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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011/02/23 - Workshop Minutes - PC-HPC CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES Adjourned Meeting February 23, 2011 Chairman Munoz called the Adjourned Meeting of the City of Rancho Cucamonga Planning Commission to order at 7:50 p.m. The meeting was held in the Rains Room at Rancho Cucamonga Civic Center, 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California. ROLL CALL COMMISSIONERS: PRESENT: Richard Fletcher, Frances Howdyshell, Lou Munoz, Francisco Oaxaca ABSENT: Ray Wimberly STAFF PRESENT: Dan James, Senior Civil Engineer; Lois Schrader, Planning Commission Secretary; James Troyer, Planning Director; Tabe Van der Zwaag, Associate Planner • ANNOUNCEMENTS None NEW BUSINESS A. PRE-APPLICATION REVIEW DRC2010-00530-NEVIS HOMES-A review of a proposal for a single-family residential subdivision on the site of an approved multi-family development on 12.1 acres of land in the Medium Residential District (8-14 dwellings per acre) located at the northeast corner of Arrow Route and Baker Street - APN: 0207-201-01, 21 and 44. Related file: Development Code Amendment DRC2010-00531, Development Review DRC2004-00705 and Tentative Tract Map SUBTT17013. Tabe van der Zwaag gave the staff report. He noted the two main issues are street requirements and the Common Open Space requirement. He said the Nevis Homes project has been totally redesigned. He said it now meets all the code requirements except Common Open Space and street design; there is a 35% Common Open Space requirement. He said their exhibit shows they do meet it but they included landscaping and some areas adjacent to the street right-of-way to accomplish that. He said staff is looking for more open spaces that can be used by all the residents. He said with respect to the streets, the Development Code gives some leeway in this if they do not to meet the standard, but typically, detached single-family development must meet the standard. He said this looks like a hybrid of single-family development and multi-family development because they are proposing amenities typically found in multi-family developments. He said if what is provided is less than a public street width standard, then it should be gated and per the Engineering Department, and the streets should be called drive aisles. He said the turn around area at Baker Street is unacceptable for proper ingress and egress. He said that Staff recommends adding seating at the ends of the paseos and courtyards with-seat walls in front of units.-He said they could close off streets to provide more open space. He said they may need a Variance for meeting the Common Open Space as opposed to Private Space as in a trade-off. Chairman Munoz asked if the calculation includes these areas of contention. Mr. van der Zwaag said those areas are not included. He said they can not meet the requirement without them. He said they are like zero lot line units. He said they would have to group these units back together to meet the Common Open Space requirement. Vice Chairman Howdyshell asked what the orange structures are. Mr. van der Zwaag said they do not have a zero lot line whereas the other units do. He said these have a garage with a front door and are not accessed via a paseo. He said it was a challenge as to how to handle the sliver of land that they are placed upon. He added they meet all the separation • requirements: - .. • Commissioner Fletcher confirmed that the garage entrances are off the alleys. Chairman Munoz asked if there is a resolution to the street issue. Mr. van der Zwaag said there is no resolution as yet; the solution thus far would be to not call them public streets and this could be done if the development is gated. Vice Chairman Howdyshelf asked how emergency services/fire trucks would get in there. Mr. Sheldon, said they have reviewed this with the Fire Department and they are fine with the fire access because it is less than 150 feet in length. • Dan James, Senior Engineer stated that if it is a single-family residential subdivision then access would be from a public or private street but there are no separate standards for reduced private streets. He said the question is if they could be called something other than private streets. He said if the Commission is willing to accept something other than private streets (such as an access easement) then technically it would be reviewed by Building and Safety (grading) rather than by Engineering similar to multi-family drive aisles. Chairman Munoz clarified that drive aisles are 30 feet wide and not 36 feet wide and that they could be called access easements. He asked what the rationale for that would be. Mr. James clarified that if the City wants staff to go in this direction with in-fill projects, and if it could be reviewed with the.Development Code update,then staff would seek direction but right now this is not permitted. Chairman Munoz asked if the development was gated, would this still be an issue. Mr. James confirmed that there would still be an issue. Chairman Munoz asked when gates are required. Mr James said that when you go from public to private streets, gates are required. The design would look like full public streets but they are gated. PC Adjourned Minutes -2- February 23, 2011 Commissioner Fletcher asked how the drive aisles for the previous approved condominium project compare. Mr. James said they met those requirements at the time of approval. Commissioner Oaxaca said it looks like it was a planned gated community. Mr. James said the policy is distinguished by the reality that there is a subdivision map. He said if it is single-family homes/a residential subdivision,then the streets need to be at public standards. He said this should meet the standards for public streets because it is a single-family subdivision unless there is new direction. He said this is similar to a common driveway to 2 or 3 homes, but it is not generally acceptable. Commissioner Fletcher asked if this is developed as an association for common area maintenance and where is the trash pickup for all the units. Mr. Sheldon said that the location is being discussed and has to be coordinated with the trash pickup provider. He said different options are being considered specific to the various types of containers. Mr. van der Zwaag said if the number of units is diminished to meet the Common Open Space requirement,then the project may not meet the density requirements (currently 8.11 units per acre). Chairman Munoz said that if they wanted to make it more palatable in that direction then a Variance could be considered to meet that. James Troyer, Planning Director, said it is at the low end of the range now. Steve Sheldon introduced his team; Chris Williams, Project Architect and Scott Yang of Nevis Homes. Mr. Sheldon noted that because of the economy,the previous project as approved is not buildable. He said there has also been a change in consumer preference and this is a preferred product; it addresses the hybrid of single-family and multi-family units. He said this concept is very