2003 - August 25
APPROVED
MINUTES
Planning Commission
City of Orange
PRESENT:
ABSENT:
STAFF
PRESENT:
INRE:
INRE:
INRE:
August 25, 2003
Monday - 7:00 p.m.
Commissioners Bonina, Brandman, Pruett, Smith
Jim Reichert, Acting Planning Manager/Secretary
Gary Sheatz, Assistant City Attorney
Roger Hohnbaum, Assistant City Engineer
Sharon Penttila, Recording Secretary
PUBLIC PARTICIPATION: None
ITEMS TO BE CONTINUED OR WITHDRAWN: None
CONSENT CALENDAR:
1. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES FROM THE REGULAR MEETING OF
AUGUST 18,2003.
MOTION
Moved by Commissioner Brandman and seconded by Commissioner Smith to continue the
approval of the August 18,2003 minutes to the September 3,2003 meeting.
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
Commissioners Brandman, Pruett, Smith
None
Commissioner Bonina
None
MOTION CARRIED
IN RE: CONTINUED HEARINGS:
2. CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 2459-03, MAJOR SITE PLAN REVIEW 293-03,
MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION 1719-03, AND A DEVELOPMENT
AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE CITY OF ORANGE AND ST. JOSEPH
HOSPITAL FOR THE PROPOSED MASTER PLAN FOR FUTURE HOSPITAL
EXPANSION AND CONSTRUCTION OF A 234,000 SQ. FT. HOSPITAL
BUILDING - ST. JOSEPH HOSPITAL
A request for a hospital master plan to allow the upgrading of health care facilities and
construction of new buildings to comply with State mandated earthquake construction standards.
The request includes the approval to allow the construction of a 234,000 sq. ft. hospital building
and new physical plant building. The project is accompanied by a Development Agreement to
allow phasing of project construction to occur beyond the time period allowed in the City's
Zoning Ordinance. This item was continued from the August 18, 2003 meeting.
NOTE:
Mitigated Negative Declaration No. 1719-03 has been prepared for this project
in accordance with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act
per State CEQA Guidelines.
Planning Commission
APPROVED
August 25, 2003
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Adopt Resolution No. PC 32-03 recommending the City Council approve
Conditional Use Permit 2459-03, Major Site Plan Review 293-03, and Mitigated
Negative Declaration 1719-03; and
Adopt Resolution No. PC 33-03 recommending the City Council approve a
Development Agreement by and between the City of Orange and St. Joseph
Hospital.
Jim Reichert introduced the item.
Chris Carnes, Senior Planner, made the staff presentation that outlined the project. Two
resolutions have been prepared on the proposal. Conditions 15, 16 and 43 have been modified
on Resolution No. 32-03. Planning Commission action is a recommendation to the City
Council.
The public hearing was opened.
Larry Ainsworth. 29 N. Hampton Court. Newport Beach, President and Chief Executive Officer
of St. Joseph Hospital of Orange. He stated that this is their 30-year, $650 million master plan
for the St. Joseph campus. They will be presenting tonight the details of Phase 1 of the master
plan and an overview of Phases 2 and 3. On January 1, 1995, SB1953 became effective. This
law required pre 1973 hospital buildings be seismically upgraded or removed from service by
the year 2008 (extended to 2013). The state law also requires pre 1973 buildings be replaced by
the year 2030. SB1953 is a state mandated and unfunded requirement, which means St. Joseph
must fund the entire project.
John Pangrazio, 1224 5th Avenue West, Seattle, architect for the project. He gave a PowerPoint
presentation which illustrated the removal and replacement of various buildings on the campus.
The project focuses on providing state-of-the-art medical facilities.
Steve Gilbert, 500 S. Main Street, Orange, representing the St. Joseph's Health System. He
answered Commissioner Bonina question regarding street access to the Facility Service building
by stating that there is fire truck access gate off of Palmyra and primary vehicular access would
be inside the campus.
Commissioner Bonina was comfortable that the noise issues have been addressed with the
neighbors. Mr. Gilbert stated they have hosted town hall meetings at the hospital and invited the
community in to explain the project.
Fred Talarico, 1278 Glennevre Street, #110, Laguna Beach, with Vista Environmental. He
explained that normally they would prepare a Phase 1 evaluation for contaminates for each
building as it comes on line and any adjacent properties such as the parking areas and the
landscaping, anything affected by each building, would be included in the Phase 1 evaluation.
Commissioner Bonina stated that the time frame between Phase 1 and 2 is significant and he was
concerned that some projects between phases would not be aesthetically pleasing.
