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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2006-03-22 PC MINS MINUTES OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA, CALIFORNIA 6:00 p.m. Wednesday, March 22, 2006 Council Chambers 276 Fourth Avenue Chula Vista, CA 6:03:04 PM CALL TO ORDER: ROLL CALL I MOTIONS TO EXCUSE: Members Present: Cmrs. Felber, Bensoussan, Madrid, Hom, Nordstrom, Tripp Staff Present: Jim Hare, Assistant Planning Director John Schmitz, Principal Planner Richard Zumwalt, Associate Planner Elisa Cusato, Deputy City Attorney III APPROVAL OF MINUTES: February 22, 2006 MSC (Madrid/Nordstrom) to approve minutes of February 22, 2006 as submitted with Cmr. Horn abstaining. 6:07:02 PM 1. PUBLIC HEARING: PCS 06-10; Consideration of a Revised Tentative Subdivision Map for Brookfield Shea Otay Ranch Sectional Planning Area (SPA) Village 11. Cmr. Hom recused himself from the dais. Background: Harold Phelps reported that Brookfield Shea Otay Ranch proposes to revise the tentative subdivision map in order to utilize the total units authorized in the Village 11 Sectional Planning Area (SPA) Plan. This tentative map revision proposes to transfer units from various neighborhoods to a multi-family project in Neighborhood R-17. Staff Recommendation: That the Planning Commission adopt Resolution PCS 06-10 recommending that the City Council approve the Revised Tentative Subdivision Map in accordance with the findings and subject to the conditions contained therein. 6:14:09 PM Public Hearing Opened. Planning Commission Minutes -2- March 22, 2006 Ron Gruno, Brookfield Shea Otay Ranch stated he was available to answer questions and thanked the Commission for their consideration of their proposal. Public Hearing Closed. 6:16:13 PM MSC (Nordstrom/Madrid) (5-0-0-1) that the Planning Commission adopt Resolution PCS 06-10 recommending that the City Council approve the Revised Tentative Subdivision Map in accordance with the findings and subject to the conditions contained therein. Motion carried. 6:17:26 PM 2. PUBLIC HEARING: PCS 06-02; Consideration of application for the proposed conversion of the existing 336-unit Missions at Sunbow apartment complex to 336 condominium units for individual ownership - LDM Sun bow, LLC. Staff recommends that public hearing be continued to April 26, 2006. MSC (Madrid/Nordstrom) that the Planning Commission continue public hearing to April 26, 2006. Motion carried. 6:19:32 PM 3. PUBLIC HEARING: Consideration of an amendment to various Sections of Title 19 to regulate fee-based Check Cashing, Deferral Deposit, Payday Advance and similar businesses. 6:21:22 PM Background: Jim Hare reported that on March 8, 2006 the Planning Commission took public testimony, directed staff to explore issues raised by the Commission and industry reps, and continued the public hearing to March 22,2006. Mr. Hare reviewed, as outlined in staff's report, the following issues that were raised at the March 8th meeting: 1. With a CUP, could it be appropriate to locate in other zones? 2. Provide backup and statistics for claims of crime and neighborhood impacts. 3. Confirm the liquor store locations on the map 4. Determine the rationale behind prohibition of Sunday hours 5. Determine need and capacity to regulate multiple providers or secondary outlets 6. Review the industry markup of the Oakland Ordinance 7. Find and evaluate controls by others 6:38:24 PM 6:43:26 PM 6:45:27 PM 6:55:51 PM 7:19:05 PM Planning Commission Minutes March 22, 2006 -3- 8. Determine if a criteria that the outlet must offer referral to credit counseling is legal/feasible Richard Preuss, Police Community Relations Specialist clarified that their concern is not with check cashing stores, but rather the isolated incidences of criminal activity or disorderly conduct associated with certain patrons of these stores once they've left the store with money in their pockets. Mr. Preuss reviewed the stats depicting 21 sites ranked in order of most frequent calls for service with a total overall number of 73 calls for service. These calls range from disturbances, drunk in public, forgery, and some theft. Mr. Preuss concluded by saying that the Police Department would like the opportunity to work out a security plan with as many businesses as possible because it helps both the business and also maintains the quality of life for the surrounding community. Commission Discussion: Cmr. Felber inquired if there is a difference between criminal activity of primary check cashing establishments, of secondary uses and of banks. Mr. Preuss stated it varies; for instance, there are more robberies at banks because of the amount of money on hand, while some check cashing stores don't even have cash on the premises. Cmr. Bensoussan stated she would like the ordinance to clearly define the difference between the primary and secondary use businesses. Cmr. Tripp stated that this is a market-driven industry, and he struggles with the notion of attempting to regulate a business based on a concerns for public health, safety and welfare due to alleged criminal activity that, in his opinion, has not been corroborated with appropriate stats from the Police Department. Mr. Preuss stated that the Police Department doesn't want to see any business disappear, but would like to work with most businesses in working out security plans; unfortunately there are some check cashing establishments that don't necessarily want to work with the Police Department. Cmr. Bensoussan asked if the zoning ordinance trumps the Urban Core Specific Plan, and what would happen if they are not in sink. Mr. Hare stated that the UCSP is the zoning for the plan area and to the best of his recollection, check cashing is a conditionally permitted use within the 7:23:04 PM 7:23:21 PM 7:27:50 PM 7:32:32 PM Planning Commission Minutes -4- March 22, 2006 UCSP. If Council were to make a policy decision on this, what we'd do is integrate the zoning ordinance standards into the Urban Core matrix. Open Public Hearing: Karl Higgins, stated he opposes the ordinance for the following reasons: 1.) the ordinance doesn't effectively regulates secondary use check cashers and liquor stores. The stats provided by the Police Department clearly demonstrate that the highest calls for service are with the secondary uses; 2.) the draft ordinance unduly burdens the industry by requiring them to spend time and money to create safety and security plans, when the incidences of crime in primary use activities are zero; 3.) the report is vague and the requirements on the industry are onerous; and 4.) no nexus has been established between crime stats and primary uses. Cynthia Morgan, Attorney stated that there are unresolved issues. First, in a conference call meeting with the City, staff had represented that new applicants would go through a non-discretionary process through the Zoning Administrator; this is not what is in the Ordinance. The draft ordinance states that they will go through the regular discretionary permitting process. Secondly, the City's present sign ordinance allows up to 20% coverage of the window area; yet the sign regulations in this draft ordinance allows only 10% coverage of the window area. Lastly, Ms. Morgan stated that the industry has an alternative ordinance that has a number of provisions that they'd like staff to consider implementing under the business license tax. Dan Gwaltney, business owner stated he believes the draft ordinance has some loop holes with the definitions and is concerned that some of his competitors who may not want to follow some best practices are going to find some definition issues to try to get around some of the rules. Another big concern would be the 500 foot prohibition from other financial institutions. Mr. Gwaltney stated he is a financial institution and that is regulated by U.S. Treasury Department. Someone stated tonight that banks are full-service; they are not full service, otherwise he'd be out of business. As stated before, his store is located along side a Wells Fargo Bank, and they work hand-in-hand. In closing, Mr. Gwaltney stated that one of the definitions of a check cashing business is that they must have a Department of Justice permit. In the City of Orange, in order to apply or renew a business license, they require that the applicant submit a copy of their DOJ permit. Furthermore, one of the State laws is that all check cashers must display their fees and DOJ permit. He Planning Commission Minutes -5- March 22, 2006 went out to visit 6 secondary stores and did not see one DOJ permit or fees posted, which is a violation of State law. 7:38:01 PM Natasha Fooman stated that they oppose the draft ordinance because they don't see the nexus between the crime stats and the primary check cashing establishments, as well as the restriction of not being within 500 feet of a bank; we do want to work with the police and staff, but unfortunately the security plan goes way beyond what was anticipated. 