Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

I would like to call the meeting of the planning commission to order at 6:00 pm. Uh, planning commission secretary, may we have a roll call, please? Certainly. Commissioner Flores, here. Commissioner Cervantes here. Commissioner Ayella here. Vice Chair Jimenez here. Chair Sarna here. All present. Sorry. Um I would like to call the pledge of allegiance. I would like to call upon Joe Flores to give lead us in the pledge of allegiance. Please stand. Please stand.

Stick your right hand over your heart. Ready? Begin. I allegiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. Thank you, sir. Exparte communications. This section is intended to allow the officials the opportunity to reveal any disclosures regarding site visits or exparte communications about public hearings. Are there any exparte communications? None. None. None. None.

And I have none. Next. Public comments on non-aggenda and non public hearing agenda items. Chair. At this time, the general public may address the planning commission on both non-aggenda and non-public hearing agenda items. Comments relating to the public hearing items will be heard during the public hearing. Please be aware that the maximum time allowed for members of the public to speak shall not exceed 3 minutes per speaker. State law prohibits planning commissioners from talking, taking action, and entering extended discussion on topics not listed on the agenda. Please show the courtesy to others and direct all your comments to the chairperson. Planning Commission Secretary, do we have any members of the public wishing to speak?

None. All right. I will now close public comments and move on to the next item. Planning Commission agend uh agenda consent calendar. All matters listed under the consent calendar are considered to be routine. Any consent items a planning commissioner wishes to discuss should be designated at designated at this time. All other items may be approved in a single motion for consent items numbers 1 2 3 and four. Is there a motion and a second for the approval of these consent items? Motion. I'll second. We have a We have a first and a second. Planning Commission Secretary. Roll call. Roll vote, please. Commissioner Flores, I.

Commissioner Cervantes, I. Commissioner Ayella, I. Vice Chair Jimenez, I. Chair Sarna, I. Passes 5 Z. So ordered. There is a 14-day appeal period for anyone wishing to appeal these matters. Next, uh, we will now begin with item number five on the agenda. At this time, I will open up public hearing at 6:03 p.m. I now call upon assistant planner Cynthia Alvarez to introduce this item. She's moving up.

Good evening. I would like to present 856 to establish, operate, and maintain a seafood processing facility at 12423 Florence Avenue and adopt a notice of exemption under 15301 class one existing facilities. Sorry, I don't have the clicker. Oh, okay. So, location. Um, this will be at 12423 Florence. As mentioned, that's a unit part of uh that existing building there. Um it's in the M2 zone and it's also in the industrial um designation for the general plan land use. It's currently vacant. It used to be occupied by a tire shop. Um but they moved out around 2024. And so now applicant um Shien Q on behalf of Aroma International is seeking to propose the seafood processing. So six years ago, Aroma International established their seafood processing facility in Chicago. Um with the success of their business, they're now looking forward to opening a location here at Santa Fe Springs. Um, this will be the first location on the west coast. Um, so this location has a previous entitlement for DPA 109 which allowed for the construction of the 40,000t building which has now been subdivided. The proposed project does not violate or affect any of the existing approved entitlements for the site. So, CUP case 856 is seeking to

establish, operate, and maintain a seafood processing facility at the mentioned 12423 Florence Avenue. Uh, fish processing will consist of filleting and freezing fish for sushi grade use. Um, there wouldn't be any other type of processing. Um, in accordance with 155.243 243D5 of the municipal code. Meat or fish products, packaging, canning, or processing within M2 heavy manufacturing zone shall be allowed only after a valid conditional use permit has been obtained. So this is uh one of the site plan um images that was provided by the applicant. So, the interior processing activities are expected to happen from 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday. As their business expands, um, this could go to a 24-hour facility from Monday through Friday. However, intake and delivery of fish will be restricted from 5:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. A total of 93 parking stalls is required for the entire site. Um the business plans on having four box trucks um but only two of them would return on site for parking. Uh and as you can see there's a shared office space between 12423 and 12425. This is because uh Aroma International plans on operating from both units. However, fish processing will only occur in 12423. So, as far as their operations go, a recently approved tenant improvement uh has equipped the location in order to be ready for fish processing with temperature controlled rooms. The cooler dock will be set at 47°, cooler room will be set at 34°, processing room will be set at 47, and the freezer will be at 0°. The building will also be equipped with

air curtains installed in the entrances and exits. Um this serves as a seal as seen by the image where air is being blown um to keep in any odors and keep out any pests. Um so it helps with eliminating odors and any crosscontamination. The box trucks box trucks will also be used um for this business as mentioned and they will be refrigerated to ensure food safety. At the largest shift, uh there is an expected 10 employees. Shipments will arrive and be delivered daily to ensure freshness for the restaurants or, you know, their other clients. They're expected to start out with salmon and tuna, but uh they expect to expand their selection as their business grows. Intake will be anywhere from 5:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. and deliveries are expected to range from 11 a.m. to 5:00 p p.m. However, they are prioritizing early deliveries to ensure timeliness with restaurant operations. So as part of uh some of the mitigations towards odor and waste, they are planning on disposing of their waste daily and coordinating with waste facilities to minimize any buildup. The applicant is also ensuring um to avoid overpurchasing of fish, only ordering what the clients are ordering to avoid any of that buildup waste. Clientele will include some local Santa Fe Springs restaurants such as Pascal Dorado and Bay Pokey. The project is exempt from SQA under section 15301 class one existing facilities. There is no addition to the building square footage being proposed

