Welcome everybody. Good afternoon. I'd like to call to order the meeting of the city of Santa Rosa design review board First item of business is roll call Patty Let the record reflect that all board members are present except for a board member gold schlock Thank you and Approval of the minutes from September 5th any changes amendments for Patty Seeing none. We'll put those into the record Item number three board business. This is where I read the purview of the design review board Which differentiates us from other city boards and commissions? So our statement of purpose is Project review the review authority shall consider the location design site plan configuration and the overall effect of the proposed project upon surrounding properties in the city in general Review shall be conducted by comparing the proposed project to the general plan any applicable specific plan applicable zoning code standards and requirements Consistency of the project within the city's design guidelines architectural criteria for special areas and other applicable city requirements such as city policy statements and development plans At this time, I'd like to open the meeting for public comment on any items that are not on today's agenda But fall under the purview of the design review board Seeing no one raise your hand or approach a microphone. I will close that portion of the public comment period Item number five statements of abstentions by board members. Do we have any abstentions this afternoon? Okay all good Okay, moving on to our scheduled item. We have a concept design review for a college creek apartments 2150 West College Avenue file number dr 19-050 and We have a staff presentation from Kristen a Thank You chair kinkade and members of the designer view board The project is called college creek apartments and that this evening is their their concept review The the project description for college creek apartments is They're proposing 168 unit mixed-income multifamily campus consisting of two standalone three-story walk-up buildings and one u-shape or c-shaped Four-story building and it's located on a five point seven nine acre parcel and the parcel is south of West College Avenue You can see the location there the orange Large orange parcel it's owned r3 30 and the general plan designations medium high residential Which allows up to 30 dwelling units per acre? Oh, yes Sorry about that The applicant has provided This rendering which which is a view from West College Avenue Facing the two three-story buildings In the forefront and you can see the four-story building Situated behind Here is a 3d rendering of the proposed project with the two Stand-alone three-story buildings towards the front and the four-story building towards the back And you can see it surrounded by parking and landscaping Here's the site proposed site plan again You can see the two standalone buildings towards the West College Avenue and the c-shaped or u-shape building towards the back We have two entrances off of West College Avenue and the Project is surrounded by parking and landscaping. There is a swimming pool in the center of The rear four-story building as well as a taut lot Directly east of the pool. These are the elevations for buildings a and b which are the two three-story buildings So you'll see north and south elevations on the right-hand side and east and west on the left Here is a building sections for those two buildings. You can see the parapet Wall shown that will that is intended to hide any or screen any mechanical equipment on the roof These are the elevations for building C. So the four-story building So north north east and south and here are the building sections for that taller building Here's the proposed conceptual landscape plan The applicant has stated they will try to preserve as many mature trees as possible especially along the West College Street trees as well as any trees that border the trail that runs Along the southern boundary the applicant has provided proposed Colors and materials for the project You just you can see a mix of stucco and siding They also have provided details for Trash cans a bicycle parking Benches the taut lot the proposed fencing as well as the proposed trash enclosure and The applicant has prepared their own presentation as well And staff is available if you have any questions One last thing to add is this project is the proposed multi-family is a permitted use so their Entitlement path would be a major designer of you only Yeah, thank you. Chris today Any questions for staff Henry? Why don't we start with you? the the property to the west is Forestry Trying to remember what's what's to the west of it and what it's owned as and if it's planned for any future development Thank you. Hi Royce patch with USA properties as a cal fire facility next door on the west, okay? That's all I have for now Drew any questions for staff So just to tag on to that So it looks like based on the vicinity map that basically the three sides of the project that are South of west college are all either state-owned facilities or a city-owned facility. Is that correct Chris tonight? I would need a double check, but I think there are private property owners Towards the back. No, no, okay, and I'm just looking at the What was provided in the document says the Call it the vicinity map so it is so it is surrounded by Unicycle facilities private property owners would be on the north side of college abs that correct. Yes, okay So then I have another question and So the property is was sold to this development company or is still property of the city or or contended upon approval The property is owned by the snowman County Community Development Commission We are in a an exclusive negotiating agreement which covers us through the entitlement period once it's entitled We'll enter into the DDA for development. Okay, cool And I guess for clarity Chris tonight it this one has to go through the full thing It's not in a priority development area was that did I misunderstand? I'm sorry Yeah, that's correct. Okay, so not a priority development area Major designer view would be regular major designer It's not exempt for any other potential reasons Correct just to be clear because there's some member There's some new legislation that came down and all that stuff. I just wanted to be are you referring to sequa or yeah That's the weird sequel exempt a thing that happened We won't really know that until the project is submitted officially and we're able to To qualify. Yes. Okay. Cool. Cool. That are those are my questions. Thank you Thanks true Warren questions Christina just quickly. I know the the project is already zoned at 30 the acre and its density is Compliant of that. They're not really utilizing the density bonus, but there are affordable units internal to the project That's correct. The staff report Mentioned a density bonus, but after conferring with applicant They are not proposing a density bonus and the proposed density is just under 30 dwelling units per acre Which is within the allowable density limit. Thank you Thanks, Warren Adam questions Just one question regarding the city fire You know testing testing no training training facility Just wondering about because at least where I grew up the training facility They would light things on fire like the building on fire the training facility like cars on fire and just test some putting them out just wondering What assurances the you know, it's already somewhat located near residences with the just sort of kitty corner There but air quality concerns with locating Especially families right next to a training facility So the sequel analysis once the project comes in that'll be a component to it Just back to board member weigel's question. We will certainly look for an exemption first That's our standard practice But part of that will also have a consideration to air quality Okay Cool, so that'll be addressed in the future Okay, great. Thank you Brett questions for staff Yes, thanks. Um, I guess one question about I guess creek development and Shared use path Development guidelines that I know the city has I'm just curious I understand that they're guidelines, but our has this Can this be reviewed in that kind of lens? you know and we can get to the kind of questions about the site planning later, but What point does I guess the city utilize that document those guidelines To assist the You know the applicant in the design and the community in the design of this and really looking at again creeks as a an asset For the broader, you know for the broader city So just wondering when that's triggered how that's triggered or if that's I understand again their guidelines, but Is there Some level of I guess Discussion that's already taken place about the the development along the creek engaging the creek more So, yes, the code does address A development along waterways And does recommend projects to go before the waterways advisory committee where they would Provide specific guidelines for the applicant to follow Proposed conditions to be added to the project or design considerations to be incorporated Also, the design guidelines Does speak specifically about development along the creek The parcel I'll let the applicant elaborate a little bit more about this, but the parcel does include Um just over two acres for the trail and they are not proposing development in that easement area and the easement will be maintained by um a government entity not the not the applicant even though They own the the land that the easement sits on So I hope that answers your question Yeah, I think so And I understand that there's you know a pathway Directly adjacent to the property if not within the Property it's kind of