Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Okay, we'll call to order the planning commission meeting for Wednesday, August 27th. Could we please get roll call? Commissioner Scarboro Echo. Commissioner Santos here. Commissioner Ortiz, Vice Chairperson France present. Chairperson Rodriguez Sea present. Just for the record, Commissioner Scarboro Echo and Commissioner Ortiz are absent.

Thank you. And then we'll go ahead and uh do the pledge of allegiance. Commissioner France, will you lead us? All right, moving on to item three for public comments for items not on the agenda. Do we have any? There are none.

Thank you. Uh we'll go ahead and move on to the minutes. Um I'll entertain a motion for planning minutes for the commission meeting on July 23rd. I'll make that motion and I'll go ahead and second. Commissioner Santos. Yes. Vice Chairperson Fron. Yes. Chairperson Rodrika. Yes. Motion carries.

All right. Moving on to our public hearing items. Item 5.1, a conditional use permit and SQUA consistency determination. We have a staff report. Good evening, chair and commissioners. My name is Nicolas Wutron, assistant planner with the community development department. Item 5.1 is a request of approval for a planning review discretionary and conditional use permit for the development of a Walmart fuel station. The applicant is Jennifer Perkins of CI Engineering Associates on behalf of Walmart Incorporated. The site is located at 82391 Avenue 42 identified in within a sister's parcel number 610 330 020. The project is located within the Palm Shopping Center on the corner of Avenue 42 and Monroe Street immediately south of Showcase Parkway within the within the development. The fueling station will be developed on a 1.4 4 acre par portion of the existing Walmart Super Center site. The project is located within the regional commercial zone of the unified development code. The regional commercial zone allows a range of commercial and service uses intended to serve both local and regional needs. The fueling stations and convenience stores are identified within the unified development code as conditionally permitted uses in this zone, which is why this project requires a conditional use permit. The general plan designation for this site is regional commercial. The designation provides for regional serving commercial uses such as large format retail, shopping centers, and service uses which include fueling stations. The Walmart fueling station falls within these types of uses anticipated under the this designation.

The proposal includes the aximately 1,600 square foot convenience store and a an approximately 6,300 ft fuel canopy with 10 pumps providing 20 fueling positions and associated site improvements including parking, landscaping, pedestrian connections, and lighting. A lot line adjustment will be required to ensure that all improvements are contained within the pro project boundary. As you can see here, these are the proposed elev building elevations for the convenience store. The elevations illustrate the north, east, south, and west facades. The structure is a singlestory building with parapit walls and stuckle finishes designed to match the scale and character of the existing Walmart Super Center and surrounding commercial development. Excuse me. The project also includes a fueling canopy with 10 islands. The design incorporates architectural treatments that are consistent with the existing Walmart center and other commercial structures in the area. This slide shows the proposed color and building materials. However, staff is recommending that the commission consider adding a condition of approval requiring the substitution of pure white with an off-white or another color that is consistent with the Walmart color scheme. This recommendation is intended to maintain consistency with the broader Walmart site. The slide shows the proposed floor plan for the approximately 1600 square foot convenience market. The plan includes a central um sales area, a cooler section, and supporting areas such as storage and equipment rooms. Restrooms are provided along with lockers for employees. The design incorporates point of sale counters, exterior merchandise areas, and supporting utility infrastructure. The circulation is organized to accommodate both customer access and employee operations within the building. Excuse me. For the landscape plan, the city requires a minimum of 10% of the

site to be landscaped. The proposed project provides approximately 38% which exceeds the minimum requirement. The plan includes drought tolerant plant species selected from the city's approved pallet. A condition of approval has been added that will require any trees that are removed from the site to be replaced on a 1:1 ratio with 24in box tree. Um in addition to this condition, there are a there are five mature non-fruiting palm trees located on the north end of the project site immediately south of Showcase Parkway u which have been conditioned to remain in place. And these are the five non-fruiting palm trees that are located on Showcase Parkway. The project is compliant with the city of India's general plan 20 240. The project is compliant with the city of India unified development code. The proposed project is consistent with the city of India's general plan 20 240 and associated certified environmental impact report. A SQL guideline section 15183 consistency checklist was completed and confirms that the project would not result in new or more severe environmental impacts than those previously evaluated. With application of relevant of conditions of approval, the project is recommended for approval. Conditions of approval are binding and must be adhered to. And with that, staff recommends approval of resolution numbers 2110 and 2111, conditionally approving the Walmart fueling station, including a condition requiring the substitution of the pure white with an off-white or another color consistent with the Walmart color scheme. Thank you for your time. I am available for any questions that you may have. The applicant is also available for any questions you may have. Thank you.

