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HomeMy WebLinkAbout0715 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY - JULY 15, 1997 7:00 P.M. - CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER 73-510 FRED WARING DRIVE I. CALL TO ORDER Vice Chairperson Campbell called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Beaty led in the pledge of allegiance. III. ROLL CALL Members Present: Sonia Campbell, Chairperson Paul Beaty George Fernandez Sabby Jonathan Members Absent: Jim Ferguson Staff Present: Phil Drell Mark Greenwood Martin Alvarez Tonya Monroe IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Consideration of the July 1 , 1997 meeting minutes. Action: Moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez, approving the July 1 , 1997 minutes as submitted. Carried 4-0. V. SUMMARY OF COUNCIL ACTION: Mr. Drell summarized pertinent July 10, 1997 City Council actions. VI. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. VII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Case No. PM 27432 - EDWARD BARKETT/ATLAS PROPERTIES, Applicant Request for approval of a first one-year time extension for PM 27432, a six-lot parcel map consistent with the approved precise plan on the northwest corner of Hovley Lane and Cook Street. MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 1 B. Case No. PMW 97-18 - GERALDINE KOFFMAN, Applicant Request for approval of a parcel map waiver to allow a lot consolidation for the Kirkpatrick Associates Architects retail building on El Paseo (PP 97-2). C. Case No. PMW 97-19 - M & W PARTNERSHIP, Applicant Request for approval of a parcel map waiver to reconfigure three existing lots at Crosby Lane and Carriage Trail. Action: Moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez, approving the consent calendar by minute motion. Carried 4-0. Vill. PUBLIC HEARINGS Mr. Drell informed Planning Commission that on Public Hearing Item E the applicant was requesting a continuance and since the majority of those present in the audience were here for this item, he recommended that the commission consider Item E first. Commission occurred. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Jonathan, seconded by Commissioner Beaty, ,.no moving Public Hearing Item E to the front of the public hearing section on the agenda by minute motion. Motion carried 4-0. E. Case Nos. GPA 97-3, C/Z 97-9, PP 97-9 - LOWE ENTERPRISES COMMERCIAL GROUP, INC., Applicant Request for approval of a General Plan Amendment from Office Professional to District Commercial, a Change of Zone from Office Professional (O.P.) To District Commercial (PC2), Precise Plan of Design for a 125,000 square foot retail commercial center, amendment to the existing development agreement and Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact as it pertains thereto for a 1 1 .95 acre site at the southwest corner of El Paseo and Highway 1 1 1 . Mr. Drell indicated that the applicant requested a three-week continuance. The project involves two sorts of issues: 1) a change of land use from the currently approved Office Professional with some limited commercial to a District Commercial shopping center zone. The Planning Commission would ultimately be deciding on whether the land use change is appropriate given the city's goals and desires and if it is appropriate, if the design of the center was appropriate. In the staff report it indicated that staff has considerable concerns about the a 2 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 r.. appropriateness of the change of zone at this time given the current state of other commercial centers in the downtown commercial core and while staff felt the design of the center, and the applicant had gone to great lengths to solve concerns, that the land use issue was one staff could not recommend. On the other hand there were other unresolved issues relative to traffic that the city's traffic engineer was still working with the applicant's traffic consultant on. With the design of the precise plan, there were some unresolved issues and based on giving the applicant an attempt to resolve those, staff would agree with a continuance.' Vice Chairperson Campbell opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. TED LENNON, 72-058 Clancy Lane, stated that he was a principal with Lowe Enterprises. He informed commission that Lowe Enterprises is a firm that has been active in the valley with permanent offices since 1972. He said he has personally been here since 1974. He said they asked for a continuance because they just discovered today that Chairman Jim Ferguson would not be present. They also advised one or two of the members of the Sandpiper group that Lowe had reserved the room next door if they would like to have a special presentation for those that hadn't seen what the project is about. They would like the continuance for a three-week period. He said Sandpiper would like to see the project postponed until October or November and he was opposed to that but tow would like to hear about that before he said anything else. In his opinion if the Planning Commission was going to delay this until October or November that was too long for them to hold the property. They would prefer to go ahead but were willing to wait for one more commission meeting. Commissioner Jonathan asked if Mr. Lennon's desire for a postponement was partly motivated by creating an opportunity to resolve certain issues with his neighbors. Mr. Lennon replied no, that they have worked for a year trying to resolve things and would continue to. The main reason was that with a four-person planning commission, a 2-2 vote was a no vote and in the case of five people present, there was a 60% chance as opposed to when four are present, when they would need 75% approval. Because they had put so much time and energy into the design and presentation, it seemed appropriate to ask for the postponement. To his knowledge he believed the traffic issues were minor. He suggested hearing from the Sandpiper representatives as to their wishes in going forward and then if they needed to go forward, they could give their full presentation or just to their group in the room next door in preparation of the next meeting. He said they could appreciate everyone coming to a meeting on a weekday at 7:00 p.m. and they hated to try and get a cancellation at this late date. i"'' 3 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 Commissioner Jonathan asked for clarification that a 3-1 vote was what would be required for approval and a 2-2 would be non-approval. Mr. Drell said a 2-2 vote would be no action. Commissioner Jonathan asked what would happen with a no action vote. Mr. Drell indicated that it would go up to council as a no action. Mr. Erwin concurred. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if there was a spokesperson for the Sandpiper residents. MR. JACK HOOVER, President of 1700 Sandpiper, thanked Phil Drell and the commission for taking their item first. He noted that this has been a very difficult problem and he had really got into it the last year and had visited with many people and came to the conclusion that his people are very firmly opposed to this extension of Desert Crossing. They considered this project a definite extension of that for many reasons. He indicated that the street was ready for a bridge and they think they are being put upon here and that the City should turn down the project. That would be the best for Palm Desert and for them. He noted that he could speak for a long time about the project but didn't think this was the appropriate time. He said the people present were not in favor of another meeting 30 days from now. This was summer time and only 20% of their people are permanent and 80% were not. There were about 25 residents at the meeting tonight and he didn't know how many people could be present for a meeting in August. He requested that the matter be continued to October or November which would be more appropriate. He said that he read the staff report and Mr. Drell and Mr. Smith were recommending that it be turned down at this time and if they gave it a little more time it would give them a chance to bring it into focus and would be more fair to the City, Mr. Lennon and to them. He requested a continuance to October or November. Commissioner Jonathan asked Mr. Hoover if he was given a choice on hearing the matter tonight and hearing it three weeks from today, which of those two dates would be his preference. Mr. Hoover said they would prefer to have it tonight. Commissioner Jonathan noted that Mr. Hoover's first preference was to postpone the matter to October. Mr. Hoover concurred. He felt it would be more fair to Sandpiper residents, more fair to the City because there were a number of things that Mr. Drell and Mr. Smith were trying to do that weren't done right now. It seemed that October or November would make a lot of sense. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked for a response by Mr. Lennon. 4 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 �.. Mr. Lennon stated that if what he heard was correct, that a 2-2 vote was not a no vote and they would have an opportunity with the City Council, then he didn't have a problem with going forward and was prepared to go forward with their presentation. Commissioner Beaty noted that this case would be going to council, so perhaps that didn't matter. Mr. Lennon felt it was better if everyone was here and had an opportunity to talk and to see the project if they couldn't return again in three weeks. Vice Chairperson Campbell said that they would proceed with the public hearing. Commissioner Jonathan agreed. Mr. Drell stated that he would like to give more of a staff report. He said he would let the applicant describe the project and he would concur in general with the applicant's approach to the design to address the problems they have encountered relative to the concerns expressed by the Sandpiper residents. They have compromised the design significantly from a commercial point of view in addressing site visibility, noise, traffic, etc. He noted that the City's Traffic Engineer could describe some of the unresolved traffic issues if the Commission was interested. He stated that staff believes that the fundamental problem was the fact this is a zone change. In the past when looking at commercial projects, projects like Desert Crossing were zoned for a regional shopping center. It was �► not an issue of whether the location should be a regional shopping center or not, it was what it would look like and typically staff didn't interfere in timing issues. In this case the City was making an affirmative action to expand the acreage available for retail commercial use and would create 125,000 square feet of what staff believed would be very desirable, very well designed retail space. His gut feeling from being a planner in the city for 17 years and watching the commercial environment and with some of the commercial redevelopment projects the city was trying to work on (the old Lucky center, 1 1 1 Town Center) this was not the time to create another 125,000 square feet of very, very desirable retail commercial space which would compete with some of the existing commercial stock which he believed was not as strong as it could be. A year or two from now the environment might be different but at this point in time he didn't believe the expansion of commercial space was warranted. