Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

That's it.

Welcome to the city of Antioch planning commission meeting of December 3rd, 2025. It is 6:30 p.m. and I'm calling the meeting to order. Kitty, can you please take a roll call? Yes. Thank you, Chair Weber. Commissioner Swiker, present. Commissioner Simon, Commissioner Riley, present. Commissioner Perez, present. Vice Chairperson Jones, here. Chairperson Weber, present. We have a quorum with Commissioner Simon Abson at roll call at 6:30.

Thank you, Kitty. If everyone would please join the commission in saying the pledge of allegiance. flag. Public comments for persons desiring to address the commission on an item that is not on the agenda. Please note that each speaker is limited to three minutes. The Brown Act limits the commission's ability to discuss or respond to items that are not on the agenda. Please fill out fill out a speaker card and place it in the speaker card tray. Staff, are there any public comments on non-aggendaized items?

None received.

I'm now closing the public comment period. Consent calendar. Next on the consent calendar, consent calendar items are considered routine and will be enacted on by one motion. By approval of the consent calendar, the staff recommendations will be adopted unless otherwise modified by the commission. There will be no separate discussion on these items unless a member of the commission or a member of the public request removal of the items from the consent calendar. We have the following items on the consent calendar this evening. Item 5-1, planning commission and city council joint meeting minutes, October 21st, 2025. And item 5-2, planning commission meeting minutes, November 19th, 2025. Do we have any other members of the public who'd like to speak on these items?

None received. May I have a motion? I'd like to make a motion to um adopt the consent calendar. I'll second the motion. We have a motion in a second. Kitty, may we have a roll call vote? Yes. Thank you, Chair Weber. Commissioner Spiker, I. Commissioner Riley, I. Commissioner Perez, I. Vice Chairperson Jones I. Chairperson Weber I.

The motion passes unanimously with Commissioner Suman absent to approve the consent calendar as submitted. Next on our agenda we have public hearing continued from November 13, 2025 zoning administrator hearing item 6-1 Imagination Academy UP2025-000010. This is at 2032 Hillrest Avenue 068-091-039. The applicants Alda Capi and Sonni Dharm are requesting a use permit and variance approval to expand the daycare from 45 to 65 students. MITER infill additions within the existing roof line and the conversion of an existing garage into an infant center. The applicants are also requesting a variance to section 9-51703-.1 of the Anoch Municipal Code to allow less than the minimum parking requirements. The property is currently used at as a permitted and existing daycare use. May we have a staff presentation, please?

Okay. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Monae Boyd and I'm the assistant planner with the city of Antioch. I'll be presenting to you um a request for a use permitted variance for the expansion of Imagination Academy at 2032 Hillrest a so here's the site location located on Hillrest Avenue within a uh residential neighborhood. So the project the the project request is for a use permit. So, a daycare center, the daycare center was entitled uh in 1996 by a different applicant. The city of Antioch zoning code section 9-5.2708 requires that a request for changes in conditions of approval of a use permit or a change to site plans that would affect a condition of approval shall be treated as a new application. the expansion from 45 children to 65 children and the infant care center requires a new use permit application var they're also requesting a variance um a parking variance from the parking requirement for the minimum parking requirement for daycare centers the parking requirement is 17 spaces for the proposed project the applicant can only provide 15 due to the lot's configuration existing structures and easements on the property the project details s as as I stated earlier, they're expanding from 45 to 65 students, a minor infill in addition within the existing roof line, and the conversion of an existing garage into an infant center, as well as having 88 improvements to allow for more accessibility within the daycare center. Of the 20 student expansion, 12 will be infants. The hours of operation are Monday to Friday from 6:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. And the staffing will go from 7 to 9 employees on the largest shift to accommodate the expansion.

So, these photos show the current conditions of the site and how the um the daycare center currently uh is laid out. Here's the proposed floor plan. This is also in your packet as well if you want to look more closely. So, the proposed floor plan um you'll see on the left is the infant care center and the current uh daycare center. The existing garage at the rear of the property will be converted into an infant center with the play area, sleep area, and bathroom. The main house, which is the current daycare, will have alterations to the classroom to create more space. They'll also enclose the uh porch area to expand the classrooms um and storage space. and they will have ADA improvements to make the whole daycare center more accessible for their student population. So there why this was continued um from November 13th, there were three written comments expressing concerns regarding noise levels on the west side of the property and noting the unbuilt wall that was required as part of the 1996 use permit for noise mitigation. Two speakers at the November 13th zoning administrator hearing reiterated noise concerns. um around amplified music. There were eight written comments in support of the project expansion highlighting the need for additional daycare capacity and specifically infant care in the city of Antioch. And there was also a parent petition with 47 signatures to support the project. So to address these concerns, um staff proposed several conditions of approval, making sure that the conditions require staff parking on site since um since they are asking for a variance, conditions pertaining to um the approval, conditions pertaining to uh noise levels, mitigations, several other uh concerns pertaining to children play

around the uh western property line. And then also if there are any code enforcement uh calls or violations on the property that the daycare center would have to come back to planning commission and address those. So the recommendation today is to approve a use permit and variance application to expand an existing daycare use and vary from section 9-5.1703.1 of the Antioch municipal code to allow less than the minimum parking requirement at 2032 Bill A. Thank you. Do we have a um presentation from the applicant? Hello, welcome. Uh, thank you commissioners. I appreciate your time today. My name is Sona Damright and behind me is Sunny Damite. We're the owners of the property. Uh, there we go. And uh this is Aldakappy, the architect of record for the property, and Miss Bernice uh Black Austin. She is the director of the property. So I'd like to start off with um a little information on who we are and what Imagination Kadney stands for. Um, we took over the property in 2017, but my history with child care and preschool goes back to when I was 18, which was a few years ago. Um, my idea has always been I've worked at a variety of places. I wanted a place that children were loved and taken care of, of course, but where staff also felt welcome, families also

felt welcome. And I really believed that that was an important dream. Excuse me, I'm a little nervous. I'm used to children at circle time, not adults. Um, it was very important to me the environment that we had in the school. And uh, I really believe that we've accomplished that dream. We've done a lot for our families. We've done a lot for our staff. So, that's something I'm very proud of. And, uh, the school's been doing very well. were successful, but there's always room for more. And this is the more that we came up with. We have families that continuously requested infant care. Um, we have families that request us to carry on with other education after kindergarten, which is our limit. Unfortunately, we're not there yet, but infant care is definitely a need. Um, if you look at what happens in California for um, early education, let me move on. There's a lot of schools, a lot of preschool spots, but there's also a lack of good quality care. what quality care uh means. The the mission that's up there is our mission for the school. But what quality care means is that we are reaching children where they're at and taking them to the last next level. What quality care means is that our teachers are given plenty of time and effort to learn how to take care of these children that we have. Quality care for us also means that we don't refuse children that don't look a certain way or don't act a certain way. Um we have accomplished quite a bit. Um quality matters is uh a a program run by the uh Contraosta County Department of

