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HomeMy Public PortalAboutMinutes - 1991/12/10 - RegularTEMPLE CITY, CALIFORNIA PLANNING COMMISSION DECEMBER 10, 1991 INITIATION: 1. CALL TO ORDER Pursuant to the Agenda posted on December Budds called the meeting to order at 7:30 cil Chambers. 6, 1991, Chairman p.m. in the Coun- 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG Chairman Budds led the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. 3. ROLL CALL: Present: Also Present: Absent: Commissioners Griffiths, Seibert, Souder and Budds City Attorney Martin, Community Development Director Dawson and Associate Planner Kates Commissioner Muto Commissioner Seibert cause, seconded by carried. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR: moved to excuse Commissioner Muto for Commissioner Souder and unanimously A. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Meeting of November 12, 1991 B. SIGN APPROVAL: Site: Applicant: C. TIME EXTENSION: Site: Applicant: Commissioner Seibert Calendar, seconded by mously carried. SIGN NO. 91 -53 9457 LAS TUNAS DRIVE CENTURY GIFT AND COSMETICS TENTATIVE PARCEL MAP NO. 21708 4941 DOREEN AVENUE CHRIS CONSTRUCTION moved to approve the Consent Commissioner Souder and unani- Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 December 10, 1991 5. UNFINISHED BUSINESS: NONE 6. NEW BUSINESS: A. PUBLIC HEARING CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 91 -1108 Site: 9119 LAS TUNAS DRIVE Owner: CHARLES AND SHARON DOEPPEL 419 EAST WISTARIA AVENUE ARCADIA, CALIFORNIA 91006 Applicant: Architect: Request: EDDIE HSU 420 EAST GARVEY MONTEREY PARK, CA 91754 DAVID MI AND PARTNERS ARCHITECT 1260 HUNTINGTON DRIVE, STE.101 SOUTH PASADENA, CA 91030 A conditional use permit to allow the remodeling of an existing 8,165 square foot commercial building into four independently accessible units to be occupied by four related business operations within a single business enterprise located at 9119 Las Tunas Drive in the General Commercial (C -2) Zone. Chairman Budds asked if the notices had been sent. Director Dawson stated that the notices had been sent to properties within a 500 foot radius and continued with the presentation of the background information stating that current there were three businesses occu- pying the building: a shoe store, refrigeration store and drapery store. He said the applicant was request- ing to subdivide the building into four office units to be occupied by four related business operations owned by the same owner. He said that there would be four entrances: one at the rear, two at the street and one from the parking lot. He also pointed out that there was currently inadequate parking on the site and that there were two garages on the site for a total of 20 parking spaces. He further stated that the building would contain 7,045 square feet of area and according to current standards would require 29 spaces. Staff suggests a condition requiring 90 degree angle parking " " Planning Commission Minutes Page 3 December 10, 1991 instead of 60 degree parking to provide for a better parking arrangement. He said that another condition would be to install roll -up type garage doors. Commissioner Seibert said that if a structure is legal non - conforming it is protected by the Code and can remain legal non - conforming as long as it is not changed in any way. City Attorney Martin said that it relates to footprint. Chairman Budds asked what would happen if the business was legal non - conforming and generated no foot traffic and then all of the sudden the use is changed to office and generates more foot traffic, would this affect the legal non - conforming issue. Director Dawson said that if you are going to a more extensive use that would require additional parking, like from a retail to restaurant use, then yes it would be questionable, but in this case the parking standard is the same for both types of businesses. He concluded by stating that if a medical office were to occupy this space the parking would need to be upgraded because the parking ratio is more intense than a retail business. Commissioner Souder asked if there were any conditions relating to the present legal non - conforming uses. Director Dawson stated that the building was built prior to city regulations and no conditions were im- posed and unfortunately there is no public parking in the area to help alleviate the problem. Commissioner Souder asked if the current businesses were existing. Director Dawson answered yes. Commissioner Souder asked if there was an entrance to the classroom from outside. Associate Planner Kates answered that you have to go into the building in order to enter the classrooms. Chairman Budds said that Condition 12 of the draft resolution states that the classroom may only be used to serve trainees and employees, but the application states that there would be a correspondence school. He asked