Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

All right, we call to order the planning commission meeting for September 24th. Can we get roll call? Commissioner Scarboro here. Commissioner Santos here. Commissioner Ortiz here. Vice Chair Frs present. Chairperson Rodriguez

present. Okay. Um, Commissioner Santos, will you lead us with the pledge? Thank you. Okay, this is the moment in the agenda for public comments for items that are not on the agenda. Do we have any comments?

There are none. Thank you. And we are now moving on to the minutes from September 10th. Any changes? I'll make a motion to approve the uh minutes. I'll second. Okay. Can we please get roll call? Commissioner Scarboro Echo. Yes. Commissioner Santos. Yes. Commissioner Ortiz. Yes. Vice Chairperson France. Yes. Chairperson Rodriguez Seca. Yes. Motion carries. Moving on to public hearing item item 5.1 a request for a recommendation to the city council. And we have staff.

Good evening or afternoon. Just waiting for my presentation. Perfect. Good evening, chair and commissioners. My name is Nicolas Wutron, uh, assistant planner with the community development department. Uh, item 5.1 is a tenative track map number 39130 for case file number plan TTM25003. This is a request for a subdivision located at 82489 Valencia Avenue. The applicant Scott Ayes of Laser Laserus um Investments LLC is proposing to subdivide a one one existing parcel totaling approximately 14,512 square feet into six residential lots. The site is located north of Leroy Way and south of Valencia Avenue. within the connected neighborhood 20 zoning designation. The project site is surrounded by existing residential development and has access from both Valencia Avenue and Leroy Way. The property is currently vacant with minimal vegetation on site. The general plan 2040 designates this site as connected neighborhood high. This designation allows for higher density neighborhoods of up to 20 dwelling units per acre and supports a variety of housing types including small lot, single family, town homes, and multifamily. The zoning for the property is connected neighborhood 20. This zone implements the general plan designation of connected neighborhood high um by allowing up to 20 dwelling units per acre subject to development standards such as setbacks, parking, height, and open space requirements. The subdivision is consistent with both

the general plan and the unified development code. The project proposes six lots on on excuse me the project proposes six lots which equ equals to about 18 dwelling units per acre. This density is within the maximum allowance of the SN20 zoning designation. Each lot can accommodate two off- streetet parking spaces and will be reviewed for compliance within development standards at the building permit stage. The project also supports the general plan policies for infill development, efficient infrastructure use, and neighborhood compatibility. The proposed tenative track map um of 39130. The subdivision would create six residential lots from a single parcel totaling just over 14,500 square feet. The lots range in sizes from approximately 1,800 square feet to just over 3,000 square feet. No new public street dedications are being proposed as the site will be serving from existing access points from Valencia Avenue and Leroy Way. The property is currently vacant and surrounded by existing development. The project is compliant with the city of India general plan 20 240 and the unified development code. The project is compliant with the subdivision map act. The project is categorically exempt from environmental review pursuant to section 15332 for infield development projects of the California environmental quality act guidelines and with application of relevant conditions of approval the project can be approved and conditions of approval are binding and must be adhered to. So with that staff recommends to approve resolution 2121 recommending the conditional approval of the tenative track map number 39130 um recommending approval to the city council. I'm available if you have any questions and the applicant is available via teams. Uh if you guys have any questions for him.

Thank you. Do we have any questions for staff? Um I guess I have one. Um since the applicant's not here in person, but I guess they're on Zoom, right? Um any idea what the plan is for this for this um site? Yes. So, previously he was uh going to uh build some homes um and then sell them off. Uh at this point, from my understanding, and I'm sure Mr. Ayers can can provide a little bit more input. Um he's currently just doing this for financial purposes, will eventually just end up selling the lots, individual lots to uh people that have an opportunity to build a home. Okay. If you would confirm that if he's on, do we need to open the public session first? Right.

Okay. If no one else has any questions. No. All right. We'll go ahead and open the public hearing and let the applicant give us their comments. Mr. Heirs, if you could please unmute your mic on your end. Okay. Can you hear me now?

Yes, thank you. Okay. Yeah, I was on mute and I couldn't get off it. So, um I think they just gave me the authority to do so. Yeah. So, um originally we were going to build six homes on that on those lots there. Um I think what we're going to do now is we um are most likely going to be just selling them individually. We may build a home or two on them depending on uh the market conditions, but um the purpose really is for uh residential single family homes on there. So, okay. Um are are they you guys considering like duplexes, shared walls, or just literally single family homes with no connecting walls?

Yeah. Yeah. So, our original plan was to like a triplex um on each side. So, I have three units uh next to each other. on the north side and then three on the south side. That's that's what the original uh plan was and it may still be um but that's how we um put it together originally. Okay. Thank you. Sure. Okay. Do we have any public comments for this side? Uh we do not have any.

