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Res 91-139 CUP 91-3 COD Street Fair
CITY OF PALM DESERT DE TMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVEL( ENT TRANSMITTAL LETTER I. TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council II. REQUEST: Consideration of an appeal to a decision of the Planning Commission approving a request by the College of the Desert Alumni Association for approval of a conditional use permit and Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact as it relates thereto, to allow continued operation of the College of the Desert Street Fair at the College of the Desert between 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays on a year-around basis and additional days around certain holidays. III. APPELLANT: City of Palm Desert IV. CASE NO: CUP 91-13 V. DATE: December 12, 1991 VI. CONTENTS: A. Staff Recommendation. B. Discussion. C. Draft Resolution No. 91-139 D. Planning Commission Minutes involving Case No. CUP 91-13. E. Planning Commission Resolution No. 1546. F. Planning Commission Staff Report dated November 5, 1991 . G. Related maps and/or exhibits. A. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Adopt Resolution No. 91-139 approving the continued operation of the College of the Desert Alumni Association Street Fair, but with its operation being limited to Sundays only and subject to other conditions delineated in the draft resolution. B. DISCUSSION: This matter was before the planning commission at its November 5, 1991 meeting at which time the commission approved the on-going street fair with its present Saturday and Sunday operation, subject to other conditions delineated in Planning Commission Resolution No. 1546 attached hereto. November 18, 1991 City Council Member can Benson called the matter up for council review. F / . CITY COUNCIL CUP 91-13 DECEMBER 12, 1991 Staff considered this CUP request as we do all other CUP requests. Staff considered all of the impacts which we could reasonably identify by observation or which were brought to our attention through written or oral submissions. Based on this input proposed conditions mitigating the impacts were identified. There is one significant difference however. The street fair has operated for several years. Further, the operation is continuing while the issue is being resolved. The major discrepancy between the staff recommendation and the final planning commission decision was the question of whether the street fair should be permitted to operate on Saturdays. Staff had taken the position that since traffic volumes are higher on Saturdays ( 22% higher than Sunday) and that additional conflicts and congestion are created by the street fair for traffic attempting to shop elsewhere in the city that the street fair should be limited to Sundays only. In addition this addressed part of the issue of unfair competition in that a significant number of permanent businesses are not open on Sundays. The applicant contended that the staff report had no basis for the negative traffic assumptions that it ascribed to the street fair. While a formal traffic study was not undertaken traffic counts and experience of what occurs on Saturdays and Sundays along Fred Waring Drive and Monterey Avenue cannot and should not be ignored. Planning commission considered the issues and we will attempt to summarize the main ones here. Regarding the issue of unfair competition commission felt that it should not be in the position of restraining trade. With respect to the practical issues of traffic, parking and public safety, commission felt they were not problems. In the matter of congestion in the area of the street fair causing problems for shoppers attempting to get to El Paseo and the Town Center the commission felt this was a two-way street in that congestion around the Town Center impacted on people attempting to get to the street fair. Staff would point out that the Town Center was constructed after it was approved which followed the preparation of an E. I .R. and extensive public hearings. The city was aware of what the impacts would be and appropriate mitigations were completed ( i.e. street widening, etc. ) . This leads to an issue which was not discussed by the planning commission, but which has been asked in a recent telephone conversation. Should the street fair, if approved, be conditioned 2 CITY COUNCIL CUP 91-13 DECEMBER 12, 1991 to pay TUMF (Transportation Uniform Mitigation Fee) inasmuch as the use is an ongoing periodic commercial use. The public works department has been asked to research this question. As of the writing of this report we have not had a response from public works. Also, this conditional use permit if approved is based on the provision of parking as it exists at this time. As the applicant has indicated, these lots are temporary in that long term plans for the college provide for the construction of buildings in these locations. If this occurs in the future the applicant will need an amendment to this CUP approved by the planning commission to continue operating the street fair at that time. As indicated earlier the planning commission action was to approve the street fair to operate on both Saturdays and Sundays. The vote was 4-0-1 with Commissioner Spiegel abstaining. Prepared by: Reviewed and Approved by: , ,9ec---/ SRS/tm MEETING DATE I Gj a-CONTINUED TO \ I ❑ PASSED TO 2ND READING 3 RESOLUTION NO. 91-129 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT TO ALLOW THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE COLLEGE OF THE DESERT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION STREET FAIR AT THE COLLEGE OF THE DESERT. CASE NO. CUP 91-13 WHEREAS, the Planning Commission of the City of Palm Desert, California, did on the 5th day of November, 1991, hold a duly noticed public hearing to consider the request of the COLLEGE OF THE DESERT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION for approval of a conditional use permit to allow the Alumni Association Street Fair, having a maximum of 340 sales spaces on Saturdays and Sundays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and additional days around certain holidays, located at the northeast corner of Monterey Avenue and Fred Waring Drive; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission by its Resolution No. 1546 approved the continued operation of the street fair; and WHEREAS, a timely appeal to the decision of the planning commission was submitted; and WHEREAS, the City Council did on the 12th day of December, 1991, hold a duly noticed public hearing to consider the appeal; and WHEREAS, said application has complied with the requirements of the "City of Palm Desert Procedure for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act, Resolution No. 80-89, " in that the director of community development has determined that the project will not have an adverse impact on the environment and a draft negative declaration of environmental impact has been prepared; and WHEREAS, at said public hearing, upon hearing and considering all testimony and arguments, if any, of all interested persons desiring to be heard, said City Council did find the following facts and reasons to exist to justify the granting of said conditional use permit: 1 . The proposed location of the conditional use is in accord with the objectives of the zoning ordinance and the purpose of the district in which the site is located. 2. The proposed location of the conditional use and the conditions under which it will be operated and maintained will not be detrimental to the public health, safety or general welfare, or be materially injurious to properties or improvements in the vicinity. 3. The proposed conditional use will comply with each of the applicable provisions of this title, except for approved variances or adjustments. RESOLUTION NO. 91-1 4. The proposed conditional use complies with the goals, objectives, and policies of the city' s adopted general plan. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the City Council of the City of Palm Desert, California, as follows: 1 . That the above recitations are true and correct and constitute the findings of the city council in this case and which is based on information contained in the staff report for Case No. CUP 91-13 dated November 5, 1991 and the minutes of the Planning Commission hearing of November 5, 1991. 2. That a Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact ( Exhibit "A" attached hereto) as it relates to Case No. CUP 91-13 is hereby certified. 3. That approval of Conditional Use Permit 91-13 is hereby granted, subject to the attached conditions. PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Palm Desert City Council, held on this day of , 1991, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: ABSTAIN: RICHARD S. KELLY, Mayor ATTEST: RAMON A. DIAZ, Secretary SRS/tm 2 RESOLUTION NO. 91-1" CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL CASE NO. CUP 91-13 Department of Community Development: 1 . That the operation of the "street fair" shall conform substantially with exhibits on file with the department of community development/ planning, as modified by the following conditions. 2 . That the operation of the "street fair" described herein shall be subject to the restrictions and limitations set forth herein which are in addition to all municipal ordinances and state and federal statutes now in force, or which hereafter may be in force. 3. That each vendor at the "street fair" shall hold a current city business license and display same in a prominent location. College of the Desert Alumni Association shall require evidence of said valid business license prior to leasing sales space to all vendors. 4. That all vendors at C.O.D. Street Fair shall collect California State Sales Tax as required by the State Board of Equalization. 5. That all food sales vendors at the street fair be certified, on a regular basis, by the Riverside County Department of Health. Evidence of said certification to be displayed prominently. College of the Desert Alumni Association shall require evidence of valid certificate from Riverside County Health Department prior to leasing sales space to any food vendor. 6 . As a condition of approval of this resolution approving CUP 91-13 and to the extent permitted by law as a condition of approval of this resolution containing findings and certifying the negative declaration of environmental impact with respect to this project, College of the Desert and College of the Desert Alumni Association hereby agree to defend, at their sole cost and expense, indemnify and hold harmless the City of Palm Desert, its agents, officers and employees from any claim, action or proceeding filed against the City of Palm Desert, its agents, officers and employees as a result of the local agency' s approval of this resolution, including but not limited to: 1 ) actions or proceedings to attack, set aside, void, or annul such approval; or 2 ) actions or proceedings that seek damages as a result of such approval. The City of Palm Desert shall promptly notify College of the Desert and College of the Desert Alumni Association of any such claim, action or proceeding. Further, College of the Desert and College of the Desert Alumni Association shall conduct the defense and 3 RESOLUTION NO. 91-1 " control the defense. The City of Palm Desert shall cooperate fully in the defense of any such action. 7 . That the C.O.D. Street Fair shall operate on Sundays only from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. throughout the year. Street fair may operate a maximum of two ( 2 ) additional days per year with the prior written approval of the city' s community development director. 8 . That the oiled parking lot located east of the McCallum Theatre be closed to parking prior to 8:00 a.m. on Sundays. 9 . That the oiled parking lot located at the southwest corner of San Pablo and the east driveway entrance to College of the Desert be reserved for vendor parking only during the street fair. The Alumni Association shall require all vendors to park in this lot. 10. That any vendor signs visible from any public street shall be approved through the city' s architectural review process. 11 . That adequate restroom facilities be open and available during hours of street fair operation. Adequate signage to be provided to direct patrons to restroom areas. 12. That any electrical hook-ups at the street fair comply with all relevant provisions of the national Electric Code as adopted by the City of Palm Desert. 13 . That the street fair shall participate in the city' s recycling program to reduce solid waste generated at the site. 14. That the street fair be limited to a maximum of 340 sales spaces. Riverside County Fire Department: 1 . Provide site plan detailing allowed parking areas and vendor/booth locations. This plan to ensure fire access is unobstructed. No deviations from this plan will be permitted without prior approval from the fire marshal . 2. A. Provide solution on how to control parking violations in fire lanes, red curb areas, and in front of fire appliances. B. Provide a liaison who will be trained by the fire department to self-inspect booths, vendors and food services for basic fire safety compliance. This person must have the authority to enforce basic fire safety codes. 4 RESOLUTION NO. 91-13 C. Provide a designated person who shall have the ultimate authority at the site during operating hours and who shall be solely responsible for immediately correcting violations. Department of Public Works: 1 . Within 30 days of the approval of this conditional use permit the applicant shall submit a parking and traffic circulation control plan for review and approval by the director of public works. The subject plan shall address site access restrictions, lane closures, parking restrictions and any other issues deemed appropriate by the director of public works or his designated representative. Riverside County Sheriff's Department: 1 . The Alumni Association be required to employ an extra duty deputy a minimum of four hours per month to check and investigate vendors. SRS/tm 5 RESOLUTION NO. 91-1- - EXHIBIT A Pursuant to Title 14, Division 6, Article 7, Section 15083, of the California Administrative Code. NEGATIVE DECLARATION CASE NO: CUP 91-13 APPLICANT/PROJECT SPONSOR: College of the Desert Alumni Association 43-500 Monterey Avenue Palm Desert, CA 92260 PROJECT DESCRIPTION/LOCATION: Approval to allow continued operation of the 340 vendor space College of the Desert Street Fair at College of the Desert located at 43-500 Monterey Avenue in Palm Desert. The Director of the Department of Community Development, City of Palm Desert, California, has found that the described project will not have a significant effect on the environment. A copy of the Initial Study has been attached to document the reasons in support of this finding. Mitigation measures, if any, included in the project to avoid potentially significant effects, may also be found attached. RAMON A. DIAZ DATE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SRS/tm 6 MINUTES PAL ESERT PLANNING COMMISSIOI E,ETING TUESDAY - NOVEMBER 5, 197i • 7:00 P.M. - CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER 73-510 FRED WARING DRIVE * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Whitlock called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. II . PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Jonathan led in the pledge .;off a ,4-giance. III. ROLL CALL Members Present: Carol Whitlock, Chairperson Bob Downs se, Sabby Jonathan 4) <�F Bob Spiegel • Jim Richards Members Absent: None Staff Present: Ray Diaz Steve Smith Kandy Allen Dick Folkers Tonya Monroe IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Consideration of the October 15, 1991 meeting minutes. Action: Moved by Commissioner Downs, seconded by Commissioner Jonathan, approving the October 15, 1991 meeting minutes as submitted. Carried 5-0. V. SUMMARY OF COUNCIL ACTION Mr. Diaz indicated there were no pertinent items from the October 24, 1991 city council meeting. VI . CONSENT CALENDAR Chairperson Whitlock presented former Planning Commissioner Rick Erwood with a plaque commending him for his service to the city. MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN 'OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 A. Case No. TT 25102 - DESERT COMMUNITY PROPERTIES, Applicant Request for approval of a first one year time extension for a tentative tract map subdividing 20 acres into 68 single family dwelling lots on the east side of Deep Canyon Road, 1325 feet north of Fred Waring Drive. Action: Moved by Commissioner Downs, seconded by Commissioner Richards, adopting the consent calendar by minute motion. Carried 5-0. VII. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Continued Case No. PP/CUP 90-5 Amendment - FELIDAZ, INC. , Applicant Request for approval of an amendment to an approved precise plan and conditional use permit reducing the size of the parking lot for a 35,000 square foot commercial center on the east side of Monterey Avenue between Highway 111 and San Gorgonio Way. Mr. Diaz noted that staff was recommending continuance to December 3 to allow the city' s parking authority to make a determination on the eminent domain situation. He stated that the parking authority hearing was scheduled for November 14. He indicated that this was the planning commission' s direction so that the precise plan could be reviewed with the eminent domain question settled. Chairperson Whitlock opened the public testimony and asked if anyone wished to address the commission on this project. MS. RUTH GUIBERSON, 44-875 San Antonio Circle, stated that she felt the opening statement was strange in view of the September 17 meeting and the conclusions. She stated that she did not understand why there was to be a continuance asked for and why the matter was being further pursued. 2 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI1 COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 Chairperson Whitlock stated the reason for the continuance was to allow this matter to go before the parking authority and until the planning commission received their determination, this public hearing was to be continued. She asked if Ms. Guiberson had anything new to add to the original testimony given. Mrs. Guiberson stated that her legal counsel was Mr. Holtz of Rohrer and Holtz in Bellflower, California, and he was not notified of the meeting. She stated the they would both appreciate it if when there were meetings concerning her lot, No. 137 in Palma Village, if they would be notified. Chairperson Whitlock asked if there was any reason why the city could not provide the information if staff had a name and address. Mr. Diaz noted that this was a continued hearing from the September 17 meeting to this date awaiting a resolution by the parking authority. The attorney did know it was continued to this date unless he failed to write it down. He indicated that the attorney could be notified. Chairperson Whitlock informed Ms. Guiberson that this hearing was being continued to December 3, 1991 and suggested that she write that date down and notify her attorney as well. Mrs. Guiberson concurred. Mrs. Guiberson reaffirmed her testimony given from before and stated that she was adamantly opposed to the project, especially the 35, 000 square feet which encompassed her lot. She felt they should not have advertising for a project on property the applicant did not own. She did not feel it was in their best interest or the community's. She indicated that this was detrimental to the adjacent land owners and the community at large because of traffic. She felt this was a process whereby the City of Palm Desert was aiding and abetting a citizen, rather than the land owners. She stated that at the February 14, 1991 city council meeting, council concluded that she and her mother could retain their lot through perpetuity. She wondered why there was a meeting on September 17 after that decision was made by city council. She indicated that Felidaz advertised for a project on property they did not own. She stated that at the September 17 meeting she presented a rather long letter, nine pages, and she obtained the minutes of the 3 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI2"' COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 meeting and while she enjoyed the comments of the planning commission, which were very intelligent, well thought out and valid and felt commission was aware of the potential problems, she felt her comments in the minutes could have been more extensive. Chairperson Whitlock informed Ms. Guiberson that the meetings are taped so the city had her complete testimony was on that tape. Ms. Guiberson asked if she could have a copy of the tape. Mr. Diaz recommended that Ms. Guiberson have her attorney contact the community development department so that she could be assured of getting an authentic copy. Ms. Guiberson said that she would do that, otherwise she could re- read her letter again. Chairperson Whitlock stated that they had already heard it and did not feel that would be necessary. Ms. Guiberson stated that she would like to be given a few more paragraphs in the minutes. She indicated that a lot of her comments for this evening were repetitious from her opening statement about the project. Commissioner Richards concurred that these comments were repetitious and noted that this hearing was being continued and felt that Ms. Guiberson would be better served to come back at the next meeting. Commissioner Richards stated that he understood her opinion very well and he also had some questions and problems also. He requested that she keep her comments to issues that were germane, pertinent and new. Ms. Guiberson said that was a point well taken, but indicated that it was such a surprise that this was going on, and she was taken aback. She reiterated that this appeared to be a process whereby the City of Palm Desert was aiding and abetting for the advantage of one citizen and for education; she also corrected the spelling of her last name for the record. Chairperson Whitlock asked if anyone else wished to address the commission regarding this request. There was no one. It was moved by Commissioner Downs to continue this hearing. Commissioner Richards stated that he would like to speak to the motion. He did not feel commission had been informed by staff on what was happening with the parking issue. He wanted to know more about what was taking place, why this was being done, and also explain to the applicant what was going on with 4 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNII :OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 regard to the parking commission. Mr. Diaz indicated that the planning commission was as well informed as staff at this time. What had occurred was that the applicant acquired all the land he could, he came to the city and redevelopment agency and agreed to pay for any cost of acquiring additional land for the project through eminent domain. The redevelopment agency had the power to do this if they deemed it was appropriate. The applicant felt he had sufficient comfort to proceed; the hearings occurred on acquiring the entire Guiberson property before the city council; the city council rejected acquiring the property through eminent domain--the plan had already been approved by the planning commission some time before the eminent domain question came up. He explained that the property could not be acquired by the applicant since the redevelopment agency refused to acquire the property through eminent domain, so the project was dead. Subsequently the applicant began processing a project to only acquire a portion of the property. The matter was scheduled for hearing before the planning commission and apparently the applicant felt enough comfort to proceed. At that hearing before commission, based on what had occurred previously, commission wanted to know if eminent domain would be used to acquire that portion of the Guiberson property before making a decision on the proposed project. If the decision was made not to take the property, then the matter should not be before the commission at all. The matter was continued to get that direction and as stated in the staff report, it would be before the parking authority ( city . council ) at their November 14 meeting. The issue to be decided on November 14 was whether or not eminent domain would be used to acquire a portion of the Guiberson property. He noted that Ms. Guiberson had an attorney and the rights of individuals through eminent domain and what they receive for their property would be decided by the courts and he felt the key issue was whether or not eminent domain would be utilized and that was a policy issue for the parking authority to decide (city council ) . He apologized that the decision was not obtained before the matter came to the planning commission for precise plan approval, but the case was continued until the matter was decided. Commissioner Richards noted that at two meetings the applicant's request was denied to obtain Ms. Guiberson' s property and questioned staff' s assessment that the applicant had reason to pursue this eminent domain question. Mr. Diaz indicated that the planning commission on the original project 5 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNINI OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 approved the project covering Ms. Guiberson' s property subject to the applicant obtaining the property. Commissioner Richards felt that when the project was approved with that condition, it was his understanding that the only possible way that property would be obtained was through some sort of a satisfactory agreement with the property owner and what was being lost was perhaps that the applicant had a reason to continue based on the fact the planning commission approved the project. He stated that he remembered that he did not like the original project at all for many reasons and did not approve taking someone' s property