Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutAPRIL 13, 1999 .it ~....,..D . MINUTES. An:adia City Planning Commission Tuesda)', April 13, 1999 7: 15 p.m. in the Council Chambers Planning Commission proceedings are tape-recorded and on file in the office of the Community Development Division, PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Planning Commission of the City of Arcadia met in regular session on Tuesday, April 13. 1999 at 7:15 p,m, in the Council Chambers of the City of Arcadia, at 240 W. Huntington Drive with Chairman Paul Kalemkiarian presiding, ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Commissioners Bruckner, Huang, Murphy, Sleeter, Kalemkiarian ABSENT: None OTHERS ATTENDING City Attorney Michael Miller Community Development Administrator Donna Butler Assistant Planner Kenneth Phung Secretary Silva Vergel SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FROM STAFF REGARDING AGENDA ITEMS Ms, Butler noted that.a letter was distributed from the Village Home Owner's Association (ROA) with regard to the T A 99-004, TIME RESERVED FOR THOSE IN THE AUDIENCE WHO WISH TO ADDRESS THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON NON-PUBLIC HEARING MAITERS (5 MINUfE LIMIT PER PERSON) None I. MINUTES of3/23/99 MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Sleeter,.seconded by Commissioner Murphy to approve the Minutes ofMarch23rd as published, ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES, ABSTAIN: Commissioner Huang, Murphy, Sleeter, Kalemkiarian None Commissioner Bruckner 2, . PUBLIC HEARING CUP 99-006 & RESO, NO, 1589 188 W, Las Tunas Dr, LEADS for American Stores Properties, Inc, . Consideration of II conditional use permit to construct a 15,250 sq, ft, Sav-On Drug store with a drive -thru pharmllcy along El Monte Ave. In addition, the applicant is requesting'to operate 24 hours and to,sell alcoholic beverages within 150' of residential property, RESOLUTION NO. 1589, granting CUP 99-006 and approving ADR 98-053 to construct a 15,250 sq, ft, Say-On Drug Store with a drive-thru pharmacy arid to sell alcbholic beverages within 150' of residential property at 188 W, Las Tunas, The staff report was presented, ,Ms, Butler stated that the previous use, the bowling alley, had a bar and restaurant and served alcohol after midnight. She stated that the westerly portion of the site (EI Monte Ave,) presently has a higher block wall which helps mitigate the lights for the residents on EI Monte Ave, but code allows a maximumofa 3' high block wall, The block wall is adjacent to the sidewalk and has dense landscaping, The Traffic Engineer recommended that one of the driveways on Live Oak be eliminated because it was too close to the corneL Even though EI Monte is a narrower collector street it is a little different from Las Tunas, which is lI'major arterial street. The public hearing was opened, Daryl Christian, Leads, 1820 E, First St., Santa Ana was representing American Stores, They are proposing a 15,251 sq, ft, Sav-On and approximately 3,000 sq, ft, pad for retail use: Presently, they do not have an occupant for the retail store, Sav-On has been located in the middle of the site due to zoning constraints, Landscaping will occupy 13% of the site, They do not object to plai1ting'more mature trees, They wanted to design a building that would fit in with the community, Hewenton to say that the intent of thedrive-thru driveway for the pharmacy is for the convenience of their patrons, including the elderly an,d a parent with a sick child. They will not be selling other items at the drive-thru, There will be two lanes one to drop off prescriptions and one to pick them up, Under no circumstances will alcohol be sold to minors, They will be checking I.D, cards and birth dates and will have security decoys come in to see if they can purchase alcohol. He explained the loeations of the signs. Taco Bellis not a part of this application, In order to have that use; they would need to rezone that portion of the property, Harry Jakeway, 2715 EI Monte Ave" was in favor of having this use go into the center but he requested that the existing wall remain or one similar in height be constructed along EI Monte Ave, He assumed the wall was approximately 6' high because he cannot see over the wall. The wall serves as a boffer to the three properties that are on El Monte Ave, directly across from the driveway, They do not want lights shining through their windows, The wall would also reduce noise level. He was concerned that the continuous