Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutFEBRUARY 22, 2000 '~. . . . MINUTES . Arcadia City Planning Commission Tuesday, February 22, 2000 7:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers Planning Commissicm proceedings are tape-recorded and on file in the office of the Cominunity Development Division.- PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Planning Commission of the City of Arcadia met in regular session on Tuesday, February 22, 2000 at 7:15 p.m in the Council Chambers of the City of Arcadia, at 240 W.Huntington Drive with Chairman Richard Bruckner presiding. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Commissioners Huang, Murphy, Bruckner ABSENT: Commissioners Kaiemkiarian and Sleeter MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Huang, seconded by Commissioner Murphy to excuse Commissioners Kalemkiarian and Sieeter from tonight's meeting. The motion passed by voice vote with none dissenting. OtHERS ATTENDING Council Member Gail Marshall Community Development Administrator Donna Butler Associate Planner James Kasama AssistantPlanner Candyce Burnett Secretary SilvaVergel SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FROM STAFF REGARDING AGENDA ITEMS Staff distributed.revised Minutes ,rod a letter from EastlWest Bank regarding CUP 98-018. TIME RESERVED FOR THOSE IN THE AUDIENCE WHO WISH TO ADDRESS THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON NON-PUBLIC HEARING MATTERS (5MlNUTE LIMIT PER PERSON) None I. MINUTES on/8/00 Due to lack ofa quorwn, the Minutes were continued until March 14"'. ~ . . 2. PUBLIC HEARING CUP 98-018 141 E. Duarte ReI. Rev. Chi-Chong Chang Consideration of revisions to the conditional of approval for the previously approved theological seminary. The . staff report Was presented. Staff indicated that no objections were received to the request. The Planning Commission would adopt a new resolution at their next meeting. The parking is based upon the number of students and not on the square footage of the building. He said the letter that was distributed from EastlWest Bank allows them to utiliZe their parking space. The bank is less than 500' from the subject property. Ms. Butler explained that the parking requirement for a.school is I parking space per 35 sq..ft. but they looked lit the number of students as opposed to the square footage. Commissioner Murphy expressed concern over how far the bank was and that the students would have to cross the street. Chairman Bruckner replied that the parJdng in some schools. is much further than the bank~s parking lot. The public hearing was opened. Chi Chang, 2048 Whitebluff Rd., San Dimas, said they have complied with all of the City's requirements. He thought they have been a very good-neighbor and believed thaHhey are a valuable addition to this neighborhood and beneficial to the community and the entire city. They help strengthen the moral values of the City. They have 34 on-site parking spaces. Foothill Federal Credit Union (FFCU) has given them permission to utilize their parking on a case by case basis. FFCU has approximately 70 parking spaces. The EastlWest Bank has 37 parking spaces. In reply to a questiqnby Commissioner Murphy, Mr. Chang did not know what they would do if their neighbors withdrew their consent in using their parking. He introduced the pastors, which were seated in the audience. Raymond Petzhilt, 302 S. Second, said he is the pastor of the church at the comer of santa Anita and Colorado Ave. Together, they have raised the soCial and spiritual values of the congregation. Their intent is to alleviate racial tension in the community. Chuck Bradley, 112 E. Duarte, Rd., said he is the owner of CRB Insurance. He said the applicant haS:been a good' neighbor. Margaret Kwong, 850 El Campo, Pasadena, was in favor of the request. Most of the students are professionals. They would be attending the evening classes. They do not cause any disturbance in the area Arcadia City Planning CommiSSion 2 2122/00 ,. . . Victor Chen, 263 W. Camino Real, said he has lived in this fine City for many years because it is such a wonderful place to live. He thought this would be a good addition to the City. No one else spoke in favor of or in opposition to this item. Chairrnan Bruckner closed the public hearing. Chairman Bruckner said the FFCU parking is mostly vacant except when they have their car sales which seems to be 3.4 times annually. He thought staff should review the code regarding how many times they can have these types ofsliles. Commissioner Murphy'said the parking is tough at this site. If they need to increase their usage and there is not ample parking, possibly they should be looking for another suitable site. He did not like satellite parking that is down and across the street. This could be a potential problem. Mr. Chang cannot assure him of what plans they have if anyone of his neighbors chose to withdraw their conSent for the use of their parking. He was bothered that there is no permanent arrangement. Chairman Bruckner responded that the parking across the street at the 99~ Only store is much more cumbersome. He could not-remember ever seeing a problem at this site. In response to concerns raised, staff said that a covenant Would be. required for each different site. The covenant would be in place even if the property was sold. If anyone of the participants wanted a release from the cOvenant, the City would need to review and approve it. If the covenant was removed, the applicant would be notified that 'he would have to reduce the number of students to comply with AMC- the occupancy would. have to comply with the available parking. The public hearing I"!lS re-opened. Mr. Chang explained that FFCU did not want to give them a blanket approval to utilize their parking but would allow them uSage on a case by case. He said FFCUhad written and mailed a letter to the City. He summarized the content of the letter since staff indicated that he bad not received said correspondence. Chairrnan Bruckner closed the public hearing. Staff reiterated. what would happen if one of the participants requestedrelease'ofthe covenant. The applicant would need to reduce occupancy to comply with the available parking. Chairrnan Btucknerwas pleased that there was a legal mechanism in place if one of the participants wanted to withdraw from the covenant. Based upon concerrl8 raised by Commissioner Murphy, Council Member Marshall said that the bank's parking lot is not utilized in the evenings; MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Huang to approve CUP 98~018, subject to the conditions listed in the staffreport. Arcadia City Planning Commission 3 2fl2lO0 -.' . . ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Commissioner Huang, Murphy, Bruckner None Commissioners Kalemkiarianand Sleeter Chairman Bruckner noted that there is a five working day appeal period after the adoption of the resolution. The resolution will be adopted on March 14th: Appeals are to be filed by March 2 t st. 3. PUBLIC HEARING TM 53075 135-9 Genoa St. Hank Jong Consideration.ofa tentative map fora 5cunit residential condomiirium project. The staff report was preSented and the public hearing was opened. Scott Chang, EGL Assoc., U 823 Slauson, Santa Fe Springs, said they are in agreement with all of the conditions in the staff report. No one else spoke in favor of or in opposition to this item. Chairman Bruckner closed the;public hearing. MOTION It was. moved by Commissioner Huang, 'seconded by Commissioner Murphy to approve TM 53075 subject to the conditions listed in the staffreport. ROLLCALL: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Commissioner Huang, Murphy, Bruckner None Commissioners Kalernkiarian and Sleeter Chairman Bruckner noted thatthere isa.ten day'appeal period. Appeals are to be filed by March 300. NON PUBLIC HEARING ITEMS 4. SADR 99-074 1.130 S. Baldwin Ave., #B-] Erwin Jones ofMina- Tree Signs Consideration ofan appeal of the conditional approval for two wall signs for "Charles Schwab". The modification portion. of this hearing (MP 2000-5) has been withdrawn by the applicant. The staff report was presented. ArCa4ia City Planning Commission 4 2/22/00 '. .' . . Staff explained that the proposed signs are too far apart. The separation needs to be reduced. The letters need to be moved closer together, to comply with the City's sign regulations. In response to a colllII1ent by Chairman Bruckner, Ms. Butler said that the sign must fit into a specific box area As the allowed box gets smaller, the sign will be reduced in size. Because of the channel letters, and the distance between the signs, this lookS like two separate signs and not one sign. Staff said that the sign as proposed in the. English characters are twice the size of the non-English. There is a 2 to 1 ratio, which exceeds code requirements. The building has a lot of architectural features and the applicant's intent is to put the sign in the middle of the columns to give it a visual balance. Their reasoning for spreading out the non-English letters is to make the sign visibly balance with the English characters. Coqrrnissioner Murphy thought that they need to comply with the ordinance. Ernie Jones, 1233 E. Roilald, Stockton, submitted a revised plan that he said complied with code. After examining the new plan distributed by Mr. Jones, Chairman Bruckner said that he could not see any difference with what has been proposed and wmit was distributed. He thoughtthey were the same. Mr. Jones explained that what he distributed shows the reveals of the building. Their'intent was to balance out the sign in between the columns of the building. If they are not allowed to do that the sign would look out of balance. Most of the tenants in .this center have been allowed to center their signs between the columns. Chaitman Bruckner remarked that the code is very specific. He statedthat,not aU of' the signs are centered. He wanted the integrity of the ordinance to be maintained. Council Member Marshall thought that the sign would look much nicer if the non-English characters were underneath the English letters. Commissioner Huang thought they need. to comply with the sign ordinance. He suggested condensing the non-English characters to accomplish the 1/3 rule and to make in proportion with the English characters. Ms. Butler said the code is specific. If their request is approved, she feared that it would set a precedent. She did not think that the signs should be too far apart. She remarked that there are other tenants that. have more than one unit and some of their signs are spread across the architectUral features. She thought that the sign should be in proportion and centered within the two units. She recommended that design No, 2, on Page 2 ofExluoit B be approved. The sign needs to comply with the l/3-2/3 regulation and the characters need to be closer to each other. Commissioner Murphy agreed. He did not want to make an exception. Staff said that the location of the sign on the building is not an issue. Arcadia-City Planning Commission 5 2122100 I . . It was the consensus of the Planning Commission to suggest that the sign be on"two lines -with the. large English characters on top and the Smaller non-English characters on the bottom. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Huang to deny the appeal ofSADR 99-074. : ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Commissioner Huang, Murphy, BruckIler None Commissioners Kalemkiarian and Sleeter MA TTERSFROM CITY COUNCIL Council Member Marshall summarized the election activity. MATTERS FROM PLANNING COMMlSSON Commissioner Murphy commended City Staff and the California Conservation Core for all their assistance during the storms; He even saw the City Manager assisting them by putting up cones. MODIFICATION COMMITTEE MEETING ACTIONS Commissioner Huang recapped the actions taken by the Modification Committee. MATTERs FROM STAFF 1. CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS 2. UPCOMING AGENDA ITEMS Ms. Butlerinforrnedthe PlAnning Commission of upcoming agenda items. ADJOURNMENT Arakdia City. Planning Commission 6 2/22/00