under any circumstance. Mr. Diaz informed commission that the issue of eminent domain was not before the planning commission and had never been before the commission; secondly, as far as being against the eminent domain, the council was against the eminent domain for the . entire property and the issue now was would they take a portion of the property, which they would decide on November 14. If they said no to taking a portion of the property, then the precise plan application would be a moot issue. Commissioner Richards stated that originally the planning commission approved the project subject to them acquiring the land. That did not occur. The second time they came through would take a portion of the parcel . Mr. Diaz confirmed the project would leave the single family residence and a large portion of the lot alone. Commissioner Downs felt that the intent was that the applicant would buy a portion of the lot, not use eminent domain to acquire it. Mr. Diaz disagreed. Commissioner Richards did not feel that the planning commission acted on any decision that they approved that said they would take any property from these property owners. Mr. Diaz clarified that the matter was continued--the issue of whether or not eminent domain would be utilized to acquire any site anywhere in the city was not an issue for the planning commission and the planning commission could not condition a project on the city not to utilize eminent domain to acquire it. He indicated that when the plan comes back to the commission, the planning commission could only act on the precise plan. Commissioner Richards did not recall the use of eminent domain being mentioned at the September 17 meeting and objected to the fact that it was being discussed now and was not part of the previous discussion. He indicated that if the applicant and property owner have not been able to reach a satisfactory 6 ' MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIP ;OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 agreement of what the property was worth then the developer would have to develop around the property. He said that now the parking commission was being discussed, which he did not know where they came into the scheme of things. Mr. Diaz explained that the parking authority (city council/ redevelopment agency) could use eminent domain to acquire the property. Commissioner Richards asked why the subject was never brought up that the city council/parking commission/ eminent domain commission could occur at the last session. He did not feel it was ever talked about what would happen if they could not reach a satisfactory compromise. He wanted to know why it was possible now for the city and the parking commission to perhaps buy Ms. Guiberson' s land, pay her some money, and this would be part of the deal and felt that was never part of the overall discussion of this project. Mr. Diaz disagreed and stated that the reason the matter was continued from the last meeting was to secure a determination from the redevelopment agency/parking authority as to whether or not eminent domain would be utilized. He indicated that Ms. Guiberson in her nine pages of testimony reiterated again and again that she did not want her property condemned and did not want to sell her property and the issue of eminent domain and whether or not it would be utilized came up. Staff recommended that the matter be continued until that decision was made so that commission would know that the plan before them could be constructed if approved and if the agencies were willing to acquire the property. That was why the issue was continued--to determine if eminent domain would be utilized. Action: Moved by Commissioner Downs, seconded by Commissioner Jonathan, continuing PP/CUP 90-5 Amendment to December 3, 1991. Carried 5-0. B. Case No. TT 27301 - WESTINGHOUSE DESERT COMMUNITIES, Applicant Request for approval of a four lot single family subdivision within Bighorn Golf Club southwest of Highway 74 and Cahuilla Way. Mr. Diaz outlined the salient points of the staff report and recommended approval subject to conditions setforth in the resolution. 7 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNINC IMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 Chairperson Whitlock opened the public testimony and asked if the applicant wished to address the commission. MR. CARL CARDINALLI, representing Westinghouse Desert Communities, stated that he was present to answer any questions. Chairperson Whitlock asked if anyone wished to address the commission in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the proposal . There was no one and the public testimony was closed. Commissioner Downs stated that he would move for approval of the findings. Commissioner Richards said he would like to speak to the motion. He entered into the public testimony that this was a unique four-site parcel map, one of which had been a source of controversy in the past because it was within the hillside development area. He noted that the city council had been very sensitive on that issue. He stated that he went up to the site and asked the representatives from Westinghouse to place a 2x4 board at the highest level and in the worst possible place so that he could see the effect to travelers on Highway 74. He felt that while this was a sensational location, any hillside development would have its detractions. He indicated that there were four pad sites that wandered around a natural rock outcropping. He wanted to make sure that the council understood that the commission had looked at the site; there would be a series of architectural approvals necessary regarding the color of the buildings, streets and tailings would occur in the cutting of the road, and in the setbacks required. He felt the city made a reasonable compromise to allow the developer to utilize this spot and indicated it would be wonderful for whoever bought it. He stated that when coming up and down the road houses would be seen, but they would be harder to see with the approximate 700 yards to 1, 000 yards setback from Highway 74. Chairperson Whitlock noted that there was a committee of city officials and citizens that prepared the hillside residential guidelines to prohibit anything that would be obtrusive. She indicated that should protect the city from having anything that the city would not want to visually see in that area. Commissioner Richards said that he thought that was correct until Mr. Olinger built a house on the side of the hill that violated many rules set up by the hillside ordinance, of which he was a member on that committee, and he felt it was too visible on the hill. He did not know how a certificate of 8 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI :OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 occupancy was obtained and the house was against policies made by that committee. He felt it was necessary to really get involved this time and indicated that the Westinghouse Communities ' representatives were very cooperative. He felt confident that the ordinance would be upheld legally. Chairperson Whitlock called for a second on the motion. Action: Moved by Commissioner Downs, seconded by Commissioner Jonathan, adopting the findings as presented by staff. Carried 5-0. Moved by Commissioner Downs, seconded by Commissioner Jonathan, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1541, approving TT 27301, subject to conditions. Carried 5-0. C. Case No. CUP 91-15 - OLIPHANT, LIZZA & ASSOCIATES, Applicant Request for approval of a conditional use permit to allow a health food store and deli to occupy 4,000 square feet of space at the northeast corner of Highway 111 and Portola. Mr. Diaz outlined the salient points of the staff report and recommended approval subject to the conditions. Commissioner Jonathan indicated that the project was approved on a basis of one space per 250 and stated that there was a different requirement for food stores. He asked what would be required for a take-out deli. Mr. Diaz said it would be the same; it would change if above 2, 000 square feet. Commissioner Jonathan asked what the procedure would be for a new tenant and if they would also apply for a conditional use permit. Mr. Diaz stated that if a new tenant went in, before a permit was issued they would have to have a certificate of use approved by the community development department and if it did not match the conditional use approved, staff would be aware of it. Chairperson Whitlock opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. 9 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN- 7OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 MR. TONY LIZZA informed commission that he agreed with the findings and hoped for approval. Chairperson Whitlock asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the project. There was no one and the public testimony was closed. Action: Moved by Commissioner Downs, seconded by Commissioner Richards, adopting the findings as presented by staff. Carried 5-0. Moved by Commissioner Downs, seconded by Commissioner Richards, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1542, approving CUP 91-15, subject to conditions. Carried 5-0. D. Case No. PP 91-9 - AVIS RENT-A-CAR, Applicant Request for approval of a negative declaration of environmental impact and a precise plan of design to allow construction of a 704 square foot office building and car rental facility (car wash and open car storage) at 74-881 Hovley Lane in the S. I. zone. Mr. Smith outlined the salient points of the staff report and recommended approval . He noted that preliminary approval had been granted by the architectural commission. Commissioner Downs asked if the necessary conditions were included to keep the water and dirt clean from the use of the car wash and chemicals they use; Mr. Smith replied that the applicant went through the conservation manager and there was a recycling plan. Chairperson Whitlock opened the public testimony and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. JEFF SMITH, 22-850 Crenshaw in Torrance, informed commission that he was present to answer any questions. Chairperson Whitlock asked if anyone wished to address the commission in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the project. There was no one and the public testimony was closed. 10 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN :OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 Action: Moved by Commissioner Jonathan, seconded by Commissioner Richards, adopting the findings as presented by staff. Carried 5-0. Moved by Commissioner Jonathan, seconded by Commissioner Richards, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1543, approving PP 91-9, subject to conditions. Carried 5-0. E. Case Nos. CUP 91-14 and VAR 91-5 - HOLDEN & JOHNSON ARCHITECTS, Applicant Request for consideration of a conditional use permit application and sideyard setback variance to permit construction of a 3055 square foot office building in the R-3 zone on the north side of Alessandro Drive, 135 feet west of San Pascual Avenue. Mr. Smith outlined the salient points of the staff report. He felt the variance request was reasonable given the shape of the property and recommended approval. Chairperson Whitlock opened the public testimony and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. RICK HOLDEN, 44-267 Monterey Avenue, stated that he was present to answer any questions. Commissioner Spiegel noted that time extensions had been granted for office buildings recently because of economic reasons and asked if this project were approved now, would they be back in one year asking for an extension. Mr. Holden stated that he was the architect and couldn' t answer that, but noted that the applicant planned to occupy approximately half of the space and he hoped it would proceed. Commissioner Richards asked if there were any windows on the second story looking down on residential uses. Mr. Holden replied no, noting that windows only faced Alessandro. Chairperson Whitlock clarified that in the staff report it stated that no two story windows would face residential areas. 11 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 Chairperson Whitlock asked if anyone wished to address the commission in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the project. There was no one and the public testimony was closed. Action: Moved by Commissioner Richards, seconded by Commissioner Jonathan, adopting the findings as presented by staff. Carried 5-0. Moved by Commissioner Richards, seconded by Commissioner Jonathan, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1544, approving CUP 91-14 and VAR 91-5, subject to conditions. Carried 5-0. F. Case Nos. PP 91-11, VAR 91-6, PMW 91-10 - MR. JAMES SATTLEY, Applicant Request for approval of a precise plan, rear setback variance and lot line adjustment for a single story 13 unit apartment complex on three lots on the east side of San Rafael Avenue between Catalina Way and San Gorgonio Way. Mr. Diaz outlined the salient points of the staff report, noted that architectural commission approval had been received, and recommended approval subject to conditions. Chairperson Whitlock opened the public testimony and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. BERNARD LEUNG, Architect, 73-550 Alessandro in Palm Desert, informed commission that the variance would allow further landscaping in the front area. He described the architecture and indicated that drought resistent plants and landscaping would be used. He felt the project would create an interesting architectural atmosphere. Chairperson Whitlock asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the proposal. MS. BEE STEWART, 44-476 San Rafael, stated that her property bordered the project and asked what the setbacks were proposed to be on the north side. 12 PALM DESERT PLANN COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 Mr. Leung informed her they would be more than 20 feet and indicated there would be four units on that side: two bedrooms and two baths and one owners unit with three bedrooms and a full garage. He said that all of the front units would be three bedroom units with fully enclosed garages. Ms. Stewart asked what owners unit meant. Mr. Diaz clarified that it meant nothing; an owner could occupy that unit, but it was not in any way required. MR. W. KUDDLE, 44-525 San Carlos, informed commission that his property joined the rear of the project. He requested assurance that no windows faced the rear area. Mr. Leung did so and Mr. Kuddle said that was his main concern. Chairperson Whitlock closed the public testimony. Commissioner Downs corrected community development department condition no. 8 to read six foot block wall . Staff concurred. Action: Moved by Commissioner Downs, seconded by Commissioner Spiegel, adopting the findings as presented by staff. Carried 5-0. Moved by Commissioner Downs, seconded by Commissioner Spiegel, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1545, approving PP 91-11, VAR 91-6, PMW 91-10, subject to conditions. Carried 5-0. G. Case No. CUP 91-13 - COLLEGE OF THE DESERT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION, Applicant Request for approval of a conditional use permit to allow continued operation of the College of the Desert Street Fair at the College of the Desert between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays on a year-round basis and additional times around certain holidays. Mr. Smith outlined the salient points of the staff report, including the issues that had been raised in oral and written submissions as delineated in the staff report. Mr. Smith 13 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN :OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 concluded by recommending that the street fair should operate on Sundays only between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. He stated that Saturday operations should be eliminated due to the higher traffic volumes and the additional conflicts created by the street fair for traffic attempting to shop elsewhere in the city. Mr. Smith advised commission that he had surveyed the street fair--most recently on Saturday, November 2, 1991. At this time the lot south of Park View was 80% full, the lot west of McCallum Theatre was 90% full, the lot east of McCallum Theatre 100% full, and the lot at the golf academy was 80% full. He indicated that these numbers were considerably higher than those observed October 5, 1991 . Chairperson Whitlock thanked Mr. Smith for such a complete and thorough report. Commissioner Downs asked if all the vendors had city business licenses; Mr. Smith stated that code compliance department regularly visited the site twice per month and checked for that and the code compliance director said he felt very comfortable that all the vendors had licenses. Mr. Smith added that on the public works condition it should say 30 days, not 80 days, for the submission of the traffic control plan. Commissioner Spiegel informed commission and the audience that he was a current member of the College of the Desert Foundation Board of Directors, which raises funds for the college, and because of that he would be abstaining from the discussion and voting. Commissioner Jonathan noted that in staff's conclusion it was stated that while the street fair attracts shoppers to the community it may negatively impact on some of the permanent businesses in the community. Mr. Smith clarified that he was referring specifically to the ability of shoppers entering the city to get to their destinations because of the volume of traffic and the conflicts created around COD on Saturdays. Commissioner Jonathan clarified that to mean that shoppers going to the Town Center or El Paseo were hindered by street fair congestion. Mr. Smith concurred and felt this was more so on Saturdays than if it were in operation only on Sundays. Chairperson Whitlock opened the public testimony and asked the applicant to address the commission. DR. GEORGE addressed the commission and said that as he saw it, there were two main issues: 1 ) the strength of 14 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI] COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 higher education in the valley; and 2 ) the impact of the street fair on the retail establishment in Palm Desert, specifically as to the nature of the impact being either positive or negative. He said that higher education was not a technical part of the planning commission' s agenda, but indicated that it was part of the college ' s agenda and part of society' s agenda. He stated that the street fair had become an extremely important, vital part of the college' s financial strength and they were committed to pursuing the integrity of the street fair as long as that was prudent. He also added that when he said that he was not implying that the opponents were against education, they simply did not agree on the prospective of the street fair' s impact on the retail establishment. He indicated that if one believed that the street fair was a negative impact, you might come up with certain conditions and issues; if one believed that it was positive, another set of conditions would be arrived at. At the college they felt that the popular street fair activity was not only not having a negative impact on the retail environment, but was having an overall positive impact on the environment. Customer surveys indicated that individuals coming from all over the region shop at the street fair and continue on to the Town Center, El Paseo, gas stations and restaurants and other retail establishments in the valley. He felt it was very difficult to prove the allegations or comments made by either side. He indicated that in terms of gross retail • sales activities, Palm Desert had improved its position in the valley from 12% in 1982 to approximately 25% of all retail sales in the valley as of 1990 and Wheeler' s Desert Letter could support those figures. Palm Desert eclipsed every other city in the valley and was now generating about $50 million more than its nearest competitor and in the last year, three and five year periods had increased its retail sales more than any other city in the valley. He felt that these figures reflected a retail environment in excellent health. He suggested that his participation in a total retail environment, as they have grown in the last three years, was strongly indicated in the information that was found. He suggested looking at the number of street fair vendors, or swap meet vendors; those individuals positioning themselves around the valley to develop their own interpretation of the street fair should the college lose it. He indicated that if that occurred the city 15 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN( )MMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 would see a substantial loss to the Palm Desert retail environment. He felt that Palm Springs and Cathedral City would love to have traffic jams people thought were occurring as people get to the retail establishments. He commented that the College of the Desert Alumni Association attempted to address every planning issue raised by anyone in this process, from providing parking guards to parking lots, which were built at no small cost even if they were not aesthetically pleasing and sited on areas of the college that would be new buildings that would open in the future. They could not afford and did not see the propriety of putting in new parking lots and then ripping them up in a short time. He accepted the fact that the street fair was not perfect but they had attempted to address the raised issues and accepted most of the recommendations by staff except the condition for Sundays only. He felt it came from the concept that the street fair was negative to retail establishments and Sunday only sales would drive the vendors out into the other street fairs that would come up rapidly once this street fair was gone, thereby killing the street fair. He felt this would be the perfect ploy if the city wanted the street fair dead. He said that if the college were unsuccessful in not having the street fair two days on the weekend, they would stop the street fair now, rather than seeing it die a slow, lingering death. He felt that rather than fighting within the retail establishment in Palm Desert, why not have them join together in . developing a unique, whole retail shopping experience. They had made suggestions about sharing in the problems and sharing the opportunities, and sharing the cost of a marketing program and developing a unique, creative transportation system that would help alleviate some of the congestion problems staff brought up. They were prepared to work together with any and all merchants in Palm Desert to make this the strongest retail environment within the desert. He felt they had shown that they could draw individuals in, despite the bad economic times, and felt that they would continue to persevere with an active, strong street fair as a primary retail environment within the valley. He concluded that the society could not have it all ways. He denounced the condition of education and felt it was in deplorable condition and felt those that pleaded for assistance in terms of a competent work force were the very people trying to shut down the street fair and those would be 16 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 the first ones to say that good employees were needed, and the college understood that and was trying to provide them in a society that was continually failing to provide adequate resources even though the college was a tax supported organization. He felt this was a local, social and in some cases a national issue. He asked for approval of the conditional use permit with the modifications suggested and felt that would be a vote for higher education and strong retail health in Palm Desert. MS. JULIE BORNSTEIN, President of the College of the Desert Board of Trustees, informed commission that the four areas she wanted to cover were the facts, funds, fairness and fun of the street fair as put forth by the COD Alumni Association. She also congratulated staff on the thoroughness in presenting to commission the issues raised by some of the representatives of the local merchants. She indicated that there were many members of the chamber that were commercial residents of El Paseo and participants in the Town Center Association who support the continued success of the street fair and feel it enhances their business. She did not feel the position taken was the position of all since she also was a member of the chamber. She stated that the facts have been put before the commission and it was true that all their vendors have city business licenses, state sales tax numbers, 70% of their vendors were members of the community college district and many of those things had always been true. She stated that it was also true that on their own they submitted to the jurisdiction of the city, while respectfully disagreeing with the implication of the staff report that previous case law had so required them to submit. She said there were very clear distinctions between the one case that came down governing this issue and the street fair, but as a continued good neighbor of the city they voluntarily submitted to the city' s jurisdiction so that they might work together to create a healthy, integrated retail environment. She felt the facts were out there. She noted that Dr. George stated how necessary the funds were to them and she felt that was a very important point. They were being criticized for being a non-profit entity that operates a street fair on the weekend, but if one looked at precedent set by most of the public schools, they would see that in order to supplement state funding they have bake sales, wrapping paper sales, book sales, 17 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIl COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 and candy sales, which all compete with local merchants. She stated that the precedent was certainly there and they