and the uses allowed with um a conditional use permit. Public hearing notices were posted to city hall, town center kiosk, the library, and mailed to all property owners within 500 ft on October 30th and published to the Los Certos community newspaper October 31st. To date, staff has not received comments regarding the subject's UP. Some of the key considerations um is that the proposed food processing facility including the fish processing is granted with a conditional use permit. This means that the use aligns with the current zoning and land use reg designation. Food safety and compliant food safety compliance will be prioritized. Um the applicant is still expected to adhere with the LA County public health standards and maintain a valid food facility permit. traffic management. Um so the like I said the intake and delivery times have been strategized to minimize traffic and ensure timely deliveries to their clients. Since it is um restaurants and markets that will be dealing with them, they require earlier deliveries. And as part of the odor and waste management uh with operations simply consisting of filtaining and freezing fish potentials of odors are very limited um to waste control which has been addressed by the applicant. So staff recommends um to find and determine that the project is categorically exempt section 15301 class one existing facilities of the SQA guidelines. um approves CUP case 856 subject to the conditions as stated in the attached resolution and recommends to adopt resolution 304 2025 which incorporates the planning commission's findings and actions regarding this matter.

That concludes my presentation. Thank you. Uh we'll now move to commissioners questions and comments. Does any member of the commission have any questions or comments for the staff? I I have one. just I'm unfamiliar with this type of um like waste and odor control. Do is there special containers for the waste and is there any or is it just dumped and picked up every day? How does that work?

Yeah, so there's no in particular special containers. Um like I said, most of the waste will be just fresh fish. Uh so the applicant is proposing to work with the uh waste facilities around the city to ensure that they're picked up daily um so that that waste won't create any odors. And they're just dumped into a normal waste container, I believe. So there's also um drainage that is being done to help mitigate some of that waste. I just had a question real quick. How many employees?

So, for their largest shift, they're expected to have 10 employees. Uh, this really depends on how much the business expands. Um, so that would be the peak and there's 93 stalls. There's 93 stalls for the four units of the building. This is what we talked about. So, this is, you know, extra parking. Extra parking. So, okay. Thank you very much. Great job. Uh we'll now open up public comments for this item. Planning Commission Secretary, did we receive anybody or any speaking cards or written comments for this item? Chair Zono, if you want to u see if there's any questions for the applicant. I'm not sure if they're here. Oh, that's right. I'm sorry. Uh does any member of the commission have any questions or comments for the applicant?

No. Oh, what is the need for all those stalls? That's not theirs. That's the That's the building. Oh, that's the building. Yes. Yeah. So, that building um it's a 40,000 foot building and it's been divided into four units. Um so, that 90 those 93 parking stalls are for all four units. That's what we talked about the last meeting because based on square footage, you have to have x amount of stalls for that square. Okay. Has I asked there's only 10 in a in a building there. Now, it has 93. It's a waste of space. A lot of customers. Yeah. Hopefully. Um, is the applicant here? Yes, they are here.

Oh, good luck, sir. Welcome to the city and uh we hope you have a very prosperous uh business. Thank you. Thank you. Uh we'll now open up public comments for this item. Planning Commission Secretary, do we receive any speaking cards or written comments for this item? Uh we did not.

Okay. Uh, so just go to if there's no objection by members of the commission, I will close the public comments for public hearing item number five. If there's no further commission questions or comments, I will now close the public hearing at 6:15 p.m. May I have a motion to approve CUP case number 856 and adopt resolution number 304-2025, which incorporates planning commission findings and actions regarding this matter. May I have a first? I'll move. Second. I'll second.

We have a motion and a second. Planning Commission Secretary, please conduct a roll vote. Commissioner Flores, I. Commissioner Cervantes, I. Commissioner Ayala, I. Vice Chair Jimenez, I. Chair Sarna, I. Passes 50. So ordered. There's a 14-day appeal period for anyone wishing to appeal this matter. Congratulations, sir. Item number six on the agenda. I will open up public hearings at 6:15 p.m. I now call upon associate planner Alejandro de Laura to introduce this item. Sorry I messed you up, brother. You had it close.

Good evening, commissioners. Uh I will be presenting on public hearing item number six for conditional use permit case number 858. And this is to establish, operate, and maintain a dog daycare and boarding facility at 12325 Florence Avenue and to adopt a notice of exemption under sequest section 15301 class one with existing facilities. So the proposed project is at 12325 Florence which is pictured up here and the land use designation is industrial with a zoning of M2 for heavy manufacturing. And the applicant here is going to be Zumi's doggy daycare and boarding. So again, this request is to establish, operate, and maintain a dog daycare and boarding facility. And there are currently no entitlements at this site. So Zooies is a family-owned dog daycare and boarding facility that began in 2022 as a homebased operation. So they are looking forward to expanding into a commercial site. This building is 5,511 square ft and it is based on a 12,000 foot lot. The plan is to begin initially only with the daycare operations and that would be with one full-time staff member and two part-time staff members to be able to board uh between 30 and 40 dogs uh at a time. There is operational expansion plans though, so they do intend to grow within this space to have up to five employees and 60 dogs at their peak operation. The hours of oper the hours of operation will initially be 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. for the daycare portion um with the plans to eventually expand into the overnight boarding in the future which is part of this request. Some of the main concerns that would come up with a facility like this uh would be odor and waste management. So to the first point uh it is going to be a fully indoors operation. So there's

