City Council
Staff Report
From: City Manager
Report Type: ACTION ITEMS
Lead Department: Transportation
Meeting Date: November 6, 2023
Report #:2309-2011
TITLE
Approval of a Contract with Urban Field Studio (C24188179) for a Not-to-Exceed Amount of $384,990 for the Car-free Streets Alternatives Study; Adopt an Interim Ordinance Continuing Parking Lot and Sidewalk Dining through March 2024 and On-Street Dining through December 2024; Adopt Resolutions Extending the City Manager’s Authority to Temporarily Close Portions of California Avenue and Ramona Street through December 2024; Provide Direction on the Street Configuration of California Ave. and Ramona St. during the Study Period; and Approval of a FY 2024 Budget Amendment in the General Fund. CEQA Status - Categorically exempt under CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 (existing facilities) and 15304(e) (minor temporary use).
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Palo Alto City Council (Council):
1. Approve and authorize the City Manager to execute contract C24188179 with Urban Field for a Not-to-Exceed Amount of $384,990 for the 12-month Car-free Streets Alternatives Study (Attachment A);
2. Amend the Fiscal Year 2024 Budget Appropriation in the General Fund (requires 2/3 vote) by:
a. Increasing the contract expense appropriation in the Office of Transportation by $134,990; and
b. Decreasing the Budget Stabilization Reserve by $134,990;
3. Adopt the attached Interim Ordinance Continuing On-Street Outdoor Dining until December 31, 2024 and Some Parking Lot and Sidewalk Uses through March 2024 (Attachment B);
4. Adopt the attached Resolutions extending the City Manager’s authority to temporarily close portions of California Avenue and Ramona Street through December 31, 2024 while the Alternatives Study is conducted (Attachments C and D); and
5. Provide direction to staff on the closed street configuration of California Ave. and/or Ramona St. during the study period.
Staff’s recommendation is to continue the existing street configurations for the 12-month Alternative Study period. Alternatively, Council may direct staff to implement alternative street configurations during the 12-month interim period while the study is conducted:
A.Reversion Option: Revert California Avenue and/or Ramona Street to pre-pandemic traffic patterns starting on a date set by Council, which would open the street fully (two-way) to vehicular traffic, on an ongoing basis.
B.Seasonal/Hybrid Option: Open the street to two-way vehicular traffic, but implement a seasonal/hybrid option where it would become a car-free street seasonally, on weekends, or for special events.
C.One-way Option: Implement a one-way street for vehicles to use, in either direction.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This staff report first seeks approval of a contract with Urban Partners to conduct a 12-month Alternatives Study to inform decisions on the future of California Avenue and Ramona Street, including spaces for outdoor dining, community programming, activations for the street, entertainment spaces, appropriate wayfinding and signage, development of parking strategies, and a discussion on the long-term street configurations and circulation for vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles, plus stewardship of the streets. During the 12-month study period, staff will continue to advance demonstration projects to enhance the experience on the streets and further encourage people to visit the area. This could include an extension of the mini golf activation, additional game play areas and community spaces to gather, continuation of partnerships like Third Thursday Music, and implementing new barriers to rid of the orange plastic barriers, and other aesthetic enhancements, such as more public art and wayfinding signage opportunities.
The remainder of this report seeks Council’s approval and/or alternative direction on whether the existing closures of California Avenue and Ramona Street should remain during the 12-month study period. The current car-free streets are at California Avenue between El Camino Real and Birch Street; and Ramona Street half-block between Hamilton Avenue and University Avenue.
Staff recommend keeping the existing closures through December 2024 to coincide with the end of the Alternative Study and continue to allow on-street dining.
BACKGROUND
The Car-free Streets: Cal Ave. and Ramona St. project is a Council-supported effort enabling outdoor dining, retail, and personal services in business districts such as California Avenue and the downtown core. Currently, California Avenue is open to pedestrians and closed to through vehicle traffic from El Camino Real to Birch Street, and Ramona Street is open to pedestrians and closed to vehicle traffic for a half block between Hamilton Avenue and University Avenue.
The City Council originally authorized Car-free Streets in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic through a program called Summer Streets then incorporated the project into the City’s Uplift Local initiative, as an economic recovery effort and to provide community members with outdoor spaces to gather.
