Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout1993/12/08 - Minutes - PC-HPCCITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES Regular Meeting December 8, 1993 Mayor Stout called the Regular Meeting of the City of Rancho Cucamonga Planning Commission to order at 7:00 p.m. in conjunction with the Historic Preservation Commission. The meeting was held in the Council Chamber at Rancho Cucamonga Civic Center, 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California. Mayor Stout led in the pledge of allegiance. Mayor Stout then administered the oath of office to Commissioners Barker, Lumpp, McNiel, and Melcher and announced that Commissioner Tolstoy had already taken the oath of office. ROLL CALL COMMISSIONERS: PRESENT: David Barker, Heinz Lumpp, Larry McNiel, John Melcher ABSENT: Peter Tolstoy STAFF PRESENT: Brad Buller, City Planner; Dan Coleman, Principal Planner; Nancy Fong, Senior Planner; Ralph Hanson, Deputy City Attorney; Steve Hayes, Associate Planner; Dan James, Senior Civil Engineer; Beverly Luttrell, Associate Planner; Scott Murphy, Associate Planner; Gail Sanchez, Planning Commission Secretary , , , , The Planning Commission recessed at 7:05 p.m. until the conclusion of the Historic Preservation Commission. Chairman Barker called the Planning Commission back to order at 7:24 p.m. , , , , , ANNOUNCEMENTS Brad Buller, City Planner, announced that a workshop to review alternative grading plans for Tract 13316 would be held immediately following tonight's meeting. Mr. Buller observed there would also be a Pre-Application Review workshop on Tuesday, December 14, 1993. , , , , PUBLIC HEARINGS Ae CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 93-17 - SHEPHERD OF THE HILLS LUTHERAN CHURCH - A request to add 4,586 square feet of library and classroom space to an existing multi-purpose building of an existing church facility on 2.12 acres of land in the Very Low Residential District (less than 2 dwelling units per acre), located at the northwest corner of Banyan Avenue and Haven Avenue - APN: 201-821-49 and 50. Beverly Luttrell, Associate Planner, presented the staff report and a letter received from a nearby resident opposing the project. Commissioner McNiel asked if the church would be responsible for developing the trail on the Metropolitan Water District (MWD) property where the church parking lot is located. Ms. Luttrell stated she had not been successful in contacting MWD to see who would construct the trail, but she noted that the church had constructed the parking lot. Commissioner McNiel asked the roof configuration. Ms. Luttrell responded that a flat roof is proposed. Commissioner Melcher noted that the Design Review Committee had determined that the architecture will be consistent with the existing facility but it will be more visible from the street because it will be replacing much of the current landscaped area. Ms. Luttrell commented that the applicant was being conditioned to save or replace the large trees on site. Commissioner Lumpp questioned where church attendees currently park. Ms. Luttrell stated that they utilize parking along the south side of Banyan Street, perpendicular to the street. She noted there is no improved curb and gutter in that area. Chairman Barker asked if there had been any communication regarding a time line for construction of the trail adjacent to the Alta Loma Basins. Ms. Luttrell said there is currently no time line. Commissioner Lumpp asked the cost of the trail. Ms. Luttrell stated staff estimated the cost to be a little over $5,000 for construction only of the fencing, curb, and decomposed granite surface. Dan Coleman, Principal Planner, noted that the church had constructed improvements on the MWD property at the time the church was built. Chairman Barker asked if parking would be within the standards if the addition is built. Planning Commission Minutes -2- December 8, 1993 Ms. Luttrell responded that parking is approximately twice the required amount. Chairman Barker opened the public hearing. Richard Holk, 9544 Hampshire Street, Rancho Cucamonga, stated he is a member of the building committee. He indicated that they currently have approximately 150 children and adults attending services on Sunday. He remarked that the facility is used by the entire community, not just church members. He showed slides and discussed the various community services which they offer. He requested approval so they could expand their educational and community services. Commissioner Lumpp asked if the purpose of the expanded classroom space was only to expand their Sunday School. Mr. Holk responded it was to provide classroom and meeting space for various activities which take place during the week as well as on Sunday. Commissioner Lumpp asked if the parking would be adequate. Mr. Holk responded that there should be adequate parking available for the short term. Art Crawford, 6202 Jadeire, Rancho Cucamonga, spoke regarding their tutoring program and noted that the program is available to all community members. Commissioner