Good afternoon all like to call the meeting of the city of Santa Rosa design review board to order Look for a roll call Patty let the record reflect that all board members are present Excellent, thanks all for being here And looking for approval of the minutes from july 18th 2019 any Changes amendments corrections for patty Seeing none Minutes are booked Board business before I read the statement of purpose as we normally do I wanted to take a moment to remind everybody that we have been kindly asked to speak into the microphone So I will be policing that I will ask for forgiveness for the interruption if you're not speaking into the mic and I interrupt you but People are losing us as they're either streaming or watching it after the fact and We owe it to the public who's interested and for transparency purposes to Speak Loudly So the statement of purpose. This is a purview of the design review board The review authority shall consider the location design site plan configuration and the overall effect of the proposed project upon surrounding properties and 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 i.e city policy statements and development plans So that's a purview of the design review board Versus any of the other city boards and commissions At this time, I would like to open up the meeting for public comment for any items not on today's agenda So if you're here from the public and wish to speak on anything On our purview, but not on today's agenda Seeing no public stand and walk to the microphone. I will close the public comment period Okay Statements of abstention by board members. Does anyone need to abstain from the scheduled item? Seeing none. We can move on The scheduled item is a concept design review of the residence in by marriott at 3558 round barn circle file number d r17-033 And I believe Amy Nicholson is here to give a presentation on the project Amy Thank you chair kinkade and members of the board As was mentioned the item before you is concept design review for a 114 room hotel It is proposed at a maximum height of four stories and it would be contained within a 92 100 square foot building The project also includes on-site improvements including a 116 space surface parking lot A fitness facility a swimming pool and landscaping throughout The project site is located at 3558 round barn circle This is located in northeast santa rosa Just east of old redwood highway and highway 101 The project site is currently undeveloped It is approximately 4.6 acres and it slopes down toward the west That access to the site is provided by way of round barn circle, which is a private street Which is accessed off of round barn boulevard As you can see from this Pretty recent aerial photographs. There There are offices to the northeast North and east of the site the property immediately south of the site was Formally the hilton hotel Which burned in the fires as as did the properties a little bit closer to mendicino which contain the fountain grove in hotel Just like to briefly go over some history associated with the site and the project itself Back in april of 1990 the fountain grove executive center subdivision Was completed and improvements were installed The site where this hotel is proposed was originally planned for an office building And it was graded to accommodate this office building. However, it was never constructed in september of 2016 The applicant team met with city staff For a pre application meeting for the proposed hotel And as a few of you remember this item was reviewed by the board as a concept item in october of 2016 and again in february of 2017 Applications were submitted to the planning and economic development department that june In order to construct this project, there are three planning entitlements required a conditional use permit for the proposed use A hillside development permit for development on slopes exceeding 10 percent and design review In november of 2018 the planning commission failed to approve the conditional use permit For the hotel use but did approve the hillside development permit The hillside development permit Approves the the site plan In december of 2018 the applicant did file an appeal to the city council For reconsideration of the use permit by the council In february the item was heard by the council and a number of concerns were raised by patients and Employees of the cancer treatment center. This is located immediately east of the project site and they had concerns about how The hotel would obstruct views that patients were currently enjoying The Applicant worked with members of the st. Joseph health team to come up with a solution that was mutually agreeable and As a result the project returned to the city council and was approved in june of this year Excuse me july of this year So the general plan land use designation of the site is retail and business services and the proposed hotel use Is consistent with that land use designation The zoning allows for highway tourist and commercial uses and again this use is consistent with the zoning This slide has a few renderings that represent the project. I'll let the applicant talk about the design the top left Rendering is the hotel as shown as a three-story condition This is as viewed from round barn circles and what the cancer treatment center would see And then the graphic on the right And the bottom portion of the screen show the hotel as viewed from Public right away like old reddit highway and highway 101 The site plan here shows That a large portion of the site is is proposed to remain undeveloped. There is a pretty large Grove of oak trees This grove of oak trees was actually affected during the tubs fire There was a biological assessment provided and it was not determined if the oak trees would regenerate There was a condition placed on the hillside development permit that should the oak trees Not be regenerating at the time of building permits submittal that there would be some additional oak trees Planted in that grove to help mitigate the view from Old redwood highway As you can see from the site plan as well. There are two points of ingress egress onto old or i'm sorry onto round barn circle This slide shows the landscape plan I've just highlighted some of the larger trees that are proposed throughout the parking lot and then also in In the amenity area of the hotel I briefly mentioned the resolution reached between the applicant and st. Joseph health This slide shows the building section which demonstrates Kind of the the change and and it's To the the finish floor so the finish floor was dropped three feet So while the actual height of the building doesn't change that it's perceived three feet lower from both the cancer treatment center and also Highway 101 and old redwood highway So typically the design review board would be the review authority so the approval body for project of this size however As many of you are familiar we have the resilient city development measures ordinance which allows for a reduced review authority for lodging projects Within priority development areas and this is is one of those areas in the city So following a concept design review meeting The project could move on to approval or denial by the city's zoning administrator And I did want to Bring attention to one written comment that was received. It was emailed to you as late correspondence. This was from a Someone associated with