Citrus Heights Planning Commission Meetings - Regular Meeting

Very good. We'll get started. Let's see. Chair Van Duger, would you lead us in the flag salute, please?

Please stand.

And it's time for roll call.

Commissioner Al-Rawi is not present tonight. Commissioner Sheeler.

Here.

Commissioner Usyk.

Here.

Commissioner Van Duker.

Here.

Vice Chair Kaufman.

Here.

Chair Flowers. Present. Thank you. Okay, next item please. Consent calendar approval of minutes for April 28th, 2026. Okay, let's see.

Can I get approval of the minutes please for April 28th?

I move approval. Second. I second.

All in favor?

Aye.

And next item please.

That is public comment under government code 54954.3. Members of the audience may address the commission on any agenda item within the jurisdiction of the commission or on any agenda item. Those wishing to speak on agenda items will be called upon at the beginning of the meeting. Those wishing to speak for or against agenda item will be called upon after the presentation by city staff and the applicant for the agenda item.

Thank you. And do we have any public comments?

No public comments.

Thank you. Next item, please.

It is going to be public hearing item 5A, Valencia's Banquet Hall by Allison Bermudez.

Good evening, Commission. Allison here. One last time before you, before I go into retirement, so thank you for joining me tonight in this item. It's been a very great experience to serve you in my role, so thank you. So I'm happy this is my last night meeting. So I have one last use permit for you. So this is an application for a use permit for a new banquet hall proposed at 8040 Greenback Lane. The project is going to combine two existing vacant suites into one event space. They are proposing no building expansion or any major modifications to the space. So this is 8040 Greenback. It's at the corner of Sunrise Vista, Greenback with Fair Oaks to the east. And it sits at the end of that multi-tenant building. There's two vacant spaces. In there is a multitude of other uses. The owner owns most of the businesses in there and he'll own this space as well. So the Baconwood facility is located within that 14,000 square foot multi-tenant building. Other businesses within that center include the Carson Ria, the Music Cafe, and there's some offices in there. Businesses nearby include City Appliance, an appliance store, and the International Grocery Store that's at the corner. Access to that site is from Greenback Lane, but you can also access it from Sunrise Vista. The banquet hall will be available for rent starting 6 a.m. to midnight. That includes set up and clean up. So if it's used for meetings or something that was started at 8 o'clock, it would allow them to get in early to set up. The maximum occupancy will be 99 persons. This limit was set by the fire department based upon their ingress and egress of those spaces so 99 persons will be the total. The owner has provided security and management plan through their rental agreement and all activities will be held inside no outdoor activities and we have conditioned it that when activities are occurring that all the doors are closed. A couple special conditions to make you aware of. The operator is responsible to maintain orderly operations and provide security measures, including the need for security personnel when it's warranted by the type of event, the nature of the event, the size, or the duration. And should something arise through events, we do have the ability to require them to hire security. Should we get reports of excessive noise or loitering, we do have the ability to enforce different security measures should that be needed. Don't really expect it for the type of uses that they intend to use it for and the small nature that it's only 99 persons. parking for the event space. There are 77 parking spaces on their particular parcel, and that basically does satisfy the need for the event center. However, there are other businesses in that building that may use parking, but there is a recorded reciprocal parking agreement between this building, the building where the appliance store is, and the grocery store, so they all share parking. So with all that shared parking, their number Their parking count goes up to 110 spaces. analyzing the project it is located in the commercial corridor which is an appropriate use for the banquet hall the operational plan submitted by the applicant and the conditions of approval address the noise any noise parking security and support the proposed use it is in compliance with the city's general plan the zoning code and our adopted goals and policies and so based upon that information presented Here tonight and in the staff report along with the conditions of approval and the findings We are recommending approval And here are the recommended motions and I am sorry to say that my applicant is not here So we have any particular question of the operation Hopefully I can answer them or find them in the staff report for you Thank you Allison does the commissioners have any questions I

I have a question. Let's say they had an event and there were people outside making noise and whatever else. Is the police department aware of the conditions that would restrict that kind of activity and so inform them? Or does that sort of come, you know, the police just deal with the situation and then afterwards, you know, contacts them and reminds them what the conditions are?

