COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES – February 23, 2023
CALL TO ORDER: Vice Chair Andrews called the Regular meeting to order at 5:07 p.m. (Mayor Salinas was traveling from another engagement and arrived late.) ATTENDANCE (September 2022-July 2023):
Committee Member
Present
2/23/2023
All Meetings
Year to Date
Meetings Mandated
By Resolution
Present
Absent
Present
Absent
Mayor Salinas
Π
2 0
2 0
Council Member Andrews
Π
2 0
2 0
Council Member Zermeño
Π
1 1
1 1
OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager; Catherine Ralston, Economic Development Specialist; Daniel Mao, Economic Development Specialist; Leigha Schmidt, Principal Planner; Suzanne Philis, Senior Secretary; Elex Lopez, Senior Project Manager and Project Designer, Jordan Architects
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were none.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING JANUARY 26, 2022 A motion to approve the minutes from the January 26, 2023 Regular Meeting was made by Council Member Andrews and seconded by Council Member Zermeno. The minutes were approved with Mayor Salinas absent.
APPROVAL OF REVISED REGULAR CEDC FY23 MEETING SCHEDULE
A motion to approve the Revised FY23 Regular Meeting Schedule with a start time of 5pm, rather than 4pm as proposed, was made by Council Member Andrews and seconded by Council Member Zermeno. The motion was approved with Mayor Salinas absent.
Because Mayor Salinas was traveling from another engagement but had yet to arrive, Committee Members skipped to Staff Announcements.
PRELIMINARY CONCEPT REVIEW: ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT TO ALLOW SELF-STORAGE FLEX INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT AT 29265 PACIFIC STREET Principal Planner Schmidt gave the presentation asking for feedback on the three questions posed in the staff report and presentation.
Council Member Andrews asked for more information on what combinations of flex use could be considered. Planner Schmidt said flex could mean office space or light manufacturing or, in this case, that property owners didn’t know so they just wanted the flexibility to decide later.
Council Member Andrews asked for the square footage of the parcel and spaces and was told 113,340SF overall with two flex tenant spaces of 12,800SF each. Council Member Andrews commented that the square footage proposed for the flex spaces was a difficult size to fill and she asked to hear from the applicant on what tenants he was expecting.
Council Member Zermeno asked what possible revenues could be generated from the proposed mix noting storage units typically provided very little. Principal Planner Schmidt confirmed storage units did not generate revenue, but she pointed out the flex space tenants could.
Council Member Zermeno asked if the City could require a guarantee that the flex space wouldn’t be used as warehouse space or additional storage space and was told no by Planner Schmidt; the use was allowed by-right with the current zoning. Council Member Zermeno asked if any language could be added to guarantee that the flex spaces had revenue-generating tenants and was told no, not without changing zoning language for that designation City-wide.
Council Member Zermeno commented that he preferred industrial uses.
Council Member Andrews asked if the flex space could be used to sell boxes and packing tape and Principal Planner Schmidt said yes.
Regarding question one (would the CEDC support a Zoning Text Amendment to allow self-storage as a conditionally permitted use in the IL [Light Industrial] District), Mayor Salinas said he was very leery about changing the zoning across the board. He asked if there was a tool the City could use to allow self-storage at just that site. Principal Planner Schmidt explained that because self-storage was allowed in the PD (Planned Development) District, there was no tool to allow the use in other Districts and she commented that if the City allowed self-storage to come into an IL District, Planning would receive constant requests for self-storage in all other districts.
Mayor Salinas asked if this was an “all or nothing” situation. Principal Planner Schmidt explained that the only thing the City could do was create another zoning district or amend the existing district to allow the use.
Mayor Salinas said he considered requiring ground-level retail, but the site didn’t lend itself to it.
Council Member Andrews asked if specific uses could be required in the flex space and was told the designation of Light Industrial set which uses were allowed by-right.
Council Member Andrews questioned if a small grocery store could fit into one of the flex spaces. Economic Development Specialist Ralston mentioned that a small manufacturer could fit; a person working in their garage or an Etsy store owner who was ready for a small brick and mortar location to make their goods. Council Member Andrews asked if those types of spaces were currently available and was told no.
Council Member Zermeno said no to the project.
Council Member Andrews said she wasn’t sure it was a no for her, but she expressed concern about losing the industrial space.
