COUNCIL ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE
MEETING MINUTES – April 28, 2022
CALL TO ORDER: The Regular meeting was called to order at 5:00 p.m.
ATTENDANCE (September 2021-July 2022):
Committee Member Present
4/28/2022
All Meetings
Year to Date
Meetings Mandated
By Resolution
Present Absent Present Absent
Council Member Salinas 5 0 5 0
Council Member Wahab 5 0 5 0
Council Member Andrews 5 0 5 0
OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE:
Kelly McAdoo, City Manager; Jennifer Ott, Assistant City Manager; Paul Nguyen, Economic Development Manager; Leigha Schmidt, Senior Planner; Mira Hahn, Associate Planner; Catherine Ralston, Economic Development Specialist; Suzanne Philis, Senior Secretary; Jayvant Shah, Kalthia Construction and Management Co.; Marie Anderson, CBRE; Melissa Stevens, MWT Architect; Claudia Carrola-Cheng and Dee Madahar, Starbucks
PUBLIC COMMENTS
There were none.
1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING MARCH 24, 2022 A motion to approve minutes from the March 24, 2022 Regular Meeting was made by Council Member Andrews and seconded by Council Member Wahab. The minutes we re unanimously approved.
2. PRELIMINARY CONCEPT REVIEW – MWT ARCHITECT, PC DR IVE THROUGH REQUIRING A
ZONING TE XT AMENDMENT AND MODIFICATION OF APPROVED SITE PLAN REVIEW FOR HOME2SUITES AT 22091 HESPERIAN BOULEVARD
Economic Development Manager Paul Nguyen introduced Associate Planner Mira Hahn who gave the staff presentation. MWT Architect Construction Administr ation Manager Melissa Stevens also gave Attachment VII
Hayward Council Economic Development Committee
Regular Meeting Minutes
April 28, 2022
the outside presentation.
Council Member Andrews asked the difference between a Starbuck Reserve and a regular Starbucks.
Starbucks Store Development Manager Carrola-Cheng explained that Starbuck Reserve was a coffee- forward concept they tried out and discontinued. Customers don ’t want to sit and linger she explained. Council Member Andrews noted there were already a lot of Starbucks in the area including the in -store Starbucks at Target. She asked how the drive -thru would impact these other stores.
Manager Carrola-Cheng said there were no plans to close any existing stores.
Council M ember A ndrews noted the Starb ucks drive -thru at Costco on Hesperian had a particul ar design and she asked why and what the difference was betwee n that site and older sites. Manager Carrola-Cheng explained that the newest locations used a contemporary design, but each site would have differen t characteristics. She said the contemporary design was the new traditional. Council Members Andrews asked if the propo sed Starbucks by the airport could also have a mural an d Manager Carrola-Cheng said it could.
Council Member Andrews said when volunteering to pick up trash and she noticed a lot of Starbucks cups and bags and she asked what St arbucks was doing to decrease trash. Manager Carrola-Cheng said Starbucks vision was to give more to the earth than take away. She noted they were moving away from plastic straws and by 2030 they wanted to have a reusable cup program in place.
Council Member Andrews suggested Starbucks Adopt-a-Block. She also noted Hesperian already had a lot of traffic and she asked how the proposed drive -thru would impact the area. Manager Carrola- Cheng explained that the double drive -thru lane should el iminate any traffi c problems and said maintaining the property was part of the lease agreement.
Regarding the three questions included in the staff report, Council Member Andrews said for environmental reasons a drive-thru wasn’t ideal, but for the convenience of families and the disabled, she would consider supporting an amendment.
Council Member Wah ab asked to see the location map and then asked if she should re cuse herself because she lived nearby. City Manager McAd oo s aid she probably shouldn’t make comments, but Manager Nguyen pointed out that no action was being taken.