not going to be like an outdoor dog run or anything like that. it would be fully indoors for the kennel and for the play areas. Uh they do plan on installing additional floor drains in the site and that would mostly be for liquid waste. So if there's urination or anything um they do plan on having like a power washing station that they can kind of pull from, hose it down um and use that with of course dog safe disinfectants to be able to maintain that space clean and orderly. Um, as for the solid waste, they do plan on having that be bagged um individually for each of the uh emissions, I guess you could say, and uh have that placed into a sealed container before they take that out into the trash. The second concern that would come up with something like this is typically noise. Um, the good thing about this site is that it is located in the M2 zone and it is over a,000 ft from the nearest residential properties. So, there is a good buffer there. Um, the M2 zone also is pretty typical, right, with our more truck traffic and heavy machinery and stuff like that. So, this noise wouldn't be exceptionally out of the ordinary from anything there. Um, the applicant also does propose again to have this be fully indoors. So, that will help with that mitigation as well. And they do plan on installing acoustic dampeners. Um, so that would be kind of like wall panels, um, ceiling mounted, um, like sound absorption. So, a couple things there. um also for the comfort of them and their employees because dogs barking could cause a lot of echo, right? So, they are hoping to be able to mitigate that sound for themselves as well. And of course, they are planning to train their staff to help prevent excessive barking and to be able to specifically address if there is a dog that is excessively barking. Um, and again, this is going to have like a play area as well. So, the intention there being that these dogs are not going to be boarded up all day, right? they are going to have space to roam and be able to exert and some of uh exhaust their energy there.

So for the parking um unfortunately our code does not specifically establish any kind of parking requirements for doggy daycare facilities. Um, so with that, the zoning code does allow for the director of community development to make a determination that shall be guided as much as possible by comparison with similar uses which are listed and kind of looking at the nature of the operations with the short-term pickup and drop off and limited customer type of demand there. We did see that this was closest to like a residential care facility and the requirement for a residential care facility is to have one parking space per staff person and in addition to have one guest parking space for every 10 beds. So in this case beds kind of being the equivalent of a kennel. Um so the way that kind of breaks down is listed up here in this chart. So again they do plan on having a peak staffing of five staff members at a time. So that would require five parking spaces with this calculation. And with the peak boarding of 60 kennels um with one per kennel uh or one per 10 kennels required that'd be an additional six. So in total under this calculation it would be 11 required parking spaces and they're currently providing 12 and that does include one existing accessible stall. As for SQA the project uh we propose to be exempt from SQA and just section 15301 and that's under the class one existing facilities. That's because this is going to be proposed within a fully existing building and there's not going to be any additional square footage proposed as part of this. So, it' be fully within the existing building. As for the public hearing notice, uh we did send this out to all property owners within 500 ft of the site as well as posted at the Santa Fe Spring City Hall, City Library, and Town Center kiosk on October 30th. And it was published in the Los Certo's community newspaper on October 31st. And to date, staff has not received any comments regarding the project.

So finally wrapping things up here with some key considerations. Again, this operation would be fully indoors. So that would minimize the potential noise and odor concerns. Additionally, the applicant's going to have additional mitigations which include those acoustic dampeners to further minimize the sound and also have a trained staff that would be able to appropriately address things like excessive barking. Next, they would have a minimal parking required. Again, because of that pickup and sort of drop off base nature, we're not really expecting people to linger there. We're also not expecting the dogs to drive themselves. So, that would also help with the minimal parking required. And of course, the site suitability. Again, this is located in the M2 zone. So, our heavy manufacturing and is at least 1,000 ft away from the nearest residential properties. So with that staff does recommend to approve and adopt the proposed environmental document which is the notice of exemption under SQL guidelines section 15301 with the existing facilities to approve CUP case number 858 subject to the conditions as stated within the resolution and to adopt resolution number 305-2025 which incorporates the planning commission's findings and actions regarding this item. Thank you. and the applicant is also here in case you have any additional questions for them.

Thank you. We will now move to commissioners questions and comments. Does any member of the commission have any questions or comments for staff? Good. I have qu Yes. How many parking spaces are available at this site currently? So, it's a single property and it has so functionally it's within the plaza but it's one parcel and it has 12 spaces. Correct. And then they'll have up to five staff. Correct. Yeah. So that additional parking will be mostly for people that are coming. How many? It's a daycare. It's a dog daycare. Yeah.

It's just as popular as a child daycare, which means it'll be popular. What is their clientele going to where are they going to park? Because they have to go in, park the car, go in, drop the dog. There's going to be an overlap. So there's I see a potential problem with that. Yeah. So there will be provided sufficient parking spaces for drop off and pickup.

Okay. So there will be those six additional spaces um remaining. So five for the staff and that'd be at peak. Um and they have established like a particular regimen with a lot of their climate their clients as well. Um so they are expecting this to be like pretty quick pickup drop off. Um there is some additional like circulation space available on the site for them to be able to kind of mitigate that as well. Um but I can also defer to them a little bit here if they want to elaborate a little bit on the overlapping of their clients pickup and drop off.

So just to add to as so you're saying 60 dogs. So that means 60 people are driving to drop off their dogs for six spaces and that's on a main street and I know exactly it's the old seafood building, right? Which there's no parking anywhere unless you use a neighboring well that whole facility. Yeah. So I I think that's one of the question. But go ahead. That's just one of them.

