EAST PALO ALTO
CITY COUNCIL
STAFF REPORT
DATE: September 5, 2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
VIA: Melvin E. Gaines, City Manager
BY: Batool Zaro, Associate Engineer
Humza Javed, Public Works Director
SUBJECT: 965 Weeks Emergency Vehicle Access Easement
Recommendation
Authorizing the City Manager to execute the emergency vehicular access easement agreement with MP 965 Weeks Street Associates, L.P, granting an easement over a portion of the Rail Spur Trail.
Alignment with City Council Strategic Plan
This recommendation is primarily aligned with:
Promote Housing, Economic and Workforce Development
Background
965 Weeks Street, also known as Colibri Commons, is proposed as a residential development of 136 units on a 2.52-acre site. The proposed development, approved by the Planning Commission on December 16, 2019, would be an affordable rental housing development with office spaces for Property Management and Resident Services staff, as well as community amenity spaces.
The project site is owned by the City of East Palo Alto (“City”) and is bordered by the Rail Spur pedestrian/bike path, multi-family residences, a commercial business, vacant land to the north, light industrial uses to the east, Weeks Street/a single-family neighborhood to the south, and commercial uses and a wellness center along Clarke Avenue to the west. The Rail Spur Trail is currently paved for pedestrian and bicycle use.
Analysis
As part of the project’s conditions of approval, the developer is required to obtain approval for an emergency vehicle access easement along the Rail Spur Trail from the City of East Palo Alto.
A pedestrian/bicycle and emergency vehicle access connection follows the east property line to provide a connection from Weeks Street to the Rail Spur Trail. Emergency vehicle access would be available from the west driveway and east side pedestrian/bicycle trail through the site from Weeks Avenue to the Rail Spur trail.
As part of the easement agreement, the developer will have access to a portion of the Rail Spur Trail for an emergency vehicle access easement. Moreover, a temporary construction easement will be established along this section during the construction of the project. The developer will be responsible for emergency vehicle access improvement work on the trail and ongoing maintenance and repairs per the agreement (see Attachment 2 for the draft emergency vehicle access easement agreement).
Fiscal Impact
No fiscal impact.
Public Notice
The public was provided notice of this agenda item by posting the City Council agenda on the City’s official bulletin board outside City Hall and making the agenda and report available at the City’s website and at the San Mateo Co. Library located at 2415 University Avenue, East Palo Alto.
Environmental
The action being considered was a condition of approval of a Design Review project (DR19- 023) which was approved by the Planning Commission on December 16, 2019, and covered by a Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) that was adopted for the project. Pursuant to the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the MND determined that the project will not have a significant effect on the environment given the mitigation measures and mitigation monitory plan included and adopted for the approved project. A Notice of Determination was filed on December 19, 2019 in compliance with Section 21152 of the Public Resources Code for the approval of the project.
Attachments
1. Draft Resolution - 965 Weeks EVA
2. Draft - East palo Alto 965 Weeks Emergency Vehicular Access Easement Colibri