I just wanted to add uh to that presentation that our economic development director is here this evening, Miguel. um he's going to follow that up with a brief um streamline presentation of the economic aspects of the project that were given at a previous meeting, but because we have a gas station here uh applicant tonight, we thought it was appropriate to to give that presentation again. So, Miguel will take it away.

And members of uh of the planning commission, my name is Miguel Ramirez Corno, director of economic development. And we're waiting for my slideshow to come up. I'm back again. So here is the uh b there's a couple brief slides just to recap what we discussed last time I was here and it's how the market drives business growth in India. Again, just to reiterate, there's a $1.1 billion unmet demand across 30 plus retail food service industries. Um, of that, here is kind of the the top ones with uh gas stations being at approximately $18 million unmet demand. uh gas gas station market signals 88 um 88.1% of adults purchased gasoline in the past six months which represents $110 million in annual consumer spending on gas station purchases in India. The demand for fuel and autorelated services is consistent with the volume uh is consistent and volume driven. Gas stations and uh in Indo serve both local residents and a steady stream of commuters commuters and travelers. So here's where we get into a little bit different data that we didn't show last time. So demand uh gas station demand in India India's current um if we're looking at kind of like our per capita with a population of 95,548 um pe residents in in our city and 29 gas stations. This includes the Maverick gas station because it's already been approved but doesn't include the Walmart. Our um our number of gas stations per thousand people is 3.04. India in the future if you were to approve tonight uh including uh Walmart it'd be 3.14 per thousand people and the uh US per capita 4,000 people is 450. Now that seems like hey we're getting kind of close. Well if you break down

how many gas station more gas stations we would need to meet the average uh at the US we'd essentially need 14 more gas stations in order to match the US uh per capita ratio. Uh so benefits of competitor pricing for consumers. Uh I know some one of the questions in the past is you know what would it look like? What would the demand look like if we do um prohibit gas stations from from coming in. So um the benefits are lower gas prices through market competition. Uh typically I had a friend in the past uh his dad worked for BP and he was kind of the price person. Um they liked slash didn't like having gas stations right next to them. The reason why a gas station stands alone can essentially set the price at at that is because if you need gas and you're really desperate for gas, you have nothing to compare to. You're just like, I have to get gas here. Uh so reduce price volatility. Uh regional spillover benefits for us, it's especially that we're the last major city before Arizona. Um it could be that hub. Let's stop to get food. Let's stop to get gas uh right before we hit head off into the middle of the desert. So fueling stations in close proxim proximity don't count can necessarily cannibalize each other. They compete and that's where the consumer benefits. So competition clusters mean lower more stable prices more retail choices and retail linked rewards programs. Uh being that the Walmart's there with the Walmart gas station there, you know they typically there's attachments to rewards programs there. And that's my brief presentation. If you have any questions for me, I'm here to answer them as well. Thank you very much to both of you for the presentation. Do we have any questions for staff? Okay. I I do have some questions to go actually but um just to clarify today's we are not looking at the market. We in fact it doesn't matter what the market says for this body. In fact, we should not be

making decisions based on um uh revenue. It's it's land use. So I just want to make sure that we're adding that to the record. But thank you for your presentation. Um there's a um you guys are saying staff is saying no E is necessary. Could we talk about what within the uh um excuse me, I'm losing my notes for some reason. Um it's based on the programmatic ER that we did for the general plan. And so I'm just curious if we could highlight which mitigation strategies are implemented in this project um from that programmatic IR to offset any potential environmental impacts.

So so for for a project like this um when someone is is doing consistency with the general plan and program EIR um they do what like I mentioned in my presentation a a consistency checklist. Um that was something that Walmart provided and they were they um their environmental um consultant is here and they can provide a little bit more detail as as to how um they were able to to determine that that you know they met within that checklist. We as staff review review that checklist to make sure that nothing gets nothing um it goes past what was already approved. And as long as it it we can certify that it met met those based off of what the checklist is, then we can we can say that we that um it is consistent with with what was originally approved.

Okay, great. So, we'll pass on the question to the environmental consultant. Thank you, Nico. Um, okay. If there's no other questions for staff, we'll go ahead and open the public hearing and we'll let the applicant come up and give a presentation.

Good evening, chair and commissioners. My name is Tracy Enscore. I'm with the Phineore Law Firm, outside legal council on behalf of Walmart. We actually don't have a formal presentation prepared tonight. We want to keep things brief, but we do have the traffic engineer, a member of our civil team, and I believe the architect um may be may have joined remotely. I'm not sure if you have any specific questions. Um we're happy to answer. Thank you.

Great. Um do we have any questions for their team? Maybe if you could please address my question about what uh of the checklist is being implemented on this project to offset any potential environmental um impacts. Absolutely. I'll let Tracy Zen, our SQA consultant, answer that.

