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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPC Min 1993-05-19 _1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 _3 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 _t5 .....\. .' , CITY OF SEAL BEACH PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES of MAY 19, 1993 Chairman Fife called the regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting of May 19, 1993 to order at 7:30 p.m. in City Council Chambers. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Soukup led the Pledge of Allegiance. ROLL CALL Present: Chairman Fife Commissioners Dahlman, Sharp, Soukup, Law Also Present: Department of Develo.pment Services: Lee Whittenberg, Director Michael Colantuono, Assistant City Attorney Joan Fillmann, Executive Secretary Absent: Barry Curtis, Administrative Assistant CONSENT CALENDAR 1. Minutes of May 5, 1993 MOTION by Dahlman; SECOND by Sharp to approve the Planning Commission Minutes of May 5, 1993 as presented. MOTION CARRIED: A YES: 5-0-0 Dahlman, Sharp, Fife, Law, Soukup 2. Minor Plan Review #93-5 213 7th Street Mr. Whittenberg stated staff had received a letter from the applicant, Sherri Mokhtarian, stating she wishes to delay consideration of this request until the June 23, 1993 Planning Commission meeting. No one in the audience wished to testify on this matter. MOTION by Sharp; SECOND by Dahlman to approve a continuation of Minor Plan Review to the June 23, 1993 Planning Commission meeting. MOTION CARRIED: A YES: 5-0-0 Sharp, Dahlman, Fife, Law, Soukup el 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 .; 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 "4 l' . PlIlle 2 - City of Seal Beach Planning Commission Meeting · May 19, 1993 SCHEDULED MA TIERS 3. Resolution #93-31 1305 Sandpiper Drive Height Variation #93-1 Since this resolution was prepared by the City Attorney's Office, Mr. Whittenberg informed the Commissioners that Michael Colantuono was attending another city meeting and was expected to arrive by 8:00 p.m., in case there were any questions for Mr. Colantuono. Mr. Whittenberg indicated the word "would" should be inserted on page 4, paragraph (e) to read"... the CRAS would not significantly impair ...". The Commission had no questions or comments on this resolution. MOTION by Sharp; SECOND by Dahlman to approve Resolution #93-31 for Height Variation #93-1 for 1305 Sandpiper Drive. MOTION CARRIED: A YES: 5-0-0 Sharp, Dahlman, Fife, Law, Soukup Mr. Whittenberg indicated today, May 20th, starts the ten day period to file an appeal to the City Council. *** PUBLIC HEARING 4. Conditional Use permit #93-9 640 Pacific Coast Highway * Taco Bell Staff Report Mr. Whittenberg presented the staff report. [Staff report on file in the Planning Department]. The applicant, Taco Bell Corporation, requests permission to continue its 24-hour operation on weekends (Friday and Saturday) between November 1st and April 30th and daily between May 1st and October 31st. This application has been filed in response to City Ordinance 1448. Commission Comments Chairman Fife asked if Taco Bell was open for walk-in service between 2:00 a.m and 6:00 a.m.? The staff report indicates only the drive-thru window is open from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. -. _1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 .~ 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 .4 Page 3 - City of Seal Beach Planning Commission Meeting · May 19, 1993 Commissioner Soukup asked if Taco Bell would have to obtain a CUP if they decide to have walk-in service between the hours of 11:00 p.m. and 2:00 a.m.? Mr. Whittenberg said technically no, but one of the Conditions of Approval could be that there would be no walk-in service from 11:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. If Taco Bell would wish to change this at some future point they would have to come back to the Planning Commission for a CUP. Public Hearing Mike Johnson. General Manager. Taco Bell * 640 Pacific Coast Highway Mr. Johnson said he has reviewed all the proposed Conditions of Approval and they are acceptable to him. He said he would have no problem with Commissioner Soukup's proposal to require Taco Bell to seek a new or amended CUP to allow him to expand his walk-in service hours. For security reasons Taco Bell does not allow their dining room to be open after 11:00 p. m. No one wished to speak further in favor of this application. The following persons spoke in opposition to this application: Rolf Wald * 710 Coastline Drive Mr. Wald stated many noise complaints have been fIled with the Seal Beach Police Dept. He submitted a petition [Attached] by Coastline residents also opposing this application. He stated Taco Bell's doors are wide open 24-hours per day. He testified that Taco Bell was using a jack hammer at 3:30 a.m. for unpermitted remodeling. He said the Police Department would not respond "... because they were tied up somewhere else. I don't know where". He contacted the Police Department to check on the number of complaints but since the Department is not computerized he could not get that information. He said the Taco Bell patrons get very noisy on the weekends. Chairman Fife said that while the staff report says Chief Stearns has no concerns regarding the continued operation and the City has no record of complaints it sounds like the Coastline Drive residents have complained by a number of phone calls to the Police Department. Commissioner Sharp felt the Chief of Police would not object to this application because of noise related problems but he would have objected if crimes had taken place. Chairman Fife asked who was cleaning of the parking lot? Mr. Stamps said the center's owner is cleaning the lot. -. _1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 .