That's my bigger That's one of the big concerns that I have is that there isn't enough parking for the clientele and there's going to end up being a conflict. If they are successful, which I wishing them all the best to be successful, you can't get 60 vehicles in there. even when you stagger pickup and deliveries or drop offs and pickups because time doesn't work that way on Florence Avenue during peak hours, right? And this is the proposed recommendation for the parking. Um like I mentioned, there's not a specific requirement in the code. Um, so this would allow us, and there's also a condition here, um, within the conditions of approval that's specifically to the parking and operational requirements, um, in acknowledgement that this would be the city's first, uh, dog daycare. And we don't know exactly what that operation will end up involving regarding the parking. So, there is a condition here that says that they would work with staff to be able to rework or create a plan if there were to be any issues related to the parking. And how quickly would that be resolved? Only because it's not fair to the business or the clients. They will lose clients if the parking becomes unavailable. So what are the conditions that we have in place that the city works quickly with them to establish additional parking?

Yeah. So the first route would be to go through code enforcement if anything. Um so we do have our compliance review which would be set from a year from today if it were to be approved. Um and in between that time we would of course be able to reach out through code enforcement or we could of course reach out to them directly pointing back to this condition. Um the extreme case there or the the authority over that um would be that we could revoke if we found that that was something that extended beyond like or was violating the CUP fully. But of course the first route would try to be to find an operational solution before we go to that level.

I have a question. Okay. Do you have anything? Uh just I think you're right about that because most people get out of work around the same time. Maybe if they're going to go pick up their dog. So the pickup and drop off maybe in the middle somewhere there's not going to be nothing going on but early in the morning and late in the afternoon that's when the most traffic is. But you're using the word revoke. It's not the fault of the client. It sounds like it's the fault of the client that they're going to have too many client. They're they're going to have too many clients. I'm trying to put the ownership of this issue on the city. public safety.

Not so much public safety because public safety will go out there and sight them. Well, you're worried the concern that it might be a traffic concern, people ingress, egress. So, it could be a public safety in the sense of traffic control will be violating that code, but it's not their problem. It's not their fault because they weren't provided sufficient. They the city needs to include potential large amount of clients. Like we have that one building that has 96 parking stalls, 15 people. He doesn't need it. They'll need minimum any given time 40 parking stalls

because they could end up with 20 coming in, 20 coming out at the same time. It's not a case of when if you do anything with a daycare, be it a child or be it doggy. They have to park their cars, walk in, get their dog, walk out, put the dog in the car, then get out. That's not a drive-thru. That's a park. Can you put the building up on the Can you ask them put the picture of the building? So the front is their only parking. Yeah.

And that's a small that's only one car in, one car out. So there's a rear area as well where the where the arrow is pointing. That's also a parking area. So something to note about this site. Um, so that whole so everything from the large building that's going to be on the left side of your screen, um, to the far right side of the screen, there is an access agreement for those properties. So there's no How many parking stalls are in the back? Uh, it would be a there's a total of 12. So I would believe six in the back, six in the back up to five in the back for employee parking. So there's one in the back and then the rest are all in the front.

Correct. Yeah. So kind of elaborating a little bit, um there is an access agreement within the plaza. So again, kind of speaking to the possibilities of operational changes or sort of finding plans with the applicant here. Um we could find a solution there where we are able to allow additional like on-site queuing with the permission of other uh property owners. uh within that plaza area so that they could maintain that sort of access closer to something like a drive-thru so that we can make sure that circulation is within the site and not overflowing onto Florence.

So I have I have two other questions. Um the businesses that's behind it, what do they do? The one that's adjacent to the property. Yeah, they do um like printing and dying. Okay. Operations. And then what about And the other one's vacant also still or the other seafood place is vacant? No, still is it still vacant? Yeah, the one adjacent. Yeah. Yeah. No, the one that's in front of it like the one that they look like they're the same. Yeah. So, that one's vacant, right? The one that's mirroring it. Sorry. Yeah. Yeah. So, the one that's mirroring it is that one is uh the tie printing one. Okay. What's then? What's right next to it? The one that's the same building.

Okay. Okay. Sorry. Okay. Sorry, I misinterpreted. So the one that's directly like tied like Yeah. That share a common wall. That one is the tie printing one. Okay. And the one that's mirroring it next to it. That one I I believe that one is vacant.

Okay. So the one thing I have and I know they talked about putting um paneling up, but how much does that paneling work? So my thought is we're being we look at it, we're 1,000 ft away from the residents, but if you're performing a business right right behind it and you hear dogs barking consistently, that might create a problem. I don't know how much it it helps or it doesn't help. I I don't know, but I I think that is something that we have to look at. Um, and then the second thing is how do they when they pressure wash, are they connecting to their own filtration system or are they connecting directly to the sewer? Because you can't just throw they're going to put chemicals and all the other stuff down the drains washing poop and stuff like that. So, how does that how is that working out?

Yeah. So, for the first part with the noise, um, so it is the same ownership for the buildings that are like fronting one another. Mhm. Um and there is an existing relationship, if you guys can clarify, um between the applicant and the direct user next to the the site as well, right? Yeah. Yeah. Do you want to Yeah, that's fine if she wants. Yeah, that's fine. Do we want to close out questions first and then it's cleaner? Okay, I can I can address the second part too then. Um that was the the drain.

The drain. Yes. So, uh, yeah, those do require a permit through our public works department and the fire department. Um, so there's a conditional approval there, too. Um, yeah, so they would be required to go through our permitting process to make sure that, um, they connect the appropriate sewer pipes and any other mitigation that' be required there. Okay. So, does any member of the commission have any questions or comments for the applicant? Yes. Yes. So, can you please Hello, Christina Marquez here for Zumi's Doggy Daycare. I'm here with my partner Christopher Pinkernel.

Nice.

