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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-11-29 Planning & Transportation Commission Action Minutes_______________________ 1.Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2.The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3.The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. Planning & Transportation Commission 1 Action Agenda: November 29, 2023 2 Council Chambers & Virtual 3 6:00 PM 4 5 Call to Order / Roll Call 6 6:00 pm 7 Vice Chair Chang called to order the November 29th Planning and Transportation Commission 8 (PTC) meeting. 9 10 Ms. Veronica Dao, Administrative Associate, conducted the roll call and announced all 11 commissioners were present. 12 Oral Communications 13 The public may speak to any item not on the agenda. Three (3) minutes per speaker.1,214 Vice Chair Chang invited members of the public to share their comments with the Commission 15 on items not on the agenda. 16 Ms. Veronica Dao, Administrative Associate, announced David Hirsch and Peter Bultay as joint 17 speakers for oral communications. 18 Architectural Review Board (ARB) member David Hirsch, provided his background in New York 19 of collaborating with architect planners and transportation engineers to revamp a very 20 rundown area in downtown Brooklynn that included revamping an major New York shopping 21 center into a busway with pedestrian amenities, making improvements to the nearby East River 22 Waterfront, which included a floating restaurant and parking area, and landscaped the now 23 hugely successful Riverfront Park with expansive views of lower Manhattan. Mr. Hirsch 24 expressed that a few years ago he and ARB Chair Baltay offered their joint vision of Palo Alto 25 considering a development office to be responsive to the State’s housing development 26 requirements. A creative model or development plan must come first with zoning to follow, 27 with regulations provided in an Urban Design Overlay suggesting that Palo Alto use an overlay 28 scheme much like Los Angeles has, that can be guided by a separate development office in 29 partnership with planning due to the over 6,000 units of housing that has been required by the 30 State, which will increase the population by nearly 22%. A significant impact on the 31 community’s quality of life would result if undirected. Using an average cost calculation, 6,250 32 units are projected to cost $2 billion dollars. This does not include other projects that will 33 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. continue to be processed through the department. Mr. Hirsch and Pedestrianer Baltay 1 developed a study 2 ½ -years ago of the twenty-nine open parking lots adjacent to downtown, 2 and proposed to the previous Council a developed architectural scheme for the Hamilton Lot 3 located behind CVS. This retains the entire capacity of the present parking in a well-lit 4 basement below five stories of housing. Buildings with a potential of eighty to a hundred units 5 above that parking on this ¾ acre lot. Mr. Hirsch suggested that the City’s parking lots would be 6 ideal for development due to them being city owned where developers can lease rather than 7 purchase which would prove to be a huge attraction to developers. Expectations of this 8 development office would be to first offer Council a proper presentation of the twenty-nine 9 parking lots describing their potential schematically as housing, due to a mixed-use 10 Development Area physically separate from single family residential zones with parking lots as 11 PF (public facilities) zones owned by the city, and because these areas are a mixed fabric of 12 larger block buildings, more massive structures and adjacent to low rise smaller structures. The 13 guidelines for development can be tailored to this very nature and scaled based on the 14 following comments: Public parking capacity maintained in accessibility and high quality parking 15 facilities, site planning and building bulk plan to relate to existing neighboring building volumes, 16 context of the development directed to respect the diversity of building typologies, mix of 17 income levels to be controlled by city requirements, downtown streetscapes standards 18 maintained, aesthetic quality control of each project guaranteed because of City ownership, 19 apartment size and distribution based on proven percentage of needs, percentage and location 20 of commercial uses based on specific neighborhood considerations. These should be noted as 21 only the first list of considerations. We would expect the development office to expand this as 22 needed. Palo Alto needs a dedicated group of architects, urban designers, planners, and 23 transportation engineers, plus a leader with development experience. It is reasonable to expect 24 that some existing staff would be re-assigned to work with this group. There’s no time to waste. 25 26 Agenda Changes, Additions and Deletions 27 The Chair or Commission majority may modify the agenda in order to improve meeting management. 28 Chief Planning Official Amy French announced there were no changes from staff. 