Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout2015/11/10 - Workshop Minutes - PC-HPC THE CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMO\GA SPECIAL MEETING/WORKSHOP MINUTES OF RANC 110 C,[iC.4MONGA THE PLANNING COMMISSION NOVEMBER 10, 2015 - 4:30 PM Rancho Cucamonga Civic Center ***TRI-COMMUNITIES ROOM*** 10500 Civic Center Drive Rancho Cucamonga, California I. CALL TO ORDER Pledge of Allegiance ' Roll Call 4:30 PM Chairman Wimberly X Vice Chairman Oaxaca X Munoz X Macias A Fletcher X Additional Staff Present: Candyce Burnett, Planning Director; Jeff Bloom, Deputy City Manager/Economic and Community Development, Steven Flower, Assistant City Attorney; Tom Grahn, Associate Planner; Donald Granger, Senior Planner, Dan James, Senior Civil Engineer; Jennifer Nakamura, Associate Planner; Flavio Nunez, Management Analyst ll; Dominick Perez, Assistant Planner; Lois Schrader, Planning Commission Secretary;Jennifer Palacios, Office Specialist Il; Mike Smith, Senior Planner; Valerie Victorino, Planning Secretary; Tabe van der Zwaag, Associate Planner; Nikki Cavazos, Assistant Planner Chairman Wimberly announced at approximately 4.35 p.m. that to more easily accommodate the number of guests in attendance, the meeting would be moved to the Council Chambers. The Commission reconvened at 4:45 p.m. in the Chambers. The roll call remained the same. 11 II. PUBLIC CONINIUNICATIONS This is the time and place for the general public to address the Historic Preservation Commission or the Planning Commission on any item listed or not listed on the agenda. State law prohibits the Historic Preservation Commission or the Planning Commission from addressing any issue not previously included on the Agenda. The Historic Preservation Commission or the Planning Commission may ' receive testimony and set the matter for a subsequent meeting. Comments are to be limited to five minutes per individual or less, as deemed necessary by the Chair, depending upon the number of individuals desiring to speak. All communications are to be addressed directly to the Historic Preservation Commission or Planning Commission, not to the members of the audience. This is a professional business meeting and courtesy and decorum are expected. Please PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP MINUTES ' RANCHO NOVEMBER 10, 2015 CUCAMONGA Page 2 refrain from any debate between audience and speaker, making loud noises,or engaging in any activity which might be disruptive to the decorum of the meeting. All public comment followed the presentation of the discussion item. III. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION A. PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP FOR SPECIFIC PLAN AMENDMENT DRC2015-00040 — SC RANCHO DEVELOPMENT CORP. (LEWIS OPERATING CORP.) — A workshop to discuss a proposal to amend the Rancho Cucamonga Industrial Area Specific Plan (IASP) Subarea 18 Specific Plan in order to allow a mixed use project on a property currently developed with the Empire Lakes Golf Course, a private facility located north of 4th Street, west of Milliken Avenue, east of Cleveland Avenue, and south of 8th Street and the BNSF/Metrolink rail line. Related files: General Plan Amendment DRC2015-00114, Development Code Amendment DRC2015-00115, and Development Agreement DRC2015-00118. Mike Smith, Senior Planner, gave a PowerPoint Presentation (copy on file) , Bryan Goodman, VP Regional Planned Communities (for Lewis) gave a PowerPoint presentation (copy on file) Todd Lamer with William Hezmalhach Architects continued with the presentation. Michael Schroct with Urban Arena continued regarding the landscaping and how it should feel safe and yet is all different to create energy offering new things and spaces. Todd Larner continued regarding the different land uses and circulation. Commissioner Fletcher asked where the reduced building setbacks would occur and where the parking is provided. Mike Smith. Senior Planner responded that it could occur in some places from the edge of the right-of-way; a range could be provided. Along The Vine it could be as low as 0 feet. He said it could occur at the Park/ets provided the other streets are higher but not higher than 20 feet. He said the smallest curb to right-of-way may be 8-10 feet-he said the sidewalk becomes a place unto itself. With respect to parking, he said that if there are 30 dwelling units or less per acre they would have to follow the Code. For 30 or more per acre, there will be special parking provisions in the draft specific plan;and the applicant will be required to prepare a 3rd party parking study. Parking could be provided in wrap structures, garages or underground, it depends. ' Chairman Wimberly opened the floor for public comment. Brandon Brooke Said he is a business owner at Cleveland and 6 'Street. His concerns PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP MINUTES NOVEMBER 10, 2015 RANCHO CUCAMONGA Page 3 included the loss of a beautiful course, young people and the disabled use it, and lessons for the blind occur there, there will be a loss of walking opportunities. and he believes the project would use more water than the golf course. He did not believe this project caters to the Millennials. He said businesses will suffer from crime and traffic. He said the EIR should consider the future impacts of the future hotel, apartments, and the two new industrial buildings. Stuart Schwarz said we are in a rush to get it clone. He said it is a game-changing project with many unknowns — "the great experiment". He said the noticing provided minimal communication with the public. it needs greater