At their February 28, 2022 meeting, the City Council directed staff to issue a Request for Proposals (RFP) to obtain a consultant to conduct a study (“Alternatives Study”) to understand the impact of the proposed permanent closure(s) on portions of California Avenue and the section of Ramona Street 1. In the City Manager Report (CMR 14066), staff noted that the study would include developing conceptual plans with possible alternatives, review existing conditions, traffic circulation, impacts to access for properties in the proposed segments, a traffic analysis to look at traffic circulation, access to properties, emergency access, parking impacts, loading-unloading, delivery, access for maintenance of utilities, impacts to signal operations, and environmental documentation review & preparation 2. The Report also noted how the study would include outreach to stakeholders and the public and would review the impacts of long-term temporary closures such as seasonal closures or regular weekend closures3.
At the February 28, 2022 meeting, the City Council voted to include into the RFP the items mentioned in the Report and also to include the following:
•consideration of methods to value rents for use of public spaces and evaluate if revenues could be used as partial funding of the process;
•suggest an approach to improve aesthetics and maintain open sidewalks so that pedestrian traffic is near the windows;
•include proposed guidelines on hours of use of public spaces and noise control; •evaluate displaced traffic impacts particularly on residential streets; •bring the budget request as part of the 2023 Budget process; and, •to return for approval of the contract;
•to provide the schedule; and,
•to return with an item to extend the street closure through December 31, 2023 4.
On May 16, 2022, the City Council authorized staff to extend the street closure through December 31, 2023 as well as approve the implementation of several interim improvements, 1 See Page 5, Item 13, Action Minutes for February 28, 2022 City Council Meeting:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Public/CompiledDocument?meetingTemplateId=3708&compileOutputType= 1 2 Ibid.
3 See Page 5, Item 13, Agenda Packet for February 28, 2022 City Council Meeting:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Public/CompiledDocument?meetingTemplateId=3709&compileOutputType= 1 4 See Page 5, Item 13, Action Minutes for February 28, 2022 City Council Meeting:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Public/CompiledDocument?meetingTemplateId=3708&compileOutputType= 1 most notably, a dedicated emergency access lane, the requirement for edge treatments around outdoor dining and retail spaces, and direction to staff to install appropriate enhancements or aesthetic elements that will also provide a visible distinction from the emergency access lane and dining areas5.
After the May 2022 meeting, staff engaged the services of Bay Area consultant, Bruce Fukuji from Fukuji Architecture & Planning, to assist the City with engaging the broader community and businesses along California Avenue and Ramona Street on the future of the street closures. This pre-RFP outreach informed both additional interim changes and the RFP scope of work for the Alternatives Study. Mr. Fukuji is an architect and urban designer with experience working in Palo Alto, most notably eight years on the Palo Alto Urban Design Committee that prepared the Downtown Urban Design Plan, and representing the City in negotiations with Stanford University during their Health Center expansion.
From October 2022 to April 2023, City staff, Bruce Fukuji, with support from Fehr & Peers, engaged key stakeholders and the community through meetings, interviews, focus groups, a community workshop, and an online survey to better understand priorities for California Avenue and Ramona Street, and to determine the topics and themes to study and include as part of the RFP. A high-level overview of the pre-RFP engagement efforts can be found in the Stakeholder Engagement section of this report. For more details, see Bruce Fukuji’s published summary of the engagement effort, titled Community & Stakeholder Engagement Report, and is Attachment E. A Summary of the Online Community Survey Results is also included as Attachment F of this report.
Demonstration Projects & Temporary Activations
In addition to informing the scope of work, the pre-RFP engagement also informed additional near-term interim changes and improvements. Starting in mid-2023, City staff focused on implementing four demonstration projects as a response to feedback received from the public and stakeholders. The four demonstration projects are:
•Flexible Community Spaces: free public gathering places with public seating (tables and chairs) and game play areas (giant chess, giant Jenga, corn hole) •New barriers: looking at options for replacing the orange water-filled barriers • Public art: ground plane and building murals
•Pedestrian and vehicular signage: directing people to nearby destinations and parking areas
5 See Page 4, Item 14, Action Minutes for May 16, 2022 City Council Meeting:
https://cityofpaloalto.primegov.com/Public/CompiledDocument?meetingTemplateId=12251&compileOutputType =1
More recently, the City partnered with local groups to bring music and mini-golf to Cal Ave., all in an effort to further activate the street and invite people to the area, and to respond to feedback received to provide spaces for people to gather, particularly in underutilized areas of the street:
• 3rd Thursday Music on Cal Ave.
• Putter's Mini golf course-Palo Alto
In early summer 2023, City staff prepared the RFP, and on July 3, 2023, staff formally published the RFP for the Alternatives Study on the City’s eProcurement platform with proposals due in early August 2023. The City received one responsive bid from Urban Field Studio, an urban design firm based out of San Francisco.