29 City Official Reports 30 1. Directors Report, Meeting Schedule and Assignments 31 Ms. French reported that the upcoming PTC items are in the staff report packet and staff is 32 adding an additional item to December 13, regarding carryover sites, along with the other items 33 already scheduled will result in a longer meeting time. A joint meeting with the City Council was 34 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. planned for February regarding housing element revisions necessary to respond to the Office of 1 Housing and Development. Availability of February 12 was suggested for the meeting and she 2 asked the Commission to check calendars and respond back with availability. There was recent 3 Council action on three ordinances, the Rental Registry Program passed, an interim ordinance 4 passed extending the Outdoor Retail though 2024, and the Stanford University Medical Center 5 Ordinance for the development agreement. Upcoming City Council matters participated in by 6 the PTC include Safe Parking Ordinance scheduled for December 4, with December 11 being 7 the target date for the Ellsworth Planned Community item. Commissioner Lu is scheduled to be 8 the PTC representative for those two meetings. 9 Transportation Manager Sylvia Star-Lack stated there is not a transportation report scheduled 10 for this evening. 11 12 Study Session 13 14 2. The Bicycle and Pedestrian Transportation Plan (BPTP) Update: An Active 15 Transportation Plan- Introduction & Overview, Community Engagement, Context & 16 Baseline Conditions, and Next Steps. 17 Vice Chair Chang introduced Item 2, the Study Session on amendments to The Bicycle and 18 Pedestrian Transportation Plan (BPTP) Update and called for the staff report. 19 Mr. Ozzy Arce, Senior Transportation Planner from The Office of Transportation, gave a brief 20 overview to the effort and later phases of the project for PTC to help shape priority projects 21 and draft the final plan, before introducing Consultant Amanda Leahy with Kittleson Associates 22 who provided the staff presentation. 23 Consultant Leahy began with introductions to the project highlighting PTC’s role and 24 responsibilities over the course of three meetings throughout the plan. The focus tonight is on 25 project context and background, as well as engagement activities and next steps. May-June 26 there will be a meeting regarding existing condition analysis results, and in the fall of 2024 27 we’ll bring back and talk through project recommendations, prioritizations, and 28 implementations. 29 Main objective is to seek community feedback to evaluate implementation progress from the 30 previous plans and adjust recommendations for new policies to determine appropriate criteria 31 and metrics to prioritize recommendations for implementation. E-bikes and Micro-mobility 32 devices are used in expanding the definition of biking and walking for all users in the city and to 33 support the city’s 2030 Sustainability and Climate Comprehensive Action Plan. Comparing the 34 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. BPTP with the Safe Streets for All action Plan, multi-year mobility focused planning documents 1 with a shared vision of enhancing safety and accessibility on the streets focusing on vulnerable 2 road users such as older adults and children. Key differences focus on active and sustainable 3 travel for those who are walking, biking, and rolling as well as considering off street paths and 4 trails. Vehicle collisions and travel will be considered when developing safety measures to 5 eliminate traffic deaths and injuries while conducting an equity analysis. 6 Over the course of three phases spanning eighteen months, each phase will include a series of 7 working groups and committee or commission meetings with PTC, Pedestrian And Bicycle 8 Advisory Committee (PABAC) as well as the City School Transportation Safety Committee 9 (CSTSC) and Rail Committee, with City Council Meetings scheduled end of January or early 10 February. An inner agency staff working group will provide guidance with technical work. In 11 addition a project website was created and an interactive map has been posted. Staff has 12 created a partnership and participated in a safety survey with SS4A team, in addition to a bike 13 event in Palo Alto and will be adding a virtual community meeting to talk through and create a 14 vision statement with the community that will round out the first phase of the project. The 15 second phase will include in-person meetings, attending community events and hosting project 16 specific design targets with walk audits, and conducting a public survey and following up with 17 another round of committee and commission meetings. The third and final phase of the project 18 will include additional committee and working group meetings that will discuss 19 recommendations and prioritization. A demographic analysis as well as a Friendly Community 20 assessment was completed by staff, with plans to complete a bicycle level of traffic stress 21 analysis (LTS), a rating given to a road segment or crossing with four representing high stress, 22 considering roadway functional classification, vehicle volume, posted and prevailing speeds, as 23 well as number of vehicle lanes. Staff will use the collected data to recommend a low stress 24 network that allows people of all ages and abilities to ride a bike and access different areas in 25 town. Additional analysis will be conducted of barriers to understand the locations and types of 26 treatments and to provide direct connections and reduce the length of walking and increase 27 safety; and collision data to identify fatal and severe injuries. A Bicycle Friendly Community 28 review was conducted, a designation of the League of American bicyclists where cities can 29 apply, and The League evaluates the application where the intent is to reward excellence and 30 raise bicycle friendly standards. Palo Alto, being bicycle friendly since 2003 and a gold level 31 Community since 2010 would have the potential to progress to Platinum level. 