the property that's immediately east the st. Joseph health cancer treatment center and he asked that the board provide comments related to rooftop screening and landscaping that might help to further buffer Impacts to the views for the the patients within that facility So with that the planning and economic development department recommends that the board provide comments regarding the proposed hotel development And I'm happy to answer any questions that you might have and we also have jessie oswald here chief building official to provide a few comments Hello, thank you for having me Here to provide a statement of concurrence with the analysis done by the city of santa rosa fire department in regards to fire department access egress evacuation and water supply The analysis still stands as Approvable by the the fire department for this project and I'm here to support staff with any technical questions on that subject Thank you. Amy. Thank you for being here jesse. Appreciate it Um, so at this time we will have questions for staff. Why don't we start down with you drew? Sure. Um, Amy you kind of half answered my question in your last slide. Um, and I'm just this is more of a Maybe just a general question. So given that there have been a number of Discussions between this project and adjacent properties Staff does have the option to elevate this to design review Board as opposed to the zoning administrator was that um just out of curiosity is there a Thought that we would do that uh and looking through this project. I mean it's It's bang up. It's ready to go. So, I mean, I don't think it would move Slowly through the regular process opposed to the zoning which I'm just curious from a From a staff city perspective considering it got appealed and did this and did this and I would hate to Leave you guys with just the zoning is what I'm getting at. I guess does that make sense? So As you all know the resilient city measures were put in place to try to expedite processing of projects And so this one qualifies for that our goal is to take it through that process give the project that benefit I think Part of that decision though Would be subject to what we might hear tonight But as far as the analysis we've done today the Review and the entitlements that have been granted to date our expectation is that it'll go to the zoning administrator Thanks bill. I just was since it looked like there had been a lot of things associated with it Up and down from plain and commission city council. Thanks Henry questions for staff Just a quick one for jesse. Um, since you're gonna speak to the fire department Were there any other additional conditions or or request on this project required by the fire department? There were no additional Mandates a request by the fire department, but there were mitigation measures reached Via conditions that were offered Help me out here Yeah, so um during both city council public hearings there were some questions about Tours staying within the area that had previously been burned in the the tubs fire The applicant in response to those concerns volunteered an evacuation plan Which is not currently required by the city And so the fire department is working with them to make sure that it includes everything that That they would deem appropriate to to accept it, but we don't currently have Specific standards for an evacuation plan. So that was that was entirely voluntary on the applicants part. Okay. Thank you Warren questions for staff. Yeah Um jesse. I appreciate um the comment about fire. I know that Historically, this was one of the areas in found grove round barn that was already depressed geologically not not psychologically but in the uh In the elevations and With the lowering of the building the fire departments vetted As you sink a building in the ground more you have a bit more of a grade to climb out of With trucks, but this is a happy Solution that fire trucks can still find their way out of the bathtub with the lower building That is correct. Your their analysis took that into account as well Thank you. They can make they can make it work. All right Adam questions for staff Thanks. Um, there's also a question dealing with uh with uh fire and uh um specifically going toward to the The state codes that are in um approval Process right now. I know that they're It's in there and I'm just wondering and this could be a question for the applicant I guess but since you're here answering for the fire department of just The materials um that are being chosen if they are meeting or exceeding these upcoming codes and Sort of where you are in the where the city is in the process of approving those those codes well fortunately, uh, it's actually a really good question the Measures that are required to be implemented in the wildland urban interface. We know it as the wooey We have them in place now And the new upcoming codes don't propose any any significant changes in what we're used to seeing So the building will have to be constructed meeting those What we now know as a term is as hardening There are certain measures External materials venting window types those types of things will have to be implemented with this project Okay, great. So those will be implemented. Yeah, specifically will you address those two with the the windows and the vents and in particular Because I know that there was a topic of discussion if we're right right and in the depending on the application Period on when the when they're able to get their application for the building permit the If there are changes to the wooey requirements, we don't know of any that are that significant So they will be meeting those and they are they're fairly robust anyway So depending on either code cycle even the current code cycle or if they actually apply after january 1st They're still going to be significantly more requirements than your normal not in the wooey Building areas great. Thanks for answering that that's all Thanks adam brett questions for staff no questions Eric none. Thank you And I just have one point of clarification It was mentioned in the presentation amy that The site plan was approved in the hillside development approval And so if you could elaborate on what that means Obviously guessing we can still comment on landscape plants and shrubbery and that sort of thing But the actual physical site plan as far as retaining walls Parking spaces building on below. That's all been Asked out Yes, that's correct. Okay. Just wanted everybody to understand that as we got into a discussion here Okay, uh, with all those questions answered again, jessie. Thanks for being here. Um, you're feel feel free to leave when you're When you've had enough All right And at this point in time, I would ask the applicant to make a presentation Can they come down here or yeah, you guys can come down here And again, I'll Remind everyone to speak into the microphone and as you introduce yourself Please let us know your name and your relationship to the project. Thank you. Don cape thrills and hospitality Nice, uh, nice beautiful day again here in san aroza Some new faces and some familiar faces on the face on the board today We're glad to be back here and hopefully get this project finalized move forward. So, um The perspective of the applicant has been that, you know, there's quite a bit of time that's been spent working through the the project and and and and a high level of