Education and First Five Contraosta and we were nominated as a tier four school. So tier four out of five tiers and so that's an indication of the quality that we have achieved. We are recognized by the schools in our area. They know that children coming out of Imagination Academy are at or above grade level when they enter or if they're not and they need anything special, we've already started the process. So, we've always already looked at what these children are needing, why we might not be able to give it to them and started remediation early. Um, we have support from Coco Kids, which is our local referral agency. We work with a variety of uh practitioners, speech therapists, and so forth. And we've provided education for about 350 families, I'm estimating. It might be more. I didn't want to brag. Um why is a school like Imagination Academy important? Um we have a climate in not just California but around the nation of uh children being expelled from schools when they don't meet certain criteria. We practice a procedure where we will not expel a child if at all possible. We want to keep them and work with them and their families to make it so that they can go into the school system, the public school system effortlessly, easily. Um, children with different different abilities are not necessarily welcome or kept at other schools. We make an effort to keep them. And there's a lot of economic downturn. Like for example during co we lost 25,000 uh child care spots in California

and now the downturn is the economy is going a little down. We see more schools underenrolled and we see more schools headed to unfortunately to closing. So what happens with a lot of these schools is they don't have the ability to hold on to their children or they don't um have the culture that requires that and that's what we uh excel at. Our current building is built in 1962. Uh Alice Perez was the one who did the permit initially, the initial use permit, and she sold to another uh preschool organization who then we bought the school from in 2017. The objectives we had were very specific. When Alda and I first talked, I said everything that we do for the school has to be for two things. We're focusing on comfort for the children, safety for the children, and comfort and safety for the teachers, so for the staff. So everything that we put into this renovation is based on that. We are not a rich school because child care does not pay you a lot of money. Um, but we the plans that we submitted, the plans that we want to go through with would have a school that is a good building that's going to last for decades. Right now, it's a 1962 house that the plumbing needs work and the electrical needs work. So, the idea was that we are building this for the children specifically. And Alder Ald's I take over.

Um so in front Good evening in front of you or down there there's a model of the proposed school uh the main building and the infant center. Um

yeah can we? So and then this this is the set that uh myself along with um other consultants mechanical electrical plumbing structural consultant lighting consultant put together. Um so the project has been designed the project uh this is a permit set this is a construction 100% construction document set the project has been bid the contractor has been selected we have gone through um uh contraos fire uh department review and we've received five comments and are in the process of uh responding addressing uh the comments and we're hoping that uh pretty soon this project will be reviewed by the building department before the end of the year because it has been designed to the uh 2022 building codes and then in January codes change. So really hoping that the project goes through. Um a little bit about the floor plan. So as Sona mentioned the building is from the 60s. So if you can see the screen the image to the left uh the current uh building which has operated as u an infant or a daycare facility for the past 30 years um has a lot of corridors. uh it's not uh the perfect layout for a child uh center. It has a lot of corridors which uh create a lot of blind corners for the teachers. Um the bathrooms are not in the right location. Um and then the image to the right, the proposed floor plan uh creates an open plan. uh we resolve the change uh in levels through ramps and steps that are placed at strategic locations that make sense. Um the floor plan is um open plan, open layout with a kids bathrooms where uh they're intended to be and uh

with openings for the teachers to observe the students at all times. Uh we're creating, you know, the it's a new buil uh almost new building, energy efficient. Uh we have uh lighting that helps with glare for children that are a little bit more uh sensitive towards that. And then this is a um furniture plan slash uh licensing diagram showing the main building. So, you come in entry hall, there's a lounge, a director's office that has clear visibility towards the front door for security. Uh, classroom number one, uh, which, uh, has the children that are 2 years old. Um, uh, their play area is towards the front of, um, the the building. And then uh classroom number two, which has children that are three years old, their play area is in the middle of the building and or or or the side plan. And then the infant center, which are children that are uh zero to uh two years old, the proposed play area for them is towards the back west fence. I realize that we're running out of time. Could we um be allowed a few more minutes? Uh I don't know if you I think it's the chair you could allow that.

Okay. Thank you so much. I appreciate it. Um so and then uh the classroom number three and four in the main building are combined classroom. They have 27 students. And so this has been designed, you know, 35 uh one student per 35 uh square feet for indoor space and then one uh student per 75 square feet for outdoor space. You know, it's in compliance with licensing. So, it has been uh quite of a challenge design-wise to like unravel the existing building and then put it together in a way that it makes sense design-wise and it clears the plan. It looks simple but it actually um you know it has been um months and months and months of work design work. As you can see here the existing conditions and then the proposed we're proposing um bright light materials lots of natural wood kind of like Japendi Scandinavian kind of design inspired uh you know for the children to feel like a sense of like serenity and calmness and to like enhance their like learning environment you know not not too much clutter not too much you know colors and things going on but just to create like a more beautiful environment enirment that they can, you know, be comfortable in and just be inspired and learn. You know, this is really important like child their education, their environment. They spend many many hours in this school. So, um what uh we've been um asked is uh what Sona has been asked is to put a uh CMU concrete wall at the back fence on the west side of the property, but that would require the removal of 27 mature trees that were planted 30 years ago. Uh they're 20 to

