Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout3-9-93Planning Commission proceedings are tape recorded and on file in the office of the Planning Dept. MINUTES ARCADIA CITY PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING Tuesday, March 9, 1993 The Planning Commission of the City of Arcadia met in regular session on Tuesday, March 9,1993, at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the Arcadia City Hall, 240 West Huntington Drive, with Chairman Torn Clark presiding. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Commissioners Amato, Daggett, Hedlund, Huang, Clark ABSENT: None MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Amato, seconded by Commissioner Daggett to read all resolutions by title only and waive reading the full body of the resolution. The motion passed by voice vote with none dissenting. MINUTES MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Amato, seconded by Commissioner Daggett to approve the Minutes of January 26,1993 as published. The motion passed by voice vote with none dissenting. OTHERS ATTENDING: City Attorney Michael Miller Assistant Planning Director Donna Butler Assistant Planner William Stokes Assistant Planner James Kasama Secretary Silva Vergel CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING Consideration of a text amendment to the Arcadia TA 92-006 Municipal Code to establish a R -H (Residential Hillside Single- Family) zone designation and regulations. Staff noted this item has been continued to July 13th. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Daggett, seconded by Commissioner Huang to continue the public hearing to July 13,1993. The motion passed by voice vote with none dissenting. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING Consideration of a zone change to rezone the following areas Z 92-003 to the R -H (Residential Hillside Single - Family) zone: I A. The R -M & D (residential Mountainous Single - Family and Architectural Design) zoned hillside area north and west of Canyon Rd. (not including Wilderness Park) and B. The R -1 & D 10,000 (Second One- Family 10,000 sq. ft.) zoned hillside area west of Santa Anita Canyon Rd. Staff noted this item has been continued to July 13th. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Amato, seconded by Commissioner Daggett to continue the public hearing to July 13,1993. The motion passed by voice vote with none dissenting. PUBLIC HEARING MP 93-003 321 E. Duarte Rd. Sunny & Grace Chan The staff report was presented. Consideration of modifications for a 3 -unit residential project. Staff commented that the applicant was unable to get permission from the neighbor to the east for a common driveway. The public hearing was opened. James Wang, 1609 W. Valley, Alhambra, the architect of the project said they are m agreement with all of the conditions in the staff report. He said they have made attempts to have a combined driveway with the properties to the east, but those are new units and they do not want to share a joint driveway. In response to a question by the Commission, Mr. Wang stated the tile on the front of the building would give some texture and would go well with the tile on the roof. No one else spoke in favor of or in opposition to this item. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Amato, seconded by Commissioner Hedlund to close the public hearing. The motion passed by voice vote with none dissenting. Commissioner Amato liked the proposed colors for the building. Commissioner Daggett thought it was a nice development. In answer to a question by the Commission, staff said all the units comply with the back out requirements. The guest parking space is the one that requires modification. There is a 6' -0" wall between the driveways. The landscaping area between the building and the driveway ranges from 2' -0" to 7-0" in width but there will be some areas without landscaping. Staff noted that landscaping is not required along the property line but there has to be landscaping between the property line and the building. Staff commented that there will not be a total elimination of the landscaping but some areas will have less than 5' -0" of landscaping while some areas will have more. Arcadia City Planning Commission 3/9/93 Page 2 Commissioner Daggett did not think this is an offensive building. He said the columns in the front are design tricks to create interest. This is a narrow lot and the presence of the 6' wall will overshadow the value of the landscaping. If the wall was to be deleted there would be a mass of concrete driveway. The Commission felt the conditions below should be added: • Planting (e.g. dinging vines) shall be provided along the easterly property line to screen the existing wall. The actual locations and plants shall be subject to the review and approval of the Planning Department. • The "Accent Tile" shown as exterior finish item no. 13 shall be of an earth -tone color as depicted on the colored elevation. A sample shall be provided for the review and approval of the Planning Department. