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Home My WebLink About07-07 Draft Minutes ��—� MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION _� TUESDAY — JULY 7, 2009 6:00 P.M. - CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER • ' 73-510 FRED WARING DRIVE * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Tanner called the meeting o er at 6: m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE � Chairperson Tanner led in the p of alle ' . III. ROLL CALL Members Present: Chair Co r L ice C Son ampb `y Nanc L �. ,; Mem ` bsent: r ,: ari Sc t Staff� nt: ' Aylai irector of Community Development �'�` ` � " s, Deputy City Attorney ,,��_ � � „ a �� Tony ��-"�� , Principal Planner � '' Kevin Swartz, Assistant Planner �� °"' Bo Chen, City Engineer �� ristina Canales, Assistant Engineer �� nya Monroe, Administrative Secretary IV. �� MMARY �� COUNCIL ACTION � Ms. ummarized pertinent June 25, 2009 City Council actions. V. ORAL OMMUNICATIONS MR. FRANK TAYLOR informed the Commission that several weeks ago he was at the Project Area 4 meeting for the discussion on the issues going on with Palm Desert Country Club. There were a lot of people at that meeting here in the Council Chamber. There were some statements made regarding good points and bad points as to what was going on at Palm Desert Country Club, but he was not talking about that today. One of the comments he heard was that the Palm Desert Country Club area was turning into a ghetto. He has lived in the city of Palm Desert for almost 25 years now, he pays his MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 7� 2009 taxes, is part of the solar program, and all the other things the City has to do. He was not here today to talk about foreclosure houses, dead lawns, and all the rest of the things going on. What he wanted to bring up was regarding RV's in the Palm Desert Country Club area. Mr. Taylor said a couple of weeks ago he went to the Architectural Review Committee meeting because there were some re,, uests for RV's permits within the city for different areas for fencing, or ing, or different things like that. He took a tour throughout the Cou : lub and provided some pictures for the Architectural Review Com ` and also provided some pictures for the Planning Commission to I ` re 'ng the issues going on out there regarding the RV's. Ther � e been� -' gs over the years regarding RV's coming onto prope ' arking on p�'��, ies, and different things like that. There are carport are out there in �' esert Country Club and apparently there is dfather cl use regardi' e ordinance that says they can park ther long a boat or som : g else is underneath a carport. The problem that g is that pe are not following the rules. He believed the ordinance the issu� permits for RV's in the city of Palm Desert is outdate n` be loo t. There were other parts of it that needed to be put �'`` e into'°: tive ake sure that RV's don't turn into the city. e re cerned about blight in Palm Desert nd an that has do with the city of Palm Desert as a , . He sai f; e pictu e gave them showed some RV"s that were pro ,N� screened �: he didn ve a problem with those. The ones he had a pro with � eopl ,, rk them in their front yards and have a -6�,�� ,�� wrought� f �e � .. y that's screening. There's also a picture �y : RV ��, undernea arport and he was told that was permitted �� ba 99: �;, n they drive in the community and see things like this, they add to idea� ;, there's blight out there and he was really concerned � about it. �� \ \ \ e knew ye and years ago there were areas in the city of Palm Desert, �,� the ap nts at the corner of Fred Waring and Monterey, that were d a oblems occurred there all the time. They were a mess and the Cit , in and took care of some of the issues there and now it's a fine comp he City went in and took care of the apartments on Elkhorn in the Palm Desert Country Club area. And he thought in the near future, the issues that are coming up with the Palm Desert Country Club golf course and the rest of the area would come to the forefront regarding blight in the community, and he just didn't want to see it going on. Mr. Taylor said he was asking for a review and to put a moratorium on the issuing of any permits in the future for RV's or licensing for RV's to be able to park in the city until someone can go through the ordinance and make sure it 2 MINUTES pALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 7. 