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Home My Public Portal About09.5) General Plan - Attachment O - Planning Commission Minutes%2C November 14%2C 2017 (Draft) CITY OF TEMPLE CITY PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES P A G E 1 O F 5 REGULAR MEETING Tuesday , November 14 , 2017 , 7 :3 0 P.M. City Council Chambers , 5938 Kauffman Avenue, Temple City www.templecity.us OPENING MATTERS :  Call to Order  Roll Call:  PRESENT: Haddad, Lee, O’Leary, Vice-Chair Cordes, Chair Marston  ABSENT: Commissioner – None  ALSO PRESENT: Community Development Director Forbes, Planning Manager Reimers, City Attorney Thuyen, and Planning Secretary Venters  Pledge of Allegiance ORAL COMMUNICATIONS / PUB LIC COMMENT: NONE CONSENT CALENDAR : 1. Planning Commission Meeting of October 24, 2017 Commissioner Haddad made a motion to approve the Consent Calendar as amended. Seconded by Commissioner O’Leary and was approved unanimously by the following votes: AYES: Commissioner – Haddad, Lee, O’Leary, Cordes, Marston ABSTAIN: Commissioner – None NOES: Commissioner – None ABSENT: Commissioner – None PL A N N I N G COM MI SS I O N M I N U TE S N O V EM B ER 1 4 , 20 17 P A G E 2 O F 5 PUBLIC HEARING ITEM S: 2. PL 17-865 Mid-Century General Plan, Crossroads Specific Plan, and Environmental Impact Report. Address: Citywide Recommendation: 1. Certify the Final EIR (Attachment 2) and 2. Adopt the Mid-Century General Plan (Attachment 3) and Crossroads Specific Plan (Attachment 4) as modified in Attachment 5 (Proposed Changes to the Draft General Plan and Specific Plan) and in the staff report. Project Planner: Scott Reimers sreimers@templecity.us Planning Manager Reimers highlighted the Mid-Century General Plan, Crossroads Specific Plan, Environmental Impact Report (EIR), and public input in a PowerPoint Presentation. Chair Marston opened the public hearing. Michelle Ritter, resident, stated that she is not in favor of changing the zone designation on Bisby Street. She additionally expressed concern about loss of property value, residences becoming legal non-conforming, and prohibited residential improvements. Roger Chandler, resident, stated that he would like his property at Kauffman Avenue to be rezoned to high density residential. Gene Mushinskie, resident, expressed concern about the future of his neighborhood should the zoning designation be intensified. Valerie Byrnes, representing The Hat Restaurant, asked Planning Manager Reimers if repair to the existing neon sign would be prohibited if the property became legal non-conforming. Sarah Foid, resident, expressed concern that Temple City would lose its hometown ambiance. She is not in favor of mixed use developments. Vic Seifort, resident, spoke against zone intensification as the capacities of streets, sewers, and schools cannot be increased. Carol Daugherty, Historical Society, is not in favor of zone intensification as the City may lose its residential history. PL A N N I N G COM MI SS I O N M I N U TE S N O V EM B ER 1 4 , 20 17 P A G E 3 O F 5 Melanie Villabisencio, resident, expressed concern of potential developments causing a high density environment and loss of property value. Anonymous resident, is not in favor of bicycle paths, or parks along the Eaton Wash. He expressed concern regarding parking requirements for multi-family residential developments. Helen Day, resident, is not in favor of high residential densities. Expressed concern about increased utility costs and crime. Chair Marston closed the public hearing. Planning Manager Reimers stated that the City is trying to preserve lower densities as much as possible, legal non-conforming signs would not be affected by the Crossroads Specific Plan, policies will set in place for historic preservation whereas the current General Plan does not, and developers will be required to pay impact fees. He explained that the proposed General Plan focus was growth into the specific plan area and areas already designated high density residential. He added that if there is no residential growth the City would experience a lack of economic development resulting in little demand for retail growth. He stated that residents complain that they have to go elsewhere to shop. He stated that the goal is to come up with a plan to encourage economic growth while maintaining a single family residential lifestyle. Commissioner Haddad stated that the Planning Commissioners are volunteers and residents of Temple City. He asked Planning Manager Reimers how the City reached out to the public to notify them of the upcoming General Plan, if any homes will be taken away, and about the nature of unavoidable and significant impacts. He encouraged the public to visit maketchappen.com. Planning Manager Reimers stated that the City has used social media, the