Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Testing.

Testing. Jessica, can you hear me? Thank you.

Good evening, and welcome to the Tuesday, 04/26/2025 Planning Commission meeting. I'd like to start this meeting by 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 with liberty liberty and and justice justice for for all. All.

Roll call, please.

Commissioner Marlow? Present. Commissioner Connolly? Here. Commissioner Roden? Here. Commissioner Koehler? Here. Commissioner Neil?

Here.

Commissioner Christensen? Here. Chairperson Covarrubias?

Here. All present. Thank you. Staff introductions, please.

Marci Reynoso and Jessica Ferguson, permit technicians.

Warren Fraes, Community Development Director.

Piper Smith, Assistant Planner. Darren Nash, City Planner.

And this is Andrew Falstow from the city attorney's office.

Okay. Thank you very much. Moving on. Are there any general public comments regarding matters not on the agenda? Seeing none here, Marcy, any callers?

No. No callers.

Thank you very much. Next item, are there any, agenda items proposed to be tabled or rescheduled? There are none. Thank you. Okay. Then we'll move on to the public hearing portion of the agenda. First item, development plan amendment to establish a storage lay down yard at sensorial and solar array system. Sharon, did you have a comment?

I just wanted to inform any everyone I had an ex parte or ex parte meeting with the applicants, that showed me around their whole area, including this. Okay.

Staff presentation.

Yes. Thank you, commissioners. I'm here today to present the amendment to p d o one zero two five, the Estrada Depasse De Robles Laid On Yard and Solar Ray, more commonly known for their sensorial light exhibit. So this amendment would be p d twenty five zero three. So the site is located at 4380 Highway 46 East.

So the site is approximately 386 acres. Has general plan and zoning designation of parks and open space. Agriculture is a part of the airport land use plan and the gateway design standards. Here's a map just zoomed out a little bit showing the kind of adjacent sites, Highway 46 East, Barney Schwartzport Park, Hunter Ranch Golf Course, and then there in the red bubble you can see the overall site. So, for some context context, master development plan PDO 1025, Right now, currently, has the existing sensorial light exhibit, with the entitlement for a future hotel resort and convention center.

Originally, the area where you can see highlighted in yellow for the storage lay down yard was proposed to be a nursery, and the solar array in the yellow to the right was originally proposed to be a vineyard. One thing I do wanna note about the storage laydown yard is there is an existing 20 foot beam there, so it is primarily graded out with only some kind of minor improvements needed. And the lay down yard and solar array would both be access accessory to the existing entitlements and uses on-site. So this project did go to DRC June 16. DRC was requesting additional photo simulations of the, gate to the lay down yard as well as close ups of the solar arrays.

They were also looking to get some nighttime photographs of the parking lot lighting to compare it to how you would see that gate. One determination that was made by DRC was that no additional landscape was required. This was to reduce the visual prominence of the gate given that it's meant to be kind of a back of house use and not draw attention to it. With that being said, I am gonna have Amber Davis step up and speak on behalf of the applicant as she was present for the DRC meeting. I will kinda follow-up with the options and recommendations to the, commissioners.

I'm Amber Davis with Quest Planning, representing the applicant for this project. So I'll take you through some of the more detailed, project components. As you see that we have the solar array and the storage lay down yard with the context here, the Highway 46.

Amber, could you do me a favor, move the mic a little closer to you? Sure. There you go. Thank you.

Yep. For the storage lay down yard, the area was originally proposed as a nursery as previously pointed out. There's about 2,108 cubic yards of cut and fill proposed as part of the storage lay down yard. We will be installing a drainage pipe, into the southern portion there as well just to take care of storm water and installing the metal gate at the entry, which would be coming from the existing parking lot into the storage lay down yard. And then there will be 22 solar powered lights, installed in the, lay down yard as well.

And the base material, for the yard will be an reclaimed asphalt base. So that solid gate that's proposed is, intended to hide the storage area from our public parking area. The solar lights that are proposed are gonna be less than 14 feet tall, and there is an existing berm, completely around the storage lay down yard that's gonna block the views, any public views and also mitigate any light and glare, from those lights. So looking here, from the storage the storage laydown yard from Sensario's existing main parking lot, That Corten steel gate that's proposed is gonna fit into the berm area and block off that storage yard. Here, we're looking kind of a zoomed out view of the existing lighting within parking area and that storage lay down yard gate.