Okay. Great. We'll go ahead and close the public hearing. I'm curious about the um uh density about with the reducing them to them. We're saying how how many units can go into each square uh in each each uh so each each individual so the the the total for the site it can I guess you can maximize the site and and it could be up to like 18 billion units per acre for the entirety of the site. U for this one specifically, each individual lot um can accommodate one dwelling unit plus an an ADU or JDU. So technically at most it would be like three units per per site as long as it fits. Okay, if that makes sense.

Yes, it does. And that's consistent with the neighborhood that's consistent with the connecting neighborhood 20 zone. Yes. Okay, great. Those are all my questions. All right. Um, oh, Brian, were you gonna give us a No, you you guys clarified. Thank you. Great. Okay. Um, then if there's no more questions for staff, I'll entertain a motion. I'll make a motion to approve. I second. Roll call, please. Commissioner Scarboro Eckl, yes. Commissioner Santos, yes. Commissioner Ortiz, yes. Vice Chairperson France, yes. Chairperson Rodriguez.

Yes. Motion carries.

All right. Let's move on to item 5.2 on the agenda. An amendment to the India Gateway project. Can we get a report, please? We'll give it a second for the presentation to load up. So, good afternoon, chair, members of the planning commission. My name is Gustavo Gomez, principal planner uh with the community development department. And the item before you is the India gateway amendment for um uh case file number plan PRD25-000020 and plan CUP um 25-00007. So the so just to give you some quick background on the project um on October 18th of 2023 the applicant um Philip Brown uh representing Majestic Realy Co. submitted an application, a planning review application, a conditional use application and a tenative parcel map application and associate envir and associated environmental review um for the um uh India gateway project consisting of a 7-Eleven gas station, a convenience store, a car wash, a Quinn Cat building, and six light industrial buildings. Um on July 10th of 2024, the planning commission recommended to the city council um approval of the tenative parcel map uh 38687 and also the at that same meeting, the planning commission conditionally approved the planning review and the CUP and certified uh the environmental document associated with the project. So, um the the item before you um as described in the city of India's unified development code, uh section 6.316C, modifications to approved plans. Um it summarizes that when a request is made

to change the conditions of approval for a discretionary permit um beyond the thresholds of those allowed by a major modification shall be treated as a new application. So, the request before you um this afternoon or this evening is to amend the conditions of approval for the off-site improvements for the planning review and the CUP for the gateway project case file number uh 23-3-35. Um the project is located at um parcel numbers uh 606 uh dash 060 050 051 052 and parcel number 606 080 0000005. Um the project is located um north of India uh Boulevard and Jefferson Street and there hasn't been made any changes to um uh the pro uh this associated project or the zoning and general plan have not there hasn't been any change to the general plan and zoning for the area. Um the proposal um is to amend the conditions and currently um the main uh change would be for condition number seven which reads um which is found in the prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy which currently reads that all off-site improvements um including energizing of street lights and installation of irrigation and landscaping along India Boulevard shall be constructed and accepted by the city prior to the issuance of a temporary or permanent certificate of occupancy. So the revision um to to that condition um would read as follows that all the off-site improvements including but not limited to energizing of the street lights, wet and dry utilities and installation of the irrigation and landscaping along India Boulevard shall be constructed and accepted by the city as follows. Um so for phase one is prior to the issuance of the first certificate

of occupancy that ultimate off-site street improvements from the westernly property line to the east of Bur Street with proper asphalt concrete pavement um taper to match existing edge of pavement and for phase two that prior to the issuance of a certificate of occupancy east of the Quinn project um to that ultimate off-site improvements from the east side of Bur street to the east properly property line of um to have with proper asphalt concrete pavement taper to match existing age of pavement. Um this just to kind of illustrate what um this exhibit shows those proposed phasing plan as you can see um phase one is highlighted in yellow and phase two um with associated condition B is is highlighted in um in blue. Um so those um those proposals are pretty much showing that from the northwesterly portion to Bur Street would be phase one and then um after Quinn cat um or project comes in for a certificate of occupancy east of Quinn then it would trigger the off-site improvements um east of Burr to the um uh south of the property. I should note that the the project has been diligently pursuing to obtain uh building permits with the building and safety department. Um as of the date of this report um the Quinc project has currently gone through its second review of um uh plan submitt and and additional additionally to that um the applicant has obtained uh a mass grading permit for the site. So with that staff um staff's analysis is that the project is compliant with the goals and policies of the India's general plan 20 240 and the project is still

compliant with the city of India's unified development code and the proposed amendment is consistent with the final initial study and mitigative declaration and the conditions of approval are binding and must be adhered to. So with that, um, staff recommends to approve resolution 2120 and resolution 2124 amending the conditional use permit and planning review for the India Gateway project case number 32-03-35 for the phasing of the outside improvements. That concludes my staff report and staff and also our city engineer and the applicant are here to answer any questions.