do it on a broader scale. She felt this was traditionally how public entities have supplemented state funds by going into the community and selling products and in this case they have had a street fair that had grown over the years and provided a sale of product. She indicated that the sales generated were vital and necessary and would be more necessary next year because of the expected $8 billion state deficit, and she did not feel the governor would suggest another tax increase to close that deficit. There was a major portion of the staff recommendation that the college disagreed with; that being the recommendation that the operation be cut in half and not be there on Saturdays, only Sundays. She noted that as the suggestion did not work for Solomon in dividing the baby between two mothers, that solution would not work for the street fair. She said it was clear to them, and felt there were some people present willing to open street fairs and that have been present for previous meetings, to see exactly what would happen to them because they have their plans ready to go to provide a swap meet operation outside the city' s jurisdiction and the college vendors would go there. She did not feel the vendors could be expected to pay them twice as much money, which was being recommended by having one sale day only, because they would have to double their booth fee. If staff' s recommendation was followed and the baby split in half, the baby would be dead. She felt it was crucial that the commission be persuaded that the street fair should be open the two days. In terms of fairness, aesthetics and traffic, she indicated that 289 vendors meant 289 additional businesses were paying for licenses and sales tax revenues to Palm Desert. With the closing of the street fair, 289 businesses would be lost. She said that 70% of those vendors reside within the community college district and in doing so they contribute not only like any other resident because they operate businesses at their street fair, they probably bank at our banks and spend the majority of their proceeds here because this is where they live and conduct their entertainment, as well as enhance the local community. She said that 30% of the vendors come from outside the area, which meant they generally come on Friday night and reside at local motels, paying the occupancy tax and eating at local 18 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 restaurants which generated income for those businesses. They often purchase needed items in the area and purchase gasoline here, which benefited the overall commercial environment in the city. They stay over again Saturday night, generating income for hotels and restaurants, and leave on Sunday afternoon. As an overall comment, she indicated that the staff report assumed there was a negative impact to the local business environment. She said there was not a single bit of data indicating a lose of sales by anyone and the growth data indicated that in spite of a weak retail economy Palm Desert had its retail sales growing and more revenue was generated here than for cities twice Palm Desert' s size, age, and national recognition. She felt the assumption of a negative impact on the commercial environment was false; no data had been presented and no findings could be made on any particular evidence or fact--it was only an assumption. When questioned, staff' s assumption was that people had trouble making it through traffic and assumed that everyone came down Monterey. She thought a lot of people used Highway 111 and did not even come near the college when traveling to other shopping areas in Palm Desert. She indicated that the concerns of staff on the environmental impact report were agreeable to them, but felt that traffic issue should not limit the street fair to Sunday and did not make sense. She used as examples the traffic from students to the college during the school week that were not present on the weekends, of • which there were parking permits issued to approximately 4, 806 students, 775 staff members, 52 motorcycle permits, for a total of 5, 633 vehicles that visit the college Monday through Friday. In addition to that she pointed out the visitor parking area, special event parking areas such as the foundation house that were not included in that count and indicated that those people were not there on the weekend. She felt that traffic was down on Saturday compared to the rest of the week and perhaps even lower on Sundays. She did not feel it was of such significant magnitude on Saturday to justify termination of the street fair and did not feel that the reason of traffic justified limiting the number of days for street fair operation. She stated that most of the conditions were supported by the college such as the materials and they supported staff ' s position on the annual review, cash registers, and reminded everyone that the reason why the college submitted to this process was at the request 19 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 of the business community to have a level playing field, and suggested that it run level in both directions and that they should be treated the same as the business community. She felt this also applied to the sign approval to which they concurred. She stated that they have an on-campus recycling program and did not have any objection to belonging to the city' s program and felt there were adequate restroom facilities. In terms of the impact on public facilities, they would operate with the rest of the college and the McCallum Theatre to reduce any problems and felt that could be done internally. The impact to local streets she felt relied on past impacts and one issue at the college for students and staff was lack of parking. When she ran for office that was the biggest issue presented to her in her election campaign. She stated that they had never had the money to build those lots before and now the lots were there and they served the students during the week and noted that the amount of students since she had been in the valley had grown from 6, 000 to 11, 000 district-wide and they needed those lots. She also felt they really helped to mitigate the traffic problem. She pointed out that there was an inconsistency in the staff report where they said that traffic was a problem, but the new parking lots made the traffic go much better and that some of the lots were only 20% to 30% occupied. She felt that perhaps traffic might have been a problem in the past, but was not a problem now that the new lots had been provided. She stated that from time to time traffic was a problem in many commercial areas: the day after Thanksgiving the parking lot at the Town Center was inadequate and everyone knew there were cars parked up and down Monterey on both sides of the street and persons running across the street and that was not a situation unique to that day and occurred often during the high-peak vacation/ shopping time. Also, in front of the Board of Realtors when the board meets the parking lot was inadequate and cars were on the street and slowed down traffic on Monterey. She said these were things they attempt to anticipate and work out with the individuals or entities concerned and resolve them and that didn't justify throwing the baby out with the bath water. She suggested that commission was using a somehow perceived delay in traffic without any specifics and without any data concerning a negative impact would be an inappropriate conclusion. She said that she was very proud of Palm 20 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI! :OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 Desert' s image as a resident and was proud that the college was located here. She believed that they contributed strongly to that positive image. She also felt the positive image could be attributed to the variety of shopping. On the one hand the commercial establishment claimed that the street fair was contrary to a high-image Palm Desert wants to project and on the other hand they say their customers were being taken away. If the college was taking their customers away, then they must be consistent with the image they have-- and if they aren' t their customers, because they are beneath the level of customers they are looking for, then she did not see how they were taking their customers away. She felt there was a variety of customers at the street fair and felt that was very positive. It was there for all economic segments and was a fun atmosphere. She did not feel an open air market detracted from a positive shopping interest and noted that in biblical times there were open markets on Mondays and Thursdays and now in every major city in the world there was an open air market: Petticoat Lane in London, the flea market in Paris and Moscow, the street fair in Amsterdam, the Columbus Circle open air market in New York City, and felt that most people look for an open air market when in a major world capital because people know it ' s fun and a variety of merchandise could be seen without making a major investment. She said that people were not expecting to buy designer dresses at the street fair, or sheets and towels, or pots and pans, or shoes, but they expected to go there for fun. If people were to buy a roll and coffee or a trinket on the spur of the moment, that money would not have been normally spent but now generated sales tax revenue for Palm Desert. She felt the street fair had a positive impact on Palm Desert and provided a full range of the shopping experience and felt some of the other speakers would be able to give the commission some very specific instances where it provides a full and complete shopping experience so that people could shop 'till they drop. Some of the merchants on El Paseo have creatively worked with the street fair and one local gift store recently advertised in the Desert Sun that if the street fair left you looking, you could go to their store--they were air conditioned. She felt that was a positive way to work with them. She said that in the past they have offered booths to the El Paseo Merchants Association and the Town Center merchants for 21 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 free to help educate the street fair participants and shoppers to know what else was available in the city. They also provided a number of booths to non-profit organizations so that they would have a way to get their message out at no cost and to a wide variety of people. She said they had done and would continue to do what they could to make the street fair a first-class operation. She indicated that the street fair manager Betty Houston was also present, as well as Alumni Association Director June Teran, and they had developed a logo for the street fair and they had shopping bags, sweat shirts, t-shirts, and a brochure at the street fair telling how the money was spent. She noted that while in the past they have provided mostly scholarship money, it now generated funds to keep the child care facility open, to provide furniture on campus that they have no other funds to pay for them, and provided the parking lots that had been long needed, not only for street fair shoppers, but for their students who attend to complete their education. She said that if the commission adopted the resolution and cut the street fair down to one day, it would kill it. She noted also that there was a condition included requiring a full indemnification of actions brought against the city by the College of the Desert. She stated that it was her understanding that was not a usual condition and not normally done and the only precedent was the bighorn sheep development. She asked again for a level playing field and asked that the street fair be • kept open for two days a week--it was good for the community and was supported by the entire Coachella Valley and was fun. That would be fair and it also generated funds. Mr. Diaz informed commission that the first time the condition for indemnification was imposed was on the Altamira project that involved the Bighorn Institute; this was the second time it was being imposed and commission would see it more and more--probably on every major conditional use permit or application. He said it was nothing new and the County of Riverside had been doing that for a number of years; he noted that the County of Riverside imposed the same condition on the Bighorn Institute expansion, so it would be seen more and more. Staff recommended that the condition remain. Upon questioning by Commissioner Richards, Mr. Diaz clarified that the implications of the condition were that if the conditional use permit were approved and litigation was filed against the 22 m.I.D4UTLS PALM DESERT PLANFTM; COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 city, then the applicant would be required to pay and mount the defense for the city. He also indicated that if the condition was not in there, the city would not be required to defend either--they could throw in the towel and go home; he said this meant that even if the condition was not present the city would not necessarily defend the litigation. The condition meant that the applicant would have to pay for the defense. MR. DAN EHRLER, Executive Vice President for the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce, said that as communicated to commission recently, this had been an interesting experience and provided a lot of education and was an eye-opening experience and ultimately it could and should be more positive for the community as a whole. He said that the chamber of commerce was before the commission in support of the application with conditions. He stated that staff did have some 23 and more issues brought up originally. He was pleased that there had been a very complete communication process in the decision making and to the best of their ability they had brought down those issues from 23 to 10 at the meeting that was held with the chamber of commerce 's board representatives subcommittee on this issue and through the communication with the college they were able to essentially agree upon seven of the items. There was agreement on those seven items that were being suggested as conditions and there were just three that remained at the end of that meeting that they disagreed upon. One of those was the item dealing with an advisory board which would include representatives from various geographical commercial areas in the city, the city itself, COD, the Alumni Association and so forth. It was believed by the committee and supported by the board that the advisory committee would be advantageous to the communication process between all facets of the business community and they felt the street fair was a very viable business and had proven such within the community. He said that after the meeting with COD representatives, the committee still made that recommendation to the board that they be included, which the board endorsed. The second area still being recommended was that an environmental impact report be completed. The belief of the board and subcommittee was that an E. I.R. would provide solid empirical data that could specifically answer the kind of questions dealing with safety and traffic congestion 23 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN` OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 that was well presented by city staff in the report. There were still concerns even with the additional parking lots and in reviewing staff' s report, there was still concern that cars were still on the streets and would continue to be there. He said that neither the board or the subcommittee had seen the staff report. He said that he would be reporting back to the board and to the subcommittee and felt the staff presentation might satisfy them regarding the continued recommendation for the E. I .R. being completed. Regarding the Sundays only recommendation, he said that came up from the economic development advisory board members and came up a number of times in meetings between various merchants from not only El Paseo, but also the Town Center. He reminded everyone that the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce was an organization that was formed by business people representing a cross section of the business community from all over the community. Those representatives were from the service, retail, and financial industries and that board of directors reviewed and looked at the conditional use permit and in their vote to endorse the recommendation of the subcommittee, they were reflecting the constituents regarding these issues. He felt it was the board and subcommittee' s belief that the Sundays only operating hours would be advantageous to the total community and would still be successful for the college, their goals and the participating vendors. He said that the board and subcommittee shared the concerns that Dr. George said about education and appreciated that fact and felt they were sensitive to educational needs and knew that there were positive aspects of the street fair impacts, but it was also believed strongly by merchants and business people of various geographical areas within the community that it had negative impacts and it was that belief that was reflected in the recommendations that the chamber of commerce presented to commission that they felt should be adopted. He said that the chamber was strongly dedicated to an appropriate decision making process and responded to a request by a number of businesses for a position. They went through a deliberate process to best represent their members and how they felt about this issue. He indicated that their recommendations were not unanimous and there were some businesses in the community that disagreed with the recommendations the chamber presented to the commission. Mr. Ehrler stated that it was not the chamber' s intent 24 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 or a ploy that the street fair be closed down. This only reflected what they received from their membership on what would be appropriate. In terms of competition, it was believed by community businesses that there was unfair competition going on at the street fair versus what the other businesses have to do to maintain their operations and businesses. He commended COD in proceeding very quickly, judiciously and positively to meet the concerns that had been received. It was believed by businesses that the chamber' s recommendation was still right and he hoped their recommendation would instill a more fair and competitive marketplace in this community. He noted that there was a disagreement and that was the way it was and both sides very strongly believed their courses were correct. He addressed comments by Ms. Bornstein regarding Solomon and recalled that the baby was saved because the real mother said, "Sacrifice me" . He was not saying that the chamber' s recommended solution was that mother saying let' s save that child, but that it was a very sincere, honest attempt at coming to a resolution of a very difficult situation. He appreciated the commission' s consideration of their request. Chairperson Whitlock asked what the criteria was that determined there was a negative impact on the existing businesses given the fact the street fair had been in operation for about seven years. She asked how it was determined by the merchants that it was a negative impact. Mr. Ehrler indicated that the street fair had been growing and maturing into a viable business operation. The board had been told that there was a marked decrease in foot traffic during that time of the operation and given the understanding of the economic situation, during that period of operation they were negatively impacted and when customers or patrons of both or all of the shopping areas brought items into the stores, they noticed an item just bought for a different price. MR. BEN WATSON, 73-280 Santa Rosa, informed commission that he lived across the street from the street fair and indicated that in his surveys made every Saturday and Sunday morning when he woke up, he noticed a lot of noise right at daylight and while he also enjoyed the street fair, he felt there was still a big problem with the parking, which he observed every Saturday and Sunday. He felt one of the reasons the parking lot was not filled 25 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING )MMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 up was because people didn' t know there was parking there and said he went to the college and even offered to help make signs to let people know there were parking lots on the college site. He also indicated there were safety problems and said he would like to see the parking problems/traffic cut down in their neighborhood. He stated that people crossing Fred Waring/Monterey against traffic presented a safety problem also. MS. MARY ANN HUTCHINS, owner of Kitchen Fancy located for 19 years at 73-930 El Paseo. She implored the commission to consider the permanent business community of Palm Desert and the amount of foot traffic generated by the street fair on the weekends directly affecting all merchants in Palm Desert: the Town Center, Cook Street, . One Eleven Town Center and El Paseo. She said that 14 months ago she spent almost $100,000 on interior renovations for her store. That required numerous city permits, many fees were charged and she paid them to better her business in Palm Desert. She said that the college said they were not retailers, but they competed directly with the retail force in this small desert. She thanked commission for their consideration for the merchants who work six to seven days per week in buildings they rent and who pay payroll taxes and support the college. She said that she recently taught a class at the college and was currently involved in one of their annual fund raisers and she supports the community and recognized the importance of education, but felt the street fair was big retail. She supported the stand taken by the chamber of commerce and felt it would put all of them on equal ground. She also applauded staff for their Saturday support given to them. MR. DARRYL SPEACH, 78-655 Villeta Drive in La Quinta, stated that he represented the Director of Marking for VIP Coastal Transportation and they were the ones with the limousines, busses, and VIP express taxi-cab vans. He said that every weekend Thursday through Sunday they run a shuttle and that shuttle goes to El Paseo, the Town Center and the Desert Fashion area in Palm Springs. He said they also have a shuttle that stops off at the street fair that was done with a coach. He said they have 25 taxis on the road in the Coachella Valley and they would be adding 16 more within the next one or two months. The amount of Saturday and Sunday trips from 26 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 major and small hotels throughout the whole valley to the street fair was enormous and was growing consistently. He felt that had to do with the concierge at the hotels. He also felt that street fairs were fun and malls were everywhere and a shopping mall was a shopping mall . He felt a street fair was unique to each area. He said that he had visited street fairs in Rome and San Francisco and each one was unique and sold items unique to that area. Because of that the concierge and front desk people recommend the street fair as a unique opportunity to go out and see the palm trees, get some fresh air, get a sun tan and do some shopping at the same time. He indicated that he talked to his drivers and people seemed to buy things like t-shirts, fun things, southwestern cactus and things like that. He said that more interestingly is that after the street fair, they go on over to Sizzler for lunch and to the Town Center and shop or to El Paseo for lunch and shop there. The trips were not just to the street fair and back. He said they have pick ups at the Radisson, Hyatt, and Palm Springs Hilton. He noted that they were in the process of establishing discounted meter rates and for Hyatt Desert Champions, Marriott Desert Springs, and the new Weston they have established rates considerably less than what would be on the meter to go to these shopping areas. He said this promotes themselves and shopping in Palm Desert. He asked that the commission consider this and stated that he was willing to work with El Paseo and the Town Center and the street fair. He said they would like to take people to all of those locations. He felt that it would slit the throat college to only have it one day. MR. DALE HODGES, 73-373 Country Club Drive, stated that he was a Palm Desert resident and a general partner of Native Cycles and affiliated with the Tri-A-Bike store on San Pablo. He was in support of the college and because he was in the bicycle business he said that he would be before the commission again when bicycle paths and the CVAG proposal came before them. He said he was not present to talk about bicycles in general or that more bicycles would mean fewer automobiles, but was giving commission the response he got from the Alumni office staff when he approached them with an idea for a guided tour around the college campus itself and they took his idea and ran with it in a sincere way to encourage him to take his patrons up onto El Paseo for 27 i"11LVU'L C.J PALM DESERT PLANNINn t'OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 a guided tour and to point out the highlights and merchants along the route. He asked that commission consider the earnestness of the Alumni in their outreach to the conventional, traditional marketers in the area. MR. TED GUSTON, a five year Palm Desert resident, felt that the chamber wanted to change the ordinance to help them and now they were turning around and deciding that as far as unfair competition was concerned that they should be open six days a week and on the one day they rest, the street fair operation should be in operation. He felt this was reverse unfair competition and people coming to Palm Desert on Saturdays to the street fairs would not have the entity to go to and would go to