how staff was going to enforce this condition. Planning Commission Minutes Page 4 December 10, 1991 Director Dawson said that the condition would limit the owner from advertising as a real estate school and from an enforcement standpoint, it would be a problem, but it is better to include the condition so that if there were any complaints in the future, action could be taken. Steven Csejtey, 1260 Huntington Drive, South Pasadena, stated that basically the building had two entrances from the street and that the secondary entrance off the parking lot would serve the classrooms. He also stated that the alley door was for fire safety only and would not be used for entering and exiting the building. He said that there was no objection to the 90 degree parking and landscaping and that they had tried to come up with a scheme with a maximum number of cars. He felt that changing the garage doors could create a problem and that the applicant wished to use the exist- ing sign, but he did not think he would have an objec- tion to a new sign program. He stressed that the when the building was constructed, it was legal and the building stayed the same, but the code changed. He said that if the applicant was required to meet the current standards, it could not be done. Commissioner Souder asked why the garages could not be taken down. Mr. Csejtey said that removing the garages would vio- late the structural integrity of the building and that the alley would not provide sufficient turning for 90 degree parking. He also pointed out that the garages provide security for the employees. Commissioner Griffiths asked about the type of door. Commissioner Seibert stated that the height of the garage doors need to be consistent. Commissioner Souder asked what the target date of completion was. Mr. Csejtey stated that he did not have an exact date and said that he had some concern about the restric- tions of how the business would be run. Chairman Budds asked if he was referring to the train- ing of real estate employees. Mr. Csejtey answered yes. • • • " Planning Commission Minutes Page 5 December 10, 1991 Chairman Budds asked if that meant he would not be able to comply with this condition. Mr. Csejtey said that the applicant would object to the limitation on the school business. Rob Doeppel, 9119 Las Tunas Drive, introduced himself as the owner's son and said that the existing parking had been that way for 30 years and that currently there exists much more spaces than what was being proposed. He also said that currently there are existing loans and tearing down the rear portion of the building could jeopardize those loans. He said that it was his under- standing that the school would be held after 5 p.m. and as far as parking was concerned, there would be no conflict with the other businesses. Commissioner Seibert asked if his father owned the business or the building. Mr. Doeppel answered that he owned the building and R &S Refrigeration. Eddie Hsu, 20 Mill Canyon Road, said that each business will be different and would have different names. He said the real estate school would be intended for new people coming in and after they receive their license, he would hire them. Director Dawson asked about the correspondence school. Mr. Hsu stated that it would provide people living in Alabama an opportunity to obtain a California real estate license. He said the other services would be to assist people in taking the real estate test and that the classes would be held at night and on weekends because most of the students work during the day and attend the real estate school in the evening. Commissioner Souder asked what the hours would be for the school. Mr. Hsu said that the school would be open between 6 p.m. and 9 p.m. during the week and 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on the weekends. Daryl Thomas, 5304 Glickman Ave., stated that the garage doors would create private parking for individu- als and felt that the doors could be removed to allow anyone to park in the garages. He also pointed out that the side entrance doors should open out onto the parking lot. He said that when you realign the parking Planning Commission Minutes Page 6 December 10, 1991 to 90 degrees you would loose the handicap parking. He stated that a dumpster should be provided. He wanted a right turn only onto Las Tunas Drive and he also wanted to make sure that each business was required to obtain a separate business license. Chairman Budds stated that one of the conditions of approval was that the trash enclosure would need the approval of the Community Development Director. Mr. Hsu stated that he could not agree to Condition 12 which restricts the real estate school to employees only. There being no further comments, Commissioner Griffiths moved to close the public hearing, seconded by Commis- sioner Souder and unanimously carried. Commissioner Souder said that he still had a