Mayor Salinas opened the floor for public comments. Elex Lopez, Senior Project Manager and Project Designer representing Jordan Architects, the developer for the proposed project, said they hoped that the flex space could be used as office space for an architectural firm or independent contractor.
Mayor Salinas said based on feedback, City Council wasn’t ready to approve this project. The answer to the three questions was “No”, he said.
HAYWARD UPWARD ECONOMIC RECOVERY PLAN UPDATE: DOWNTOWN ACTIVATION Economic Development Specialist Ralston gave the presentation noting if Members were supportive, the item would go to City Council on March 21 to approve the contract with the outside program manager.
Council Member Zermeno praised the proposal saying the ideas were excellent for weekends downtown, but to be really successful he suggested closing B and Main Streets to vehicular traffic.
Council Member Andrews said she was so excited to see the presentation and the “Instagrammable” opportunities. She asked staff if a survey was done to determine the best hours to hold the activities to attract the most people. Economic Development Specialist Ralston said for six months program activities would take place every Friday from 4-8pm and Saturdays from 2-8pm to attract families.
Council Member Andrews said she would like to see something for teens and asked if staff could reach out to downtown record shops to have a DJ play music. She loved the sidewalk chalk art idea. She asked if there would be any conflict with local restaurants for the proposed pop-ups. Specialist Ralston explained that vendors would not be allowed to sell food and would instead focus on retail goods.
Council Member Andrews commented that she saw food and also clothing vendors around Mia’s Dream park off of Tennyson and suggested using encroachment permit enforcement to corral these vendors. Specialist Ralston said the project manager could reach out to pop-up vendors to help them get “legal” in terms of business licensing and permitting.
Council Member Andrews said she was excited about the Art in Action proposal and asked if artists could engage the community at downtown hot spots to paint walls on buildings that consistently had issues with tagging and graffiti to create lasting art. Specialist Ralston said she would pass the suggestion on the program manager to start engaging property owners.
Mayor Salinas said “Yes” to all three programs and noted both HARD and HUSD were thinking about what Hayward could do to engage teens. He suggested dueling DJs and utilizing the Newson Park at Mission and B.
Mayor Salinas noted that because all of the activities were outside, it would also be appropriate and fun to close down B and Main so participants could bring their dogs. He suggested adding paw prints to program marketing materials so folks would know activities were pet friendly. He added that businesses would totally participate with water and treats for passing pooches.
FUTURE MEETING TOPICS AS OF FEBRUARY 23, 2023
Regarding the Update on City Fiber/Broadband Initiatives, Mayor Salinas said the more he spoke to folks, the grumpier they were about getting high-speed, high-quality internet downtown. City Manager McAdoo reported that Adam Kostrzak, the City’s Director of Information Technology, met with Comcast representatives and confirmed there were better options downtown and that staff was working to get the word out to business owners. Council Member Andrews said she heard the same complaints from business owners in the industrial sector.
Regarding the Southland Mall Update, Council Member Andrews said she would love to hear what actions or partnerships Hayward Police had with management to keep the parking lots and mall safe.
COMMITTEE MEMBER/STAFF ANNOUNCEMENTS AND REFERRALS
Economic Development Specialist Mao gave a slide presentation of the outcome of the Alameda County Small Business Recovery Grant program and how Hayward businesses fared. He also showed photos from ribbon cuttings at Vivoz and Virgelina.
Council Member Andrews thanked staff for organizing the ribbon cuttings and asked if there were more grant opportunities coming up in the future. Specialist Mao said he wasn’t sure because the grants were offered by the County. Council Member Andrews asked staff to write a letter to the County encouraging them to offer more.
Council Member Andrews said Vivoz wanted to expand the patio seating and then commented that it looked like they already had. Specialist Mao said an encroachment permit application had been sent to the business owner.
Council Member Andrews asked if downtown record shops could sell records and have amplified music from the sidewalks in front of their shops and Principal Planner Schmidt said yes, but they would need an encroachment permit to do so and an event permit to play music. Council Member Andrews asked if shop owners could apply for an on-going event permit like a First Friday of the month kind of event and Planner Schmidt said yes, they could apply for an extended permit.
Senior Secretary Philis announced her pending retirement and noted this would be her last CEDC meeting. The Mayor and Council Members congratulated her and praised her work over her 20 years with the City.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 6:18 p.m.
Hayward Council Economic Development Committee
Regular Meeting Minutes
February 23, 2023
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