Thank you. Tracy Zinn with the consulting firm TMB Planning. Um, so to answer your question, even though a like an M &D or an ER new document wasn't prepared, in accordance with the mitigation requirements of the general plan ER, many environmental studies needed to be prepared for this project just as they would have had there been a new document. So the checklist um includes technical analyses or technical reports as attachments for air quality health risk assessment, phase one cultural resources study, energy analysis, geotechnical report, paleontological report, greenhouse gas report, phase one environmental assessment, water quality management plan, noise and vibration analysis, traffic analysis, and vehicle miles traveled. So I just wanted to assure the commission that all of the necessary technical analysis was done for the project and to support the checklist. Several of the mitigation measures in the general plan IR required the preparation of the reports to confirm that the project would not have any greater environmental effects than the general plan disclosed. However, there are are several um mitigation measures from the general plan E that are carrying over to this project. Um I have them. Unfortunately, I don't have a consolidated list. I was called up too quick. I was in the process of going through the document. So, if you want to call me back, I can point out everyone that's being carried forward. Um, but um certain ones also are embedded in city code and in regulatory requirements. For instance, the South Coast Air Quality Management District rules for gas stations, fueling stations, um the installation of the tanks underneath the ground are all regulated by AQMD. So, there are some mitigation measures that are carrying forward, but most of the requirements on this project are embedded in city code or regulatory requirements that would have otherwise been required. But I can come back up in about five minutes if you give me a couple minutes

and that would be fantastic. We're not picking on you, but we did receive lots of public comments um regarding some environmental concerns. So, I think it would be definitely worth just uplifting all the different studies and the mitigation measures that are implemented into this development plan. Okay. Um so, uh maybe we'll open it up for public comments um if there are any.

We do have one comment um from Ash Vega. Good evening, commissioners. My name is Ash Vega. I'm a resident of India and I'm here very disappointed and frustrated to see yet another gas station being proposed in the city, particularly at this location. As you just saw, there's a Circle K right at the corner of Monroe and 42nd in that same shopping center. Just exactly one mile away from that Circle K on Monroe and 42nd is an Arco on Jackson and 42nd and less than half a mile from that arco is the Stars and Stripes gas station also on Jackson. I know many many folks who unfortunately aren't able to be here in person or don't even know that this project is being proposed but they share the same sentiment that there are way too many gas stations in India and we do not need another especially at this location. Not only would this project be poor land use planning, it is completely illogical. This project contradicts state regulations and targets such as AB197 and SB32. More specifically, it contradicts the advanced clean car second regulation set by carb, which sets a target for all new passenger cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in California to be zero emission by 2035. According to carb, automakers are actually overcomplying with this regulation and will meet the upcoming requirement of 35% new vehicle sales being zero emission by 2026, which is right around the corner. With this, there will be a reduced demand for gas, less profit to come from such

developments. Beyond that, on a more human level, this is what makes our community sick. These gas stations pollute our environment. We are quite literally sick of seeing gas stations at every corner. No exaggeration. Under the city's 2019 climate action plan, a key strategy under sustainable land use and transportation is to support vehicle sorry support fuel efficient and alternative fuel vehicles with the action for this strategy being to support expansion of charging station infrastructure and one of the responsible parties for this action being planning. Ultimately, approving this project would be a neglect of your responsibility to support fuel efficient and alternative vehicles under the climate action plan by continuing to expand the gas industry in this community. I urge you to be really intentional about the city you are planning and developing and the way your decisions will impact the health and environment of your constituents. I urge you to not approve this project. Thank you.

Thank you, Miss Megan. Thank you for your time. Okay. Um, is the applicant available now or do we need a little bit of time?

Yeah. While while we um continue to go through all the mitigation measures, I just want to address um a few that were raised by the commenter and may be of of concern. I think what distinguishes a Walmart fueling station from a typical standalone fueling station is the fact that the Walmart store does have a regional draw that we are able to then capture those existing customer trips, consolidate those vehicle trips and provide a one-stop shopping destination where customers can get every, you know, groceries, what whatever they're shopping for at Walmart and their fuel in a single well-lit safe environment. um with with security and um good visibility and access from major streets particularly at this location. This particular location is unique given its um proximity to the Tin Freeway in Monroe. And based on the most recent CALR data, there are 83,500 daily trips westbound, 77,000 daily trips eastbound on that freeway segment. So, this location, as was mentioned, is one of the last chances both eastbound and one of the first chances headed westbound um to purchase reasonably priced gas before the Arizona border. Um so, this this location in a travel corridor is ideal for a fuel station. It's going to really help. Um, I know we're basing our decision ba the decision tonight based on land use and not revenue as you said, but to um provide those community benefits, those those dollars that might be spent elsewhere. I would also point out that North India in particular has relatively fewer gas stations despite its its more

