Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Let's get started.

Let's see.

I'll open the meeting, and good evening. It is August 17th, 2026, 7 p.m. I will now call the regular Planning Commission meeting to order. This meeting is being televised via the Zoom video conference platform. Ms. Mattenpour, please conduct the roll call.

Good evening. Commissioner Esalcego? Present. Commissioner Jimenez? Present. Commissioner Morrison? Present. Vice Chair Most-Walker? Present. Chair Rubio? Present.

Thank you. We'll move on to the Pledge of Allegiance. And everyone please rise. And will Commissioner Isasego lead us with the pledge? 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. Thank you. Let's see, public communications. Persons wishing to address the Planning Commission on any subject not on the agenda may do so now. Please know, however, the Commission is not able to undertake discussions or actions tonight on items not on the agenda. Items may be referred to staff for appropriate action, which may include placement on the next available agenda. Public comments will be limited to three minutes per speaker. For members of the public attending the virtual Zoom meeting that wish to make a comment, please use the raise hand feature or star nine if connecting via phone audio only. When it is your turn to speak, staff will bring you into the meeting so that you may provide your comment or concerns. See, public comments are also accepted by email to smattenpoor at herculacea.gov prior to and during the meeting, prior to the close of the public comment period on an item listed on the agenda and will be posted to the city website and available to view after the meeting. So at this time, Ms. Mattenpoor, do we have any speakers for items not on the agenda?

attendees who joined us via zoom or via phone please click on the raise hand button or dial star 9 if you would like to speak it looks like we don't have any okay looks like there are no comments so we'll move on to the next item um let's see at

At this time, we have the consent calendar. All matters listed under the consent calendar are considered to be routine and will be enacted by one motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless requested by a member of the commission or a member of the public prior to the time the commission votes on the motion to adopt. Does any member of the commission wish to pull an item for discussion? Okay, seeing none, at this time I will entertain a motion for the consent calendar.

I'll motion that the consent calendar be approved.

We have a motion, is there a second?

I'll second the motion.

At this time, all in favor may say aye, and any opposed say nay. Ms. Mattenport, can you conduct the roll call, please?

Commissioner Esotsego?

Aye.

Commissioner Jimenez? Aye. Commissioner Morrison? Aye. Vice Chair Mostwalker? Aye. Chair Rubio?

Aye. And the motion passes 5-0. Let's see, moving on to the public hearing. So we have design review permit 26-02 for a 187 square foot second story addition to the existing 211 Montego Drive single family residence to expand two existing bedrooms and add one new bathroom within the residential single family low density zoning district. So at this time, I would like to ask the director to provide the presentation. Thank you.

Good evening. Thank you. This item actually has three public testimony emails that were received today. I wanted to bring your attention to that. They have been posted to the website and are available for your review. Our contract planner, Larissa Alchin, will be presenting the staff report for you this evening.

It looks like we may have some technical difficulties. Let's check with IT.

Thank you.

