Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Regular meeting for Thursday, 05/07/2026 at exactly 6PM. I will begin with the land acknowledgment. We honor, respect, and acknowledge Elk Grove's first inhabitants, the Plains Miwok, who lived as sovereign caretakers of this land and these waterways since time immemorial. We commemorate and advocate for their descendants, the Wilton Rancheria tribe, the only federally recognized tribe in Sacramento County who endure because of the bravery, resiliency, and determination of their ancestors, tribal members, and leaders. Will you please take this moment to silence your electronic devices?

And, Hallica, will you please read the customary greeting?

The Outgrowth Planning Commission welcomes, appreciates, and encourages participation in the meetings. The commission reserves the right to reasonably limit the total time for public comment on any particular noticed agenda item as it may deem necessary. If you wish to address the commission during the meeting, please complete a speaker card and give it to the clerk prior to consideration of the agenda item.

And and, Halika, will you please call the roll?

Commissioners Sandra Poole? Present. Varender Singh? Present. Suman Singh? Absent. Vice chair Oscar O'Connor?

Present.

Chair Juan Fernandez?

Present. Alright. I will now invite mister Hobbs to lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Thank you. And will you now join us in a moment of silence?

Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve the agenda for this evening?

Chair, I move to approve the agenda as presented. Moved.

Second.

Seconded. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion is approved for the agenda this evening. I will now move to the public comments opportunity. Members of the audience may comment on any item not on the agenda that is of interest to the public and within the jurisdiction of the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission cannot take action on non agendized items raised under public comment until the matter has been specifically included on an agenda as an action item. And, Helica, do we have anyone signed to speak during the public session? Okay.

I will declare the public comment open and opportunity open and closed. Alright. Moving on to our consent calendar items. The regular meeting minutes of January 15. Do I have a motion to approve the minutes?

I move to approve the minutes as presented.

I have a motion. Do I have

a second? Second.

I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Motion passes for the reading. And I'm sorry. And one abstention. Three zero. Motion passes. 301. Alright. Moving on to the public hearing items. And, Helica, will you please call item 51?

Old Town Courtyard, PLNG 25 Dash 043.

Good evening, mister chair and members of the Planning Commission. Joseph Dagumann, associate planner with the community development department. Item 5.1 is the Old Town Courtyard project. This project consists of a conditional use permit to utilize an existing 1,150 square foot building and adjacent courtyard in the commercial zone of the Old Town Special Planning Area as an assembly used to host weddings, birthday parties, meetings and other special events for up to 60 guests. The project site consisted of approximately 0.2 acre parcel located in 9120 Elk Grove Boulevard near the intersection of Elk Grove Boulevard and and Dir Street in the Old Town Special Planning Area.

The property is developed with two buildings and several small accessory structures. The first building is a converted two story Italianates style commercial building situated on the northern side of the property. The current business is the Homegrown Incorporated Microgreens and Farmers Market store. These the second building is the approximately 1,150 square foot building, a single structure on the southern side of the of the property that was previously a garage. It was converted.

Research on business and building records show that it was converted into a spa and salon around 2031. There are no recent building permit records on file. The property has or the structure has since been converted into the old town courtyard. So in front of you are existing conditions of the site. The image on the left is the two story, Microgreens farmers market store.

The image in the center is the 1,150 square foot, Old Town Courtyard Building, and then the image on the right is the courtyard, the adjacent outdoor courtyard adjacent to the building. Little bit of background history. On 10/25/2025, the code enforcement division received the complaint that the property has been hosting events and operating without a conditional use permit, a certificate of occupancy, and a business license. The reporting party indicated that loud music was also being played in the adjacent courtyard. We after receiving the, notification that there there there is a a citation, the property owner was notified that a conditional use permit was required, in order to operate these events.

Plan the planning division did receive the CUP application on 12/19/2025. The purpose of a conditional use permit is for the individual review of uses typically having unusual site development features or operating characteristics to ensure compatibility with the surrounding areas and uses. There are two findings to support the conditional use permit. Number one, the proposed use is consistent with the general plan and all applicable provisions. And then number two, the establishment, maintenance, or operation of the use applied for will not under the circumstances of particular case, such as the location, size, design, and operating characteristics, be detrimental to the health, safety, peace, morals, comfort, or general wear welfare of persons residing or working in the neighborhood of such use or the general well welfare of the city.

