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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMINUTES - 05011990 - 1.83 TO: BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Contra FROM: Costa Phil Batchelor, County Administrator s County tY DATE: ��rTa' .....• J� April 25 , 1990 SUBJECT: NON-AVIATION USES AT BUCHANAN FIELD AIRPORT SPECIFIC REQUEST(S)OR RECOMMENDATION(S)&BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION RECONIlENDATION: Accept this report on some of the history surrounding proposals to develop a portion of the land at Buchanan Field Airport and authorize staff to continue over the next six months efforts to locate an appropriate tenant(s) for the non-aviation property at the Airport. INTRODUCTION: WHEREAS the Aviation Advisory Committee (AAC) endorsed the original 1981 marketing study for Buchanan Field Airport conducted by Gruen, Gruen & Associates and reviewed the Reynolds & Brown proposal selected by the Public Works Department for implementation of the marketing study for the 13-acre parcel along Concord Avenue (as is documented below under BACKGROUND) , and WHEREAS in response to a recommendation from Supervisor McPeak and a report from the 1986-87 Grand Jury, the AAC and Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) recommended a redesign of the project on the 13-acres if a resolution could be reached to the mutual satisfaction of the County and Reynolds & Brown (as is documented below under BACKGROUND) , and WHEREAS considerable time, effort and resources have been invested in the future use of the 13-acre parcel, and CONTINUED ON ATTACHMENT:Y.g&.YES SIGNATURE: RECOMMENDATION OF COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE APPROVE OTHER SIGNATURE(S): ACTION OF BOARD ON M;4 3Z 1 , 19 A 0 APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED OTHER i VOTE OF SUPERVISORS I HEREBY CERTIFY THAT THIS IS A TRUE UNANIMOUS(ABSENT ) AND CORRECT COPY OF AN ACTION TAKEN AYES: NOES: AND ENTERED ON THE MINUTES OF THE BOARD ABSENT: ABSTAIN: OF SUPERVISORS ON THE DATE SHOWN. CC: ATTESTED1 � Please See Page 6 . PHIL BATCHELOR,CLERK OF THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS AND COUNTY ADMINISTRATOR e BY DEPUTY M382 (10/88) • -2- WHEREAS it is in the best interests of all parties to resolve the matter without litigation provided the Airport Enterprise Fund receives significant funds for consideration of the County' s efforts, and WHEREAS the County General Fund has not been deprived of any revenue due to the redesign of the project since all scheduled option and ground lease payments would have accrued to the Airport Enterprise Fund, and WHEREAS the County General Fund could benefit substantially if a redesigned project could be achieved to the satisfaction of all parties, NOW THEREFORE BE IT BY THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS OF THE COUNTY OF CONTRA COSTA RESOLVED: that the County Administrator and County staff are authorized to continue efforts over the next six months to reach a resolution on prospective uses of the non-aviation parcel( s) to the mutual satisfaction of all parties as recommended by the AAC and ALUC. BACKGROUND: 1. The following comment appears in the minutes of the Aviation Advisory Committee minutes for May 7, 1981: "It was indicated that the County was very actively pursuing the planning and development of a 13-acre parcel of property on Concord Avenue and a 20-acre parcel on Marsh Drive (west side) . In this regard, Mr. Walford indicated that several consulting firms were interviewed in the interest of retaining professional marketing services to assist the County in the proper, timely development of the two sites. A recommendation will likely be made by Mr. Walford to the Board [o£ Supervisors] on May 12, 1981 to hire Gruen Gruen & Associates for a study that will take roughly 8-12 weeks and cost approximately $20,000. Mr. Sorenson said that he was most interested in being assured that the study would be completed and acted upon in a timely manner. . . .A copy of the Gruen proposal was circulated. It was also concluded that the recent policy action by the Board of Supervisors regarding property development did not apparently differ from the earlier position of the Aviation Advisory Committee; specifically, the term "non-aviation" relative to both sites meant non-fixed base operator development, but that aviation-related office uses were considered most desirable. " 2. The following comment appears in the minutes of the Aviation Advisory Committee minutes May 19, 1981 : "Chairman Schaefer indicated that Aviation Advisory Committee member Bruce McGregor, representing Supervisorial District 3 , had written to Supervisor Schroder expressing support for the Gruen, Gruen & Associates proposed study. . . . 