Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Pledge of allegiance and a moment of silence. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. You may be seated. Hi Laura, may we have a roll call, please? Uh, yes. Commissioner Sautille, here.

Commissioner Edison, present. Commissioner Ciro, present. Commissioner Marose, present. And Commissioner Pollocrude, present.

Welcome to the Alcohol Planning Commission meeting. This meeting is being livereamed on the city of Alcohon website. Appeals of final decisions of the planning commission made this evening must be filed in writing with the city clerk at 5:00 pm Friday, November 14th, 2025 and must include the payment of a filing fee. If you wish to speak on either a non-aggenda or an agenda item tonight, please please fill out a request to speak card located by the secretary and give it to the secretary who will call you up to speak when the agenda item comes up for public comment. We ask that you give us your name spelling your last name. Speakers are limited to three minutes. The display on the podium as well as the other monitors in the chambers will show time counting down. At 30 seconds, the podium clock readout will turn red, signifying you have 30 seconds until the end of your time. Applicants and individuals representing groups of people may be allowed more time if appropriate. All public hearing comments should be addressed to me as the chair of the commission and not to individual commissioners or to staff members. Please turn off all electronic devices if you have not already done so. Pursuant to city council resolution number 114-79, a commissioner who has received evidence related to a matter before the planning commission other than an unexcorted view of the subject property is required to disclose such information at the hearing. At this time, we will take comments from any member of the public on any item of business within the jurisdiction of the commission that is not in the agenda. Under state law, no action can be taken on items brought forward under public comment except to refer it to staff for

administration or place it on a future agenda. Is there anyone who wishes to address a commission under public comment? Please come forward. You're the only one here. Okay. Right. Okay. We'll go to the consent calendar. A single motion will cover all items on the consent calendar. Does the commission wish to pull a consent calendar item for discussion? No, chair. No. Okay. Does the staff wish to pull a consent calendar item for discussion? Uh, no changes from staff. Okay. Will you have a motion?

I move to adopt the minutes as recorded. I second it. Okay. Motion by Commissioner Sot uh Commissioner Ciro, seconded by Commissioner Sautille. Please vote and motion carries by unanimous vote.

Very good. And now my screen is blacked out. See if I can find where where to go here. Oh, okay. Okay, it came up. Very good. We have new tablets. Okay. The second item is MSI Nissan service extension request auto service and repair for auto dealership. It's SQA exempt and SE recommendation is to approve. Staff Sorry, if you could just give us one minute. We're having a few technical difficulties on the PowerPoint presentation.

Oh, you too. Yes.

Yes. Apologies. Uh, good evening, planning commissioners. My name is Mike Fion, senior planner with the community development department. Item two on this evening's agenda is a request to amend the conditional use permit for the Mossi Nissan Auto dealership. Uh to broadly summarize, uh this request involves the conversion of the building at 270 North Marshall Avenue into a service and repair annex for the existing Nissan dealership. The building is 13,252 square ft and will include 15 service stations. The service annex will be staffed by seven dealership technicians and would not be open to the public. All service operations would be orchestrated through the existing dealership point of service. Routine maintenance will be the primary service offering and therefore only vehicle uh no vehicle storage is anticipated. The building exterior will be repainted but is otherwise unchanged. only minor uh site alterations are proposed and required to accommodate the use. The subject properties are shown here. The existing auto dealership is located at the northwest corner of the intersection of North Marshall Avenue and West Main Street uh with a primary address of 1170 West Main Street. 270

