Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutJANUARY 8, 2002 . ,(I) MINUTES . Arcadia City Planning Commission Tuesday, January 8, 2002 7:IS p.m. in tbe Conneil Cbambers Planning Commission proceedings are tape-recorded and on file in the office of the Commumty Development Division. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE The Planning Commission of the City of Arcadia met in regular session on Tuesday, January 8, 2002 at 7:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers of the City of Arcadia, at 240 W. Huntington Drive with Chairman Pro Tem Olson presiding. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: A..BSENT: Commissioners Baderian, Huang, Murphy, Olson, Commissioner }{..alemkiarian MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Huang, seconded by Commissioner Baderian to excuse Commissioner Kalemkiarian from tonight's meeting. The motion passed by voice vote with none dissenting, OTHERS ATTENDING Council Member Gail Marshall Planning Services Mimager Corkran Nicholson Senior Planner James Kasama Planning Intern Matt Chang Senior Administrative Assistant Silva Vergel SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION FROM STAFF REGARDINGAGENDA ITEMS Mr. Nicholson said that two items were distributed: >> A memo from the City Attorney concerning possible, moratorium on computer game arcades >> Revised conditions of approval for CUP 02-001 per City Attorney's direction. TIME RESERVED FOR THOSE IN THE AUDIENCE WHO WISH TO ADDRESS THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON NON-PUBLIC ijEARINGMATTERS (5 MINUTE LIMIT PERPERSON) None 1. MINUTES 12/11/01 MOTION . . It was moved by CollJIl1issioner Murphy, seconded by Commissioner Huang to approve the Minutes of December 1 lib as published amended. ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: CommissionersBaderian, Huang, Murphy, Olson None Commissioner Kalemkiarian 2. PUBLIC HEARING TPM 02-001 727 W. Lemon Ave. Shaw Hua-Huang Consideration of a tentative parcel map creating two lots from one. The staff repo rt was presented and the public hearing was opened. Gail Littlejohn, Tritech Assoc., 135 N. San Gabriel Blvd., San Gabriel, said they are in agreement with aU of the conditions in the staff report. No one else spoke in mvor of or in opposition to this item. Chairman Pro Tern Olson closed the public hearing. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Baderian, seconded by Commissioner Huang to approveTPM 02-00 I to file the Negative Declaration and approve subject to the conditions listed in the staff report. ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: COID/J1issioners Baderian, Huang, Murphy, Olson None Commissioner Kalemkiarian Chairman Pro Tem Olson noted that there is a ten day appe8I period. Appea1sare to be filed by January 181b. 3. PUBLlCHEARING TPM 02-002 41 Fano St. Hank Jong Consideration of a tentative parcel map for a 3-unitresidential condominium project. The staff report was presented and the public hearing was opened. Arcadia CitY Planning Commission 2 118/02 . . Scott Cheng, EGL Assoc., 11823 Slauson Ave., Santa Fe Springs, said they are in agreement with all of the conditions listed in the staff report. Ray Cook,. 425 N. Grand, Momovia, property owner of 27 Fano. He was against this project and explained that parking is extremely limited on this street, especially on Wednesdays and Thursdays which are street sweeping days when cars have to be moved from one side to the other. Recently 24 units were built on this street. Each one of these units have at least 2 cars. This has added to the parking congestion and problem on this street. He realized that each umt has a 2-car garage but the cars are not parked in the garages and street parking is utilized instead. When someone has a gathering or a party there is no parking available for the guests. He suggested removing the overnight parking limitation. Jeff Warman, 27 Fano, No. B, was not necessarily against the construction of these umts but against having 3 separate structures on the lot. Parking is very hard to find on the street. He has children and on one occasion he had to park two blocks away because there was no parking near his home. Robert Tong, Sanyao Int'l, 255 Santa Clara, the project designer said. that based on size of the lot they can build 4 units i:lut they opted for only 3-umts. They are also providing 2 guest parking spaces~ This project has already been approved by the Planning Commission. The rear units do back up to the alley where one of the guest parking spaces is located. No one else spoke in favor of or in opposition to this item. Chairman Pro rem Olson closed the public. hearing. Commissioner Baderian asked if the EIR Checklist considered the parking issue on street sweeping days? Mr. Nicholson said staff conducts a general review without any specific events taking place on the street. The project complies with the current parking regulations. This area is in transition where there are some single-family residences mixed in with multiple-family. Some of the multiple-family umts were constructed prior to the current code so the on site parking may not be as efficient. as the newer units. Chairman Pro Tem Olson said that generally one side of the street is swept on one day and the other on the next day. The no parking is only for a couple of hours each day. Commissioner Huang pointed out that technically they can build 4-units and have them as apartments as opposed to condominiums. Mr. Nicholson said they can develop this lot with 4-umts. The parking complies with code. Commissioner Murphy said there is plenty of on-site parking. He sympathized with the neighbor but the parking complies with code. It is under developed. