AgdaPkt 2003-04-14 - Laserfiche WebLink

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04/02/03 14:42 FAX 415 201 0633 Freedman Tung 4 Bottomle ®002 Memorandum. Page 2 above the underground garage. In other words, street tree sizes might be limited to small decorative trees, unless generous tree well areas and other special measures are undertaken. The enlarged extents would require demolition of existing mature street trees on both sides (north and south) of the Broadway frontage block. Function/Circulation Comments For theatergoers who drop off passengers before entering the parking structure, the resulting circulation sequence of this proposal is potentially more complex and inconvenient: o Vehicles coming down Middlefield from the 101/Veterans direction must turn left at Broadway, drop off passengers at the Broadway frontage, then make two right turns to arrive at a left-turn pocket for accessing the parking structure entrance at the Middlefield/Theatre Way intersection. o Vehicles coming up Jefferson from the 280/EI Camino direction must come up Jefferson and turn left at Broadway, drop passengers off on the opposite (north) side of the street just before Theatre Way, and turn left on Theatre Way to head down to the parking structure. Pedestrians would have to cross Broadway to get to the cinema. (Note — to date, the City Council has come to understand and agrees that a sidewalk drop -off for the Cinema should NOT be located on Theatre Way, so as not to create a physical gap between pedestrian circulation on Broadway and the "restaurant row on Theatre Way.) The proposed one -lane, one -way southbound configuration of Theatre Way between Broadway and Middlefield has limited capacity and may result in congestion and queuing at peak periods. A single access point for underground parking of the full -block development would seem reasonable. We believe that the arterial location of the Jefferson frontage provides better street access than the more "embedded" Middlefteld/Theatre Way intersection. Revitalization Comments Potential constraints on the developability of Block 2 that may be created by the proposed location of the garage entrance at the Middlefield/Theatre Way are not known, and need to be studied. In accordance with our previously discussed downtown revitalization concerns about concentrating and limiting retail entitlements to insure success, we believe that use of the Jefferson frontage for parking access instead of providing additional retail frontage is desirable. The redesign of the building's architecture and structural system necessary to accommodate the proposed garage alternative may require some months, due to revisions of the structural bays and their "ripple effects" on the space planning and architectural design of the building. We are concerned that the resulting delays may jeorpardize ongoing tenant interest and commitments and thus impact near- term revitalization; the actual analysis of this would need to be performed by others. Conclusion We believe that the cumulative effects of this design proposal on stmetscape, circulation, and development timing are negative, in comparison with those of the original design configuration. Consequently, we cannot recommend this new approach from an urban design and revitalization standpoint. It may be that there are other perspectives that lead to approach being selected, in which case we would do our best to help mitigate its downsides in these regards. Please let us know if you have any questions about these comments.