Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

I call to order the meeting of the Planning Commission for 12/17/2025. I now ask for a moment of silence. Commissioner Swiggard, will you please lead us in the pledge of allegiance? Kayla, roll call.

Commissioner Smith.

Present.

View. Absent excused. Swigert. Present. Ochoa. Present. Greggins. Present. And Chairperson Gonzales.

Present. We have a quorum. Before we get started, we'd like to move it over or give the mic to Deputy City Manager Frank Quintero.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Sir and commissioners, I'd just like to share with you that tonight we have the opportunity to introduce to our new planning manager, Sam Rochet. Sam comes from us or comes to us from Madera County. We stole him, so we're very proud of that.

He has private sector experience and also served as a planning commissioner in years gone by. Also with you up at the dais, is our chief deputy city attorney, miss Rhonda Lucas. And I do wanna give a wholehearted thank you to, Johnny Land, who served as acting planning manager for six months, and to Francisco Mendoza Gonzales, who served as acting principal planner. And they did both a very worthy job and represented the city well in those capacities. So sir, I'll turn it over back to you.

Thank you. And just reiterating, Francisco and Johnny did an amazing job. So thank you for all the support and guidance through the last six months. Welcome, Sam. We look forward to a great 2026 with all the products we've got going on. I'm really excited about what we have going forward. So thank you, everybody. Kayla?

Members of the audience who wish to address the Planning Commission are requested to complete a speaker card available at the podium at the back of the council chamber. Please submit the completed card to the clerk before the item is called, preferably before the meeting begins. I would like to briefly go over the process of submitting comments to the Planning Commission. Please submit your public comment to the Planning Commission electronically no later than one p. M. On the day of the meeting. Comments received before the deadline will be sent to the planning commission and will be part of the record and mentioned as part of the public comment portion of the agenda. Material may be emailed to planningweb@cityofMerced.gov and should be limited to 300 words or less. Please specify which portion of the agenda you are commenting on. For example, oral communications or item number.

Your comments will be presented to the planning commission at the appropriate time. Any correspondence received after 1PM will be distributed to the planning commission and retained for the official record. TV video or listen to the planning commission meeting live, go to the city's website, www.cityofbursed.gov, Facebook Live, or Comcast Public Access Channel 96.

We now move on to section c, which is public comment. Members of the public who wish to speak on any matter not listed on the agenda may speak during this portion of the meeting and will be allotted three minutes. State law prohibits the Planning Commission from acting at this meeting on any matter raised during the public comment period. Members of the public who wish to speak on a matter that is listed on the agenda will be called upon to speak during the discussion of that item. Kayla, do we have any request to speak?

No? Thank Thank you, Kayla. We now move on to item d, which is consent calendar including minutes. Would the commission like to remove any items for separate consideration? Hearing and seeing none, we'll be able to approve. Does anybody wish to make a motion to approve?

I'll make a motion to approve the consent calendar.

I'll second.

We have a motion to approve the consent entered by Commissioner Gregens, a second by Commissioner Ochoa. We now move it to a vote. And it has passed unanimously. Click that. We now move on to Item E, public hearings.

Item E1, conditional use permit number 20Five-seventeen initiated by Osvaldo Reyes on behalf of Ashvir Singh, trustee property owner. This application involves a request to operate two food trucks within the parking lot at 61 West 16th Street, generally located on the Northeast Corner Of 8th Street and West 16th Street within a general plan designation of regional community commercial and a zoning classification of central commercial. This is a public hearing.

Good evening, everybody. I'm Matt Livingston. I am the assistant planner, and this is conditional use permit number 25Dash0017 for a multi food truck park at 61 West 16th Street with two proposed food trucks. So, here's the location map. As you can see, this site is at the Northeast Corner Of H And West 16th Street, and as you can see in the project site, the two small blue squares roughly represent where the trucks would be.

Here is the street view of the site. This is from the corner of H And West 16th, so that's what this site currently looks like. Here is the proposed site plan. As you can see, the two locations of the trucks, and then as far as access into the site, there's two entrances and exits from H Street, and there's also one entrance and exit from West 16th Street. And then immediately to the north of this site is an alley, so there's also access from up there.

So, some of the conditions related to safety and operations, they are required to have at least two trash receptacles per food truck, so in this case it'd be four. Condition number 10 prohibits temporary signs. Condition number 11 limits the hours of operation between seven a. M. And nine p. M, which is standard in our code. Condition number 15 gives the city the right to revoke the CUP if excessive services service calls are made to the police department. Condition number 22 prohibits them from selling alcohol. And condition number 23 requires them to post no loitering signs on-site. Some of the other more relevant conditions.

Condition number seven requires them to comply with the county's environmental health department. They are also required to comply with the city's water quality control division requirements for disposal of grease and kitchen equipment, and condition number 21 requires them to provide access to indoor restrooms for the food truck employees, which would be provided in the existing commercial building that's on the site. So after discussion, the Planning Commission may approve, modify, or deny environmental review number 25Dash39, which is a categorical exemption, and conditional use permit number 25Dash17, subject to the 35 conditions in the staff report. And I'm here for questions as well as the applicant and their designer if you guys have any.

Commissioner Gregens?

Yeah. Can you bring up the the site map again?

Sure.

That one or

No.

Go to the street view. That's close enough. I don't know, about two years ago maybe, we did a CUP on the corner of Main And H for a multi food truck. Is that CUP still in play? Because nothing's been done on that one.

Yeah. So that one so I did look that one up. That was approved in August 2021. So it is still in play. If it's not activated within five years, I believe it's voided. But that one is still approved.

Okay. Thank you.

Commissioner Ochoa.

I don't think it was mentioned with the no floating signs. There's not gonna be any seating here for people to stay and eat?