30 feet tall. They're uh

50 50 years 50 feet tall. 50t tall. Yeah. So, um so the the if we were to build a continuous CMU wall that's uh 93 feet by 6 ft, that would require a foundation that's continuous and that it would require removal of 27 mature trees. So, uh, Sona and Sunny receive quotes from contractors about the cost, and the cost would be about $50,000 for the wall. And then for the trees at 2,500 to $4,000 per tree removal for 27 trees, it would be 67,000 to $18,000. So, combined it would be, you know, between 117 to $160,000. a cost which is a little bit you know it it just the project just cannot uh afford. So if they were required to build this wall there's simply no project there's no uh funds to pay for it. Um the what they and uh the original owner Alice uh she recalls that at the time a black wall uh was not required that the trees were enough and that's why they were planted in the first place. But um what Sona and Sunonny are proposing is so these are the trees that's a picture of the trees and that's a picture of the garage on the right. So what Sona and Sunonny are proposing is to build uh instead a uh wood fence you know with slats that are very closed you cannot see through with metal posts for security. So this doesn't require a continuous foundation. This requires, you know, uh, less than a continuous foundation, but it's still secure. You don't see through and you keep the trees, the 27 trees. So, another good thing that the project is doing is that the older kids, you know, now currently

the whole backyard is their play area, but now they would be concentrated more towards the middle and the infant outdoor area is more towards the the the the fence. So in a way the uh the sound uh complaints you know they would get better uh or the sound would get better because the kids would be away from that fence and zero to two year olds they just sleep they sleep a lot they drink a lot of milk and they just sleep like the time of them required to be outside is less than two hours or less sporadically and they're learning you know the older ones they're learning how to crawl you know they're not loud they're not running they're not screaming they just um they're less noisy in general. So, this is what we propose. And, you know, this is also an expense. Uh we priced it out and it's about $18,000 for the metal and wood fence and then a few thousand for adding more shrubbery to further uh beautify. But we think that existing tree hatch versus a CMU wall, you know, I mean, we think it's a it's a no-brainer. a CMU wall that would cost aside that would require removal of these trees would be six foot tall. The sound sound is like light. The waves would travel right over that wall. They would have the same issue. Uh but um the the tree hedge instead has a superior uh high frequency management and diffusion. It it's better with uh uh with high-pitched sounds which the kids out there they're laughing they're you know maybe screaming occasionally but like those are high-pitched sounds that these very tall 50 foot tall trees are better at handling. So uh they also uh help with no rever reverberation. So,

think about a CMU wall. If it blocks the sound going through 0 to six feet, it's going to reflect that sound right back at the kids. There's already a CMU wall on one of the sides. So, it's just that it's not a good idea to like contain them with uh CMU walls that reflect back the sounds towards them. The trees have uh better like um aesthetics. Uh they uh they visually screen, they add to the property value, they create a sense of place, uh they filtrate the air, they help with uh carbon dioxide, they create a microclimate, they create shade uh for the kids and for the adjacent properties. So they do so much. So just I'm I'm hoping we can save the trees. Um, so this is the fence, the wood fence with a metal post that we're proposing and it's already like on one side of the property. It's a durable, it's a good fence and it's an investment again. So this in addition to the trees, in addition to shrubbery in front of it, it's a good enough with a sound uh issues uh that uh you know that maybe some of the neighbors might be having. So to like reiterate, to recap, option one, no project. The neighbors would have the same sound as they do now. Um option two, uh new wood fence with metal post and maintain the trees. You'd have improved facilities, improved sound, and uh you know, improved conditions like for all. Uh so we're just really hoping that option two everybody agrees and uh uh it's uh um on that. So Sona did some sound studies. Uh would you like to speak about the sound studies?

I'll be quick. I'll be quick. I appreciate the extra time. So I'm not going to go into detail about the sound studies. Basically on the November 13th meeting, um the neighbors expressed that the noise was too high for them and that was a concern for us, not just because we want to be good neighbors, but also we want to make sure our children are um their hearing is taken care of. We did do these sound studies. Uh we didn't find the values that we expected and I have to mention I I sent an email to Monae, but I feel I need to mention here as well. Um, I had asked a teacher to go around to see the noise level on the street behind us and she did step onto the property of the neighbor and I apologize for that intrusion. We did not me mean to cause any conflict for our neighbors or any stress for them. So, my apologies for that. Um the sound study shows that it's not it it vi the it varies the sound varies because children are running and yelling and laughing but overall the average range is tolerable at the back fence. Um we also are not outside all the time. We're open 6:30 to 6:30. We don't go out until about 8:15 at the earliest. We have certain set times that we're out and uh they're up there if you'd like to see. We don't go out when it rains. Sometimes we don't go out when it's too cold and we don't go out in the afternoons, especially in the summer because it's just too hot for the the children. So, the the point is that we're not open. We're not a nightclub open late at night. We are literally closed by 6:30. We're back inside by 5:00 on a usual day. Very occasionally, we'll go out past 5 in the summer when the weather finally gets cooler and the

kids can play outside. Um, especially for our child population, but pe people in general, children do better with outside time. They develop gross motor skills. It's much easier on their stress levels. So outside time is very important for children. And we do have four special events where the noise could be higher. We will look into u mitigating and warning our neighbors about that. Um and in summary, we're we're a valuable resource, a valuable service for the community. Unfortunately, the CMU wall would add about 20% on top of our current um loan requirement for the school. The we wouldn't get a loan for that. they would not be able to give us a loan. We don't have huge profit margins. Banks look at us and I could write a whole PhD thesis on how child care is um viewed poorly by the banks and by financial institutions. But we're getting a 9% loan for this, which is unheard of, but that's what they're doing. We we don't have the profit margins. So, if we had to do a

Yeah. 9% Yeah. um profit margins are not high enough for them to give us the best loans that this is the system that we have to deal with. So putting a CMU wall would not be possible for us. We're trying to accommodate our neighbors and we don't want to bother our neighbors. If we could put a metal and wood fence like we have on the other side, the metal post, make sure that it doesn't fall or need to be replaced anytime soon. The wood has more sound absorption. We would appreciate having that as a as a possibility for us. Okay. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much for your presentation. For anyone who'd like to speak on this, I will now open the public comment period. The city staff, please proceed with identifying the speakers who will have three minutes to address the commission. If I may jump in here. Um, we have a new assistant city attorney with us tonight. Um, so if he wants to

Yeah. I just think out of to be viewpoint neutral and fairness for public comment since the time allotted went beyond the 10 minutes. I don't know what percentage it did go beyond it seemed to was anybody keeping track of how long that actually went. Was it closer to 15 or closer to 20? that I think just to be view viewpoint neutral for public comment, the public should also be allowed a percentage to speak beyond the the three minutes if it so pleases the chair. Absolutely. I think five or 10 minutes. They get a full They get a full three three minutes, right? So, I mean, we'll hear how many public comments do we have, Katie?