Thank you, Sheba. And good evening, Chair and members of the Planning Commission. Tonight, the proposed project on the agenda is design review permit 2602, which is the request for an addition to the existing second story at 211 Montego Drive here in Hercules. Next slide. The subject property is zoned RSL, residential single low density zoning district. The parcel is an approximately 7,500 square foot lot. It is developed with an approximately 2,210 square foot single family home shown highlighted in the orange on the aerial map here. The applicant is requesting the design room permit for 187 square foot second story addition. Next slide. The second story would be built forward from the existing second story with the front bedroom placed above the existing first floor roofline of the garage. and the adjacent bedroom setbacks approximately two feet. The stepped massing is not a new feature of this house and it mirrors the features already present on the existing residence and found on other homes in the neighborhood. Again, there's no change to the building footprint or lot coverage and the architectural style, which we'll talk about on other slides remains consistent with the existing home. The design review referral consistent with Department's practice is to refer all second story additions to Planning Commission for review due to their greater potential for visibility issues from neighboring homes. Next slide. Turning to design review findings. starting with the architectural compatibility. The material study submitted by the applicant's architect shows that all the eaves, fascia, roof detailing, and gutters will match the existing residence, as well as new stucco, windows, and trim detailing will also match, and the roof material as well. Um, taken together these details ensure that the addition reads as a cohesive exit as cohesive to the existing residents rather than visually distinct addition. Again, there's no change to the building footprint, um, proposed and. We did know in the staff report that neighboring residents are set far enough apart and back from each other that the additional massing should not cause visual impacts to the neighbors. I did want to note, as was brought up before, we did receive comments from neighbors to the rear, I believe, today, and we can discuss those questions further after this presentation, and I'm happy to pull up the full project plans to review those additional details. Next slide. Oh, sorry. This is the materials and architectural study that was provided by the architect. As you can see, the existing stucco will be matched as well as the Spanish tiles and window details. Next slide. For the development standard compliance review, there is no change to the building footprint. So therefore, there's no change to the setbacks to the front side or rear. The lot coverage did not change and neither does the height of the building. The roofline will match the existing height and there's no change to parking requirements. As proposed, the project aligns with the intent and requirements of the municipal code and is consistent with the goals and policies of the general plan. Next slide. This slide briefly goes over all the design review findings. Those findings are further detailed for your review in the staff report. Finding number one requires that the project be consistent with the zoning ordinance and the general plan. Finding two requires that the approval is in the best interest of public health and safety and general welfare. The project will be required to meet all applicable state and local building regulations of the building code and does not pose a threat to any public health, safety, or welfare. Um, this finding number three, uh, for site layout, uh, setbacks and parking, um, as previously described, no changes being proposed to those, um, development standards that are existing. Um, and finding for, um, the material study and details provided by the architect, um, support this finding, um, with the compatibility of the existing structure. City Council Chambers, And then finding five there is no change proposed to the landscaping or hardscape with this design review permit. City Council Chambers, As noted in some of the comments previously approved pool and landscape project is under construction that project was approved through a building permit and did not require design review. City Council Chambers, From the city and i'm happy to talk more about that project if needed. And again, full analysis is in the staff report. Next slide. For environmental review, the project was found to be a class one exemption, which applies to minor additions to existing structures where the addition will not result in an increase of more than 50% of the floor area of the structure or 2,500 square feet, whichever is less. And the project has no potential to result in a significant environmental impact. Next slide. And then so in conclusion, the project as detailed in the staff report is consistent with the general plan, the zoning district, the municipal code development standards. It preserves the architectural style materials and massing pattern of the existing residents and the neighborhood. It satisfies all required design review findings and was found to be categorically exempt from CEQA review. staff recommends that the planning commission consider and approve the resolution approving design permit 2602 for the 187 square foot single form story addition a second story addition to the existing residence at 211 montego drive I am here to answer any questions. I also wanted to note that the architect is here and has a very brief presentation, as well as the homeowner, to answer any of your questions.

Okay. Thank you, Ms. Elchin. At this time, I'd like to proceed with the applicant presentation. Is that online? Yes. Yeah, please step up to the podium.

Hi, I'm John Clark. I'm the architect. I just have a really brief presentation about this. The reason we're doing this is because the bedrooms in the house are incredibly small. There's three bedrooms toward the front, and they have three children, and two of the three bedrooms have dimensions under 10 feet. So really the only way to get added square footage on this project is to sort of extrude the front of it forward. That's really the only way they can go. So what we're doing is right now the house, the front massing you see there, that prominent window with the arch above it, sits about six feet behind the garage wall and we're gonna move it over the garage wall and then that mass you see to the right there with the corner window is currently about six feet behind that front mass, and we're going to move it to two feet. I'm sorry, that's not confusing. But anyway, so we're trying to keep the sort of general character of the whole neighborhood where they have this sort of these two masses sitting over the garage. We're bringing them forward, but we're trying to keep them stepped in the same way. And we're just going to, almost everything will be identical. All of the stucco detailing, the archway, the windows, the trim, even that corner window that you see there on the right is a feature that's already there. So we're just going to sort of bring it forward.

Okay. Any more information that you'd like to provide the commission?