~ 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 .4 Page 4 - Ci1;y of Seal Beach Planning Commission Meeting · May 19, 1993 Ron M(:rublian * 630 Coastline Drive Mr. Mgrublian said he was disturbed by the noise of honking horns, by people screaming or joking with one another. He noted the problem is random, it doesn't happen every evening but is very disturbing when it does. John Stamps * 610 Coastline Drive Mr. Stamps said the same consideration given to the Main Street area should be given to this area. He stated the restaurant is cleaning, vacuuming, emptying trash and maintaining their property all the time. He noted gas gets delivered at the nearby service station at very late hours. Rating the general traffic on Pacific Coast Highway versus the noise in the shopping center, Mr. Stamps said the center noise is very bad, especially at night. The patrons going through the drive-thru play their boom-boxes very loud and nearby residents can't sleep. He said he sleeps from 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. He doesn't hear Taco Bell's public address system but hears the noise from all the kids. He felt the noise was generated by people from out of town, stopping at Taco Bell. Lydia Stamps * 610 Coastline Drive Mrs. Stamps said she used to be able to hear the ocean waves at night but now she can only sleep between 2:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. because of the noise of boom boxes. The Commission asked if she felt there was a burst of noise at 2:00 a.m. when some establishments closed? She said no, the quietness begins at 2:00 a.m. She said the City does not need any more traffic coming through the City. Commissioner Soukup asked if Taco Bell's drive-thru should shut down before 2:00 a.m.? She replied that would be wonderful, people could get more sleep and there might be less traffic because less attention is attracted to that area. Commissioner Dahlman asked staff what the operating hours are for the various food establishments in that area? Mr. Whittenberg said McDonalds closes about 11:00 p.m. Commissioner Law asked how long Taco Bell has been operating for 24-hours on weekends? Mr. Whittenberg said Taco Bell has been operating with these hours for approximately two years. One year ago, the City changed the municipal Code to require a CUP for any business open from 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. Rebuttal - Mike Johnson. Taco Bell Mr. Johnson said Taco Bell wants to be a good neighbor. He also contacted the Police Department regarding complaints but has not heard from them. The late night cleaning of the area is done by the landlord, Watson & Associates. Taco Bell has a strict policy of closing their doors at 11 :00. They recently installed a day/night switch for the exterior ordering board to regulate the tone for different times. Pacific Coast Highway has a lot of noise on it but he didn't know how much of that is Taco Bell's. He will minimize any noise coming from his restaurant. Taco Bell's employees have not been made aware to call the Police Department for help of parking lot disturbances. Between -1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 .; 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 .4 Page S - C~ of Seal Beach Planning Commission Meeting · Msy 19, 1993 the hours of 2:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. doesn't seem to be that loud and disturbances are random. He will work to control this. Commissioner Sharp asked Mr. Iohnson how many employees on are duty between the hours of 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m.? Mr. Iohn said up until 3:00 a.m. they have three (3) employees. Then from 3:00 a.m. to 6:00 a.m. they have two (2) employees. Their duties are preparation of food ingredients for the following day. They dump their trash by 10:45 p.m. The business done between 2:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. is 2% - 3% of their total business. Between 12:00 a.m. and 6:00 a.m. it's about 4% - 5%. It's part of Taco Bell's corporate image, for all of their restaurants to be open 24 hours and for the public to see it as an accessible restaurant. He said he was at the Seal Beach Taco Bell on Tuesday, May 18th, at 2:30 a.m. and was polling customers that came through. During the hour he was there, he had six customers and all were Seal Beach residents. Chairman Fife asked the applicant if he would be willing to continue this issue for sixty days to meet with the Coastline Drive residents and to talk to the shopping center manager to work out a compromise? Mr. Iohnson said yes, he would like to get together, find out exactly what the problems are and what both sides think can be done to fix things short of closing down between 2:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. Chairman Fife asked staff if this matter is continued, does that mean Taco Bell can continue to operate for the period of the continuance but at the end of the continuance the Planning Commission will consider operation between the hours of 2:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m.? Mr. Whittenberg said his existing rights to operate 24-hours