So a little bit more about the operation. The, applicant is proposing to utilize the existing approximately 1,150 square foot building and adjacent courtyard as the assembly use to host events, weddings, birthday parties, meetings, and other special events for up to 60 guests. I will make note that the 60 guests is contingent upon the applicant meeting building and fire code requirements. Access to the site will be provided through a future ADA compliant path of travel connecting from the right of way to the building and the courtyard entrance. There are nearby, parking facilities that are outlined in your staff report that is available to meet the needs of guests and will not result in any unusual circumstances relating to traffic.

Regarding the operations, generally, the events when they're scheduled, they will be take place from 11AM to 4PM. There will be occasional events, running from 5PM to 09:30PM. As part of this, the applicant has is proposing, limited amplified music and sound to be permitted when events are scheduled in the courtyard. There will be no live bands, band performances. Taking this all into consideration, staff has proposed the following conditions of approval.

Starting off with condition number eight, the occupancy of 60 persons is contingent upon meeting all building and fire requirements. Condition nine, applicant shall comply with the applicable noise requirements set forth in in, chapter 6.32. Condition 10, any form of speaker amplification shall face away from any of the adjacent residential properties. Condition 11, certain enhancing equipments are going to be prohibited at all times. And then just for Condition 12: Any conditional use permit could be subject to revocation or modification where cause is deemed necessary.

In terms of CEQA, the project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQA guidelines section fifteen three zero one and fifteen three zero three. With that, staff is recommending approval of the project. This concludes my presentation. Staff as well as, representatives of the Old Town Courtyard are here happy to answer any questions. Thank you.

Any questions for our associate planner?

No, I just had some concerns but during the staff meeting, I asked about the court enforcement due to the history. But that was cleared and because of the small parking lot the premises, the handicap parking. But

my

questions were answered by staff. Excellent.

I had one question. In the report it mentioned that the residence was used as a parsonage. What which church is nearby? It was what was it called? Curiosity.

Is it the Park Methodist church nearby?

Yep.

Just just curious. I I I love the history of Old Town, and I was just curious if there was a church that had been nearby that had Yeah. Has since been removed. No other questions? Thank you, Joseph. Right. Will now Methodist? Yes. It was Methodist. It was but not not the Elk Grove United Methodist. That's on the other side of the railroad tracks.

There was a Methodist church that was over in that area, this was the parsonage for it.

Got it. And that church is now gone?

Yeah.

Got it. Okay. Thank you. Interesting point of history. It's probably in the Elk Grove history book. Alright. I will now declare the public hearing open and invite the applicant to speak if they would like. And if they are here, Good evening. If you would say your name.

My name is Monica Tucker. I am not the applicant. But I'm here filling in for her as she's out of the country. This is my first time doing something like this. So do I just openly speak? Okay. Am Lynette Wall, and I met her through yoga. She's very passionate about what she does. I have volunteered my time to work with her because she's just an amazing woman. She's an amazing business owner. She, holds AA meetings there. She cares about the community. She's, I think, born and raised there. I also live in the community. And what she does for people I've been there to volunteer my time for for people who've had weddings and birthday parties, and it's a very small space.

So the intimate, connections and gatherings that are held there, it's just great to see people that are able to have a place where they can make memories and spend time with their family and celebrations. We've done yoga there as friends. She just is really passionate about wellness and helping people and holding a space for to come together. I wish she could be here so you could see how passionate she is. But she left it to us to speak for her.

But again, as a community member, when I first went to her place, I fell in love with it. I fell in love with the area. And I was like, this is amazing for Elk Grove. I'm from the Bay Area. But that space itself just made me proud to be here in Elk Grove. So that's all I'm going to say. Any questions for me?

Thank you. You did a great job as her proxy.

Thank you.

All right. I will ask if there are any public speakers. Nobody submitted their public speaking. All right. Then I will declare the public comment opportunity closed, and we will move to commission deliberation. Any comments, commissioner Pool or sitting? No. I don't. All of my questions were answered with staff,

so I don't have any other questions.

