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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2010-05-04 PC Regular Meeting Minutes /'-���'� MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION . TUESDAY - MAY 4, 2010 * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * I. CALL TO ORDER Chairperson Limont called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. II. ROLL CALL Members Present: Connor Limont, Chair Mari Schmidt, Vice Chair Sonia Campbell Nancy DeLuna Van Tanner Members Absent: None Staff Present: Lauri Aylaian, Director of Community Development Dave Erwin, City Attorney Jill Tremblay, Assistant City Attorney Tony Bagato, Principal Planner Kevin Swartz, Assistant Planner Missy Grisa, Assistant Planner Ryan Stendell, Sr. Management Analyst Tonya Monroe, Administrative Secretary III. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Tanner led in the pledge of allegiance. IV. SUMMARY OF COUNCIL ACTION Ms. Aylaian summarized pertinent April 8 and 22, 2010, City Council actions. V. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None. VI. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Request for consideration of the April 6, 2010, meeting minutes. MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 4, 2010 Action: It was moved by Commissioner DeLuna, seconded by Commissioner Schmidt, by minute motion, approving the April 6, 2010 meeting minutes. The motion carried 5-0. VII. CONSENT CALENDAR A. Case No. PP/CUP 06-03 — GERALD FORD BUSINESS PARK, LLC, Applicant Request for approval of a two-year time extension for a Precise Plan / Conditional Use Permit to construct a 100,500 square foot business park at 75-300 Gerald Ford Drive. This would extend PP/CUP 06-03 to August 24, 2012 to correspond with the expiration of TPM 34437, which was extended two years by AB 333. Action: It was moved by Commissioner DeLuna, seconded by Commissioner Tanner, approving the Consent Calendar by minute motion. The motion carried 5-0. 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. TPM 36292 / HTE 10-81 — LA QUINTA RANCH AND PACIFIC ENGINEERING & ASSOCIATES, Applicant Request for approval of a Tentative Parcel Map to convert an existing office building into individual condominium suites at 77-682 Country Club Drive. Principal Planner Tony Bagato reviewed the staff report and recommended approval. Commissioner Schmidt asked if there had been any prior use of the building, if it was built out at all, tenant finished, or if they would build to suit. Mr. Bagato said there are existing businesses in some of the suites, but they would now be able to sell them to custom sizes. 2 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 4. 2010 Commissioner Campbell asked how many suites were involved all together. Mr. Bagato said that could change depending on the number of buyers. That is why it is a blanket condominium map, so if they have four buyers, it witl be divided into four. Commissioner DeLuna asked if there were a maximum number of tenants that could be fit into that property. Mr. Bagato said no, it was whatever minimum square footage the building code required. He didn't know what that would be, but it was under the building code. Commissioner DeLuna asked if parking would be an issue. Mr. Bagato said no, because staff would still be approving each business license for the use and they would have to meet the parking requirements of the building. Commissioner Tanner noted that this building had been around for 15 to 20 years and there are tenants in there constantly; it is right next to his building which he has been in 17 years and there had never been a parking issue. He didn't think there would be a problem. Chairperson Limont opened the public hearing and asked the applicant if they would like to address the Commission. MS. LYDIA SHINAHARA, with Pacific Engineering, stated that she was present to answer any questions. To clarify, they have two existing buildings which have 14 units. Anyone could buy each unit or more than one unit. They have been conditioned to make sure that the existing driveway is ADA compliant, so they would build some sidewalk around the driveway to meet that requirement. Chairperson Limont asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR of or in OPPOSITION to the proposed case. MR. RICHARD MEYER, the managing partner of �a Quinta Ranch, informed the Commission that four tenants, maybe five, have asked them to condominiumize it and want they want to buy 40% of the property so far. So they have a good start and it was precipitated by their requests. Likewise, the building just to the east was condominiumized a number of years ago, so it would fit in. There was no one else wishing to speak. Chairperson Limont closed the public hearing and asked for Commission comments. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Tanner, approving the findings and recommendation as presented by staff. The motion carried 5-0. 