No. So there's no proposed seating at this point. And we do have a condition where if they wanted to change that, it would require us to review it and approve it. But at this time, there's no proposed seating.

And the building is still boarded off like that?

At this moment, yeah. I don't wanna speak for the applicant, but I believe they are in the process of reopening it into it used to be a car lot dealership.

Oh, okay.

So I believe that's what the the process is right now.

Okay. Got it.

And I know there is another food truck plaza. I think we've asked this before, but just to get a general idea of how many food trucks that we've approved spaces that we've approved in the last year. Because I know there's a food truck plaza right there on MLK And 16th. So that's about two, three blocks away, and I think that one sits four right now. So just to get a general idea of how many we're doing.

Yeah. Don't have the exact number off the top of my head. I did look before. There's currently five multi food truck parks that have been approved. But like Jeremiah said, the one immediately to the north of this one is not currently being used. So but I don't have the number of individual trucks off the top my head.

Okay. Thank you. I

don't have a question or I just have a comment. Just going forward, if we can have those numbers with prior to our meeting, right, or when we have our meeting, not just on what's currently there right now, but projected. Because I think, I mean, what I mean mentioned is there's four, but I think it's listed to have up to eight in that particular plaza that we approved. And if we have multiple plazas we have eight here, four that can potentially be on the same block, five across the street then we're going to end up having approved 30 food trucks just for the 16th Street corridor, just for that street. And there's no way to pull that back, right? Once we've approved it. Is that?

Yeah. Mean, that's correct. I mean, there is that condition where if there's, you know, police department issues that it's possible to be revoked but.

Yeah.

Without that.

Understood. Are there any other questions from the commissioners for our planning planner? No? Okay. This is a public hearing. At this time, I will open the hearing up for public comment. I invite the applicant to speak. If the applicant the applicant will have a total of fifteen minutes, including rebuttal time. If you wish to reserve time for rebuttal, please conclude your remarks to give yourself time. Does the applicant wish to say a few words? No. No? Can you can I I have a question? What if we have a question for the applicant? Can we ask a direct question?

Yep. What is the plans for that particular building? So I know it's boarded up right now and you said that we might turn it back into a car lot.

Needs to

come to the microphone.

Oh, can you please come up to the mic? Sorry.

Yes. That particular building will need to stay as a car lot.

So the food truck is just temporary until we get the because the food trucks are in the car lot. Right?

Yep.

And so when we go move it back to a car lot, the food trucks would it would just go back to being a being a used car lot. So renting out the spaces is just temporary.

No, I believe the owner's plan, and you could speak to it if you'd like, is to have a car lot but also have areas for free truck operation as well.

Yeah, that would can we go back to our map? Can you pull up our map? Map, please, Matt. There we go. So the plan is to keep these food trucks here and then also have a car lot here at the same time.

Yeah. The there was an attempt to make it a convenience store and we found out through the billing department that it had to stay as a car lot because that was the original permit from like the seventies.

I gotcha.

So we have to keep it as that but he does want to put food trucks on the site.

Okay. Commissioner Swigert.

I'm just a little confused on the parking. So there'll be cars in here as far as, you know, for sale, and then we're gonna have the two food trucks. I'm just

I'm sorry. Let me sorry to interrupt. But this original site plan was submitted when we initially wanted to make it into a convenience store. Since then, we found out we couldn't do that. So, this overall site layout would have to get revised to be more of a car lot layout.

Gotcha. Okay. Thank you.

Commissioner Contrella, did you have a question?

Yeah. For the city attorney, are they allowed to have a conditional use permit to use this as a food truck plaza and then still utilize the space as a used car lot?

As long as they meet the terms of the conditional use permit, yes.

Are there any other questions from the commissioners for the applicant? Nope. Alright. We're all good. Kayla, is there any opposition?

No. And

then we ask the public if there's any questions before we go back down to Okay. Is there any other questions? Yes. Okay. Commissioners, are there any other questions before I close it for you when we bring it back? Commissioner Swiggart?

I guess my question would be, I would like to see a revised plan for a used car lot and

Yeah. Understood. Yep. If if

I may, just one thing to keep in mind is the car lot usage isn't going to be what is in question. It would be the food trucks. The car lot is a by right use in this particular situation. And just I just wanna make sure that everybody does keep that in the back of their head when they're making the decision. So when we look at this, we wanna make sure that, yes, is this gonna cause a traffic situate you know, any safety situations and layouts? Just so I just wanna make sure that everyone's looking at that and that the layout that they do for that, car lot will be a by right

and just keep that in mind. At this time, we're gonna close the public comment and bring it back to the commission for discussion. Commissioners, are there any other comments internally? Commissioner Ochoa?

Yeah. Not necessarily about this project, but I think we have been approving a lot of food trucks. And like you've mentioned before, I think it becomes, I don't wanna say the conflict of interest is not the right term for this. But like you were saying, if we go keep approving these, there's gonna be twenty, thirty on the same block, and I don't think that's a very good use of space. Understood. So I'd like to see because we have been approving a lot of food trucks in the last couple of months.

We have. And my thoughts are that we get an outline map of what the potential would be before we approve any further any others going forward or even this one of what what is the likelihood or what have we approved for actual food trucks to be out there and do an internal revision of what our what what do we want that area to really look like, right, if it that that aligns with our general plan.

So if if I'm understanding, you're directing staff to go ahead and do an internal research to evaluate the ordinance and the amount of food trucks to see if it's something that we need to re to reauthor?

That would be a suggestion.

I think, a meeting or two ago, we were actually provided a list of how many food trucks have or CUPs have been approved in the area, not exact food trucks because those change depending on the on the day sometimes. So on that, though, I'm a little concerned that we have a CUP on the opposing corner. You know, it's good for at least another, what, year. You know? And if the property owner decides to act on that within the next year, then we got almost a half a block.

