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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2022-04-27 - Minutes - HPC-PC 11811\ rri(-- rCITYOFRANCHQ CIJCAMCENGA rr 10 r� Historic Preservation Commission and Planning Commission Agenda April 27, 2022 MINUTES Rancho Cucamonga, CA 91729 7:00 p.m. The regular meeting of the Historic Presentation Commission and Planning Commission was held on April 27, 2022. The meeting was called to order by Chair Dopp 7:00 p.m. A. Roll Call Planning Commission present: Chair Dopp, Commissioner Morales, Commissioner Boling and Commissioner Daniels; Commissioner Williams. Staff Present: Nicholas Ghirelli, City Attorney; Matt Burris, AICP, LEED AP, Deputy City Manager-Community Development, Interim Planning Director; Jennifer Nakamura, Deputy Director of Planning; Mike Smith, Principal Planner; David F. Eoff IV, Senior Planner; Vincent Acuna, Associate Planner; Tabe van der Zwaag, Associate Planner; Darleen Cervera, Executive Assistant; Elizabeth Thornhill, Executive Assistant. B. Public Communications Chair Dopp opened public communications and hearing no one, closed public communications. Chair Dopp announced a change in the agenda order: Following Consent Calendar, Public Hearing Item D2. CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT DRC2022-00053 - PARAMOUNT LOGISTICS will be heard before D1. Design Review DRC2021-00120 WDCC MILLIKEN WEST RESIDENTIAL, LLC. C. Consent Calendar Cl. Consideration to adopt Regular Meeting Minutes of April 13, 2022. Motion to adopt by Commissioner Boiling, second by Commissioner Daniels. Motion carried unanimously 5-0 vote. D. Public Hearing D2. LOCATED AT THE SOUTHWEST OF DAYTON DRIVE AND BUFFALO AVENUE — CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT DRC2022-00053 - PARAMOUNT LOGISTICS - A request to operate an 85,026 square foot Warehouse, Storage, and Distribution (Medium) land use in the Neo Industrial (NI) District at 11601 Dayton Drive; APN: 0229-262-09. The project qualifies as a Class 1 exemption under State CEQA Guidelines Section 15301 — operation, permitting, leasing, or minor alteration of existing structures. Tabe van der Zwaag, Associate Planner, presented Commissioners with a Staff Report and presentation (copy on file). Chair Dopp opened public hearing. Chuck Buquet, Applicant, thanked Commissioners for their consideration this evening. Chair Dopp closed public hearing. Commissioner Boling expressed appreciation for the applicant's usage of this property that would otherwise be an underutilized building within the city. It adds or keeps jobs within the city and has the necessary infrastructure for trucks going in and out. He said staff did their due diligence in determining the operations would be relative similar in nature. Motion by Vice Chair Williams; Second motion by Commissioner Boling. Motion carried unanimously, 5-0 vote. Adopt proposed Resolution 22-13 (CUP DRC2022-00053). Dl. LOCATED AT THE NORTHWEST CORNER OF FOOTHILL BOULEVARD AND MILLIKEN AVENUE - WDCC MILLIKEN WEST RESIDENTIAL, LLC - A request to establish a Master Plan and construct a mixed-use development comprising of 671 apartments and 20,841 square feet of commercial space within the Mixed-Use Urban Corridor (MU-UCR) District, APNs: 1077-422-51, -55, -98, -99, 1090-121-38, and -39. (Design Review DRC2021-00120, Tentative Tract Map 20120 (SUBTT00024), and Master Plan DRC2022-00074). Vincent Acuna, Associate Planner, presented Commissioners with a Staff Report and presentation (copy on file). Brian Jacobson, Applicant, discussed the intent and envision for the project. Relating to Condition of Approval, Planning Condition #2, a letter was emailed today requesting it to be significantly revised and replaced with similar condition applied to the Alta Cuvee project approved at the last Commission meeting (Letter on file). Commissioner Daniels asked if they have a phasing plan yet. Brian Jacobson responded they are still analyzing what will come first. Commissioner Daniels asked what kind of timeframe is there in first phase/walk ups. Brian Jacobson answered they hope to start project 1-year from now. Commissioner Morales asked if they had problems leasing out commercial units to retail tenants at other projects. Brian Jacobson responded this is our first project constructed of this type. Have not had anything like this before. He said they reached out to broker community to find out what are the challenges to get tenants to commit if they cannot see what they are getting. The condition, as written, it creates timing problems. The timing problems impact the revenue flow. He said if we were confident, we could get the type of marquee commercial tenants that we want for this project to build that space and get them in first. That is exactly what we would do but we really want the best quality commercial tenants possible. Everyone has said you have to get the project substantially complete before getting a marquee tenant interested to lease. Commissioner Morales asked about the parking structure. Will it be visible from the street level from cars or pedestrians on Foothill. HPC/PC MINUTES—April 27, 2022 Page 2 of 8 FINAL