We have just one. I think there's two people on this one speaker. Let's hear them out. So, what should um how long should they be permitted? I think the presentation went maybe five minutes past time. So, maybe eight minutes. I mean, we can kind of see what where they end, right? And if they Do we want to maybe put five on the timer? Sure. As a That works. Okay. Okay, we have um Dennis and or Nancy Salone.

Hi, I'm Nancy Cheloney. I'm Dennis Chaloney.

We live at 2001 Blossom. So, we back up to the This is the property line that they're talking about. We're we're we're right there. Um, the I want to say that I believe their mission at Imagination Academy is admirable. Sounds like a great thing. And I think the fact that we haven't had where we call up the city and complain about noise and and make big complaints. Instead, we call them when it gets a little unbearable and say, "Hey, can you can you turn it down? It's just it's really too much." And they usually do for a period of time. So, we've lived with it and all the other neighbors, they live with it, too, because we know what they do there. And we're not trying to make a big stink. But when we got told they're going to add up to 20 more people and, you know, more teachers, more that just to us was like that's just exponentially a larger thing that we're going to have to deal with. So, we looked into it and saw that there was supposed to be, well, we've always known from the neighbors that we bought the house from, from the neighbors next door who've lived there their whole time and all that, that there was supposed to have been a fence, a soundwall fence that was supposed to have been put in. It wasn't. So, we thought, well, maybe this is the time we can get that taken care of and just put it to rest. So, that's why we came forward. That's why we objected. Um, we noticed in the packet that there was a positive letter from the ne the southside lab neighbor. He has a soundwall fence. So, I think that's just kind of proof that that works and that's helpful. As far as the um amplified music, I' I'd like to see that written into it that I don't see why they need to have amplified music. Um, they can have it inside like the rest of

us. They It doesn't need to shoot out over the fences. Yeah, sure. That sort of noise up high on a speaker, it's going to come over. Sure, we know that. Um, it just doesn't seem to us that that sort of thing needs to do. Um, you know, the neighbors all have a running joke that we call it the screaming game because when they're outside and they scream for extended amounts of times, we used to hear the teachers and adult voices telling them to calm down and to come inside and things like that. We don't hear that anymore. We just hear the screaming. So, something has changed. We don't know what, but we're we're not there. We don't see what's happening, but we hear it. So, we just wanted to come and say that, you know, as far as the solid sound wall, the fence, the trees are four feet away from that, from where the fence would be or for where the chain link is. I don't know what this continuous foundation information is about. I've worked construction my whole life. My brother retired from city of Antioch, uh, public works inspector, called him up and asked him about it. He said, "That's not the way we do it."

Yeah, I could speak on that. Um, the sound walls that you see out there along thorougharires and things and those are overdone because of the noise of the of the vehicles. Um they don't have a continuous foundation like what was explained in the letter. Um those have a post every 10 feet and the post goes down about three feet. It's about an 18 inch round hole that and it's filled with concrete filled up with um a steel beam and then the slats are filled the concrete slats are put in in between

and it's super fast. It's not as expensive as they're saying. Um I think that's a worst case scenario if you want to build one like you see out on Highway 4. That's what they're talking about. That's a big foundation and and this is flat land. Um, the trees they're talking about, yeah, they're great, but there's two feet of it missing underneath them. So, all that children noise comes straight out through there. I don't see a reason why they can't have a cement fence and the trees in front of it on their side. Um, because they're, like I said, 4 feet distance. I could see if you were putting in a continuous foundation, um, you would tear some of the roots. All you're doing is you're drilling holes every 10 feet about 18 inches and uh a wide around and three feet deep. There's not a problem with a concrete fence. And where we are, the proposal is not even saying going down the north side, which originally was proposed back in the day, but they came to an an agreement with that neighbor who's sold the house four times ago. Um there's nothing we could do about that until now. They opened the the gate to ask for uh you guys to um weigh in on this. And so now we're asking you may we have a couple more minutes.

Five minutes. Okay. Um so we're asking you to consider even maybe a the wood fence they talk about down the north side because that's where we are. That's where our yard is. We're retired. We're there during work hours. We'd like to go out in our backyard and enjoy it and not hear the scream game or the loud thumping of the bass coming through our walls in in the house.

And I I can speak to that that just to go back to the the noise and uh the mention of sound waves. S pitch is different high and low pitches. Sound waves are the same. It's just how fast they travel, right? So if there's something stopping them, it stops them. it's either going to stop them sooner or faster. That's the high pitch and low pitch. It has nothing to do with the the other stuff. That's just that's just a fact. Um so if we could get the noise under control, we totally understand their children. We totally understand they play. All the neighbors agree there's no problem there. It's just when it gets amplified and pushed out beyond the borders. Um, and also when I heard the thing about keeping them away from the fence, I was like, great. That was one of the complaints is because we would get the kids at the fence and they would yell at us and yell at the dogs and they would say some really bad things for very small children. Kind of shocking to us, but maybe that's just the state of being right now. But and they would push their toys through and throw things over and we used to toss them back and you know that sort of stuff. But if they stayed away from the fence, that would be that would be great if that was part of the plan. So, it sounds like it is.

So, and we do have uh two people the owners of the empty lot um who can't couldn't make it tonight. And one of the people who live directly across the street um who the who's affected directly by it um had a trip to Hawaii already planned months ago. So, if you could consider maybe postponing and then we can add more comments and more study, maybe find a cheaper soundwall for them because I think it's out there. I think they're being sold a bill of goods or they're disingenuous. Um, so that's what we would like to ask you to do is to either make them put the walls in or at least continue it until we can all get here. And thank you for your time.