And then on the right hand side, that's the lighting within the main parking lot at nighttime. So we have quite colorful lights up there that, can be programmed to different colors and and themes and such. So our thought with the gate being proposed to the storage lay down yard was we didn't wanna make it a focal point. We wanted it to kind of fade away, into that berm area and let the lighting really be our focal point of our parking lot. Moving on to the solar array project.

So we're proposing a 22,050 square foot solar array. This array is located just off the roundabout, which is the first roundabout you come to, when you enter the property there. We've purposefully made it, you know, very visible, wanting the public and patrons to see that, you know, our project is powered by solar. So that was done intentionally. We have as part of that, there'll be an electrical backboard, which will be about seven feet wide by five feet tall.

These are gonna be tracking panels, and there would be white crushed rock, below those solar panels. So these are a couple of visual simulations. The one on the left hand side is looking south from the solar array itself towards Highway 46. The right hand, one depicts the solar array from the center median of the northbound lane, so you can barely see the tops of those, solar panels there. And then there were additional visual simulations included in your staff report as well.

So with that, I'll turn it back

over. Yeah.

And I'm available for questions after Piper is finished.

K. So to conclude, the initial study and the mitigated negative declaration was prepared upon the original project. There was a mitigated negative declaration addendum, fourteen zero fifteen. Compared to that m and d, the proposed project is consistent as there are no substantial changes and no new significant environmental effects. Some of the conditions that I did wanna point out include that those conditions of that resolution 14 o 16, shall remain.

The construction will be in conformance with the conditions of approval and the attached exhibits plans. And prior to issuing that building permit, the applicant will provide a light cut sheet from the solar powered portable lights units to be used in the lay down yard. So that's what you saw in the original, those renderings, what those lights would look like. And that sort equipment shall not exceed 18 feet, in intentionally to be screened by those 20 foot beam berms. In addition, prior to issuance, the base material of that storage light on yard will be reviewed by the regional water control board, and all temporary portable lighting units used for maintenance of the solar array system will be subject to the light and illumination standard of the, zoning codes, so those dark sky standards.

So the options presented to the planning commission tonight include approving this project and adopting a resolution based on findings, approving the project with modifications by amending and adopting a draft resolution, referring the project back to DRC or staff for additional analysis, or denying the project by adopting findings of denial. Staff is recommending that the Planning Commission adopt the draft resolution approving development plan PD two five-three, which would amend PD one-twenty five to allow the laid down storage yard and solar array system based on the findings and subjects subjects to to the the conditions of approval. So, with that, I will leave it to the commissioners if you have any questions, comments for the applicant, or myself.

Thank you, Piper. Okay. We'll go ahead and, any questions? Looking to my right first. Yes, sir. Commissioner?

Thank you, mister chair. I was on DRC, so I'm pretty familiar with this. But thing that didn't come up that I recall DRC, at least not specifically, is call it as the white rock underlying this. What is the purpose of the choice of white rock?

Yeah. So the purpose of the white rock is to reflect these are dual sided tracking panels, and so that was a project component.

Thank you, commissioner Gogler. Commissioner Neal?

So I didn't read in the bio letter that they referenced the White Rock. I think what they referenced was that we would see some, disking and minor grading and compaction for the solar arrays, and then we would expect that the grasses would replant and regrow underneath the solar. So I'm a little concerned about the white rock, and not being in conformance, I don't believe, with the bioweapon. Any

feedback on that?

I think another thing to take into consideration that I have not checked in on is, FIRE's requirements for any sort of clearance around the ground mounted solar. That's something just to be mindful of.

Yeah. So we actually did check-in with FIRE on that. They are not requiring a perimeter road around it. They did one subtype of a base material to actually make sure that those grasses don't regrow under the panels just for a fire safety hazard. And so that's where the white rock had come into play as a approved material, that CAL FIRE actually, as well liked there.

So then the development is not in conformance that I see with the bio letter. So maybe the bio letter could be updated.

It could be an option.

Commissioner Christensen?

I was on DRC at the time too, and I concur. I don't remember seeing anything about the White Rock. I just remember reading about vegetation. So maybe that's a good idea about getting it updated if that's what it takes so that it would match and bring it into conformance with what they want to do. I understand if the fire marshal is recommending not having the grasses that makes sense, but maybe we need to follow-up on that. Do have any other questions?

The white rock was included in our DRC presentation. I just It may have been missed, guess, on that.

Commissioner Ruddin?

