San Mateo Avenue UPGRADE - What Will Be Proposed

Article Source: City of San Bruno CA

The San Bruno CA City Council on January 8 2019 awarded a contract to WRT to survey San Mateo Avenue (downtown) and come up with proposals to IMPROVE it.

Numerous meetings will be held seeking YOUR and Business's input.

The following was taken from their proposal.

Article Source: City Council Agenda Item Staff Report

CITY OF SAN BRUNO

DATE: January 8, 2019

TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council

FROM: Jovan D. Grogan, City Manager

PREPARED BY: Darcy Smith, Community Development Director

SUBJECT: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Professional Consultant Services Agreement with WRT for the Development of the San Mateo Avenue Streetscape Plan in an Amount not to Exceed $125,000 and Appropriating Funds in the Adopted FY 2018-19 Budget in the Amount of $125,000 from the City’s General Fund

BACKGROUND:

San Bruno downtown is located along a half-mile long stretch of San Mateo Avenue, between San Bruno Avenue and El Camino Real. The Downtown is characterized by short blocks, a pedestrian-friendly environment and architecturally unique buildings. The City’s 1987 Downtown Design Guidelines and the 2000 Downtown Improvement Plan provide architectural guidance for new and existing structures in the city’s downtown that stretches along San Mateo Avenue, as well as an overall urban design strategy for the area. However, these guidelines are dated in today’s context and more focused on building façade design. The existing design guidelines fail to provide specific design recommendations for streetscape elements such as street lights, pavements, trees, other plantings, benches, bike racks, public art pieces, the Posy Park foundations, etc.

The San Bruno General Plan, adopted in 2009, envisions to promote San Mateo Avenue as a symbolic heart of the city. This vision is outlined through various implementation policies in the city’s General Plan. Particularly, the Land Use and Urban Design policies, seek to improve the visibility of the downtown, expand the streetscape amenities, place clearly marked crosswalks and upgrade the appearance of the downtown through combined efforts of the City, merchants and property owners. Similarly, the Economic Development and Transportation implementation policies mention to improve the image of San Mateo Avenue in Downtown as an appealing commercial street to shop, dine, and conduct business.

In 2013, building upon the implementation policies of the General Plan, the City adopted the Transit Corridors Plan (TCP) which articulates the community's vision for revitalized commercial corridors in proximity to the San Bruno Avenue Caltrain Station. The vision includes fostering dynamic architecture and welcoming gateways, convenient transportation connections, pedestrian-oriented “green” streets, and additional housing, jobs, retail, and restaurants, while maintaining a sense of the City's history. The TCP identifies San Mateo Avenue - the Central Business District/Downtown, one of the five character areas for public realm improvements. The other character areas are Station Area, El Camino Real, Huntington Avenue and Civic Center as designated in the Transit Corridors Plan. The TCP also identifies San Mateo Avenue Streetscape improvements as a short-term implementation project to enhance the Central Business District. While San Mateo Avenue has experienced vitality in recent years with new cafes and increased restaurant patronage, it remains an underutilized focal point within the city.

The proposed City Council action would approve a contract for the preparation of the San Mateo Avenue Streetscape Plan (Streetscape Plan) and associated California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) clearance. The overall project area will encompass south San Mateo Avenue, which is comprised of the public right-of-way on San Mateo Avenue between San Bruno Avenue at the Caltrain Station to the north and the El Camino Real intersection to the south. The Streetscape Plan for the San Mateo Avenue will serve to create an inviting and cohesive downtown street that links pedestrians, bicyclists, transit riders and motorists. The Streetscape Plan project area has a 60-foot right-of-way, with sidewalks approximately eight to ten foot wide, eight foot wide bulb outs at intersections, parallel parking on both sides of the street, and 12-foot vehicle travel lanes. Extending from Huntington Avenue to the north to El Camino Real to the south, San Mateo Avenue stretches approximately 0.65 miles. At the northern entrance to downtown is the Caltrain Station and adjacent is the newly renovated Posy Park. Both these entrances to Downtown San Bruno offer great design opportunities as prominent and inviting gateways to downtown San Bruno. Land uses on San Mateo Avenue are dominated by a vast variety of locally-owned and culturally diverse stores, retail and services such as restaurants, grocery stores, cafes, religious organizations, a private indoor swimming school, a large children’s amusement center, Posy Park, and a large casino towards the northern end of the downtown.