Thank you. Thank you. Public comment is now closed. The item is now back before the commission for discussion.

Um I have a quick question uh for the city uh just with the current conditions. Is there um anything written to restrict um sound amplification whether that be for music or for voice? So, the current condition we have is um which I didn't want to jump in over Monae since it's her project. Sorry about that. Um is related to having Oops. Um kind of it's based on total decibb of the daycare. Um as the commission here tonight, you have broad discretion over this project. um you could modify the conditions um that you see. You could deny this project, you could approve this project as as you know. Um, having, you know, thought about this a little myself, an easier condition maybe enforcement wise and for everyone would just be no amplified music

instead of trying to have um different increments and then back and forth enforcement wise of just no amplified music would be right. Right. um one condition that um if it were the commission's pleasure there um but it's currently it's just currently just like a absolute like 70 decel. Is that what it is? Yeah, over a 15minute increment. Um so you know enforcement and maybe back and forth wise of who's measur maybe just the no amplified music if we've heard that in a few comments could be an option here.

Okay. Um um I do like the project. I think the project's uh wonderful and I love what you guys do. Um I am also an educator. Uh I usually teach fourth grade. Uh so I also have a circle time. So uh this is uh my other job I guess. Uh so I I I know what it feels like to uh be like, "Oh, wow." Anyway, um I think it's a great project. Um I I I really like the idea of increasing your your capacity because I do know very much what it's like. It's a thin very very thin profit margin. Um, and I wouldn't want to see anything that would make this cost, um, or make the cost of this project become ineligible for a loan or something that would make it ineligible entirely. Um, so I, you know, as it stands right now, I think you guys, I want to give the, um, I want to give imagination as much leeway as possible with this project. If that includes doing it at the um, you know, the bare minimum to get it whatever you need to do, that's fine with me. I like that. I think it's very great that you guys came up with a kind of a um an alternate construction plan or just an alternate possibility, may I say, uh for coming up with a wooden fence wall and a chain link fence. Uh I think it's I think that's great if you want to do that. I think that's wonderful that you did that. I'm personally um a little bit more um um a proponent of the preschool, I will say. And you know, I actually disagree with having a rule for uh no amplified music. I think that if you need to have amplified music, I think that's important for the children. I apologize for the neighbors who think it's very loud. I have a school that is very We have neighbors and the neighbors do call us and complain. Um, but I also have a loud neighbor, too. It's um, it's Highway 4 and it has a very expensive soundwall around it and it doesn't help at all. Um, so I can't complain about my neighbors. There's people who live in uh, Daily City in South San Francisco who can't call SFO and complain about it. I I am, you know, it's unfortunate to say that you have a noisy neighbor,

but I'm glad that that noisy neighbor is doing what they can to keep it under keep it under control at times, but it's the nature of the beast of that area. And sometimes we just have to have the noise. And I hate to say that for uh neighbors, but uh you know, it's just uh it's just the fact of the matter. And having a school next door is just part of uh part of your neighborhood, unfortunately. Um but I think that's wonderful. I think the I think the public benefit that this school offers is much much greater than the localized uh comfort for the neighborhood. Uh so I am glad to see that they're taking steps to do everything that they can to increase their population and to also come up with some kind of mitigation for the noise. I think that's respectful and I think that's uh absolutely what should be done. So I I like that. Um I like the proposal of a wooden fence. Um if there is a idea of maybe extending and coming up with another plan. I don't know if the um has the school looked at other construction plans or other construction fences or was it just kind of these two?

Oh, yeah. Yeah,

we did get uh um two quotes. Our contractor got two quotes. One was for a CMU wall and one was for a pre-cast concrete panel installed. Both of those, according to the people who were giving him the specs and would take care of the project, both of those required um extensive footing all the way across. I would love to talk to somebody who says 18 in down and posts instead. If we can do that at a moderate cost, we'd be happy to do that. We did not get that information. What we've gotten is if we want to put these stone walls in the CMU or the pre-cast concrete, we would need to dig down at least 2 feet continuous along our property line.

While I still have you there, um I just wanted to bring about and and I agree with what you're saying. I work in construction as well. Two feet is probably the minimum that would need to be dug down to pour footing, add rebar, and then build a CMU wall. Um, I just wanted to ask why you're still here so you don't have to go back and forth about the tarps that were put over the fence. Was that to I don't think that was to mitigate noise. I think it was to create privacy.

Yes. So, what happened on that day was the gentleman who it turned out was one of our neighbors, but the teachers didn't know that at the time came and said he was taking recordings. And uh it's against the law to take pictures or video of children without their parent or guardians consent. the teachers didn't know who he was and they didn't know what he was doing. So, we actually locked down the school at that time. And then Miss Bernice and uh our assistant director the following day said, "Okay, we want to ensure our our children's privacy but not have to wrangled neighbors." So, they actually put a um sun shade up. It won't mitigate any noise. It's simply so that the children can have their privacy and we'll likely replace it with a proper um barrier for the the chain link until we can do something about that fence. So, the sun shade was simply to protect the children.

That's kind of what I gathered from reading the um the comment, the public comment. Um, I also want to say that I think that you guys coming up with a solution and being willing to compromise to put up a wooden fence, I think is a viable solution. I think we you guys want to promote a place of education for these children and having a CMU wall to me resembles more closely a prison than really a daycare. So, I feel like that is uh sort of counterproductive for what you guys the environment you're trying to create. And also the 20 students that you're adding only eight of those would be students from the age of you know infant or well above the age of infant to the top the cap is what four years old or 5 years old it's first grade entry so some of them can be six

six years old so that's pretty much the cap and your guys' operating hours are from 6:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. 6:30 to 6:30 and we don't go outside or at 6:30. Well I come from a time when we used to play outside until the street lights came on. So to me that's pretty reasonable. So you get them in by dinner time. Yeah. So I think that you guys have done your best to uh be good neighbors. I think it is your intention to be good neighbors. Um I don't know if amplified music is necessary, but I would say that music is important. I would say that for the development of children, it's important. Um does any of the other commission have any other Thank you for that.

