PC Minutes 1989-03-21Arroyo Grande Planning Commission
March 21, 1989
The Arroyo Grande Planning Commission met in regular session with Chairman Gerrish
presiding. Present are Commissioners Flores, McCann, Soto• and Gallagher.
Commissioners Moore and Scott are absent. Planning Director Liberto - Blanck,
Current Planner Spierling and Long Range Planner Eierdzinski are also in
attendance.
CONTDMIATICN- ARCIUITEC'I IAL REVIEW CASE NO. 88 -417, RETAIL S I1PING CENTER, 100
BARNETT STREET. (GRANDE aITIRAL STATICi4)
Planning Director Liberto- Blanck advised that last Tuesday the City Council adopted
an urgency ordinance to require all carmercial projects with subterranian or
underground parking areas to be required to go through the Conditional Use Permit
process. She stated that the Grande Central project must be continued until a
conditional use permit for the underground parking area has been accepted and
reviewed by staff. Therefore, staff is reccarnnending that the project be continued
until the conditional use permit is ready to go to public hearing.
Hearing no objection from the applicant or applicant's representative to the
recommended continuance, Chairman Gerrish announced that Asa itectural Review Case
No. 88 -417 would be continued until a conditional use permit application is ready
for public hearing.
PUBLIC HEARING - CFRTIFICA'IE OF OC PLIANCR CASE NO. 89 -475 (CC) , 528 GROAN HILL AND
CERTIFICATE OF COMPLIANZE CASE NO. 89 -476 (CC) , 531 E. LiltANZE MEET. (R. A. AND S.
K. MITCHM )
Current Planner Spierling advised that the State Subdivision Map Act requires
cities to issue certificates of ccrnpliance when requested, on lots that do not
conform to current zoning or subdivision requirements. These certificates provide
the owners of substandard properties with the assurance that their lots are legal
lots of record.
Mr. Spier ling reviewed the staff report dated March 21, 1989. He pointed out that
the subject lots are substandard in that they are only 50 feet wide and do not meet
the minimum square footage requirements of the zoning ordinance. He stated that
the applicant, who owns both properties, has requested these certificates in order
to sell the E. Branch Street property and build a new house on the Crown Hill
property.
Mr. Spierling stated that the Staff Advisory Committee has reviewed the
applications and recommend that the Planning Commission adopt the resolutions •
included in the agenda packets approving the Certificates of Compliance with the
findings, and subject to the listed conditions.
Mr. Spierling explained that the property subdivided in 1905, and these two
properties have been in common ownership probably since they were originally
subdivided. The present owners would now like to sell off one of the parcels, and
before they attempt to do that, they would like to get these Certificates of
Compliance to make it easier to transfer title on these properties.
Upon being assured by the Planning Commission Clerk that public hearing for
Certificate of Compliance Case No. 89- 475(CC) and Certificate of Compliance Case
No. 89- 476(0C) had been duly published and property owners notified, Chairman
Gerrish declared the hearing open.
CCIVIMISSIGNER NOORE ENTERED THE MEETING AT 7 :40 P.M. AND IS NOW PRESENT'
Upon hearing no comments from the audience for or against the proposed Certificates
of Campliance, Chairman Cerrish declared the hearing closed.
Chairman Gerrish stated he concurs with the staff's recommendations for approval
with the conditions and findings listed in the staff report dated March 21, 1989.
Commissioner Flores stated that the Subdivision Map Act recommends that this cones
before the Planning Commission; it is not a requirement. He asked what other
actions could staff have taken on these applications. Planning Director Liber'to-
Blanck stated that this could have been done at a staff level, however, under the map
act it is advisable that when you have a Condi t ional Certificate of Canplainace that
it does go to public hearing.