I would say probably the latter is more the case. They would deal with the loitering at the moment. The patrol would typically deal with that. That report then would go to the POP unit, who would then reach out to us, or we'd work together to talk to the applicant to remind them of their conditions. Doubtful that the person on patrol is going to know, so they would handle it just for noise complaints, and then that would be forwarded to the POP unit, who then we would work with.

Thank you. Was there... They're combining two offices to make this one. So is that wall between them a permanent wall or was it built as a temporary wall that they have to?

It was actually two suites. So we'll be modifying that wall to join the two spaces.

So there's no engineering involved or anything?

There is. They are going through the traditional building permit process where they have to submit all the engineered plans to comply. They have been working very closely with the fire department. Typically we may not know their occupancy limit. generally at this point, but because of their planned preparation and the removal of that wall and making sure their ingress and egress out of that space is appropriate, that's how we knew they were only going to be allowed 99 persons. Once they hit 100 then it kind of changes it for fire. So yes, they will be removing that wall through a permit process.

Any other questions? No? So open public comment. Any public comment this evening? No public comments. All right. We'll close public comments.

Any determination made by the Planning Commission may be appealed by the City Council by filing a written notice of appeal and appropriate filing fees with the City Clerk no later than 10 calendar days after the date on which the determination is made.

after. Thank you. I'm just moving right along. Thank you, guys. Moving right along. All right. So, all right. May I have a motion?

I move that we adopt Resolution 26-02.

Sorry.

Thank you. Determining that the project is categorically exempt from CEQA per Section 15-301, existing facilities of the California Environmental Quality Act. All one or two motions?

Okay.

And approve a use permit to allow approximately 3,000 plus square feet of existing tenant space located at 8040 Greenback Lane to be converted into a public slash private meeting facility subject to the findings contained in the staff report and the attached conditions of approval.

Thank you. We have a motion on the table. May we have a second, please?

I'll second.

Okay, first motion made by Sheila, seconded by Chair Kaufman. And motion passes. Oh, I'm sorry, I'm going to take a vote. All in favor?

Aye.

Any opposed? All right, motion passes by Sheila and seconded by, I had that right, right? Vice Chair Kaufman. Thank you so much. Now would you like me to read the appeal language again? Yes, please. Any determination by the Planning Commission may be appealed to the City Council by filing a written notice of appeal and the appropriate filing fees for the City Clerk no later than 10 calendar days after the date on which the determination is made. Very good. Next item, please.

General correspondence and presentations and reports from City staff.

Well, thank you, commissioners, for having a smooth meeting for Allie's last one. As I said earlier, it's been 26 and a half years here with the city, and you can see her marks all over the city on her touches with the different projects she's been on, ranging from zoning codes to development projects and everything in between. So with that, I'd recommend that, Chair, if you would indulge us in reading that proclamation, that would be much appreciated.

Absolutely. I'm honored. I might get very teary, though. I'm not sure. It's been beautiful to have worked alongside you, Allison, truly, truly. The proclamation of the City of Citrus Heights Planning Commission honoring Ms. Allison Bermudez for her service as senior planner. Whereas in March 2000, Allison Bermudez began her career with the City of Citrus Heights Planning

