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Home My WebLink About2013-11-26 CITY OF PALM DESERT ARCHITECTURAL REVIEW COMMISSION • MINUTES November 26, 2013 I. CALL TO ORDER The meeting was called to order at 12:30 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Commissioners Current Meeting Year to Date Present Absent Present Absent Chris Van Vliet, Chair X 19 1 Karel Lambell, Vice Chair X 19 1 John Vuksic X 18 2 Allan Levin X 19 1 Paul Clark X 19 1 Gene Colombini X 20 Michael McAuliffe X 16 1 Jim McIntosh X 16 1 Also Present Lauri Aylaian, Director Kevin Swartz, Assistant Planner Eric Ceja, Associate Planner Pedro Rodriquez, Senior Code Officer Janine Judy, Recording Secretary Cancelled meetings: 05/28/13, 10/08/13 III. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: November 12, 2013 Action: Commissioner Levin moved to approve the November 12, 2013 meeting minutes with minor changes. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Colombini and carried by an 8-0 vote. ARCHITECTURAL REVMoW COMMISSION 1"0 MINUTES November 26, 2013 V CASES: A. Final Drawings: 1. CASE NO: SA 13-370 APPLICANT (AND ADDRESS): FX SIGNS, INC. 570 E. La Cadena Drive #1A, Riverside, CA 92507 NATURE OF PROJECT/APPROVAL SOUGHT: Request final approval of two single-sided, non-illuminated monument signs; Kingston Court. LOCATION: NEC of Imperial Court/Shepherd Lane and the SWC of Kingston Court/Shepherd Lane ZONE: P.R.-5 Mr. Eric Ceja, Associate Planner said this sign was considered at the last meeting and the Commission made recommendations to: increase the sign base, show that the stone element matches what is in the development, and to decrease the letter sizes. The applicant has complied by reducing the sign height by approximately 5", reducing the length by 7", reducing the large letter X", and reducing the overall letters down to 5". Staff has confirmed that the stone being used on the sign is in the development itself and the applicant has received staff's approval for the final sign location. He presented a PowerPoint on the revisions. The Commission reviewed the changes to the sign. They discussed the 8' wide landscape strip that the monument will sign fit into. Mr. Ceja said in order to comply with the Commission's request for a wider base they had to make the sign fit into this parcel. ACTION: Commissioner Lambell moved to approve. Motion was seconded by Commissioner McIntosh and carried by an 8-0 vote. G:F anninglJanine Judy\ARC\1Minutes\2013\131126min.docx Page 2 of 6 ` ARCHITECTURAL RE! 'W COMMISSION - • MINUTES `" November 26, 2013 2. CASE NO: MISC 13-389 APPLICANT (AND ADDRESS): MONROE DESERT DUNES PLAZA, LLC, Attn: Brian Monroe, P.O. Box 1100, La Quinta, CA 92247 NATURE OF PROJECT/APPROVAL SOUGHT: Request final approval of exterior building color changes. LOCATION: 40-205 Washington Street ZONE: P.C. FCOZ Mr. Eric Ceja, Associate Planner said the applicant has proposed a paint upgrade for this center. He presented a PowerPoint with the before and after colors for review and passed around color samples. The Commission reviewed the plans and colors and recommended painting the rear doors to match the stucco. ACTION: Commissioner Colombini moved to approve subject to painting rear doors to match stucco. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Levin and carried by an 8-0 vote. B. Preliminary Plans: 1. CASE NO: PP-279 APPLICANT (AND ADDRESS): COMSTOCK HOMES, 321 121n, Street, Manhattan Beach, CA 90266 NATURE OF PROJECT/APPROVAL SOUGHT: Request preliminary approval of architecture and landscape plans for Lot 1; Villa Portofino. LOCATION: 622-020-094; Country Club Drive ZONE: P.R. 5 Mr. Kevin Swartz, Assistant Planner said this is a preliminary approval of architecture and landscape plans for Lot 1 at Villa Portofino. This 75 acre project was approved in 1999 for 288 villa GAPlanning\Janine Judy\ARC\1Minutes\2013\131126min.docx Page 3 of 6 ARCHITECTURAL REW COMMISSION MINUTES November 26, 2013 units, 182 casita units, and 311 skilled nursing units. Comstock Homes owns part of the 288 villa units for the 2-story, 12-plexes. Comstock Homes is now changing the product type to single family homes, including duplexes and tri-plexes. Lot 1 will have 211 units consisting of 96 units located within the 12-plexes, 54 single family homes, 34 duplex units, and 27 tri-plex units. This proposal will return to Planning Commission for an amendment to the product type. All the exterior materials are consistent with what currently exists today. A color board was presented with four color schemes for each model style. Staff worked with the landscape architect and the plans have gone through three revisions and the plant palette is similar to what is out there today. Staff has a concern with screening along the perimeter and adjacent to Casablanca. He described the plant and tree materials. MR. JOSE ESTRADA, Herman Design Group, said the landscape is complimentary to what currently exists and stated that they have addressed the areas of concerns to the west and south. He described the plant materials and where they would be located. They are keeping the turf to a minimum for water conservation purposes and using