32 Mr. Arce outlined areas of excellence and areas for opportunity while looking to reach a 33 platinum level rated by Bicycle Friendly Community. Gathering data for existing facilities and 34 existing conditions. And analysis is phase one and is well underway with presentations 35 scheduled in the spring of 2024 to committees including PTC with results. Mr. Arce 36 recommended that the Commission anticipate publication of the Community Visioning 37 Workshop that he hopes to host on January 31, 2024. Since the last City update in 2012, cities 38 are looking to expand the scope not only to include bicycle and pedestrian efforts but to include 39 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. other wheel and transportation options such as e-bikes, micro-mobility and e-scooters which 1 grew during the pandemic. 2 Commissioner Lu inquired about the League of American Bicyclists and what the value was 3 from gold to platinum. 4 Mr. Arce responded the city has, through the SCAP or even through the Comp Plan, has goals 5 whether they are literal metrics that you see in the SCAP or just active mobility goals that they 6 hope to address via reaching a platinum level. 7 Consultant Leahy added that while the league itself, a member supported group with over 8 200,000 members across the country, the platinum level is more of a point of pride; however, 9 the wide-ranging work done is an excellent benchmarking tool with a thousand cities applying 10 and not all that apply get awarded and helps to highlight Palo Alto. 11 Commissioner Lu recognized the importance of an outside party grading the work and 12 referenced the share of transportation budget spent on bicycling and Palo Alto’s is stated as 13 76%. 14 Transportation Planning Manager Star-Lack explained that was something that staff put 15 together as part of an application for the last certification. They looked at the RCIP budget to 16 see which projects had something to do with bicycling and anything that was counted. 17 Commissioner Lu expressed his concern for the current statistics showing an average Platinum 18 Community at 80% for bicycle mileage while Palo Alto is at 33% and if there was a realistic path. 19 Consultant Leahy stated while 80% was not the objective, with positive performance from the 20 city, a path was possible through other opportunities that could account for mileage. 21 Transportation Planning Manager Star-Lack added the league’s last visit to Palo Alto helped 22 change the criteria for Bicycle Friendly Communities by recognizing the number of students 23 who biked and walked. 24 Commissioner Templeton noted that CalTrans district-4 Bike and Pedestrian Plan information 25 was not included and inquired if it could present an opportunity to have a discussion with 26 CalTrans regarding improvements for pedestrians and bikes on El Camino, and if staff had 27 sought information on sidewalks and bike lanes and who is responsible for those and figure out 28 how to put staff thoughts into their report and make sure Palo Alto is communicating for major 29 thoroughfares, even if we don’t own the entirety of it. 30 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. Mr. Arce explained staff would continue to work with CalTrans even on their facilities, including 1 El Camino, and was aware of the importance. and research to determine property lines and 2 various locations. 3 Commissioner Templeton inquired about a recent discussion with Council regarding rezoning 4 and reimagining of parking on El Camino, in exchange for bike lanes. 5 Mr. Arce responded that a letter was drafted and sent from the city in response to the subject 6 and it was made public. 7 Commissioner Templeton asked for a summary of the letter to CalTrans. 8 Ms. French notified the Commission of the city’s response sent to CalTrans on November 17 9 and requested they consult their emails. 10 Commissioner Templeton noted there was no mention of safety in the Bicycle Friendly 11 Community information and inquired if safety was a goal, showing favor in making it an 12 addition. 13 Mr. Arce confirmed that Commissioner Templeton was referring to the Bicycle Friendly 14 Community Review, and that his understanding was that was not a complete list and safety is 15 included in every policy document. 16 Commissioner Templeton inquired if police reviewed collisions or accidents concerning children 17 or adults to help understand the frequency and intensity recognizing the demanding work done 18 not to lose sight of safety. 19 Mr. Arce responded that the safety analysis and the collision data was part of the Collision 20 Analysis highlighting the Safe Systems approach, which acknowledges and strengthens the link 21 between police department collision data, traffic safety and infrastructure. 