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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-06 Draft Minutes MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION TUESDAY – OCTOBER 6, 2009 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Tanner called the meeting to order at 6:03 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Van Tanner, Chair Connor Limont, Vice Chair Sonia Campbell Nancy DeLuna Members Absent: Mari Schmidt Staff Present: Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Dave Erwin, City Attorney Jill Tremblay, Acting City Attorney Tony Bagato, Principal Planner Kevin Swartz, Assistant Planner Pedro Rodriguez, Senior Code Officer Tonya Monroe, Administrative Secretary III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Campbell led in the pledge of allegiance. IV. SUMMARY OF COUNCIL ACTION Ms. Aylaian summarized pertinent August 27, September 10, and September 24, 2009 City Council actions. V. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. VI. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Request for consideration of the August 4, 2009 meeting minutes. MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 Action: It was moved by Commissioner Limont, seconded by Commissioner DeLuna, approving the August 4, 2009 meeting minutes. Motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). VII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Case Nos. PP 06-18 and CUP 06-15 – JOHN WANG, Applicant Request for approval of a one-year time extension for the Candlewood Suites Hotel located at 75-144 Gerald Ford Drive. Commissioner Limont asked if this extension fell under AB 333. Mr. Bagato explained that AB 333 applied only to maps, so they were asking for their own extension. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Limont, approving the Consent Calendar by minute motion. Motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). VIII. PUBLIC HEARINGS Anyone who challenges any hearing matter in court may be limited to raising only those issues he, she or someone else raised at the public hearing described herein, or in written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at, or prior to, the public hearing. A. Case No. VAR 09-330 – CAMBRIA / CANDICE KNOX, Applicant Request for approval of a variance to allow an exception to Palm Desert Municipal Code Section 25.68 Signs, to permit a second wall sign on the same building frontage for Cambria located at 42-210 Cook Street. Assistant Planner Kevin Swartz informed the Commission that the applicant submitted in writing, which they had in front of them, a request for continuance to the next meeting in November. When staff received the request, the legal notice had already been sent out and the meeting advertised. A staff report and resolution has been 2 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 prepared. If the Commission wished, he would continue with the public hearing, or they could continue it to the next meeting in November. Commissioner Campbell asked if there was anyone present regarding this public hearing. If they were, they should hear from them. Chairperson Tanner stated that it was his opinion that they should not continue it, but proceed and vote. Commissioners Campbell, DeLuna and Limont agreed. Chairperson Tanner asked for the staff report. Mr. Swartz reviewed the staff report. He noted that the Architectural Review Commission recommended denial based on the fact that they felt that the two signs created clutter on the building. Staff also recommended denial and recommended that the Planning Commission adopt the draft resolution denying Case No. VAR 09-330. Commissioner DeLuna asked if they had permission to move the Cambria sign from the center of the building over to the corner. Mr. Swartz said no. Commissioner DeLuna noted that there were actually two issues: they moved the sign over and then stuck another one on the same side. Mr. Swartz stated that was correct, but indicated that the signs meet the code, so if they shifted it over, all that the applicant would have to do was submit a new site plan and that could be approved. But the issue was the second sign that was added onto the building. Mr. Swartz noted that both signs on that elevation meet the sign criteria in regard to size. There were no other questions of staff. Chairperson Tanner opened the public hearing and asked if the applicant or a representative was present to address the Commission. MS. CANDICE KNOX, the applicant for Cambria, stated that she worked at the design center at this location. They were asking for a continuance and were hoping they could have representation from their home office in Minnesota. But she was present. She said the bottom line of what Cambria is looking at is that they’ve come to Palm Desert to do business; they are a national American family-owned company. They employ ten people in the Palm Desert area and have been very active as far as giving back to the community. She respected the Architectural Review Board and the one thing she wanted to say was that it wasn’t a unanimous decision. She understood 3 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 that the code strives for one sign per location with the criteria being that it is not cluttered and in proportion, which she believed was what they have here. So looking at the situation as it is, they still didn’t have a unanimous decision saying that it’s a problem. Ms. Knox said she had letters from the owner of the property saying that he is very happy with them being a tenant. Anybody within the empty spaces that are there is brought to their gorgeous design center. They just received three design awards from the American Society of Interior Design for three of the vignettes in their design center and their six vignettes were done by professionals of ASID