Not really. I mean, I understand why it's – well, in terms of keeping the general design the same, one of the features of the whole neighborhood is – that the massing is broken up by that lower garage section and then the roof coming through. So what we're going to do is we're going to bring the eaves through anyway. So instead of having it be sort of a stucco wall, we're going to bring the roof line through as much as we can. And in terms of it presenting to the street as being more forward, um in our situation there is no house facing this house across the street it were the two neighbors the neighbor to the east is on a corner facing the other direction and the neighbor across the street is also facing the other direction so the front of this house looks at their side yard and rear yard and then there's a long stretch of sidewalk there so the impact of it being In my opinion, the impact of it being moved forward is lessened because you won't be walking out your front door and looking at it. There's no one there. Normally, people just park their cars on that stretch of sidewalk. So yeah, any other questions?

Yeah, thank you for the thorough explanation. Yeah, that's very good. So at this time, we need to have public comment. So what I'd like to do is just open the public hearing. So the public hearing is now open and Ms. Mattenport, do you have any speakers online that would wish to address the commission?

Attendees via Zoom or via phone, please click on the raise hand button or dial star nine if you would like to speak. I do not see anybody who wants to comment on this.

So there's no one online that wishes to speak? Yeah. I see. Okay, very good. We do have a number of emails that have been received from neighboring properties. It is customary not to read these emails. as part of the record, but they are made part of the record when they're posted into the city website, when the records of the meetings are contained.

We've already done that. These items of testimony have been uploaded to the city website for this meeting. Excellent.

Thank you. So we're ahead there. Thank you for taking care of that. Well, since there are no public comments, no additional public comments, I will close the public hearing, and then we can go with the commissioner comment. So I will close the public hearing. So at this time let's see we have commissioners who have questions either for the applicant or for the our city planner or for the first staff so I'll start at my left with Commissioner is to say go Thank you And thank you for the presentation

A couple, I guess, observations for staff and maybe questions. So on the staff report on the footer, it says in hearing notice or say August 17, 2025. Should it be 2026?

Should be, thank you. Okay, sure.

Okay, no worries. And then the other observation is on the conditions of approval on page one, condition four says requires a business license prior to commence an operation, but I don't think this is a business license. So maybe it's just a boilerplate, but I just wanted to...

I can answer that real quick. Typically, we add that condition because any work that's done on the property, so construction work, if you work in the city, you have to have a business license as well.

Okay. That clarifies it for me. Thank you. Then just a couple questions for the applicant. I guess the first one is that I'll wait for you to get up there, okay. It says that, so the neighborhood homes are set back far enough to be unaffected. Are there any quantifiable kind of figures that can be given? I couldn't find any in any of the packages.

I see, yeah, well, I didn't provide a vicinity map that would show the distances. I would say that The only neighbor that would potentially be affected would be the neighbor to the east on Grenadine Street. And actually that neighbor did write a letter of concern about the project. His house, his backyard faces our side yard. So his house is potentially affected. 50 feet away from the project and higher as the street goes up and around the corner. His first floor is potentially six to seven feet taller than ours. I didn't survey it, so I'm not sure of that number, but I think that he was concerned about whether the addition would block the view from his rear bedroom to look out over the hills. And I haven't gone and looked out the back, so I don't know about that. But the house isn't higher than, we're not proposing to make the house any higher than we are now. So if he can see the hills now, I think he still will have a good view. Then the house across the street, as I mentioned previously, we are facing their rear yard. So they are sort of, they are partially, Partially, the back of their houses are partially in front of our house, but I don't think it's necessarily our addition will affect them at all. And then the neighbor on the other side to the west, is the sort of standard layout. The addition is, I don't think, going to shade their property at all, particularly because the house to the east on Grenadine is higher and all the shade is coming from that house. So I don't feel like it encroaches on the neighbors in any real significant way. It would be unusual. And like I said, we're not expanding the footprint, really. It's just this push out on the second floor. Does that answer your question?

It does, yes. Thank you. Last question. So on the resolution document, page two, it says so long as the conditions of approval are met. So I guess the question is that if the applicant later value engineers materials like, I don't know, substituting the stucco texture for something else, which I don't think will happen, but let's say hypothetically, during the construction, what mechanisms can we or the city use to essentially, I guess I'm trying to say, to keep you honest.

