PC Minutes 1983-03-01':76
ARROYO GRANDE PLANNING COMMISSION
March 1, 1983
Thy Arroyo Grande Planning Commission met in regular session with Chairman
Gerrish presiding. Present are Commissioners Benhardt, Carr, Cole and Moots.
Commissioners Moore and Pilkington are absent.0Planning Director Hays is
also in attendance.
MINUTE APPROVAL
The minutes of the regular meeting of February 15, 1983 were approved
as prepared on motion by Commissioner Cole, seconded by Commissioner Moots,
and unanimously carried.
PUBLIC HEARING - LOT SPLIT CASE NO. 83 -379, 345 TALLY HO ROAD. (ESSMAIL AMJADI).
Planning.Director.Hays advised.that the request is for a lot split on Tally
Ho Road dividing the property into two parcels. He stated the site is zoned
"RA -B2 ", which is a 20,000 sq. ft. minimum building site. He noted that the
Commission and Council recently rezoned this parcel to allow the applicant to
submit a parcel map.
COMMISSIONER MOORE ENTERED THE MEETING DURING THE ABOVE DISCUSSION AND IS NOW
PRESENT.
Mr..]. Hays explained that there is an existing residence on Parcel A, and
Parcel B will be served by a 15 ft. private drive. He noted that the proposed
lot split meets the requirements of the Subdivision Ordinance and that the
Minor Subdivision Committee reviewed this map and recommended approval with
the 5!:.conditions listed in their report dated February 23, 1983. Mr. Hays
recommended that an additional condition be added stating that the proposed
parcel map conforms with the General Plan of the City.
Upon being- assured by Planning Director Hays that public hearing for
Lot Split Case No. 83 -379 had been duly published and property owners noti-
fied, Chairman Gerrish declared. the hearing open. Hearing no comments from
the audience, Chairman Gerrish declared the hearing closed.
Commissioner Poore expressed concern regarding drainage. He noted
that if any more water comes down the hill and hits the existing house with-
out some diversion, they are going to have nothing but problems from now on.
He further noted that this_.is in the Tally Ho water shed, and we still don't
have a plan for - this area_and the problem is getting a little more severe
every year.
Commissioner Cole stated her feelings that because of the limited
number of people in the area they cannot finance a district t� handle the
drainage, and if we break it up and get more people involved, maybe something
can be done to handle the drainage problem. Chairman Gerrish pointed out that
previously the Commission had discussed the matter of increasing the density
in that area, and the consensus was that one more residence is not going to
make that .much difference. Commissioner Carr inquired if the lot split is
approved, can the Commission require some kind of design review condition
that would require the design to be brought back so that the Commission or
staff could look at the drainage. Planning Director Hays advised the Com-
mission could require that a grading and drainage plan be approved by the
Public Works Director.
Chairman Gerrish pointed out that, in looking at the map, it appears
that there is something wrong with it because the numbers do not look
right. Planning Director Hays stated that there were some last minute
changes to the map and he did not have a chance to review them. He
recommended that the matter be continued to the next meeting for resubmittal.
On motion by Commissioner Carr, seconded by Commissioner Moore, and unanimously
carried, Lot Split Case No. 83 -379 was continued to the next meeting of
March 15, 1983 for resubmittal of the map.
PUBLIC HEARING - PRE- ZONING CASE NO. 81 -151, ZONE CHANGE FROM "A" DISTRICT TO
"P -N" PLANNED INDUSTRIAL DISTRICT - SHANNON RANCH. ('TONY DECKER) .
Planning Director Mays advised that the applicant has filed an appli-
cation with the City to prezone his property to "P -N" Planned Industrial so
that the property can be developed into an industrial park with high technology,
light manufacturing, assembly and warehousing types of operations. IIe noted
that the property is located outside of the city limits and the intent of the
application is to obtain prezoning for his project as a first step in the
annexation process to bring it into the City of Arroyo Grande.
Arroyo Grande Planning Commission, 3 -1 -83 Page 2
Mr. Hays pointed out that at the time of the initial application to the
City, the Commission and City Council required the applicant to prepare an
Environmental Impact Report for his project. Subsequently, a report was pre-
pared, public hearings were held, and the City Council adopted the report as
complete and, therefore, in the Commission's decision making process they are
required by the California Environmental Quality Act to consider the infor-
mation presented in the report.
Mr. Hays stated there are two items of concern that he would like to
bring to the Commnission' attention. He reviewed that the Commission and
Council have suggested to LAFCo that the Sphere of Influence line be kept
the same as the existing city limits. He pointed out that recent court
decisions have indicated that properties may not be annexed into cities which
are located outside of their Sphere of Influence. Also, in a recent action,
the South San Luis Obispo County Sanitation District, which provides sewer
treatment service for the City of Arroyo Grande, recently took this particular
area out of its future service area boundary. He pointed out that while it is
not inconceivable that this area could be added to the District, it is
outside of the boundaries and it presently would not receive sewage treatment
as proposed.