After a brief discussion, the following action was taken:
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Arroyo Grande Planning Corrmission, 3 -21 -89
AYES:
ABSENT:
the foregoing
RF .UJ1'ICN N0. 89 -1230
A RESOI1TFICN OF 'HIE PIANNING 0: MISSION OF
'III CI1Y OF ARROYO GRANDE APPR3OV121G CERTIFICATE
OF COMPLIANCE CASE NO. 89- 475(CC), 528 CRCXNN
HILL. (RIClI END A. AND SANDRA K. MTICIII.3 J,)
T1ON N0. 89 -1231
A RI OUTFIcN OF 1HE PLANNING COVMISSION OF THE
CITY OF ARROYO GRANDE APPROVING C]'�f' tTIF1CATE OF
CCIVIPLIAN7E CASE NO. 89- 476(CC), 531 E. BRANCH
S112II:T. (RICINCIND A. AM) SANDRA K. MITCHELL)
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On mot ion by Carmi ssioner Soto, seconded byC.armissioner Flores, and by the
following roll cal vote, to wit:
AYES: Carmi ssioners Moore, Soto, McCann, Gallagher, Flores and Chairman
Gerrish
/CBS: None
ABSENT: Commissioner Scott
the foregoing Resolution was adopted this 21st day of March 1989.
On rnotion byCarmissioner Soto, seconded byCarmissioner Flores, and by the
following roll call vote, to wit:
Conmi ssioners Flores, Moore, Sp to, McCann, Gallagher and Chairman
Gerrish
None
Commissioner Scott
Resolution was adopted this 21si day of March 1989.
PUBLIC HEARING - REVISED 1ENTATIVE MAGI MAP N0. 1401, PRCIPER'IY UJCATED
APPROXIMATELY 200 FEET SOUIFIERLY OF DCDSC t WAY; SO. mu) 10 ALPINE
STRF�T (JERRF2 JCiiIATISEN) .
Current Planner Spierling reviewed the staf iseport dated March 21, 1989. He
stated that on July 1., 1986 the PlanningCarmissio'n approved Tentative Tract Map No.
1401 with conditions. One of the conditions was that all environmental findings
concerning the possible archaological site shall•be mitigated prior to issuance of
grading permit or recordation of the final map. He pointed out that the map was
extended by the Planning Curmiss on July 5, 1988 to al low the applicant more time
to work out the mitigation measures. In an effort to reduce the impacts on the
archaeological resources and in keeping with recarrrrendations made in an
archaeological report by W. B. Sawyer, the applicants have revised the tentative
tract map and are requesting Planning Carmission approval.
Mr. Spierling advised that the applicants are proposing creating five residential
lots and three professional carmercial zoned lots. Access for the resident ial lots
will be through a 24 foot access and utility easement that ties into South Alpine
Street at two locations. Access for the carmercial parcels will be from South
Halcyon Road. He noted that Parcel 8 fronts on South Halcyon Road, while Parcels 6
and 7 are served by a 35 foot access and utility easement.
With regard to archaeology, Mr. Spierling advised that near ly the ent ire area of the
residential lots is a part of the archaeological site. The applicants originally
proposed widening So. Alpine Street and putting in a knuckle at Cer ro Vi staCi rele in
conformance with City standards. However, this would require grading that would
have a substantial impact on the archaeological site. Their current proposal
leaves South Alpine Street at its current width and creates an access and utility
easement that runs in the rear of the lots. This substantially reduces the arnount
of grading that would be required for access, however, it still requires that
trenching be done for utility lines, which is almost sure to unearth artifacts or
remains.
Mr. Spierling referred to a letter, dated March 14, 1989, from the Northern Churnash
Council strongly recarrnending denial of this project. The letter has been reviewed
by the City Attorney and he has indicated that the City has no choice but to deny the
revised tentative tract map based upon this letter regarding the archaeological
Arroyo Grande Planning Corrmission, 3 -21 -89
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concerns. Based on the referenced letter, there does appear to be an adverse
environmental impact. Mr. Spierling stated it is, therefore, the rec amendation
of the Staf f Advi soryCommi ttee that the Planning Cornmi ssion deny this project based
upon the General Plan density and the environmental concerns; specifically, the
possible destruction of archaeological materials.
Upon being assured by the Planning Cannission Clerk that public hearing for Revised
Tentative Tract Map No. 1401 had been duly published and property owners notified,
Chairman Gerrish declared the hearing open.