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked for commission questions. Commissioner Beaty asked if Mr. Drell felt that ultimately this parcel should be kept as an office professional zone. He personally felt that some day it would go to commercial. Mr. Drell said there were two ways to look at this. As a purely philosophical statement they could say that some day it might be office professional and that was the best use and it wouldn't matter if it developed until the year 2020. On the other hand they could say that no, with a project design that really addressed all the concerns, there would have to be an evaluation as law 5 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 to the ultimate benefit to the city. He said that some day it might be appropriate to change. Commissioner Jonathan asked what the general plan designation and zoning were of the adjacent properties that are currently retail uses. Mr. Drell replied that to the northwest was Desert Crossing and the current zoning and general plan was established at the same time as this property. That analysis, process and EIR gave the Desert Crossing property the Regional Commercial designation. Commissioner Jonathan asked what it was before it was changed. Mr. Drell stated that it was Resort Commercial, a hotel/restaurant oriented commercial. It was always commercial. To the east was also Regional Commercial which dated back almost to the original city zoning map. Across Highway 1 1 1 was Regional Commercial and that dated back to at least before the Town Center was built. That dated back to the 1970's. Commissioner Jonathan asked for confirmation that the general plan had Regional Commercial or a similar type commercial use for all the surrounding properties but this one pocket which was Office Professional. Mr. Drell said that previously it was zoned PR-6, which was residential. Why it was originally designated that he didn't know. It's proximity to a residential subdivision probably had a great deal to do with that. Commissioner Jonathan noted that when it was changed to Office Professional, all the surrounding properties were changed to commercial uses. Mr. Drell concurred. Vice Chairperson Campbell suggested that if this project was approved, it would probably be a year and a half or two years before this project began, so as far as the retail situation was concerned, it may have taken care of itself. Mr. Drell said they would probably be signing leases in the next three or four months because they wouldn't build the project until they had leases. In terms of its impact on the leasing of other space, it would be immediate. They would be leasing that space within the next six months. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if this project would create a buffer between Highway 1 1 1 and the Sandpiper residents in terms of noise impacts. Mr. Drell stated that staff would agree that the principal issues raised in terms of visual impact, noise and traffic, although his understanding was that acceptance by the City's Traffic Engineer has not yet occurred, to the extent that the Planning Commission makes a decision or is in a position to make a decision on the land use question tonight, staff did not believe it was in a position on the precise plan. There were issues concerning the traffic study, some minor site planning issues which he still felt needed to be resolved before staff would be prepared to advise, apart from the land use questions, a recommendation of approval. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked the applicant to address the commission. Mr. Ted Lennon readdressed the commission and introduced Mr. David Smith, the Project Manager. Mr. Lennon noted that he personally has been with Lowe since 1974. As he had mentioned, Lowe has been an active developer, property owner, and business operator in the city since 1972. 6 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 They bought the old Shadow Mountain Resort and Racquet Club and renovated it and they have continued to operate it since then. They did the Desert Crossing project and have done numerous residential and resort properties around the valley. The point he was trying to make was that they are local people and they were here to stay. Regarding the history of the site and efforts to develop it, he said those were in a different direction than they were trying to take. First a K-Mart was proposed for the site, then a Mervyn's, large discount box centers, in addition to an auto dealership which was proposed for this site. What they were proposing and his goal was to create a real people center, the highest quality of this type that has been done on Highway 1 1 1 and in the corridor. They would like to meet the market needs which call for a project like this. They have worked really hard to please their nearest neighbors. He said he wanted to show how they started this project and worked with these people and how they have changed their design to modify and solve the main issues that were required. In the beginning they started with a very typical development where they had a major supermarket as their anchor tenant and that would be the highest and best use of the property. They all want to be facing the main road and that was where they started. They met with Mr. Hoover and the Sandpiper people and various committees from their group and they heard a number of things. They heard that traffic on Painters Path was unacceptable. Mr. Lennon said that Painters Path was the old Highway 1 1 1 , so Highway 1 1 1 used to separate this property from the Sandpiper property. The issue was traffic. In the original plan they had tow an emergency access up at the southwest corner of the project and they had an entrance down on Painters Path not too far into the project that allowed entrance into the project which would enter and exit on El Paseo and an entrance on the front end. They heard about Painters Path traffic. They heard about the intersection of Painters Path and El Paseo which was a problem. It was an intersection which he used often himself coming out of TGIF's or the Wherehouse store or Little Cesaer's Pizza. When coming out the street from the other side, it was a four-way street, there was no signalization there and the road was on a curve, so they got stuck. When they started out they went right to the City's Public Works staff to do a study on the corner with a traffic count to come up with their recommendation to work with them on how to make that a safe corner, which most people didn't believe was the situation right now. Sandpiper residents complained that sometimes they could sit on Painters Path trying to get out onto that curve and if they weren't gamblers it was tough to get out there. They agreed to do any kind of traffic stop signs or signals that would be required. The City did a study, their people did a study, and they all agreed it would be a better intersection for that. The Sandpiper individuals didn't want any more large boxes similar to the Desert Crossing project, so they went to a smaller scale use which took the project to another modification where they down sized the main tenant, however, they were still backed up to the wall and they came back with smaller tenants. The next issue brought up was the loading on the back of the project and 7 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 there would be a noise problem in the back. Mr. Lennon said they would berm up behind the wall. Sandpiper felt noise and smell problems would still be an issue. They redesigned the project and took the major boxes that get delivered and put them on the channel between Desert Crossing. He felt this was an interesting solution, although it was not the most desirable for tenants because they didn't get the exposure, but it did a couple of things. It kind of blocked the massiveness of Desert Crossing for people on El Paseo and on Painters Path and took a great deal of that project out, especially the parking lot area. It diverted the noise back to the Desert Crossing area and then they took a further step and closed off the emergency exit so that they would go forward and there wouldn't be an opening in the gate where sound could go through on that line of the channel and moved the emergency access around to the side. The Fire Department said that would be fine. He noted that there was a piece of large, expansive land between the channel and their property which was owned by the Water District and was barren dirt right now. It could be an eyesore and got trash on it occasionally. In their plan they intended to work with the Water District to put in both a cart path and a pedestrian path so that people from Sandpiper could walk or ride their bikes to the Desert Crossing project and it would tie in with the City's golf cart program if they let golf carts cross at that location. After that, Sandpiper still felt that Tenant 1 was too large so they restructured it and got rid of the large market idea and came up with the plan as it is today where they backed everything up, they bermed the back of the walls and that was the progression of how they moved forward. Visibility was an issue and they had site studies done showing the combination of berming and if they didn't know, on the back side of Sandpiper was basically 15-20 foot oleander trees and four driveways that opened out to the street. He didn't believe there were any picture windows that looked out this way, but there were some front doors that were blocked by the oleanders. Their view of the project was when they came out onto Painters Path and as they left their driveways. They have done studies and planned the back of that to take the project out of sight. In addition, they have eliminated all access from Painters Path so it would be a very nice residential street. He stated that this was not a discount center or strip center. It would be a very, very high quality people place. MR. DAVID SMITH addressed the commission and showed Commission on the overhead projector the final design of their plan which had been developed over a long period of time working with Sandpiper and trying to listen to the content of their objections to see how they could solve them and still arrive at a project they felt was deliverable and quality. He said he had another drawing done in scale. He noted that this project was being called Phase II of Desert Crossing, an extension of Desert Crossing, Desert Crossing II and he wanted to show the commission both sites in scale to give the Commission some concept of the size of the tenants and the layout of the project and the whole nature of this 12 acres site. He said that 8 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 Desert Crossing began as a 52-acre site. The square footage depicted on the site could all fit within the Target building, so in no way were they trying to force another Desert Crossing onto the neighbors or into Palm Desert. He said he would like to talk about the merits of the design. The project was reoriented toward the storm channel for purposes of noise and loading and what they proposed to do were some very nice offsite improvements that he felt would benefit the city and the rest of the community, as well as Sandpiper. Painters Path as it currently exists is a 50-foot wide speedway. It was not residential in scale. They would decrease the width of Painters Path into its proper residential gauge which is 36'-40' and what they would like to create along Painters Path was a pleasant lane and something that someone might want to stroll down and enjoy as opposed to avoiding and seeing trash and homeless people and Highway 111 beyond. As they narrowed it, they would also improve it with a curb and gutter system, a sidewalk system that would continue the entire length of it, and a four-foot berm topped by a six-foot wall that would isolate the entire Painters Path lane from the rest of the center. The path itself would be landscaped with indigenous desert plantings and trees. They have reserved large box trees so that from day one they could obscure the project as much as possible as opposed to letting the plants grow in. Beyond Painters Path they also planned to improve the storm channel that Mr. Lennon alluded to, although that was not their land. It was part of the project and part of the fabric of the entire corridor and served no one and was an eyesore. They felt that by improving Painters Path and building this project, there was an opportunity to connect the sidewalk, be it used for carts, bikes, or roller blades, to the rest of Highway 111 by improving the storm channel and doing some nice plantings there and continuing this pathway all the length of the storm channel to the existing network of sidewalks along Highway 111 . The bridge as a feature would connect Desert Crossing and would allow people to cross shop the two projects. From a marketing standpoint it almost allowed Desert Crossing to become a fourth anchor and that was desirable to their tenants and customers. He didn't see any reason why customers shouldn't be able to go there directly instead of exiting out onto Highway 111 and causing more congestion to do so. Along the frontage he said they would have the standard setback landscaped and a serpentine sidewalk that would run the length of Highway 111 as well as tying into El Paseo. That would complete the sidewalk network that exists through Desert Crossing and to the College of the Desert, allowing people on bikes or golf carts to actually get somewhere now. This was almost the last missing piece in this area. The sidewalk would connect to an interior system of pedestrian pathways in the center, although they still had to accommodate cars and most people would come by car, but they wanted it to be human in scale enough so that once they got there people wouldn't mind walking around. They wouldn't be forced to walk through a parking lot. They wanted it to be a place where people would come and want to stay a while. Toward