HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes - 1967/09/12 - Regular1
1
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
CITY OF TEMPLE CITY
September 12, 1967
1 The regular meeting of the Planning Commission of the City of
Temple City was called to order by Chairman Beckman at 7:30 P.M.
2. The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag was led by Chairman Beckman.
3. ROLL CALL:
Present: Commissioners: Garvin, Lawson, Millham,Oakley,Beckman.
Also Present: City Manager Koski, City Attorney Flandrick and
Planning Director Dragicevich.
4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Regular meeting of August 22, 1967. Com-
missioner Garvin moved the minutes be approved as presented, and
it was seconded by Commissioner Millham. A roll call vote was
taken:
AYES: Commissioners: Garvin, Millham and Oakley
ABSTAINING (Due to absence at meeting of August 22nd): Commissioner
Lawson and Chairman Beckman.
5. OLD BUSINESS:
A, Zone Variance 67 -232:
Planning Director Dragicevich informed the Commission the applic-
ants had not received a letter of authorization from the owners
to conduct motorcycle sales and service, but that he had conversa-
tion with them earlier in the day (Sept. 12th) and they felt
reasonably certain that a letter would be forthcoming shortly.
Commissioner Oakley moved the hearing be carried over to the
next meeting of the Planning Commission, and Commissioner Mill -
ham seconded and it was so moved.
Commissioner Garvin brought to the attention of the Commission
the fact that the applicants were conducting sale of motorcycles
presently, and Chairman Beckman advised that the City Manager
would investigate and handle this matter.
B Honda of Temple City:
Planning Director Dragicevich gave a report on the findings of the
Staff relative to the subject operation. Mr. Smith, manager of
the property in question assured him that the Temple City Auto
Service was in existence since 1959; later business expanded and
they began repairing motorcycles and then selling motorcycles.
They had no license for retail sales as the County did not require
any for motorcycle repair since there was no other classification
for this type of use, but they were licensed under "auto repair."
The previous use of the property was as a car agency (before 1959)
which was a permitted use. They contacted Mr. Cushman, planning
advisor for the City of Temple City at that time, and were assured
this was proper use for this location. The staff attemoted to
contact Mr. Cushman during the past week and the week previous,
and was unsuccessful because Mr. Cushman was on vacation.
Commissioner Oakley asked if this is a non - conforming use, and was
told by the Planning Director that it was, and that the abatement
period would be about ten years, and would start from 1964.
Mr. Stanley Van Amburgh, a partner in Honda of Temple City, spoke
in behalf of himself and Mr. Smith, stating they started the Honda
business in 1964, that they initially contacted Honda about it,
and in about August, before anything was done about going into
motorcycle business, they contacted the City. He stated they
talked to Mr. Koski and Mr. Tyrell and others, describing what
they wanted to do, and that these men gave their approval. Now
Honda of Temple City faces the possibility of being put out of
1
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
SEPTEMBER 12, 1967 PAGE TWO.
business in ten years. He stated they had contributed to the City a
"little bit" and they would like to do a lot more with the property.
They do not own the property, and the owner is not willing to sell,
but they do keep it clean and respectable.
Commissioner Oakley said he felt the fact that a citizen complained
of the noise had to be investigated. Mr. Van Amburgh stated that when
the factory delivers a motorcycle it is a quiet operating vehicle, but
they cannot prevent a person from removing the muffler once he has
purchased the vehicle and takes it off their property. Mr. Van Amburgh
asked how many complaints the City had received about his operation and
the City Manager said there had been none to his knowledge, and it was
stated that the point for consideration was whether this was a conform-
ing use for the zone in which it is located.
Commissioner Garvin explained to Mr. Van Amburgh why his business was
under investigation, that Mr. Jackson, a citizen of Temple City, had
addressed the Commission at the meeting of August 22, 1967, asking why
the applicants in Zone Variance Case 67 -232 were not being allowed to
sell motorcycles and repair them, when Honda of Temple City had this
privilege and were located right down the street. At that time the
• Staff had been requested to investigate the licensing history of Honda
of Temple City and give a report at this meeting.
Chairman Beckman said if they are operating under approval that has an
abatement period they are performing legally. The City Manager stated
there had been no complaints from citizens on the business. He further
stated that there is no business under abatement in the community, and
that if an abatement period is in order after investigation that the
business owners or operators would be duly notified when the abatement
period would start, but presently there has been no abatement action
in the City of Temple City.
Commissioner Oakley moved to postpone further discussion on the matter
until the Staff can present a verified report for all interested people.
Commissioner Millham seconded and it was so moved.
1
•
1
•
6. COMMUNICATIONS:
City Manager Koski referred to :the.:lcOpy of: a: letter _which. was :
dated August 9, 1967, from Mr. John Shaw, who is legal representative
for the applicants in Zone Variance Case 67 -230, and stated that the
Planning Commission decision had been appealed to the City Council.