ANALYSIS
The Alternatives Study is an effort to pursue consensus on the future of California Avenue and Ramona Street. The City published the RFP for the Alternatives Study on the City’s Procurement Platform on July 3, 2023 with proposals due on August 1, 2023. The City received one responsive proposal from Urban Field, an urban design firm and studio, partnering with Kimley-Horn, a transportation consulting firm. Table 1 summarizes the RFP process.
Table 1. Summary of RFP Process
RFP Name
Car-free Streets Alternatives Study &
Implementation Plan
RFP Number RFP No. 188179
RFP Issued July 3, 2023
Proposals Due August 1, 2023
# of Firms Notified through OpenGov 2,740
Number of Firms Notified via email 46
Project View Count 318
Downloaders of RFP document 41
Total Days to Respond to RFP 30
Number of Proposals Received 1
Public Link to Solicitation https://procurement.opengov.com/portal/palo- alto-ca/projects/52330?section=441151
Proposals Price Range $297,898
Staff reached out to potential responsive bidders to understand why they did not submit a proposal. The potential bidders noted that they believed they did not have the expertise required of the scope of work; they had limited staff capacity; and one noted their email server sent the eProcurement email alerting of the RFP to their junk folder and did not see the RFP in time to submit a proposal.
Since the City received a single responsive bid, it moved forward with issuing a Letter of Intent to Award to Urban Field on August 16, 2023. Staff and Urban Field negotiated the scope and contract starting in late August. Staff recommends contracting with Urban Field because of their comprehensive approach to the scope of work, clear understanding of Palo Alto and its needs, and has an innovative approach to engage the community. Urban Field also has extensive experience working with Bay Area communities on developing plans for alternative traffic configurations, active spaces, and healthy commercial and community spaces, including Mountain View, Burlingame, Fremont, and Oakland, plus originally proposed a scope under budget, and is to provide exceptional project management experience.
The updated scope of work the consultant proposes includes the following tasks, to be completed in a 12-month (one-year) process, beginning once the contract is executed, anticipated for January 2024:
1. Public Outreach and Engagement Strategy
2. Research & Analysis of Existing Conditions and Technical Studies
3.Urban Design Framework (described in greater detail below)
4. Implementation Plan
5. Environmental Clearance Review and Recommendations
6. Project Management and Oversight
More specifically, the Urban Design Framework task above (task #3) is a key task that will include researching and developing the following topics:
•Streetscape Design and Amenities
•Access, Circulation, Traffic, Parking, and Curb Impacts and Strategies •Commercial Outdoor Dining Guidelines
•Historic Resources
•Signage
•Legislative Options
•Equity and Accessibility
•Equitable Economic Development and Partnership Building Council Priorities & Basis for Staff Recommendation
In January 2023, the City Council established two 2023 priorities related to Car-free Streets, both Economic Recovery and Business Transition objectives:
•Select consultant to conduct a study that informs the development of a permanent car- free streets ordinance (ERBT h)—Q3 2023; and,
•Extend temporary closure for car-free streets (ERBT j)—Q4-2023.
In alignment with Council’s 2023 priorities, the first recommended action in this report approves of the contract with the consultant, Urban Field, for the 12-month Alternatives Study. The second recommended action approves of a budget amendment to cover anticipated project costs. The additional recommended actions extend existing conditions and the current street configurations until December 31, 2024 while the study is conducted through the adoption of an ordinance and resolutions.
If Council approves the contract with Urban Field, Council will need to provide staff with direction on what to do with the street configurations during the 12-month study period. Staff evaluated the different street configuration options on several factors to develop the recommended action for this report, outlined below under the following categories: 1) Timeline/Schedule; 2) Resource Needs; and, 3) Potential Business Impacts. The options below have varying levels of complexity and implementation timelines that should be taken into consideration. The study will evaluate all available options.
The recommended action is to extend the current street configurations until December 31, 2024 while the study is happening:
•Timeline/Schedules
oProvides continuity and avoids repeated changes to the street configurations in a short timeframe.
oAllows for the Alternatives Study to identify and determine the next significant change to the existing street configurations.
•Resource Needs
oContinues utilizing existing staff resources with no changes required. oStaff would continue enhancing the area with additional activations and improvements through 2024.
oNo additional environmental review or traffic study required to continue the current street configurations.
oOnly administrative work to review and approve of permit renewal applications. •Potential Business Impacts
oBusinesses would need to renew their existing permits for outdoor dining for 2024. Mostly administrative work for the business owner.
