Heritage Preservation Commission

City of Sunnyvale Meeting Minutes - Final Heritage Preservation Commission Wednesday, December 7, 2016 7:00 PM West Conference Room, City Hall, 456 W. Olive Ave., Sunnyvale, CA 94086 CALL TO ORDER Chair Michitaka called the meeting to order. SALUTE TO THE FLAG Chair Michitaka led the salute to the flag. ROLL CALL Present: 6 - Chair Mike Michitaka Vice Chair Hannalore Dietrich Commissioner Dale Mouritsen Commissioner Dawn Hopkins Commissioner Dixie Larsen Commissioner Kenneth Valenzuela ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None CONSENT CALENDAR 1.A. 16-1096 Approve the Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes of November 2, 2016 Comm. Mouritsen made a motion to approve the Draft Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes of November 2, 2016 with minor modifications. Comm. Dietrich seconded. Yes: 6 - Chair Michitaka Vice Chair Dietrich Commissioner Mouritsen Commissioner Hopkins Commissioner Larsen Commissioner Valenzuela No: 0 PUBLIC HEARINGS/GENERAL BUSINESS City of Sunnyvale Page 1 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 7, 2016 2. 16-1121 Heritage Resource Nomination for six trees on the former Butcher Property (871 E. Fremont Avenue) Noren Caliva-Lepe gave the staff presentation and finished with staff's recommendation that none of the trees be nominated as Heritages Resources. Comm. Dietrich asked staff whether they were considering recommendation of the four trees on the corner office property that has been discussed at the previous Heritage Preservation Commission (HPC) meeting in November. Ms. Caliva-Lepe clarified that the study is limited to the six trees that were initiated by the HPC on June 1, 2016 and did not include those additional four trees. Chair Michitaka asked what the impacts would be to the property owner if trees #123 and 126 were designated as Heritage Resources. Ms. Caliva-Lepe responded that designation of the two additional trees would require some redesign of the current project. Comm. Mouritsen asked staff if the applicant was willing to preserve some of the trees even if the trees were not placed on the City's Heritage Resource Inventory list. Ms. Caliva-Lepe noted that the applicant's original proposal included removing all of the trees except #106; however, after discussion with staff and public comment, the applicant has agreed to save three of the five corner oak trees. Ms. Caliva-Lepe reminded the Commission that the study was initiated by the Heritage Preservation Commission, or the City, and not by the property owner. Comm. Dietrich asked to clarify the ramifications of designating the trees as a Heritage Resource, #106 in particular. Ms. Caliva-Lepe noted that if the tree(s) had to be removed in the future they would need to go through a different process than the typical Tree Removal Permit process. Ms. Caliva-Lepe clarified the Alternatives of the report for the Commissioners. Chair Michitaka opened the public hearing. The following twelve members of the public spoke in favor for the HPC to initiate the Heritage Resource nomination for the six oak trees: • Denise Delange; • Paul Haley; • Meiling Li; • Deborah Marks; • Holly Lofgren; • Teresa Wiegman; City of Sunnyvale Page 2 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 7, 2016 • Mari De Waal; • Mary Brunkhorst; • Sue Harrison; • Rosemarie Tu; • Peter Wright; and • Barry Woncastle. In response to one of the public comments, Ms. Caliva-Lepe noted that trees #119, #120, and #121 would be preserved with the addition of the planned right turn dedicated lane from Wolfe Road. Chair Michitaka closed the public hearing. Comm. Larsen clarified that the trees would be protected if Wolfe Road was widened as planned. Ms. Caliva-Lepe again noted that trees #119, #120, and #121 would be preserved with the planned right turn dedicated lane from South El Camino Real. Comm. Larsen stated that she felt the development should accommodate all six trees, and believes she can make the findings to support nomination of all six trees as Heritage Resources. Comm. Mouritsen clarified that the property is private property and would not be used as a public park. Ms. Caliva-Lepe replied that it is private property. Comm. Larsen asked staff if there was any obligation from the City to protect the public safety of residents accessing tree #106, such as kids climbing the tree. Ms. Caliva-Lepe noted that the City Arborist could determine options to prevent liability if that area were to become public property. Chair Michitaka and Comm. Dietrich noted their support to nominate the six oak trees to the City's Heritage Resource Inventory. MOTION: Comm. Larsen moved Alternatives 1 and 2 of the staff report: Nominate the Valley Oak tree (#106) as a Heritage Resource, and all of the Coast Live Oak trees (#119, 120, 121, 123 and 126) as Heritage Resources.Chair Michitaka seconded the motion. Comm. Larsen modified her original motion to include a condition of approval that staff work with the City Arborist and the applicant to look into a protective barrier that could be placed around tree # 106. Comm. Michitaka agreed to the modified City of Sunnyvale Page 3 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 7, 2016 motion. Motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 5 - Chair Michitaka Vice Chair Dietrich Commissioner Mouritsen Commissioner Hopkins Commissioner Larsen No: 1 - Commissioner Valenzuela 3. 