here in the community. She would be having a board meeting for ASID. They open their doors at the design center for a lot of different community groups. The feedback they’ve had from the community is that they are a great asset. They think their signs are beautiful, their showroom is gorgeous, and she guessed for Cambria, their feeling is that they are just trying to do business here and their feeling that she was getting back from them is that they just want to do everything possible to make sure they can do business here. They believed with the way that they do their presentations and the way that Cambria promotes itself nationally and in Canada that this was the way they wanted to be seen by the community and to insure that no one misses them and drives by. They thought it was well done and in good taste and hoped it could stay there. That was their intention. Commissioner DeLuna expressed delight that they are here and welcomed Cambria to Palm Desert. She asked if they were aware that they were not allowed to have two signs on the same side of the building when they put the second sign up. Ms. Knox said no, she would not have been. They have a national sign company. She personally wasn’t a party to that and when it came up before Architectural Review, the representative from Cambria apologized. Commissioner DeLuna thanked her. Chairperson Tanner asked if there were any other questions. There were none. Chairperson Tanner asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR of or in OPPOSITION to the variance. There was no one and the public hearing was closed. Chairperson Tanner asked for Commission comments or action. 4 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 Action: It was moved by Commissioner Limont, seconded by Commissioner DeLuna, approving the findings and recommendation as presented by staff. Motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). It was move by Commissioner Limont, seconded by Commissioner DeLuna, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 2512, denying Variance 09-330. The motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). B. Case No. CUP 07-03 – CITY OF PALM DESERT, Applicant Request for revocation of an existing conditional use permit for a massage therapy massage establishment in a 928 square foot retail suite located at 73-891 Highway 111. Business Owner: Jeon Suyong. Assistant Planner Kevin Swartz reviewed the staff report, noting that a Declaration was submitted prior to the meeting and was distributed to the Planning Commission. Staff recommended revocation of Conditional Use Permit 07-03. (Staff note: The Planning Commission received and reviewed Declarations from David Harvey Brown III and Alan Livreri prior to the start of the meeting.) Chairperson Tanner opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the Commission. MR. CHADWICK BRADBURY, 41-945 Boardwalk, Suite A, in Palm Desert, stated that he is an attorney in Palm Desert and was recently retained by Ms. Suyong to speak for her today since she was unable to speak for herself. He stated that she does not speak English; she’s a Korean national. She’s a lawfully registered alien in the United States. It had been very difficult for him to communicate with her; he has had to go through interpreters, her daughter in Los Angeles, to understand what has happened. Mr. Bradbury stated that she didn’t realize the seriousness of these charges that were pending against her, plain and simple. If they looked at the charges, they’re largely administrative in nature. There had been no question of any moral or ethical violations. They were primarily administrative in nature; business practices. He felt that a revocation was an extreme remedy. She did not understand what she was facing and it is her only source of income. He had been 5 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 brought in to help her get in compliance with the regulations that the City has, and he understood that they’re important regulations. The City is well within its rights to enforce the laws that it has. And if that is the purpose, to make sure that the businesses are acting in compliance, then the message had been received loud and clear. So what he was asking for was, rather than a revocation, a probationary period of six months. If she is unable to comply with regulations with his involvement, then the City would be well within its rights, and probably justified, to go ahead and revoke the CUP. But he was asking for them to just give her one more chance. She doesn’t have any other means of income; she does not speak the language. She understands that she needs to comply and he thought in this current economic climate, they have enough people who are out of work and unable to take care of themselves financially that they didn’t need another one. This is her only means of income. She is a quality professional. Her therapeutic skills are unmatched and they had Mr. Brown present to testify firsthand about the healing ability of this woman. He didn’t think that was unreasonable to give her a probationary period rather than a revocation. Mr. Bradbury stated that they were going to speak before the City Council in two days on the revocation of her business license for the same issue. If they looked at the citations, she has been making progress from the original citations. The violations had gone down. He stated that he would be able to help her and get her into compliance so that they have another quality therapist in the valley to do the good work that she’s been doing. No one has been hurt here. Chairperson Tanner thanked him and asked if there were any questions for the applicant. Commissioner DeLuna noted that there were six citations over a nine- month period of time and Ms. Suyong has just now sought legal counsel after a nine-month period of time with