their stores. He felt the chamber of commerce was jealous and did not realize the business that was brought to the retail community. He felt the retail stores were doing less that before and also that street fair vendors were also doing less than before. Everyone was struggling as hard as they could and he felt the street fair was one of the biggest draws Palm Desert had and to curtail it to one day a week would reduce the tourist rate here. He said that he did not see the gasoline stations, restaurants, or the theaters or other vendors/merchants coming to the city saying they don't want the street fair here on Saturdays because they receive benefit from it. He felt the chamber did not get their way so they wanted the street fair closed down completely and to allow only certain items to be sold. When that did not work, they got the ordinance changed to their favor and now wanted to close the street fair on Saturdays. He said that they were dealing with people who only wanted to benefit their own operations and yet many merchants on El Paseo, in Rancho Mirage, and in Palm Desert were still closing three months per year and somehow they were still making enough money and their income was going up. He stated that this was all started by one merchant who opened a store three years ago in Rancho Mirage and took a look at the street fair and decided he wanted all the revenue at the street fair going to him so he started this process and the city was going along with it. MR. MICHAEL QUAKE, a resident of Palm Desert, informed commission that he had been involved in this issue since it started and felt that the previous speaker might have been talking about him. He stated that he opened his 28 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 store four years ago and the gentleman who just spoke had the business ethics of a rattlesnake and that gentleman was a vendor who sold him merchandise at his store. He said that he was doing business in buying that gentleman' s merchandise and again stated that he had no problems with the swap meet--he did not want it in Palm Desert. He said the reason it was brought up on legalities was down the road and it was in the courts and he indicated that with Mayor Snyder not being present the city council had not voted that ordinance through, and according to what was going to happen, he was going along with that and there would be a change in the ordinance and the city would decide what the conditions would be for a conditional use permit. He wanted to make clear his own position and said that he was buying merchandise to sell at what he felt was a fair mark-up price. Then he found out that the vendor opened a stand at the street fair/swap meet and while he was selling a ring for $5.00 and was it selling for $10.00, this business competitor was at the swap meet selling the ring for $5.00 to the community. He said that he does not complain about the competition, he did what he had to do and was no longer buying rings and was still making a living and hoped to continue making a living. He noted the editorial in the Desert Sun of October 26 regarding, "Street Fairs, Tough Business for Valley Cities" and felt enormous decisions for planning committees and city councils were being made. He felt that whatever happened with Palm Desert • in allowing this to go on and what had happened in the law process in the last seven months was water under the bridge. He believed there would be more swap meets and these types of organizations going on and there was an article by Mr. Eichelberger who was running the Expo 111 in Coachella who had obligated himself through the paper that he would contribute $100, 000 to the college. He thought that was wonderful and hoped that he was able to continue his own contribution because he was a firm believer of the College of the Desert in Palm Desert and was thrilled to have it here. His complaint and irritation was not on any emotional factor and was not a ploy of being against education or motherhood, it was strictly on a legal basis and he felt it was handled exactly that way. He felt the whole procedure came down to the bad guys, who were the legitimate business owners and residents of the city and anyone who opposed the swap meet was automatically against the College of the Desert. 29 PALM DESERT PLANNING rOMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 He felt that he could not beat that image and for the newspaper to pick up the type of report that the merchants on El Paseo or Town Center were robbers because they try to charge a legitimate mark-up to support their families and the city where they pay taxes and do the legitimate things they do to support their businesses-- that makes them outrageous retailers. He did not believe that but was glad that he could have his opinion and could respect the opinion of the opposition. He said that was the balance of what he had to say, noting that he was not a member of the El Paseo Business Association but was welcomed by them because of his stand in trying to iron out the legalities of the street fair, and that his personal feeling was that whatever the planning commission felt was correct for Palm Desert was something the residents of Palm Desert and the people shopping in Palm Desert would have to live with. He hoped the commission would come to a decision based on the chamber' s recommendation and was sure there were many hours of contemplation toward what decision to be made. He said he was not against any free enterprise and anybody making a living and as far as any name calling and slinging was concerned, he felt he did not get involved with anything like that but wanted to get his position across and he congratulated staff on their wonderful understanding of the situation and wished the commission the best in making the correct decision for Palm Desert. Mr. Diaz noted that so far points were being argued but felt the last two speakers were getting down to personalities and did not feel that was Palm Desert and asked that the discussion be kept to the points. MS. EDA BRONOWITZ, a vendor at the street fair, said that she had been there for the past six or seven years. She said that the previous gentleman talked about legitimate businesses. She said that they were legitimate business people also and they had a license to operate. When they talked about competition, what happened to Marshall ' s, Labels for Less, Standard Shoes, what happened to Cabazon. She said that they did not put El Paseo out of business--El Paseo put themselves out of business. Cabazon came in with their factory stores and the same stores were on El Paseo today and she felt that they should be fighting Cabazon because they were the same 30 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNI COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 company stores as what was on El Paseo. She said they were legitimate business owners trying to earn a living the same as anyone else that operate six days a week. She indicated that many of them were retired people and they were not looking for charity, but were trying to earn their own way the best they could on what they had. She felt it was very unfair for them to talk about putting them out to only one day per week. She stated that there was fair competition everywhere in the world and she had been to street fairs in Italy, Hong Kong, Spain, England and many other places and they had not effected the businesses over there at all and this would not effect these business either if they would concentrate on what they had to do instead of concentrating on what people were doing at the street fair. She informed commission that a lot of people from El Paseo came to the street fair to buy merchandise to sell in their stores. MR. KEN POLLARD, seller at the street fair, stated that he had two points he felt compelled to discuss. He said they heard the points about competition and how unfair they were and the way they compete and indicated that they were only trying to run a legitimate business and offer something to the public. The free enterprise system founded this country and that was why people live in the United States and why people love it here and many ancestors came here for that reason. If it wasn ' t religious freedom it was free enterprise so that they could start with nothing, like Marriott did selling A&W Rootbeer for only a nickel and now there was a Marriott Desert Springs in Palm Desert now. That was a free enterprise system that founded that type of thing. The same as Bob' s Big Boy--he wondered if someone complained about Kraft when he had his cart and decided to cut cheese up and sell it in slices. He said he wondered if the stores tried to make him a second class citizen--he doubted it. He felt that was what was being done to them now. He wondered if the people offering the one day a week could take a 50% cut in their monthly salary and still make those house payments, charge accounts or second mortgages, put the kids through school and pay for those braces on a 50% cut in their wages. He did not think it would be that easy to just go somewhere else and replace that income. 31 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN( )MMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 Chairperson Whitlock asked Ms. Bornstein if she wished to make a final statement. Ms. Bornstein felt that it was clear that there was a lot of emotion generated by this dispute and they regretted that. She believed that the community would be best served if they all worked together to enhance the community and make a wholesome and integrated retail environment. She said she was present to answer any questions. She indicated that the street fair in addition to the taxes it pays through sales tax or business licenses, also employs over 200 people every weekend including 11 students. She stated that this was not an illegitimate business. It was a major employer that just happened to exist only two days a week. In addition, the Alumni Association was the operator of the street fair. They were a non-profit organization and if a for-profit business enterprise took the street fair and moved it out of the city of Palm Desert as some of the speakers in opposition suggested might satisfy them, money made by the operator would leave the city as well . Many of those operators didn' t even reside in Riverside County. The College of the Desert as a non-profit organization puts all of those proceeds back into the community by scholarships, allows students to attend the college and have money for living expenses spent in this community, and operates a child care center that provides child care, a recognized public need in the community, plus other items at the college they would not otherwise have the funds to provide, but which were essential to meet their educational purpose. No money generated by the operator of the street fair left the area. They stayed here. As a non-profit organization their goal was to provide a fun experience for those who participate and to provide a fair operation for those in the city whether they be in city government, city tax payers or members of the city business community. They also believed that free enterprise was the key and were somewhat surprised and had discussed completely with the chamber a philosophy that seemed to be contrary to what most chambers of commerce would do in supporting free enterprise and they were able to discuss that fully because the controls they suggested seemed contrary to that philosophy. They recognized that many items they were already doing and many were suggestions that would enhance the street fair and those were welcomed. She 32 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANN] COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 felt the condition of limiting the street fair to Sundays only was intolerable and while Solomon ultimately did not kill the baby because in his wisdom he realized that was not the solution, but was simply to flush out or identify the real mother, he had logic to support his wisdom. She did not feel the commission had logic or fact to support the belief that the street fair was the cause of the disappointment of the merchants. She felt there were lots of reasons the merchants might be disappointed with their performance and they at the college would like to work with them to erase that disappointment and help them to recognize their goals and in the academic programs they had the resources to help them do that. In terms of the street fair, she felt there was no data to show that they were the cause of their disappointment and felt the contrary was true. She asked that the commission let the status quo to continue and felt they ran a fair and fun operation and generated funds that stayed in the community and by limiting the street fair they would surely leave. Chairperson Whitlock closed the public hearing and asked for comments from the commissioners. Commissioner Jonathan said that he would address the question of competition head-on because that seemed to be the center of much of the discussion. He said that the planning commission was present to review an application for a conditional use permit and as planning commissioners would follow the question of competition to its logical conclusion. The question of whether there was competition caused by the street fair that created a detriment to other merchants either was there or not. If it did not create unfair competition, the question was moot. If it does cause competition to other merchants, then as planning commissioners they had no place restraining trade. In granting a CUP, they could not look at the issue of whether competition was created. He noted that earlier that night they granted conditional use permits for restaurants, health food stores/delis, office buildings, and have done it for dance studios and the list went on. Never had they asked themselves that if a dance studio were approved would it create unfair competition for another existing dance studio. He said that if competition was not created, the question was moot, and if it did that was not a question for the planning commission to consider and was still moot and not part of their discussion. He noted that some of the practical 33 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING MMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 aspects of the conditional use permit was the effect on traffic and the safety of the public. From the testimony given, he did not feel there was a detriment in the traditional sense of the conditional use permit. He said that he lives here, he sees the traffic and did not think it was bad, especially compared to other traffic problems in the city. To say that the fair created a problem getting to the Town Center was literally a two-way street and it could be said that the mall created traffic jams getting to the street fair. He did not feel there was enough of a problem to restrain the operation and he was impressed by the work staff did and agreed with the conclusions except for the limiting of the operation to Sundays. He felt that Saturdays and Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and two additional days per year was reasonable. He noted that this was a conditional use permit and if future traffic problems were generated, it would come back to the planning commission for review and it could be terminated if the problem could not be worked out. He said he was ready to recommend approval. Commissioner Richards reported that he and Chairperson Whitlock were present at a session of the economic advisory committee and those minutes were included in the planning commission packet. He felt that this committee was a good cross section of people in the city. Among various members were Mr. Ceriale from the Marriott who had commented that that was what people wanted--they wanted to experience the area and that meant El Paseo, the Town Center and the street fair. He felt there were other benefits that had not been noted. He said he was a product of the community college system and was proud of it. He felt one of the side benefits was that people visit the college and that helped the college. When people understood that it was there and how nice it was and the cooperation they have extended to the business community was a benefit. He said this was a political and emotional issue. He felt that the benefit of what the foundation brought was very significant, and the negatives when weighed with a scale of justice, he would have a hard time leaning toward the other side. He also agreed that the street fair had problems associated with any big business and that was what it had become. At the economic development advisory committee meeting it was looked at like a business and they discussed what was wrong and there were suggestions made, some of which the staff included. He felt staff' s recommendation that came from the fire department, the sheriff' s department, and the traffic commission should be taken without any changes in 34 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANN] COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 their entirety. He felt the city' s traffic engineers were the finest and if they suggested closing streets or opening parking lots, or changing exits, that should be done to its absolute finite point. Likewise if the sheriff ' s department wanted someone there four hours a day, he did not feel there was any possibility of change from a planning standpoint. He said he was against any restriction of time for Saturdays or Sundays. He indicated that one issue discussed at the advisory committee was what the cost was to the city. He also wondered how many of the 289 vendors belonged to the chamber of commerce and suggested that the chamber think about getting them as members also. He felt that the city had many cost factors--one being that the sheriff ' s department did not direct traffic for free. The city would receive the bill for that service. He also indicated that the business merchants in town had legitimate questions about whether sales tax was being collected, whether things were being rung up on a cash register, but concurred it was not pertinent to talk about a cash register because it had not been done to anyone else and he agreed with that. When talking about the absolute cost factors, he felt there were some other things that staff did not bring up such as setting a fee structure that would put support back into the general advertising/promotional activities of the rest of the city. He felt that the street fair did not contribute to things like that and there were some legitimate costs and expenses they should share. He said he did not have a number, but felt that staff could probably come up with a cost for the sheriff' s department and felt the . city should donate a lot of their time and expertise to handle the traffic issues and on an on-going basis there was probably some legitimate costs the college should take a good look at and some transferring of these costs back to the city should be imposed. He said they also talked about complaints such as condition of restrooms, safety of electrical outlets and things like that and felt that once the college knew they had an on-going business that would not be shut down, he felt they would undertake some capital improvements to handle that and felt the vendors would appreciate that and he would like to see that done. He said there was a condition regarding an advisory board; he felt that was a good deal but advisory boards with "no teeth" were not really any good and if they had no power nothing would happen. He felt that if the board was created it should be given some power; otherwise, don' t create it. 35 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNIN OMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 Commissioner Richards indicated that his recommendations were that started with condition no. 7 on page 4, which should be amended to read Saturday and Sunday 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ( College of the Desert representatives concurred) . Commissioner Richards also felt that condition nos. 8 and 9 should be eliminated and public works department with their traffic engineers should work out a program with the college and the city being in a lead position to tell them how to run the parking lots and access points. Mr. Diaz suggested amending public work' s condition to read that they submit a traffic and control plan for review and approval by the director of public works. Commission concurred. Dr. George concurred. Commissioner Jonathan felt that the condition that the parking lot be closed so the vendors would not park there should be kept in. Commissioner Richards said that he did not really like that because he did not know if that was the only way to solve the problem and was not sure that was the best thing. He felt that if there was a cooperative city staff and a college that wanted to do the right thing, this could be resolved without itemizing every single item. Commissioner Jonathan concurred that conditions 8 and 9 be eliminated and would be handled in a cooperative manner. It was clarified that if a satisfactory agreement could not be worked out between the city and college, then the planning commission would decide the issue. Commissioner Richards recalled the testimony given by Mr. Watson and felt the whole picture should be considered, not just one area. Commission determined that the signs were just like store signs and . should be regulated. Commission also discussed condition no. 14 limiting the number of vendors to 340. Commissioner Downs noted that if the number of spaces for rent wasn' t limited, parking space would run out. Dr. George told the commission that they had no intention of increasing the size and felt it was as large as it was going to get. Commissioner Jonathan felt the condition should remain and if they wanted more in the future they could request it. Commissioner Richards concurred and felt the rest of the conditions by the fire department and sheriff' s department should remain without change. Commissioner Jonathan concurred except for having an advisory board. Commissioner Richards clarified that if an advisory board was approved, he felt it should be given some "teeth" ; otherwise there shouldn' t be one. He felt the chamber, the Town Center and other retailers 36 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANN COMMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 would like to see some sort of association to have a place to talk and express concerns and that was why it was one of their recommendations. Dr. George concurred with the chamber and agreed to work with the chamber and other merchants in town to address a variety of issues just on the street fair, but again looking at the overall retail environment they would be willing to participate in that; however in terms of giving the advisory committee "teeth" , the street fair would still have to be under the authority of the college and they could not submit to the authority of some other outside group, but would be willing to participate with those other merchants to work on issues about the street fair or retail in general for Palm Desert. Ms. Bornstein noted that the Board of Trustees was an elected body and was accountable and had publicly noticed meetings with public comment provisions on their agendas so that there was a mechanism to do that and supported comments by Dr. George that it would have to remain under the control and accountability of the body elected to do that. Commissioner Richards suggested facilitating their request by having one of the board members attend or speak to it or see if there was some common ground to create some sort of input to their group. Ms. Bornstein assured the commission that the College of the Desert Alumni Association was an association member of the chamber, like the Town Center and El Paseo Merchants Association, in addition to some of the board members being individual members of the chamber and many of the college faculty participated in the chamber functions. She felt she and Mr. Ehrler could assure the commission that they would continue to communicate and make sure they worked together on this. In terms of the legal accountability issue, they were a publicly elected body and they already had that accountability there. Commissioner Jonathan felt the details had been ironed out. Commissioner Richards concurred except for the issue of public works working with the college. Mr. Folkers assured commission that they could "rise to the challenge. " Chairperson Whitlock concurred with Commissioners Jonathan and Richards and added that she felt the decision made by the chamber of commerce was undoubtedly a painful one for them to make and congratulated them on being able to come forward and give their opinion and felt that they deliberated long and hard on the decision they arrived at. She also felt that staff did an excellent job in coming up with a compromise for a difficult decision. However, the arguments heard in the 37 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING MMISSION NOVEMBER 5, 1991 public testimony persuaded her to understand the need for having the street fair open on Saturdays and Sundays and she supported the changes that had been made to the conditions. Commissioner Downs also concurred with the changes made to the conditions. Action: Moved by Commissioner Jonathan, seconded by Commissioner Richards, adopting the findings as presented by staff. Carried 4-0-1 (Commissioner Spiegel abstained) . Moved by Commissioner Jonathan, seconded by Commissioner Richards, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1546, approving CUP 91-13, subject to conditions as amended. Carried 4-0-1 (Commissioner Spiegel abstained) . VIII. MISCELLANEOUS None. IX. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. X. COMMENTS None. XI. ADJOURNMENT Moved by Commissioner Downs, seconded by Commissioner Spiegel, adjourning the meeting. Carried 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 10:36 p.m. RAMON A. DIAZ, Secretary ATTEST: CAROL WHITLOCK, Chairperson /tm 38 PLAN G COMMISSION RESOLUTION 1 1546 A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT TO ALLOW THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE COLLEGE OF THE DESERT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION STREET FAIR AT THE COLLEGE OF THE DESERT. CASE NO. CUP 91-13 WHEREAS, the Planning Commission of the City of Palm Desert, California, did on the 5th day of November, 1991, hold a duly noticed public hearing to consider the request of the COLLEGE OF THE DESERT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION for approval of a conditional use permit to allow the Alumni Association Street Fair, having a maximum of 340 sales spaces on Saturdays and Sundays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and additional days around certain holidays, located at the northeast corner of Monterey Avenue and Fred Waring Drive; and WHEREAS, said application has complied with the requirements of the "City of Palm Desert Procedure for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act, Resolution No. 80-89, " in that the director of community development has determined that the project will not have an adverse impact on the environment and a draft negative declaration of environmental impact has been prepared; and WHEREAS, at said public hearing, upon hearing and considering all testimony and arguments, if any, of all interested persons desiring to be heard, said planning commission did find the following facts and reasons to exist to justify the granting of said conditional use permit: 1. The proposed location of the conditional use is in accord with the objectives of the zoning ordinance and the purpose of the district in which the site is located. 2. The proposed location of the conditional use and the conditions under which it will be operated and maintained will not be detrimental to the public health, safety or general welfare, or be materially injurious to properties or improvements in the vicinity. 3. The proposed conditional use will comply with each of the applicable provisions of this title, except for approved variances or adjustments. 4. The proposed conditional use complies with the goals, objectives, and policies of the city' s adopted general plan. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Planning Commission of the City of Palm Desert, California, as follows: 1 . That the above recitations are true and correct and constitute the findings of the commission in this case and which is based on information contained in the staff report for Case No. CUP 91-13 dated November 5, 1991. PLANNING COMMISSION R"""�UTION NO. 1546 2 . That a Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact ( Exhibit "A" attached hereto) as it relates to Case No. CUP 91-13 is (- - hereby certified. 3 . That approval of Conditional Use Permit 91-13 is hereby granted, subject to the attached conditions. PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Palm Desert Planning Commission, held on this 5th day of November, 1991, by the following vote, to wit: AYES : DOWNS, JONATHAN, RICHARDS, SPIEGEL, WHITLOCK NOES : NONE ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE &aL :) CAROL WHITLOCK, Chairperson ATTEST: 4: 0/P.J4( ,.g RAMON A. DIAZ, ect#ary SRS/tm 2 PLANNING COMMISSION SOLUTION NO. 1546 CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL CASE NO. CUP 91-13 Department of Community Development: 1 . That the operation of the "street fair" shall conform substantially with exhibits on file with the department of community development/ planning, as modified by the following conditions. 2. That the operation of the "street fair" described herein shall be subject to the restrictions and limitations set forth herein which are in addition to all municipal ordinances and state and federal statutes now in force, or which hereafter may be in force. 3. That each vendor at the "street fair" shall hold a current city business license and display same in a prominent location. College of the Desert Alumni Association shall require evidence of said valid business license prior to leasing sales space to all vendors. 4. That all vendors at C.O.D. Street Fair shall collect California State Sales Tax as required by the State Board of Equalization. 5. That all food sales vendors at the street fair be certified, on a regular basis, by the Riverside County Department of Health. Evidence of said certification to be displayed prominently. College of the Desert Alumni Association shall require evidence of valid certificate from Riverside County Health Department prior to leasing sales space to any food vendor. 6. As a condition of approval of this resolution approving CUP 91-13 and to the extent permitted by law as a condition of approval of this resolution containing findings and certifying the negative declaration of environmental impact with respect to this project, College of the Desert and College of the Desert Alumni Association hereby agree to defend, at their sole cost and expense, indemnify and hold harmless the City of Palm Desert, its agents, officers and employees from any claim, action or proceeding filed against the City of Palm Desert, its agents, officers and employees as a result of the local agency' s approval of this resolution, including but not limited to: 1 ) actions or proceedings to attack, set aside, void, or annul such approval; or 2 ) actions or proceedings that seek damages as a result of such approval . The City of Palm Desert shall promptly notify College of the Desert and College of the Desert Alumni Association of any such claim, action or proceeding. Further, College of the Desert and College of the Desert Alumni Association shall conduct the defense and 3 PLANNING COMMISSION l ILUTION NO. 1546 control the defense. The City of Palm Desert shall cooperate fully in the defense of any such action. 7 . That the C.O.D. Street Fair shall operate on Saturdays and Sundays from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. throughout the year. Street fair may operate a maximum of two (2 ) additional days per year with the prior written approval of the city' s community development director. 8 . That any vendor signs visible from any public street shall be approved through the city' s architectural review process. 9 . That adequate restroom facilities be open and available during hours of street fair operation. Adequate signage to be provided to direct patrons to restroom areas. 10. That any electrical hook-ups at the street fair comply with all relevant provisions of the national Electric Code as adopted by the City of Palm Desert. 11 . That the street fair shall participate in the city' s recycling program to reduce solid waste generated at the site. 12. That the street fair be limited to a maximum of 340 sales spaces. Riverside County Fire Department: 1 . Provide site plan detailing allowed parking areas and vendor/booth locations. This plan to ensure fire access is unobstructed. No deviations from this plan will be permitted without prior approval from the fire marshal . 2. A. Provide solution on how to control parking violations in fire lanes, red curb areas, and in front of fire appliances. B. Provide a liaison who will be trained by the fire department to self-inspect booths, vendors and food services for basic fire safety compliance. This person must have the authority to enforce basic fire safety codes. C. Provide a designated person who shall have the ultimate authority at the site during operating hours and who shall be solely responsible for immediately correcting violations. Department of Public Works: 1 . Within 30 days of the approval of this conditional use permit the applicant shall submit a parking and traffic circulation control 4 PLANNING COMMISSION ;OLUTION NO. 1546 plan for review and approval by the director of public works. The subject plan shall address site access restrictions, lane closures, parking restrictions and any other issues deemed appropriate by the director of public works or his designated representative. Riverside County Sheriff 's Department: 1 . The Alumni Association be required to employ an extra duty deputy a minimum of four hours per month to check and investigate vendors. SRS/tm 5 PLANNING COMMISSION l ILUTION NO. 1546 EXHIBIT A Pursuant to Title 14, Division 6, Article 7, Section 15083, of the California Administrative Code. NEGATIVE DECLARATION CASE NO: CUP 91-13 APPLICANT/PROJECT SPONSOR: College of the Desert Alumni Association 43-500 Monterey Avenue Palm Desert, CA 92260 PROJECT DESCRIPTION/LOCATION: Approval to allow continued operation of the 340 vendor space College of the Desert Street Fair at College of the Desert located at 43-500 Monterey Avenue in Palm Desert. The Director of the Department of Community Development, City of Palm Desert, California, has found that the described project will not have a significant effect on the environment. A copy of the Initial Study has been attached to document the reasons in support of this finding. Mitigation measures, if any, included in the project to avoid potentially significant effects, may also be found attached. November 5, 1991 RAM N A. DIg DATE DIRECTOR OF COMMUN DEVELOPMENT SRS/tm 6 CITY OF PALM DESERT DL____tTMENT OF COMMUNITY DEVEL.,..IENT STAFF REPORT TO: Planning Commission DATE: November 5, 1991 CASE NO: CUP 91-13 REQUEST: Approval of a conditional use permit to allow continued operation of the College of the Desert Street Fair at College of the Desert between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays on a year-round basis and additional times around certain holidays. APPLICANT: College of the Desert Alumni Association 43-500 Monterey Avenue Palm Desert, CA 92260 I . BACKGROUND: A. PROPERTY DESCRIPTION: College of the Desert is located on approximately 148. 68 acres at the northeast corner of Monterey Avenue and Fred Waring Drive. The street fair operates on approximately 10 acres centrally located in the parking lot areas on either side of the Fred Waring Drive main access driveway. The 10 acres of the street fair are generally flat terrain. B. ADJACENT LAND USE/ZONING: North: Across Magnesia Falls Drive--Monterey Country Club/PR-6 South: Across Fred Waring Drive--Mix of offices uses and residential units/O.P. East: Across San Pablo Avenue--Civic Center and park/P West: Across Monterey--offices/O.P. C. SITE GENERAL PLAN DESIGNATION AND ZONING: The College of the Desert site is designated public use in the general plan and zoned P/public in the zoning ordinance. The public zone permits the following uses subject to issuance of a conditional use permit: A. Accessory uses and structures incidental to conditional uses; B. Agricultural experimental facilities; C. Animal shelters; STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 • D. Cemeteries, crematories and columbariums and related facilities; E. Church; F. Flood control facilities; G. Government supported residential developments; H. Historical landmarks; I . Hospitals; J. Libraries; K. Maintenance yards; L. Public buildings and grounds; M. Public or private nonprofit schools and colleges; N. Public or private parks, golf courses, golf driving ranges, zoos, swim clubs and other recreation facilities; 0. Public utility installations; and P. Television and radio recording studios. (Ord. 97 l(part) , 1975: Exhibit A s25. 22-3 ) Subsection Q has been added pursuant to Ordinance No. 656 which received first reading at City Council October 10, 1991 . Subsection Q permits: "Outdoor sales of arts, crafts, clothing, goods, wares and other merchandise. " D. HISTORY: The Alumni Association has operated the street fair since 1984. Since that time it has grown considerably from a small farmers market selling locally grown agricultural produce along with a few merchandise vendors to its present street fair housing as many as 340 sales outlets. The 148 acre C.O.D. site is state-owned property. As such, activities conducted thereon have not been subject to city regulation. Recent court decisions have provided a distinction between uses which are not subject to city regulation and uses ( i.e. open air retail markets) which are not exempt from city regulation. As a result the city has amended the zoning ordinance to create jurisdiction to consider the matter and the Alumni Association has filed this conditional use permit application. E. PROJECT: The request is to approve the continuation of the ongoing street fair operation at College of the Desert. The street fair operates between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays on a year-round basis. As well, the 2 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 • NOVEMBER 5, 1991 street fair operates on an occasional week day around various holidays ( i.e. Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas) . The street fair provides a place for up to 340 vendors to sell a wide range of merchandise ( i .e. fresh produce, shirts, ties, sunglasses, hot and cold food stuffs, arts and crafts and many other goods and wares ) . Shoppers attending the 'street fair come from a large regional area for a variety of purposes. Some are shopping for bargains, there are people walking and enjoying the fresh air, while still others come to have lunch and browse. II. ANALYSIS: As noted the street fair attracts clients from a large geographic area. To support more than 300 vendors requires a large number of shoppers. Most of these shoppers arrive by automobile although some come on bicycles or walk. A. ACCESS: Access to C.O.D. is provided from the west, off of Monterey Avenue, from the south from Fred Waring Drive and from the east via San Pablo. Monterey Avenue and Fred Waring Drive are both major arterial streets designed to carry large volumes of traffic. During the street fair the main driveway from Fred Waring Drive is closed and the access drive to the McCallum Theatre provides access to parking lots south and west of the street fair area. B. CIRCULATION: C.O.D. has access from three streets which connect to a central ring road system. During the street fair the south section of the ring road is closed to vehicular traffic in favor of pedestrian traffic. Circulation from Monterey and San Pablo is restricted to the north section of the ring road. The four parking lots located at the intersection of the ring road and the main driveway from Fred Waring Drive are where the vendors set up. These parking lots are unavailable for parking by visitors to the street fair. C. PARKING: As noted above four major parking lots are unavailable during the street fair. In the past this has caused considerable 3 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 problems with traffic entering the site being unable to find adequate, close-in parking to visit the street fair. This resulted in cars making turns blocking through traffic and vehicles parking on major streets rather than onsite. Recently, C.O.D. created three new parking areas in vacant areas where street fair parking had previously been disorganized. These new parking lots, while not asphalt and curbed, have been cleared and grubbed, rolled flat and sealed with oil to stabilize the surface. In addition, parking spaces are delineated in white. The new lot located off of Monterey Avenue provides parking for 302 cars in addition to the previously existing 448 car lot located west of the McCallum Theatre. Between the McCallum Theatre and the main Fred Waring entrance drive a second new lot has been created which provides 136 spaces. These lots are reasonably convenient to street fair visitors. Other available lots around the C.O.D. site provide parking but are considerable distance from the street fair. As a result many people tend to continue to circulate in the closer parking lots waiting for a space to open up. As well, some of the other parking areas are reserved for other activities which go on concurrent with the street fair. It is difficult to determine if adequate parking is provided in that we are currently in the shoulder season. In previous years the lack of parking was quite evident during its main season. However, since C.O.D. has created these new parking lots the parking problems may be a thing of the past. Observation of the parking lots during October indicated a vacancy factor of approximately 70%-80%, except in the lot east of the McCallum Theatre which was overflowing. A certain amount of the traffic problems also occur because new people visit the street fair each week and they lack familiarity with the C.O.D. site. Signs and better traffic control personnel are required. Additional parking analysis may be found on pages 3, 4 and 5 of the initial study response section of this report. 4 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 III. DISCUSSION: College of the Desert Alumni Association has requested approval of a conditional use permit for the existing 340 open space "street fair" to operate between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays throughout the year. In addition, approval to operate additional days around unspecified holidays is requested. The applicant requests that the status quo be allowed to continue and in return the street fair proceeds will be used to fund scholarships at C.O.D. for needy students. Staff has received numerous written and oral comments on whether or not the street fair should continue to operate and under what conditions. ISSUES RAISED ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1 . a. City should require an Environmental Impact Report. b. City should require an E. I.R. with the street fair to be closed while the E. I.R. is processed. 2. a. Street fair to operate Sundays only. b. Street fair should operate one weekend per month only. 3 . Limit items for sale to produce, antiques, food, garage sale and handcrafted items. 4. Conditional use permit should be reviewed annually. 5. Require each vendor to use a cash register or require the Alumni Association to implement a central cash system to assure proper sales tax records and business licensing. 6. Require all signs at street fair to be approved through the city' s- architectural review commission process. 7. Require all parking lots used by street fair patrons to be brought up to city standards ( i.e. concrete curbs, paved with asphalt and shade trees planted every three parking spaces ) to create a level playing field for doing business in the city. 5 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 8 . Provision of adequate restroom facilities. 9 . Provision of a revenue and expense statement detailing how much is received and how it is spent. 10. Traffic congestion. 11 . Parking problems. 12 . Trash generation. 13 . Impact on police, fire and health services. 14. Impact on public facilities (C.O.D. and McCallum Theatre ) . 15 . Stress on local residential areas. 16 . Concerns for customer service, stolen and counterfeit merchandise. 17. Perpetuating a poor shopping image which is contrary to the goals of the city. 18 . Concerns over whether a tax supported entity should create retail competition which does not have to live up to usual city standards. 19 . Fairness issue. STAFF RESPONSE TO ISSUES RAISED: 1 . The street fair has operated at varying sizes for at least seven ( 7 ) years. Its present level of operation has existed for several years. The city is aware of the environmental impacts created by the "street fair" . This is not a situation where we have a request for a proposed use which we need to carefully analyze before we allow the use to begin operation. In staff ' s opinion an EIR at this time would merely confirm what is obvious from observation of the ongoing operation. 2 . The argument for Sundays only has some merit. Presently few businesses other than the Town Center and Marshall Center are open Sundays. Traffic on Sundays is considerably lower than Saturdays which is almost the same level as weekdays. 6 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 In the past discussions have been held over whether the street fair should operate just one weekend per month. This would result in a loss of continuity but this should not be the case if it were to operate Sundays only. This type of solution, if it would be a solution, would be consistent with the city' s usual processing of CUP ' s. For instance, if a restaurant wishes to locate in an area where day time parking is tight then the city has limited the business to hours which create less impact on the area ( i. e. operate as a dinner house only, opening after 5:30 p.m. ) . 3 . The argument to limit items for sale is that it would direct the street fair back to its roots which was with the farmers market and not compete directly with local businesses. Staff is reluctant to endorse this type of limitation given the difficulty it would create for code compliance to determine what merchandise would qualify as antique, handcrafted, etc. As well, staff is reluctant to create a precedent of limiting articles sold. For instance if a new Italian restaurant wished to locate in an area where we have an existing Italian restaurant, would the city require that the new restaurant be something other than Italian. This has not been required up until now. 4. Require annual review of the conditional use permit. The ordinance permits CUP ' s to be re-evaluated at anytime the operation fails to perform within the conditions as imposed. For instance, if a condition were imposed requiring the applicant to provide adequate onsite traffic control personnel and then we have ongoing traffic problems, staff would require additional personnel to direct traffic. If the applicant refused to provide additional personnel, then staff would schedule the matter for a new public hearing. 5 . Require that each vendor use a cash register or that the Alumni Association establish a central checkout system. This would assure that all sales tax is collected. The city does not require retail businesses to use a cash register. If the State Board of Equalization requires the use of cash registers, then it should enforce this item. 6. Require all signs at street fair to be approved through the architectural review commission process. In the Town Center signs inside the mall are not required to be approved through 7 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 the ARC. Signs visible from public streets should be required to be approved by the city. A condition to this effect will be imposed. 7. Require parking lots to comply with city standards if they are utilized by street fair patrons. Failure to require this would be another example of an uneven playing field. These oiled parking lots were recently installed by C.O.D. without review or approval by the city. In so doing C.O.D. added 640 parking spaces which are all available for parking during the "street fair" . In fact these parking lots, due to their close in location, become first choice parking areas. These parking lots fail to comply with city standards with respect to curbs, drainage, parking space size, turning radii of driveways, lack of asphalt surface and lack of one shade tree per three parking spaces. If it is the city' s goal to upgrade the street fair operation then the parking lots would be a good place to begin. However, if the city chooses to maintain the status quo regarding the appearance of the street fair then these functional parking areas could be left as is. The aesthetic issue is discussed later in this report. 8. The restrooms available during the street fair hours appeared adequate on the days and hours that staff visited the street fair. 9 . Opponents feel that if the Alumni Association is going to base its request to operate below usual city standards on the fact that money raised by the association goes to scholarships to needy students, then the association should provide an expense statement detailing how much is received and how it is spent. Staff have never required an applicant to submit a financial disclosure statement in order to process a CUP nor have we placed such a condition on a CUP. We are reluctant to do so in this instance considering the precedent it might create in processing other CUP requests, however, we understand that this is an unusual matter we are dealing with and that the reason we are considering allowing 8 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 the activity is that it claims to spend profits on scholarships. Commission should determine whether a fiscal report should be provided. 10. Traffic congestion around College of the Desert has been an ongoing problem during peak hours of the street fair. During recent visits to the street fair these former congestion problems appeared to have been substantially mitigated. The additional parking, which will be discussed further under item 11, seems to have improved the traffic circulation. Also, turning movements have been restricted along Fred Waring Drive. Additionally, public works traffic division has a list of other traffic improvements which will be conditioned ( see memo dated 10-18-91 attached) . 11 . Parking has definitely been a problem in the past. Cars circulated around waiting for a space to become available. This problem occurred because the vendors set up on the main college parking lots which left little close by parking available to patrons. The three newly created lots provide 640 additional spaces within a reasonable distance of the street fair. These spaces are in addition to the 448 permanent spaces located west of the McCallum Theatre. As is discussed further in the response to the environmental checklist later in this report the parking areas were approximately 20% - 30% occupied during staff visits to the site except for the lot to the east of the McCallum Theatre which was over 100%. In order to reserve this lot for patrons we will condition that this lot be closed until the street fair opens and also condition that vendors and employees be required to park in the oiled lot located at the north end of San Pablo which was totally empty. Staff feels that the parking problem has been effectively mitigated by the addition of 640 new spaces, albeit they are not in lots which conform to city standards. The street fair presently operates a free jitney service to bring people from distant parking areas. This service should be continued. 