91 It was also noted at this same meeting. that AAC members Grace Ellis and Lloyd Grinslade attended the May 12 , 1981 Board of Supervisors meeting to speak in favor of the Gruen study. It is further noted in these same minutes that the Board of Supervisors did act to retain Gruen, Gruen & Associates to undertake a marketing study for the 13-acre ' parcel of airport property on Concord Avenue and the 20-acre parcel on the west side. The Manager of Airports indicated he would attempt to obtain a "scope of work" and a copy of the Gruen contract. -3- 3 . At the June 16 , 1981 meeting of the Aviation Advisory Committee Mr. Alan Pfeiffer, County Lease Management, agreed to furnish a copy of the Gruen contract including a scope of work, documents that had been requested earlier. 4 . The July 21, 1981 minutes of the Aviation Advisory Committee note that Mike Walford reported on the status of the marketing study being concluded by Gruen, Gruen & Associates. At this time the AAC requested a copy of the study prior to the time it was submitted to the Board of Supervisors. Mark Kermit agreed to provide the Committee with a copy as soon as possible. 5. The minutes of the Aviation Advisory Committee of August 25 , 1981 indicate that the Gruen, Gruen & Associates report was distributed to the Committee members on August 17 , 1981. A brief synopsis of the report was made and followed by the Chairman asking for comments from each Committee member. The minutes indicate a general satisfaction with the report with the following exceptions: "- The east side development should be limited to the existing 13 acres with no consideration of taking other Airport property. An equitable and appropriate share of revenue derived from development on Buchanan Field Airport should go to the Enterprise Fund. The County should actively seek aviation related development in the 13 acre parcel. . . . It was the consensus of the Committee that the chairman send a letter to the Board of Supervisors complimenting them on the thoroughness of the report and expressing the Committee ' s concerns as listed above. " 6. . The minutes of the Aviation Advisory Committee for August 21, 1984 indicate that "Jon Reynolds showed the AAC schematic and architectural renderings, as well as a three-dimensional model of the planned Airport Center development at the corner of John Glenn Drive and Concord Avenue. He discussed his philosophy on the development and showed a number of the amenities being planned. He also gave a slide presentation to the Committee showing both existing Reynolds and Brown development, as well as slides showing the planned development. The Airport Manager indicated that the Airport Center development would return well over a million dollars a year average during the first ten years to the airport. The Committee thanked Mr. Reynolds for his presentation and indicated they would be looking forward to his development. " 7. The minutes of the Aviation Advisory Committee for November 26, 1985 indicate that: "Vice Chairwoman Virginia Schaefer asked the Airport Manager, Hal Wight, to describe to the committee the plans for the Reynolds & Brown building on the 13-acre parcel. Chairwoman Schaefer indicated that she did not recall that the height of the building was going to be 10 stories. The Airport Manager distributed drawings of the proposed development. He also distributed copies of the Height Contours which are the basis for the Height Limitations on this parcel. The Airport Manager then showed how these contours were developed. The contours for Reynolds & Brown -4- Airport Center parcel were based upon a 50: 1 approach to runway 32R. This puts the height limitations on this parcel at a significantly more restrictive basis than the 34 :1 allows - for off-airport developments. "Even utilizing this more restrictive approach, the Committee expressed concern over this high a building near the Airport. The Airport Manager pointed out that this had been discussed with the Committee at previous times. Jim Simmons pointed out that people are questioning tall buildings on the Airport. They don' t understand why we are opposing shorter buildings further away from the Airport. He suggested that it would be appropriate to develop some graphic art work so that people would have a better view of the relative surfaces. The Airport Manager advised that he will look into this matter. " 8. On January 30 , 1987 Mr. Peter Reynolds wrote to Alan Pfeiffer of the General Services Department, commenting on the safety analysis for the proposed Development Plan for Airport Center, as prepared by Mr. Robert Rebuschatis. Part of thisletter indicates that "the safety aspect of our proposed buildings as addressed by Mr. Rebuschatis must be thoroughly studied, if it hasn' t already. We request that the County again review all pertinent information, including the TERPS and FAR-77 analysis, and confirm in writing to us that the County is satisfied our buildings are safe and in compliance with all airport safety regulations, and that the previous representations and warranties of the County regarding safety are accurate. " 9. On February 10, 1987 Supervisor McPeak introduced a recommendation to the Board of Supervisors for action on February 24 , 1987 requesting that the January 30, 1987 letter from Reynolds and Brown be referred to the Director of Public Works, Airport Land Use Commission, Community Development Department as staff to the Airport Land Use Commission and County Counsel. This recommendation was approved by the Board of Supervisors on February 24, 1987. 