Alternative Street Configurations During the Study Period The City Council may direct staff to implement other street configurations during the 12-month study period. These were also evaluated using the same categories as the recommended action:
A.Reversion Option: Revert car-free California Avenue and/or Ramona Street to pre- pandemic traffic patterns by a date set by Council, which would open the street fully (two- way) to vehicular traffic on an ongoing basis.
•Timeline/Schedules
•This would return street configurations to pre-pandemic conditions, pre- March 2020, provided businesses receive advanced notice and time to break down outdoor areas.
•The street configurations may change again once Council identifies preferred street configurations as part of the Alternatives Study, and the businesses and community have already expressed they want stability. •Resources Needs
•Street reversion can be implemented quickly. The existing Car-free Streets program sunsets on December 31, 2023, and staff can notice the businesses to remove their outdoor dining areas by a date in early 2024. •Council could direct staff to implement parklets on Cal Ave. However, additional work would be needed to implement parklets on Cal Ave. considering outdoor dining exists in areas beyond just parking stalls, such as former bus stops, vehicle turn and travel lanes, and driveways. The City cannot just simply apply the recently adopted Permanent Parklet regulations to Cal Ave. without additional work required to make it context specific.
•Potential Business Impacts
•This option would eliminate all existing outdoor dining areas on Cal Ave. and Ramona St. that are part of the Car-free Streets effort. •Businesses would need time to remove their existing outdoor dining areas and return the street Right-of-Way to the City.
•Businesses would no longer have their outdoor dining areas as they exist now.
•The community would lose the gathering spaces available now and may be discouraged to visit altogether.
B.Seasonal/Hybrid Option: Open the street to two-way vehicular traffic by a certain date set by Council but implement a seasonal/hybrid option where it would become a car-free street seasonally, on weekends, or for special events.
•Timeline/Schedule
•The street configurations would change now and could change again soon once Council identifies a preferred long-term alternative. •Could turn away the community and confuse would be visitors who are unsure of the street conditions and environment.
•Council would need to provide direction on the time of year to implement a seasonal/hybrid option.
•Resource Needs
•Staff needs a reasonable timeframe to implement this option. Currently there are no resources dedicated to implementing this option. Resources would be necessary to modify the streets to allow for closure and re- opening, including placing/removing barriers and signage. •Council will need to adopt the attached Resolutions and Ordinance to extend the existing program into 2024 while City staff works to implement this option.
•Potential Business Impacts
•Businesses need time to make any required changes or upgrades to their existing outdoor dining footprint or design.
•Businesses would need time to update permits to reflect new layouts.
C.One-way Option: Implement a one-way vehicle traffic lane on the current car-free portions of the street, in either direction (east-bound or west-bound). •Timeline/Schedule
•Requires both time and a high-level of evaluation and consultation that has more complexities. Evaluation includes an Environmental Assessment and a Traffic Study on the one-way street configuration, which also extends the timeline to implement.
•The most involved option that will require the most resources to implement.
•Resource Needs
•No existing staff resources identified to implement this option. •Limited staff capacity. Implementing this option would take staff resources away from projects in the pipeline or extend the timeline of existing projects.
•Staff would need a reasonable timeframe to implement this option. •Council needs to adopt the attached Resolutions and Ordinance to extend the existing program into 2024 while City staff work to implement this option.
•Potential Business Impacts
•Street configurations may change again after Council identifies a preferred alternative, and the businesses and community may get confused and discouraged with continuous and frequent changes.
•Businesses need time to make any required changes or upgrades to their existing outdoor dining footprint or design.
•Businesses would need time to update permits to reflect new layouts.
Other Factors/Factors that Apply to All Street Configuration Options •Council would need to provide direction on whether the option selected applies to California Avenue and/or Ramona Street.
•The weekly California Avenue Sunday Farmers Market would be exempt since they have an existing permit to close portions of California Avenue to vehicles and operate the market on the street.
Extension of the Interim Ordinance Allowing Outdoor Dining Separately, staff is also recommending that the interim ordinance allowing various types of outdoor dining be extended. The existing interim ordinance was originally adopted in 2020 and last extended by Council on May 8, 2023. The interim ordinance currently allows outdoor dining on closed streets, in parklets in on-street parking spaces, public and private parking lots, sidewalks, and other outdoor areas on the premises of a restaurant (e.g. a lawn). The existing ordinance allows on-street, parking lot and sidewalk uses through December 2023. Interim parklets are authorized through March 2024, at which point the newly adopted parklet ordinance and standards will begin.