9 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 12 . Trash generation has not been a problem in that the Alumni Association has the area cleaned after each day' s use. The association reports that its cleanup crews usually pick up 30- 40 trash bags per day. These are deposited in the C.O.D. dumpster area which the association helped to expand. As for impacting on area landfills, it is minimal considering the use and activities. In addition the Alumni Association will be required to comply with the city' s recycling ordinance to reduce waste generated at the site. 13 . The impact on police, fire and health services have been ongoing for as long as the street fair has operated. The Health Department conducts ongoing inspections of food sales outlets. The police visit the site regularly. Their comments are included later in this report as are the Fire Department. With closer scrutiny of the street fair on an ongoing basis it is felt that previous fire department problems will be mitigated. With the respect to the problem of the sale of stolen or counterfeit merchandise the Alumni Association reports that its policy is to immediately ban any vendor who is cited by police. 14. Impact on public facilities (C.O.D. and McCallum Theatre ) has been a problem in the past as various users of the C.O.D. site competed for parking spaces. C.O.D. is used for various uses during the weekend and this was evident during visits to C.O.D. in that parking lots off the north ring road were 20% - 30% occupied. Major impacts could be expected on days in which the McCallum schedules afternoon performances. This matter should be worked out between the parties ( i.e. C.O.D. , Alumni Association and the McCallum Theatre) . Perhaps matinee performances could start at 2:30 or 3:00 p.m. to allow street fair parkers to leave. 15 . Stress on local streets has been a problem in the past. As a result of lack of onsite parking and circulation problems on the site people tended to drive through and park in adjacent residential areas. Given the better onsite parking situation it is felt that this problem has been mitigated. 10 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 16 . Concerns for customer service and the sale of stolen and/or counterfeit merchandise have been raised. With respect to the sale of stolen or counterfeit merchandise the sheriff ' s department has an ongoing operation to detect same and prosecute perpetrators to the full extent of the law. Also, the Alumni Association has a policy that any vendor cited for sale of stolen or counterfeit merchandise is immediately banned from further sales. With respect to customer service it is questionable whether a shopper looking for a bargain at the street fair expects the same level of service that a shopper on El Paseo demands. 17. Concern was raised that the street fair creates a poor shopping image which is contrary to the goals of the city. The city does attempt to create an attractive shopping environment to entice shoppers to the city. In so doing we recognize a need to be attractive to shoppers of various economic segments. We understand that some would say that the street fair does not meet the minimum shopping environment which the city normally requires ( i.e. parking lots) but given the volume of shoppers who visit the street fair it might be asked, "Why fix something if it isn' t broken. " Also, if the street fair is improved by developing a theme element, as has been suggested, it could be argued that it will be more directly in competition with existing community businesses. 18. Concern has been raised over the appropriateness of a tax supported entity creating retail competition which does not have to live up to the usual city standards. This is a political issue which would be better responded to by the elected body which oversees the College of the Desert. With respect to the appropriateness of establishing this large of a commercial enterprise at this location it is unlikely that the city would have zoned this area for commercial use. The street fair is an activity which the city has in effect inherited. At this time the city will attempt to evaluate the ongoing operation to see if a CUP can be approved and if so what conditions are necessary to reduce its impact on permanent businesses. 19 . The fairness issue relates to several areas which were addressed previously such as the parking lots which don' t 11 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 comply with city standards, allowing businesses which don' t have to be reviewed through the city' s ARC process and perhaps foremost the concern that these businesses are tax payer supported in that they make use, at very little cost, of facilities that were built at tax payer expense. 20. Concern has been raised that not all vendors at the street fair have a city business license based on sales volume. The city business license department visits the street fair on a regular basis checking for licenses. Also the Alumni Association requires proof of city license prior to leasing a space to a vendor. City business license department is confident that all vendors have a current city business license. With respect to reviewing business licenses the department advises that renewals are based on sales volume. In addition the business license department requires proof of sales tax permit prior to issuing a business license. 21 . The Chamber of Commerce suggests that acceptance of vendors should be based on their origin with Palm Desert first, Coachella Valley second and out of valley third. Staff has no position on this request. 22 . The chamber requests that the code officer monitor the street fair and its compliance with conditions and that the street fair be charged extra for this. Code compliance already visits the street fair of a regular basis. The director of code compliance advises that he favors a citywide annual registration tax in that the street fair is similar to other commercial areas in this respect. 23 . The Chamber of Commerce in its memo received October 23, 1991 suggests that a condition be imposed which requires that: An advisory board to the Street Fair be created which would include representatives from Street Fair Management, C.O.D. Alumni Association, Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Palm Desert Town Center, El Paseo Business District, Highway 111 Businesses and the City of Palm Desert. This board would meet periodically or whenever necessary to review Street Fair operations, the relationship between the 12 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 Street Fair and other Palm Desert businesses and any other relative issues. Staff feels that this type of committee would be better considered as a request through the elected board at the college rather than as a condition on the CUP. IV. CONCLUSION: Staff feels that the street fair has become an expected shopping experience in Palm Desert for residents and tourists alike. We see it continuing to operate in a fashion which will impact less on the city and the city' s business community. Staff is persuaded that while the street fair does attract shoppers to the community, it may negatively impact on some of the permanent business community. In processing all other conditional use permit requests, staff and planning commission listen to the proponents and opponents and then try to apply appropriate conditions which mitigate the concerns raised by opponents. We will attempt to do the same here. The planning issues raised from staff' s point of view are traffic, parking and aesthetics. Staff is convinced that the new parking lots have done much to alleviate the parking problems. As was noted elsewhere in this report traffic on Fred Waring and Monterey are approaching design capacity for six days a week. Saturday is a major shopping day in the city and it is shown in recent traffic counts which showed just 200 fewer cars per day on Saturday than Friday for south-bound Monterey in front of C.O.D. ( i.e. 10, 956 versus 11, 100 ) . Sunday was considerably lower with 8538 southbound movements. If the street fair were not operating on Saturdays traffic in the Monterey-Fred Waring area would be expected to be less. Shoppers attempting to go to El Paseo or the Town Center-Marshall ' s Center would have less difficulty getting to their destinations. By the same token shoppers presently spun-off from the street fair would not be in the community. As well, if the street fair operated on Sundays only, it would compete directly with fewer permanent businesses in that other than the Town Center and Marshall ' s Center individually owned businesses tend, at the present time, not to be open on Sunday. 13 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 Some people commenting on this case have suggested that the street fair should be dressed up, improved and needs to more closely approximate the city' s image. Staff has difficulty taking a position on this issue and will defer to commission. If we say yes to requiring upgrading than we are going to create more direct competition then presently exists. Presently there are distinct differences between the street fair and other city businesses. If the street fair is upgraded to a higher level then this distinction will be blurred. Commission/council should determine this issue. Staff will recommend approval of the street fair at its present size, but limit it to all day Sunday only. If it is deemed essential that the Alumni Association operate the street fair on Saturday then commission/council could consider allowing the street fair to operate on Saturdays from 7:00 a.m. until 10:00 a.m. This would avoid peak traffic hours ( i.e. 10:00 a.m. through 1 :00 p.m. ) and would avoid direct competition with most city businesses which typically do not open until 10:00 a.m. As well this would bring shoppers into the city who could go on to other shopping areas in the city after the street fair closes. Staff feels that some of the issues which have been raised are policy matters which need to be established by commission or city council . As mentioned previously in this report staff is not prepared to take a position concerning whether the aesthetics of the street fair should be improved. If it is determined that it should be "dressed up" then staff will process those improvements through the Architectural Review Commission. Other issues which staff is not taking a position on are: i . Whether the Alumni Association should be required to provide a financial disclosure statement. ii. Vendor origination. iii . Advisory Board. With respect to items ii and iii staff feels they should be left to the elected College of the Desert Board of Trustees. The planning commission or city council should determine whether a financing disclosure statement is required. 14 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 • NOVEMBER 5, 1991 V. FINDINGS: In order to approve a conditional use permit the planning commission must make or affirm the following findings: A. That the proposed location of the conditional use is in accord with the objectives of this title and the purpose of the district in which the site is located; B. That the proposed location of the conditional use and the conditions under which it would be operated or maintained will not be detrimental to the public health, safety, or welfare, or be materially injurious to properties or improvements in the vicinity; C. That the proposed conditional use will comply with each of the applicable provisions of this title, except for approved variances or adjustments; D. That the proposed conditional use complies with the goals, objectives, and policies of the city' s general plan. RESPONSES: A. The site is zoned P (public ) and the ordinance permits a wide range of uses and activities in the P zone subject to the approval of a conditional use permit. One of those permitted uses is the outdoor sale of goods and merchandise. The street fair is a use which is consistent with purpose of the P (public) zone. B. The continued operation of the street fair and the conditions under which it will be required to operate will assure that it will not be detrimental to the public health, safety or welfare or be materially injurious to properties or improvements in the vicinity. C. The continued operation of the street fair and the conditions under which it will operate will result in compliance with the applicable provisions of the zoning ordinance except for the design standards for parking lots which have been installed by College of the Desert for use by students and street fair patrons. These new lots were not reviewed or approved by the city and a variance from the ordinance is not deemed necessary. D. The continued operation of the street fair complies with the goals, objectives and policies of the general plan particularly as they relate to the development of 15 STAFF REPORT CUP 91-13 NOVEMBER 5, 1991 relationships between land use mixes within the city that meet the basic human needs of the city and regarding the provision of an orderly balance of public and private land uses in the city. Staff feels that the required findings can be affirmed based on the conditions which are recommended. VI . CEQA ANALYSIS: The street fair has operated for at least seven ( 7 ) years. Its environmental impacts are well known and compliance with the conditions imposed will result in mitigation to a level of insignificance ( see environmental checklist and responses attached to this report) . A draft negative declaration of environmental impact is attached to the draft resolution of approval . No further environmental documentation is necessary. VII. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends: A. Adoption of the findings. B. Adoption of Planning Commission Resolution No. approving CUP 91-13, subject to conditions. VIII.ATTACHMENTS: A. Draft resolution. B. Legal notice. C. Comments from city departments and other agencies. D. Plans and exhibits. Prepared by / Reviewed and Approved by SRS/tm 16 PLAN""'G COMMISSION RESOLUTION F- A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING A CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT TO ALLOW THE CONTINUED OPERATION OF THE COLLEGE OF THE DESERT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION STREET FAIR AT THE COLLEGE OF THE DESERT. CASE NO. CUP 91-13 WHEREAS, the Planning Commission of the City of Palm Desert, California, did on the 5th day of November, 1991, hold a duly noticed public hearing to consider the request of the COLLEGE OF THE DESERT ALUMNI ASSOCIATION for approval of a conditional use permit to allow the Alumni Association Street Fair, having a maximum of 340 sales spaces on Saturdays and Sundays between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. and additional days around certain holidays, located at the northeast corner of Monterey Avenue and Fred Waring Drive; and WHEREAS, said application has complied with the requirements of the "City of Palm Desert Procedure for Implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act, Resolution No. 80-89, " in that the director of community development has determined that the project will not have an adverse impact on the environment and a draft negative declaration of environmental impact has been prepared; and WHEREAS, at said public hearing, upon hearing and considering all testimony and arguments, if any, of all interested persons desiring to be heard, said planning commission did find the following facts and reasons to exist to justify the granting of said conditional use permit: 1 . The proposed location of the conditional use is in accord with the objectives of the zoning ordinance and the purpose of the district in which the site is located. 2. The proposed location of the conditional use and the conditions under which it will be operated and maintained will not be detrimental to the public health, safety or general welfare, or be materially injurious to properties or improvements in the vicinity. 3. The proposed conditional use will comply with each of the applicable provisions of this title, except for approved variances or adjustments. 4. The proposed conditional use complies with the goals, objectives, and policies of the city' s adopted general plan. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Planning Commission of the City of Palm Desert, California, as follows: 1 . That the above recitations are true and correct and constitute the findings of the commission in this case and which is based on information contained in the staff report for Case No. CUP 91-13 dated November 5, 1991 . PLANNING COMMISSION OLUTION NO. 2. That a Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact ( Exhibit "A" attached hereto) as it relates to Case No. CUP 91-13 is hereby certified. 3 . That approval of Conditional Use Permit 91-13 is hereby granted, subject to the attached conditions. PASSED, APPROVED and ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Palm Desert Planning Commission, held on this 5th day of November, 1991, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: NOES : ABSENT: ABSTAIN: CAROL WHITLOCK, Chairperson ATTEST: RAMON A. DIAZ, Secretary SRS/tm 2 PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. CONDITIONS OF APPROVAL CASE NO. CUP 91-13 Department of Community Development: 1 . That the operation of the "street fair" shall conform substantially with exhibits on file with the department of community development/ planning, as modified by the following conditions. 2 . That the operation of the "street fair" described herein shall be subject to the restrictions and limitations set forth herein which are in addition to all municipal ordinances and state and federal statutes now in force, or which hereafter may be in force. 3 . That each vendor at the "street fair" shall hold a current city business license and display same in a prominent location. College of the Desert Alumni Association shall require evidence of said valid business license prior to leasing sales space to all vendors. 4. That all vendors at C.O.D. Street Fair shall collect California State Sales Tax as required by the State Board of Equalization. 5 . That all food sales vendors at the street fair be certified, on a regular basis, by the Riverside County Department of Health. Evidence of said certification to be displayed prominently. College of the Desert Alumni Association shall require evidence of valid certificate from Riverside County Health Department prior to leasing sales space to any food vendor. 6. As a condition of approval of this resolution approving CUP 91-13 and to the extent permitted by law as a condition of approval of this resolution containing findings and certifying the negative declaration of environmental impact with respect to this project, College of the Desert and College of the Desert Alumni Association hereby agree to defend, at their sole cost and expense, indemnify and hold harmless the City of Palm Desert, its agents, officers and employees from any claim, action or proceeding filed against the City of Palm Desert, its agents, officers and employees as a result of the local agency' s approval of this resolution, including but not limited to: 1 ) actions or proceedings to attack, set aside, void, or annul such approval; or 2 ) actions or proceedings that seek damages as a result of such approval . The City of Palm Desert shall promptly notify College of the Desert and College of the Desert Alumni Association of any such claim, action or proceeding. Further, College of the Desert and College of the Desert Alumni Association shall conduct the defense and 3 PLANNING COMMISSION OLUTION NO. control the defense. The City of Palm Desert shall cooperate fully in the defense of any such action. 7 . That the C.O.D. Street Fair shall operate on Sundays only from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. throughout the year. Street fair may operate a maximum of two ( 2 ) additional days per year with the prior written approval of the city' s community development director. 8 . That the oiled parking lot located east of the McCallum Theatre be closed to parking prior to 8:00 a.m. on Sundays. 9 . That the oiled parking lot located at the southwest corner of San Pablo and the east driveway entrance to College of the Desert be reserved for vendor parking only during the street fair. The Alumni Association shall require all vendors to park in this lot. 10. That any vendor signs visible from any public street shall be approved through the city' s architectural review process. 11 . That adequate restroom facilities be open and available during hours of street fair operation. Adequate signage to be provided to direct patrons to restroom areas. 12. That any electrical hook-ups at the street fair comply with all relevant provisions of the national Electric Code as adopted by the City of Palm Desert. 13 . That the street fair shall participate in the city' s recycling program to reduce solid waste generated at the site. 14. That the street fair be limited to a maximum of 340 sales spaces. Riverside County Fire Department: 1 . Provide site plan detailing allowed parking areas and vendor/booth locations. This plan to ensure fire access is unobstructed. No deviations from this plan will be permitted without prior approval from the fire marshal . 2 . A. Provide solution on how to control parking violations in fire lanes, red curb areas, and in front of fire appliances. B. Provide a liaison who will be trained by the fire department to self-inspect booths, vendors and food services for basic fire safety compliance. This person must have the authority to enforce basic fire safety codes. 4 PLANNING COMMISSION SOLUTION NO. C. Provide a designated person who shall have the ultimate authority at the site during operating hours and who shall be solely responsible for immediately correcting violations. Department of Public Works: 1 . Within 80 days of the approval of this conditional use permit the applicant shall submit a traffic control plan for review and approval by the director of public works. The subject plan shall address site access restrictions, lane closures, parking restrictions and any other issues deemed appropriate by the director of public works or his designated representative. Riverside County Sheriff ' s Department: 1 . The Alumni Association be required to employ an extra duty deputy a minimum of four hours per month to check and investigate vendors. SRS/tm 5 PLANNING COMMISSION ;OLUTION NO. EXHIBIT A Pursuant to Title 14, Division 6, Article 7, Section 15083, of the California Administrative Code. NEGATIVE DECLARATION CASE NO: CUP 91-13 APPLICANT/PROJECT SPONSOR: College of the Desert Alumni Association 43-500 Monterey Avenue Palm Desert, CA 92260 PROJECT DESCRIPTION/LOCATION: Approval to allow continued operation of the 340 vendor space College of the Desert Street Fair at College of the Desert located at 43-500 Monterey Avenue in Palm Desert. The Director of the Department of Community Development, City of Palm Desert, California, has found that the described project will not have a significant effect on the environment. A copy of the Initial Study has been attached to document the reasons in support of this finding. Mitigation measures, if any, included in the project to avoid potentially significant effects, may also be found attached. November 5, 1991 RAMON A. DIAZ DATE DIRECTOR OF COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT SRS/tm 6 INITIAL STUDY CASE NO. CUP 91-13 ENVIRONMENTAL EVALUATION CHECKLIST COMMENTS AND POSSIBLE MITIGATION MEASURES ( CATEGORIES PERTAIN TO ATTACHED CHECKLIST) 1 . EARTH The street fair actively has been ongoing since 1984. No additional grading is anticipated therefore the approval will not result in unstable earth conditions or changes in geologic substructures. Similarly no disruption, displacement, compaction or recovering of soil will result. As well, no change in topography, ground relief features or destruction covering modification of unique geologic or physical features are expected. No increase in wind or water erosion of soils will result. 2 . AIR a. The approval, if granted, will allow the continuation of an activity which has been ongoing since 1984. Further expansion of the street fair will require future review by the city. Therefore at this time approval of the ongoing "street fair" will not result in additional air emissions or further deteriorate the ambient air quality in that it already exists. b. The "street fair" has been ongoing for seven years. Staff is unaware of complaints regarding objectional odors from the street fair. c. The "street fair" is an activity and use which does not affect or alter the climate either locally or regionally. 3 . WATER a-f. The street fair activity does not impact on water currents, absorption rates, drainage patterns or the flow of flood waters. It also does not impact on ground water flows or use large amounts of public water. 4. PLANT LIFE a-c. The street fair activity does not change the diversity of species of plants or reduce the numbers of any unique, rare or endangered species of plants. Some vendors do sell ornamental plants which are indigenous to the local area. 5 . ANIMAL LIFE a-d. The College of the Desert has existed for some 30 years. The street fair activity does not impact on animal life. INITIAL STUDY CUP 91-13 6 . NATURAL RESOURCES a-b. The street fair operates in the existing parking lots during daylight hours. While some of the vendors use natural resources in food preparation the activity has been ongoing for seven years so additional resources will not be utilized. 7 . ENERGY The street fair does not require substantial amounts of fuel or energy. This is an ongoing activity so the demand is already accounted for. No new sources of energy will be required if this approval is granted. 