Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

All right, good evening. It is Wednesday, August 26, 7 p.m. Welcome to the meeting. I'd like to call this meeting to order. 1A, disclosure of participation by teleconference pursuant to government code section 54953.8.3, if applicable.

No requests. Roll call and declaration of conflicts.

Chair Penning. Present. No conflicts. If you all would please rise and join me in the Pledge of Allegiance.

I pledge 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.

All right, thank you for that. All right, the City of Tracy will continue to allow for remote participation by members of the public at tonight's meeting by using the following option. ONLINE BY LOGGING INTO ZOOM USING THE LINK PROVIDED UNDER PUBLIC COMMENT RAISE YOUR HAND TO SPEAK BY CLICKING ON THE HAND ICON ON THE PARTICIPANTS PANEL TO THE RIGHT OF YOUR SCREEN. THIS PROCEDURE WILL BE USED TO RECEIVE ALL COMMENTS RECEIVED FROM ZOOM DURING ITEMS FROM THE AUDIENCE AND ALL NEW BUSINESS ITEMS.

ALL RIGHT. WELCOME ABOARD, CLAUDIA AND MARINA. Are there any presentations?

No presentations. All right. Order of business. Consent calendar. Item 4A, minutes. I know Commissioner Chavez was not present. However, did you get a chance to take a peek at it? I did. Okay, perfect. If everyone approves, can I get a motion?

Motion to accept the minutes of August 26, 2026. Second. Second.

We have a motion that's been seconded. Roll call vote, please.

All right. Thank you. Okay, items from the audience. Just first and foremost, please sign in before speaking. We have a sign-in sheet up here at the podium. We invite members of the public to use Zoom to comment on our items from the audience. These are for particular items that are not on the agenda. Online by logging on to Zoom using the link provided. Are there any public comments received by email for items that are not on the agenda? No emails received. No emails received. Are there any public comments received via Zoom? for items that are not on the agenda.

No comments. Looking out in the audience, are there any folks out here that would like to speak on items that are not on the agenda by a show of hands? No show of hands. The public hearing is now closed. The public comment period has closed. Any comments that are received after a close of the public comment period will not be included in the record. Moving on to public hearings, item 6A. CONDUCT A PUBLIC HEARING AND UPON ITS CONCLUSION ADOPT A RESOLUTION RECOMMENDING THAT THE CITY COUNCIL TAKE THE FOLLOWING ACTIONS WAIVE THE FIRST READING BY SUBSTITUTION OF THE TITLE AND INTRODUCE AN ORDINANCE

Can we get this up on our screens here? IT? There it is. Thank you so much. I appreciate it.

All right. Thank you very much. Prior to going to public hearing, I want to bring it back up here for if any commissioners have any clarifying questions for Brianna. Besides me.

I do. There you go. You keep saying establish, establish. When are you going to establish these and when will we see them?

Okay, thank you. Just out of curiosity, are we creating a policy here? or more of an ordinance and help me understand the difference.

Okay, so it's not an actual policy, it's more of an ordinance. It is an ordinance. From my understanding, policy doesn't come through planning, that's why this is here, is that correct?

The first clarification is that the state law went into effect 1st of January this year. And this ordinance is going into effect somewhere in November. If there are any approvals in between then, does the state law go into effect with that? How does that work? Do we have any developments that were approved during that buffer period?

OK, thank you. The second one is just following up with Commissioner Chavez's point. I noted it during my first reading. If you look at the part where you're talking about the specific plans, when it ends with Tracy Hill's specific plan to require the development of. So the expression to require the development of a naive reading may make it sound like we are requiring development of distribution centers in these specific plans. I was thinking that the wording could be that's the requirement that require the development of, but I also went against it because the definite article makes certaint

Yes. So that's what disabused my mind when I read the whole thing. But when you look at the initial phrasing, it sounds as if. If you look at the reading of the agenda item, it may sound like that. Yeah. The clarification is there in the document. If there's interest in changing it, maybe we can consider it. Other than that, I don't think it's a big deal. This one is just technical understanding. I don't understand what stacking death means. Is it on page? It's under 10.08.4566A5. If you can explain, the rest of the terminology was pretty plain, but stacking depth, I didn't know what it means

So you don't want too long a queue. Okay. Thank you.

All right, looks like there are no more further clarifying questions. We will now open up the public hearing. Please, again, once again, please sign in at the podium up here if you do decide to come up and speak. First of all, are there any public comments received by email for item 6A? No emails received. Any public comments via Zoom for 6A?

No via Zoom. Looking out in the audience, once again, are there any, anyone out here would like to comment on item 6A in the audience? Show of hands. No show of hands. The public hearing for this item is now closed. Any comments that were received after the close of the public comment period will not be included in the record. Now we'll bring it back to the Commission for a little bit more detailed conversation. If you guys don't mind me kicking it off. Can we go back to slide one? No. Okay, and the reason I'm actually bringing this up is just for, you know, for whoever's watching, listening o

They're already allowed to be built. And so the 98B or AB98, what does that do? That'll continue this though.

