Grace Adult Day Health Care is proposed a new adult day health care (ADHC) center in the MS Industrial Zone. The proposed use will be in an existing building, which is 21,276 square feet, and it is comprised of two separate tenant spaces with three tenants currently occupying the building. The applicant is proposing to use the 13,323 square foot tenant space to the rear of the building along Lawrence Expressway.

Adult day health care centers are California State regulated businesses that provide a full range of health care, rehabilitative, social, psychological, and related support services for the elderly population. Participants spend time with people of similar age and background and participate in therapeutic recreational and social activities that encourage healthy lifestyles.

All ADHC businesses are required to receive a license from the State that is reviewed on a yearly basis. As part of Grace’s state license, they are required to provide door-to-door transportation for participants that cannot walk to the site or cannot be driven by a relative. A detailed description of this transportation and the required parking is provided in Parking and Circulation section.

The applicant states that ADHC businesses are in demand due primarily to the general trend of an aging population and due secondarily to the rise in popularity of these types of programs for seniors. In Santa Clara County, the applicant specifically states that there currently are over 35,000 qualified people age 65+  in the County with only four existing ADHC centers. These four centers can hold a collective maximum of 400 adults.  In addition, the applicant perceives that there is a severe shortage in adult caregivers and nurses in the area.  

A Negative Declaration has been prepared in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act provisions and City Guidelines. An initial study has determined that the proposed project would not create any significant environmental impacts (see Attachment 3, Initial Study).

Use: The existing 59,677 square foot building is comprised of two separate tenant spaces and three separate businesses. The first space fronts along East Arquez Ave. This space is occupied by US Health Work Medical Group, which is a physical therapy rehabilitation center. US Heath sublets a portion of its space to Dr. King, a sports medicine specialist. No hazardous materials are used at the site. The proposed ADHC use would occupy the 13,323 square foot rear tenant space, which fronts nearest to Lawrence Expressway. This space was previously occupied by ComTier, an office/R&D use.

Grace Adult Day Health Care will service primarily adults 65+ in age and who receive Medi-Cal benefits. Individuals attending the center may be eligible:

1. If they have a medical condition that requires treatment or rehabilitative services prescribed by a physician.
2. A physical and/or mental impairment that handicap activities of daily living, but not so serious as to require 24-hour institutional care.
3. A reasonable expectation that preventive services will maintain or improve the present level of functioning.
4. A high chance of further deterioration and probable institutionalization if ADHC services were not available.

This center is primarily for functioning adults to prevent the risk of deterioration of their physical or mental health. For further details regarding the services provided at Grace ADHC, please refer to the applicant’s project description in Attachment 6.

The center will have a maximum of 90 participants at one time, and will be open 9:00am till 3:00pm, Monday through Friday. If the enrollment reaches its maximum participants (90), then the center will have multiple shifts during the day. The average participant stay is about 4 hours, so initially there will be two shifts of 45 participants, which will overlap during the day. These multi-shifts are required in order to pickup and drop off each participant. The maximum number of employees will be 15 and there will be no overnight stays.

Site Layout: Grace ADHC use would occupy a 13,323 square foot tenant space in the rear area of the existing building. The interior of the space is comprised mainly of offices and open floor area. The offices will be used for the physical therapy areas and general office activities. The open floor areas will be used for dinning and the activity areas. There is an existing kitchen area, which was previously used as an office break room. The applicant is not proposing to use this area to prepare meals. All food service will be provided by an outside catering service and the kitchen area will be used for a service and cleaning area.

The applicant is not proposing any major physical improvements to the interior of the space. The restrooms will be upgraded to meet current accessibility standards and the tenant space will be upgraded to meet current fire safety standards.

There are two proposed alterations to the exterior of the building and to the site. The first is a new drop off and pickup area on the parking lot side of the building. Participants will load and unload from the ADHC provided bus transportation at this new entrance. There is currently a side door into the tenant space and standard parking spaces in this location. The applicant is proposing to convert this door into the primary entrance by re-striping this area for a loading zone and for two handicapped spaces. There will also be an awning above this door to provide protection from the elements.

The second proposed alteration is a new fenced recreation area on the north and east side of the site. The applicant is proposing a four foot high wrought iron fence leading from the east side of the building to the existing fence along the Lawrence Expressway property line. A second fence will lead from the north side of the building to the northern property line (See Attachment 7 for details). This fenced area will form a recreation space of approximately 3,875 square feet. This open space is required under the state ADHC license to allow participants to have an outdoor congregation area. In the space there will be seating, tables, umbrellas, and some additional landscaping. Details of the fence, chairs, and umbrellas are included in Attachment 5. Currently this area is open landscaping and a portion of the rear parking lot. A total of 5 parking spaces will be removed to create this fenced enclosure area. Noise generated from Lawrence Expressway could be an issue for participants in this outdoor area. Generally noise levels are at their highest during peak traffic times when this area will not be in use, therefore Staff did not identify this noise generation as a significant issue.

Architecture: There are no proposed changes to the architecture of the building with the exception of the new canvas canopy over the proposed entrance.

Landscaping: Current landscaping on site consists of multiple lawn areas throughout the site and several substantial trees. The 12,000 square feet of landscaping equals 20% of the total site, where 20% is required by City code.

Parking/Circulation: There are currently 79 parking spaces on site, of which 4 are accessible spaces and 17 are compact. The following table reflects the previous use of the building and the required parking:

The proposed use would require approximately 47 parking spaces under a strict interpretation of the parking requirements in Sunnyvale Municipal Code 19.46.050. This calculation includes 2 accessible spaces. The following table reflects the strict interpretation of the parking requirement for the proposed use:

As part of the ADHC State license requirements, door-to-door transportation must be provided for all participants on a daily basis. A qualified local vendor will provide this transportation with disabled accessible vans. The vans will vary in size from 10 to 28 passengers, and the number of vans will be increased as the number of the participants grows. The vans will not be parked at the Grace center during the day or stored at the center overnight. There are expected to be approximately 4 vans when the number of participants reaches its maximum number of 90.