problem with the non - conforming use. He said that currently R &S Refrigeration has several vans and now there is a possibility that the new use would add a large number of people to a facility with non - conforming parking. Director Dawson said that the current situation is legal non - conforming because of the inadequate parking. He said that it would be possible to locate the school and the mortgage company at the front of the building and the real estate business could occupy the remainder of the building and no additional parking would be required. He said the proposal is to add an additional unit and a minimum of three parking spaces would need to be available per unit and the applicant does meet this requirement. He also stated that there was an Ad Hoc Committee that studied mini -malls and that on that committee there were a few people who were familiar with the real estate business and indicated that there should be a special standard for real estate offices, because the offices are able to accommodate a number of real estate agents. He also pointed out that the City Council approved the draft of a Specific Plan for the downtown area which would include parking. Commissioner Souder said that he was concerned with the timetable of this project and the Specific Plan and if staff had no problems with the non - conforming issue then he did not. Director Dawson said that possibly the Specific Plan could address legal non - conforming buildings. He said that the current code states that if they are not adding additional square footage and not going to a • • • " Planning Commission Minutes Page 7 December 10, 1991 more intensive use, the parking requirements are satis- fied with what is existing. He also said that the Specific Plan may change that. Commissioner Griffiths said that there did not appear to be a parking problem in that area, . but a decision needs to be made whether or not the new use would create a problem. He also felt that Condition 12 was too restrictive. He agreed with the condition that the garage parking spaces be utilized for parking only and the employees could use those spaces and keep the others for customers. Chairman Budds asked if modifying the condition so that it relates to hours of operation would be agreeable. Commissioner Griffiths felt that would be reasonable. Commissioner Souder said that it would not preclude the business from being changed to a real estate school to train agents for the industry instead of his own busi- ness. Chairman Budds said that the condition could either be eliminated or modified to include hours of operation. Commissioner Seibert said that he was also having some problems with the legal non - conforming issue. He said that in his opinion there was a major change in the use of this building and whether the footprint is changed or not, he did not think that was an important issue. He thought the determining factor should be the use of the building as to whether it should continue to qual- ify for legal non - conforming. He had a problem with the number of parking spaces and felt that the real estate market will change and there will be more people wanting to get into the business and also buying and selling will increase and this could cause parking problems. He said that Edwards Theater has caused a lot of parking problems and they have a lot of spaces. He felt that the employees alone needed to operate those four businesses will cause parking problems. He said that the future could bring additional parking problems in that area. He said that he could not vote favorably for this. City Attorney Martin said that at the present our ordinance on non - conforming uses states that the owner can convert to any similar use and remain non - conforming. He further explained that dissimilar uses would be any use which requires more parking spaces such as a restaurant. He said that whether Planning Commission Minutes Page 8 December 10, 1991 intensification of a use should be considered an expan- sion of the a use might be well considered by the Planning Commission. He said intensification by divi- sion requires a conditional use permit and should also trigger a succession of the non - conforming protection. He said the other problem was for the parking and whether a variance should be required. He pointed out that Director Dawson said this property would normally require 29 parking spaces and the gentlemen says they already have 18 and are proposing a parking configura- tion that would reduce it to 13. He thought that since it was already non - conforming the 18 should remain as is. He felt that the Commission should review care- fully the fact that it would reduce the non - conforming parking even further. Chairman Budds said that in answering the question if the site is adequate in size, shape, topography and circumstances, he could not make a favorable finding with the four different business