Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Commissioner Sanchez-Lopez, will you lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance, please?

Ready, begin.

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.

Thank you. Ms. Abdullah, can I have a roll call, please?

Commissioner Daley? Commissioner Lopez? Here. Commissioner Ali?

Here.

Commissioner Quayle?

Here.

Chair Sherrick?

Present.

Commissioner Galande? Commissioner Pratt?

Here.

Commissioner Carlone? Commissioner Garcia?

We do have quorum. Thank you. Public comments for listed items and non-listed items on the agenda. A three limit. A three-minute limitation shall apply to each member of the public who wishes to address the Planning Commission on any item on the agenda, excluding public hearings. There is not a limit to the number of items that may be discussed within the three-minute time limit. Ms. Abdullah, can you have the administration of oath for our public speakers, please?

Please stand and raise your right hand for all our public speakers, please. So whoever filled out a slip, just please stand and raise your right hand.

Mr. Cervantes, Ms. Vargas, Mr. Ponce.

All right, do you solemnly affirm that the testimony you're about to give before this body will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? If so, please say I do. Thank you, you may be seated.

Thank you, I don't have any public speakers who wish to speak on a matter that is not on the agenda. Is that an agenda item? Okay, thank you. Next on the item is the consent agenda. Consent items are routine in nature and may be enacted in one motion. All public and non-public hearings will be open at one time and any item may be discussed separately upon request of the member of the planning commission or member of the public. Are there any updates to the consent calendar by staff?

Not to the consent calendar.

Thank you. Do I have a motion to approve the consent calendar?

Yes.

Thank you. Is there a second? Thank you. Can I have roll please on the consent calendar?

All right, Commissioner Lopez? Yes. Commissioner Ali? Yes. Commissioner Quill? Yes. Chair Sherrick?

Yes.

Commissioner Pratt?

Yes.

Okay, vote passes unanimously.

Thank you. The Planning Commission will first hear a report from staff on our public hearing items, and then the public hearing will be opened. The applicant will have an opportunity to speak. Next, members of the public will be allowed to speak. Anyone in the audience wishing to speak must be sworn in and fill out a request to speak form. The forms are located on the table near the door. When your name is called, please come forward and speak your name into the microphone. Say and spell your name for the taped record. After all have spoken, the applicant will be able to respond. The public hearing will then be closed and Planning Commission will begin deliberations and make a decision. All decisions except general plan amendments and municipal code amendments are final actions unless an appeal is filed and fees paid within 15 days to the Community Development and Housing Department. If you challenge the resulting action of the Planning Commission in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised the public hearing. Described in this agenda or in written correspondence delivered to the Community Development, and Housing Department at or before the public hearing. We can please have staff present item number two.

Madam Chair, if you don't mind, and commissioners, we had a change to tonight's agenda. The order of appearance has been changed, so we do have item number two as it's supposed to go, but following item number two, we're gonna move on to item number four. followed by item number five, and item number three will be going last.

Okay, thank you.

Thank you.

Good evening, Madam Chair, Commissioners, and members of the public. My name is Angeline Mendoza, and I will be presenting Conditional Use Permit 25-18 for item number two. Conditionally used permit 25-18 is a request to allow the establishment and operation of a charter school with an existing structures containing approximately 22,384 square feet for the conversion of an existing religious facility into a charter school. Minor facade and on-site improvements are included as part of the scope of work at 3041 North Sierra Way, which is a parcel zone residential suburban, or RS, and is approximately 3.24 acres. The project site is zone residential suburban, or RS, and is in an urbanized residential area. The aerial image does show our site situated in that existing residential area and the similar uses that are in proximity. The proposed scope of work includes interior tenant improvements to the existing structures from the site's previous use and existing use as a religious facility. This is in addition to minor facade and on-site improvements and outdoor recreational areas to support the proposed 420 students. The proposed project involves the revitalization of five one-story existing buildings that currently supports an existing religious facility. These five buildings will go through tenant improvements to convert the existing sanctuary into an educational facility to support children from TK through middle school. as previously stated this is an existing religious facility that operated as in conjunction with the preschool up until december of 2024. this is the existing sanctuary in building number one with that will be converted into a multi-purpose room with one existing classroom that will be maintained Buildings two and three houses additional classrooms and does hug a play area for its students. Building number four has seven additional classrooms and a warming kitchen to support the 420 students projected for the two programs that this chartered school will offer. As previously stated, the revitalization as part of the scope of work does include the refreshment of existing landscapes This involves red yucca, peppermint trees, and low sage rosemary. Conditioning use permit 25-18 involves minor facade improvements and outdoor recreational areas in addition to the tenant improvements as part of the scope of work to fully convert this site into an educational facility. The project site has ingress along Sierra Way and two points of egress along Lugo Avenue. A queuing mitigation plan has been reviewed and approved by our traffic division to coordinate student drop off and pick up times to account for any influx in use that could affect internal site circulation and the surrounding properties. The proposed scope of work will ultimately culminate into 17 classrooms to support the 420 students, offering two academic programs, the San Bernardino Academy of the Arts and the San Bernardino Learning Lab. The proposed establishment and operation of a charter school is a permitted land use within our residential suburban or RS zone, subject to the approval of a conditional use permit, which is what brings us here tonight. The general plan deems schools and other institutional uses as compatible and oriented towards the needs of residential uses and neighborhoods. As such, the proposed project would be compatible with the goals and policies outlined in our general plan and our development code. Staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt resolution number 2026-025, finding the project categorically exempt pursuant to section 15301, existing facilities in accordance with CEQA, and approving conditional use permit 25-18 based on the findings of fact and subject to the recommended conditions of approval. We did receive a couple public comments that were included as part of the record tonight, and we do have the applicant team here to answer any questions that the public or staff or commissioners may have. This project was properly noticed in advance of our item tonight. and our applicant team does have a small presentation to support any questions that come up.