It's a comment on the amplified music. Um, I also don't think amplified music is necessary, but I also see where amplified music is. I use amplified music in lesson plans or I just taught my fourth graders how Bluetooth radio waves work and we pass a run across the blacktop and see where the Bluetooth cuts out and it's great.

Um, but I just don't think there should be any laws or restrictions about amplified music just just to be, you know, just to be conservative on the legality of it. Um if there I think that you should be good neighbors and you should not have too much amplified music. You it should not be field day every single day. Um but that's where I stand just to kind of leave that note blank as far as the uh as far as what we have uh written down as um our conditions. But I you know please be a good neighbor and I think this should be sorted out by neighbors call them and say hey please turn down I have a migraine what whatever needs to happen. Can I make a comment? Am I allowed to make a comment on that?

Now that we know, we will take care of the music. We were not aware that it was going over the fence and affecting the neighbors in the back. So, now that we know, we'll take care of that. It won't be all day every day. That definitely. Go ahead. Um All right. Um not necessarily question for you first. Um can I Yeah, you can. Thank you. So, I'm more curious from the city perspective. I mean, what you know, the original um use permit basically required that wall to be there.

Do we know what happened? Because they weren't supposed to have what occupancy, I guess, or the actual use be implemented until that wall was built according to the original documents. So, what we found from the the planning file, which was from 1996, was that um Alice as the applicant was able to get agreements from the north and south. There are significant trees as they showed um planted on the west side, but we don't have any document documentation that that was a part of their mitigation.

So that's why we did include um conditions around like keeping the older kids 43 feet away from the western property line, adding around um addressing that comment since that it was brought up in public comment to you know um make sure that that was addressed.

All right. Thank you. Um yeah, the other part we haven't really talked about is the um parking variance. Um you know, I'm actually thinking it's it should be okay. Presuming they don't have any issues right now with parking. Um, you know, I did some quick math and based upon 45 students and seven staff, they should have, depending if you round up or round down, 12 to 13 spaces, you know, uh, available for parking given their current load. Um, they have seven right now. So, they're somehow making it work. um with the proposed um staggered, you know, pickup and drop off times that they're pl they're um suggesting they can implement. Um they're only going to be essentially two spaces short. So, um, as it turned out, I think it should be it should go up from approximately 54 to 58% um, of the required amounts currently to 88% of the required amount. So, I think it should be good. Um, at least my opinion on that. Um, I did I did drive around on Blossom. I've looked aerial shots. Um, I've did the drive, of course, on Hillrest to take a look at uh the property as much as I could. It also helps that the neighbor directly to the north is has uh has their property for sale. So, um, you know, you can go on, you know, the websites and take a look at property shots and stuff and and you can definitely tell that there's really an inadequate fence between those two properties at least. Um, I guess the original owner of that property had agreed upon that when they, you know, were first approached back in 1996. Um, but I think that also contributes to

the noise issue that's being heard from 2001 Blossom because they're essentially diagonally across. So it really wouldn't help them that much. I don't think even if there was a concrete wall uh across the west property line because you know they're sound's basically going to come from around you know that wall if you will. Um it might help those on Blossom on the other side of the vacant lot on the other side of the street. Perhaps the one at the end of Blossom might help be assisted somewhat by that wall, but the current situation just doesn't provide any sound mitigation whatsoever. Um, I mean, really, you have a chain link fence. Um, there's really nothing except for the recent addition of that tarp. There's really nothing to prevent the sound from coming into the vacant lot. And there's certainly not much um to prevent the sound from coming from, you know, the subject applicants property to the north either. Um, I would want to see a wall, um, even if it's only a wood fence wall as was proposed, put on both the west side property line and that north side property line, at least up to or past the the front edge, if you will, the leading edge of the adjoining property building. So, not necessarily across the entire, you know, property line to the street, but at least far enough across that shielded from some of the noise from the additional.

Are you talking about the fence line with the tarp on it currently? Yes. Is that was that not a part of that fence that I don't believe so? It's just going to still be the open fence. So the the west side is where the condition and the back part where the tarp and where the trees are and you can see here that is where the condition is. Yeah. Yeah. That's that's that's the west property line. And that's not where the tarp was because I went over there. There is a tarp uh on the lower portion of that that but that whole section where that tarp is is going to be a fence is proposed to be a fence. Okay. I just wanted to make sure we were talking about the same thing. Correct. Thank you.

Now what I'm talking about is the northern portion of the property. So going across across where the top of the star is. Well, middle of the star sort of because that is just chain link. It has, I believe, a tarp on it, which is why I thought we were talking about that. Uh, it's at least at least in the Google Street View. That's what it appears there. Um, I was driving from the wrong angle. I guess I couldn't see that when I first drove through there. But, um, I think that there would be it would be advantageous to have even a wood fence along both property lines.

I'd have to agree with Commissioner Spiker. Um, I think just for the overall safety of the children, I think that it would be beneficial to have a wooden fence on both of those property lines, not just to mitigate noise, but to keep that sort of private for any anybody that's neighboring or Yeah. Chain Link is kind of a old hat.

Yeah. I mean, the the view that was on the real estate site, you know, from the neighbor's property, you you can see that the tarp only goes in that view up to a certain point, which more or less protects the privacy of the kids where they're currently being placed, but it you could see the garage, that out building um from the neighbor's yard with and so it creates some privacy issues, I think, with kids. Um, that's one of the reasons I think I'd like to see that along with the noise to kind of as most as much as we reasonably can ask for, I think, you know, get the noise under control and it should be a whole lot better than it is right now, which is like virtually nothing.

Oh, you want to go? Okay. I have one question. So, you I know you guys have a tarp currently. What are you guys doing like for the privacy measures for the kids' safety? Especially if we have, you know, neighbors coming in and like they had that recording. What are we doing for the kids safety? Because your guys' project is great. I love it, but I'm just concerned about the kids safety.