left turn lane on EI Monte Ave. would wipe away their on-street parking and would be dangerous for them to get in and out of their driveway, Where would their visitors park? Joe Porras, 2723 ElMonte Ave, was opposed to the driveway facing their homes on EI Monte Ave, Arcadia City Phll'lning Commission 2 4/13199 . . In rebuttal, Mr, Christian said that they couldn't use the existing wall because they will be re-grading the site, which will weaken the wall, Their engineer recommended what has been proposed, He said that there would be three light poles at the property line and these would not be directed toward the properties on EI Monte Ave, Commissioner Murphy suggested restricting the driveway on EI Monte Ave, to ingress only, which would mitigate the head light issue, Mr, Christian replied that he would need to discuss'that issue with American Stores, No one else spoke in favor of or in opposition to this item, ChaillDan Kalemkiarianclosed the public hearing. Commissioner Bruckner agreed with Commissioner Murphy's recommendation regarding the driveway. This would help mitigate the noise and light issues, Ms, Butler thought this couldbea good idea, She said the Planning Commission could take any of the'following actions: 1. Take action with the reCommended actions 2, Not adopt the resolution tonight and ask that the Traffic Engineer review it again She noted that if the applicant is not satisfied with the Planning Commission action, they could appeal the decision to the City Council. Mr, Miller said the Planning Commission does not have to adopt the resolution tonight, Staff recently began presenting the resolution at the time of the hearing to expedite matters, But if the Planning Commission would like to make changes, staff can return with a resolution that incorporates their changes at their next meeting, ChaillDan Kalemkiarian re,.opened the public hearing, Mr, Christian said they need the driveway there to improve traffic flow on the site, He offered to reduce their hours of operation to 8:00a:m, to 10:00 p,m, ChaillDan Kalemkiarian closed'the public hearing, Commissioner Sleeter said that he was going to recommend that the hours of operation be reduced and if they find that they wanted to increase the hours they could return and request the amendment. Commissioner Bruckner agreed that they should close at.1 0:00 p.rn, ChaillDan Kalemkiarian re-opened the public hearing, Jeff Timbers, representing American Stores, said they currently have two other stores in the city and both close at 10:00 p,m, He said the EI Monte access is veryimportantto them. (ucadia City PJanniDg ~ion 3 4113/99 . . Mr, Jakeway agreed with Commissioner Murphy's suggestion because that would eliminate the lights entering their premises and causing distractions, Chainnan Kalemkiarian closed the public hearing, Ms. Butler said the continuous left turn lane would not affect the on-street parking, Commissioner Huang reCommended dense and tall landscaping along EI Monte Ave, to help mitigate the raised issues, He also suggested that the north elevation along Las Tunas between the two entrances be dressed up more with. additional architectural treatments, It is just a blank wall. He also recommended similar changes to the south elevation facing Live Oak Ave, to screen the loading area, With regard to the south elevation, Ms, Butler said that there will be landscaping immediately in front of the wall screening the loading area extending 2/3 to 31. up the wall in front of the wall. In regard to the EI Monte Ave, she stated that the code allows a 3' high block wall. To have a higher wall would virtually ,enclose the parking area, For security purposes, the Police Dept. likes to be able to view a parking lot from the street. ChainnanKalemkiarianrecommended that possibly the residents could plantlandscaping that would block the lights, He resides along a busy street and he has taken steps to block lights, Commissioner Bruckner remarked that EI Monte is quite different than Orange Grove Ave, Cars in the center would be driving fairly fast, hit a bump and the-lights would go up and shine right into the residents' homes, MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Bruckner, seconded by Commissioner Sleeter to approve CUP 99-006 subjeCt to the Conditions in the staff report with the additional amended conditions: 1. That the hours of operation for the drug store shall be limited to 7:00 a,m, to 10:00 p,m, 2, That deliveries and,mechanical parking lotsweeping equipment are limited to 7:00 a,m, to 9:00p:m, 3, That all-freestanding signs on thesite,shall be restricted to "monument-type signs", 4, That a final landscape plan shall be submitted for review and approval to the Community Development Division, Said plan shall include mature tree$ (minimum 36" box) subject to the approval of the Community Development Division, 5, That a 3' high splitface block wall shall be constructed ' between the parking area and the street along EI Monte Ave, Dense landscaping shall be planted along EI Monte Ave, to screen the parking area from adjoining street and residential properties fronting on EI Monte Ave, Arcadia City Planning Cormnission 4 4/13/99 . . 