Council Member Wahab said she loved Starbucks and there could never be enough even with the two already nearby. She said she was OK with the zoning text amendment as long as the drive-thru didn’t create traffic on Hesperian. She pointed out that Hesperian was a main commuter route with traffic both in the morning and evening, so she wanted to make sure waiting cars were truly off the road. If a traffic study was conducted, she said she wanted access to be way back from Hesperian. Manager Nguyen said because this was a concept review, no traffic impact study was available.
Council Member Wahab said she also wanted parking so customers using the mobile app could go in to pick up their order rather than having to wait in th e drive-thru line. She said she was not op posed to having a St arbucks at the proposed site at all and was supp ortive of amending the half -mile rule for drive-thrus. With higher density housing coming in, she said, the City would need higher capacity services.
Hayward Council Economic Development Committee
Regular Meeting Minutes
April 28, 2022
Council Member Salinas said he resp ected the opinions of his fellow Council Members, but he didn ’t think this project was the game changer th at justified a zon ing text change amendment. He didn’t realize the drive -thru would be two lanes, which seem ed large, he said, and noted the parcel would be busy.
Although he ackno wledged densities were increasing, Council Member Salinas said that didn’t necessitate changing city-wide zoning to allow more fast food and coffee shops. Regarding the three questions in the staff report, he said this projec t didn’t move him enou gh to support a zo ning text change amendment; the size of the proposed drive-thru would eliminate other office and commercial opportunities at the site; and he was leery about allowing the drive-thru because Council had been outspoken against them and ther e were alr eady two more planned for the K mart site. He said he understood Coun cil Member Andrews comment about convenience but allowing the amendment would have impacts city-wide. Council Member Salinas said he was not convinced this project was the right one and said he would not be supportive.
Council Member Wahab acknowledged that she frequently complain ed about the redundancy of Hayward business types, but she noted th e revenue generated by Starbucks was significant. She also noted the convenience of grabbing food at Starbucks, the previously mentioned community benefits, and that other cities have Starbucks on every block.
Council Member Andrews said she understood Council Member Salinas’ concerns but wondered how long it would t ake for office to come in if thi s project was denied. She cited Consultant Marie Anderson’s earlier comment that no retail other than those with drive -thru expressed interest and said she didn’t want the site to sit empty.
Council Member Andrews asked sta ff if Council approved the zone text amendment, could they still tell other fast food restaurant s no . City Manager McAdoo said the amendment would change the guidelines for everyone. Assistant City Manager Ott agreed, pointing out the City could not spot zone.
She then asked Planning staff if there was a way to focus on use and was told no.
Assistant City Manager Ott asked staff if the site would also require a variance a nd was told no.
Because the drive-thru was shorter than the previously proposed hotel use, Associate Planner Hahn, said a variance was no longer needed.
Council Member Andrews reiterated her concern that the lot would sit empty rather than allow a use that could generate revenue. Council Member Salinas explained that he just used office as an example, something else could come in but Council Member Andr ews reminded him that no other commercial uses had expressed any interest.
Manager Nguyen pointed out that the slide showing estimated Starbucks revenue was not completely accurate. Although sales tax is 10% in A lameda County, he s aid, Hayward would only receive 1% of total sales tax collected. He also noted that this project was approved with a commercial building on this site so whether it was office or commercial space, something would have to be buil t per the conditions of approval
Council Member Salinas asked staff if any further comments were needed. Assistant City Manager Ott commented that s ince there wasn ’t consensus the applicant would need to digest what they heard.
Hayward Council Economic Development Committee
Regular Meeting Minutes
April 28, 2022
She pointed out the full Council may have some of the same concerns.
Council Member Salinas asked if there was a timeline and City Manager McAdoo said it was up to the applicant.
Council Member Andrews commented that Star bucks had enough money to add office space abo ve the coffee shop. Coun cil Member Salinas sai d that would be interesting. Ms. Stevens asked C ouncil Member Salinas if adding a second stor y for office would be a game changer and Council Member Salinas said it would be if there was rooftop seating. Assist ant City Manager Ott sug gested the applicant consider a more intensive use at the site.
ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 6:21 p.m.