3 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 4, 2010 It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Tanner, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 2529, approving TPM 36292 / HTE 10-81, subject to conditions. The motion carried 5-0. B. Case No. CUP 10-97 —THE GYMNASTICS ACADEMY, Applicant Request for approval of a Conditional Use Permit to operate a gymnastics practice facility in a Service Industrial District. The project is located at 75-400 Gerald Ford Drive, Suites 117-120 (APN: 694-160-004). Assistant Planner Missy Grisa reviewed the staff report and recommended adoption of the findings and the Resolution approving CUP 10-97, subject to the conditions. Commissioner DeLuna asked if the adjoining suites were currently vacant. Ms. Grisa replied no, that there are two businesses on either side, but she didn't see very many cars parked there. She assumed one truck belonged to an employee. She noted that one business is an architect's office, which received minimal traffic. Commissioner DeLuna asked when it is completely occupied, if Ms. Grisa saw it being a problem with maximum parking. Ms. Grisa said no, not unless they extend classes to Saturdays and Sundays, which might conflict with The Rock Church, but they currently were not requesting those days. Ms. Grisa also noted that the applicant was present to answer questions. Chairperson Limont opened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the Commission. MR. DARREN SLACKMAN, of TD Desert Properties, and the representative for The Gymnastics Academy, said that also present was Ms. Suzanne Freedman, the owner and a coach, and they were available to answer any questions. Chairperson Limont commented that she was excited that they have grown this much. Their previous approval was about a year ago. Mr. Slackman agreed that a business growing in this economy was great. He said it was almost exactly a year ago since her lease was now up. Ms. Freedman thanked the Commission for their conditional use permit. 4 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 4, 2010 Chairperson Limont asked if anyone wished to speak in FAVOR of or in OPPOSITION to the proposed case. There was no response and the public hearing was closed. Chairperson Limont asked for Commission comments. Commissioner DeLuna said that she was the one who voted against the location on St. Charles Place and it was because of concerns with children and the parking situation in that lot. She was delighted that they've grown and that they were moving to an area that is new, fresh and parking shouldn't be an issue. She congratulated them on their growth. Action: It was moved by Commissioner DeLuna, seconded by Commissioner Tanner, approving the findings and recommendation as presented by staff. The motion carried 5-0. It was moved by Commissioner DeLuna, seconded by Commissioner Tanner, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 2530, approving CUP 10-97, subject to conditions. The motion carried 5-0. C. Case No. CUP 10-106 — CORNERSTONE COVENANT CHURCH, Applicant Request for approval of a Conditional Use Permit to allow Cornerstone Covenant Church to operate in a 14,370 square foot building in a Service Industrial District. The property is located within the Pres Monterey project at 73-605 Dinah Shore Drive. Assistant Planner Kevin Swartz reviewed the staff report and recommended adoption of the Resolution approving Conditional Use Permit 10-106, subject to the conditions attached. Commissioner DeLuna noted that Mr. Swartz talked about a shared parking concept. She asked if there would be a managed parking agreement and if he envisioned that once again when this park is fully occupied, that even on a Sunday there would be enough parking spaces without some sort of formal managed parking arrangement. Mr. Swartz stated that there currently is a parking agreement. He showed on a map Leilani Way and the shared area, and where there are 29 parking stalls available; he said Building B is currently vacant, so he just used some of the stalls there. Commissioner DeLuna asked when all of the buildings are occupied, if there would still be sufficient parking. Mr. Swartz said that was 5 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 4, 2010 correct. He said he visited the site on Sunday around 10:00 a.m. when the church was in service and there was plenty of parking. Chairperson Limont asked Mr. Swartz to point out Buildings G and I, because those were the ones that were currently unoccupied. Mr. Swartz did so. There were no other questions for staff and Chairperson Limont o�ened the public hearing and asked the applicant to address the Commission. MR. RICHARD CHAVARRIA, a member of the Cornerstone Covenant Church, stated that he prepared the Conditional Use Permit application. He wanted to address further the parking situation. He counted 350 parking spaces within the Pres center. The CC&R's detail that none of the parking spaces are restricted in any way. It was open parking within that area. Also, on the other side of Leilani and Monterey Business Park, he approached the owners there for a written reciprocal parking agreement and they said they would be glad to let them park there, but they wouldn't put it in writing. There are about 120 spaces immediately across Leilani that are far enough away from the other buildings that may be occupied or may be open on Sundays that they won't get in their way. He said their primary concern was they wanted to be good neighbors to all of the businesses and occupants of both industrial parks, so they were always open to any suggestions or requirements that they may have. They would even put up signs to restrict parking in front of their buildings