22 Consultant Leahy referenced the Lab Summary and mentioned it did not include all the criteria 23 for the gold rating; but based on past Palo Alto applications submitted, Palo Alto had a slightly 24 higher rate compared to other cities. Collision data remained a large factor and uses the latest 25 approved data from 2021. 26 Transportation Planning Manager Star-Lack circled back to the letter to CalTrans about the 27 safety audit conducted which resulted in CalTrans requesting bike lanes be added to the entire 28 length of El Camino. This lead to questions from the city regrading Plans for collision data and 29 intersection safety, bicycle amenities they requested along and if space for parking or space 30 for travel lanes should be reduced. Intentions of continuity of bike lanes and buffered or 31 protected lanes were also questioned with mention of issues with California Avenue travel 32 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. lanes regarding El Camino along with outreach in the community inquired. CalTrans requested a 1 parking removal resolution for bike lane installation and staff also questioned lead time for 2 community engagement prior to a Council vote. They would like for Council to vote about 3 removing parking by some point in April. Staff has questions about that and CalTrans 4 commitment to providing support for the public meetings that would need to occur prior to a 5 City Council vote. 6 Commissioner Templeton noted this was information that would have warranted a 7 Transportation Update during that portion of the Agenda and inquired if staff’s considerations 8 for implementation of bike lanes on El Camino at Embarcadero intersection were still a focus. 9 Transportation Planning Manager Star-Lack commented that the bike plan was a redesign that 10 was on hold until the grade separation conversation which will determine if improvements can 11 take place. 12 Commissioner Reckdahl asked what qualifies a bike path to a Level 3, what would be needed to 13 accomplish that on a residential street. 14 Mr. Arce responded that shared street markings and signage would designate a street. 15 Consultant Leahy explained a Class- 3 bicycle lane is a shared lane, and the city requires either a 16 signing posted, or a marking known as sharrows. 17 Commissioner Reckdahl asked if bike counts were available. 18 Transportation Planning Manager Star-Lack explained that staff conducted bike counts for 19 locations for projects and were not part of their standard work, and that conducting a bike 20 count for a specific period was included in the scope of the bike plan to help better understand 21 biking behavior. 22 Commissioner Reckdahl was strongly in favor of the addition to the scope of the plan. 23 Commissioner Akin suggested the opportunity to collaborate with the makers of the 24 commercial navigation apps to ensure preferred routes and facility inventories are consistent. 25 Mr. Arce responded that from a professional standpoint, staff would consider the suggestion to 26 collaborate with the makers of the commercial navigation apps as a plan update and was 27 unsure if it were in the current plan. 28 Commissioner Akin referenced Peachtree City, a planned community south of Atlanta having a 29 separate transportation network including bicycles, pedestrians and golf carts and inquired if 30 BPTP would consider golf carts as alternative vehicles. 31 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. Mr. Arce replied no, however, the city is looking to expand bicycle classification types such as e-1 bikes and acknowledged the article regarding Peachtree City as well as Commissioner 2 Reckdahl’s recommendation for creating a policy to conduct regular bike counts. 3 Vice Chair Chang sought clarification to the website being available for an additional month. 4 Mr. Arce confirmed they extended the interactive map on the website for an additional month 5 due to still presenting Phase One to committees and working groups, which would allow people 6 to complete the interactive map and survey by the end of 2023. 7 Vice Vice Chair Chang asked for examples of bike friendly laws and ordinances. 8 Consultant Leahy reported that the amount and type of bike parking that the city requires with 9 new development, the level of enforcement for riding on sidewalks, and restricting access to 10 certain places for pedestrians were examples. 11 Vice Vice Chair Chang asked for more information about the bicycle network mileage. 12 Consultant Leahy explained the BPTP includes bike routes as part of the bike network, 13 however the gaps on those bike routes are not. 14 Vice Vice Chair Chang expressed concern about the relevance of having the 80% coverage of 15 bike routes needed for the Platinum level since bicyclists are currently using bike routes and 16 roads. The City does not need to spend money unnecessarily, funds could be better used for 17 safety or to make drivers aware of bike routes. 18 Consultant Leahy agreed with her assessment and suggested that the level of traffic stress 19 mapping tool would indicate the traffic stress level of neighborhood streets that could qualify 20 as a Class-3 bike lane by adding sharrow markings and signage. 21 PUBLIC COMMENT 22 Vice Chair Chang opened the study session. 