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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1019 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING TUESDAY - OCTOBER 19, 1999 r� 7:00 P.M. - CIVIC CENTER COUNCIL CHAMBER 73-510 FRED WARING DRIVE I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Jonathan called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. II. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Beaty led in the pledge of allegiance. III. ROLL CALL Members Present: Sabby Jonathan, Chairperson Paul Beaty, Vice Chairperson Sonia Campbell Cindy Finerty Jim Lopez Members Absent: None Staff Present: Philip Drell, Director of Community Development Bob Hargreaves, City Attorney Steve Smith, Planning Manager Martin Alvarez, Associate Planner Tonya Monroe, Administrative Secretary IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Consideration of the October 5, 1999 meeting minutes. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Beaty, to approve the October 5, 1999 minutes as submitted. Motion carried 5-0. V. SUMMARY OF COUNCIL ACTION Mr. Drell summarized pertinent October 14, 1999 City Council actions. MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 J VI. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. VII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Case No. PMW 99-01 - FOXX DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, Applicant Request for approval of a parcel map waiver to merge two lots more particularly described as APNs 627-020-004, 627-020-005 at 73-061 Fred Waring Drive. B. Case No. PMW 99-14 - VLADIMIR PRAVDIC - Applicant Request for approval of a parcel map waiver to merge two lots to create one large lot to facilitate the expansion and remodel of an existing residential building APNs 628-160-002 and 003. �11 Action: It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Beaty, approving the Consent Calendar by minute motion. Motion carried 5-0. Vill. PUBLIC HEARINGS Anyone who challenges any hearing matter in court may be limited to raising only those issues he/she or someone else raised at the public hearing described herein, or in written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at, or prior to, the public hearing. A. Case No. HDPP 99-2 - YOLANDA FUENTES MENDOZA FOR ROY W. CARVER, Applicant (Continued from October 5, 1999) Request for approval of a hillside development plan to allow grading and construction of a 3,200 square foot single family dwelling on a 7.5 acre site in the hillside residential zone at 72- 275 Upper Way West. 2 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 tow Mr. Drell noted that this project was in complete compliance with all the specific requirements of the Hillside zone. It's design was such that it succeeded in blending to the greatest extent possible with the natural terrain with its color, architectural style and the plan for grading and renaturalization of all disturbed areas. Therefore, staff was recommending that Planning Commission recommend approval of this project to the City Council. Commissioner Lopez informed commission that he would be abstaining since this was a continued case and he was absent from the last meeting. Chairperson Jonathan noted that the matter was continued to ensure proper public notice was given. Chairperson Jonathan oogened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MS. MENDOZA spoke from the audience and said that she thought the project spoke for itself. Chairperson Jonathan asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR or OPPOSITION. There was no one and the public hearing was closed. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Campbell, approving the findings as presented by staff. Commissioner Finerty complimented the applicant on their great hillside development sensitivity and felt they couldn't have done it any better and it was greatly appreciated. Chairperson Jonathan agreed and called for the vote. Motion carried 4-0-1 (Commissioner Lopez abstained). It was moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Campbell, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1949, recommending to City Council approval of HDPP 99-2, subject to conditions. Motion carried 4-0-1 (Commissioner Lopez abstained). B. Case No. TT 29489 - SEVERIN & CO. LLC, Applicant Request for approval of a one lot subdivision for 470 senior residential units previously approved as part of the Portofino project. 3 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 Mr. Drell stated that this was a requirement of the State Department of Real Estate. They would be marketing these units with a life tenancy feature and that had been defined by the State as most of them and that this was a form of real estate, therefore, to regulate it there had to be a map. For the State Department of Real Estate to regulate properly there had to be a subdivision map and were requiring one. This would be a typical air-space condominium map, although units would not be sold in fee, they would be life tenancy. It didn't in any way effect the design or any of the planning issues associated with the project. Therefore, staff recommended approval. Chairperson Jonathan asked for confirmation that there was no change in the project as previously to the commission. Mr. Drell said that was correct. Chairperson Jonathan opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. MIKE SMITH, 73-185 Highway 111 in Palm Desert, stated that they had no objection to the condition of approval. He said he did want to make one note on the discussion on the staff report. It said that it was due to the number of units and that wasn't what triggered the DRE. They wanted to control it but didn't know how and figured this was the best way. That was why they were filing the one unit condominium map. Other than that the project was identical to what was presented to the commission. This was why the project hadn't gone forward--it was because of the State. Chairperson Jonathan asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the proposal. There was no one and the public hearing was closed. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Finerty, approving the findings as presented by staff. Motion carried 5-0. It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Finerty, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1950, approving TT 29489, subject to conditions. Motion carried 5-0. 4 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 C. Case No. CUP 91-8 Amendment - SOUTHWEST COMMUNITY CHURCH, Applicant Request for approval of an extension of a conditional use permit for a 6,400 square foot metal building at 73-251 Hovley Lane West. Mr. Drell indicated that the request had to do with the much discussed metal building on Hovley which was originally approved for one year and extended until September 30, 1999. It was originally approved hoping that Southwest Church's facility would be completed by now. They believed they would be able to vacate the use of this building or the need for this building by January 1 , 2000. They had since received a request to extend the use of the metal building until that time. The building was first approved to house the church's youth activities which are quite extensive and had been held outdoors. As a result it generated a lot of complaints from the neighborhood as a result of these large groups of kids outdoors often into the evening. Unfortunately, there was good news bad news for the neighborhood. The bad news was that �.. the church still had three months in which they would be occupying the property. The good news was that it was now a certainty that they would be gone. When the city first approved the use in 1998, it was not a certainty that the church would be successful in relocating and had not yet broken ground. The good news was that the more significant impact on the neighborhood, which was the general activities of the church on Sunday due to its great popularity and all the wonderful things it does created a significant inconvenience and hardship on that neighborhood. On balance the decision to allow the metal building originally so that the outdoor activities could go indoors had resulted in positive impacts on that neighborhood. There was still the accompanying use of the building on the evenings during the week which still caused some disruption just by virtue of the fact of having that many people going in and out of that facility. No matter who they were, it was a disruption. Since the last meetings and hearings on the Temple Sinai proposal, there didn't seem to be as much unanimity in the neighborhood as to the course of action relative to that metal building. Mr. Richards and Mr. Wiley were both present. Without the use of the metal building, the activities that were outside that went indoors were now outside again and even though they were outside on the church property and whether or not they were amplified. It was true that the existing conditions to the permit forbid any amplification outdoors anywhere on the property. Practically speaking, 200-300 kids could 5 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 be noisy with or without amplification. He thought it was preferable to have the children's activities indoors somewhere. The question was where. On Saturday and Sunday when there are adult services in the main sanctuary, especially on Sunday, and the surrounding lawn area around the metal was a parking lot, the activities associated with what goes on in the building were probably dwarfed by what goes on in the parking lot. And since there were few alternatives for the church in terms of where these kids could go on the weekends, staff recommended that they be permitted to continue to use the metal building on the weekend. During the week where the availability of the main sanctuary was fairly open, staff was recommending that the metal building activity be closed and if at all possible scheduling of the main sanctuary be reorganized to accommodate all the youth activity as well as whatever adult activities might exist. His understanding was that there might be a conflict on a Tuesday night with a marriage encounter group. He wasn't sure what the magnitude of the number of adults who participated in that were, whether in fact they needed the facilities of a 1 ,200 seat auditorium or whether there were other alternative facilities for them and indicated the applicant could address that. Right now staff was recommending that during the week the metal building and therefore all activity on that five acres be „ eliminated for the week. While this might be something of an inconvenience for the church, staff felt it was an acceptable trade off given the inconvenience suffered by the neighborhood over the years. Therefore, Condition No. 6 was amended of the original conditional use permit to read, "Use of the metal building shall be limited to Saturdays between the hours of 12:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. and Sundays between 8:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. Uses shall be prohibited Monday through Friday. Activities previously scheduled during the time periods prohibited by this conditions shall be relocated to the main church sanctuary and rescheduled as necessary. All use of the building shall cease on January 2, 2000 and shall not resume until remodeling is completed in connection with CUP 99-7", which was the Temple Sinai conditional use permit. He asked for any questions. Commissioner Campbell asked if other conditions could be imposed on them in answer to Mr. Wiley's letter. Mr. Drell said yes. He