Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Chair, the meeting is now being recorded.

I would like to call the regular meeting of March 9, 2026 to order. Will the secretary please call roll?

Commissioner Escamilla? Commissioner Leo?

Here.

Commissioner Oliva? Here. Commissioner Pham?

Here.

Commissioner Wu?

Here.

Vice Chair Benninger?

Present.

Chair Ramos? Present. Chair, quorum has been reached at 536 p.m.

Thank you. We're now going to have Vice Chair Benninger lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Please stand. Please stand.

Thank you, Vice Chair Benninger. Before we begin, I would like to remind my fellow commissioners to turn your microphones on when speaking and off when not speaking. And when speaking, please place the microphone about four inches away from you. Thank you. For members of the public joining us this evening, there are two Spanish language interpreters available. If you would like to listen to the meeting or provide comment in Spanish, please see staff in the lobby to pick up a headset.

Para los miembros del público que nos acompañan esta noche, hay dos intérpretes de idioma español disponibles. Si desea escuchar la reunión o proporcionar comentarios en español, por favor comuníquese con el personal en el vestíbulo para recoger audífonos.

members of the public may attend the planning Commission meeting either in person or virtually via zoom and now invite the Commission secretary to describe how the public can access and participate in this meeting.

This meeting is being live streamed via our portal at www.santa-ana.primegov.com slash public slash portal and on YouTube at www.youtube.com slash city of Santa Ana videos. If you would like to provide public comment, you may do so in the following ways. Join the meeting via Zoom. Enter the meeting ID number 89362434289. When the item you wish to comment on is being discussed, please select the hand icon to indicate that you would like to speak. Once called upon, remember to unmute yourself and state your name for the record. You can also join the meeting by calling 669-900-6833. Enter meeting ID number 89362434289. When the item that you would like to comment on is being discussed, press 9 to let us know you would like to speak. You will be called upon by the last three digits of your phone number. After you are called upon, you may press 9 to unmute yourself. For those who are attending this meeting in person and would like to provide public comment, please fill out a request to speak form and turn it in into the secretary. All speakers will have three minutes to speak. I will alert you when your time is up.

Moving on to public comments on non-agenda or non-public hearing items. Secretary, does anyone wish to speak?

Chair, we have received a total of two emails in the form of public comments. for non-agenda items before the 3.30 p.m. deadline, which has been distributed to the commission and posted online. If you are attending this meeting in person and would like to comment on non-agenda or non-public hearing items, please fill out a request to speak form and turn it in into the secretary. If you are participating via Zoom and would like to comment on non-agenda or non-public hearing items, please select the hand icon to let us know you would like to comment. If you are calling in and would like to comment on non-agenda or non-public hearing items, please dial 9 and then 6 to unmute yourself. I will wait a few seconds. Chair, we do not have any speakers.

Thank you. Moving on to the consent calendar, where it's one motion for all consent items unless an item is pulled for separate discussion. Is there a motion to approve item A, minutes from February 23rd, 2026, and item B, excused absences?

I move.

Thank you. We have a motion from Commissioner Wu.

Second.

And a second from Commissioner Leo. I would also like to state for the record that we had Commissioner Escamilla join us at 5.38 p.m. Secretary, can you please call for a roll call vote?

Commissioner Escamilla? Aye. Commissioner Leo?

Aye.

Commissioner Oliva? Aye. Commissioner Fenn?

Aye.

Commissioner Wu?

Aye.

Vice Chair Benninger?

Aye.

Chair Ramos? Aye. Motion approved unanimously.

Thank you. That concludes the consent calendar items. Moving on to the public hearing. I will now review the process for the public hearing so that everyone knows what to expect. Staff will provide a presentation and answer questions from the commission. The public hearing will be opened. The applicant will be given the opportunity to speak, limited to 15 minutes. Members of the public will be given the opportunity to comment, limited to three minutes. the applicant will be given the opportunity to respond to comments made by the public limited to five minutes the public hearing will be closed discussion will return to the commission with formal action taken to approve deny or continue review of the application please consider the following suggestions when organizing your comments Please state your name. You may state your address that is strictly voluntary. State whether you support, oppose, or are neutral to the proposal. Your statement should include all pertinent facts within your knowledge. Please note, decisions on these matters are final unless appealed within 10 days by any interested individual or party. Recommendations on these matters will be forwarded to the city council at a later date for final determination. This is the time and place for conditional use permit number 2026-01 for the property located at 403 North Susan Street, located within two family residence, R2 zoning district. Before we begin, do any commissioners have anything they wish to disclose with regard to this item? I see there are no disclosures. Seeing none, case planner Fernanda Arias Hernandez will provide a brief presentation.

Thank you, Chair. Good evening, members of the Planning Commission. For discussion today, we have Conditional Use Permit number 2026-01. It's located at 403 North Susan Street in council ward number five. The applicant is requesting approval of the conditional use permit to allow the expansion of an existing care home facility. The proposed project includes demolition of an existing 800 square foot building to allow the construction of a 3274 square foot square foot building that will contain six bedrooms, two treatment rooms for administrative offices for employees, common space for the campus care center, employee restrooms and employee break rooms. The proposed expansion will also accommodate for the increased number of patients from 42 to 48 patients. Staff is recommending to adopt a resolution approving the conditional use permit as condition. The site has a General Plan Land Use Designation of Low Density Residential, or LR7. The zoning is two-family residence, or R2, surrounded by a vacant lot and outdoor storage to the north, two-family residential to the east, the triplex to the south, single-family and two-family residences to the west. The lot size is 58,206 square feet or 1.34 acres. For background, the site was initially approved through variance number 1970-21, which authorized the conversion of six single family residences into a residential care facility with a maximum capacity of 30 patients. Then in 2014, Conditional Use Permit Number 2014-49 and Variance Numbers 2014-7 and 2014-8 authorized the expansion of the facility to a maximum capacity of 48 patients, and it also allowed a taller front yard fence. Then on September 16 of 2025 the applicant submitted development project application which is dp number 2025 dash 30 for the project, then in January of 2026 the applicant submitted the conditional use permit application to facilitate the proposed facility expansion. The applicant is proposing to expand the existing care facility. As mentioned, they will be demolishing an existing 800 square foot building and constructing a new 3,274 square foot building. The new addition will or expansion will increase the facilities capacity from 42 to 48, and the proposed building will consist of 2 functional areas with residential component. And that component will include six patient rooms or bedrooms, laundry room to share bathrooms and living space. The administrative component of the building will be composed of four offices, two patient treatment rooms, one storage room, two restrooms, a break room and a communal room intended to serve the entire campus. There's no additional side modifications or operational changes as part of the project. This is a photo of how the site looks today from Susan street. This is how the existing site plan looks, and this is what was approved in 2014 the red outlines the existing building that's currently 800 square feet. This is the proposed site plan. To the west, you'll see Susan Street and the driveways that lead into the site. The red outline is the new proposed building. It's entirely screened by the existing buildings on the surrounding areas. This is the proposed floor plan. The light pink shows the residential component of the building and the light green illustrates the administrative component that I described earlier. PB, Lupita D Montoya- These are the proposed elevations these are in line with what's existing on sites and also the neighborhood. Requests for CEPs are governed by Section 41-638 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code, which authorizes approval when proposed use is determined to be compatible with the surrounding area, consistent with applicable regulations and plans, and not detrimental to the public health, safety, and general welfare. The facility has operated for several decades and is previously received Discretionary approvals for expansion. The current request represents a modest expansion of an established residential care rather than introduction of a new land use. The project doesn't alter the established land use pattern of the neighborhood. The new building replaces a smaller residential structure and consolidates patient rooms, treatment areas and administrative functions. The building footprint increases but the use remains residential in character. The scale, height and architectural design will remain compatible with surrounding residential development and maintain the visual character of the area. The project is consistent with low residential land use designation. And the project will also be consistent with several land use goals, which is one, three, and four, which seek to accomplish responsible growth, compatibility among uses, and creation of complete communities. The project will remain in accordance, will remain categorically exempt pursuant to section 15303 or class three of the California Environmental Quality Act or CEQA. because the project is smaller than 10,000 square feet in an urbanized area. A notice of exemption environmental review number 2025-94 will be filed for the project. And there's no fiscal impact associated with the action. As such, staff is recommending to adopt a resolution approving conditional use permit number 2026-01 as condition. And I am available for questions that the Commission may have.

Thank you. Does the Commission have any comments or questions for staff? Commissioner?

This probably have been and the operator of the john Henry group in operating since 1970. Right? It's a residential facility.

I believe John Henry took, thank you for your question, but I believe John Henry took over later on, I believe it was in 2014 when they bought the property. But the site itself has always operated or has operated as a residential care facility since 1960.

And can you bring up the picture where you have the proposed building and the surrounding houses?

Of course.

City Council Chambers, I understand that did demolishing the existing structure, which is 800 square feet and you're going to up it to 3000 something and. City Council Chambers, The way that it seemed to be proposed. City Council Chambers, You can't help but be surrounded by other residential properties right, but it seems to me, due to the elevation and with sufficient landscaping that is still conform with the zoning for the area, am I correct and i'm assuming that that that's what staff work with the. applicant?

That's correct.

And in doing so, you looked at the relationship to the existing interment noise and all that stuff, right? Now, since it's a residential facility, the residents will not need any vehicle, right? So parking is not an issue for this property, right?

Correct. Parking was still calculated per the land use and they comply with parking regulations.

Okay. And I don't have from you, but what is the proposed landscape? Is there grass and trees?

There is no improvements proposed as part of this. The only improvements or conditions set in the resolution is for any damaged landscape. But the landscape, as it exists today, it's pretty, it complies with our landscape regulations.

So you have existing foliage there that will accommodate all that? Thank you. I just want to confirm that that's what I read in the proposal in terms of adopting resolution, that we don't have to mitigate anything. We don't have to adopt new ordinance for this property. It isn't conforming with our plan for the neighborhood and so on. Thank you.

Thank you. City Council Chambers, Thank you, Commissioner, will do we have any other questions or comments go ahead, Commissioners come here.

City Council Chambers, yeah this is a person so actually realizing that I took a tour of this location, a year ago, just wondering if I need to like. City Council Chambers, I guess report that, but I guess it was before the application was submitted and anything was on the agenda, but just I guess out of an abundance caution should I still mark something down on our notification paperwork yeah okay. Yeah, so I took a tour of the facility about a year ago. So it to Mr. Commissioner Wu's point, it's right in the middle. So it's surrounded by the rest of the structures. So that was my only observation is you can't really tell. It doesn't seem like you can tell anything that's going on right in the middle of the property from any sort of public vantage point or really any of the neighbours from my experience of the walking tour of the location. So that was about it.

Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Skamea. Vice Chair Benninger.

Yes, that's what this is senior type living, correct? Senior, senior assistant living.

It's a residential care facility. I don't believe it's just for seniors.

It's individuals with schizophrenia. There's some sort of mental health component, schizophrenic residential facility, and I think the applicant can answer probably more details on the population.

Interesting. As I would like to point out, you can just really see the picture. That is the fence that's closed. When I drove by there, I couldn't go in because of the fenced area, which is so it really is fenced in property.

Thank you, Vice Chair Bueninger.

Commissioner Pfau. There was a public comment regarding some neighbours thinking that the use is not compatible with the neighbourhood. Do we have records of if there's a history of complaints or if there's been a nuisance violation throughout the years?

Thank you. I did some research in our database. I wasn't able to find any outstanding cases that are open. It looks like in the past they might have received some, but I think it was previous to 2014. So I haven't, I wasn't able to find anything through our database.

And when we consider the parking tabulation for this use, are we looking at it as I think six or seven single family homes?

Yes, thank you. So we do have a section that talks about residential care facilities and parking for those. So that's what we use in order to determine whether or not this site was compliant with our parking requirements.

And improvements are not adding more parking. That's right.

Correct. Yeah, they were over parked when it was first approved in 2014.

So this addition kind of even with the administrative component, the additional parking is covered.

Correct.

Okay.

That's all for me.

Thank you, Commissioner Femm. Do we have any additional questions or comments from the commission at this time? Seeing none, the public hearing is now open. Recording Secretary, have we received any written communication or is there a member of the public that would like to comment on this item?

Chair, we have received a total of one email in the form of public comments for this item before the 3.30 p.m. deadline, which has been distributed to the Commission and posted online. If you are attending this meeting in person and would like to comment on this item, please fill out a request to speak form and turn it in into the Secretary. If you are participating via Zoom and would like to comment on this item, please select the hand icon to indicate that you would like to speak. If you are calling in and would like to comment on this item, please dial nine and then six to unmute yourself. I will wait a few seconds. Chair, we don't have any speakers.