There are there's two restaurants on both sides. You got one on the corner of Main And H, and then you have one one property over from there as well. So that's just concerns of mine. But the project, I'm not against. I mean, everybody's gotta make you know, do business, but it's it's a concern.

Well well, like I said, what my staff can go ahead and do is we can go ahead and and make a a map showing the current food trucks that are available. So that way, we can have a really good idea of what we're looking at in this development of food trucks. And then if we need to have lead it to a bigger conversation, then we can do that. But let let we'll get the map, and then we'll get it out to you guys, and then we can go from there. How's that sound?

That sounds great. Though my question would be, does this stop or would do we continue this item waiting for that because we have questions on this? Or do we take action on this item and then get that at a later date?

I'm sure our attorney is gonna wanna jump in on this but the one thing that I would say is right now we're operating under the current ordinance and I would wanna make sure that that's what we're doing moving forward. We we we don't wanna make any decisions with the we may go ahead and change an ordinance because if it doesn't get passed by city council, then we've just held up the process. Sam

is correct. We have to consider this project consistent with our existing ordinance. And it does per your subject matter experts in planning with these conditions in their opinion meet the qualifications under our existing ordinance for issuance of the conditional use permit. That being said, it is your prerogative in your role as commissioners to approve, deny, or we can't continue it over. That is really your guys' purview. But we do have to judge it by the existing standards on the book and the existing ordinance as written.

Yeah.

Definitely would love to see those numbers and kind of how much we're approving with this particular project. I understand we gotta use the ordinance in front of this. So with that, I'll make a motion to approve environmental review number 25Dash0039 and the conditional use permit number 25Dash0017.

I'll second the motion.

So you want to adopt the resolution as written? Yes. Okay. We have a motion by Commissioner Ochoa and a second by Commissioner Gregens. We now go to a vote And it has passed four to one.

Thank you. Now move on to Item E2.

Conditional Use Permit 20Five-eighteen, site plan review permit number 20Five-ten, and minor use permit number 20Five-seventeen to approve the land use development standards and allow for a deviation from the residential design standards for multifamily development for an apartment complex with approximately 160 units. The subject site is generally located on the South Side South Of Cardella Road between El Redondo Drive and Horizon Avenue initiated by Cesar Perez on behalf of ISEA International LLC property owner. This is a public hearing.

Good evening, commissioners. I am Valeria Venturria, associate planner for the City Of Merced. The project I have before you today is conditional use permit number 250018, site plan review permit number 250010, and minor use permit number 250017 for a new 160 unit apartment complex located approximately half a mile East of North Highway 59 and South of West Cardella Road. This map shows where the project site is located in a city scale context towards the northwest quadrant of the city. Here is a closer map of the location of the project.

As mentioned previously, it is located approximately half a mile East of North Highway 59 and South of West Cardella Road. The site is approximately 10.7 acres with single family residential zones surrounding the site as well as county jurisdiction to the north. This site was annexed into the city in 2003 as part of the Farrance Creek North annexation. This annexation incorporated approximately 152 acres of land into the city limits. The subject site has a current land use designation of neighborhood commercial and commercial office, which are primarily for commercial uses, but multifamily residential development is allowed with approval of a conditional use permit.

Here is the proposed site plan. The two acres to the east will be reserved for future commercial use. The rest displays the layout of the apartment complex. The entrance and exit would be from Elberdondo Drive at the southwest corner of the project site, and an emergency access access only from Cardella Road is towards the northeast corner of the apartment complex. The site plan proposes 13 apartment buildings with four different building designs and a community building.

These are the elevations for two of the larger buildings. The site plan proposes two two story buildings with 16 units each and one three story building with 24 units. All units within these buildings would have three bedrooms and two bathrooms. These are the elevations for the smaller buildings. These would be there would be six three story buildings with 12 units each and four two story buildings with eight units each.

All units within these buildings would have two bedrooms and two bathrooms. These are the elevations for the community building proposed. A public hearing notice was sent out to property owners within 300 feet of the project site three weeks prior to this public hearing. Five letters in support and one in opposition were received to staff prior to this hearing and were also sent to the commissioners. Some conditions to take note of, within this project would be condition number 11 that would require the applicant to work with the fire department to determine if each building shall have its own independent connection and fire control room.

Condition number twenty two and twenty three address the contribution necessary from the developer for traffic signals at Cardella and El Rodondo and at Cardella and Horizon at the and the time said contribution is required. Condition number 28 requires undeveloped areas to be maintained free of debris and weeds. Condition number 29 conditions the developer be responsible for their portion of frontage improvements along Albodondo Drive and Cardella Road. Condition number 30 conditions the developer be responsible for their portion of frontage improvements along Horizon Avenue. If the developer decides to subdivide the two acres of commercial land, the frontage improvements of Horizon would be a responsibility of the developer of the commercial site.

Until that site is developed, the developer shall install compacted road base for emergency access. Staff sent out a memo earlier today requesting the planning commission consider a change in condition number 25 of the resolution. This change would allow the applicant to submit additional storm drain analysis to the city engineer after planning commission decision. Memo was also posted in the city of Merced website and printed today for the public. After the planning commission opens and closes the public hearing, the planning commission may approve, modify, or deny environmental review number 250040, which is categorical exemption, conditional use permit number 250018, site plan review permit number 250010, and minor use permit number 250017 with the suggested modifications of condition number 25.

That now concludes staff's presentation. I am now available for any questions. The applicant and engineer is also here if you have any questions for them.

Thank you, Valeria. Commissioners, are there any questions for the project planner?

Commissioner Ochoa?

Hello. Great presentation. Thank you. And I know I did email you a couple questions earlier, so thank you for getting back to me on those. I do have a couple other questions, though. On El Rodano Drive, this developer will be in charge of completing that out and then also to the end of their project on West Cardella. Correct?