Fantastic. Thank you. Do we have any questions for staff? Is the applicant going to talk to us or only if we have questions? They can if you would. Okay. I actually do have a question. Well, are you ready? Yeah. Okay. Um, what safeguards do we have about building out phase two? Because we have we have we have a project that's going in there phase one. We know that we had added the conditions for the entire project. So, what do we have in place now to ensure that the applicant will be building phase 2 and that the improvements to the street will be completed?

Yeah, that's a good question. I'll ask for the um the applicant to come up and maybe provide some um some justification as to the request and then what um what they're going to what they're doing or what efforts they're being making to essentially have development occur east of Quinn. But we don't have anything as our team hasn't put any sort of anything forward to to ensure that this is going to get built out.

Yeah, I mean a lot of this is market driven and these revised conditions does give them some flexibility. That's why they're here this evening. But as far as the timing of development, um it can be difficult because um as the applicant will explain this evening, they are still trying to find um additional tenants for the site. So they'll they'll explain that this evening, but um it's going to be market driven and and based on the tenants that they find for the other paths. So, if the market for the next 10 years, we can't do and build out phase two, then that means we're not going to get the street improvements on that second half

potentially. Um, but hopefully the applicant can tell you what they're working on and a timeline for that because, um, they know the timeline better than we do. Fantastic. Thank you so much. All right, we'll go ahead and open up for public comments. Yeah. Um, the applicant, please. Thank you, Commissioner Taylor, Majestic Realy. Um, do you want me to answer the questions or please give us your presentation as you had prepared it and then absolutely I'm sure you will address

been working uh closely with your staff for for a long time. and they've been great to work with and um I think we came to staff a while back um because the the hurriedness of getting Quinn into the site was was our number one focus and in doing that um we had gone through the general plan amendment and zone change and um we thought we had a tenant lined up for the west side of Quinn as well um but as the market dictated it we haven't landed a deal. So with a large site like this um to do all of the infrastructure for just for one user, our lender push back on us and it's it's really hard for us to bear th those those costs when our lender is saying that you know you're only doing this for for this one deal. To answer your question about what we're doing on the east side, we've actually engaged for the last f six months uh two brokerage firms, two independent outside brokerage firms that have been marketing the site both on the retail side for retail users that can be part of that 8 acres as well as an industrial brokerage firm that can find shallow bay light industrial uses as well. We'll be here next week for the Palm Springs ICS. Um again uh being a part of Majestic Realy for the last 18 years, we have a large portfolio of tenants and clients. Um our our model is to build. Um so we're not we're not a land banking company. We want we want to build. So we we will be aggressive and actively, you know, marketing the site and talking to our clients and our tenants in our portfolio. And as soon as the market demands um the use, we will we will break ground just as as we're doing for for Quinn. We know the importance of of Quinn in this location. Um both for Quinn and for the city. And so we we're we're actively, as you can probably see today, there's there's work about to be commenced on the site for Quinn. And so we're hopeful that working with the staff that we can we can execute on

phase one and hopefully sooner, like really soon, um rather than later, we'll be able to to put into production phase two. Okay. Thank you. Um any other questions? Okay. Um, do we have any public comments? Thank you for your present. Oh, is there Yeah, there's there is one more, please. Sir, did you Oh, do me. Oh, no. There was a gentleman in the back who raised his hand and said he wanted to give a public comment. And I'm sure Paulina will ask you to sign a piece of paper, but thank you. Yes. Thank you. Uh I'm I'm here for item number three, but I'm glad I'm here for item number two

because I I am in fact uh somewhat involved. Um this site uh was the development of the site was I'm sorry, my name is Polo Doria with a firm of Lean Associates. I do commercial real estate in the local area and have been for the last 40 years. Um I'm familiar with this site. I've actually worked on this site uh 20 years ago. We laid it out at Industrial Business Park then. uh and were caught by a large recession and and stopped. So this is this site has gone under variation of maybe three different plans. Finally marketdriven uh the term said earlier market driven is really the key. It was Quinn that was a catalyst to to make this happen. Uh I worked with Quinn Caterpillar and his successor Johnson Caterpillar for 12 years to find a site in India. And we finally brought one. We we this site came to came to mind and we put it together with the with the um presence of Majestic and Quinn and these are big names in the industry to get them in India was a huge score. So I guess the bottom line and what I'm saying is that yes the market the flexibility that's uh being proposed here today really is key to helping India grow. I'm in full support of this particular um phasing so to say. I I see this a lot and and it takes this kind of flexibility to help our city grow. You're not really missing out on anything. The plus is you're getting Quinn and you're getting development. You'll get the the other overtime as the market comes to you.