recent growth. Um, as was mentioned previously, the Walmart Plus members will receive a $10 uh, sorry, 10 cent per gallon uh, discount. And I would also add that yes, although that um, electric vehicle technology is still emerging. The need for for fuel stations is not going away anytime soon. Walmart only invests in in a fuel station when their int uh their internal market analysis shows the demand in that area. Um and so Walmart would not be investing in this location unless it was assured of of strong demand for for many years to come. As far as any environmental concerns as as will be addressed by Tracy's in there's been ad um abundant mitigation regulatory requirements related to fuel stations to to ensure that there would be no groundwater contamination air pollution any environmental concerns. So this is the state latest state-of-the-art technology up to date um compliant fully compliant with all regulations. Thank you. And maybe I have a a couple follow-up questions, but I'll let the commissioners Are there any questions maybe for this particular presenter for the moment? Yeah.

A quick question in regards to um the EVs. Um how much do you guys know how much power has already been allocated for this project? Power as far as from ID for to support the the operations for the gas station for infrastructure purposes. I don't know if we we have that level of detail yet as far as the you have it. Okay. Okay. Yeah. Tracy's in and it'll be a two-part question uh for her and and the reason why I'm just trying to see if there's has Walmart at any given point uh entertained or have any other businesses that um or locations that provide EV charging along with their gas station.

Yes, they do. Um, and Jennifer with our civil team might provide might be able to provide details about the EV charging specific to this store, but yes, especially along busy interstate locations, Walmart has been rolling out an EV program um with many stores. Okay. Yeah. So, does does this development have the capacity for EV charging or is it Yeah, that I think that's um that would be my follow-up question to your followup question.

My name is Jennifer Perkins. I'm from CI Engineering. Um I did confirm with Walmart. I don't know when it is planned, but they are planning to do EB projects at this location. So, we've been doing I know there's some planned for other California sites, but I know we have personally done a bunch in Arizona as well as Oklahoma. um they've been anywhere between 10 to 12 stations, EV charger stations that they've been adding. And so, like I said, I don't know when, but that is definitely planned for this location. Is it because it's already part of a larger development that we're not requiring EV capacity? So, based off of the um within the green code, I believe, if I'm not mistaken, there there are two stalls, two parking stalls that are EV ready. Um they and and per the green code that that is the requirement to just be EV ready. Um I do want to note that on the actual Walmart site, there is an EV charging company already there. They take up several several of the parking stalls. um which is is part of the the gr grander scheme I guess of the Walmart project so to speak. Um but they do have two two stalls that are EV charging ready. They just won't they they don't have to essentially operate as of right now until they are required to.

Got it. Okay. Yeah. I think that was the question about the development whether it was EV ready or not within this development. Yes. Because it's part of a larger development. Yes. and and it is something that we do analyze um as as part of our building and safety does look into this when when the project is being reviewed and and uh during that review period.

And then maybe a follow-up question to um your earlier statement. Um you were saying, you know, this will be the last affordable fueling opportunity before you get to Arizona. There's actually quite a few other gas stations if you keep going just a little further um southeast. So, I'm just could you speak a little bit more about um historically like how much lower you tend to be than your competitors and then what is the business model there? Um if if the if the assertion is that this is where people can fuel up for much cheaper than maybe the um you know if they're on the freeway, the Circle K that's right before you get there, the Chevron that's on the other side. Um well, there's just tons of them that down there. So, yeah. Well, there yeah, there are a lot of factors that go into fuel pricing. Obviously, that's beyond my scope of expertise here, but I can say that that Walmart is very competitive in terms of their pricing. And then with the Walmart Plus members getting that additional sort of club like discount um is is an added benefit. So, that results in in those customers getting an even lower fuel cost.

Thank you. And it would be fair to say that it would be similar since Walmart and Sam's Club tend to be the same company um of the similar um business pro uh plan. Should should be similar. Yes. Okay. Oh, please. All right. One more question. Give you another minute. Um the um what are the hours of operation going to be? Are they going to match the store? So, if the store is open, the gas station is open, or is it going to be 24/7? Yes, they will match the store. So, that will be 6:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. every day.

Okay. So, that's going to be that. Okay. The other question I did have was when we looked at the design, you know, I know the colors are are your Walmart corporate colors, which is fine. Um, I always worry about buildings that have too much um open space on them because they become artist campus, you know, canvases. So I had mentioned whether there was possible to increase the um masonary work either higher or to do something artistic. Um our city's big about you know murals and art and making things look good. That would be a nice feature to distinguish maybe this particular Walmart and India versus all of the others. But I would like to see something done with all that open space if this were to move forward. Absolutely. Yes, we would be willing to to do that. Perfect. Thank you.