hard to tell but But it looks like the the pathway is going to be realigned and such but Anyway, we can get into that Discussion with the with the applicant in their presentation But I think that that kind of answers it for now Thank you Any other questions for staff? Thanks again christen a nice presentation appreciate the answers to the questions at this time I'll ask the applicant to make their presentation and as you speak If you can introduce yourself and your relationship to the project that would be fantastic Good evening. My name is Royce patch with USA properties fund. We're the applicant And I'm joined today by Ron Metzger from lps The architecture for the firm. We also have in our In our audience the civil engineer denis dobby from civil design consultants and rick hendrix from integra For the landscape and also USA's architectural manager, larry macklewain is here So, uh, hopefully we'll be able to address all of your questions I'm going to turn this over to ron and Thank you, um as Royce mentioned, my name is ron metzger. I'm with lps and I appreciate The opportunity to be here in front of you particularly at this early concept stage of development so And a lot of what we'll be saying is redundant because your presentation was very thorough but this project is About seven and a half acres and we are just a little bit under 30 units to the acre with 168 Units in a mix of one two and three bedroom units Within that I will have on-site amenities and we will also Provide connections and enhancements to the trail which we'll talk a little bit about um on this project So the project is on the south side of college avenue. It is Um kind of tucked between college avenue and the the creek and the existing trail and is bordered by public uses Mainly cal fire and county facilities, I believe State We have city fire to the east we have this city I don't know what they call it anymore. I can transit Huh, well, no, not the chance. I was talking about the water The water ponds to the south and then cal fire to the west so then across um College avenue is existing single family residential neighborhood particularly Along navarro street, which dead ends into college avenue right in front of our project so the project um As you saw a moment ago has three buildings and Three story build two three story buildings right along Um college avenue and they frame a pedestrian walkway that is aligned with navarro street And so that way there can be um if there is pedestrian crossings residents can use that We have two driveways as does the existing project that is currently on the site one on the far West corner and one close to the east corner What that does is it allows enough separation for a fire access as required And the loop of circulation through the site also was designed to provide fire access all the way around the buildings So that You have the adequate hose length from the fire truck to any part of the building It also allows adequate parking while um, you know, you mentioned state density bonus and whatnot That would allow a significant reduction of parking. We know the neighbors are really concerned about Parking and we feel that this is an adequate amount of parking For this project and so we've pushed the parking to the outside Of the project along the interior property lines and not along the street so that's why we have the two three story buildings along the street and then Separating that with a drive aisle and a four story building. What's nice about Those two components the three story building they they are walk-up buildings So the ground floor units are all adaptable But then you walk upstairs for the second and third floor units. It's kind of traditional apartments The four story building has elevators And so all of the building all of the units the 108 units in that building will all be adaptable so it provides a a broader range of options for residents That may need mobility assistance in this project Kind of in the heart of the project is our amenities. So the pedestrian spine that comes down from between the two three story buildings Into the middle of the project comes to the main amenity building Which would have leasing clubhouse fitness and those kinds of functions And then that will spill out into the larger outdoor amenity with the pool children's play area and whatnot So as you can see in this 3d Kind of massing model The buildings are actually set back a good distance from the street. I think It's more than the minimum setback So that will allow us more opportunities to maintain the existing tree canopy where we can and to provide a rich landscape edge along college avenue or west college avenue So the the units that I think you can see pretty well here What we've tried to do is articulate each individual unit. So rather than having one or giant building You can easily identify where each unit is each unit has its own Exterior balcony and typically we have a solid rail at the balcony and we have storage on the balcony In that way we anticipate even though it can be managed Um, it's less likely that residents will be Putting unsightly things on their balcony that always have to be addressed so The buildings themselves are um, I think we get into materials here pretty soon Well, this serves as the the elevation as you come into that pedestrian spine There's a variety of materials a variety of colors to Articulate the building kind of at the key corners that you see here We've used board and batten siding which will create a rich texture For the building we've added sunshades to above the windows again to provide some additional articulation So where we have the board and batten siding we're looking at a off-white color. So it's bright And then there's an accent color of olive inside that Okay, thank you. We also have golden hues and Warm grays What we're trying to do is kind of blend in with really the natural environment that you see all around santa rosa with the golden hills the olive trees And that sort of thing and then we have Darker accents for canopies and railings and for trim just to give the building a little bit of Punch if you will So the the three-story buildings each one has 30 units So there's 10 per floor What's nice is we have A lot of corner units in that way So we have two bedroom units on the ends and then we have one bedroom units and two Kind of in the middle and some two bedroom units in the middle as well And so we have two stairs in those that Make the units easily accessible and an interior corridor that connects those two stairs And so those units pretty well stacked all the way up all the mechanical units will be on the roof and not on the ground Which I think is a plus So this shows how we've broken down the mass of the building so at the each end we have the Board and batten siding with windows that wrap around the corner We've recessed the stairwells back in the building to create more relief and then the three units in between those Are articulated individually with their own balcony System and then the parapets step up and down Just to again provide much more variety and articulate each of kind of the module of each unit in the building So when we get to the four-story building They're the same units and so on the Upper right is the main Amenity space on the ground floor. So when you come in you'll you'll be greeted by people in leasing The fitness center will be there mail and parcels are there and then you'll Come into the building then the building will expand to a two-story high volume for the clubhouse And which will then provide more views out into the pool area We've tucked in trash shoots and Trash rooms into the knuckles. We also have our bicycle storage in this building. So it'll be conveniently accessible for all residents And so No, that's okay. It's kind of the same thing. And so The four-story building relates again to the articulation of the Three-story buildings with the board and baton side in common combination of board and baton siding horizontal siding And plaster and the same kind of color scheme that We just saw previously Yeah So then you can see the landscape pattern We have a large landscape Setback along west college avenue, which I think will set the buildings To to be very attractive Again, because we have a single family residential neighborhood right across the street We didn't want to push those all the way out to the street. So this provides a nice buffer We have a wide pedestrian path between the two buildings That provides views and access into the main building And then we have landscape all the way around the building And use that the shape of the building to create that Internal courtyard That is simply located for everybody and in that courtyard as rois mentioned, we'll have barbecues. We'll have Children's play area. We'll have pool and those kinds of amenities. Here's some of the examples of amenities that we would envision In this kind of project So can we go back one? In the the the existing trail system goes right through the middle of the project And so if you were to go out there, you'd be you'd be walking through the existing parking lot that's there and so Rather than bring people through The vehicular area The proposal is to route the existing trail Around that kind of knuckle or that kind of extension of the the site so that it doesn't have to cross a vehicular way and then get to the West college avenue Intersection with the creek at the same place So that's really kind of where we are today On this project. So be there for you getting your comments Thank you for the presentation ron I think at this point in time I'll open up for public comment that way we can hear what the public Has to say about the project and then we