Thank you. Thank you for your comment. Yeah. Oh. Um okay, we'll open the public comment again or Oh, we haven't closed it. Yeah. Would the applicant uh come up? We have a question from Thank you. One of our commissioners. Absolutely.

Just got a good question. So when you mentioned that you're looking into either retail or industrial like what kind of businesses are you in mind like like a ballpark like kind of kind of what kind of business names or something like that like so we can have an idea of like what going to that site? um name specifically, not sure yet, but the site the site plan that we laid out and got approved was for you know 25,000 to you know smaller um square foot buildings that could support both local businesses here that need to grow. We've had uh through Polo we've had several inquiries from from groups that need to expand within the Coachell Valley or specifically in in Indo. Um on the retail side that's why we brought in a retail broker. We know that there's a lot of retail activity that's starting to pick back up, but from the actual retailers, we will probably know more next week when we're out here at ICS. ICS is the retail conference and they have them in several parts of the country, but next week they're having they're hosting in Palm Springs, uh, which we will specifically showcase this site to the retailers that that are coming. So, I'm reluctant to use names just because I'm not I'm not sure exactly who who is going to come knocking on the door. I'm confident that there will be users that that are and we'll be flexible on both cases. So, we'll be going after both the you know light industrial type users, manufacturers to the straight retailers.

Okay. Thank you. So um could you sorry just once while we have you up here um what happens if in if this next endeavor is not successful and we find ourselves five years from now still trying to as the gentleman pointed out earlier you know different iterations different uh maybe different markets but what what happens what would be the plan what do you typically do um in a case like this we you know we we we phase it out um and then what happens to the east side

um So, Majestic, we're a long-term hold development company. So, um, from our standpoint is we will look at this for the long term because that's what we do. We build and hold and we build and and and hold and and lease and and and that's how we operate. That's how we grow. We're, you know, we're nationwide and we've got about 100 million feet of product in our portfolio. So, what does the next year to five years look like? We're going to we're going to do what we always do and we're going to go out and find those those users or those tenants that that that want to be at that location. And the great thing is it's it's a great location. It's got the infrastructure. It's got the visibility and it's got the access. So we don't think that we'll have a problem finding groups. It's just right now we're in a as we all know we're in a time in the market where there's there's just a little bit of a lull. And so we'll be prepared to to develop and that's what we are. We are developers. So um you know we will be here you know trying to make it make it happen.

Okay. So then maybe well um so then maybe just help me understand um something because I feel like I'm having a little bit of an inconsistency. The lender right now is saying we don't want to give you this much money because you only have one side. Um if we don't if we don't do the street improvements all the way across. You're saying I feel confident we're going to do this. So why would we not do the entire infrastructure investment across if you're feeling confident that the businesses are going to come in in the next five years? Why wouldn't we just build it out, get those improvements, and then by the time you can get your, you know, person to go in there, you can, you've already done that. So, help me, I guess, just help me understand from your perspective, why would we not want to complete that street and and if we, if you're feeling confident in the next 5 years, you're going to have ability to build this up.

So, we are going to do west a bit, I mean, a bit east of of Quinn and we are going to go all the way to the west. The reason is with a large site like this, the infrastructure dollars required to do all of that, the lender looks at it and they have security, right? You have security based on on Quinn. You don't have security based on the rest. So to spend all of those dollars now, the lender's going, but you don't have security behind it. So the reason why we ask for for a phase and we do this quite frequently is so that the lender then can then see okay in in six months from now or a year from now when we're coming in on phase two they know okay you're this is what you're breaking ground or this is what you're under contract or LOI with then then we go to them and and we can draw down on on those funds. So it's it's the the lenders are are tied to to the to the security but be behind that investment.

Got it. And so if if if we don't I if this was not to move forward then you know would we be losing then the opportunity for development? Is that what you're what if I'm sorry if we weren't if we weren't to um approve this amendment. Yeah. Then then we would have we then we would have a a significant problem with our lender. Yes. and it would be we wouldn't be able to perform all the work going from the the India all the way west to um the detention basin on the furthest northwest part of the site. So we're we're we have this approved as a as a phased so that we can do all of this work today and then execute in the future with our lender on on the rest of it. Okay, great. Thank you so much. Yep.

Okay, do we have any other public comments? There are none. Okay, great. I I'll go ahead and close the public hearing. I do have a question for staff. If we um is there is there a possibility for us to give a time limit if if there isn't um if if we're not able to find someone in the next let's say five years, is there a way to uphold that um commitment for this condition of approval?

So we'll tag team this. One thing that has worked well um that I've used in my career is to report back to you. We can give you a status. So, it's real common to do that or we could add something into the the permit that says within you can decide how long to report back and then um we can also have the applicant come back and give you an update on progress of the project as far as if they have new tenants, you know, are they looking at um you know, certain pads coming in in a certain amount of time. So, I I would probably say maybe in the next two years would be a good timeline to come back with a report, invite the applicant uh to give you an update on the project if you think that's acceptable.