and would definitely let their members know that they are not to park in front of store front buildings of the other properties. He asked for any questions. Commissioner Tanner asked if they were buying or leasing the property. Mr. Chavarria answered that they are purchasing the property. It was currently in escrow. The last condition for their loan approval is to get approval of a CUP. Hopefully this would allow them to grow from a neighborhood church, which started out in La Quinta four years ago, into a regional presence in the valley. They have a couple of missions going on that he thought were important to the community. Number one, they have a thrift store, Bargains Thrift Store located in Palm Desert. That thrift store is responsible primarily for raising funds to send underprivileged children to Christian camp. The Covenant denomination owns Alpine Christian Camp, as well as 20 other Christian camps throughout the country. 6 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 4, 2010 He didn't know if they had heard of the Covenant Church before; it was probably one of the largest churches they've never heard of. There are over 750 congregations located on five continents and it has international missions. One important to them was Dr. Paul Larson heads a mission from their church which goes to India to introduce Christianity to the people there and literally hundreds of thousands of people, not all due to Dr. Larson, but with his help hundreds of thousands of people are converting to Christianity. Mr. Chavarria said the other item they wanted to make sure they do is, he mentioned the underprivileged children, and they send them to camp, either through scholarships or raising money through the thrift store. By the end of this summer, they will have sent about 1,000 children in the valley, from Coachella to Palm Springs, to different camps in the neighboring area. So they want to continue to do that. Commissioner DeLuna noted that Mr. Chavarria mentioned that even though they wouldn't give them a managed parking agreement, they said they could still park wherever they wanted. She asked if the parishioners had to cross any busy streets to come back to their church. Mr. Chavarria said no, that Leilani is the little circle drive and that was the only asphalt they would have to cross. He said there is actually a walkway around it, so that wasn't an issue. He noted that Mr. Dick Baxley was present and he could address that question. Since they would own this building, Commissioner Campbell asked how long Mr. Chavarria thought it would be adequate for their parishioners; how many years since it was growing so much? Mr. Chavarria said they thought that this building would be adequate for 12 to 15 years and then they would be looking for property to purchase and build a church from scratch. He thanked them. MR. DICK BAXLEY, 73-712 Alessandro, in Palm Desert, stated that he is the agent for both the ownership and the Church. He had numerous conversations with the ownership and it evolved and went through an entire process. Where it seems that their position formally is that they are not going to put anything in writing, their position informally is that as long as it doesn't impact their people, and if it was on the weekends because they are an office operation, no one would be there to both them. They won't put in it writing, but they got it; don't sweat it. He wanted the Commission to know that was direct from the owners' position. 7 MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 4�2010 Chairperson Limont asked if anyone else wished to speak in FAVOR of or in OPPOSITION to the proposed case. There was no response. Chairperson Limont closed the public hearing and asked for Commission comments. Action: It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner DeLuna, approving the findings and recommendation as presented by staff. The motion carried 5-0. It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner DeLuna, adopting Planning Commission Resolution No. 2531, approving CUP 10-106, subject to conditions. The motion carried 5-0. IX. MISCELLANEOUS None. X. COMMITTEE MEETING UPDATES A. ART IN PUBLIC PLACES Commissioner Campbell reported on the Committee's last action items. B. LANDSCAPE COMMITTEE Chairperson Limont noted that the Landscape Committee did not meet. C. PARKS & RECREATION Commissioner Tanner gave an update on the current issues and concerns before the Parks & Recreation Commission. D. PROJECT AREA 4 COMMITTEE Commissioner Schmidt reported on the April 19 meeting discussion items. XI. COMMENTS Ms. Aylaian informed Commission that there are no agenda items for the May 18, 2010 meeting and it would be canceled. Chairperson Limont asked about June or if it was too early to tell. Mr. Bagato reported that he 8 _ MINUTES PALM DESERT PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 4� 2010 didn't believe there were any items for the June 1 meeting; it was also a � three-day weekend. He said he wasn't sure about June 15 yet. XII. ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Commissioner Campbell, seconded by Commissioner Schmidt, adjourning the meeting by minute motion. The motion carried 5-0. The meeting was adjourned at 6:35 p.m. _�---- LAURI AYLAIAN, Secreta - EST: . CONNOR LIMONT, Cha� Palm Desert Planning Commission � � 9