8 . RISK OF UPSET The vendors using portable heating units must obtain fire department approval for their units. This approval process reduces the risk of an explosion or the release of hazardous substances in the event of an accident. 9 . ECONOMIC LOSS The COD site is not endangered due to flooding or exposed to geologic hazards. As well, the street fair is a temporary use each weekend day. At the end of each day the booths and trailers are removed from the site. 10. NOISE The street fair is located well within the COD property limits. As well, adjacent land uses are offices which typically are not occupied on weekends. Noise levels created by the street fair will not exceed acceptable noise or vibration levels. 11 . LAND USE The street fair will not alter the present or planned land use of the area. 12. OPEN SPACE The street fair will not decrease the amount of designated open space. 2 INITIAL STUDY CUP 91-13 13 . POPULATION The street fair activity will not alter the location, distribution, density or growth rate of the population or alter its distribution by age, income, religion, racial, ethnic group, occupational class or household type. 14. EMPLOYMENT The street fair has operated for seven years. Any jobs created by the street fair have already occurred. If the city were to deny this approval and the street fair discontinued then there would be a loss of jobs. 15. HOUSING a-b. The street fair has operated for seven years. Housing impacts created by the street fair have already occurred. No additional impacts will result if it is permitted to continue operating. 16. TRANSPORTATION/CIRCULATION/PARKING a-e. The street fair has operated for seven years. Any impacts from the street fair on transportation/circulation have already occurred and to a certain degree been mitigated. Approval of the continued operation of the street fair will not result in additional traffic generation. The ITE traffic generation manual does not provide a traffic generation or parking category for this type of land use. The city has conducted traffic counts to determine peak hours and traffic volumes. These counts were taken March 31, 1990, and April 1, 1990, as well as September 13 and 14, 1991 . SAT SUN SAT SUN ENTRANCE 3/31/90 4/1/90 9/14/91 9/15/91 Monterey 1833 1341 1159 783 Fred Waring 787 639 1569 1466 San Pablo 610 378 365 220 3 INITIAL STUDY CUP 91-13 LEFT TURN MOVEMENTS SOUTHBOUND MONTEREY TO EAST PARK VIEW DRIVE: SAT SUN 10/19/91 10/20/91 901 766 Peak hours vary by day and by entrance. However we can determine that Saturday is a higher traffic day than Sunday and the peak hour occurs earlier on Saturday. Observation indicates that on Saturday and Sunday traffic on Monterey and Fred Waring is generally free flowing with the exception of the area of the intersections with entry points to the street fair. At street fair entry points and the Fred Waring and Monterey intersection ( i.e. Monterey and Park View Drive and Fred Waring and the entrance to McCallum Theater) , traffic making turning movements to the street fair tends to back-up, especially left turn movements. This typically occurs during the peak hours and when parking lots become full . Recent traffic counts on Monterey Avenue indicate that traffic volumes on Saturday are similar to weekday levels ( i.e. southbound Monterey north of Fred Waring Drive) weekday 10, 432 (November 1989 ) Saturday 10, 959 ( 10-19-91 ) . Sunday is considerably lower at 8538 ( 10-20-91 ) . Saturday peak hour occurs between 12:00 noon and 1 :00 p.m. The three peak hours occur between 10:00 a.m. and 1 :00 p.m. It appears that this back up of vehicles problem has been somewhat mitigated by the new parking areas recently constructed in that the "backup" problem appeared less so during the September 1991 counts than the March 1990 count. This amelioration may also be accounted for in the lower number of visitors to the street fair during the "shoulder" season of September than the "high" season of March. Staff feels that additional mitigation can be achieved through better onsite traffic management. A condition to this effect will be imposed on any approval to continue operating the street fair as well as requiring better signing. With these and other conditions staff feels that traffic impacts can be reduced to a level of insignificance. On site parking at the street fair in the past has been a problem especially during peak hours in the high season. 4 INITIAL STUDY CUP 91-13 The city does not have a parking standard for street fairs, swap meets or the like. Nor does the ITE traffic manual offer any help. Comparing this street fair with parking standards in other cities may not achieve the standard which we would hope to have in that it has been our observation that parking is generally a problem at other street fairs ( i.e. Rose Bowl, Santa Ana) . The street fair vendors set up their wares and portable sales paraphernalia in the paved parking lots generally located east of the McCallum Theatre and south of the main campus area. In the past this created a severe parking shortage within a reasonable distance. As a result many visitors parked in driveways, on the streets, in residential areas and on dirt and grass areas around the campus. This also resulted in traffic backing up during peak hours because people entering COD had nowhere to go. These problems appear to be alleviated with the construction of three new parking areas. The new lot off of the north end of San Pablo has 102 spaces. Staff is suggesting that this lot be set aside for street fair vendors and employees only to keep these long term parkers from taking up closer-in parking which would turn over at a faster rate thereby accommodating more patrons. The new lot adjacent to and east of the McCallum Theatre has 136 spaces. During staff visits it was apparent that many of these spaces were occupied by street fair vendors. Staff is suggesting that this lot be closed except during hours that the street fair actually operates. It should be reserved exclusively for patrons. The new lot east of Monterey south of Park View has 302 spaces. This is in addition to the 448 spaces in the paved lot west of the McCallum Theatre. As well street parking is available on both Fred Waring Drive and Monterey Avenue. Staff observed the parking situation during a visit to the site Saturday, October 5, 1991 from 9 :00 a.m. to 11 :00 a.m. At this time the new lot east of Monterey, south of Park View Drive appeared 30% occupied. The paved lot west of McCallum Theatre 20%-30% occupied. The oiled lot east of McCallum Theatre 100%-110% (people double parking and parking in aisles) . The oiled lot off San Pablo 0%. Street parking along Fred Waring 30% and street parking along Monterey 0%. 5 INITIAL STUDY CUP 91-13 Activity at the street fair is lower during October than during the high season of December through March. The question becomes how much increase occurs. Reports have indicated 5, 000-7, 000 visitors per day during the season is not unusual . Using a factor of 2. 5 persons per vehicle indicates that 2, 000-2, 800 vehicles would enter the site per day. That represents an increase of 12%-19% over the October figures. The parking lots, with the exception of the lot east of the McCallum Theatre, could accommodate this type of increase given their present occupancy rates of only 20%-30%. Currently the Alumni Association operates a jitney service from the parking areas to the street fair area proper. This service appeared popular on the days staff visited the site. If the high season impacts on the close-in parking areas more than is expected, then street fair patrons will have to park further away off of the north ring road. If this occurs then the jitney service will have to be expanded to serve these patrons. This will be so conditioned. 17 . PUBLIC SERVICES The street fair has operated for seven years. Any affects on fire, police, and other governmental services have already been felt. Police, fire and governmental services are already provided and have been since it started. As well, the street fair operators have their own security personnel as does College of the Desert. Schools are not impacted in that the street fair operates on non- school days. Vendors, according to a survey by the operators, are already local residents. Maintenance of roads and public facilities is not increased as a result of the street fair except for the COD site itself which is a public facility which must be cleaned after each day of business. This is provided for by the operators of the street fair. 18 . PUBLIC FISCAL BALANCE The street fair operates as other businesses, which pay sales tax and business license fees. The city provides police, fire and other governmental services. Continuation of the street fair will not result in a net change in fiscal flow. Code compliance 6 INITIAL STUDY CUP 91-13 department is considering establishing a registration tax which would be used to pay for code compliance services. 19 . UTILITIES The street fair has operated on a temporary basis for seven years. Additional utilities have not and will not be required beyond those already provided by COD for its college purposes. 20. HUMAN HEALTH Some of the street fair vendors sell food stuffs. The County Health Department conducts regular visits and inspections. Health permits are required for all sellers of food stuffs. This permit assures that health hazards will not be created. The street fair will not impact on the level of community health care provided. 21 . SOCIAL SERVICES The street fair will not increase demand for general social services. 22. AESTHETICS a-c. The street fair involves erection, on a daily basis, of temporary sales paraphernalia ( i.e. tables, signs, banners, etc. ) . This equipment is low profile and does not impact on scenic views. The street fair area is located a minimum of 400 feet from Fred Waring Drive, which is the nearest public street. The street fair is not an aesthetically offensive site open to public view. There have been arguments made that the street fair lessens the city' s uniqueness as a unique business area. Others have pointed to commercial centers where discount merchandise is available and thereby concluded that the street fair does not impact one way or the other. 23. LIGHT AND GLARE The street fair operates during daylight hours ( i.e. 8:00 a.m. to 2: 00 p.m. ) . No light or glare result from the street fair. 7 INITIAL STUDY CUP 91-13 24 . ARCHEOLOGICAL/HISTORY The street fair operates in the paved parking lots at COD. No soil will be moved. The street fair does not impact on archeology or history. 25 . MANDATORY FINDING OF SIGNIFICANCE a-d. The street fair has been operating for seven years. Continuation of its operation at its current level will not degrade the quality of the environment or curtail the diversity of the environment. Continuation of the street fair, which has already operated for seven years, should have no long term negative impacts on environmental goals. Obviously, were the street fair discontinued there would be less traffic in the area on Saturdays and Sundays. The street fair does not have impacts which are individually limited, but cumulatively significant. The street fair does not have environmental effects which will cause substantial adverse effects on human beings, either directly or indirectly. SRS/tm 8 • ^ ` n .iC Cum 74. r° I30;tM 'AL SERVICES DE2T . INITIAL STUDY :RCN= AL, EVALUATION CEECFCLIST NOTE: The availability of data necessary to address the topics listed below shall form the basis of a decision as to whether the application is considered complete for purposes of environmental assessment. ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACTS (Explanations of all "yes" and "maybe" answers , possible mitigation measures and comments are provided on attached sheets ) . Yes Maybe No 1 . Earth. Will the proposal result in: a. Unstable earth conditions or in changes in geologic substructures? b. Disruptions , displacements , compaction , or E. overcovering of the soil ? c. Change in topography or ground surface relief features? d. The destruction, covering ,. or modification — of any unique geologic or physical features? _Zt, e. Any increase in wind or water erosion of soils , either on or off the site? 2. Air. Will the proposal result in: a . Air emissions or deterioration of ambient air quality? b. The creation of objectionable odors? c. Alteration of air movement, moisture , or temperature , or any change in climate , either locally or regionally? Zr Y_ Ma+a 4o 3. Water. Will the proposal result in: a_ Changes . in currents , or the course or 1 • direction of water. ,movements? b. Changes in-absoratfon rates , drainage patterns , or the rate and- amount of surface water runoff? �. c. Alterations to the course or flow of flood waters? d. Alteration of .the direction or rate of flow of ground waters? e. Change in the quantity of ground waters , either through direct additions or with- drawals , or througn interception of an \/ aquifer by cuts or excavations? 1` f. Reduction in the amount of water other- • wise available for public water supplies? s. Plant Life. Will the proposal result in: a . Change in the diversity of species , or numbers of any species of plants ( including trees , snrubs , grass , and crops ) ? �( b. Reduction of the numbers of any unique , rare , or endangered species of plants? . c. Introduction of new species of plants into an area , or in a barrier to the normal replenishment of existing species? 5. Animal Life. Will the proposal result in: a. Changes in the diversity of species, or mummers of any species of animals (birds , land animals including reptiles , or insects ) ? _ b. Reduction of the numbers of any unique , rare , or endangered species of animals? c. Introduction of new species of animals into an area , or result in a barrier to the migration or .movement of animals? d . Cetericration to exl sti r+g wildlife hab'tat , Yes uavbe 6. Natural Resourcs . Will the proposal result in: • a. Increase in . the rate of use of any natural resources ? b . Depletion of any non-renewable natural resource? 7 . c_cv, Will the proposal —' -- L result in : a. Use of substantial amounts of fuel or energy? • b. Demand upon existing sources of energy, or re- quire the.de7elopment of new sources of energy? 8. Risk of Upset. . Does the proposal involve a • risk of an explosion or the release of ' hazardous sub stances ( including, but not limited to , pesticides , oil , chemicals , or radiation) in the event of an accident or upset conditions? 9. E--nnomic Loss . Will the proposal result in: a. A change in the value of property and improvements endangered by flooding? \, b . A change in the value of property and impro.semen :s exposed to geologic hazards beyond accepted community risk standards ? 10. Noise . 'sill *. .he proposal increase existing noise levels to the point at which accepted community noise and vibration levels are exceeded? 11 . Land Use. Will the proposal result in the pit on of the present developed or planned land use of an area? 12. Open Sedce. Will the proposal lead to a decrease in the •emount of designated open space? ,‘Z 13 . Pcouiaticn. Will the proposal result in: a . Aiteraticn or the location, distribution , density , or growth rate of the human population of the City? 5 • Change in the copulation distribution by aye , income , religion , racial , or ethnic grcup , occupational class , household type? 1 Yes Mavbe Nc 14. E.molovment. Will the proposal result in 77377717 new long-tarn jobs provided , or a change in the number and per cent employed , `�' unemployed , and underemployed? _ _ 1L 15 . Kou sue. Will the proposal result in: a . Change in number and per cent of housing units by type (price or rent range, zoning category, owner-occupied and rental , etc. ) relative to demand or to number of - families in various income classes in the City? _ i\C b . Impacts on existing housing or creation of a demand for additional housing? - . L. 16 . Transoo nation/Circulation. Will the proposal . result in: * a. Generation of additional vehicular movement? X — — b. Effects on existing parking facilities , or demand for new parting? — — c. Impact upon existing transportation systems? Z. _ _ d. Alterations to present patterns of circulation or movement of people and/or goods? - e. Increase in traffic hazards to motor vehicles , bicyclists , or pedestrians? _ • 17 . Public Services . Will the proposal have an effect upon , or resu t in a need for, new or altered governmental services in any of the following are*s: a. Fire protection? — b. Police protection? — c. Schools? d. Parks or other recreational facilities? — -- e. Maintenance of public facilities , including \l - roads? _- L�. f. Other governmental services? — -Z - Yes Maybe No 18. Public Fiscal Balance. Will the proposal result in a net change in government fiscal • flow (revenues less operating expenditures and annualized capital expenditures )? 19. Utilities . _ . Will the proposal result in a need for new systems , or alterations to the following utilities : a. Power or natural gas? b. Cocrmunications system? c. Water? X d. Sewer or septic tanks? e. Storm water drainage? f. Solid waste and disposal ? 20. Human Health. Will the proposal result in: a. The creation of any health hazard or potential health hazard? b. A change in the level of community health care provided? 21 . Social Services . Will the proposal result in an increased demand for provision of general social services? 22. Aesthetics . Will the proposal result in: a . Obstruction of any scenic vista• or view open to the public? x b. The creation of an aesthetically offensive site open to public view? c. Lessening of the overall neighborhood (or area ) attractiveness , pleasantness , • and uniqueness? 23. Licht and Glare. Will the proposal produce new l i gnt or glare? 24 . Archeological/Historical . Will the proposal result in an alteration of a significant archeological or historical site, structure , object, or building? 6. Yes Maybe No 25 . Mandatory Findings of Significance. a. Does the- project have the potential to degrade the quality of the environment or to curtail the diversity in the environment? . b. Ooes the project have the potential to achieve short-term, to the disadvantage of long-term, environmental .goals? (A short-term impact on the environment is one which occurs in a relatively brief , definitive period of time / while long-term imoacts will endure well into )( t the future. ) • c. Ooes the project have impacts which art indi - vidually limited, but cumulatively considerable? (A project may impact on two or more separate resources where the impact on each resource is relatively small , but where the effect of the total of those impacts on the environment is significant. ) _ 4)—< d. Does the project have environmental effects which will cause substantial adverse effects on human beings , either directly or indirectly? • Initial Study Prepared Sy: 4.A::# ) 5 "1I RIVERSIDE COUNTY ��AUFOANt�� �.w.-. FIRE DEPARTMENT t.et,FgENPRpTE of cT0�y L - 1 IN COOPERATION WITH THE r. ! 1 COUNTY CALIFORNIA DEPARTMENT OF FORESTRY G RIVERSIDE ,,, AND FIRE PROTECTION D GLEN J.NEWMAN F • FIRE CHIEF RIVERSIDE COUNTY FIRE September 19, 1991 210 NEST SAN JACINTO AVENUE COVE FIRE MARSHAL PERRIS,CALIFORNIA 92370 70-801 HWY 111 TELEPHONE: (714)657-3183 RANCHO MIRAGE,CA 92270 (619) 346-1870 To The City of Palm Desert Reference: Approval of C.O.D. Street Fair The C.O.D. street fair has caused the Fire Department many continuing problems. It is our request that the Fair's operators come up with a plan that will allow it to operate without the burden of this Department having to constantly police it. This event (weekends) is costing too much in overtime. It demands constant attention or violations run rampant. 1 . Provide site plan detailing allowed parking areas and vendor/booth locations. This plan would ensure fire access is unobstructed. No deviations from this plan will be permitted without prior approval from the Fire Marshal . 2 . Address problems, which have been long continuing. A. Provide solution on how to control parking violations in fire lanes, red curb areas, and in front of fire appliances. B. Provide a liaison who will be trained by us to self- inspect booths, vendors and food services for basic fire safety compliance. This person must have the authority to enforce basic fire safety codes. C. Have the ultimate authority at the site during all operating hours. This will provide one person who is ultimately responsible for correcting violations. In the past, we have been given the run-around and directed to persons who stated "It's not my responsibility" . Sincerely, GLEN J. NEWMAN Chi ti By Cly R. Chi ten en Fire Marshal bbm printed on recycled paper INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM TO: Department of Community Development/Planning Attention: Steve Smith FROM: Richard J. Folkers, Asst. City Manager/Public Works Director SUBJECT: C.U.P. 91-13, COLLEGE OF THE DESERT ALUMNI ASSN. DATE: October 11, 1991 The following should be considered conditions of approval for the above- referenced project: (1) Prior to the initiation of any activity authorized under the approval of this Conditional Use Permit the applicant shall submit a traffic control plan for review and approval by the Director of Public Works. The subject plan shall address site access restrictions, lane closures, parking restrictions and any other issues deemed appropriate by the Director of Public Works or his designated representative. I Cc"re-. RICHARD J. FOLKER , P.E. • (jsglcup9l-13.cndl RECEIVED INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM OCT 2 9 19°1 COMMUNfTY DEVELOPMENT CFppwrM, roP OF PALM f)ECERf TO: Steve Smith, Associate Planner FROM: Seyed Safavian, Associate Transportation Engineer SUBJECT: COLLEGE OF THE DESERT STREET FAIR - TRAFFIC IMPACT MITIGATION DATE: October 18, 1991 Review of the subject area traffic and parking circulation, by our staff , indicate the need for the implementation of a series of changes found necessary to minimize the impact of such activity, on the city roadway network, while maximizing public and driver safety. A. PARKING-RELATED IMPROVEMENTS: 1. Maximize utilization of existing parking facilities. This could be accomplished by designating prime parking lots (such as McCallum Theatre north and east lots as well as Monterey Avenue/Parkview Drive new lot) for the exclusive use of patrons and not the sellers. This arrangement would provide more efficient use of these lots including higher turnover resulting in accommodating more vehicles during peak demand hours. 2. Increase exposure to all available parking area (peripheral lots) to the visitors. This can be done by installing large removable directional signs directing motorist to the designated parking lots that are not easily seen by the passer-by motorists travelling along Monterey Avenue or Fred Waring Drive. 3 . Expand shuttle services coverage and provide for shorter headway (less than five minutes) connecting all available parking lots to the Street Fair area. 4. Assign trained staff to the heavily-used parking lots for managing traffic flow and better parking utilization. 5. Provide/designate separate parking area for vans and pick-ups to reduce circulation conflicts inside congested parking areas. 6. Provide/designate staging areas for tour buses. Page 1 of 2 SUBJECT: COLLEGE OF THE DESERT STREET FAIR - TRAFFIC IMPACT MITIGATION B. TRAFFIC CIRCULATION: 1. Modify the median opening at the McCallum Theatre's eastern driveway to restrict exiting movements to right turn out only. (See attachment A) 2. Modify the median along Monterey Avenue, north of Parkview Drive intersection, to increase left-turn capacity for the incoming traffic to the Street Fair from points north. (See attachment B) 3 . Provide an access an access road connecting the McCallum theatre eastern driveway to the College of the Desert main entrance at Fred Waring Drive. (See attachment C) 4. Provide for off-duty police officer services, to complement traffic control devices, at intersections and driveways affected by the Street Fair operation. This arrangement should also be used to enforce parking restrictions around bus stops, fire lanes, private drives or intersection corner clearance locations in the immediate vicinity of the College of the Desert area. 5. Restrict vendors' departure to the roadways with direct connection to signalized intersections (Fred Waring/San Pablo and Monterey/Parkview) to ease congestion at exit points along Fred Waring Drive. 6. Maintain closure of the main College of the Desert entrance at Fred Waring Drive but leave the eastbound left-turn bay on median open to provide additonal capacity for the motirists to reach the McCallum Theatre parking lot. C. OTHER ISSUES: The mitigation, suggested above, reflect the current conditions. Any change in parking location, access and number of spaces, or access and circulation inside the College of the Desert complex could result in circulation and access change on the surrounding areas and public streets. The City should reserve the right to periodically review the situation, not only for the condition compliance but also for developing further mitigations, if the situation found warranted. SEYED SAFAVIAN cc: Joseph Gaugush SEY/lw Page 2 of 2 I II ' , 1. 4 I-A IU _ , ® 200 HPSV, PARK VIEW 2-MAS �v-I i 2 13 'i^ t.,, 5 26-4-80 �.30 40' ® TV-2-T SP-I-T B , B 2 r 17.5 , ' s. .a. ) .. . ` .-..'. 6 ® •.10' ®® 200 HPSV MONTEREY MAS SJ-I-T SP.-1-T ..•.B r.�<8 ., - '>81;,.yrSTe4 9l'• A - 80 30 3� ® -4;-TV-2T SP-1-T.: .�. . 7 } 11111111 ® T R yY yy�� • : * -' ' .4 . ,.•-•.-,.. • ' : -,„ ,-,-;:4,i' '.1':•:, ...'''',",t4•:,;4-<* ':;,.-_, .-,.,1rv,., 4:4- , CE SERVICE Ilk 013 '‘ r-edi AVENUE 3 6 • 2'C. I DLC. R�W _ • A .O PULLROPE • EXISTING __._ VAULT Wit.. � � _ �- _ � } _ _ 08 `� } — —T--- C^!