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PC Minutes 2002-05-07MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF THE CITY OF ARROYO GRANDE PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 7, 2002 CALL TO ORDER The Arroyo Grande Planning Commission met in regular session with Chair Costello presiding. Present were Commissioners, Brown, Fowler, Guthrie, and Keen. Also in attendance were staff members Associate Planner Kelly Heffernon and Public Works Assistant Engineer, Rodger Olds. Community Development Director, Rob Strong, was absent. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — The minutes of April 2, & 16, 2002 were unanimously approved as written with a 4/0 voice vote; Commissioner Brown being absent at the meeting of April 2, and Chair Costello being absent at the meeting of April 16, 2002. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS None PUBLIC HEARING ITEM — AMENDED CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT CASE NO. 02- 002; APPLICANT — CENTRAL COAST REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT, INC; LOCATION — 597 CAMINO MERCADO. Staff report by Kelly Heffernon. Ms. Heffernon presented the staff report explaining that City Council approved this project in January 2002. The proposed amendment to convert the one -bedrooms to two -bedrooms will not affect the footprint, square footage, or exterior appearance of the apartments, and will not alter the trip generation discussed in the original traffic analysis. The primary impact of this amendment will be to the parking requirements and the need for a larger reduction in the required number of parking spaces. She further explained the parking requirements per the Development Code and stated that the original project was approved with a reduction of 9 spaces, and the applicant is now requesting an exception for an additional 10 spaces. PUBLIC HEARING Gary Young, Applicant, in answer to questions from the Planning Commission said: • Trip Generation reports are estimated based on the number of dwelling units not the number of bedrooms. • Parking - we have 120 spaces or two spaces per unit and the remainder are for the senior center. The residential units and the recreation center will have different hours of operation. Other cities use 0.5 parking spots per residential unit for "elderly housing". • We still have 15 residential units (25% of the total number of units) reserved as moderately affordable units, but now they are all two-bedroom units. • Modifications will be made solely to the interior of the units and the exterior or square footage will not change. The landscaping plan is also the same. MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 7, 2002 PAGE 2 • The difference in rent between the one bedroom and two bedroom on the moderate affordable units will be $122.00 per month END PUBLIC HEARING Commissioner Guthrie commented that he believed that there would be adequate parking with shared parking uses of the senior center and the residential units. Commissioner Keen asked for clarification on the covered and uncovered parking for the senior center and residential. Mr. Young explained that the parking spaces for the senior center would be marked to differentiate from the residential spaces and pointed out where the covered and uncovered spaces would be. Commissioner Fowler said she had visited other senior group meetings and she believed that they are overparked for seniors and that this project would have plenty of parking for both the residents and the senior center. Commissioner Brown said he was comfortable with the requested changes and if there was a parking problem in the future it could be revisited. Commissioner Guthrie made a motion, seconded by Commissioner Fowler, to recommend approval to City Council of the Amended Conditional Use Permit and adopt resolution; RESOLUTION NO. 02-1837 A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF ARROYO GRANDE RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL APPROVE AMENDED CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT CASE NO. 02-002, LOCATED AT 579 CAMINO MERCADO, APPLIED FOR BY CENTRAL COAST REAL ESTATE DEVELOPMENT, INC. The motion was approved with the following roll call vote: AYES: Commissioner's Guthrie, Fowler, Brown, Keen and Chair Costello NOES: None ABSENT: None The foregoing resolution was adopted this 7th day of May, 2002. NON-PUBLIC HEARING - PRE -APPLICATION REVIEW CASE NO. 02-003; APPLICANT - DON MCHANEY; LOCATION - LOT 1821, TRACT 1390, ROYAL OAKS SUBDIVISION. Staff report by Kelly Heffernon. 1 1 MINUTES - PAGE 3 PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 7, 2002 Ms. Heffernon presented the staff report giving some . detail on the history and background of the project. She said that in January 1999 the project was placed on hold pending the outcome of the General Plan Update. She further stated that the applicant has now submitted a Pre -Application to subdivide the property into 15 residential lots, and dedicate two separate open space areas to the City. Further, because Tract 2236 is a Vesting Map, the applicant will likely want to formally withdraw and resubmit the project to vest the map under the new General Plan. The General Plan Land Use Map designates the project site as both "Planned Development" with an underlying land use of Low Density Residential and "Conservation Open Space". The Land Use Element allows cluster developments on residential hillside areas, with a maximum density of 0.67 dwelling units per acre. With 29 acres and 15 parcels, the density is about .5 dwelling units per acre, and within the allowable