successful elsewhere. He noted more stringent lending rules with multi-family units. He said this project takes the good of single-family detached development and multi-family and brings them together; they have up to 4 bedrooms and 1900 square feet and recreational areas. He said this product has been built before in Rancho. He noted the Windsor Collection in Terra Vista located north of the Homecoming project on Mountain View. Vice Chairman Howdyshell said said they look like detached bungalow homes with their own garages. She said parking for guests is a big problem there. Mr. Sheldon said they have 88 spaces for guests and the project has 2-car garages that are all side by side with no tandem parking. Mr. Williams said the project is well over parked and it is all two-story product. Vice Chairman Howdyshell asked why no single-story units are proposed. She said many buyers would love this environment but prefer a single-story unit and there is a real market for this in this City. PC Adjourned Minutes -3- February 23, 2011 Chairman Munoz commented.that seniors are pushing for this type of housing with single-story units. Mr. Williams said it would be difficult to reach the density if they did this but they are trying to show single-story architectural elements. He said the drive aisle is 26 feet wide and building to building is 30 feet. Vice Chairman Howdyshell asked where locally they have built developments like this. Mr. Williams said in Chino off Euclid in Woodbury(D.L. Horton). He said there the big difference is the side yard space is only 9 feet and this has 15 feet of private space. He added that the.windows are designed so as to prevent a direct view of neighboring units. He said the bedrooms look into their own private space. He affirmed that open space is not lacking as they have green courts that go towards all the units that are all connected by paseos along with the various recreation areas. He said they design the interior to help protect the views to one's own private space. Mr. Sheldon said he has reviewed the recommendations found on Page 2 of the staff report. He said they could adhere to most of them. He said they could look at adding a single-story unit but that for recommendations 1-5, the answer is generally a "yes." He commented that staff worked hard on this; they gave good recommendations from your professional staff. Chairman Munoz encouraged considering actual single-story units. Mr. van der Zwaag suggested at least a bedroom on first floor and guests could use the upper floor bedrooms. Commissioner Fletcher asked how a small lot development would make the 25% single-story requirement work. He asked if it applies here. - Mr. Troyer noted that it is a design guideline and it would be tougher to do 25%. Mr. Yang said he wants to design for people, not cars. He said this development helps to encourage knowing ones neighbors and encourage the walkable environment. Commissioner Fletcher asked the applicant to point out the pedestrian paths and walkways. Chris-confirmed that the walkways area along the street. Vice Chairman Howdyshell said she looks forward to seeing this parcel developed and said the market is changing. She said there is not a lot of product ready to launch and therefore not much for sale product available recently. Commissioner Fletcher asked about the "not a part" area. Mr. van der Zwaag said it has multiple owners; it is still the same and would be very difficult to purchase. Mr. Yang commented that the parcel they bought cost an arm and a leg. Commissioner Oaxaca confirmed this proposal meets the parking standards for single-family. PC Adjourned Minutes -4- February 23, 2011 Mr. van der Zwaag said that single-family detached homes require 2 car garages, but for multi- family they only need,to provide 1 guest space for every 4 units. He said they provided 88 guest spaces. Commission Fletcher said the idea of a hybrid product could be interesting for Rancho Cucamonga and it might be right for this market. He said he thinks it is attractive looking. He said with respect to the open space issue, he personally feels private space is more important than common space that everyone might not use. He said with respect to the streets and Engineering; it may need to be a gated community and that would be ok as long as it is upscale, high-quality product. Commissioner Oaxaca said with the update of the Development Code; this is at the minimum density for this zone. He said we may see more like this in the future and it niay be what the market is asking for but also because we are at a complex infill stage. He asked if they had a lower density threshold,would they have done anything differently. Mr:Williams noted that a major sticking point was the_Open Space standard. He said 35%is easier to do with attached multi-family. He said with detached housing people really want that backyard open feel. Commissioner Oaxaca said he really looks at this as a detached single-family development where it would seem the buyer appreciates private open space over Common Open Space. Mr. Williams said perhaps a lower density would have worked as well. He said they are proposing this in lots of places with units up to 2500 square feet which would also break it down on density and lower Common Open Space. Commissioner Fletcher noted that single-story development, is important to our aging community. He said this Hybrid with small lots and yards may be very attractive to seniors if it was a single-story product. Vice Chairman Howdyshell noted that with amenities that they enjoy as well and privacy would be very attractive. Commissioner Fletcher noted another community of small lots and units and it is gated. He said it is a nice development and they sold well. • Vice Chairman asked what the average lot size is in the proposed development. Mr. Williams said about 2400 -3000 square feet depending on the floorplan. Mr. Troyer said from a staff level, although we do not design specifically for the market in town, he said there is not a big market for attached for-sale product. Chairman Munoz thanked the applicants for considering the Commission's ideas. He said they should consider density and single-story product. He suggested they also look at how the houses look from the entry. He said they will be looking for it to look interesting and to avoid "Archie Bunker's neighborhood". He said they should look for vertical and horizontal articulation and they should punch it up architecturally so that it does not look like row housing. He said it sounds like the applicants are open but they still have some design issues. Sheldon asked with respect to single-story if there is any flexibility to encroach into the setback to bring in a single-story. PC Adjourned Minutes -5- February 23, 2011 Mr. van der Zwaag said it would create another Variance. Mr. Troyer confirmed that this would create another Variance issue. PUBLIC COMMENTS None COMMISSION BUSINESS AND COMMENTS None ADJOURNMENT The Planning Commission adjourned at 8:50 p.m. espectfully submitt`� James R. Troyer, AICP I Secretary Approved: March 9, 2011 I PC Adjourned Minutes -6- February 23, 2011 •