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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001/09/12 - Workshop Minutes - PC-HPC CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES Adjourned Meeting September 12, 2001 Chairman McNiel called the Adjourned Meeting of the City of Rancho Cucamonga Planning Commission to order at 7:30 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: Rich Macias, John Mannerino, Larry McNiel, Pam Stewart ABSENT: Peter Tolstoy STAFF PRESENT: Brad Buller, City Planner; Dan Coleman, Principal Planner; Dan James, Senior Civil Engineer; Debra Meier, Contract Planner; Warren Morelion, Assistant Planner, Joe Stofa, Associate Engineer OLD BUSINESS A. PRE-APPLICATION REVIEW DRC2001-00522 FOR TT16195 ALTERNATIVE DESIGN - COLORADO PACIFIC COMMUNITIES - A Pre-Application Review to consider an alternative design concept for Tentative Tract 16195, on approximately 65 acres of land located at the southeast corner of Highland Avenue and Etiwanda Avenue in the Very Low Residential District (1-2 dwelling units per acre)of the Etiwanda Specific Plan-APN 227-051-01, 03, 04,05, 06,09 and 28; 227-061-05. Brad Buller, City Planner, opened the meeting with an introduction of the Pre-Application process. He introduced the applicant. Danny Brose, Colorado Pacific, reviewed the revised project concept for the Commissioners and explained the number of neighborhood meetings he has had since the last Planning Commission meeting. He indicated the project as proposed is a private gated community situated on approximately 63 acres of land with 110 lots, for a net density of 1.75 dwelling units per acre. He said the subdivision has been designed with a minimum net lot area of 20,000 square feet;however, the gross lot area as proposed, includes the area within the private streets. He stated the streets are designed using the City standard 36-foot curb-to-curb street section. He proposed ingress/egress gating on Highland Avenue, and egress-only gating onto Etiwanda Avenue and onto the Highland Avenue Alternate. He said the perimeter of the project will include a unified wall design and walls will also be installed along the north side of Highland Avenue(along the freeway right-of-way),along the east side of Highland Avenue alternate, and along all site boundaries. Debra Meier, Contract Planner, provided staff comments and questions for the Commission to consider in their comments. Primarily, staff asked the Commission to respond to the concept of the gated community, the calculation of the streets in meeting the net average requirement for the lot size, the issue of fronting homes onto Etiwanda Avenue and, the requirement of equestrian trails. In addition, she noted staff has compiled a list of other technical and design issues that would be provided to the applicant in writing. Mr. McNeil asked the applicant why a gated community is proposed. Mr. Brose responded that essentially he proposed\s gating the community for marketing reasons. He believed that lots within gated communities are perceived as having extra value and he said is struggling to justify the land costs versus land value of this project in comparison to other homes in the Etiwanda area. Mr. McNiel responded that it sounded like the property involved in this project is over-valued. He then suggested that the Commissioners respond to the staff questions/issues one-by-one. Regarding lot size and the inclusion of the street square footage in calculating the required average lot size of 25,000 square feet, Commissioners Stewart and Macias did not support the applicant's methodology and stated that the applicant should follow the standards for lot size calculations as all other projects have done. Commissioner Mannerino asked staff how many lots would be lost if the project were redesigned according to the expected lot size requirements. Mr. Buller indicated that that question could not be definitively answered because it depends on a number of factors including street layout and possibly grading. The applicant indicated that as many as twenty lots could be lost in the redesign. Commissioner Mannerino did not see how he could support the applicant's proposal. Chairman McNiel agreed. The consensus of the Commission was that this method of calculation was not consistent with the Etiwanda Specific Plan. Responding to a gated community, the Commissioners all concurred that a gated community is acceptable in this case, as it does not impede local circulation or negatively affect existing neighborhoods in the immediate area. Regarding the issue of requiring local equestrian trials throughout the project with a connection to the community trail at Highland Avenue and Etiwanda Avenue, the Commissioners all concurred that the local trails should be provided in this tract consistent with the policy in the Etiwanda Specific Plan that local trial should be provided within tracts that are not in the equestrian overlay zone, if they are adjacent to a community trail. Dan Coleman, Principal Planner, added that during the regular Commission meeting this evening, the Commission recommended approval to the City Council of an amendment to require a 200-foot minimum lot depth for all new subdivisions that are designed for horse-keeping. Regarding homes facing Etiwanda Avenue, all the Commissioners concurred that the requirements of the Etiwanda Specific Plan take precedence and that the homes should face Etiwanda Avenue. Mr. Buller added that consideration would be given to sound attenuation requirements to ensure the public health and safety of the future residents. Mr. Buller concluded the meeting and summarized for the applicant that in order to pursue the present concept, an amendment to the Etiwanda Specific Plan would be necessary to allow the calculation of lot area to include the gross area of the parcel (including the area within the private streets). PC Adjoumed Minutes -2- September 12, 2001 PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments at this time. ADJOURNMENT The Planning Commission adjourned at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully submitted, B Iler Secretary PC Adjoumed Minutes -3- September 12, 2001