Okay. Any question? Any other questions? I have a question for the our engineer.

Taiwan. Taiwan. Thank you. So, I know in a perfect world, we'd love to the whole thing completed right in one fell swoop. That was the original plan. I think my biggest I I mean I understand the cash flow and how you have to do things the way the market will allow you to do. So I I get that. I just want to make sure that as our engineer, you've looked at what they are going to do in this phase one and how it will blend into what we currently have on India Boulevard and that we will have safety and continuity for our residents and people right driving. I mean to me that's my biggest concern right now because I I do I do understand how the market works. I just want to and I'm sure you've looked at this but I think for the public it would be good to understand that we have looked at the safety part and that this will still flow nicely um along India Boulevard until the second phase can be completed.

Yes. Good evening city engineer. Great question and I'm glad you brought it up because something that was missed in all this is the the work the the back and forth that went into this. What the applicant first presented was um something that we try to avoid which is a peacemeal approach. Um it would have given you the sense of incomplete improvements as you drove along that project frontage. But now with this plan is we've extended those limits from like the northwesterly property corner past Burr Street. Once these improvements are complete they will be to ultimate. You'll see your asphalt, curved gutters, sidewalks, street lights, landscaping from Bur Street all the way to their northwesterly property corner, which is going to give you the sense of completeness, safe, functional, and you won't get the sense of a peacemeal approach, which is something that we always try to avoid, and I think with with what we've presented to you, we'll address that and give you the sense of safety and completeness.

Perfect. That was my biggest concern because I we have seen it done peace meal and then afterwards we are not happy so we don't want to do that again. Correct. But we understand but thank you. I appreciate that. And it'll be in a way where in the future we we wouldn't have to touch all these improvements. Right. We just continue going east. Perfect. That's a good question. That was my last question.

And I do have a a draft condition that I could voice in just for discussion and then if you want to modify it or agree, you can tell me. Would you mind if I read that into the record? Okay. Um within two years the applicant shall return to the planning commission with an update on the project and provide a timeline for construction of the remaining of the project. Um so we would agendaize that. We'll inform the applicant. Um and then that will engage a discussion with the planning commission and um property owner and applicant. And so you can um have some security about what is the status within two years. The project could easily take 12 months to build, maybe longer depending on other factors.

Yeah. I mean, I think that's Yeah. So, I'll if there's no more deliberation or questions from staff on a motion to approve, please. I'll second it. And Yeah. Can you pull up the motion and then Does he need to say including the condition? Yes. Yeah. Yeah. If you could just site um per the condition that was voiced in the record by the community development director, I think that would suffice. Yeah. Okay. So, let's go say now. Yeah. Yeah. So, I raise a motion to approve including the conditions that uh the director mentioned.

And I'll second it. Can we please get a roll call? Commissioner Scarboro. Yes. Commissioner Santos, yes. Commissioner Ortiz, yes. Vice Chairperson France, yes. Chairperson Rodriguez Seca, yes. Motion carries. Thank you and congratulations and we wish you lots of luck next week and we really hope that we see the entire site built out. Thank you for being here. All right. Uh, moving on to item 5.3. Couple resolutions staff report.

Hi, good evening chair and members of the planning commission. My name is Chris Gomez, principal planner of community development department. And the item before you is the Mio Street Industrial Complex for case file number plan TPM250010 um and plan PRD25007. So the project um uh is a request for planning review and a tenative parcel map. The applicant Polodoria and Lee uh with Lee and Associates and Benjamin Egan um with Civil Engineering on behalf of um Joe Zucero have um are proposing to subdivide uh an existing 6.8 an 8 acre lot on APN66920005 located at the southwest corner of India Boulevard and Mattio Street. The general plan designation is workplace and employment district and the zoning is light industrial. Um the project is uh here's a vicinity map of the project is located with um surrounding um other industrial uses and the all-American canal um to the west of the project. Um here are the existing conditions for the site. Um currently there is a um an existing light industrial building with um associated um uh storage and uh for a pool and electrical uh products company. Uh the as you can see the um for the land use component of it the general plan um is workplace employment and as you can see the surrounding uses um are similar in nature and similarly with the zoning uh is zoned light industrial and the adjacent uses are also um light industrial. Uh the tenative parcel map proposes to subdivide um a uh 68 acre

parcel um the into two. So the first parcel would be approximately 2.93 acres in size and the existing industrial building will be on the remaining um 3.3 um acres. Uh the site plan um the project is proposing to construct uh a uh 36,72 foot multi-tenant uh industrial building. Uh the building will um allow for 10 units ranging from 1, uh 968 square feet to 5,489 square ft. Uh the project will also include uh loading docks, um 98 new standard parking stalls, uh landscape, trash enclosures, driveways, hardscape, and underground storm retention. Um access to the project will be it will have two access. So the first one would be off of India Boulevard to towards the north and the other one off Maddio Street. Um the here are the proposed color elevations for the the project. The applicant is proposing um some uh different colors. So some to some bone white um some stone materials um some paneling and also some double pane uh low E glazing um for the project. As part of the sub uh submittal packet, the applicant has uh provided a concept um conceptual landscape plan and the uh the applicant will make sure that they will utilize uh desert native and drought tolerant or droughtresistant trees, shrubs and succulents associated with the project. Um uh we do have a memo that we did provide to the planning commission to incorporate two new um conditions of approval for resolution um