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Huang, seconded by Commissioner Baderian to file the Negative Declaration and approve TPM 02-002 subject to the conditions listed in the staff report. Arcadia City Planning Commission J 118/02 . . ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Commissioners Baderian, Huang, Murphy, Olson None Commissioner Kalemkiarian Chairman Pro Tem Olson noted that there is a ten day appeal period. Appeals are to be filed by January 18th. 4. PUBLIC HEARING CUP 02-001 815 W. Naomi Ave., Unit F Kuo Lin Lee, HTS Game Zone Consideration of a conditional use permit and parking modification for a computer game arcade with 50 computer stations. The proposed businesS hours are 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.In., 7- days a week. The staff report was pr~ted. Mr. Kasama said that as a part of the game machine regillations, they are required to provide a second restroom and will need to provide a floor plan to be reviewed and approved by staff. He did not think that the lack ofa waiting area was a problem in this Case because of the tea house which is adjacent to this space, where' their clients could wait. In this center, most of the businesses are closed by midnight. He did not know how the storage areato the rear wouid be utilized. They will need to indicate where the bike rack would be located. Commissioner Murphy said that he has visited this site and he could not see where they could place a bike rack. Mr. Kasama said that the City.is not here to design the project. The applicant.must provide a,floor plan and show where the bike rack would be located. What they submit will be subject to the review and approval of staff. The previous applicant never came in with a plan. They got a CUP but were approached by this applicanHo purchase the business. A nuisance would be determined by how many times a'service call is made. Mr. Nicholson said that the AMC has the definition of nuisance and the City's Code Enf. Officers would fullow the code. Mr. Kasama said that if the Police respond to a service call for a disturbance due to loud conversation in parking lot whether it is for this applicant or another business that would be determined as a nuisance. That could apply to any of the businesses in the center. Code Enf. Officers would become involved. If there are enough problems, depending on the type of a business their CUP or Business License could be revoked. The Police Dept. can enforce curfew hours. They have requested that the hours of operation be similar to the other similar type businesses in the City. The Police Dept. does drop in to ensure that the business is running according to the conditions of approval. Arcadia City Planning CommiSsion 4 118/02 . . Mr. Nicholson said that these businesses are being closely watched by staB: within reason, during regular business hours; and by the Police, after regular business hours, but they have to be cautious so it is not selective enforcement. The public hearing was opened. Timothy Murphy, 33 E. Huntington, the attorney representing HTS/Game Zone, said they are in agreement with all of the conditions in the staff report with the exception of two of the conditions; With regard to the hours of operation, they would like to be competitive with the other similar businesses in the City and would like to remain open until 1:00. The tea house is open until 12:30 6-days a week and until 1 :30 on Saturdays. Their other concern is that they would like to provide a professional uniformed security guard after 7:00 p.m. because that is when their business picks up. It would be cost prohibitive to have 3 full time employees when there are only about 5 customers during the daytime hours. They have installed head phones to reduce and address the noise issue. In response to a question by Commissioner Murphy, Mr. Murphy said that the storage area would be where the computer servers would be located. The door in the rear is an emergency door. The applicant will have storage area for the skateboards and back packs. Their request will still have to be reviewed by the Fire Dept. as far as occupancy but ,he felt"they would have plenty of space. With regard to the bike rack, he said that was an oversight on the applicant's behalf. They will