North Marshall Avenue, the building proposed to be used as a service center annex is on the property to the adjacent north. The nearly 7,000t building at the very north end address this 290 North Marshall Avenue is not a part of the request. The westerly limit of the property is bound by the MTS copper line trolley tracks and interstate highway 8. Uses in the vicinity include the MTS yard to the north of the proposed property and various industrial and autorelated uses across North Marshall Avenue. The properties are designated light industrial and have a consistent heavy commercial light manufacturing zoning designation. A cup is required to operate auto service or sales uses in this zone. The existing dealership and a portion of the proposed property are also within the boundaries of the transit district specific plan and are appropriately designated industrial and commercial. The dealership operates under conditional use permit number 1048 as amended on December 16th, 1991. This CUP authorizes RV service, RV accessory sales, and incidental RV sales. However, the planning commission determined on March 24th, 1997 that a dealership uh constituted a minor change and authorized the use without formal amendment to the conditional use permit. The existing dealership site is approximately 3 acres with 30,000 ft of building area. Uh the dealership is full service and devotes approximately 12,000 ft of that to service and repair uses in accordance with zoning requirements. The subject amendment requests uh proposes the extension of the cup onto the 270 North Marshall Avenue property. This overall site is 1.16 acres and has access from North Marshall Avenue between the two buildings. The drive aisle at the south end of the site parking area connects to the dealership property and includes 39 parking stalls. Parking is not required

according to state law, but all provided stalls shown in construction permits must comply with applicable parking dimensions in the zoning code. The vehicle service stations at 270 South Marshall will be accessible through the existing rollup doors just south of the loading bay. Exterior alterations are limited and include a new air compressor behind the building, leveling of the loading bay, provision of a waste fluid container and enclosure, trash enclosure upgrades, and a new planter. Enclosures will be required to meet municipal code standards for coverings gates and storm water specifications at building permit. North Marshall Avenue is otherwise fully improved along the project frontage. However, curb drainage outlets and adjacent sidewalk panels were determined to be damaged during review. These facilities will need to be upgraded as a part uh as a project condition. Building alterations are limited to interior tenant improvements. In addition to the 15 service stations, the floor plan also includes restrooms, a break room, uh and circulation and storage areas. Also clearly visible here are the compressor behind the building on the left, the leveled loading bay at the top right corner, as well as the enclosures for the trash and waste fluid. Note that zoning code conditions require all work to be conducted indoors. The proposed service annex and its incorporation into the dealership are exempt from the review requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to the Common Sense Exemption. Required findings to grant the conditional use permit can be made in the affirmative. The proposed use is consistent with general plan goals number four and nine related to the preservation of quality industrial areas and economic development. Existing operations have not resulted in code compliance activity and project sighting ensures that expanded operations will not result in incompatible noise or other nuisances. This amendment also provides an

opportunity to clarify the authorized land use and include basic operational conditions typical of dealerships in the city. No public comments were received. Staff therefore recommend approval and are available for any questions. And I would note that the project architect here is here should you have questions of the applicant. Thank you. Thank you. Um I don't have any questions. Uh any of you commissioners, do you have any questions of staff? Yes. Yeah. I was just Was that the old Dale Tile building? What what building was that? Yes, it was the tile building.

Okay, that's what I thought. Okay, thank you. So, they're going to access that building. They're going to basically remove the fence in between and be able to access it as an open completely open parcel. It's already that way in the existing condition. There's no fence that separates the two properties. Um the code doesn't require any further action for properties to have shared access like that. Um if it were to develop as a separate individual property taking access over another property only, that would require other actions uh such as a specific plan. Okay. Great. Thank you. Any other questions?

You answered my question because originally I was reading through the report and it mentioned the square footage of the building and a mezzanine to be demolished and I wasn't sure if the demolishing was the mezzanine or the whole building and then you explained that it's interior improvements only. So, thank you. Well, okay. All right. Let's uh open up a public hearing. You're the architect. Would you like to come forward? If you need me. Okay. Do you have any questions for the architect? No, we're okay. Good. All right. This is uh Fast and Furious.

I move to close the public hearing. Okay. I second it. Okay. Uh motion made by Commissioner Ciro, second by Commissioner Sautille. Please vote. Motion carries by unanimous vote. A great. All right. Well, if there's no objections, I'll uh make a motion to move to adopt the next resolution order approving the SQA exemption and amendment to CUP number 1048 subject to conditions. Second. Motion made by Commissioner Morose, second by Commissioner Pollock Rude. Please vote.

Motion carries by unanimous vote. Very good. All right. Thank you. You bet. Okay. Number three, zoning code amendment. Request is to initiate zoning code amendment. It's SQA exempt and staff recommendation is approve. Staff.