Correct.

And so will they I can't remember off the top of my head. From 59 to West Cardella, that street does not currently connect. Right? It's empty land right there.

Not all the way through the end of the project site. I think it finishes right where this project starts. So they would be responsible of their frontage of Cordella.

Got it. And I can't remember correctly. Is this the same project that we approved? Is there another one on the adjacent corner that we approved? Because I can't remember off the top of my head.

For a residential subdivision. Yes.

Yes. So that's gonna be to the left of this. Or is this the same project?

To the west. Okay. Yes.

Okay. And so that project, I I, again, I can't remember. I can't see the visual map. Is that gonna connect to the existing West Cardella Road, that whenever that does get developed out?

So the one closer to Albardondo Drive and Yeah, one

to the left of that.

So that one is an approved residential subdivision. So they would be responsible for their frontage of Cardella. But the road as it is now, if you can see, it's like that one corner Mhmm. That goes north. That's where the road is at now.

Got it. See, what my I only ask because that road is absolutely awful. And I think we've talked about this last time when approving the last project is there's, I think, three different jurisdictions that have control over that road. And so I would like for it all to be done at once, but that's probably not gonna happen. My other question is, I know I had asked about a fence if it was gonna go on the subject line right here to cut off the current subdivision. You said it was gonna be a chain link fence. Correct?

A wrought iron fence.

A wrought iron fence?

Yes. Okay.

Oh, yeah. Okay.

And I think that's all my questions right now. Thank you.

Are there any other questions for the project planner?

Just a quick question. I don't know if it's for the project planner or for the developer. The wrought iron fence, that's going to butt up against the wooden fences of the current property owners on like an east court and those courts that back up to it.

Assuming that their fences are right at their property line, yes.

Okay.

That's how it's proposed in the site plan.

Okay, perfect. Thank you.

Commissioner Smith?

Yeah, I really like the project and it's going to be a wonderful thing for Mercy to have with the UC out there and I like it and I wrote out and I took a good look at it. That's perfect for the students, you know, in some place. The only thing I was concerned about was the time for the fire trucks to get out there or the police department. Do we have anything going on with that for the people and the community out there? That's that's probably kinda far out.

So this project was sent to them as part of our regular development review process, and they did not express any concerns.

Okay. Thank you.

Commissioner Gregens.

Yeah. On the parking spaces, the 73 parking spaces, I guess that would be on the south side that butt up against the the Coulter Sachs. Is there anything in the plans for covered parking or is this all open air parking?

As proposed now, it's all open.

Okay. Thank you.

Are there any other questions for the project planner? Commissioner Ochoa?

I don't know if this is the appropriate time to ask this question, but have permits been pulled on the other project? Or should I ask that at a different time?

Other project, the one that's to the

To the left.

To the left of

it? Yeah. There's been any activity on that particular project.

Oh, okay. So we're trying to get, like, gauge the timing of when these both of these projects are gonna be going on at the same time? Mhmm. Yeah.

We can provide that information, to you later.

Okay. Thank you.

Are there any other questions for the project planner? No. Hearing and seeing none. This is a public hearing at this time, we'll open the hearing for public comment. I invite the applicant to speak. The applicant will have a total of fifteen minutes, including rebuttal time. If you wish to reserve time for rebuttal, please conclude your remarks to give yourself time. Does the applicant wish to speak?

Good evening. My name is Rick Roland. I'm project manager for Golden Valley Engineering, and I just need to make a correction to the development standards that we submitted. I said 20 foot setback for all the buildings on all sides when actually the east side, which is next to the commercial property, will only be 10 feet. That was it.

It was just for the correction. Are you here to answer any other questions?

I can. Yep. If not, the owner's here, so developer. Okay.

Giving the update that we just received, are we gonna need to do anything on our side for you folks in planning?

As long as it's meeting, the setback approvals and everything else that are outlined in the ordinance, and I and I believe this is in a PD zone, we should be fine.

Thank you. Just wanted to confirm that. Commissioners, are there any questions for the project planner? Again, this is not the owner. This is a project planner from Quota Valley Engineering.

Hearing

and seeing none, thank you so much for your time today. We appreciate you.

Thank you.

Again, this is a public hearing. Kayla, is there any opposition?

No.

No. No opposition. Is there anybody in the public who wishes to speak on this item?

No. But I do wanna make a note, that we did go ahead and post those letters, as Valeria mentioned, that we did receive regarding the item, and you received it on the dais as well.

Yes. Thank you. Is there anybody in the audience who wish wish to speak on this item? Hearing and seeing none. At this time, we're gonna close the public comment and bring it back to the commission for discussion. Commissioners, any comments internally you'd like to talk about Commissioner Greggins?

For one, I'm in favor of the project. I think it's something that that area definitely needs and I do like the development and how they backed their project up to the existing courts. They put the parking there, so that's gonna take away a little bit of the privacy concerns from the the current residents in that area. So I think that's great. And if we could see more of that because that's been some of the most content ious issues that we've had when it comes to developments here in Merced. So I appreciate that. Thank you very much. Other than that, I'm good.

Commissioner Ochoa.

Yeah. Again, to reiterate, I I am in favor of this project. Personally, don't like when projects don't have two entry and exit ways. But as commissioner Gregson said, it's a fire and police sign off of it on it. That's okay with me. I think a big thing for me is that that West Cardella Road, especially just thinking for the future because that that road is pretty bad going further down to the left. So that's why I was trying to see what the timing would be between the two developments to see if it's something that the city may take over their portion and then maybe with the, I guess, the state for Highway 59 access right there. But other than that, I really like the project. I think it's gonna be a great thing for the city.