six citations. Number 7, which specifies that they shall have in their possession a valid permit; that was checked no every single time, and there have been a couple of criminal citations. To her, she could not have missed the seriousness of the process that was occurring. She understood that language might be a barrier, but if she comes to do business here, then she probably needs to be able to understand what our rules and laws are; they are not unreasonable and they certainly welcome any business that complies with our laws. But she’s 6 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 had six different opportunities to bring her establishment up to code and hasn’t done it. Mr. Bradbury stated that he understood. She should have hired him sooner. He couldn’t dispute that, but the point was that she wants to comply and he knew he could help her. He knew he could get her into compliance and make sure that she stays there. And if she doesn’t, it should be revoked. But she does not speak the language. There were no other questions of the applicant. Chairperson Tanner asked for any testimony from the audience in FAVOR of or in OPPOSITION to the proposed revocation. MR. DAVID BROWN, a resident of Indian Wells, informed the Commission that he has been going to the Ty Spa for approximately a year and he has developed a friendship, as much as a friendship he could with a lady who doesn’t speak the language. He said he speaks English very well and she has no idea really what she’s doing here other than there’s something going on. She says a few minor words in English, the niceties of life, and he was sure when all these citations were issued to her she thanked them very politely, put them in a folder, and had no idea what they were about. He said he’s a 67 year-old man that at one time had a lot of health issues. He has gone to massage therapists for over 20 years. And during the past year he had found with her incredible strength she has been able to rebuild the circulation in his legs so that he doesn’t have that any more. He’s had neuropathy for over 20 years and today he doesn’t have neuropathy. She runs a very professional operation. He didn’t know how old she is, but she’s about 50, and she’s a true massage therapist that’s doing what a true massage therapist should do. She basically has a medical facility and he’s a registered pharmacist and he understood what massage therapy’s about. It takes about 1,000 hours of training to learn to be it. This is something they go buy a license or get 100 hours worth of education. It’s a very legitimate license that’s helping the people in this community and he, for one, living in Indian Wells, wanted that kind of help and he could say for certain that with all the different massage therapists he has gone to in his lifetime, she is the only one that has been able to get the circulation going back in his legs. He owns a business that does business all over the world and he has to do business in Korea, he does business in China, Germany and all over the Ivory Coast. One of the things when he was 7 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 listening to Mr. Bradbury comments was when you do business in China, the government assigns someone to you that speaks both Chinese and English because they want Americans doing business over there. He thought that was a very polite thing for people to do. When they do business in Korea, they have the same system over there. He knew that in America we expect people to be able to speak our language. The fact is that they don’t speak our language and we can say they’re supposed to do it, but most of the people from Asia live in their communities, like Chinatown or Koreatown, etc., but they’re never going to speak English as well as he does, they’re never going to have the same comprehension in the English language as well as all of the rest of them in this room, and he certainly understood that she didn’t understand what was going on when she started getting these citations. Mr. Brown said he was in her office about a month ago when she showed him all of her legal papers. He went to law school and was a DEA attorney some 40 years ago. He understood the legal process. He isn’t licensed in the State of California. He told her that she needed to get an attorney. She went and got an attorney. He and Mr. Bradbury were certainly both going to help her to get her back into compliance. It’s a valuable asset to this community and he didn’t know this forum, they weren’t a board of directors. Chairperson Tanner stated that they are Planning Commissioners. Mr. Brown reiterated that they are the Commissioners, but asked what the forum was? The Commissioners are the forum? He said it didn’t matter. He thought that probation would be just an absolutely excellent thing to have happen. He was certainly going to work with Mr. Bradbury to help her stay in compliance with it. She’s a valuable asset to this community and he just thought it would be a really good thing to give her another shot at it and some people really care what happens to her. She has two kids and she’s probably got $100,000 invested in her business and she didn’t know anything about speaking English when she got there. She doesn’t know anything about English now, but she’s got at least two of her customers who will help her. Chairperson Tanner thanked him. He asked if there was any other testimony in FAVOR of or in OPPOSITION. There wasn’t and he closed the public hearing and asked for Commission comments or action. 