10 . On February 11, 1987 the Grand Jury issued a special report on Buchanan Field Airport. Among the recommendations in this report are the following: "A one-mile safety zone (extending from the perimeter of the airport) should be maintained around the airport. Most aircraft accidents occur on landings and takeoffs and are often within one mile of the airport. "The County should start by setting the example of limiting the height on a proposed building to be situated on the corner of Concord Avenue and John Glenn Drive to three stories (same height as the Sheraton Hotel) . " 11 . The minutes of the Aviation Advisory Committee meeting on February 24, 1987 include a considerable discussion on the Reynolds and Brown development and the Grand Jury report. At the conclusion of this discussion is the following motion: "Moved by Virginia Schaefer and seconded ' by Jeanine Gilbert-Rippee to send a memo to the Board of Supervisors asking that the Board of Supervisors not take any action on Reynolds and Brown' s development until such time as the ' Aviation Advisory Committee has been able to evaluate the impacts of this development further. The motion . further to include information that the Airport currently is having the -5- consulting firm of Hodges & Shutt look into the potential encroachments by the building on the imaginary surfaces surrounding the Airport. The Committee also will want to evaluate the recommendations of the Grand Jury report. Ms. Schaefer directed that this motion be put into a memo by the Chairman and submitted to the Board of Supervisors. Unanimous. " 12 . On April 6 , 1987 the Aviation Advisory Committee responded to the Board' s February 24, 1987 referral to them. Among their recommendations was the following: "The 10 story structure be reduced to the same height as their [Reynolds & Brown' s] Airport Plaza unit (7 stories) , or lower. The reduced structure could very possibly be made wider and still allow the same leasable square footage with little or no change to the economic position of either the developer or the county. The suggested change would likely reduce some landscaping but would vastly improve the acceptability of the project to the pilots, concerned citizens and the AAC. " 13 . In response to the referral from the Board of Supervisors on February 24 , 1987 , the Airport Land Use Commission wrote to Supervisor McPeak on April 21, 1987 , in part as follows: "In view of the additional review of airport development, it was felt that development of the Airport Center office project should be deferred. By unanimous vote, the Commission is urging the Board of Supervisors to use its influence to suspend the project pending adoption of the airport master plan. At the same time, the Commission would have no objection to the project proceeding if a reduced scale development can be arranged to the mutual satisfaction of the County and Reynolds and Brown. " 14 . On June 2 , 1987 the Public Works Director reported back to the Board in response to the referral of February 24, 1987 and commented on much of the history of the efforts to develop the Buchanan Field property. His report noted that the conclusion reached by Mr. Rebuschatis that the highest proposed building would penetrate the FAR-77 imaginary surfaces was predicated on moving the office building to the opposite end of the property. When the analysis is done on the building as shown on the development plan, Mr. Rebuschatis' conclusion is that the proposed building was "clear of the protective FAR-77 surfaces. " Following a review of the report from the Public Works Director and the recommendations of the Aviation Advisory Committee and Airport Land Use Commission, the Board of Supervisors ordered the Public Works Director to convene meetings with Reynolds and Brown to determine whether be renegotiation the development agreement can be modified to reduce the height of the building to be constructed by Reynolds and Brown under its option to ground lease, and also to look at what may be interim uses allowed under the General Plan or Development Agreement to generate revenue in the short term for the County. ' -6- Attached as background information is Supervisor McPeak' s February 10 , 1987 recommendation to the Board of Supervisors with related correspondence and the June 2 , 1987 report from the Public Works Director, along with its attachments. cc: County Administrator County Counsel Public Works Director Airport Manager Community Development Director Chair, Aviation Advisory Committee Chair, Airport Land Use Commission