I understand the reason to have to have a a reflective element and also to keep the grasses down and people who haven't had solar panels don't realize you ordinarily have to spray chemicals or something to keep the grasses down because you can't weed eat. You'd be smashing your your solar panels. I I have another question that's just off the cuff here. The requirement of an approval by the water control board for the storage area, what's that about? Can you clarify that?

I believe it is to assist with drainage and runoff.

So, actually, just to clarify that, that was a item that came up during, d r the DRC meeting. I think there was a little bit of concern from DRC members that the crushed asphalt may have some, runoff potential, and so it was that we were to go to the regional board and make sure that it wasn't a acceptable product to use as a base material.

And have you found that answer yet or is that in the process?

That's in process. Yeah. So

And and if that is not acceptable, what's your alternative?

We would just go with a regular base material that we utilize on the site.

Thank you.

An all weather base. Yep.

So, Piper, so who's gonna who's gonna follow-up on that? If it turns out that it is something that needs to be replaced, who's gonna monitor that?

So Darcy was the lead planner on this, but we would work together and have conditions associated as seen, to make sure that as they come through for their building permit, grading permit, any associated follow-up, we would be checking those conditions to ensure that at the right stage and when they do make those findings that we keep them on file and on record.

Okay. Thank you for that clarity. Commissioner?

Thank you, chair. I'm to just got a couple questions. One might seem maybe you covered it, but I I'm wondering what the 22 solar lights, what their function are. You mentioned there'd be 22 solar lights. Is that to make the parking lot lit up those different colors or

No. So that's a completely different project that's done. Our main parking lot is installed and completed. The solar lights are for the storage lay down yard, and that's just intended to provide some lighting, you know, for staff, and construction members when they're going in and out of that area. They are motion censored, so they will not be on all the time, and they are shielded in conformance with the city's dark sky ordinance as well.

Good. Another question I have since they're right adjacent since you're adjacent to Highway 46, I know Caltrans has a planning unit that reviews development. Has this been reviewed by the Department of Transportation for their concurrence?

Yeah. So we're not within Caltrans jurisdiction with this project. It's all on the private property. So there is no need for an encroachment or or going to Caltrans for approval on Okay. This

Thank you.

Mhmm.

Thank you, commissioner commissioner Marlowe.

Yeah. Well, this is more just a maybe a question for staff or my fellow commissioners. There was a concern on the material in the basin, but all of that basin slopes to what looks to be a bio retention base detention basin or whatever you want call it with drainage. So what I guess what would be the concern? I think the material it's all going to drain to the same spot whether it's base or recycled asphalt or whatever it is.

What what the concern was with the waterboard? So I was just curious to what the concern was versus that's just more of a comment. I mean, it's all gonna drain to a a basin that's got hydro seating, which has, I'm guessing, some sort of overflow that drains out. So whether it's base or asphalt, it seems like it's gonna work pretty well. So is that really a necessary thing to have to go to the waterboard, it seems? Is that a normal standard practice to have to go to the waterboard for something like this?

No. It's not a normal standard practice. It was just a comment that had come up at DRC and that staff had then tried to address through a condition of approval.

Yeah. I guess it's good to cover bases, but I don't I don't personally think that's necessary aside from that. I think it's a nice project. So thanks.

So it was myself that brought up the waterboard question, just a question that the engineer could ask of the waterboard on projects in the past that, I have been on. We have included recycled asphalt as a base. The waterboard has rejected that as a surface. So

k. Any other comments? Nope. Okay. Just a quick question. Because I understand you want the solar panels visible. Right? Because you wanna show people that you're using solar.

Right.

My question is being the location of where it's at and the highway, what what amenities or what restrictions do you have? I get I guess my point my question is the glare that comes from the panels itself. Is that gonna be something that's gonna be visible from Highway 46, or they face the opposite direction?

They face the opposite direction, so they're not gonna the panels are not gonna be facing Highway 46. They're gonna be oriented in the East West direction there, so you won't get that potential for glare.

Got it. And is same not being familiar with the White rock? Yep. Does the White rock have a glare?

I would not I would not say that the white rock would have a glare at all. It's like a decomposed white granite rock.

Okay. Just curious.

It's just a white material that reflects that lighting back up onto the solar panels. And to your point of it not being in you know, specifically included in the bio letter, what what was contemplated in that was complete disturbance of the solar panel area. And so the biologists didn't find any special status species in that area. So we it was our understanding then that, you know, basing that area or putting some type of a material down wouldn't wouldn't increase any potential impacts to biological resources.