mentioned that those conditions already existed and should be enforced relative to dust control. The existing condition requires a dust free surface. Mr. Wiley suggested that they try to replant with annual rye, but he wasn't sure that would be particularly effective at this point in time given that annual rye needs about a month to establish itself and wasn't sure if even at that tender stage it would survive in 6 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 a parking lot. But they needed to employ and it sounded like there were some problems currently with their irrigation system, those problems had to be corrected and a irrigation schedule established prior to any use of the field as a parking lot to insure that there is no dust. Those were existing conditions. Chairperson Jonathan opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. ROGER PHILLIPS, 73-330 Caliandra Street in Palm Desert, thanked staff for their recommendation. He thought they had an alternative for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday for the adults. There were about 300 adults that also met and he knew staff wanted to reschedule things, but there were so many bodies and they just couldn't fit them in. Their suggestion was to put the adults in the metal building. Therefore, that would take away some of the noise so during the week they wouldn't have any high school or junior high or any children of any age in the metal building except a parent that carried in a child or something. If they put the adults in the medical building there wouldn't ... be the noise they had before. The second suggestion was on the dust. Right now he had given his managers, and he didn't care about the sprinkler system which they would have to tear up and make a bunch of noise, so they bought a bunch of hoses and he was telling them to water the place down every day before they park there. They would just take the hoses out and by hand water down the locations so there wouldn't be any dust. That was their suggestion. He thought it was one that would cause less conflict and still be able to do some work with a lot of people which was a very important program for them. Commissioner Campbell asked if he was saying that the metal building would be used by the adults. Mr. Phillips concurred that it would be during the week. On the weekend they couldn't because there were 3,000 people in church on Sunday. It would be hard to get them in the metal building during the weekend. There would only be adults during the week. Commissioner Campbell asked if they were going to put the adults in the metal building Monday through Wednesday, who would be in the main sanctuary. 7 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 ui Mr. Phillips said the teenagers. The students would go there. Chairperson Jonathan asked which days the metal building would be in use by the adults. Mr. Phillips said Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Commissioner Campbell asked during what hours. Mr. Phillips said 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Commissioner Lopez asked Mr. Phillips to elaborate on how they would take care of the dirt and sand on the weekend itself. Mr. Phillips said he told his maintenance crew to buy hoses and they would carry them out and start spraying them down Saturday before the service on Saturday night and then on Sunday morning do it before people come on Sunday. That was the only way they were going to s keep it down. They could go out there and try to dig up the pipe but that would cause more dust and more problems. They didn't need more dust and construction so they just bought a bunch of hoses and they would spray it down all the time. Commissioner Campbell asked if Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday that parking lot where the grass is was not used at all. Mr. Phillips said they don't park any cars there except on Saturday night and Sunday. Commissioner Campbell asked if they would also be able to remove those cones on Sunday night when the services were over, because they were there on Monday. Mr. Phillips said they have been doing it on Monday, but that was fine. They would remove them Sunday night right after church. Chairperson Jonathan asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the proposal. r 8 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 MR. JAMES H. RICHARDS, of 40-840 Avenida Estrada located on the west side of the grass parking lot of the church, said that he has had somewhat of an adversarial relationship with Southwest Community Church in the past, but he had been working directly with Roger Phillips lately and he didn't see how moving people from the sanctuary building to the metal building or vice versa would have a tremendous impact. People would still come and go. That wasn't a negative comment. He was saying that he didn't have a problem with their request to use the building. Whether it was the sanctuary or the steel building was moot. It wasn't the fact that there were people in the steel building, it was the comings and goings. At other times, when there have been people, he called Mr. Phillips directly and he had been working with him with their security guard on clearing up the issues. But in general, they had been doing much better. If they have activities outdoors, skateboarding and that sort of thing, there were lots of lights and lots of kids, but they ended at 9:30 p.m. or so, and people left. They didn't linger. That was the sound issue. It wasn't when the thing was going on so much, it was the impact of people hanging around and no one knowing about it. That was taken care of. He had requested of Mr. Phillips that sprinklers be removed from the roof of the building because it was creating a glare, but now that temperatures were cooler that had been done. He