a day will continue until a final decision is made by the Planning Commission or the City Council. The Public Hearing was closed. Commission Comments Chairman Fife indicated there are due process rights of the applicant and vested rights to continue an existing operation. Although sixty days may be a problem to residents, the City is addressing something that has been a problem for a number of years. It takes time to gather evidence, allow those people most affected to meet, confer and exchange ideas. That's preferable to acting hastily and perhaps drawing a lawsuit. Tonight's exchange has been productive because residents have acquainted the Taco Bell manager to problems he didn't know existed. He said he would like to give Taco Bell a chance to work something out with the residents. He indicated the Planning Commission doesn't have the same jurisdictional power to regulate Taco Bell as it does regulate an establishment selling alcoholic beverages. The Planning Commission is only empowered to do those things authorized by law to do. When asked about being a nuisance, Chairman Fife said it's very difficult to convince a judge that something is so bad that it rises to the level of a nuisance so as to shut it down. It's a complicated, expensive procedure. -1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 .; 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 .4 Page 6 - City of Seal Beach Planning Commission Meeting · May 19, 1993 MOTION by Sharp; SECOND by Law to continue the Public Hearing on Conditional Use Permit #93-9 to July 21, 1993. MOTION CARRIED: A YES: 5-0-0 Sharp, Law, Dahlman, Fife, Soukup Staff was instructed to come back to the Planning Commission with an amended/revised staff report. Mr. Whittenberg said staff will contact the Police Department and request them to do a manual search of their records. Commissioner Dahlman asked for clarification on noise sources. Mr. Whittenberg said staff will attempt to monitor what goes on in the parking lot area, focusing primarily on weekends. Commissioner Sharp asked if Mr. Whittenberg could request the Police Department swing through the parking lot between 2:00 a.m. - 6:00 a.m. once in awhile to see what's going on. Mr. Whittenberg said staff can make that request and the Police Department is usually responsive to those types of requests. Chairman Fife asked the updated staff report to follow up with Mike Johnson and Mr. Wald to see how that process is going. Mr. Whittenberg said the City would be pleased to host the meetings between the residents and Taco Bell at City Hall. That would allow staff to observe what's going on and have a good input into that process. RECESS Chairman Fife called a five minutes recess. Mr. Colantuono arrived at 8:30 p.m. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS There were no oral communications from the audience. STAFF CONCERNS Mr. Whittenberg said staff is attempting to give the Planning Commission a more formal feedback process as to what happens to matters once the City Council has reviewed them. He spoke on the following items: 1. City Council adoption of Zone Text Amendment #93-1, deleting Section 28- 2407(A)(4)(c) of the Code. The City Council has adopted the ordinance with the changes recommended by the Planning Commission. Residents will be allowed to add to their existing building only if their nonconformity is due to having tandem parking spaces. The ordinance will take effect June 10, 1993. _1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 .~ 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 e44 Page 7 - City of Seal Bcal:h Planning Commission Meeting · May 19. 1993 2. Regional Housing Needs Assessment - Status Report This staff report has been provided to keep the Commission up to date with the status of this aspect of Housing Element law as it currently stands in California. There is a great deal of uncertainty at this point as to what the City's ultimate responsibilities will be. The State has said that to prepare a Housing Element you must identify the needs of low and moderate income housing for both owner and renter occupied housing over a five year period. The State provided funds to Regional Planning Organizations (SCAG in this area) to do the detailed analysis. The State budget this year eliminated all the funds going to the Regional agency to do that analysis. Therefore, the Regional agencies are not doing the work. That process is in limbo. 3. Proposed Rule 1504 (Backstop Rule) for local government - South Coast Air Quality Management District. This rule would have major impacts on all cities in Southern California regarding implementation of air quality management control measures at the city level. If the city level control measures are not sufficient to achieve a defined level of trip reduction, the South Coast Air Quality Management District would implement their Backstop Rule, which would place additional requirements on the community andlor particular businesses in the community to reduce vehicle trips to the required level. This will be a complex issue to deal with over the next year. It will take a lot of staff time to deal with these issues. Commissioner Dahlman asked who would be responsible to pay for the Backstop Rule's enforcement? Mr. Whittenberg said it would be hard to say because the City doesn't know what the measures would be or which firms or individuals might be covered under the rule. The AQMD is holding a number of public meetings through May - June in this area to get comments for local jurisdictions on how the rule should be constructed, who should it apply to, how will it be monitored. All Orange County cities have been working cooperatively with Orange County over a two year period to develop a County-wide strategy to achieve the necessary trip reduction measures for Orange County. The measures identified by Seal Beach staff to the Orange County Transportation Authority and AQMD appear to be sufficient to meet the goals set for Seal Beach. A report will go to the City Council Monday night. 