Commissioner Brandman wanted to know if there would be construction continually for the next
30 years on the campus. Mr. Gilbert explained that there are always ongoing hospital projects
due to changing technology. This plan has three major phases with new buildings and they may
sagway into each other or there may be some downtime between them.
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Planning Commission
APPROVED
August 25, 2003
Commissioner Bonina noted that Stewart Street, after the redesign, appears to become a corridor.
Mr. Gilbert stated that this would be due to the floor plate of the building which would encroach
slightly onto Stewart.
Mr. Pangrazio stated that the construction of each project will come to closure in and of itself.
Commissioner Brandman appreciated that and didn't want to put words in the mouth of her
fellow Commissioner but thought as Commissioner Bonina was asking the question, the thought
that came to her was that as you go through each phase, is the campus going to look finished,
going to look pretty, going to look OK and clean and it's not going to look in a constant state of
flux.
Commissioner Bonina questioned why the north tower removal was in Phase 3 instead of Phase
1. Mr. Gilbert stated that this structure conforms to seismic laws, however, it is being removed
as part of the project and it will open the view to the original building.
Commissioner Brandman suggested that the original hospital building be listed on the Historic
Register.
Commissioner Pruett liked the design of bringing the original hospital building to the forefront
and making it a prominent feature.
Commissioner Brandman wanted to know how the City was going to benefit from the expansion
of St. Joseph Hospital. Mr. Gilbert stated that the applicant has agreed to make the project site
the point of sale and the sales tax proceeds for materials that are purchased for the building and
equipment would go to the City of Orange.
Commissioner Brandman was concerned with pedestrian access on Stewart. Mr. Gilbert
explained how at the end of this project there would be a covered pedestrian walkway at the end
of the Stewart cul-de-sac that will lead people directly from the parking area to the front door
and the majority of pedestrians will never cross Stewart. There is a connecting tunnel being
installed from the new building to Children's Hospital. There will be two-way car traffic on
Pepper that will have designated crosswalks and sign age. Commissioner Brandman would like
staff to look at safety issues on the pedestrian walkways.
Commissioner Smith questions and comments:
. what is the plan for the routing of Pepper Street as it is reconfigured and will the Pepper
Street re-routing occur first before closing off the existing Pepper Street access? Mr.
Gilbert confirmed that the Pepper Street re-routing would occur first.
. what will be the use of the original mission-style 1929 building? It currently is used as the
administrative offices for the hospital and its use will remain the same.
. in the next phase, more parking will be required up to 2040 spaces. It will be increased by
200 spaces in Phase 3. The addition to the existing parking structure will be located
between Main Street and the existing parking structure.
. Mitigated Negative Declaration reviews cultural resources and she's surprised it doesn't list
the original mission style building. She would like to see the building in this report. Mr.
Talarico stated this is a case where it has beneficial impacts and they generally are not
listed in EIR, but it could be added to the record.
. this building needs to be recorded in the National Register of Historic buildings.
. is the original building retrofitted? Its believed that some 20 years ago the hospital may
have done a retrofit to that building, however, it wouldn't be one that would conform to
today's requirements for buildings used for acute care.
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Planning Commission
APPROVED
August 25, 2003
· it looks like the buildings being demolished for the new facility service building are post
1950 and don't require historical review. The two buildings were built after 1950.
Public comment:
Fred Koehler, 2660 N. Vista Bluff Road, is a property owner on property across from the
proposed facility service building. He is concerned with the noise that could affect his tenants;
he wanted to know if the fire access would be gated or opened on Palmyra and if there was
going to be construction traffic on Palmyra. He did not receive a letter from St. Joseph
announcing the community meetings even though his family has been a property owner on
Palmyra since 1952.
Mr. Carnes explained that the Orange Municipal Code does have a noise ordinance section and it
establishes maximum noise levels that are at the interior of a structure and at the property line
(which in this case is approximately 10 feet in from the curb). Commissioner Brandman wanted
to know what kind of sound she was going to hear. She is told you may hear a humming noise.
Michael Brown, 501 Santa Monica Blvd.. Suite 508, Santa Monica, with Martin, Newson and
Associates. They have designed the building improvements to have noise levels under those
allowed by the code. He explained that there are no openings on the facility service building
that face the residential properties. Chair Pruett confirmed that the noise from this building has
to be managed within the City's code and if it is within the limits, it's allowed.
Mr. Gilbert explained they reviewed the placement ofthe facilities building and they felt it was a
very passive use and the new structure would provide a screen of the existing parking structure
and it would be a benefit in reducing noise from the parking structure. The vehicular access
onto Palmyra is gated and they are trying to mitigate the construction traffic on that street. He
also explained the notification process they used for the community meetings held a year ago
and it mimicked the City's mailing list and went beyond that radius going to property owners as
well as occupants.