can kind of incorporate Third questions into our thoughts as we move through our comment period So at this point in time, I'd like to open up public comment For this item and if you would like to step up to the microphone and podium up at the Top there and state your name. That would be fantastic Hi Chair and members of the board I just wanted to say that i'm really excited about seeing this finally get developed and It's been a a long time coming and I know that A lot of the county surplus lands have been you know, shall we say, you know difficult to develop and actually get housing that that we really need and I don't know. I don't know how they did it But this looks really good in terms of the inclusionary aspects and And the design and I mean it just looks really thorough and it seems like they have the capacity to get it done I'm really excited. I got a 17 year old right now and he uh, I'm sure Is going to be looking for accessible housing and I'm hoping that it's there. So he doesn't live with me You know until he's 30, but um No in all seriousness it i'm just really supportive of this and and I'd like to see it move forward. So thank you And for the record, that's chris grable. I forgot to state your name, but it's okay Sir Hello, my name is cleat snider I live at 1111 navarro street Um, I have attended a number of the meetings that were considered neighborhood meetings that were attended by a number of Individuals from the city and county and the various departments A number of the neighbors Had asked a lot of questions as this progressed and Did not receive a whole lot of answers and we're still not receiving a whole lot of answers The major concern that everybody has expressed Or virtually everyone is expressed Is the traffic situation on west college West college as you may know Is not a thoroughfare of two lanes in either direction. It does not have Turning lanes It does not have parking Available on it the available The stop lights that currently exist Are probably too close to allow any additional Stop lights traffic control on west college on several Streets that come from the north Uh side of this project Emptying on to west college There's several dog, uh, I call it the Dog leg parts of west college that surround this area And that's not being addressed and apparently can't be because of whatever reason of public Uh of uh private properties Um I'm told that as those properties sell That it will be addressed, but I can also tell you those properties Um have been this way for 50 years And how much longer in the future? I don't know 168 units If we're looking at an average of 2.3 people per unit is 386 people If we look at 3.2 people per unit, which I think is Quite plausible It would be 537 people In this area They're looking at adequate parking for 168 units of this number of individuals Being 272 spots including the People that will be working at the project And visitors to the project as well as the residents The surrounding area is already congested As far as parking And the residents are quite concerned that There will not be enough parking here For 168 units and And their occupants And that there will be even more congestion When people are leaving this property coming out onto west college at times That will be peak Travel periods West college and college avenue is a major thoroughfare East and west And to my knowledge the only thoroughfare that completely crosses san rosa This is a an extreme Concern to us that an area that is Totally single family residences is Now Being faced with multifamily Uh to this density Are there other concerns are whether or not The design is going to include solar And whether or not the design has taken into Count Current capacity or the capacity for infrastructure Needs to be increased And how much that will uh how long that will take I constantly get from the city of san rosa Notices in my water bill on how we need to conserve water Okay, i'm told that we shouldn't be washing our automobiles when we have drought situations I also wonder where this The rain runoff is going to go from this project is it going into College creek and consequently into san rosa creek I'm going to interrupt you for one second. I don't think our three minute timers operating so We're trying to keep everybody three minutes. I'm going to give you one more one minute to wrap up if I if I might thanks These are these are questions that we would like to have some answers before this board Approves or preliminarily proves any going forth with this project and Quite honestly If it can't come from this board, I guess it can't come from anybody Thank you for your time I appreciate your time sir, and thank you for understanding the time restraints We'll try to do a better job of keeping the three minutes Any other members of the public wishing to speak on this item If you could state your name for the record Yeah, my name is jay cup rich and I own a condo on west ninth pretty near where this project's Proposed and i'm totally in support of it, you know as like somebody born in synom county and seeing you know the housing Shortage that we have and especially affordable housing and how important this is to our community And the fact that it is dense housing, you know near Where people will be working, you know that it will help meet our housing as well as climate goals So that's really important Yeah, so i'm just in support of this project. I mean I live in the neighborhood. I know that there's issues with traffic and things like that, but That's that's part of life and that's a small issue compared to The lack of affordable housing and I don't necessarily think I mean this this anyways, I don't think it's I'm in support of this project. I know that there's always like little issues here and there Nothing's perfect. We all kind of have to make compromises if we really want to see housing affordable for the people that live and work here and everything And if we want to address like I said our climate goals as well. So I'm in support of this project. Thank you Thank you for your time sir Thank you. My name is Kurt Miller. I live at 1099 Suffolk Drive My backyard is facing this dickler project I'm right on the corner of west college and suffolk and kassasa So one of the the points that I was brought up earlier, of course is a big concern Especially for my street because it's just a feeder street Going into the rest of the neighborhood Is the parking again the situation? I really hope that A couple of things one that we do have Ems was brought up earlier Maybe you know enforcement of parking or if there's something can be put in play of Resident parking only for the the single-family residences are out that way In the 20 years that I've owned that house. I've counted probably eight or nine accidents Out on college avenue with those streets of people coming either in too fast and hitting somebody's coming out Again, just if we have parking on both sides of the streets of cars that perhaps don't even run It gets very narrow with cars on both sides of that that single street coming in A couple of things now for the design of the building Solar I hope there is going to be solar panels also too. Are we going to have electric car hookups? available there in that project That is something of course that many manufacturers are going towards Having more of that type of infrastructure. I know that Caught in town just put some more in there's more electric hookups going in I hope that there is going to be a few again to cut down on carbon footprint I like the project. I have born and raised here in this county. I'd love Sonoma county I know we need the housing my biggest concern, of course is You know, it's going to be the parking especially Right alongside my house is casasa. So I'm Hopefully not going to be looking at a bunch of derelict cars Over time. Thank you very much for your time and I look forward to hearing more Appreciate your time as well Any other members of the public wishing to speak See no one approached the microphones. I will close the public comment period for today And thank you all for your participation. I really appreciate it public comment is One of the great many things that a lot of people don't take advantage of so thanks for being here Okay, so now Drew you had a quick question for staff before we get going on comments Yeah, I do have a quick question for staff. I think it's It's going to answer one of the questions that the public had for clarity for the purpose of this meeting, I guess So staff correct me if I'm wrong. I guess so this is a concept design review meeting Where the board does not take any Entitlement action upon the project. So this is a typically Projects are not required to come to concept design review But if they do it generally smooths the process as they move through the actual entitlement proceedings So we will likely see this project again at a preliminary design review hearing public hearing Where we will take the Entitlement action related to the project and we will either defer Final approval to staff or perhaps grant it at that meeting as well. Bill. Do you have any other? No, everything you said is correct. And I would just add that Since this is at a concept level staff has not done the detailed analysis with respect to things like traffic The creek greenhouse gas is air quality and things like that Thank you. I think that does set some context for our comments So with that henry have at it Thank you This project brings a little bit of Sadness to me A little bit of actually a lot of reflection and and some positivity that the site will be redeveloped and It continues along this design concept that I think it's going to be a nice addition to city santa rosa The