2118 and they read as follows. So um in order to promote or enhance uh India Boulevard, we wanted the applicant to install six large non-fruit palm trees along the frontage of the project on India Boulevard and two large non-fruit palm trees along the frontage of the project on Mattio Street. Um evenly spaced to create a balanced landscape focal point. All palms should be a minimum of 20 feet in height um at planting and be a minimum of 36 inch um box in size. Um palms shall be illuminated with uplighting to enhance the visual appeal while ensuring compliance with the India Unified Development Code section 3.02.11 regarding outdoor lighting standards. Um the final landscape and lighting plan um specifying an appropriate non-fruiting palm um species shall be reviewed and approved by the community development director prior to the issuance of a landscape permit. And the second condition, oh, you know, I should probably pull this up. And the second condition is for the applicant to install decorative rock ponds uh featuring broken uh rock sizes between four and six in arranged in irregular shapes throughout the landscape areas of the project. Uh the final landscape, including the proposed rock, must be submitted for review, and receive approval from the community development director prior to the issuance of a landscape permit. um staff um finds that the project is compliant with the goals and policies of the city of India general plan 20 240. Uh the project is also compliant with the the city of India unified development code and the tenative parcel map 39113 is also consistent with the subdivision map act. Um the proposed project can be exempt from environmental review pursuing to SQA guidelines section um uh uh 15332

infill development and section um 15315 for minor land divisions. Um with the application of the relevant conditions of approval and uh the project is recommended for for approval and the conditions of approval are binding and must be adhered to. With that, staff recommends approval of resolution 20 um 2118 conditionally approving the Mio industrial project um project design and also recommending approval to the city council for resolution uh 2119 for the tenative parcel map 39 um 1113. That concludes my staff report. Staff is here to answer any questions and the applicant is also here if you have any questions.

One small addition to Gustavo's presentation is the added conditions would be on the planning review. It's not on the map. Just a clarification. Yes. Thank you. Any questions? Yes, I do have a question for to staff. Um to the addition of the conditions, I think they're great. Um I think we should do it. I'm just wondering why are they separate to like to the actual package to the regular package that we got.

So the these conditions came after the fact after we reviewed it. We um felt that um in order to um kind of promote or enhance the streetscape along India Boulevard, we felt that these conditions would um help um kind of uh uh further that goal for for enhancing those streetscapes. Just and and why palm trees? Is it just we just aesthetically chose them or we did we was there?

Yeah, I can answer that. Um that's a good question. um in order to get that that look along India Boulevard, if you drive down India Boulevard, there's already a trend um for those palm trees. Um obviously if you want to add additional trees, we would love that too, but you know, we're trying to be sensitive to the applicant and the pallet that they chose and we we're adding to that pallet. that um there's already palm trees um both in the medians, not consistently, but um as we get more and more development along India Boulevard, you know, those palm trees will help with that that iconic look that that we have in the desert.

Okay. Um we'll go ahead and thank you so much for your presentation. We'll go ahead and open the public hearing and the applicant is up. Thank you so much. Good to see you again,

Mr. Chairman, commissioners. Good evening. My name is Paulo Dorya with the firm of Lee and Associates, acting as spokesperson and representative for the owners, Mr. Joe Zukuro, Al Jordan, and Doug Omeay, who by the way, all are desert residents, part-time desert residents. A little history on the site. Um, this was originally built uh for I don't know if you remember, Cali. Calply was a large um drywall distributor. uh and this site was developed about uh 17 years ago of which at the time I was also involved and um at the time Mr. Zukuro was president and owner of Cowply. He uh he has since sold the company and then but kept the kept the real estate and uh at the time I I asked Joe I said Joe at some time in the future the front part of the property is going to be valuable and and we made an agreement at that time that we would develop the property when it was market driven. So I I knocked on his door a couple years ago and I said Joe I think it's time. So that's why we came up with this plan of having another building on the site uh which would require that we separate the sites. We have two two buildings now same ownership but we simply want to have different legal own different legal parcels. That's hence the map. Okay. Uh for lending reasons for liability reasons for all kinds of reasons partnership reasons financial. So that's the purpose of the map. The uh the building is a multi-tenant light industrial building. patterned after another project very similar similarly done at Madison and India Boulevard where there's a a building that faces a street and it's also like industrial and it's been perennially full ever since we built that 20 years ago. So I'm taking that kind of same pattern and trying to kind of mimic that. Um to have to offering smaller spaces on a highly busy street