All right. Um, so yeah, I mean I can address some of the concerns I think in terms of the amount of dogs being at peak capacity, the 60 dog amount. So that's with with all kennels, you know, fully booked and daycare. So the daycare is where dogs are moving in and out. We have provided hours where individuals are supposed to pick up dogs for boarding in order to sort of stagger pickups and drop offs. And so we're hoping that that's going to alleviate some of the parking concerns. Um, you know, we do deal with individuals dropping off their dogs in the morning at our house. um and you know, we take them in um and we kind of can schedule or at least know when individuals are going to be dropping off their dogs. Um so we've sort of worked that into the plan in our operation in order to ensure that there isn't any sort of parking issues. Um and I think you know of course we can try to plan a little bit better if that is a major concern of the city. Um, and then in terms of the sound dampening, so we do intend on installing the acoustic ceiling panels, um, and then acoustics on the wall, which from what we've read can reduce sound by about 35%. Um, but also another point is that dogs should not be excessively barking at a doggy daycare. That signals excessive stress from the dogs. We plan on um hiring Packpro Training, which is like a certified training company to come in and train all of our staff to ensure that they're mitigating any issues when it comes to excessive barking because we don't want to see dogs excessively barking. We don't want dogs stressed. They should be um playing and they should be calm and there should be certain periods of rest. Um additionally, we're going to be working a time in the middle of the day to allow for nap time because dogs and they do

need a break. Um so that's also going to be um a way in which we can mitigate um any sound issues. And then of course we're open for any other questions. How many dogs do you tend to board at any given time in our current operations in this future or in our projected coffee? Your projected. Yes. So we are looking to install about 38 kennels and then the remaining amount of capacity would be for daycare.

Okay. And what kind of um safety do you have for them at night? Do you have staff on site? Is it 247 monitoring being a parent? They're not doing overnight. No boarding is overnight. But you guys are not starting off boarding right overnight. Isn't that what you said? Yeah. So, they're planning to have overnight, but to start initially, there will not be. So, will they come back when it becomes overnight or is this only day right now? What we're looking at is day only. So, how do how do we vote on something that you said it's not starting off overnight and then now it is? I would say starting. Yeah, that's better.

You see, and this is where I come back to the issue. If you're doing overnight and then you get your 60, you're and you have so many encountled, okay, so many being boarded, you don't have the parents picking them up. However, you're going to have a traffic mitigation issue. That I do see. And it's not on you. It's the fact that the location needs more parking. But now going to the boarding, being a dog mom, my concern is what are the safeties for the dogs?

We'll be contracting with Gator Kennels. They'll be the company that All of the dog suites, dog kennels, they'll be fully enclosed, fully safe. They'll be ventilated, wellkept. Um the kennel banks themselves will be enclosed. That um room will also be enclosed within the entire warehouse. There's no way for any dog to ever escape out of their kennel or their suite for that night.

And then I can add to that. So, and we will have 24-hour surveillance um initially and then we will also be installing a fire alarm system to ensure that if there's any issues that you know we I mean we're also seven minutes away so we have a quick response time as well. Um but we are also going to be working to get a 24-hour employee there. So, we're working with the numbers in terms of how many dogs we are starting with and then as that number grows, we will get an on-site 24-hour supervision for that, you know, for the facility. I'm not saying this is one of the thing. Would you be willing to lessen the dogs, the amount of dogs for right now to to find out how it all works instead of, you know, it's the same thing we do with uh trash or um recycling centers that we let we we put a limit on tonnage just to make sure the truck parking and truck traffic and all those types of things. Um, this is, you know, kind of a unorthodox uh place for to have a dog, which I I love dogs and I think I hope nothing but success, but we also don't want to just say yes to you guys and find out in four months, 5 months that you're going to have a bunch of companies or people complaining to us saying that I I can't get into my business. The dogs are barking all the time. It's becoming a nuisance. and then now we're trying to unravel everything that we're doing. So I think you know there there's some red flags there for myself. Um but yeah, so obviously you're getting a lot of this rebuttal right in regards to the parking and the amount of dogs. Um what would what is your response to that? Like what is your fix to that?

Yeah. Or do you want to as far as the noise? You know, I really don't anticipate that much that much noise especially for the surrounding businesses. It is a concrete building. All use will be indoors. So, you know, I'm not sure how much noise escapes to begin with. Yeah, we do anticipate, you know, acoustically dampening everything that we can for to please the commission, but also for our own comfort. We want the I think the biggest concern is more of the parking space.

And then as far as the parking, so there is a Yeah, as you can see that all of that parking is all open. to everybody, I would assume, but the five I think there's eight spots in the rear with the five that are dedicated to us. And like Christina had mentioned before, with with boarding, we stagger it just like a hotel. You have to check in after 2:00 p.m. When you pick up your dog for pickup, it has to be before 11 a.m. So things are staggered where, you know, we're not getting 60 at once and 60, you know, at at one single time. The That's where I can potentially see an issue because, you know, and not everyone comes at the same time. Not everyone comes at the has the same schedule, but there is going to be from like 7 a.m. to about 9:00 a.m. where there's going to be sporadic drop offs and we anticipated 38 boarding and 20 max 22 daycare. So potentially at full capacity at any given maxed out day, we would have people that need to drop off in the morning.

You guys live fairly close, right? So, you guys are very familiar with the traffic flow on that street around that time in the morning. Correct. I can assume that it's busy. I can't say. Okay. So, so if you live in the area, you should be familiar. Um, it is very busy. Yeah.

My biggest concern I have here is you're moving into a building. It looks like it's great for the doggy daycare part. My concern is it's not great for the parking. They're not giving you sufficient the city isn't or the business area doesn't provide sufficient parking for you. You've got the business that has 96 parking because you can see that they have it. You that building happens to be very limited in parking. I'd hate to see you fail so soon because the parking becomes an issue in which code enforcement comes in unwarranted on their part. I don't want the city to be cause for their failure. Well, the city would be the cause of it.

