2001 11 14 CC Minutes LA QUINTA CITY COUNCIL
LA QUINTA PLANNING COMMISSION
JOINT MEETING
MINUTES
NOVEMBER 14, 2001
A special joint meeting of the La Quinta City Council and Planning Commission was
called to order at the hour of 7:00 p.m. by Mayor Pe~a
CITY COUNCIL ROLL CALL:
PRESENT: Council Members Adolph, Henderson, Perkins, Sniff, Mayor Pe~a
ABSENT: None
PLANNING COMMISSION ROLL CALL:
PRESENT: Planning Commissioners Butler, Kirk, Tyler, Chairman Abels
ABSENT: Planning Commissioner Robbins
MOTION - It was moved by Commissioners Tyler/Kirk to excuse Commissioner
Robbins. Motion carried unanimously.
Mayor Pe~a led the audience in the Pledge of Allegiance.
PUBLIC COMMENT
Maddy Waters, 81-950 Avenue 53, voiced concern about not being able to continue
farming her property, which is approximately 300 feet from a residential development
recently approved by the City. She stated State and Federal laws prohibit chemical
spraying of grapes within ¼ mile of residences. She intends to file legal action against
all parties involved and noted other farms may face the same situation in the future.
· CONFIRMATION OF AGENDA - Confirmed
ANNOUNCEMENTS - None
PRESENTATIONS - None
City Council/ 2 November 14, 2001
Planning Commission Minutes
PUBLIC MEETING
1. JOINT CITY COUNCIL/PLANNING COMMISSION PUBLIC MEETING ON THE
GENERAL PLAN UPDATE.
The Mayor declared the PUBLIC MEETING OPEN.
Community Development Director Herman introduced Nicole Criste, Planning
Consultant with Terra Nova Planning & Research. Ms. Criste then proceeded
to review previous City Council and Planning Commission comments related to
various sections of the General Plan for the purpose of attaining a consensus.
General Comments:
Vision Statement- Commissioner Kirk addressed his reasons for suggesting the
addition of a Vision Statement as somewhat of a summary of what the City
wants to achieve in the General Plan. After a brief discussion, there was
consensus to place a brief statement of up to three sentences at the beginning
of each element to reflect the goal of each individual element.
Sphere of Influence & Planning Area - Mr. Herman reviewed the existing sphere
of influence, potential sphere of influence (solid line), and planning area (dotted
line) on a map. Council Member Adolph preferred focusing on the sphere of.
influence and eliminating the numbers from the Bermuda Dunes area that is
within Palm Desert's sphere of influence. Council Member Henderson agreed
with eliminating the Bermuda Dunes numbers and supported planning for the
planning area but without the numbers from the potential growth area outside
of the planning area and added she preferred having three separate sets of
numbers. Council Member Sniff, Chairman Abels, and Commissioner Butler
agreed with including the planning area. Commissioner Kirk agreed with
dropping the Bermuda Dunes planning area and suggested limiting the planning
area to the east to the potential sphere of influence and dealing separately with
the broader planning area. Commissioner Tyler wished to look at the sphere of
influence area and not include the other planning areas. Mayor Pe~a agreed
with taking out the Bermuda Dunes area and separating the numbers to the east
to avoid confusion. The discussion concluded with a consensus to refer to the
potential sphere of influence area as Planning Area #1 and the remaining area
within the dotted line as Planning Area #2. Additionally, the numbers will be
separated by City, Planning Area #1, Planning Area #2, and a grand total of all
three.
City Council/ 3 November 14, 2001
Planning Commission Minutes
Tying Goals, Policies, and Programs to Budget and ClP- Ms. Criste confirmed
references are made throughout the document to the budget and CIP.
Updated Demographic Information - Ms. Criste advised of limited availability of
2000 Census figures and suggested a reference' be included at the beginning of
the document. The Council and Commission concurred.
Pictures and Graphics - There was concurrence to add pictures, i.e. land uses,
City facilities, etc. and graphics where appropriate.
Administration Element Comments:
Traffic Control and Visual Pollution/Impacts - A brief discussion resulted in a
consensus to include a discussion of both items in the appropriate elements of
the General Plan and Master Environmental Assessment.
Consistency of General Plan and Specific Plans - Council Member Adolph
recommended, in reference to recent violations of the City Code by the Council,
that the second sentence of the first paragraph on Page 6 be deleted.
Commissioner Kirk suggested reversing the language in the sentence to reflect
that the other documents must be consistent with the General Plan and the
Council and Commission concurred.
Police Powers - There was concurrence to retain the term.
Addition of CVAG to Policy 2, and Master Plans for Open Space Owned by the
City to Policy 4. 1, Page 8- The Council and Commission concurred to add both
references.