6, The driveway on EI Monte Ave, shall be restricted to ingress only, The driveway shall be designed to restrict egress from this driveway and submitted to the City's traffic engineer for design approval, 7, That the northerly building elevation shall be enhanced between the Sav-On Drug store and the retail store, A revised elevation shall be submitted to the Development Se",ices Department for its review and approval. 8, The amended resolution will be brought back at the Planning Commission~s next meeting for adoption, ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: Commissioner Bruckner, Huang, Murphy; Sleeter, Kalemkiarian None Chairman Kalemkiarian noted that there is a five working-day appeal period, The resolution will be adopted on April 27th, Appeals are to be filed by May 4, 1999, 3, PUBLIC HEARING CUP 99-007 616E, Live Oak Sam and Sue Lu Consideration of a conditional use permit for a 995 sq, ft: martial arts studio in an existingretilil, shopping center, The hours of operation will be from 9:00 am, to 10:00 p,m" six days a week. RESOLUTION NO. 1590, granting CUP 99-007 for martial arts studio at616 E, Live Oak Ave, The staff report was presented, In response to a question, from the Planning Commission" staffindieated that the parking deficiency would increasefrom 30 to 33, The proposed school is 100 sq, ft, larger than the previous martial arts studio at the same exactIocation, Ms,Butler said that the parking requirement is for schools and the code does not differentiate between martial arts studios and other types of schools, Whenever there 'are any changes to the. building, they are required to comply with existing codes, Two handicap spaces are required,and one needs to be van accessible, The public hearing was opened, Maw Quan, 820 Marion St., Montebello, was representing the owner who was in the audience, He pointed to a gentleman and saId that he is representing him, He is 83 years old but does not look it. The reason for his youthful appearance is because he has practiced martial arts all his life and attributes ,his youthfulness to it. He wants to bring the .same benefits to this community, He anticipates se",ing the senior citizens and the children of the community. They are in agreement with all of the conditions in the staff report, Arcadia City Phuming Conunission 5 4/1l/99 . . Grace Houng, 706 E, Camino Real, could ,not believe that the gentleman was 83 years old and if manial arts has kept him looking that young, she probably would sign up for it. No one else spokecin favor of or in opposition to this item, Chainnan Kalemkiarian closed the public hearing, MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Huang to approve CUP 99-007 and adopt Reso, 1590 subject to the conditions in the staff report, ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: Commissioner Bruckner, Huang, Murphy, Sleeter, Kalemkiarian None Chainnan Kalemkiarian noted that there is a five working-day appeal period, Appeals'lire to be filed by April 20, 1999, 4. PUBLIC HEARING TA 99-004 Consideration of a text amendment to amend the R-O and R-1zoning regulations, Ms, Butler said that the proposed amendment has been based upon staff's own experiences within the City, The public hearing was opened, Ralph Bicker, Chainnan of the Highhmd Homeowner's Associatio~, 101 White Oak, spoke in favor of the changes, Their board met and they 'are in agreement that the. changes are all good, It will help their HOA and prevent homes witha3-story'affect, Terry Earll, President of the Association of Arcadia Realtors, 725 Pamela Cir" requested a continuance to allow them sufficient time to review the changes, He said although the staff report was sent to him in March, he did not see it until a few days ago, He stated that the changes would reduce property values because people will not be able to develop their lots as