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2010-02-03 DRC Final MinutesCITY OF ORANGE DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE MINUTES -FINAL February 3, 2010 Committee Members Present: Bill Cathcart Tim McCormack Craig Wheeler Joe Woollett Committee Members Absent: Adrienne Gladson Staff in Attendance: Ed Knight, Assistant Community Development Director Robert Garcia, Associate Planner Sonal Thakur, Assistant Planner Sandi Dimick, Recording Secretary Administrative Session - 5:00 P.M. Chair McCormack opened the Administrative Session with a review of the Agenda. The Committee Members reviewed the minutes and noted corrections and changes. There was no further discussion. Committee Member Wheeler made a motion to adjourn the Administrative Session. SECOND: Bill Cathcart AYES: Bill Cathcart, Tim McCormack, Craig Wheeler, Joe Woollett NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Adrienne Gladson MOTION CARRIED. Administrative Session adjourned at 5:30 p.m. Regular Session - 5:30 P.M. ROLL CALL: Committee Member Gladson was absent. COMMITTEE REORGANIZATION WITH AN EFFECTIVE DATE OF FEBRUARY 17, 2010: Election of Chairperson and Vice-Chairperson Committee Member Woollett made a nomination of Committee Member Cathcart as Chairperson and Committee Member Gladson to remain as Vice-Chairperson. City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 2 of 12 SECOND: Craig Wheeler AYES: Bill Cathcart, Tim McCormack, Craig Wheeler, Joe Woollett NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Adrienne Gladson MOTION CARRIED. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: Opportunity for members of the public to address the Design Review Committee on matters not listed on the Agenda. There was none. CONSENT ITEMS: All matters that are announced as Consent Items are considered to be routine by the Design Review Committee and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of said items unless members of the Design Review Committee, staff, or the public request specific items to be removed from the Consent Items for separate action (1) APPROVAL OF MINUTES: January 20, 2010 Committee Member Wheeler made a motion to approve the minutes from the regular Design Review Committee Meeting of January 20, 2010, with the changes and corrections noted during the Administrative Session. SECOND: Joe Woollett .AWES: Tim McCormack, Craig Wheeler, Joe Woollett NOES; None ABSTAIN: Bill Cathcart ABSENT: Adrienne Gladson City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 3 of 12 AGENDA ITEMS: Continued Items: (2) DRC No. 4398-08 - FLAPPY JACK'S RESTAURANT • A proposal for new landscaping on an existing commercial property for a new restaurant. • 2848 N. Santiago Boulevard • Staff Contact: Sonal Thakur, 714-744-7239, sthakur(cr~,cityoforan~e.or~ • Previous DRC Review: October 21, 2009 • DRC Action: Final Determination Assistant Planner, Sonal Thakur, presented a project overview consistent with the Staff Report. Applicant, Dann Mikkelsen, address on file, stated they had gone back through the plans and eliminated about one-half of the material and coordinated the overall concept a little tighter. The Eucalyptus had been brought back, although it was not something he had wanted to do. The Palm tree was left in with the exception of the Palm tree in the expansion area. There would be shading with the Brisbane along the freeway edge. There would still be space under the trees to view the freeway. There would be some screening behind the restaurant without interfering with any signage. Public Comment None. Chair McCormack opened the item for discussion by the Committee. Committee Member Cathcart stated he had no major concerns with the proposed project. When the Plaza project had been done, he had wanted to remove the Pine trees and put in Palm trees and Dann had shown up with Pine trees. It was okay with him and he had wanted to point that out. There were two different symbols for the same plant on the drawings. Mr. Mikkelsen stated in changing the plant material he may have omitted that correction. Committee Member Cathcart asked if any consideration was taken on the Pine trees, as the Pines in the Plaza drip sap all over the cars? Committee Member Wheeler asked if the applicant was using the same type of Pine tree? Committee Member Cathcart stated yes, they were. Chair McCormack stated the Pine trees would need to be trimmed in October to avoid the sap problem. City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 4 of 12 Committee Member Cathcart stated he liked the current proposal much better than the previous submittal. Chair McCormack stated he had caught the same situation with the different symbols for the same plants; it was okay to do, but it could confuse the contractor. He reviewed the plans with the applicant and stated the plans looked good and he mirrored Committee Member Cathcart's comment that the proposed plans were much better. On the sign he had noticed where the screening was and the Lophostemon was brought all the way down to the ground which would be very small. Mr. Mikkelsen stated the plantings followed the grade and provided some erosion control. Basically the intent was to bring in a low-water plant program. Chair McCormack stated the only thing he had a question on, was there were plantings on a west facing area and with another Tristania it would not block the sign, but would allow shade for the area. Typically most architects would want an accent tree that was sculptural and could be lit, and in adding a tree it would provide shade in the afternoon. He was not requiring another tree, but suggesting the addition. Mr. Mikkelsen stated a tree could