I could see how they might try to get out of doing some of the stucco detailing and just have it be a flat wall. I can note on the plans that it has to be done and and provide detailing for it to match existing and then I I guess the If there are additional notes that I can add to the plan I'll be happy to do that to make sure that the detailing is matched And then the rest of it comes down to I guess code enforcement really or inspections there was significant modifications to what was approved and

we would bring the project back. If it's a minor modification, for example, if they wanted to repaint the house and it's a different color than what was represented here or something like that, we can probably do a minor modification. Larissa, correct me if I'm wrong, but that would be the correct process, correct?

Yes, likely it would be a minor modification. But if they did it on the fly, and you know, didn't build it to what is approved code enforcement is a good step when it's noticed. And like the architect said, building inspections would catch the difference in what was approved versus what's being built. And they would have to come back to the city.

Thank you, Larissa. Thank you.

I mean, I have had situations like that where, you know, you have all this stucco detailing, and then during construction, they just decide they don't want to do it. And I'm going to put it on the drawings, and then it's up to, you know, I guess code enforcement to make sure it gets done. Thank you.

Any other questions, Commissioner?

No. All right. So we'll move on to Commissioner Jimenez.

I just had a quick I think it's a process question more than anything. One of the comments that came in spoke to improper notification if you will. Can just for the sake of going on record can staff confirm that proper notification was done within a 300 foot radius per the Munico Chapter 13.

Absolutely. We were able to review the labels that were used to send out and all of the individuals who provided written testimony were on the list. And those notices were sent out. I'm unsure what happened, but we can confirm that they were on the list and that the notices were sent out. per that section of the municipal code. Thank you for asking.

Yeah, and can you also confirm that plans are not required to be included in those notices? Correct.

Plans are not required. However, the notice did include, I believe, a portion of the plan to identify. Schematic.

Yeah. And I just want to add that it does provide a link to the agenda item, which has the full plan set, the staff report, and all the attachments. in that notice.

Great. Thank you. No further questions.

Okay. Yeah, thank you for that clarification so that the plans are posted to the website as part of the agenda so the public can actually go there and see the information that we're looking at. Everyone's looking at the same document. Okay. Well, we'll move on to the next commissioner, Commissioner Morrison.

Thank you. I just want to confirm one thing only. There's a letter sent in. I know the plans show a pool in the backyard. I assume that existed already. I don't know if there is a pool or not, but this project does not have anything to do with a pool in the backyard.

This is only in addition to the house. Actually, he filed the application for the pool after I submitted these plans. But then, you know, since it didn't require design, we got permitted faster. So it's under construction right now. It's almost done. So I put it on as existing because by the time we're permitted, it will be, I think it's a couple weeks away probably from being done.

okay yeah and so that's to say there's any concerns about the fencing retaining walls and that has nothing to do with this addition to the house that would have to do with the pool and i guess if there's some concern of that they should contact the city about that construction project because it's separate from this one thank you and Yeah, that was the only thing I was just bringing up. The other item, we already confirmed that everybody received their letters. And if people don't look closely at the envelopes, they may have put them in the recycling bin. So thank you very much.

Thank you, Commissioner Morrison. And Commissioner Moswalker.

I just have a comment confirmation that so the footprint of the house is the same.

Yes.

The only change is that there will be more square footage on the second level. That's correct.

Yes. Okay.

Thank you.

Sure. Thank you, Commissioner.

And I have one question, and this is related more to staff. With the ongoing construction work for the pool as well as the expansion of the existing home, Does the permit provide for specific working hours that the starting time and ending time for any work happening on the site in consideration of neighbors? Do we know what those working hours are and the days of the week?

Oh, sorry, that's okay. We don't have a condition in the existing draft conditions that limit the hours of operation. Hercules does not put a number on it. There are performance standards that apply, but they're not construction hours.

that I'm aware of, they can't does have a reasonable hour. I think it was 7am. But that's connected to the building permit rather than to the zoning approval.

So within the building permit, it will indicate the allowable hours to minimize the disturbance times. So you basically don't have someone working until midnight and starting at 4 a.m., that sort of thing. Right, okay. Okay, very good. Well, the rest of the commission kind of asked the questions that I had in mind, so there's no need to repeat them. So I, let's see, put it to the commission. Do we have any questions? additional questions that we may have for staff or for the applicant? No, looking at none. Well then, at this time, I will consider a motion from the commissioners for this item.

make a motion for a resolution of the Planning Commission excuse me of the city of Hercules approving design review permit 26-02 for 187 square foot second story addition at 211 Montego Drive HERCULES, CALIFORNIA, WITHIN THE RESIDENTIAL SINGLE FAMILY LOW DENSITY, RS-11 ZONING DISTRICT, AND FINDING THE PROJECT EXEMPT FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT.