They're good like that. Oscar? All right. My questions were all answered by staff as well. Thank you, Joseph, for the report and the additional point of history. Christopher, may I have a motion?

Chair, I move to adopt a resolution finding the project exempt from CEQUA pursuant to state CEQUA guidelines sections one five three zero one and one five three zero three and approving a conditional use permit for the Old Town Courtyard Project, PLNG twenty five dash zero four three, based on the findings and subject to the conditions of approval included in the draft resolution.

Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor? Aye. 40. Thank you, Monica. And the Old Town Courtyard. Oh, and by the way, I I live in the the neighborhood, and I love seeing the little pop ups on Sunday. It's awesome to have that foot traffic and vibrance in Old Town. Yes. Thank you. Alright. Moving on to the Climate Compass. Report to be given by Carrie Whitlock. Item five dot two. Sorry, Angelica. I did your part.

Good evening, chair commissioners. Carrie Whitlock, long Range Planning. So this evening, I am presenting the Climate Compass for consideration. I brought a draft of this document to Planning Commission last August, and we are ready with a finalized document for your consideration. So the Climate Compass is a comprehensive update to the city's current climate action plan, which was adopted in 2019.

This new document provides a road map for the city to achieve state recommended targets for greenhouse gas emission reductions similar to our 2019 cap. The Climate Compass goes farther as it addresses not just greenhouse gas emission reductions, but it also addresses climate adaptation. So identifying actions and, strategies to address climate change we're already seeing and expect to see in the future. And it supports the city's broader sustainability and resilience goals. In addition, the Climate Compass is intended to be a CEQA qualified climate action plan, as is our 2019 cap.

This CEQA streamlining provides efficiencies for new development applications and reduces the time and expense, of preparing project specific GHG analysis. The update to the CAP was undertaken to ensure continued alignment with state climate goals. California has enacted a number of GHG emission reduction targets over the years becoming more ambitious, in more recent years. The greenhouse gas emission reduction targets in our 2019 cap include those set by the state in 2005, which was an 85% reduction by 2050, and from Senate Bill 32 passed in 2016, which was a 40% reduction by 2030. The Climate Compass aligns with more recent state actions, including Assembly Bill twelve seventy nine, the Climate Crisis Act passed in 2022.

This legislation sets a target of carbon neutrality or net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2045. And so it accelerates both the amount of reductions and the target date from that earlier 80% by 2050. The same year as AB twelve seventy nine passed, the California Air Resources Board adopted an updated scoping plan that lays out a path towards achieving that 2045 carbon neutrality goal. And one of the items included in the scoping plan is an accelerated 2030 target, 48% reduction in order to better align with that trajectory needed to reach that carbon neutrality goal by 2045. So included in the Climate Compass document, are both, green community wide greenhouse gas emissions, so those emissions generated from activities Elk Grove's boundaries, and it also includes local government operations emissions, so those emissions generated by the operations and services of the city as an organization.

Document includes an emissions inventory. It includes forecasts of future emissions. It proposes strategies and actions to reduce those emissions, and then it also has a quantification of the reductions that would be attributable to those strategies. So all of these are included for both our community wide emissions and for local government operations. The development of the Climate Compass has taken approximately three years, and it involved a lot of public outreach and engagement.

Involvement from residents and stakeholders was a critical component of the Climate Action Plan, the Climate Compass development, and city staff undertook over 60 in person and virtual engagement opportunities, to get feedback. This outreach is foundational to support the ongoing implementation of the Climate Compass as involvement and resident behavior change is really key to the success of those greenhouse gas reduction efforts. We did have a draft Climate Compass and a draft supplemental environmental impact report. Both were available for public comment last summer. And as a result of that public comment, that we received in in addition to additional staff discussions, there were a number of revisions that we made, to the document from last August.

This includes some changes to several actions including related to building decarbonization. We wanted to ensure we were compliant with new Assembly Bill 130 that came out last summer and was passed in June and also related to electric vehicle charging to clarify some of the requirements related to EV infrastructure. In addition to some changes to some of those actions, we included further information related to implementation considerations for all the actions that's in chapter five to provide additional transparency and accountability. The final community wide strategies are shown here. They're in six different focus areas.