detail For, you know, for those that were were from this, you know, with us from the beginning We did two I call it 2.5 concept reviews We piggybacked on some Some informal reactions on a prior application Hotel application was approved in the in the interim. So We had our original concept review Incorporated comments that we got from the board and staff came back for a second concept review Incorporated those comments back and kind of a loose review. So this is really our third concept review over the four and a half year process And so there's really nothing new from a design perspective that's changed since since the Since the prior version and everything that's gone through the public hearing process Has all been a result of the collaboration of board members and and our design professionals and And neighbors and and what have you so I'm happy to go into as much detail as is needed here today for people that aren't as familiar or may have additional questions In the interest of everyone's time. I'm also happy to To to to ferret that down to the specific topics that we could talk about um So as relates to the the architecture again, it's it's it's what it was the result of those concept reviews And you know the site plan was approved and it's really you know, we went back and forth Can we move it here? Can we move it there? Can we move these elements and all that stuff? It kind of all that kind of locked in based on the the topography And the hillside ordinance and the in the you know the slope analysis You know it all starts with a good site plan and then you start to work it from there. So The landscaping was it was developed as part of that the color palettes the roof elements all those things so There was a comment that there was reference that has been written in Rooftop screening and that is a condition. So that's not something that that's That's new that we're trying to address that's been done through the roof elements With with the neighbors and those shed roofs which were which were you know result of our prior design reviews um So really everything that you see here today Is the process that we went through over the last four years with the design review and staff and the neighbors to get to this project To to get it to this point. So Happy to answer any questions or go into more detail with respect to any topics that you're You'd like to discuss as well as the the architect and the civil engineer are are here in the audience as well Great. Thanks, ton. Since it's a concept review normally we would have more of an informal back and forth But also since it's the only time we're going to see it We'll probably have some specific things for consideration And so as we go through the you know informal dialogue we'll kind of tally up some things that you know the board members feel strongly about and Offer those up to the zoning administrator to chew on when you get in front of them So with that drew I actually don't have that much to say surprisingly um I What I was alluding to earlier is I think your package is 95 percent complete For the zoning administrator to look at you're missing a couple of little tiny things that I would like to see That we like to see on every final design review package and I just didn't find it in here Details on the trash enclosure Lighting plan exterior lighting plan and then a more robust material board That's pretty much all I would recommend putting together for the zoning administrator it's Good-looking project. It's a marriott it's not set in the world on fire with uh You know groundbreaking design, but it's a good-looking hotel um The colors are nice they match the the kind of the corporate palette of marriott, which makes sense And I like the variation of the materials I like that you've got a couple of different materials on the outside and that you've addressed all four sides of the building Nothing seems to have been ignored It doesn't seem to me So I would uh It were we voting on this I would vote yes today. So that's all my comments today and uh, good luck moving forward. Thanks. Thank you Thanks, drew henry Thank you drew. I'm gonna I'm gonna echo your comments and not say a whole lot about it. Um I guess I guess I don't see I don't see any roof screening on the drawings except for maybe one little central spot for Maybe a package unit to support some of the core area Could you clarify what what might be of concern to the neighbors? So these shed roofs on these corner elements Okay, you know, these were these were a topic of visual concern As viewed from round barn. Um, and so we had looked at opportunities to remove those um, which would have bucked against the The wishes of this board From historic discussions those were those were heavily discussed and integrated and tweaked and and brought to where they are What you see today? And so in further discussions about screening conditions and concerns from from the upper elevations Um, it was asked of us to make sure that any elements would be screened behind these Roof these rooftop elements so any any mechanical equipment and what have you so as part of being able to keep those That's also the dual purpose of having these not over from an architectural perspective, but from a screening perspective So any any rooftop mounted equipment will be screened behind These shed roofs and or behind the single story elements here From view Yeah, how tall are those? The parapets about a foot and half tall and how tall are those the corner elements or corner elements are I can't remember Five feet five feet Is that right five feet cost us Yeah, I like that approach to to screening the the mechanical equipment rather than a than a long banded Additional kind of setback Fence element almost that right so they'll commonly get into so I like I like the way you've done it and um It looks like you've kept them to to the minimum heights to to try to keep from blocking any views It's my only other comment. I'm going to let the landscape people talk more about it I couldn't tell what type of trees that are that were highlighted um And trees are 90 air From from my golfing days, but I I always seem to find that 10 percent And and sometimes that 10 blocks people's views. So I'm going to I'm going to defer to the Experts on landscaping on this board to to further comment about that but I I echo drew's comment that I think this is a well put together package. It's it Has the corporate colors has a has a nice look to it. I would encourage the City move this forward quickly and let you get some Needed beds in the community to replace some of the ones that were burned in the tubs fire. Thank you Thank you Thank you. Henry Warren Yes, um, don. I know we've been here For some years now, but I'm particularly impressed and how responsive you've been to the whole history And even even back with lobby thoughts below. It's It's really wonderful to have an applicant that's responsive thoughtful Um, it's it's a large facility, but you've done a great job articulating it And maybe to Henry's comment. I think it's um a good hallmark When you can when you have a large building floor plate Not growing the parapets up far on the outside, but but having that more A slim line More of a gray whale than a blue whale look on the outside. It's just it's it's less Shall we say overwhelming and and having The uh mechanical fence in the middle. It's a good thought for as as planning and