Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

I was just waiting for Commissioner Bathia, yeah. All right, so I know the recording has started. So it is now 529, and I'm going to call the Planning Commission meeting of Thursday, July 16, 2026 to order. Could the Recording Secretary please conduct a roll call?

Thank you. Now if we could all rise for the Pledge of Allegiance, and Commissioner Grossman is going to lead us. Right. So now we'll open public comments for non-agendized items. This would include any item not on tonight's agenda. Are there any comments for non-agendized items?

Mario, just to confirm, you were cut off in the beginning. You're discussing the Our Lady of Peace project.

I understand. Thank you for your comment.

Thank you. Now we'll go to introductions. Director Frady, do we have any introductions?

All right. Do any of my fellow commissioners have announcements or reports they'd like to make? No. All right. Director Frady, do we have any additions or deletions? Okay. Then we'll move on to the consent calendar. All items listed will be enacted by one vote. There'll be no discussion of these items unless members of the Planning Commission request specific items to be removed from the consent calendar for specific discussion. So I'll go ahead and open the public comments.

Okay, thank you. So I guess I'll take a motion.

Make a motion to approve the consent calendar item.

Okay, do we have a second? I'll second. Okay, Commissioner Grossman seconds. Could we please set up the vote?

For the record, I was able to review the last meeting, so I'm voting on it.

Wonderful, thank you. All right, so we'll move on to item two. I'll open the public hearing and ask Director Frady to please introduce the item.

Thank you for the presentation, Erica. Would the applicant like to do a presentation now?

Thank you. Thank you. I guess now is the time we open public comments. Do we have any public comments?

Okay, thank you. Then I will go ahead and close the public hearing and open the commission deliberations. Let's see if we have any commissioners that would like to speak. Commissioner Pearson.

Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman. I've just got a couple questions. I want to commend AC Martin on a phenomenal design. I think it's very striking. I would like to know, what are the building materials on the outside?

Another question is, on the mezzanine level, looking at the floor plans, it appears that There are residential projections. Is that a second story? My question is, you've got condensers for the air conditioning systems all around there. And I'm uncertain as to the noise level that could be created at that location.

Do they have windows? Are they operable windows at that location on those?

Is this construction concrete at the base or all steel studs or what's the framing on it?

Yes, hello there. So just a couple quick questions. But first, I'd like to start off with, I'd like to thank you at the AC Martin for this wonderful presentation and this design today. I think this is the perfect type of forward-thinking aesthetics we like to see in the city. The question I do have though is, obviously Jamboree and MacArthur are some of the hardest working arterial systems in the city, and I would like to ask about the construction logistics. Obviously we have a construction plan in the city, but can you walk us through the staging and the haul route for the construction plan,

Fantastic. Thank you. And then one last one. What are you most proud of in this project that we may not see just from the report here and the design concepts?

Fantastic. And then where in the property is the seven-story parking structure going to go? I'm sorry if I missed that.

Fantastic. Thank you. I'm a resident of the Irvine Business Center, so I'd love to see how the traffic is going to look and how parking is going to look. Thank you so much. That's all my questions.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, staff. And thank you for the applicant for bringing about this project. And thank you to the commissioners for asking great questions. I just had two quick questions. One is regarding bike parking. How many bike parking stalls will there be in the parking structure, if any?

Okay. 72 with 400. And will there, just a request, I don't know if the Community Services Commission had brought it up, but if we can provide just bike maintenance tools at the parking, it seemed like something convenient and appreciated by residents.

And then will there be restrictions in terms of residents wanting to park their bikes on the balcony, per se? Yes. There will be. OK. So 72 spots with a total of 422. OK. That's per the requirement. And that's, let me see if there's anything else. And then in terms of EV parking, how many stalls will there be? Do you know? Do you have that number, Erica?

Okay, great. Thank you. And thank you for making changes according to the community services with the native plants and such. So do appreciate that. Thank you very much for that. The designs are gorgeous. The concepts are beautiful. And I think that open air with the, you know, inside interior to going out concept is something that would be appreciated, especially in that area. So thank you very much. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Lin. How about Commissioner Bhatia?