believed that Mr. Phillips was working on taking an external alarm system off of the steel building because it was being triggered by kids jimmying the doors or earthquakes. That was resolved. So they were moving forward and he didn't see one way or another why they had to be in the sanctuary versus the steel building. That wasn't an issue. He could say that they could endure for another three months, but it wasn't even that because it would be the same business as usual for three more months, for the most part. He didn't see why they should have to shuffle themselves around for this particular time period. Chairperson Jonathan asked for confirmation that Mr. Richards wouldn't object if there were teenagers actually using the metal building during the week. Mr. Richards replied no. MR. JERRY WILEY, 40-900 Avenida Estrada, said that he has been at city hall many times during the last three years on the Southwest issue. This morning he had an appointment in Indio and took Fred Waring out 9 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 and he went by the new Southwest Community Church. It was a beautiful church. He also noticed that they had grass everywhere. Trees everywhere. Shrubs everywhere. It was a beautiful, beautiful facility. On his way back from Indio, he saw it all again. He got back to his residence and what did he see? A field that was half dirt, half grass. Bright orange cones that had been out there the last five or six weeks that had not been picked up. All of a sudden they were picked up late yesterday afternoon. He asked where they were the last five or six weeks. Also, the letter they have from Mr. Moore was very consistent with the letters the commission and residents of Hovley Lane have been receiving for the last three years. They way that it was consistent was that it had threats in it. The threats were that if the commission didn't agree to take out number three that he thought had to do with the amplified music and the PA system, basically what he was going to do was go ahead and violate that and make a lot of noise if they closed the metal building down. That was a threat. The last sentence in the letter, "Without the removal of this item we will have to halt our normal operation to hundreds of teenagers which will put us ' out of business." He asked how many people in the room thought that Mr. Moore would be put out of business. No one raised their hand. Because he wasn't going to go out of business. That was just another lie. The residents of their area were tired of all these lies and commitments and he recommended that the planning commission deny this conditional use permit. Chairperson Jonathan closed the public hearing and asked for commission comments. Commissioner Campbell stated that she lives on Hovley Lane West, not as close to Mr. Richards or Mr. Wiley that are next to the church. She felt that this has come before the commission many times and she felt they should grant an exception to condition number six. Mr. Phillips stated that the sprinklers would be taken care of, the cones would be taken care of and if the youth was moved to the main facility instead of the metal building, that would be fine with her. As Mr. Richards stated, it didn't make any difference to him either. She was in favor of granting the extension to January 1 , 2000. Chairperson Jonathan said that was with modification to the staff recommendation to amend condition number six in that Commissioner I 10 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 Campbell was in favor of weekday use Monday through Wednesday of the metal building by adults from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. Commissioner Campbell said that would be fine because either way, the adults and/or the youth would be there. Chairperson Jonathan said staff's recommendation was to exclude weekday use of the metal building completely. The applicant indicated that they were really squished for space and that they would like the adults in the metal building. Commissioner Campbell asked who would be using the metal building on Saturday and Sunday. Mr. Drell said the teenagers would use it then. Chairperson Jonathan felt that was consistent with the staff report. It wasn't the weekend usage, but the weekday use, specifically Monday through Wednesday 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. that was the only modification to staff's recommendation. Chairperson Campbell said she would like to go with staff's recommendation for Saturday and Sunday. Only for the youth. Mr. Drell said that was correct and Monday through Wednesday it would be for the adults only. Commissioner Lopez asked if with this recommendation of changing the amended area that meant they would need to change the wording to allow Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. He said his impression was that the church was really attempting to move ahead in a positive manner by alleviating the dust problems and working with the community as far as the use of the building. He would approve of the use of it on the weekends as well as the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday and then monitor it carefully so that they are getting the cones up and making sure that the dust is handled properly. Commissioner Beaty asked Mr. Phillips if there was any chance that the church would not be finished by January 1 , 2000. Mr. Phillips said he was about the 7,000th person to ask and their schedule was staying firm. Commissioner Beaty stated that as far as he was concerned, this issue had gone beyond ridiculous. They've all spent way too much time and city staff had spent way too much time on it and the residents. He hoped that if the commission grants this one, this would be the end of it. He would be in favor as amended. He thought they could