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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995/11/29 - Workshop Minutes - PC-HPC (2)CITY OF RANCHO CUCAMONGA PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES Adjourned Meeting November 29, 1995 Chairman Barker called the November 29, 1995, Adjourned Meeting of the City of Rancho Cucamonga Planning Commission to order at 7:00 p.m. The meeting was held in the Council Chamber at Rancho Cucamonga Civic Center, 10500 Civic Center Drive, Rancho Cucamonga, California. Chairman Barker then led in the pledge of allegiance. ROLL CALL COMMISSIONERS: PRESENT: David Barker, Heinz Lumpp, Larry McNiel, John Melcher, Peter Tolstoy ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Brad Buller, City Planner; Larry Henderson, Principal Planner; Shelley Petrelli, Planning Secretary ANNOUNCEMENTS Brad Buller, City Planner, informed the Commission they had been given a copy of a letter that staff had just received from Wohl Partners. He said staff and the Commission would be going over the information during the discussion on Item B. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Motion: Moved by McNiel, seconded by Lumpp, carried 3-0-0-2 (Barker and Tolstoy abstained), to approve the minutes of the August 30, 1995 Adjourned meeting. Motion: Moved by McNiel, seconded by Tolstoy, carried 5-0, to approve the minutes of the October 25, 1995 Planning Commission meeting. CONSENT CALENDAR ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT FOR DEVELOPMENT REVIEW 95-02 - RALPH KARUBIAN - A request to construct four concrete tilt-up warehouse buildings totaling 236,068 square feet on 10 acres of land in the Minimum Impact Heavy Industrial designation (Subarea 9) of the Industrial Area Specific Plan, located on the south side of Jersey Boulevard, 1,227 feet east of White Oak Avenue - APN: 209-143-29. Staff Recommends Issuance of a Negative Declaration. Moved by Lumpp, seconded by Melcher, to adopt the consent calendar. carried by the following vote: Motion AYES: NOES: ABSENT: BARKER, LUMPP, MCNIEL, MELCHER, TOLSTOY NONE NONE - carried PUBLIC HEARINGS B. PRESENTATION AND DISCUSSION OF COMMERCIAL LAND USE AND MARKET STUDY Brad Buller, City Planner, explained that the public would be allowed to present their issues first; the consultant, Shant Agajanian, would then respond and the Commissioners would dialog about the issues. Chairman Barker invited comments from the public. Jake Faller, Griffin Industries, stated that his company owns property on the northwest corner of Archibald Avenue and 4th Street. He requested clarification on whether that location is an appropriate area for future commercial use and stated it is currently zoned Industrial Park. He said he wanted to request that the zoning be changed to Low Residential. John Richards, Mission Land Company, stated Mission Land presently has an application for a rezoning change (to commercial) along 4th Street. He reported they are in the process of doing a traffic study and air quality analysis for their proposal. Jim Axtel, Mission Land Company, stated that developing retail along 4th Street would put Rancho Cucamonga in position to compete easily with the Mills project. Chuck Buquet, representing Wohl Partners, read the questions posed in the November 29, 1995, letter written by Peter Desforges of Wohl Partners. Paul Biane, 9931 E. 8th Street, Rancho Cucamonga, stated he hoped the Commission would look at the properties that have retail potential and discuss the total available acreage versus the total acreage that could be absorbed for those uses. Shant Agajanian responded first to the issue presented by Griffin Homes regarding the area of 4th Street and Archibald Avenue. He stated that the report does mention that some form of commercial land is now being developed there by Griffin Homes. He commented that staff had asked him to look at the property and determine if there would be any additional demand for commercial land in the area. He said the report made mention that a small amount of commercial acreage should be placed in the vicinity around 6th Street and Archibald Avenue to provide services for residents only if the zoning changes from industrial to residential. Commissioner Melcher asked Mr. Agajanian if "a small amount of commercial acreage" meant convenience uses such as a 7-11 store. Mr. Agajanian responded that was correct and added that he meant a small mini- mall with a convenience food store, a dry cleaner, and a video store, but not a standard neighborhood shopping center with a supermarket, etc. Mr. Agajanian then began to respond to questions raised by Mr. Buquet representing Wohl Partners: Ouestion la: Should the City investigate the potential negative impact of promoting retail development in an area away from the primary commercial corridor? PC Adjourned Minutes -2- November 29, 1995 Mr. Agajanian stated this is the "4th Street versus the Foothill Boulevard" issue. He said he believes that the 4th Street property is not dependent upon the Rancho Cucamonga market. He commented