7:42:59 PM Public Hearing Closed. 7:43:12 PM Cmr. Madrid stated that a lot of side issues are being made into major issues. Council's directive to staff was to address the over-saturation issue, and a lot has been made on safety and crime, which has detracted from other issues. Another concern is the cycle of indebtedness that a lot of low-income citizens who patronize these stores fall into. Lastly, the City is looking at revitalizing the west side, which is were the concentration of check cashers are located. 8:02:31 PM Cmr. Bensoussan stated she is in favor of the reduced 10% window coverage for signage, and since it doesn't appear new check cashers would be coming in droves to apply, even after the current urgency ordinance expires, she would recommend that staff and the industry be given another two weeks to fine tune the ordinance. 8:05:32 PM Cmr. Nordstrom asked for clarification on the nature of the urgency for this ordinance. Mr. Hare explained that the current urgency ordinance expires April 8. It prohibits the issuance of business licenses for new check cashing establishments. To the extent that the urgency ordinance expires and there's not a permanent replacement ordinance, there would be a period of time where new check cashers could be established without any of the regulations set forth in the draft ordinance. Cmr. Nordstrom concluded by stating that, in his opinion, this ordinance has been exhaustively discussed, and he is anxious to find closure and move on to other important City business. 8:09:02 PM Cmr. Felber stated that he concurs with the two previous statements and would also recommend that the industry take the City's draft ordinance and mark it up with the changes they would like to see and sit down with staff one more time to dialogue. MSC (Hom/Tripp) to re-open public hearing and continue the item to April 12, 2006. Motion carried. Planning Commission Minutes -6- March 22, 2006 8:18:28 PM 4. PUBLIC HEARING: PCC 05-48; Consideration of Conditional Use Permit application for the A&D Automotive project, located at 1084 Broadway. Background: Richard Zumwalt reported that the applicant is requesting a CUP to allow the operation of a 2,400 sf one-story auto repair facility with six parking spaces at 1084 Broadway. It has a General Plan designation of Mixed-Use Residential and a Zoning designation of Commercial Thoroug hfare. In December 2005, the General Plan Update was adopted and it changed the land use designation for this site from Commercial to Mixed Use Residential. Because the area is envisioned for a mix of uses, including Residential, Retail and Office, the General Plan encourages that auto-oriented businesses in this area be relocated. The project can be considered for approval because: 1.) Its zoned Commercial Thoroughfare; 2.) the General Plan does permit commercial uses and does not contain policies which preclude the approval of projects that are consistent with the zoning; and 3.) the applicant filed his application in April 2005 before the General Plan was approved. Staff Recommendation: That the Planning Commission approve Resolution PCC 05-48 for the A&D Automotive Repair garage in accordance with the findings and subject to the conditions contained therein. 8:27:08 PM Commission Discussion: 8:28:10 PM Cmr. Bensoussan inquired if there were any restrictions on hours of operation and if there was any requirement to mitigate noise emanating from the compressors. Mr. Zumwalt responded that the hours of operation are 8:30 to 5:30 Monday thru Saturday. With respect to the compressors, they will be located indoors, therefore, no noise mitigation is required. 8:31:42 PM Public Hearing Opened. Mahmood Oregat, project manager, stated he was available to answer questions from the Commission and thanked them for consideration of their project. 8:33:29 PM Public Hearing Closed. Planning Commission Minutes -7- March 22, 2006 MSC (Felber/Nordstrom) (5-1-0-0) that the Planning Commission approve Resolution PCC 05-48 for the A&D Automotive Repair garage in accordance with the findings and subject to the conditions contained therein. Motion carried. Director's Report: . Jim Hare reviewed the upcoming calendar schedule for April. 8:41 :26 PM Meeting adjourned to April 12, 2006.