staff look at things in the future um I think firefighters also looking at at jesse would like to climb over less things So less money better looks and more life safety Thanks for everything. I don't have any any comments other than um It must have been costly lowering the building. It was kind of late news, but it's responsive And to have that level of community heart is good Thank you Warren. Thank you Thank you Warren Thanks um Just a few questions here, um I appreciate so, uh I don't think that I saw a landscape plan from before the 2017 meeting. This is a revision after 2017 is that correct in that packet? We've had the landscape plan since the design review Submittal original design review submittal. It was part of our requirement for the application. Yeah I was just curious about um potentially what uh what changes were done with the um The shrubs near the say the retaining walls or so if things were taken into account for the 2016 2017 meetings and what Yeah, that that was all you know kind of all To use a A lame term kind of baked in from the beginning of this project the the plant palette the tree palette the shrubberies the um The ground cover the locations the types um Don McNair is our landscape architect. He was he was integral in those original design review meetings as well as planning commission city council um and then also making sure that that um The cancer center was well aware of what plant species they were going to be expecting to see um along that frontage and round barn and so I believe There might have been a comment with respect to um, you know any You know any plant material within a within a five foot zone of the the building there might have been a uh a burn or a hardening comment that we may have Went back and reviewed this but all of what we had done were complied with that to my to the best of my knowledge so um You know this is um as it was a very polished exercise from a lot of a lot of collaboration and and your opinions Yeah, no the planting legends of the plant palette is um, it's definitely well done thorough. It's nice to see that especially From the beginning and and at this stage Yeah, and then that's uh somewhat of where I was going with the with the questions for that um in terms of fire um in terms of coming from the east and there's the parking lots around there Uh, and then also thinking about that specifically the defensible space that zone a within the you know 30 feet but specifically the the five feet um Uh, and it it looks like you've got low growing um shrubs. Um, we're right next to the building there, which is is good But I um question. I don't think I saw anything on here talking about um the Ground treatment in terms of materials of mulch You know, do you know exactly what specifically you're going to go for? If I could read that I'd be able to tell you but Oh fur bark Bark mulch. Yep Okay, good to see that Yeah, you have three steps in all landscape areas. Yep the yeah and the Bark is is definitely a great um gravel a little more expensive, but all but definitely Good, especially coming through that area um to have um, so as just just again thinking of the materials really getting down to the fine tuning of you know Really thinking fire prevention there. Um, of course if the fire department, um is satisfied With that there, um hardening that area, especially that zone a around there Uh, it was referenced the um the existing oak trees down below. Um, Amy and uh You mentioned that they you were seeing if they were going to be re sprouting and it seems like some of them are, um, but just Do you have an analysis, you know two years hence? The health of that grove I don't um, you know Been through this area before after and since the fire and and the oaks Me and the oaks are magical. I mean there I I haven't seen Or or witnessed any concern with with these oaks specifically So I wasn't familiar with the biological assessment that's been done But It was uh the biological assessment was provided probably I don't know three to six months after the fire happened um And and so it looked at We we relied on it to find the project and compliance with the california environmental quality act and so it looked at the plant species that were on site And discussed the oak trees and how they had been affected by the fire, but that that it didn't The biologists didn't determine that they were they were dead Mentioned that there was good possibility that they would regenerate But didn't feel that that they could make that call at that point in time because the fire had happened so recently Are we talking about these? Yes. Yeah, these guys are all alive and happy okay Great because I just would want to see that that grove Continue to be robust and you know if there is the good thing about these here They were they were they were pretty mature trees and they they weren't they weren't the shorter species so Um, this you know the understory cleared Yeah, and didn't get as hot so and yeah what's nice about that that area is that it was really It was weedy, but it was grassy weedy and so it just blew through pretty quickly if it was shrubbery You know more shrubby. It would have hurt the trees a lot more but You know any any you know addition or mitigation you could do to the that grove would be I think an asset to Okay, um And again the the evacuation plan Um, hasn't been submitted or has been submitted. I heard it. We submit. We submitted an evacuation plan. It did get submitted It was submitted as a part of the public packet to the city council back in february and then Um It was also included again when the packet was submitted for the july meeting where the council ultimately approved the use permit The fire department hasn't uh gone through A a deep review of the evacuation plan at this time That was something that they were they're going to do as a part of the building permit review. Okay Great, um, I think that should cover it for me. Thank you. Thank you, Adam Brett Thanks, um This is my first time seeing this so um, it's I agree with uh others here on the completeness of this especially at this level, uh And I think there's only a few things, um adam kind of alluded to them as well um Just considering gravel as the mulch if that is you know being in the in the willy and um might be something you know worth um worth considering. Um One thing that i'm a little Um Concerned about all of the renderings are pretty spot-on. Um, they're very helpful. Um Especially understanding views from and appreciate the last I think the last two that were thrown in there Views from that medical office building out um And um, I mean I'm I think Um, it looks like there's a treatment along the street. So there's, um There's red maples that you have along the street as a streetscape tree Um, and then there's another layer of kind of parking lot tree species Uh, or plantings. Um, and so like the way in which the plan layers them They're going to get you know above and they're depicted fairly accurately here. Um, and you're in the sections Is just that it it It will obstruct. Um, at least the view from the Um from the medical office building to the to the hotel. So it'll kind of be a nice Um filter nice backdrop. So you you're not seeing the entire building You know the whole way But in time those things getting a little bit taller Um may have struck views beyond that. So I don't know if that's a concern for the