Loading...
2013 - March 18Planning Commission Meeting Planning Commission City of Orange March 18, 2013 Page 1 of 9 March 18, 2013 Monday 7:00 p.m. PRESENT: Commissioners Buttress, Cathcart, Gladson, Grangoff and Steiner ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Leslie Aranda Roseberry, Planning Manager Anna Pehoushek, Principal Planner Doris Nguyen, Associate Planner Gary Sheatz, Assistant City Attorney Sandi Dimick, Recording Secretary REGULAR SESSION Chair Steiner called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Roll Call All Commissioners present. PUBLIC PARTICIPATION None PLANNING MANAGER REPORT: Planning Manager, Leslie Aranda Roseberry, stated there was nothing additional to report. Minutes Chair Steiner reviewed the appeal process. Planning Commission Meeting Consent Calendar: March 18, 2013 Page 2 of 9 (1) APPROVAL OF MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR SCHEDULED MEETING OF MARCH 4, 2013. Commissioner Gladson made a motion to approve the meeting minutes from the March 4, 2013 Planning Commission meeting with corrections. SECOND: Commissioner Buttress AYES: Commissioners Buttress, Cathcart, Gladson, Grangoff and Steiner NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None MOTION CARRIED Planning Commission Meeting NEW HEARINGS: March 18, 2013 Page 3 of 9 (2) CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. 2895 -13 — WORLD MARTIAL ARTS CENTER The applicant proposes to teach Tae Kwon Do martial arts to children and adults in a commercial center. A Conditional Use Permit is required for the school use. LOCATION: 3505 E. Chapman Avenue, Ste. B & C NOTE: The proposed project is categorically exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 (Class 1 — Existing Facilities) because the project includes no expansion of the existing building. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt Planning Commission Resolution 13 -13 allowing a 2,040 SF martial arts school. Associate Planner, Doris Nguyen, presented a project overview consistent with the Staff Report. Chair Steiner opened the hearing for questions to Staff. Commissioner Gladson stated she had visited the shopping center where the proposed business would be located. She asked if there would be shared parking with the adjacent property owners? Ms. Nguyen stated there was shared parking between the Stater Brother's parking lot and there were several different owners all the way to the In and Out and Bagel Me parking lots. For the use before them, it would not require shared parking because the proposed business would use the same amount of parking as a retail use. Commissioner Gladson stated often she would park in an area that was not in front of the business that she was visiting and she wanted to ensure that she was not in some type of parking violation. Chair Steiner stated the classes would be held from 3:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. during the week and from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on Saturday. Chair Steiner opened the hearing for public comment and invited the applicant to address the Commission. Casey Mahoney, address on file, stated he would provide a quick introduction and then the business owner was available for comment. He thanked the Commission for the Planning Commission Meeting March 18, 2013 Page 4 of 9 opportunity to be present before them. He was the listing real estate broker for the shopping center. He and his partners represented approximately 60 retail centers in and around Orange County and they were very familiar with the goings on of tenants in the market place. The space in question was one of two in the shopping center and the space had been vacant for over 2 years. What he was currently finding was that the most active category for tenants was food, entertainment and medical which had the highest parking requirements for specific retail uses. In many cases, it was more encumbering for owners and created an issue for a lot of centers. General retail or soft goods had taken a back seat in the market place. Master Kim, who was the applicant, was an incredibly qualified person who had extremely high ethics and had 2 existing locations; and more importantly, had a quality use that he believed would enhance the center and help the community. Mr. Kim had an excellent track record as his clients would attest to and he believed in the use. If Master Kim was not able to locate at the shopping center, he was not certain what else could be done with the vacant space. Commissioner Gladson asked if there was a shared parking agreement with Stater Brothers. Mr. Mahoney stated he was not aware of a shared parking agreement, he understood that the tenants shared space. If there was an issue he would have heard about it and he had not heard that there were any issues. Commissioner Gladson stated in visiting the center she observed a number of parking signs that reserved spaces for particular uses. For example, there was a chiropractic business and there were stalls marked for chiropractic patients only. The last time she visited the center there had been a person who parked in one of those spaces that was clearly an instructor