sadness comes from I early on when I was Maybe 10 or 11 I I work for a heating air conditioning company And we did the the sheet metal on the first building which was the pump building And the the second building when I worked as for that sheet metal company I met the architect for the project David kingwell And I went to work for David after begging him for a job to work in architecture And there was another architect At kingwell and associates at the time who's on this board. I'll let him comment on it later, but Enjoyed meeting him and our passive crossed ever since in various aspects and The the second building while I was working for kingwell and associates I got to do the construction administration on and then the back building was the first building I got the design with with a little bit of help, but We called it the scandinavian layered cake building So the sadness comes from the fact that those that buildings are going to be be torn down But you know life goes on so With that reflection and Seeing a very nice project come before us Will help take care of a pretty dilapidated project that looks I think it's been vacant since 2008-9 somewhere in there So it's nice to see a well thought out project come before us today that Will help improve that situation Some some comments on the overall presentation you brought before us. I like the color palette. It's it seems to be the contemporary Color schemes of the of our present day and I think it works real nicely with the way you put it together and various aspects of the articulation of the buildings I think the density is appropriate. I like the three story and the front and and stepping up to the four story in the back I think the site circulations well thought out My only my only dig would be on the the pool location if there's a way to Move it a little further to the east so it's not as much shadow I think You know, it'll get lots of morning sun, but then in the in the later afternoon With the four story casting a shadow on it. It's it's going to be Pretty dark, and I'm not sure there's a Effective way of moving it to the east closer to the community center That's that's what I wanted to say at this point look forward to seeing it come back at preliminary level Thank you. Henry drew comments questions Um, I'm not that architect. I'm too young I think Just kidding. Um, so I think there's there's one thing that like really caught my eye And it's it's related to the parking Uh In in a sense that boy, that's a lot of parking um, and so then I started kind of drilling down into the site plans a little bit and for me, um the question I have is we have a design guideline in The multifamily section of the city center as a guidelines and it's a 3.2 f One really and it talks about common open space and it talks about Like landscaped common open space and that the landscape is supposed to be more than the paved And it's I think it's like 70 or 80 grass versus the paved area I don't see any unpaved common open space aside from the top lot and while the top lot is a nice amenity for You know residents and whatnot and the pool is a nice amenity as well there's no kind of like dog park or uh English garden or whatever you want to call it. I mean, so there's not there's not a lot of that kind of happening And I think it's a result of the the a lot of parking that's going on Even though the parking has been reduced for the amount of units on site So for me, I'd like a little bit more open green space I think if we could you guys could make it work, but it doesn't Looks like it's a big challenge um The regarding the traffic thing I think bill kind of addressed it and I addressed it When the city looks at this there's going to be a traffic study as a result of sequa And so that's going to tell us You know if if the property owner needs to add a light Or a stop sign or whatever at the entrances to the property Um, so that you know, it's going to be a critical element to understand How the traffic impact is going to happen. So I mean we can look at this and say oh, yeah We're it's going to be 400 cars or whatever 272 cars, but we don't really know that exact impact until that traffic study is done by a traffic consultant Um, but I think it is something that it is to be concerned about considering West college does neck down At that particular point west of uh, I guess is it marlowe? Is that right marlowe? But then it does but doesn't west college open back up again with that weird kind of like off-street parking that kind of happens Yeah, it's a little interesting um and then uh The rain collection thing, um, I'm I'm interested to see kind of where that happens as well because I was looking through here And it seems to me that there would be a lot of bioswales or retention facilities considering the amount of Impervious surface in the parking areas, uh, maybe the civil engineer could address that Yeah, please. I think that would help the public a little bit as well I think I'm seeing it, but I want to make sure I think I'm seeing it. You've got it scattered about but I just want to make sure yeah sure, excuse me Let me start by my name is Dennis Dalby civil design consultants civil engineer for the project And you can see so the the hatched areas around the perimeter of the outside parking spaces Those are all meant to be bioretention soils um also the the currently today Maybe the front 30 40 feet drain toward west college The rest drains to the creek and we're not changing that drainage pattern Um, the bioretention swales are there to clean the storm water before it enters the creek Um, they're already I'm going to say if I remember right, there's probably about five existing outfalls into the creek That will be utilized will be utilizing for storm water So we're not proposing to add any additional Connections storm drain wise to the creek So yeah that answered my question I thought I was reading your your bioretention areas correctly and it seems like I was it's just yeah And so you're not introducing anything new. You're just finding ways to clean and slow down The drainage from the impervious surfaces into the creek. That's correct And we've done a preliminary hydraulic analysis and it appears that the outfalls are Of sufficient capacity to handle the storm water runoff Um, if in fact when we get deeper into this we find that it can't then there are ways of us Limiting and and metering the water coming off the site Cool. Yeah, so that that answers my question. Um, and hopefully that addressed the public comment as well We're regarding rain the the gentleman who had the comment hopefully Um Then regarding the buildings, um I I appreciate the fact that kind of all four sides are addressed. Um I'm not in love with one of the colors, but uh, it's just one color of the many So I think it's a kind of a moot point, but it's that that peter tankard. That's all the way at the bottom It just seems Out out of the palette a little bit to me. Um and then um The the other things that I guess I was kind of looking at Are while the buildings are Nicely designed. Um the accessory structures Don't match their character Right, so the bike storage facility and uh trash enclosures and whatnot. They kind of don't have the same character as the main buildings And that's not to say that they need to have board and bat and siding on them or anything like that but they need to just be within the the palette that you've established architecturally Um, so they could just be stucco with a little bit of parapet or something like that Um, and then I think there's a code requirement for trash enclosures that are located adjacent to tall buildings that have to have roofs I can never remember where that is. It's either in the zoning code Or the building code I can never remember where Uh, but I think it's in there. Um, so the trash enclosures don't look like they have roofs Uh, but they may need them and then also If I'm reading the plans right the pedestrian access into the trash enclosure is via a Kind of like five foot wide opening then you come in there's a low wall and you dump your trash in the dumpsters. Is that right? Okay, cool. Yeah, I just want to make that's what it was reading as because It's funny enough on another project that I got caught by the city on pedestrian access for ADA So something I look for now Um, and then I had another thing written down. I'm sorry I apologize. Um, no, I think that's it. Those are all the comments I have. I appreciate the Private spaces you've provided for all the units with their little balconies and their storage Um, it's required or it's in the design guidelines. Um, but other than that, that's a good-looking project There's a lot here for concept review. I appreciate that I can't wait to see you guys back for preliminary so we can get you going and thank you very much Thanks drew war Yeah, thank you scott. Um, yes, there's uh In in the whole, um cycle of life Um, I'm welcoming housing And I know there's a lot of dynamic conversations Yes, the site has memories for all of us and in some ways it's not really a creek. It's a drainage ditch It has a slight biologic Sneeze to it, but it was all graded back in the 60s and populated And it's not a place that kids can really play or jump over fence to it's maintained by the water agency Um, there's a trail there and and people I am looking at the audience There's there's capacity there to walk and move but there's a desire for fencing so that the security of Flooding in that drain Yeah in the creek, excuse me Or or waterway now is there but but moving on to um Some really salient conversations I've seen a lot of projects where there is this this Push and pull between are we under parked or we over parked? And then there's the