Thank you. With that, the public hearing is now closed. Is there a motion to approve this matter?

I'd like to make a motion. This is a very reputable organization that has been operating services, and I think the improved property will provide better service and to more people.

Thank you, Commissioner Wu. We have a motion from Commissioner Wu.

I'd like to second on that and say one of the pleasures of being on commissions like this is to find areas like this in the city. I think this is a real gem for us, and so yes, I second it.

Thank you, Vice Chair Benninger. We have a motion from Commissioner Wu and a second from Vice Chair Benninger. Secretary, can you please call for a roll call vote?

Commissioner Escamilla.

Aye, but I think there's a question on whether or not the applicant was going to speak.

We had nobody to speak. Did the applicant intend to speak? We didn't ask the question because it was not on the script. We have to invite the applicant. I apologize. So we have a motion on a second that we will hold and we will reopen the public hearing. Thank you, I wondered, but I thought maybe they didn't feel the need to speak with that the public hearing is now open, I welcome the applicant to come forward and present on the item. Thank you for understanding.

Hello, my name is Mindy Andrews. I'm the executive director of the John Henry Foundation and the administrator of the facility that we call Moore Village. We just really appreciate all of the support that we've received from the city as we've gone through first look and then preparation for the CUP. We really appreciate that, the work that has been done on behalf of the city and Orange County Fire Authority to review our proposal. So we just, it appears that you were about to go for a yes vote, and I don't want to get in the way of that. So I'm going to step aside unless there are any questions for me. I've been there 15 years. It was my anniversary last week, and I love that program. I promise you we will do everything we can to take the best care of our folks through the construction, and we are delighted to be able to assist our people in aging in place and to welcome a few more people to a new home that they so desperately need. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Does anybody on the commission have any questions for the applicant? Great. Thank you. Thank you very much. And recording secretary, we don't have anybody else in the public that intends to speak on this item, correct? No, we do not. Thank you. With that, the public hearing is now closed for real this time. So we're going to take back the motion that we had. We had a motion from Commissioner Wu along with a second from Vice Chair Benninger. With that, Secretary, can you please call for a roll call vote?

Commissioner Escamillo?

Aye.

Commissioner Leo?

Aye.

Commissioner Oliva? Aye. Commissioner Pham?

Aye.

Commissioner Wu?

Aye.

Vice Chair Benninger?

Aye.

Chair Ramos? Aye. Motion approved unanimously.

Thank you. Congratulations. This is the time and place for conditional use permit. We're now moving on to item number two. This is the time and place for conditional use permit number 2026-02 and 2026-05 for the property located at 2702 North Bristol Street, located within the community commercial C1 zoning district. Before we begin, do any commissioners have anything they wish to disclose with regard to this item? Commissioner Leo.

Yeah, I spoke to the applicant briefly last week. We spoke about the ingress and egress on the property.

Thank you, Commissioner Leo. Vice Chair Benninger.

I also talked on Thursday on a phone call set up by Ex-Mayor Pulido, and we talked about bioswells and drainage away from the property.

Thank you, Vice Chair Benninger. Do we have any additional disclosures?

I got a call, but I didn't talk to him.

Thank you, Commissioner Wu. Seeing as there are no additional disclosures, our case planner Fernanda Arias Hernandez will provide a brief presentation.

Thank you. Good evening again. This is the time and place for conditional use permit numbers 2026-02 and 2026-05. For the property located at 2702 North Bristol Street in Council Ward Number 3, the applicant is requesting approval of the conditional use permits to facilitate the construction of a new 1,600 square foot convenience store and a service station with eight fuel dispensers covered by a 1,963 square foot canopy. The conditional use permit number 2020 sorry that looks like a typo 2026 dash 02 would allow the noxious use and then 2025 or 2026 dash 05 would allow the service station and convenience store to operate 24 hours. Staff is recommending approval of both conditional use permits to allow the noxious use and after hours operations. The site is located at the corner of Bristol Street and memory lane it has the general plan land use designation of general commercial and a zoning of Community commercial or see one surrounded by multifamily residences to the north eating establishment and retail establishments to the east. a retail and a laundromat to the south and a multifamily residence to the west. The lot is 19,569 square feet or 0.45 acres. The project is located at a key intersection that access a gateway to the city from City of Orange. It was originally developed as a service station in the early 1960s and operated until approximately 1995. Then in 1998, there were demolition permits issued to remove all structures. And then in 1999, there were permits obtained to remove the underground fuel storage things. Since then, the property has remained vacant. Due to the site's prime location, the city has encouraged redevelopment over the years. Our staff has received numerous applications. They haven't been able to redevelop the site. They got as far as going into plan check in 2015 for a new commercial building, but the permits expired. And then finally, in 2025, June 5, 2025, they submitted a development project application, DP number 2025-18. And then the associated conditional use permit applications were submitted December 23 of 2025. The applicant is proposing to construct a 1600 square foot convenience store and 1963 square foot fuel canopy that will cover eight fuel dispensers. The project will include six double stripe parking spaces, two of which will be equipped with electric vehicle fast charging stations to support support alternative fuel options. And then other site improvements include the underground fuel storage tanks, PB, Lupita D Montoya- Screen trash and closure pedestrian vehicular circulation improvements and then drop tolerant landscaping. PB, Lupita D Montoya- This slide illustrates photos of how the site exists exists today, so you can see it's vacant there's a corner of Bristol street and memory lane and then the bottom photo is from Bristol street looking Southwest. This is a slide that illustrates the site plan. The light pink area illustrates an access easement for the residential multifamily property located to the northwest. And then the blue illustrates city property. And I'd actually like to clarify that the southern portion is an easement to the city, not a property. but the location on Bristol, the blue area highlighted along Bristol, that is city property. This is a conceptual landscape plan that will include all of the trees that they're proposing are part of the designated tree species. There's a total of, I believe, 10 trees that are going to be planted, along with ground cover that will be all drought tolerant. This slide illustrates the elevations of the canopy and the convenience store. There are signs here that are shown just for just for aesthetic, but the final signs have to comply with the municipal code. CFPs are governed by Section 41638 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code and can be granted if the proposed project does not adversely impact the community. Denial occurs if the adverse impacts are identified. The proposed service station will enhance local amenities, create jobs, and support economic growth. To address concerns previously raised by the Planning Commission in a similar project, staff prepare environmental assessments to ensure the project would not have any negative impacts on the neighboring residents. Visitors and employees, the table that's shown on the slide illustrates the results of technical studies that were prepared. So the applicant did prepare the health risk assessment, which included the air quality and greenhouse emission assessment, and they also prepared a noise and vibration impact assessment. All of which did not indicate that there would be any or that they wouldn't exceed any emissions per state and regional guidelines technical environmental studies and operational. Conditions confirm that the proposed service station will comply with air quality noise and hazardous materials regulations, ensuring that it will not adversely affect public health, safety or nearby nearby residential uses. Late night activity is expected to be limited to short duration customer visits to typical service of a station operations and is not anticipated to generate unusual nighttime activity. The proposed 24 hour operations is consistent with other service stations and convenience retail establishments throughout the city that commonly operate during extended hours. particularly along major commercial corridors. Deliveries and refuse collections will be restricted to daytime hours pursuant to the conditions of approval in the resolutions and hopefully minimizing potential disturbances during overnight periods. The project site is located within an established commercial corridor and the site is designed in operational controls to help ensure compatibility with surrounding land uses. The site's general plan land use as ignition is general commercial which does allow for visible accessible shopping recreational and cultural opportunities. The project also aligns with the designation and enhances economic viability while minimizing impacts. The project is consistent with land use goals two and three and the economic prosperity goals one, two, and three, which seek to accomplish land use balance, neighbourhood improvements, job creation, business-friendly environment, and enhance the city's economic diversity. In accordance with the CEQA and CEQA guidelines, the project is exempt from further review pursuant to Section 15303 of the CEQA guidelines, or Class 3. which applies to new construction or conversion of small structures, including commercial buildings, not exceeding 10,000 square feet in urbanized areas. The site is located in urbanized area and the total construction will be 3,563 square feet. Notice of exemption environmental review number 2025-63 will be filed for the project. Also, as mentioned the following technical studies were prepared, which is the air quality and greenhouse emissions and health risk assessment and the noise assessment, and there are no fiscal impacts associated with the project. As such, staff is recommending approval of conditional use permit number 2026-2 to allow the noxious use and 2026-05 to allow after hours operations as condition. Staff is available for questions.

Thank you. Does the Commission have any comments or questions for staff? Commissioner Wu.

I used to live in Parkland 30 years ago. when it was first built. My question revolves around the Brownfield Act. It's probably past the Brownfield quarantine, 25 years, right? Because they had a below ground storage tanks.

That's correct, they did have underground storage tanks.

So is the proposed project going to have above ground or below ground?

The project, thank you for your question, the project will have underground storage.

Below ground? Below ground, yes. Okay, under new guidelines for below ground, right, more modernized containment for below ground, right? That is seismic and all that kind of stuff. The second thing is the late night hours. Currently, the property next door with the Afonso liquor store has some rowdy people hanging out there. And I think there's some medication that's being proposed for late night hours, which is basically camera or whatever. So the manager of the store will be, since it's 24-hour, will be responsible for mitigating it, right?

They will thank you for your question, there will be cameras that are proposed or we recommended as part of the resolution approval. But i'm not sure that it involves store manager being there as part of the resolution, but if you'd like to add language about a store manager.

No, I didn't want to change, I just was wanting on on our enforcement and monitoring. and Those apartments are pretty good soundproofing, except if you live on the first floor and the guy from up above stomps around. But from the street noise, you don't hear anything. The third thing is I seem to remember a traffic study for a right turn on that corner. What is the status of that right turn?

that would be a question for public works um i believe that this project incorporates the design but we do have public works in attendance public works staff so they would be able to answer those so their study and recommendation and public comments will be incorporated uh with that as you add in because it's on corner so you have two ways getting in and out of the place right

as a busy right turn because people are getting off the freeway and Bristol is a major arterial and Memory Lane is one of those other, you know,

Yes, I can mention that as part of the approval, the traffic division did require that in order to for this to be a safe environment, vehicles that are proposing to exit either on Bristol or memory lane cannot turn left. So it will be right only and hoping to mitigate any potential traffic concerns.

And my comments are not negative. It's just bring it up for public record as we discussed this. Right now, it's an empty lot with weeds. This has been sitting around that way for about 30 years, so it would be nice to get a project going. So will the current owner follow through and actually build it? Because they didn't follow through on the previous permit, or they allowed it to expire.

I believe these are different owners, but the applicant is okay. And they can answer those questions. Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Liu.

Yeah, I had a question. Can you show me where the EV chargers are?

Yes, the EV chargers are, oh, I wish I could zoom in, but there's going to be two here. And I think they have one here. Oh, no, this is air pump, sorry. It's going to be located along Bristol.

Do you happen to know if we have any other gas stations in the city that have EV chargers incorporated into gas station? I mean, we're an older city, so I assume most of them are just

The gas stations, yeah.

Because as we transition, however quickly we do this, I mean, this is a good start to if we add quick EV charging to our gas stations as we transition over. So I just wanted to know where they were. And as I mentioned earlier, the ingress and egress was the question. If you're only able to make a right turn, it reminds me a little bit of the gas station on the corner of, I want to say, Broadway and 17th.

Oh, yes.

You know what I mean? Everybody comes down Broadway one way, and you try to get back out onto Broadway, good luck. So, all right, thank you. That was my only question.

Thank you, Commissioner Leo. Do we have any other questions or comments? Commissioner Pham.

You know, I think it'll be good. I'm not sure if there's an outline of the existing residential building to the west. Because I think overall, even if there's a residential element next to this lot, for the most part, it's all dead end walls. The only concerning portion of it is to the west where there's windows on the ground floor unit. You know, it looks to me like it's like a zero lot line for the residential building. And then there's an easement. And then the applicant is proposing to build a fence. Is that correct?

There is a block wall that's there and the building is about 15 feet from the property line and the canopy is further than 15 feet. So we believe that the setbacks will help mitigate noise concerns. There was also a noise study that was prepared for the project which indicated that This the implementation or the construction and construction and operational standards are not going to raise what's already there in terms of noise.

So essentially, there'll be like a an alley in between the residential unit ish or with no vehicle access, but there will be a gap.

Correct.

Were there discussion in relation to the landscape plan if the applicant was willing to introduce trees rather than just ground covering along the western property line as an additional screening element? Because, you know, the block wall I'm assuming is only six foot tall, the proposed block wall. Additional taller greenery might kind of alleviate some concerns from the residents in terms of noise, as well as it looks like only plants are proposed at the corner and everything else along the western and northern property line is ground covering, if I'm reading it correctly.

