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Home My WebLink About0415 �'�'�� MINUTES ... - PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION -. , TUESDAY - APRIL 15, 2003 � * �. * � �. * �. .� �. * � � � � � � �. * .� �. �. � � � � � .� � � � * .� * � * .� � � .� * I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Campbeil called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Sonia Campbell, Chairperson Sabby Jonathan, Vice Chairperson Cindy Finerty Jim Lopez Members Absent: Dave Tschopp ,�r, Staff Present: Phil Drell, Director of Community Development Bob Hargreaves, City Attomey Tony Bagato, Planning Technician Mark Diercks, Transportation Engineer Tonya Monroe, Administrative Secretary III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Finerty led in the pledge of allegiance. IV. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Consideration of the April 1 , 2003 meeting minutes. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Finerty, seconded by Commissioner Lopez, approving the April 1 , 2003 as submitted. Motion carried 4-0. V. SUMMARY OF COUNCIL ACTION Mr. Drell summarized pertinent April 10, 2003 City Council actions. �.. MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � � ..� VI. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. VII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Case No. PMW 03-10 - EL PASEO PROPERTIES LIMITED PARTNERSHIP, Applicant Request for approval of a parcel map waiver to merge Lots 1 and 2 of Parcel Map 4665, the Garden on EI Paseo. B. Case No. PP/CUP 01-23 and DA 02-01 - GET LEGACY PARTNERS, LLC, Applicant Request for approval of a first one-year time extension for a 12-unit senior citizen apartment project in the R-2, S.O. ° zone on the south side of Santa Rosa Way east of San � Pascual Avenue, 73-81 1 Santa Rosa Way. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Finerty, seconded by Commissioner Lopez, approving the Consent Calendar by minute motion. Motion carried 4-0. VIII. PUBLIC HEARINGS Anyone who challenges any hearing matter in court may be limited to raising only those issues he, she or someone else raised at the public hearing described herein, or in written correspondence delivered to the Planning Commission at, or prior to, the public hearing. A. Case No. PP 03-02 - METROPLEX ONE, Applicant Request for approval of a Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact and a precise plan of design for a 29,950 square foot office/industrial building located on the ' north side of Technology Drive. 2 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � Mr. Bagato explained that in April of 1997, City Council approved Development Agreement No. 97-2, for 270 +\- acres in the vicinity of Cook Street and Gerald Ford. The development plan established eight planning areas. The areas consisted of commercial, industrial and some residential with conditional use permits. The subject property is located in Planning Area 6. The land use emphasis in this area was for industrial / business park and encouraged industrial use along with comrnercial offices and some residential with approval of a conditional use permit. The vacant property was identified as Lots 3 and 4 of Parcel Map 30042 and totaled 88,750 square feet and was roughly located 950 feet north of Gerald Ford and about 1 ,500 feet east ot Portola Drive. Mr. Bagato stated that the precise plan would allow the construction of a single story 29,950 square foot office / industrial building and 74-space parking lot. The building would have 22,620 square feet of office / industrial and 7,120 square feet of general office. The building `,., architecture was described as contemporary. It was designed out of concrete tilt-up. It would be painted four different shades of gray to give it some architectural va�iation. Each office entrance would be identified with concrete pop-outs that were painted in a rustic red color. Mr. Bagato distributed the sample board and said that each office entrance was individually identified with this concrete-designed pop-out. The precise plan of design complied with all the development standards for Planning Area 6 and the Planned Industrial zone. On March 1 1 , 2003, Architectural Review unanimously endorsed the project, granting it preliminary approval. For the purposes of CEQA, Mr. Bagato said staff was recommending approval of a Negative Declaration of Environmental Impact. The project would not have any significant effect on the environment. Staff's recommendation was that Planning Commission adopt the resolution approving the precise plan and the Negative Declaration, subject to conditions. `` 3 MINUTES � PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � � � Commissioner Jonathan asked if, in the event of a rnoratorium, this would be in the effected area. Mr. Bagato said no, because this area has an existing development and moratoriums didn't affect a development agreement. Commissioner Jonathan asked if geographically this property was in the effected area. Mr. Drell indicated that it was in the general effected area, but because of the Wonder Palms development agreement, it accounted for a substantial portion of it. Therefore, anything within the Wonder Palms agreement was exempted from the moratorium. Commissioner Jonathan said he understood that and his question was if they had defined the boundaries of the effected areas in the event of a moratorium and what they were. Mr. Drell said yes, it was the section or partial section between Frank Sinatra, Gerald Ford, Portola and Cook Street with the exception of an area that was part of the Wonder Palms development agreement. He said it was approximately half of the section north of Gerald Ford between Monterey and Portola. That was about all the ° substantial vacant area left. He said there were some approved tentative maps up against the freeway for industrial development and that land use was consistent with all the contemplated uses in the General Plan. More important, the developer was proceeding to put in Dinah Shore which they have an agreement for them to extend Portola to meet and they didn't want to slow that down. So those were basically the two mixed use residential and commercial neighborhoods as envisioned by the General Plan. Chairperson Campbell o�ened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. PHILIP SMITH, the Principal of the Art Office responsible for the design of this project, 83-810 Vendejo Circle #101 in Indio, addressed the commission. He asked if there were any questions. Commissioner Lopez asked if there were really four shades of gray. Mr. Smith said yes. 4 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 r.. Chairperson Campbell stated that she liked the cut outs. Sometimes with buildings like this it was hard to distinguish the location of the doors and the cut outs provided a definition for the entrance. Chairperson Campbell asked if there was any testimony in FAVOR or OPPOSITION. There was none and the public hearing was closed. Commissioner Finerty thought it was the appropriate area for this type of development and moved for approval. Commissioner Jonathan concurred. He thought the applicant had done his homework. ARC was persuaded with the design. He also found the design attractive and the use appropriate for the location. Commissioner Jonathan seconded the motion. Commissioner Lopez concurred. Being the first development on the block, he hoped this project would set a good example for the area. �,,., Chairperson Campbell also concurred. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Finerty, seconded by Commissioner Jonathan, approving the findings as presented by staff. Motion carried 4- 0. It was moved by Commissioner Finerty, seconded by Commissioner Jonathan, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 2200, approving PP 03-02, subject to conditions. Motion carried 4-0. B. Case No. CUP 03-04 - BIGHORN DEVELOPMENT, LLC, Applicant Request for approval of a conditional use permit to allow Bighorn Development to operate an abandoned public utility well site for private water irrigation located at 47-600 Chia Drive. � 5 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 Mr. Bagato noted that on January 9, 2003, the City Council approved Ordinance 1030 amending Chapter 25.56 of the Zoning Ordinance. That ordinance amendment allowed abandoned public utility well sites to be converted into private water export irrigation systems, subject to a conditional use permit. Bighorn Development was before the commission tonight with two applications to use these well sites which they purchased approximately two years ago. He stated that this property was initially developed for potable water by CVWD and the well was abandoned due to poor water quality because of the high nitrate levels and the water became non drinkable. It was indicated by the applicant that in 1990 on this site a predecessor in interest to Bighorn purchased the site from CVWD and drilled a second well as a source of irrigation water. Under this project description, Mr. Bagato said the well conversion involved the rehabilitation of two existing well casings and insulation of two pumps, motors and electrical control systems capable of delivering the irrigation water to the golf courses. The motor and pump assemblies were located within the sealed, sound proof, acoustically engineered and designed enclosure. Using the map on display, Mr. Bagato pointed out the locations of both well sites. Mr. Bagato explained that these installations were done at the applicant's own risk and the improvements were already physically there. He had some photos that were included in the commission packets which showed the view from the adjacent neighbors. As part of the improvements, the applicant installed a tan slump stone six-foot high wall, as well as some perimeter landscaping and some decorative gates. The new landscaping was put in front of the property and within the site to try and enhance the property. Because all these improvements were done before hand, he noted that the Planning Commission could add other improvements, if necessary, to better address some of the visual issues. He noted that the applicant worked with the adjacent neighbors on the design of the acoustical structures to be located around landscaping areas to provide the best screening possible. 6 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING_COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 q.. On March 1 1 , 2003, the Architectural Commission reviewed the improvements and granted preliminary approval. Mr. Bagato said that the major issues with the site came down to some of the concerns for water conservation and the use for the gene�al public along with Bighorn, as well as noise. The development and maintenance of golf courses along the southern edge of the city's property required a signiticant amount of water irrigation and due to some of the water that was no longer on those private development sites, they have had to go oui and research methods for providing new water. That included developing new wells that would use potable ground water which the general public needs, or to go out and purchase some of these abandoned CVWD sites that were no longer potable due to the high nitrate levels. He noted that there was a letter attached to the staff report from CVWD that actually endorsed the use of these irrigation / non-drinkable well sites because it was identified that the nitrates could be removed by being used on the turf grass system and that Bighorn wouldn't have to add � nitrates for fertilizer for their golf courses and it would enhance the overall water quality of these wells. CVWD also indicated that the long- term effects would possibly reduce the amount of, postpone or possibly prevent any expensive nitrate removal facilities and that some day these water well sites might become drinkable again. As mentioned, the main concern with this use from staff's standpoint was from noise. The applicant provided an acoustical study which was included in the packets. There were three recommendations for design of the pump enclosures. The applicant chose to construct Alternative 3 which was referred to as the acoustical panel building because it had the most superior construction for noise alleviation. According to the sound study, it indicated that the noise level was measured at 30.5 db's at the adjacent neighbors. That was 14.5 db's lower than the city's nighttime standard. In conclusion, Mr. Bagato stated that the use of the abandoned CVWD well sites for private water export was an excellent solution for providing golf course irrigation and to contribute to water conservation for the general public. The water was currently non potable and these private +...