by the general public on weekday evenings (Monday - Thursday) and Saturday mornings and a proposed plaza area would be designed to support library services in the form of a docking station for a book mobile. The Council expressed concern at that study session that one Community room would be insufficient to meet public demand and also that a more substantial facility is needed for library services. In addition to making a room available to the broader community, active developers within Tasman East have provided input that they each intend to provide approximately 2,000 square feet of common area per project which could be used by building residents and their guests to meet this need within the community. Further, one developer has indicated that they could include a library book area within a proposed retail (likely café) space.
Next steps
The Specific Plan and associated EIR will be brought to the Planning Commission for recommendation and to the City Council for adoption in October and November 2018.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The action being considered does not constitute a “project” within the meaning of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15378(b)(4) in that it is an informational report that does not involve any commitment to any specific project which may result in a potential significant impact on the environment.
PUBLIC CONTACT
Public contact was made by posting the Council agenda on the City’s official-notice bulletin board outside City Hall Council Chambers. A complete agenda packet is available on the City’s website and in the City Clerk’s Office at least 72 hours prior to a Regular Meeting and 24 hours prior to a Special Meeting. A hard copy of any agenda report may be requested by contacting the City Clerk’s Office at (408) 615-2220, email clerk@santaclaraca.gov <mailto:clerk@santaclaraca.gov> or at the public information desk at any City of Santa Clara public library.
As mentioned above, four community meetings have been conducted for the Specific Plan, the most recent of which was on June 7, 2018. Approximately fifteen members of the public were in attendance. Comments that the public made included:
-Ensure public access to trails
-Interest in public programming and entertainment in the park spaces
-Interest in bike share
-Need for community amenities (community center and family amenities)
-A desire to have all the upcoming projects in the north side of Santa Clara work together to provide complementary amenities
In addition, some property owner representatives in the plan area expressed concerns about the proposed roadways and the impact of implementing those roadways on the future ability to develop their properties.
Staff
Reviewed by: John Davidson, Principal Planner
Reviewed by: Alexander Abbe, Assistant City Attorney
Approved by: Reena Brilliot, Planning Manager
ATTACHMENTS
1. Tasman East Specific Plan Area Draft Land Use Framework Diagram