Yeah, you're correct. Yeah, but we can add that as a condition to include taller landscape.

And I can ask applicant if they're amicable to it. But that's that would be my kind of suggestion. If they're amicable to it as a screening element.

Yeah. Thank you. Yeah, I would definitely ask if they have the landscape architect here, just to make sure that the width of the landscape planter allows for taller trees.

And my one other concern is the location of the air and water. It's quite close to the only residential wall that has windows. exposed to the site, potentially it could be relocated to the other end, just because those residential walls are dead end walls, so the noise issue wouldn't be an issue because the compressors, they are allowed and it's 24-hour service. Those are my comments.

Thank you. Thank you, Commissioner Pham. Vice Chair Benninger.

Looking at those charging stations, could they be expanded in the future if they want to go to four?

I'm sorry, can you repeat the question?

Could the EV stations for charging be expanded from two to four, if necessary? I know it's up to the owner that says if it's profitable for them, they can do that, but is that possible for them to do?

Sorry, Commissioners, can we pause all side conversations so we can hear the questions and staff response? Thank you.

Vice Chair, Manager, yes, there are a total of four spaces on that north bank. Currently, the EV charger would service two. In the future, if the property owner wanted to, they'd be able to install another charger to service the two additional parking spaces on that north bank.

Would that require a permit from us at all?

That would require a permit, yes.

Mayor Mrakas, Sir, I do have I first of all, I have an electric vehicle, so I like the idea of seeing charging my fears that said being next to. Mayor Mrakas, All the apartments next to it it's something like use that an EV park is overnight parking. Mayor Mrakas, And I guess that's really not our concern per se, but I would talk to you about putting a limited time in in those TV stalls. That would be my concern. Otherwise, project was good. I was told there's no bioswells. That means any water coming out or filling of gas tanks is not going to risk getting into the water table, which is good. To go back to Alan's question, the new tanks, I'm sure it's going to meet all the standards of air quality. So new tank will be double wall tanks. They monitor in between the two tanks for any sign of leaks or possible damage caused by earthquake or what have you, as well as the nozzles do a very good job knocking down the papers and capturing them. to meet all the present OSHA requirements, we're in good shape.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Vice Chair Bender. Commissioner Oliva.

I have two questions for the after-hours CUPs. How many after-hours CUPs are in the area? And do we know if this project's going to submit an ABC license application?

Thank you. The only site in the surrounding area that has a CEP for after hours is the 711 that's located to the south. And then in terms of an ABC license, there's an over concentration. So staff wouldn't be able to make a finding to approve an ABC license here.

Thank you for clarifying.

Thank you. Do we have any additional questions or comments for staff? Go ahead, Commissioner Skamea.

Yeah, I'm just wondering how the, I guess, how the breakdown of responsibility is going to occur with the landscaping that's on the private property versus that which is on city property. Is there an agreement for continuing the maintenance? I guess this is more on the east side of, or west side of Bristol. So will there be a section where it's basically blank landscape or just kind of city-maintained? So are we going to expect like grass, then dirt, then cement? Or sorry, then sidewalk? Is that kind of the expectation at this point?

I think for now it's just going to remain landscaped. And then once the city decides to demo to do the site improvements or street improvements, then at the time they'll take away the landscape. But I believe it's meant to remain landscaped until street improvements actually happen.

OK, so in this case, we will be maintaining the landscaping indefinitely on this property until we have like a full remake of this particular section of Bristol, if that ever happens. But at least it will be, oh my gosh, private property and then public. And then I guess I was just wondering a little bit on the overall like property line. designation. So when I see the parcel information, at least online and the way that it's presented as a C1, it's done as a very rectangular block. But then we have this notch over on the top left hand corner. So I guess the northwest side of the property. I'm just wondering if you can explain that. Is that just what is owned by the apartment complex next door? And maybe we have some out of date parcel maps. Again, I'm just seeing whatever we have the county database as being a square. And then again, still a lot of the other things being very rectangular, but then this design behind me having a little bit of a notch. So what's going on is right there.

Thank you, so. There is an access easement for the apartments in the rear and that's why this is sign doesn't reflect the perfect square, but the it was a little difficult to show that, but in the rear, let me see if I can pull up the area. it's kind of far out, but we'll try to use my cursor so this area here is also an easement for the apartments in the back. but they can't build there. So that's why they designed the building the way they did. But the easement on the west side, It is for access, so they can also not, they cannot build there either. And so that's why it's a little bit, it doesn't look exactly like the county record show, but it's for the, for access easement. And also the south, as I explained earlier, actually, I might have not explained this correctly, but the south, that's actually a easement as well, not city property. And then along Bristol, that is city property.

Okay, and then again, just to confirm then, whatever information we're seeing is kind of total square footage, everything around the building area is all within the, I guess, dotted lines, or is it the dotted lines plus the blue?

The dotted lines without the blue, yes.

Okay, perfect. I think that does it for me. Thank you.

Thank you.

Oh, sorry, actually one more question. There was one public comment on the replacement of the bus shelter and the articulated buses on Bristol. So I thought that that was a relatively good item to flag for OCTA, just to kind of confirm location, but I'm not sure if OCTA has in fact said that the replacement bus stop is acceptable. This particular bus stop is relatively busy and I don't think has any improvements because of the site constraints, so I don't know if there is any flexibility to add in additional, oh my gosh, OCTA amenities like a bench or something, again, include like within the design. I don't know if that was examined during the site review process.

It was examined and Public Works did require the replacement of the bus shelter. It's not necessarily shown on this one because it's kind of difficult to zoom in, but I'll use my cursor. The scoping agreement that they had with Public Works showed the replacement close to that entrance along Memory Lane. So I don't believe it will be shifted too much.

Okay, perfect. And if there is any chance to kind of flag this as an upgrade site. So then, you know, because what is it once we go ahead and just have to move it, there's already kind of a cost there. So it's almost like that little bit of extra cost just to kind of give it a nice shelter, because right now, I think it's just some seats. So I know equivalent would be just old benches. But if we can do a site improvement here, as we do the move, it's probably the most cost effective moment to do so. So I don't know how we might be able to, you know, to poke them a little bit to see if we can get an upgrade. Mr. Soto.

We can definitely get the poker out once the conversation continues. Thank you.

Thank you. With no additional questions or comments at this time, the public hearing is now open. Would the applicant like to speak on the matter? You'll have 15 minutes.

Good afternoon, Madam Chair and members of the Planning Commission. My name is Ahmad Ghaderi with ANS Engineering. We're the consulting architect for this project. Thank you for your time. I don't really want to take too much of your time on presentation, but I will just address some of the comments by some of you members, starting from my right, Council Member Wu. The underground tanks, these will be, of course, as you know, California has the best system in the entire world as far as monitoring and what have you. So this will be the ultimate system that's being installed here. Then in regard to EV chargers, we were talking about, yeah, there's right now, as far as the building, per building code, we don't really have to install any. We just have to wire it for future. But our goal is, again, we call this an energy center. We have the regular fuel. We have EV. We have biofuel dispensers and all that. we're trying to offer as many options as uh our customers would like so ev will be installed the first day uh two units and then as the gentleman indicated we do have the power that we're going to bring to the site we'll have enough power to add a third unit eventually as far as uh the landscaping uh councilmember family mentioned we're willing to work with the staff uh we have certain amount of room on the west property line where we can add some trees and all that it's very limited uh but we have about five foot landscaping uh i don't know if you don't mind if you can bring up this site plan for a second it all depends also on building and safety because i have a question i'll bring it up to them right now because uh we have the path of travel uh as you know as part of the building code required to have a path of travel from street to the building which we have it on the north side behind those evs uh if we can Mayor Mrakas, avoid having one from memory lane to the building that green area on the West, we can definitely put you know some trees over there, as you requested so if that's if that's okay with you, we can work with staff to work that out, but. If that's, again, we'd be willing to do that. Other questions? Yeah, there's no bio, you know, bio soils. We don't have that. It's going to be all underground retention. As far as the air and water, moving the air and water, we thought about it. But again, we were hoping to, I mean, we can still take a look at it. originally we wanted to put it on the north side but that came when the evs were added it came out to be much more suitable to have the evs up there and the air water down here but if you don't mind we'll take a look at it again and see if we can switch two places that's something we have to work with staff we have room down here on the south west on the west side right there if you can put if the staff is okay we can add some parking spaces over there and put the evs You know over there, and put the air and water up. We are flexible as far as the location. Yeah, and Councilman, who you had mentioned about the manager. You know this is being 24 hours. We have staff on site that do make a monitor and try to not have anybody hanging out. That's also a means of security, and we do have cameras and everything that's going to be there. I hope I didn't forget anything any other questions i've forgotten so we're here to answer questions and. The property owners are here, and there are new property owners they're not i'm not sure who the gentleman or developer was but they are eager to get this project moving so. i'm here to answer questions. Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Commissioner Skamia.

Thank you, Chair. Yeah, I think my only question was then on the bus bench upgrades. So there might be a slight differential cost between like having a sheltered bench out there and a regular just paneled. So whatever you can find that kind of makes sense both to OCTA and city standards. Yeah. That would be nice to have there. And again, it's because you will have a lot of people that are out there. It's a very busy little intersection for it.

Yeah, we've already agreed to whatever the requirement as well. So thank you. Thank you. Appreciate it.

Thank you, Commissioner Skamia. Commissioner Pham.

Yeah, I appreciate your being amicable to looking at the landscaping. My main concern is the western side of it. Looks like you already have one path of travel on the northern. So and there's no path of travel being proposed on the western property line. So I don't think there would work with staff.

I think during the building plan check, sometimes they ask for both, which I think is redundant. So I'm just you know, if you don't mind giving direction to staff that They can work with us. Again, it's not a matter of the cost. It's just a matter of meeting both the building and your requirements. That's all. Yeah. If you were able to work with Fernanda, that would be great. Okay. Thank you.

Thank you, Vice Chair Meninger.

When the old tank was removed, I assume that there was no environmental issue with that when the old tank was removed?

I don't have the history of the tank, but all I know is that the site has no further action.

Okay, excellent. And where in sight will be the filling station for the service truck to bring the gasoline to?

If you don't mind, we have a site plan. Basically, what the trucks come in is they come off Bristol, make a right, and go around the canopy and sit by the west side of the property, right there, yeah, by the west side, and then drop fuel and leave.

Okay.

I'm not going to make this a condition of the approval, but I just recommend to the owners that when you involve the charging station, which I look very much for because I do have an EV vehicle, put a time limit on it so it doesn't become an overnight parking spot for the apartments.

We talked about that. Thank you. If you don't mind, we'll just gauge that if you don't mind to see how.

We're not under power to ask for that, but just recommend that.

Absolutely. Thank you.

Are there any additional Commissioners?

Yeah. So just as a typical, I guess, condition that we usually do for any of the new conditional use permits around 24 hour uses, we usually want to ask like for a callback period, like 12 months down the road, just to look to make sure everything's operating as intended. So just letting you know that that's probably You've got to be an ask for staff, and it's just pretty standard, but we just want to make sure that there is no issue then with the 24-hour use, because then that tends to be something that's a little bit more sensitive for the neighbours. I'm sorry, are you saying you're adding a condition, or is that just... Yeah, because we usually like to kind of have a report back, or have staff examine if there are any sort of calls and complaints within that first year of operation.

Sure, no problem.

And I have one question, so the feeling will happen essentially adjacent to the apartment building correct.

Well, the truck is going to sit between on the West side of the tanks. Okay, so close the side closest to the apartment building that will be up residential on both sides, so it'd be close to yeah.

Okay, are there any, what are the fueling plans? I'm wondering what time of day that would happen and how noisy of at all that is?

You know, we can't control that because it depends on how much business they do during the day. So, you know, we try to limit it for like, you know, early mornings or late, late, you know, afternoons. But they come in, they're there for like, you know, maybe 20 minutes, 30 minutes, and they're out of there.

Okay, thank you.

You're welcome.

Are there any additional questions or comments for the applicant at this time? Great, thank you. Recording Secretary, have we received any written communication or is there a member of the public that would like to comment on this item?

Chair, we have received a total of two emails in the form of public comments for this item before the 3.30 p.m. deadline, which has been distributed to the Commission and posted online. If you are attending this meeting in person and would like to comment on this item, please fill out a request to speak form and turn it in to the Secretary. If you are participating via Zoom and would like to comment on this item, please select the hand icon to indicate that you would like to speak. If you are calling in and would like to comment on this item, please dial 9 and then 6 to unmute yourself. I will wait a few seconds. Chair, we have two speakers in-house and two speakers in Zoom.

Can we please have Lyle Dale come forward? You will have three minutes.