Brian Jacobson answered when you are directly adjacent driving on Foothill and Milliken the residential public facing part of the building blocks the structure entirely. Although, if you get far enough down the road, you can see a portion of the parking structure peeking out above the roof line at the residential building. He said staff has placed a condition on the project as it proceeds through construction and if there still concerns about visibility of top of parking structure, staff can ask to screen it through different methods. Vice Chair Williams mentioned the design of the different floors of the parking garage and asked to explain how resident would get inside. Brain Jacobson explained the wrap design benefit gives the ability for someone who has an apartment on the 3' floor, they can park on the 3rd floor of the structure with direct access to the third floor of the building. He said this is designed that every unit will have a least one of their assigned parking spaces on the level they live on. Vice Chair Williams asked will there be along Foothill a bus bay and an area where Uber and Lyft people can wait comfortably where it is safe and well lit. Brian Jacobson yes, there is a bus bay on Foothill and that will remain. Ultimately down the road, it may change a little bit, depending on how transit evolves in the city. Vice Chair Williams asked about bikeability. Is there bike sharing, bike paths. Brian Jacobson answered they will have a rent a bike program. Commissioner Boling asked can you explain or reconcile your description of a marquee quality tenant. The ones shown on the plans, such as a nail salon, do not seem like marquee tenants. Brian Jacobson replied the purpose of the diagram was to illustrate the allowable uses within the spaces. Commissioner Boling asked to provide examples or categories of tenants. Brian Jacobson answered they are not at liberty to say. Commissioner Boling asked would it be fair to categorize the type of tenant you are seeking be known as a national or regional brand. Brian Jacobson responded yes, it would be a fair categorization. Chair Dopp asked what an acceptable condition is. He said keep in mind we want to make sure all the pieces are moving together at the same time in terms of the project being successful. Brian Jacobson replied the condition that was applied to Alta Cuvee would be great. Commissioner Williams asked what was the Alta Cuvee condition. HPC/PC MINUTES—April 27, 2022 Page 3 of 8 FINAL Brian Jacobson read aloud to the greatest extent feasible, the applicant and developer shall lease the two- ground floor commercial spaces on the project to uses/business that encourage public interaction and attendance. Uses that encourage public interaction and attendance include but are not limited to cafes, restaurants, bakeries, sandwich shops, etc. Uses that are limited in their ability to attract the public and activate the space in front of the building are discouraged. These uses include barber shops, salons, dental offices, accountants, etc. Chair Dopp asked if there is consideration to add docking stations for electrical vehicles on the project. Brian Jacobson answered yes. He said all the enclosed garages are pre-wired for electrical vehicle charging and garages who have direct access from their unit, they have charging outlets already installed. There will also be pre-planning electrical vehicles in the parking garage. Chair Dopp expressed he likes the roof lounge. Asked what kind of experience and deign do they have to activate that space. Brian Jacobson mentioned they have not built this type of building before. Their roof decks exist on free standing club houses where they have 2-story version of club houses. There are decks on the roof of the ground floor. He said their best example is at the Homecoming at the Resort. It has a 2-story clubhouse and on 2nd floor has a lounge, sort of gathering, great room experience opens an outdoor deck. That deck has a view to the south overlooking the pool and north to the mountain. Chair Dopp opened public hearing. Noah Garrison, Lozeau Drury, representing Supporters Alliance for Environs Responsibility ("SAFER"), requested denial of the project, stating It does not meet CEQA requirements. He said it requires proper EIR due to having significant environmental effect. Brian Jacobson mentioned they did review the letter received this afternoon by Lozeau Drury. Their attorney prepared a written response explaining comments are inaccurate. Chair Dopp closed public hearing. Nicholas Ghirelli, City Attorney, explained the CEQA process utilized for this project. He also reviewed the letter by Lozeau Drury, and it did not provide any new substantial evidence that there was a significant impact that had not been previously analyzed. He is comfortable saying you can move forward tonight. Chair Dopp asked, is it fair to say just because we do a General Plan EIR means it does not qualify for future projects. Nicholas Ghirelli, City Attorney, stated if that were the case, CEQA guideline would say that, and it does not say that. It says we can rely on that prior EIR if the projects densities are consistent