Great. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Um again, uh for this item, uh staff is requesting that the planning commission adopt a resolution of intention to update the zoning code. Uh for zoning code updates, they need to be initiated by the planning commission or by the city council. Um in this instance, uh staff is asking that the planning commission initiate uh which is typically our annual zoning code update. Uh for this year uh we're looking to uh update some regulations related to residential building design standards uh as through the um implementation of the code. Uh there's a relief valve which is an administrative zoning permit for design exceptions. So we've been seeing some issues that have been coming up with a detached accessory buildings and residential zones. So, like as an example, a detached garage where somebody wants to store a classic car and they don't want to have windows on the on the garage uh just because of the light intrusion onto the paint, etc. So, we're looking to introduce some additional flexibility there for garages. Uh we're also looking to update the emergency sleeping cabin um limitations uh based on council direction. Uh we're also looking to update some definitions and um references in the zoning code just to ine uh clarity. These are just u minor issues that have come up between staff and the public at the at the counter. So we're looking just to improve uh the uh the language that's in the zoning code for those purposes. Uh and then we are looking to update the uh process for uh the review of administrative decisions by the planning commission. Um in the code it actually specifically says every six months. Um we've been bringing uh those updates to the planning commission u probably about every six to nine months uh based on the number of decisions that were being made. Uh we just want to clarify u the current practice and update that likely to um annually uh at a minimum. And then we're also looking to um make some updates to the zoning code based on changes in state law. So, we're going to

leave that open-ended based on, you know, any last minute things that come from the state this year, but we'll make some some tweaks to the code based on that. So, no action tonight. What we're asking you to do is to open the public hearing and then adopt the resolution and essentially endorse kind of the work program that we presented uh and then give any feedback if you have any concerns with anything. So, that concludes my presentation. Happy to answer any questions. Uh yes. No, you you mentioned a a conversion of a garage. Mhm. And into ADU. You stated uh uh so you said if somebody wanted to store a vehicle not to have any windows, what if it's going to be used as a living quarters?

So, we still have the residential design standards uh for all accessory buildings. Um the the issue that we have is that there's a minimum transparency in the residential design standards of 10% per facade. And so there's um the process for relief is an administrative zoning permit that gets approved by uh the community development department director. Um so the director can approve that for special circumstances. We've just seen quite a few instances uh where u people are coming forward saying that they don't want to have windows because of security or privacy or for like the example of having a classic car where they don't want the light um intruding onto like the paint of the vehicle. So we just wanted to put in some sort of special exemption for that type of circumstance.

Okay. So for living quarters is still fenestration is still required. Yeah. For living quarters they still would be uh required. Well I I should say it would be open-ended uh based on what the commission would like to do. But uh for um detached accessory buildings we still have those uh residential design standards that require uh different finishes on the facade. you know, minimum percentage of windows, um, eaves and overhangs and entry features. Okay. What I fenestration, but also what I had in mind is any illegal activities going on inside the building as well. You didn't hear me, did you? Sorry. Can you say that one more time? I apologize. I was concerned about illegal activities going going on inside the uh the ADU.

Um, well, I mean, for a detached accessory building uh commonly used for storage, a lot of people like to see privacy. Um, you know, we would respond, uh, you know, by the police department if there's complaints or concerns about illegal activity going on. Um, so we can take action through code compliance if there's anything uh that's out of the ordinary that requires investigation. And then also setting a the time you said like a year in so far as giving a report on what administrative decisions have been made. I think that's a good idea. I don't want to leave it open-ended. uh put a time where Okay. A report has to be made. Either there's none or there's some one one or the other.

Um yeah. Do you have any questions? Yes. Uh Commissioner Edison,

uh I was tracking you on all of your points, but one that was omitted was the ad the maximum display for the definition of a tobacco retailer. Is that stricken due to the city council action last week or is that still in this? Um it I I I um bundled that in with uh improving definitions for clarity at the counter. Um one of the issues that we have in the tobacco retailer ordinance is that it doesn't actually give a definition on the amount of space that a tobacco retailer can display. Um it's it's basically defined in the negative. So it says a smoke shop is anything that's greater than 16 cubic feet. Um and so it just says for tobacco retailer it doesn't give that spatial standard. So, we're just we want to improve that definition by uh adding that 16 cubic feet to the definition for a tobacco retailer.