plant materials native to the desert. They have not addressed the sewer easement at this time and will coordinate with the civil engineer to landscape it. The Commission and the applicant discussed screening for the roll- away trash bins for the single family homes. MR. ANDY ALVILLIR, Comstock Homes, said there will be screening provided for the roll- away trash bins for the attached and detached product. The Commission questioned the electrical meters for the 12-plexes. MR. JEFF MALONE, Project Manager for Comstock Homes, stated there will be doghouses on either side of the buildings for electrical and fire. MR. ALVILLIR added that using the gas company's design, the gas meters will be stacked with 6 meters on each side and located on the sides of the buildings. He pointed out that these meters cannot be enclosed. The Commission suggested that this be addressed by landscaping. Mr. Swartz stated that staff will work with the applicant once they get the utility plan. Staff continues to work with them to screen the air conditioning units as well. He said the landscape plan has been preliminary approved by the Landscape Specialist. The Commission and MR. JULIAN DE LA TORRE, Civil Engineer for MSA Consulting, discussed site drains and retention basins. G tj tanning\JanineJudyWRC\1Minutes\2013\131126min.docx Page 4 of 6 ARCHITECTURAL REV W COMMISSION : MINUTES November 26, 2013 The Commission was concerned with the lack of trees and landscape in the alley way between the 12-plexes. MR. CHRIS HERMAN, Herman Design Group, explained that the planter widths are very small and they have a difficult situation with the underground utilities because they are not allowed to place them within 5' of the water meters. As of yet, they don't have the underground utility information or the water meter locations to know where trees can be located. He presented photos of the Brava development that had a similar situation. The Commission suggested they restudy the landscape. MR. MALONE said they will come back with a preliminary design. The Commission discussed on-street parking. MR. MALONE said the streets are only wide enough for parking on one side. Mr. Swartz stated they meet the requirement for off-site parking. The Commission and MR. TOM WONG, Comstock Homes, discussed the offsets for the front elevations, eave enhancements, rafter tails, furring of garage doors walls, recessing the windows facing the streets, and the maintenance of the wood fascia versus stucco. Commissioner Vuksic made several recommendations. ACTION: Commissioner Clark moved to continue Case PP 13-279 subject to: 1) restudy the alley way landscape between 12-plexes; 2) show detail on A/C enclosures; 3) sewer easement on south to be addressed with landscaping and groundcover; 4) provide landscaping around gas and other utilities, as appropriate; 5) restudy landscaping along northerly street where parking spaces are so close; 6) restudy parking for the 12-plexes; 7) restudy eave enhancements on the corner units visible to the streets; 8) detail rafter tails to go back a minimum of 20'; 9) walls flanking garage doors are to be furred a minimum of 12" beyond the base wall; 10) when adding furring to garages, maintain current offsets at entry structures; 11) windows facing streets to have a 2" recess; 12) restudy wood fascia to meet maintenance requirements. Motion was seconded by Commissioner Lambell and carried by an 8-0 vote. C. Miscellaneous Items: None GAPlanning\JanineJudyWRC\1Minutes\2013\131126min.docx Page 5 of 6 ARCHITECTURAL RE' W COMMISSION MINUTES November 26, 2013 V I. ART IN PUBLIC PLACES UPDATE - Commissioner John Vuksic Commissioner Vuksic reported on the recent Art in Public Places meeting (AIPP). The new exhibit, The Suboken Project: Presenting... is now on display in the Palm Desert Community Gallery until January 31, 2014. In anticipation of selling Taking Flight by Alisa Looney, an art piece on El Paseo, a new art piece will be placed. The new docent program is under way and new docents are needed for the 2014 program. Four public art documentary films have been selected for January, February, March and April. The Art Walk moved from Wednesday's to Friday's and has been well attended. The Palm Springs Museum at Palm Desert will hold free lectures called Free Friday Evenings on the first Friday of every month. On Wednesdays, there will be free yoga sessions in the museum gardens. An art symposium has been proposed to find donors to bring in blocks of Carrara marble from Italy that will be carved in public by artists selected to carve each piece. Seven new artists have been approved for the registry. The 2015/2016 El Paseo Exhibition will bring 18 new pieces to El Paseo and the call for artists will go out January, 2014. VII. COMMENTS The Commission discussed the abandoned fairways at the Palm Desert Country Club. VIII. ADJOURNMENT Upon a motion by Commissioner Levin, second by Commissioner Lambell, and an 8-0 vote, the Architectural Review Commission meeting was adjourned at 2:00 p.m. -."— X KJI=VIN SWARTZ, ASSISTANT PLANNER S11=CRETARY t J/!kNI JUDY RI'CbRDING S CRETARY G F anning�JanineJudy\ARC\1Minutes\2013\131126min.docx Page 6 of 6