easily, Taking the cost of land and the construction into consideration, it will not make sense for developers to develop these lots, Who will that hurt? It will hurt the senior citizens of the community who are looking to sell and to move out of the community, For most senior citizens their homes are the most valuable asset that they own and the proposed changes will immensely hurt thelIl, Developers will not be able to build the types of homes that new owners are looking for. Times are changing, This community is no longer the "bedroom" community that it once was, New homeowners want larger homes with at least 4-5 bedrooms, Taking a 7,500 sq, ft. lot and the proposed FAR. of 50% they'could have a maximum of3,750 sq, ft, of building on the lot. A 2-car garage is approximately 500 sq, ft, and by the time that all the necessities are taken into consideration, they could. only build a 2,000 sq, ft, home, This drastically reduces property values, Arcadia City Planning Commission 6 4113199 . . The proposed changes wiIl have a definite impact on homeowners who want to sell and retire, This is a violation of property owner's rights, Commissioner Murphy asked ifMr, Earll was concerned with the "mansioniZlltion" of the south part of the City? Mr, Earll responded that this was not a major concern, This can be achieved by having design review instead of attacking it with strict guidelines, These changes will. in essence eliminate 2-story homes on SO' and 60' wide lot. It would totally eliminate it from 60' wide corner lots, With the proposed regulations, after deducting garage areas, homeowners would only be able to build 2,000 sq, ft. homes. Patricia Ammon, 2506 Greenfield, said she was doubly concerned. Not only is she a homeowner in the City, she is also a realtor, Most new homeoWners want larger homes and are not satisfied with the smaller older homes that are in the City, The proposed changes would restrict square footage and directly impact property values. Henry Velasco, 11901 Deana Ct., El Monte, said the City needs to look atthe larger picture, There will be econolllicalimpact if.the City changes the regulations, Grace Houng, 706 E, Camino Real, said this would decrease property values because homeowners would be unable to rebuild, This is a bad idea, It would increase property values for ones that have already developed their properties, Milton Bade, 77 W, Las Tunas, was in disagreemerit with the proposed changes, He said that he discovered the proposed changes by accident. He happened to be in the Community Development Division and staff informed him of tonight's hearing, If he hadn't found out by accident, he would also not be at tonight's meeting, He was surprised that he was the only developer in the audience because the changes will affect all developers in the City, He felt a lot more thought should go into it. These are major changes, which will have great impacts on property values, and how ne~ homes are built. The regulations and,FAR. are too restrictive, After taking the F,A.R, into consideration and deducting the garage,space, there would be very limited square footage available for a home and Arcadians want more, Even though, some homes are not as nice as others. are, the City cannot stop progress, Chairman Kalemkiarian asked how he would recommend balancing homes and makillg sU.re that homes are more into scale? The city is trying to address issues and concerns that have been raised by cutting up larger lots into smaller lots and developing with iarge homes that do not fit and are out of scale, Where there used to be one large lot with a small unobtrusive house, there lire now 2 smaller lots with 2 very large homes, Mr, Bade said that there are nottoo many homes that are outofbalance, Ifthey'were they would not be able to sell them, He suggested getting together with other developers and staff to come up with changes that they can all live with, John Garton, 32 N, Golden West, said the proposed changes would be detrimental to the elderly who have invested their whole lifetime in their homes and this is their nest egg, What they once thought was very valuable, will now not be worth as much, Builders will be driven out of town, In his Arcadia City Plarming Commission 7 4/13199 . . association there are stringent rules and it is very difficult for developers to build and this will drive them away, It would not be economically feasible for them tobuild smaller homes, Robert Tong, 141 E, Duarte Rd" said he owns a small home on Naomi, He hoped that one day