4. Main Street Parking - City Council consideration of items. This staff report indicates the types of actions the City might desire to take in a short term (30 days - 1 year), mid-term (1 - 5 years) and long term (more than 5 years) time frames. The City Council reviewed this report on May 10th and asked staff to look at many short term items and present a more detailed report _1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 .~ 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 _44 . . Page 8 - Ci~ of Seal Beach Planning Commission Meeting · May 19, 1993 to them on May 24th. The Commission will get a copy of that report once the Council takes an action. Commissioner Law asked if the grandfathered parking can be stopped so that everybody pays their fair share on in-lieu parking? Mr. Colantuono said there are a variety of funding mechanisms for obtaining additional money for parking. Such as taxes and benefit assessments. These can be imposed on every property owner. If the City decided to build a parking lot, and imposed a benefit assessment district on the businesses which could be expected to benefit from that parking lot, all the property owners in that area could be assessed an assessment. Everyone then would pay. However, if you rely on exactions associated with development permits then you can only impose those based on people who come in for new development purposes to bring in new uses or expand existing uses. To date, the City has relied primarily on development exactions and those cannot be applied to people having legally existing businesses. Chairman Fife asked if the issue of how newly created parking spaces would be credited to commercial properties lacking parking had been addressed? With the provision for forfeiting your grand fathered parking if you are not operating for 90 consecutive days, statistics would demand many unusable commercial properties on Main Street. Mr. Whittenberg said that was the intent of item #8, where the creating of an overlay zone to group all allowable building densities with the number of parking spaces available and give credits based on the number of spaces to the size of buildings that could be constructed. The Council has not asked staff to report back at the May 24th meeting on that issue. This issue will come back to the Council after they have considered the budget, in July or August. Chairman Fife, referring to Mr. Colantuono's remarks on benefit assessments, this is the fair way to address this issue and get rid of the disparity of people who have to pay in-lieu parking, people who are getting assessments and people who don't have to come before the Commission. Mr. WhIttenberg said staff's Parking Needs Analysis Report (March 1993) indicated the businesses along Main Street and the number of parking spaces required. Staff will complete this analysis. That will give the City it needs to know on a business-by-business basis how many parking spaces are required and how many they are short. This would enable the City to formulate the financing mechanisms necessary if the City goes to benefit assessment financing. Chairman Fife asked if the City Council was considering a benefit assessment concept for nonconforming multi-unit residential structures that are nonconforming as to parking? Mr. Whittenberg said the Council has not discussed this issue to an extent to where they've derived an answer. It will _1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 .; 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 e44 Page 9 - City of Seal Beach Planning Conunission Meeting · May 19, 1993 probably come up in the future. The impacts on street parking are caused by both residential and commercial uses. Commissioner Law, referring to item #6, said she had no objection to the tram service but thinks the tram should pay its own way and the funds should not be touched. Mr. Whittenberg said AB 2766 funds from gas sales taxes for the specific purpose of improving transportation resources in the town. Approximately $20,000 per year is received and it must be used for this type purpose. He said any type of a public transit program will not pay for itself. All such systems in Southern California are subsidized to some extent through a number of sources of funds. Commissioner Soukup said the value of a tram should not be discounted with respect to the South Coast AQMD. It may be a good way to ferry employees around town to their work places, especially Rockwell. 5. Sweet Jill's Bakery, 1231h Main Street - City Council concurrence with Planning Commission determination. The Council concurred with the Commission that this is a retail use not a restaurant use. Commissioner Dahlman asked if City Council expressed any feeling re the words "coffee shop" being included in the definition of "restaurant". Mr. Whittenberg said the City Council went along with the entire Commission recommendation which gives staff the instruction to revisit the issue of using current defmitions in the Code. Staff will be coming back to the Commission with changes in those areas. 