23 Mr. William Chrisman, Palo Alto resident, praised Consultant Leahy for her role in the safety 24 education for kids on bikes in a school system the prior month and referred to an email he sent 25 to council on May 8th, 2019 regarding safety in the Green Acres and Green Acres-2 in the Barron 26 Park region. Mr. Chrisman spoke of the reality of the day-to-day dangers in terms of the 27 enormous amount of traffic risk for bikes and referenced an article penned by Sue Dremann in 28 the Weekly. The deteriorating roads lead parents to using the same black top shared with 29 bikers and there are dangers associated with this. Mr. Crisman has strongly advocated for a 30 traffic study several years ago and urged PTC to recommend that Council approve such a study. 31 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. Ms. Penny Ellson provided public comment and thanked Transportation Planning Manager Star-1 Lack for information provided for the number of bicyclists citywide as she is very much in favor 2 of collecting data for the volume of bicyclists, including all school commuters to use in 3 conjunction with the injury collision data in order to gain a more accurate rating. Segregating 4 that information for both minors and PAUSD would help determine if the volume is increasing 5 or decreasing due to the encouragement of students to bike to school. Ms. Ellson is in favor of 6 including current bike count data in the next bike plan to improve bike routes and their safety 7 as the population grows in Palo Alto. That would also capture a better sense of if the program is 8 working and should become a policy. 9 Commissioner Hechtman expressed his gratitude to the staff and consultants for beginning the 10 work to bring this comprehensive undertaking to the community and inquired of the significant 11 differences in upgrades expected to see in 2025 compared to the original plan from 2012. 12 Mr. Arce explained typically update bike and pedestrian plans run on a five to eight year cycle in 13 order to use them for grant applications or to provide new policies and programs. Significant 14 updates would include adding current transportation modes such as ebikes and escooters to 15 policies, and expanding policy, programs, and facilities in the context of today’s mobility. 16 Transportation Planning Manager Star-Lack commented in favor of the level of traffic stress 17 analysis conducted advocating it as a positive tool to help focus on where changes can take 18 place so that people have lower stress on various routes around town and summarized the 19 many changes that had already taken place since 2012 including protected bike lanes, one of 20 the largest changes new to Palo Alto during that time. Sharrow markings for shared lanes, also 21 new since 2012, and the level of traffic stress analysis for bicyclists are additions to the plan, 22 with a focuses on intersections such as El Camino and Embarcadero and what happens on 23 them. 24 Commissioner Hechtman commented that the discrepancy in bike miles as a percentage of 25 overall road miles with 80% reflected as the average Platinum city represented any road for a 26 bicyclist to be on except Oregon Expressway and similar streets. Most residential streets offer 27 safer places for bicyclists and the focus described by staff not to broaden the scope, rather to 28 concentrate on high quality bike streets is favored; separating the data from the 40% of safe 29 streets to 30% of less safe streets would be an approach to pitch Platinum without adding both 30 together. PTC expressed concern at a prior meeting that Safe Systems did not focus enough on 31 bicycle and pedestrian safety and inquiries were made as to having a milestone for no fatalities 32 while studying a bike and a traffic plans, both of which arev potentially concluding in 2025. 33 Staff were encouraged to cross connect data to ensure consistency for the Safe Systems 34 program and encompass the safety aspects of bicycle and pedestrian traffic as it has impacts at 35 the regional, state, and federal level. 36 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. Commissioner Lu inquired of how the Safe Streets for All will run parallel to the BPTP. 1 Mr. Arce responded that both efforts are getting enhancements of safety around mobility types 2 while cities have been conducting bike and pedestrian plan updates for decades adding Palo 3 Alto initially held its first in 2003 with an update in 2012 and are now building from that in an 4 effort to create a more traditional active Transportation Plan alongside of Safe Systems. The 5 Safe System plan, being Federal, concentrates on a contemporary approach including data not 6 only for bikes and pedestrians but data from vehicles as well. From a high level perspective, 7 staff has created a working group of staff from each department as a means of reviewing 8 resources that could be utilized for both efforts, including the interactive map and survey. 9 Commissioner Lu referenced minutes from a previous meeting and expressed concern that the 10 data period for the BPTP was through 2021 and SS4A states that data is through 2022, which 11 would indicate the two are not sharing data and the City is double paying consultants that could 12 be conducting duplicate research. 