project proper and there's city goals Um, it's over five acres. So you're gonna you're gonna run through a lot of reporting I would say there there's been some tones about um the quality of life on the site proper and Since you're utilizing affordable housing Um, could it stand to lose a few cars? And then there's the the pleasantries and placation Of surrounding neighbors. I can't look 10 years down from now. I don't have gas. It's going to be $27 and 14 cents then Um, I can't see 10 years from now, but I just wanted to bring up the subject that it's There's a lot of openness and flexibility between air quality that I embrace And I know that projects that sometimes get reduced parking because of various goals Don't offend me at the same time. I'm I'm mindful of neighbors. So I'm just going to be switzerland on the on the parking I'm not going to say one way or the other, but it's it's just a fascinating subject um As I look at the buildings and the site, um, it's surface park with garden buildings One of the things I wanted to comment on was um I'm I'm certainly I'm grateful for I'm excited by the fact that you've split the two buildings. You've you've part of the red sea on On on college and you're coming in as a pedestrian The actual buildings themselves have very diminutive entries if you're down in grade um, it's uh like like the the the big c building obviously around the pool has a respectful Community building that you enter through But in looking at your buildings in general That's the one place between barbells and couches and so forth. You can you can find your way into the building But it's it's really kind of a a tiny unsung thing When you enter into the buildings to have the kind of the long egyptian hallways and just have There needs to be some queuing some way to beyond fire exiting maybe, um Play up or or give spirit to Those entrances so that the the queuing is is more Thoughtful or invigorating The other thing I know I know some letters came in on the building heights and There's no so far. There's no real comment on solar But what i'm noticing on the on the tall building there You have pretty high-purpose. They're they're quite aggressive in height And i'm looking at uh for a minst for a minute The forestry building on sheet a 11 if you want to pull that up Um It's different. Okay. I think you were back yeah right there. That's perfect. Um, I was just contemplating a consideration And that is that the the very tall White projections the highest projections What you've done there is you've removed the railing From the the top floor level. It's more kind of a It's a it's a plaster solid wall and that's where the height of the the glass to this higher yet parapet exists I'm wondering if exploring doing the inverse where Those parapets are dissolved altogether And you take the railing invent the railing back in that And it's the orange or the the buff color. That's the higher parapet and you actually at least explore the idea Of a roof line where you have the same floor plan you have the same ability to exit out But the balcony is reintroduced And you know one of the words it probably wasn't intentional But in the narrative you mentioned about surveillance that the project has many windows so that it can be surveilled surveyed I was reading about Japanese architecture and uh it was interesting that You know not unlike Italy and France a lot of people They they sang and they they exchanged Pleasantries so it wasn't like it was a prison. It was a it was a pleasantry place And the reason I bring that up and being in europe I've been in a lot of town squares where kids are playing soccer and they're noisy and grandma opens the window and says Please stop and they do you don't even need police to do that And my hope is that the whole environment is something that is sung is pleasant and that Those the thoughtfulness, you know, it's a consideration that it it might Placate this this whole issue about height when we go on four story buildings I'm always been I think my record is is true that I never question, you know count So that's that's not an issue but Perhaps looking at your parapet heights, you know, sometimes 12 to 18 inches is plenty. Maybe you're going to do solar panels. Maybe not But There's a lot of height in those the the other quick comment centers on I know the discussion was there about the pool and shading and If being on the hunt for some areas for placemaking even small areas for Whether it's adults or older people to talk back and forth in between the drive lanes Um, perhaps playing up the entry member my red sea comment you part of the red sea That whole area is an opportune area for seating and furniture and and thigh So I know the landscape architects are looking at me. So so whether it's um, there there's a lot of different plantings and things that that Certainly heighten that there could even be arbors or something there could be threshold you walk under So instead of the building being a series of of pretty strong Deliberate fortress-like buildings. There's some layering there with some some Whether it's metal trellising or things to be under in shadow that invite you to not have to just go in your house or your your unit On the on the colors proper, they don't trouble me too much. I know that to drew's point. There's some on the pretty dark charcoal I like this slat board you're using the the board and bat Maybe it's introduced in more places Really when you look at this project, it's a lot of plaster And the idea of playing it up some with with looking at buildings with with more of that board and bat So that it softens it I've almost said to you Even though you have these steel awnings The idea of actual browse that um come out that that aren't applied but are actually part of integral to the roof Or it isn't all parapet of the parapets further back is a consideration So anyway in general, it's Wonderful to have this many units come to santa rosa I hope everyone can get along and that the car itself maybe there I don't know if there's a couple three leafs. I believe on a code level I think you need about three Charge stations. They're not inexpensive. It's three cycle to but staff can talk about that So I I think I've said enough But I I embrace the fact that more people will be in Santa Rosa because of the project than destroying the old buildings. So That's my comment Thank you warren adam great, thank you for uh bringing this level of detail to the concept review. I appreciate the the package and um I have no connection to the buildings.  So I'm sorry guys. I'm cold-hearted towards these existing buildings That being said yes um Just to start off with the color palette Appreciate that it's that it does fit in with you're trying to fit into the Location and the the hill sides around here and the the natural color palette It's it's very understated, but it's it's verging for me on on to drab and so Not suggesting a a push towards You know anything like lime greens and teals. We're not going to go like that but something the the in your presentation you mentioned that the the Blacks are the sort of the colors that provide some contrast and make things pop out That uh that I could see a little a little bit more um boldness in the colors could be interesting to see um I'm certain that you know colors the discussions have gone back and forth and i'm sure there's many viewpoints, but um I'd like to see some a little more something that that Still ties into the the natural landscape there in the trees those heritage trees that are there But also something that it it runs that fine balance of matching what's there, but then Is separated um somewhat too because it is going to be drawing attention as we're not trying to hide these buildings There's no hiding them. So let's me let's celebrate them as well. So um uh in terms of uh Bike parking. I know that there's the um The covered enclosure and then there are 14 spots that are um or 14 racks that are In the plans if i'm unless i'm missing them that says that they're going to be scattered throughout the site Um, but I only see one um that's drawn on there. Um, if i'm correct in that am I missing them? Now Yeah, just the racks. Yeah I don't think you're on the mic just for those listening at home. Yes the short term um Bike parking would be scattered close to entrances throughout the site and okay because there's a relatively small amount They may not have been shown at this at this level. Are they? Oh, okay, they are there because I only saw the the one on the Insight for long term storage. Yeah, okay. Um, yeah, I'd I'd want to see I guess more of the of the temporary bike parking because you know having visitors Especially with kids around um, you know, you're not going to of course You don't want to litter the site with with bikes and bike racks, but uh, I like to see that Called out a bit more um and and have it so it's the It's not the only place to have your bikes and have your bike access to be Off to that very western edge where um, like that's the main bike parking is the The structure there and then to echo what drew said about um matching the amenity enclosures with the overall Architecture will be important I'm wondering about um access to the Existing gravel creek trail. Um, I know that they're on the the plan there is Going to be you know that um Adding to what's there and then it ends but also in the fencing enclosures on the side. Um I don't see any any access on the southern portion in the eastern portion It's only kind of going out of the site and then coming back around unless i'm missing that also There any gaps in that fence? Not not at the moment Not at the moment. It's it's an ongoing conversation and part of that has to