6. City Council adoption of "Measure M Growth Management hnplementation Program" . The Council adopted this by resolution. That packet will now be forwarded to the Orange County Transportation Authority as part of the City's eligibility funding packet for next year's Measure M funds. COMMISSION CONCERNS Commissioner Soukup, referencing the Main Street parking studies, asked if the 24-minute parking spaces were included in the studies? Mr. Whittenberg said yes. Commissioner Soukup said he felt that did not fairly addressed availability and suggested the studies not include these spaces. Mr. Whittenberg said this could be done by breaking out the utilization of the 24-minute and the 2-hour spaces.. .1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 ~~ 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 40 41 42 43 - 44 -- . . Page 10 - City of Seal Beach Planning Commission Meeting · May 19. 1993 Commissioner Dahlman asked Commissioner Soukup how he would feel about changing 2-hour parking to I-hour parking on Main Street? Commissioner Soukup said he was "on the fence" at this time. It's decreasing from a 2-hour to a 24-minute zone for the entire Main Street. He felt there would be value in parking turnover on Main Street if the beach parking lots are utilized better. Mr. Whittenberg said staff is not recommending changing the 2-hour parking on Main Street now, preferring to allow other changes a 4-6 months operating time. A change on Main Street may not be needed. Commissioner Dahlman, referencing the handout on population figures, asked for a breakdown. Do the annual estimates reflect how many residents are in Leisure World? Mr. Whittenberg said no, it's a City-wide number. Mr. Whittenberg said he had some concern with the figures, citing the figures show 7 housing units increase in 3 years but 1000 more people moved in town. Commissioner Dahlman asked Commissioner Sharp about Leisure World counts. Commissioner Sharp said there are 6,700 units. If there is one person per unit, that's 6,700 people. There are usually 200 - 300 units available at all times. Many units have 2 or 3 persons. A 5000 person count could hardly be correct. Mr. Whittenberg said no recount has been done. The Census Bureau told staff the costs to do it would be prohibitive. The main issue, where cities were concerned with population figures, is the return of monies collected by the State to cities was based on population. Most of the monies returned to cities from the State have dried up because the State is taking monies from the cities. The population figures no longer have the financial importance to the cities that they used to have. Commissioner Dahlman asked about service stations and the off-loading of gasoline during the early morning hours. He felt there could be an uneven playing field before all the service stations have been considered. What is the intention of the City Council? Mr. Whittenberg said it might make sense for some places to stay open later because they are not directly adjacent to residences. Staff will report back to the Commission on the status of the gasoline service stations. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Fife adjourned the meeting at 9:07 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, ':1~ ~ ~.a:. .-. Joan Fillmann Recording Secretary The Planning Commission Minutes of May 19, 1993 were approved by the Planning Commission on June 9, 1993. ~ J ' . '. , . -- NOTICE OF PUBLICHEARJNGflL( II/) lJtlp" I NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN that the Planning Comlqission or the City or Seal Beadl will bold a public hearing on Wednesdav- Mav 19, 1993Lat 7:30-D.m. in the City Council Cbambe.... 211 Eighth Street, Seal Beach, California, to coasider tbe roUowiag item: (/ CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 93-9 640 PACIFIC COAST HIGHWAY ReQuest. To operate a drive-in ~estaurant between the hpurs of2:00 a m and 6'00 p.m. This application has been filed in response to City Ordinance 1448. Environmental Review: This project is categorically exempt from CEQA review. Code Sections' 28-1300(7). 28-2405 Applicant: Taco Bell Corporation. Michael Johnson Owner' Bonnie Brunson, Elizabeth Liete, Lori Brunson-Sterling - At the above time and place all interested persons may be heard ifso desired. If you challenge the proposed actions in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City of Seal Beach at, or prior to, the public hearing. _ DATEDTIU'4thd.yofM.y.I993 ~~~E / /J, I -. / . ~~"7 30 a>lJ.5TJ../~ DIeIVS -'!t4U.df;,9c(j Jt...L '4./.. / b ~. - '" . ,. V' 10/ - ;.. . Lee Whittenberg ~:rJI"~}~RiiflJl"'.11':!I.~ ZDovelopme S'"";:d ~~~. ~ ~ ~ ~1/:t; _ V 710 =0-' -"Je .0'1: /.:). 'j'tJ d ~. ..::... ..e.. U1~ (~l!11 '11{ ~~ I.:>. ~_-L Tk ,tIu., 7:Lo ~~ p, 5./3. ' C~I~R[N)OCSICl~ ~ CA~yii..~ Q)v. ~l rr V.J(: / 7 ~ ~o~ .rlZ//Vc 1i!1C? S cL?7~- K(f! (!tUfl..s7!.Id.tl ~ ~~CJ Ct!lA-sTZI..t,.c.. tvt - ~1''''.''t'"~ _ continous noise at all times day & night vacuum cleaners in middle of night machines cleaning parking lot in the middle of ni h police have been called many times g t car alarms dirty wrappers from Taco Bell as well as MacDonald girls squealing s horns blOWing skate boarding after 10 pm jack h8lDlllering @ """-r ~. 3 () i4 boom boxes . M. tires squealing late @ night remodelIng & aoing the work in the middle of the night ---