Yeah, I I don't agree that it's a city. Yeah, that's not why our fault. Yeah, I don't agree with the city. I think that's resp possibility of the petitioner to find a location that is suitable for the type of business that they have. I don't think that falls on the city.

Yeah. And I think ultimately like we would be open to discussing the amount of dogs. So, you know, if we wanted to start with like a set amount of dogs that are boarding and then a set amount of dogs that are coming in for daycare. Also, it can work in terms of our own scheduling, right? If we need to sort of change the time in which dogs are dropped off for boarding um to make, you know, the process stagger a bit better. So, say for instance, dogs are dropped off at 2 and picked up at 2. Between 12:00 and 2 is the slowest time. Nobody's dropping off dogs for daycare at that time. So that could be the time where we are staggering sort of drop off and pickup times for, you know, for individuals that are picking up their dogs for boarding. And then of course, you know, we can handle the situation in the morning when they're dropping off. I mean, currently we have dogs that are dropped off between 7 and 9, but we don't typically have dogs like being dropped off at the exact same time. And we always sort of get notice prior. Um, you know, owners will text us and say, "Hey, I'm going to be there in 10 minutes." and we can anticipate that, prepare for that and make sure we can run out, grab the dog, bring the dog in and process them accordingly.

How um the filtration system are they for smell? How is that working? For additional filtration, you mean for the smell? Are we are are they adding any type of filtration system for the dog smell? I mean, yeah, we're getting some air for each kettle room and multiple like I have one big space but multiple in the warehouse and it's HVAC as well. So, there will be circulation so it won't be like stagnant smell or anything.

I have two questions. Um, what kind of mixed matrix do you guys have as far as like daily drop offs, overnight daycare, and then is there long-term on on your guys, you know? Yeah. I'm sorry, I didn't hear that first part of the question. So, like how many just average? What do you guys anticipate for daily drop offs and pickups overnight and then maybe long-term, you know, a week, two weeks, dog needs to be kennled or do you guys have any projections for that? majority if you wouldn't mind speaking into the microphone. Thank you.

Weekend or a long weekend, maybe Thursday to Sunday, something like that. Obviously, holidays book ending the weekends. A lot of the boarding comes on the weekends. We do get weekl long or 10day bookings where it's, you know, a Friday to the following Sunday. And then as far as daycare, you know, I anticipate more boarding. Um, but we could find that there's a much larger need for daycare. And you know, we do plan to cap that at 20. How many do I anticipate? Maybe during the week, 10, 20, 15, but the weekends will probably be at full capacity, I would think. And then my next question,

was there a sentiment from the director since it's a unique cup on parking concerns, solutions? Um was anything brought to your presentation as as far as what the director felt on parking issues?

Yeah, so that's what the initial uh parking recommendation is based off of the daycare facility use. Uh but in terms of additional mitigations, uh if I can point you to so we do have a condition of approval here. Uh it's number 34. So, it does say that the applicant has to maintain the minimum 11 that was established to start, but it does state here that should staff later determine that the parking demand exceeds what is currently provided or if the applicant increases peak capacity beyond current projections, the applicant will be required to work with staff to identify an appropriate operational or site plan solution. So, we did build something in there because we did acknowledge that um again, we don't have this use listed and we don't have one in the city. So there wasn't really anything to fully base it off of. Um,

but how how how do we solve that solution when there's you can't put 100 spaces in a 5ft box? You know what I mean? You just can't do that. So how do you prepare like if they become it becomes let's say they get the 60 which is great for the business but there's not parking sufficient for them. How do you say we solve that problem? We can't because there's no space there to solve it. So, if I may, you'd have to shuttle them in. You can meet at the park. You No, you can rent. You can rent from his 75 spaces and then come on. You'd have to shuttle Oh, yeah. I

meet at Little Lake Park for two hours from 7:00 to 9:00. Have a thing. Shuttle them in. Boom. That's how you do it.

So, all of your questions are are very good. Um, they're very valid. Uh, as with most conditional use permits, we typically try to address as many concerns as we can possibly think of, especially with a use that is brand new to the city. Um, you know, the the extent of consideration goes so far and then the thought is let them operate. Conditions like these are in place so that we can evaluate and address them as needed and they're open-ended so that we can address them based on that specific concern. How how far are you guys along right now with the with the building with the kennels and all that stuff? Nothing. We're waiting for

So I I mean I I think we all have the same concerns and I I you know I I always like to see new businesses uh strive in our city and we can you know lead by example. Um I do have some recommendations if you guys want to hear it. Um, I think we should go down to 20 kennels for right now with with the 65, but start with the 20 kennel. Um, and then bring it back in 6 months after they open and then see how it see how it's going to make sure there's no parking problems, there's no noise complaints, there's no smells, and then go down that road. I mean, it it's a it's a gamble, but I think the business is a great structure. I think where you guys are putting it is not in the great space, but I think it's a it's a good business. I I want to see it succeed, but I also I know what will happen once, you know, they they'll start complaining, people will start doing this and that, and I don't want to see you guys just throw good money after bad. So,

I have a question. How many clients do you currently have that would start be a good basis to start with? What's your clientele right now? This kind of tough question. You know, it's we might have uh you know, one client who brings their dog because they go on vacation twice a year. I might not see that dog all year except for those two vacations. We have other memberships that come for daycare that come five times a week, three times a week, every Tuesday, Thursday. So, it's really kind of hard. I would say maybe a hundred. Okay. So, how many daycare strictly? Not the kennel, just the daycare. What's your current?

