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2009 07 14 PC MinutesMINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING A regular meeting held at the La Quinta City Hall 78-495 Calle Tampico, La Quinta, CA July 14, 2009 CALL TO ORDER 7:02 P.M. A. This meeting of the Planning Commission was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Chairman Ed Alderson who asked Commissioner Barrows to lead the flag salute. B. Present: Commissioners Katie Barrows, Paul Quill, Mark Weber, Robert Wilkinson, and Chairman Ed Alderson. Staff present: Planning Director Les Johnson, Planning Manager David Sawyer, Assistant City Attorney Michael Houston, Principal Engineer Ed Wimmer, Principal Planner Andy Mogensen, Associate Planner Jay Wuu, and Executive Secretary Carolyn Walker. C. Election of Chair: It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Barrows/Wilkinson to nominate Ed Alderson as Chair. Commissioner Barrows was nominated, by Commission Quill, but declined. There being no further discussion, the nominations were closed and Ed Alderson was unanimously elected as Chair. E. Election of Vice Chair: It was moved and seconded by Commissioners Wilkinson/Quill to nominate Commissioner Barrows as Vice Chair. There being no further nominations, the nominations were closed. Commissioner Barrows was unanimously elected as Vice Chair. II. PUBLIC COMMENT: None III. CONFIRMATION OF THE AGENDA: None IV. CONSENT CALENDAR: Chairman Alderson asked if there were any changes to the Minutes of June 9, 2009. P:\Reports - PC\2009V-28-09\PC MINJ-14-09_Approved.doc Planning Commission Minutes July 14, 2009 Commissioner Quill asked that the minutes be changed to reflect that he joined the meeting at 7:07 p.m. instead of 8:07 p.m. There being no further corrections it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Weber/Barrows to approve the minutes as revised. Unanimously approved. V. PUBLIC HEARINGS: A. Conditional Use Permit 2009-120; a request by Kent B. Sowell, Dodge City Pre-Owned Vehicle Sales, for consideration of a conditional use permit to allow the operation of a used vehicle sales facility located within the La Quinta Auto Centre at the southeast corner of Adams Street and Highway 1 1 1 (79-025 Highway 1 1 1-. Chairman Alderson opened the public hearing and asked for the staff report. Principal Planner Andrew Mogensen presented the staff report, a copy of which is on file in the Planning Department. Chairman Alderson asked if there were any questions of staff. Commissioner Wilkinson asked if the condition about subcontracting of the service and repair facilities was included to allow the applicant to have that option, even though he might not necessarily use it. Staff said yes, the applicant did want that option. Currently, they are doing their own service work, but if economic and business conditions change, they want to be able to hire a third party to come in and run the shop for them. Chairman Alderson asked if a large part of the applicant's business would be the sale and repair of new and used recreational vehicles. He wanted to know if the prime focus would be used cars and not recreational vehicles. Staff said the applicant was requesting the ability to sell and service recreational vehicles and, if that was the direction he saw his business going, he wanted to make sure the permit allowed him to do so. Staff added the applicant was exploring all options. P:',ReUOrts - PC\2009\7-28-09\PC MIN_ 7-14-09_Approvedcfoc Z Planning Commission Minutes July 14, 2009 There being no further questions of the staff, Chairman Alderson asked if the applicant was available and would like to address the Commission. Staff responded the applicant was unable to attend the meeting. Chairman Alderson asked if there was any public comment. There being no public comment, Chairman Alderson closed the public participation portion of the meeting and opened the matter for Commission discussion. There was no further discussion and it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Quill/Barrows to approve Resolution 2009-018 approving Conditional Use Permit 2006-868 as submitted. Unanimously approved. B. Site Development Permit 2009-912; a request by Nadador, LLC, for consideration of architectural and landscaping plans for an approximately 200 square foot guardhouse located at 54-500 West Residence Club Drive; east side of PGA Boulevard, south of Avenue 54. Chairman Alderson opened the public hearing and asked for the staff report. Associate Planner Jay Wuu presented the staff report, a copy of which is on file in the Planning Department. Chairman Alderson asked if there were any questions of staff. Commissioner Barrows asked about the location and size of the water feature. Associate Planner Wuu pointed out its location and stated it was a small fountain. He added the water feature has to meet the City's water efficiency standards. Commissioner Barrows asked if this type of water feature figured into the Coachella Valley Water District's (CVWD) water efficiency calculations. Staff responded they were not sure about the CVWD calculations, but it did fit in with the City's Standards. PSReports - PC1200917-28-09APC MIN_7-74-09_Apprwed.doc 3 Planning Commission Minutes July 14, 2009 Commissioner Quill stated it was a small urn and more appropriate than a large water feature. He would like to see more of this type of feature; rather than major water features. Chairman Alderson commented on the small amount of water being used. Planning Director Johnson explained these were small urns, and would be accent-type water features, and noted their placement. He added, from a staff level, there were no issues. The City is very sensitive to the use of water features per the Water Efficiency Ordinance and the comments received from the Commission. He did not see any issues with the urns because of the fact they were not high water users. Commissioner Weber commented on Attachment Number 5, regarding the manned gate. He asked if that was an access-controlled electric, or magnetic, lock gate for pedestrian use. Staff said yes. Commissioner Weber commented on the issue of the date palms and the discussion that the Architecture and Landscaping Commission (ALRC) had. He referenced Attachment 1 - T4 and the site photographs. He said a recent