8 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 Action: It was moved by Commissioner DeLuna, seconded by Commissioner Limont, approving the findings and recommendation as presented by staff to revoke CUP 07-03. Chairperson Tanner asked for any comments. Commissioner Campbell stated that she herself came to this country and did not speak English. She thought Ms. Suyong needed to start learning English and not be with her own peers because otherwise they never learn English. If they are in business, they’d better know what business was all about and make sure that someone was taking good care of her; otherwise many difficult things could happen to her. Chairperson Tanner stated that he’s a true proponent of business and entrepreneurial businesses, not only here but everywhere, and one of the issues they have to deal with is if they don’t understand and can’t communicate, they find someone that can understand and communicate. Again, with all of the repeated ordinance violations, and he was sure that they were described as best they could with the language barrier, he thought it was extremely important that the owner of the business find out what it’s all about. It was unfortunate that it has come to this, but they needed to do what the ordinance said they needed to do. There was no further discussion and he called for the vote. Motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). It was moved by Commissioner DeLuna, seconded by Commissioner Limont, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 2513, revoking Conditional Use Permit 07-03. The motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). C. Case No. CUP 09-276 Amendment #1 – BOB ROSE, Applicant Request for approval of an amendment to existing Conditional Use Permit 09-276 to allow Elite Salon to expand into a 1,231 square foot suite in an existing office / medical building complex located in the Office Professional zone. The project is located at 72-650 Fred Waring Drive, Suites 105 and 106. Assistant Planner Kevin Swartz reviewed the staff report. He recommended approval, subject to the conditions. He noted a change to Condition No. 7. The applicant would like to provide manicure services. No massage services would be permitted. Commissioner DeLuna noted that the staff report mentioned an esthetician and asked if that was in addition to a manicurist. Mr. Swartz was advised by someone in the audience that was correct. 9 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 Commissioner Limont asked when they have that many salons, if they would have appropriate sinks to go with it. Her concern was if the building was set up for that. She would assume yes, but it seemed like an awful lot of plumbing going on in a small area. Mr. Swartz said they had to submit for a tenant improvement for Suite 105 and had to meet all the requirements, and they would also submit for a tenant improvement for Suite 106; they would have to meet everything. Chairperson Tanner opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the Commission. MR. BOB ROSE, 30 Florence Lane in Palm Desert, said he was available for any questions. Commissioner DeLuna wanted to clarify that there would be no massage services. Mr. Rose confirmed there would be no massage services. He thought they made an error at the beginning on their application and it was his mistake in leaving the manicure exception in there and they would like that removed, but no massage service was fine with them. Chairperson Tanner asked if that would be in one of the salons, and only one. Mr. Rose thought it was only one. Commissioner DeLuna asked if there would be only one esthetician salon as well. Mr. Rose explained that each of the salons are an individual business, so they had one set up for an esthetician, and they have one set up for nail technicians, but the rest were furnished and equipped for hair stylists. They tried to create an environment for more than one service within the space. There were no other questions. Chairperson Tanner asked if there was any testimony in FAVOR of or in OPPOSITION to the proposed conditional use permit amendment. There was no response and he closed the public hearing and asked for Commission comments or action. 10 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 Action: It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner DeLuna, approving the findings and recommendation as presented by staff. The motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner DeLuna, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 2514, approving Case No. CUP 09-276 Amendment #1, subject to conditions as amended. The motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). IX. MISCELLANEOUS None. X. COMMITTEE MEETING UPDATES A. ART IN PUBLIC PLACES None. B. LANDSCAPE COMMITTEE None. C. PARKS & RECREATION Chairperson Tanner reviewed the Parks & Recreation Commission meeting discussion items. D. PROJECT AREA 4 COMMITTEE None. XI. COMMENTS 1. Commissioner Limont thanked Code Officer Pedro Rodriguez and the whole Code Compliance Department. She noted that this is a tough time for businesses and signs get put up and Code does a great job of keeping it under control during difficult times, and also works really well with the business owners. 11 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 6, 2009 2. Mr. Bagato informed Commission that the October 20 meeting is canceled. There would be at least one in November, but he wasn’t sure which meeting date. Also, on the freeway signage, the City Council approved a form of illumination for signs to be reverse channel lettering facing the freeway. He explained that’s kind of a halo illumination that is seen a lot on El Paseo. He noted that the lights have to be turned off by 11:00 p.m. XII. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Commissioner DeLuna, seconded by Commissioner Limont, adjourning the meeting by minute motion. The motion carried 4-0 (Commissioner Schmidt was absent). The meeting was adjourned at 6:43 p.m. __________________________ LAURI AYLAIAN, Secretary ATTEST: _____________________________ VAN G. TANNER, Chair Palm Desert Planning Commission /tm 12