with the densities in the General Plan. If that were the case, the guidelines would be of no use to anyone. Commissioner Morales asked staff to explain the COA and why it was put in there. How we had problems in the past with developers finishing the project. Why do you think its important we have a strict COA like that for such a big project. HPC/PC MINUTES—April 27, 2022 Page 4 of 8 FINAL Matthew Burris, Deputy City Manager, explained we did have problems with developers finishing in the past. We can identify a handful of sites within the city. He provided examples; Office and Hotel project on Fourth and Haven that has a pad for retail building. Hotel has been built for years with no activity on the pad area. D.R. Horton site Baseline/Day Creek had similar conditions for that project. We did run up against a situation where D.R. Horton did not want to move forward with the non-residential component. Due to Covid, we had to make adjustments to the conditions to help push forward. Commissioner Boling asked to clarify is the concern that the retail components won't be built within a timely manner or is it occupied and therefore sales tax revenue starts coming off of it. Matthew Burris, Deputy City Manager, replied it's a two-stage concern. Certainly, we want to see it get built. Ideally get built and get a tenant. Commissioner Boling asked what staff's true concern is. In his mind, the core issue is what incentive is there to assure the retail component gets built and once it gets built how do we help the developer get marquee quality tenants. Chair Dopp stated we are new to mixed-use. What are we seeing in other cities in terms of the timeline. He asked are retail lacking far behind. Matthew Burris stated the retail market is complicated post Covid. Rancho Cucamonga tends to have a very, very healthy retail market. Far more in our retail city than most comparable cities. Yes, there is a demand, no doubt to fill space. Chair Dopp asked is it staffs position not necessary sacrificing quality if we keep this condition in place. Matthew Burris answered yes, that would be our position on the condition. It is a legitimate concern, Vice Chair Williams stated if we require them to get basic space ready for a tenant but if you force them before they take occupancy, they will get whatever they can get. There is no question, they will fill. She said we want as high quality as we can get. Does not think we need to require them to have tenants in place before they take occupancy. Commissioner Morales mentioned near downtown L.A. on Broadway, there are mixed-use buildings and most of those buildings are commercial units on bottom are empty. There are metal frames, looks ugly. Is that something that could potentially happen with this project. Infrastructure exposed. Matthew Burris replied yes. It is a concern that led to the writing of the language in the condition presented this evening. Commissioner Daniels stated he agrees with the developer. He also understands Morales' comments. It seems more of that wrap building getting built it is going to occur with that retail there. He said he will not have difficulty changing that modification. Matthew Burris mentioned one of the things that came out of the General Plan project is that Milliken is designed as an arterial. In that case to have retail on a fast street, we felt a lot more comfortable to have retail on Foothill be more comfortable and have support retail. Commissioner Morales stated the applicant had good points on Condition #2 and the City had good points of concern. Is there any kind of compromise. HPC/PC MINUTES—April 27, 2022 Page 5 of 8 FINAL Nicholas Ghirelli suggested the following alternative language for the condition: Occupancy for the walk-up product shall be limited to 65 percent (212 units) until a building permit is obtained by the developer and construction has commenced on the wrap building. Subsequently, occupancy for the walk-up product shall be limited to 80 percent (294 units) until the wrap building has been issued a building permit and is under construction. Commissioner Boling stated having the language sends right message. Commissioner Morales expressed that he likes the history of pumpkin patch being included in the art, the placement of fruit trees and the farmhouse theme architecture. Likes the Harvest brand, fits in perfect with pumpkin patch and fruit trees. He is in favor of the project with the condition described by the City Attorney. Commissioner Daniels appreciates how much work staff put into this project and expressed he likes the project . Architecture is different from the other cities. Commissioner Boling concurs with the comments from his fellow Commissioners. It is well put together project. It ties in with City Council vision having walkable neighborhood. It was a community asset pumpkin patch that a lot of people are going to miss. He hopes the company has reached out to find an alternative location for them. Vice Chair Williams expressed she likes the style of the wrap building. It is a unique addition to the city. She expressed she wants to attend a party on the rooftop deck. Commissioner Dopp