public review. He said we are losing a great recreation area. He said the Draft EIR is 6.000 pages-too much to review in the allotted time period. Tessy Capps said it has too many people crammed in and the public needs more time to review. She said 3-story units must have elevators. She thought the Commissioners ' should have more questions. He said Millennials have cars and it is a pie in the sky idea to think people will bike that extensively. Craig Olsen said the golf course is a big draw. He did not believe young people will buy into this. He noted the course used to be vineyards. He said very few people use the Metrolink-you must have a car in Southern California. Jack Adams expressed concerns about parking for 4.000 cars. He did not see a reason to lose the golf course. He had concerns about who maintains the development. He said people will not want to live therein the industrial area and people should have more say in the decision. He said it is terrible to introduce thisjust prior to the holidays:people are being bypassed. He said public services and schools and infrastructure need to be considered—slow down the process. Dr. John Hull, a sports performance psychologist, said he submitted a letter dated June 11. He said there is a large group of young girls and boys becoming golfers-a big surge. Every great city has a great public golf course, Sierra Lakes is a joke. He said the new owner of Empire Lakes is a poor manager. Mario Turran said the high school teams practice at Empire Lakes. He said to destroy the golf course would destroy a landmark. hie said the teams would have to go to other cities to practice and play. He said there are other areas to develop this in Rancho Cucamonga. ' Chairman Wimberly suggested the Commissioners could comment after the recess. He then called a 6:00pm recess. ni PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOPMINUTES EMBER 10, 2015 RANCHOA�ciio NOV CUCAMONGA Page 4 The Commission reconvened at 7:00 p.m. All Commissioners were present except Commissioner Macias. Chairman Wimberly confirmed with a show of hands that no new members of the public were in attendance with the expectation of hearing the workshop presentation at 7:00 pm. He then invited the public to continue their comment period that began before the recess. Tom Reiner, a golfer, complimented the City and staff for balanced development in the community. He said he spoke on June 10th at the Scoping meeting. He said he had asked staff to examine the impact of the loss of the golf course. His letter states his appreciation of the unpaved area of a golf course. He said the statistics presented by the developer are nationwide and general. He said they should consider that Empire Lakes hosts professional tournaments; it is a quality course. He noted his petition on line: saveempirelakes.com. He said they have over 600 names. He staled he is a civil engineer and is familiar with CEOA. ' Dean Madison objected because there are some vacancies in the existing apartment complexes. He said regarding Millennials - home ownership is better than apartments financially. He said he does not want this to turn into another LA —high density means more crime, traffic and road rage. He said we need balance. He cited the current water shortage and said we would need more police and resources. Lidia Dollet said Millennials are slammed with student loans-they can't afford golf or to buy homes-it sounds like a resort. She said there are no back yards for kids to safety play in. She said she is not interested in all these shared spaces as she has no time to participate in them. She feared this would be funded by a Mello Roos. She did not see that this would add anything to Rancho Cucamonga. Tammy Tapia said the traffic will be compounded. She said it is not pleasant anymore to live here and this is not what we want Rancho Cucamonga to be. Kim Earl said it looks beautiful but it is not good for Rancho as it does not fit the lifestyle. She was concerned about traffic, who will pay for schools, crime, an increase for police and fire and Mello Roos taxes. She said Upland did terrible job with The Colonies. She said she thinks open space is wise and she does not want 'stack n pack.' Fred Knifer said he employs 89 people in a business in Rancho. He said we now export our kids instead of fruit. He said we should pursue big businesses so our kids can stay and have jobs. He said we will lose out because they will have to make accommodation ' for this development. Lewis has been great but can we bring in other businesses for balance. He asked where all these people are going to work. ' PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP MINUTES RAncr,o NOVEMBER 10, 2015 CUCAMONGA Page 5 Rebecca Reynolds stated she is in the target age group; she said the housing resembles a college dorm-like Peter Pan-he never grows up. She said all she can afford is an apartment with roommates. She said this new development will be expensive and would encourage her to be more in debt. She said you need a car to get anywhere; we needjobs, people want houses and space. Chairman Wimberly ended the public comment period at 7:35 p.m. and asked for Commission comments. Commissioner Munoz noted we are at the beginning of the project and that the Commission may not have the questions yet, just a vision. He suggested we give the developer time to put something together. He said this is part of the process and new to the Commission as well. He said we know this project will change over time and the public will have opportunities to give more feedback. Our city is concerned about what the