Thank you.

And one last question. I think this might be more for staff. Um, but in regards to I know there's a fire um or roof access on the side that was presented on the illustration. Um, is there any code city code right now in regards to having those ladders uh locked? We don't have a representative from the fire department. Um, but when it goes through the plan check process, they will have to the fire department will review it and make sure that it meets those requirements. We just we don't have that exact information now. But again, through the planchecking process, whether it's the EV ready um you know, electrical or this, it will go through the typical plan check process to make sure it meets codes. So, perfect. Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, one last item. Um, and I don't know if Miguel wants to speak on this, but I'm glad you brought up art because one thing we do here is there's an inloo fee they have to pay as part of the building permit. And so that goes towards art. Now, if they do art here and they pay the fee, that would that would be kind of interesting, but you certainly um could recommend a condition to add a art component to the project. So, good point. But I wanted to just reemphasize the fee then the fee that they have to pay for art as well which I think is wonderful because before I came here I was in a city that wouldn't even want to do that and the fact that we're doing it and encouraging art and and charging so that we can see more art in the city is great.

We might are are we ready? Yeah. Great. Thank you. All right. Um, to answer your question about the electric utility usage, the estimate for the electric demand for the project is 255,754 kilowatts a year. I think your question related to like how many megawws are going to be demand from the substation. I don't have that math so I I don't know but the utility is already serving the existing Walmart mart store and has indicated an ability to service the site. Also there will be a transformer in in installed as part of the project um on the west side of the convenience store building. Okay. And I apologize. You're going to need to bear with me as I flip through the pages of this of this document. Um so the as I mentioned the 15183 consistency checklist has been supported by a number of environmental technical studies that quant quantitatively analyze the project's potential impacts on the environment. Um the general plan AR required that an air quality impact report be prepared which it was and determine that um impacts from the project would be less than significant. The nearest um sensitive receptors are pretty far away. As you saw in staff's presentation, the zoning and general plan designation around the property is mostly commercial. The nearest um receiver, nearest residential use is almost 1500 ft away from the property boundary. Um that being said, the health risk assessment report that was prepared um disclosed that the project um um diesel particulate matter emissions would result in a human health impact of 0.06 in per um 1 million whereas South Coast Air Quality Management District's

threshold is 10 in a million. So we're far before one nowhere close to uh the 10. Um, nonetheless, the project would still be required to comply with all the applicable South Coast Air Quality Management rules, including rule 461, which is going to address and require the installation of a vapor recovery system that will control the VOCC emissions and the vapor releases during the refueling process, as well as South Coast Air Quality Management District Rule 402, which um controls all public nuisances as far as like o odor nuisance. Um there's no biological resources located on the property. It's paved or otherwise disturbed. However, staff did mention that there are trees. Um some will be retained. Some will be replaced under the migratory bird treaty act if there are any um active nests in those trees. Um those the construction or disturbance of the nest would not allow to occur under federal law. Um and that would be monitored during the project's construction process. In addition, the um Coachella Valley MSHCP habitat conservation fee would need to be paid. Uh the cultural resources study found um you know no evidence of cultural resources. However, during the construction process, if anything is unearthed that is suspect that it may be of interest to the Native American community, the construction process is required to cease and appropriate archaeologists, Native American monitor need to be called to the site to evaluate the find. Okay.

M maybe I'll ask about the traffic study and the vehicles mile traveled. So, could you maybe speak a little bit more about that? And then also circulation because um Wavista that road um it's pretty highly trafficked now and so I'm just curious about your findings.

Okay. And the traffic engineer is here and I may have Rob Robert um come up to speak to that but I'm not sure if it was mentioned in the staff report but there is a requirement on the project to install frontage improvements along street B. Um do you want to address the traffic? Okay. Hello, my name is Robert Vu. I'm a licensed traffic engineer in the state of California. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak tonight. Um, as far as the traffic study, uh, what we did, um, just to rewind all the way back to the start of the process is, uh, we met with city staff to obtain all the requirements for that traffic study to be prepared for. Um that included uh level of service, vehicle mile traveled, queuing analysis and uh based on that study, we went out and obtained counts uh existing conditions and any cumulative projects to add to opening year or horizon year just to establish those future years and make sure that with this project or without this project if there are any deficiencies and based on that the traffic study that I prepared uh there aren't any deficiencies even with the buildout of uh horizon year 2025 and uh with or without the project it would roughly um operate the same uh there wouldn't be any s significant increases in delay with the addition of the proposed part project

and with VMTS no cumulative um uh air quality impacts uh with vehicles mild traveled because it's a local serving retail. Um it's greened out uh vehicles mile travel and as far as a gas station goes um it really you're pulling existing trips and they're going to exit from their trip uh go to the gas station and resume. So we're not considered VMTS because it's neighborhood surveying, but in the presentation we heard that the intention is to pull riders from the I10. Is there is that am I hearing that correctly?