► 7 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 ; � � developments using them might some day bring them back to drinkable water quality. With the design of the acoustical structures, the well site's ambient noise level was well below the nighttime standard by 14.5 db's. For purposes of CEQA, Mr. Bagato said this was a Class 1 categorical exemption and recommended approval of the conditional use permit, subject to the conditions proposed and any others the commission felt were necessary. Mr. Bagato noted that today staff received a letter in opposition to the use basically because it was being operated before hand, but they were addressing the problem now. He asked for any questions. Commissioner Jonathan asked if there were specific development standards for well sites other than the noise level requirements. He was talking specifically about appearance. Mr. Bagato stated that from the Architectural Review standpoint, they looked at it and most of the ; improvements for the site were done as any typical property owner could � provide such as a block wall and landscaping which were over the "� counter permits. Regarding the structures themselves, a property owner could do a detached structure or within the main setback they could build a structure. ARC looked at the structures and thought the design was good. Commissioner Jonathan said he understood ARC approved it, but he wanted to know if there were specific standards. For example, as visible in picture H, the applicant used corrugated steel as a roofing shield for one of the pump sites. Mr. Drell said it was shading some electrical panel equipment. He stated the City's design review was purely subjective. They could add and judge anything on its merits and if they didn't like it, they could have them do something else. Commissioner �opez noted that it was indicated there was a six-foot wall around the building and when he was out there, the wall on one side was eight feet high. He asked if there were guidelines that allowed eight feet or if it was something that existed. He asked what kind of guidelines they had for that. Mr. Bagato said it would depend on where the grade change 5 occurred. He asked if it was eight feet from the park side. Commissioner � 8 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 7 5. 2003 � Lopez said it was eight feet from the park on the southeast. Mr. Bagato said walls above six feet have been approved though Architectural Review. Typically, unless there was a grade change, walls were six feet. Mr. Drell said this was a question they could ask the applicant. At one point in time blocks were added to the wall. When all the aesthetic remediation was completed, those blocks were supposed to be removed. He asked if they had been removed. Mr. Greg Babbington of Bighorn spoke from the audience and said ihey were removed. Mr. Drell said there were different grade changes and probably at that point they were sloping down. There was a dilemma between having a screen and noise barrier and when the wall became an oppressive aesthetic problem. Commissioner Lopez asked if the pumps were currently in use. Mr. Drell said yes. He said he wanted to explain a little bit about the process. """ CVWD had a practice of selling the abandoned well sites. This particular one had been in operation for Bighorn for ten years. That situation was going along without any particular notice by anyone. He noted there was another well site up at Ironwood Park that was developed pursuant to an easement for the well site retained by Ironwood Country Club when they gave the City the park. Then Ironwood Country Club sold that easement to Bighorn and that was on the south side of the park. That was also being used by Bighorn to irrigate their golf course. That well failed. It went dry. Probably because of that well going dry, there was some increased pumping on the north side. He thought that increased pumping was noted by the residents adjacent to that well site. That started this whole chain of events. They looked at the Zoning Ordinance to see if there were any standards for this activity and if there were any regulations at all of this activity. The answer was no. The Zoning Ordinance was silent. There was identification of utilities, but not this sort of quasi-private water system. � 9 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 In that this water was necessary to keep the golf course alive or they would somehow have to reconnect and use potable water, the first goal was to solve the immediate problem of the impacted neighbor, which was noise and when Bighorn tried to solve the noise problem with some rather temporary structures, aesthetics. The first goal was to try to get a handle on how to solve that immediate problem. They identified nine wells owned by CVWD in south Palm Desert that are experiencing this nitrate problem. They knew that the Reserve was looking for wells and they knew that the Crest (now called Stone Eagle) was going to be looking for wells. Typically when a golf course is approved anywhere else in the valley, they drill their own well and irrigate themselves with their well on their own property. He said the Civic Center Park has its own well. Desert Willow has its own wells for irrigation, except for the reclaimed water. The problem was that all of our southern golf courses had no water underneath them. So they either had to use potable water out of the municipal system which comes from very deep wells in the center of the valley, or they could use these contaminated wells. Knowing that they were going to be dealing with this problem, they decided to create a process to evaluate them and Bighorn was caught in the middle of it. They had wells they were relying on and that they had already purchased from CVWD. So staff's instruction was to solve the problem and they didn't want to wait because there were neighbors that were quite unhappy about the existing condition. So they solved the existing condition and went ahead and processed a zoning ordinance � amendment creating this process. In essence, after the fact, they were now reviewing and providing the conditions for the operation of these we(Is. In the future they would be getting applications before the work was done and before they were operating. In discussions with Bighorn, staff made it clear to them, and they submitted a letter of agreement to the City, that any work they would do on these properties to solve the immediate problems were in essence at their own risk. There were no guarantees that those were the only requirements that would be put on them as part of this process, but they chose to proceed and do improvements (build walls, do landscaping, 10 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 r.. install acoustical structures) with the hope or expectation that they would be sufficient, but knowing that as part of this process additional conditions could be applied. Commissioner Jonathan asked for clarification. Mr. Drell had said that the water was needed to keep the golf course alive. He understood that, however, this water was a conservation option to what they are currently doing. Mr. Drell stated that they have been pumping out of these wells since 1990. They had been pumping from these wells from the beginning; from the very inception of Bighorn. Commissioner Jonathan asked if that was part of the approval they received and if this was part of their use. He didn't remember it being part of it. Mr. Drell thought there was an assumption that they could inherit the CVWD wells. They were pumping and instead of pumping into the municipal system, they were going to pump in their own system. He thought there was an assumption that these things were kind of grandfathered as a use based upon CVWD's use of them. On closer �"' examination of the ordinance, they thought it was a debatable point. The use was the same, but what they might tolerate for a public good, a water system, might require different standards for a private water company serving a purely private development. Palm Desert's standards for appearance, landscaping, noise and everything that is tolerated as a public good since everyone was drinking that water might be different since it was now a less than public export business for a specific project and our standards shoutd be different. Commissioner Jonathan asked if under the revised ordinance if an applicant intends to use an offsite well it would be part of the application and approval process. Mr. Drell said they wouldn't be able to use it until they get approval. Ideally they should fold it into their project. In fact, with Stone Eagle (formerly the Crest) they identified in general that they were going to do this and it was discussed and analyzed as part of the EIR in terms of the water conservation. They did not identify the specific site and they would have to come back when they did identify that site. Chairperson Campbell asked for confirmation that the acoustics that were now on the well were a lot better than when the Water District had them � 11 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 before. Mr. Drell said that was correct. Chairperson Campbell asked when the acoustical building was built by Bighorn. Mr. Drell said they were just installed within the last two months. Before that the�e was no acoustical shielding whatsoever. Based on what he was hearing from the neighbor, the level of pumping was less intensive as Bighorn was operating it prior to 1999 or 2000. They were using two wells. When they had to go to one well, it seemed there was a connection between that other well failing and the level of noise increasing at the remaining functioning well site. But his understanding was that now with the acoustical structure, while it was never measured before, it was very likely that it was quieter tF�an when it was being operated by CVWD. Commissioner Jonathan noticed that in the conditions of approval there were a variety of maintenance requirements. As Mr. Drell mentioned, one of the well sites was a dry well now. He asked if staff considered a condition of approval that would require the applicant to remove and restore a we!! site that goes dry and is no longer usable as opposed to leaving everything there, like the other site. Mr. Drell said they didn't. ' Conceivably that could be a condition on this well site. Commissioner Jonathan noted that it was a long-term planning issue because these wells do go dry and then they were stuck