public thinks, we hear you and the developer appreciate the comments from the public. Commissioner Fletcher thanked the residents for their comments and also noted they are in the early stages. He said this is a developer driven application and not the City. He said he could see how it could be done and it could be beneficial. He said there is the land use issue—he said he asked staff and the applicant to demonstrate why open space was originally included in the Gen Plan and why this would be better than what exists in terms of allowed land use and how it would affect balance in the City. He asked why changing to Mixed Use is a better use for the city. He said open space is a quality of life issue for our residents. He asked how this affects our goals and if we checked into the costs of services: is it a positive, negative or neutral for City's budget. He asked what the balance would be of the new uses. He said this would be the r high density, mixed use project proposed without a commercial portion. He said if approved lie wants the components built at the same time (commercial and residential). Vice Chairman Oaxaca agreed that this is the first part of an extensive process. He thanked the public for their participation. He encouraged everyone to look at the Draft EIR. He said CEOA is designed to benefit all parties including the public. He suggested they read, question, comment and look at the fundamentals re:land use. He noted he is a regular train user and this type of proposal is becoming more commonplace around the country. He said they are looking at new ways to use properties in different way. ' Chairman Wimberly thanked everyone for taking part in the process. Candyce Burnett, Planning Director said we heard the public comments and this is part of the public review. She said the DEIR was released today and is available for 45 days-the public is free to contact us andlor comment. She said there will be more Public PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP ' MINUTES RANCHORANCHOANC o NOVEMBER 10, 2015 CUCAMONGA Page 6 hearings after the circulation period and more workshops to help provide information to you and the Planning Commission. IV. ADJOURNMENT The workshop adjourned at 7:50 p.m. The Commission recessed for 10 minutes and reconvened at 8:00 p.m. for their regular agenda items. 1, Lois J. Schrader, Planning Commission Secretary of the City of Rancho Cucamonga, or my designee, hereby certify that a true, accurate copy of the foregoing agenda was posted on November 5, 2015, at least 72 hours prior to the meeting per Government Code Section 54964.2 at 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga. ' If you need special assistance or accommodations to participate in this meeting, please contact the Planning Department at (909) 477-2750. Notification of 48 hours prior to the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility. Listening devices are available for the hearing impaired. INFORMATION FOR THE PUBLIC TO ADDRESS THE PLANNING COMMISSION The Planning Commission encourages free expression of all points of view. To allow all persons to speak,given the length of the agenda, please keep your remarks brief. If others have already expressed your position, you may simply indicate that you agree with a previous speaker. If appropriate, a spokesperson may present the views of your entire group. To encourage all views and promote courtesy to others, the audience should refrain from clapping, booing or shouts of approval or disagreement from the audience. The public may address the Planning Commission on any agenda item. To address the Planning Commission, please come forward to the podium located at the center of the staff table. State your name for the record and speak into the microphone. After speaking, please sign in on the clipboard located next to the speaker's podium. It is important to list your name, address and the agenda item letter your comments refer to. Comments are generally limited to 5 minutes per individual. If you wish to speak concerning an item not on the agenda, you may do so under"Public Comments." . Any handouts for the Planning Commission should be given to the Planning Commission Secretary for ' distribution to the Commissioners. A copy of any such materials should also be provided to the Secretary to be used for the official public record. All requests for items to be placed on a Planning Commission agenda must be in writing. Requests for PLANNING COMMISSION WORKSHOP MINUTES IjANCIIO NOVEMBER 10, 2015 CUCAMONGA Page 7 scheduling agenda items will be at the discretion of the Commission and the Planning Director, AVAILABILITY OF STAFF REPORTS Copies of the staff reports or other documentation to each agenda item are on file in the offices of the Planning Department, City Hall, located at 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California 91730. These documents are available for public inspections during regular business hours, Monday through Thursday, 7:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., except for legal City holidays. APPEALS Any interested party who disagrees with the City Planning Commission decision may appeal the Commission's decision to the City Council within 10 calendar days. Any appeal filed must be directed to the City Clerk's Office and must be accompanied by a fee of $2,486 for all decisions of the Commission. (Fees are established and governed by the City Council). Please turn off all cellular phones and pagers while the meeting is in session. Copies of the Planning Commission agendas, staff reports and minutes can be found at www.CityofRC.us 1