The two focus areas which will have the largest impact in terms of reducing our greenhouse gas emissions are building and energy and transportation. These two focus areas are gonna account for approximately 99% of our emission reductions in 2000 and thirty and ninety percent in 2045, and this focus is consistent with what's in our greenhouse gas inventory that showed that those two areas account for about 95% of our current emissions. The other focus areas have smaller greenhouse gas reduction potential but they help to provide a strong foundation for climate action and adaptation efforts. They help increase resilience within the city and they emphasize meaningful community engagement and awareness. So this as part of the Crime Encompass, as I mentioned, we did a greenhouse gas emission forecasting, that was completed all the way through 2050.

The graph here shows our per capita community wide greenhouse gas emissions for Elk Grove in dark red. You can see the historic trends for 02/2021. The orange line is our per capita emissions if nothing were to change. If there were no federal, state, local actions, you can see that the emissions pretty much plateau. Projected greenhouse gas emissions with federal and state legislation.

And then the blue line is the projected emissions with those local strategies and actions that are included in the climate Compass. Shown here as well, those red dots are the targets for 2030 and 2045, and you can see that we would be able to meet both the 2030 and 2045 targets, with the strategies and actions that are included in the Climate Compass document. Document. As mentioned, local government operations was also covered in this document. So here, the strategies and actions are grouped into just four focus areas.

But again, as with community wide sector, the focus areas for building and facilities and fleet and employee commute are going to have the largest impact in reducing greenhouse gas emissions from us as an organization. The other two focus areas will help create a more resilient and sustainable organization. And again, we also did a forecast for those local government operations. And you can see again in orange is sort of if if nothing were to be done, emissions for us as an organization would continue to increase. With the green, with state and federal requirements and legislation, there would be some long term reduction.

But those red dots again show the targets for us as a city organization for 2030 and 2045, and the blue line does show that we would be able to reach those targets if we were to implement the actions and strategies in the Climate Compass for local government operations. So as I mentioned as well the Climate Compass is intended to be qualified climate action plan. This requires an environmental review, and in this case, a supplemental environmental impact report was prepared. The 2019 climate action plan was programmatically evaluated as part of the general plan update environmental impact report. And so the supplemental EIR prepared for the climate compass is an amendment to that general plan update EIR.

And per state guidelines and SEIR need only contain information necessary to make that previous EIR adequate for the project so analyzing potential significant environmental impact results from the implementation of the climate compass. So the SEIR evaluated just two environmental issue areas energy and greenhouse gas emissions and climate change and then, in addition, had some analysis of other CEQA mandated issue areas, like cumulative impacts, alternatives analysis, such. The SEIR identified that the climate compass would not result in any new significant impacts or substantially increase the severity of significant environmental impacts disclosed within the general plan EIR. The process for preparing the SEIR started with a notice of preparation that was released to the public and state agencies on 12/06/2024. The draft SEIR was then released for public review and comment in 06/27/2025, and was available for a forty nine day period.

And then comments received along with the responses are included in the final SEIR, which was in your packet and was released to the public on April 24. Staff are also recommending some text modifications to the general plan document to ensure consistency with the climate compass document. So these include some edits to chapter seven, which is community and resilient and resource protection, and to chapter 10, the implementation work program, and those modifications are included in your packet. In addition to all of the fun Climate Compass actions this evening, we are also requesting some corrections to the implementation work program to restore two actions that were unintentionally removed from the December 2025 update to the general plan. And both of these relate to housing programs and are included in chapter 10, the implementation work program.

And again, these are also included in your packet. So finally, staff recommends this evening, that you adopt a resolution to the city council recommending they certify the supplemental EIR for adopt the Climate Compass, approve the modifications to the general plan related to the Climate Compass, and approve the revisions to the general plan related to the housing element. And with that, I am going to stop talking, and I'm available for common questions. Thank you.

Any questions for Carrie?

I have a comment, and I have a question. And my comment is thank you for the slide that went into the detail about what it took to finalize the comment the climate plan. I know in the staff meeting, I had asked about, the gap in time from when the laws passed and when we're updating updating our our documents, documents, and and that that really gave the explanation as to why it takes so long. So thank you. The question, and this is one you know, if you don't have an answer, it's fine. Have you been made aware or heard of anything at the federal level that might undo all of this work?