with a structure that serves no purpose. Mr. Drell said that people hoped that there would be more rain and then maybe these wells would become productive again. He said that was something they could consider and ask the applicant about. Part of their expectation was some sort of climate change which might restore that well to usefulness. The question was what time frarne that would be and at what point in time they would make the decision to force it to be abandoned. He wasn't sure. Commissioner Jonathan agreed. His concern was that with typical real estate when it was abandoned, there was still value and someone eventually had the incentive to improve it so it wouldn't stay an eyesore forever, although sometimes it seemed that way. Whereas with an abandoned well site, particularly in a park area, it had no market value so there were disincentives to improve it after it was no longer usable or productive. Mr. Drell thought that was a good point. That would be a choice they would have to make. The City was requiring them to 12 MlNUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 +... maintain the landscaping in perpetuity. This particular well site was a discreet parcel which they own. He believed it was zoned Park. (Several people in the audience said it was R-1 .) Mr. Drell said with R-1 zoning if the property was abandoned, technically it could be developed with a house. The other site that was abandoned was just an easement within the park. That one if it was abandoned would just revert to vacant ground. The other could have a house built on it. He said he wasn't sure if the neighbor would rather have it stay empty or to have a house behind him. That was a question they might ask. Again, that was a condition they could consider. That if after some certain period of time if it was no Ionger used as a well, if it was abandoned, then the use was in essence after some period of time forfeited and it had to be restored to some alternate condition. Commissioner Lopez asked if the care of the landscaping was only for the property in the front wall to the curb or if it was around the entire block wall. Mr. Drell said it was around the entire block wall. All the landscaping they installed, the landscaping within the enclosure itself, to �""" specifically screen the acoustical structures, everything they installed per the plan was on their water / irrigation system and it was their obligation to maintain it. Commissioner Lopez noted that the property line of the well site was the wall. Mr. Drell said that was correct. Commissioner Lopez said that anything several feet in would be part of the park. Mr. Drell said that was correct. The City had given them permission to do maintenance on the plants they install in the park. Commissioner Lopez asked if the front of the wall to the curb was the applicant's property and they needed to maintain it, landscape it, etc. Mr. Drell said that was correct. Chairperson Campbell opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the commission. MR. GREG BABBINGTON, a representative of Bighorn Development, �LC, 6231 Hop Patch Spring Road in Mountain Center, addressed the commission. He asked if there were any questions. �.. 13 MINUTES � PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 Chairperson Campbell asked Mr. Babbington to comment on the wall. Mr. Babbington stated that early in the process of rehabilitating the existing wells on the Chia site, the noise from those unprotected well motors or well heads was a concern of the resident to the north. They were called to address that noise issue. They made � the resident to the north aware that they were in the process of improving wells that had basically too many miles on them. The process that caused the change in the noise levels that they believed they recognized was all the additional construction related to the rehabilitation of those two wells. What was originally in place on that site back in 1989 or 1990, was the one operational well that actually fed the Mountains course at the Bighorn development in south Palm Desert and two booster pump motors, making a total of three motors on that site. Two of them were 150 horse power and one was 250 horse power, all of which were unshielded at the time. He said they made a considerable noise all on their own. For the redevelopment plan they took the guidance of consultants, their consulting engineer, well contractor, etc. They got a new design that removed the booster pumps completely and increased the horse power of the original well to 400. That was part of the rehabilitation design. That rehabilitation design in effect negated the need for the boosting capability of the extra pump motors in a shallow well system, rather than a deep well system, and they just boosted the water the well produced into the pipeline and delivered it to the Mountains project. Mr. Babbington said because of the failure of what they called the Canyon's well site at the south edge of Ironwood Park, they also asked their consultants to give them some ideas of how they might provide a better future for the existing Mountains development and the new Canyon's at Bighorn development which the south well site was originally built to provide irrigation water for. They suggested they entertain the rehabilitation of the existing Coachella Valley Water District's well that was on the site. By 14 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 � adding that to the delivery pipeline, they could insure themselves of a relatively accurate and pretty good future of water delivery for the Mountain's site, which it was particularly designed and built for. He said they took that recommendation and rehabilitated the old original well by removing debris and pumping it out and doing the same to the old CVWD well and adding a new pump and motor to that and introducing it to the delivery pipeline. The ultimate result was the reduction of one large horse power electrical motor unshielded to the atmosphere that was providing some noise. Regarding the height of the wall, Mr. Babbington said that it was raised as a temporary noise shield at the request of the resident to the north. They had dialogue with the resident and agreed that it might be something they could do to help the noise condition in the interim even though they intended fully to continue through with the mitigation of the noise this site produced. � Commissioner Jonathan asked about the current height wall. Mr. Babbington thought it was within the city standard at 6'8". He stated that he would be happy to check that, but believed that the three courses were removed to bring the wall back into city standards. Commissioner Jonathan asked if the well was a necessity for Bighorn or if it represented an option to other alternatives that Bighorn has for its water supply. Mr. Babbington said that after all the research their consulting team gave to them, they believed it was a necessity. The reason it was a necessity was because of the mountainous terrain of south Palm Desert. Onsite irrigation wells were buildable, but not feasible. They didn't deliver water and didn't reach an aquifer that could provide the type of gallons per minute that their landscape palette required. �.. 15 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 Commissioner Jonathan asked if the well site to the south, the Canyons well site, was just temporarily ineffective or if it had been abandoned. Mr. Babbington said that they wanted to keep the well site in its current condition at this time. They believed that weather patterns could change and based on recommendations from their consulting team, if weather patterns were to return to a somewhat normal (they have had a four to six year drought in Southern California) that recharge basin might replenish and that site might become a viable delivery system for irrigation to both the Canyons and the Mountains. Commissioner Jonathan noted that Mr. Babbington was saying that there's a potential that it could be serviceable in the future. Mr. Babbington said that was correct. Commissioner Jonathan asked if there was a way in the industry to determine a point at which a well was no longer functional. Mr. Babbington said not that he was aware of. He believed it fell back on what mother nature or that aquifer/specific underground reservoir could produce or could recover. They believed that some day it could recover. Commissioner Jonathan explained that he didn't mean that one, he meant if in general there was an industry standard that said when a well was dry for five years it is considered nonfunctional. Mr. Babbington said he wasn't aware of one. Commissioner Lopez asked what the corrugated roof was covering. Mr. Babbington said it was a shade structure for the electrical controls that automated the well motors. Inside those cabinets below that structure was a relatively sophisticated amount of electronic components that basically communicated with their control room at the site, the Bighorn property, and that automation 16 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 �.. was all set up to automatically run those wells when the reservoirs on-site indicated that they needed replenishing. He noted it was not an attractive roof system and they would entertain some other type of roofing, shade structure or configuration. In the hot summer months in the valley, that electronic gear didn't live very happily in the heat and just that small covering, that little bit of shade with the air gap between the roof and the top of the cabinet provided enough of a cooling effect to keep that electrical gear operating properly. Commissioner Jonathan asked why on that well site everything protruded from the ground so high, but on ihe other well site most, if noi all of it, had been relatively undergrounded. Mr. Babbington thought it must be in the design of the components of the welfhead. He said he personally wondered that himself and what the difference was and he believed it was the �.. configuration of the equipment that was designed for them. Commissioner Jonathan asked if it was an option to have the well site on north Chia designed with the same configuration that exists on the south well site which resulted in a low to the ground configu�ation. Mr. Babbington said that the old configuration of the south wel( site was not different from what they have on the north well site. It was an industry standard foundation, motor mount base and wellhead. Not unlike the kind that the Coachella Valley Water District used all over the valley. It was typical to the industry. Commissioner Jonathan said that if he was hearing Mr. Babbington right, the south well site was low to the ground and that was a possible option for the north well site. Mr. Babbington clarified that what he was saying was that it was the same configuration. Commissioner Jonathan pointed out that the south well site couldn't be seen over the wall and the wall was less than 6'8". � 17 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 Mr. Babbington said that the precise grading plan for the newer site, which was the one to the south, may have allowed for additional screening in that the interior grading of that site may have been or could be lower by design which gave them a lower profile of the wellhead. But the wellhead itself was typical throughout the industry. It would not be something they could economically alter at the northern site without some significant interior grading. The grading that was done on the northern site was something that was kind of an "as is" condition when Bighorn acquired it back in the late 1980's. He