be added. They could add a "Heritage" Sycamore tree to the area. Committee Member Wheeler stated there was an article on the Los Angeles County Arboretum website about Liquid Amber trees and that they had been pushing Liquid Amber trees and that they probably had made a mistake and in the proposed plans there was one very close to the foundation. Applicant, Larry Gibson, address on file, stated the plans called for taking that tree out as it was breaking up the sidewalk. Chair McCormack made a motion to approve DRC No. 4398-08, landscape plans for Flappy Jack's Restaurant, subject to the conditions contained in the Staff Report and with the following suggestion: 1. To add an accent tree and an additional Tristania to the plantings. SECOND: Bill Cathcart AYES: Bill Cathcart, Tim McCormack, Craig Wheeler, Joe Woollett NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Adrienne Gladson MOTION CARRIED. City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 5 of 12 New Agenda Items: (3) DRC No. 4171-06 - T-MOBILE WIRELESS FACILITY • A proposal for installation of twelve (12) antennas, one (1) parabolic antenna, an equipment shelter, and utility line trenching. The proposed project site is located within a Special Linkage Area by the Central and Coastal Orange County Sub-Region of the Natural Community Conservation Plan (NCCP). • SCE Tower -South of Townsend Avenue between Crossgate and Rosemere • Staff Contact: Robert Garcia, 714-744-7231, r~arcia(a~cit ofy orange.org • DRC Action: Recommendation to the Planning Commission Associate Planner, Robert Garcia, presented a project overview consistent with the Staff Report. Applicant, Monica Moretta, address on file, stated she was representing T-Mobile and the project brought before them was a proposal for an attachment of communication wires to an existing Southern California Edison tower. T-Mobile worked with SCE to ensure the equipment would be located in compliance with SCE guidelines. SCE had a master agreement with wireless carriers regarding their compatibility. She was available for any questions the Committee Members had. Public Comment None, Chair McCormack opened the item for discussion by the Committee. Committee Member Cathcart stated in the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) it spoke to lighting features associated with the proposed project. He could understand small fixtures used for emergency or maintenance activities and he asked how often maintenance would occur at the site? Ms. Moretta stated maintenance would occur once a month. Unless there was an emergency, normal maintenance took a couple of hours. If an antennae required replacement it would take more time. Committee Member Cathcart stated with the lights, he presumed most of the maintenance was completed at night. Ms. Moretta stated not necessarily. If the facility had problems at night there would be lighting available in order to service the site at night. The maintenance agreement allowed T-Mobile access to the site 24 hours a day. City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 6 of 12 Committee Member Wheeler stated in reviewing other cell sites he could not recall approving a site that had a chain link enclosure. He had realized that one had been approved at the north end of Orange-Olive Road, which was a chain link enclosure. Mr. Garcia stated there was also another one that had been approved at the SCE power plant on East Chapman. Committee Member Wheeler stated he took a look at the one on North Orange-Olive and it was well maintained and had not looked too bad. He attempted to locate the tower from two different points and the ground was not visible and he felt it would not be very visible on the proposed project site. He would be comfortable with the chain link enclosure with the slats. Ms. Moretta stated they followed the SCE requirements. SCE would allow a CMU enclosure, however, there was an issue with graffiti and they would not be allowed to add any landscape as SCE would prohibit that. They used the slats to mitigate the view of the equipment. Committee Member Wheeler stated he wanted to add to the Conditions of Approval, a reference to the mitigation measures included in the MND. Committee Member Cathcart stated he presumed that the noise from the site would be noise generated during the construction of the site and that once the site was completed there would not be noise from the site. Ms. Moretta stated there would be noise from the site during construction; after the site was up and running the noise generated would be from the air conditioning units. The site would be 500' away from any residential structures and the enclosure also assisted in isolating the noise. The air conditioning units were only active during high daytime temperatures. Chair McCormack stated he had a question on page 23 of the MND. It stated a native mature Sugar Bush (Rhus ovata) south of the project would be superficially trimmed as part of the proposed project. He asked if there was anything contained in the document that would provide the standards for how the plant would be pruned? He would want the plant pruned per arboricultural standards and if the plant died it would need to be replaced. He wondered if that requirement could be added as a condition? Mr. Garcia stated he would review the mitigation measures. Chair McCormack stated if the trimming was done incorrectly it could be a loss of habitat. Ms. Moretta stated it could be replaced as long as the plant was outside of the tower. Her understanding was that SCE was responsible for the maintenance of the area on the site. As the construction area would be directly under the tower, if there was vegetation growth in the construction area the plant could be moved somewhere else. Committee Member Cathcart asked if Chair McCormack was concerned with the statement "superficially trimmed." City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 7 of 12 Chair McCormack stated that was not an arboricultural term and he was not certain how that related to limbs being cut. It appeared very vague and he wanted clarification. Committee Member Woollett stated he was in concurrence with what had been discussed. Committee Member Wheeler made a motion to recommend approval to the Planning Commission of DRC No. 4171-06, T-Mobile Wireless Facility, subject to the conditions contained in the Staff Report and with the additional conditions: 1. Reference of the mitigation measures listed in the Mitigated Negative Declaration. 