DISCUSSION:

The goal of this Streetscape Plan is to re-enforce San Mateo Avenue as a vital commercial street that serves the needs and priorities of the community. A streetscape plan is typically prepared for a limited geographic area within a city and is an articulation of the community’s vision of the street governed by the neighboring uses, economic activities, modes of transportation and safety. Today, San Mateo Avenue has many assets such as a comfortable pedestrian scale, distinctive architecture, density, convenient location, proximity to the transit hubs, and an eclectic mix of uses, however, it lacks a cohesive identity and has inconsistent streetscape elements. Unified streetscape improvements helps to build a strong identity and create safer pedestrian conditions that encourages positive activity and economic development along the street.

The San Mateo Avenue Streetscape Plan will develop complete design standards for all the street features and re-imagine the use of public spaces, such as Posy Park, to create more of a destination. The outcome of the Streetscape Plan will be an enhanced street with safer and green sidewalks; well-marked and decorative crosswalks; widened sidewalks at some locations; improved signage and way finding including to public parking lots; integrated and attractive modern street furniture; and roadways that accommodate multiple modes of transportation such as bicycles, pedestrians and automobiles. The Streetscape Plan will also provide design recommendations to improve pedestrian safety and comfort, increase the amount of usable public space in the neighborhood, and support environmentally-sustainable storm water management. Incorporating improved and safer design features such as traffic calming strategies, efficient lighting, clear sight lines, improvements at the intersection of San Bruno Avenue and El Camino Real and strong connections to the nearby transit stations, San Mateo Avenue can become a healthier and vibrant public realm where people want to go and spend their time. As this project will likely make modifications to existing infrastructure but make negligible or no expansion of the existing use, it is anticipated that this project will qualify for a Categorical Exemption under section 15301 of the CEQA guidelines, which applies to minor alterations of existing infrastructure within public right-of-way.

Consultant Selection:

The City issued a Request for Proposals (RFP) in September 2018 for professional consulting services and also distributed it to ten firms that specialize in urban design and planning. The City received 11 proposals from these firms: WRT, Gates + Associates, RHAA, Callander Associates, Toole Design, Tanaka Design, CD+A, April Philips Design Works, TS Studio, CMG and Land Design. Staff reviewed the 11 proposals and developed an evaluation matrix based on all the requirements outlined in the request for proposal document. Four staff members including the Community Development Director, the Senior Planner, an Associate Engineer and an Associate Planner provided their comments and feedback on all the proposals. Three firms - WRT, Gates + Associates and RHAA, were short-listed and interviewed for further assessment. All three short-listed proposals shared a similar scope of work and approach for the preparation of the Streetscape Plan. The budgets were all identical at approximately $125,000, which was the amount listed in the RFP. However, based on the approach and understanding of the project, knowledge, ability to meet project schedule, and relevant previous experience, staff recommends that the City select WRT to develop the Streetscape Plan.

WRT assembled a team of a broad range of skill sets and experience. They have extensive experience with the design and management of complex public/civic projects. Management of these types of projects includes coordination of consultants, stakeholders, community input, and the design process. Their integrative design process provides opportunities to seek informed solutions and feedback from all participants, including consultants and client, starting early in the process. Apart from landscape architects and planners their team includes one sub-consultant, Parisi CSW, for preparation of the associated environmental review and transportation/circulation analysis. In addition to a detailed work plan, the WRT team conducted brief conversational interviews with several San Mateo Avenue street users that they met on their initial site visit, giving them a deeper understanding of the community’s needs and priorities.

Staff was impressed with WRT’s experience in developing similar plans throughout the Bay Area. Furthermore, staff was also impressed with their graphic skills, in-depth public participation program, which includes an online internet based and physical survey that will engage the community during the pop-up event. WRT understands the potential challenge of overcoming potential language barriers and cultural differences on this project and is prepared to provide translation services in Spanish, Mandarin Chinese and Hindi. WRT will facilitate two community workshops (pop-up and traditional), conduct two stakeholder meetings, host one walk-shop, two storefront displays and have one presentations at the Planning Commission and City Council meetings. WRT will prepare agendas, facilitate, and prepare meeting summaries and provide outreach materials for all meetings.

Staff conducted reference checks by contacting concerned staff from Alameda County, City of Los Angeles and City of Mill Valley regarding their experience working with WRT. References mentioned that WRT is a very well-qualified firm with recent successful experiences completing streetscape plans followed by the implementation plan for other jurisdictions (Mill Valley, Castro Valley, San Rafael, Pleasant Hill, etc.). At the same time, WRT is a well-seasoned, professional firm, and is extremely responsive and works within agreed to budgets and schedules. Also, WRT employs advanced project management and quality management processes that ensure high quality results. Overall, references were very satisfied with WRT’s public engagement and plan preparation process, and would work with the firm again in the future.