Mayor Pe~a announced public comment would be taken at this time.
Betty Mangan Smith, 82-470 Avenue 54, commented on the differences
between City property and farm land and voiced concern that the City is
listening to developers instead of property owners. She also voiced concern
about losing fertile farm lands to development and water shortage.
Maddy Waters, 81-950 Avenue 53, reiterated her comments from earlier in the
meeting (Page 1) regarding residential development being approved on property
next to her grape fields.
City Council/ 4 November 14, 2001
Planning Commission Minutes
Brent Lance, 74-090 El Paseo, Palm Desert, spoke in support of Commissioner
Tyler's suggestion for a rural living land use designation, which he felt makes
sense for 5 to lO-acre parcels as an alternative to putting together an
equestrian overlay. He encouraged having an agrarian image corridor on odd-
numbered avenues, particularly related to equestrian travel. He also noted the
State recently adopted a requirement for developments of over 500 houses to
prove water availability prior to approval.
Ellen Lloyd Trover, P. O. Box 297, Coachella, stated she understood the need
to consider land uses outside City limits in order to plan circulation within the
City but felt some of the terms, such as Annexation //1 2 and pre-annexation
zoning, is a signal that the City plans to annex the area. She encouraged the
City to hold workshops, like the County has done, to gain input from the Vista
Santa Rosa residents prior to any pre-annexation process being considered and
stated she felt it's premature for the City to consider pre-annexation zoning for
land within Coachella's sphere of influence. She also questioned Policy #5 of
the Open Space Element, which states potential liquefaction areas should
remain as open space, yet Annexation//12 is shown on the liquid-faction map
and designated as very Iow density residential.
Gayle Cady, 82-831 Avenue 54, Thermal, stated she felt placement of multi-
purpose and non-motorized trails along heavily-traveled streets demonstrates
insufficient research and knowledge and agreed with placing agrarian trails on
odd-numbered streets. She felt the trail system on the General Plan map is
inconsistent and suggested connecting them through a loop system. She
referenced meetings with staff and questioned why agrarian trails are included
in the General Plan if the City does not know how it is going to get the trails
developed.
Council Member Henderson noted the City cannot require new developments
to implement a policy that has not been adopted and that will remain the case
until the updated General Plan is adopted.
Ms. Cady noted some of the property owners do not receive public hearing
notices because their land is beyond the distance outlined for noticing
requirements arid she asked that they be notified of tract map changes, etc.
Mayor Pe~a noted hearing notification is a common problem throughout the City
and is difficult to deal with.
City Council/ 5 November 14, 2001
Planning Commission Minutes
Council Member Henderson suggested placing public notices on the City's web
page.
In response to Council Member Sniff, Mr. Herman advised notices are
sometimes mailed to properties beyond the required notification limit.
Mayor Pe~a suggested mailing a notice to the Community Council and letting
them notify the affected property owners.
Bob Hargreaves, 74-760 Highway 111, Indian Wells, attorney with Best, Best,
& Krieger, noted there are difficult planning issues, i.e. agricultural and
residential use inconsistencies, agricultural preservation, and water usage,
related to the City's pre-annexation zoning of a rural area. He understood the
County is taking a focused approach to development by meeting with the
residents and are proposing to hire someone to come up with a community plan
through input from the residents. He suggested findings in the EIR for the Vista
Santa Rosa area be eliminated and addressed through a future environmental
process when it's clear what is happening and what the impacts are.
Mayor Pe~a noted planning the area in "piece-meal" fashion can result in a
cumulative impact.
Mr. Hargreaves suggested finding a way to plan the area without being so
specific that people feel threatened.
Ms. Criste advised program EIRs do not preclude future environmental review
and the City is obligated under CEQA to look at specifics through the process.
She noted it's unrealistic to think there will be no further environmental analysis
for individual projects or project areas.
Lee Anderson, 59-777 Calhoun, Thermal, stated he didn't feel agricultural land
should be subject to an overlay and understood staff was.going to suggest that
very-low density residential and Iow density residential also allow agriculture in
that use.
Mayor Pe~a confirmed that policy has been suggested. He also noted residents
still have the opportunity to meet with City staff and the consultant to provide
input.
There being no further requests to speak, Ms. Criste continued reviewing the
City Council and Planning Commission comments.
City Council/ 6 November 14, 2001
Planning Commission Minutes
Land Use Element Comments:
Rural Living Land Use Des/gnat/on - Commissioner Tyler suggested a Rural
Living Land Use designation, as a way to address some of the residents'
desires. After a brief discussion, it was agreed not to include the designation
at this time.
General Plan Amendments and Changes - Ms. Criste advised all land-use
amendments approved since the City contracted with Terra Nova will be
included in the update.