We have eight current members. Eight current members. Okay. So, we do have potential for growth there. Well, they I think you're basing the 60 off of what you need to make basically to pay rent, everything. Yeah, that that number is a very specific number, but again, these are we're talking two different line items in my brain. One is boarding and one is daycare.

You know, one I do have to intake and give, you know, hand back off. The others are staying for a while. They're getting fed. It's a different process. So, you know, if I could have, you know, I anticipated at max capacity 38 boarding, 20 daycare for a max of 60 at any one time at the facility. I never wanted to exceed that number, always maintaining a one ma one person to 10 dog ratio. Now, as far as like, you know, the pickup and drop off, I have some, you know, maybe suggestions to continue stagger, but you know, these pickup and drop offs, they're very These people are not lingering or staying around. Certainly not the members. It's a very quick.

But if you have 10 people dropping it off at the same time, then what? So let's say it was 10 at the same time and I had five staff members. We could be running out exchanging and you're in your parking spot for no longer than 60 seconds. But in that spot, there's no place to park and turn around. There's no you're only one way in and you have to go into your two front spots or you go all the way to the back or front spots or four front spot but four of them are for the business if if right now it it you utilize it but until that person gets their business then it's what's called and then in the rear there's the entire rear bar is all parking but that's not specific for you just the portion behind it. Yes. So

can I add something? Yeah. So in terms of the limits to the kennels. So I think you know where we where the business is very profitable is going to be the boarding. Yeah.

So I think the daycare is where there is going to be the concern about the parking because people are dropping off at peak you know hours versus boarding. We have it staggered and people typically comply with our you know drop off and check-in requirements. So I think ultimately if the commission is inclined to limit anything, I would say, you know, maybe a certain amount for daycare and then allowing us to obviously grow more so with boarding and maybe limit it down to like say 30 boarding if if the you know if the commission is inclined to limit the amount of dogs. Okay. Um the boarding wouldn't be the issue in terms of limiting. The boarding is not an issue for the li it's the daycare

dayare. So I would keep a higher threshold for the boarding and a lower right now for the daycare and then they can come back to us and say that they need to expand their daycare and add bring up that one bring up that issue. Well, it's temporary for one year, right? So So standard uh how we do most is one year. Um there's nothing specifically that says that it has to be that year. So if something like a sooner compliance review so that we can bring it back to the commission, get you some numbers, get you some information is something that would kind of help with this. I do think that's something that we could modify within the conditions.

Well, would you like to see it come back in a year after they're up and running to see what it brings to give them to give them a shot? Yeah. on the in the spirit of being business friendly community like you know we want to make it work for you. We just we have to be very careful of what we do. So, you know,

so I I think that if we allow them to function and just know that we're very skeptical on on doing this, but we want to see you succeed, but you have to be mindful of of the problems that will come and if our uh code enforcement and our uh staff have to continuously come out and and see it, it's not going to be a great Okay. Are you guys okay with that? Yeah. But what number are we looking at as far as boarding and daycare? Would it be like a 2020, right? Or

I I would just keep it what it is right now. Just keep it and let and then let them see what see what comes out of it. Okay. So, we we hope that you can uh succeed in this. Um Okay. Uh planning uh could I have a motion in a second, please? I'll move. Oh, wait. Chair, before you do, can you just close the public clear, please? Oh, yeah. Um, if there if there are no further questions,

I got it. If there are no further uh commission questions or comments, I will now close the public hearing at uh 6:54. Uh actions, no commission findings and actions uh regarding this matter. May I have a first and a second? I'll move. I'll second. Uh, we have a first and a second. Planning Commission Secretary, please conduct the roll vote. Commissioner Flores, I. Commissioner Cervantes, I. Commissioner Ayala, I. Vice Chair Jimenez, I. Chair Sarno, I. Passes 50.

So ordered. There's a 14-day appeal period for anyone wishing to appeal this matter. Madam Secretary, briefly, was there any public comment received on that item? Sorry about that. There was none. No, it was done. Okay. No, he said they he said there was no for for the Thank you. Good luck. Yes.

All right. Next item number seven on the agenda. will open public hearing at 6:55 p.m. I now call upon assistant planner Cynthia Alvarez to introduce this item. Hi again. Um so I'll be presenting sorry I'll be presenting DPA case uh 1015 to construct one 37 foot uh 5 in tall carbon steel tank for the storage of nitrogen and two new 18 ft with 15 in tall aluminum ambient vaporizers. We are also seeking a modification permit case 1371 to allow partial screening of the proposed tanks at 11845 Brick Street and adopt a notice of exemption under section 15303 class 3 new construction or conversion of small structures of the SQA. So this proposal is at 11845 Burke Street. The zoning is heavy manufacturing. The general plan land use is uh industrial designation and um currently it is nonoperative. The applicant is Michael Georgie on behalf of body coat thermal processing. And so the request is to construct one new 37 foot tall with 5 in um carbon steel tank for the storage of nitrogen and two new 18 ft and 5-in tall aluminum ambient vaporizers and modification case 1371 to partially screen the proposed metal tanks and vaporizer. So, some background. Body Co is known uh as a heat treatment service um with a global presence known for metal products for the automotive, aerospace, and defense industries. After being in Santa

