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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Comm min 1997/04/09MINUTES OF A REGULAR BUSINESS MEETING OF THE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION OF CHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, April 9, 1997 ROLL CALL COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: STAFF PRESENT: Council Chambers Public Services Building 276 Fourth Avenue, Chula Vista Chair Tarantino, Commissioners Davis, Thomas, Willett, O'Neill and Aguilar Commissioner Ray Assistant Planning Director Lee, Assistant City Attorney Moore and Planning Technician Steichen PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Chair Tarantino led in the pledge of allegiance to the flag and a moment of silent prayer. MOTION TO EXCUSE - none INTRODUCTORY REMARKS Chair Tarantino reviewed the composition of the Planning Commission, its responsibilities and the format of the meeting. Chair Tarantino then introduced the two new Planning Commissioners, giving the background of Patricia Aguilar and Kevin O'Neill, and welcoming them to the Commission. He commended the City Council for their expediency in the appointments. APPROVAL OF MINUTES MS (Davis/Willett) to approve the minutes of 2/12/97, 2/19/97 and 2/26/97. In response to Chair Tarantino, Attorney Moore suggested that the two members were not members of the Commission at the time of the meetings, they should not vote on the minutes. For the meetings of 2/12 and 2/26, there were sufficient members of the current Planning Commission to have a majority. The only one which may be problematic was the one dated 2/19 which could be brought back at the next meeting. PC Minutes -2- April 9, 1997 Chair Tarantino asked that the minutes of 2/19 be brought back at the next Planning Commission meeting. The rest of the Commissioners would vote on the meetings for 2/12 and 2/26. VOTE: 4-0-2 (Commissioners Aguilar and O'Neill abstained; Commissioner Ray absent) to approve the minutes of 2/12/97 and 2/26/97. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS - None ITEM 1: PUBLIC HEARING: GPA-97-02/PCZ-97-02 AND PCM-97-18; REQUEST 1) AMENDING THE GENERAL PLAN FROM "PROFESSIONAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE COMMERCIAL" TO "RETAIL COMMERCIAL", 2) REZONING FROM C-C (CENTRAL COMMERCIAL) FOR .93 ACRES OF LAND LOCATED AT THE SOUTHEAST QUADRANT OF "H" STREET AND I-5, AND 3) ADOPTION OF THE "GATEWAY PLAZA SPECIFIC PLAN" - BARON LAND LLC/CITY OF CHULA VISTA Planning Technician Steichen stated that this is a request for a General Plan Amendment/Rezone and Specific Plan in order to change the allowable land uses for a project site located at 720 and 730 "H' Street. The site is considered in the General Plan as a "gateway" into the City. This site currently consists of a 4,760 square foot commercial building with a total of 24 parking spaces provided on-site. The current zoning designation of C-V-P provides limited land use options to the existing commercial building. Residents of the Bison Mobile Home Park to the south have expressed concerns over types of land uses which would be allowed with the proposed zone change to C-C. Staff further recommends adoption of a Specific Plan to place restrictions on land uses allowed under the proposed C-C zone and also to maintain previous guidelines aimed at enhancing the City's gateway. These guidelines which are currently outlined under the P modifier in the C-V zone relate to landscaping and signage. Staff has made two changes to the list of uses in the proposed Specific Plan: 1) Item B has been clarified to indicate that the decisions on those items listed on conditional uses would be by the Zoning Administrator. 2) Item B.3 has been clarified to include consumption of alcohol on-site. Staff believes the best way to control the extent to which the serving of alcohol will be accessory to the main use is by processing an Administrative CUP. Numerous residents of the mobile home park expressed concerns (including submission of a petition) over the liberal amount of uses which would be allowed under the proposed C-C zone. This includes such things as bars and night clubs. It should be noted that a lot of these same uses are currently allowed under the current C-V-P zone with a conditional use permit. Staff recommends the Planning Commission adopt the resolution recommending the City Council amend the General Plan, rezone the property and adopt the Specific Plan. Chair Tarantino asked for questions or comments from the Commissioners. PC Minutes -3- April 9, 1997 Commissioner Thomas asked if the Baja Lobster restaurant had a conditional use permit; do they sell alcohol? Mr. Steichen responded that they do sell alcohol, and that was not a requirement at the time under the C-V zone that they obtained a conditional use permit for the sale of alcohol. It would now be a requirement. Mr. Lee stated that it would be under this amendment, but it would not be retroactive, so they would not be required to apply for one. Commissioner Aguilar had a related question. Under A, permitted uses, restaurants. If a restaurant was going to serve alcohol, would it have to get a conditional use permit from the zoning administrator? Mr. Lee responded in the affirmative. The difficulty is that we could consider it as an accessory use. The problem is trying to determine what is accessory. In looking at the size of the parcel, the size of the building and the frequency that you might have, it appeared that the simplest way is to have it through the use permit process. That is consistent with the present direction of the City Council in the Neighborhood Commercial Zone. Mr. Lee noted that this parcel had a lot of characteristics (size and relationship to the residential areas) that would also be found in the