Pc Meeting - Regular Meeting

Yeah, welcome, everybody, and thanks for attending.

We're going to begin in 15 minutes. We have another commissioner that's stuck in traffic from a seminar they were attending today, so we're going to start at 645. So make yourselves at home in the audience, and at home, we'll come back online at 645. Thank you. Calling to order the City of Plymouth Planning Commission regular meeting on Thursday, May 21st, 2026 at 6.34 p.m. Members of the public not attending in person may submit written public comment prior to the meeting by emailing your comment to the planning clerk at jsmith at cityofplymouth.org before 3.30 p.m. on the day of the meeting. Emailed public comments will be distributed to the commission and made part of the official record. All right, let's call the meeting to order. Roll call, please.

Commissioner East is absent. Commissioner Malcolm?

Present.

Commissioner Mickelson.

Here.

Vice Chair Klaproth.

Here.

Chair Sullivan is also absent. And thank you. We have a quorum.

Let's stand for the flag salute. I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. All right. We'll move to item number two, which is approval of the Planning Commission regular meeting agenda for today, May 21st, 2026. Do I have a motion to approve the regular meeting agenda?

Motion.

Motion.

I'll second it.

Commissioner Malcolm? Aye. Commissioner Mickelson? Aye. Vice Chair Klaproth? Aye. Thank you. Motion passes.

All right, we'll move to item number three, public comment. And under provisions of the government code, citizens wishing to address the commission for any matter not on the agenda may do so at this time by completing and submitting a speaker submittal form to the planning clerk or following the instructions noted on this agenda. Speakers will be called by the chair at the point of the agenda when the item will be heard. Speaker should keep comments to 3 minutes or less and state their name and community of residents under provisions of the California government code. The commission is prohibited from materially discussing or taking action on any item not on the agenda unless it can be demonstrated to be of an emergency nature or an urgent need to take immediate action arose after the posting of the agenda. Do we have any speakers for items that are not on the agenda? All right, we'll move ahead. We have no item number four, presentations or appointments. Item number five, we'll move to the consent calendar item addressing number 5.1, which is approval of the planning commission regular meeting minutes of March 5th, 2026. Do I have a motion to approve the planning commission regular meeting minutes of March 5th? Motion. I'll second.

Commissioner Malcolm?

Aye.

Commissioner Mickelson? Aye. Vice Chair Klaproth?

Aye.

Thank you. Motion passes.

We will move to item number eight, which is new business. We have item number 8.1. which is 9702 Main Street Project, Plymouth Hotel Design Workshop, PA2023-02.

Excuse me. Jacob's going to put up the two design options on the screen, but the purpose of tonight is the applicant is requesting direction on which design option the Planning Commission would prefer to see prior to developing plans, which are quite expensive. It is common for applicants to come before Planning Commission to get thoughts on their project before they either move forward or complete their project. development plans. In this case, for the Plymouth Hotel, it's on a vacant parcel on Main Street. It is on a small portion of an existing parcel. But really, Tonight Before You is just the design of what the exterior of the building would look like. These are obviously not exactly the building. These are just conceptual drawings. But there are two options. There's the top one, which we refer to as option A, and then the bottom one, which is referred to as option B. And tonight, really, we're just looking for direction on is there a preference? There's many more things that have to be done for this project. Just so you know, they must comply with CEQA, so there will be environmental review conducted for that. We've issued an RFP, and a proposal has been selected by the applicant. Next step for that will be going before the council and getting them to authorize the contract. But even with that, we still need project plans prepared and submitted. We do have a public comment regarding CEQA for the project. But as there is no action tonight, it is just a thought. There is no approval in any way tonight. CEQA does not apply. But really, we're just looking for your feedback. The applicant does prefer option B, which is the bottom one. But we're looking to hear back from you.

Um, does anybody, would anybody from the applicant or like to speak at all or just opening that opportunity? Yeah, go right ahead. Come up to the microphone. Just turn on the speaker. Introduce yourself. Yeah.

