Dear Fremont Citizens, At the City Council meeting of Dec 6 (TUE), there will be the second reading and adoption of ordinances to : --Rezone the property at 1031 Walnut Avenue to multifamily residence district with transit-oriented development overlay district (R-3-70(TOD)). Key issues have not been agreed to/finalized with the developer and yet the City Council is including this large project as a simple "consent calendar item" when they know it is an extremely contentious project. --Add Sec.18.25.1995 to the Municipal Code that allows roadways to be calculated as part of the "net acre" space which allows greater density in building developments. These items and some others were approved by the City Council on Nov 15 and are now placed on the Consent Calendar ( item 5 E and 5 F) at the beginning of the Dec 6 meeting for the second reading to formally pass. For more information please refer to the below message. Here is the agenda for the meeting - http://fremontcityca.iqm2.com/ Citizens/Detail_Meeting.aspx? ID=1477 Please attend the meeting at 7 PM SHARP, Building A, 3300 Capitol Avenue, Fremont to voice your concerns. FCN Steering Committee ============================ From: Fremont Citizens Network [mailto:mail@ fremontcitizensnetwork.org] Sent: Wednesday, November 16, 2016 10:37 PM Subject: Ousted Mayor Approves 670 Luxury Apartments for Carmel Partners ; Net Buildable Acre Redefined Dear Fremont Citizens, Last night at the City Council meeting, despite repeated reference to the $25,000 Ron Zeff of Carmel Partners donated to the Ohlone Area United Democratic Campaign in support of Bill Harrison's Campaign, and the legal challenge it might create for Fremont, Mayor Harrison refused to recuse himself from the vote. With this move, he and his majority (Jones and Chan) rejected the people's plea for postponement of the vote on the Walnut / Guardino Project (670 units proposed). Then, despite the fact that no conclusions were drawn as to final details on parking, density, solar panels, the total open space, or exact number of units, the mayor called for a vote to rezone and approve the development! The project was approved 3 YES (Harrison, Chan, Jones) to 2 NO (Mei, Bacon). What actually passed is still unclear as the new zoning created new conditions that seemed to contradict some suggestions. The people have 30 days to file a petition to repeal this vote, and need ~10,000 unique voter signatures. KNOWN: Ms. Mei and Mr. Bacon observed: 1. reducing total density would fit surrounding neighborhood (loss of ~200 units) 2. partial underground parking would reduce height of offending structures 3. 100% solar equipped upon day 1 would be minimal compliance for a "green" development and a plan should be in place before approval 4. insufficient car charging stations for a green development of this size 5. being more than 1/2 mile to BART and 0.7 mile to grocery makes this development dependent on cars, not fit for definition of a walkable community 6. there will only be 1.75 parking spaces/unit, but a price tag of $2200-$2500/month for a one bedroom unit would virtually ensure there will be two cars per unit; parking in the neighborhood is already stressed from BART and previous development -- reduce the number of units to increase ratio. Ms. Chan suggested: 1. reducing height of parking structures AND reducing the open space to make up lost parking spaces 2. reducing density to lowest allowed by the zoning change--to 50 units/acre (loss of ~43 units) Mr. Harrison suggested: Carmel Partners could be trusted to make a good faith effort to put part of the solar in before day 1. STAFF stated: Vote before the council was to vote to make this project a TOD requiring the 50 du/ac to 70.0 du/ac, or PD (Planned District) which would allow flexibility to reduce the number of units to 30-50 /du/ac and allow 2 parking spaces per unit. After 11:00PM, came the vote on the REDEFINITION of "Net Buildable Acre", which has now been shortened as "Net Acre". This term was to define the part of an acre of land that is actually "buildable": not in a swamp, not in an easement, not a dangerous slope, etc. To build into large lots with other than high density buildings, private roads are needed for access to driveways and garages. This space, though clearly unbuildable (unless they will put a home on the road), will now be INCLUDED as part of the NET Acreage. Since the allowable density in a housing development is measured in dwelling units per acre (du/ac), by including this space in the net acreage will add to the acreage and allow for higher density. Where a developer builds single family homes, townhouses, and other lower density units, this decision allows for ~15% more density (more units = more profit). Mr. Mark Robson of Robson Homes (who builds these types of units, AND who donated a total $20,000 to the OAUDC Harrison PAC) was present at the end of the evening to lobby for the change. The vote passed 4-1 with Ms. Mei dissenting. Full details of last night's VOTING RECORD on development issues can be found at www.fremontcitizensnetwork.org Respectfully, Fremont Citizens Network Steering Committee