especially with the real estate business and the amount of traffic it generates. He said that the second finding is that there is sufficient access to streets and highways. He felt that there would be an increase in traffic in the alley. He also could not make a favorable finding that the project would not have an adverse effect upon adjoining property and felt that it would have an adverse effect. He said that the existing 18 spaces should remain because the requirement is 29 and that it, was still short 11 spaces. He said that if the Commis- sion approved this knowing that several business owners have tried to create a parking district at this end of town, the surrounding businesses will certainly feel that if it was done for one property it could be done for others and we would be setting a precedent. He said he would vote against this conditional use permit and hope that in the specific plan process we can resolve this problem. Commissioner Souder concurred with the denial. Commissioner Griffiths also agreed. Commissioner Seibert moved to deny Conditional Use Per- mit 91 -1108, based upon the public hearing seconded by Commissioner Griffiths and unanimously carried. Chairman Budds stated that there was a 10 -day appeal period in which anyone may appeal the decision of the Commission to the City Council. • • " " " Planning Commission Minutes Page 9 December 10, 1991 B. PUBLIC HEARING: CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 91 -1110 Site: 9842 FLAHERTY Applicant: JAMES SCINTA 5005 TEMPLE CITY BOULEVARD TEMPLE CITY, CALIFORNIA 91780 Architect: Request: PACIFIC WEST DESIGN GROUP 2507 LOMA SOUTH EL MONTE, CA 91733 -1480 A Conditional Use Permit to allow a proposed new two -story single family residence to exceed the .35 F.A.R. standard. The proposed F.A.R. is .38 in the Single Family (R -1) Zone. Chairman Budds asked if the notices had been sent. Director Dawson stated that the notices had been sent and continued with the presentation of the background information stating that the applicant submitted plans to open up the living room ceiling which put the pro- ject over the .35 F.A.R. standard and the total F.A.R. for the project is .38. He said that staff could not make the necessary findings to grant the conditional use permit because the lot is approximately 8,200 square feet and square footage could be eliminated to allow for the vaulted ceiling. He reminded the Commis- sion effective December 19th, the Code will allow .35 F.A.R. or 2,500 square feet whichever is greater and in the future exceeding the F.A.R. would require a vari- ance. Jim Scinta, 9842 Flaherty, said that basically all he wanted to do was remove the ceiling joist over the living room and entryway. Commissioner Seibert asked what the rear building would be used for. Mr. Scinta said it would be used for his motorhome. Commissioner Souder asked if there was going to be storage. Mr. Scinta said that the storage area would be right next to the motorhome. Planning Commission Minutes Page 10 December 10, 1991 Chairman Budds stated that it did not appear that there was a problem with the vaulted ceiling and staff indi- cates that if you open up the ceiling that possibly some square footage could be removed. Mr. Scinta said that basically the house had been trimmed down quite a bit from what was originally submitted. Rik Zyber, 2507 Loma, South El Monte, 91733 -1480, stated that he had been working with staff to cut down the square footage. He also stated that the outside appearance would remain the same whether or not the ceiling joist was removed. Commissioner Souder asked Mr. Zyber when he found out about the F.A.R. requirement. Mr. Zyber answered that staff informed him of the F.A.R. requirement from the beginning. Lori Scinta, 9842 Flaherty, stated that the home has been modeled after various homes they have seen. She said that through the process a bedroom has been elimi- nated and she said that she needs the four bedrooms being proposed and did not want to make them any smaller than there presently were. She said the re- quest is basically for aesthetic beauty and the differ- ence of 63 square feet did not seem substantial. Commissioner Griffiths moved to close the public hear- ing, seconded by Commissioner Souder and unanimously carried. Commissioner Seibert said that he did not have a prob- lem with the .38 F.A.R. and that he originally did not agree with counting vaulting ceiling area into the floor area. He said he would vote in favor of the request. Commissioner Griffiths said that the floor area ratio is just a small percentage over the standard. Commissioner Souder had no objections to approving the request. Chairman Budds agreed with the Commissioners comments, but the fact was that it exceeds the standard in the Zoning Code. He reminded the Commission that the lot was not substandard and that the house could be de- signed to meet the F.A.R. He stressed that the Commis- • • • " " " Planning Commission Minutes Page 11 December 10, 1991 sion should make a decision based upon planning issues with the interest of the overall city in mind. He could not make a favorable finding. Commissioner Souder moved to approve Conditional Use Permit 91 -1110, based upon the public hearing seconded by Commissioner Seibert and approved with the following roll call vote: AYES: Commissioners Griffiths, Seibert, Souder NOES: Commissioner Budds ABSENT: Commissioner Muto Chairman Budds stated that there was a 10 -day appeal period in which anyone may appeal the decision of the Commission to the City Council. 