do with whatever conversation We have with the city about accessing the trail and the waterways board. So Um, but it's it's open certainly it adds a feature to have direct access sure. Yeah for the residents to the trail Yeah, um because it's a you know walk over there, especially if you're having families or people that might want to You know make You know sprint up and down or kids to bike up and down there to have more access to think about that and i'm certain it's ongoing and I'm on the waterways advisory and so i was definitely Looking for some of this stuff and i'll see you when you guys come before that Yeah, looking for that forward to that But yeah thinking about having really you know kind of what brett was saying in his first um thoughts to to Really tie into that to the creek. Um, and uh, I know it's it's channelized creek As warren was was talking about how it's more of a ditch at this point knows there are a lot of um or almost all uh all Of the existing creeks in san aroza um, but that being said, uh, there is um nature Also colonizes and finds ways and and in one of the um letters You know, but one of the neighbors talks about how there are herons and otters and And everything and it's very close to just downstream is the connection to the The senator's a creek trail as well and i'll get to something with that in in a moment, but but there is it's not remnant Habitat but there is colonization that's there. Um, so Um, I think it being sensitive to that. I do have a question uh with the drainage One, um, I think that the the the drainage in terms of um A bioretention and just retention ponds in general can be uh emphasized and maximize a little bit more and actually use as um Bringing in more of the the natural landscape to it. Um, there's plenty of examples out there that are using Retention ponds, especially with the amount of the impermeable impermeable surface that you have here now of That water's got to go somewhere. I know that there are five Outfalls, uh But also thinking about that bringing on, you know A lot of cars and a lot of people onto a site where there's storm drains and those storm drains If they if it just captures the water and then it immediately pops out onto the creek um That's a lot a lot of untreated surface water storm water that's going directly into this system Which, you know, granted that's its its function is to be, you know, flood control and the storm channel But it does very Quickly get into the center of the creek so maximizing the keeping keeping As much water as possible on site of really Having that letting it infiltrate in as much as possible and then that is related to um, you know, we're all kind of Looking at the parking and and these um the uh, oh and one one thing I forgot to say actually at the beginning I wanted to say that I also really uh I'm appreciative of the fact that you're bringing in the housing and using the site very well And also bringing the inclusive housing and bringing in the affordable and the mix of of incomes as well To I think is very important the diverse housing is really great. It's nice to see that type of development here So great job on that Uh, but um the parking Yeah, these these uh very nice buildings lots of people that are in this Sea of parking around them. Um, you know, there's almost moats around there because moat is a better term than than a sea um, I would want to Uh have the this swath of parking Between the main the larger building and the community center I would would like to see that part if there's some way to I know you've already reduced parking I know you're really trying to do that. Um, but to maximize connection to This these public open or not public but just open spaces Really not This sort of uh sequestering these buildings within all of the parking around it. It really it it to me emphasizes automobiles a lot, you know, we're very close to the transit transfer station If there's any way to to get less of the parking there Or at least to sequester the parking rather than the buildings themselves To create more space for the people and the families that are living there Uh That is also related to uh, you know, it's a really beautifully forested Little beautiful. It's subjective. I guess but beautifully forested site. There's plenty of trees there now I know you you're really emphasizing that bravo on that But with all this parking and all this paving, um thinking about the The heat island effect that's there really keeping that emphasizing that that tree canopy Um, so breaking up the paving as much as possible Let's see, uh the um The exterior spaces of the buildings To echo what some of my colleagues said also, uh There is I don't see um too much space for people to use sites the site outside of their Their homes outside of their actual um apartments Um, like to see if there's anything that you can do for that, you know Having something rather than just The community center having something closer to the other The north end buildings um With the community center area Um, the hot lot is is pretty small for this amount of um Of housing that's there and I do wonder with the pool Um, is the pool a best use of space? Is it the best amenity to offer to the residents in this? um this development I love pools. Um, definitely my five-year-old loves pools But you know thinking realistically of how much time through the year can you use them? Um, can everyone use them are they accessible to everyone? Um, you know, it's it's a it's a great amenity It's it's definitely nice to use and to look at but it's a it's somewhat of a unit asker also Um, what's great about open spaces and you know unpaved Open spaces and no pavers no no asphalt or anything It's just thinking about all the uses that they can Be used for you know gatherings community gatherings, you know, if there's any sort of like holiday thing that's happening or you know garage sale of people, you know want to get together or Um, it it you know saw a little small-sided soccer games or anything It can be it can be used much more than Just this is a lot of space a lot of real estate in a very, you know You're packing a lot into the site, which is is really great And I know you're thinking really hard about how to get all this in here um But to to try and think if you can get multiple wins with each of the interventions that you do That's why with the You know the open spaces have it be you know hit Two or three different things. Um, it can be used for you know elderly people and kids. Um, it can you know, maybe at different times it can be You know, even like the the drainage can be Used for it's beautiful, but it also saves the storm water and then it can be used Educationally as well and it can be tied into you know, it can be used as as a design focal point um also Um And that goes to actually what we'll learn was saying or Warren was saying about the creating the pleasant environment um, you know, this this is uh You know the the neighbors were worried about um bringing in You know the multi-family development into what is single-family homes But you know, we need to have this density, but they can still it can still be a very pleasant beautiful environment there too I think you guys are on the right track, and I think you're definitely getting there Um, and I think that will do it for me. Thank you Thank you adam Thank you My colleagues have said a lot of What I was hoping to to get at so kudos and thank you. I won't reiterate other than maybe a few points um On west college, it looks like there's the possibility for improvements at least how the current Lane configuration dies down and then opens back up along college and some possibilities about making the The lane configuration consistent across this project's frontage I was also curious if is there Harking on the south side of college right now like on street parking I'm looking at a bunch of the nose great One thing I did uh note though on the north side there's a bike lane And there doesn't appear to be a bike lane on the south side of college or is there there is okay fantastic It's hard to tell on this I can't get like street B to work on this thing, but Oh dang got it. Thanks Um Let's see Yeah, I think I think for me, um The comment that drew brought up about open space is um, I think A very good one. Um I would just say to You know staff and and the applicant to take a look and see if there are possibilities to reduce um either You know parking widths parking aisles etc To try and increase that open space Or usable open space rather For the project and really make that a an amenity One thing I think That maybe was kind of touched on was the notion of orchard parking I noticed that there are quite a few structures Over parking. However, I think There might be in certain areas maybe moving From north to south as you're kind of coming into the clubhouse building that larger building Is there an opportunity to really make that East west parking area something more of an attractive Environment And not just um architecture on architecture on architecture, um, you know three story to one story Parking structures and then back up to a four-story building So something to let that area breathe in between might be something to look at As you develop this Thought adam brought up a good point about the amount of play area Play area usually gets At least they're categorized For various ages of development types of development in children And so as you kind of look at that in the next steps think about the The multi-generational family or the development of You know development of children and how they use these spaces And not just this you know a single a single taut lot another comment I was kind of curious about