density requirements. Staff initially reviewed a proposal that had a private access road running parallel to the Grace Lane extension, reducing the number of access points onto Grace Lane and thereby avoiding traffic hazards caused by people backing out of driveways directly into the public right-of-way. The project was revised to eliminate the access road and instead provide shared driveway aprons for adjoining parcels. Eliminating the private road also eliminated the need for landscape maintenance through a Homeowner's Association. In addition, Ms. Heffernon suggested that as an alternative design concept, the use of shared circular driveways could be more attractive with larger landscaped areas maintained by individual homeowners and could serve the same purpose as the private access road. Finally, Ms. Heffernon stated that the Parks and Recreation Department has recommended that the City not accept land dedications for passive recreation purposes as their Department's priority is for "active" recreation facilities. Parks and Recreation therefore does not recommend accepting the proposed 17.7 -acre land dedication for this project. Commissioner Brown questioned if there was a prior covenant not to develop this site? Ms. Heffernon said that per the Royal Oaks Planned Development, three of the lots were designated to be developed with one residential unit or institutional use, but the 2001 General Plan superceded the prior ordinance for Royal Oaks with regard to density requirements for this particular property. MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 7, 2002 PAGE 4 Rodger Olds, Public works, in answer to a question from Commissioner Fowler said the sewer for this development will become gravity flow after the sewer for the previous tract has been abandoned. Commissioner Keen asked who was maintaining the open space at this time? Ms. Heffernon said at this time the landowners are taking care of the open space. Commissioner Guthrie asked about Lot 184 and how it would be developed? Ms. Heffernon said a portion of Lot 'B', Lot 182 and Lot 184 are shown in the 2001 General Plan as Planned Development. Lot 184 is not part of this project. Chair Costello also asked about language in the prior covenant. Ms. Heffernon said the 2001 General Plan supercedes the prior covenant and the underlying land use designation allows for greater flexibility. Carlo Alfano, Applicant, and Jeff Emerick, EDA representative, both spoke clarifying the history of the site and the placement of the lots. Chair Costello had a concern with regard to traffic through the project and how busy this road would be. Mr. Emerick said this could be variable and it would depend on how the Public Works Department deals with this with regard to traffic signs, etc. Commissioner Brown commented that he would like to be assured that the neighbors would be noticed when the project is ready to go forward. In addition, he stated that he would like to make sure that staff and applicant check the prior ordinance in greater detail before it comes back to the Planning Commission. Commissioner Guthrie said careful consideration should be given to how Lot #12 is developed, as this could be a sensitive area given the slope and vegetation. In addition, he suggested that part of the open space might be used for a pathway to connect Rodeo Road to the library without having to go all the way to West Branch Street. Commissioner Keen said he was glad to see this development finally coming forward again, but he still had concerns about the configuration of people backing out onto the street. He preferred the plan with the private road because it would reduce the number of places people could back out of. Commissioner Fowler had concerns with the suggestion to have some apron designs or private circular driveways with landscaping that would be left to homeowners to take care of, because shared areas are sometimes not taken care of. In addition, she preferred to see the turnaround driveways on each parcel separately rather than the private shared road. MINUTES PAGE 5 PLANNING COMMISSION MAY 7, 2002 Commissioner Brown said he thought this project would really improve the circulation in the area. Chair Costello commented: • The proposed project is a good use for this property. • This development should improve circulation. • He had concerns with traffic on this road and said the driveway design should be carefully considered for safety because this may become a busy street. • The Land Conservancy could be a good choice for accepting the open space dedication. Ms. Heffernon said the Pre -Application would next go to City Council on May 28th. DISCUSSION ITEMS Rodger Olds gave an explanation of the difference between retention and detention basins. He also gave an update on the undergrounding of the overhead wires for the DeBlauw office project on East Grand Avenue. PLANNING COMMISSION ITEMS AND COMMENTS Commissioner Keen stated that the Planning Commission would like to request guidance from City Council with respect to waiving the requirement to underground overhead utilities and would like this concern addressed as soon as possible. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR COMMENTS AND FOLLOW-UP Ms. Heffernon, Acting Director, gave an update on Community Development projects. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. on a motion by Commissioner Keen, seconded by Chair Costello, and unanimously carried. ATTEST: L N REARDON-SMITH, COMMISSION CLERK SEPH M. COSTELLO, CHAIR AS TO CONTENT: A", 411 KELdHEFFERNON, ACTING COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR 1 1 1