Got it. So, it's just a cleanup. Thank you. And will these all come back to us for approval? Yes. Okay. Uh question on the emergency sleeping cabins from 6 to 10. That would be on the allowed lots or you know in the specific places where we allow them. Right. Right now we allow six. We want to bump that to 10.

Correct. So the code was changed to allow emergency sleeping cabins to go from a project that has been approved for six. Um it after operating for a year it could move to eight and then operating for another year it could move to 10. And so uh council has given us direction just to allow uh them to move from six to 10 for an already established sleeping cabin project. But no changes in the spatial standards and locations where they would be allowed. Okay, great. Thank you. Uh yes, Commissioner Circle.

Um can we look at and review the electronic sign just for clarity? Uh I know last time I looked at it as far as I can tell electronic signs are allowed wherever signs are allowed and just want to uh I remember we used to have uh no motion on such signs. I don't know if we're allowing motion on those. I know that we we have a lot of public schools that have motion on their signs and we don't have the administrative purview on that but uh just want to see where we are with our electronic signs.

Yes. Uh we can take a look at electronic signs and you're correct. So the uh school districts are an agency of the state and so the city's regulations that say that electronic signs can't move don't apply to the schools. So they they have the ability to display whatever they want. Yeah. And I'd like to review that for our city and see if we can um It's hard to compete with the the public school having a full color motion sign when you've got static images, but I want to review our policies.

Okay. And the only other question I have is will you uh the updates to changes in state law, will you let us know what those are um as far as how much more power the local authorities are losing this year or if we're gaining some back or you know where we might be at with that? Yes, we will detail that uh in the agenda report when we when we bring back some draft language for the commission to consider. So uh we know when we bring that back for a public hearing, the commission can give us feedback. You could continue the hearing. You could ask us for more information. So, um, just kind of wanted to leave that open-ended u to see how much we could, um, put into this upcoming update. Great. Thank you.

Any other questions? No, looks good. Well, you have direction now. I think we still need to move open the public hearing. Yes. So, if you could open the public hearing and uh close the public hearing and then adopt the resolution of intention, please. Even though there's nobody here. Okay. Okay. Uh I open public hearing. Does anyone want to speak on this agenda item? Okay. I close public hearing. I second. Okay. Motion made by Commissioner Sautille, second by Commissioner Ciro. Please vote. Motion carries by unanimous vote.

Okay. Public hearing is closed. Right. I move to adopt the next resolution order. Initiate an amendment to the Alcohon zoning code. A second. Motion made by Commissioner Moro, second by Commissioner Pollock RDE. Please vote. Motion carries by unanimous vote. Okay. I believe the next item is the uh the calendar for next year.

Yes. Thank you, chairman. uh under other items for consideration. We just wanted to bring forward uh the calendar uh for planning commission meetings uh for 2026. Um so we don't need any action on that. It's just anformational item. Uh we've already uh we we've not scheduled a meeting for the first um Tuesday in January. Uh but for the remainder of the year, we didn't identify any conflicts on first and third uh Tuesdays uh for each of the month. So uh just anformational item. Great. I do have a question on that. Do we have anything on the agenda for this month, the next meeting?

Um, I don't anticipate having a meeting on November 18th. Uh, the city council uh because of uh Veterans Day has canled or I should say rescheduled their uh November 11th meeting to November 18th. Um so I anticipate that we'll be sending out a cancellation notice uh this Friday or Thursday. Okay. Thank you. Okay. Any any other staff communications? No additional items from staff. Thank you. Commissioner reports or communications.

Okay. Uh well, I move uh to adjourn to the next meeting if it's not canceled to November 18th, 2025 at 700 p.m. Okay. Motion by Commissioner Sautille, second by Commissioner Pollock RDE. Please vote. Motion carries by unanimous vote. Good. All right. If I don't see you in two weeks, enjoy my favorite holiday, Thanksgiving.