this property would be on the north side of 4th Street, facing the Ontario Mills project, and the primary reason for suggesting this strategy is to take advantage of the market that mall will generate. He did not feel that this detracted from the Foothill corridor because it would generate its own market separate from the Mills project. He felt having retail in Rancho Cucamonga, along 4th Street, was a competitive move and could take advantage of the market created by the Mills project. He stated that if the Mills project were not going to be there, they would not suggest putting retail in that area. Ouestion lb: Shouldn't the City add to the "critical mass" of its existing retail base rather than rezoning for retail in a separate area that would take shoppers out of Rancho Cucamonga instead of keeping them here? Mr. Agajanian stated the projects each would have a separate market niche; the shoppers at the Ontario Mills project are not the same people who will be shopping in the Foothill Corridor. He stated there will be "overlap" shoppers, but the Rancho Cucamonga residents are more likely to shop the Foothill corridor, where the Mills project is more likely to attract 1-10 Freeway traffic and residents from nearby cities. Ouestion lc: Won't adding land at 4th Street increase the supply available and thereby drive down land prices on both sides of the street; and won't falling land prices, in turn, make it more difficult for landowners in the primary retail area to compete for tenants? Mr. Agajanian stated the land prices on Foothill may be affected somewhat, but in the long run, the market would eventually even out. Ouestion 2a: With regard to Best Buy's ability to pull in customers, should the City investigate shopping patterns that favor the Terra Vista site? Mr. Agajanian stated that it is always beneficial to know where customers are coming from, where shopping patterns are established, and why certain stores are doing better than others. He indicated his study was based on a more "global" outlook rather then the "here and now" approach. He said they are looking at the total amount of acreage needed in the City and where that might fit best. Ouestion 2b: Should the City aggressively seek tenants who wish to locate on either site to continue to build critical mass where it will benefit retailers the most? Mr. Agajanian replied he did not think that was necessary as he did not feel they would necessarily be competing for the same business. He said shoppers would avoid the traffic and parking at the Mills if they could get what they needed across the street or on Foothill. Ouestion 3a: The report suggests Rancho Cucamonga should seek a future retail capture rate based on: (1) percentage of available commercial land; (2) percentage of population; or (3) percentage of increase in population. This indicates a capture rate of 28 to 32 percent (some neighboring cities have captured as high as 40 percent or more). Should the City limit future development by assuming it cannot capture a higher percentage of this rate? PC Adjourned Minutes -3- November 29, 1995 Mr. Agajanian commented that there is nothing in the report that states the City should limit itself to a specific capture rate. He said this would be a comfortable, attainable, minimum rate, but nothing would prevent the City from trying to increase that percentage. Ouestion 3b: With a median household income of $5,000 to $12,000 higher than its neighboring cities, and $7,500 higher than the whole subregion, wouldn't it be reasonable to expect the City to capture a higher than pro-rata share of retail dollars spent? Mr. Agajanian stated that the City could expect more of its share as result of that fact and the report does take that into consideration. Ouestion 3c: Could the success of Terra Vista Town Center and Town Center Square be an indicator of desire to locate close to the City's commercial corridor and its strong demographics? Mr. Agajanian replied affirmatively. Ouestion 4: Should Rancho Cucamonga promote additional development in response to future consumer demand based on currently planned or currently under construction retail projects that total 300 acres of land per Table 23 of the report? Mr. Agajanian stated he could not base projections on projects that may never happen. He said that his report suggests a minimum, sound footing for the City at build out so the City would not be fiscally disadvantaged. He commented that Rancho Cucamonga did not want to find out too late that they were short 100 or 200 acres of commercial development that may be needed to balance the budget or to maintain the current level of services for residents. Ouestion 5: Should the City aggressively seek ways to add critical mass on the Foothill corridor to overcome the disadvantage of not having amassed as large a base of retail stores (i.e., Ontario) which in turn, may cause problems attracting more retail? Mr. Agajanian responded affirmatively. He stated that the City will have to go out and actively pursue efforts to attract more retail as the amount