My thoughts as well. Alright. At some point, I'll entertain a motion. Well, I make a motion to approve environmental review 25Dash0040, conditional use permit 25Dash0018 subject to conditions in the staff report, site plan review permit 25Dash0010, and minor use permit Dash25Dash0017.

I second.

We have a motion by chairman Gonzales and a second by commissioner Swigger. We now move to a vote. And it has passed unanimously. Thank you, folks. And that concludes our items for public hearings. We now move on to item F, which is business. And I believe we have some updates here. Go back to my program.

I am f one, workshop on the Virginia Smith Trust specific plan, including background information and updates on upcoming applications. The subject is located south of the University of California Merced campus boundary on the East Side of Lake Road, approximately 5,000 feet north of Yosemite Avenue.

Good evening commission, members of the public. Francisco Mendoza, senior planner. The item that you have before you is this is a workshop. It's for informational purposes only. You won't be taking action today on anything.

However, we did wanna sort of arm you with this information as you will have six maps that will be coming before you. We're expecting possibly the second meeting in January, large lot map and five small lot maps. So this is VST, Virginia Smith Trust. Some of you may be familiar with this project, but we just wanted to acclimate you or reacclimate you with the project as it may be new to some of you or new to some to some of the members of the public, but this is a project that's been ongoing for over thirty years. As you'll see, it's located south of the university.

It's a community plan. It's very dynamic. It has a lot of amenities, parks, open space, a town center, and so forth. It was essentially designed to complement the university but really is intended to be a benefit for the entire community. So throughout the presentation, we'll look at some objectives. So we'll look at the site context. We'll go over some aerial images, a location map. We'll look at the development timeline. So we'll assess, you know, what's been approved previously, what's pending, and what still needs to be approved moving forward to make this project come to fruition. We'll go over some background information.

We'll look at a land use map that's got the phasing development plan. We'll also sprinkle in some information about the specific plan and the development agreement, which essentially set the parameters, for this project. And then lastly, we'll look at the upcoming applications, the six maps that I mentioned before. So city scale context map, everything with the city limits is bounded in white. The subject site's located in the Northeast part of town.

It's shown here through the star. So this was annexed back in 2024 through a shoestring annexation that connects the subject site out to G Street via Bellevue Road. Here's a location map that takes a closer look at the subject site. So the location subject site is everything bounded in turquoise, so 655 acres. It's located just south of the university campus boundary.

Surrounding uses include Merced County jurisdiction to the south, east, and west, mostly agricultural uses and some oversized lots. So looking at the timeline, some history, kind of working our way from the top to the bottom, older to newer information. So BST was established in 1975. At that time, they probably didn't know the impact that this project would have on the community. But the intent was to partner up with the Merced County Office of Education.

And you use proceeds from the land from the agriculture to create scholarships for students within within the local high schools here. In '19 in the nineteen eighties, the UC region started scouting locations for the tenth university, the finalist being Madera County, Fresno County, site 10 miles east of Clovis, and Merced. And in 1995, the UC regions ultimately selected Merced to build their tenth campus. In 2004, a community plan was approved, so that was a collaboration between the city and the county. In 2008, wetland permits were issued by both the federal and state government that essentially address quote unquote, you know, concerns regarding wetlands and fairy shrimp and endangered species, essentially required the a conservation easement of 6,500 acres northeast of UC Merced so that cleared not only UC Merced but also the BST site.

In 2020, a b thirty three twelve was signed into law by the governor and that allowed the acceleration of the annexation process. Not only did that allow the annexation of the UC, but also allowed the annexation of the land around it, which includes the BST site. In 2024, a city council approved the annexation, the specific plan, and the development agreement for this location. And now kinda looking forward, again, early twenty twenty six, you'll be looking at some maps. After that, there'd be the formation of Community Facility District which would pay for services and maintenance, and then final maps, building permits, and so forth.

So this is where we are now in terms of the timeline. As you can see, the approvals are, you know, they're shrinking from something large to more granular level. So a lot of the heavy lifting has already been done. Again, BST's mission is to create scholarships through a foundation that was created in 1975. They partnered with Merced County Office of Education.

Originally, that was only intended to last about thirty years through 2005. However, with this proposal, they would be able to expand the program. Currently, they generate about $175,000 per year. With VST, when it's ultimately done, they'll be able to generate between $5,000,000 and $8,000,000 per year and expand the program so that it's county wide to other cities and unincorporated high schools as well. So this here shows a community plan that was approved in 2004.

So sustainability is a big part of the project in terms of water, air quality impacts, in comparison to other usages in the community, water would be reduced by 30% compared to the typical Merced household. There would also be a reduction in vehicle miles traveled, greenhouse gas emissions by 25%, and a lot of that has to do with the walkability and transit oriented development nature of the project. So affordable housing, this project does have all types of housing and housing stocks. It includes market rate housing, affordable by design, and some affordable housing as well. The development agreement includes two possible options.

The first shown at the top is more of a multi pronged approach where the the developer would establish a UC Workers First program for housing for UC employees, faculty that's modeled after other programs around other UCs. There would be a workforce housing incentive program, down payment assistant program, and they would also partner with Self Help, a nonprofit that would do affordable housing through sweat equity. The other option, which is a little bit more simpler, more straightforward, is paying in lieu fee, and that's something that's currently allowed through the city's affordable housing policy. If they were to pay the in lieu fee, it is projected to generate between 6,500,000.0 and $8,000,000 towards a community pot that would allow the development of affordable housing. This slide here shows the phasing plan.

So there's two phases for this project, so phase one and phase two. Phase two is everything that's outlined in red. Phase one would be everything west of that going out to Lake Road.