So my name is Lyle Dale. I am co-chair of the Morrison Park Neighborhood Association Traffic Committee. And I wanted to speak in opposition mostly based on concerns that we have with the traffic mitigation or traffic impact. to Bristol and Memory Lane from this project. I did submit comments, so maybe you've seen those already. First off, maybe you could go back to the site plan The first concern that we have is access off of Bristol Street. If you're exiting this project, there's going to be a right turn only lane from Bristol onto Memory Lane. So the first lane of traffic that you're going to cross if you want to continue south on Bristol is that right lane only. And during the morning and afternoon rush hours, Bristol is very heavily impacted. So if somebody wants to get out of this facility and continue south on Bristol, they're going to probably nudge themselves out into that right lane and sit there until they can get into the lane going south, which will then impact the south, the right turn only lane backing that up. And that's just going to make matters worse on Bristol Street. The other problem that we've seen is, as you mentioned, we've understood that the bus stop is going to be moved to the east. I wasn't able to find out how much or where that would be. The buses now that turn from northbound Bristol onto westbound memory lane are the double articulated buses. And right now they have enough room when they pull up on memory lane to stay out of the Bristol memory lane intersection. One of the concerns we have is, I don't know if you're aware of the new enhanced bike lane project that's gonna be built on memory lane. I think it starts this spring. is going to reduce memory lane from three lanes down to two with an enhanced bike lane along there. So when the bus comes now, it can pull into that third lane and the traffic can continue on memory lane on two lanes. Now you've got the bus is going to be taking up probably one of those lanes with only one lane. open on memory lane and the northbound turn onto memory is two lanes so traffic's going to back up the first lane is going to back up behind the bus and the second lane it's it sounds like it's going to be a problem and the other issue would be as you exit from the station onto memory lane if that bus is there you're not going to be able to see any cars coming from east to west So that is also, I think, going to be a problem. Anyway, these are conditions that are going to impact the traffic on both streets, and that's going to affect our neighborhood. And we just want you to be aware of them when you consider this project. So any questions or anything?

Thank you. We're not able to ask you questions at this time.

OK, thank you.

Thank you very much. Can we please have Jeff Harris come up? And you will have three minutes.

I represent the management company and the ownership of the apartment complex that surrounds this property. So we have a very vested interest. You're obviously very concerned about the noise, very concerned about the size of this project. We've been watching this lot for years. We wanted to buy it and build more apartments there and just expand our property. But that never really came to fruition. I came here to speak about the strip, which apparently is resolved. I believe that blue strip must pertain to the Bristol widening in that domain, which we were affected by. And we know that that shrunk the lot size of all of those properties north of memory along Bristol. We also are aware of this easement, but it's our understanding that our 15-foot easement wraps the entire western side and the northern side, which doesn't seem to be reflected in the site plans here, so I would question that. We are concerned about the the environmental impact. We are aware our ownership group bought it around two thousand, and the property was there for about thirty years. Commissioner Wu said you lived there before. There was a Chevron station there. There was a problem. They had to remove about three hundred square feet of contaminated soil at some time around after that time. So contamination is something that we're concerned about. City Council Chambers, Knowing that there are pretty strict size restrictions here into the comments earlier about expanding the EV stations. City Council Chambers, I don't see how there's going to be any further room for any kind of expansion, because it looks like they're really squeezing everything into it into a tight space here um. The the as far as the the other cup for the 24 hour operations were were obviously concerned for our residents about the noise the fumes the. The soil vapor the the this precedent it has met spill that's occurred in the past. We believe we do have windows on the western side as one of the as was brought up prior. In fact, my manager is here and he lives near there, so he's concerned as well as a resident. We polled some of our residents and they're concerned about the noise and especially the 24-hour aspect of it. As it has come up here, the truck being on that side, that's definitely going to impact our residents, our ability to conduct our operation and maintain the quiet enjoyment that we need for our residents, the light pollution that's going to occur for our residents as a result of this. And then the necessity, you know, there's a shell station catty corner from the property. There's a 7-Eleven directly across the street. You know, as far as the necessity for the community, just doesn't seem like a public necessity for a 24-hour disturbance of the families that live in our property. Thank you. I apologize.

You're at time.

Okay. Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Thank you. The next speaker is in zoom and his name is David Hernandez. You will have three minutes to speak.

Good evening. My name is David Hernandez, and I live really close to this area. I just wanted to come and say that I support this project, especially because of the EV chargers that are planned. I drive an electric vehicle, and right now, the closest place for me to charge is at the road station on 17th Street. So that means whenever I need to charge, I have to drive all the way over there, which is kind of a bit of a hassle. So having an EV charger closer to home would honestly be really convenient for people like me. who live nearby, and I'm sure the residents can also relate. And as you know, more and more people are driving electric cars now, so it's nice to see projects actually add charging so people can use it. Also, this corner has been sitting just empty for a really long time, and I think it would be great to finally see it turned into something useful. instead of just an unused lot. It would be a place that people can actually stop and utilize it. For me personally, I'm just excited about having a charging option nearby so I don't have to drive across town every time my car needs power. And honestly, I do think that it would be a good addition to the neighborhood. Thanks for your time.

Next speaker is Karina Dominguez. You have three minutes to speak.

Hello. Good evening. My name is Karina Dominguez, and I live nearby. I wanted to come tonight and share that I support this project. I've been a resident in the area for a long time, and that corner has been sitting empty for a really long time. When a property stays vacant for years, it can start to feel a little neglected, and unfortunately, that's what's happened with this site. One of the things that concerns me the most is the condition of the site at night. It's not really well lit and because it's empty you never really know who might be around there. There have definitely been evenings where it makes me a bit nervous to walk past that area or even just be outside nearby. Vacant lots, they tend to attract activity that isn't always the best for the neighborhood and I think a lot of us would feel better seeing it turned into something active and maintained. That's why I'm actually glad to see that someone is finally planning to build something there. When a property is developed, properly lit and maintained, it usually makes the whole area as a whole feel safer and more welcoming. It shows that the site is being cared for or used instead of just sitting empty behind a fence. I am also excited to see that it's going to include the EV option. I think it's great, you know, when projects offer more choices to keep up with how transportation is evolving. So having those options available, you know, locally is a benefit for people in the community and definitely for myself. And overall, you know, I think it's just a positive step for the neighborhood to finally see a site developed. And instead of an empty, you know, dark corner, it's going to be something that adds activity and value in that area. So, you know, as someone who lives nearby, I'm really looking forward to seeing that change. Thank you for your time.

Thank you point of clarification for staff, can the Commission ask questions of staff at this time, and then the applicant gets opportunity to speak again, or do we allow the applicant opportunity to speak again first.

You can close the public hearing and then direct any questions that you may have of staff and then, if you so choose, you can reopen the public hearing if you want to go back to that.

Okay, I wanted to avoid reopening if I know in the past, we close reopen close reopen. So can I leave it open?

If you'd like to, you can go ahead and just leave the public testimony portion open, ask the questions, make sure the applicant is able to address that, and then open it up one more time to members of the public. And then you can close the public hearing and take your motion. But you can't you can't you don't you don't have to close the public hearing.

If there are questions, if the Commission has questions of staff, should we ask them before we allow the applicant to speak again?

I'm thinking that might make more sense to do that because yes, the applicant may want to respond to that. Okay, that's fine.

Thank you. So I'm now going to take questions of the commission for staff. And I'll actually start with one. So I did ask a bit about the fueling and when the fueling would happen. So I recall in the past when we were considering a gas station at the corner of Tustin and Santa Clara, that would have been next to a preschool, I believe it's Plumfield Preschool. The commission spoke about limiting fueling time to specific hours so as to not disrupt the preschool because it is a sensitive use. Residential is also a sensitive use. So I'm wondering if staff remembers the hours that we discussed and if we have any other examples throughout the city where a gas station is directly next to a residential PB, Lupita D Montoya, Where we have limited feeling hours, I am concerned that feeling would happen very early or in the evening, if that is noisy if there are fumes that would disrupt people that are attempting to sleep. PB, Lupita D Montoya, We know in the summer gets really hot not everybody has the luxury of AC or can afford to an AC all night so windows would be open and I want to ensure that. PB, Lupita D Montoya, What is a noxious use isn't going to be as much that we can mitigate as much as possible.

Thank you for your question, we do have a condition of approval it's condition number eight that limits fuel deliveries between 10pm and six. Oh i'm sorry that doesn't allow fuel deliveries between 10pm and 6am so they wouldn't be allowed to do anything overnight.

Okay, and then I will come from that the public, the applicant is aware and okay and is that a best practice or have we ever seen that those hours be more limited.

We that's what we've used in the past, but. As a voting. If you guys are taking about you guys can increase. The limitations.

City Council Chambers, Thank you, and I can add to that chair that has been best practice for staff and that's been the condition that's been. City Council Chambers, included in the more recent service stations that have been brought before this Commission. City Council Chambers, But such as Fernando mentioned if, for this site since ups are site specific if you deem that the condition of approval can be more narrowly tailored for something. City Council Chambers, That addresses conditions or potential impacts related to the use at this site, then that condition can be modified.

Thank you. I'll see what the rest of the commission thinks, but I may be interested in limiting by one additional hour, so 9 to 6.

Commissioner Wu. I'm addressing just Ricardo and Pedro. In cities like Santa Ana, Garden Grove, Westminster, Tustin, Anaheim, there are gas stations on corners like this. There's one right diagonally across the street. where one, you have a busy street turning into the property of a convenience store or a gas station and coming out the other side. While I hear the concern of the residents, I am concerned, as I hear the concern of the apartment house, I understand that, but also see that at another level, outside of our jurisdiction, we need to think about this thing. of major arterial getting traffic through and having something to service those monsters, you know, on four wheels. And I don't know what to do about that, you know, because it's already been done. We're in the middle of that kind of society of having those kind of convenience store. Now, in another city, Like the city of Irvine, they got wider streets and plan community. And, you know, they put the business districts on corners that you know, it's not inconvenience like this. So, you know, over impact older city like Santa, I don't know what to do to mitigate that. But to the extent that we are, it seems like staff does his homework And by the way, you're working her over time in terms of collecting all this data and going back and looking for for any complaints and things. So So I see that we've done our job to try to mitigate as much as possible work with the developer in terms of putting the things you know to to mitigate it with the concern for the residents, you know so and. You know, like I said before, this property has been vacant for some 30 years. And I was there when it was a Chevron station. And I'm glad that the soil has been removed. I hope that there's nothing left. And as it's been certified, it has no ongoing issue. So when they start digging and stuff like that, I don't see the potential, but I can't guarantee anything. I don't see the potential. Of anything contaminant being released so that that's what's troubling me today in terms of making the decision we thought our eyes cross our tea in the end, we still got something. That we cannot in unless we get rid of the automobile get rid of something else at another level that that make deals with oil companies. and go back to what we passed for more EV cars and all that and supporting that. But we don't live in that world. We live in today's world where we still have dinosaur cars. And there's a market for a convenience store with that. And as I understand the mitigation that the property owner and management is going to put in place. I hope that mitigates some of the concern from the residents.

Thank you, Commissioner Wu. Does anybody else in the commission have a question for staff? Go ahead, Commissioner Pham.

I'm not sure if this is a question for for planning or public works. But I want to go back to the site plan showing the easement to the west. I want to have some clarification. That orange easement, is that 10 foot wide, 15 foot wide? What's the width of that easement?

I believe it's 15 feet.

15 feet, okay. Right now, currently, because the lot is vacant, it's being fenced in all the way around from the adjacent apartment to the other side. And so there's a security, there's a boundary, security boundary to those apartments with the windows open directly to the vacant lot. My concern here is, or my question is, once the project is built out, that easement, is that going to be capped with a fence facing memory lane? Or would it be completely open? And is it the city's responsibility to maintain that quote unquote alley?

It is a private east vent. I think there's currently a gate, as you mentioned, like a chain link fence. It doesn't call it out on the plans, but we can add a condition to fence.

That would be my suggestion because I foresee once this lot is no longer vacant and it's not being fenced in as a vacant lot, you know, obviously the current property owner of the gas station, they'll take care of their boundary condition. But if there's no communication between the gas station owner and the residential property owner and that alleyway or that easement becomes unprotected, then we have a dark alleyway, especially when there's no lighting, sight lighting proposed, the gas stations being lit towards the gas station side. Doesn't look like there's wall lighting on the apartment side. So we have essentially a dark alleyway. And if there's no protection from memorial lane or memory lane, then it's just asking for issues down the road. So I suggest it doesn't need to be a condition, but I suggest maybe you work with applicant or the or public works, I don't know who's responsible to kind of monitor and secure that area.