at the 24 hour Fitness Center. Was that something that the property management was okay with; to have exclusion provided to one tenant for parking spaces? Mr. Mahoney stated they wanted customers to have access to businesses and if that situation was provided to everyone, the parking would become too segmented. To his knowledge it was not something he would advocate and something tenants had taken upon themselves to do. At the center there were certainly peek hours and he understood the situation, but in regard to restricted parking, it was not something they generally permitted. With the use before them, generally parents would be dropping off students and there would not be a line that occurred or any long term parking issues. Commissioner Gladson stated the parking situation was not the applicant's issue, but as the property owner was before her, it provided her with the opportunity to bring the issue to his attention as she had noticed the situation in the shopping center as she was a frequent patron at the shopping center. Chair Steiner stated there were half hour gaps between classes which would also help. Jae Kwon Kim, address on file, stated he was available for questions. Planning Commission Meeting March 18, 2013 Page 5 of 9 Chair Steiner asked where his other operations were located. Mr. Kim stated his headquarter site was in Yorba Linda, with another location in Anaheim. Chair Steiner asked if there were any questions for the applicant. There were none. Chair Steiner brought the item back to the Commissioner for action or discussion. Commissioner Grangoff made a motion to adopt PC Resolution No. 13 -13, approving CUP No. 2895 -13 -World Martial Arts Center, subject to the conditions contained in the Staff report and noting the items categorical exemption from CEQA. SECOND: Commissioner Buttress AYES: Commissioners Buttress, Cathcart, Gladson, Grangoff and Steiner NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None Commissioner Gladson stated she was pleased to support the action and the second and her issues had been more for public awareness and for the owner's information. The tight conditions that were contained in the resolution afforded protection for the tenant and the rest of the tenants and the City had means to address issues if they should arise. MOTION CARRIED Planning Commission Meeting March 18, 2013 Page 6 of 9 (3) ORDINANCE AMENDMENT — DEVELOPMENT STREAMLINING An ordinance amendment streamlining City review of development and use applications related to home occupations, recurring temporary uses, Zoning Administrator Variances, legal non - conforming garage dimensions, and wireless communication facilities. LOCATION: Citywide NOTE: The draft Ordinance Amendment is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per State CEQA Guidelines Section 15305 (Class 5 — Minor Alterations in Land Use Limitations) because it involves a modification to citywide and Old Towne -wide standards rather than a specific development project or focused geographic area. RECOMMENDED ACTION: Adopt Planning Commission Resolution 10 -13 recommending City Council approval of an Ordinance Amendment to streamline City review of certain development and use applications related to home occupations, recurring temporary uses, Zoning Administrator Variances, legal non - conforming garage dimensions, and wireless communication facilities. Principal Planner, Anna Pehoushek, presented a project overview consistent with the Staff Report. Chair Steiner opened the item for any questions for Staff. Commissioner Buttress stated she was pleased that the City was proposing the amendment. Anytime it was easier for someone to get through the processes that were in place was a benefit to the public. She thanked Staff for going forward with the amendment and understood how time consuming the process was to re -write the Ordinance. Commissioner Grangoff stated he echoed the comments of Commissioner Buttress and it was a good way to simplify the interaction between the public and their government. He was pleased to see the home occupations sections and he asked how Staff had arrived at no more than 1 client and was that a standard that was adopted from other cities? Ms. Pehoushek stated Staff was looking at what would be reasonable and not come across to neighbors as a business activity. As a practical matter, one visitor at a time was selected as a natural occurrence of someone coming to visit a home; something with a very low volume of activity. Planning Commission Meeting March 18, 2013 Page 7 of 9 Chair Steiner stated he believed that persons having home businesses had not had large gatherings or conferences and it was more of an individual situation and made sense with more people having businesses via a cell phone. He thanked Staff for their efforts. Chair Steiner opened the public hearing for public comment. There was none. Chair Steiner closed the hearing to public comment and brought the item back to the Commission for further discussion or a motion. Commissioner Buttress made a motion to adopt PC No. 10 -13, recommending approval to the City Council, Ordinance Amendment- Development Streamlining, subject to