So

the maps that will be coming before the planning commission early next year would really just focus on phase one. And phase one has, five sub phases. So phase one a, one b, one c, one d, and one e. So those would be the five maps you'd be looking at. You'd also be looking at what's called a large lot map, which would establish, would break up, you know, this area into larger chunks via the collector and arterial roads that would be developed on-site.

To give you a sense of the land use and how it's balanced balanced out throughout the specific plan, residential uses, there's over 400 acres that are dedicated to that at varying densities. Commercial uses, there's 44 acres dedicated to that. Open space and parks, about a 115 acres. For schools, there's about 20 acres, which may be one school, could possibly be two schools, and the rest is dedicated towards roads and infrastructures. Shifting gears, looking at some of the infrastructure within the project site.

At the top is a photograph of Lake Road. So Lake Road is you know, it's very iconic, very scenic. It's the gateway towards the UC coming from the South. And although it's, you know, really loved by the community, there are several safety concerns. And so with with this site, as it gets improved and with BST, Lake Road would be transformed as shown at the bottom and the cross section at the bottom where there would actually be dedicated sidewalks for pedestrians shown on the left hand side.

And on the right hand side, there would be a class four bike lane known as a cycle track. It's one of the safest bike lane classifications that exist, and there would be a barrier between the vehicles and the bike lanes. There would also be lighting improvements throughout a lake road and also a median with landscaping. Landscaping. So this slide here looks at Campus Parkway.

So Campus Parkway, you know, connects the university to Highway 99. Where the star is located, there's actually a shift with how Campus Parkway is designed and I'll show that here. So everything that was south of that star or University Avenue would look as as shown in the cross section at the bottom. So four lanes, again, would connect out to Highway 99, and then it goes essentially like a road diet where it goes from four lanes to two lanes north of University Avenue connecting towards the university. This image here shows the cycle track.

Left hand side is an example of the massing and scale of some of the housing development. Top right shows jogging trails, bottom right shows the town center and these are all conceptual. Cluster units, this is a housing type that's unique to BST. Don't really see it out here in the community, but BST has done their market analysis and they feel that this would be something that'd be very popular for the community. So cluster units, the way it's defined, essentially, two lots facing the public street with either four or six lots behind it.

There's a shared driveway. Each lot has its own garage. Each lot has its own backyard space, and this is a concept that's actually already been reviewed by our fire department and they are comfortable with it. There's quite a bit of amenities throughout this project. As as you can tell, you know, it's a very big project, almost, know, just a little over 650 acres.

At in terms of parks, again, about a 115 acres, there's 39 pocket parks, two community parks, and a regional sports complex. The image shown on the bottom right is that of a conceptual community park and that came from the specific plan. And this here shows the sports complex which a portion of it would be developed through phase one and then the other portion would be developed through phase two. So you can see here, there's some baseball fields, softball fields, soccer fields, and some walking trails. This slide here shows the rec center, farmers market.

Again, these are conceptual. Again, this shows the town center conceptual as well. Architectural language, the specific plan has pretty clear and robust direction as to what the architecture is gonna look here in this area and a lot of that's gonna be dictated by where the development is occurring. So on the northern portion of EST, given that that's right next to the university, we're gonna they're gonna want that language to essentially complement or match the university. The university has what's called brutalistic architecture, raw materials like concrete, glass, and steel.

So it's gonna incorporate some of those elements with the architecture along the northern portion. The eastern portion, which is facing the Sierras, will have more of a rural or agricultural architectural style. And then other portions will utilize architectural styles that are already part of the the city, so Craftsman homes and Spanish Mission style homes and some other styles as well. So the image on the bottom, again taken from the specific plan, is an example of what would be constructed on the Eastern portion of EST. So it's that agrarian architectural style defined by things like board and batten exterior.

At the top is a bungalow architecture. Below that, Kraffen architecture. Again, these are architectural styles that you see. If you were to walk North of 18th Street, you'd see a lot of examples in downtown. These were very popular in the early twentieth century. At the top is an example of contemporary or mid century architecture. This is probably an example of what you would see along the northern portion of EST. And at the bottom is a Spanish mission architectural style. So again, you'll be looking at a large lot map and five small lot maps. Just it's really, really important for us to just communicate that, you know, there's been a lot of work involved.

There's been a lot of thought put into this development. The focus of those maps is really there's not a lot of discretion. The focus of those maps is are they consistent with the specific plan and are they consistent with the development agreement. And so staff has been working diligently for several months along with engineering, building, planning as a team, as a unit. We've been we've been trying to do all that work for you to make sure that it's consistent and we've been working very hard with the applicant and their team.

So that concludes the presentation. The report includes two attachments that would be good use good resource that includes the attachments being the development agreement and also the specific plan. So if you'd want to get a head start on some of those maps, you can refer to that and obviously that's a public document so that's available to the public as well. That concludes my portion of the presentation. I'd like to invite the applicant and their team if they'd like to say a few words and then if you have any questions, we can go ahead and take those.

Good evening, chair and commissioners. My name is Steven Peck. I'm with Peck Planning and Development. I've been a representative for the project for about the past five years. With me, this evening is Steve Tejin, the executive director of VST in the Merced County Office of Education. First, I wanna thank staff for their dedication on this, not only, the current staff, but, over the past five years, we've worked closely with the staff at UC Merced, the county and the city and the LAVCO staff. So I've been doing this for probably about fifty years now. You can tell by my gray hair. This was probably one of the most satisfying things because we actually got everybody together. We solved problems that hadn't been solved up until then.

Funny issues like where's Campus Parkway gonna go? The Hunts wanted it on one place, UC one another. We had to sort of bend and weave through there. But through the process, we worked together on it. Some of you who were around at the time remember that the county actually adopted this project first.