And once again, we did this a year ago. They were building warehouses right next to Ellis, and the Planning Commission actually disapproved that but got overridden by council, three to two on each side. We voted no, they voted yeah. So that's a situation that's still sticks in my head. Now, if we allow warehouses right in the middle of residential areas, that's just problematic. for the hundred plus thousand residents in Tracy. And that's where I have a little bit of a struggle.

So it helps compared to what it is now? Yes. And just for the record, and for anyone of you who's listening, I'm 100% not anti-warehouse. I've always said that for the three years I've been up here. But it's just the locations are so critical in this town that is growing and growing and new developments going everywhere. And so I'm not anti-warehouse. It's just the locations are extremely critical. They're very important to the residents of Tracy. They're extremely important. And I just, you know, as a chair and a commissioner, I want to be the voice of that reason. So that's why I brought tha

I have a question. So in these four areas that we're talking about right now, how many warehouses have been approved under the old that just haven't been built yet?

So how many are slated to be built that have not been above ground?

So and those will come here or have they already gone through here?

So what you're saying is a year ago some came through us, we voted it down and then it got correct. So all we can keep doing is saying this commission doesn't agree it should go there and if they out. Okay. So we just, okay. Sounds good. Thank you.

I just, I think this is probably sorted, but I just want the clarity to be out there. Looking at the timing of the state law and the time that this ordinance is going into implementation, is there any lapse within time within the expected timing that a state law anticipates local authorities to implement?

Thank you. I really appreciate that because there are a lot of really specific guidance in this ordinance, especially when it comes to residential property and the setbacks around that. So good that you're having it going to effect possibly.

That's a great question, Commissioner Chavez. I want to piggyback on that. You brought it up earlier, as did Vice Chair over here. AB 98 is more likely going to go through. We know that. However, any new warehouses, whether it's in 1, 2, 3, or 4, still needs to come through here. And to Commissioner Chavez's point, if there's a warehouse that's not green or have hazardous waste, we still have the liberty to not approve that. Is that correct?

Right. Again, I don't mean approval. We recommend a council approval or disapproval. We still have that, you know, empowerment.

No other questions. I will entertain a motion.

I'll entertain a motion. Move to recommend that the Planning Commission ADOPT RESOLUTION MAKING A RECOMMENDATION FOR THE CITY COUNCIL TO WAVE THE FIRST READING BY SUBSTITUTION OF THE TITLE AND INTRODUCE AN ORDER ADDING ARTICLE 35.5, WAREHOUSES TO CHAPTER 10.08, ZONING REGULATIONS OF TITLE 10, PLANNING AND ZONING OF THE TRACED MUNICIPAL CODE AND AMENDING THE QUARTUS RANCH SPECIFIC PLAN, INDUSTRIAL AREA SPECIFIC PLAN, THE NORTHEAST INDUSTRIAL SPECIFIC PLAN, and the Tracy Hills specific plan to require the development of warehouses and logistics facilities to comply with Tracy Municipal Code Arti

We have a motion that's been seconded. Roll call vote, please. Commissioner Atwal.

Yes. And thanks again, Brianna. All right, moving on to the regular agenda, seven, item 7A. Receive an informational update regarding the general plan update process. Back to you, Brianna Saproport.

Thanks, Chair. Just three questions, clarifications. Regarding the timeline, we are dealing with approximately three years. Since this is done on schedule, do we have a goal deadline or is it open-ended once we start? We are trying to get to three years, but it goes slow. How does this work?

Thank you. So all things being equal, three years. But if there are exceptions, we'll call it out and communicate.

Okay. Thank you. And once we are done with the general plan update, does the update recommend when the change is going to effect or there's some standard code that tells, okay, once an update is done, it goes into effect by this amount of time? When would these changes we are working towards start reflecting in the planning of the city?

Yes. how quickly it takes effect because the programs themselves will be on their own schedule but once you do the update within three years all things being equal are we looking at right after the three years everything's going into effect or what's the general guideline

OK, thank you. So meaning that as part of the process, we'll be able to determine when the different changes you are making are going to land on schedule. And you also mentioned EIR. Is there a possibility that there will be an EIR involved, or that was just a mention as an example?

In the operation, we have 16 in line, so we have about 205 almost set to be there, which affects the energy use budget and strain on public utilities. Our track route is going through Coral Hollow, which is struggling on its own. I'm wondering which part of the general plan, which element of the general plan will help us answer some of those questions. I'm interested in knowing that area so that we can focus on it.

Thank you. So you've given me a few places to look, but it looks like it's going to affect other areas. So just to think about it broadly. Thanks a lot. That's all I have.