My name is Josh and the architect on this project. And it would just kind of go through the two options that we've prepared for your review tonight, your consideration, uh, the top option. That we're calling option a, we feel like is something that would fit in with the community, but is a little bit has the roof structure has a little bit of more of a mountain or Alpine feel to it due to the pitch roofs. And the gable and hip ends. The lower option we felt was a little bit more of a foothill rural. Design option that includes not only the cable and at the center of the building at the, the primary entrance. Which would be reminiscent of rural barns or agricultural structures that you would see in the Sierra foothills. The two sections on either side of the gable end kind of are reminiscent of Main Street with flat facades and a small parapet. And then the ends are reminiscent of shed agricultural buildings, shed structures, equestrian structures that are simple, single-pitched roof with the wood structure exposed to them. Both options, the center of both options are very similar in that they have the cable end, not only for the portico share, but also the main mass of the building. Both options include warm, neutral colors. natural stone and a color palette that would tie in with not only the historic nature of Main Street, Plymouth, but the rural nature of the surrounding areas as a gateway to both Main Street and to the Shenandoah Valley.

All right. Are there any questions for the speaker or applicant?

In this design layout, what is the orientation of this? Is this facing Main Street? Is this like facing east-west, north-south? What is the orientation of this building?

The primary facade faces northwest, which is kind of towards the roundabout. It is a significantly large parcel, so it's not near the main thoroughfare on the Main Street. It's set back significantly. I don't know the exact dimension, but it's hundreds of feet back from the main road. And so although it does face the roundabout, it's not directly on the road. So it's like behind the existing.

Yeah, go ahead.

It's set back pretty far from the street. The parcel is large in totality and the hotel comprises smaller. I think it's either five acres or a little over five acres of the entire site. And then in theory, in time, buildings could be built between the hotel and the street because there's a much larger area around it. But it is set back pretty far.

And we're really not here to talk about the projects.

It's design only, but it is set back. So it's not like it's five feet from the street. It's set back pretty far, but the design is still important because even though in the future buildings could be built between the hotel and the street, we don't know when that will occur. So let's say that could be 10, 15, 20 years down the road, you're going to see the hotel.

Yeah, just a question on the lighting. The top one seems like it's kind of more muted light and calm or something. I don't know, a little calmer. The bottom one seems much more bright and, you know, jumping out there at you.

Yeah, both would have similar lighting schemes. The renderings were just produced at different ones at twilight ones more in the during the daytime. On the top option, you can kind of see along the base, we have light shown. But the the portico share, which is the canopy that comes out the drive under would also be illuminated. And we may have lights, probably not underneath the eaves, but along the facade of the building.

Yeah. Any other comments or thoughts?

I just had a question for Erica. So I know that I'm just reading the speaker's comments. So whatever we say today is not an approval and it's going to come back and something and we'll look at it, whatever the plans are. I just want to make sure we weren't going to give, if we said we like option C, it could be changed later if we get the plans back and it doesn't meet. What we're saying today is just not set in stone, I guess, is my question.

Correct. The purpose of any study session is just to get a feel from the Planning Commission. So we've had other study sessions, but they've been mostly focused on like a specific topic where we're just discussing like accessory dwelling units, for example. for a project level study session, they're usually focused based or it could even be a question of would you ever entertain this idea, but it doesn't require you to abide by whatever you say tonight. And tonight's really about feedback. You guys could be all split. You could say, I have these other comments and the applicant can take them into consideration. But nothing tonight is an actual decision, and you're not bound by anything you say.

Yeah, just looking at the rendering, personally, I kind of like the top one, the option A, just because I think it's a little more Plymouth versus In Your Fate. I don't know, a little more contemporary. I don't know if we're really a contemporary community. To me, I just like the looks of that. I think it kind of goes with more of the... the nature of our community um and i would say like light i know the lighting on the top one isn't the same kind of time of day but just if there's a way to just kind of mute the light just so it's not in your face when it is uh if if we get to that point you know um but i do i personally like the top one just because it's a little a little more feels a little more rural in nature you

I think for me, it's a little bit hard because the perspective of the two photos, one's at an angle.