tolerate it for three months. With all due respect to Commissioner Lopez, he indicated that the commission has heard 11 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 them say before that they want to comply, want to do this, want to be great, but it hasn't happened. Commissioner Finerty concurred with her fellow commissioners. It didn't matter to her whether it was adults or kids using the metal building. Chairperson Jonathan also concurred. He thought Monday through Wednesday use was fine. He was very much aware of the history that the church has had with the neighbors and it had been a constant source of disappointment as to the lack of effort and consideration and cooperation. He was not going to battle two and a half more months, but if this was before the commission for a one-year extension, it would be tough going from his perspective. His sincere hope was that for the next two and a half months that the church would put in a truly good faith effort to be a good neighbor its last few weeks there. Based on that, he would also concur. He asked if the commission was talking about Monday through Wednesday, 6:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. for adults only, teenager, or it didn't matter. Commissioner Beaty said the request was for adults only and he was in favor of that. Chairperson Jonathan asked for a motion to that effect. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Campbell, approving the findings as presented by staff. Motion carried 5-0. It was moved by Commissioner Beaty, seconded by Commissioner Campbell, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1951 , approving CUP 91-8 Amendment, subject to conditions as amended. Motion carried 5-0. Commissioner Beaty commented that if dust control wasn't taken care of and if the cones were not removed, he asked what was going to happen. Mr. Drell said it would be a violation and they could send Code Enforcement down there. He thought the dust would be controlled. Commissioner Beaty requested that the church follow through as they indicated. Mr. Drell noted that staff has cited Sunrise Company and other construction companies for lack of dust control and thought they could do the same in this case. 12 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 D. Case No. CUP 99-11 - ROBERT NEAL ROUZIER, M.D., INC./ PREVENTATIVE MEDICAL CLINICS OF THE DESERT, Applicant Request for approval of a conditional use permit to allow a 2,954 square foot medical office located at 77-564 Country Club Drive, Suite 320. Mr. Smith indicated that the property was in the industrial park at Country Club and Desert Park Drive. These were the 2 two-story buildings on the west side of the intersection. They were specifically talking about Building "B" which was the westerly most building. Building "B" was some 26,000 square feet. The request was to put a 2,900 square foot medical office in it. As commission would recall, in 1998 the city amended the parking code for medical offices requiring up to six spaces per 1 ,000 square feet of use and requiring a conditional use permit. Staff conducted a parking survey in this parking lot over the last week and found a vacancy of between 49.6 and 52.7% of the spaces. That represented 64-68 parking spaces on average. Staff spoke with the building management people and with this occupant the building would be 100% occupied. Staff was quite comfortable that parking was available to support this medical office use. Notwithstanding, staff was suggesting a condition number four which would limit the number of employees to four: one doctor and three staff members which would be consistent with the letter on file dated September 17, 1999. With that staff recommended approval, subject to conditions. He asked for any questions. Commissioner Campbell noted there was now a doctor and three staff. She asked how they would know if they were going to have any additional staff. Mr. Smith said they would technically need an amendment to this conditional use permit to expand the use. How would staff know? They would receive complaints from other tenants in all likelihood. Mr. Drell said that if there was a parking problem, then they would become aware and they would find out why. If there was no parking problem, then staff probably didn't care. If a problem results and it turns out that they have three doctors and a staff of ten and that was why there was a problem, then they would deal with it. Chairperson Jonathan opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. 13 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 MS. CAROLYN ROUZIER, 2052 North East Cerritos Drive in Palm Springs, and the Palm Desert address would be 77-564 Country Club. Commissioner Campbell asked how many offices the facility would have. Ms. Rouzier said it was one office with two exam rooms. It wasn't a surgical center. Commissioner Campbell asked how often appointments were schedules. Ms. Rouzier said it depended upon the complexity of the appointment. Anywhere from a simple 15 minute appointment to an hour for complex appointments. Commissioner Campbell asked if they would have two patients there. If they booked one for 15 minutes, they would make sure they were out of the parking lot before another one was taken. Ms. Rouzier said no, she was sure the next person would be in getting ready for the next appointment. But with four staff members and 18 parking spaces, even having three waiting shouldn't be a problem. Commissioner Campbell noted that there was also a dentist in that building also. Ms. Rouzier concurred and thought that he probably went through the same procedure to count parking places. Chairperson Jonathan asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the proposal. There was no one and the public hearing was closed. Commissioner Campbell