The proposed ordinance will extend on-street, non-parklet dining and retail through December 2024 to match the proposed street closures. The proposed ordinance will also extend parking lot and sidewalk uses through March 2024 to allow time for staff to gauge how these uses may continue or be phased out in lieu of other uses, such as parklets. The existing sunset date of March 31, 2024 for interim parklets will remain the same.
FISCAL/RESOURCE IMPACT
The Office of Transportation FY 2024 Adopted Operating Budget had $250,000 appropriated for this initiative, as a place-holder value, and Urban Field’s responsive bid proposed a $297,898 project. During scope and contract negotiations, staff noted deficiencies in the number of public meetings originally planned and saw an opportunity to analyze more recent available parking data. Staff requested additional items under the public outreach & community engagement task and parking assessment task to ensure a robust engagement approach and a more comprehensive parking analysis. This expanded the number of visits to City Commissions, Board & Committees, and the City Council. Additionally, the City asked for several additional separate in-person and remote meetings with both California Avenue and Ramona Street business owners, the community at-large, and ensured online engagement tools, such as a public survey and street-level tabling were included in the scope as well. And because of the City’s more recent efforts around parking data-collection, the scope expanded to include a more involved parking data analysis than originally prescribed in the RFP, and the consultant project management fee increased since the overall scope expansion lengthened the project timeline from nine months as originally proposed, to 12 months: January 2024 through December 2024. The updated cost proposal for the updated scope of work is: $384,990 ($349,991 base, with a $34,999 contingency of 10 percent). The requested Budget Amendment of $134,990 reflects the additional funding required to complete the project with the additional scope and outreach, and would be supported by the Budget Stabilization Reserve (BSR). Together with other recommended budget amendments in the current year, this action would bring the FY 2024 Adopted BSR estimate of $54.3 million down to $53.3 million.
In addition, Office of Transportation, City Manager’s Office, City Attorney’s Office, Planning, and Public Works staff, plus Planning Code Enforcement Officers, Fire Department Inspectors, and Building Inspection staff, all have both ongoing and additional work supporting and related to the Car-free Streets project. Current and anticipated resources can support the workload for the recommended action. If Council directs staff to implement new or different interim street configurations, additional resources may be needed and staff would need to bring forward proposals for Council’s consideration as part of the annual budget process to recommend aligning resources and workload.
STAKEHOLDER ENGAGEMENT
Pre-RFP engagement:
From Fall 2022 to Spring 2023, City staff and consultants, Bruce Fukuji and Fehr & Peers undertook a pre-RFP engagement effort to solicit local stakeholder and community perspectives regarding current issues, opportunities for change, and potential near-term projects to advance the Car-free Street initiative. The project team also solicited feedback on a potential scope of work for an RFP to study different potential activations and street configurations. The project team undertook the following outreach elements:
•Nearly a dozen structured interviews with business and property owners, non-profit and for-profit developers, Chamber of Commerce leadership, local architects, property managers, the Palo Alto Art Center Director, and Councilmember Pat Burt. •Two rounds of focus group meetings with:
oLocal business owners on California Avenue
oLocal business owners on Ramona Street
oCity Commission Chairpersons
•Two community meetings:
oAn in-person Community Workshop on California Avenue, attended by over 60 people, with facilitated small group engagement followed by informal discussion with elected officials, local business owners, and community members. oA subsequent online community meeting, attended by 30 people with facilitated individual feedback.
•Online survey on the City’s website, viewed by 617 people with 356 responses, predominantly Palo Alto residents, with only 1 percent Palo Alto business owners, and 15 percent of respondents living outside of Palo Alto.
The outreach process was organized into two phases: 1) Assessment and 2) Validation.
Assessment comprised of background research, context mapping, framing key questions for stakeholders and community members; conducting initial outreach; collecting data and conducting analysis; and formulating preliminary findings (Fall 2022 through Winter 2023).
Validation comprised of conducting a second round of outreach for stakeholders and community members to validate what was learned by City staff and consultants from the initial outreach, and solicit feedback on near-term demonstration projects and the Alternatives Study (Winter 2023 through Spring 2023).