Can I interrupt? Can we see if anyone else in the audience has comments maybe before you weigh in?

Let's go ahead and open it up for public comment. I apologize. And if you'd like to comment, please go ahead and step up to the microphone, introduce yourself, where you live, and We have three minutes per comment. Thank you.

Good evening. Rosemary Marino Moody, Plymouth. My first question is having to do on the agenda. It says 9702 Main Street Project in Apprentices Plymouth Hotel. I'm concerned about that because we already have a Plymouth Hotel in Plymouth. Is that what the name of this is going to be? Because the Plymouth Hotel was established over 100 years ago on this part of Main Street. So that was a little confusing because at first I was thinking that the Plymouth Hotel was coming in with a design. And then when I looked at the address, because I'm a postal person, I was like, that's not the address for the hotel. So that was a little concerning for me why it says Plymouth Hotel in the parentheses.

The name of the hotel is going to be up to the applicant, but I'm not sure that if he has a name for it yet, he's here, he can tell us. But it could change before, it can change at any time.

Well, I would suggest that they put something else on because it's very confusing since we do have a Plymouth Hotel that's been established for over 100 years, just for the public. Because, you know, there might be people that are interested in this project, but just think it's something to do with the hotel down here so they didn't come to the meeting. I'm just saying. in general um my other question i know it's just the design tonight so um where we started coming to planning commission meetings so we're trying to learn the process and all so there's going to be a hearing like there was for the the restaurant and place across the street also and will this project require a use permit like they had to have one

So yes, they require a use permit for the interior restaurant with alcohol sales if they continue to move forward with it. And then the process for this project, and I can only guess at this point because CEQA hasn't been done. So the process for this project would be, let's say it's a mitigated negative declaration. It'd be similar to ARCO. It gets released for public review. We have a public review period. And then from there, we would schedule a public hearing, let's say, if we were ready. Prior to that, we do need the submission of complete plans, which we don't have a design yet, so plans can't be complete without a design. We do require the design as part of your submittal, so they need to work on that. We have reviewed a site plan for the project to get that worked out between engineering and fire, so that's been underway, but they still are incomplete. We still need to do CEQA, and then there will be public hearings where you'll see the whole package.

Thank you. I appreciate you explaining that for us. So since it did say public comment on the design, I want to submit my opinion. I like number one also, or option A. I think it fits more into Plymouth and the area more so. The one concern I have is the lighting also, especially after what we've gone through with the casino lighting. and how it has affected some of the residents in the area. So I think we need to be really aware of that and make sure it doesn't compromise any of the neighbors around also. So thank you.

Very good. Thank you for your comments. Appreciate that.

Robert Moody, Plymouth member. My point, yeah, I like A too. It doesn't look like B. It's more it looks like a casino. It's nice, but I think the A is more rustic, kind of fits in better.

Thank you. Any other public comments? Yeah.

My name is Harry Joel. I'm the developer on this project. I've been working with Erica. It's going to be a Hilton, Hampton Inn and Suites. So that will be the name. I think we just put a note for Plymouth Hotel. This is the hotel. In terms of, we took a little straw poll. Majority picked option B. I was one of them. But I had a couple of friends that picked option A. But knowing this is Plymouth, I can kind of see where some people would go with option A. I'm more of a city guy. So option B, maybe it's the lighting that kind of attracted me to that. But I kind of liked option B, but I'm also open. You know, I want to go with what majority kind of choose. They're different. But one of my really good friends who's kind of he lives in the country, he loved option A. So that's all I want to say.

Thank you. Good comments. Appreciate it. Any other public comments?

All right.

Oh, yeah, go. We'll take in the audience and then we'll go online next. Yeah, go ahead.

David Helwig, live off of Shenandoah Road. And Harry did let me look at these ahead of time. And I'm partial to option B, but mainly because it has the same slope as my winery does. And similar to Andes and Iron Hub, it's all kind of that same shed look. So I had given my input to Harry that I like option B, but I can live with either one. I just want this place, this hotel to get in because we need it desperately.