16-0994 File #: 2015-7302 Location: 221 North Mathilda Avenue (APN: 165-27-010) Applicant / Owner: Spear Street Capital Proposed Project: RESOURCE ALTERATION PERMIT to a Sunnyvale Heritage Resource for the former Mellow’s Nursery site to allow alteration of the setting with redevelopment of the site with a three-story, office building with a four level parking structure. The project includes relocation, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the historic house on a reduced area of the site in accordance with the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. Reason for Permit: A Resource Alteration Permit is required to allow changes to the exterior appearance of a heritage resource through relocation, alteration, construction and/or demolition. Environmental Review: The project is exempt from additional CEQA review per CEQA Guidelines section 15168(c)(2), (3) and (4). The project is within the scope of the Peery Park Specific Plan Program EIR. The environmental impacts associated with the proposed development are adequately addressed and analyzed in the Peery Park Specific Plan Program EIR and/or can be substantially mitigated with the imposition of uniformly applied development policies and standards. Recommendation: Approve the Resource Alteration Permit that incorporates mitigation measures identified in the certified Peery Park Specific Plan Program EIR. Project Planner: Momoko Ishijima, (408) 730-7532, mishijima@sunnyvale.ca.gov Momoko Ishijima presented the staff report. Chair Michitaka asked staff to clarify that the property is currently private property and if the proposal would enable the historic house to be accessible to the public. City of Sunnyvale Page 4 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 7, 2016 Ms. Ishijima responded that the proposal does not include public access to the property at this time mainly because the applicant is unsure who the office building tenant will be and whether or not they will be amenable to any public access of the house. Chair Michitaka opened the public hearing. Craig Hine, applicant, presented their proposal, which includes relocation, rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of the historic house on the project site. He noted that the Mathilda frontage and address of the home is significant to the project for historic purposes. Chair Michitaka asked the applicant about the future use of the interior of the home. The applicant noted that the interior will be rehabilitated and will be used by the future tenant. Franco Marinaro, architect with Smith Group, discussed color samples of the proposed historic home. He noted the proposed new location works well with the design of the entire site, and enables the preservation of two significant trees, a Coast Live Oak and Southern Magnolia. In addition, Charlie Dunken, historic consultant for the applicant, noted that the original paint color may be accessible by examining the paint layers during renovation. Deborah Marks, noted her support of the proposal. Jeanine Stanek, Collection Manger and Archivist of the Heritage Park Museum, noted her support for the Resource Allocation Permit. Chair Michitaka closed the public hearing and asked staff to clarify the recommendations. Ms. Ishijima noted that staff’s recommendation is Alternative 1; to approve the Resource Alteration Permit which includes the mitigation measures identified in the certified Peery Park Specific Plan Program EIR. Comm. Dietrich noted it would be nice to have a heritage plaque displayed for the public, and also noted that a virtual reality online tour would be beneficial to historic enthusiasts. Ms. Ishijima stated that the applicants have been conditioned to install City of Sunnyvale Page 5 Heritage Preservation Commission Meeting Minutes - Final December 7, 2016 a plaque on the perimeter of the site (on Mathilda Avenue) that has information on the heritage resource and would be visible to the public. Comm. Larsen noted her support of the proposal. MOTION: Comm. Larsen moved Alternative 2 of staff’s recommendation: to approve the Resource Alteration Permit with modifications; which included a condition that the applicant work with staff on the final proposed exterior colors of the house. Comm. Hopkins seconded the motion. Motion carried by the following vote: Yes: 6 - Chair Michitaka Vice Chair Dietrich Commissioner Mouritsen Commissioner Hopkins Commissioner Larsen Commissioner Valenzuela No: 0 STANDING ITEM: CONSIDERATION OF POTENTIAL STUDY ISSUES None NON-AGENDA ITEMS & COMMENTS Ms. Blizinski noted the next meeting will be on January 11, 2017, the second Wednesday of the month to accommodate the City's observed holiday schedule, and would include adoption of the draft 2017 Heritage Preservation Commission work plan. -Commissioner Comments None ADJOURNMENT Chair Michitaka adjourned the meeting at 8:45 p.m. City of Sunnyvale Page 6