of demand diminishes because of the increased retail. Ouestion 6a: Will promoting development on 4th Street have an adverse impact on the successful development that has been progressing along the Foothill corridor with regard to "clustering retail," creating retail synergy, and boosting productivity of commercial sites? Mr. Agajanian stated that Rancho Cucamonga will need to continue to go and actively seek out more commercial uses because it will only get more difficult to attract these uses as the area becomes more saturated, especially at the regional site. He felt that appropriate development of that site will make a very significant difference to the retail-health of Rancho Cucamonga. He further commented the regional mall that was proposed for the site is no longer a strong candidate for the site; in fact, each year that passes makes it less likely that it will ever occur as a "traditional mall," i.e., Montclair Plaza. He believed those opportunities are being removed by projects such as the Ontario Mills project. He felt that the site needed to be looked at critically in the near future to tap into the fiscal potential it has for the City. PC Adjourned Minutes -4- November 29, 1995 Ouestion 6b & Ouestion 6c: Should the City reconsider zoning the south side of Foothill Boulevard to add critical mass? Is not success more likely if consumers have retail opportunities on both sides of the street of a primary commercial corridor? Mr. Agajanian responded negatively. He said the report doesn't address whether that land should be commercial or not; it says it would be good to be commercial. He stated the report suggests maintaining some functional separation from the north side of Foothill so as not to "double-load" the area with retail uses that could diminish and disperse retail instead. He felt other non-retail commercial uses would be more appropriate. Mr. Agajanian concluded that about 400-550 acres of new and additional retail land would be appropriate at build out. Mr. Buller asked for comments from the Commissioners. A brief discussion ensued between the Commissioners and consultant. comments are summarized below. Those Commissioner McNiel stated that the report was very good, but he felt it was unfortunate that it does not address specific sites in the City. He thought the report fell short because it only gives general information as to how to deal with certain areas. Mr. Buller stated that the consultant was asked to provide general information on which the Commission and Council could base their policy decisions for the future. He said it was not supposed to be a "site-specific" report. Commission Lumpp agreed that the report was good, but he felt there should be more focus on the 1-15 and Route 30 interchanges. He also stated that the report appears to suggest that there would be surplus commercial property at build out. Mr. Agajanian replied that the report reflects about 500 acres of commercial property could be rezoned residential. He stated that more residential property doesn't take away from future uses; it generates additional demand for retail. Commissioner Tolstoy felt the basic issue that needs to be addressed is identifying which pieces should remain commercial with respect to the synergy that they can create. Commissioner Melcher commented that the report showed what the Commission has thought for a long while, and that is, the need to review and update the General Plan and other Planning documents. He thought the Commission should embrace the opportunity that exists on 4th Street as soon as possible. He indicated that as Planners we are responsible for the long-term "health" of the City and he hoped that this discussion would indicate to the Council an acceptance of the report and encouragement for future joint discussions. Chairman Barker echoed Commissioner Melcher's hope of continuing this discussion between the Council, the Commission, and the community. He also indicated his desire to receive direction from the Council and stated this was only the beginning of the process. He thanked Mr. Agajanian for his report and the public for their support and participation. PC Adjourned Minutes -5- November 29, 1995 PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments at this time. COMMISSION BUSINESS Mr. Buller indicated he had a request from Lewis Homes for a design workshop for proposals they have received for pads within the Terra Vista Town Center and Town Center Square. Mr. Buller stated that Lewis would like to have the workshop on December 13. It was the consensus of the Commission to schedule a workshop on December 19, 1995. Mr. Buller also stated the Commission needed to discuss whether there would be a quorum for the regularly scheduled meeting on December 27. It was determined that there would not be a quorum available. ADJOURNMENT The Planning Commission adjourned at 9:20 p. m. to the Rains Room for a workshop discussion on Conditional Use Permit 95-16, Sacred Heart Catholic Church. Respectfully submitted, Secretary PC Adjourned Minutes -6- November 29, 1995