Thank you. I didn't notice they did look like several wineries. I mean, that could be a winner too. That's right. Let's go online. Are they on speaker? Online? Please introduce yourself.

My name is Nadika. I'm just, not to be rude, but I'm wondering why an architecture company is using AI-generated photos as examples for these. because I don't trust that this is what the building is actually going to look like because of the watermarks still on there.

uh yeah i believe the photos are probably just illustrations at this point and as the plans are final and submitted that's when we would look at the actual um illustration and plan for the site i think the feedback is just for do you would you prefer kind of the look of the the top uh design or the the bottom in this discussion, because we're not making necessarily a decision today, just providing public input. Do you have a... Okay, thank you.

Yeah, that makes more sense. That top one definitely looks like it fits the town quite a bit more, in my opinion.

All right. Thank you. Appreciate the comment. Do we have any other call-in users? All right. It's been a while since we had a call-in user. This is an exciting topic tonight. Any more comments from the commission?

Vice Chair Klaproth, there was a written public comment submitted from Stephanie Marino. I'd like to put that into record.

All right. We did receive a written comment. We'll put that into record. I don't believe we have to read that correctly in its entirety. All right. Excellent. Just one last call. Any other comments from the commission?

I'd like to ask Harry, why are you choosing Plymouth to place your hotel here?

Okay, we actually have a hotel in Jackson. I actually came out here about three years ago, and I forgot the city manager's name. No, before that. It was a gentleman. It was Rex. So he kind of invited us over, hey, come and look at Plymouth. So I came here, came downtown, and I was like, okay, okay, this is kind of a small town, but we'll see. Met with him, then he kind of took me around the area, then saw all these wineries, met Dave, and I was like, this is kind of like an undiscovered little county because a lot of people don't know about the vast... wineries out here. I mean, they're beautiful. And I've been a fan. I've been coming out here. I've actually been telling my family, my friends. We did my wife's birthday out here. So we're just like, you know, this place is great. Dave has an auditorium. He has little concert events. But there really is no hotels here. It's lacking a hotel. So, and then I knew the casino was coming and that was kind of a little bit of a battle if it's going to come, not going to come. But I was like, you know, this place needs a hotel, a nice hotel where people would come here on the weekends or if there's family come visiting or there's weddings, so many events going on. And looking at Jackson, because we have the national hotel, we see that there's a demand in this area. So I know a lot of people don't come out to these rural areas to build, but since we've been here, we kind of got to know the area. We're like, okay, a hotel could work here. And I firmly believe in the project. I think it's going to be good for the community. And I think the only hotel that was here, I believe that's kind of gone, sort of. But yeah, it definitely needs a hotel here. So that's what kind of brought me here. And I like Plymouth. We just had dinner at taste. We come out here to have dinner out here. But I never even know, you know, never even heard of Plymouth until I met Rex three, four years ago.

Excellent. Yeah, thank you.

Yeah. And we need businesses. The community needs that. We need tax revenue and all that, and the wineries need all this, and that's fantastic. I'm definitely interested in entertaining ideas and moving things forward. As an extension of the other side of Main Street, it goes that way. There's a historical district overlay on this side of the street, and that side does not exist. contain that net necessity, right? Would you be interested in pursuing, you know, continuation of look and feel on that side of the street so that there is a main street, you know, continuity factor? to it, you know, like look, feel, design, all that kind of stuff?

You know, I'm definitely open to that. We're doing a hotel in Grass Valley. Same thing. It's a Hampton, but it doesn't look like a Hampton. It looks more boutique-ish. I kind of showed Erica. I kind of like that. I actually wanted to bring that design out here, but it might have been a little bit Not what the feel of this place is. But no, I'm open to ideas like we own the National. I love the historical feel about it. I'd be open to if there's historical elements Josh could put in here that would kind of make it cohesive with Main Street. Like we'd be open to that. I'm just not know what kind of architecture that would be.