Thank you, Chair, and thank you for the staff and applicant. I think it's aesthetically pleasing. I had a question regarding the affordable units. Is it fully integrated in the project and architecturally indistinguishable versus the market rate units? They are. Okay, excellent. And piggybacking off of Commissioner Lin's question on EV chargers, are those all housed in the seven-story building and none exterior? They are? Okay. No further questions. That's it. Thank you. Thank you.

Thanks, Commissioner Bhatia. Commissioner Delacruzac.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, applicant, for showing and sharing these great designs. I'm so happy to see that there's decks to take advantage of the wonderful environment nearby, especially off Fairchild. I do have a couple questions. I know there's an existing commercial building over there. What is the timeline for demolition and all that?

By the end of the year. And from there, what is the timeline to complete a project of this scale?

30 MONTHS. THANK YOU. NO FURTHER QUESTIONS THANK YOU.

THANKS COMMISSIONER DEL CUZAK. COMMISSIONER ROSEMAN.

THANK YOU. THANK YOU STAFF. THANK YOU APPLICANT. ERICA THANK YOU VERY MUCH. I JUST WANTED JUST A COUPLE MAKE SURE CLARIFICATIONS. SO THE ERRATA THAT WE HAD HAD BEFORE HAS NOW BEEN FULLY INCORPORATED INTO THE CURRENT RESOLUTION. OK. And the revised private street design that the applicant and the party have amicably agreed to as the only substantive change from June 18th?

Okay. And I just want to clarify, does the resolution in any way make any new determinations about development rights for the adjacent MacArthur parcels? There's some language in there that I wanted to clarify around LCP and future. But first of all, first question is, does it make any declarations about future development rights for the MacArthur parcel adjacent?

Okay. So we're not making any findings regarding the MacArthur parcel? Correct. Correct. Okay. And it does... So this resolution does not make any... towards any future development in that area. So I guess my real question is, the LCP references, are they descriptive? Are they creating new legal rights? Why is that language necessary in this resolution? It seems superfluous to me, but I'm a little unclear.

Maybe I can ask something else while we're just going. Should I? So one other question. So the affordable housing, you've taken advantage of the 50% density bonus. Has the applicant looked at ways of providing more affordable housing now that they've had the 50% density bonus, which they are allowed by law, but in order to try and provide more affordable housing in this project, was anything explored? Or would the applicant like to?

And I appreciate that you've done everything by law and by code, but recognizing the city cannot require additional affordable housing units. I mean, could I ask you to just voluntarily look at whether it's housing partnerships, whether it's working with trusts, whether it's working with nonprofit partners, but could I ask you to look into or commit to looking into, not commit to doing anything, but commit to looking into seeing if we can bring more affordability into cities into this project. That's one of the biggest challenges we have in our community. All of us have children that are going

I really appreciate that. And then the last thing, again, is a voluntary request. Today, we're talking about approvals, and I'm on board. But as we get into construction, I'd like for you to strongly consider using our union labor as much as possible in this project. As we move into these projects, it's going to be important that we try and bring those people so that they can also move in and live into our city and get good-paying jobs in projects like this. So I would hope that you would look into that.

at this moment in time, that's all I can ask of you, and I appreciate that.

Okay. Which would have been, just from my own knowledge, it would have been the case had the language not been in there, it still would have not impacted any

Sure. If it clarifies the status quo. Because it was unusual, I was concerned that it was somehow granting new rights or the language was

Thank you for clarifying. I have no issues. Nothing further.

Thanks, Commissioner Grossman. I guess I'm last. I'll say that I also really like the architecture. I really like the vision. I think it's a great spot for that. I don't have any questions of my own. I see Commissioner Batia has some more.

JUST ONE QUICK QUESTION, GIVEN LIKE THE PREVIOUS OAK CREEK PLANNING AREA 52 CONNECTIVITY TO ADJUST IN THIS PARTICULAR PROJECT, GIVEN THE PROJECT'S VISIBILITY WITH THE FAIRCHILD ROAD AND THE SAN JUANQUIN MARSH IN PROXIMITY TO IT, WHAT DESIGN FEATURES WOULD HAVE THAT CONNECTIVITY OR ANY DESIGN FEATURES THAT WOULD HAVE A GATEWAY TO THIS TYPE OF LANDMARK?

Is that feasible and possible? I'm just curious. I mean, it's a great attribute just to have.

Yeah, just my two cents on the positive connectivity pathway. But no, I appreciate that. That's the only question. Thank you.