asked Mr. Smith if, with a dentist located there, if he was there before the change was made. Mr. Smith said yes. Commissioner Campbell said then that they really didn't have any idea how many staff. Mr. Smith said that he knew there was ample parking there. Chairperson Jonathan said he knew the council liked to hear an explanation of the commission votes and he wanted to state that he was in general favor of 14 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 the application, but he would vote against it only because he thought a good committee chose to create a new parking standard for medical use and council chose appropriately to approve that and to establish and maintain a precedence and a pattern of granting exceptions to that standard was unwise and inappropriate. He was fully cognizant of staff's parking study and he believed and didn't question it's veracity, but he has seen parking studies used to manipulate and justify various positions, so he tended to discount them. His feeling was they should change the parking standard if they were going to be consistently granting exceptions, or they should abide by them. Only for that reason he was going to vote against the project. Commissioner Campbell stated that she would be doing the same thing. She wanted to abide by that ordinance also. No exceptions. Chairperson Jonathan asked if there was a motion for approval. There was no response. Chairperson Jonathan asked for a motion of denial. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Finerty, denying the project and directing staff to prepare a resolution of denial for adoption at the next meeting. Motion carried 5-0. The applicant spoke from the audience and said she didn't understand the action. Chairperson Jonathan informed Ms. Rouzier that staff could address her question in greater detail, but essentially the application at this point by the Planning Commission had been denied. She did have an opportunity to appeal the decision to the City Council. If she called the Planning Department tomorrow they could guide her through that process. Ms. Rouzier spoke again about the parking, and Chairperson Jonathan informed her that the public hearing was closed so the commission wouldn't be entertaining further testimony. He felt that staff could answer most of her questions and she had the opportunity to appeal the commission's decision to the City Council. Chairperson Jonathan informed commission that he would be abstaining from the next item on the agenda because he was a property owner near that project. He asked Vice Chairman Beaty to lead the commission in that matter. 15 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 E. Case No. PP 99-15 - ROBERT RICCIARDI for NICK CONTI, Applicant Request for approval of a Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact and a precise plan to construct a 10,000 square foot industrial building located at 42-710 Melanie Place. Mr. Alvarez noted that the site plan and elevations were on display. He noted that the location of the property was on Melanie Place. He pointed out the KESQ facility to the north, Cardiff Limousine, and to the east was CVWD's waste water treatment property. Mr. Alvarez indicated that the property was basically an infill industrial property consisting of a 10,000 square foot industrial building. There was a two-story element in the front portion at 26 feet high. The remainder of the project would be 22 feet high, one story, and would house the industrial warehouse area. The Architectural Review Commission granted preliminary approval at their September 14, 1999 meeting. The design of the project was a standard industrial building consisting of split face precision block and stucco finishes. In terms of , parking, the project would have 17 onsite parking spaces sufficient to meet the parking ordinance requirements of two per 1,000. The building had 8,500 square feet of usable space that takes into account the 15% reduction for non- usable space which in this case includes a portion of the mezzanine, which was used for storage only, portions of the stairwell, restrooms and utility areas. Staff recommended approval of the project, subject to the conditions. Commissioner Campbell asked if Mr. Alvarez knew what the building would be used for. Mr. Alvarez said the applicant indicated that it would be used for a counter top manufacturer and installer. Vice Chairperson Beaty opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. ROBERT RICCIARDI, 75-090 St. Charles Place, Suite A, Palm Desert, stated that he was in agreement with the staff report and they were finishing up on the working drawing so that they could submit plans right away to get moving on the project. Commissioner Campbell noted that the Architectural Review Committee approved the building but they had some questions regarding the trees and landscaping. 16 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 Mr. Ricciardi said they wanted bigger plant material. He said they would be glad to provide it. That was no problem. Commissioner Campbell said they wanted trees in the parking lots and not oleanders. Mr. Ricciardi said they wouldn't be oleanders. Vice Chairperson Beaty 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 Beaty asked for commission comments. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Lopez, seconded by Commissioner Finerty, approving the findings as presented by staff. Motion carried 4-0-1 (Chairperson Jonathan abstained). It was moved by Commissioner Lopez, seconded by Commissioner Finerty, '�► adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1952, approving PP 99-15, subject to conditions. Motion carried 4-0-1 (Chairperson Jonathan abstained). Vice Chairperson Beaty turned the meeting back over to Chairperson Jonathan. F. Case No. PP 99-13 - BRIAN MCNABB for HOMA, LLC, Applicant Request for approval of a Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact and a precise plan of design to construct a 3,000 square foot Jiffy Lube facility on the west side of Washington Street, 165 feet north of Avenue of the States. Mr. Alvarez said the proposal was for a 3,000 square foot Jiffy Lube facility located in the existing Albertson's/SavOn shopping center. The property fronted on Washington Street just north of Avenue of the States. This was one of three remaining commercial pads within the shopping center which was originally approved under the County's jurisdiction. By way of background, he pointed out that the property was at the southeast corner of the project. He pointed out SavOn, Albertson's and the bank. The pad itself was 21 ,500 square feet and was currently vacant and pregraded. It has 26 onsite parking 17 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 spaces. This proposal originally came to ARC on August 24. At that point it was denied and based on its original design, being a blank industrial type building with split face walls, exposed overhead doors to Washington and to the shopping center. As a result of that denial, the applicant submitted revised plans which fully incorporated design elements and details of the shopping center which were consistent with the city's architectural design standards. Site planning issues had also been resolved in terms of screening the overhead doors that service the bays. The project would gain access from Washington .Street. Vehicles would then travel west and swing around into the bays. There was an alternate entrance from within the shopping center also. In terms of architectural compatibility, design standards to meet the city's requirements, the project as shown on the rendering fully complied with and met the expectations of design quality for the City of Palm Desert. The Architectural Review Commission voted to grant preliminary approval at its September 14 meeting. The building itself was 17'4" high with a 25' tower element. As seen in the rendering, the architecture had been fully sensitive to the function of the property, which was a service facility providing oil changes to vehicles. No vehicles would be stored onsite over night. Customers would wait onsite while their vehicles were being serviced. In terms of parking, a parking analysis of the entire shopping center was done. This pad was part of the existing Albertson's shopping center and shared parking and easement rights. Based on the numbers and square footages that were also included in the commission packets on the site plans, the project as a whole had a 5.5 parking spaces per 1 ,000 square feet of use ratio. This was consistent with the regional commercial parking requirement. In terms of CEQA, staff was recommending that commission approve a Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact and approval of the project as it meets all the Zoning Ordinance requirements. Chairperson Jonathan asked for some detail about how the bays were screened from Washington Street. Mr. Alvarez pointed out the east elevation, the tower element would provide some opportunity for views into the store to the waiting area. The portions of architecture directly to the south and portions of the north and east corners were completely solid architectural elements. They included stucco finishes to match the existing architecture and solid ceramic detailing. In terms of screening the overhead doors, there were solid architectural features in both the north and east sections which faced Washington. 18 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 r..r Chairperson Jonathan opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. BRIAN McNABB, BSD Enterprises, 8842 Saturn Street in Los Angeles, stated that he was speaking on behalf of the applicant. The applicant was present, the owner, as well as the business owner and residents of the area who were here if commission would like them to address their feelings for this project. He said they supported the staff report and had reviewed the conditions and were satisfied with them. He said he just wanted the commission to know, and they probably didn't hear it very often, but it was a great pleasure working with the staff and the person who answered the phone for the planning staff. Chairperson Jonathan said they do hear it quite often but it was nevertheless appreciated. He thanked Mr. McNabb for saying that. Chairperson Jonathan asked if Mr. McNabb was okay with the Architectural Review Commission's required changes. r.. Mr. McNabb said they have actually modified the site plan and the one before the commission complied with it. Commissioner Lopez asked if they required a franchise to operate Jiffy Lube's since it was a national organization. Mr. McNabb confirmed that it was a national organization and would be a franchise. Commissioner Lopez asked if there were guidelines as to the storage of vehicles overnight and things along that line that were brought up a little earlier. If there was some type of rules and regulations they would operate under. Mr. McNabb said there were two parts of that. One was that, Jiffy Lube, as part of their rules, didn't allow the franchisee to store the vehicles. Two, there was a property manager that was on the site most of the day and if there was fall down on the part of the franchisee, the property manager would be after them. 19 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 Chairperson Jonathan asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the proposal. MR. DICK BAXLEY, 38-395 Nasturtium in Palm Desert, stated that he was speaking on behalf of the applicant and hoped that the commission would approve the project. Chairperson Jonathan closed the public hearing and asked for