13 Consultant Leahy stated she had misspoken previously, both sets of data are through 2021 and 14 the have been collaborating with the other consulting team to share data, and that the BPTP is 15 using a subset of the data from SS4A. 16 Commissioner Lu expressed concern for the risk that the data analysis would return the same 17 results and was unsure of a solution and inquired, if PTC could review and adopt both 18 simultaneously since the timelines appeared to overlap. 19 Transportation Planning Manager Star-Lack explained the Safe Streets for All Plan has fewer 20 community engagement requirements and a different document and budget and will end 21 sooner than the Bike Plan which is more data driven. 22 Commissioner Reckdahl commented that reducing traffic is a good reason to bike and is not 23 mentioned in the plan. That makes the drive easier for vehicles, and inquired if rail crossings 24 would also be studies since adding bike tunnels or bike bridges to help bikes navigate area near 25 CalTrans rails, which is the main reason for the gap in bike lanes between California Avenue and 26 Meadow Drive. Adding those would be a huge benefit to the bike network. 27 Mr. Arce replied that as part of development of the network, staff included rail crossings in the 28 study. 29 Commissioner Reckdahl noted that State law allows bicyclists to use main roads as part of 30 flowing traffic and are only required to pull over if they are impeding traffic. Ordinance assumes 31 that bikes travel only on routes and in bike lanes and urged staff to research that further. Wilkie 32 Way it is not on the map and part of it has signs and markings, staff may want to consider 33 adding that road. 34 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. Commissioner Akin cautioned the MP will increase 24% over the course of the Housing Element 1 project and indicators reflect vehicle traffic will also increase. Maintaining a highly functional 2 vehicle network will be imperative to not compromise the overall Transportation Plan and 3 safety. 4 Commissioner Templeton expressed appreciation for staff and sought clarification on 5 highspeed roads with bike facilities and stated all of the Platinum rated ‘cities’ with the 6 exception of Davis, California are in fact campuses and not cities. She anticipated the next 7 presentation to include updated detailed information with clear aspirations for the program. 8 Vice Chair Chang commented that a consensus for goals and recommendations would be 9 helpful to understand the outputs for this project versus The Safe Streets for All outputs since 10 BPTP has included the data currently laid out to reach a platinum level and encouraged 11 coordination to ensure the City is not to paying two groups of people twice for the same work. 12 Palo Altan’s would be interested to see the results of data collected to provide confidence in 13 that data about the trouble spots and a continuing effort in gathering incident and collision 14 data. Vice Chair Chang wanted to ensure that the consultants look at the housing element as 15 part of the document review to determine future demand for the bike and pedestrian plan. 16 Commissioner Lu thanked staff and offered comments regarding goals for platinum status as 17 not being achievable and would like instead to see staff work aggressively towards metric 18 goals and inquired about the industry standard for Excellence and what’s needed in order to 19 achieve it. 20 Ms. Leahy explained that the future opportunities for Excellence were based on the 2023 21 review of updated criteria and the desire to progress to platinum in the Bicycle Friendly 22 Community’s application would be different performance measures than what was used in the 23 old report card. 24 Commissioner Lu commented that future opportunity programs for direct goals on safety 25 metrics and ridership counts should be the focus to show the opportunity between bike and 26 pedestrian access and its connection to businesses. 27 Staff returned from break with all members present. 28 Action Items 29 Public Comment is Permitted. Applicants/Appellant Teams: Fifteen (15) minutes, plus three (3) minutes re30 buttal. All others: Five (5) minutes per speaker. 31 3. Review Draft 2023 Comprehensive Plan Implementation Annual Progress Report and 32 Draft 2023-2031 Housing Element Annual Progress Report and Recommend City 33 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. Council Authorize Transmittal of the Reports to the Office of Planning and Research 1 and Department of Housing and Community Development, Respectively, by April 1, 2 2024 3 Vice Chair Chang called for the staff report. 4 Planning Director Amy French informed the PTC that Senior Planner Claire Campbell was 5 attending remotely and introduced Planner Chitra Moitra . 