McNiel felt there was no question regarding the good works done by the church, and he thought the Commission should address the planning issues regarding the project. Mike Brewer, 7903 Elm Street, #221, Rancho Cucamonga, spoke regarding the equestrian trail. He requested that the construction of the trail be delayed until the trail is built from the north down to their property line because he did not feel a trail would be used from Banyan to the end of their property. He felt that the intersection of Banyan and Haven Avenues is a busy intersection and would not be conducive to equestrian uses. He noted that the area where the trail is proposed is currently bermed and has mature trees which would have to be removed. He said the berming and trees are there to cut down on the noise from Haven Avenue and to aesthetically screen MWD tanks. He noted that the City has installed a meandering memorial sidewalk in the equestrian easement to the north of the MWD property which the church leases. He therefore doubted that the trail would be built and said the trail on the church property would not be connected to any other trail. He also noted that two manhole covers are in the trail easement. Mr. Coleman stated that the memorial sidewalk is located on property owned by San Bernardino County adjacent to the Alta Loma Basins. He observed that the applicant was not being requested to build the trail in that area. Commissioner Lumpp questioned if the applicant would be permitted to build the trail on the MWD property. Planning Commission Minutes -3- December 8, 1993 Mr. Brewer thought they could. Commissioner Lumpp agreed that the MWD tanks are unsightly. Brad Buller, City Planner, suggested that construction of a trail on the County property may involve moving the trail west of the memorial walkway and those details had not been worked out as yet as there are currently no plans by the County to build the trail. He observed that the Trails Implementation Plan designates the applicant's property as the site for a Community Trail and Community Trails are multi-purpose, not just equestrian trails. He stated that trail fencing has been permitted on other MWD easements. Commissioner Lumpp asked how parking is currently handled. Mr. Brewer stated that the undeveloped parcel on the south side of Banyan is owned by the church and is utilized as well as some on-site parking. He said they try not to overlap services. Commissioner Lumpp observed that the Commission had been presented with a letter stating that the lack of adequate parking severely impacts surrounding residents. He asked if the church could expand the use of the vacant property to alleviate street parking. Mr. Brewer responded that they had held preliminary discussions with MWD regarding a potential plan to build a parking lot on MWD property to the west of adjoining residences. Commissioner Lumpp asked if there were any interim plans such as utilizing a monitor to direct traffic. Mr. Brewer stated the church wants to do as much as possible to be a good neighbor but he noted they have the right to use street parking. Commissioner Lumpp asked how many spaces could be constructed on the property to the south. Mr. Brewer thought 20. Hearing no further testimony, Chairman Barker closed the public hearing. Commissioner McNiel noted that the trail system is the result of constructing the trail piece-by-piece as development occurs. He felt the City has a pretty well established network of trails in those areas that have been developed. Although he appreciated the church's desire to defer construction of the trail, he felt that the City would have no trails if everyone was allowed to defer construction. He felt trails are important to the City as a whole and he noted the intersection of Banyan and Haven is being improved. He thought the trail should be required at this time. He also stated he had not heard that parking is creating a hazard, merely an inconvenience. Commissioner Melcher stated he was not unsympathetic that the trail would be short and would not be connected. He thought that the trail on the County Planning Commission Minutes -4- December 8, 1993 property to the north would not be built unless the City builds it. He questioned if the church could pay for the cost of constructing the trail and the City could deposit the money so it would be available when and if the City builds the trail to the north. He observed that churches are encouraged to locate in residential areas and he did not think it would be appropriate to impose any special parking requirements on this church. He thought perhaps the standards should be changed but he was not convinced that was necessary. Commissioner Lumpp agreed that until churches are zoned out of residential districts and placed in commercial districts, parking conflicts will occur. He felt the church was doing its best in trying to provide adequate parking and the inconvenience is on a limited scale. He encouraged deposit of money for the trail and construction of the trail at a later