adjacent property owner But it seems like with the species that you've selected except for the Um native oaks that you've kind of curbed that concern Is that fair is that fair to say and have they Yep, we collaborated with them on that and and that was that was part of the resolution, okay And then I think uh for me most of um That's most of my concern. I I do appreciate um in the landscape plan the use of native oaks That you've kind of thrown throughout and those were um, those were highlighted earlier as well and I think also just the way you've treated the retaining walls at the street In terms of stepping them to make that a little bit more visually appealing for your guests Is is a nice nice added touch and solution as well I think my my other concerns are just about the same kind of, you know, 5 30 foot Spacing from building to you know space for Um For planting in that in those zones. So one of the things I'm kind of curious about is a lot of After the fires I visited a number of places that you know, thankfully kind of survived and they survived on their irrigation system For largely keeping their botanical collection safe and and things like that Others that might not have made it Um Didn't have an operating irrigation system, etc. So is that although it's not part of an evacuation plan, but is that part of a a possible safety Is their backup system or a safety measure that can be built into that to utilizing that system and the irrigation and irrigation system Maybe that's a question for you know for fire or you know, how they I know you don't deal with irrigation but deal with water It's there's there's no known Method via compliance measures from the state Fire marshal to integrate irrigation With fire prevention measures. So it's it's purely a property by property approach in terms of Let's try, you know and utilize that system if we can to Fight our own fire Yeah, we can certainly entertain We're we're open for alternatives I'm gonna put on my amateur fire Hat for a second. Yeah, people have been wanting to share my opinion farmer opinion of of of what's happened here For a while and everybody told me I probably shouldn't but today I'm gonna do it anyway So if you look at I'm a geologist by education. So I study things back a lot further than most Um and analyze stuff to death um, so Growing up in fires and fighting fires and volunteer fire departments and seeing how stuff burns or where it doesn't burn You know plowing guards along roadways and all that stuff If you look at what happened here found Grove Business Park was the safest place to be in during the Tubbs fire These buildings didn't burn. They got damaged where the reason the Hilton garden in Sonoma burned is because unfortunately The round barn and the associated native grasses around that bound around that building was a fuel source Had that not been there that hotel would still be here Um, and so if you look at all these surviving buildings the impervious cover Was the safest place to be during that Tubbs fire even across the street at the Sutter hospital They lost 141 windows in that building and it got so hot in that building that it melted papers against the windows That were sitting on people's desks And dropped tar through the ceiling into the corridors and hallways And that's a brick building and what saved that building Was the impervious cover Now to the point of the mulch all those beds were cedar mulch And in talking with kegwood and howard our landscape maintenance company that manages that And a lot of more mature trees over there some big redwoods too, right?  And you look at those beds, they're still this color Because the gravel got so hot The rocks got so hot that killed that killed the root bed So when you're up against the hardened surface of a building and you have um impervious cover streets parking lots, you know Stone bases, you know, I I appreciate the gravel comment, but I think from a bigger perspective that you're You're the juice isn't worth a squeeze when it comes to the five foot bed around the perimeter of the building I still think Should there be a quick fire that goes through here Maintaining that will help preserve if the when the trees get more mature the the mulch beds are going to help protect those Okay, yeah point taken Okay, I'm done No, no, I appreciate it. That's I guess, you know as a um As a resident and you know of santa rosa as well. It's a maybe a common misconception So I appreciate the you know the the background on that. Can I just add some to that? Sorry to interrupt Um, okay. Yeah, go ahead That that's that's definitely true.  It's not that big of a deal But it's kind of it's when you stack things up when you it's sort of that death by a thousand cuts Right that you know having you know, you've got you know the hardened materials in the building You've got the low-growing shrubs. You got islands of plants that are spaced You know islands with space in between so things aren't capturing and growing It's when you stack all those up including the mulch into that You create a larger defense and so It's definitely true and and there are studies that you know say that you know that the state Has the cooperative ascension after the fires have looked at You know evaluated mulches and of course that the the worst is kind of the gorilla mulch the gorilla hare mulch the shredded redwood bark because that just catches But the best is actually the wood chip and composted wood chip mulch because it retains a little bit of moisture It's even a little bit better than gravel. It's denser. Yeah, it's denser. It's it's good. It does tend to smolder Which is bad in the long term but for a quick fire Like you're saying it doesn't get as hot and it can protect the root zone too And so but I think I do think it's it's an important thing to think about which is one reason why I wanted to highlight that and I think bright one or two also is Is to that we we're trying to stack all these things together You know I've got all of the hardening materials. I want to know what the codes are one of the venting is because it's You know, you've got the hardened structures around there, but you don't you know, you've got all these things that I think of And it could just be a little Detail that maybe sparks something that comes through literally So it's just something to to keep in mind as well Sounds like you're thinking that and I appreciate you're thinking and again the great thing about that is the best study Is the actual study right what happened here and definitely and we you know, we drove this Four days after the fire to see because we obviously we're the ones we're going to build it and own it So, you know, let's go see what their own two eyes, right? And so if you look at You looked at all of the landscaping and and the beds and and the sides of the buildings and and you know There were damage there was damage. Yeah, but the stuff that was built, you know 25 years ago at those codes Survived intact and and structurally was fine And and most of the landscaping, you know, especially this cancer center if you walk through here, they've got quite a few beds Planner beds and and and hopefully we'll have some more here soon All of the shrubbery and and and a lot of that plant material survived And I'm not sure they did have mulch, but I don't I don't know what Type of bark mulch it was but you know, most of you know, most of the rock cover had Generous and stuff that had overgrown it. You know, so it was mature. So but all of that stuff miraculously, you know Still there, right?  