that end they had a network of pathways along the entry esplanade and even across the parking lot, as *AM 9 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 i well as all the way around, in certain areas these walkways would be covered with planted arbors and others would be shaded with trees, but they really wanted to take the extra step to make this a pedestrian friendly center. They envisioned some focal points where there would be plazas where outdoor seating, fountains, and art could be appreciated in various locations, as well as a focal gateway statement made out on the corner of El Paseo and Highway 1 1 1 . At the intersection right now cars accelerated off Highway 111 and up El Paseo on their way to Highway 74. They wanted to, and their traffic engineer recommended, that the project somehow control this section through a signal or stop sign and allow crosswalks to be put in so that people could cross the street. They would like to both control and contain the commercial area. He said they tried to distance themselves from Desert Crossing not only in how it is laid out in scale, but also in the architectural theme. For this center they were proposing an old world style center as opposed to the Moorish architecture at Desert Crossing; there were tower elements and second story features, more glass and it was more of a people place. The majors were depicted but they were broken up by architectural features. They wanted the "box" not to look like a box or feel like a box from ground level. In the parking lot and all around the center they have proposed a landscaping theme that goes along with the architectural theme. They were proposing drought resistant plants, but something with more of a Northern Italian feel with stone pines, some deciduous trees, and they wanted to complete the entire feel with arbors, vines, bougainvillea to round out the entire feel of the development. He showed a picture of the entry esplanade off of Highway 111 and it was lined with a row of trees and they really wanted to make a grand statement as people drive into the center with decorative concrete and a focal point at the end where they would have a row of smaller shops. At the corner of Highway 111 and El Paseo the building would be a typical pad type building. They were continuing the theme and there would some type of classy architectural statement at the corner of El Paseo making an announcement that this is where a special street begins in the city of Palm Desert and ultimately they hoped in developing this site that it would clean up the entire lot and corner and really have a quality development that would round out the last piece that was undeveloped in the entire Palm Desert Commercial District and they wanted to do something that was fitting--a capstone type project. Some of the influences on their design were the Borgata in Scottsdale as well as the Promenade in West Lake which although it was a much larger center, it has a lot of similarities and he thought they could tell from the pictures that with good design, they really could create a people place even in a "strip center". Toward that end the character of the tenants that they propose to put in the center were not the discounters or big box tenants, but they were the better tenants in their category. He said that as most people know, they have a lot of interest from a gourmet supermarket who had been watching the desert and has been interested for quite a while and they concluded that this was the only site they would be interested in locating on in Palm Desert and tenants of 10 "'� MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 this nature were very picky about where they locate. They have interest from both bookstore concepts and interest from some better restaurants serving lunch and dinner, shops, boutiques, soft goods, restaurants, coffee shops and the like. He turned the presentation back to Mr. Lennon. Mr. Lennon closed by reiterating a promise to do a really terrific project for the city. He said he wanted to address a couple of points from the staff report. He noted that staff picked up that there were 200,000 square feet of retail space available between Monterey and Bob Hope. That was picked up out of a report that he thought was kind of a positive report in their favor because that really was an eight percent vacancy factor for that same area and further back in that report it mentioned that. So they were looking at an eight percent vacancy factor and a project that would come on the market in a year and a half. It was his own belief that competition in the city was great and that it took constant growth to keep a city great and he felt the development of Desert Crossing did a great deal in spurring on the major center across the street into doing a major remodeling. It was his understanding that the majority of space was leased at this time. It was also his understanding that the kind of buildings that they were building that are over 10,000 square feet and in that same area there was only about 45,000 square feet of space available--a very small amount in a very dynamic economy. They were looking at a time in life when there is money available for projects, there were investors, bankers, and it was a very positive time and the time was right for this property and shouldn't be put off any longer. He noted that the office space was brought up and indicated that there was about a 22 percent vacancy factor on office space in the city that pay rents of about $1 .20 on the average and that did not make for good development. He felt this project cried for the proposed type of development and would be a good project and he appreciated the commission's thoughtful consideration of it. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if commission had any questions for the applicant. Commissioner Jonathan noted that he attends the Economic Development Advisory Committee meetings and Mr. Lennon made a presentation to that group. Mr. Lennon stated that Mr. Smith made that presentation and that was a point that he missed and he appreciated Commissioner Jonathan's mentioning that. He said that the staff report was maybe remiss in that they did go before the Economic Development Committee which was kind of a blue ribbon committee put together by the city to advise on economic development and what is good for the city and he believed that they had unanimous approval at that meeting for this project. �r 11 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 Commissioner Beaty said he had a question about Painters Path and the buffer between the center and Sandpiper. He said that it sounded like they would develop it into a nice walking boulevard, however, there would be a wall visually separating the center and in addressing security issues, he asked if there was a chance that they would be creating a place for a problem and he was talking about vagrants, skateboards, and those types of activities. Mr. Lennon responded that whether or not a sidewalk goes on the street would be up to the city. Right now there was a sometimes problem because the area, depending on whether or not they cut down the trees, was a shelter that has attracted the homeless and vagrants in the past. With the property walled off from this project, there wasn't a likelihood that people who work there would park on that street to leave their cars there because it was such a long walk to come around the wall all the way to El Paseo or out to the channel to enter the project. He couldn't foresee any additional increase and saw an improvement in security with a wall. Commissioner Beaty asked if he was interpreting it correctly that the only people who would be using a vehicle on the street, unless someone was just out for a ride, would be those residents with the driveways there. Mr. Lennon said that the street comes up and turns the corner and goes up to Edgehill and there were people who live beyond Sandpiper. They would make a strong effort at getting larger trees so that as people turn the trees would block out the Desert Crossing project on that side. Commissioner Beaty noted that meant that there might be enough traffic to prevent people from loitering there. There would be some people passing by to see a potential problem. Mr. Lennon concurred. Commissioner Beaty asked staff about the noise issue. He noted that noise was a big issue with the Lucky's on Highway 1 1 1 and the residents of Hidden Palms and the question was if there had been any noise complaints from Hidden Palms and if the mitigation measures were effective. Mr. Drell said that was a much more extreme mitigation where they created an indoor tunnel, but they haven't had any complaints from Hidden Palms. While they addressed their problems from the back, they didn't address the problem as well from the sides and they had complaints from residents on Deep Canyon at the access points. Commissioner Beaty said that it was possible to buffer loading and unloading. Mr. Drell concurred that it was possible, but staff had concerns about the route that trucks would have to take to get to southern loading docks and given that route, large vehicles would be a problem. He said there was mitigation possible for all the noise impacts. With regard to the oleander hedge which was mentioned, Commissioner Beaty noted that there had been articles in the newspaper and at Desert Island Country Club, those oleanders were most likely 12 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 short lived. There was a pest that would probably eliminate those eventually and he was sure that Sandpiper needed to make some plans, but it sounded like Mr. Lennon was planting the other side so that it might not be a problem. Mr. Lennon said that their visibility control and line of sight did not rely on the Sandpiper hedge at all. Vice Chairperson Campbell stated that they would now hear testimony in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the matter. She noted that there were quite a few letters received from residents of Sandpiper and suggested that people who had sent in letters did not need to readdress the commission, but if there were more residents that had something to say and if there were lots of residents with the same concerns, she suggested that they have their Association President speak for all of them if there was no objection. MR. JACK HOOVER spoke from the audience and said that he was the President of a specific association and they also had a President of all the associations. Mr. Drell stated that anyone who felt compelled to speak could speak since this was a public hearing, especially if they felt any points were left out. Mr. Hoover stated that he appreciated that because he knew that some of `... the people at the meeting wanted to say something, but at the same time he knew there were a lot of items on the agenda and wanted to be fair to the Commission. Mr. Hoover explained that Sandpiper was a bunch of homes and condominiums that have been there about 40 years and the ones along 1700 have been there about 30 years. Their average maintenance runs between $400-$500 per month, so this project was taken care of like most private country clubs. Their property at 1700 was in excess of $500 per month for the maintenance and gardening. They have two full time gardeners, two full time pools and they had a lot of expense and welcomed the commission to come during the season and compare it to any country club and felt it was even better. When they started there, it was residential zoning. Mr. Lennon said this was Highway 111 but he couldn't find anyone that knew that, although he was not disputing that, but he was still looking for someone that could show him that it was Highway 1 1 1 . This property was residential property and finally after all the pushing and shoving they decided that they could go with O.P. zoning. They didn't like it but said they would go along with it and cooperate. Now these developers wanted to increase it to the highest possible revenue that they can do. They represent the Ahmanson Company and he was sure Ahmanson was a fine company, but asked who had made more money off the Palm Desert area than Ahmanson. No one that he knew of and he thought the commission had to look at more than just the economic part of the project. They had to look at the people who live there. There are 305 homes and an average of two or three people per home and 13 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 he felt they should have some say as to what happens. The residents were happy to go ahead on the other zoning as long as they got proper walls and other things that they talked about, but they object to the large stores. He said up front that these