Upon being assured by Planning Director Hays that public hearing for
Prezoning Case No. 81 -151 had been duly published and property owners notified,
Chairman Gerrish declared the hearing open.
Mr. Tony Decker, applicant for Shannon Ranch Business Park, spoke in
favor of the project. He commented that the Sphere of Influence can legally
be changed and.this -would happen concurrently with the annexation proceedings.
He noted that the EIR indicates that the retention of water can be accomplished.
He further noted that the developers would agree to pay for a drainage study
for the area.. With regard to the cost of development, Mr. Decker commented
that the improvements would all be paid for by the developers. He stated
that the site is 187 acres in size, and 7% would be devoted to building coverage,
51% would be_devoted to landscaping, roads, etc., and 42% in open space. He
pointed out the. advantages that the proposed project would bring to the City,
such as revenue and employment of approximately 500 people. He stated he
realizes there are many environmental concerns with a project of this size,
but in his opinion, these problems can be mitigated with proper planning..
Mr. Jim McGillis, Surveyor with San Luis Engineering, spoke on behalf
of the developers. He stated that Mr. Decker owns the property and it is
going. to be developed eventually either in the County or the City and, if it
is in the City, they would have control over the development. He noted that •
there is very little industrial property in the City and, in his opinion, we
have to look outside of the City boundaries to find property large enough to
accommodate an industrial park. He commented that everybody is concerned with
the traffic situation, and the EIR makes it easy; it says there is no project
if there is no- .interchange. and, in his opinion, that puts aside the problem
of traffic. He further commented that they are not ignoring the fact that
there is a drainage problem, however, State law says you can release what
you are releasing right now and no more; you cannot increase your historic
release. He stated the answer to the flooding problem is•to allow improve-
ments to the community to at least mitigate•those problems to where we can
deal with there. He stated the question, in his opinion, is .. is this a good
use of the property?
Mr. Russ Cotter, Traffic Way, and George Fraudenberg, 477 Tanner Lane
spoke in favor of the prezoning. Mr. Paul Haddox, 587 Valley Road, stated
he is not necessarily opposed to the project, but he is concerned about
drainage. Marie Cattoir, 195 Orchid Lane, expressed concern regarding
water availability and improvement costs. She stated, in her opinion, if
the project is approved, there should be a stipulation that no other areas
should have to incur any costs due to this project. She further stated that
she feels the information is inadequate at this time and a decision would be
premature at this point.
Hearing no further comments from the audience, Chairman Gerrish declared
the hearing closed.
Commissioner Moots stated that the Commission has been looking at this
for quite a while and everytime he looks at it, it doesn't get any better
as far as he is concerned. He commented that we have a lot of unused property
in the City; we have a limited amount of water available to us and we also
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Arroyo Grande Planning Commission, 3 -1 -83 Page 3
have a limited amount of sewer. He noted that there are a lot of problems
with the drainage out there and with regard to a 2 million dollar interchange,
he wouldn't even think about the project until the interchange is built.
Commissioner Cole stated her feeling is t_:at we have to think about a
certain amount of progress and we should look at all possibilities.
She commented that it may be we need to look beyond where we are right now
and this is a possibility of some real good planning.
Commissioner Carr stated he feels the City needs to do some long range
planning and, in his opinion, there are a lot of problems with this project.
He stated he is concerned about the cost to the City for undertaking something
like this. He commented that the idea is good but we need to decide what we
want to be as a City; also, in his opinion, we need to see some broader pictures
of this, and then maybe the project could work. Commissioner Moore commented
regarding water availability and pointed out.that Arroyo Grande is the fastest
growing city in the area. He noted that, based on the population curve set up
in 1970, we are already up to the year 1990 and the predictions on water are
now out of balance, and in 1992 we will run out of water. He stated, in his
opinion, we need a lot more community planning and we need input from citizens,
we need more documentation and we need to study our resources.
Chairman Gerrish commented that part of our ability to pay for additional water
would be to be able to spread it out over more area. He noted that a
portion of the revenue that the City earns does come from growth and this type
of project would provide that type of revenue to the City.
Commissioner Carr stated it his feeling that he doesn't have enough
information and he would like to continue the item and have some type of
meeting to get a better feeling for what can be done. Commissioner Moore
moved that the :Planning Commission request a joint meeting with the City
Council to discuss some- community planning with this project in mind, and
specifically regarding resources. Motion seconded by Commissioner Cole, and
unanimously carried. Chairman Gerrish noted that the prezoning application
on Shannon Ranch will be continued to the April 5th meeting, and directed
that a letter. be sent to the City Council requesting a joint meeting be held
on March 29th to discuss resource planning.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further business before -the Commission, the meeting
was adjourned 'ay - the Chairman at 9:15 P.M.
ATTEST:
ecretar
S Chairman