Mr. Tom Baumberger, General Engineering Co., Engineer for the project, carmen ted
regarding the staff recam>endation. He stated that they were rather surprised to
see the letter stating that staff would be recommending denial of the tract. He
stated they attended meetings wi th members of the staff and with representatives of
the Indian community, including,a field trip to the site where they staked the front
of the lots along So. Alpine Street and indicated what the depths of the cuts would be
and, at that time, the Indians seemed to be satisfied with the tract as revised and
expressed awillingness to see the project proceed. With regard to the density, Mr.
Baumberger stated that one thing the staff is neglect ing toconsider is the fact that
South Alpine normally would be included as part of the area. When there are five
lots per acre, you normal ly would be utilizing part of that for streets and access;
in this case it happens that the property face on an approved street and, therefore,
the area to one -half the width of the street that adjoins those lots is being
neglected, and if you include that, you will find that the lots are within the 4.5
lots per acre.
Jerren Jorgensen, applicant, reviewed the history of the project and the efforts
made to mitigate the archaeologic ° concerns;` - - He expressed concern regarding the
letter received at the eleventh hour from the Indian community regarding the
project. He stated he has not balked at any of the mitigation measures and he would
be willing to add a couple of feet of top soil to mitigate the concerns. He
expressed his desire to cooperate and do whatever is necessary to enable him to
proceed with his project.
Q]VMISSICIER SCOTT ENTERED 'ME MEETING AT 8:10 P.M.
Carvnissioner Soto inquired if a Native Amer lean rrDni tor was present during the site
surveys. Planning Director Liberto - Blanck advised that one of the requirements,
typically, is that when trenching is being done that you not only have an
archaeologist present but you also have a Native American monitor present. She
stated that staff's suggestion to Dr. Jorgensen was to withdraw the application and
resubmit a new application without paying an additional application fee, and that
will give staff time to work with the Native Americans on this issue.
Michael Zorada, 636 Cambr idge Dr i.ve, Santa Barbara, stated he is the elected speaker
of the Northern Churnash Council. He briefly described the Northern Churnash
territory. He stated it has only been during the recent legislation protecting
cultural resources that they have been able to become more active in such areas as
being discussed tonight. Mr. Zorada reviewed his own background and exper iences as
a cultural resources monitor. He stated he is aware of the concerns that Mr.
Jorgensen has for his rights of property and he is here to address the rights of his
ancestors. Mr. Zorada pointed out that 90% of the site known as SL0 393 has already
been disturbed and there has been a great deal of concern about development in the
local area, and they are concerned about the 10% that is left at this particular
site. He stated that at least 16 burials have been identified in SID 393, and the
Council feels if any further excavation is done on this parcel then burials will be
encountered on that 10% of the SID 393 and will inevitably result in the final
destruction of this site. He further stated that all of the archaeological reports
that have come out of this, going back to 1958, state over and over again that SLO393
is a significant site with scientific and cultural values.
Steve Hooper stated he owns property on the northern boundary of the property and he
supports approval of the subdivision because it is an appropriate use of the land
with the residential use at the top and possible future office use on Halcyon Road.
Mr. Jorgensen stated he would like to clarify that those 16 burials that were
reported are not, on his property; they are in the designated area which is really a
large print on amap, the fringe of which cuts around the 5R-1 lots, but the rest of
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Arroyo Grande Planning Commission, 3 -21 -89 4
that site goes off intowhat has already been developed onAlpine Street. He stated
i f the Commission sees fit to vote in the of f i rmat ive he would assure them that these
mitigation measures will be met and monitoring will be done. This way we can get
things off dead center and going. He further stated he did get assurances from the
Planning staff that if he would submit a letter of withdrawal that they would
cooperate with him in the n st timely fashion and offered to apply the fees spent to a
new application.
Cl if ford R. Parson, 653 Cerro Vista Circle, stated his concerns about the traffic
and his ability to get in and out of his property.
