Another new office building is set for Peery Park.
On Aug. 12, the Sunnyvale City Council approved a new 23,340-square-foot, three-story office building to replace an older, 14,500-square-foot building at 815 W. Maude Ave.
The project marks the fifth new office development in Peery Park to be approved while the Peery Park Specific Plan is being prepared.
The city council highly ranked preparation of the Peery Park Specific Plan as a study issue in 2009, but the issue was deferred when funds for that plan were transferred to update the city’s Land Use and Transportation Element and Climate Action Plan.
The plan, which got off the ground in 2013, will spell out future development guidelines and an overall vision for the area. It was originally scheduled to be completed by fall 2014, but now is projected out to summer 2015.
The area–bounded to the north by Highway 101, south by the railroad, west by Mountain View and east by Mathilda Avenue–is one of the older industrial areas in the city and has been in need of upgrades for some time, according to city staff.
Last year, the city council adopted an ordinance for development projects within the Peery Park Specific Plan that requires the planning commission and city council to review all use permits, special development permits and any design review applications for a floor area ratio (FAR) greater than 35 percent, or 45 percent with a green building incentive.
The decision came on the heels of several residents speaking out against the six-story LinkedIn campus at N. Mathilda and Maude avenues.
Zoning for the Peery Park area has a standard FAR for buildings of 35 percent, which city staff reported reflects a time when the typical project was only one to two stories.
This new project will result in approximately 55 percent FAR and is also proposing to achieve Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification at a gold level.
Several concerns about the project were discussed by council members during the Aug. 12 meeting. Councilman Glenn Hendricks shared concerns about moving forward with projects before the Peery Park Specific Plan was completed, and urged staff to expedite the process.
“What I’m more concerned about is–and I know it’s the council policy to go ahead and move forward–but are we missing out on policy-level things specifically that relate to traffic management pieces?” Hendricks asked during the meeting.
Councilman Pat Meyering raised similar concerns with the new office building’s transportation demand management plan that is said to draw 301 total daily vehicle trips and that the report states the existing street system can “absorb the incremental increase in traffic.”
“More traffic increases the congestion,” Meyering said during the meeting. “Maude is already at gridlock. To say that the existing street system can absorb additional traffic is inconsistent with reality.”
Trip reduction methods to be implemented for the project propose to have a 20 percent reduction in total daily trips and a 25 percent reduction in peak hour vehicle trips, which would result in a reduction of 61 daily trips and 10 peak hour trips.
The project was approved 6-1, with Meyering dissenting.
“I’m not going to try to hold this project hostage, but I really want to see us to be able to move forward on the Peery Park plan, because I think the kind of things that we put into the plan are going to blend well with everything else we have put in place,” Hendricks said.
Other projects that have been approved include 505 N. Mathilda Ave., 433 N. Mathilda, 645 Almanor Drive and 479 N. Pastoria Ave.
Three other projects are under review at 615, 696 and 767 N. Mathilda Ave. for two office complexes and a retail/restaurant development.