commission comments. Commissioner Campbell stated that it was a beautiful building and was a great location for it. She moved for approval. Commissioner Beaty felt it was too nice to be a Jiffy Lube. He seconded the motion. Chairperson Jonathan said he would like to add his compliments to the Architectural Review Commission that he thought might have had a hand in the beautiful design. He hoped they would see it soon and the commission appreciated their good efforts. Commissioner Campbell said they were going to want all of them to look like this. Mr. Drell said it was the first one they've ever approved in the city. There was once one proposed behind the Toy's R Us building that ended up getting denied. Chairperson Jonathan asked if there was further discussion. Commissioner Finerty thought it was a beautiful building, but she felt that Jiffy Lube or a similar facility could be more appropriately placed in the service industrial zone and would recommend west of Select Properties at Country Club and Washington. Jiffy Lube or another similar organization in her opinion was not the vision of the city; she thought it was best suited in a center where there were grocery stores and drug stores. She would be voting against it. Chairperson Jonathan called for the vote. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Beaty, approving the findings as presented by staff. Motion carried 4-1 (Commissioner Finerty voted no). 20 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Beaty, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 1953, approving PP 99-13, subject to conditions. Motion carried 4-1 (Commissioner Finerty voted no). IX. MISCELLANEOUS A. REQUEST FOR DETERMINATION OF GENERAL PLAN CONFORMITY FOR STREET RIGHT-OF-WAY AND PUBLIC SERVICE EASEMENT ABANDONMENT FOR DESERT COUNTRY CIRCLE AND PALMA VISTA UNIT NO. 1 Mr. Drell noted that the commission had a report from the City Engineer. He said that typically the city received right-of-ways from property owners for specific purposes. The City Engineer had concluded that these were no longer necessary and were recommending that they be abandoned back to the original property owner. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Lopez, seconded by Commissioner Campbell, determining that the subject street right-of-way and public service easement abandonment is in conformity with the Palm Desert General Plan. Motion carried 5-0. X. COMMITTEE MEETING UPDATES A. ART IN PUBLIC PLACES - (No meeting) B. CIVIC CENTER STEERING COMMITTEE - (No meeting) C. DESERT WILLOW COMMITTEE - (October 19, 1999) Commissioner Finerty said there was good news to report. They had a draft agreement for a potential four star hotel. Potential operators might be Four Seasons or Regent. They were looking at about 375 rooms. If this deal should fall through, although this company recently sold the Loew's in Santa Monica and another hotel in Boca Raton, but if it did fall through, Hilton, who recently bought out Proemus, was ready to step in. It would be located to the east of the clubhouse. Both companies were interested in reserving the right for the other parcel 21 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 19, 1999 west of the clubhouse. Commissioner Lopez asked if it was the land on Portola. Mr. Drell said no, there were two properties directly on either side of the clubhouse in the interior. The first one was what we used to call the conference center site. They were requesting an a five-year option on the second site. There would probably be some provisions that given certain occupancy rates, they would have to execute that option or lose it. If they were doing great, they would be encouraged to proceed with the second one. Commissioner Finerty said they were looking to close escrow by June of 2000. Commissioner Campbell asked what the opening date of the clubhouse was. Commissioner Finerty said it was January 15, 2000. D. PROJECT AREA 4 COMMITTEE - (October 18, 1999) Commissioner Finerty informed commission that the meeting was basically informational. The walls were progressing nicely down Hovley Lane. It was much appreciated by all of the people in the surrounding area. Washington was being widened. Work began yesterday. They had a lot of work to do in p short amount of time and they were asking everyone to stay off of Washington so they could get this work accomplished. There would be six lanes. Three in each direction with right and left turn lanes in each of the four quadrants. It should be great and hoped they would get it done in time for the tennis tournament. It went from 1-10 to Highway 1 1 1 . E. PALM DESERT/RANCHO MIRAGE MONTEREY AVENUE CORRIDOR PLANNING WORK GROUP - (No meeting) F. ZONING ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE - (No meeting) XI. COMMENTS Commissioner Lopez asked if there were any plans to do a wall along Fred Waring similar to Hovley Lane for the homes on the north side. Commissioner Finerty stated that because most of the walls along Fred Waring were not in disrepair as they were on Hovley, the plan was to install a sidewalk and then a retaining wall where they would then have landscaping that would hide the variety of walls they had. It would be made to look much better and she thought they were anticipating going out to bid fairly soon on that. 22 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION ' OCTOBER 19, 1999 Taw Commissioner Lopez said it was really remarkable how nice that wall was. Commissioner Finerty concurred and noted that it only took four years. XII. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Beaty, adjourning the meeting by minute motion. Motion carried 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 p.m. PHIL P DRELL, ecre ary ATTEST: Qr,� SABBY JONATHA , Chairperson `.. Palm Desert Plannin Commission Am r 23