Commissioner Soto exprssed his feeling that this revised tract map is an attempt to
mitigate some of the original requirements of approval and the whole issue worked
out between the Native Americans, Mr. Jorgensen and the staff, and that the revi sed
tentative tract map is probably premature and shouldn't be here yet. Ms. Liberto-
Blanck agreed, stating that if you have a number of conditions on the project they
would be able to redesign i t now and not being sure what the end result w i l l be., and we
are not sure we have conditions of approval from each department that would be
adequate to mitigate a new project.
Commissioner Flores stated his feeling that we can not of feet ively translate the
costs that Dr. Jorgensen is incurring with expenses of losing a cultural and
scientific site. Comni ssioner Clark stated he can see no reason why the s ite can't
be protected because it is relatively gently sloped land, and it would be possible to
set up benchmarks so you can be certain of how'anuch fill he puts in. Also, in this
country, water lines do not freeze, so there is no need to go to a great depth for
utilities and, therefore, it is possible to piit utilities in and not disturb the
ground to much. Carmissioner McCann spoke regarding the archaeological concerns,
stating the land had been farmed for years and years and nothing has been dug up, so
it seems possible that fill dirt could be put in there and trenching done without
damaging the cultural site.
Planning Director Liberto- Blanek pointed out that Dr. 'Jorgensen did get an
extension on the original tract map, which will expire in June of 1989.
After considerable discussion, Chairman Gerrish announced. that Dr. Jorgensen has
submitted a formal request to withdraw the application and there is an agreement
with the Planning Department that his fees will be waived upon reapplication.
PUBLIC HEARING - COAL PLAN AMINDYMT CAA 89-2, AlVll•3tErelaiT 10 THE CIBMTATICK
'Imam 1n acteccr WEST STREET 10 "TRAFFIC WAY, AND 1D CHANGE -THE
C IASS IF ICATION OF WESLEY STREET FRCMACOLLEC1O STREET TOALOEAL • a . (CITY OF
ARROYO CRA DE)
Long Range Planner Bierdzinski reviewed the staff report dated March 21, 1989.
Chairman Gerrish announced that the reccmnendat: ion of staff is to open the public
hear ing and take public testimony, and then continue the hear irg toal low staf f t ime
to get traffic, engineering and environmental studies ecrnpleted. The matter will
then come back to the Commission again in the form of a public hearing.
Upon being assured by the Planning Carmi ssion Clerk that publ ie 'hearing for General
Plan Amendment CPA 89 -2 had been duly published and property owners notified,
Chairman Gerrish declared the hearing open.
Henry Horwege, 243 Larclmont Drive, stated that in January the residents learned
about the possibility of this plan and they did send a letter of objection to the
Planning Commission at that time. He stated their major concept is the potential
closing of Wesley Street, because that will leave them only one street of access
which will be Vernon Way. He stated that Vernon Way has a terrible obstacle to it;
to make a left hand turn there is extremely dangerous because the land on the corner
there is about 6 feet high and you cannot see, He stated once Traffic Way is
connected with West Branch, there is going to be a lot of traffic up there and it
could be extremely dangerous and would create a tremendous hazard for the residents
fi 11F,rr‘licorit . Also, he pointed out that the closure of Wesley would leave only one
entrance to the bank and this would cause a lot of t;raf fic trying to get in and out of
the bank, plus all the new traffic going across there from the Traffic Way
connection.
Arroyo Grande Planning Commission, 3 -21 -89 5
Joe Mann ion, 255Larchnont; stated his main concern is the closing of Wesley, and the
reason for changing Wesley from a collector to a local street is so that it can be
closed. He stated, in his opinion, the best connect ion for West Branch to East
Branch was the original proposal that was to come down and take the on -ramp to the
freeway, but that has been rejected. He suggested that the City look at other
solutions to the problem rather than closing Wesley.
Gary Harmon, Camp Manager of theMet hod ist Campground , agreed that the intersect ion
is a bad intersection, but it would be Great ing a bigger hazard to have the traf f is go
up and around on Vernon and Larchmont.
Dennis Law, 1304 Pacific, San Luis Obispo, stated he is here to talk about the
Guidetti Square project, which is to be served by Wesley Street, and the closure of
that street would destroy the project. He further stated that the applicants are
now in the process of getting a building permit and it is their intention to then
proceed with construction of the project. He stated that if the City wants to
redesign the intersection, that's great, but it has to be designed so it includes
Wesley Street. He asked that Wesley Street remain open; it serves their property
and it serves a lot of other properties.