thought the southern site by design probably considered the elevation of the wellhead and the precise grading plan was thus designed to screen it better. Chairperson Campbell asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR of the application. She noted that she had a request to speak card before her from Mr. Beauvais. She asked him to address the commission. MR. JERRY BEAUVAIS, 74-041 San Marino Circle, addressed the commission. He stated that he could appreciate that they had to deal with the technicalities involved in what was going on here and while he himself might not have a grasp of technicalities, he did know there were two issues that he heard were of extreme importance. The one was that the nitrates in our aquifer are toxic and he wouldn't say they are carcinogenic, but he was guessing that was probably the case. His thoughts on the aquifer were that it is an interconnected system underneath our valley. One way or another he had to think that all of this runoff went into this big underwater lake and it seemed to him there was a chance now to leech these toxic agents out of this well, thereby creating a possible future situation where our aquifer wasn't going to be contaminated by this contaminated well. He admitted that he didn't now that this well connected to the aquifer as the gentleman stated, or was in any way connected to � the large aquifer, but it made sense to him in the scheme of nature 18 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � that there would be a connection. So here was a chance to get rid of a toxic substance that is in our water system. He said the other point was very simple and obvious to everybody. They have a chance to do something about the fact that here is a golf course that isn't going to go away. It needed to be watered. They could water it with toxic water, with nitrates that are required to make grass green. Rather than using potable water which people need, they could use this poison water. The grass would love it. The Colorado River is running out of water. Anybody that reads the newspaper knew that Southern California was running out of water. But it wasn't running out of people. People were moving there all the time. To him those were the two big issues. We have poison in our aquifer and an extreme shortage of water. He thought if the gentleman could work out all of the issues to the satisfaction of the council as far as noise abatement, °i" attractiveness, etc., it seemed clear that these were two really important issues to consider. He thanked them for their time. Chairperson Campbell asked if anyone wished to speak in OPPOSITION to the proposal. MR. CHARLES GARBARINI, 73-221 Haystack Road in Palm Desert, addressed the commission. He said he found it hard to believe he was standing there on April 15 for a conditional use permit that was for something that has been running at the well site for over a year and a half. He thought it was like putting the cart before the horse. This should have been taken care of prior to any work being done with anything with regard to the pump site. When they moved to the property in 1996, there was a single well that pumped eight to ten hours a day. It was quiet at night and never bothered anyone except for a little air that expelled from the system, even though the motors were exposed to the atmosphere. They dealt with it, they knew it was there when they moved in, and they accepted the fact. There was no disclosure in the policy � 19 MINUTES � PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � when they purchased the property that anything would ever be built on this site. The park was owned by the City and nothing could be built there. They knew this and moved there. It was an ideal spot. Everything was fine until August of 2001 and the battle of Bighorn was about to take place. At that time representatives from Bighorn showed up and said they needed to fill the water irrigation systems, they needed to fill the ponds, they needed to make this place look nice for television so Tiger Woods could come up there and smack his golf balls around. All that was terrific. This was a temporary solution to the problem. Once the Bighorn issue was over, everything would go back to the way it was. He said it was three years later and it had gotten worse. Mr. Garbarini said yes, Bighorn has improved the property. They devalued the rest of the neighborhood, but they had taken care of their own property. The residents were supposed to work with them hand in hand on a lot of stuff that was going on there. Bighorn asked for their opinion, they came forward and Bighorn did what they wanted to do. He said the project was over and done with before they had a chance to say anything. He said the landscaping was there. It covered and it camouflaged, but the problem was that the sound enclosures that enclose the two new well sites, one of them was 75 feet away from his bedroom window. That was supposed to never be there. It was an abandoned CVWD site. When they were drilling and refurbishing pump site number two in that enclosed wall structure that Bighorn owns, he and his wife had a meeting with Mr. Phil Drell in regard to the permits that were supposed to be issued for this project. A quote from him was that this is Bighorn, it's their property and they can do what they want with it, they didn't need permits. He found it very hard to believe that someone from the City Planning board would say something like that. But if they went to the top and asked the man the question and he's the one that's supposed to be giving them 20 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 �.. the answers and that's the answer he gives, where do they go to next? He said they took their problem to the City Council because of the ongoing noise and the ongoing construction. Neighbors came up and knocked on their door asking what was going on in their backyard and they have council men who live on the other side of the street that ride past the house every day and they didn't know what was going on. The Mayor didn't know what was going on and thanked them tor bringing it to their attention. Mr. Garbarini said he had a big issue with the problem of the Planning Department in the city of Palm Desert. One of the big issues that was brought up when they were redoing this site was the same problem the Reserve had with the neighbors when they sank their well site on Haystack Road. One of the problems was after the pump was up and running it was sticking up above the ground. Their solution was to sink it below the ground. They have an in-ground room with the pump underground and they could walk past that thing with it running °i"' 24 hours a day and never know it was there. Everything was underground. There were no corrugated steel panels covering their control panels. It was underground. The ventilation system? It was underground. When he asked Southern California Pumps, who was doing the pumping site or the well drilling site here at the north end of Ironwood Park at the site in question, they said it would cost about another 10% more to have this pump put underground. Therefore, there would be no above acoustical sound structures above it. Everything that was above the ground right now would be ten feet below the ground. It would be regraded. It would be fixed. It was doable now because they were in the process of doing the construction. When he asked the question of Bighorn why this couldn't be put underground, he was told it was because their plans were drawn up and that was the way it was going to be. So his input meant nothing to that point. He said he had nothing against Greg, he and Greg seemed to be working very well with this project, but prior �.. 21 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 to him there was a man named Larry Olsen who used to work there, if he wasn't still working for Bighorn. When pump site number two came online at 4:00 p.m. on a Friday afternoon, the noise tevel was deafening. He called him up and said he couldn't leave the pump running and they had to shut it down. Code Enforcement was notified of the same issue. They wouldn't come over and solve the problem. When he showed up in the yard with his little sound level meter saying that the noise level was a little above the daylight hours of 55, it was standard and it would be okay and besides that, this was Bighorn and they couldn't stop them from doing this. They didn't want to get involved with taking on Bighorn. Mr. Garbarini stated that he loved a challenge. So his challenge was that it had to be shut down. It couldn't stay running for this level of time. They ended up sending over David Lowe and Carl Cardinalli. They said they would shut it down until they could mitigate the circumstances of the noise level. That was fine. They put up huge sound blankets over this thing while the process was going on. It did nothing to deter the sound, but the pump had to continue to run because they needed to figure out how to get the water to pump to Bighorn one and two. He said his question right now was when they develop Bighorn number three, where the water was going to come from for that. Would they stick another pump in his backyard? The abandoned well site sitting further to the south on that property, was that where the next one would be? According to Mr. Drell, there were a lot of abandoned sites that CVWD has in this valley. For whatever reason, they are abandoned from CVWD, whether they were potable drinking water or not. If they sell them to a private golf course, a private company, a private anybody and they wanted to refurbish these things, there had to be a priority protocol they follow before the first piece of dirt was moved and before the first ounce of water was pumped out of the system. They just couldn't go along and say they didn't have any rules to regulate this and would wing it. They couldn't do that. It wasn't fair to the residents of the neighborhood. 