If I may, I would just suggest that it's left as a little bit vague just because because there's an access easement, I'm not sure how much right the current property owner has to build a fence there.

I can add to that if to address the Commission's concern related to the easement, a condition could be included that staff work with the applicants to address the issue related to securing the easement with any of the easement holders. That way we can see who has access easements over that space. And the team worked with those folks to secure the easement through fencing or appropriate gate so that there isn't a condition such as you're describing, Commissioner.

Thank you, Commissioner Femm. Vice Chair Bueninger?

We do have a representative from Public Works here, Monica Souter. Could you describe how long or when will the right turn lane be done? And the bike lane.

Okay good evening chair and commissioners and vice chair. So it is already scheduled and it's actually been awarded so they're planning to start later this year but they do have to order the traffic signal polls which is like a six month lead time and so they'll probably go first before the developer but the developer will probably not be too far behind them. Or may not be, I'm not sure of their exact timeline. Okay.

Just for my own knowledge, an easement like this, is it public works responsibility or plannings?

Well, it's kind of a little bit of a mix, I think, in a sense. But I recall, and I actually, of all the things I looked up related to this project in particular, and all the other two, I do recall there was a five foot easement to the north side. City Council Chambers, So i'm not sure if that boundary line is shown exactly where it's supposed to be i'm not sure.

City Council Chambers, So for the easements there are private easements and public easements. So the easement to the west, I believe, is a private easement. So that would be something that the planning division works with the property owner and any easement holders to address the comment, the safety and if it's a public publicly held easement that that would either be our public works agency or whoever's designated by the city to address the public easement.

What he said.

Okay. Yeah, I'm all set. Thank you. Thank you. I do want to thank the letters ever written today and let you folks know I do read them. And I thought they're very well written. And thank you for your input.

Thank you, Commissioner scamia.

Yeah, no, and I think this is just maybe general practices. I don't think we have a part of the parcel map up there. And maybe like in situations like this, where we do have a lot of different easements lining up together, if we can just get that in advance. I think that that would have saved me like seven of my questions internally in my head. But that's really the only comment there. And, yeah, if it looks like we're going forward with the Bristol project, I still feel that this corner is probably still too wide and unsafe to cross. But, you know, that's a conversation more for ETAC and maybe Public Works in the future on the overall roadway design for this particular intersection.

Thank you, Commissioner Escamilla. Commissioner Leo. Thank you, Commissioner Oliva. Great, so no additional questions or comments for staff. Would the applicant like to come back and respond to both public comments and then any questions you heard that may have gotten addressed or that you'd like to expand on?

Thank you. Thank you, Madam Chair. A couple of items. Number one, on the driveway locations. We've worked with city staff, public works, the traffic study was done, and the location of the driveways are based on our agreement with the city public works. and anybody whether it's this project or somebody else's project comes in they're going to require both driveways and their movements is not going to change it's you know existing right turning right turn out as staff indicated so the locations we've pushed them as far north and as far west as possible and so again that location was approved with a lot of discussions with public works In regard to the easement to the west, you know, we're okay with, you know, it's not a matter of the cost of putting a gate over there, but I just want to go on record indicating that, you know, I'm sure the property owner next door is, you know, would be willing to work with us, but I don't want that gate to be holding up our project. You know, we're more than happy to pay for the fee for the gate, but if it's getting held up, I just want to go on record saying that we're not going to agree to having somebody hold up the project because they won't agree to a gate so uh but again the cost of it that's not a problem uh as far as the uh chairperson you brought a question as far as the fumes and all that again the the new system that california has the vapor recovery system you don't see those fumes when the trucks drop fuel and all that you don't see fumes coming out of the vents and all that just you know for information because the new system that vapor recovery system that everybody had to install approximately like 15 years ago the intent was to capture all those vapors so you don't see the vapors and all that coming up but i mean just for information but usually on the the vents the pipes and all that we usually tend to put it away from you know the homes and all that uh just because of just being considerate you know perception of the people uh then uh in regard to the lighting and all that all of these lights are uh we have shields you know we have a photometric that we turned in and city planning has a copy of the photometric so we meet the requirements and if for some reason something happens and let's say it's brighter it will definitely put a shield to prevent the lighting to be you know flowing into the next door apartments uh the bus stop again uh that has been reviewed by city public works and we're accommodating the point i'm not sure you know eventually even if another project was to come in they still have the same issue about parking and all that but again we're in compliance with the uh with the public works requirements um other than that i hope i answered all the questions uh again we're here to answer any questions you guys might have thank you are there any final questions for the applicant commissioner escamilla

Yeah, no, I just wanted to say thank you for your flexibility and your rapid response to all these various complicated issues and obvious knowledge of the project site and the various complications and how they're overlapping together. So I just wanted to say thank you for that.

Thank you. Thanks, sir. Just to answer your question, I know when we did the property line here, it was very challenging trying to figure out everything. And there is an easement to the north that actually It's a parcel to if you take a look at the title report there's a parcel to that is right there with a cursor is moving not not there up there below it a little bit below the property line. Right there, that is in the favor of the property for it was there from 19, whatever the Chevron station was, and it was being used for like storage, and all that it's the same, same parcel up there as it is on the west. So we're taking advantage of that to put landscaping more than anything else. We're not putting any of our equipment or EVs or the building itself. So to answer your question.

Okay.

Thanks so much.

Thank you.

Thank you. And with that, the public hearing is now closed. Is there a motion to approve this matter?

Yeah, let me take a crack at that. Go ahead, Commissioner Leo. All right. Let's make a motion to approve conditional use permit 2020. 26-02 and 2026-05 for the property located at 2702 North Bristol. Let me add that we have a one-year review between staff and the owners. Fernanda, you have your work cut out for you to answer the questions that the residents raised. It's more of an issue of traffic and discussion about what are we gonna do? I understand the residents' concern about the bigger buses. That's an OCTA question. The widening of the road is a public works question. But try to resolve those before we get to City Council if we get there. I did want to thank the applicants for working. We have parcels like this all over the city. This is not our only one. We go through these machinations every now and then when we get a piece of property like this. So it would be one year review. Work out the trying to address the traffic issues and noise if there is created. You wanted to try to cut the hours from 10 to 9, if that's doable. I don't even know if it's doable from the trucking standpoint when the oil comes from. But we can add it. If it can't be accommodated, then so be it. Did I catch everything?

Commissioner Leo, before we move on to voting, we do have a current condition of approval that speaks to the one-year review to be brought back before the Planning Commission. Unless you were thinking of modifying that condition, we do have that condition.

No, one year's fine. OK, so that's already covered. So it would be a reduction in the delivery trucks from 10 to 9 if it's doable. It's up to the fueling people, the other fueling people. and then try to resolve whatever traffic issues were raised by the residents because I think it's understandable. But I will say that when I drive through Irvine, the Irvine company tells me that those intersections are D's and all of us would say they're F's. But it is what it is. I understand the concerns of the residents there. So that would be my motion.

Thank you. Would our legal counsel like to share a comment?

I was just checking with staff to make sure that they understood those conditions, in particular the one having to do with addressing traffic and noise. Are you essentially... asking staff to do that, not so much as a condition for the project.

It's not a condition, but to have it answered for council, because these residents will come back to council and ask the same questions.

Perfect. That's what I wanted to clarify.

It's not a condition of approval. It's just Fernanda knows what has to be answered when they get to the next phase.

Got it. So the only condition being added is that change to the hour. From 10 to 9. Okay.

Gotcha.

So I will second the motion of item one and two.

so before we take a second commissioner fam i don't know if you wanted to yes i want to add a friendly amendment with two additional conditions the first condition is for staff to work with the applicant to explore enhanced landscaping on the western property line the second condition is for staff to work with applicant and all relevant easement holder on the western side to secure the private easement and resolve that amongst all the stakeholders.

Are these conditions necessary in the resolution?

Commissioner Wu, this is Commissioner Leal's...

I'll answer Commissioner Wu's question at the same time. The condition that Commissioner Fann is raising is a question that we always have when there are dark pieces of property. No, I understand the condition. Those are new conditions that have to be added. They're not actually in the CEP conditions.

That's why. And Commissioner West, commissioners, we can add or make changes to the staff recommendation, and it is before this body. That's not the question.

Let me finish my question. Sure, go ahead. My question is, when is a condition a condition or just a direction to staff to follow up on something. Oh, that's a legal question. And in the resolution in the future, I think staff need to encompass some of these things, knowing that we have said these things time and time with each motion for concern for the residents and the community. That's my question. It's like do we always have to have a condition to change the resolution, you know, when it may have been already incorporated in staff study?

Thank you for that question. So it's really up to you. If you want something to be a condition and it's appropriate, right, it has to have that nexus to the impact of the project, then it can be added as a condition. But if you just have some concerns that you want staff to look into, That can be your direction as well. It's not a condition. That's why I was asking earlier about whether that second matter was something that you just wanted staff to look at separately, or if it was something that you wanted to add as a condition. So the answer to your question really is that it's up to you. what you'd like to do. If you want to give them direction to take certain actions, you can do that. If you want something to be a condition, then you can make that as part of your motion. And then it is typically good practice if you have a lot of conditions, just to ask the applicant one more time if they agree with those conditions, good practice. So that's essentially, it's up to you. And one thing I did want to know is that this particular matter does not go to the City Council unless it's appealed. So I did hear that. And thank you, Fernando, for reminding me that that's not the case.

So I was not objecting to the condition. I just want that clarification there. So it's up to you guys whether you want to include all those conditions or what.

Thank you, Commissioner. Will we have a motion by Commissioner Leon?

I have a question. I'm not really comfortable with the condition. If I don't agree with the condition, right now my choice is to vote no on the option, or do we vote individually on the condition first?

If you don't agree with, I'm sorry, who made the motion? The motion was- Commissioner Leo.

Okay. I've just been checking it. May I say it?

Well, yeah, we need to wait for a second. But you could try to make an amendment if you don't want a certain condition. But if that's not the case, then you, yeah, you have the option to just vote against it. That's fine. There's so there was a first and the only condition that I heard so far is the condition to change the hours for the fueling by one hour. So just to clarify, and it looks like we're waiting for a second.

Well, before you say, well, clarification, do we have a second for the entire motion as made? I didn't hear one.

So we are waiting on a second for his condition.

Correct. So I'm going to, if I may, Chair. Go ahead, Commissioner Skamea. I'll second Leo's initial motion with the assumption that there is going to be a friendly amendment from Commissioner Pham. That's correct.

So, well, sorry to take it back. Commissioner Leo, did you accept Commissioner Pham's friendly amendments?

Could you repeat it?

There's two additional amendments. The first condition is for staff to work with the applicant to explore enhanced landscaping on the western property line. The second condition is for staff to work with the applicant and all relevant easement holder for the private easement on the western side to secure that easement.

Commissioner Little, do you accept?

I do.

Thank you. So then Commissioner Skamea, you're second for the motion as it stands? Yes. Perfect.

Before we vote, can we ask the, as we said, clearly ask the applicant whether he can accept those conditions?

Yes. Yes. I will reopen the public hearing. The public hearing is now open. Would the applicant like to come forward?

Very quickly. Yes, we agree with the conditions with the exception of in regard to the gate. We'll work with staff and we're willing to pay for the gate and what have you, but I just don't want to be held up. Okay. Just in case we don't get a cooperation. Thank you.

Commissioner Leo, would you like to amend your motion?

I think Commissioner Pham's language about secure the easement leaves wide enough space so the parties can try to figure it out.

Perfect, thank you. Recording Secretary, can you please call for a roll call vote?

Commissioner Escamillo?

Aye.

Commissioner Leo?

Aye.

Commissioner Oliva? Aye. Commissioner Pham?

Aye.

Commissioner Wu?

Aye.

Vice Chair Benninger?

Aye.

Chair Ramos? Aye. Motion approved unanimously.

Thank you. Congratulations.

One more to go.

We are now moving on to Item 3, and I would also like to state for the record that Commissioner Oliva is leaving at 7.16 p.m. This is the time and place for zoning ordinance amendment number 2026-02, conditional use permit number 2026-03, and tentative track map number 2026-01 for the property located located at 4006, 4010, and 4008, sorry, 4006, 4010, and 4018 West Hazard Avenue, located within the specific development SD number 53 zoning district. Before we begin, do any commissioners have anything they wish to disclose with regard to this item?

Chair? Go ahead, Commissioner. I want to confirm... Is it 1000 feet or is it 2000 feet with proximity to the project?

So I believe it is within 1,000 feet. If we reside or have any financial interest within 1,000 feet of a project, we then have to recuse ourselves?