Light Manufacturing- After a brief discussion, there was consensus to change
the designation to Industrial/Light Manufacturing.
Referencing C/tv-Owned Property as Open Space - The Council and Commission
concurred to modify the definition of open space to include other publicly-
owned lands outside of the mountainous areas.
Protectin_~ Natural Element- There was consensus to add "Protection of Our
Natural Environment" as a goal under General Plan Land Use Goals.
Policy $ of General Land Use Goals & Policies - A brief discussion ensued
wherein a consensus was reached to modify the policy to read, "....carefully
consider sphere of influence and subsequent annexations .... "
Low Density Profile - Council Member Adolph suggested adding "Maintain a Iow
density profile" as a third goal. A brief discussion ensued regarding the
difficulty of applying the goal to the entire City and consensus was reached not
to add the proposed goal.
Compatible Development- There was consensus to modify Policy 2 under
Residential Goals & Policies to read, "Encourage compatible development ..... "
Addition of Perimeter Berming & Compatible Wall Treatments - After a brief
discussion, there was concurrence to add language to encourage compatible
wall treatments and to address the issue of perimeter berming in the Zoning
Ordinance.
Modification of Language Related to New Hotels - There was consensus to
modify Policy 4 under Commercial Goals & Policies to read," ....... development
of hotels as a key component of its economic base."
City Council/ 7 November 14, 2001
Planning Commission Minutes
Develo[~rnent Adjacent to Air[~orts and Public Utilities Standards - Consensus
was reached to retain Policies 5 and 5.1 under Industrial and Airport Goals and
Policy 2 under Other Land Use Goals & Policies.
Park Fee Credits - Council Member Henderson commented on the inconsistency
of encouraging retention basins as parks but not considering them for park fee
credits. City Manager Genovese noted a large part of the funds are used to
make improvements to community parks and suggested limiting it to partial
credits. There was consensus to modify Program 4.2 under Other Land Use
Goals & Policies to read, ". ..... Retention areas shall be considered for partial
Park Fee credits only."
Dark Sky Principles - After a brief discussion, there was concurrence to
encourage dark sky principles on a regional basis through CVAG and the East
Valley Coalition but not to include it in the General Plan as a policy.
Circulation Element Comments:
Southeastern Corridor- Commissioner Kirk suggested the possibility of a
southeastern corridor to run parallel with the mountain range much like Highway
111 does in the west end of the Valley.
Class III Golf Cart Routes - Ms. Criste commented on the liability issues related
to Class III golf cart routes and there was concurrence not to include it.
Street Naming Policy- There was consensus to add a policy requiring new
streets extending from existing streets to carry the same name for the entire
length.
Median Widths - After a brief discussion, there was consensus to include a
discussion about the widths of medians (12 to 14 feet with a maintenance walk
area within the outer edges of the median).
Tables 3. I and 3.2 - Ms. Criste explained the purpose of including streets
outside City Limits in the Tables and the Council and Commission concurred to
leave the names in the Tables. Commissioner Tyler noted errors in some of the
street names.
Addition of Local Streets to Exhibit 3.3 - There was consensus to add local
streets to Exhibit 3.3.
City Council/ 8 November 14, 2001
Planning Commission Minutes
Golf Cart Transportation Program - Commissioner Tyler suggested changing Golf
Cart Route System to Golf Cart Transportation Program for consistency and the
Council and Commission concurred.
Changing Adams Street and Dune Palms Road to Secondary Arterials -
Commissioner Butler commented on the amount of traffic and noted traffic will
increase on Adams Street when the fire station is built. Ms. Criste stated the
recent traffic analysis shows a secondary arterial is sufficient. There was
consensus to downgrade the appropriate sections of Adams Street and Dune
Palms Road to secondary arterial streets.
Mayor Pe~a suggested the joint meeting be continued to finish reviewing the
comments.
Council Member Henderson suggested each Council Member and Commissioner
review the comments and mark them "agree" or "disagree" to gain consensus
prior to the next meeting for the purpose of expediting the review process.
Commissioner Kirk agreed and suggested forwarding the marked copies to the
consultant in order to focus on the more controversial issues at the next
meeting. The Council and Commission concurred.
After a brief discussion, there was consensus to continue the joint public
meeting to December 5, 2001, at 6:00 p.m.
Mr. Herman advised the comments agreed upon by the majority will be placed
on the agenda as a consent calendar item and can be pulled for discussion if
needed.
ADJOURNMENT
There being no further discussion, it was moved by Council Members Henderson/Sniff
to adjourn the City Council meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
It was moved by Planning Commissioners Kirk/Tyler to adjourn the Planning
Commission meeting. Motion carried unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
JUNE S. GREEK, City Clerk
City of La Quinta, California