You might consider us naive, but we've never had this issue before. People very rarely went through that empty lot. the teachers, whoever was out there. Um, if we saw somebody at that time, we would say hello and make sure that they were just walking through. Um, we've had, uh, two robberies that have happened where they've cut the fence. Um, and we've repaired the fence and we had one homeless person who actually set fire in the corner and we called the fire department and they took care of it. In terms of privacy, we would like to put the the screening. Um it's actually not a tarp, it's a a sun shade that we had. That's what the teachers had put up um the following day just as a temporary measure. But in the meantime, we'd like to put a proper um panel. It's uh essentially like a wind shade, I think they call it, or windcreen. What do they call that? Windscreen. Um we'd like to put it along the entire length where um the chain link is to the backyard. Um, and the side neighbors, we did ask them, um, I gave them a call and asked about changing the fence. We had talked about it last year and we were ready to do that project and then the for sale sign came up on their house and they haven't responded. So, whoever comes in next, we would have that conversation with them unless it's part of this project.

Thank you. Uh, I think my biggest concern is just probably implementing um for them to implement privacy for the kids additionally with that fence because I think my biggest concern even if they implement that wood fence, they still wouldn't be having that safety fully for the kids and they will still have to put something like a tarp or what they're using currently. Now, I think I need a better understanding of where this fence, the wood fence that you're recommending is going to be going because I I thought it sounded to me like it was going because when I drove by this morning, um there the There we go. Would the wood fence be going the full length of that back? So, you for right now, you guys are going to do the windscreen and which I think is that green stuff that you put in chain link fence. Um, and then at the time once approved, if approved, then it would be replaced wood with a wood fence. And it also sounds like um you're applicable or you're willing to put in the same similar fence on the other side, but you need to talk to whoever buys the current prop the new property. Understood. Okay. So, with all of that said, I think that um that what you guys are doing is amazing and I think that um that the net benefit to the community. I understand the noise and I 100% I would honestly not be happy if I had to listen to kids running and screaming around next door to me all day, but I also didn't move next door to a um uh preschool. So I so I think that with what the city has planned and what the city staff has recommended um is a great start and I think the next step is to continue to have conversations with the neighbors and I

think for the neighbors if you are concerned about um the noise levels then putting it on record so that way there's a record if you guys are if you're thinking that the sound waves or that the sound of the kids or is excessive as um I would like to see you guys work with the neighbors directly but um there has been no official formal complaints for us to go on to to assess that situation. So as the project stands I would approve um recommend the recommendation from city staff as is

sorry and the recommendation from city staff is the concrete wall though right? I thought it was. Yes. So, you you would have to modify that to be the alternate option of the wood fence that they had recommended. Um, and that would be project specific condition uh four and modify that one. So, and in modifying that condition, they could also in motion add that the north side of the property be fenced as well. Correct.

We could do that. And if I may add one other suggestion to maybe clarify the way that condition is written now is that well we were calling it the concrete fence or masonry wall I mean is that it would be built before the infant center was allowed to operate given may again uh the commission's pleasure here given that maybe um the older kids may also be more of louder. Maybe you want to just make it no certificate of occupancy. So like the expansion can't happen at all until that fence

until the fences are built. So that maybe is another and that would be on the fence on the north and west wall. Yes. Um how does that work if that property is up for sale? How do you try to build a f? Like I don't want it sitting in limbo because you got to wait for that to sell to get approval from the neighbor to build a fence. So So you can always build a fence fully on their property that would be off the property line. Okay. Um six inches.

That would waste like you know 300 square feet or some whatever the length of that is or you know. Well, if it if we're if we're requiring it or recommending it on it's it's has to be done regardless, but I just don't want it to not get anywhere because the they're waiting for the neighbors or the neighbors are waiting for you to sell or whatever. So, what I would recommend is approving the project with the condition of the wood fence surrounding the north and west wall um prior to any um occupancy certificate of occupancy.

Might be nice for to block it be nice if ideally from my perspective it was in place even before construction started. Defense first. Yeah. Because it would block help block construction noise as well. Yeah. I mean, they're gonna there's going to be a fair amount, I would imagine, of construction noise during that period of time. I feel like the fence would be the easiest to knock out first. So, okay. I would I just want to make sure it's implementable for staff. Would you want no building permits issued until the fences were installed? Yes. I don't Yeah.

Well, yeah. Yeah, I don't know if that's it that might be a little strict. Yeah, I just want to bring something to your attention. So, no building permit issued. We're trying to go in for a building permit now before the code changes. Uh that would be building permit submitt. We're talking about issuance. So, you of occupancy, issuance to begin work begin work. Okay. So, that's different. You can still submit it to the city, but you just can't start until that fence is built. They can't start construction until the fence is built. Yeah, I think the owners are fine with that. Okay. Okay. So, how do we properly word this?

I one quick question. I know you just sat down, but uh you could just give me a quick thumbs up or thumbs down. Yes, I know. Um is the idea of having that additional wooden fence along the north wall, would that um ruin your project financially or anything? Would that become a would that be a steep cost or would that be a huge addition? because I know the CMU wall would make this project just not feasible. Would like how how does this hurt your project as northern wood? Um I mean it doesn't hurt. It's a benefit you know. Uh I think that Sona and Sunny would like to build a fence like regardless. So I think that's something they want to do to to improve the school in general, not just the building but the property. So

I think so too. Yeah. I I like the idea of a nor of the of the additional fence. I just don't want the idea of the additional feds to be the reason the bank says no like you know. Okay. But if that's not the issue then that's I'm that's a great idea.

So

yeah. Um I think Monae has some wording if you'd like to

I think because it's a it's a lot. So um the condition can say a wood fence um of six feet in height shall be installed along the entire length of the western property western and northern property line and plans for the required wall shall be submitted to the zoning administrator for review and approval. Um and then we can also add prior to issuance of any or wall fence shall be built prior to issuance of any building permits and then we're striking the certificate of occupancy.

Okay. So that would be the complete condition. Okay. The parking variance. Do we have to say anything about that? No, not in this condition.

Um, I'd like to make a motion to amend the uh conditional use or the approval to um have a wood fence um as shown in the project. uh the wood in the metal uh shown uh 6 feet to the north and west wall uh prior to issuance issuance of the build permit and I think that was good. I sorry we have a motion on the floor. Do we have a second? I'll second it.

We have a motion in a second. Kitty, may we have a roll call vote, please? Um, yes. But just for clarification purposes, you're approving the resolution with the amended condition of approval. Yes, ma'am. Thank you. Um, Commissioner Spiker, I. Commissioner Riley, I, Commissioner Perez, I, Vice Chairperson Jones, I, Chairperson Weber, I.