It's not a hard and fast number. There's an analysis that goes into it. If you're 500 or less, and then 500 to 1,000, and then over 1,000, there's presumptions. If you are within 1,000 or if you're over 1,000, there's a presumption that you do not have a conflict of interest. If you are between 500 and 1,000, there's an analysis that goes into that. You were asking about that, not about notification.

Commissioner Femm, would you like a five-minute recess to consult with staff?

Yeah, I just want to double-check the address because I'm not sure we have quorum.

We do. We'll take a five-minute recess for Commissioner Femm to consult with staff.

Looking for the recharge. I'm sorry. Not yet. Thank you. Thank you. Okay.

uh pedro can you uh thank that other planner for all her work because she got all these stacks of stuff

Thank you.

Okay.

I'll wait until they're all done. I forgot my stuff, but I just thought you were gonna say something. Whatever.

with our friends. Keep coffee.

Keep coffee.

Keep coffee. Keep coffee. Keep coffee.

Yeah, so look at the Ted Moreno .

Thank you. Thank you. I know she won't be mine. Honestly, my mom's with me right now, so I'm thinking. I don't wanna be, I'm coming back. Thank you.

Recording Secretary, can you please start the meeting? Restart the meeting. Thank you. We are now restarting the meeting. We are on item three. This is the time and place for zoning ordinance amendment number 2026-02, conditional use permit number 2026-03, and tentative track map number 2026-01 for the property located at 4,006, 4,010, and 4,018 West Hazard Avenue located within the specific development SC number 53 zoning district. Before we begin, do any commissioners have anything they wish to disclose with regard to this item? Seeing none, the case planner, Nancy Tran, will provide a brief presentation.

Good evening, Commissioners. The items before your application, Zoning Ordinance Amendment Number 202602, Conditional Use Permit Number 202603, and Tenant of Track Mac Number 202601 for properties located at 4006, 4010, and 4018 West Hazard Avenue, located in Ward 1. The project seeks to amend specific development number 53, also known as SD 53, to update residential development standards and permit places of worship, subject to approval of a conditional use permit. A conditional use permit to establish a place of worship and a tentative track map to subdivide the project site into 14 fee simple lots. Staff recommends that the Commission forward a recommendation for City Council adoption of Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program, SEH number 2026010220, Environmental Review number 2023-25. An ordinance approving zoning ordinance amendment number 202602 to amend SD53 to revise residential development standards and allow conditionally permitted use enabling construction of the Bella Terra residential community and temple project. Along with resolution approving conditional use permit number 202603 as condition and resolution approving tentative track map number 202601 county map number 19332 as conditioned. The subject properties general plan destination is low medium density residential LMR 11 and the site is zoned SD 53. Surrounding land uses include single family residential to the north, single family residential to the east, single family residential and mobile home park to the south, and single family residential to the west. The project site includes three parcel totaling 2.46 acres or about 107,000 square feet. To get a picture of the context, here are current photos of the three parcels taken from the north side of Hazard Avenue looking south, as well as from the corner of Hazard Avenue and Morse Drive facing southeast. With respect to the site background, the three parcels were developed each with single-family residences between 1949 and 1953, and were surrounded by orchards and agriculture until the area transitioned to residential uses. In 1989, Council adopted Ordinance No. NS-2019, rezoning the three properties from single-family residence to SD-53, allowing up to 17 detached homes on a private cul-de-sac with flexible lot standards. The site was never redeveloped and the properties remain unimproved with the residences remaining. In January 2023, the applicant filed Development Project Number 2023-03 to modify SD53 to add a place of worship and build 12 homes. That proposal moved forward with the zone change and conditional permit applications as well as the tenant attract map in January 2024. These are before the commission today. The project proposes demolition of the three existing residences and accessory structures, subdivision of the site into 14 lots, 12 of them residential, one street and one temple, and to construct 12 market-rate single-family residences in the modern Mediterranean architectural style and a 3,500 square foot place of worship for the Gaudi faith. The project proposes a phase development for phase one, temple construction from summer 2026 to summer 2027, and for phase two, with construction of 12 residences and site improvements for summer 2027 through summer 2028. Overall site improvements include 72 parking spaces, 19 for the temple and 53 for the residential lots, about 55,500 square feet of open space, which includes the common area, at the end of the cul-de-sac with a trellis, bench, and barbecue. 40 new 24-inch box trees and drought-tolerant landscaping, a private cul-de-sac street and voluntary repaving of Morse Drive, which is a private street, sidewalks on Hazard Avenue, seven-foot perimeter walls around the site, and underground utilities. This side shows the proposed site plan with the 12 residences located on the east of the proposed cul-de-sac and common open space at the end and temple on the western side. These are elevations of the proposed Gaudi Temple, which is 35 feet tall and its front gate about 18 feet tall. And these are elevations of the proposed residences in four different models, ranging from 1,500 to 2,500 square feet, the front and the rear. This is a conceptual landscape plan showing the trees throughout the development along hazard avenue the private street and within the temple property. No trees are depicted on the residential lots because specific development document establishes minimum landscape standards, but also allows future owners to select and install their own landscaping but within those prescribed parameters within the SD. The SD along with the conditions of approval specify shape producing trees have a certain box size. That will require planning staff review for an initial installation and CC and ours requiring design review committee responsible for reviewing and enforcing compliance with the communities approve architectural and landscape design guidelines. The proposed zoning ordinance amendment amends SD53 to reduce from 17 to 12 homes a place of worship via CUP and sets compatible height, setback, parking, and landscape development standards. It updates the outdated 1989 SD to enable modern infill with fee-simple lots, creating Clear regulatory framework for residential growth and community uses. Overall, the amendment supports Santa Ana general plan objectives for compatible land uses and neighbourhood preservation. And also promotes public health, safety, general welfare and ensures developments compatible with their surrounding residential character through updated and context sensitive regulations. With the zoning amendment in place, the conditional use permit focuses on how the place of worship will function on the site. The community serving place of worship will support spiritual, cultural needs and cultural needs of residents while seven foot perimeter walls and compatible building scale and height, onsite parking and limited daytime hours and small assemblies ensure that there will be no adverse health, safety, economic or land use impacts to the surrounding residential properties. The project meets Santa Ana Municipal Code Chapter 41 and amended SD53 objective standards for height, setbacks, parking, site design, and will be subject to conditions providing ongoing regulatory oversight. It also aligns with the low-medium density designation, enhances transit-oriented infill, preserves neighbourhood character, and promotes complete communities through context-sensitive buffers, materials, and landscaping. Moving to the tenant track map the subdivision aligns with the low medium density residential designation and advances responsible growth through diverse housing and Community uses. neighborhood compatibility and transit oriented infill with high quality design buffers in common open space. The two and a half acre site is suitable for the 12 homes and temple per the Santa Ana municipal code and sd 53 standards with full utilities and infrastructure. The design resolves easements through right away dedication utility easements and CC and ours, ensuring reciprocal access and maintenance per municipal code section 41 dash 626 with no public right away complex. Staff work with the applicant to ensure the project's design is context sensitive, compatible with the surrounding single family neighborhood, and satisfies conditional use permit findings under SAMC section 41-638. The project also conforms to the low medium density residential general plan designation and updated SD53 objective standards for height, setbacks, parking, landscaping, and maintaining appropriate scale intensity for the area. With respect to the general plan, the project is consistent with LMR 11 land use designation, supporting responsible growth, balanced land uses, and complete neighborhoods through low-scale residential development and a community-serving religious temple. It provides context-sensitive info near Harbor Boulevard Transit Corridor, integrating single-family homes in a religious facility that enhances livability while maintaining compatibility with the surrounding residential development. It supports housing diversity and neighbourhood stability by introducing new home ownership opportunities alongside community serving institutional use and create spaces for community gathering and social interaction through the temple and shared open space area that strengthen the neighbourhood cohesion. The project incorporates high quality architecture, materials and landscaping, including buffers and site design features that ensure compatibility with the surrounding homes and advanced urban design goals for physical character and design quality. Under CEQA guidelines, the City prepared an initial study and mitigated negative declaration for this project, also as ISM&D. This ISM&D describes the project and evaluates potential environmental impacts from construction and operation. The ISM&D evaluates the potential environmental impacts of the project implementation includes significant determinations from the environmental analysis, identifies regulatory requirements to be incorporated into the project and sets forth mitigation measures that will lessen or avoid potentially significant project impacts on the environment. The ISMAD finds that there are no impacts or less than significant impacts with mitigation across all CEQA checklist topics, specifically cultural resources, geology and soils, noise, tribal cultural resources and mandatory findings. All impacts are mitigated to less than significant levels. A notice of intent was posted to the county clerk on January 12, 2026 for the required 30 day public comment period between January 13, 2026 and February 12, 2026. One comment received was received from the Department of toxic substances control concerning potential hazardous materials, building demolition and imported soil management during the public review period. The city reviewed all comments and prepared responses in the responses to comments and mitigation and monitoring reporting program or MRP. Based on the evaluation in the ISMAD together with the comments received, the City has determined that no substantial new environmental issues have been raised that have not been adequately addressed in the ISMAD and or in its RTC and MMRP document. Based on this analysis, a Notice of Determination Environmental Review Number 2023-40 will be filed for the project. There is no fiscal impact for this project. Staff recommends that the Commission forward a recommendation for City Council adoption of mitigated negative declaration and mitigation monitoring and reporting program environmental review number 2023-25. An ordinance approving zoning ordinance amendment number 202602 to amend SD53 to revise residential development standards and allow religious place of worship as a conditionally permitted use, enabling construction of the Bella Terra residential community and temple project. as well as a Resolution Approving Conditional Use Permit 2026-03 as condition and Resolution Approving Tentative Track Map No. 202601 as condition. This concludes my presentation and I'm available for questions along with Jessica Hitchcock from SOMUS, the consultant who provided the environmental document.

Thank you. Does the Commission have any comments or questions for staff? Commissioner Escamilla.

Okay, I said I wasn't going to ask too many questions, but on the, oh my gosh, the, I just had it up, hold on. Oh man, maybe I should have skipped me, I'm sorry. There was just one little thing where the size of a particular, I think it was the, oh my gosh, Exhibit 6 maybe, where it's saying all of the standards and requirements, so wherever that little exhibit is. Gosh, and I should just have in front. Sorry. This is what I get for scrolling too much further down. Sorry. It is Exhibit 6 on the current and proposed text regulations, seen as page 254 of the full packet. Just a little question in my mind. There's the size question. There's like a little segment that says size. So I'm not sure if that's supposed to be lot size because it's a maximum of 3,500 square feet. So that's where I just don't know if we need to just do a quick cleanup there because size, I could refer to the building size, but I imagine that's specifically to the lot size. So just confirming if we can just like count that as a little quick cleanup or if I'm just reading that incorrectly, but I presume that's lot size.

Is this for the Gaudi temple or I'm not sure and looking at exhibits exhibit six commissioners Camille looks like size is a subset of the cow died temple. And that would be the square footage of the temple of the temple.

Okay, perfect. So yeah, that's where I just ended up being confused. I just saw like a size and I was like, Okay, I wasn't sure if it's like lot size for the entire subdivision or only just that section. Because in my mind, it was it was great. I was like, Oh, we have a maximum lot size, which is not a practice that we've ever done before. I think we usually have minimum lot sizes. So that's where it was just a little okay. Awesome. No, that was the only question I had.

Thank you, Commissioner Escamilla. Do we have any other questions or comments for staff at this time? Commissioner Liao.

Commissioner Liao, can we go back to the site plan? Okay. You were there. So currently, there's what three homes there. A lot size now that you brought it up commissioners. The lot size is going to be what for all the for the new homes.

It ranges from 3461 to 5100, depending on whether it's the corner lot or further down.

Okay, and then is the street new with the cul-de-sac, or is it? That'll be new. That'll be new, okay. And the existing homes that will stay, they're all single-storey or two-storey?

The existing homes will all be demolished.

Right, but are they single-storey or two-storey?

They are single-storey.

They're single, so they're like ranch-style homes. Yes. And then in between the temple And the first existing home, what is the height of the temple compared to the home?

The height is 35 feet.

35 feet for the temple, I remember.

Yes, and then the homes will be 24 feet.

Okay. And then no, are there, there's no windows or no, I'm talking about the person that's right next to the temple? Like there's nothing that shields them or there's no viewpoint into that home?

Um, not directly. No, it'll just be.

Yeah. Commissioner, are you speaking of the homes that are proposed as part of this development?