22 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � He understood there was another pump site on Shadow Mountain, but because of that site and the proximity, what Bighorn had done in that area had benefited the neighbors. It improved the abandoned site that was there. The neighbors were happy about it. He spoke to them and everything was fine, good and well. There was no more dumping of junk that was left on the side of the road in that well area. They had improved that area, but diminished his area. Now if they benefited the property in the Shadow Mountain area and devalued the property on Chia, who was accountable for that? He had real estate appraisers come out and reassess the property values in his area for the six to eight residents involved in this "negative voicing their opinion of this project." He was being told his property has gone down any where from 30% to 40% because of what was going on behind his house and that hurt. There had been three or four properties in the neighborhood that have been up for sale for more than two years. The biggest issue r"� that came up with the property was what was going to happen with the well site that Bighorn was developing. What would happen with the south one that has been abandoned and run dry? What would happen with the other abandoned site that sits out just south of where the landscaping ends from Bighorn? He said these were more questions that had to be answered before anyone else developed anything in this town. Especially these well sites. !f what their engineers were saying was true and the nitrates in the system that were coming out of the water helped the grass and was going to filter back into their system and they could use it for drinking water, he asked if this meant that the well sites that Bighorn purchased from CVWD or whoever else purchases these well sites, that once the water became drinkable they would give it back to CVWD and let them use the water? He didn't think so. These sites have been sold and the golf courses were going to continue to use them. Whether the nitrates in the water level come down or not, they weren't going to give them back. �.r. 23 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 With regard to the electrical panel that was brought up by one of the commissioners, Mr. Garbarini said that Mr. Drell stopped by his house when they expected some of the sound enclosures they were putting up. His big issue was the corrugated steel that sat over the top of these electrical panels. It wasn't up to standards and must be taken down. The welding company was there the next day and torched the top of it right off. Two days later they came back and welded it back on. When Mr. Garbarini asked him what he was doing, he said they changed their mind and said it was okay now. Back on it went. He couldn't yell at the workers. They were only doing what they were told. Someone had to be pulling the strings and making choices. So it went from not up to standards one day, to an acceptable thing the next day. Before the next weli site goes up for sale, this commission, this city and everyone involved in this thing had to make some serious decisions on a proper protocol before it went any further. The damage had already been done on Haystack and Chia. He asked when do they stop? This was where it had to stop. If they were going to improve the sites, that was fine and all the neighbors agree on it before they do it. They had to let the people know what was going to happen in their neighborhood prior to anything being done. The same thing that was done when Sprint or Motorola wanted to put their monopalm system on the south end of Ironwood Park. They brought it in front of the public hearing, they got the opinions of everyone involved in it and decided that there was another place they needed to put it. Maybe that needed to happen before any other well sites got done, too. Let the neighborhood know what is going on and how it was going to positively affect the neighborhood or negatively affect the neighborhood. But all these decisions had to be made before anybody broke ground on refurbishing any more well sites in this town. He thanked the commission. MRS. KIM HOUSKEN, 73-237 Somera in Palm Desert, addressed the commission. She stated that she had a few issues regarding the well site as well. They have lived in their home since 1995. There was an original smaller well site there when they moved in. 24 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 �.. From their house they could hear the original well, but it ran for a few hours during the day and it wasn't a big probiem. In the past few years since they went in and started refurbishing and doing all these things, it became a major issue. It was like someone building a home next door that has gone on over a year with the construction, the noise, and the cranes. It had been a big inconvenience. She also questioned why the neighbors weren't notified about this. As she understood it, in 1990 Bighorn drilled their own well at this site, so that was prior to her moving there. However, when they decided to reactivate the second site, she asked why the neighbors weren't notified at that time. She didn't know why. She thought the site plan was incomplete. The building that everyone kept talking about with the corrugated metal on the top wasn't on the plan she received. She said she roughly sketched in about where the building was along the south wall. The plans �""' merely showed the two well sites. She displayed some pictures she had taken which showed a covered area that wasn't even on the plan. She said she stood on the green box and tried to roughly measure it and she thought it was in about four feet, so she supposed it would meet the setbacks, but it was very unattractive and it was right on the wall. When they walk to the park, ihey see this unattractive structure. She said she was able to obtain from Mr. Bagato the new ordinance regarding the public wells and on it it said that "any new physical site improvements shall comply with the applicable zone standards and the architectural review process." She questioned if the overhang that protects the electrical components from the sun complied with the standards. She wasn't sure. Another thing she questioned was the height of the wall. She was out there that day measuring and the wall along the south side of this property was eight feet high. Not six feet high. It kind of stair stepped down as it went to the north along the east end of the property. Another point she measured was seven and a half feet � 25 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 high. But it was an imposing structure and looked somewhat institutional. They look at this from their front door. They look out and this is what they see. It was definitely bigger than what was there when they moved in and she questioned the applicant's claim that it was only six feet high. She was curious as to whether they received a variance to go to eight feet and if so, why they weren't notified. She also questioned the maintenance of the landscaping. She said she has seen her neighbor, Mr. Garbarini, out there trimming the trees. They couldn't walk down the sidewalk that runs down Chia because of they have two trees that overhang the sidewalk. If they were walking, they had to duck down under these trees. She had seen Mr. Garbarini out there with his green bin out there pruning the trees that were put in by Bighorn that have never been maintained since. As an example of the type of maintenance Bighorn does, she showed the commission pictures of the existing landscaping at the south well site at the other end of Ironwood Park. They could see clearly exposed pipes. This was in their public park and what they looked at when they go to the public park. There are pipes running along the top of the ground, there are broken sprinklers, she questioned if the landscaping up there was watered. She didn't believe it was. It seemed that Bighorn no longer used the site, so it was no longer being maintained. She agreed with Commissioner Jonathan about what could be done if they aren't using the site anymore. At what point do they say okay, tear the wall down and revert it back to the park that they had. She also questioned what it was that Bighorn was doing there. She realized that they had an easement for a well there, she didn't have to stand on a ladder or anything, but from the park she was able to look into this well site and showed the commission a picture of what they had piled within their site to the south. It looked like 50 or 60 big vent type structures. She wasn't sure. But it clearly wasn't being used as a well. Now Bighorn seemed to be using the southern site as a dumping ground. She thought they 26 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 � should make Bighorn clean up their act regarding the south site before approving anything for the northern site. Mrs. Housken stated that she was trying to research the environmental review section where it said that the application is a Class 1 Categorical Exemption for purposes of CEQA. She said it might be something totally irrelevant and wasn't something she was that familiar with, but she did find that a Class 1 Categorical Exemption involved an existing facility. This wasn't originally existing. They drilled the well in 1990. There was an abandoned well there, but she didn't know if this was the proper exception it would receive. It might be exempt otherwise, but she didn't know if a Class 1 exemption was correct since she didn't believe it was existing. They drilled the well. She noted that in the staff report it claimed that "the removal of nitrates from Palm Desert's cove area will reduce the amount of nitrates available to migrate toward the Coachella Valley floor '�" where the District's active domestic water wells are located, postponing or preventing the installation of expensive nitrate removal facilities in the future." She questioned that when she read it and when she referred back to the letter from Mr. Levy of CVWD, she noticed that in his letter he said "reducing this nitrate mitigation may postpone." So even CVWD said it may postpone it. That was a bit of a stretch. But when reading the staff report, they didn't say "may" they said it "would" prevent or postpone. They should say thank you for saving our water supply. That was laughable to her. If the Reserve was kind enough to take into consideration the neighbors' concern and had sunk the well underground, why was Bighorn not able to do that as well? If they were treating this as though it was not already there, then they should do it the right way and put it underground, lower the wall, they wouldn't have the noise and everything would be fine. She didn't know if that was an option before the commission, but she would recommend denying this conditional use permit based on this retroactive granting of this when there were all these other issues that could 4 � 27 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 be addressed in different ways to alleviate the concerns of the neighbors. She noticed that Mr. Drell mentioned Stone Eagle and they discussed the Environmental Impact Report regarding water. She didn't know if that was also something relevant to this site and if it was something that would need to be addressed by a well site. She was wondering about it since it was mentioned with regard to this other proposed development and if it was something that should have been done here as well. She thanked the commission for their time and truly hoped that if the commission feit unable to answer this tonight, they continue it until they could get more answers regarding the possible sinking of the well, regarding the height of the walls, regarding the effect of the abandoned well to the south. It was her understanding that to abandon a well, they actually had to have a permit to abandon a well. If they were choosing not to use a well, then they also needed to notify the County of that and she thought it was up to the City to make sure that the private wells within their boundaries are doing this. She questioned whether the City of Palm Desert was following up on the abandoned well to the south. She encouraged the City to look into that because she didn't think that had been taken care of. She thanked the commission. MRS. LINDA GARBARlNI, 73-221 Haystack Road in Palm Dese�t, addressed the commission. She stated that everything that had been said was all well and good. The one main point she wanted to make was that they did go before Council. There was a ve�y detailed letter of what they dealt with from 2001 when the battle of Bighorn started and when they changed the usage. She brought up all those points to City Council because they had been going through Code Enforcement because the decibel levels in their yard were above 65 and that was night and day. They dealt with it for quite some time until the point where Mr. Olsen came over and told them that there was nothing they could do about it, but that he would be kind enough to shut it down for one 28 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRiL 15, 2003 v.