Fe Springs for over 44 years, Body Coat uh is seeking to reestablish their 11845 Burke Street location with a new type of heat treatment uh process known as nitriting. The site currently does not have any previous entitlements. So, as mentioned, uh this site would now use a new process known as nitriting. Um it's a method for surface hardening through a controlled thermmochemical process that extends the durability of the metal. Nitrogen itself is non-flammable, orderless, and non-toxic and is best stored outdoors to prevent any expiation risk. uh safety measures focus on preventing direct contact and maintaining proper pressure control. The ambient vaporizer um is being proposed as well which takes the liquid nitrogen from the tank and will vaporize it um in its gas form uh for the nitriting process. And the height and size was selected to meet a week's worth of production to limit uh refills required. So as mentioned uh for DPA case 1015 it is specifically for the 37 foot with 5 in tall uh carbon steel tank for the storage of the liquid nitrogen and to 18 ft with 5 in ambient vaporizers. The tank and the ambient vaporizers would be placed approximately 165 feet from Burke Street, 450 feet from Slawson Avenue, as well as from Dice Road. And the specific location of the tanks was selected to um remain compliant with existing fire access requirements to preserve all required parking to reduce the visual impact from brick street and

for the optimization of the um optimized proximity for the operations from the existing building. So this is the site plan. Um, as you can see, the existing building is directly behind the tanks. Um, and so there is an alleyway from the, um, back property line. And so this is approximately 50 ft from the tanks. And the front of Burke Street would be 165 ft. And so modification case 1371 is being proposed to partially screen the proposed metal tank and ambient vaporizers. Due to the height and location of the tanks, um complete screening wasn't feasible. Um however, the ambient vaporizers are completely screened by the building. uh since the building is 23 feet tall and there is some existing landscaping along Burke that alleviates some of that uh visual impact. The tanks will also be painted white to match with the um building and also just provide that neutral tone. So as you can see from these uh photo sims, the tank would be seen um the nitrogen tank would be seen from brick street. Um as well as that aerial um as mentioned the ambient vaporizers are significantly shorter. So um the more visual impact would be from the nitrogen tank. This is the view. Sorry I forgot to label it. This is the view from uh Slawson Avenue. Um that first image and it's an aerial. Um and the second image is a view from Dice Road which again you will be able to see the uh nitrogen tank.

And so uh this project is exempt from SQA under section 15303 class 3 new construction or conversion of small structures. Uh there's no addition to the building. Um these tanks are being placed outdoors and the heat treatment facility use is permitted by right under or in the heavy manufacturing zone. And uh the public hearing notice was sent out um was posted in city hall town center kiosk and the library as well as mailed to property owners within 500 ft on October 30th and it was published in the Los Cerritos community newspaper October 31st. To date, staff did receive two inquiries regarding the uh subject DPA and MOD. Both inquiries did not suggest an opposition towards the proposed entitlements. So, some key considerations um are the site suitability. So, this uh heavy manufacturing zone is designated for heavy industrial uses. Um so the the placement of the tanks would be in line with the industrial use and not negatively impacting the surrounding properties. Uh also the functional design. The tanks were strategically placed to minimize visual impact and also um maintain the parking requirements. Um safety design was also considered in this project. The applicant worked with our fire department to ensure compliance and minimize any safety risks. Uh some screening considerations that were taken, like I said, were the um neutral white finish to uh help integrate the tanks with the industrial setting and blend it in with the building. And with that, uh staff recommends to find and determine that the project is categorically exempt for section 15303 class 3, new construction or conversion of small structures of the SQA

guidelines. approve DPA case number 1015 and mod 1371 subject to the conditions as stated within the attached resolution and adopt resolution number 306 2025 which incorporates the planning commission's findings and actions regarding this matter. Um that concludes my presentation and the applicant is also here for any questions. Thank you. Uh we'll now move to commissioner questions, comments. Does any member of commission have any questions for staff? No. Uh, we'll now open public comments for this item. Planning Commission Secretary, do we receive any uh speak? Did you

Oh, the applicant. Do we have any questions for the applicant? No. No. No. Uh, we'll now open up public comments for this item. Planning Commission Secretary, did we receive any speaking cards or written comments for this item? We did not. Okay. Here's what I found. What'd you find? No. No comments.

If there are no further commission questions or comments, I will now close the public hearing. Uh 703. Uh may I have a motion to approve DPA case number 1015 and MOD case number 1371 and adopt resolution number 3062025 which incorporates the planning commission's findings and actions regarding this matter. Motion. I'll second. We have a motion and a second. Planning Commission Secretary, please conduct a roll vote. Commissioner Flores, I. Commissioner Cervantes, I. Commissioner Aella, I. Vice Chair Jimenez, I. Chair Sarna, I. Passes 50.

So, order. There's a 14-day appeal period for anyone wishing to appeal this matter. Thank you. Thank you guys. Uh, staff communications on items community interest. Does staff have any announcements? Yes, chair. Um, in front of you is an invitation for tomorrow's Veterans Day ceremony. I didn't get one. Oh, I got one. Good view behind the script. I'm not invited. That's all we have. Thank you. That's it. Um, commissioners AB1234 council conference reporting. Does any commissioners have something to report on? Nothing.

I just have a comment to see if I know it's not on the agenda right now, but for maybe the next uh commission meeting, uh could we find out uh how the balloon track is going on? Um we have a the balloon track uh off of the freeway that uh they were given a CUP for truck parking and they have a lot of uh trailer parking and stuff like that. So, we just want to make sure that they're complying with the cup that uh the planning commission gave them. So, maybe on on the next suggested update, we'll we'll give you an update in December.

Thank you very much. Um, this meeting is now adjourned at 7:05 p.m. The next meeting planning commission is set for December 8th, 2025 at 6 p.m. See you there.