be installing one. No food will be served. He indicated that traditionally they are not busy prior to 7:00 p.m. and that is when they would like to have a professional Security guard. They would like to experiment with it and if it is necessary to have a security guard earlier then they will provide one. No one else spoke in favor of or in opposition to this item. Chairman Pro Tem Olson closed the public hearing. Commissioner Murphy said he is not against game arcades nor is he suggesting a moratorinm. He read the following statement: "Over the recent past. frve computer game arcades have been approved by this Commission. All of these are in the Baldwin shopping vicinity. These five arcades presently allow 139 computer stations. If this application is approved, that number will jump to 179. I am concerned about the impact these game arcades may be having on our children, merchants. residents and shoppers, I reference Chief Hinig's testimony of December j I. 2001. when he said, in part "the police have identified 19 separate Asian gangs that have membership in the city and they-are always looking for locations where they can hang out". Captain Sanderson in his letter of December 13. 2001. states "we have a concern that because of the nature of such LAN based computer games are competitive between customers and involve games of intense action, player's emotions may spark disturbances within the location. " Staff's report on this application makes reference to noise "generated at closing time that could cause substantial nuisance to residents of Naomi Ave." The stajfreport also makes reference to noise complaints from ''some businesses. " in a past application, reference was made to customers congregating in the parking lot. A quick inspection at two of the prior Arcadia City Plarming Commission s 118102 . . .. CUP approved sites indicates that there are no bike racks as where required What other conditions are not beingfollowed? Because of the concerns outlined above and because staff finds it necessary to impose numerous "contro/" conditions which I believe will be difficult to enforce and a cup suspension provision which may also be difficult to enforce, 1 have decided to read this statement into the minutes. This is an action I have never taken before in my nearly 8 years on this Commission. As you all know, we are an extension of the City Council. We serve at their pleasure. We, of course. act independent of the city council and make our own independent decisions. Nevertheless. it is my belief that the City Council would want us to pause and reflect on the issue of computer game arcades. I believe this matter should be "bumped up" to City Council before we proceed any fUrther. We should ask for more input from our City Manager. City Attorney. Police and Development Services Departments. We shauld determine If the existing game machine regulations fit the new type of business; what other cities are doing, a study of existing arcades, etc. We should also be sure that the regulations pertaining to game machines and there use addresses all the concerns included in stajfsrepoft. Based on the above. I ask that this cup application 02-001 be continued until a comprehensive study is completed and an updated staff report is submitted to us at a fUture public hearing. This could perhaps be accomplished within 60 to 90 days. If the applicant is unwillingeto continue this hearing to afuture date. I strongly recommend that we deny cup 02-001 and allow the applicant to appeal to the city council if they so desire. " Commissioner Huang shared many of the concerns raised by Commissioner Murphy but there is no hard clear evidence by either the Police or Development Services Department that there are issues that occurred at those establishments. He was note fully convinced that these establishments would become nuisance. He suggested revisiting this 6-months after they have been in operation. Commissioner Baderian agreed with some. of the comments made by Commissioner Murphy. He, was not sure if there was a need for another computer arcade in this, area and t!tought the over saturation of this type of a business might be something the City should look at. He was in support of the hours as recommended by staff. He was' unsure what a continuance would accomplish or how additional information would affect their thinking. He was in agreement with revisiting, the issue 6-months after they have been in operation. He was disappointed that the applicant did not address the restroom. or the bike rack issue prior to coming to the Planning Commission. Chairman Pro Tem Olson said that it is difficult to say how many like type businesses are too many. How would that be determined? The applicant realizes there is a need for this business and he has the room for the number of computers that he is requesting. His survival would depend upon the need for the business. As stated by Chief Hinig at the previous meeting, it is better to have more stations which would