So you've got asphalt and this is the hole in the donut Yeah, exactly. This is the fire danger as today brownbark burned, but um It's uh, it's something to think about to rather than creating more ignition sources packing in a lot of um You know plants and shrubs are on the buildings have really emphasized that but then you know, you get into the The aspect of you pave everything and you get everything infrastructure Then you've got uh, what do you do? Where does the water go? You know, it's a you get the fires on labor, you know, hopefully decades um, but it's uh, you know, we shouldn't we have to have that balance of paving over everything and then also while having um, you know the um landscape also, so Uh, but I appreciate that and thank you Hop on there. Thank you. Great That's all I have. Thanks Thanks Brett. Thanks Adam Eric The project looks great. Uh, I think it attractive building we need it So i'm excited about it. My only disappointment is is that and maybe it's the business model for Uh, for you guys is not having more meeting rooms. I saw there's only one so, uh Little disappointed about that, but that may be just more your business model for For uh, your business, but now I think it looks great I'm happy to just touch on that. Um on that point so In the hospitality industry, there's obviously different product type, right? And so as you kind of navigate through the the product, um you know, we've it's kind of I don't know how many years now in but we're probably Gosh 420 some hotels now that we've built owned and operated over The united states over the last 35 years We're marriott's largest franchisee. We're probably hilton's second or third um and so a lot of the product they've developed is Was in it was in concert with with what we were telling them they should build based on the what the guests were telling us So while you know that you hear it's marriott I'm just like where are these because they give them to me But it's really that operator when it comes down to it So, you know, we've we've got 10 hotels we built in roseville. Um, you know, we've got 15 in in the east bay And knowing what that client wants and what they what they're going to utilize And so when it comes down to this type of product and that room room count The the meeting space and the guest amenity is just that it's a guest amenity. So you don't have that 300 room, you know full service hotel concept where you got the big meeting rooms and stuff So it's really a function of of what the market tells you that that you should provide And then about every year or two years they They they change that and they make you pay, you know for upgrades. So Today, that's what the market tells us we should have and then tomorrow they'll come back and in five years We'll have to you know, we'll have to remodel that and add meeting room space or take meeting room space out So it's really just a function of the mark what the market tells us Oh, thank you. I appreciate the information. That's all I have Thanks, Eric and uh, I'll just Echo a couple of comments that I heard up here One is that the package right now from a concept designer view board packages well beyond what we normally see so That I appreciate as cumbersome as it's been getting through the process. I think Having all this information, especially you can see the newer board members don't have a whole lot of questions or comments So it's it's really, you know, helps the the process along. So I appreciate that I also want to thank you and your team for sticking it out and having the Fortitude to make this project go forward I had a couple of comments kind of piggybacking on drew is what the zoning administrator may want to see as well Fencing or whatever you call it handrail guardrails, you know around the pool area And anywhere else it's going to be required by code due to retaining wall heights and whatnot Um, and then also the retaining walls themselves I know again from the landscape plan quite a bit of it gets, you know Kind of covered by the shrubs and and plant ins as a backdrop But again, they're going to be viewed by you know, your client's visiting and the neighboring property owners and the hillside down below So um having some details surrounding the retaining walls would be excellent Um, the only thing that I really saw that um as a parent who spends a lot of time on turf soccer fields Is that the little lounge area outside on the opposite side of the pool has turf zones called out If there's an alternative that you can come up with there turf gets hot it stinks It's not fun to hang out and sit by too much. So I'll leave that you're the operator and it's your property, but it's hot From a fellow soccer parent It is hot, it is hot, smelly and not fun to hang out in a lounge chair next to you. So An injury prone Right, so, you know just a food for thought there Um, and then I did want to touch on the mechanical screens. I know they've been discussed At nauseam and at other meetings, but um, I would say that if any units happen to make their way outside of those Parapet pop-ups I would just recommend their four-sided screens with like materials, and I think the zoning administrator will say the same Um overall it's a it's a fantastic project fantastic addition to the area well designed Um, and again appreciate all the hard work Uh chair concade, I had uh one thing that Sparked my memory of another project we reviewed Bad bad analogy Huh sparked spark. It actually isn't about that. Um keep so I have it's two questions. So I think jesse this is a question for you probably um, so the the evacuation plan Was it required by the By the conditional use permit to be included in the building permit or it was voluntary. It's voluntary Okay, applicant voluntarily And then and then I remember there was a project. Do you remember that? It was In the same area that that was I think it was a memory care facility And they had to provide that defensible space plan. We we required that defensible space plan Yeah, you remember that um So the evacuation plan that you're providing is different than a defensible space plan And so we had we had that project and we had required a defensible space plan, but it was Significantly more wooded Than your project, but I think um that just may be something to think about. Uh, I don't know if you necessarily need it It just was something that When we were talking about that evacuation plan that my memory triggered on that other project that was it's in It was in this similar area Hit by the fire Lots of shrubbery Things like that. I think you're required By cal fire To have a defensible space Maintenance plan I think but I can't remember all the details, but just some food for thought. Yeah, I you know, we don't have any Authority right now. So just food for thought I think that's a good point. It's probably more along the lines outside your last primary landscape area That's going to be maintained and it'll be down that hillside So something something to consider Um, also before we started this dialogue, there were no new entrants into the room But now we have two members of the public. So I'd like at this point in time to open up this item for public comment Um, if members of the public would like to comment If you could state your name Ms. Sharon Wright, I'll state your name for you No, it's not There should be a little button on the base of the mic. There you go On that still says red you get it patty Thank you Sharon Wright. I'm from Santa Rosa and thank you.  