City’s website, the City Manager’s Report, regular Commission briefings, sent invitations to all property owners whose properties were proposed to be changed (which exceeds the legal requirements), the newspaper, had several workshops and community meetings, and put together a General Plan Advisory Committee comprised of Temple City business owners and residents. He added that no one will lose their home as a result of the updated General Plan. Nicole Morse, PlaceWorks, Inc. stated that the worst case scenario needs to be considered when conducting an environmental analysis, however mitigation measures exist to reduce environmental impacts. Commissioner O’Leary asked Planning Manager Reimers if residential rezoning is due to the state mandate to meet the Housing Element and if a mixed use development could be built next door to a single family residence along Bisby Street. Planning Manager Reimers stated that California State law requires local jurisdictions to have the capacity construct affordable housing. Residents were asked to identify potential areas that could be changed or should remain unchanged at public workshops. He added that if the Planning PL A N N I N G COM MI SS I O N M I N U TE S N O V EM B ER 1 4 , 20 17 P A G E 4 O F 5 Commission follows staff’s recommendation the property owners on Bisby Street could build an addition to their home. He concluded that a developer would have to purchase several properties in order to build a mixed use development, as a minimum lot size of 18,000 square feet is typical to make a project feasible. Vice-Chair Cordes stated that the City needs to best use the resources and land available to address the increase of population and meet the requirements of the state. He believes that Temple City has done well with paving streets and maintaining sewers. He encouraged the public to be involved in the City and pointed out that the City has been working on the General Plan for the last four years. Commissioner Lee echoed the comments made by Commissioners Haddad and Cordes. He asked Planning Manager Reimers how local contracted services could be increased and traffic mitigated as the population increases and if it is possible for residences would be involuntarily taken for development. Planning Manager Reimers, stated that legally the City cannot require a developer to fix an existing problem; the same would apply to services provided to the City. He explained that a traffic study was performed and within that analysis none of the impacts rise to a significant impact. He then spoke about the various level of traffic thresholds from levels A through F and how engineers prefer streets at a level of C through F to avoid overbuilding. Chair Marston would like Bisby Street to retain its current zone or become rezoned to mixed use with transitional area so the majority of the neighborhood can still be single family. She stated that affordable housing is required by the housing element and with higher density, affordable housing could be achieved. She encouraged the public to become more involved in the City. She concluded that she supports the proposed General Plan as modified. Commissioner Haddad made a motion to recommend that the City Council approve PL 17-865, adopt the Mid-Century General Plan as modified (detailed in attachment five as proposed in the Staff Report), the Crossroads Specific Plan, and certify the EIR. Seconded by Commissioner Lee and carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Commissioner – Haddad, Lee, O’Leary, Cordes, Marston ABSTAIN: Commissioner – None NOES: Commissioner – None ABSENT: Commissioner – None DISCUSSION ITEMS: NONE PL A N N I N G COM MI SS I O N M I N U TE S N O V EM B ER 1 4 , 20 17 P A G E 5 O F 5 FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS AND REPORTS: 3. Planning Manager’s Report Planning Manager Reimers announced that the Planning Commission will consider two items at their meeting of November 28th and that the proposed zoning code amendment regarding Unattended Collection Boxes will be considered by the City Council in December. 4. Comments from Commissioners Commissioner Haddad – Wished everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Commissioner Lee – Encouraged the public to engage with the City and that staff is available to answer questions of the public. Commissioner O’Leary – Thanked Planning Manager Reimers and PlaceWorks for their time and efforts regarding the proposed General Plan. Vice-Chair Cordes – Encouraged the public to be involved with the City. Chair Marston – Thanked Planning Manager Reimers for the time spent on putting the General Plan together. ADJOURNMENT : The Planning Commission Regular Meeting was adjourned at 9:53 p.m. ____________________________ Chair ____________________________ Secretary