2009 is fair throughout the whole city. He believed that an RV parked in the south end of Palm Desert should follow the same rules as an RV parked in the Palm Desert Country Club area or toward the east end of the city. He has driven up in the south end of Palm Desert and didn't see RV's parked in driveways for an extended period of time. He just wanted to put that across to the Planning Commission as hopefully they could help get this accomplished. The last thing he wanted to bring up was he was at the last Architectural Committee meeting, the day befo happened there was an RV parked on a piece of property on Chico ewhere up in the south end, and it caught on fire and almost bu p e houses there. There was a big article in the paper and it wa n e new he never asked the question there, but a question he wa g to bring ac was if the RV was plugged into the house, if there w en a permit pulle em to be able to do that in the city. He though le tend not to cooperat don't follow the rules. He follows the rules; as a b d pays for ge and he thought people could do that. If do ve the proper areas to store them in their backyard out of publi e believed they could pay the fees to store them so re else. He ted to make sure he brought that to their attention and a anything could do. Commissioner DeLuna n that r m ned he had been a Palm Desert res' 25 yea n ides in Palm Desert Country Club as, `; . or repli . F; �;; VI. CON CAL�,E,,, =;� Cas �, . PMW 08 3��f� RCE CONSULTANTS, INC. for WOODY � UA and BIGHORN HOMEOWNERS ASSOCIATION, , BIG N GOLF CLUB, Applicants �� `� Req , for aM roval of a parcel map waiver to allow a lot line � adjus nt for Lots 8, F and K of Tract 27520-5, also known as � 201 tmal, within Mountains at Bighorn. (APNs 771-490- �� 00 � -023, -024 and -022.) Action: �� It was moved by Commissioner Campbell to approve the Consent Calendar by minute motion. Commissioner Limont noted that the report from Bo Chen said work has already been done on Parcel A without benefit of a grading permit or a wall permit. Mr. Chen said that was correct. He recommended approval of the parcel map waiver with a condition to have the applicant submit grading plans and pay the fee. Commissioner Limont said she would like to place a 3 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSIOI�I JULY 7. 2009 condition of approval that they do come in and get permits and pay whatever fees. Back it up and get it started appropriately. Mr. Chen concurred. Chairperson Tanner asked if they could include that as a condition. Mr. Chen said that normally they could not condition a parcel map waiver. They did it without a permit. This was kind of separate from the approval of the parcel map waiver because normally, they couldn't conditi them. Mr. Bagato also noted that they told the developer that they neec�: °` '✓ bmit all the necessary documents and what would happen is they wo e to record it and before they could record it, staff can require the pl " . But there was no legal way to put a condition on a parcel = a Mr. Bob Hargreaves confirmed that they couldn't put condit' sz n the ut in this case they would be putting conditions on the a I of it. If the" 1 't get these things done, the approval would becom and void, but th" uld do it under these circumstances. They co record the map until ': � ituation out there is fixed up. � Chairperson Tanner noted that there� `� motion and asked for a second. The motion was sec by Commi p'" er DeLuna. Motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmi nt). �� VII. APPROVAL OF MINUTE' �a�-t�. 'z� z�. , �� Reques tion o e 16, 2f� meeting minutes. _;� ee `�: Action: � :a� ��„ It wa ved ission fr , Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Limont, '" 9 meeting minutes. Motion carried 3-0-1 � ers ner abstain � ��%// VIII� PUBL��AR �� . �� Anyone wh allen any hearing matter in court may be limited to raising %�j/��nly those i es he, she or someone else raised at the public hearing cribed h n, or in written correspondence delivered to the Planning issi , or prior to, the public hearing. ,�y A. e No. CUP 09-276 — BOB ROSE, Appticant Request for approval of a conditional use permit to allow the use of "Elite Salon" in an existing office/medical building complex located in the Office Professional zone. The project is located at 72-650 Fred Waring Drive, Suite 105 (APN 640-040- 021). 4 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 7. 