Do you have a comment? I'll go to Commissioner Pearson.

I've got one additional question. I noticed on the technical site plan that there are two parcels, and I'm wondering if we're doing a lot line or a consolidation or a new map on that.

Okay, I don't see any further comments. Do we have a motion?

I move that we approve resolution number 264082 and 264083, the Conditional Use Permit and Park Plan for Fairchild Residential Project. I second.

Thank you. Thank you. All right. So we can move on to item number three. And I'll open the public hearing and ask Director Frady to please introduce the item.

THANK YOU FOR THE PRESENTATION, ERIC. DO WE HAVE ANY PUBLIC COMMENTS?

Okay, thank you. I guess we will open up to commissioner questions. I put myself in the queue so I can go. Do we look at medium-term rentals, I guess over 30 days, the same as like a long-term rental?

So the tax structure would be set up the same way as if I rented for a year or two years, even if it was only for three months. When you find a property that's not complying, do you work with the HOA so they can also level penalties?

Okay, and then my last question is, How do you work to find properties that aren't listed on the major rental sites, but are listed in, say, like an app like WeChat, where it's just like a community-based trading of property?

Okay, thanks. Those are all my questions. Commissioner Pearson?

I'd like to thank the chairman for asking the questions that I was going to ask. I do believe that we need to give the city, staff, code enforcement all the tools necessary to make sure that our neighborhoods are safe and do not have problems that have happened in other jurisdictions and cities. I think that this amendment is a very positive step forward and I support it tremendously.

Thank you, Commissioner Pearson. Commissioner Mansfield? Thank you, Mr.

First and foremost, thank you for your presentation. I have a couple questions as I'm a relatively new commissioner. Obviously, as we've seen in the city of Newport recently with the issues with their short-term rental properties over the last holiday weekend, what is the current escalation of penalties?

What is the path to increasing the penalty cost? I'm sorry? What is the path to increasing the cost of the penalties, like raising the fees?

Okay, wonderful. Let's see. For right now, that would be all my questions. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Mansfield. Commissioner Delacuzac?

Thank you, Chair. Thank you for the presentation. I think this is a very important quality of life issue that we have to tackle. And I'm glad to see that you have the tools from the state to kind of uncover what's going on. Can you share any instances of how, like, Anything recently where residents impacted? I understand I heard before this meeting that sometimes these people go to the wrong house or something, and there's some safety concerns that you've heard personally?

And our city is full of dedicated working families, and it's something they don't want to have to be inconvenienced with. You showed there was, on the data, about over 300 in the past year, instances where you have to respond. Had any of those instances required a police response, or you had to...

It sounds because of that response there's probably arrests been made, right? Correct. Good. I'm glad to hear that. I have no other questions, but I just want to thank you for bringing this attention to the public. I think we should be supporting our local businesses. We have great hotels here. We have workers who who work there to take care of our guests. They paid our taxes and to have people who follow the rules and help bring to our tax base to keep our parks open. I think a law like this will help continue that. So thank you for all your good work and making sure to keep our city safe and

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Grossman.

Thank you, Eric. It's a pleasure to see you here. I don't think we've had the pleasure of having you present before, so hopefully it's not been too difficult for all of us here. What I really want to understand is a little bit more about this ordinance. So you said it's a monthly reporting where you get from the platforms. So it just seems to me there might be a disconnect. You get the monthly report, but we're not capturing necessarily the people while they're while it's happening? Or how does the lag work if someone's using short-term rental on a Tuesday through a Thursday, but you're gettin

So is the citation based on the listing or is it based on the occupancy?

Okay. And you said that if they would list them on multiple platforms, those would be separate violations per platform? That could add up rather quickly. That's quite got some teeth to it. Privacy and information protection of information is something that we're all concerned about these days. How will the city protect homeowners information received from these platforms? What safeguards will you have in place as information is exchanged electronically?

And I think that I in no way want to impugn the integrity of any individuals. I believe they all are. But it would be something to look into from an IT and a systems-based point of view as you integrate this is to make sure that we have the proper safeguards from a technology point of view in place. And I understand that you're not the

I actually was more thinking of the way it's coming from the platform to the city, not necessarily once it's inside the city, but it's a new integration, it's a new approach.