were two very nice guys, but when they started they tried to put a market there which was about two acres under cover. The first picture showed it. He felt that was an outrage. They have come down, down, down and his people still felt that these were pretty big stores and still feel that this in an adjunct to Desert Crossing. He frankly said that Desert Crossing wasn't popular in Sandpiper. If they had a vote there, it would be a C- or D. The reason was because there are a lot of noise and two weeks ago there was a band and they played until 10:00 p.m. He said they called the police on it and they have a lot of problems with it and didn't want something like that right next to them because they are residential and have been there a long time. They have good people there and people who support the McCallum Theater, Desert Hospital, the Living Desert, etc., and they have very good people and he felt they should be listened to. Number 1 he was saying that the zoning went from Residential to them now asking for Commercial zoning. They have 305 houses over 30 years old, they feel that there are a lot of vacancies in the area and a lot of shops going out all of the time. He had a call from a lady who didn't want to use her name that owns a shop on El Paseo and she was scared because of the new development, the Gardens, and hoped that it would be good but she hoped that Sandpiper would fight this new development because she said they didn't need any more retail in that area. They were already putting in a large amount on El Paseo and they didn't know how that was going to come out. He felt that she had some validity there. He also felt that Mr. Drell's and Mr. Smith's idea was good to give this some time. Sandpiper knew that something had to happen and they wanted to be reasonable and wanted to see a hotel or motel, a retirement home, a senior center, a convalescent home, or something of that type, maybe a couple of restaurants on the corner to make it a little more viable economically for the developer, but they felt that to push this development at this time was very unfair. He looked at the letters of opposition and he counted 43 letters and knew that there were more coming in. Out of the 43 letters, 41 were opposed, one was in favor, and one he couldn't figure out. With the apprehension expressed from the Planning Department and the Sandpiper residents, he asked that Commission seriously not go forward with this project at this time. He said one of their biggest problems was traffic. They were very worried about the bridge and traffic coming from the other project across and entering onto El Paseo from Highway 1 1 1 and Painters Path. He noted that it was murder to go across the street because it was very busy and stated that it was not uncommon on Highway 1 1 1 to have 20-30 cars backed up at the stop light. That was normal, even in the summer, and to add to the congestion in that area was a mistake for the City and was a mistake for the nearest residential people. He noted that there was a lady who was present from the largest homeowners association 14 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 in Sandpiper and he thought that if commission would bear with them a few minutes, it would only be fair for them to say a little bit. MS. SANDY HOESH, 611 Sandpiper, stated that she has been a Sandpiper owner since 1973 and she was the President of their Association representing 96 homes. She asked how many traffic accidents between Fred Waring Drive and El Paseo and Highway 111 have happened since Desert Crossing opened and if there have been any fatalities or serious injuries and if any of them involved pedestrians. She felt they all agreed that Palm Desert has become the retail center of the valley, but asked if they needed any more at this time. They have so many vacancies on El Paseo, across from Desert Crossing, at Palms to Pines and even at the Mall and she felt they should consider the local realtors. She said she had a couple of "what ifs". What if the zoning was changed and the beautiful project suggested by Lowe Enterprises suggests fails to succeed, then what? Or if the zone is changed and they decide not to proceed, then what? She felt the concerns of their association needed to be respected and addressed and they weren't rhetorical questions, she was totally serious and thanked the Commission for their time. MR. C.J. McLUCAS, Chairman of the Sandpiper President's Association, stated that this proposal came to their group, they reviewed it and decided that there were three or four issues that needed to be resolved. He stated that he liked the presentation. He said that the brochure for the project was kind of a dream; it was very pretty and was not necessarily a California design and these were things that he couldn't speak to. As pointed out by Lowe, this was really the last piece of property in this area. The problems involved were fairly simple. The traffic situation was one that was obvious. They would bring people in across the bridge with a very miserable way to get out. Each way out would take them into already crowded traffic areas, so there was no way back from that. No one would go back against the bridge and he thought of it as a bridge to nowhere. That was a major issue. A second major issue was the plan to include a Barnes and Noble and moving them from across the highway into this project, leaving another vacancy in another area where they already have vacancies. What seemed to be happening here was that they were offering more commercial things that they already had vacancies on. He noted that Mrs. Bones had a gourmet shop in which money was poured into it for remodeling and that was sitting there empty. The Circuit City area was empty. They have no lack of places for commerce and to use up this very last piece for this particular problem was really not very desirable for the future of Palm Desert. It has been carefully planned and Planning Commission had turned down projects over and over again and he was certain that there were other alternatives and rather than to tell the developer what should be there, he would simply say that this is a duplication of everything they already have available to the public in this community and they needed to see what Saks �.. 15 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 Fifth Avenue did to El Paseo and he thought it was a matter of delaying this matter for another period of time and taking another look at it. MR. DON STAGE, a resident of 1313 Sandpiper and owner of the Sandpiper real estate office, stated that he has been an owner since 1973 and owned the office since 1979. He felt Sandpiper was a great development and thought that Commission might think that Sandpiper was against everything, but they weren't. They were against K-Mart and Mervyn's and the auto center and the City and Commission in their wisdom turned them down. He felt they should also turn this project down. It is a nice development if they needed more retail stores. He didn't think they needed more retail stores. He gave David Smith tonight a brochure from a company called Leisure Care that is a high class retirement home. They have 28 throughout the country and they do a first class job. They rent it by the month and there were plenty of old people at the meeting that would probably move in there. He felt that maybe down the road they might need more retail space, but couldn't see how anyone could say that they need it now. MR. VANWINKLE, 358 Sandpiper, stated that he wrote a letter but still wanted to address the commission to tell them what the owners of Unit 3 had in mind. He felt it was very bad that they were having the public hearing in the middle of July. They all knew that anyone that could possibly do so was gone during the summer and only two out of 24 were able to attend this meeting because the rest were gone. He made contact with practically all of them and by telephone they were unanimously against any more commercial zoning in that area. They want it to remain as it is or to go back to R-6 or R-3 and developed along those lines. On behalf of Unit 3 he asked that the Commission reject any commercial zoning in that area. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked Mr. Vanwinkle if the people who were not present were gone because of being on vacation for a matter of weeks or if they were not present because they only live here six months out of the year. Mr. Vanwinkle guessed that it was half and half. Like him, this was their home. He usually goes away the 1 st of July and has another home, but goes back and forth. As soon the weather gets over 100 degrees, they leave whenever they can. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if most had residences somewhere else. Mr. Vanwinkle replied that some of them do and some of them just rent. One neighbor was going to rent a place in Newport Beach for a month and then up to Oregon for a month. They were financially solid people and if they wanted to get and up go, they could. 16 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 Vice Chairperson Campbell said that if they were only in Newport Beach and there was an important meeting like this, she asked if he thought they would be able to drive to come to the meeting. Mr. Vanwinkle said that they had someone like him to express their opinion and he contacted most of them and unanimously they didn't want commercial zoning in that area. They want it the way it is or something like R-6 or R-3. That was a buffer for the Sandpiper residents. With commercial they will have all kinds of truck traffic and the trucks would have to come in from Highway 1 1 1 and out on El Paseo or Highway 1 1 1 no matter what they said. They would prefer the zoning to stay as it is or be changed back to R-6 or R-3. MR. TIM BARTLETT, 73-382 Salt Cedar in Palm Desert, said that he was a real estate broker active in Palm Desert and he was here to speak in favor of the project. He had no economic gain in this project, but he was here to speak on the matter of reason. He was sure that the Sandpiper people would agree that they have "enough of the retail stores that they need". They have Target, Saks, Morton's, McDonald's. Through studies conducted through his business he determined that retailers that come to these projects that are enticed by developers scrutinize the marketplace very well and they understand their business very well. They were successful expanding retailers because they make the right decisions. They would not taw come to a market area that they feel is somewhat secondary or has conflict or a magnitude of competition. They would come to an area they feel they can thrive in. He used Desert Crossing as an example. Some of the tenants that came in with the original approval were not there and he could see people looking at our vacancies in the commercial district now saying that there is a vacant Circuit City, a vacant Mrs. Bone's and that was very true, but what they didn't see behind the scenes was the number of tenants interested in those properties. He thought that the developers briefly touched on some of the vacancies that are out there right now. Three months ago he probably wouldn't have the same opinion as he does today, but he assured them that like Desert Crossing, as an example, there was talk of Oshman's closing their store and there were two tenants interested in portions of that store. Furniture to Go left and there were tenants interested in taking that store over. Circuit City has had numerous tenants trying to move in there, but because of the conflict with Circuit City and the ownership, they have been unable to secure a location there. The Best Buy center is becoming fully leased. He appreciated Sandpiper's concern that this was residential, but frankly the whole desert was agricultural at one point and there were growing pains associated with development, but this was the retail hub of the desert and this particular property sat almost directly in the middle of that retail hub. Sandpiper was bordered by commercial on most of its northern frontage and they have a highway on their eastern frontage, but he couldn't change that. On the matter of reason he felt that this project made sense. The tenants were coming to %MV 17 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 the project not because they were tricked into coming but they have done their research and understand the marketplace very well. The vacancies that are currently seen in some of the big box users were being filled with tenants. He said he would seriously consider what has made Palm Desert one of the great cities and that was its retail strength. He asked Commission to vote in favor of the project. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if Mr. Lennon would like to offer any rebuttal. Mr. Lennon stated that he didn't need to rebut anything other than to address the risk of failure of a project like this. Generally they couldn't go forward until they were 70% preleased or they couldn't get financing in today's world to do that. He thought the issues on traffic safety were addressed rather well by their engineers and city staff and he didn't feel there was a traffic safety issue. On the other hand he felt they would really improve the situation, especially if they had signalization at the intersection of El Paseo and Painters Path. Vice Chairperson Campbell closed the public hearing and asked the commission for comments. Commissioner Jonathan thanked the applicant and all the residents of Sandpiper for coming out. This was the applicant's job, but residents have better things to do than be at long meetings in the evenings and he appreciated them coming out and sharing their thoughts with the commission. He said he would address one of staff's positions regarding denial on the basis that there is enough retail in the city. If they were going to deny a retail use for this particular site on that basis, he felt the city would have to implement a citywide moratorium on further retail development because to do otherwise would be discriminatory in his opinion. There was no reason that they should deny retail development for this site as opposed to other sites, so if they were going to deny retail development for this site, it would be incumbent on the city to implement a citywide moratorium on further retail development which he felt would be entirely inappropriate. Number two, he felt that it was an oversight or more probably a mistake that this particular site, in his opinion, is zoned Office Professional. It was absolutely in the center of the city's retail corridor and that was completely unfortunate for some of the residents who moved in many years ago not envisioning that. Nevertheless, it was a reality. It was the Highway 1 1 1 retail corridor and they have this one slice of the pie at the center of the pie that for some odd reason is an aberration. Rather than being zoned in a way that would allow retail, it is zoned otherwise and it was either an oversight or an error. Either way it needed to be remedied, in his opinion. Number three, the earliest reiterations that the applicant proposed he would have found completely objectionable for the same reasons as Sandpiper residents. All the problems that they have dealt with on similar applications like noise, odors, traffic, etc., would have existed in those early iterations. However, he was very pleased to see the changes and the progression that has taken place because what they have in 18 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 front of them was something that works. It may not be ideal. Perhaps ideally from the residents' standpoint would be a passive park or maybe leave it undeveloped. Maybe some people would like to see it stay vacant for a long time and others might want to see a retirement village. Reality said to him that this was a reasonable compromise. He felt that the applicant had compromised because this wasn't the highest and best use. There wouldn't be huge signs or huge storefronts that would be very visible to Highway 1 1 1 and it took a lot of money to landscape property that was being proposed and that was not done gratuitously. He thought that the applicant was smart and ,knew that it would be difficult to pass a project at any lower level than this, so the efforts of the residents, as well as the efforts of the city, have paid off. If there was going to be retail, it was going to be at the highest level. He thought that people were listening. Finally, on the issue of whether or not there was enough retail, an eight percent vacancy factor citywide was pretty good and usually that was an indication that demand was out there and the supply was low. If they did a similar study on Office Professional, it would probably be worse in his opinion and he was out there both in business and in real estate. There was a greater demand for retail than for office professional. If they were going to stick with office professional for this site, he thought they would see dirt for a very long time. All considerations taken into account, he thought this was a reasonable compromise and that it was an "A" level development that was appropriate for this site and he would be in favor of the application. Commissioner Beaty complimented Commission Jonathan on his ability to so eloquently speak after putting this all together. He said he came with an open mind, but had a feeling about this project before he got to the meeting and a lot of things came out that he wished he could organize as nicely as Commissioner Jonathan, but he agreed with his comments. He didn't think they were talking about another Desert Crossing. That was not what he was seeing in the plan and knowing the projects that Mr. Lennon and Lowe have been involved with, this would be a first class project and he liked what he saw in the renderings and drawings and pictures from the Scottsdale area. He really hadn't heard any objections that he believed couldn't be mitigated. The traffic issue was still up in the air and the city's engineer would pass judgement on that and if that was a problem, Council could deal with that. He pointed out his other concerns and his questions were answered. He didn't think they should try and restrict retail for the sake of restricting retail. If the type of tenant they were attracting wanted to come or had a location, they would perhaps already be here. It sounded like something that was unique that we don't have and what a high quality type tenant was looking for. He was also in favor of the project. Commissioner Fernandez concurred with Commissioners Jonathan and Beaty. He thought this was a great project and a lot of work had been done on it and he appreciated the Sandpiper community and while he understood their concerns that the traffic on the highway was bad, they had to look to the future and this was a great project and with both the people from this project and the community, he felt they could get them to oversee those things and end up a... 19 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 ahead. As Commissioner Beaty said, this would be something for the future and was something different. He believed it would enhance the community and was also in favor of the project. Vice Chairperson Campbell stated that she concurred with all the other commissioners. She was in retail on El Paseo also, so she would be the first one voting against more retail, but she felt this was a quality project that could not be overlooked and she felt that Sandpiper residents would benefit from having this type of project close to them. As Commissioner Jonathan stated, it is in the Highway 111 corridor and the other three corners were commercial and the traffic issues would be resolved by the traffic engineer. She was sure that the Sandpiper residents knew when they moved there that they were enclosed between two major highways, Highway 74 and Highway 1 1 1 She was also in favor of this project and asked for a motion. Mr. Drell noted that the commission didn't have a resolution before them or conditions of approval. He suggested that they direct staff to prepare one and if commission felt they have received all the public input that is necessary they could keep the public hearing closed and direct staff to prepare a resolution of approval with all the necessary conditions. As pointed out in the staff report, there were some minor site planning issues staff felt needed to be resolved. Further discussions were in order for staff to recommend approval of a Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact, there were some clarifications that the traffic engineer needed from the applicant's traffic engineer and, therefore, hopefully within the next three weeks between now and the next Planning Commission meeting when the commission would actually approve that resolution, hopefully everything could be resolved. That would be their course of action. Vice Chairperson Campbell said that she would like to add a condition of approval that the City would reserve the right to approve the anchor tenant for Bristol Farms or some tenant equivalent to Bristol Farms. Mr. Lennon concurred. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Jonathan, seconded by Commissioner Beaty, by minute motion directing staff to prepare the necessary documentation for approval of GPA 97-3, C/Z 97-9, PP 97-9 and amending the existing Development Agreement, as well as a Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact, and to include the added condition allowing the City an opportunity to give approval for a replacement tenant if such is required. Motion carried 4-0. A. Continued Case No. CUP 01-82 AMENDMENT NO. 4 - FOUNDATION FOR THE RETARDED OF THE DESERT, Applicant Request for approval of an amendment to a conditional use permit to allow construction of a 25,744 square foot office/warehouse addition 20 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 v in the Public/Institution (P) zone at Foundation for the Retarded of the Desert at 73-255 Country Club Drive. Vice Chairperson Campbell noted that this was a continued open public hearing from July 1 , 1997 and asked for a staff report. Mr. Drell noted that at the last meeting there was a list of required modifications made to the project as suggested by the residents from Sagewood and there was a request by the Riverside County Housing Authority to also study that issue and submit their own list of requested amendments to the plan. Those meetings occurred. In addition, the applicant met with the City's Redevelopment Agency's Housing Advisory Committee which has significant interest in the project via the Redevelopment Agency's involvement in the Las Serenas project which is next door. Out of that came another list of requested conditions. The applicant has agreed to all of them and all of them have been made conditions of approval of the project. It was now staff's understanding that all the concerns of residents on both sides have been addressed by the applicant and were enforced through this approval. Staff recommended approval. Mr. Drell noted that inadvertently one of the conditions that was meant for a different project got put into this one and should be deleted. That condition was Public Works Condition Number 7. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if there were any questions for staff. There were none and she stated that they would continue with the open public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. JOHN VUKSIC stated that Mr. Mike Manis of the Sagewood homeowners pointed out that Community Development Condition Number 3 called for construction to be from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday. He said they agreed to limit construction from Monday through Friday and asked that the condition be amended to reflect that change. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if anyone wished to address the commission in FAVOR or OPPOSITION. MR. RAY ELIANTE, 40-088 Silktree, thanked the commission, the Foundation and the Architect for working so diligently and so quickly to resolve about 36 issues and he was appreciative and thanked them for the good work and for all that was resolved. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if the applicant wished to make any further comments. He didn't. Vice Chairperson Campbell closed the public hearing and asked for commission comments or action. Commissioner Jonathan stated for the record that he listened to the tape of the last meeting and reviewed the minutes so that he would be qualified to vote on this matter. tow 21 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 Action: Moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez, approving the findings as presented by staff. Carried 4-0. Moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1817, approving CUP 01-82 (Amendment No. 4), subject to conditions as amended. Carried 4-0. B. Case No. C/Z 97-8 - LUIS E. PEREZ, Applicant Request for approval of a Change of Zone from R-3 (multifamily residential) to O.P. (office professional) for two lots on the south side of Fred Waring Drive, 396 feet east of San Pascual Avenue. Mr. Drell stated that these were two properties on the south side of Fred Waring Drive currently designated in the General Plan for Office Professional. They were occupied by two homes and the applicant was desirous of developing the property ultimately pursuant to the General Plan and has requested a change of zone. The issue was whether just these two lots should be designated or if the whole block should be rezoned. Given the City's experience when the massive rezoning took place on Washington Street as part of Project Area 4, there were a lot of property owners who had existing uses like apartments who through the rezoning became legal nonconforming uses and had to go through a process and they resented the City changing the zone without a request and forcing them to go through the legal nonconforming process. In this case staff didn't object to the change of zone and if there was any present who would like to be included in the rezone, staff could initiate one for them as well. His understanding was that since this is part of the General Plan they could proceed and as other property owners feel they want to, staff could proceed with them as well. Staff recommended approval. Vice Chairperson Campbell ol2ened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. LUIS PEREZ, 47-800 Madison in Indio, stated that he has had an accounting practice in Palm Desert for ten years and after paying rent for so many years, he decided to buy a property and had been looking for several years and decided that Fred Waring was a good property to move his office to since most of that was turning to office professional use. He requested the change for the two properties, one for the owner who sold him the property because they want to have the same zoning. He would occupy one of the properties for his office. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the proposal. There was no one and the public hearing was closed. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked for commission comments. 22 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 Commissioner Jonathan stated that he had a question for staff. The owners of the property were the Wires, but Mr. Perez had domain and the ability to request the process of a change of zone. Mr. Perez stated that he bought the property and escrow closed. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked Mr. Drell if a petition needed to be signed like Deep Canyon. Mr. Drell stated that the people on Deep Canyon didn't need to sign a petition either. It just so happened that some of the residents decided to also request it and staff agreed to initiate the process for them as well. That Deep Canyon rezone would be before commission on August 5. Staff's feeling was that just because this guy was ahead of the game and everyone agrees with him, he shouldn't be held up while his neighbors follow behind. At some point in time if the city gets significant more interest as a result of this project, then the next step would probably be to go for the whole block. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked for a motion. Action: Moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez, approving the findings as presented by staff. Carried 4-0. Moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez, adopting r.r. Planning Commission Resolution No. 1818, recommending to City Council approval of C/Z 97-8, subject to conditions. Carried 4-0. C. Case No. PP 97-10 - MONTEREY PROPERTIES, Applicant Request for approval of a 7,460 square foot two story office complex located in the Office Professional zone on the west side of Monterey Avenue, 1 ,000 feet south of Fred Waring Drive. Mr. Alvarez stated that the subject property consisted of two lots on the west side of Monterey Avenue, 1 ,000 feet south of Fred Waring just north of the Board of Realtors building. One of the two lots was currently vacant and the other was occupied by a dilapidated apartment building. Both of the lots were zoned Office Professional and were surrounded by office buildings to the north, south and east and a single family residence to the west. The current proposal requested construction of a 7,460 square foot office complex. The building would be two stories and it stepped up from about 1 1 '6" to its maximum height of 25'. This project would gain access from Monterey Avenue and would tie into the parking lot and driveway to the north. The site plan and elevations were displayed. The site plan showed 27 parking spaces, which was consistent and met the requirements for this type of use and square footage. There were eight covered parking spaces located on the west property line. The only issue that came up with this project was second story windows which face the R-1 r.. 23 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 residences. The zoning ordinance prohibited any open views into the residences. He said that this project would not have open views and both windows located on the west elevation were 55'-setback from the rear property line and would not have open views. The project met all other zoning ordinance requirements and the Architectural Review Commission granted preliminary approval at the June 10 meeting. For purposes of CEQA this project would not have an adverse negative impact on the environment and a Negative Declaration was prepared. Staff recommended approval subject to the conditions. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if on the windows on the second floor if they would be glass block. Mr. Alvarez replied that one window would be glass block of translucent material. He was assured by the architect that the other would not have an open view. Mr. Drell said that staff would be reviewing the working drawings to guarantee that either through the use of a translucent material or elevation of the sill above eye level that those views would not be there. Vice Chairperson Campbell o ened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. FRANK URRUTIA, representing the applicant, stated that he was present to answer any questions. Regarding the windows, as staff indicated one of the west facing windows would be glass block which would only be for light and no views out. The other window was a clerestory type of window and it would be so high there wouldn't be any views out from inside. The reason for that was to let light into that open courtyard and into the center of the building. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if anyone wished to address the commission in FAVOR or OPPOSITION. There was no one and the public hearing was closed. Commissioner Jonathan stated that upon reviewing the application he was concerned about the second story windows and line of sight, but seeing that the adjacent resident was not present and who he assumed received a notice of the meeting, he was persuaded by both staff and the applicant's comments. His concerns had been alleviated and he would move for approval. Action: Moved by Commissioner Jonathan, seconded by Commissioner Beaty, approving the findings as presented by staff. Carried 4-0. Moved by Commissioner Jonathan, seconded by Commissioner Beaty, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1819, approving PP 97-10, subject to conditions. 24 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 D. Case No. CUP 97-10 - RICK MURO/DR. PETER GREENBERG, Applicants Request for approval of a conditional use permit for a 22,000 square foot health club with future beer and wine license in part of the vacant industrial building at 74-824 Lennon Place. Mr. Drell indicated that the applicant was currently operating from temporary space at Portola and Highway 1 1 1 . He was under the gun by the City to vacate that location, probably within the next two months. He made an application for a facility at Fred Waring and Monterey where due to neighbor resident concerns relative to the night time overflow impacts of that use, that application was ultimately denied by the City Council. Mr. Muro was now proposing to locate a similar facility in the industrial park. That application has some unorthodox characteristics in that as was discussed at great length, the peak usage of one of these facilities generates a pretty high parking demand and analysis of each individual activity area within the proposed club, staff determined that an appropriate required parking demand for the project was 115 spaces. The proposed site on which he would be located typically would have 67 parking spaces. As was identified in staff's research on the application previously, peak usage for these athletic clubs were between 5:00 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. and many of the anticipated objections that they experienced back when he was adjacent to the residential neighborhood do not typically exist in an industrial area. Industrial users were generally closed at 5:00 p.m. and therefore any spilling out into the street in terms of excess parking, although it would not necessarily be orderly looking, streets were designed for street parking and the streets within 350 feet would accommodate the additional parking. Basically, this arrangement was similar to the existing Gold's Gym which is parked at the same ratio and this building (two spaces per 1 ,000 square feet) and in the evening people park down the street and as far as they were willing to walk. Given the fact that this wasn't a perfect world and that there are few existing buildings that are parked sufficiently to accommodate a use of this magnitude and therefore they were limited in this sort of situation there was an ability to share existing parking because of contrasting peak hours that they have never to his knowledge got a complaint from any tenant at the Country Club Business Center relative to the Gold's Gym. They once received a complaint from a patron of Gold's Gym, but never from an adjacent tenant. Staff felt that given the choices, that this was an acceptable location. Subsequently staff received several letters from some of the adjacent commercial owners who feel that they will have a problem with people not necessarily parking in the street but in their parking lots and after hours. That problem has been existing to a degree over at the Sports Club and ultimately there was an arrangement between the Sports Club and Mr. Urrutia across the street for use of their parking lot. That could be a potential solution that the applicant could pursue with other property owners. If it was some sort of compensation, they were looking for relative to the utilization of their parking. Again, given the alternatives and staff's experience with Gold's Gym, staff felt this solution could work and recommended approval. ``' 25 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 Vice Chairperson Campbell opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. RICK MURO, 73-944 Olive Court in Palm Desert, stated that he thought staff had done a great job in analyzing what was necessary for this particular project. He pointed out that the street on which they would be located on was Lennon Avenue between Eclectic and Corporate. On the opposing side of the street was the back side of Waste Management. There would be no tenant on the opposite side that runs from 700 feet and as pointed out by staff, they have seen two cars parked on that side of the street. He was happy with the report that they were at about a minimum of 100 cars that they needed parked with 67-70 onsite and with 30 directly in front of their building, they should never impose on anyone else. He was happy to address anyone's concerns in terms of mitigating that kind of a problem. On the east side of the building there was only an easement between him and the other industrial plaza that in the back side of their actual businesses where they have their rolled up doors, their parking was clear around on the opposite side, so his members would never use that side and would not walk clear round their building. He pointed out that they also, and he was sure the commission had seen the site plan, addressed the situation of making sure that people would be happy to park in the back of his building by putting in another large entrance and that would be the main entrance to the facility so that it would be off the main street where people would be entering the club. He felt they had done everything they needed to do in order to mitigate any type of concerns. He said that in terms of the beer and wine license that was a future issue and he said that it was recommended by Steve Smith to include that because they wanted to eventually have a juice bar that served beer and wine and would only be for members. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if anyone wished to address the commission in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the project. MR. PAUL LUPO, owner of the building next door to the proposed CUP, at 74-794 Lennon and 41-700 Corporate Way. He stated that his driveway was a common drive and access to this proposed CUP. The problems that he could foresee were that the excessive use and tremendous amount of parking required by a health club, day or night, was going to be a burden to his tenants in his building which has a common driveway. Country Club Mirror and Glass directly next to the proposed applicant has very few parking spaces and always has a need for parking for his customers. He has experienced problems in the past when Palm Springs Golf was there. Next to him is Leno's Mercedes and he has a constant demand for parking spaces and was working continuously on cars and parking them 15 + at a time and parking them along Lennon Place. That was directly in the same common access part of the situation. Leno has gotten a little emotional in the past about people parking in his spaces. Country Club Mirror and Glass 26 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 also has early morning meetings when the health club clients would be arriving and in the evening there were some requirements for other tenants between 5:00 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. for parking. The situation there was a concern, the wear on the pavement and everything else was a minor issue, but his insurance carrier has informed him that his liability insurance would be canceled if there was a frequency of claims due to personal injury and on a continuing basis this could be a problem. They wouldn't renew his policy if a health club member was to park there and be hurt. Due to whatever causes an incident due to a health club member, again they were talking about 115 cars which they have never experienced that type of excessive use, and this just complicated the number of problems that could occur to the excessive amount of cars that would be parking there. Regarding the beer and wine request, he could understand the applicant's situation and position with that, but there was always a concern in an industrial area if there was an abuse situation and they would have trucks and forklifts around there and they didn't want to have any incidents caused by that type of usage. He was opposed to it and hoped the commission wouldn't allow this application to be approved. MR. RAY ELIANTE, 74-794 Lennon Place, the owner of Country Club Mirror and Glass, stated that he and Rick Muro have done business in the past, although he wasn't sure Rick would want to do business with him after he spoke in opposition. As mentioned by Mr. Drell, parking was paramount. �.. He has been located there for about seven years and he has three fire lanes that are adjacent to his building. He has called Code Enforcement, the Fire Marshal, Fire Department, Police Department and the City of Palm Desert because of parked cars. Tenants that they share space with, his good neighbors, block it and they have semis in and out constantly and it was not uncommon to have ten semis through there a day loading and unloading. His own tenants were blocking fire zones. When Palm Springs Golf was next to him, the buildings were large and made an adequate shade area on one side of the building and the fire lanes were constantly being blocked. This was a great issue. It can't be enforced now, it hasn't been enforced and he had been asking for seven years to have the fire lanes enforced just so he could get his trucks through there. There hasn't been anything addressed in that area. If Rick's club goes through, and he wished Rick the best and he had done a great service in the physical fitness arena, but it was tough for them right now. Rick noted that there wasn't much traffic, but it was July. They still take a lot of traffic and presently have about 27 employees, but by October or November of 1997 they intended to bring in 15 or 20 more employees. Those were parking spaces that had to be taken in the street. They didn't have adequate parking and haven't had adequate parking and a facility of this nature with the amount of traffic would hinder them greatly. Rick had offered to post a "no parking" sign at his expense and while he greatly appreciated, but as his customers come in frustrated because there wasn't a place to park, they would go to another glass shop for lack of parking and frustration. It didn't answer the problem. If he .� 27 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 wanted to pull in and park at his own facility, how long would it take for him to get a tow truck out to move a car that doesn't belong. It was a nice offer but wasn't a solution. There was too much traffic flow. Some people weren't here from the pool company just east of this facility and they have plumbing trucks greater in size than his trucks in and out of the corner, which would be the northeast corner of the project, parking there in and out all day long getting plumbing supplies. That was the heart of his driveway. He also had a concern about beer and wine. They were an industrial area and they do sometimes go in at 5:00 a.m. and he was usually there at 6:00 a.m. and often times stay with the night crews until 8:00 p.m. It was a heavy traffic area in terms of his use, but was not a transient type of traffic that they would have at a location like the old Circuit City. In his mind that was an ideal location for something like he was trying to achieve. He felt that was the kind of setting he needed to have and it would have adequate parking, adequate lighting and it was great for beer and wine and he greatly opposed the beer and wine. He thanked the commission for their time. MR. LARRY LYLE addressed the commission and stated that he was wearing a couple of hats tonight. One, he was one of the brokers involved in the transaction and also as a resident of Palm Desert. When he started working with Rick on his project, they chose to target the Cook Street area and there were a couple of reasons for that. One, it was very central to the city, especially with the development going north to the freeway. Also, typically these types of projects worked well in industrial areas. There were buildings that were adequate in size with the high ceilings and were typically larger buildings. Because most buildings closed around 5:00 p.m. that worked out well because people typically came after work to the gym. The way Rick planned, the gym would be a family style facility. He would have large play areas for children and that worked well with the way that particular area has developed. That was one reason they were ;ooking at that Lennon site. The City planned soccer fields off of Hovley, there was a new elementary school, there was a karate school right around the corner, and with the way the gym would be family style, and Desert Heat Gymnastics would be leasing part of this facility, it really made a nice situation. As far as a personal level, he felt there were many families in Palm Desert like his that have children and the typical gyms in Palm Desert were body building type gyms and they didn't offer a facility where a family could go out and have a productive evening where the parents could exercise and the children could have fun. This would work well with the city and he hoped the commission would approve the project. Mr. Muro readdressed the commission and stated that with all due respect to Mr. Eliante, it sounded as though he has outgrown his own facility with 36 employees and eight parking spaces. Maybe he needed to address his own issues. In terms of his offer to put the sign up to keep their people away from his business, they could also require a member by legal contract to not park in any area other than designated areas. That was not a 28 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 problem for them and he was certainly not opposed to putting in a parking attendant to direct traffic and they are entering the access way. He pointed out that they only shared as a common access one side of his parking lot. His trucks would not enter or have access on Mr. Muro's side of the building. Vice Chairperson Campbell closed the public hearing and asked for commission comments. Commissioner Jonathan stated that the parking issue seemed to be the main issue and there had been exceptions to the code and there have been applications that have come before the commission where an exception was requested and he has seen the merits of that and had approved those requests, but this was not one of those situations. He noted that his office was in the industrial area and he had many clients in the industrial area and he felt it was a well-known fact that parking was a huge problem in the industrial area. He was also concerned about the informal parking studies that staff did because he felt the conclusions were way out of touch with reality, so that was a separate issue that needed to be looked at. The code required 150 spaces for this particular use at this particular size. Staff 's analysis came out to 115 and the site provided 67. He asked why they would want to add to an existing problem. All the surrounding owners were saying there is an existing problem and this would only add to that problem so they have objections from the neighbors, including Mr. Eliante's letter, which was really a good example of the situations that exists out there. A combined work force for the entire building, his people as well as his tenants, of 36 people trying to share eight parking spaces including handicapped was typical of what is out there and there was a tremendous overflow of street usage problems. When he visits a client, sometimes he has to park well over a block away because he couldn't find space in the client's parking lot but also nowhere near on the street. It was a real problem out there. They haven't even taken into consideration the expected occupancy by Desert Heat Gymnastics which would need another 7,000 square feet of usage right next to the area. This just didn't make sense to him and he felt there were plenty of other sites and while he sympathized with Mr. Muro, he didn't feel this was the solution to his problems or to the city's problems. Commissioner Fernandez felt that perhaps Mr. Muro could get together with some of the people in the industrial park and work this out. He felt there was a solution. He knew parking was tough, but he believed that if they could all get together and come up with some type of solution for the parking situation, it would work out for everyone. The only suggestion he had was to try and work it out with the neighbors to solve the parking problem. He stated that he was in favor of the project. Commissioner Beaty stated that he hated to turn down Mr. Muro's request again because he needed to find a location and had a good business, but as pointed rNW 29 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 out by Commissioner Jonathan, he didn't want to open this up to a potential disaster and hurt everyone in the area. Mr. Muro spoke from the audience and asked to address the commission. Vice Chairperson Campbell stated that the public hearing was closed. She stated that she knew that Mr. Muro has had a hard time finding a home for this business and she looked at the property at 8:45 a.m. and it seemed like there was ample parking available. She also went there at 5:35 p.m. and there was only one truck parked on Lennon and as far as she could see it right now, if he could make progress and speak to the other tenants about using their parking with perhaps some type of reimbursement, she would be in favor of the project. She asked for a motion. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Fernandez, seconded by Vice Chairperson Campbell, approving the findings as presented by staff. Motion failed on a 2-2 vote (Commissioners Beaty and Jonathan voting no). Mr. Drell explained that an alternative motion for continuance to when there are five members present could be made; otherwise, the 2-2 vote constituted a no action, which was like a denial and then the applicant could appeal the no action to the City Council. Commissioner Jonathan stated that he didn't think they had ever reconsidered a matter because a commissioner wasn't present and he felt the no action was appropriate and it could go to council. Mr. Drell said that if the commission didn't want to consider a continuance, the 2-2 vote would stand. It was up to the commission It was moved by Commissioner Fernandez, seconded by Vice Chairperson Campbell, continuing CUP 97-10 to August 5, 1997 by minute motion. Motion carried with a 3-1 vote (Commissioner Jonathan voted no). Commissioner Jonathan stated that he had a procedural question. He noted that they voted on the matter and asked if they could vote again for a continuance after the first vote. Mr. Drell stated that since their first vote constituted no action, they could make as many motions as they wanted. In this case the Council wouldn't be meeting again until August 28, so even if this matter goes to Council, at least it gave the Planning Commission the opportunity to express itself other than as a no action when it goes to Council on August 28, depending on if it was appealed by someone. He said it was up to the commission, but it has been done before. Commissioner Jonathan stated that they haven't and the reason he objected was because there was an earlier matter, and this application was done and it was continued, but there was an earlier application several months ago and he wrote a letter to the commission since he would be absent asking that the matter be continued and the commission denied that request. He thought that if they were going to do that, they shouldn't get into a situation where they were vote shopping and he felt that if they were going to do that, 30 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 they should do it consistently. He said that might be for discussion on another part of the agenda or at some other time, but there were many instances where there were only four commissioners and if they were going to continue matters until there were five present, he suggested that perhaps that should be done before there was even discussion or a vote so that it was not a situation where once they had a 2-2 tie, they then consider how the other commissioner would vote and if the matter should be continued. Then they ran astray of the substance of what they should be dealing with and was something for further consideration. Mr. Drell stated that in the difference was that there were three votes in favor. Therefore, a continuance was superfluous. Commissioner Jonathan noted that there were a lot of dynamics to those types of votes and he felt it was a dangerous precedence unless they do it consistently. He didn't care which way it was done as long as it was done consistently. Vice Chairperson Campbell reopened the public hearing and stated that the matter would be back on August 5, 1997. F. Case Nos. PP 97-8, VAR 97-1, DA 97-3 - O. MICHAEL HOMME, Applicant Request for approval of a Precise Plan of Design for a 12,500 square foot, single story professional office/medical building, Development Agreement permitting up to 2,000 square feet of limited general commercial uses and parking reduction, and Setback Variance for said building on the north side of Fred Waring Drive between Monterey Avenue and Acacia Drive. Mr. Drell informed commission that staff was recommending a continuance since the development agreement was not before the commission at this time. He stated that some aspects of that development agreement were relative to some proposed limited commercial use in the O.P. zone and were of significant import to the decision and to the economic viability of the project and, therefore, those important questions had yet to be addressed by the applicant and staff was requesting a continuance. He noted that this location was the site on which Mr. Muro tried to located his health club previously. The proposed project's design attempted to address many of the concerns that resulted in the denial of the last project. On the other hand, staff in recommending approval made the statement that given the economic burdens on this piece of property, it was likely that a pure office project would not be able to pay the cost of those economic burdens and therefore something somewhat more intense than a straight office would have to be approved. The applicant was trying to come up with a combination of uses which is acceptable to his immediate neighbors as well and justify it from an economic point of view to staff and Planning Commission that those enhanced commercial uses in the O.P. zone in this particular case are justified. Hopefully he would have that at the next meeting. In other respects, from an architectural and design point of view, he felt it was an outstanding project. �""' 31 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 Vice Chairperson Campbell opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. MIKE HOMME, 46-300 Desert Lily, stated that he was the applicant and was present to answer any questions. Commissioner Beaty said he just had a comment. He requested that the details get worked out because that corner needed to be developed. Mr. Homme replied that he was trying. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the proposal. MS. DIANA LAMAR, 43-827 Acacia Drive, informed commission that she lived "kitty corner" to the project. She stated that Mr. Homme brought over a rendering and she had seen the design of the building. As far as she was concerned it looked lovely and the landscaping seemed to be great. She had also seen his other landscaped projects and they were well-taken care of and were growing well and looked good. In some cases the building couldn't even be seen and she thought that was kind of nice. She said that the hours of operation were suitable, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. She thought it was ironic that she was again before the commission a year later following Mr. Muro's project and problems with traffic. That was one of the main objections to the health club proposal, the amount of traffic down their street. Her concern tonight was still because of the traffic increase because of the building, but she was really here for it and not to register too many objections, but she knew that UPS, delivery trucks, Fed Ex trucks and Arrowhead water used Acacia on a very regular basis, so now they would have another little office building to take care of. They were already a through way for traffic.and traffic studies had been done. She said they also looked into blocking the street and Mr. McDaniel was totally opposed. She offered that as a suggestion, but her neighbors were totally opposed, so they left the blocking of the streets to take care of itself until a future. She thanked Mr. Greenwood for his efforts on that. She said her concern was with the traffic. Her mail box had been shattered because people come in south on Monterey, right on Arboleda, left and a van was on two wheels and if her mailbox wasn't there the van would have rolled. When she went out there she saw there had been another accident at Fred Waring and Acacia and the police were there and she asked them if they saw where the lady with the van went because it was gone by the time she got out the door. The policeman said he knew her and she lived across the street. That meant the lady was going across Fred Waring on Acacia and she could just have easily right turned and then left turned onto her street. In another case the city's own police department came racing off of Arboleda onto Monterey and when he right turned, he was in oncoming traffic and almost hit the lady's mailbox that lives on the northwest corner of Acacia, so there 32 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 was a need for a four-way stop and if they were going to increase traffic in the area, she said she would really thoroughly look into it. She didn't speak in opposition to the project, but she felt they needed to address the traffic situation and get a four-way stop in there. Mr. Greenwood asked for clarification on which intersection Ms. Lamar was suggesting for the four-way stop. Ms. Lamar replied Acacia and Arboleda. Vice Chairperson Campbell stated that she would leave the public hearing open and asked for a motion. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez, continuing PP 97-8, VAR 97-1 and DA 97-3 to August 5, 1997 by minute motion. Motion carried 4-0. IX. MISCELLANEOUS a. Request for a Determination of Use to allow a mortuary, mausoleum and crematory to apply as a conditional use in the Office Professional zone. Mr. Drell stated that this was the former First Interstate/Wells Fargo at the corner �.. of Fred Waring and Washington Street. He noted that this was not a determination as to whether the use was actually acceptable, but whether it was potentially a conditional use and if they could apply at that location. The proposed use would be similar to what is happening now San Gorgonio and San Pablo. That was zoned residential. The use would that they approved through the conditional use permit process was that it wouldn't have any of the actual chemical or crematory and all the other facilities there. It would be more like a church with offices and viewing services. He stated that he passes by the Fitzhenry facility virtually every day and has not noticed any increase in activity from when it was a monastery. Since churches were a conditional use inO.P. zone, he felt the proposed activity was more similar to a church than it would be to an industrial zone. The big issue wasn't the intensity of the activity, but was more the nature of it. It disturbed some people but as it turned out there was no perceptible change. Staff felt it was appropriate to let them apply and hold a public hearing to find out what the neighbors think. Commissioner Jonathan noted that churches were permitted uses in the residential zone, but asked if they were permitted in O.P. zone. Mr. Drell said that it was a conditional use. Staff felt this was similar in nature to a church since churches perform these same types of services. Commissioner Jonathan noted that they were not addressing this possible future application at this particular location, they were just saying in general that it could potentially be acceptable. Mr. Drell concurred that the action would be whether or not he could apply for a conditional use permit, not that they were going to approve ftw 33 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 one, but that the commission would review it in more detail and would have the public hearing to hear from the neighborhood before making a decision. Otherwise, he couldn't even apply. Mr. Drell stated that he felt the nature of the business was similar in nature as to what could occur in a church. Vice Chairperson Campbell asked if the applicant would like to speak to the commission. MR. BILL MITCHELL, 39-846 Cricket Cove in Palm Desert, stated that they currently operated three mortuaries in the Coachella Valley: one in Palm Springs, one in Desert Hot Springs and they recently developed Palm Springs Mortuary at Cathedral City. At their Palm Springs mortuary they did have a crematory but they had no intention of putting in a crematory at this particular location. At the new facility in Cathedral City, they put in a mausoleum, but they had no intention of putting in a mausoleum at the proposed location. They strictly wanted to use the facility for mortuary purposes only as a satellite mortuary. Preparation work would be done out of their Cathedral City office, which was their central location. They would primarily be using this facility for funeral services, visitations and so forth. The majority of their administrative work would be done out of their Cathedral City location. He felt the proposed site was a good location for a mortuary. Commissioner Beaty stated that he didn't have any problem with the determination. .■r Commissioner Jonathan said that he was in favor of allowing an application to proceed under the O.P. zone, but he didn't want Mr. Mitchell to mistake that position as a position with regards to his specific project, but would keep an open mind if and when that was presented to them. Mr. Mitchell concurred. Commissioner Beaty advised that Mr. Mitchell speak with the Desert Breezes homeowners. Mr. Drell stated that Cindy Finerty was the President of the Desert Breezes Homeowners Association and was someone Mr. Mitchell should contact. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Jonathan, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez, by minute motion determining that a mortuary facility used for offices, visitations and services could apply for a conditional use permit in the O.P. zone. Motion carried 4-0. 34 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION JULY 15, 1997 X. COMMITTEE MEETING UPDATES a. CIVIC CENTER STEERING COMMITTEE - (No meeting) B. DESERT WILLOW COMMITTEE - (No meeting) C. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE - (No meeting) D. PROJECT AREA 4 COMMITTEE - (No meeting) E. PALM DESERT/RANCHO MIRAGE MONTEREY AVENUE CORRIDOR PLANNING WORK GROUP - (No meeting) F. ZONING ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE - (No meeting) XI. COMMENTS None. XII. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Fernandez, adjourning the meeting by minute motion. Carried 4-0. The meeting was adjourned at 9:34 p.m. PHILIP DRELL, Jecretary ATTEST: ol-L�-� 1-A- SONIA CAMPBELL, Vice Chairperson Palm Desert Planning Commission /tm 35