ERB Weighs In on Trancas Center

• Owner Seeks to Build an Additional 25,000 Square Feet

BY BILL KOENEKER

The city’s Environmental Review Board met recently to discuss the plans for the remodel and expansion of the Trancas Country Mart.
The ERB panel reviews proposed projects and provides recommendations for planning commission consideration.
The application submitted by the owner Dan Bercu seeks approval to enlarge the shopping center by including a 25,731- square-foot addition to the existing developed pad.
The panel made specific recommendations that will be passed on to the planning panel, including the following:
The ERB recommended that the pedestrian crossing that is located on Trancas Canyon Road be evaluated for pedestrian safety. This crosswalk will connect the offsite parking lot to the shopping center.
In an interview after the meeting, Bercu said the parking lot planned across the street on Trancas Canyon Road would be used by employees and would expand parking spaces beyond the required number of slots.
“We don’t want parking along the street. The parking lot is for employees only,” added Bercu, saying that alone would cut down on the number of pedestrians crossing the street.
The panel also suggested that the fuel modification zones should not be reduced. The shopping center owner said the plans for setting back the buildings are also an effort to meet all of the fuel modification codes.
The review board recommended that the applicant plant native oak trees along the periphery of the project. “I don’t remember anyone saying that. We have a landscaping plan,” added Bercu, who said the plan’s emphasis is on native plants, but that he could see problems with planting trees on the periphery since that might impact the views of neighbors. “I don’t want to plant trees that block views along the road,” he added.
Lastly, the ERB recommended that the applicant not only correct for post- construction drainage flows but also for pre-construction drainage flows.
Bercu said that might be cost prohibitive for the pre-construction flows and insisted the remodeling would be the solution. “The remodel should resolve the runoff issues,” added Bercu, saying the new parking lot would be built with decomposed granite to allow for a non-impervious surface. He said other plans call for a portion of the parking lot near HOWS to be built of non-impervious surface. “The water going off the property will be a lot cleaner,” he said.
The plans also include 11,644 square feet of new retail space east of Trancas Creek, including grading and a new parking lot.
Currently, the owner wants to also build a 2100-square-foot temporary structure that is 19 feet in height.
A variance is sought for parking in excess of 300 feet from the retail use it serves—the parking lot planned on Trancas Canyon Road across the street—conditional use permits for the operation of each of the two proposed restaurants and two new alternative onsite wastewater treatment systems.
Bercu said, if the approval process goes without a hitch, he hopes to begin construction on the two restaurants in several months and start on other aspects of the remodeling plan by the end of 2009.