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Huang, seconded by Commissioner Amato to approve MP 93-003 subject to the conditions in the staff report with the above mentioned conditions. ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: Chairman Clark Commissioners Amato, Daggett, Huang, Clark Commissioner Hedlund noted that there is a five working day appeal period. PUBLIC HEARING CUP 93-002 160 E. Duarte Rd. Gail Marshall & Arlene Marshall Consideration of conditional use permit and parking modification to allow a family entertainment video and game machine arcade with approximately 20 game machines in a 1,075 sq. ft. retail space. The staff report was presented. Staff said there will be an area of 7x16' provided for bikes in front of the building. Depending on the type of bike racks utilized, they can park up to a dozen bikes. The narrowest area of landscaping is 4' and they will not be removing any landscaping to provide area for bike parking. The bike rack will not be on the sidewalk or in the public right -of -way. They are proposing security devices to be placed on the building, inside and outside to monitor the parking lot. The parking will be m the back of the building. This center has a separate parking lot and does not share the parking lot with Alpha Beta Shopping Center. The eastern portion of the Alpha Beta Shopping center is underutilized. The subject location is the only vacancy at this location but there are a couple of vacancies in the adjacent center. The two windows facing Second Avenue are tinted and it is difficult to see in during the day but in the evening it would be easy because the inside will be well lit. The public hearing was opened. Gail Marshall, 2320 Lee Avenue, said they have studied this business for a long time. They have been to arcades in other cities such as Temple City, El Monte, Azusa and Northridge. All of the owners have remarked that they have not encountered any problems. She stated that this would be a good business for this location because it would probably bring in business for the adjacent center. She did not think there would be a negative impact and said that she had not heard anything negative about this use. She said that they plan to have a very strict operation. One of the owners will be present at all times and they will hire whatever help they need to assist them in supervising the store. She said they plan to maintain a very well Arcadia City Planning Commission 3/9/93 Page 3 run business which would nave strict rules and regulations. They feel that it would be better to have this type of a facility than having kids go to liquor stores or the 7- Eleven to play the video games, where liquor is sold and there is little supervision. In their facility adult supervision would be available at all times. Their arcade will open at 2:00 p.m. which is after Lunch hour for the children attending school. They do not want to be open during lunch hours and have children come there during that time and not return to school after lunch. In response to comments, Ms. Marshall stated that between the hours of 2:00 -3:00 p.m. the customers will have to be over 18 years old because of Code regulations and they have discussed opening at 3:00 p.m. instead of 2:00 p.m. She said they will not tolerate loitering in the parking lot and they will have security monitors inside and outside. This will allow them to keep an eye out and if they feel someone is causing trouble they will ask them to leave. They will also install speakers on the outside of the building and if they notice loitering, they will inform them to move on. They want to be good neighbors for the adjacent businesses and do not wish to cause trouble. The change counter inside will be elevated several feet, and they will have mirrors in hidden corners so they will have an unobstructed view of the whole arcade. In answer to a question by the Commission, Ms. Marshall said they would not want to remove the tint from the window because during the day, the sunlight would limit the view of the machines. She said they are willing to do what would be necessary and hire as many help as they may need to run a successful and safe establishment. Mr. Miller said that if the patrons create problems they will be subject to the Business License provisions and their CUP can be suspended or revoked. Ms. Marshall showed an article which was printed in a Temple City newspaper reviewing an arcade in their city after six months of being in business and praising the owners. Temple City also gave them permission to increase the number of machines. She was confident that their establishment would be the same and would enjoy the same success. In response to a question by the Commission, staff said that the Police Department was notified of the proposed use and