which is very attractive for small tenants. We uh tried to make the site as smart as possible to make it efficient. Uh it's it is limited because it does have two access points. Um I have tonight here with us Ramon Guteras a designer as well as Steve Egan the engineer as well as I believe our landscape architect. So if you have any questions regarding the site and we fully we're here to to answer those questions. Thank you so much. Any other background I can give you any questions off off hand? Sure. Do we have any questions? I have a couple. Yeah,

nice to see you again. Um, so, you know, having been here for quite a while, like not not as long as you, but for a long time, um, I immediately caught that this is very close to the project that we were just discussing. So hopefully that'll all grow into itself, right, is the goal with with this project. I also know that as a city, we do not have enough commercial light industrial properties. So this is this is very much needed here.

Um, one of my things I was going to bring up was the beautiful, you know, palms that we like to put in India. So when I saw that on the add-on, I thought, well, I don't even have to ask that question. So I'm okay there. But just as a local resident, I know that there is demand for light industrial and you've been in this business for a long time. I think this is very much needed in the city of India and the location is probably absolutely close to perfect um based on everything that's around it. So what do you think the timeline is from this point to actually start seeing come out of the ground? And I know these things take time but what what are you thinking?

Uh the all the fun part and the easy part is is up to this point. It's after this point, after approval is actually where it gets a lot more technical and a lot more dirty. Um, our engineer can speak to that, but basically we have to produce all the blueprints and all the working drawings. All of that has to be processed through the city, approved, negotiated, etc. We have to meet all the conditions here tonight. So, in a perfect world, um, we could possibly be buried within 12 to 14 months to to for groundbreaking and then another 12 for construction. So, it's it's a it's a long window. So, like the two years that we were just talking about, that seems to be about right. Okay,

that was it. I I I like the way it's laid out. Great. Thank you. Other questions? I do. Do Do we have um tenants in mind? Do are you No, it's it's hard. Uh it is hard to plan for two years out. Uh we we look at we look at supply and demand right now. We look at all the other tenant bases. We look at the population. Uh I I canvas all the tenants, find out who wants to grow. But I do that now and I try to figure out who can be there in two years from now. But right now, no one's going to put their finger there. It's just too long the way. Got it. Great question. Great. Yeah. And I do have a question maybe for the landscape architect. Um just curious about are they online or are they here?

Yes. Oh, great. Um yeah, I do have one other concern after that. Uh, we'll let him. Great. Okay. Yeah. I'm just um I'm c I'm I'm curious if there would be any objection. I know that you love the palm trees. However, in industrial there's lots they're not great at carbon sequestration and certainly not to um contribute or to mitigate the urban heat island effect. And so I'm wondering would you be opposed to doing some much more like you know shade trees or things that can cast a wider shadow from than the palm trees. I think I think we also include some uh shade trees as well with canopy.

Yes. But I'm saying in regards to the new condition as far as the front of the street, like would there be any reason why we wouldn't want to do that? Um well like uh before I start designing like now you have the new the new entrance you know the ones you you just built the main entrance that comes out from the from the from the freeway. So uh I think incor like I have worked in many many projects and and sometimes I mean we can incorporate some trees but also is the look you want to you want to do like because you already have palm trees in the middle. So, so you want to keep seeing the corridor with the palm trees and trees, but I mean,

yeah. So, it's an aesthetic. It's an aesthetic. It's an aesthetic, but it's not taking into consideration any sort of environmental like opportunities for like I said, carbon sequestration or also you have like big canopy trees. It it tastes like you you will uh cover the abuse to the to the buildings to the sometimes to the to the I mean to see to see the the the names of the of the of the tenants or anything like that. Okay. May I add just one quickly

item or Gustavo could add. So this site does have some shade trees. So, um, you can see the pallet there that it's not just the the large palm trees that staff is recommending.

Um, you can see some that are within the the parking lot. You can see some that are on opposing corners of the parking lot as well as uh um some along Mattio. So, um if you wanted to add more, that's something under consideration. Um but there are other trees u proposed within that pallet that not just the the palm trees. Yeah, see pretty much what I'm trying to right now is to enhance the entrance with the day pumps and palm trees and and but alone I have uh we have uh canopy trees as you see but most of the palm trees are are enhancing the entrances to the buildings. Great.