neighborhood commercial zone. The only difference was that it is located on "H" Street and one of the gateways. Commissioner Aguilar questioned the other two items under B, Conditional Uses: service station, mini-mart in conjunction with service station, stating that she was not clear why those were included because since this was an existing project. Mr. Lee indicated that it was consistent with the zone and also consistent with the visitor commercial zone. The existing AM/PM market would have an existing conditional use permit. Commissioner Aguilar questioned the staff report where it mentioned a mitigated negative declaration. Mr. Steichen stated that it was not mitigated. Commissioner Davis commented that the revised list of conditional uses included the sale of alcoholic beverages for off-site uses or consumption on-site, but the prohibited uses were the beer bars, the liquor store, the cocktail lounge. It seemed like a conflict having those as a CUP but prohibited in the zoning. Mr. Lee indicated that we could then determine the seating capacity of a restaurant and whether the sale of alcohol was directly related to the food service area versus a separate bar area. It would be very confusing if it was under a use permit because of the way the prohibited uses are spelled out. Thinking in terms of the size of this area and the possibility of uses coming in, it is going to be extremely limited. It is not something that is going to happen every day. PC Minutes -4- April 9, 1997 Commissioner Davis asked that, when you have off-site sale of alcoholic beverages, you are not thinking of a liquor store, you are thinking of a mini-mart with a service station? Mr. Lee answered in the affirmative. This being the time and the place advertised, Chair Tarantino opened the public hearing. He had two speaker slips, but they were only for answering questions. If the Commissioners had any questions, Matt Peterson and Jim Clarke were in the audience willing to answer questions. Commissioner Davis asked the applicant representatives if they were supportive of staff's recommendation and everything that has been presented to us as far as the need for the CUP in different areas? Matt Peterson, 530 "B' Street, Suite 2300, San Diego, CA with the law firm of Peterson and Price representing the applicant Baron Land, responded in the affirmative. Chair Tarantino, seeing no one else wishing to speak, closed the public hearing and asked for Commissioner deliberation. Commissioner Willett stated that he had talked to the people in the area,, who were very happy when he explained the proposal. MS (Willett/Davis) to adopt the draft Council resolution amending the land use designation from profession and administrative commercial to retail commercial with the data presented at the meeting and the exhibits attached hereto. Chair Tarantino asked Commissioner Willett if that also included the adoption of the recommendation that the City Council adopt the negative declaration? Willett responded in the affirmative. Commissioner Thomas indicated that traffic was a problem the Planning Commission could not deal with. If there was anything the Planning Commission can do to make this more marketable and appealing, like change some zoning, he thought it should be done. Commissioner Aguilar had a concern regarding the conditional uses. If the gateway plaza were demolished in the future, and the property owner decided he or she wanted to put in a gas station, that could happen just with the approval of the Zoning Administrator? Mr. Lee answered in the affirmative. It would go through design review for the design portion. Commissioner Aguilar indicated that it concerned her because she would not like to see a second service station on that site given that it is a gateway site to the community. If there were going PC Minutes -5- April 9, 1997 to be a service station proposed for that site, she would like to see something like that come back to the Commission for consideration rather than simply having it approved administratively. Mr. Lee assured Commissioner Aguilar that if two gas stations were proposed, staff would take a close look at that. If it is approved by the Zoning Administrator, we send an information item forward to Council. They have the ability to call that forward through this body, too. So there are some checks and balances in there. Commissioner Willett made a suggestion that the evaluation for the feasibility of putting up a 6-foot block wall or something be made because the headlights shine right into the mobile homes and also the way the dumpsters are arranged. Mr. Lee indicated that, when the developmem went in, staff had proposed a 6-foot wall. The residents of the mobile home park came forward and protested that and wanted a lower wall because they wanted to see the activity on "H" Street. They dictated, literally, the height of the wall. VOTE: 6-0 (Ray absent) to approve staff recommendation as amended. ITEM 2: PCA-97-03; CONSIDERATION OF AMENDMENT TO SECTIONS 19.64.150 AND 19.64.155 OF THE MUNICIPAL CODE TO ALLOW FOR RECONSTRUCTION OF NONCONFORMING RESIDENTIAL UNITS - City Initiated Planning Technician Steichen noted that this amendment was a result of a specific referral from the City Council in conjunction with residents appearing before council expressing concerns over the current Municipal Code restrictions on the reconstruction of nonconforming residential units to those with 60% or less of the building value destroyed. The proposed amendment would allow for 100% resconstruction of residential units which are nonconforming due to zoning and/or density which are partially or completely destroyed and would not apply to industrial zoned properties. Mr. Steichen said that staff had evaluated the impact of changing the text to allow 100% rebuilt and had