A more detailed description of specific tasks to be completed by WRT throughout the preparation of the Streetscape Plan is described below:

Task 1: Prepare Detailed Work Plan and Strategy: The consultant team will prepare a detailed schedule, indicating the dates for the major milestones, including the stakeholder and community meetings, “walk-shop,” and Planning Commission and City Council meetings. The consultant team will confirm the duration of City-staff review periods and incorporate those into the schedule.

Task 2 – Staff Meeting and Conference Calls: The Consultant will conduct a kick-off meeting, check-in and update meetings with staff, two stakeholder meetings, two community meetings and Planning Commission presentation and City Council presentation during the course of the project. The consultant team will schedule and attend all meetings, take meeting notes, submit meeting summaries, and provide presentations and supporting documents/ attachments prior to the meeting. The consultant team will also be responsible to submit monthly invoices.

Task 3 – Preliminary Feasibility Study and Analysis: The Consultant will review the existing City plans to lay a foundation for future recommendations. The Consultant will prepare a scaled base map of the San Mateo Avenue study area, depicting the public right of way and approximate building footprints. The Consultant will analyze and document San Mateo Avenue’s assets, opportunity sites, existing streetscape features and map them.

Task 4 – CEQA Documentation: The Consultant will determine and prepare a CEQA compliance recommendation document. This will comprise of preparation of relevant environmental clearance findings to address the environmental impacts associated with the preferred streetscape design alternative selected by the City.

Task 5– Community Outreach: The Consultant will prepare an outreach strategy with inputs from the City. The Consultant will prepare and provide supporting outreach materials for communication with the City-identified stakeholders such as the Chamber of Commerce and the San Mateo Avenue business owners. The City will be responsible for distributing and posting meeting notifications. The consultant will be conducting the following meetings:

o Two community meetings -one pop-up event and one traditional presentation

o Survey (online and physical)

o Community Walk-shop

o Two stakeholder meetings

o Storefront displays (2) (if space can be secured)

o Presentations to the Planning Commission and City Council

The City Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee (BPAC), Planning Commission, and City Council will be invited to participate in the community workshops to provide input.

Task 6: Downtown San Bruno Streetscape Plan Preparation: The consultant team will prepare a conceptual San Mateo Avenue Streetscape Plan that incorporates the following elements:

o Illustrative Plan, Sections and Perspective Views

o Enlargement Plans (Bulb out and Sidewalk Design, Paving style, Open space, Plaza)

o Planting Design

o Street Furnishings and Amenities

o Street Lighting

o Way finding Plan and Signage Concept Design

o Parking and Curbside Management Plan

o Traffic Engineering Design

o Utilities Plan / Recommendation

o Cost Estimate

o Programming Recommendations

o Submittal

The consultant team will prepare and present the final Streetscape Plan - at Planning Commission meetings and the City Council meeting, for adoption. WRT has proposed a schedule of eight months to complete the tasks above, with anticipated plan adoption by August 2019. The City will administer the preparation of all the studies and work products associated with the San Mateo Avenue Streetscape Plan. Based on a strong community

engagement program for the project, the work products, including the Streetscape Plan and CEQA document would be considered at the noticed public meetings and hearings before the Planning Commission and City Council.

FISCAL IMPACT:

In the FY 2016-17 budget, there was a one-time enhancement of $125,000 for a Streetscape Plan in the Community Development Department. This was a one-time enhancement in the General Fund for that fiscal year only. However, due to staffing and workload issues, the Streetscape Plan project was not initiated and the funds were not spent.

Generally in situations where the allocated funds are not encumbered or not spent within the fiscal year, the money falls to fund balance and is available in a following fiscal year. The department is now ready to move forward with the project as there is a new planner assigned to work on the Streetscape Plan. The contract is now ready to be executed with WRT as the preferred consultant if approved by the City Council. The Community Development Department is requesting to appropriate funds in the adopted FY2018-19 budget in the amount of $125,000 from the City’s General Fund balance to fund the consultant costs to prepare the San Mateo Avenue Streetscape Plan.

ALTERNATIVES:

• No action. Staff does not recommend this alternative.
• Direct staff to solicit other proposals. RECOMMENDATION:

Staff does not have enough resources and expertise to carry out this project in- house. No action would delay the project which in-turn would delay the much needed streetscape improvements that the San Mateo Avenue needs to support implantation of the City’s General Plan and Transit Corridors Plan, and economic revitalization of the downtown.

Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Consultant Services Agreement with WRT for the development of the San Mateo Avenue Streetscape Plan in an Amount Not to Exceed $125,000 and appropriating funds in the adopted FY2018-19 budget in the amount of $125,000 from the City’s General Fund balance to fund the consultant costs to prepare the San Mateo Avenue Streetscape Plan..