No, it's a good point and this is real common with EMTT. Usually I think it's a metric of about 50,000 less than 50,000 or something. Forget the exact number for to screen out. But I mean it's not just isolated to people in the city of India. is going to draw people off. But the VMT screening doesn't get into that level of detail. You know, is the traffic coming from freeway? Is it only coming from the the street and internal streets? It VMT doesn't get into that level of detail, but it is screened out due to its size. I also wanted to emphasize that staff worked very hard with the city engineer and they actually changed the circulation of the project so that when the trucks come in it does not uh cause any problems with the traffic circulation. So, you know, they used the template. They showed the different configurations for the trucks when they come in to unload and unload the fuel. And so, um, well, unload the fuel. And so, that was worked out and they came up with a slightly different design as they worked with the traffic engineer on that. Thank you, Brian. That's really helpful. Thank you so much. Any other questions? No. Okay. Well, thank you for the presentations. If we have no other public comments, we can go ahead and close the public hearing and we'll go ahead and go into deliberations. C

could I add just one last item?

So, I realized that our economic development director uh did a presentation and you're right, we're not looking at market demand and things like that. Um the primary reason is, you know, we are doing research as directed by the council to come back to the planning commission to look at how many stations we have. you know, what are other cities doing in the valley? So, that's still a work in progress that I we'll be reporting reporting back to you soon. But as far as tonight, I think it's really important to iterate. Right now, we don't have any restrictions on gas stations. So, this proposal, not only does it meet the zoning code, but it meets the general plan and it passed the test for SQA. So in that sense, you know, that's why we recommended approval because some of the other things that are kind of in the wings are still being looked at and we don't have anything concrete and certainly we don't have any direction from the planning commission or the city council to amend our code or our general plan to restrict gas stations. So I think it's just important that the gas station this evening that's that's proposed, it meets our code and it meets our general plan. I know there's been comment letters, you know, um, expressing concerns and we appreciate that public input we always welcome. But as far as where we're at to date, you know, it does meet the requirements that it needs to meet. So, just wanted to reiterate that tonight. Thank you, Brian. Okay, we'll go into deliberations. Any comments? I have a few comments. Yeah, I want to say thank you to everyone who submitted public comment, who showed up for public comment. Um, it's a luxury and a privilege to be able to be civically involved. I think it's a it's a privilege for us to be this way. The reality is that most community members are working really hard to put food on their table. So, it's a very difficult thing to be involved. However, I think we did hear the community loud and clear about the concern of the amount of gas stations that are coming into the city. Um, it's a it's a concern that we have

as a commission is why we're doing this uh study. I do want to sort of echo some of the concerns and some of the inconsistencies that I'm finding. So, um, and we've talked about this VMT, uh, issue in the past about it's not good enough. I'm hoping CVAC will give us a bit more direction as they're working on their VMT. However, there is a concern from the community about air quality and there is a reality that the business model sounds like they're interested in pulling lots of traffic from the I 10. In fact, the presentation said this is the last fueling, you know, affordable fueling and we went into that. So, the business model is fueling people who are on their way to Arizona. I think it was very clear from the pres presentation from the team. Um, it's not something that is being accounted for in the ER um checklist about the amount of traffic that's coming in. And the reality is that VMTS is interested in measuring the impact to air quality not a thousand feet away from uh housing, but there is housing. It's actually right around the corner from a really large um area where we do have lots of housing um lots of residents living in the area. So, I think those are um serious concerns that we need to consider. And I think that the community is, you know, taking the time to come and tell us it's a conditional use permit, which means that, you know, we need to take all the considerations and if we think that it's not consistent with the general plan, I think the public uh comment that was um shared in person about how it's not actually meeting what we are saying we're doing with the regional planning, with the climate action plan. I think those are all uh really great points and it takes a lot of energy and time as we know to go through those plans and see if it is consistent with our general plan and all the things that we said. And so um those are just sort of the

things I wanted to raise before we make a decision and I'll entertain a motion. All right. Can we have the um Oh, there it is on that side. It's not over here.