6 Planner Chitra Moitra gave an overview of the comprehensive plan and the housing element 7 implementation programs and requested feedback and recommendations from PTC an 8 authorization for transmission of the two reports to Governor's Office of Planning and Research 9 (OPR) and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) and all 10 PTC comments and recommendations would be included in the staff report, which we are 11 preparing for City Council in March. authorizing transmission of the two reports. Both annual 12 reports, mandated by the government and the Palo Alto Municipal, PTC reviewed the report 13 progression from the current year. The Comprehensive Plan was adopted in 2017 with the lead 14 agency baring responsibility for executing the plan regardless of length and complexity, while 15 tracking the completion of projects currently doubling completed projects in 2022 with other 16 projects ongoing. The Annual Progress Report was adopted for 2023 to 2031 Housing Element 17 on May 8, 2023 and has staff currently working on responding to comments and clarifications 18 to be submitted for the boards and commissions to review with anticipation that Council will 19 adopt a revised Housing Element in spring of 2024. That will have the City implementing 122 20 programs covering two components and will include how Palo Alto has done on the programs 21 and the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) numbers to track building permits. 22 Commissioner Akin inquired if there was an estimated date when the staff would complete the 23 feasibility study, when it would go back to Council as HCD expressed a concern regarding Palo 24 Alto’s fees being assessed per unit rather than square footage. Additionally, there have been 25 concerns from the public with respect to the Housing Element. 26 Senior Planner Campbell was unsure of the date but would research it further. 27 Commissioner Akin inquired about the change from on-going to pending regarding item T1.11.2 28 Expansion of service between Stanford Research Park and California Avenue Transit Center as 29 well as T3.10.4, the Quarry Road Extension. 30 Planner Moitra was unsure but would respond later. 31 Commissioner Akin requested an update on programs 1.4 and 6.4 both show pending and not 32 started but have a completion date by December 31, 2023. Senior Planner Campbell 33 acknowledged the request. 34 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. Commissioner Reckdahl inquired about projects such as 1.3.A and 2.1C (affordability) showing 1 pending with completion dates soon. 2 Senior Planner Campbell explained that staff is looking to make revisions with some of those 3 programs and will edit the status dates in the updated reporting. 4 Vice Chair Chang asked Senior Planner Campbell if someone would be reviewing the Housing 5 Element Programs so that any open item reflected as pending with a completion date in 6 December 2023, staff would revise. Senior Planner Campbell answered that was the intent. 7 Vice Chair Chang inquired about multiple programs indicated as partially complete and are now 8 on-going, and if this was a housekeeping issue or if they were actually in progress. 9 Planner Moitra explained the City had restarted the projects since the pandemic. 10 Vice Chair Chang Planner Moitra expressed she would love to have detailed reporting 11 especially where Transportation was concerned to help provide the commission with a more 12 specific status update. 13 Commissioner Lu inquired if HCD or OPR comment on the transmittals and what consequences 14 that has and asked for clarity on direct impacts of these projects. 15 Planner Moitra commented that HCD and OPR collate the data from different jurisdictions and 16 require that cities show progress from the implementation of the programs. 17 Senior Planner Campbell added that the Comp Plan did not have any specific consequences, but 18 the Housing Element required tracking, reporting and thresholds required by the city that were 19 with consequences if progress is not sufficient. There are many staff comments in Attachment A 20 related to the different programs, but staff will definitely make sure to include comments on 21 those other attachments as well. 22 Commissioner Templeton requested clarification of staff’s expectations of PTC feedback for this 23 item. 24 Senior Planner Campbell welcomed all comments the commissioners may have and noted that 25 under local ordinance the Planning Commission has the purview to provide comments and 26 feedback on Comp Plan programs. The Housing Element is a work in progress since staff will 27 return to PTC in February with some revisions and changes but welcome any comments on 28 these programs will take notes of those of those comments. 29 Public Comment 30 None 31 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. Vice Chair Chang closed Public Comments and brought the item back for Commission 1 discussion. 2 Commissioner Rechdahl inquired if there was a way to modify the Comprehensive Plan to 3 include priority based on need to complete and not based on a time frame. 4 Senior Planner Campbell was in favor of the commissioners providing direction on different 5 ways to prioritize the list of programs to improve current reporting. 6 Commissioner Reckdahl suggested that due to increasing housing in South Palo Alto to the City 7 has to work with Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (VTA) to incorporate bike paths 8 and parks, programs such as that should be in place so as not to be unprepared. 9 Commissioner Akin commented on the relevance of retail changes as density increases, retail 10 space per resident decreases and retail venues become smaller and suggested staff consider 11 zoning changes to support smaller retail spaces shared by multiple tenants and adding the word 12 micro should be added due to the relevance of technology. 