Thank you. Thank you, we'll go ahead and open up the public hearing at 610 with a presentation by the applicant.

Good evening, Planning Commission and city staff. Thank you so much for all of your work and support of the process going through this project. My name is Maria Gomez. I'm the project manager. Just wanted to reaffirm our team is here to answer any questions. I also wanted to introduce Juliana Hubbell, representative for Springs Charter, who's going to say just a few words about the school.

Thank you. she mentioned my name is juliana hubbell i'm the senior director of charter development for springs charter schools and i wanted to thank you very much for this opportunity to speak with you this evening our charter school here in san bernino county is inland empire springs and we are proudly authorized by the san bernino county office of education we serve transitional kindergarten all the way through 12th grade tuition free completely and we are proud to be able to offer or hoping to be able to offer this new location in San Bernardino. Don't know how to switch my slides, I'm so sorry. I didn't ask enough questions. You got the clicker? Good, perfect. So Springs Charter Schools has been proudly serving Southern California for over 25 years. We have 24 campus locations currently from Rancho Cucamonga down to Chula Vista in San Diego County and Santa Ana out to Indio. We serve students all over that area. About 14,000 students all united under one mission and vision. And so you can go to the next slide for me. Thank you so much. So our mission is to really empower students. We want to foster their innate curiosity. We want to engage their parents and we want to promote optimum learning by collaboratively developing a personalized learning program for each student. So what that means is that we are meeting each student at their level and helping them make growth whether they're ahead or behind or on grade level but it gives them our classrooms are a little bit gives them in what works best for them. They work in small groups around the room throughout the day, and they're really doing a lot of peer-to-peer learning, which is fantastic. Another core tenant of our education model is using the community as the classroom. So that really means building great community partners where our campuses are located, and having those folks come in and teach our students. We do public and private sector, so think our public safety, police, fire, that sort of thing. But we also have like the local librarian is gonna come and the veterinarian and these folks that are able to kind of really engage the students with their passions. We also take the students out into the community. We really believe that some of the best learning can be done out in the community. And so our students are going on field trips, they're visiting different places of work and really building a foundation for what their future could be.

I think those are all of my slides.

We're available if you have any questions or comments.

Thank you. Thank you. We'll go ahead and take public comments at this time. Juan Cervantes.

Good afternoon.

My name is Juan Cervantes. I am a local resident of the area. I live around Sierra. I do want these charter schools to open up. Charter schools tend to have a better curriculum when it comes to certain demographics in San Bernardino, primarily Hispanic, black community, right? Those communities are underserved. We need to increase their education. We do know that what happened before COVID charter, there was a 2023, I believe as of 2023 was a Stanford study that was done. Charter schools have progressively were a lot better advanced mathematically by a few days. And when it came to reading, they were further ahead than an average school. I just want to serve my community, and I think that that's where we should start. Thank you guys, have a wonderful day.

Thank you. Stephanie Vargas. Stephanie, did you get sworn in earlier? No. Can we go ahead and swear in first?

All right, please raise your right hand. Do you solemnly affirm that the testimony you're about to give before this body will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? If so, please say I do.

I do. Thank you.