Katcho, owner of the Arroyo Grande Shell Station, stated he would encourage that
West Branch Street connects to Traffic Way, and when that happens he would also
encourage a traffic light from where it is backed up to where West Branch Street
meets Grand Avenue.
Ken Webber, P. O. Box 1281, Santa Maria, represent ing the Ralph and Dana fami 1 ies in
the development of the corner of Wesley and Branch Street, stated that el iminat ing a
commercial corner from a potential development and by putting a barricade across
Wesley Street, would effectively be converting the type of site from a corner to an
interior site and the economic consequences are obvious.
Charles Bradley, Branch Manager of the Bank of America, stated that the proposal
would take a corner from the front of their property. He spoke regarding protect ing
the ingress and egress of the bank, the closure to Wesley Street, the cost of
changi ng s ignage, landscaping and a number of things that wou ld need to be changed i f
sane of the bank's property is taken.
Pauline Kauffman, Corporate Real Estate from the Bank of America, spoke regarding
the bank's property interest. She expressed the same concerns as Mr. Bradley, and
requested that the Bank of America's Corporate Headquarters also receive any
correspondence relative to the proposed amendment.
Dave Dana, 290 Mesa Road, Niponro, stated he is connected with the property at the
corner of Wesley and Branch Street. He stated it is his understanding that,
basically, the problem is the traffic corning off of West Branch Street and the lack
of a stop light at that corner. He suggested that perhaps the addition of a stop
light at sane staging and some left turn lanes may take care of the problems.
Planning Director Liberto - Blanck carmented that one of the reasons staff wants to
prepare the traffic report ahead of time is because Caltrans has indicated that a
realignment of Traffic Way with West Branch Street is not possible unless Wesley
Street is closed. The City maintains that Traffic Way can be realigned and safe
access provided.
Terry Ort in, Westland Engineering, stated he had briefly met wi th Caltrans and at
that meeting they indicated their feelings that Wesley should be closed in order to
avoid a five point intersection.
Chairman Gerrish asked for a vote if anyone present in the audience was in favor of
closing Wesley Street. There was no one in the audience in favor of this proposal.
Chairman Cerrish announced that this matter is being continued until the traffic
engineering and environmental studies are completed. He directed staff to re-
advertise the public hearing when a new date is set.
PIANNING DIRJICIB' S i'' /DISC)SS ICN
City Road Innprovement Funding. Planning Direct or Liberto- Blanck referred
to the report included in the agenda packets outlining where General Fund money is
going. She commented that, basically, what this shows is that the City is not
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Arroyo Grande Planning Commission, 3 -21 -89 6
collecting enough General Fund money to pay for all the improvements at are 1 i sted
on the third page of the report.
Additional Rest Roan at Shell Station, 222 Grand Ave. Planning Director
Liberto - Blanck advised that the Shell Station at 222 Grand Avenue plans to add an
additional restroan of a total of 45 square feet. She noted that staff could
approve the architectural review administratively if the Carmission has no
concerns. Chairman Gerrish commented that the additional restroan is going to be
within the existing building. The Carrnission agreed that this matter could be
reviewed and signed off by the Planning staff.
AB 3180 - CB4eiMiti gat ion and Mon i tor ing Requirements. Long Range Planner
Sandy Bier dzi nski briefly reported on a new State law regarding C AMi t igat ion and
Monitoring Requirements.
Workshop on General Plan Amendment. Planning Director Libert Blanck
advised that some of the other Curmissions have requested more information on the
General Plan update and, if the Planning Commi ssion has no object ions, stn:` f would
like to schedule a Workshop on this project for Monday, April 10th.
There were no object ions from the Conunission regarding this date, and staf f was
instructed to schedule the Workshop.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before the Commission, thz. meet ing was adjoui'ned by
the Chairman at 9:45 P.M.
ATTEST:
ge r/
Mars -n Lein
Cornmssion Cle k
William Cerrish
Chairman