the conditions contained in the Staff Report, noting the item was categorically exempt from CEQA. Chair Steiner stated he was not certain if there were students in the audience and he wanted to express that the item before them was an important Agenda Item. There were five very important areas that were being addressed with the Ordinance Amendment and the public had very different view points on how the matters should be handled. Some felt that Ordinances, such as the one before them, protected quality of life in the community and had not wanted things loosened up; but quite often they heard that it would be nice if the bureaucracy at all levels would become easier to work with and that there would not be so many barriers to face. On an evening that there was a CUP before them for a cell phone tower, there would be more people present and in reviewing the agenda for the Ordinance Amendment that they had just discussed, it might be missed. It was a very important policy issue for the City of Orange. Commissioner Gladson stated the balance that had been presented in the ordinance was the difficult part of writing code and it was complex. It was a challenge in finding the balance and the amendment before them was the first of many that would come before them and it was great. It was kind of like making sausage. Former Mayor Cavecche would use that term when reviewing all the things and the implications they presented. She commended Staff for doing such an excellent job in laying it out for the Commission to understand. It was challenging and she supported the item. Commissioner Buttress stated, for the students present, the motion was a recommendation to the City Council and the item would go before the City Council for City Council approval. SECOND: Commissioner Gladson AYES: Commissioners Buttress, Cathcart, Gladson, Grangoff and Steiner NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None MOTION CARRIED Planning Commission Meeting March 18, 2013 Page 8 of 9 Additional Business: Chair Steiner asked if there were any additional comments. Commissioner Grangoff stated, as some of them might already understand, with the recent election of a new City Council there had been a request from a Council Member to have their own Commissioner appointed. At the Mayor's request, he was resigning his position on the Planning Commission. His resignation would be effective March 31, 2013. He wanted to take this opportunity to thank former City Council Member Jon Dumitru for appointing him to serve and his council colleagues for confirming the appointment. It had been a real honor and a privilege to serve on the Commission. A very important value for the country and for him personally was property rights. Serving as a Planning Commissioner provided him the opportunity to advocate for those rights. It was something that he had done during the last 2 years. He wanted to thank the City of Orange's Staff and in particular Leslie, Gary, and Anna. There were times when the Commission had not agreed with Staff's recommendation and during those rare times when there had been disagreement, Staff had worked with the Commission to make their will be done. He wanted to thank his colleagues and many of the members that served the City in the capacity of Planning Commissioners for a longer term and he appreciated their willingness to listen to the "new guy ". It had been a real honor to work with all of the Commissioners, Adrienne, Pat, Bill and in particular Chair Steiner who had been a mentor and he appreciated and thanked him for that; and he wanted to thank all the Commissioners. Commissioner Buttress stated it had been a real pleasure and it had been delightful getting to know him. Commissioner Grangoff had been an asset to the Commission and she would miss his presence. Chair Steiner stated it had been a great Commission to Chair for the last few years. They respected each other, they had different viewpoints and they had a good chemistry. He had served on a lot of boards and it was a good Commission to serve on and with Staff's support, with Gary as their attorney and Leslie for her role. Having Ray on the Commission had been refreshing and he had a significant viewpoint of public policy and when he had heard that Ray had been elected to a School Board at the age of 18, that was one of the toughest boards to be elected on, he had realized how fortunate the Commission was to have him. Knowing that Ray was a policy advisor for County Supervisor Pat Bates and the importance of that role, it had been a blessing to have him serve on the Commission. Chair Steiner stated he had enjoyed having Commissioner Grangoff serve with them and he knew that he would be wrapped up in the community and the interesting arena of public policy and he wished him well. Planning Commission Meeting (4) ADJOURNMENT March 18, 2013 Page 9 of 9 Commissioner Buttress made a motion for adjournment to the next regular scheduled meeting of the Planning Commission on Monday, April 1 2013. SECOND: Commissioner Gladson AYES: Commissioners Buttress, Cathcart, Gladson, Grangoff and Steiner NOES: None ABSTAIN: None ABSENT: None MOTION CARRIED Meeting Adjourned @ 7:33 p.m.