Backdoor, essentially. OK. And then just one last question. Procedurally, does it work for a homeowner to receive the notification? Let's say a homeowner who doesn't want to continue to get escalating notices, how actually does that process work for them? Let me just be even more clear. We have a lot of these short-term rentals are people where the homeowner is not present, often maybe even international. How do we ensure that that notification process happens so that enforcement can take place properly?

Thank you. I appreciate that. That sounds like an excellent plan. I have nothing further.

Thanks, Commissioner Grossman. Commissioner Battia?

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, Eric, for the presentation. I wanted to know, so by definition of unique listing, that really does prevent an operator from advertising the same property across multiple platforms without additional consequences. Is that correct?

Your answer is yes, right? Yes. Okay, got it. I'm curious to know, and this could be a question for staff, do we have data by districts on short-term rentals and which district has the most? Maybe categorize it by first, second, third, fourth, fifth, and sixth, or sixth.

Yeah, I live at the Great Park, and I kind of see a lot of that happening there. And how much, one last question, how much staff time has gone into, you know, currently identifying these listings that conceal, you know, their addresses? Has there been a lot of staff time involved in that?

Okay. Thank you very much, Eric. No further questions.

Thank you, Commissioner. Commissioner Mansfield?

Yes, sorry, I have a couple more questions. You brought up a really good point earlier. I have a good friend of mine who his business was accidentally broken into because there was an illegal Airbnb operating next door, next to his property. They came in late in the night, and I think our business owners, especially our homeowners and residents, have a vested interest in preventing these types of things from happening. Do we have a rough estimate of how many illegal Airbnbs are operating in the city?

346, okay. And then just confirming, we do have a database of where these people are and where they're operating them, right? Fantastic, thank you. That's all my questions.

Thank you, Chair. Just based on this discussion and what's come up, we veered a little off of the zoning text amendment, but I did have a question in terms of how we would go about placing a check-in time restriction, perhaps, just hearing about certain cases where perhaps someone who's renting a long-term rental goes to the wrong home if it's late at night. So if we can put a restriction on perhaps check-in time, I don't know what the process would be and if that's possible, but something to look into to possibly put like a check-in no later than this time restriction. Just thought that would

Thank you so much. That's it. Thank you very much.

Thanks, Vice Chair. Commissioner Mansfield?

Last question, I promise. Sorry, guys. Just for our viewers that may not be here in the building today, do we have a way for residents to anonymously report these non-compliant Airbnbs operating in their neighborhoods? And where can they find that?

Fantastic. Thank you again for your presentation.

I think that's everybody. I don't think I formally closed the public hearing, so I'm going to close the public hearing. And... Let's see if I have a motion and a second for this.

Chair, I'll move to approve this recommended zoning text amendment to implement the Short-Term Rental Facilitator Act.

OK. Thank you. Could we please set up the vote?

Wonderful. Thank you. Thank you. So let's go to item four. I'll open the public hearing. Director Frady, could you please introduce the item?

Thank you, Sherman. Would the applicant care to make any comments?

You have been here a lot. We'll have to get you a punch card. Maybe like nine towers, the tenth one doesn't need a hearing. No, I'm kidding. That was a joke. So let's open the public comments on this.

Thank you. I'll go ahead and close the public hearing then and open it up for my commissioners. Does anyone have Commissioner Pearson?

Peter, I have one question. And it's similar to all the ones I ask you. You've got a diesel generator. Have you thought about using something that does not create the toxic fumes that periodically will be let out by that generator on a certain you know, scheduled operating time?

I think what I was probably referring to was a propane type gas. I understand that natural gas would not work in this point, but I knew what your answer would be, so thank you.

Of course. If I could riff off of that, in a cold climate, you wouldn't use diesel, though, right? You would use propane.

I used to live in Michigan, so I would see the propane, yeah. I think that's everything. Oh, sorry, Commissioner Grossman.

Just, Sherman, thank you very much. Just want to clarify, you did say that this is available for co-hosting if there was future need? Yes, that's correct. That's fantastic. I encourage us when we're doing this to make sure that we try and build that as much as possible to avoid the need for more and more towers. So thank you. You're welcome.

Okay, it looks like we have a motion by Commissioner Pearson and a second by Vice Chair Lin. So could we please set up the voting?

Wonderful, thank you. So let's move on to item number five. I'll go ahead and open the public hearing and Director Frady, could you please introduce the item?