The Community & Stakeholder Engagement Report (Attachment E) highlights how stakeholders have different perspectives on how to shape the future physical environment of California Avenue, as shown in Figure 1: Stakeholder Perspectives. On one hand, the discussion is divided between local retail business owners and residents on the allocation of street space for vehicle access. Some local businesses have a strong preference for an alternative that is not car-free, while many residents favor the closure of the street for safety, outdoor dining, and public spaces without vehicles. However, some residents feel that public gathering spaces and outdoor dining do not need use of all the street space to the complete exclusion of cars.
There was agreement between local retail business owners, restauranteurs, and residents in that California Avenue is a highly valued, frequently visited environment integral to community and the economic vitality of the Palo Alto, and that the Cal Ave. District needs to be revived as a destination with a new identity, and that economic development, urban design, and community partnerships need to work together to realize the potential of California Avenue. Specific to Ramona Street, stakeholders all agree that Ramona Street, as a historic district, is an ideal setting downtown to shape a vibrant public space as an outdoor dining destination, and expressed great interest in maintaining the street permanently closed to vehicle traffic. A summary of the engagement effort, titled Community & Stakeholder Engagement Report, is Attachment E of this report.
Alternatives Study engagement:
Urban Field’s updated scope of work includes a structured and robust community engagement plan for the Alternatives Study, dividing the community engagement approach into four phases:
1) Initial Outreach; 2) Socialize Preliminary Concepts; 3) Socialize Preferred Concepts; 4) Present Final Plan. The engagement activities are tailored toward the unique character of the community, and these phases will help effectively and meaningfully engage the residents, business owners, and members of City Commissions, Boards & Committees, and the City Council. At the onset of
the Alternatives Study, the consultant will develop a formal Community Engagement Strategy Memo that will explain how the project team will share information and gather input regarding the needs and issues of the public, stakeholders, and interested parties. More specifically, the Alternatives Study includes events and meetings with members of the following:
•Pedestrian and Bicycle Advisory Committee (PABAC)
•Architectural Review Board (ARB)
•Historic Preservation Commission (HPC)
•Planning and Transportation Commission (PTC)
•City Council meetings
•Focus Group Meetings, including separate meetings with both Cal Ave. and Ramona St. business owners
•Street-level engagement
•In-person and online community engagement
Demonstration Projects QR-code Survey
Soon after implementing the Demonstration Project: Flexible Community Spaces, staff created a QR-code survey and sticker and installed the QR-codes throughout the tables, chairs, and game play areas to receive immediate feedback on the installations. The survey asked people what they like about the Flexible Community Spaces and what else they would like to see. Some responses are below:
•“It’s amazing! Brings so much joy to our family. Great spot for building community and hanging out.”
•“Fun place for families to hang out together”
•“The street games! It’s so safe and fun.”
•“Love the chairs and that it’s pedestrian only”
•“Keep doing more of these”
•“Corn hole” [many times]
•“Less paving and more parklike”
•“Yasssssssssssss #love”
•“I like that they give me a place to sit and enjoy the day outside of my apartment and being able to walk around more has helped me discover so many more local food places and shops.”
•“The games are terrific! But overall it is just so incredible to have a safe space to go to and walk around with the whole family.”
•“The games are a worse mess than the tables and chairs. They get scattered all over the street and sidewalk.”
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The ordinance and resolutions are categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) under CEQA Guidelines Sections 15301 (existing facilities) and 15304(e) (minor temporary use of land having negligible or no permanent effects on the environment).
For the Alternatives Study, as part of Task 5: Environmental Clearance Review and Recommendations, the consultant will review the final conceptual alternatives and implementation plan, develop an environmental clearance strategy, and file any required exemption documentation under CEQA on behalf of the City, following direction to do so from the City.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment A: Contract C24188179 with Urban Field Studio Attachment B: Interim Ordinance Temporarily Continuing Outdoor Dining, Retail, and Other Uses in Closed Streets until December 31, 2024 and Other Uses until March 31, 2024 Attachment C: Resolution Authorizing City Manager to Temporarily Close a Portion of California Avenue Until December 31, 2024
Attachment D: Resolution Authorizing City Manager to Temporarily Close a Portion of Ramona Street Until December 31, 2024
Attachment E: Community & Stakeholder Engagement Report from Bruce Fukuji Attachment F: Summary of Community Survey Results
Attachment G: Presentation from the in-person December 7, 2022 Community Meeting Attachment H: Presentation from the virtual April 27, 2023 Community Meeting Attachment I: California Avenue Exhibit (El Camino Real to Birch Street) Attachment J: Ramona Street Exhibit (half block between Hamilton Avenue and University Avenue)
APPROVED BY:
Philip Kamhi, Chief Transportation Official