time, so that the existing berming and trees could be maintained until a trail would connect to the north. Chairman Barker observed that a decision was made when the General Plan was adopted to zone churches in residential areas because they are considered good neighbors. He did not foresee that churches would ever be zoned out of residential areas. He requested that staff address the potential of a deposit for a trail. Mr. Buller observed that if the Commission decided to take such an action, it could set a precedent. He felt the trail will eventually be constructed. He thought the church would find it cheaper to install the trail at this time rather than to have the City do cost estimates for City construction. He suggested the Commission could defer the matter to staff. He noted that there is adequate room for joggers or equestrian users adjacent to the sidewalk on the County property to the north. Dan James, Senior Civil Engineer, stated that construction is scheduled to start within five months on the trafffc signal at Banyan and Haven Avenues. Mr. Coleman suggested that the Commission could give staff flexibility to work on the design of the trail to utilize 12-foot curb-adjacent standards where necessary to eliminate the need to remove trees or move manhole covers. Chairman Barker was not sure there would be a financial advantage to the church to place a deposit rather than constructing the trail. He liked the idea of using the curb-adjacent trail where applicable and he recommended that such flexibility be given to staff and the applicant to work out the design. Motion: Moved by McNiel, seconded by Lumpp, to adopt the resolution approving Conditional Use Permit 93-17 with modification to provide for trail design to be approved by the City Planner and City Engineer. Motion carried by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS: BARKER, LUMPP, MCNIEL, MELCHER NONE TOLSTOY -carried , , , , Planning Commission Minutes -5- December 8, 1993 The Planning Commission recessed from 8:32 p.m. to 8:39 p.m. , , , , Be ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT AND TENTATIVE TRACT 15577 - MODERN CORPORATION - A residential subdivision and design review of 18 condominium units on 1.76 acres of land in the Medium Residential District (8-14 dwelling units per acre), located on the north side of Arrow Route, east of Baker Avenue - APN: 207-201-03, 04, and 21. Related File: Tree Removal Permit 91-42. Staff recommends issuance of a mitigated Negative Declaration. Steve Hayes, Associate Planner, presented the staff report. Commissioner Lumpp questioned the impacts to Arrow Route and if the area would be subject to flooding because of the project. Dan James, Senior Civil Engineer, stated that flooding was from a point to the north and the project was conditioned to accept cross-lot drainage. Chairman Barker opened the public hearing. Khosroo Esfahlani, 650 South Sunkist Street, Anaheim, stated he is one of the partners. He felt the project was better than the original proposal and he thanked the City Planner and staff for their assistance. He asked if there would be any special requirements if they decided to phase the project. Brad Buller, City Planner, stated that typically any phasing is approved at the time the project is approved. He indicated that if the applicant approached staff and only wanted to build a portion of the units, staff would ask for all of the amenities and infrastructure and that additional units be padded and turfed. He said any requests to phase the infrastructure or amenities would have to be considered by the Planning Commission. Hearing no further testimony, Chairman Barker closed the public hearing. Commissioner Lumpp noted that staff had requested a noise study. He asked that mitigations recommended by the noise study be incorporated into the conditions of approval for the project. He questioned the park designation. Mr. Bullet stated that park designation is a floating designation which happened to fall on this property. He said it was not necessarily intended that this property be a park. Commissioner Melcher felt the required mitigations from the results of the noise study were adequately addressed in the conditions of approval. Commissioner Lumpp asked for further clarification in the conditions of approval that the results of the noise study would be incorporated into the project. Commissioner McNiel commended the applicant on the his willingness to work with the City to improve the project. He expressed concern about the prospect of phasing. Planning Commission Minutes -6- December 8, 1993 Chairman Barker stated that if phasing occurs, the City would want to be sure it works well and is aesthetically pleasing. Motion: Moved by McNiel, seconded by Lumpp, to issue a Negative Declaration and to adopt the resolutions approving Tentative Tract 15577 and design review thereof, with modification to clarify that the streetscape wall/fence shall be in accordance with the final acoustical report. Motion carried by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS: BARKER, LUMPP, MCNIEL, MELCHER NONE TOLSTOY -carried Ce MODIFICATION TO TENTATIVE PARCEL MAP 14331- LEWIS DEVELOPMENT - A request to delete conditions of approval no longer necessary with the reduction in size of Parcel 1 for a subdivision of 25 acres of land into two parcels in the Office Park (OP) designation of the Tetra Vista Planned Community, located at the northeast corner of Spruce Avenue and Foothill Boulevard - APN: 1077-421-58 and 63. Dan James, Senior Civil Engineer, presented the staff report. Commissioner Melcher asked for clarification regarding plans for the rest of the block. Brad Buller, City Planner, stated that after the project was approved as a two-restaurant site, one of the restaurants withdrew. He commented that the applicant had submitted a revised proposal for master planning the block. Commissioner Melcher stated he was not opposed to the revision, but he felt the Commission should be aware that changes would be requested. Commissioner Lumpp supported the project. Commissioner McNiel asked for clarification regarding elimination of the Foothill right-turn lane. Mr. James stated the lane is not necessary at this time because this restaurant would take access from Spruce Avenue. Commissioner Melcher asked if the Parcel Map would still reserve right-of-way for a future right-turn lane from Foothill Boulevard. Mr. James affirmed that was correct. Commissioner McNiel asked how soon the balance of Parcel 2 would be developed. Mr. James replied that he did not know the time frame. Chairman Barker opened the public hearing. Planning Commission Minutes -7- Decend3er 8, 1993 Don Thompson, Lewis Development, 1156 North Mountain Avenue, Upland, stated that the right-turn lane from Foothill Boulevard will be designed and submitted with this map in order to start processing it through Cal-Trans. He said they had requested elimination of the requirement from the map so that the project would not be delayed because of Cal-Trans' processing time. Commissioner McNiel asked if the balance of the project is in process. Mr. Thompson replied that the western half is in process. Hearing no further testimony, Chairman Barker closed the public hearing. Commissioner McNiel asked if the revised proposal included changing the use. Mr. Bullet stated there is an application in process to change from Office Park to Community Commercial. He observed that staff was in the process of determining if the application is complete and the matter would probably be heard by the Planning Commission in early 1994. He noted that the proposed restaurant would be consistent with either the current Office Park designation or the proposed CommUnity Commercial Zone. Commissioner McNiel stated he supported this project, but he was getting visions of retail stretching forever along Foothill Boulevard. Motion: Moved by Melcher, seconded by McNiel, to adopt the resolution approving Modification to Tentative Parcel Map 14331. Motion carried by the following vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS: BARKER, LUMPP, MCNIEL, MELCHER NONE TOLSTOY -carried , , , , PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no additional public comments. , , , , , COMMISSION BUSINESS D. PLANNING COMMISSION COMMITTEE APPOINTMENTS There was a discussion of the various Committees and Chairman Barker made the following appointments. Design Review Committee: McNiel and Melcher with Tolstoy, Lumpp, and Barker respectively serving as Alternates. Chairman Barker suggested the Alternates could be rotated and the Commission should review appointments to the Design Review Committee in six months. Planning Commission Minutes -8- December 8, 1993 Trails Advisory Committee: Barker to July 1994 and Tolstoy to July 1995 with Lumpp as Alternate to July 1995. P~ul Senft was reappointed as Bicycle Member-at-large to July 1995. Commercial Sign Task Force: McNiel and Tolstoy with Barker as Alternate. Tree Preservation Ordinance Committee: Melcher and Tolstoy. Development Review Processing Committee: Alternate. McNiel and Melcher with Barker as Route 30 Committee: Melcher and Tolstoy with Lumpp as Alternate. Hillside Development Standards Committee: Alternate. Lumpp and Tolstoy with Barker as The Victoria Gardens, Central Park Library, Etiwanda North, and School Development Standards Committees were disbanded. , , , , , Commissioner Melcher suggested scheduling a workshop on the first Wednesday in January regarding Planning Commission goals and priorities. , , , , , Motion: Moved by Melcher, seconded by McNiel, carried 4-0-1 with Tolstoy absent, to adjourn. 9:45 p.m. - The Planning Commission adjourned to a workshop immediately following regarding Tract 13316; with that meeting to adjourn to a pre-application review workshop at 7:00 p.m. on December 14, 1993; and that meeting to adjourn to a special meeting at 5:00 p.m. on December 21, 1993, in lieu of the regularly scheduled meeting on December 22, 1993. Respectfully submitted, Brad Buller Secretary Planning Commission Minutes -9- December 8, 1993