PARKING

The Streetscape Plan must support local businesses by providing adequate access to parking, with both on-street and off-street sources. One of the biggest challenges of the Streetscape Plan will be that many of the potential improvements described in the Transit Corridors Plan and

RFP may require removal of on-street parking. These include parklets, extended bulb-outs for seating or planting (including stormwater-management planting areas), bus stops, and loading zones. The Downtown Parking Study indicates that on-street parking is well used, and business owners told us the same during our on-site interviews.

Potential solutions to this conflict are to maximize use of the existing bulb-outs for either street furnishings and amenities or planting, rather than extending or adding bulb-outs. Reduction in on-street parking may be determined to be a fair tradeoff to achieve the plan’s activation and sustainability goals. The Streetscape Plan will also propose ways to increase connections to off-street parking resources, which are numerous and close by. Signage, lighting, and physical improvements can go a long way toward shortening the psychological distance from off-street parking to businesses along the Avenue.

EFFICIENT CONNECTION

San Mateo Avenue’s proximity to transit is an asset that should not be taken for granted. The Streetscape Plan can strengthen connections to nearby transit stations and accommodate those arriving by alternative modes. In addition to the proposed

improvements at the intersection of San Mateo Avenue and El Camino Real, we propose to study improvements to the underpass connection at the Caltrain station. As stated in the RFP, enhanced bus stops along the Avenue and ample bike parking should also be implemented to support those modes.

One challenge to creation of a true “complete street” is that Class II bike lanes cannot be accommodated on San Mateo Avenue without removing a significant amount of parking

or making costly changes to curb locations. Bicycling within the travel lane can be supported through traffic-calming and signage, e.g., sharrows.

INFRASTRUCTURE

The Streetscape Plan presents an opportunity to advance sustainability in San Bruno and meet Regional Board requirements. The Plan can combine stormwater-treatment best practices with cutting-edge tree-planting details and low-water-use plant palette to reduce water use, provide for a healthy urban forest, treat stormwater, and provide shade and comfort. WRT and Parisi/CSW have extensive experience in implementing innovative green-infrastructure design including suspended pavement, permeable paving, and innovative bioretention planter details that support tree growth and plant health.

One potential challenge for the Plan to address is that raised crosswalks (as proposed in the Transit Corridors Plan) present drainage challenges and may be undesirable for bus operations. We propose an assessment of raised crosswalks alongside alternative ways to achieve the same goal of increasing pedestrian safety.

PROJECT MANAGEMENT

WRT has extensive experience with the design and management of complex Public/ Civic projects. Management of these types of projects includes coordination of consultants, stakeholders, community input, and the design process. WRT performs high quality consulting services that are tailored to the specific needs of a given project and client, and our goal is to deliver innovative design solutions that are completed on schedule and within budget. WRT will provide team management, document meeting outcomes and design decisions, and act as a single point of contact for the City. WRT employs advanced project management software that tracks hours in real time and allows the project manager to apply staff resources to the tasks intended. Use of the software protects the project from unforeseen budget issues and simplifies the billing processes.

The following aspects are integral to our management philosophy:

• A work plan that defines the project tasks
• A schedule that meets the City’s needs
• Effective communication
• Coordination of sub consultant team
• Internal quality control at each stage of the project
• Control of project budget

Monthly Status Report, Invoicing

WRT will track the Project Work Plan and associated fees, and will develop monthly status reports outlining all activities for which charges have been made by the consultant or sub- consultants. Monthly status Reports will be submitted with Monthly Invoices for the project’s duration.

Quality Control / Quality Assurance

WRT’s quality-management process emphasizes the prevention of errors in addition to the correction of errors. Our integrative design process provides opportunities to seek informed solutions and feedback from all participants, including consultants and the client, starting early in the process. Quality reviews are completed at three levels: (1) individual level, where each team member is responsible and accountable; (2) discipline level, where each discipline is required to review their own work including the coordination with all other disciplines; and (3) team level, where a WRT ­designated reviewer provides total project reviews. Draft documents are not released without assurances from the WRT Project Manager and Principal-in-Charge that all scheduled reviews have been completed and all comments addressed. Protocols are established at the start of the project identifying the schedule of deliverables, comment periods, revisions and meetings between the client and WRT and the entire project team.

Design Fee Control

With this proposal as a starting point, WRT will work with the City to define the work required, proposed deliverables, and the associated fee. If any element requested significantly differs from our proposed scope of work, WRT will provide a written extra-service request that includes detailing the task and estimated cost. No extra-service work will be completed until we receive written authorization. If WRT or its subconsultants incur costs in excess of their allocated budget without prior authorization, the consultant team will assume the liability.

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Robert Riechel

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