They referred it back to the Planning Commission for clarification
before the Council holds a public hearing oni:t.
City Attorney Flandrick reviewed the history of the situation - that
when the Commissioners originally'considered the list of uses they
considered a number of types of operations - automatic car wash :type
with belt, coin operated and by hand as an accessory to a service
station, (which meant a man in the back who washed cars which was
an accessory service to that operation). Somehow in transmittal
of the ordinance to the City Council,and their adoption of it, the
first two items were left out of all zones except CM. At the
present time there is as a permitted use a "ferhan.i,cal auto_ wash"
in the C -M zone and a "car wash (by hand)" i n 'C42, andr i t doesn't make
sense unless it was the initial intention of the Commission to-- -include
these in C -M zone.
At the moment he advised the Commissioners they could acceed to Mr.
Shaw's position and determine that the coin operated type of car wash
in fact is a hand operation which is contrary to the facts as pre-
sented in the Zone Variance case, or, by clarification to the City
Council that it is a permitted use, or go for a Conditional Use Per-
mit, or perhaps an urgency ordinance.
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
September 12, 1967 PAGE THREE
Commissioner Oakley .stated that at the previous meeting it mzs made
•
clear that a': coin operated . tar. wash was not compat i b':1 to a C ;; 2• zoneiJ .
City Attorney F l and:r ick: stated .he ,was: n:ot, present zt that meeting,—but.
it was a.dangero:us: thing to tr.:y ,and .'remember what was tha::feel'ng•:or :
•_intention:of'wh.at occurred at past meetings.
Chairman Beckman declared the public hearing open. Mr. John L. Shaw,
5816 Temple'City Boulevard, gave a brief history of the case, particularly
that the application was filed under the old ordinance, and the new ordin,
ance was not public. There was no mention of"car wash by handuor any in -.
formation. The entire discussion had to do with whether or not under the
old ordinance this came under C-2. Since then the new ordinance came out
and was published, and after reviewing publication he noticed publication
concerning this particular use. There is a distinction between "mechanical "
and "by hand". No evidence was taken whether there was anything mechanical.
Car wash as such simply was not permitted in the C -2 zone. At the meeting
of July 25th.no one pursued the point of whether it was mechanical or by
hand. He said this is not a mechanical operation in any sense of the word,
and presented to each of the Commissioners a pamphlet prepared by the
manufacturer, showing the proposed operation. He pointed out it was noth;
ing more than a few stalls with a pump which dispenses through a hose
water and cleaning fluid. There would be two to four stalls in this opera-
tion. The person drives his car into a stall, puts in a coin in the slot,
• gets up to six minutes of water pressure to wash his car. The customer
does the work himself.
1
•
1
•
In answer to questions by the Commissioners the City Attorney stated that
they were operating under the new ordinance.
Commissioner Garvin commented that all the Commissioners had thoroughly
gone over the Ordinance prior to its adoption, and perhaps in the trans-
mittal some things had changed or been left out, but it was certainly
not the intention of the Commissioners to put this type of operation in
this zone. Chairman Beckman felt it was not the right of the Commissioners
to enforce the ordinance by intentions but that it had to be taken liter-
ally.
The City Manager informed the Commission they were called upon to make a
clarification and determination - is this mechanical or not. Chairman
Beckman stated he had seen the operation on Rosemead and Olive and felt
it was very much by hand.
City Attorney Flandrick said whatever the Commission's determination is,...
that it not be in the form of a Clarification of Ambiguity, but that
they recommend to the City Council that they accept or reject or modify
their recommendation by an urgency ordinance because there is now a
matter pending before the Council for a public hearing on a zone variance
that, whatever the Commission's action.is, if it is concurred in by the
Council would either make that variance - confirm it and make it required
as it was under the old ordinance when he filed the application or make
it a permitted use.
The City Manager said a resolution clarifying the ambiguity that appears
to exist be recommended to the City Council to permanently clarify the
intent of the ordinance. The public hearing is scheduled on September
19th before the City Council. Whatever action they take on the resolu-
tion will determine whether that, public hearing is held or not. This
issue must be confirmed or denied by the City Council before they know
what to do with the case - whether to hear the case or dismiss it.
Commissioner Garvin made a motion that ,a r.esotution.be••prepared recom-
mending to the City Council the clarification of ambiguity relating to
car washes. Commissioner sriilllham seconded, and it was carried with
Chairman Beckman casting the only negative vote. City Attorney Fland-
rick read Resolution No. 67 -269PC and it was adopted.
