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HomeMy WebLinkAboutFEBRUARY 28, 1961 ... , . , ] MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF ARCADIA REGULAR MEETING FEBRUARY 28, 1961 The Planning Commission of the City of Arcadia met in regular session in the Council Chamber of the Ci:ty Hall at 8:00 o"clock P.M., February 28, 1961. ROLL CALL PRESENT: Commissioners Acker, Ferguson, Forman, Golisch, Michler and Rutherford ABSENT: Commissioner Norton OTHERS PRESENT: City Attorney James A. Nicklin Director of Public Works C. E. Lortz Planning Secretary ,L. M. Talley MINUTES The Planning Commission approved the minutes of the regular meeting of February 14, 1961 as written and mailed. REPORTS The Chairman asked Commissioner Gol'isch, the City Council l'iaison from the Planning Commission, to report on any planning matters which had been acted upon at the City Council meeting. Commissioner Golisch stated that ODe of the principal items of discus- sion at the counc"ll meeting was the public hearing on the rezoning of Duarte Road. Most of the City Councilmen were in accord with the recommendations of the Planning Commission. He did not believe that the council would have gone along with a straight R-3-R; there also seemed to be a reluctance to grant a straight R-3. Commissioner Gol'isch continued that the only change the council did make in the Planning Commission recommendations was in regard to pro- perty on Holly Kvenue, south of Duarte Road. The City Council did not wish to start either R-2 or R-3 down a residentilll street. Commiss~oner Golisch added that the City Council advised him to re- quest the commission to consider amending the present Zone R-3 as it relates to -req~ired driveways. The City Counc;l felt that some COD- siderationr should be given to changing the ,requirement from a 20 foot or two 10 foot driveways to a minimum of 20 foot drivew~y only. The Planning Secretary stated he had a report from the Fire Depart- ment; in order to reach a fire at the rear of a property, the depart- ment wishes to back their truck down the driveway and take the end of the hose\to the point of fire. The Planning Secretary read a communication from Chief Way of the Arcadia City Fire Department which stated that the Fire' Department has experienced difficulty in the placement of apparatus at fires in these areas, especially where the property is extremely deep. The widest apparatus requires at least 8'_6" clearance, so it is apparent that it is almost impossible to back this large apparatus into an 8 or ten foot drive for some ,four to five hundred feet with any speed, espec- ially at night. Page One February 28, 1961 . ...~ i \--_/ The co~unication recommended that. an overall clearance of at least 12 fellt in width be established, with an overhead clearance of not less than l3 feet. The Planning Secretary stated that the Fire Department is expecting, in the near future, to purchase equipment that will be higher than usual requiring a 13 foot vertical clearance on the driveways. The Planning Secretary brought to the cODDDission's at.tention the advisability of requiring l2'6" from the property line. In the event that the property owners wish to put in a wall or a fence there would still be 12 I clearance for vehicles. If two 12 '6" drives were required a total of 25 feet would be realized for drives; in the case of a 20 foot drive, with the 5 foot side yard ~equirement, the total footage would be the same. The Planning Secretary .suggested that if the ordinance were amended, that at the same it be amended to grant the Modification Committee the authority to make minor modifications in driveway if justified. Otherwise a variance would require an application which is approx~~ mately a 3 month operation. . The Chairman declared the matter would be referred to the Zoning Committee for a ;J"eport at which time the City Attorney could pre- sent a resolution instituting proceedings for a public hearing on the matter. DRIVEWAYS The Planning Secretary brought to the cODDDission' s attention a pro- blem concerning driveways. He posted on the bulletin board a plan showing an application from a contractor at 159-161 Alice Street, just west of Second Street. There is presently a duplex on the front portion of the lot; at the rear of the lot there is a two car garage With a driveway along one side. They propose to remove the garage entirely to build a 3 car garage with a single dwelling unit over the 3 car garage. The lot itself is l50 feet long; the contractor's con- tention is that the driveway from the rear of the duplex is ~ll turning area. He felt that the contractor had a pretty good argu- ment that the drive at the rear portion of the lot was turning area rather than drive, the point being that if it is driveway all the way back, then a 20 foot drive would be required. The Chairman decided that this matter should be included in the study of driveways in relation to Zone R-3. FREEWAY STUDY The Director of Public Works stated that he had contacted the Arcadia Chief of Police, and had reviewed some films taken from the sheriff's helicopter. This movie dealt particularly with the race track traffic as it left the parking lot. The Director of Public Works stated he had also contacted Mr. George Hill of the state Division of Highways who was doing some research to see if there might be some records of interchanges as near the plan for the Santa Anita interchange as .would be possible to find. There are several hundred interchanges throughout the state and it was his intention to search until one could be found to compare;,with the Arcadia design. . Page Two February 28, 1961 ..,,," TRACT NO. 26345 CORNER OF SANTA ANITA & LIVE OAK ADJOURN . This tract is a proposed subdivision of city-owned property lo-' cated on the west side of Peck Road; the lots are 300 feet deep. There are 25 lots and the final map conforms with the tentative map. Motion by Commissioner Forman, seconded by Commissioner Michler and carried unanimously to recommend the approval of the final map of Tract No; 26345. The Director of Public Works informed the commission that he had dispatched a letter on February 1, 1961 requesting the status of this project to Mr. Nate Margolin, to which he had not received an answer. He subsequently wrote a follow-up letter; he then received a telephone call from Mr. Nate Margolin who informed him th at he had not been obtaining the correct information, and he promised a letter to the Director. of Public Works expl-aining his position. The Planning Secretary advised the commission that he had spoken to the architect, Mr. Peschardt, and he had told him that they plan to commence construction during March, 1961. The variance requires construction to be completed within three years, and that would expire in June of this year. 'There being no further business presented to the Planning Commission the meeting was adjourned at 8:.35 P.M. r~. L. M. TALLEY Planning Secretary Page Three February' 28, 1961