Planning Commission - Special Meeting

Okay, I'm going to call this special meeting of the Carmel Planning Commission to order. Can we have a roll call, please? Commissioner Alburn, here. Commissioner Allen, here. Commissioner Careka here. Commissioner Lach here and Chair Leage here. Okay. Um first one of the agenda the public appearances. Any members of the public may speak to the planning commission on any matters of municipal concern which are not on our agenda tonight. Uh I want to remind you have to we are under the uh ordinance of the Brown Act and your comments must be in line with the Brown Act or you will be muted. So, anybody that wants to speak to us on any item which is not on our agenda tonight of municipal concern, you can come up at this time.

And you don't have to introduce yourself, but it is helpful for the record.

Here's your chance. Uh my name is Frank Perry and we live here in Carmel by the Sea and I would like to say good evening to everyone. Uh we would like to urge the planning commission to adopt the 0 to 5- ft ember resistant defensible space which is primarily recommended by CalFire and the California Board of Forestry and Fire Protection particularly in the Carmel by the Sea area which we know as WOOI. Wildfires in communities like ours do not destroy homes primarily through walls of flame. They destroy homes through winddriven embers. These embers travel long distances and most often ignite materials right next to the structures such as mulch, leaf litter, and dense plantings within the 5 ft. Caramel by the sea is especially vulnerable. We have dense vegetation, smaller lots, older homes, poorly maintained homes in many areas, and many of these homes are second homes, and many streets are very narrow. To our understanding, bare dirt instead of mulch is what the city proposes at this time. Although this may be an option in some areas, but not in most for the following reasons. Number one, leaving the bare earth of the 0 to 5 foot defensible space is generally discouraged because it is ineffective and potentially harmful. Two, wind and embers. The primary ignition source for most home home losses during a wildfire is windblown embers. A bare earth zone offers little protection against these embers. Three, aesthetics. A bare earth perimeter can make a property look uninviting, barren, and poorly maintained, which can negatively impact property values and neighborhood appeal. Four, maintenance effort. While it might sound low maintenance, keeping an area completely free of all weeds and voluntary plants can require significant

effort. In fact, we know it's a maintenance nightmare. Five, property insurance. Property insurance. As you know, it continues to be most difficult to ensure our homes and and do so at a reasonable price. Adopting the 0 to 5 foot defensible space would help a lot. And finally, lack of functional alternatives. Using a non-combustible alternative like hardscaping, gravel and pavers in this zone can provide both fire safety, general safety, functionality, reduce water usage and aesthetics. And in order to comply with the defensible space, we propose that allowances be made for any lot coverage issues, especially in the WOOI areas. Adopting this standard aligns Carmemell by the Sea with current Cal Fire and Cal State Fire Marshall guidance. This approach also protects firefighters by reducing structure to structure ignition and allowing first responders to focus on containment. We respectfully urge the commission to adopt this standard as a proactive science-based fire mitigation measure. Thank you.

Okay. I did want to let you know that uh at our upcoming meeting the 11th we're going to be reviewing the uh draft for the uh design guidelines residential which there will be some discussion about fire so you that may be of interest to you so you want what date is that again that's going to be February or the 18th 18th I'm sorry 18th of yeah I stand corrected the 18th so just want to bring that to your attention okay thank you for comments thank you yeah please come forward you want to up to the mic please Oh, I'm just the wife. That's all right. We want you on the record. Come on up.

Oh, it's just a quick question. I'm sorry to trouble you, but I'm Rada Perry, Frank's wife, and I we had a longer version, but due to the three minute constraint, um, we had more points and stuff. Would you want us to email those to you? Sure. You can go ahead. Sure. And is your email address on here or where where's a good place to email them? Oh. Thank you, sir. So, okay. So, you're not you're not going to read those. All right. Thank you. I'm not going to continue. I'll email it to you.

Great. That's that's good. That way we have a hard copy. Okay. Um I don't see any hands online. Nobody else here in the chamber want to speak to us on any items of municipal concern which are not on our agenda. So, we will move on to uh I don't believe there's any announcements. Any announcements? No. Okay. We'll move on to the public hearings. All right. Uh we have one item on the public hearing tonight. This is a design review and use permit uh 25313. Use permit 25314. This is the uh the applicant is Verizon Sequoia deployment. And uh staff has recommended that this item be continued to a date certain which would be give me a date.

February 10th. 10th. Okay. All right. Um so at this time any if the public has want to come up and speak to the continuence, they can. We're not going to speak to the the application.

Okay. Good evening, Chair Leage and planning commissioners. My name is Christy Hollandbeck. Um, we would have preferred that you made a decision tonight. However, because the staff has not updated their report and our attorneys and supporters are not present, I don't believe we have a fair alternative, any other fair fair alternative other than a continuence. If this matter is continued, I respectfully ask to clearly explain why staff to clearly explain why more time is needed and what work will actually need to be done during that period. I hope you received the revised diagram sent by our attorney Ariel Strauss yesterday. Um, it shows that Verizon is attempting to obtain approval for a design that is not lawful or accurate. One clear example is the photo simulations. Verizon placed a 6-foot equipment box in the wrong orientation.

Yeah, we're we're not going to get into that tonight. So, oh, we're just, you know, we got we got the document, but we're not going to get into the details. No details. Yeah, just it's just if you could just uh make your conf comments uh about the continuence and that's it. Okay. Well, basically we just wanting staff to clearly explain why more time is needed and what work will actually be done during that period. I think that's relevant to the continuence. Thank you. Okay. Okay. Thank you. And did did the applicant have some comments

just as I relate to the continuence? Pete Chub and Sequoia Deployment Services. No, sir. I'm here to take questions if you had any for me. Okay. Thank you. All right. Um Okay. Um I'm going to make a motion that we continue this to the the 10th. Is that correct? Got that right. Okay, I'll second. Okay, do we have uh any further discussion? Okay, roll call, please. Commissioner Albourne, yes. Commissioner Allen, yes. Commissioner Carco, uh, no. Commissioner Lock, yes. And Chair Leage,

yes. Okay, the motion is carried. The item will be continued to the 10th. Do you want to expl um I don't know did did the staff want to give an explanation as to the uh the reason for the continuence? I mean we already voted on but but uh just for

sure I'm making an attempt to um explain. So, um Steph is still working with our out outside consultant to um review the technical information. Um we weren't able to get that um in time. And then we have also received additional information. So, we want to make sure we address that information and include that in the staff report. try to make it the most complete record for the commission to consider when you're weighing the evidence for findings for support or denial of the application.

Okay, thank you for that explanation. Okay, that uh concludes the public hearings. Um, our next meeting, the next special would be the 10th and we also have our regular meeting on the February 11th. And then we have another special meeting which will be on February 18th which will be reviewing the uh design residential design guidelines 1.5. So any other announcements or anything? Okay, we are adjourned. Thank you everyone. God, that was a record minute. jacket. See you tomorrow.