—ROSSWALK — __ -E - - - - - - - - - T s �i1 `.r o 0 — C — _ Vg #04 11 �� It -1- 6 t. -V 4. _____,— ----- --- ------ 441 1�� Z�-- - —_ �/!i,, yi��; sf .eZi+ / J 06 ► D ge 71 0 . init014-(2- 04 A • I .. R/W cot^ 'Alal / . -- it (0, A XJ•); bft!. J © c CONSTRUCTION NOTES: f 08 &_4S4E 60 CONTROLLER, ACCESSORIES ND TYPERACTOR CABINET SHA FURNISH ANCHOR 60LTS. As SET I � I� INSTALL FORTH ON THE PLANS AIID IN THE SPECIAL PROVISIONS. v! LJ INSTALL TYPE II-MODIFIED 120/240 VOLT SERVICE,WITH TWO(2) METERS, 1 �' A 50-phLP SIGNAL BREAKER t TAMPHF 4n1 TN SIDE KOF�THE CONTROLLER AND A 30 AMP (CABINET ..n}}nIT SFRVI('F i 1"1 PARKING LOTQ PARKING LOT R PARKING LOT 0 j , C / Ili „ (1 1411J L-1 T PARKING LOT S KING LOT P ( 1 StFeet fLt( 01 Co: l Pe" u(j2' Area PARKING LOT T C��, ..‘.-. f L ol: ca.v\ sa• pro, d e 6c62,4 fit. �L EJt, FRED WARING DI 0 h-V4ors c f\ IDod,Fy m NP.-Itragcs;-,) , Q POpostal ZQ CITY OF kLM DESERT — ADT PLAT /,v eeX�..rd w e t not /, 0-7 7 - 14 // o.-n : a77 q4.,, = //8 / -14;1 /2 /).n AGO } /, 5 07 GO /l a /D a ' ,3_J-G, Gj / ' O?J E // Garr, /J3� 0v2z,�c4rid / .=)..), //7 • N.) C('1 c ) COD • Lye,t'G nct / ` /,c[eiz.ee no( Coga 7/3 q4- q a,)-, //7 \ ' APn wed WC277/ 9 �r C PREPARED BY: DATE: Wq0 RIVERSIDE COUNTY \ sh CO IS BYRD, SHERIFF 5PiJ'" c® ' 'tfJt�: A'�qs/QE� 73-520 FRED WARING DRIVE•PALM DESERT,CA 92260•(619) 341-1600 October 30, 1991 Mr. Steve Smith City of Palm Desert 73-510 Fred Waring Drive Palm Desert, CA 92260 RE: Street Fair Dear Mr. Smith: Due to past criminal problems, potential for sales of stolen property, and confiscation of merchandise due to counterfeiting, the Alumni Association should be required to employ an extra duty deputy a minimum of four hours per month. These hours would be used for checking and investigating the vendors, and would be used randomly by the Sheriff's Department. These hours would be reviewed quarterly to allow for adjustments. Another concern is the regulation of traffic for the Street Fair. The orderly movement of traffic and enforcement of parking regulations should be addressed. Peak season traffic is a present concern specifically relating to off site parking and safety in crossing Fred Waring Drive and Monterey. The safe operation of the Street Fair is necessary to insure everyone's safety--vendors and patrons alike. Questions concerning these comments can be directed to the Sheriff's Department at telephone 341-1600. Thank you for giving us an opportunity to comment. Sincerely, COIS M. BYRD, SHERIFF G D� - , Steve Bloomquist, Captain Palm Desert Station Commander vrm INTEROFFICE MEMORANDUM City of Palm Desert TO: STEVE SMITH, PLANNER FROM: FRANK ALLEN, DIRECTOR OF CODE COMPLIANCE SUBJECT: CUP FOR COLLEGE OF THE DESERT STREET FAIR DATE: SEPTEMBER 16, 1991 I have a concern regarding the off-site parking of vehicles. The Code Compliance officers have issued citation for vehicles parked on the vacant lots on the south side of Fred Waring Dr. In addition, vehicles parked along the south side of Fred Waring Dr. create a problem for motorist when the occupants of the parked vehicles walk across Fred Waring Dr. to the street fair. In reviewing the maps you provided me I note provisions being made, by the college, for additional on-site parking areas. If the expanded parking areas do not alleviate the off-site parking problem, then an agreement should be added to the CUP that the college will provide additional on-site parking upon request by the City. dt FRANK P. ALLEN DIRECTOR OF CODE COMPLIANCE /fr RC.CEIVED O C T 3 0 1991 .,., &' 'e 'e �pMMUNIiv DEVELOPMENT OEP�p�ME Clry nF upEM DECErI' CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 72-990 HIGHwAti 1 1 PALM DESERT. CALIFORNIA 92260 October 30, 1991 TELEPHONE 619) 3466I TO: PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION FROM: DANIEL L. EHRLER, EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT RE: PALM DESERT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE POSITION AND RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE COLLEGE OF THE DESERT STREET FAIR C.U. P. APPLICATION Dear Friends, The Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce has followed through with its commitment to you that it would take an active role in reviewing and making recommendations on Open Air Sales C.U. P. Applications. A committee representing the Board of Directors was appointed which included four business persons. The Marshall' s Center, Palm Desert Town Center, El Paseo, and Highway 111 were represented on this committee. It met a total of three times. Its first meeting resulted in an initial position statement and a set of recommendations. It met a second time with City Planner Steve Smith to review their recommendations and clarify questions with Mr. Smith that arose during their first meeting. Following the second committee meeting, the committee sent its position and recommendations to the Chamber's Board of Directors for approval. The Board approved them with modifications. A third committee meeting was held with College of the Desert President David George, C.O.D. Alumni Association Executive Director June Teran, and C.O. D. Trustee Julie Bornstein. We had a very healthy exchange of information, ideas, and concerns. The meeting resulted in the following: 1. C.O. D. essentially agreed to items "B" through "H" because C.O.D. was either already doing them, addressing them, planning to do them or considering to do them. 2 . There were three remaining items which the committee and C.O. D. did not agree upon. A. The recommended E. I .R. : The committee believes that a business such as the Street Fair, which generates the traffic that it does, should have and E. I.R. completed. The committee believes that if such a business were to apply for a C.U. P. anywhere else in the City of Palm Desert, an E. I.R. would be requested. Thus, this recommendation would be a fair application of a city requirement. B. The Street Fair operate on Sundays only: This recommendation comes with belief that C.O. D. , with certain modifications to their space rental charges and other possible justified fees, could continue to raise their needed funds for the Alumni Association. This recommendation also comes from constituent businesses from all four of the areas represented on the committee. C. Item I, an advisory committee be formed: The committee believes that such an advisory board would be advantageous in facilitating communication between all suggested members. Potential problems could be avoided and greater understanding between those involved would result. These recommendations and position have been reviewed and approved by the Chamber's Board of Directors. Thus, on behalf of the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and the Open Air Sales Conditional Use Permit Review Committee, we respectfully request your approval for adoption the recommendation and recommendation conditions for the C.U. P. Application by the College of the Desert Alumni Association for their Street Fair. This has been an exhausting process. We are sincerely grateful to College of the Desert for their efforts in meeting with us to allow the communication process to take place. We understand their concerns but also reflect the concerns of much of our business community. It is safe to say, also, that even within our business community there is not total agreement with our recommendations. However, the Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce has responded to the request by its membership to take action regarding this issue. Our recommendations are the result of this effort. ry, sincere • yours, ryL_ Dani- . Ehrler, Executive Vice President c: Board of Directors Palm Desert City Council College of the Desert A. i . "a 'Ifc Oefel4e- CHAMBER OF COMMERCE 72 990 HIGHWAY 1 1 1 PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA 92260 TELEPHONE 619) 346-61 1 1 PALM DESERT CHAMBER OF COMMERCE OPEN AIR SALES CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT REVIEW COMMITTEE AND BOARD OF DIRECTORS POSITION AND RECOMMENDATIONS REGARDING THE CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT APPLICATION FOR THE COLLEGE OF THE DESERT STREET FAIR: I . POSITION STATEMENT: The existing College of the Desert Street Fair is unacceptable in its current format. Safety, the application of City of Palm Desert business related ordinances to the Street Fair, days of operation, and aesthetics are included in our concerns. RECOMMENDATION: We recommend that an E. I.R. be completed by the College of the Desert. II . CONDITIONS When the E. I .R. is completed and approved, we recommend the following conditions: A. The Street Fair operate on Sundays only. B. The Conditional Use Permit be issued for one year and be reviewed annually prior to its renewal. C. Each vendor must use a cash register or C.O. D. implement a central cash register system. This would enable the City of Palm Desert and the State Board of Equalization the ability to better monitor sales tax due them. D. Each vendor must hold a Palm Desert Business License. Business license renewals must be based upon sales volume as is required by all Palm Desert business license holders. E. Requirements by the City of Palm Desert of businesses regarding signage, aesthetics, public restrooms and parking regulations must be applied to accommodate the number of people attending and working the Street Fair. We also recommend that a theme element be implemented as related to the vendor's selling area. F. Acceptance of vendors be based on their origin: Palm Desert, first; Coachella Valley, second; and out-of- valley, third. G. A City's Code Enforcement Officer is requested to monitor and enforce the application of these conditions. H. A Street Fair revenue and expense statement is requested which would detail total amount received and to what areas expenditures were made by applicant. It is understood that the Street Fair budget and financial details are available upon request, and this would suffice. I . An advisory board to the Street Fair be created which would include representatives from Street Fair Management, C.O. D. Alumni Association, Palm Desert Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors, Palm Desert Town Center, El Paseo Business Association, Marshall Center, Cook Street Business District, Highway 111 Business and the City of Palm Desert. This board would meet periodically or whenever necessary to review Street Fair operations, the relationship between the Street Fair and other Palm Desert businesses and any other relative issues. This advisory board will meet twice a year. LOOKING 0000 73-847haloes El Pomo PALM DESERT, CA 92260 /0 , 3 ) 4i w E �.z CvP —t- CiAr kJ i ., G Z o w w `'Itrvt. ►-vl l 1 Ci eg Av 53 C- (LI w ` gak. Cvl 0 .C*-ej W v • r` HEAD OFFICE K fr6'414 AIR DREAMS INTERNATIONAL. INC. I 93-540 AVE 45. SUITE 1 INDIO, CA 92201 [619)347-7743 wr`i ors the e•.••y+ir.rl 'r 11 anc 'w i n •n• - ,y` n ?tr• C,�:;i�1�'`:f' walla Al vO :.c CIfcrce v;r..= .rri, 5irce!'`:''1, ::::V173c:`,513 i W C ) Ci ) O- J `, v W d 4 � v RETAIL OUTLET: 73-990 EL PASEO PALM DESERT, CA 92280 PHONE [619) 341-9041 1 TO: Walt Snyder, Mayor of Palm Desert The undersigned are adamantly opposed to outdoor selling in Palm Desert for the following reasons: 1 . Environmental Impact Key Issues: -Traffic congestion -Parking problems -Trash generation -Burden to police/fire/health safety -Impact on public facilities (including McCallum, COD) -Stress on local residential areas 2. Proper Licensing Impossible to Control Key Issues: -State Board of Equalization Payments -Proper Tax Records -Business Licensing -Signage Rules and Regulations -Conditional Use Permits 3. Sales, Service, Merchandising Problems Key Issues: -Warranty and customer service (black eye for Palm Desert retail image) -Ready outlet for stolen merchandise -Counterfeit merchandise -Poor physical image for quality shopping area 4. Philosophical Key Issues: -Should a society created entity for education be in the retail market (public properties for public uses only) -Blatant discrimination against local full time merchants and their requirements to "carry on" `' business in Palm Desert (different set of rules) CC, -Precedent setting event for increased ,,, + activity of this type in Palm Desert 4.7 -Fairness issue of full time merchants advertising to bring shoppers to area. _ , . r' er— , '2"A'r 1' i' ._ F Ci/i 6A-81: — / --k,---. ),,, ,,,‘ Qi Ir 170,, , I) A w Emc --,_, (4,/,‘, /7( 7 2itiQ__, ,/ SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE WEDNESDAY - JULY 10, 1991 - 3:00 P.M. COMMUNITY SERVICES CONFERENCE ROOM 73-510 FRED WARING DRIVE * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I. ROLL CALL Present : Absent : Dave Tschopp, Chairman George Berkey Diane Cox Don Hedlund Frank Goodman John Ceriale Hank Stokes Others Present : Walt Snyder, Mayor Bruce Altman , City Manager Paul Shillcock, ACM/Economic Development Director Dave Erwin , City Attorney Bill Adams, Attorney Representative Jim Richards , Planning Commission Liaison Carol Whitlock, Planning Commission Chairperson Dan Ehrler, Chamber of Commerce Donna Gomez, Secretary II. DISCUSSION ITEMS: College of the Desert Street Fair Mr. Tschopp indicated that this item was referred by the Planning Commission for review and recommendation by the Economic Development Advisor✓ Committee. Mr. Altman explained that there has been some controversy surrounding the COD street fair and that there are lawsuits currently pending. COD submitted a request to the City for a conditional use permit (CUP) and a zoning ordinance amendment (ZOA) to allow the use of their property for an open air street fair. Mr. Shillcock explained that Mr. Erwin was present in order to relate to the committee what points are appropriate for this committee to discuss. Any recommendations will be forwarded to the Planning Commission in their entirety. A) MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE JULY 10, 1991 Mr. Erwin explained that it was important that the committee treat this item as a normal agenda item under the purview of this committee. It should be addressed from an economic standpoint . COD is currently zoned "P" (public) which permits public uses subject to a conditional use permit . The litigation that has been filed is designated as a request for a writ of mandate which would be an order from the court directing someone to do something. The question is whether an open air retail market of this type is allowed even with a CUP. The lawsuit was filed by a recently formed group called Concerned Citizens of the Coachella Valley, Inc. Mr. Erwin indicated they had requested the names of the people involved with the group but have not received any further information at this time. Mr. Adams noted that it includes approximately 30 members ranging from Palm Springs to Palm Desert. Mr. Richards asked about the fact that this is State property which he has been told the City has no right to regulate activities or building. Mr. Erwin noted that this was not the case. He explained that if the City wishes to impose its zoning ordinance on community college land, they must give notice to the college board. The board then either votes to accept this or determines that they be exempt . That determination is to be made only for the educational facilities. The challenge is whether this determination was correct . Mr. Altman indicated a letters was written by the college board requesting that we do this. Mr. Erwin explained that there is currently a case in the 4th District court which handed down a final decision that basically stated that an open air retail market was not a public use. Mr. Ehrler explained that there had been an agreement discussed between Palm Desert merchants and COD in which the City acted as facilitator. It was his understanding that certain merchandise would no longer be sold at the street fair. Mr. Richards asked if there is a past case law does it automatically make any other same activity illegal . 41; '// MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE JULY 10, 1991 Mr. Erwin noted that there are other elements that come into play in this case that may allow it to be a separate issue (ic: COD pre-existed the City) . Mr. Stokes noted that the group is asking that the City be required to enforce their rules that would prevent outdoor selling on that site. He asked it the City were to approve the rezoning of the site would that pull the rug out from under the groups case . Mr. Erwin stated that it would. He noted that another position they may take is that City Council has the authority to use its discretion to not require enforcement . Mr. Goodman felt the zoning amendment and the law suit are only parts of the legal proceedings and that the real question was whether they actually want the street fair in Palm Desert . Mr. Altman noted that was part of the issue at hand and explained that the City has received a lot of criticism for not taking a stand on this issue. He noted that the process this item will go through will give the public an opportunity to tell us what they want. Mayor Snyder noted that he has received several arguments for the street fair and several arguments against it. He fclt th.lt it was about a 50/50 split. Mr. Goodman felt this should not be a decision for the people. He felt the City has a responsibility to maintain the property values and to provide a safe and healthy shopping atmosphere. Ms. Cox noted that this is an issue that affects all of Palm Desert , not just the street fair. She indicated she had spoken to several people about the events taking place in Palm Springs. She felt it was very important to watch what happens there. Ms . Cox was opposed to the vendors only paying a S20. 00 fee as compared to the rents charged on El Paseo. Mr. Tschopp felt the committee should concentrate on specific areas such as if the street fair is in the best economic interest of the City and what type of benefits it provides to the citizens of the community. The funds COD are raising are being used for college programs and scholarships . 3 MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE JULY 10, 1991 Mayor Snyder mentioned that COD has conducted a survey which showed that people come from as far away as Fontana just to visit the street fair. Mr. Stokes felt that the community would be in favor of keeping the street fair on an 8-2 basis. He hoped to have a solution that would work for both COD and the business community. He suggested doubling the daily fee for selling at COD and using the additional money charged for promotion of retail business in Palm Desert. Mr. Ceriale felt swap meets and discount centers were offensive but indicated that 's what people are looking for. They are asking the concierge at the Marriott where to find these places. He noted that the demand is there and if Palm Desert doesn ' t provide it, someone else will . He felt the street fair went against the grain of what Palm Desert is trying to attract, high end shopping. He noted he was aware of several wealthy people that shop at the street fair including the residents of Morningside Country Club where he lives. Ms. Cox noted that most of the vendors are not Palm Desert residents and are not spending much money here either. She felt another big problem was the Cabazon and Barstow factory outlet centers. Mr. Goodman suggested the vendors be made to pay an equal share or their fair share. Mr. Stokes suggested that they pay a significant fee and that a board be created to govern the street fair. The board could include people from the City, COD and the business community. Mr. Ceriale noted that if he was creating a street fair he would not want anyone from the town center or El Paseo to be on the board. There was some concern expressed over the possibility of opening up any "P" zoned property for this type of use with the approval of a conditional use permit. This would demand additional regulation by the board that was created. 4 011 MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE JULY 10, 1991 Mr. Tschopp felt it was important to assess what benefits and impacts are being brought to the community/city that are not being reimbursed. He asked if they would allow the street fair to operate and the City keep providing services and not charge for them. Mr. Goodman noted that people like to come to Palm Desert where they feel comfortable and not afraid. Mr. Tschopp noted that people are coming here from out of the area and staying over night and using the facilities. He felt that retail companies wanting to locate in Palm Desert might be dissuaded when they see the street fair. It could have a negative impact on these organizations looking for locations . Mr. Ceriale noted that his wife would still shop the street fair if it moved but she will also continue to shop at the Town Center and on El Paseo. Mr. Altman indicated that the only fees the vendors currently pay the City are sales taxes and business license fees. Mayor Snyder indicated that business license fees are based on gross receipts and the City gets 1* of the gross sa cs :F accurate records are kept. He noted that there are no restrooms at the street fair and that the bus can ' t even stop at the designated bus stop because of the traffic/parking. Mr. Richards noted it was a challenge to the retailers to figure out how to get some of that business. Mayor Snyder noted that the street fair started as a vegetable fair and has grown over the last several years to what it is today. Mr. Stokes suggested they also reinstitute the same restriction on the type of items being sold. Mr. Adams indicated that any condition can be placed on the project with the CUP process. He noted that, although vendors may have year-lona contracts with COD. they would have to comply after their contract expires . 5 MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE JULY 10, 1991 Mayor Snyder felt they were heading in the right direction with the restriction of items sold and additional fees . He also suggested that additional conditions relating to restrooms, electrical hook ups and parking solutions be recommended. Mr. Richards felt that if COD knew they had an ongoing thing they might be willing to make some capital improvements to better accommodate the street fair. Ms. Cox asked if other cities with this type of open air market had been contacted on how they monitor sales. Mr. Altman explained that there is very little they can do because most are cash sales. Mr. Goodman suggested customers be required to show a sales receipt at the exit. Mr. Richards asked whether it would be worth hiring someone for $20, 000 a year to enforce this. Mr. Altman noted that it is the State 's responsibility to enforce this and the City could not do it. Mr. Ceriale felt that the State should have some way of regulating these street fairs, especially with the budget problems their having. Mr. Stokes suggested they list the conditions that they would recommend be placed on any approval of a CUP. Mr. Altman suggested changing it to allow Sunday only which would provide sales when most other retail businesses are closed. Mayor Snyder suggested a list of conditions be imposed including proper signage, COD collecting additional fees, public safety, restrooms, etc. It was suggested that the City charge additional business license fees for open air sales. Mr. Stokes felt a street fair was suitable if it 's put under very rigorous conditions. Mr. Richards noted that the college provides a necessary asset to the community. He feels they have their back to a wall and this is their way of trying to raise some money. 6 MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE JULY 10, 1991 Mr. Goodman noted that there is nothing that states COD can ' t hold the street fair somewhere else. Mr. Richards suggested some type of recommendation that additional conditions be placed on the street fair that would include putting some money back into the affected parties and clean it up. Mr. Goodman indicated he would vote for a motion to that effect. Mr. Tschopp suggested that COD be reminded that all vendors must be in compliance with all sales tax laws, etc. Mr. Shillcock noted that this item will be before Planning Commission in September. Mr. Ehrler requested a copy of today 's discussion and any final recommendations. He noted that the Chamber basically has taken the same stand as the City by not taking a position. He noted they have received a formal request from Chamber members to take a stand. He would be taking the information from this meeting to the Chamber Board for discussion . Mr. Stokes felt it was important for the City Council to not take the easy way out which would gain the bitterness of tho business community. Ms. Whitlock agreed that the direction the EDAC was heading was the way to handle the situation. Mr. Richards felt it was important to place conditions on the project that would make it only allowed in this one location. Mr. Adams noted that the Santa Ana case required an EIR for their swap meet. Mr. Stokes felt it might be useful for staff and two City Council members to meet with the principals involved before the Planning Commission meeting. Mr. Richards didn ' t feel the timing was right for this since it has been going on for a long time. He suggested they proceed with staff preparing the recommendation . 7 // lit MINUTES ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE JULY 10, 1991 It was MOVED by Mr. Stokes, seconded by Mr. Goodman to recommend that additional restrictions and conditions be placed on the COD street fair. Suggestions listed should not be limited to these but could include the following: o Open weekends only o Additional significant fees be charged to be used for promotion of all Palm Desert retail business o Support Facilities - restrooms, electrical hook-ups, parking, etc. o Establish a board to oversee the street fair. To be made up of COD representatives, business community and City representatives o Reimbursement of any charges incurred by the City for services provided o Reinstitute limitations as previously agreed on the items for sale III. MISCELLANEOUS COMMENTS None I V. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None V. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Mr. Goodman , seconded by Mr. Stokes to adjourn the meeting at 4:25 p.m. /dig 8