2009 Mr. Kevin Swartz reviewed the staff report and recommended approval of Case No. CUP 09-276, subject to conditions. Chairperson Tanner requested clarification on the staff report conclusion. It said that the applicant would be limited to 13 employees per salon suite. Mr. Swartz explained there would be 13 employees total. Because 13 are allowed under the ordinance, C sioner Limont asked if that included someone at the front desk or if would just be individual owners/operators. Mr. Swartz believe would be individual owners/operators and indicated that Suit a employees, and every other suite had one. Commissioner Li t ommen at the parking looks great right now. Hopefully, the real business pick up, and she wanted to make sure there would equate parking in ture. Commissioner Campbell noted the bui has two oth nants and asked how many suites were still bl ase or rent in the two-stories, or if Mr. Swartz couldn' really say be depended on how many people take up the square f Mr. Swart that was correct. Commissioner Campbell asked about wo tena r. Swartz responded that one is TLC Laser Eye Cent ;�,` o""' _ ' er Ca II asked if they had quite a few patients. Mr. Bagato 4'"' they� e b ointment only. There vu4 ;�� questi staff an airperson Tanner opened the publi � ring an�� ked th pplicant to address the Commission. The ap . t spoke fr, he audi and said they were present if there were any � ions ��u re n estions. Chairperson Tanner asked if anyone ".: y "� ��;�� of or in OPPOSITION to the proposed . T as no res-"'� . Chairperson Tanner closed the public .� he d a ;y;, for Commission comments. , � Commiss Ca� II said she was glad they were going into the building � and that sd ne w going to lease it. She hoped they did very well and � oved for a �, val. � Action: It � d by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Limon proving the findings as presented by staff. Motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Limont, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 2508, approving Case No. CUP 09-276, subject to conditions. Motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). 5 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 7. 2009 IX. MISCELLANEOUS None. X. COMMITTEE MEETING UPDATES A. ART IN PUBLIC PLACES , Commissioner Campbell provided the u . e' B. LANDSCAPE COMMITTEE Commissioner Limont reporte � there was n ting. C. PARKS & RECREATIO Chairperson Tanner stated he ing was postponed. D. PROJECT AR OMMITTE None. ,� ,a, XI. COMMEN � � 1 . Aylaiam , ted tha . the last City Council meeting when the City �� ouncil hel,sv e public` ring for the appeal of Lisa Theodoratus, �� had the ion of the Planning Commission on her '' ,�,..:.. . . ;:: �, ,.,;, r�,.;., c A missioner Schmidt was in the audience ��z�. an `�� ok advanta '��`" the public hearing to voice some concerns � the� , . cil. Ms. Aylaian wished Commissioner Schmidt was here t. ``� laian apologized for holding the meeting when they had �� no , nne �� hold one and Commissioner Schmidt planned her vaca after'` e announced they would not be meeting today, so she � woul tch up with Commissioner Schmidt later. ��. �� Ms °� aian wanted to take the opportunity to talk a little to the � ission and let them know how staff decisions are made and er what circumstances they may or may not change. ommissioner Schmidt expressed surprise and disappointment with the fact that the staff recommendation was not reflective of the Planning Commission decision on that particular issue. When a case comes in to the Planning Department, staff reviews it and makes a recommendation based on their analysis of the Zoning Ordinance, the General Plan, and whatever other Municipal Code sections may apply to the particular case, state law, planning theory and practice, and their own professional judgment. They don't enter into or make their 6 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 7� 2009 recommendations lightly, but they do make them based on their own analysis. She noted that the Planning Commission is at liberty to disagree with or to reject staff's recommendation. More frequently, they see that some Planning Commissioners may support and some may disagree with staff's recommendation, all of which s appropriate. When it gets to the City Council level, whether for l decision on the case, or because there is an appeal, the s commendation does not change. They believed it would be ' riate for staff to change their recommendation based u ommendation of the Planning Commission. They pre r`' a staff r�� for the City Council which contains the staff reco dation, it als ains the Planning Commission recommenda.' �f d they excerpt q' „ from Planning Commissioners from th ° ting minu es. They try` , „ ighlight both Commissioners commey at wer upport of th� ° jority and those in support of the m f' s so that the Council has a representation f the ideas , e thought that the Planning Commission s put into f inal vote. They also append full minutes, which ' rbatim b Ily flush out the thoughts and comments of th �°1 an ' miss embers from the meeting. That went to the C cil so` e a icture of the discussion. ;;, ,. F ange t ommen ' on would diminish the value of �� r profes al rec endation. It would also be equivalent to � mping on; bandw�£'' and changing their opinion based upon ebod ' a diff' t body's feelings, beliefs or their opinion. ��"✓ � .... 