I I'm here representing St. Joseph hospital. I'm sit on the board. I've been on the board for 11 years and we've had a robust Engagement with the applicant over this because our counts counts our cancer center has patients that come from portland All the way down to san francisco to get their infusion I personally had experience and I know the value of the view that that Our patients have had over the years But the the applicant has been they've been good neighbors They've been great to work with and I just want to comment on a couple of things one You you mentioned the the issue with the landscaping that's probably our greatest Issue concern right now and and while we've had the conversation and we've We've agreed to it. I would like the design review to Make note that the view is still a critical issue for our for our for the neighbors and uh any attention to any landscape materials that might go above and continue and Further block the view would be appreciated. I know that they're they've told us that but I'd like to get that on the record Having sit in the chairs that you have for many years It's it's really rewarding to have applicants that are good neighbors And I just want to make sure that they're not acknowledged at being sensitive and being Very generous in and meeting some of the concerns that we've had So thank you for your service and your time Thank you Sharon Am I on thank you My name is Michelle here and I'm the director of operations for the round barn cancer center and I just want to uh reiterate what Sharon was saying and thank the contractor And the landowner for all of their work with us to make this project move forward With consideration of what our patients needs are with that regard to that review that view And I just uh also want to Comment that I look forward to working with the general manager once the project is in place To continue a positive relationship with both the cancer center and the hotel project Thank you Thank you, michelle Any other members of the public wishing to speak on this item? Seeing none, I will close the public comment period And I think to you know address What was said just now and and reiterate what was said earlier by our landscape experts is that you know As the dialogue continues with your neighbor if there are some other tree types that may not Yeah, obstruct the view. Um, it's it's a Push and pull with do we want to see the building or do we want to see past the building? And so I think that there'll be some further dialogue and And even after the trees begin to mature then it's just a maintenance conversation of You know how to keep happy neighbors, so it's on record Sharon and And you've got a good Neighbor, I believe so Any other comments for the applicant? Don thank you for your time Thank you, and I just want to close by saying that you know this has been a process And we're proud to be part of it. It's it's been a win-win And we're we're very we're very glad that we've had the input that we've gotten from I mean the staff's great I mean bill your staff's amazing Amy went on maternity leave and came back and Saw this thing to the to the finish line and Ian and the fire department and public works are just been a great It's a long experience, but it's a great experience. It's going to be a great project when it's done. Thank you It's great to hear thanks Don Okay, uh, let's see we have board member reports. Do we have any board member reports? See no one jump to the mic Do we have department reports? I see head shaking no department reports So, uh, we will go ahead and Adjourn the meeting. Thanks for your time everyone Patty's trying to get a quorum together for the fifth and that


How one of you doubled your subscribers in just one day following a tip in the comments of yesterday's video. Let's see how it was done. So yesterday I made a video where I read your comments and in that video I was talking about one particular person who shared his life story to which many of you shared your YouTube life story and that person was All Games Must Die. He wrote, thanks to George and the Freedom Family in one day my subscribers are on their way to doubling and they have doubled now. Why did that happen? Well it happened because we spotlighted someone who I felt deserved a spotlight and many of you went to check them out. So what's the lesson learned? The lesson learned is we need to do more spotlights and you should do spotlights on your channel for people who you feel deserve it because now look at what All Games Must Die has done. Because of all this attention to a deserving small channel to help him double in one day he said, I really thank you for all this effort and I will start to become more active on the forums as well. He's going to help the rest of you grow, he's going to give you tips, he's going to give you advice, he's going to check out your channels and subscribe to them. You do this for good people and they return it ten times to everyone else. So it's not a one way street, this isn't just for the benefit of All Games Must Die, this is for the benefit of all of you as well who are active in the comments and on the forums. So please do more of this and I also wanted to share that he almost gave up. Look, I almost talked myself out of it. This is relating to the original comment that started this whole process. He almost didn't write it and why didn't he almost write it? Because he thought it was too personal and what did he do? He just chose to go for it. Then you have a decision to make. Am I going to do something or not do something? If you feel it's too personal or if you feel people may not like it, just do it. The reason I recommend to just do it is because even if it doesn't turn out well, what have you lost?  But look at what the benefit can be, doubling your subscribers in one day, getting all this positive reinforcement from everyone else in the freedom family. You are giving up so much potential benefit at the risk of only losing a little bit of negative. So just do it. That's the theme of today's video. If you're ever thinking of doing something and you're wondering should I, should I not? Just do it. So we had a long conversation here with All Games Must Die and you're welcome to read it if you're interested. And the lesson as well for me is I need to pick more of you deserving people who leave great comments and feature them in episodes of The George Show. So they, you too, can also be motivated to do great things when your subscriber counts double. Now someone who isn't a very optimistic person may say, oh, come on, George. He had only like 35 subscribers. So now he has 60 or 70. Big whoop-de-deal. It is a big deal and here's why. We did an analysis of who has the most benefit, who can grow the most in terms of revenue compared to effort. So let's say a channel has a million subscribers. Big channel, huge channel. We have a few of those in freedom. How much effort would it take to double that? Quite a bit. Now let's take a channel of 35 subscribers. How much effort does it take to double that? Quite a bit less. Now when someone is earning a dollar, they get really excited when that doubles to $2 and the effort required is much less than when you're earning $100,000 a month to double that to $200,000. So my point is the people who can get the most excited by doubling their channel and revenue and everything are the people who don't have to spend as much effort to do it. So that's why we want to focus on the small channels because there's a lot of you.  