Commissioner Brandman commented that the landscaping was a little sparse in front of the
facilities building. Bill Cathcart, 134 S. Glassell. Orange. explained that the louvers on the
front of the building are for accessing machinery and that's why the landscaping is low. They
are trying to design the landscaping to a residential level.
In response to Commissioner Bonina' s question, Mr. Cathcart explained that the center
courtyard in the new hospital building is an area for people to go to reflect and to be calm. On
Stewart they are trying to recall the 1929 entrance by making a median and adding a row of
Italian Cypress trees.
Commissioner Smith questioned whether any orange or pepper trees were included in the plan.
Mr. Cathcart answered no because there is no space to do it correctly and there is a
maintenance issue. Commissioner Smith suggested they use the pittosporum, the mock orange
tree, where appropriate.
Chair Pruett was concerned with the traffic flow from Main onto Stewart where it seems to
narrow to a driveway and is there going to be any signage indicating the parking structure to the
left? Also sometimes the traffic going into the parking structure backs up into the intersection
and he'd like to know if there are any plans to make Bush Street one-way south out onto Main
Street. Mr. Hohnbaum explained that with the street rerouting, the main traffic will be coming
4
Planning Commission
APPROVED
August 25, 2003
off of Main Street so the two crossings at Stewart and Bush should see less traffic with that
concept. The section of Stewart easterly of Bush will be seen as a private roadway and the City
and the campus will be entering into an agreement where the hospital will be responsible for its
care and maintenance. The concept of making Bush one-way has not been looked at.
Chair Pruett was also concerned with the one parking structure entrance at Stewart and Bush.
He suggested making the entrance two lanes of ingress and the egress would occur at the current
employee entrance on Main Street.
Mr. Gilbert explained they did study making Pepper one-way and it was determined that two-
way traffic was most appropriate for the circulation between St. Joseph Hospital, CHOC and the
1201 La Veta buildings.
Commissioner Bonina was told there would be stop signs at the plaza at Stewart and Bush.
The public hearing was closed.
Commissioner Bonina wondered if Phase 2 and 3 would come back to the Commission. Ms.
Angus explained that in terms of the master plan and due to the fact that they are also tying it to
the development agreement, which would allow it to extend for a period of 30 years, what is
being seen tonight is Phase 1 with an application for a major site plan review. Future phases
will require major site plan reviews because of the large size of the buildings. If the future plans
deviate from the conceptual plans shown in the master plan in Phase 2 and 3 or if they change
conditions from an environmental standpoint, then it may require additional environmental
review and would come back to the Commission. However, if it remains within the perimeters of
the master plan, it would come to the Commission as a consent calendar item as a major site
plan review.
Commissioner Brandman indicated she was uncomfortable with issuing a blank check and she
wanted assurances that what they are approving would go forward the way they are approving it.
Ms. Angus explained that if, for example, technology changes and they are proposing a
significantly different building configuration that would have to be re-reviewed from an
environmental standpoint.
Commissioner Brandman stated, for the record, it was a fine project and she's very cognizant
that the applicant needs an assurance because they are privately funded and they have a plan,
they have to start on this plan. She was not suggesting that the City would come back and be
heavy handed or change the rules in any way, shape or form. She was just asking that they be
good stewards and make certain that they work together and continue to work together. This is
in our City, there are things that spill out onto our public roadways, etc. She's very pleased with
the project, she was just asking because she felt as a Commissioner she needed to go on record
and make those points and put those questions down so the Council will see that those questions
were asked. She just wanted to make certain that the concerns she had raised were properly
answered.
Ms. Angus explained in terms of the development agreement both the City and the hospital
recognize they still need to go through approval processes with future phases.
Commissioner Smith's comments:
· she was very pleased with this project, including the phasing aspect and the clear
delineation of the phasing, buildings, roadways and the walkways.
· she is used to construction on this site including the pavilion, CHOC and the cancer center.
It's a parcel where growth has continued through the last 50-60 years.
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Planning Commission
APPROVED
August 25, 2003
· she really likes phase 3 that reveals the original hospital building and the median.
· she strongly encourages the health system to put this building on the National Historic
Register. It does give a basis for attracting both federal and state preservation funding to
the proj ect.
· she would like to see in the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) an identification of the
original hospital building as a cultural resource. On page 3-1 of the MND, she would like
the project description to include the original 1929 mission style hospital building, on page
3-7, it should be cited that it is still standing and on page 3-8, project objectives should
include returning to public view the original St. Joseph's Hospital building for its well
preserved 1929 California mission style architecture and the hospital's role of service and
health care in the early development of the City of Orange.