Okay. Thank you for that, Amber. Okay. That's all I had. Any other questions for Amber or staff? Seeing none at this time. Thank you, Amber.

Thanks.

So I'll open it up to the public to see if there's any public comment regarding this matter. Seeing none in the audience, Marcy, any callers?

No. No callers.

Okay. Thank you, Marcy. So we'll go ahead and close the public portion of this item, bring it back to the commission for any final comments or and or a motion.

I'd like to propose that, option one, recommend that staff recommends the planning commission adopts the draft resolution approving plan, approving development plan p d 25 dash zero three, which would amend PD one dash zero two five to allow the lay down storage yard and solar array system based on findings and subject to conditions of approval.

Second.

We've got a motion and a Second. Question. On the motion, does that include a bio letter update as was requested?

Yes. I would I would be agreeable to amending that to a bio letter amendment.

Commissioner Roden, would you agree with that? I concur. Okay. We've got a first and a second on the floor. Roll call, please.

Commissioner Connolly? Yes. Commissioner Roden? Yes. Commissioner Marlow?

Yes.

Commissioner Koehler? Aye. Commissioner Neil? Aye. Commissioner Christensen? Aye. Chairperson Covrubias? Aye. Motion passes. Seven zero. Thank you.

Okay. Moving on then to, discussion items. First item, consent calendar. Are there any questions regarding the consent calendar for, DRC mini DRC minutes, June, July, and July 8.

Check. Few if I could? Yes, Mister O'Neill. On the 06/02/2025 DRC meeting minutes, item three, I believe my, comment about the detailing on the garage was not just the entry facing Creston Road, but the garages facing the drive into the project, not just Creston Road. And then on Monday, June 9, the commission members are not referenced as present or who was commission members on that meeting.

And we have the same issue on Monday, June 16.

Commissioner Neal, thank you for that. So we'll get those updated. Any other questions or comments? So Warren question, because there are some corrections that are needed. Do we we table the ones that need to be corrected or do we can we approve it all subject corrections?

Yeah. I think staff can make those corrections based on the motion. Okay.

I move that we accept them with the changes recommended by Commissioner Neal for staff to make.

Okay. We got a motion on the floor. Can I get a second, please?

I'll second.

Second it. Roll call, please.

Commissioner Christensen?

Aye. Commissioner O'Neill?

Aye.

Commissioner Kogler? Aye. Commissioner Barlow? Aye. Commissioner Connelly? Aye. Commissioner Roden? Yes.

Chairperson Covrubius?

Aye.

Motion passes seven zero with corrections.

Thank you. Other reports? Passerable Streetscape Ad Hoc Committee?

No report.

Okay. Housing Constraints and Opportunities Committee?

Yes. So we are going to start recruitment for three new seats on the HCOC. So advertising will go out later this week. So the council has created additional seats that are reserved for certain groups within the community. So one of the groups will be a seat appointed by the or recommended by the Chamber of Commerce.

So that's seat one. Seat two will be a real estate professional, so that any, real estate professional can apply for that seat. And then seat three will be, an appointment or a recommendation from the San Luis County Home Builders Association, so somebody with development experience. So those three seats are open. We're looking for applications. There'll be, I think, a thirty day application period, and the council will be interviewing and appointing in October.

Okay. I have a quick question, Warren. As the chamber or as the chair of the current past rebels chamber, the seat that the chamber is electing, is it a a member from our board, or is it just in general somebody that they're recommending? Do you know?

It's any person you see fit to appoint.

Got it. Okay. We have a board meeting tomorrow, so I wanna make sure it's brought up.

Yeah. And I guess we're we're working on a press release, so we'll get a copy over there as soon as the press release and the application come out.

Okay. Thank you for that. Okay. Other reports still, DRC committee rotation schedule. Any changes, concerns, anything upcoming? Alright. Seeing none, nothing there. Okay. Back to the planning commissioners. Final comments, thoughts, questions? Seeing none, quiet group today. They're upset because I didn't get us out in fifteen minutes.

Staff comments. Couple updates for you. First of all, we're going to be remodeling City Hall, 2nd Floor of this building. So staff's going to be moving out of City Hall starting in October. We'll be relocating to different locations. So community development permitting staff is going to end up down here in the Council Chamber. The rest of the community development staff will be down on Park Street And 14th at the Sandbox. That's that kind of co working space. City manager's office is going to relocate out to the airport, and then the utilities departments will go out to the utility buildings. So that's starting in October.