The motion passes uh, 51 with Commissioner Simon absent. to approve the resolution of the panning commission of the city of Antioch approving the use permits and varants to expand the existing daycare use and vary from section 9-5-1703.1 of the Antioch municipal code to allow less than a minimum parking requirement at 2032 Hillrest Avenue with the amended condition project specific condition number four um striking the masonary and concrete wall and replacing it with wooden. Um adding the fence to both the western and northern property lines and installing the fence prior to the building permit being issued.

Thank you and congratulations. I love it. Congratulations. All right, moving forward with the meeting. Uh, we are at regular item 7-1 to discuss the commission appointment to the transplant committee. Good evening. Oops. Um um so for this item, we currently have Commissioner Jones serving on trans plan. She can maybe give a little more detail like if you have questions on how often meetings get cancelled and whatnot. But um we do need to have um another commissioner or well time to recommend to the mayor. um a commissioner if you all we could also I think recommend an alternate I'm not sure if the mayor would appoint an alternate it's unclear if anyone else has

alternate planning commissioners on transplant I'll say they do okay um so yeah once you make a decision I can forward that along to the mayor

um transplant is pretty easy some the meetings get cancelled pretty often. Um, and really it's from what my experience has been is it's uh informational. There's not really a lot of decision making happening. It's because transportation takes 5 10 years. So, it's really just updates on what they've already started. Um the multimodal thing uh that they're doing for the city is I think it's in progress but I mean for the thing the multimodal transportation it's basically like automated transportation um which is really cool. Uh the county is working on an evacuation plan and that was like a year ago. I'd like to get an update on that, but other than that, it's justformational based and then communicating it to council and um the community. So, and it's canceled quite frequently. So, I think I'm we probably met

uh like it's supposed to meet twice a month, but maybe once every two months it's on a Thursday at 6:00 p.m. 63 6 p.m. I have done 6:30, but let me double check. It's been a long time.

I know. I can't even tell you the last time. I guess I could look at my notes to the last time I went, but um but 6:00 or 6:30 I'm going to I think I have it open actually. And it says we have no meetings this month. So um 6:30 transplant. So 6:30 on Thursdays. Uh and it's with uh Pittsburgh, um Antioch, Oakley, and Brentwood planning commissioners. and uh elected officials. So, Mayor Bernal is on the transplant committee. Um Mayor Meyer of Brentwood is on the transplant committee. Uh oh, uh Diane

Thank you. Supervisor Bergus is on the committee as well. So, uh but yeah, so it's pretty straightforward really just informational and communicating it back. Uh how long were your meetings? Like typically sometimes we were just approving minutes and leaving to be honest with you.

But um like an hour sometimes because also the in the same space like after or before depending on what it was um the the same people in the room, the elected officials had another meeting going on. So sometimes we would sit there if that was going to be sooner, but like an hour. Pretty basic. Any takers? I'm kind of in a unique situation in that when I first joined the planning commission, I was filling a term that expired technically in October.

So I haven't had an interview yet. I haven't been nominated. Even though I have applied to be renominated, I haven't had my interview yet. I don't know what mayor's intention would ultimately be whether I'm renominated or not. So I think I was in the same situation and I just volunt volunteered and then and then no I don't know I forget but um I'm not sure maybe we should hold off until um the other commissioner gets Yes. I always

or well we actually need we have a meeting on the 11th and then I'm assuming you guys have to like nominate and then appoint and so volunteers I'll say that commissioner Mottz served a long time oh previous then so extending

so I I don't nothing ever happened that we know of. Um so and I also have from my notes from this last when we appointed you we extended a few times because of absences and similar situations. So if this is something you all wanted to table to another well time as well.

Um I'm happy to extend but also I was recently appointed by the League of California Cities to be on one of their commissions. Um it's called the um the advancing equity and advisory committee. So I'm excited about that. But that's only four Thank you. Uh that's only four times a year. So and that's in 2026. Um so I'm happy to continue until somebody says that's a long time. I don't know if anybody's going to say otherwise, but um I'm happy to continue this and then uh continue participating in transplant until maybe we can push it to the next meeting. Are the meetings once a month or twice a month?

They're supposed to be twice a month, but really it's once every It's once a month. I mean on average. Yeah. Sometimes I mean I think I maybe went to two that were twice a month in two months where there was twice a month but really it's Thursday at 6:30 p.m. once a month. Sometimes they get can the majority of the time they get cancelceled because there's nothing on the agenda. I guess I'll volunteer myself. Okay. We have a motion. Okay. I'd like to make a motion to nominate Jennifer Perez uh to the transplant committee.

On the question, we have a motion. Do we have a second? I'd like to second that motion. Roll call. Kitty. Yes. Thank you, Chair Weber. Commissioner Spiker, I. Commissioner Riley, I. Commissioner Perez. I vice chairperson Jones. I chairperson Weber I the motion passes unanimously with commissioner Simon absent to appoint Commissioner Perez to the transplanting committee. Congratulations.

Okay, moving forward to committee reports. We did not have a meeting. Thank you guys. Thank you. Thank you. Congratulations. Um, like I said, we did not have a meeting. So, uh, the next meeting is on December 9th. I will continue going until it's, um, approved by the council. All right. The next planning commission meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, December 17th, 2025.

So, that meeting will cancel. So, we're and January 7th should be cancelled as well. So, but January 21st, we definitely have items. So, our next meeting will be January 21st, 20. That would be 26. Yes. Got you guys. Yeah. Um, do I have a motion to adjurnn? I'd like to make a motion to adjurnn. We have a motion on the floor. Do we have a second? I'll second it. All right. Kitty, may I have a roll call, please? Yes. Thank you, Chair Weber. Commissioner Swiker, I. Commissioner Riley I. Commissioner Perez I. Vice Chairperson Jones I. Chairperson Wubber I.

The motion passes unanimously with Commissioner Simon absent to adjourn at 7:54 p.m. Merry Christmas everybody. Merry Christmas. Merry Christmas. Happy New Year. Happy New Year's. And if we cancel the first one, happy Martin Luther King Day, too. I know.