Thank you for the presentation. Would the applicant like to say a few words?

OK. Thank you. And then I'll open it to public comments.

Thank you. I'll go ahead and close the public hearing and open up to the commissioners. Do any of my commissioners have questions? Commissioner Grossman.

Thank you, Tiana, for the presentation and thank you to the applicant. I just want to clarify a couple things for me is that The facility is unique because of the size. It's quite a large facility, and congratulations on the endeavor you're about to set on. The location is very straightforward, and I have no problem with that. The issue is this therapeutic movement phrase, because that could mean a lot of different things. That could be everything from one-on-one rehab Pilates, yoga, strength training. And it's kind of a vague word that I'm struggling with. Can you elaborate a little bit more

So do you envision at any point having a class that would be led by a personal trainer for a 20-person yoga class, for example.

Okay. And in fact, that is one of the conditions, is that that would be prohibited. Am I correct? Okay. And then one, will this be a membership-based, or how will... How will this be set up? Yes, membership-based. Membership-based. Will you be having, like, will it have squat racks and things that you would be finding? And would people be dropping in to get their workout in before or after work?

Okay. All right. I think you've assaged my concerns about this. It's just the size of it, you have quite a big, it's going to be quite a big facility, and it kind of... could look like it, but you've assured me that it's not. Thank you. I have no further questions. Thank you, Commissioner.

Again, I'd like to compliment you on the choice of location. Given my age, I'll probably want to have a membership there for probably everything that you'd offer. Going through your operational plan and your scheduling, I'm very confident that with the conditions of approval that this facility will run as you have indicated. And I don't believe that we would have any question as to the parking, as to the usage, the maximum number of employees. If there are complaints, I'm sure code enforcement will be knocking on your door. But other than that, I'm very pleased to have this type of business co

Thank you, Commissioner Pearson. I just have one question for the applicant. Will the practitioners be employees or contractors? They'll be employees. Okay, thank you. That's all I have. Commissioner Mansfield?

Thank you, Mr. Chair, and thank you for being here tonight. I just wanted to say I think this is a fantastic opportunity. As a veteran that's gone through chiropractic care due to disabilities acquired through service, I think this is fantastic. Thank you.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you for the applicant. I think it's also a great use, definitely needed in the community. I wanted to ask if there's going to be any signage modifications or building exterior changes aside from just tenant improvements?

There's nothing, okay. No further questions, that's all.

Thank you, Commissioner Bhatia. I think that's everyone's comments. We have a motion made by Vice Chair Lin. Do we have a second? Second. Second, Commissioner Pearson. Could we please stop the voting?

Excellent. Thank you so much. We'll move on to item number six. I'll open the public hearing. Director Frady, could you please introduce the item?

Thank you for the presentation, Tiffany. Do we have any public comments on this item?

Oh, great. Thank you. And I'll go ahead and close the public hearing and see if any of my fellow commissioners would like to speak. Vice Chair Lynn?

Thank you, Chair, and thank you, staff. This is just another example of how wonderful our staff is in making sure that we make adjustments as needed. If the commissioners don't have any comments, which I don't see in the queue, I'd like to bring a motion to adopt the recommended action.

Oh, I'm sorry. You got to be faster, Commissioner Grossman.

I want to echo, Tiffany, thank you very much for the presentation. I want to echo a little bit of what Commissioner Lynn said, but I think this is just, I think it's important to highlight this really preserves our local control in a way that is important. It builds on the history and the legacy of what we've been doing for decades and gives us that operational control. I think really importantly, and I'm sure our legal counsel would concur, This keeps our standards objective. They're applied to every single developer and every single applicant. And it provides clarity, which is what every bus

And just for clarification, if changes are needed as you're coming to us today, when we want to add conditions to it, does that come back to the Planning Commission? Is that done at the director level? How is that done?

All right. Nothing further, but thank you. Thank you for staff for looking out really here for the best interest of the city. Thank you.

So I see no further comments. We have a motion, a second. Could we please set up the voting?

Thank you. So I guess that's it for tonight's meeting. So the next Planning Commission will be held on Thursday, August 6, 2026 at 5.30 p.m. in the City Council Chamber. It is now 6.55, and I declare the meeting of June 18, 2026 adjourned.

Thank you, Mr. Chair. Happy birthday. Yeah.