And whereas during her career, Alison Bermudez has contributed to the efforts of the Planning Commission on numerous projects throughout the city, including the adoption of the city's first general plan, the adoption of the Boulevard Plan, the creation and adoption of the Stock Ranch Guide for Development, countless zoning code updates, Stone's Card Room, Antelope Crossing Special Planning Area Amendment, Sunrise Village Update, Objective Design Standards, and whereas Allison Bermudez was an important part of increasing housing opportunities for current and future residents of the City of Citrus Heights through her diligent work on significant housing projects including the dozens of parcel maps Habitat for Humanity, Sayanar Housing Project, Sunrise Point, the Pre-Approved Accessory Dwelling Unit, PRADU Program, the Court at Sunrise, And whereas Allison Bermudez attended hundreds of Planning Commission meetings, including regular meetings, special meetings, and workshops with some meetings lasting many hours into the night. Whereas Allison Bermudez built cooperative relationships with Planning Commissioners and will be remembered for her ability to respond to questions from the Planning Commission with accurate, thorough, and concise answers. Whereas Allison Bermudez has consistently embodied the values of public service throughout her commitment to excellence, her willingness to support others, and her steadfast focus on improving the quality of life for Citrus Heights residents, and whereas through her professionalism, leadership, and dedication to thoughtful planning, Allison has helped shape the growth and development of the city of Citrus Heights, ensuring that projects and policies reflected the needs of residents businesses, and neighborhoods while preserving and enhancing the community's unique character. And whereas Allison Bermuda's contributions have had a lasting impact on the city and its residents by helping create housing opportunities, supporting economic development, improving public facilities and fostering collaborative relationships among elected officials commissioners staff developers and community members leaving a legacy that will benefit Citrus Heights for years to come and Therefore be it proclaimed that the Planning Commission of the city of Citrus Heights does hereby commend Allison Bermudez for her more than 26 years of dedicated service to the city of Citrus Heights and and her impactful contributions to the Planning Commission and the Citrus Heights community and wish her the very best in retirement and all future endeavors and witness whereof we have set our hand and seal this 14th day of July, 2026. Thank you very much.

It's been an emotional week, so thank you for those kind words. It's hard to believe that it's been that long and done that much, but it's been a joy, really. And I told someone the other day, I think in the 26 years here, I've really only had three bad days. And I could call each of those days out and three out of 26 years. I think is pretty darn good So I'm really appreciative of you know My co-workers leadership Casey and there was it came before Casey and the Commission you know the Commission since the beginning has been supportive of staff and not made us feel like we were under the microscope all along the way very supportive and I As Commissioner Sheeler and I were talking about earlier, the conferences we went to, you always came back feeling very good because you would hear from other commissioners in other jurisdictions, and the tensions between staff and the commission was always many places struggle and we've been lucky to not have that here you guys have all been community minded people and everyone's here for the same reason to make the community better and so I'm grateful for that opportunity and I hope that some little part of me is able has been able to make this better so thank you thank you clarifying one of those three days wasn't the day I started No, and Casey and I tell this story often, and he just told it the other day, but when Casey, before Casey came, when Casey retires, I'm going to share this story numerous times, but when Casey came, we were very short-handed. It was only me and the director and the planning manager, and that was a time when development was off the hook. But Casey was delaying coming. For some reason, I kept telling Casey, Colleen, I don't think he exists. I think you're lying to me. There's nobody coming. I'm going to be here by myself. So when Casey finally did walk in, this young man, but very tall, but I was so happy to see him. I ran up to him and gave him the biggest hug. And he stayed. And probably now, that would not be very appropriate. But at the time, he was very grateful. And it's been such a pleasure since that moment that he got here. Janet, Colleen, before that, we all had such a great working relationship, and it's continued, and that's what's helped carry this feeling into everyone that I work with, the foundation that was set. So I'm very grateful for that.

Well, congratulations again, Allison, and many happy retirement years. And I'm sure your face will be around here a lot.

Yes, I am. I do live here. So as I said at the council meeting the other night, hopefully we'll be around. I won't just be an employee. I'll just be a community member, but I will be hopefully involved.

And a very important one at that. Thank you, Allison. Next item, please. Adjournment. All right. It is, I think, 20 after. I can't see the clock. But this meeting I'll call adjourned.