All right. Thank you for that consideration. Back to you.

Thank you very much for the detailed presentation. I appreciate it. So I want to quick, I'm not going to pause here, but just quick over here. Now, we're still opening this up for public comment?

All right. I'll bring it back up here. I'm going to reserve mine. I am part of the GPAC. I'm on that team, so I'm going to reserve mine for that. Thank you.

I'll go first. I think everybody would agree, traffic. I think we've done, the warehousing doesn't bother me, but the infrastructure on how we get these trucks in and out bothers me. I know a lot of it gets hung up in state and federal stuff with the freeways, but we have done a very poor job with that. I think anybody you talk to in town will tell you that that has to leave town. There's not much we can do about the Altamont. That's not our deal. But getting people in and out of this town is laughable at best, especially during peak hours. So I think that's got to be a concern. Heaven forbid

Any final comments up here before I open up public? Just one.

Yep. Thank you. My fellow commissioners have covered almost everything. Just something that stands out with Tracy, like if you're on the 11th Street, it says, do this in the triangle. A lot of things in the triangle. And that is a good call out. Like there is this tension between living in Tracy versus working in Tracy versus having recreational experiences in Tracy. It's very difficult to have a good number of people being able to do all three consistently here. And I see that as a sort of tension. So if there's one thing I can add is to be able to allow people to live a full life in Tracy wh

All right. Thanks, everyone up here. Again, thanks for listening and taking the questions and the comments. Let's go ahead and open up the public hearing.

So just for clarity then, are we going back and forth playing catch ball or how is this going to work? There's not really a clear agenda here.

I think that Yeah, the yellow could expand. I imagine at some point Mountain House, if they had a yellow line on this, it would be expanding. So we're going to run into each other eventually. So sooner than later would probably be better. I know when I was on the Parks Committee, we had a presentation of kind of the same type of a plan. And I meant to mention this earlier, but the bow tie area here, I think that needs to be cleaned up and done something with. I KNOW IT'S IN THE SCOPE OF INFLUENCE, BUT THAT IS KIND OF AN EYESORE FOR THE CITY. AND I KNOW THEY SHOWED US SOME some futuristic type

Thanks for offering this opportunity. I don't think I can recommend what size the yellow box should be because I don't know which criteria we are using to determine the boundary. So I think it would be better to have a good understanding of what is causing us to be able to draw the line at one point versus another. Then it will be possible to, you know, give more actionable or informative suggestions. Other than that, bigger is better. So I get a sentiment, but I would like to get more understanding of how we are drawing the line. Is it some physical limitations? I see highway boundaries. I'm

Absolutely. Yeah, thanks for clarifying. I was just confused because the agenda says one thing, but yet our city attorney is telling me something different, so we'll clear that up afterwards, though.

I do have one question. This is probably for planning. I always run into, with my job, the south of Valpico situation, that that's county. There's a different school district. There's... They can't be on this. Is there any talk in the new general plan or is that something that the general plan can take into advice to bring that into the city limits so that we're not divided within our own literally across the street?

Thank you very much. That was extremely informative. Like I said, I kind of reserved my questions because I am part of the GPAC. So I'll, you know, reserve it for that if that's okay. All right. So are we clear to go public comment? Looking at the city clerk, help me out.

All right. I would like to open up the public hearing. And once again, please sign into the podium up here. Are there any public comments received by email for item 7A? No emails received. Any public comments received via Zoom for 7A?

And once again, looking out in the audience, show of hands. No show of hands. The public hearing for this item is now closed. Any comments that were received after the close of the public comment period will not be included in the record. Back to Commission for final discussion. Since there is no action, so just for more of a discussion point.

All right, once again, thank you very much. It was real detailed. I appreciate it. All right. Moving on. Item eight. Once again, items from the audience. We invite members of the public to use Zoom to comment under items from the audience. And once again, this is for items that are not on the agenda by logging on to Zoom using the link provided. Are there any public comments received via Zoom for items that are not on the agenda?

Any emails received or comments that are not on the agenda? And one last time, looking on the audience, any show of hands for items that are not on the agenda? No show of hands. A public comment period for items from the audience that are not on the agenda has now closed. Final director's report.

All right. Thank you, Carl. And I want to piggyback on that. On that note, I, too, encourage everyone up here to at least, you know, consider it, think about it, let Gina know, because there is a deadline coming up. A couple of us went a couple of years ago, and it was definitely worthwhile. You get a lot of knowledge. You know, you get a... I guess I have a question as well. Is our alternate, is she able to attend?

As well, I would encourage you as well to think about it and take a peek at it. With that, any final items from the commission? Anyone want to make a motion to adjourn? I'll make a motion to adjourn. Seconded. We have a motion. It's been seconded. Roll call vote, please.