That's not true either. And here's why. Just go to youtube.com slash freedom slash about. And you'll see that the average channel size in freedom is 1,000 subscribers. That's the average. Obviously, we have a few channels that have 35 subscribers and we have a few channels that have a million subscribers. And the average is 1,000. How do I get that? Well, look, there's 135,000 channels and there's 148 million subscribers. So let's just make this 135 million just for the sake of argument. 135 million divided by 135,000 is 1,000. So it's actually more than 1,000 subscribers per channel on average because this is more than 135 million. But you get the idea of how I come to that conclusion. So freedom is not just full of small channels.  And my whole point of this inspirational video is to help you small guys realize that you have the easiest path to growth because it's easier for you to double. So let's help each other grow together and let's work together as a family to watch each other's videos, read each other's comments, leave insightful comments down there beneath these episodes of The George Show and I will pick more comments that I believe are really special and feature them just like I did with All Games Must Die. And I bet we will have the same result. So who's with me? And who am I? I am George, CEO and founder of Freedom. Today it's the shirt with a little small freedom. And I hope you'll leave your comments below. What should you comment about? Well, share your YouTube story if you haven't already. Leave your best tip for people to help them grow faster. Give people reviews. Do anything you feel will help channels grow. Now here's my tip. Start your videos with the best 10 seconds. Do not start with your intro. Do not start with, hi guys, how are you doing this fine morning? No, put the best 10 seconds into the beginning of your video, even if you have to cut it from the middle to put it into your beginning so that you hook your audience. Get them excited. Make them want to watch the rest of the video. If you don't do that, then they'll either run away right away from the video or they'll skip ahead to some random point, which probably won't be your most exciting 10 seconds, and they'll get bored. And then they'll run away. So help your viewers figure out why they should watch each and every single one of your videos by putting the most exciting moments, the most emotional part at the very beginning, and then play the rest of the video. Does that help? Does that make sense? Do you think that's a good idea? Tell me in the comments below. We'll see you on the next episode of And We Will Grow Together as a Family, because this is the freedom family. You are part of it, we are all part of it, and we're all growing together. So grow with us and partner with freedom. That Play Now button right there on the video bar is all you need to click to get started.


For more videos on people's struggles, please subscribe to our YouTube channel. Hundreds of Venezuelans took to Plaza Bolivar in Caracas on Sunday, October 17th to reject the illegal extradition of special diplomatic envoy Alex Saab to the United States. Alex Naim Saab Moran is currently in the custody of the United States law enforcement in Miami after having been extradited from the Republic of Cabo Verde to face prosecution in the Southern District of Florida. On Saturday, October 16th after 16 months fighting the United States request for extradition from the Republic of Cabo Verde, Saab arrived in the United States. Saab had his initial court appearance today at 1 p.m. in Federal Magistry Court in Miami before U.S. Magistry Judge John J. O'Sullivan. Alex Saab was extradited on October 16th after being detained in Cape Verde for 491 days following his arrest on June 12, 2020. En nombre de mis hijos y mío, Camila Saab, quiero denunciar el día de hoy la concresión de un segundo secuestro a mi esposo, Alex Saab, con la complicidad del gobierno de Cabo Verde que realizó junto a los Estados Unidos el día de 16 de octubre del 2021. He was arrested at the request of the U.S. government at the Amalcar Cabral International Airport on the island of Saab. The Venezuelan government released an official statement condemning Saab's kidnapping by the U.S. with the complicity of Cape Verdean authorities. Saab, a businessman of Colombian origins, was sanctioned by the U.S. Department of Treasury in July 2019. He was alleged to have personally profited from overvalued contracts, including the government's food subsidy program, CLAP. These allegations, however, were not backed up with concrete evidence. The sanction against Saab was issued in the midst of intensified attacks against Venezuela in 2019. The U.S. had even pushed to advance a coup d'etat against the democratically elected government of Nicolás Maluro by using an opposition leader, Juan Guaidó, who unilaterally declared himself president of the country on January 23, 2019. Since Saab's arrest in June 2020, Venezuela had been waging a campaign for his release and to block his extradition to the United States. His defense team brought the case, the Cape Verdean courts, to appeal his illegal arrest. The constitutional court of Cape Verde declared the appeal for the unconstitutionality of the illegal detention of Saab inadmissible. Venezuelan authorities also denounced that during his detention, Saab suffered from torture from Cape Verdean authorities. Saab's legal team had requested Cape Verdean authorities to transport him to the capital, Praia, to receive necessary medical treatment as he suffers from multiple ailments, including cancer. Meanwhile, Venezuela's representative to the dialogue process in Mexico, Jorge Rodriguez, announced that the national government of Venezuela is suspending its participation in the dialogues. The dialogue process between Venezuela and President Nicolás Maduro and the far-right opposition led by Juan Guaidó could provide for a gradual lifting of the U.S. sanctions against Venezuela and its leaders. Rodriguez added that the life of Saab is in danger and held the governments of the U.S. and Cape Verde responsible for whatever happens to him. He also highlighted the multiple illegal elements of his detention, noting that Saab should enjoy diplomatic immunity as he was on official diplomatic business when he was arrested in June 2020. On March 15, 2021, the Court of Justice of the Economic Community of West African States had ordered the immediate release of Alex Saab. It also ordered a payment of $200,000 in reparation for the violation of human rights following his illegal detention since 12 June 2020 at the request of the United States. The United Nations Human Rights Committee had also called in the Cape Verdean government to halt Saab's extradition. The Venezuelan government maintains that the persecution is yet another part of the campaign of aggression from Washington against the Bolivarian Republic. Saab himself had stated that the process against him has a clear political motivation, which is to overthrow President Maduro and force Venezuela to submit.