Yeah. And and depending on where this goes, um I did want to voice in um the added condition that um our assistant planner voiced, you know, it's kind of vague. Um but usually we like to actually say, "Hey, this is the condition as it's wording. If you could add it into the into the approval, we'd appreciate or the the permit if it does move in that direction." So then let me ask my fellow commissioners. I mean I would love to see if this were approved some type of mural or some type of increase on the masonary edge so that it's up higher. So because we're this we're a city who embraces art, right? Um I think the mural really is attractive to me, right? Um but I'm I can't do that without consensus from from you guys. But I think that you know um the applicant seemed you know um to say that they were okay with it. So, if it's okay with you, if we do approve, I would love to add that as a condition of approval that they work with with maybe our arts commission or um to come up with something that would, you know, continue with what it is trying to do. Does that work? Yep. Okay. All right. Then um I'd like to make a motion um to recommend approval of resolution number 2110 and 2111 conditionally approving the Walmart fuel station including a condition requiring sub substitution of the pure white with an off-white or other color consistent with the Walmart color scheme and adding the mural um to the spaces where there is more open space on the building and they are to work with the staff and maybe the art commission to design something that follows follows what India is trying to do citywide.

I'll second it.

Commissioner Santos, yes. Vice Chairperson France, yes. Chairperson Rodriguez, no. Motion does pass. It's not a we we normally have a bigger group of people but uh we do have a majority of a quorum and it's not a general plan amendment or specific plan amendment. So motion does carry.

Well, thank you very much. We'll move on to commissioner comments. So, first of all, I'd like to thank staff. I know that we are definitely looking at gas stations. It's something that it's a big question for all of us. Um I've been on this commission for a little while and I know that when the Super Walmart first came, you know, to us that part of the conversation was at some point this type of a gas station being there and because of staff's recommendations and everything else that we see, I kind of think that it's not perfect what we're doing, but I think it's what we needed to do. And I hope that in the future if we make new rules that then we can apply those to future applicants, you know, as they come before us. But I I do want to thank everyone. I know that this is a lot and uh I appreciate all the work. Thank you.

I would also want to reiterate uh what Commissioner France also stated. Um thank you guys for all the hard work you guys do on on on a daily basis looking at these projects uh making sure that they're compliant with our general plan. Um, so thank you guys.

Well, I want to thank you, too. I know it's a tough thing and you do a lot of a lot of hard work. Um, and you know, you're working with what we've got and so this is where um we come in to make some recommendations if there's a policy change. So, I'm actually really um interested in hear station research that we're doing and then um also understand what are the gaps, what are the things. And then I said I would submit stuff and I haven't submit stuff. So I I'm curious when the study session is happening cuz then I will spend an entire weekend sending stuff.

Well, I guess that's a segue for me. So we have been hard at work doing some research looking at the surrounding cities as I mentioned earlier. You know, how many per capita? Um we're also um just kind of doing an overall look as far as u some potential if you did want to restrict gas stations in Indo and looking at what other cities may um have done or in this case what we could consider like you know in practice. So we're going to bring this back to the next meeting. Uh we'll have a a presentation. Um some of the planners I've done the research that that I have also reviewed already. So um we definitely will bring that back to the next meeting. Now depending on what you say and the data that we present um we would then t take that same presentation or modify it if directed by the commission to the city council and then see if they want to direct us um to further study it or even potentially amend the code andor general plan. So that's kind of where we're at right now um on that item. So, can I do a followup actually? Um, because we did get a lot of comments and it's something that I'm hearing out in the community as well. So, if I'm coming and bringing it, it's because I'm hearing it out there.

Is there a possibility for us to do some form of like call to get comments? I know that, you know, not maybe a formal survey, but I think whatever it is that we are taking into consideration as far as a policy recommendation, we should certainly be interested in reaching out to the community and just sort of hearing the sense um from the community, what they're thinking about. Um because, you know, we this is when we do recommendations for amendments, right? We might have not gotten it right when we were doing the planning five years ago. Um, so, so you and we've and we've done amendments on these things, right? We we haven't gotten it right. So, I think, you know, and the community has come up. We've heard from the business community. Actually, Brian, right before you came in, we had a bunch of businesses organize and say the zoning is not right. Let's get it right. So, I'm just wondering if there is a possibility for us to do some form of community engagement process while we're doing this study to kind of understand what the temperature checkout in the community is regarding this type of development, where it's going and um you know, what does the community want?

Yeah, we definitely have a little bit of time, not a lot of time. We'll work with economic development. We'll work on um maybe doing some eblast and and some things to kind of engage people a little more, but we don't have a lot of time to do a popup because, you know, this has been um I think since February um has been going on. So, we could definitely try to engage people um before we come to the first meeting in September if that's okay with the planning commission. And then depending on what you hear and the information that's presented, if you want us to do more public outreach, we certainly could.

