Commission approves AvalonBay BR3A amendment, approves parking exception and off-site affordable transfer

The San Ramon Planning Commission on Oct. 21 adopted a development-plan amendment and minor exception for the AvalonBay Bishop Ranch 3A (BR3A) apartment project (6200 Bollinger Canyon Road), authorizing the transfer of on-site affordable housing obligations to the Eden Housing site and approving a parking exception tied to changes in density-bonus eligibility.

Planning staff presented the amendment as similar to the BR11 item heard earlier: the applicant proposes minor design refinements, reduces the unit count by one (from 457 to 456), and aligns the project with a City Council–approved development agreement allowing the transfer of affordable units to the Bishop Ranch affordable apartment site (Eden Housing). Because the project will no longer include the on-site affordable construction, the project is not eligible for state density-bonus parking maximums and requests a minor exception for a 15% on-site parking reduction from city standards.

Staff and applicant details: Ryan, representing planning staff, said the amended BR3A project keeps the same number of parking spaces in the parking structure — 640 spaces — and that the applicant submitted a parking study reviewed and supported by the city traffic engineer. The project’s original affordable requirement (15% of 457 units) equaled 69 units; the amendment would facilitate an increase of 17 units so that 86 affordable rental units would be provided at the Eden Housing/Bishop Ranch affordable apartment site.

AvalonBay representative Joe Kerchoffer described how parking would be managed in the rental project: “we would be leasing parking spaces just like we'd be leasing apartments,” he said, explaining that parking can be unbundled from rent and assigned or charged separately, with management tools such as license-plate readers and guest-registration mechanisms to control occasional guest parking.

A parking analysis submitted by the applicant estimated a typical parking demand of about 502 spaces, which the applicant said would leave a projected surplus of roughly 138 on-site spaces and 21 on-street spaces. The traffic engineer told the commission he reviewed and accepted the methodology of the applicant’s parking study.

Public comment and commission discussion: Written comments were received from Brian Swanson and Chirag Chitrani. Commissioners repeated concerns about parking availability along Camino Ramon and Bollinger Canyon and asked staff for consolidated data showing where affordable units are being built across Bishop Ranch projects and how many units by income level have been dedicated to the Eden site. Staff pointed the commission to tables provided in the packet (packet pages 22–24) and to conditions of approval that close the loop on off-site dedication and inclusionary requirements.

Vote and follow-up: The commission moved and seconded adoption of Planning Commission Resolution No. 13-25, as amended; the motion passed 4–0–1. Staff noted a 10-day appeal period following the commission action. Conditions of approval include a red-line deletion to condition 4 removing the affordable-housing agreement requirement from the BR3A plan because implementation will occur under the Eden Housing approvals; staff said they will confirm the recordation and distribution of affordable units as required by the development agreement.

Technical clarifications captured at the hearing: revised BR3A unit count: 456 units; original on-site affordable requirement: 69 units; off-site affordable units at Eden after transfer: 86 units (an increase of 17); maintained parking structure capacity: 640 spaces; applicant parking study projected demand ~502 spaces, projecting surplus ~138 on-site spaces and ~21 on-street spaces; bike parking included: 66 spaces (packet page 106).