13 Commissioner Hechtman said that changes to programs need to be communicated to Council 14 sooner than later since they are currently working on the Housing Element. The Comp Plan has 15 already been adopted and there’s no current plan to make more updates to that and pointed 16 out some typos with regards to dates. 17 Commissioner Templeton commented that changing the Comp plan and the Housing Element 18 Plan were not agenized only the reporting for the programs were. 19 Commissioner Akin recognized the challenge of having an abundance of programs with a small 20 number of staff and praised the ability to improve annually with a better version of reporting 21 and suggested combining explanations with the programs on the same page of the report for 22 more efficiency. Commissioner Akin recommended an overview of typing errors be made 23 before presenting to Council. 24 Vice Chair Chang thanked Planner Moitra for the useful information provided for both the 25 Comp Plan and the Housing Element Plan and asked for clarification of prioritization of the 26 programs in the Comp Plan and felt that flagging short-term programs due to expire in less 27 than five years should be flagged as a priority to Council so they can determine if the City still 28 wanted to go in the direction of those programs, which would help clean up the list. She 29 recommended they incorporate the two projects, Safe Streets for All and The Bike and 30 Pedestrian Plan. 31 Commissioner Lu suggested an additional filter be added to the Comp Plan and the Housing 32 Element Plan to determine prioritization of outstanding programs such as Program 3.2 Monitor 33 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. New Policy Initiatives for Effectiveness in combating identified constraints for Housing 1 development to help determine if the program is actionable or could be incorporated with an 2 alternate active plan and inquired about the significant loss in office space in West Bayshore as 3 the loss would be a notable item to discuss further. 4 Senior Planner Campbell explained that the loss of square footage was due to a replacement 5 project completed and, in that process, a net loss of office space square footage was the result. 6 Commissioner Reckdahl commented that the expansion of town houses could be the reason for 7 the loss in office space but has been adding additional office space to replace the loss, so 8 indications do not show a long-term decline. 9 Commissioner Lu referenced L2.4.2 Stanford Shopping Center Housing and asked for a 10 clarification on progress and noted 1.5 in the Housing Element to be unclear in its description, 11 and noted several other programs that indicated there was still some initial housing cleaning in 12 the programs section of the document prior to presenting it to Council. 13 Senior Planner Campbell explained that on-going discussions are addressing the Stanford 14 Shopping Center as part of the Housing Development Agreement and staff would revisit the 15 programs status update list in the attachments. 16 17 MOTION 18 Commissioner Templeton motioned to move staff’s recommendations. 19 20 SECOND 21 Vice Chair Chang seconded the motion. 22 23 VOTE 24 Vice Chair Chang requested a roll call vote. 25 Miss Dao conducted a roll call vote which carried 6-0-1. 26 27 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. MOTION PASSED 6-0 (Akin, Chang, Hechtman, Lu, Reckdahl, Templeton)-1 (Summa absent) 1 Commission Action: Motion by Akin, seconded by Lu. Passed 6-0-1(Summa-absent) 2 3 APPROVAL OF MINUTES 4 4. Approval of Planning & Transportation Commission Draft Verbatim Minutes of 5 October 11, 2023 6 7 Vice Chair Chang requested a motion. 8 9 MOTION 10 Commissioner Hechtman moved to approve the draft verbatim minutes of October 11, 2023, 11 as revised. 12 13 SECOND 14 Commissioner Akin seconded the motion. 15 16 VOTE 17 Vice Chair Chang requested a roll call vote. 18 Miss Dao conducted a roll call which carried 6-0-1.. 19 MOTION PASSED 6-0 (Akin, Chang, Hechtman, Lu, Reckdahl, Templeton)-1 (Summa absent) 20 Commission Action: Motion by Akin, seconded by Lu. Passed 6-0-1(Summa-absent) 21 22 23 24 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. 5. Approval of Planning & Transportation Commission Draft Verbatim Minutes of 1 October 25, 2023 2 3 Vice Chair Chang requested a motion. 4 5 MOTION 6 Commissioner Hechtman moved to approve the draft verbatim minutes of October 25, 2023, as 7 revised. 8 9 SECOND 10 Commissioner Lu seconded the motion. 11 12 VOTE 13 Vice Chair Chang requested a roll call vote. 14 Miss Dao conducted a roll call which carried 6-0-1. 15 16 MOTION PASSED 6-0 (Akin, Chang, Hechtman, Lu, Reckdahl, Templeton)-1 (Summa absent) 17 18 Commission Action: Motion by Akin, seconded by Lu. Passed 6-0-1(Summa-absent) 19 20 Committee Items 21 None 22 _______________________ 1. Spokespersons that are representing a group of five or more people who are identified as present at the meeting at the time of the spokesperson’s presentation will be allowed up to fifteen (15) minutes at the discretion of the Chair, provided that the non-speaking members agree not to speak individually. 2. The Chair may limit Oral Communications to 30 minutes for all combined speakers. 3. The Chair may reduce the allowed time to speak to three minutes to accommodate a larger number of speakers. Commissioner Questions, Comments or Announcements 1 None 2 Adjournment 3 4 9:08 PM 5 6