Yeah, great. Thank you. That was uh just my question. I appreciate it. Um I don't think there are any other questions. So, thank you so much for your time. Do we have any public comments? Um, there are none. Oh, sorry. You wanted to come back. There is a condition of approval that that could be problematic for us in the um condition number five. Can we pull up the condition that

could you specify if that's the map or the planning review condition?

That is the planning review conditional map subdivide resolution 2119 condition number five. Uh the condition as as it's uh presented states, the applicant shall cause to be recorded against the property these and all related conditions of approval with the Riverside County Recorder within 30 calendar days of final approval. Uh I've seen this before and this one this one literally curled my blood. Um what you're doing what this does is you have to record now these conditions on the property and uh in essence clouds title. It causes all manner could it could cause all manner of of trouble for the owner or the property in the future. And in this particular case we're taking property that's now one piece and we're cutting it in half and now creating two pieces. The conditions apply to the partial that's going to be developed, not to the building that's existing. You see, but if I record this as stated, then now I have to I'm clouding the title on another property. A lender could say, "What are you doing?" The title company says, "Who are you?" So, it creates it creates these problems for us. So all they would ask that that particular condition be either removed or specified that to only to be to be applicable to the property to be developed, not the one that's existing. C can we pull up the exhibit please of the map so we can see the the lot layout and I think Gustavo

um has looked at this, but if we could put the map exhibit up real quickly. Okay, there we go. Um, so sir, could you specify um you're saying that you're okay with that condition being on parcel one, but parcel two you would like it excluded. Is is that uh what you're saying? That's correct. Yeah, that that's an easy change. We can voice that into the record if if you agree with the applicant.

Thank you. That that makes a lot more sense for us. With that, I thank you for your support. Thank you for staff. Uh they've been extremely helpful in processing this and we look forward to moving forward as quickly as possible. Thank you for your presentation. Do we have any other public comments? There are no more public comments. Okay, great. Um any deliberation or a motion? I'll make a motion to approve with the uh condition to apply to just the property or parcel to be developed as stated. Correct. I'll second. Roll call, please. Commissioner Scarboro Echo, yes.

Commissioner Santos, yes. Commissioner Ortiz, yes. Vice Chairperson Fron, yes. Chairperson Rodriguez, yes. Motion carries. Congratulations. Thank you. Um, all right. Moving on to commissioner comments. No, I have one. Oh, please. Yeah.

Okay. Um, it's that time of the year again. You all know I'm on the Coachella Valley History Museum's board trustee. So, our Day of the Dead celebration is coming up around the corner. I I know I can't believe I'm saying that, but it's November 7th. If you have not bought your ticket or a table or sponsorship, please consider doing so. It is a really great property within the city of Indo, and I just want to encourage you to visit the website. Thank you. I have a comment. Um, I want to also first thank staff again for their hard work. You know, they do a lot of like paperwork back and forth to make sure that when they present our staff um items in the agenda is everything is good to go. So, thank you staff for all that. Um, and I also want to say that our state of the city is coming up pretty soon. I think it's next week or the week following. Uh, not quite sure which date.

October 21st. Okay. 21st. So, I guess I'm I'm mistaken, but uh I plan to be there because I know that our city is doing great things and I I want to hear from the mayor from the city council of what's coming. So, just wanted to say that. Great. Thank you so much. All right. If no other comments, um moving on to staff items.

Yes. I'll be quick here. Just a few items. I wanted to start off chair and um commission that uh last night we had a very um fun and very informative leadership academy. They do it every year. There's um one that we do with city staff and then one that we do with the public. So last night I presented um an introduction to the community development department and in addition we did a mock planning commission hearing. So it was really quite interesting. Um, we took an old

Yes, we Well, there is no tape. Um, but I'm sure some people videoed it, but it they had good questions. It was entertaining, you know, it was um very educational. So, um, I just wanted to to report um that they were very much enjoyed uh learning more about the community development department, some of the things that we do, the three divisions that we have. So, wanted to report on that. And then secondly is the Sanp Piper tenative track map. As you know, you recommended approval, but it has to go to council. Um, so that'll go to council on October 1st. Kind of like the map that you um reviewed this evening would have to go to council. Now, maybe I shouldn't share this uh at this point, but it's really not that big of a deal. But um we are going to be updating our subdivision ordinance. there's a possibility that some of these maps could be approved at the planning commission level instead of going to the council. So, that's something that the council will consider. It's up to them, but uh that will be coming before you, I'm hoping, by the end of the year, but we have a draft ordinance that we're still working on. So, lastly is um I'm recommending that we cancel the October 8th meeting because we have no items, but we will have items for the October 22nd meeting. So, if I could for the commission um if you would like to recommend after we end tonight to recommend or have the next meeting um October 22nd, um that would be great.

And and that concludes the stop items. Fantastic. All right. Great. Um, if there's nothing else, then we'll go ahead and adjourn until October 22nd. Thanks, everyone. Thanks. Thanks.