there's quite a few trees being removed As part of the the site plan And is there an opportunity to utilize those for Some of the features that you're talking about for taut lot for You know some of these threshold ideas that Warren brought up And it goes back to you know You know other i'm sure sentiments and and the historic nature of the site based on some of the Information we got kind of late from Some community members about the the weight that this site holds in In some people's eyes and a lot of people's eyes for the the city of santa rosa and what's happened You know kind of happened here I think I talked a little bit already about the kind of The way in which the the this drainage ditch is um Maybe over glorified by maybe me and adam but It is there an opportunity To engage with it engage with it more. Um, I understand it's You know these are all these are all Trapezoidal channels that were created as part of you know a water program to keep You know keep the city and residents safe And that doesn't mean that there isn't a diverse ecology there they happen over you know Decades um and there's it's evidenced by people that actually live there that have you know seen these seen these things So I would just you know embrace that or think about that in a little bit more Think about that in a little bit more um Give it a little bit more Of a priority perhaps one question about the trail since it is I think currently all the way from college to santa rosa creek trail It's completely gravel if i'm not mistaken. Is there an opportunity to at least along this stretch of it or talk to Waterways and bike and ped I know bike and ped just recently did a master plan update and they worked I think pretty diligently with waterways to identify gaps in the network, but also opportunities to um Enhance current gravel trails for An asphalt treatment or something that is more conducive to You know a larger Sect of the population or a broader population to be able to to link these zones. I mean this is I mean The transit center is close obviously And it could be you know a pretty interesting or critical linkage up to that versus riding on stony point Which I don't even ride on stony point well in two sometimes, but I'm scared You could get access directly down there to the creek trail and that would take you right downtown correct So correct and that's not a far ride to downtown either but uh digress Just something to consider as well um Um, I was actually I was actually interested in the in the color palette as well. I I mean Recently, I think I'm a little more encouraged by restraint in color palette And using and I know this goes, you know, of course we all have our opinions, but Restraint in the color palette and really utilizing material offsets and reveals to really make that building pop A bit more of course other colleagues can speak more to that in more detail, but That's one thing. I think I appreciate in especially um With seeing some projects come through recently is Is some, you know, personally liking the the restraint and the idea of The board and baton being, you know, called out a little bit more in this or whatever that reveal system and detail system is Really being highlighted a bit more in the any architectural approach I think that's um, that's it for me Aside from I guess also the you know neighbors brought up parking and and things like this and that seems like that's a maybe a comprehensive You know approach in terms of And I don't know if it's opening a can of worms, but you know parking permits and things like this that are I guess more akin to Downtown or closer to downtown neighborhoods, but something to keep I guess on the radar for staff as density becomes You know more and more prevalent You know these we do come up against this and I know major cities are struggling with it And it might not be something might be something to get out in front of Especially to You know help maintain that relationship between What's been here for 40 70 120 years and and what's being you know brought to us and In you know the last year or two for me On this board That is all Thank you Thank you brett Drew you had a couple more thoughts Yeah, so as I was sitting here listening to my colleagues I Came up with a hair brand idea for you guys to consider and I think it might address some of our concerns Uh both for parking but also for unit density green space, etc. So if you could flip to your Like a site plan That'll work So what I was thinking about is This parking lot right here So I counted it has 26 spaces. So currently you guys are over parked 30 spaces per the The the cover page so you've got 272 spaces provided and 242 required per sheet a o3 Unless that's wrong and miscalculated. No, I think we miscalculated. It's it's actually um the parking required is 266 and we have 272 Okay, so you're only that was our bank. Yeah, okay. Well, this might work still so it's just something it's still something to consider Um, so anyway, so this what I was looking at is this parking lot right here You can almost put One of these buildings right there so Just bear with me for a minute. So if you take one of these buildings, which have about what 30 units in them Is that correct? Yeah, okay So if you take that unit and that building and you duplicate it right there You've got 30 units. Okay, so get rid of that parking put a unit there put a building there with 30 units Then down here Option one would be separate the clubhouse from the c-shaped building Get rid of the units above the clubhouse and let the clubhouse live as its own Entry facility and its own thing Right, so then that way it kind of meets kind of Warren's idea of place making and A center for the building where it actually has its own entry its own Use its own thing and you could do a rooftop deck. I mean, there's a lot of options there Option two would be leave this as is Take this knuckle down here Get rid of the units located in that Because they're being displaced by that new building and put green space right there Or Don't do my crazy hair brain building idea and find a way to use this little end bit as green space Right, that's probably the easiest option considering your parking is a lot tighter than I thought So if you're over parked by four, there's five spaces right there Put your green space right there adjacent to the creek It's another idea, right But that's just something as I was hearing all these ideas from the board and what they were concerned about I just started doodling on here and figuring out. Oh, well. Hey, this building's about this big and oh Hey, if you did this you could put 30 units here and you could Lop off an entire Floor of your building which might you know Meet the public's desire for a less tall building or maybe you could do this and find some green space It's just something to consider. I mean, this is concept design review So just trying to help you guys elevate your project. I mean, it's it is a good project and I think You know, if you if you look at these couple of items with green space and parking and Place making an entry and with a couple of tweaks it might You're just going to go from like a like an a to like an a plus plus, right? So That's my final comments. Who's just thinking about kind of how that all tied together Thank you, drew your brand ideas are always welcome So a couple comments again, I think my colleagues have said a lot and What happens when we get good strong concept design review packages like the one in front of us all of our comments kind of Pile on to each other because there's a lot of it's already kind of been taken care of So we don't really nitpick and there's a lot of overlapping of comments So I'll just overlap a couple that were kind of strong points on What I wrote down Piggybacking on Warren's comment. I think there's opportunity to you know, shave those parapets down I like the fact obviously that they make their way around all four sides of the building And that they're there to screen mechanical units So I think maybe just a combination of some vision studies From other vantage points and seeing how much you actually need to screen those mechanical units Because I suspect they'll be fairly large But there's opportunity, you know, reduce the massing a little bit Make it feel a little closer to the neighborhood existing heights But I think the architecture itself works really well And I think the only other kind of architectural question or I mean the question and comment I had was I think in on building C The one of the green colors kind of just it's almost looks like an add-on A and B there's quite a bit more of the the green And so just take a look at either maybe adding more or just deleting the color in its entirety And I think that I too would appreciate a little bit more brilliance of color Rather than the subdued nature of the current color palette You know make people excited to show up at their doorstep But again not going to the florida scheme of colors So overall, I think it's a it's a great project I do think there's opportunities to again find more open space and placemaking and and I think you know again the massing is is well done from the standpoint of the You know shorter buildings at the street side and tucking back the taller buildings in the back Um, I would encourage keeping the pool Especially since it's nice length you can actually probably do laps on a 50-foot long pool And so I think you could you know, it's a it's a dual benefit from the standpoint of exercise and enjoyment So I think it's a good amenity To Warren's comment. I think about the sunshade or maybe it was Henry's you could just flip the pool and have the Longer part further East And it would help with that Challenge But but overall great project And we need the housing and so let's uh, you know get it back in front of us as soon as you can any other comments Questions Do you have any questions for us? Was there anything that was said that was kind of a gray area? Where do I go from here? No, I have a lot of I Like your colleague. I've been sketching ideas on how to increase open space and just thinking about Different things I've been hearing so I just need to process through that information Excellent. Well again, I thank you for your time. It's a great presentation excellent project. I appreciate the Public being here expressing their comments and I hope collectively we can come to a project that everybody's proud of in the city So thank you again Thank you With that we'll close our scheduled items for this meeting and we will look to board member reports Are there any board member reports? No board member reports department reports no No department reports and I suppose that that means that we are adjourned


