Location: Milpitas, California
Client: City of Milpitas
Scope: Environmental Analysis
Project
Amdon Investments LLC proposed development of a Hilton Home2 Suites hotel on a 3.17-acre parcel within a 6.3-acre property. The proposed hotel is designed to include 150 rooms in a 5-story structure, with a building footprint of 22,000 square feet. The hotel building is surrounded by landscaping and surface parking. The Project involved subdividing the property into two parcels, with one being developed for the hotel. The project site lies approximately ½ mile south of Dixon Landing Road near the I-880 exit. The site is surrounded by various commercial, industrial, and warehouse land uses, with residential and recreational open space uses located nearby.
The project required a Conditional Use Permit to (a) permit operation of a hotel in an industrial zone; (b) permit an exception to the floor area ratio performance standard; and (c) to permit a building height greater than 35 feet, after a required finding from the Planning Commission.
Issues
The primary environmental issue to emerge from the analysis was the project’s location within a FEMA Special Flood Hazard Area, owing to its proximity to Lower Penitencia Creek. The project would thus place structures within a 100-year flood hazard area and, for that reason, was required to comply with the City floodplain ordinances. The finish floor elevations must be set a minimum of one (1) foot above the 100-year base flood elevation and the project cannot incur more than one (1) foot of cumulative impact on the floodplain. This potential impact would be reduced through implementation of the project’s proposed mitigation to raise
Outcome
Lamphier-Gregory conducted an Initial Study, resulting in the preparation of a Mitigated Negative Declaration, which was published for public review in January 2018 and adopted by the City of Milpitas Planning Commission in March.