I don't have an answer for that. I'm just asking. That's why I asked why Plymouth. Why you're interested in Plymouth. What do you see in this community and what are you bringing... And why are you bringing it? You know, the love for the area, the community, the people, what is it? You know, that's like why I asked that question. It's like, um, you know, I've lived here 12 something years in the town and like, I love, I didn't move here because I love the area. I've learned to like, love the area. Yeah. Do you, do you don't live here? So I'm just, you know, asking questions that I know people are going to eventually start asking.

Yeah, definitely. Um, I don't live here, but I kind of do live here. I do come to Jackson quite a bit. I do come and see Dave quite a bit. So I do come out here quite a bit. In terms of moving, I don't think my wife would want me to, but I don't mind out here. I love it. It's peaceful. It's great. But yeah, I am open to ideas because typically Hilton or Hamptons, they all look the same. And when I found this area, we got the franchise agreement. I was like, I don't want it to look like a Hilton or a Hampton, your cookie cutter box look. That's why I kind of had them agree because they did it with me in Grass Valley. I wanted to make you look more boutique-ish. But I want the Hilton name just to bring the reservations, bring people from other cities that come here, visit this area, help out the businesses. So that's why Hampton was very important because it's a well-known name. And that's when I met Dave. I was like, you know, I want to bring in a Hampton because I want to bring in a good franchise out here. But I also... didn't want it to look like a Hampton because when people come at her they want to have a unique experience and we get that all the time at the National my son loves that hotel like he's in love with it he wants to come out here all the time just because it's a unique experience that's what we want here like when someone comes here more of a boutique feel that kind of feels you're in another city and not like your typical Hampton look so

Yeah, I think things like even what you were like, even rock on the pillars and light, even lighting, maybe like rural lighting versus like contemporary lighting fixtures and things, you know, small elements can. make a big difference for just from the look at the feel. And like you said, that boutique feel versus I'm, I'm, you know, driving up to this box that has the same look as every other Hampton. And this looks, this seems like a good design for what we do.

Yeah. Yeah. We actually are a grass Valley hotel. We kind of over-designed it and we had, we got pushed back from Hilton. They're like, you're making it too nice. And I'm like, Well, we want it that way. You know, we have a fireplace in there. We have a fire pit outside. Like, you wouldn't see that. You're typical Hampton. But I would kind of envision something similar here in the back, perhaps a little fire pit, a little seating area, fireplace inside, just to make it cozy. Because I know at the National, it's beautiful when you walk in. There's a fireplace there. People kind of sit around the fireplace. So anyways, that's our vision for it. And any architectural things that you guys like, I'm all ears. And then, you know, Josh has to make it happen. Or I could put my wife on chat GPT and she could design it. She's been kind of using that and I'm kind of been surprising what she's been coming up with.

All right. Any other comments from the commission?

I just want to start out by saying the fact that you're bringing forth an application for a hotel. Thank you. I think it is important that we get some additional businesses here. And I do appreciate the fact that you don't want to have a cookie cutter building. And I think I can't speak for everybody else, but I can speak for me that I think a non cookie cutter building would be nice. If I was if you're asking me between the two. my opinion is probably a little bit different. I do like plan B. I think it does have some elements that do match some of the downtown. But for me, I'm just excited to see the plans and what you come up with based on the feedback.

Yeah. All right. Any other opinions, thoughts to share? All right. I think you got a good perspective from the commission and the public. Thank you to the public for joining and good luck. We can't wait to see the next step as you bring forth the plan.

So Josh, I guess a little bit of option A and option B. Good luck, Josh. All right.

so we don't need to move forward with any further discussion all right uh we're gonna move to item 5.2 which is approval of the planning commission special meeting minutes oh we got nine sorry Sorry about that. We're going to move to item nine, which is any reports. Do we have any reports from the city staff? All right. How about the... Nope. Any other commissioners? Any reports? All right. We're going to go ahead and adjourn the meeting tonight at 7.03 p.m. Thank you for attending.