visit showed the site photos are not representative of the existing site and explained where the date palms were located. He felt the point was significant, based on the comments from the ALRC and their debate on the date palms versus Washingtonia Robustas. He asked what the staff's comments were on the date palm issue. Staff responded initially it was an issue for the ALRC because of a misrepresentative exhibit in the packet. That caused confusion between ALRC and the applicant, but it is cleared up now. Fan palms being removed and the pool site, in your packet, should not have been included in this project. This Commission should only be looking at the entrance area. The date palms in front of the clubhouse will remain. A few more will be added by the guard house to match up with the clubhouse. Commissioner Weber reiterated that the T4 exhibit did not reflect current conditions. Associate Planner Wuu confirmed that and added staff had no issues with the recommendation. Chairman Alderson reconfirmed there was a lot of concern and discussion, at the ALRC meeting, regarding the palms but it was resolved and there were no palms being removed. Planning Director F:18eUOrts - NC\2009'J-28-091PC MIN_7-14-09_Approveri.doc 4 Planning Commission Minutes July 14, 2009 Johnson said that was correct and directed him to Attachment 4, on the last page. There was an updated landscape plan, based on photos and site visits, which was an accurate representation of the existing palms land identified where they were). It was his understanding there would not be any loss of the existing palms. One of the ALRC members was quite concerned about the loss of palms. It was pointed out, at the meeting, that there were existing date palms as part of the project. The ALRC then felt comfortable making the recommendation they did, with the updated exhibit forthcoming. There being no further questions of the staff, Chairman Alderson asked if the applicant would like to address the Commission. Mr. Peter Jacobs, 51-625 Desert Club Drive, Suite 205, La Quints, CA introduced himself and offered to answer any questions. Chairman Alderson commented on the signage not being altered, and the current guardhouse being replaced by landscaping. Mr. Jacobs said that was right. Chairman Alderson observed that the gate was a very heavy structure, and was likely to sag, without diagonal bracing. He suggested the applicant point this out to his design people. The applicant said he appreciated the comment as this would be an issue they would have to deal with. Commissioner Weber asked the applicant about potential stacking occurring at the guardhouse. Mr. Jacobs responded they had many meetings, with Planning Department, Public Works, and Fire Department to address those concerns. The current design is based on those meetings, addressing the conditions of approval, and working with the City to meet the requirements of the various plans. Commissioner Weber again mentioned the stacking situation and suggested the first car (just under the ports cocherel could actually be placed up a little farther to allow the next car to move up. His concern was there really was only the allowance for stacking of two cars. However, with the gate staffed 24 hours a day there should be no opportunity for any backing up into the drive. Chairman Alderson asked if there was any public comment. P. `,Reports - PC\2009V-28-09\PC MIN_7-14-09_Approved.doc 5 Planning Commission Minutes July 14, 2009 There being no public comment, Chairman Alderson closed the public participation portion of the meeting and opened the matter for Commission discussion. Commissioner Weber said he appreciated the ALRC delving into the palm issue and working to maintain a consistent plant palette. He also appreciated the fact the applicant was very conscientious of water and energy conservation; including such things as energy-conserving L.E.D. lights. They addressed all the critical things to make this project a good addition to the development. There was no further discussion and it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Quill/Wilkinson to approve Resolution 2009-019 recommending approval of Site Development Permit 2009-912 as submitted. Unanimously approved. VI. BUSINESS ITEMS: VII. CORRESPONDENCE AND WRITTEN MATERIAL: VIII. COMMISSIONER ITEMS: A. Report on City Council Meeting of June 16, 2009, from Chairman Alderson. B. Report on City Council Meeting of July 7, 2009 from Commissioner Barrows. C. Chairman Alderson noted Commissioner Quill was scheduled to report on the City Council Meeting of July 21, 2009, and Commission Weber was scheduled to report back on the August 4, 2009, Council meeting. D. He reminded the Commissioners that the Council would be dark for the August 18`" and September 15L meetings, and the Planning Commission would be dark on August 25`h and possibly August 1 1 `h E. Commissioner Weber expressed his thanks for the staff follow-up, with Mr. Digison, on the REA La Quinta clean-up on the Jack-In-The- Box and IHOP properties. He said it was taken care of very quickly P:AReports - PC12009V-28-09APC MIN_b14-09_ApUroved.doc Planning Commission Minutes July 14, 2009 and has been brought up to La Quinta standards. He just wanted to acknowledge staff's efforts. Planning Director Johnson said he thought the Commission's influence was a great help in getting this accomplished. He thanked the Commission for their support in encouraging the developer to accomplish this. Chairman Alderson asked about the possibility of modifying the parkirig lot design, in reference to alignment, on that same project. Planning Director Johnson said he would have to verify the information with Public Works, but he was not aware of any proposal that had come in for any type of realignment or different circulation pattern for that parking lot. IX: DIRECTOR ITEMS: X. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, it was moved and seconded by Commissioners Quill/Wilkinson to adjourn this regular meeting of the Planning Commission to the next regular meeting to be held on July 28, 2009. This regular meeting was adjourned at 7:36 p.m. on July 14, 2009. Respectfully submitted, (~t/~n~ Carolyn alker, Executive Secretary City of La Quinta, California PaReports - PCA2009A7-28-09APC MIN_7-14-O9_Approved.doc ']