7. COMMUNICATIONS: NONE 8. TIME FOR THOSE IN THE AUDIENCE WHO WISH TO SPEAK: NONE 9. MATTERS FROM CITY OFFICIALS: City Attorney Martin stated that when the Commission was discussing the first item it was suggested that the Planning Commission may wish to recommend or hear a proposal amending the Code to address an intensification of a use such as by subdivision or by division of an existing building no longer qualifies for a pre- existing non - conformity. He said that if the Commission wished to pursue this, it could be placed on the next agenda for review and discussion. Chairman Budds said that would be a good idea. City Attorney Martin also said that some time ago when the findings of a conditional use permit were being reviewed he asked that the finding be changed relating to damage to the adjacent property. He suggested at that time to change it to the plural form and referred to a neighborhood. He asked if the Commission would like to place both those items on the next agenda. Commissioner Griffiths asked if these items would come up with the specific plan. Director Dawson said that they could come up in the specific plan, however, he felt it was a unique problem that could warrant the consideration of the Planning Commission as a separate issue, particularly in terms of the change of use. He also stated that the finding which City Attorney Martin Planning Commission Minutes Page 12 December 10, 1991 was - speaking of was not done in conjunction with the F.A.R. and then the City Council dropped the CUP process from the F.A.R. City Attorney Martin still felt it was a good idea. Director Dawson said that it could be brought back for a code amendment. Commissioner Souder stated that if the Commission waited for this to be included in the specific plan, it may or may not be picked up. He felt it was better to address the issue now. Commissioner Seibert said that the non - conforming issue does not apply only to the commercial area and that it also applied to the residential zones. A. URGENCY ITEM: ADULT BUSINESS ORDINANCE - Chairman Budds stated that this was an urgency ordi- nance relating to adult businesses. He asked the City Attorney to brief the Commission on the requested action. City Attorney Martin stated that this was a recent case decision that prohibits the City from stalling an applicant of an adult business from obtaining a busi- ness license. He said the ruling was that the applica- tion needed to be processed in an expeditious manner of not more than 30 days from the date the application was deemed complete. He said a 4 /5ths vote was necessary to place the item on the agenda. Commissioner Griffiths moved to place the urgency item relating to adult businesses on the agenda, seconded by Commissioner Souder and unanimously carried. Commissioner Seibert asked why this was any different from any other requirement. City Attorney Martin stated that you may make the requirement that all applications be processed in this manner, but there are times when someone is out of town and there may not be a quorum to decide on an applica- tion. He said this amendment states that we cannot go beyond the 30 days. Commissioner Souder said that the case law says that this has to be done. • • • " Planning Commission Minutes Page 13 December 10, 1991 Commissioner Souder moved to adopt a resolution recom- mending to the City Council an amendment to the adult business section of the Zoning Code so as to conform to a recent court decision, seconded by Commissioner Griffiths and approved with the following roll call: AYES: Commissioners Griffiths, Souder, Budds NOES: Commissioner Seibert ABSENT: Commissioner Muto B. MINIMUM 10% LANDSCAPING IN PARKING AREAS - Director Dawson stated that Planning Commission's recommendation of 10% landscaping was presented to the City .Council. He said there was some concern that parking spaces could be lost as a result of this re- quirement and the Council felt that landscaping should be included in the specific plan. 10. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, Chairman Budds adjourned the meeting at 8:56 p.m. The next regular meeting of the Planning Commission will be held on Tuesday, January 14, 1992 at 7:30 p.m. in the Council Chamber, 5938 North Kauffman Avenue, Temple City.