2. The Sugar Bush be trimmed to arboreal cultural standards and if the Sugar bush was damaged that a similar bush be planted. SECOND: Tim McCormack AYES: Bill Cathcart, Tim McCormack, Craig Wheeler, Joe Woollett NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Adrienne Gladson MOTION CARRIED. City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 8 of 12 (4) DRC No. 4416-09 - T-MOBILE LA03006 • A proposal to locate a wireless communications facility in the form of a light standard on the top level of an existing residential parking structure. An associated 8' tall equipment enclosure is also proposed and would remove two parking spaces. • 1235 W. Town & Country Road • Staff Contact: Sonal Thakur, 714-744-7239, sthakur a,cit o~nge.org • DRC Action: Recommendation to the Planning Commission Assistant Planner, Sonal Thakur, presented a project overview consistent with the Staff Report. Applicant, Monica Moretta, address on file, stated she was representing T-Mobile and the proposed project was of a similar design that had been presented previously for the Verizon Facility at the Windsor Apartments. They had wanted back in 2008 to combine the projects, however, Verizon had been in an advanced project stage and T-Mobile had just begun. The Verizon project had given them a footprint of the equipment enclosure and there was one light standard available that they could utilize for their equipment installation. She presented photos of the site and the equipment enclosure that they proposed to construct. She pointed out the Verizon equipment that was mounted on the light standards and the equipment T-Mobile proposed to install on the site. She had taken photos of the Verizon facility during construction to allow the Committee Members to get a better understanding of how the cabinets were installed. The equipment enclosure would be constructed of prefabricated steel that could be painted any color. She presented photos of a finished equipment cabinet installation. Public Comment None. Chair McCormack opened the item for discussion by the Committee. Committee Member Woollett asked if any of the current DRC Members were on the Committee when the project had been previously presented? Committee Member Wheeler stated he was. Committee Member Woollett stated the item had been discussed at great length and he thought it was a good idea to match the other equipment. One of the primary concerns was the cabling and where it would be placed and what it would look like. He would want a bit more information on how the cable would be installed from the equipment cabinet to the pole. Ms. Moretta presented a photo and stated there was separation between the two levels. T-Mobile would be coring from the first level to the fourth level with conduit being run to the fourth level with a coaxial separation from the cabinet to the light. There would be a cover next to the pole. She presented a photo of the Verizon installation which would be similar to the equipment T- City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 9 of 12 Mobile would use. Any exposed coaxial cables would be covered. The cable would be fed through the inside of the pole and come out where the antennas would be installed. Committee Member Wheeler stated there would be a metal box on the footing that would connect the cabling to the pole, it appeared to be very well done. It would be punched up through the deck to a metal box and there would not be any exposed conduit. Chair McCormack stated he had not visited the site and stated the cable could not go into the footing. Committee Member Wheeler stated the cable went next to the footing, next to the pedestal that the light was on, into a metal box that was cored down through the slab. It ran along the ceiling of the upper level to the equipment enclosure. He wanted to ensure that the cable on the north elevation would only go as high as the ceiling of the lowest level, as they had not wanted any exposed cable on the outside of the wall. He wanted it to be clear that the riser on the north exterior wall only would go as high as the ceiling of the first level and the additional run would be concealed. Ms. Moretta stated it would be installed in that manner and it was also a requirement from the property owner. The Committee Members reviewed the drawings and the conduit and coaxial covers. Committee Member Wheeler stated on the existing poles it had not appeared that the light fixtures were extended away from the poles and the existing antennas were directly below the light fixtures. He was concerned that the antennas would shadow the light. Ms. Thakur stated that was something that had been discussed at the Staff level and Crime Prevention had asked that a condition be added for the review of the photometric plans to ensure sufficient lighting. Committee Member Wheeler stated for the required