Sometimes when we're talking about Nintendo Switch 2, interesting things start to crop up. Now earlier today we went over the game developers conference and how they had a whole polling system going on with various developers asking them, hey, what systems are you currently making games for? And a bunch of developers, about 200 of them admitted, they are presently making games for Nintendo Switch 2. Now that was really cool and some nice information on the surface and we have all the details and all the context around that in a video you can watch right here. Sorry, I forgot which hand to put up. But now we got to get into something that's a bit more nuanced and it's because the Nintendo Switch 2 is now being listed for pre-order in Japan. And that's a very fascinating thing to me because it could mean a few things. It could also just be a nothing burger where they're just trying to grab onto the Nintendo Switch 2 hype train and all of that. But it is also possible that they could have had it indicated to them that the system's going to be available this year and hence they should make it available for pre-order or be one of the first search results that pop up when people go pre-order Nintendo Switch 2 or whatever they call it. The interesting thing is they do call it Nintendo Switch 2 on the website. Now this has been English translated with Google Translate so let's go ahead and dive in. And as you see here this is from Mecca, Japan. This is a fairly decently popular place online to buy stuff in Japan. And as you can see it says console Nintendo Switch 2 availability obviously 1231, 2024. They always do that last day of the year when there isn't an official release date. And right now it's listed as out of stock. It was up at one point where you could add it to your car but there's not an actual price listed for it here. And then it just says you know you can leave this little notification bell and get notified when it's available. They do have a money back guarantee. Ships worldwide so you can order from here and get it shipped obviously to the United States or wherever you happen to live. And yeah it's pretty neat. They got a newsletter, they got files. You can see they're obviously big into Nintendo here with Splatoon and everything. So they're a fairly popular website in Japan that you can order stuff from or get shipped to internationally. Now the big thing obviously here is they might know or have been informed that Nintendo Switch 2 will be coming out this year. And that being the case they just want to get their pre-order page ready to go. And it's possible that this news could be starting to creep out to retailers. Now it's possible a bunch of retailers could be popping up with Nintendo Switch 2 listings. You know fairly soon it is a possibility. I also find it interesting that they're calling it Nintendo Switch 2 again. We don't know what Nintendo is going to call this system. It's actually one of the widest debated things about it is what will Nintendo call this next generation console? Is it going to end up being Nintendo Switch 2? Super Switch. Are they even going to use Switch in the branding? Could they completely change it up and try to reset the narrative all over again just to make it sound like this isn't a Switch. It's a new thing because they are afraid of the whole Wii U or 3DS situation. I don't really think that's the case and I do think a number kind of clarifies it's the next system. Nintendo Switch 2 is hard to confuse with Nintendo Switch. It's just like an iPhone 7 isn't going to be confused with an iPhone 15. Right? Clearly the 15 is the newer model. So I do find it fascinating how this is all working and look it also is entirely possible Mecha Japan knows absolutely nothing. In fact some of you guys might feel it's likely they know nothing and all this is is a 100% placeholder. Now what I really want to dive into maybe just to kind of round out this video because I honestly don't know when we're going to talk about Nintendo Switch 2 again. I know it seems like we talk about Nintendo Switch 2 every single day but I don't really control the rumors. I don't control the leaks. I don't control retailer listings pop up. I don't control the GDC doing a poll. So I have no idea. We literally could end up not talking about Nintendo Switch 2 again for a whole month or so. It's really going to depend. You know we probably have Nintendo Direct coming up so we'll probably start hearing stuff about that. We could be hearing bigger news on select games like Princess Peach Showtime and all of that. So it's entirely possible that we're about to not really talk about Nintendo Switch 2 for a little bit. You know the calm before the proverbial storm. So what I actually want to have a brief conversation about is what I feel like the launch lineup is going to be and when I say lineup I'm talking like first six months not just you know right when the system comes out. And I do think that we need to start looking at just some possibilities. I look I'm on the train that it's going to launch with the 3D Mario game. I fully expect it because I think the system is going to launch no later than September of this year. And let's just work on the presumption it is September. So if they launch it with Mario in September I think there will be an October game. Nintendo loves that October month and I feel like that game could actually be Metroid Prime 4 as a cross-gen release with the original Nintendo Switch. And then obviously November will be Pokemon right. I don't know that Nintendo is going to have like a Switch 2 specific game in November. I feel like they're just going to do hey we have Pokemon coming. You backwards compatibility you could still play it on Switch 2.  Now I feel like there could be a December game because look Nintendo does sometimes launch some significant games in December. I feel like this would be an interesting slot. I'm going to go on a whim here. Mario Kart 9 X Deluxe whatever I don't know whatever the heck they want to call the next Mario Kart game. I kind of think like it might launch in December. And I know you go well why wouldn't they launch that in November and they could. But I feel like this is the evergreen of evergreen titles. It doesn't really matter when they launch it. It's just going to keep selling. But getting it out there before Christmas I think would be a really big boon to the system. And then I think January. That's right. This is almost a game a month. I was going to be quickly following it with a Wind Waker or Twilight Princess HD situation. Now they could obviously still do that this year but I kind of feel like that feels like the right time.  And then we'll start getting into the Brux of Things like a Xenoblade and all that. Now along the way there will be some more casual games. I can see a Ring Fit Adventure 2 or some other sort of workout game coming out in between there. Some exclusive indie titles. Third party games as well. Elden Ring I think is going to end up being a launch game for the system. And we might even get Baldur's Gate 3 announced for the system but coming in 2025. I think that is the distinct possibility of course. These are all just possibilities. Just like it's a possibility that this damn retailer in Japan actually was told the system is coming and to prepare their system for pre-orders. So it is what it is. You guys let me know your ideal first six month launch lineup for the Nintendo Switch 2 when you think the system is actually going to come out because you know I don't really know when we're going to be having these conversations again on the channel outside of you know random ones that seem to pop up in the podcast every week because every guest that comes on wants to talk about Nintendo Switch 2. Not really surprise. Switch 2 is a very popular topic and we're all just kind of twiddling our thumbs here like hey when are we going to get this thing? Can we just get it now please? Alright guys thank you so much for tuning in and I'll catch you in the next video.


Well, I didn't know any of that, but, um, obviously that makes me feel good about myself, but, uh... Even though I'm still sick, I haven't forgotten the comment of the week.  We've had to delay date night because we're sick. That's kind of crazy. We're just like, uh, we just want to keel over, you know what I mean? Thankfully she's feeling better, the boys are feeling better, but, uh, I am not feeling better. I hope you have a beautiful Thanksgiving with your loved ones, wherever you're at, wherever you're celebrating. Let us be present, set aside work, set aside worries, set aside our phones, right? Especially our phones. Let's just be present to our loved ones. YouTube. Bottoms up!