We weren't quite sure we're gonna get the annexation till the assemblyman was able to get a b thirty three twelve done. So we actually did a concurrent development project. So everybody on the county staff worked closely with the city staff. We worked closely with every department head and try to anticipate questions that we've been dealing with for the last couple of months, such as when phase one A goes in, what are the improvements that have to go? What roads? What sewer? What water? What would power? What are the roads going to look like? So that we can hopefully avoid situations where some of those decisions, those those cans get kicked down the road.

So your staff is having to figure out, well, is this where we do it? When do the parks go in? Now that we have people in the neighborhood, we told them they were going to be parked, but where are they? We've anticipated I think most of those questions, and also dealt with the the expectation that was kind of handed to us is that this isn't just another subdivision or development project. This is the support for the university.

It's the the other part of the it's a hand in glove. The the project was not just conceived as an individual project. VST, the property that was given to VST was thousands of acres, about 6,000 acres. What VST now has left is about six fifty acres. And the expectation is that we'll create a world class community support to support a world class university.

So I think we've we've gone into some great detail that's really helped us out over the last couple of months. You know, things like architectural variety so that as you drive down the the development, when you go from one build to another, there there's not only some continuity, but there's some variety. It looks like it might have been built over fifty years. So it looked like the way that your downtown is not everything looks exactly right. But they sort of have that style to them.

We've tried to anticipate things like what's the next edge on energy conservation, greenhouse gas emissions. So our EIR went in great detail on how do we address those issues and how do we do them responsibly? What should a lake road look like? What are the expectations of the rural residential folks across the street? So now we have a median with trees in it.

That road's gonna slow down because now there's a median. There can be left turn pockets. One of the other things that we are putting in that it's different maybe from Merced is that we've tried to make very limited use of block walls. We're using them where the noise situation dictates it. But because we're kind of on the edge of town, there isn't a lot of through traffic. And we didn't want this to be a development where it was simply another builder surrounding 20 acres by a block wall. And everybody's sort of walled off from each other. So there's a lot of openness here. There are trails. I think we figured this.

If you add the trails on UC Merced and going out to the lake, there are 10 miles of trails that are weaved through the development. In our research, we've determined that that's the number one master plan amenity. People want to be active. They don't just want to go and sit by a pool. They want to be active. They want to be seeing their neighbors. And as we're seeing that lots are getting smaller, people still have a need for open space and collaboration. So that's what a community recreation center is. It isn't just a park with a bunch of grass. It's a meeting place.

It's a place where you can have a with a commercial kitchen in it. It sort of anticipates that everybody's part of that community. I've used the characterization for that facility that it serves the same function as a country club would, but it's for everybody. So whether you're in the multifamily version portion, the smaller lot portion, or the larger lot portion, that's where everybody meets. We're hoping that will be a very good piece.

Speaking to the what's gonna be coming for you in January, because of the nature and the detail we have in the development agreement, the specific plan, we're able to we know what the the lotting looks like. This this specific plan got down to the lot level of detail to say, you know, this is this is how big they are. This is where they're located. This is how wide the streets are. So in a great degree, the maps that have been prepared simply mimic the specific plan as it was approved and what it's contained in the development agreement and the specific plan.

Again, it's been wonderful working with your staff over the past five years and most recently. We're here to answer any questions you might have, hoping that we can anticipate anything that might come up of concern at your meeting next month.

Thank you, Mr. Peck.

Thank you to staff. First of all, thank you commissioners for hearing us. I think this is very useful kind of thing to do prior to asking you to take action next month. So we really do wanna be responsive and answer questions. The one question that I get in the community most of the time by the way, I didn't introduce myself. Sorry. Steve Teach in Merced County Superintendent Of Schools. The question I guess was, so when are you going to start? We want you to start. Same question from UC Merced.

When are you going to start? They have the challenge of plenty of square footage in their classrooms, but their enrollment is stuck at nine nine thousand about a year. Because when kids come to campus, they look out and they say, well, where's the party? Where do I live? Where do I go have a slice of pizza? Well, it's seven miles away. And so that that is a challenge for increasing enrollment and building the university. They've done a lot of great things. R1 is a huge deal. Medical program, huge deal.

But we need to build a community next to the campus. And so that's what we're trying to do. And of course, primary mission for me as the county superintendent is to build that scholarship fund. I'm only a developer on the side. I really want to see that scholarship fund grow. And so that only happens when we monetize project by finding the right master developer that will build the project. And so we are engaged in two conversations right now, one with a master developer and one with a commercial expert that would develop the commercial property. And so those conversations are ongoing. It's taking a lot longer than I'd like it to. However, we want to make sure we do it right.

So we're continuing to court they're continuing to court us in terms of getting an agreement on the land commitment, a land purchase, and then a development schedule for construction. And that's about as much as I can tell you other than the fact that I expect to see a letter of intent submitted to us by one of these master developers late this week or early next before the holiday. So that's exciting. And the commercial guy is waiting for me to respond to his initial proposal with a counter proposal, and that will happen probably right after the first of the year. So things are moving on that end and exciting to be part of this project.

And we thank the staff for their support and hard work and rolling up their sleeves to help us get to this point.

Thank you. Commissioners, are there any questions? Again, we we understand we Francisco has said that the team has put a lot of time and energy into this project over the last couple of months. And we want to make sure that we get ahead of any questions before again, you can answer questions then as well. But if there's anything that comes across, let's make sure that we get it out to them as soon as possible, given the amount of work that they put into it. Any questions at this time? No? No? Really exciting project. Again, we're going to see this, I think, come to fruition in our lifetime, Smith.

So it's been a long time coming. But again, they go one and the same with UC and the development out there. So really excited for it to finally come our way. So

Kayla? Before we continue, I did want to say that we do have a request to speak form. Yep. Okay. I call Ashley Marie Suarez to the podium.

Hi, Ashley.