address and sOlve the waiting issue. He was concerned with the hours of operation. There are residential properties around the site. Most of the businesses close by midnight and he thought that Arcaitia ciJy Plannmg COJDJIJ1ssjOD 6 1/8/02 . . would be Ii good time fur this business. The location on Live Oak was limited to 11 :30 p,m. because of the residential uses in that area He was in favor of the number of station. With regard to condition 5 pertaining to providing a professional uniformed security guard, he thought that should be provided from 3:00 p.m. because that is when school is out. Mr. Nicholson requested that a fee be imposed if the Planning Commission decides to revisit the issue due to the additional staff time that would be required from the various City departments and to also cover any additional reports and inspections that would have to be made. This fee would be less than the original CUP fee that was paid. If approved, they would be required to submit a plan for the bike rack prior to opening. In this center there is an area available in front of the units but they would have to obtain the approval of the property owner to put the bike rack in this common area. There is also an area to the rear that they could put a bike rack. Chairman Pro Tem Olson did not think that it would be a good idea to put the bike rack in the back where it is not regularly monitored. The bike rack should either be inside of the building or in the common walkway area He was against putting the bike rack in the rear of the building. Commissioner Murphy said that if they placed the bike rack in the rear, they would have.to walk around the building to get to rack. He could not see how they could put a bike rack inside. There is no room. Commissioner Huang said that they could always reduce the number of computers to place a bike rack inside of the building. Mr. Nicho]son remarked the Fire Dept. would have to review and approve the floor plan and isle widths. MOTION Itwas moved by Commissioner Baderian, seconded by Commissioner Huang to file the Negative Declaration and approve CUP 02-00] subject to the conditions in the staff report with the additional conditions listed .below and direct staff to prepare the appropriate resolution. There shall be 2 adult employees from opening until 3 :00 p.m. and 2 adult employees and a professional umformed security guard from 3:00 p.m. until closing. The applicant isto fulfill all requirements regarding restrooms and shall provide a bike rack either inside ,the building or in the common walkway area subject to the ,approval by staff. The Planning Commission is to review this 6-months after the business opens and there shall be a fee assessed for this review. ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Commissioners Baderian, Huang, Olson Commissioner Murphy Commissioner Kalemkiarian Chairman Pro Tem OI56n noted that there is a five working day appeal period after the adopton of the rsolution. The'resolution will be adopted on January 22nd. Appeals are to be filed by January 30th. 5. PUBLIC HEARING MP 02-001 & ADR 01-039 717 Arcadia Ave. Arcadia Ci.ty Pblnning Commi~ion 7 1/8102 . . Nevis Homes Consideration of modifications and design review for a 12-unit residential condominium project. The staff report was presented and the public hearing was opened. Michael Hsiao, 2063 S. Atlantic, Monterey Park, said they are in agreement with all of the conditions listed in the staff report. No one else spokecin favor of or in opposition to this item. c Chairman Pro Tern Olson closed the public hearing. Mr. Kasama said that Request 'B' for the elimination of the side yard setback for the trash enclosure enables the, developer to provide 2 additional guest parking spaces. Commissioner Murphy said these are minor modifications and Was pleased with the design. MOTION It was moved by Commissioner Baderian, seconded by Commissioner Murphy approve MP 02- 001 & ADR 01-039 subject to the conditions listed in the staff report. ROLL CALL: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: Commissioners Baderian, Huang, Murphy, Olson None Commissioner. Kalemkiarian Chairman Pro TemOlson noted that there isa five working day appeal period, Appeals are to be filed by January 16th, MATTERS FROM CITY COUNCIL Council Member Marshall said that the election is coming up. So far 6 persons have taken out papers and they all have until Friday to file. MATTERS FROM PLANNING COMMISSION Chairtrnm Pro Tem Olson said that in the audience is Nick Vargas (his Jlephew) visiting from Troup 120 of Boy Scouts. He is working onliis Citizenship and Community Merit Badge. MODIFICATION COMMITTEE MEETING ACTI()NS None MATTERS FROM STAFF Arc:adia Ciry Planning Commission 8 1/8/02 . .' ." 1. CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS 2. UPCOMING AGENDA ITEMS . Mr. Nicholson introduced Matt Chang, Planning Intem ADJOURNMENT Artadia City Plarming Commission 8:20 p.m Is/Corkran Nicholson Secretary, Arcadia Planning Commission 9 118102