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Mr. Daisa said the study did not recommend any mitigation measures for the Redwood Shores Parkway/IOI Interchange because it isn't feasible to improve one ramp of an entire interchange. "What is needed at that interchange is actually going to happen through both the construction of the auxiliary lanes and concurrent redesign of the ramp junctions at the interchanges....Any improvement....has to be part of a much larger capital improvement program including the interchanges at Ralston and Holly and the auxiliary lanes, and the monies from the assessment district will be put towards these (improvements.) Mr. Daisa advised that the traffic study described the traffic congestion problems at Marine Parkway and Oracle Parkway West caused by cars trying to get onto Highway 101 heading north, and said Electronic Arts traffic would not change the volume to capacity ratio and therefore would not add to that existing problem. Mr. Daisa added that the project recognizes the traffic impacts and the need for mitigation as part of a larger area wide project. Ken McCoy, Chairman of the Redwood City Planning Commission, described the Commission's three public hearings, public comment heard by the Commission, written communications received, community meetings attended by the Commissioners and extensive material review including the traffic study, aviation safety study, and the project binder which included specialty studies such as shadow, landscape and architectural studies. Also studied was the John Wayne airport which has tall buildings in a similar proximity to those being proposed near San Carlos airport, as well as heavy commercial traffic. Chairman McCoy said each Commissioner struggled with making the decision regarding the Electronic Arts proposal, and he described the factors that played the most significant roles in his decision: Was the 100 feet height zoning limit for this type of district a factor that had to be considered? He said it was the position of the planning staff that the 100 feet limit was part of the zoning ordinance generally in place throughout the City and was not specifically in place for aircraft safety reasons. Chairman McCoy said there was no conclusive evidence put forth by the pilots to suggest it was for safety reasons. Chairman McCoy said that after that conclusion (regarding the general height limit throughout the City) was made the project became a straightforward planned development permit decision which allows for specific variances for specific projects, if the positives from the project outweigh the negatives for granting that variance. The Planning Commission was asked to grant a height variance for three buildings and approve a one miIIion foot square project "and in exchange for this flexibility we were offered what we considered to be very high quality architecture, more open space, cleaner site lines at the ground level, and a tenant with a very favorable commute mm - _m - - - - - -- - - - -- - - - -- - - - -- - - - - - - -- - - - -- - -- - -- - --- - -- - -- - - - - -- - -- - - - - - -- - -- - _m -- -- - -- - - - - -- - -- - -- - - - -- - - - _m - -- - - - -- -m - - - --- - - ----- REGULAR MEETING JULY 1, 1996 MINUTES PAGE 15 MINUTE BOOK NO. 54 page No. 357