�. night. Then she found that the decibel levels were actually lower than what they were being told it should be as the legal limit. The whole point here was if an impact study was done prior to the new usage. Yes, there was an existing well. Yes, it was running. Yes, it made slight noises. It did not run 24 / 7. It never went above the decibel levels. It was something they didn't hear unless they heard a clunk when it shut down or an expelling of air, but it wasn't something that lasted more than a few seconds. It was an actual change of usage done in 2001 . They complained and complained and complained and got no where with Code Enforcement. Finally, they went to the City Council meeting with a very detailed letter and she could send commission a copy of it if they wanted it. It explained everything that was going on and how they were being ignored. Mayor Kelly showed up at their doo� the following morning to assess what was going on. She received a bouquet of flowers and a (ovely bottle of wine from Bighorn and �"' they were going to fix all of it. But if an impact study was done prior to them starting anything and the neighbors could see what was going to be proposed and they all said no, this would not be happening right now. This would not exist. Yes, they put up these lovely structures. Yes, they came in and put fan palms on the side that she could see from her yard to camouflage. Yes, the noise was gone. But they lived with that noise for over two years and no compensation. No nothing. A bottle of wine and a bouquet flowers and a visit from Mayor Kelly. Yes, everyone was so kind and helpful and Mr. Drell would come over and Bighorn had to show them the landscaping plan and the structure. This wasn't the City's problem, their fight was with Bighorn. She stated that her fight wasn't with Bighorn. If the City had been doing their job and following some type of protocol, she was sure the State had standards of how things are done that the cities have to follow guidelines. And that was not done. There was no impact study. If the neighborhood was impacted by that well site on the north end of Chia and all said no, this would not be here. She wouldn't have listened to noise 24 r... 29 MINUTFS PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 hours a day. She wouldn't have had countless sleepless nights because ihe noise was driving them crazy. They couldn't enjoy their yard. They live outside. For those two years up until this whole remediation and putting up the acoustic structures, they lived with that noise. They couldn't leave their windows open. They couldn't relax and sit in the pool. If they sat in the pool, the noise vibrated in their heads. Yes, it was gone now, but what about the two years they lived with it? Now they were asking their opinion? Now it was an impact study? No, she was against it. Shut it down. It shouldn't have been running for the past two years then if this was what they needed for usage. It should not have been running until they got this permit. There were never any permits for anything and the City was aware of what was going on. She thanked the commission. MR. STAN PERRIS, 73-210 Somera in Palm Desert, addressed the commission. He said his property was just around the corner from this site. He was also adamantly opposed to the approval of this permit. It was an eyesore that was only going to get worse. He hoped that somehow they could force or take a look at that site being buried or put into the ground. It was an eyesore. Chairperson Campbeli asked if the applicant had any rebuttal comments. Mr. Babbington said he wanted to address a few points of the opposition. The northern site and the north end of Ironwood Park had been in continuous operation since approximately 1990. The expert panel of consulting engineers and contractors that they retained to guide them through the process of determining whether or not the rehabilitation of the northern site was feasible, simply put, gave them the ability to utilize existing facilities rather than seek out other locations or drill other wells on other properties which he believed they currently had the right to do, as in the condition of the southern easement at the south end of Ironwood Park. That particular piece of land had a condition that was conveyed with it that allowed the owner to entertain drilling 30 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 �.. another well along that easement. They elected not to do that because they considered that the aesthetic and Ironwood Park area to be something positive to the City and to the neighborhood and they didn't want to disturb that condition by adding another facility in the area. That was why they elected to use the existing sites they have. All of the objectors continued to indicate that the noise condition is now gone and many of them indicated that the condition was worse or going to get worse. He couldn't sit there in front of the commission and say or hear that they haven't improved when in fact the sound levels are many points below the city standard that they adhere to. The landscaping enhancements they provided were very well thought out and they did on many many occasions specifically meet with the resident to the north and gave them the opportunity to have input in the landscape design. That landscape design they saw had many of the comments of those residents implemented so that they could address their concerns specifically. �.. He said that Bighorn had no interest in alienating or irritating the neighbors that it has in the same city. So the whole process to the best of their ability and the best of their knowing who had issues that they wanted voiced in the design process, they entertained all comers. So they had the ability to give their input in the design and the aesthetic of the northern site. As Mrs. Housken pointed out, there was a condition that they do have to notify the jurisdictional agency of an abandonment of a well. They were in the process of determining what they see as an appropriate use of that site. In that they own it, he believed they had one year to notify if they intended to abandon that well or not. The wall issue was clearly a concern and Bighorn, he could speak for Bighorn in front of the commission and the residents who were opposed, they would certainly address the wall height issue, whether it was a city standard issue, a Iooming monolith issue, an aesthetic color issue, a height issue, or whatever it was. He reminded them that they went ahead at risk conditionally with the � 31 MINUTES � PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � i � City having the ability to direct them further to make these sites correct, work within the boundaries, work within the ordinances and work with the neighbors where they exist. He said that they would happily alter the walls to any height the City saw fit. However, he believed that lowering of any of the walls at the northern site specifically, just because of the existing condition that he previously cited, might not be a good idea because it would further expose the interior components of that site. They felt that the addition of the trees to the exterior of the site would break up that looming structure to some degree to help soften that large looming. He indicated he might have incorrectly cited the wall height, but it was certainly not intentional. He explained that there was a great deal of construction involved in the rehabilitation of the northern well site. It took a great deal of time and effort to do large construction projects like this and there were many many attempts, some feeble and some valiant, � in an attempt to address the noise during the construction process. � They went to the acoustical consultant that they retained to advise them on the type of sound mitigating enclosures, permanent ones, to help them with the temporary shielding or screening of the noise that emanated from the site during the construction process. Not only did they attempt to do so on their own account by building temporary wooden structures over all of the well motors in question, they also took their consultant's advice and added some specific blanketing materials that were erected on scaffolding that well drilling contractors typically use in urban environments where noise is an issue. He said the shade structure, for the record, was an ugly piece of material. The changing of it by the description of one of the opposers was not an intentional act. That specific shade structure was one foot to 18 inches higher than it was today. The torching off of that lid and the reinstallation of it was purely an attempt, feeble as it might have been, to lower the profile of it and make it a little less obtrusive in the neighborhood. � 32 , MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � All of the components that show over the top of the wall were painted a muted desert brown color to blend in with the surrounding Ironwood Park and the rest of the neighborhood. Before his involvement in that site, they were predominately gray or industrial colors. The landscape maintenance commentary was true. He said that past administration and management had fallen behind on the maintenance of the landscaping at the northern site. But at the inception of the southern site, a landscape plan was developed. He didn't personally handle that project, but he developed that well for Bighorn. That was one of his first tasks in 1997. A landscape design was shared with the City and he didn't know to what degree. The landscape down there now was part of that landscape design, keeping in mind the City's drought tolerant landscape concepts, drought tolerant plant palettes, etc. Mr. Babbington said it has a(so fallen under a great deal of lack of �"' maintenance over time and he assured them that he had submitted a draft of a maintenance agreement driven by the ARC to the Landscape Department for the City of Palm Desert. They agreed to all of the conditions barring one, which was a weekly patrol of trash for all sites that they are required to maintain in the public right-of-way. If accepted, that meant that there would be a supervisor from Bighorn who supervises either an in-house maintenance crew or a contracted maintenance crew to see to it that those maintenance guidelines were held up to par. One of those conditions was a weekly by that supervising member to be certain that there was no trash flying about and that any landscape issues that were left unchecked would be taken care of in a timely fashion, as well as the replacement of any plant material on a monthly basis if there were any dead or dying and the repair of any irrigation systems that don't appear to be working properly. In the photograph of the "dumping site" at the southern site, he agreed that it was an eyesore and he said she would have had to climb up on top of the landscape berm to look in there to take that `.. 