Ashley: Good evening, commissioners. My name is Ashley Marie Suarez. I'm a policy advocate with Leadership Council for Justice and Accountability, and my focus is housing and land use. So this evening, I wanted to come and speak to you on this item. Although the VST project has been a long time coming, it's important to remember who this project is meant to serve.

Many of the housing options are intended for students and UC affiliates, including their staff and families. And so seeing that the UC Merced has brought a lot of students from various income backgrounds to the small developing and growing city, it's very critical to ensure that housing development isn't only marketed as affordable but truly is affordable. Speaking as a resident of Merced, I first came to Merced in 2019 as a UC student. After living on campus for the first two years, including during the pandemic, I very quickly had to find housing that was affordable. And so unfortunately, I was able to secure a room for $300 a room that was in a garage converted home that had a kitchen, dining room, and living room all in one space.

And I shared this space with my roommate and her boyfriend for most of my time there. And we were both fortunate enough to have vehicles because this was actually located in South Merced on 7th Street. And so had we not had access to our own personal transportation, I'm not sure how either of us would have been able to commute to school not necessarily a big commute, but public transportation would not have made it easy for us to go to school, have a full time job, and still be able to live our lives. And so that's actually a reality for a lot of the people that you're going to target this project for a lot of people who are low income students and families who cannot afford living in North Merced while paying tuition, while working full time, paying other debts and bills. And so I wanted to actually put your focus on pages 36 to 37 of the VSD phase one and phase two specific plan from October 2023 that states that under the multifamily construction program, at least 100 units will be developed for the extremely low income households, 100 units for very low income households, 100 for low income households, and 75 for moderate income households.

Save for also 25 units for very low income households in a separate mixed housing area. But that leaves a total of 400 and forcibly restricted units. And then in the presentation on slide 11, it does say that the VSTs affordable housing plan was to choose some sort of in lieu option for the RINA resolution that was adopted in October. So that means that although this project might generate $6,500,000 to $8,500,000 in fees incurred if the developers choose to pursue the fee instead of doing the affordable housing, it might result in 150 units if we go with the in lieu fee instead of actually moving forward with the 400 affordable housing units that are enforceable. And on page 35 of the VST plan, it also states that high density and medium high density zoning provides a range of 20 to 35 units to the acre.

That's important because HCD, the city and the county's housing element, considers parcels that have at least 20 units per net acre to be suitable for low or very low income housing by virtue of lower costs, etcetera. But I wanted to raise to you that recommending approval and allowing this developer to pay the in lieu fee rather than actually moving forward with the affordable units is not the best option. So we recommend that you reconsider this item and ensure that there's a true affordable housing. Thank you.

Thank you, Ashley. Hi, Kaylee. Is there anybody else who wish to speak or had any comments?

No.

No. All good? Yep. Commissioners, any other questions? Does that conclude our section F, business section? Yeah, it does? Okay. We now move to item G, which is adjournment. I'll need a motion to adjourn. Oh.

Sorry. You just didn't want to hear from Sam.

I didn't. I didn't. Sorry. Thank you. Item F2, Sam.

There doesn't appear to be any items scheduled for the next PC hearing. So that looks good. And then other than that, I wanna say I look forward to working with everybody here. You guys asked amazing questions, and that's wonderful. And then I also have to say I'm very impressed with the staff and the way that they presented and were able to field the questions. So it just makes me that much more excited to have chosen the city of Merced to be the planning manager. So thank you, guys, and

have a

Merry Christmas and good night.

Thank you. And item f three is our calendar of meeting and events. So again, it looks like our next meeting is gonna be on the seventeenth or that's December December January 7, I'm sorry. Again, we haven't received any cancellations or anything on that. We're still good with that.

Yeah. Yeah.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I remember that there's no items for that January 7 scheduled, correct? Okay. We'll we'll make sure to double check that.

Okay. May updates, please?

Oh, please join me.

Mr. Chair. Yes, currently we have a tentative potential tentative, like a vacation. But that may move. The other the other thing that we have talked about doing is additional training, but we'll work ours with ourselves to to make sure that we, can satisfy anything for you.

Okay. I think if we can get a just a comment. If we can get notification probably maybe that first week, a couple of days before for planning purposes?

Right. Yeah. Correct.

If we

have an item, we'll definitely make sure we get that out

to Okay. But also, you don't have an item and if we're going to do training, also let us know as well.

We'll coordinate.

Thank you. Yes. The training probably won't be happening until after February.

Thank you. And then item f four, I think this is something new that we've added in, right, over the last month or so which is a report in brief. Commissioner Greggins? Yeah.

No. I just I attended an event on December 5 in a different capacity but most staff was here. It was the R Street project. It is the tiny home project, 20 units, I believe. Ten ten are reserved for to relieve the unhoused veterans, and the other 10 are for unhoused veterans. The city staff there. It was good to see you guys there as well. It's a great project. If you get a chance to swing by it, they took the shipping containers and converted it into a living space. So they kind of put a dual role there. So it was a good day.

Awesome. I did have a comment not on that, but I know that we also had in December a planned ribbon cutting for affordable housing for the apartment complex. Did they get that rescheduled or that was that?

That was, the one that, commissioner Gregens was referring to.

Okay. Gotcha. Gotcha. Why got a cancellation, dude?

I was invited through my employment. Not through the

council Thank you the for

commission. That's why I was doing the dual role.

Oh, Okay. Okay. Because, yeah, I got the cancellation. I didn't get re invited. So thank you for that. Thank you for attending.

I was there for the county veteran service office.

Of course, of course. Is there anything else? Anybody? Alright, now we move on to item G which is our adjournment.

Motion to adjourn. We have a motion to adjourn. Second.

By Commissioner Gregens. We have a second by Commissioner Machoa. All in favor, please vote. We are adjourned. Thanks, folks.