expressed the attractiveness of this quality project brings. Lewis has brought a great project to the city. A lot of due diligence into what we want and what we are looking for in terms of quality development that brings multiple things to our community. Although, he is not a huge fan of the farmhouse, he likes the unique things in the farmhouse like wood paneling especially along the street. It's really attractive. Planning Commission really has a clear vision of what we are looking for to connect key arterials and meet some of our housing needs as well. This project has walkability, connectivity to the rest of the community. All of this matches well with what we are trying to do in this part of town. He commends Lewis for being patient with us and putting in the effort to try to match the vision specifically of the General Plan. Motion by Vice Chair Williams; Second motion by Commissioner Boling. Motion carried unanimously, 5-0 vote. Adopt proposed Resolution 22-13 Conditional Use Permit with the revisions to Planning Condition #2. D3. Consideration of a Recommendation to the City Council to Adopt a Comprehensive revision to Title 17 (Development Code) of the Rancho Cucamonga Municipal Code, adopt a Revised Zoning Map and Repeal or Amend Several Specific Plans, Planned Communities and Master Plans to Implement the Goals and Policies of the General Plan. This Item Will be Forwarded to City Council for Final Action. Jennifer Nakamura, Deputy Director of Planning, presented Commissioners with a Staff Report and presentation (copy on file). Chair Dopp opened public hearing and seeing no one, closed public hearing. Chair Dopp asked what we are looking at when it comes to mixed-use. We have a couple of metrics in the form-based code. What is the thinking behind residential to non-residential uses and the approach we are looking at. HPC/PC MINUTES—April 27, 2022 Page 6 of 8 FINAL Jennifer Nakamura, Deputy Director of Planning, explained the concept of mixed-use. There were many Commissioners prior who felt a mixed-use development should be a mix of uses. Evaluated many areas and ultimately, at this point it is best to calibrate those right now to project and that is where those numbers came into the form-based code. Where there is an actual defined residential to non- residential numbers. Chair Dopp mentioned 9th and Archibald and asked is it possible we would see some residential on that block. Jennifer Nakamura replied, it would be highly likely to see a mixed-use development there. Vice Chair Williams reiterated will be revisiting in approximately 5-6 months. As was demonstrated to us immediately, there were some specifics that just got overlooked, etc. She appreciates the fact can be open to a whole lot more interpretation between now and whenever we come back. She hopes from now on going forward maybe every 6 months or so, it needs to be given another look at with a lot of revision. This is a very important document. Jennifer Nakamura responded with the rate the state is changing legislation and types of business and types of uses that maybe we did not consider. It is a practice we take very seriously. It's important that If we see something wrong, we fix it. Vice Chair Williams commented Jennifer did a good job. Commissioner Daniels expressed his thanks to staff. It's very unusual with the adoption of a new code you will find changes and revisions that is needed. The form-based code is very exciting and unique. Commissioner Morales expressed his thanks for bringing it to the Commission. Now we have to put the pedal to the metal so developers can get to work. Commissioner Boling appreciates the work staff put in on this. Having a premier developer within the city here tonight and not having them stay or comment on this, it's a testament to Staff's ability to work with the development community. It speaks volumes. Jennifer Nakamura mentioned they did have a meeting with our premier developers ahead of the Planning Commission meeting this evening. They had a majority of their questions answered. Chair Dopp mentioned he is shocked the level of discussion on the development code. This is a very important moving document of what we want the city to look like. The fact that there is not much discussion or debate on the big things we are seeing is really a testament to you, Matt and staff. Motion by Vice Chair Williams; Second motion by Commissioner Boling. Motion carried unanimously, 5-0 vote. Adopt proposed Resolution 22-14 Title 17 Development Code. HPC/PC MINUTES—April 27, 2022 Page 7 of 8 FINAL D. Director Announcements Matthew Burris mentioned that Rancho will be hosting the Cal Cities Planning Commission training in August. Also, the General Plan is getting an award from the Inland Empire American Planning Association. F. Commission Announcements - None G. Adjournment Motion by Vice Chair Williams, second by Commissioner Morales to adjourn the meeting, motion carried unanimously, 5-0 vote. Meeting was adjourned at 9:38 p.m. Respectfully submitted, ElWabeth Thornhill Executive Assistant, Planning Department Approved: HPC/PC May 11th, 2022 meeting. HPC/PC MINUTES—April 27, 2022 Page 8 of 8 FINAL