5•,4¢4.. :�;-;=. any more appropriate to change their rec dation the ould be for Planning Commission members �� cha heir vote based on what they thought City Council might � or upon what the other Planning Commission members /� we oting. believed it was appropriate for staff to make its own �� reco endati independently as it is for Planning Commission �� mem to arrive at their own vote independently based upon �� exer g their own judgment. ///'�//�j� i �� ylaian also pointed out that the fact that there is a difference in ommendations between staff and the Planning Commission is not indicative of some sort of breakdown or malfunction in the system. In fact, it is reflective of the fact that rational people can come up with different opinions when looking at the same set of facts and circumstances. Also, by its very nature, the recommendations that staff makes are based upon two very static documents: the Zoning Ordinance and the General Plan weigh very heavily into the recommendations staff makes. The Planning Commission and the City Council on the contrary actually help create and establish policy for the 7 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 7. 2009 city. The Zoning Ordinance and the General Plan, because they are slow and cumbersome to change, follow behind the policy shift or policy changes, which really can happen more dynamically, so staff's recommendation was going to be based upon long standing, established guidelines and criteria. The way the system works is to feed back from current decisions that the Planning Commission and City Council make before them to kind of re ape policy. That policy change then gets fed back in, in the form uests by the Planning Commission or the City Council to staff se the Zoning Ordinance and the General Plan. � As an example, in the case of ort-ter al, the guidelines in the Zoning Ordinance that as a con I use short-term rentals in R-1 zones ar g standing. Tho idelines were established a number rs ago aft r deliberati ught by the City Council and they ha son be ' hy they wan establish short-term rentals as nd' use. Staff makes their recommendatio based on t use that's the way the Zoning Ordinance no " . But as saw in this case, the Planning Commission fe and th 'ty Council did as well, that perhaps this isn w t our o be functioning today. So they helped to sha he po I�� ecision ses broii t before them that are at odds ��" the ex g Zoni rdinance or General Plan, they then help F-'' ape the f `, policy ` � erhaps give direction to staff to revisit the ��:: 'nance "�3 �ange , o that it is reflective of current policy. So t fi � � � ��+ p and then if the Zoning Ordinance is ��" cha Y� n the future;„ future staff recommendations would be in �'�� ce� the change in the policy direction. She wanted to touch �� tha�, didn t want anyone to interpret a staff recommendation � at wif �. Planning Commission as disrespectful or as being �� anyt othe than what it is, which is their own independent � judg � t before they have input and guidance from the Planning \\ Com ion. So in the future if they do see that staff's � re endation does not change based upon the input from the � mg Commission that is the reason behind it. It would diminish the �� e of it to kind of change it in reaction to the direction or vote from the Planning Commission. They would then start on a slippery slope of then do they change it only if it's a 5-0 vote, what if it's a 4-1 or 3-2 vote? So they stand behind their recommendation at the outset. The only time there would be an exception to that would be if they discovered some new evidence in between the time it was presented by the Planning Commission and City Council. Then at that point if the new evidence was compelling enough, staff might change their recommendation and explain why they had done that. So she wanted 8 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 7. 2009 to give that information to the Commission members in case they weren't aware of kind of what goes on behind the scenes or what they take a look at and think about. If they have any questions or concerns about staff's recommendations, by all means feel free to discuss it with staff. That being said, she thought Commissio r Schmidt's input was valuable because it highlighted one thing he thought staff could do better. They talked about it inte and the City Manager suggested that they highlight t ning Commission and Architectural Review Commission , tions in the formatting of the written staff report that g the Cif ncil. It always leads off with the staff recommen and then th ve to look down further into the text to ,' e recommenda f the various commissions. They wa o bring th t forward a 've it greater weight so it is immediat ident in of the Coun they can see the vote and what the r m each of the other bodies. Commissioner asked in t ituation if the City Council in any way directed s at the ' ance because they want to maintain neighb o ethin g those lines. Ms. Aylaian replied that they ot dir at point to revisit the Zoning Or ' From t o t � ade, they did not presently �, '' rt the i aving s -term rentals in R-1 zones, so '�' wouldn surpri , if at a future date they ask staff to take a y%;,.. a�€<� ��;; ok into it. ��° � � (;k ' „``y �� a she had a point of clarification, and Ms. , � , Q��%��Ayl� d already � "� , ered her one question that after discovered ts, they've made a cursory examination or preliminary inaf he asked if staff's recommendations are based solely �� on� ing ` � he General Plan. She asked if there was anything �,�� subj e tha goes into the decision. Ms. Aylaian said not solely. ��!�!��//j alsoy a I ok at othe p aceslin the Mun c pal CodeOShle would love ��j�j� to at it is a completely consiste It ments nnthe rMu�nhc ual Code % it is not, so they look at othe e e p feed into it. They look into the specific facts and details of the case, where it's located, what the surrounding uses are, they take into consideration current planning theory and practices, and their own professional judgment. But they do rely heavily upon the Zoning Ordinance and the General Plan. Commissioner DeLuna asked if it was fair to say that it's done on a case by case basis or if it was a pretty cut and dried formula. Ms. Aylaian said it was absolutely case by case. 9 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 7. 2009 2. Based on Frank Taylor's comments this evening, Commissioner Limont asked staff if they would review the RV Ordinance and bring it to them so they could take a look at it. Commissioner Campbell noted that they had done it before and didn't know why it wasn't being enforced, because it was everywhere else. Ms. Aylaian added that Mr. Taylor expressed his concerns to th Architectural Review Commission and they actually asked st ut consideration of a moratorium on their next agenda. Staff went to the City Council in�: nd indicated that the Architectural Review Commis ' 9 ould f' ';; hem to revisit the ordinance and the wording in =' � ause it is a ous. They look at everything on a case by ,,,� asis because th :�� ts surrounding each case and each pie property e different. � as one that calls for judgment cal beha the Archite" I Review Commission and the langu' f t." inance now is vague enough that they are loo ing for bette ' e, both for their decision making and to spell o � I to resid=�` f the city what will be permitted and what will n ` ,,2 � s+,y ySS., Ms. Aylaian said t� ` are g ok a>� dels from other cities and juri and se o �t. Mr. Bagato noted that the ' g sai � , quately ` reened." The ordinance was sed in t te 199 ^ and he thought the real difference between outh Palm� sert an ��, Im Desert Country Club is that in Palm ert C b, the�;�; e dealing with approximately 2,000 lots a �'"� south Palm Desert, they are dealing with � lots re anywher 10,000 to 25,000 where they might have � ��/ ro put one on the side or even in the rear. The ordinance � sa could be placed in the front if they are adequately sc ed, s see more requests in Palm Desert Country Club to �� hav� m in��°�� e front yard because they don't have the physical �j/ room.�� d/o�i��,,,,,"��H� ght the Archite.c�tural Review Cqmmi�ion was n�w fgeling � sfied; that it is ve difficult to ade uatel screen an hin in a t yard and that they need to look at revising the standards. So staff id go to Council already and they are looking at other cities. They didn't have a solution yet, but his opinion was if perhaps lots are too small, they can't have them period. But there would be a Planning Commission recommendation and ultimately a decision by the City Council. He thought that was kind of why there was a difference in what they are seeing in two different areas. It was a matter of lot size. 10 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 7. 2009 3. Ms. Aylaian noted that there was one public hearing item scheduled for the July 21 meeting, so they were planning to have that meeting. XII. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Commissioner DeLuna, sec ded by Commissioner Campbell, adjourning the meeting by minute mo ' otion carried 4-0. The meeting was adjourned at 6:32 p.m. �; ��.l��<<, AURI AYL� Secretary ATTEST: VAN G. TANNER, Chair Palm Desert Planning Commission /tm � �- �� ,.F �- � ��.�, �, �� :: ��u = :� �,. , � ��,\ � �� ;� � � ��;;, � � � \ �� `� �, �� \ 11