Staff believes that the actual number of participants who will drive themselves to the site will be very low. This belief is based on information provided by the applicant and through a survey of several other ADHC centers in the area. Most of the participants at Grace ADHC will have some type of physical ailment that would preclude them from driving themselves to the site. Those participants capable of driving will also likely choose to use the free door-to-door transportation for the sake of ease and accessibility. The transportation will be in the form of vans and mini buses that are all accessible and will have a driver that would assist any passengers needing help boarding the bus. Participants will also have the option to use the VTA’s Outreach Transit services.

Staff contacted four other ADHC businesses in the area concerning the number of participants who drive on a daily basis. The first, MACSA ADHC in San Jose stated that only 1 or 2 or their 95 participants drive and park at the site. Typically their participants take the free transportation or arrive through the VTA Outreach Transit. Of the 95 participants, it was estimated that there were 20 drop offs from VTA Outreach in the morning and 20 pickups in the afternoon. The second business, Great Endeavor ADHC in San Jose, claimed that none of its 60 participants drove. All 60 either utilize the free transportation or arrive through VTA Outreach. A third business, Elderly Care ADHC in Santa Cruz, stated that none of its 137 participants drive themselves. Most participants arrive by the facility’s free transportation or are dropped off by a private party. They estimate a 3% drop off rate. The fourth business, Avenidas in Palo Alto, acknowledged that none of their 45 participants drive. Similar to the other ADHC’s, all participants arrive by the facility’s free transportation or utilize VTA Outreach.

Staff believes that the City’s current parking standards do not directly address the proposed use’s projected parking requirements due to the State requirements for transportation . The actual parking that will be necessary at the site will be similar to the following parking ratios from the City Municipal Code:

This scenario assumes that 90% of the participants would be utilizing the free transportation. The other 10% would require 9 spaces and the 15 employees would require 15 spaces. The facility’s free transport vans will not be parked on site at any time. This scenario would require 24 spaces for Grace and 40 for the existing medical office uses. There are a total of 74 spaces available at the site, so there would be 10 extra spaces remaining at the site under this parking scenario.

The proposed modifications of the rear parking area to create the open space recreation area would reduce the number of available parking spaces on site by 5 spaces, from 79 down to 74 spaces. The proposed parking ratio in the above matrix has already accounted for this reduction of 5 spaces. Staff does not believe that this reduction will have a significant effect on the number of spaces necessary to support this use.

Staff has included several conditions of approval that will address the nonconforming parking situation and the proposed uses unusual parking requirements. Among them, 40 of the 74 parking spaces available on site are to be made available for the existing medical office uses. Grace ADHC will require 15 spaces for employees and 9 for driving participants. The remaining 10 spaces would be available solely for Grace ADHC’s use. If Grace ADHC requires more than these 10 spaces, then a modification to the Use Permit would be required. Please refer to Attachment 2 for the Conditions of Approval.

The proposed project complies with current development standards with the exception of required parking, as discussed. No further improvements are required at this time.

There are no expected impacts to the adjoining tenants in the existing building or to the surrounding area. The adjoining tenant uses are both medical office uses with physical therapy businesses. The surrounding uses on adjacent parcels are generally consistent with the Industrial and Service Zone. The uses include general retail, general office, health club, and medical offices. There are also a church and a childcare facility on nearby parcels which are in the MS Zone. Please refer to the aerial photo of the site showing the locations of the surrounding uses in Attachment 4.

In order to approve a Use Permit, either of the following findings must be made:

• Staff was able to make the required Findings, as located in Attachment 1.

No fiscal impacts other than normal fees and taxes are expected.

1. Approve the Use Permit with attached conditions.
2. Approve the Use Permit with modified conditions.
3. Deny the Use Permit.

Alternative 1.

1. The proposed use attains the objectives and purposes of the General Plan of the City of Sunnyvale as the project.

2. The proposed use is desirable, and will not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or injurious to the property, improvements or uses within the immediate vicinity and within the Zoning District.

In addition to complying with all applicable City, County, State and Federal Statues, Codes, Ordinances, Resolutions, the Permittee expressly accepts and agrees to comply with the following Conditions of Approval for this Permit.

1. Obtain Building Permits prior to construction for the proposed work at the site.
2. The conditions of approval shall be reproduced on a page of the plans submitted for a Building permit for this project.
3. The Use Permit for the use shall expire if the use is discontinued for a period of one year or more.
4. Hours of operation shall be limited to the following hours:
   Monday through Friday 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. The maximum number of participants at any given time will not exceed 90.
5. No food preparation is allowed on site. Only food service from an outside vendor.
6. Door-to-door transportation must be provided for all participants on a daily basis.
7. There are a total of 74 spaces available at the site, of these, 40 of the 74 are to be made available for the existing medical office uses in the front tenant space at 897 Kifer. Grace ADHC will require 24 spaces. The remaining 10 spaces are available solely for Grace ADHC’s use. If Grace ADHC requires more than these 10 spaces, then a modification to the Use Permit is required.
8. Obtain a business license from the City of Sunnyvale Revenue Division prior to commencement of use.
9. Obtain a State ADHC license.
10. An additional fee of $50 is required for posting of the Notice of Determination with Santa Clara County. This is a new fee from the County that began on July 1, 2003.