Yeah, that's helpful. And I know that you guys are doing a great job cuz I follow you on all the in the Instagram and all the things. So yes, if we could if we could get something out, it gets a lot of traction. Lots of people are looking at that and you're promoting all the great things that are happening in the city. I think this is a great opportunity to also promote the things that are happening here. And Brian, the other thing would be before we change policy, of course, then that's definitely when we want to get community feedback, right? Of course. Obviously. this would this would be the very beginning of a community feedback and then if we got a little further and we're looking to make some serious changes then I definitely think we need to do the pop-ups and we need to go further out and make sure that we're getting

a deeper sense from the community other than people that really watch right because people that are activists and activists or want to really watch what's going on they're the ones that watch everybody else is working right so we want to make sure that we get it out deep into the community before we make any major changes right yeah that sounds good absolutely Absolutely. And the part about we need to get it right. We'll never get everything right. So, we're always going to be changing something or another if if if we're willing to move with with with the time and with technology, there will always be changes that need to be made. So, I'm I'm definitely not afraid of making change.

Yeah. And we do have additional staff, including an intern, a new planning tech. So, I know they're going to want to dig in and help with public outreach. I I love public outreach, getting into the community, kind of getting your hands dirty and finding out like what's really, you know, their thoughts. self. Yeah, good point.

And just to again with some of the stuff that has already been said by the commissioners um and the chair, I think a lot of the things even before we end up doing making amendments uh at the end of the day when it comes down to the sensitive topic of gas stations, how much gas stations uh do we have already? Do we need more or not? Um ultimately it keeps coming back to the technology and moving forward with uh with the uh electric vehicles. Um but we currently don't have the infrastructure. So, it's going to be hard to apply amendments when we don't have a se uh a secondary re um plan in action. Um I know the city's working on creating more power and stuff like that with the the the implemented taxes, but until that infrastructure is there, um I think that's also going to be another point of if we do implement an amendment to restrict uh we're going to find other issues that we're later going to have to find uh fix later. So, I'll just I'll just I'll just respond to that because, you know, we we won't get to do the amendment, right? We do a recommendation to the city council and then we'll let the city council kind of hash it out. However, this has been brought up with these types of developments in the past. I actually went around between like 7 and 8 as I was driving to work and then again maybe like between 5 and 8. No one is waiting for gas stations. However, if you drive by the Walmart at whatever time, there's like seven EVs waiting for those two small charging stations. It's like electrify America and then something else. I um and there there is a gigantic line of people waiting there that um so I I do think I think you're right. I do think we need to acknowledge the reality of the community though. Where are people waiting? I I've said this before. There's only one gas station in the entire well two gas stations in the entire Coachella Valley where I see people waiting to pump gas. None of those are in our in in our city. So, you know, just I want to acknowledge that. I think I think I think you're right. I think we do want to take those things into consideration, but I think this is why it's important to hear from the community, right? If we're hearing from the community, everybody's waiting for gas, and this is why we need 10 more

of them or 14 more of them to get to the average. And Mr. Chair, members of the commission, um we will get this on for another agenda. So, we we'll definitely go ahead and do that rather than have a discussion kind of outside the parameters of the agenda at the moment, but we hear everybody loud and clear. We'll make sure to bring it back as soon as we can.

Thank you for keeping us honest, Jennifer. Um are there any other staff Second item is just uh last week at the city council meeting they um approved uh us to move forward with DUDAC to continue to study the annexation the east India employment corridor. So working on a new contract for the consultant to continue to do that area and they did agree with the expanded area. So over 4,000 acres will be studied which is important um for Indo's future looking you know 15 20 25 years into the future. Other than that, that's all the staff meeting staff items that I have at the moment. Actually, one last thing I think I reminded you before the meeting, but the planning commissioner workshop is next week. That's September 4th. Um, and so some of you have signed up, but if you haven't, um, let me know. We can get you signed up and you can attend. Other than that, that's all I have to report on.

Thank you, Brian. And just to confirm, you're saying that the study session will happen at the first meeting in September or it's tentative. So, I was planning on bringing the gas station research to the first meeting, the next planning commission meeting. So, you know, we could do some limited outreach and I think that's good, but it is going to be on the next agenda. Okay.

Now, if you'd like us to not put it on the next agenda, we could and do the second meeting in September. It's up to you. I do feel like, you know, there was a request by the council a while ago to come back to the planning commission. So, I think at least seeing kind of our initial research and then you can tell us, you know, maybe look a little more into this or that or we like it, move it forward, present to the city council. Okay. That way, I mean, it'll be one of many others may potentially. I think that should be okay. It's two weeks from now. So, all right. Great. Thank you. All right. We'll go ahead and adjourn the planning commission meeting and we'll see each other here again uh September 10th. Thanks, everyone.