THANK YOU. DO WE HAVE A SECOND?

I'LL SECOND THE MOTION.

So we have a motion and a second at this time. Those in favor, state aye. Any opposed, state nay. And we'll, Ms. Mattenpoor, could you run a roll call, please?

Yes. Commissioner Isasego? Aye. Commissioner Jimenez? Aye. Commissioner Morrison? Aye. Vice Chair Mostwalker? Aye. And Chair Rubio?

Aye. And the motion passes 5-0. Thank you for coming in and best of luck in the project.

Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

Okay, so moving on to the next item. There are no discussion items, so we can move on to the Planning Director Reports and Announcements. Acting Director Field, do you have any announcements?

I do have something that I'd like to bring up to you tonight. We are going to be hosting on September 10th at our library Okay, this is the General Plan Update first workshop. You wanna be there. It's gonna be at seven o'clock at night. Again, it's over at the library. And this is the first big workshop that we're gonna have for our General Plan Update. And this is where individuals can really have participation at the very beginning. Where are we going? What do we want Hercules to look like in the future? It's a big deal. So please be there if you can. If you can't, or if you have someone that you want to pass this on to, please make them aware of this opportunity. There's also a website that's set up just for this. It's www.hercules2050.com. Again, that's www.hercules2050.com. And that website has all of the current information, It has content on it. It has a survey that's still open and available for the public to fill out to answer some of these preliminary where do we want to go questions. So please keep that in mind as you're talking with community members. And I hope to see you there. Thank you for your work tonight. I appreciate it. I don't have any projects. We do have an unusually scheduled meeting. Our next regular meeting is going to be on a Wednesday because of the Labor Day holiday. I'm not sure if we're actually going to have that meeting, but it's scheduled on a Wednesday. It's, I believe, Wednesday the 9th of September will be the next meeting. So just want to note that that's kind of an unusual day for us to meet. And that's all I had, thank you.

Okay, thank you. Does any of the commissioners have any questions for Acting Director Field? I do. Commissioner Morrison? I do.

We also had a few things, but I did forget to ask at the last meeting, just out of curiosity. Our repair and remodel project there on Sycamore, the little retail center and that, last week the fence went down. What's the update on going on? Did they ever get their permits?

Did get permits, but I'm not sure where they are in the inspection process.

1500 Sycamore, is that the TCO?

For some new leases, huh? News. Okay. All of a sudden, the fence went down last week, but I haven't seen anything else happen. One or two trucks there a little bit, and that was it. This is a curious thing I just came up with when I was driving by last week. Anything about the RV project? I'm sure our golfers are happy that that has fizzled, but is it totally fizzled?

I believe so. I believe that the entitlements just recently expired. I think it was on August 8th that they expired.

So they did not ask for an extension then?

And I'm not entirely sure that they could have. I think that they needed to commence grading and utility work or something like that to be able to move forward.

Well, we've had other projects where they have done nothing and then they get another five-year extension. Okay, well, they have not asked for those.

They didn't ask for an extension of their permit.

So, okay. So that, well, any golfers out there that are listening, it looks like at this point nothing is happening at the golf course, but they're keeping it open. At least they have not abandoned it. So that's good. And that's nothing else that I have. Thank you very much.

Any others? No? Okay. So let's see. And moving to the final item, the Commissioner Reports and Announcements. I guess we can start with Commissioner Moswalker.

I HAVE NOTHING TO REPORT.

COMMISSIONER MARSEN?

I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING TO REPORT.

COMMISSIONER GIMENEZ?

I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING.

COMMISSIONER SOSAGO?

I DON'T HAVE ANYTHING EITHER.

FOR MYSELF, I HAVE NO NEW ITEMS. Thank you very much. So we've come to the end of our meeting. And we, as stated earlier, our next regularly scheduled meeting is for Wednesday, a different day. But it's Wednesday, September 9, 2026. And that's the next regularly scheduled meeting. So at this time, I'd like to adjourn and wish everyone a good night.