photometrics that either Verizon or the property owner might need to extend the lights out on the other light poles, as in the proposed project. On the original installation it had not been done. He reviewed the photos of the Verizon installation. Chair McCormack asked if Verizon had moved their antennas down? Ms. Moretta stated she was not certain if the same requirement or conditions had applied. Chair McCormack stated his thought was that they should all be the same. Committee Member Wheeler stated he agreed, but was not certain if they could ask that the previous installation be corrected. City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 10 of 12 Ms. Moretta stated that through a photometric study they would move the lights out to comply, however, they had no jurisdiction over the existing installation by Verizon. The property owner might want them to make that change. Committee Member Woollett stated that was not part of the proposed project. Chair McCormack asked would the condition for the proposed project apply to the other light standards? Committee Member Woollett stated what was done was done; they could not require a change. Ms. Thakur stated the proposed project would meet the photometric requirements and Staff could contact the previous applicant to discuss possible mitigation measures. Committee Member Cathcart asked if the requirement was aone-foot candle and if the previous installation affected that, could the City ask that a change be made? Ms. Thakur stated the previous project had gone through plan check; she was not certain whether or not there was a photometric study completed. Through the entitlement process it was not a condition. Committee Member Wheeler stated it might be brought to the attention of the property owner for liability reasons. Ms. Thakur stated that was one of the reasons the condition had been added to the proposed project, in light of the increase in residential robberies. Chair McCormack stated if Verizon was reducing the amount of foot candles by their antenna placement the other lights might need to be beefed up to make up for the lighting inadequacy. That was not in their purview to deal with. that issue. He asked if the proposed project would be using the same enclosures as Verizon? Ms. Moretta stated they would be using the same equipment and specs from the Verizon cabinets. Typically they had used block walls or chain link fences. Verizon had used the steel enclosures and they wanted to match those. The steel would be painted and a gray color would be used. They would be contacting the contractor to verify the color match. The T-Mobile cabinet would be 18' x 14', 268 square feet. Ms. Thakur stated the proposed project would be larger. Ms. Moretta stated they would be using one light pole, vs. Verizon that had used three light poles. The T-Mobile installation would use a quad antenna which would provide more power and enable the capacity load to handle calls coming into the facility. Their installation would have five equipment cabinets in the enclosure. They were next to the freeway and near the mall. The calls that were coming into existing T-Mobile facilities were not able to handle the cell traffic that was currently coming in from that area. City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 11 of 12 Chair McCormack asked if the enclosure had a top to it? Ms. Moretta stated yes, it would be fully covered. Committee Member Woollett stated there was a photo, it was not completely enclosed but it had a cover. It was interesting to him that once they had decided it was a good idea to do something in a certain way that it set a precedent to be done the same way again. There was the issue of visual saturation. Just because an installation had been done one way it was not always good to have more of the same. Chair McCormack asked if the equipment enclosure would be exactly the same as the Verizon equipment enclosures? Ms. Moretta stated yes. Committee Member Wheeler stated the enclosure would have horizontal panels. It was a bit unfortunate in one of the exiting locations, as there was a slope and the equipment had horizontal lines on a slope. He had not thought that would occur with the proposed installation. He felt the proposed project was well done. Committee Member Wheeler made a motion to recommend approval to the Planning Commission of DRC No. 4416-09, T-Mobile LA03006, subject to the conditions contained in the Staff Report and with the following additional conditions: 1. Clarify that the exterior power and signal riser on the north face of the parking structure extend only to the height of the ceiling of the first parking level, at which point it will move horizontally on the under side of the ceiling to the point close to or directly below the proposed pole location. 2. Clarify that the light fixture use will be extended out beyond the proposed antennas as shown on detail No. 2 of page A2. And with the following suggestion: 1. Measures be taken to request a similar extended light arm provision for the existing light standards and lighting. SECOND: Bill Cathcart AYES: Bill Cathcart, Tim McCormack, Craig Wheeler, Joe Woollett NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Adrienne Gladson MOTION CARRIED. City of Orange -Design Review Committee Meeting Minutes for February 3, 2010 Page 12 of 12 ADJOURNMENT: Chair McCormack made a motion to adjourn to the next regular scheduled meeting on Wednesday, February 17, 2010. The meeting adjourned at 6:21 p.m. SECOND: Bill Cathcart AYES: Bill Cathcart, Tim McCormack, Craig Wheeler, Joe Woollett NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: Adrienne Gladson MOTION CARRIED.