33 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 photograph. He wasn't claiming it was the correct thing to do. The fans were just squirrel cage greens ventilation fans to prevent mold growth on their golf course greens, and they decided not to use them and they were stored on that site temporarily. He said they could have them removed before the end of tomorrow's business day if they were an objection to the neighbors. He stated that in no way did they intend to represent by any way or any fact that the nitrate levels in the aquifer in the vicinity of south Palm Desert would be completely and totally removed. He didn't author that letter, however, their consultants and the Water District concurred that pumping of these well sites will reduce the nitrate contents in the existing aquifers. Whether or not they were suitable or good for turf grasses or landscape palettes was irrelevant. They were removing some nitrate levels that were not good for the existing domestic aquifer where we all get our � drinking water. He stated that all along the entire process of the rehabilitation of � the northern site, he made it his quest to be certain on a daily basis if necessary, to make sure that the activities that they forced upon the public in that area were addressed. That being noise, trash, foul language, and any problem that came up. As a representative of Bighorn, he at least made an attempt to address it. Whether anything was done immediately or not, he couldn't answer tonight, but he could say those issues were heard and addressed. He thanked the commission. Regarding the wall, other than the additional courses that were added recently that had been taken down, Mr. Drell asked if Bighorn built that wall. Mr. Babbington stated that he didn't know who built that wall. The wall was in existence when he became an employee. It was in that condition when the three courses were added to the rear wall. a � 34 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15. 2003 � Mr. Drell thought they should find that out. He believed that wall was in existence when CVWD was using the site. He didn't think Bighorn would have added courses to it. If necessary, they could determine that, but it was the existing condition. He didn't know what the benefit would be to make the walls lower. He didn't think Bighorn had any role in its current height. Chairperson Campbell closed the public hearing and asked for commission comments. Commissioner Finerty thought that this was obviously handled incorrectly from the beginning. With that, she had a definite problem. She would prefer that they establish the proper ordinance and protocol with the wells with regard to how long they could be abandoned before they do something as far as restoring them to another use. They should have all their ducks in a row before these situations come up. Now, again, they were trying to make the rules as they go along and that wasn't the way she liked to do business. `. There were reasons why they need to use this type of water. From an environmental perspective and to help and hopefully lower the nitrate level. What she heard from the neighbors was that yes, they were miserable for two years and had many sleepless nights due to the pump running almost continuously. But now the situation has resolved itself. Now it was quieter. According to the noise study it was within the acceptable levels. Ideally, would conditioning the well to be under grounded have been the best solution? She thought it would have been. Then they wouldn't need to have the wall and worry about the height and they wouldn't need to worry about protecting the electrical equipment from the heat. Clearly there was an issue with regard to maintenance and the lack thereof. The lack of proper landscaping. She applauded the effort for a maintenance landscape agreement with weekly inspections. That would help. One of the questions she still had that kept going in the back of her mind was they still have an issue with the height of the wall and if they should �.. 35 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 lower the wall. She said she would be in favor of a continuance because there was one question that kept coming up. That was what the cost would be to underground the well site and how feasible that would be. Commissioner Jonathan thought they needed to establish design standards for these wells. Those standards should apply to the application before them. He suggested that the following standards be considered: 1 ) That perimeter walls should comply with our existing standards and be limited to six feet. 2) That no equipment or structures should be visible above that wall. He thought it was inconceivable that they should allow any type of project that has equipment and those kinds of structures visible to the community. If that involved undergrounding, so be it. If it involved partial undergrounding, so be it. But none of it should be visible above the six-foot wall. 3) There should be a definitive decibel level standard and he wasn't sure 45 decibels at 12:00 midnight was appropriate or at 6:00 p.m. when the neighbor was sitting down and trying to enjoy the evening. He wasn't sure what it should be but they should study that and establish a definitive standard. 4) They had an issue with abandoned well sites. They saw pictures tonight that showed a lack of maintenance, alternative uses such as a dumping area, so he thought that part of the approval process for well sites needed to be a condition that requires the owner to restore the well site to an alternate condition compatible with the surrounding neighborhood after a period of non use. Whether that was one year, three years, five years, he wasn't sure. His suggestion was that the matter be continued, that they decide on definitive design standards for all well sites and that those standards be applied to the existing app(ication. Commissioner Lopez concurred with the other commissioners. He thanked the audience for attending. He didn't know if an apology was going to solve anything, but he recognized that the residents living next door probably went through a difficult time for several years and even though there were a lot of efforts trying to mitigate some of the problems, they obviously didn't solve them as quickly as they would have liked. He also thought there needed to be standards and guidelines. They should set up a proper procedure when these particular items come 36 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � before them and should be available to the public for when they purchase these sites. Regardless if it is Bighorn, the Reserve or others, there needed to be some guidelines set and standards. Commissioner Lopez also thought this matter should be continued to review what would be the best situation at that park and for those residents. He said the noise issue was pretty much gone. It was now more of an aesthetic issue and what they want to see above that wall, how high that wall should be, and the type of landscaping and maintenance that should be around that area. That pertained to the item before them this evening, but he thought they should also take a look at what degree they should take a responsibility and to what degree Bighorn should take a responsibility for maintaining the site. He thought the matter should be continued to address those issues. Chairperson Campbell concurred. Seeing the site, they did have an ordinance that any structure, the height of the structure, needed to not be higher than the wall and also a certain number of feet away from a �" wall where this doesn't apply. They seemed to have had some of these conditional uses coming before them after the projects were almost completely done. Then they had to go ahead and deal with it and very unhappy neighbors. Even though there wasn't any noise now, the neighbors were unhappy for the past two years because of this. As far as the maintenance, looking at the photograph showing the fans being stored, there was no excuse. If they were going to be removed, why had they been there for the past two years? There was no excuse for all this junk inside this walled area. As far as the landscaping was concerned, this was what the City wanted, but she thought they should be better maintained. In front of the wall there was landscaping, but it should be all around the perimeter of the wall to go ahead and camouflage ihe wall. She was in favor of continuing the matter. Commissioner Finerty asked how long the continuance should be and if they should ask staff to come up with design standards, taking into consideration the comments they have all made. She asked if they wanted to continue this for six weeks to refine those standards. �... 37 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 Commissioner Jonathan said he would defer to staff and the applicant as to how long of a continuance they wanted, but he thought the direction to staff and the applicant needed to be very specific. It appeared to him that there was no reason to have a standard higher than a six-foot wall. It seemed feasible to have a requirement that no equipment or structure should be visible above that six-foot wall and that some kind of restoration provision could be implemented. So the purpose of the continuance was to give staff and the applicant time to address those three specific design standards and development standards. Commissioner Finerty said that because of the height of the wall issue, they knew if it was going to be six feet it would be aesthetically unpleasing the way it is right now, especially with the corrugated roof shield. She would still like staff to look at the feasibility of undergrounding the well. Commissioner Jonathan agreed. He was saying that if undergrounding was necessary, so be it. But in any event, that it be lowered and any kind of structure and equipment be lowered so that it wasn't visible above the six-foot wall. That could be partial undergrounding, completely underground and non visible, that would be up to the applicant. He didn't mind giving some leeway, but in no event should it be visible above ihe standard wall height. Commissioner Finerty asked how long staff needed. Mr. Drell said that if those were the standards that the commission wanted, they only needed five minutes. If those were the standards the commission wanted, those were the standards they could have. That didn't take any time to give them what they wanted. The issue of researching the feasibility of undergrounding existing wells, that was something that might take a month. The question was how much was too much. Commissioner Finerty thought that was what they needed and as Commissioner Jonathan pointed out in his suggested design standard, nothing could be seen above a wall, then obviously the undergrounding issue would have to be investigated if they accepted that standard. Mr. Drell said that was what would take time. What would be involved in this particular case to lower the equipment four or five feet so that the acoustical structures could be lowered to go below the wall. 38 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15 2003 � Commissioner Jonathan said that if it was obviously not feasible in any given application, including this one, then the question became if it justified deviating from the standards. He was hoping they didn't have to cross that bridge because he was hoping the applicant could find that it was feasible. But they would cross that bridge if and when they needed to. He thought a month should do it and if the applicant needed more time, then they could request a continuance and they could do it again. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Jonathan, seconded by Commissioner Finerty, continuing Case No. CUP 03-04 to May 20, 2003. Motion carried 4-0. Mr. Garbarini came to the podium and asked if the pumps would be shut down while this was being continued. Mr. Drell said no, but it was something he would discuss with the City Attorney and ihe City Manager. r.. C. Case No. CUP 03-03 - BIGHORN DEVELOPMENT, LLC, Applicant Request for approval of a conditional use permit to allow Bighorn Development to operate an abandoned public utility well site for private water irrigation located at 73-375 Shadow Mountain Drive. Mr. Bagato stated that he would just go over the points of this project. He noted that this site was located on Shadow Mountain Drive. This site was initially developed for water in 1946 and was last known to be in service in 1981 and was also abandoned because of the poor water quality. He explained that the site improvements were similar to the ones discussed in the previous case. This project only had one well. Architectural Review Commission reviewed and approved it. The acoustical study for this report indicated that the noise levels were measured at 33.5 at the south property line, 31 .5 at the east, and 40.5 at the west, So these levels were 4.5 to 13.54 decibels lower than the :� 39 MINUTES � PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 nighttime standard. At the time the report was written, staff was recommending approval based on the acoustical study and the water conservation efforts discussed during the last public hearing item. He asked for any questions. Commissioner Jonathan asked if this site also had a wall around it. Mr. Bagato said yes. Commissioner Jonathan asked if staff knew the height of the wall. Mr. Drell said he believed it to be six feet and it was a wa(I that was constructed by Bighorn with permits from the City. They were allowed to build walls around their property. The condition on the other well site was what CVWD built. Typically they didn't even come to the City to get permits and didn't have to. With this one, they came to the City for permits. He clarified that never had he said to anyone that anyone could do anything without permits. Commissioner Jonathan said that it complied with the six-foot height as far as they knew. Mr. Bagato said that was correct. � Commissioner Jonathan didn't see that there was any equipment or other � types of structures protruding above the six-foot wall. He asked for confirmation. Mr. Bagato concurred. Mr. Drell said there was an acoustical structure on this property as well. Commissioner Jonathan asked where it was. Chairperson Campbell said it wasn't visible. Mr. Drell said the applicant could describe it. MR. GREG BABBINGTON addressed the commission. He said it was at the southwest corner and showed the approximate boundary of the outside edge of the acoustical panel building that surrounded the wellhead. Mr. Drell asked how tall it was. Mr. Babbington said because this site was improved with a precise grading plan, their engineers were able to control the conditions within the interior of the site. The Mountains' existing well site on the north side of Ironwood Park at Chia was an existing condition. Because it is an existing condition, they accepted the design of the wellhead typicals that he referred to earlier and enclosed them in the same exact type of building. 40 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � Commissioner Jonathan clarified that he didn't want to discuss the previous applicant. Mr. Drell asked if this structure protruded above the wall. Mr. Babbington thought it was nine feet high, which would mean that it would protrude above the wall. Mr. Drell noted that these were residential lots that could have 18-foot high buildings on them if they didn't have well sites on them. Chairperson Campbell asked if Mr. Bagato had anything else to add to his staff report. Mr. Bagato said he was finished. Chairperson Campbell opened the public hearing and asked if the applicant had anything more to add. Mr. Babbington said no, he believed they made every attempt in this case as a new design to adhere to all the city standards. They �'' were able to ask their consulting engineering firm to design and submit a new precise grading design that would adhere to the current standards of the City of Palm Desert, including the wall, the landscape design, setbacks, etc. Chairperson Campbell asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR or OPPOSITION to the proposal. MR. PETER IVES, 73-315 Shadow Mountain Drive, addressed the commission. He stated that he didn't know about the well until they started excavating on the road to put in the pipes. It didn't bother him then and it didn't bother him now. The only thing that bothered him was why the public utility well site was abandoned in the first place. He asked why it was abandoned. He said that in today's Desert Sun, there were serious questions proposed about the aquifer water replacement. He asked if that was the source of water that Bighorn development was requesting to use. If so, under the circumstances he thought that the City Council should be involved in the future of this public utility well site. .... 41 MINUTES ' PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 arf Second, he asked what area would be most impacted by allowing this conditional use permit being approved and what impact it would have on their neighborhood. More water restrictions? Higher water costs? Third, he asked why, if any approval for this conditional use permit was required, did the City tear up their recently paved roads on Shadow Mountain Drive and adjacent streets without getting any improvements to this costly price of going ahead restoring this public utility well and presumably laying the water ducts needed to transfer this water to this location. All of the above questions should be answered before any action was taken care of. He asked if there would be hearing on this now or if it would be addressed in the paper or if he would get a notice on it. Chairperson Campbell said they would be talking about it this evening, they were hearing his testimony and any other testimony. She noted that � he might be the only one to speak. � Mr. Ives said this was the first time he had ever been in a council meeting, so he wasn't sure what was going on. He was a little hard of hearing, but decided he'd better come forward before it was too late. Chairperson Campbell said he did very well and asked if he wanted to add anything else. He said no. There was no other public testimony. Chairperson Campbell closed the public hearing and asked if Mr. Babbington had anything else to add. Mr. Babbington said no. Chairperson Campbell asked for other comments from the commission. Commissioner Finerty indicated that although it appeared that this well was constructed with a great deal more care and planning, she would � feel more comfortable if they were to continue this as well just to insure � that they were certain of the design standards they feel should be 42 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 � adopted and that this application, although it looked like it has met them, they could know with certainty after they had approved the design standards. She stated that she would move that this also be continued. Commissioner Jonathan concurred. He said this application seemed to have been met more receptively by the neighbors and that Bighorn did a better job with it. That might have been because of the site specific pump issues involved. !f they were going to look at setting standards, they should just wait to do that. Commissioner Lopez said he was prepared to move forward on this. In looking at the site and the project itself, it seemed like everything met the standards and he didn't notice the structure above the wall. So when they said nine feet, it might be okay. But from a standpoint of being consistent, he agreed that perhaps it might be the best thing to come up with the standards, bring both cases back, and then move ahead. : Chairperson Campbell said that she passes by this site two or three times i"" a week and it wasn't an eyesore. Today she had to look at it twice because it blended in very nicely. She had not noticed the structure in there. Since it was in the far end corner, it was pretty well camouflaged with the other (andscape from the other neighbors. But she concurred with her fellow commissioners that they should wait for the standards and continue this to May 20. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Finerty, seconded by Commissioner Lopez, continuing Case No. CUP 03-03 to May 20, 2003. Motion carried 4-0. Mr. Drell asked if staff should attempt to answer the question the gentleman in the audience raised. Commissioner Jonathan said yes, he was curious about that as well. He asked if the ripping up of the paved roads on Shadow Mountain related to this. Mr. Drell said yes. He explained that to do this sort of thing they had to put in their water pipes. They couldn't transport this water via the domestic system. They had to have a dedicated water system. That was why the road got torn up. The well was abandoned because of the forward dominance of high r�.. 43 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION APRIL 15, 2003 density of septic systems in south Palm Desert and the nitrates, the byproduct of decomposition of organic material, percolated down into the water table and contaminated the water table. At a certain point in time over the last ten years, most of the wells in south Palm Desert had become undrinkable because of too much nitrate, even though those septic systems had been abandoned for probably 15 years. That showed the events of the lag period between an event and the results of that event. That aquifer was relatively shallow and separate from the aquifers they take most of the water from. Most of the water from CVWD was from wells ihat are thousands of feet deep drilled in the center of the valley which so far, there was no interchange between this shallower aquifer where the nitrates are and the pure water from the deep wells into the sand dunes. If the use of these wells would have no impact whatsoever other than a possible beneficial impact on anyone elses domestic water system or the water supply or bills, the fact that they are using this water as opposed to placing a demand on the drinkable water was probably saving and incrementally lowering the cost of the domestic system because they have to pump less clean water to serve the rest of the city. Relative to the process, they had no process prior to the adoption of this new ordinance which he identified as being a problem when he was called in to solve the problem for the Garbarinis. He clarified that he never had a conservation with Mr. Garbarini before he tried to solve the noise problem with him. They had no process. There were no standards. There was no protocol. They had no regulation of these activities. With the adoption of our ordinance two or three months ago, they now have one. So that was the process they were engaged in today. � 44 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING_COMMISSION APRIL 15 2003 ... IX. MISCELLANEOUS None. X. COMMITTEE MEETING UPDATES A. ART IN PUBLIC PLACES - (No meeting► B. CIVIC CENTER STEERING COMMITTEE - (No meeting) C. LANDSCAPE COMMITTEE - (No meeting) D. PROJECT AREA 4 COMMITTEE - INo meeting) E. ZONING ORDINANCE REVIEW COMMITTEE - (No meeting) XI. COMMENTS Commissioner Finerty said that she thought it was a really good idea to come up with rules first and then play the game. Commission concurred. Commissioner Jonathan thanked staff for getting the color of the building ``"" changed at the southeast corner of Monterey and Fred Waring. Mr. Drell clarified that staff didn't have anything to do with that. They encouraged it, but it was apparent(y sold to a new buyer and they changed the color. Mr. Drell noted that they were still working on the Staples building. Some people Ioved it and some people didn't and explained some of the history behind it. XII. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Commissioner Lopez, seconded by Commissioner Jonathan, adjourning the meeting minute otio The meeting was adjourned at 9:18 p.m. . � PHILIP DREL�, Secretary ATTE�T: ; ti� �� J -.�-� ,; ONIA M. CAMPBELL, Chairperson Palm Desert Planning Commission � 45