· she felt the mitigating efforts on the facility building for both the architecture and
landscaping is a good fit for the neighborhood.
Chair Pruett concurred with Commissioner Smith's suggestion to put the hospital on the
National Historic Register and perhaps elicit some money to move the project along a little
faster.
Ms. Angus explained that items could be added to the MND as long as it does not change the
overall character of that document.
Commissioner Smith would like to see an addition to Condition No.6 which would include the
pittosporum, orange and pepper trees as appropriate in the landscaping plans. Changes to
conditions 15, 16 and 43 are to be included as well. She is happy to see the hospital grow and
continue to be a viable health care agent in the community.
Commissioner Bonina was impressed by the detail and the thought in terms of the phasing of the
project and then meeting with the St. Joseph's folks again brought that to life once again. Then
here tonight the information that's been shared has been very beneficial and just further clarifies
to him that this is a very sound project. He agreed that growth of an institution of this sort is
tremendously valuable, not only for the immediate City but certainly the County and the State in
general. And not only is it growth, but it's smart growth. There are needs identified, there's
economics that are provided and the phasing reflects that so he thinks this is a very smart
project, a very aesthetically pleasing project and it will certainly gamer his support. The only
thing he would ask that be considered is that parking be added to the latter phase, which is Phase
3, that St. Joseph look at the opportunity of actually adding the additional parking to the existing
parking structure versus putting it off of Main Street. To the extent possible he'd like to soften
Main Street going forward and in twenty years or so he thinks the impact of Main Street will be
just that much more intense. So the extent that St. Joseph can take that parking addition and
incorporate it into the existing building and soften up Main Street would be something he'd
certainly like to see.
Chair Pruett had a question on condition 4 wondering why the landscape study, roof plans, and
first floor building plans would go to City Council. Mr. Carnes indicated that condition has an
error and it should indicate it's going back to the Design Review Committee. It should read:
"the applicant shall submit to the Design Review Committee prior to the City Council
consideration of the proposal. . . "
Chair Pruett also felt the traffic circulation needed further study as well as the ingress and egress
to the parking structure. He is really concerned with the intersection of Bush and Stewart. Mr.
Hohnbaum clarified that what Chair Pruett is lookingfor is a circulation plan including flow in
and out of parking areas, including structures, as well as wayfinding.
6
Planning Commission
MOTION
APPROVED
August 25, 2003
Moved by Commissioner Smith and seconded by Commissioner Brandman to approve
Resolution No. PC 32-03 recommending the City Council approve Conditional Use Permit
2459-03, Major Site Plan Review 293-03 and Mitigated Negative Declaration 1719-03. On the
Conditional Use Permit, Condition No.6, add "the landscaping plans shall include a note that
any landscaping materials that die or are damaged shall be replaced at size and species so noted
on the approved landscaping plans and that the landscape plan shall consider inclusion of
orange trees (standard or dwarf), pepper trees and blooming pittosporum as appropriate to
recall early site plant materials". Also include revised Conditions 15, 16 and 43. An additional
condition needs to be added by staff for the inclusion of review of circulation plans. Also
include in the Mitigated Negative Declaration project description reference to the original 1929
mission style hospital building, that the building is still standing, and that its return to public
view will showcase its well-preserved 1929 California mission style architecture and its role of
service and health care in the early development of the City of Orange. On page 5-11, that there
be a citing of the original 1929 St. Joseph Hospital building as a significant on-site cultural
resource to be preserved and to be considered as further discussion goes forward. Condition No.
4 should read, "the applicant shall submit to the Design Review Committee prior to the City
Council consideration of the proposal".
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
MOTION
Commissioners Bonina, Brandman, Pruett, Smith
None
None
None
MOTION CARRIED
Moved by Commissioner Smith and seconded by Commissioner Brandman to approve
Resolution No. PC 33-03 recommending the City Council approve a Development Agreement
by and between the City of Orange and St. Joseph Hospital.
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
INRE:
INRE:
MOTION
Commissioners Bonina, Brandman, Pruett, Smith
None
None
None
MOTION CARRIED
NEW HEARINGS: None
ADJOURNMENT:
Moved by Commissioner Bonina and seconded by Commissioner Brandman to adjourn to the
next regular Planning Commission meeting on Wednesday, September 3, 2003 at 6:30 p.m.
AYES:
NOES:
ABSTAIN:
ABSENT:
Commissioners Bonina, Brandman, Pruett, Smith
None
None
None
MOTION CARRIED
The meeting adjourned at 9:40 pm.
7