At the same time, because we're gonna be moving staff down here, we're gonna be relocating all the public meetings. So DRC and Planning Commission and City Council will all be meeting out at Centennial Park starting on October 15. So the first planning commission meeting out there will be October 15. I think the remodel is scheduled for about three months, so we imagine we'll be moving back sometime hopefully toward the January. There is a plan to also remodel the chamber after the move is complete.

So it's possible that we'll be at Centennial even longer, but I think we're still kind of working on the schedule. So just get ready for that. Nibelk Bikeway Design will be on the next council agenda, which is September 16. So the ad hoc has made a recommendation. We conducted the open house.

We got positive feedback on that. So we'll be packaging up the ad hoc's new design and bringing that to the council for final approval. Boys School project, also known as The Landing, the development agreement process is moving forward. We're finishing up the EIR, working on staff reports. We do expect that could be ready for the Planning Commission review sometime later this year.

So you recall, we gave you that really big EIR. You should start working your way through that. That is definitely a real project that's moving forward. The city manager's office, obviously, have a new city manager that created a vacancy for the assistant city manager. So we're in a recruitment process right now. We do expect that we'll have a new assistant city manager on staff in the next month or two. That'll help with a lot of city priorities. Sherwood Road, that's the new road through the Olsen South Chandler specific plan. There'll be a dedication event at September 16, which is the council meeting day, 03:30. So we'll want all the planning commissioners to know they're invited, and hopefully, you can show up.

They're gonna be doing a kind of a nice little event at that farmhouse, which kind of a nice high vantage point where you can really see the project. So that's we'll get invites out for that coming soon. And speaking of the Olsen South Chandler, we do have one of the merchant builders, True Mark Holmes. They're gonna be building some of the smaller single family units. They they made a request to city council not to install any natural gas within their tracks. They wanna do all electric houses. So the council had some questions about that. They referred it back for additional analysis. That'll be back on the council agenda in September for a decision. So that's kind of something just to be aware of.

It's not a requirement. This was something the developer asked for. So this will be up to the council whether they're gonna grant that request. The food truck issue. So the council reviewed food truck policy.

They've created a council ad hoc. We're going start meeting in September, with stakeholders, which would include the food truck operators as well as restaurants and whatnot, take feedback that may result in some sort of amendment to our food truck ordinance, which is what we adopted with the zoning code update last year. If there's any changes because the zoning code will come back through for the planning commission to review and recommend before the council would actually change anything. And finally, cannabis. So the council had a study session on count on cannabis policy at the last meeting.

They gave two directions to staff. One is to reinstate the allowance for existing delivery offices to also deliver recreational cannabis. Right now, all the there's a couple offices permitted. There's three permitted, one operating right now, but they're limited to only delivering medical marijuana or cannabis right now. There was a one year period between '22 and '23 where they could also deliver recreational cannabis, but that expired.

So the direction the council wants to make that a permanent allowance for the for those local offices. So we expect that to come through fairly soon. That will have to come back to planning commission review and approval or recommendation. And then they also gave direction. They do want a comprehensive review of cannabis policy.

They want us to put together a framework, hire a consultant to do a full analysis of all the potential cannabis uses that could be allowed, which is everything from cultivation to manufacturing, distribution to retail stores, and even consumption. So we'll be starting a process sometime probably later this year to start a community outreach to look at that whole program. Once the council gives direction, if there is any direction, it will be a zoning code change, so that will come through for planning commission review and recommendation. Earliest with that would be at sometime next year. So that will conclude staff's report.

Thank you, Warren. Okay. Bringing it back. Any final comments? If there are none, I'll take a oh, Sharon. Commissioner Roden?

Thank you. To follow-up the cannabis debate, just FYI, there was there was a lot of back and forth on that. But I think the tipping point was the fact that people from outside the city were able to deliver here for recreational purposes as long you know, they're supposed to pay taxes. Of course, people aren't paying the taxes, but they are still delivering. So, it was hamstringing the one individual who is permitted to only supply within the city medical marijuana.

So, just to make it even across the board, I think that was the tipping point for the council as I understood it. The brick and mortar as Warren suggested is still up for debate and they're going to be looking into that with the ad hoc. But that's all. Thank you.

Okay. If there are no other comments, I'll take a motion to adjourn. All in favor? Aye. We are adjourned.