determined there would be negligible impact due to the rarity of such catastrophic events actually occurring and since it would not apply to properties zoned industrial. Staff had received correspondence from the Pacific Southwest Association of Realtors in support of the proposed amendments. In summary, Mr. Steichen stated the proposal was to amend two sections of the Municipal Code. One would address nonconforming structures which are non-residential; the other would address nonconforming structures which are residential. Commissioner Willett asked if there was any definition for the size of the industrially zoned properties, or if it included all industrial regardless of the size. Mr. Steichen replied that it would include all industrial. PC Minutes -6- April 9, 1997 Commissioner Davis felt this amendment had been needed for a long time. Commissioners Willett and Aguilar agreed. This being the time and the place as advertised, the public hearing was declared open. No one wishing to speak, Chair Tarantino closed the public hearing. Commissioner Thomas noted that when there was a catastrophe, the victim seemed to lose. If the Commission could make a simple change to go from 60% to 100% replacement, so the owners could at least build it back to where it was originally. MSC (Davis/Willett) 6-0 (Commissioner Ray absent) to adopt Resolution PCA-97-03 recommending that the City Council adopt an ordinance to amend Sections 19.64.150 and 19.64.155 of the Municipal Code relating to reconstruction of non-conforming residential units. ITEM 3: UPDATE ON COUNCIL ITEMS Assistant Planning Director Lee noted that no specific items from the Planning Commission had moved forward to the City Council; therefore, he had nothing to report. DIRECTOR'S COMMENTS Mr. Lee noted staff had originally anticipated a workshop on the MSCP the following week. The National Planning Conference had been held in San Diego the past week, and staff had been very involved in hosting tours, staffing exhibits, etc., and were also trying to get ready for the City's Expo the following Saturday. As a result, the workshop needed to be held later in the month. Mr. Lee suggested a potential workshop either on the 23rd or, preferably, the 30th. The items for the regular meeting of the 23rd had also been moved because of information needed from other departments. A new schedule would be given to the Commissioners. Comanissioner Davis clarified that there would be a joint meeting with the City Council and GMOC on April 29 and a workshop on the 30th. Mr. Lee concurred. Chair Tarantino noted that he may not be able to attend the workshop on the 30th because of family obligations. COMMISSION COMMENTS Commissioner Willett stated that he had the opportunity to set up a visit to the Olympic Training Center of the American Planning Association representatives along with Mr. Bazzel of Planning. He commended Mr. Bazzel for his presentation, and said that there were many comments from those attending stating they wished their cities had the planning that Chula Vista did. Commissioner Willett noted some of the MSCP areas, open space, etc. that were seen. The comments were very complimentary. Mr. Lee reminded Commissioner Willett that most of these people were from out of state, coming from about 2' of snow! Everything looked good here! PC Minutes -7- April 9, 1997 Commissioner Thomas asked if Mr. Lee could give an update on some projects. Regarding Third and "G", Mr. Lee said it was a new Cox Cable building which had gone through Design Review, an elegant two-story building on the corner with a little commercial on the lower floor. Commissioner Thomas asked about the status of Broadway Business Homes. Mr. Lee replied that they were trying to secure additional or new financing. He did not know the status. Commissioner Thomas noted that at the previous night's Council meeting, the Council had extended the escrow period on the MCA until August 31. They still hope to open by April 1998. Mr. Lee pointed out that the water park was coming along very well. He had visited the site the day before. It was a very imaginative plan, the quality was excellent. The next Design Review meeting would be held on-site in approximately two weeks. Mr. Hice was going full phase with a very dynamic facility. Mr. Lee stated he was very pleased with it. Chair Tarantino noted that a lot of recruiting had been done at the schools in terms of hiring young people. They were going on campus to do the initial screening. Commissioner Willett commented that he had talked with Mr. Bitterlin and had urged him to use mom facilities within the city--buyers and contractors. Commissioner O'Neill asked if them was a project in the works for the old Safeway site. Mr. Lee said the school district would like to locate their facilities at that site. They were also looking for a potential for rezoning of their existing property on Fifth Avenue. Staff had been asked to put that on hold. They were looking at the bond issue as some potential for financing. Mr. Lee understood they were going to put the bond issue on the ballot again in November. Mr. Lee said there is a fairly complicated process going on with the City in relationship to the Veterans Home--a site which is owned by the school district--their proposal on Fifth Avenue, and then the Third Avenue site. It was a three-way agreement. Commissioner O'Neill reported that there was a trailer now sited on that property. He thought there was something he had not heard about. ADJOURNMENT at 7:37 p.m. to the Workshop Meeting of April 16, 1997, at 5:30 p.m. in Conference Rooms 2/3 and thence to the Regular Planning Commission meeting of April 23, 1997, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Nancy Rit~ley, Secretaryr Planning Commission (m:\homeXplanning\nancy\pc97min\pc4-9.min)