So there have been various different federal actions. There have also been state law lawsuits against a number of those federal actions. So it's very difficult to say which way things are going to play out at the moment. Right now, we are still assuming many of those state actions are because we don't know that they're going to be different.

Yeah. Okay.

Thank you. Mhmm.

Thank you for the presentation, Carrie. I had a couple of questions. One, in the area of resilience and adaptation Uh-huh. An area of interest is the urban heat island effect. I noticed that quite a bit. Oftentimes, you go to one of the retail centers, just the sheer amount of asphalt, you can see the mirage of the heat. What are some of the things that we do with respect to minimizing the urban heat island effect?

So we have a number of actions included in the Climate Compass document, some of which we're already working on. The city received a grant from Caltrans last year, and we are working on a heat resilient transportation system implementation plan, so really looking at our roadways, our parking lots, our trails, our sidewalks, our bus stops, and identifying strategies city can implement to help with cooling along all of those networks. So that is one of the programs that is currently in process, and should be the grant should be completed, next June. So we will see that. And then it is an implementation plan, so we will start to actually put those into place, whether that's cooling.

We have some cool pavements, cool roofs, cool walls. Those can help. Additional shading, tree canopy or artificial shading, depending on where. All of those different strategies can help.

Right. The tree element, in my opinion, is is key, as you know.

And there's a whole section on on trees and nature based solutions in the in the climate compass.

Excellent. And then, what is our, timeline horizon for implementation of electric, police vehicles, city trucks, other utility vehicles? Do we have a timeline for that?

So we are currently working on that. Again, in the Climate Compass, there are strategies and actions related to the local government operations, including transitioning our fleet over to zero emission vehicles. There is a pilot program and process related to our patrol vehicles and testing those out as EVs. So it is something that's in the works. I'm not sure there's a specific date we can say yet. And when when we're doing that, we are transitioning vehicles including that are easiest to do. As we speak, we already have nine electric vehicles on the city fleet, and we're transitioning more each year.

Good. I I thought I heard a significant percentage was buildings and then city vehicles Mhmm. Contribute to our GHG calculations.

Yes.

And the goal was 45% reduction by 2030. So we have four years Yeah. Roughly for implementation of some of those.

Yes. And when you see the capital improvement plan at your next meeting, you'll note there'll be a couple of projects listed there for this campus to receive additional charging infrastructure. So we're doing these two things in parallel to help support the fleet conversion.

Excellent. Alright. Thank you. I don't believe there are any other questions. Excellent presentation.

Thank you.

Alright. I will now move to open the public hearing opportunity and ask Angelica if we have anyone signed up to speak on this item.

We do. Eugene Lee.

Mister Lee, please come on up.

Good evening. My name is Eugene Lee, and I represent the city of Elk Grove, on the Sacramento Environmental Commission. And I'm retired from the California Energy Commission, and I proudly served as one of the city's climate ambassadors in the support of and development of this climate compass. I just want to compliment city staff. They've been a pleasure working to work with throughout this process.

The the Compass is an excellent name, and it has received regional recognition from other local organizations if you didn't know this. The but the the name is less meaningful and effective if we abandoned its directions and follow past conventional practices and return to our administrative muscle memory, so to speak. And I've listened to community residents, and they are invested in Elk Grove and the future of it. Their fears, very common, as I'm sure you have heard. They relate to growth, increased traffic, and the number of vehicles that threaten safety, the conversion of open space within, and the city expansion among other things.

We know that real improvement, whether it's personal or professional, really requires intentional behavior change. But this compass is not the only solution. And but it is our local navigator. It specifies really important climate actions and benchmarks if we're going to reach our climate destination. And we cannot manage what we do if we do not measure it.

And this compass will do that. And so I urge your support for the climate compass. And if approved, I ask that you keep it on your decision making dashboard as I will and use it as our climate GPS and to keep our changing community a proud one for all its residents. Thank you.

Any comments or feedback for mister Lee? Thank you. I I'm proud to say I was ahead of the curve on on some of these items. I had an EV before it was $7 a gallon, thankfully. Alright. Is there anyone else registered to speak? Alright. Then I will declare the public comment opportunity closed, and we will move to commission deliberation or action. Any thoughts? No.