they did not feel that there would be problems. Ms. Marshall said that one of the things they did before going through with this was to talk to the Police Department. They talked with Sgt. Sanderson who told them that this would probably be a very good establishment and the chances are trouble would be reduced because kids would have a place to go and they would not be bored and available to create problems. Daniel Schofield, 468 W. Woodruff, felt this would be a good location for kids to go especially because of the adult supervision. He thought parents would feel comfortable knowing that their kids are going to a place which would provide a safe and supervised environment. Presently, the mall or the library are the local hang outs for children and this location would be a better alternative. Lon Dayhoff, 415 Huntington Dr., San Marino, representing East -West Federal Bank, spoke against the proposed use. He was concerned about the type of customer base that will be attracted by a video and game arcade and the potential threat to their customers and neighbors. He said that most of the youth in the Arcadia community are of reputable character and would enjoy the social amenity of an arcade in their neighborhood, however, the site will undoubtedly attract many undesirables and could foster juvenile delinquency and possibly even criminal activity. He was concerned about the safety of their customers many of whom are elderly. He said many customers utilize their ATM machines in the evenings and they would probably be intimidated by this business and the possible undesirables loitering across the street and they would feel vulnerable to any potential robberies. He feared that their business would suffer and said that they looked long and hard for a location which would be in a residential neighborhood. He wondered how two ladies would be able to handle and supervise the kids that would go there. Arcadia City Planning Commission 3/9/93 Page 4 In rebuttal, Ms. Marshall as..ured the Commission that they would do whatever is necessary to run a safe establishment. She remarked they would hire as many assistants that would be required to run the business. No one else spoke in favor of or in opposition to this item. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Amato, seconded by Commissioner Daggett to close the public hearing. The motion passed by voice vote with none dissenting. Commissioner Amato was in favor of the proposed use, especially because it would keep kids off the streets and they would play the video games in a safe and supervised environment rather than a liquor store type of an establishment. He did not think the gender of the persons running the store would make a difference in whether it would be a safe business or not. Commissioner Daggett agreed. Commissioner Hedlund did not think they could have found a worse location for the proposed use. He was comforted, however, with the City Attorney's remark that their business license could be revoked if there were too many complaints and problems associated and as a result of this arcade. Commissioner Huang remarked the applicants seem to have good intentions. He thought this type of a business would provide good family entertainment but it would be difficult to control the kids both inside and outside the arcade. He recommended a status report be brought to the Commission in six months determining if the business has had a negative impact. He also suggested the reduction of hours of operation in the evenings to 8:00 p.m. Chairman Clark was in favor of the proposal. He remarked that if it does not work out, they could revoke their business license. He thought it would be great for the community. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Huang, seconded by Commissioner Hedlund to approve CUP 93-002 subject to the conditions in the staff report with the additional condition that a report be forward to the Commission in six months to review and assess the situation and the hours of operation be reduced to 8:00 p.m. Mr. Miller said that the problems would be monitored by the Planning Department. If the Commission would like a status report, it could be forwarded to the Commission in six months. The Planning and Police Departments utilize different techniques to resolve problems and he did not think the Planning Commission should change the hour of operation and remarked that would be a significant change. Commissioner Huang stated that the status report can help the Commission determine if there are problems which could be as a result of the number of machines. If that is the case then the Commission can reduce the number of machines allowed. Commissioner Amato was in favor of what the applicant is trying to do and he thought the Police would be able the monitor the site. Commissioner Daggett did not think remaining open until 10:00 in the evening would be a problem. He thought they should vote on the project as presented and remarked he did not want to be an enforcing agency. Chairman Clark agreed. Commissioner Hedlund was concerned with the bikes around the site. Arcadia City Planning Commission 3/9/93 Page 5 After the above discussion, Commissioner Huang amended his motion to: MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Huang, seconded by Commissioner Hedlund to approve CUP 93-002 subject to the conditions in the staff report with the additional condition to limit the hours of operation to 8:00 p.m. ROLL CALL: AYES: Commissioner Huang NOES: Commissioners Amato, Daggett Hedlund and Clark The motion failed. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Daggett, seconded by Commissioner Amato to approve CUP 93-002 subject to the conditions in the staff report. ROLL CALL: AYES: Commissioners Amato, Daggett, Hedlund, Clark NOES: Commissioner Huang Chairman Clark noted that there is a five working day appeal period after the adoption of the resolution. PUBLIC HEARING MP 93-002 Consideration of a modification for an 11'-6" northerly side 2323 Greenfield Ave. yard setback second -story bay windows in lieu of 15' -0" Patrick Snyder required. The staff report was presented. Staff indicated we had received a letter from Mr. and Mrs. Thoss at 2317 Greenfield in favor of the request. The public hearing was opened. Patrick Snyder, 2323 Greenfield, the applicant of the project was present to answer any questions. Staff said that building permits were pulled m 1990 but they expired and the applicant requested a time extension. Because the plans was submitted under the old Code the new regulations do not apply to this plan. The existing setbacks comply with the old requirements. The bay windows are the only item which require meodification. Jack Thoss, 2317 Greenfield, was confused about why the modifications were requested and why the applicant is permitted to request them. He thought his neighbor should comply with the standards. Ms. Butler responded by saying that under the circumstances explained above, Mr. Snyder does not have to change his existing plans to meet the new setbacks. She further explained that the plans were submitted when the old regulations were in affect, and the applicant is not required to comply with the new setback requirements. Because the applicant added bay windows, the modification is necessary. Arcadia City Planning Commission 3/9/93 Page 6 Mr. Thoss was angry at ti. .hove response and felt strongly that the applicant should comply. No one else spoke in favor of or in opposition to this item. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Hedlund, seconded by Commissioner Amato to dose the public hearing. The motion passed by voice vote with none dissenting. Ms. Butler explained that once a building permit has been issued, a person has 180 days to request a legitimate inspection otherwise the permit will expire, unless an extension is requested. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Huang, seconded by Commissioner Amato to approve MP 93-002 subject to the conditions in the staff report. ROLL CALL: AYES: Commissioners Amato, Daggett, Hedlund, Huang, Qark NOES: None Chairman Clark noted that there is a five working day appeal period. AUDIENCE PARTICIPATION None WAIVER OF PARCEL MAP 35 W. Las Flores and 1929 -1937 S. Santa Anita Ave. Harry & Gail Kempt The staff report was presented. MOTION Consideration of a request for waiver of Final Parcel Map. It was moved by Commissioner Hedlund, seconded by Commissioner Daggett to grant the Waiver of Parcel Map. ROLL CALL: AYES: Commissioners Amato, Daggett, Hedlund, Huang, Clark NOES: None RESOLUTION 1496 Ms. Butler read the title of the resolution. MOTION A resolution waiving the requirements of a final parcel map for the property at 35 W. Las Flores and 1929 -1937 S. Santa Anita Ave. Arcadia City Planning Commission 3/9/93 Page 7 It was moved by Commissioner Daggett, seconded by Commissioner Amato to adopt Resolution 14% and to formally affirm the decision of March 9, 1993 and the vote thereon. ROLL CALL: AYES: Commissioners Amato, Daggett, Hedlund, Huang, Clark NOES: None RESOLUTION 1497 A resolution granting CUP 93-002, for a family entertainment video and game machine arcade at 160 E. Duarte Rd. Ms. Butler read the title of the resolution. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Amato, seconded by Commissioner Daggett to adopt Resolution 1497 and to formally affirm the decision of March 9, 1993 and the votes thereon. ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: Commissioners Amato, Daggett, Hedlund, Huang, Clark None Chairman Clark noted that there is a five working day appeal period. MATTERS FROM COUNCIL None MATTERS FROM COMMISSION Commissioner Hedlund summarized the ADR Committee's actions. MATTERS FROM STAFF None ADJOURNMENT 9:00 p.m. to April 13,1993 Secretary, Arcadia Planning Commission Arcadia City Planning Commission 3/9/93 Page 8