he would be able to rebuild but with the proposed regulations he will not be able to build his dream home, The regulations are too restrictive and prohibitive, The F.AR restricts lot coverage and that impacts the size of the home, He needed a home larger than 2,000 sq, it The proposed changes will impact many homeowners in the City, No one else spoke in favor of or in opposition to this item, Chainnan Kalemkiarian closed the public hearing, Ms,Butler was concerned about some, of the misinfonnlltion and lack of understanding, She could not,see how some of the audience derived to the 2,000 sq, ft, house on a 7,500 sq,ft, lot. She said the side yard setbacks, lot coverage and building height have not changed, She gave examples ,of different scenarios and illustrated different ways on how large homes can still be constructed, The intent of this text amendment is to reduce mass and bring projects more into scale with the lot, Many people are complaining about very large massive two-story homes or two-story entries on homes that do not fit on the lot. Certain portions of the City have architectural Design Review Boards and in these areas plans are submitted to them for their review, The south portion of Arcadia does not have these types of review boards, Commissioner Bruckner wanted''to see examples of before and after; i.e" homes that can currently be constructed on a lot and what homes could look after ,the F,A.R. have been adopted. He wanted additional time to review this, Chaihnan Kalemkiarian wanted to spend more time reviewing this text amendment Commissioner Murphy felt the new homes should blend in with the old, New homes should be compatible, He understood the developer's poiilt of view but felt in some'cases too much is being put on a lot. He suggested giving serious thought to prohibiting chain link fences, He inquired about RV and boat parking, Ms, Butler explained the history of the R V ordinance and said that this is a very delicate subject, Some discussion ensued about inclusion of R V regulations and possibly an amendment of it and Mr, Miller reminded staff and the Planning Commission that the City Council directed them to review the zoning regulations for R-I and R-O with.regard to mass, scale and bulk and not RVs, It was detennined to continue the public hearing to the Planning Commission's May 11th meeting. It was suggested that anyone interested in submitting their comments should do so by writing to the Community DevelopmentDivision, Commissioner Huang suggested increasing the noticing distance and Ms, Butler replied thatpublic hearing notices are not mailed on text amendments, If they were, everyone in the City would need to be noticed, Public hearings for text amendments are published in the paper, On March 9th, a letter and packets \:Vere mailed to all of the Homeowner's Associations and the Arcadia Board of Realtors, She asked that the word be'spread, Arcadia city ~g Commission 8 4/13199 . . Commissioner Murphy requested the developers, realtors and residents to please come back with specific suggestions and not that this change wilJdecrease property values, The Planning Commission is responsible for land use issues, MOTION It was moved by Chainnan Kaiemkiarian, seConded by Commissioner Murphy to re-open the public hearing and continue it to the Planning Commission's May 11th meeting, ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: Commissioner Bruckner, Huang, Murphy, Sleeter, Kalemkiarian None NON"PUBLIC HEARING I1EMS 5, CERTIFICA1E OF COMPLIANCE 900 W, Duarte Rd, Eid Ballat Consideration ora Certificate of Compliance for a lotsplit in. 1963 thai was not,recorded, The staff report was presented, MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Sleeter to approve the Certificate of Compliance, ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: Commissioner Bruckner; Huang, Murphy, Sleeter, Kalemkiarian None MA TIERS FROM CITY COUNCIL None MATTERS FROM PLANNING COMMISSON None MODIFICATION COMMITTEE MEETING ACTIONS Commissioner Murphy recapped the actions taken by the Modification Committee, MATTERS FROM STAFF 1. CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS Arcadia City Planning,Comiriission 9 4/13/99 . UPCOMING AGENDA ITEMS . 2, Ms, Butler recapped the upcoming projects before the Planning Commission and recent actions taken by the City Council. She also stated that the grandstand renovations at the racetrack would begin after the racing season is over. ADJOURNMENT 9:50 p,m, Arcadia City Planning Commission 10 4113/99