1
1
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES
September 12, 1967 PAGE FOUR
The discussion then was concentrated on the deletion of car washes
from the C -2 zone and ammending the C -M zone of 'the existing ordin-
ance by including all types of car washes - whether automatic, coin
operated or by hand - and recommending to the City Council to adopt
an urgency ordinance to control the development of these uses. Dur-
ing the Interim Ordinance the Planning Commission would hold a public
hearing to recommend the changes to be included in the existing zon-
ing regulations. A motion relative to this matter was made by Commis-
sioner Garvin and seconded by Commissioner Millham and it was so moved.
7. MATTERS FROM CITY OFFICIALS
The City Manager reminded the Commissioners of the City Picnic on
September 23rz1, aid -added the same Marine Band would play.
8. TIME FOR THOSE IN THE AUDIENCE WHO WISH TO SPEAK
Mr. Shaw, 5816 Temple City Boulevard, spoke, stating that he felt
the citizens of Temple City were not sufficiently informed of what
the new zoning ordinance consisted of, and what consequences could
come from this particular ordinance. It was published after it was
passed. Regarding the non - conforming use in the new zoning ordin-
ance there are a number of non - conforming uses in the City of Temple
City. If the merchants were aware of what was occurring as far as
zoning is concerned they would have heard from them. He anticipates
there will be many problems with non - conforming uses: .People aren't
aware of the very restrictive zoning that has gone into effect. There
was a blast recently at the City Council that it was over - ruling the
Planning Commission decisions - Mr. Shaw felt that the Planning Com-
mission is over- technical. At this meeting he hoped and expected
them to be technical and they were just the opposite - they weren't
technical, and went against the facts. He felt some latitude should
be considered - property owners in Temple City have difficulty rent-
ing commercial property, and that the community as a whole must be
considered.
Commissioner Garvin, in rebuttal, stated that the public had been
informed on two different occasions of hearings being held on the
new zoning,ordinance in the Temple City Times on the front page and
no one appeared. Also there was a committee selected by the mer-
chants of Temple City to work with the Commissioners in preparing
the Zoning Ordinance and a great many of their recommendations were
incorporated into that ordinance.
Chairman Beckman said there were three separate meetings with four
members,:-Chamber of Commerce representatives, working on the new
zoning ordinance. When they had the final public hearing all the
people came.and said they didn't hear about it. The City Manager
added there..was..-very little change - only issues within.the zones.
The primary purpose of the new ordinance was to clarify and make
the mechanics of it :eas i er.: .: to the man in the field. The Planning
Director stated it also inc141ded all the ammendments passed since
1964.
Mr. C. F. Guida, 5014 Temple City Blvd., addressed the Commission,
concurring with Mr. Garvin about the amount of work and effort
that went into the preparation of the new zoning ordinance, but
he also concurred with Mr. Shaw's opinion that more latitude
could be practiced in the handling of the Planning Commission cases.
"
1
1
P L A N N I N G C O M M I S S I O N M I N U T E S
S e p t e m b e r 1 2 , 1 9 6 7 P A G E F I V E
C h a i r m a n B e c k m a n r e p l i e d t h a t i f l a t i t u d e w e r e e x t e n d e d t o o n e
p e r s o n t h e n e x t p e r s o n w o u l d a l s o e x p e c t i t , a n d w h a t r u l e c o u l d
b e u s e d a s t o w h e n a n d h o w m u c h l a t i t u d e w a s t o b e g r a n t e d .
C i t y M a n a g e r K o s k i e x p l a i n e d t h a t i n t h e e n f o r c e m e n t o f t h e z o n i n g
o r d i n a n c e t h e r e w a s a p r o v i s i o n m a d e f o r l a t i t u d e , a n d t h a t w a s i n
t h e z o n e v a r i a n c e , t h a t t h i s w a s t h e w a y t o p r o c e e d . T h e u s e o f
l a t i t u d e i n d i s c r i m i n a t e l y i s a t w o - e d g e d s w o r d a n d c o u l d b e v e r y
d a n g e r o u s .
9 A D J O U R N M E N T
T h e r e b e i n g n o f u r t h e r b u s i n e s s C o m m i s s i o n e r M i l l h a m m o v e d t o r e -
c e s s t o a n a d j o u r n e d m e e t i n g i n t h e N o r t h M e e t i n g R o o m f o r f u r t h e r
s t u d y o f t h e p r o p o s e d s i g n o r d i n a n c e . I t w a s s e c o n d e d a n d c a r r i e d .
T h e m e e t i n g a d j o u r n e d a t 9 : 0 0 P . M . T h e n e x t r e g u l a r m e e t i n g o f
t h e P l a n n i n g C o m m i s s i o n w i l l b e S e p t e m b e r 2 6 , 1 9 6 7 a t 7 : 3 0 P . M . i n
t h e C o u n c i l C h a m b e r s o f t h e C i t y H a l l , 5 9 3 8 K a u f f m a n A v e n u e , T e m p l e
C i t y .
A C - 0 4 -
S e '