No, I'm talking about the existing I'm talking about the existing home, because because the new homes are across the street from the temple. Right, the existing home is that that's an existing one story, right? Am I reading that correctly? You see what the temple is right on the corner what's to the right of that is not existing single story home, yes, these are single family homes okay so there's no viewpoints from the tip the back end of the temple into the backyard right i'm just trying to think about think about living there what's going to happen there if approved and.

there's no viewpoint from the back end of the temple into that person's backyard right now the upper story there's only access to the front portion.

okay so there's nothing looking backwards towards the existing homes okay all right and the current surrounding neighborhood is all residential right this is all residential yes okay that was just my first set of questions thanks thank you commissioner leo commissioner fem if you okay

Um, for the kind of track map, I just want to clarify the way that this parcels being divided is that you have these 12 individual residential lot and then the rest of the net area left over belongs to the temple. Is that correct?

I believe it'll be part of like an association for maintenance between all of them.

OK, because, yeah, that's where my confusion is. It's, you know, the temple's parking is being kind of spread out throughout the I'm assuming shared street, private shared street. And then there is a common open space I'm assuming is required or the development of the temple. I'm just not sure how that works. Is it supposed to be like a community where ownership of those residential homes are somewhat in association with the temple? This is shared HOA. I mean, it's not relevant to the project at hand, but I'm just curious how that works, just the way that parcel map is being drawn.

I believe it will be part of an association. The temple will be able to use 10 parallel spaces on that street and then the five other parallel spaces will be available for the residences.

If I can add to that, Commissioner, condition nine to the map also includes that shared access and reciprocal parking rights and restrictions be addressed as part of the CC&Rs that are tied to the map.

And then to the elevation, I know that for For this specific zone, we're capped at 35 feet for this residential area. Is that correct?

This SD is capping it at 20, I believe it's 27 feet for the residences, but most of the homes are at 24 feet. The temple has its own height restriction, which is 35 feet.

And it looks like 35 feet is being measured to the top of structure, which is the roof. Yes. How do we account for the spire that's being proposed above the roof?

Municipal code usually puts those appurtenances as design features and aren't counted towards height.

And then what are our thoughts in terms of planning on the compab? Because you've referenced the project is compatible with surround residences as well as architecturally. To me, the temple has its own architectural language, and then the residences is offering up another architectural language. I don't know how we square that. Obviously, the temple has its own language that you can't deviate from because it's a Buddhist temple. Wouldn't it make sense for the residential development, since it's part of an HOA, as has been presented, part of a co-development, that somehow that style translates to all the other residential homes as well, rather than having it be a Spanish home next to an Asian-influenced building?

The compatibility is really for the height and the scale, not quite the architecture.

I can add to that, Commissioner. We do have development standards that apply to the massing, the location of buildings, the use. However, when it comes to architectural style, there is a lot of latitude, not just, let's say, if this were to move forward and were to be approved, but in all zoning districts. So if someone wants to go for a particular architectural style, that property owner would be allowed to do that, provided they comply with all the development standards. So we do have a set of guidelines currently. And if the home or if the building complies with those guidelines, it's a guideline. So we encourage that. But ultimately, it's up to the property owner if they meet all the other development standards, if they want to tick off all the boxes for the design guidelines.

That objectively, I understand it satisfies the requirement. I think maybe it's just a topic of discussion. Like if these homes were subdivided, independent of this temple project, that totally makes sense to me, because there's many homes in Santa Ana that is Mediterranean, Spanish, so it's very cohesive with the character of the neighbourhood. But as proposed, it seems to me just the way the project is coming in, and as you were explaining it, as a part of a co-development, that we need to treat it as an entire development as a whole. And so that's where I see a friction between the architectural style. If it was independent, I wouldn't raise the issue for discussion. But since it's developed together, and as an HOA, there's a agreed upon HOA and maintenance, one can say, what if the landscaping is a certain style, and then the homes are a certain style, It creates friction rather than in character with the neighborhood that they're creating.

If I may, Commissioner, thank you so much for your question. Leading up to this meeting, we had the opportunity to visit other temples that are similar design. And so as I understand it, the property owners, and they could probably speak to this a little bit better, have the intention to sell these properties. And so it's not typical to design homes in this design. But it is typical design temples in this specific design. There's very unique architectural that goes into it. CoB, Gerrit Slatterjohn, As a staff report draws from many different influences, so this is kind of a standard design for the temples as it's not a standard design for residential so to. CoB, Gerrit Slatterjohn, For us to kind of press, the issue of making it consistent across the entire development to have either or reflect the part of it that doesn't match. Um, for us to feel really feasible and didn't reflect the conditions that they would eventually sell the homes. And in order to do that, they needed to be marketable. And in order to be marketable, they need to be consistent with what homes are selling and the designs that are selling. So that's kind of why we thought it didn't, you know, holistically, as the case planner mentioned, compatibility with size and massing, it's there. But design wise, there's a reason why they're two distinct styles.

That's all for me.

Thank you, Commissioner Pham. Commissioner Wu.

So if we were to look at this proposal development, we see residential housing and a religious temple. Right. And the residential part is going to be so. Right. Currently, What is the church, Carl, on Memory Lane on the other side of the gas station over there with the child care center? Is that Presbyterian or Methodist? It's Presbyterian. Okay. That Presbyterian style doesn't really mesh with some of the ranch housing in the area, does it? Or let's take Artesia Pilar, Our Lady of Pilar. It's all mission style, but there's not a lot of mission style houses around there. There's all the 1950s clap houses that we have, you know, the two bedroom houses and all that. Then you have old St. Joseph, old good, you know, Catholic church where Father Will used to teach and preside. you know, it's different from the houses in the area. There used to be wooden St. Anne-style houses and craftsmen. So if we look at churches, churches were built so that it conserved the surrounding community. But we find churches now in business district. We just approved one a while back. So a church or Wm. Gregory Sawyer Jr.: Religious facility and residential and we're broke that train that went out the station, you know we have all sorts of things we have houses to serve as religious places okay storefronts that serve as religious facility. So we've allowed that to go on already. So to say this one project is not compatible because of this and that and one architecture field, you know, why should we pick on an Asian motif?

But that's not my understanding. Commissioner Wood, that's not my understanding of what Commissioner Finn asked. He said, why submit it on the same map?

Why should I?

No, no, no, but why? Why aren't they coming in as two separate things? Why should they? Well, because when they come in together, then you ask the question of compatibility.

Unless you're able to separate the two as one property owner deciding to do this on this half and deciding to do this half. So if it was still the same freedom for all these other developers of putting the church in the middle of a business district, you know, and have some kind of evangelistic operation going on, shouldn't we also allow some freedom here for them to have, you know, at their temple and in self-depravity? And they're probably going to find some people.

Commissioner Wood, do you have a question for staff?

Well, that's my question. You know, haven't we allowed a lot of these kind of stuff going on already? And this is the desire of the developer, right? So should we honour that?

Thank you Commissioner Wu for those clarifying comments and remarks. For the Commission's consideration I did want to point to an existing example on New Hope. I don't I don't want to mispronounce it, but the Bao Quang Temple. Similar characteristics where it's adjacent to single-family homes. The design is specific to the temple. It's not ranch, it's not mid-century modern, but these are existing examples that are in the same community. And the proposal would be like that situation. The question about whether to, SUBDIVIDED AND THEN COME BACK WITH THE TEMPLE I DON'T THINK IS NECESSARILY RELEVANT TO THE DECISION THAT'S BEING MADE TODAY. THE QUESTION BEFORE YOU IS THE PROJECT, PART OF THE PROJECT THEY'RE PROPOSING TO DO THE TEMPLE AND THE HOMES AND THE SUBDIVISION.

Thank you, Commissioner Wu. Vice Chair Bender?

Let me also point out that this is going to have an HOA. In that situation, the HOA sets a lot of rules as to what things are going to look like. And so the individualization of these 12 separate lots are kind of taken away by HOA. And the person knows that when they buy in. They have to follow the rules of the HOA on it. But my question is really concerning. I'm ignorant as far as temple activity, when the temple will be used, when they're going to have their services, and what kind of traffic is that going to generate? 19 traffic spots, parking spots, seems very little to be concise of this temple. Could you answer that, please?

In the staff report and in the materials they had submitted, their activities will be limited to Monday through Friday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and Sunday services from 11 to 2 p.m., and they're expecting about 16 attendees.

16 and 16. Really? I seem small for that size of a building. I don't understand. But again, I'm not Abraham. I'm Catholic and I Catholic churches Sundays, we have tons of cars that come on it. And one of the letters that expressed concern was overflow into the mobile home area there on Moore Street. Can you address that was consideration was taken for that?

So part of the conditions of approval require that they have a parking management plan. And it's, I believe it's conditions nine through 12, requiring a parking management plan for vehicle queuing, where they can park, and then if there's any complaints from the neighborhood, how they should address it.

Okay. Thank you, Melissa.

Thank you, Vice Chair Benninger. Commissioner Escamilla.

Chair, I know you said I can ask one more question, so I'm going to ask two. That's technically a way out of that. So the first question, since we're still on the topic of parking, this might actually be for Public Works. So the question that I have is, did we examine the possibility of having angled parking like throughout the entirety? Just, you know, I guess on this, I'm not sure if it's the south side, but whatever's on the lower portion of the map, just to see if there was kind of the flexibility and space to add angled parking to add capacity. for parking there and like to still be able to make the turnouts and like all those conditions. And then this being a private road, I don't know if we have more flexibility here rather than the standards required in a public road. So those are the questions for public works. That's where I have a technical question for planning too, but that's.

Yes. Good evening again. And actually, since it is a private street, it actually wasn't under the purview of public works. Yeah, so I feel like I've gone full circle. But yeah.

Okay, then. So in that case, did we examine the possibility then for the turnouts in the right hand?

Commissioner, are you speaking about the turnaround at the far end of the?

No, I mean the entirety because right now it's parallel parking. So I'm just thinking like whether or not we could get additional spaces as an angled parking option, then all on the south side of the I'm sorry, I'm referring to this as south, but let me get the cardinal directions correct. The side that is on the temple side, so all of that that's going to be along the wall, it seems like there might be enough of a turn radius to be able to get that angled parking at a certain angle. And maybe we might be able to get a few additional parking spots there. But again, I just don't know the technical width and limitations there. As long as we examined it, I just want to make sure that we did.

City Council Chambers, Thank you, we did ensure it, we did there's a lot of iterations of these plans and this accommodates for the required fire lane and minimum one sided parking essentially yeah okay cool, so that was the first one, and then I guess I just wanted to have a.

Question, comment on the site plan. So I'm seeing this as basically we have four models, really only a model in the front, a model in the back, and then some alternating models in the middle. So I just had a question on model four. There seems to be the inclusion of what I presume to be a design guideline requirement of having a step back on the second story, but it's the only structure that actually has that step back. And it's the one that's closest to the cul-de-sac. So I just don't see the rationale and justification for that second-storey step back. Because if we were able to just include basically the way all the other models are being treated, you'd be able to get like an extra 100 or 80, let's say 800 square feet into the building, which would lead to two additional bedrooms. So that's two additional people that are either being housed or a family unit, you know, a more flexible space for a family. So I'm just wondering why we're that step back near the cul-de-sac despite it being so far away from every other residential structure there. Again, this is just something where I'm not sure if that was something that we mandated, because I know it isn't in our design guidelines, or if that was something that the staff, sorry, the staff, that the applicant proposed and was okay with. Because I would, I guess, remove that step back requirement if that is something that we're trying to apply to this particular project.

I believe that they're following the design guidelines for residential just to have that articulation at the front. But this is how they came in.

They came in with it. Okay. So I guess it'll be a question for them. But all right. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Escamilla. Vice Chair Benninger.

Yeah, you mentioned that on demolition of the existing buildings, there will be a concern over environmental hazards. Are we talking about abestas, lead-based paints? What is the concern?

Good evening, Commissioners. Thank you for letting me speak. I'm Jessica Hitchcock. I prepared the CEQA documentation and I work with SOMUS. The letter that Nancy was referring to was from DTSC. It was one of the comments that we got on the ISMND public review period and I have it here. Essentially what the DTSC letter was saying is that if there are certain structures that are to be demolished on site, which there are the project needs to conduct surveys for to determine whether the presence of lead based paints or products mercury asbestos containing materials are in the building. So ultimately, this letter is just kind of a it's regulatory compliance, you know, just complying with the law.

good cover all letter i've seen those lots of time yes but now going back when were these buildings built what year i'm not sure do you guys know if it was board before 1970 i can see concern for bestest and lead-based paints i can see that concern and they can always be determined by surveying the property and seeing if they're there absolutely it's just a standard cover all letter excuse me yeah gotcha thank you thank you vice chair benninger

We're now going to go ahead and open the public hearing. Would the applicant like to speak? You have 15 minutes.