Comments? Save the trees? Alright. Then I will move to adopt a resolution recommending that the city council certify the supplemental environmental impact report for the climate compass, adopt the climate compass, approve the textual modifications to the city's general plan related to the climate compass, and find no further environmental review is required under state CEQA guidelines section one five one eight three for the general plan revisions related to the housing program and approve the general plan revisions related to the housing program. Do I have a second? Second. I have a motion and a second. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed?

Alright. Four zero. Okay. Moving on to item six dot one. Angelica.

Reorganization of the Outgrowth Planning Commission.

Alright. So do I have a motion to nominate the name of chair for planning commission for the balance of 2026.

Chair, I would like to nominate, commissioner Oscar O'Connor for the chair of the planning commission for 2026.

And I will second it. All in favor, do you accept? I Am I supposed to ask Jonathan if they accept?

Yeah. I'm not sure he has a choice, though.

You've already Yeah. You're getting railroaded into this one, Oscar. All right. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And one abstention. Abstention. Yeah. All right. So Oscar, congratulations. This will be yours in ten minutes. All right. Do I have a nomination for vice chair of the Planning Commission?

Chair, I nominate, commissioner Singh

for vice chair. And I will second it. You accept? I accept. Alright. All in favor? Aye. Any opposed? And one abstention. Congratulations. You're on deck. And that is all for the reorganization. Air director, may we have

your report, please? Good evening, commissioners. Congratulations to our new chair and vice chair. Look forward to working with you over the coming months. So I don't have anything specifically to report tonight, but I'll run through the list that is on the days this evening. While we have been on break as a commission, or you have been on a break as a commission, certainly a lot of other things have been going on, both the stat level and with the city council and the zoning administrator. I'll highlight a few things. You may recall at the end of last year, you heard the Bartholomew winery amendment project. The city council did ultimately approve that back at the January. A new public convenience and necessity approval for the SF supermarket project, this is at the former Big Lots building on Elk Grove Boulevard, was approved by the council last month.

The zoning administrator's approvals have included the seasonal tent for Pig Latin, so that that will now be a permitted structure, as well as the extension of the Creekside Estates and Pleasant Grove Estates maps. In terms of future matters, we do have a few more that are teeing up for your future agenda. We did sign off earlier today on the packet for your meeting in two weeks' time, so you should be receiving that tomorrow. The items on the agenda there include the condition the design review approvals and Old Town major certificate of appropriateness for the economic development project known as the Mural Festival in Old Town or Historic Main Street that is scheduled to occur next month. We also will have the Sheldon Road rezone and map project and the actually, not say Climate Compass.

This should say the Capital Improvement Program. That is now live actually up on the website, the agenda pack will be available for the public tomorrow. Forthcoming matters, we are tracking for June 4 for the Calvine Road map, tenant parcel map, and rezone project. Zone administrator does have one confirmed item for June 1 for the Survey Road warehouse. This is a reapproval of a prior approval from a number of years ago on a small warehouse building on Survey Road, basically right near the knuckle near where the Special Waste Collection Center is.

And then nothing major coming up for matters for May 27 for the City Council or June 10 at this point, although I think there is one item we're potentially tracking for one of those states. We'll know more tomorrow. That concludes my report. Happy to answer questions if you have them.

Christopher, somebody asked me, about the SF supermarket. Is is there any time frame for when that's gonna start?

I believe the building permit's been approved or will be soon. I don't think they've started construction yet inside. Given that it's existed in a couple different forms with some level of grocery store in it before, it hopefully isn't too long to get it converted over a few months' time, I would expect, hopefully by

the end

of the year.

Okay. Thank you. Does

SF have any significance?

It's the brand name. Just SF? Yeah. I may be some connection with San Francisco, but it's primarily Asian based market. I think it's Shunfat market. Shunfat. Thank you.

But it comes

from the city. Comes from the city. Alright. Beautiful. Alright. If there are no other wait. Commission matters, any anything for us to discuss? Alright. Then I will adjourn the meeting this May 7 at 06:40PM. Thank you, everybody.