Good evening, Chairman and member of planning. My name is Long Nguyen and I'm with the CN Architects Design and I'm a project architect for this project. And first of all, I would like to thank you planning staff for their time, their dedication and the guidance throughout the process. And I'm here to answer all the questions. And first of all, I would like to respond to Commissioner Chris Leo of about the view, because this temple is one story height. So the people cannot see from home. This temple height is about 15 feet high. So only one story so you can the neighbor will not see anything from from the temple. And based on your question about the parking, so we have study with the staff and we have only 16 members come to the temple every Sunday from 11 to 2 p.m. So that's it. And the length, okay, the temple is only 35 feet long, but the inside is only 27 feet by 90 feet. So it's very small. So we provide 19 parking space for 16 member. And like, and for the overflow parking, and we think thinking about to, if We've been thinking about to rent the school or nearby when we have more people come to the temple. Yes.

We'll go ahead and now have questions from the commission. Commissioner Wu.

You practice meditation there, right? Yes.

which means you're you're on the ground you're not standing up right okay thank you commissioner commissioner fan yeah thank you um you mentioned 16 um uh 16 members right yes um do you have an event plan oh yes we do have a event plan

Okay, so we have a four events, the main event. February is 30 people, August about 60 people, and September about 30 people, and November event about 60 people. So when we have that big event, we will arrange the overflow parking at nearby church or school. Yes, because from this temple to the school, only 100 feet you can walk to it.

I'll ask staff this, but Is a special event permit required for such events? Because I know for New Year's, things like that, people do visit the temple quite often.

When we have a special event, we will let you know.

Also, my question is, you've heard us discuss about, well, you heard me discuss about the style.

What are your thoughts? Oh, because the style, because that temple, it has only one architecture style, regardless where we build, in Vietnam, in Canada, in , right now. So they're on one style, either small or big. So we cannot change the temple style.

In terms of the home, since you're proposing it as one project, Why did you choose the Mediterranean style to complement the temple?

Because if we change the residential to look like the temple, and it will because with the bottom line, we had to follow the city's guidelines. So we cannot change the look.

Do you foresee, because the lot is being subdivided into, you have residential on one side, the temple on the other side, but it's being managed by one HOA, I'm assuming?

That's something we will, when we sell the land, we will discuss with the the temple. We will sit down to figure out how it works together. But the bottom line is the people who live there, they will be the members of the temple.

That's right. So I just want to share my concern is that because it's one big project, right? What I am imagining is that you obviously will need fencing. like fence walls around your property. Yes. Obviously, I would assume that the fence around the temple will match the architecture style of the temple. Right. But the fences around the Mediterranean houses will match the style, I'm assuming, of the Mediterranean house. That's okay if it's deep inside the lot. My concern is from the street of hazard, you have a new development that half of the fencing and half of the decoration of off of hazard is going to be in the style of the temple. And the other half of the decoration is going to be in a style of Spanish, that that's where I see the conflict.

Okay, the fence will be the simple fence, the rock iron fence. So there are no architectures of temple style. So make it simple.

That's all for me.

Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Pham. Commissioner Escamilla.

Yeah, no. So I just wanted to find out the thought process and kind of how that step back in the very last Model 4 came back. So my understanding is that we have design guidelines that require on that second story for there to be a little bit of a step back. So not just the setback, that's like the footprint of the building, but on the second story to also then go back another 10 feet. Did you want to or like was it just because you read the guidelines and it said the step back is there so therefore that's what you needed to do? Or was it like you submitted something with that second story and one kind of version and then had to revise it? Because again, I just would want to grant as much housing capacity as possible. So like to me that second story isn't a problem there. And I'm just wondering kind of That little bit being notched out when everything else is completely solidly second, you know, two story residential structures in the design.

Actually, we follow I follow the city guideline. So design based on the guideline.

So I want to know if you can use the microphone, please. If you can use the microphone. I'm sorry.

Yes, because we follow the city guideline and know and everything. A lot of work from the planning staff, so back and forth, and they help us go through this process.

Okay, so you were then informed that this was part of the guidelines, is that requiring that step back? Or was it that you read the guidelines and then just submitted it as that?

No, I think we're happy with that, yes. Okay, okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner scamia. Recording Secretary, have we received any written communication? Thank you so much. Those are all the questions for now. Sorry. Recording Secretary, have we received any written communication? Or is there a member of the public that would like to comment on this item?

Chair, we have received a total of three emails in the form of public comments for this item before the 3.30 p.m. deadline, which has been distributed to the commission and posted online. If you are attending this meeting in person and would like to comment on this item, please fill out a request to speak form and turn it into the secretary. If you are participating via Zoom and would like to comment on this item, please select the hand icon to indicate that you would like to speak. If you are calling in and would like to comment on this item, Please dial nine and then six to unmute yourself. I will wait a few seconds. Chair, we have two speakers on Zoom. First speaker in Zoom is Gabriela G. You will have three minutes to speak.

Hi, my name is Gabriella, and I am a resident of Morris Drive. And you guys did touch base a little bit on the traffic on that street. My main concern is, and I'm not against the temple, It's just the traffic that's going to be maybe coming into the street or potentially those residential houses that are being built are going to overflow into more streets. So just want to see if there's any sort of guarantee that there's not going to be, you know, people coming in and parking on that street because we do have currently we have an issue with that.

Thank you, Gabriela. Next speaker in Zoom is going to be Dee Myers. You have three minutes to speak.

Yes. Hello. Good evening. My name is Dawn Myers. I do oppose the

Sorry, if you're speaking, we can't hear you right now. We might be having some technical difficulties. Please give us a minute.

Ms. Myers, can you please unmute yourself?

Hello? We can hear you. Thank you. Thank you. I'm sorry about that. Good evening to you. My name is Dawn Myers and I do oppose the proposal. I am a Santa resident in the neighborhood that's just northwest of the proposed project. My neighborhood is at the corner of New Hope and Hazard. Traffic in this neighborhood is already a concern and this project I believe will exasperate the problem. Exiting my neighborhood during busy traffic hours, especially in the after work hours onto New Hope Street can often take up to 20 minutes due to the cars that are heading north and sitting in the traffic lanes waiting to go through the backed up traffic from the Westminster New Hope traffic light and dangerous to pull out heading south due to not being able to see that traffic headed south because it's blocked by the line of cars that are parked trying to head north. So therefore, during these times, and other busy AM times, I use West Street, which exits out toward or onto Hazard. And from there, I head west on toward New Hope. Traffic on Hazard is less busy, but it is also busy. It is not a wide street at all. And traffic is further slowed down. They put in these, I call them curb extensions, although I don't really know the proper term. And that's good because there's a school right there. And so it really slows the traffic during school start and end times. So I'm finding that in this neighborhood, especially with all the ADUs that are being built now, it's just very, very difficult to go out New Hope. And so that exit onto Hazard becomes really very important, not just for time, but also for safety. I did send an email, and in there I mentioned that Appendix F in the project documents didn't describe two concerns. And one that I'd like to point out tonight is that it didn't meet, I guess, a requirement that projects should generate less than 110 net daily trips. They found that it didn't meet the screening criteria because it would met 127 daily trips. Also, I'm concerned in this area, there's a lot of fireworks that traditionally occur at temples and it makes the animals get a little crazy. I myself hit and killed a dog just two years ago who ran out on Lunar New Year for fear of the fireworks. So I'm concerned about that.

And I apologize, you're at time.

Oh, okay. Thank you. Thank you.

Are there any? Were the all were those all the speakers recording secretary?

Yes, Chair, we have we no longer have any more speakers. Thank you.

Are there any additional questions, Commissioner Skamea? And as a first step for the applicant?

It's going to be for staff. So we'll start with that. OK. No, I think I just wanted to point to the concerns that seem to have come in for traffic might be more related to the inability to exit out onto New Hope. So that might be something more for Public Works. I don't know if there is maybe an intersection there for one of the subdivisions on, I guess, north of the site. Because that seemed to have been maybe the bigger issues that were brought up from the staff, sorry, from the public comments about traffic, it seemed to be the concentration from that neighbourhood across the street. So nothing, I think, really impacting this project, but just wanted to flag that as maybe something for follow up.

Thank you, Commissioner Skamea. Do we have any additional questions for staff at this time? Great. Are there any additional questions for the applicant at this time before they are able to speak again? Thank you. The applicant, would you like to share any final words? You have up to five minutes if you would like. Thank you. The applicant gesturing that they don't need any additional time. The public hearing is now closed. Now's the time for any commission discussion and to consider any motions.

I'm just going to motion to approve as conditioned.

Thank you, Commissioner Scamiglia. We have a motion.

I second that.

And we have a second from Vice Chair Benninger. Secretary, please call for a roll call vote.

Can I add a direction, not a condition?

You can propose a friendly amendment to the motion, and Commissioner Scamiglia can consider.

No, I just think it's wise in a divisive world that they build good relationship with the neighborhood. That's all.

Thank you, Commissioner Wood. Secretary, please call for a roll call vote, thank you.

Commissioner Escamilla?

Aye.

Commissioner Leo?

Aye.

Commissioner Oliva? Aye. Commissioner Pham?

Aye.

Commissioner Wu?

Aye.

Vice Chair Benninger?

Aye.

Chair Ramos? Aye. Motion approved by majority vote with Commissioner Oliva absent.

Thank you, congratulations. That concludes the business calendar. Moving on to staff comments.

Thank you, Chair. I did have one follow-up item from the last Commission meeting where we saw a rezone on Santa Clara. We did take a look at the city's local AB2011 exemption maps, and those properties that were rezoned were not on the exempt parcels list. However, those parcels would not qualify for AB2011 because they have single-family residential buildings on them. So while they're not on the exempt parcels list, they still would not qualify for that streamlined provision.

Thank you. Does the Commission have any closing comments or questions for staff?

I see none from Commissioner Escamilla.

Commissioner Leo?

None of this.

Thank you. Commissioner Wu? Commissioner Pham? Vice Chair Bender?

Yes, a couple of questions, and I don't know whether we can answer all of these or not. But right now, I'm getting a lot of inquiries about one Broadway Plaza. Do we have a project that you gentlemen are working on right now for one Broadway Plaza?

Yes, there is an application that the city is currently reviewing. So the project is still under review by the city. And as was shared in prior meetings and for those listening on the web, we do have a project web page that is routinely updated. Any status changes in that project is going to be captured on that web page. We also have the contact information for the case planner on that webpage if you want to speak to her regarding any details relating to the project. And also, if you want to be included on any notification list, go ahead and contact Nancy Tran. She's the case planner and will let you know when that project, if that project moves forward.

Question, and I don't know whether you've answered this tonight. This project's been started, well, actually goes back to 2004, I believe. During that time, there was a city vote that they paid for. about the rezoning of the land. Will that affect any way how that project comes to the Planning Commission?

I'm not sure if I'm following, but the application before the city is a zoning ordinance amendment. So it would affect the zoning ordinance that regulates the land use and the development of that site so that if it moves forward would be brought first before the Planning Commission and then before the City Council.

Mayor Mrakas, This is where I would take legal may need to take a look, but I believed, and I may be wrong because it's been a long time ago, we had this city vote and that vote was. Mayor Mrakas, A special election paid for by the by the builder that that puts certain restrictions on that building and set the zoning of it. Mayor Mrakas, I may not be correct in all of that, because it's been a long time ago, so I just think we need some clarification what it does.

City Council Chambers, So the entire history of the project and any regulations on the site or on any proposed. City Council Chambers, Development or future development of that site would be reviewed and taken into consideration as part of staffs review of the application that it has before us. City Council Chambers, So if we do find anything that would prohibit or limit or regulate what can be done on the property that would be conveyed to the applicant and part of the city's review and comments to the applicant.

Very good. Also, I want to thank the city for sending me to the Planning Commissioners Academy starting on Wednesday. I also thank them for having faith in me that my ATEC can still learn something, so I appreciate that.

Thank you, Vice Chair Benninger. Commissioner, do you have one last brief comment?

Yes. I want to congratulate staff on the new format. I like the history, you know, where you say in 1986 we did this, in 1990 we did that. That really helps us because I think Commissioner Leo has brought back history from time to time saying we have hodgepodge and all that. But this helps to clarify some of those issues when you do that research like that. And then also you separate the different mitigation and zoning changes and all that. It helps us to understand all the planning conditions that we're trying to change and modify to do some of these projects. Because again, we're outgrowing our old time when James Towner and his Bloomer Society were running things and we were having pancake flipping parades.

It wasn't the Bloomberg Society, it was the Oneida.

Oneida Society, right, who wore bloomers and all that. At any rate, that culture has changed to today's culture.

Thank you, Commissioner Wu. I have no comments tonight. With that, this meeting is adjourned. The next regular meeting is scheduled for March 23rd, 2026 at 5.30 p.m. Thank you all.