Okay. Is there a timer I could watch? Is this it? Awesome. All right, well, hello, my name is Stephanie Vargas. I wanted to make a point to come here, and I almost missed it, so I'm glad I made it, because I am a parent of three little boys who go to Springs Charter currently in Rancho Cucamonga. All three of them have gone from pre, well, kindergarten to where they're at now. And we've just had a wonderful experience. I know in the beginning, the reason I put them in there is because COVID was happening. It was really crazy. And I really was worried about throwing them into the public school system because I just wasn't sure if everyone knew what they were doing. And I just, I wasn't expecting to have such a great experience through Springs Charter, but I did. And I think what makes them so special is the fact that they are very individual learning plan focused. And it's just recognizing that kids are different. I have three little boys, they are all different. They love different subjects. They grow in different ways. And what I love about Springs Charter is they recognize that and then they will encourage and foster them to grow in those areas. So just as a parent, I've just had a wonderful experience and I know it's gonna be a wonderful addition to San Bernardino to help the children. I'm also a parent board member on Springs Charter's board. So again, I just love what they're doing and I just wanted to be able to express that here and just encourage you saying, Some kids need extra help and some kids just need specialized opportunities to grow in ways that maybe the public school system can offer. So again, it's just about variety. It's just the idea that the kids, not all kids thrive in the same environment. So just please take that into consideration. I love San Bernardino. I love that Springs Charter is coming out this way. And anyone I meet, if they're looking for a school, I'm always like, hey, check out Springs Charter. So thank you for your time. Thank you for your consideration. And I just want to say lastly, if you allow Springs Charter into the community, you'll never regret it. You'll just see it continue to grow and help the children. So thank you for your time. Thank you.

cliff kaiser i don't know if i said that right forgive me if i didn't thank you

Good evening, everyone. First of all, let me just mention to Springs Charter, it's exciting that a new school is coming into the area and it's great when students have the opportunity to learn and they have more options to learn in different settings. I agree with what the previous speaker said. Sometimes school is not always a one size fits all. With that being said, I'm a resident of 3115 North Sierra Way. I do live adjacent to the property on the north side. There is an established prescriptive easement. We do use the entrance off of Sierra Way to access our backyard. My dad has his travel trailer parked back there. He has a tractor and two vehicles. So I just want to express my concern to maintain that use of that prescriptive easement. I really haven't had a chance to talk to anybody from the church, but I wanted to just go on the record. We've been residents at the house for over 40 years. It was my dad's house. He still lives there, my house as well. So we wanted to get that on the record. I am concerned, of course, for him because at 85 years of age, he's not in the best condition to come down and represent himself. and so I wanted to make sure we were looking out for his best interests as well as the community's.

Thank you.

All right, thank you.

Those are all the public speakers we have for this project. Before I ask the applicant if they would like to comment on any of the public speakers, can staff confirm whether that easement will still be able to be used with the development of this charter school?

Yes, so staff has been working with the applicant team to ensure that proper access is still maintained for that resident. I believe it's the northwest corner or northwest of our project site. And so the applicant team is ready to, or they do have a contingency plan essentially, where within these certain times, they would have to, I believe, call the school or the charter school officials to ensure that the students are also safe. And then I'll let our applicant team speak more to that and the intricacies of that contingency plan.

But it has been considered. Thank you. And then with the comment that we received from Mr. Rodriguez Jr. regarding speed humps on Lugo, is there stuff here to discuss that?

Yes, so we received that public comment yesterday on Monday, the 7th of September. We also have our traffic division engineer here present for any subsequent conversation regarding any additional speed bumps.

Thank you. Thank you.

um traffic division is working on the speed hunt policy later to be released for requests for council approval in a future meeting so until that policy is agreed upon um we're in a holding pattern understood thank you uh commissioner pratt you had a question

Hi, how you doing? So will this charter school be subject to the same safety requirements as a typical public school would in the area as far as having fencing barriers and everything? Is there an artist rendering that shows

So there is no rendering of the proposed fencing. So after a site visit, the existing fencing doesn't quite reach all throughout, but for the sake of safety for the children and that You know sensitive population that this charter school is planning on serving the applicant team and staff have been working to get wrought iron fencing and the continuation of the Existing fence sections that are already there And you know keeping that enclosed

I think we would probably like to see consistent fencing around the property. I mean, if there were radar in some places, we should have the same aesthetic look for the residents, as well as for the safety of keeping the kids in.

Did the applicant wish to, yes, go ahead and come back.

Commissioners, a couple of items. So with regards to the last item, we do have, yes, Safety is one of the top priorities here, so this is gonna be a fully enclosed campus. We do have the two variations, wrought iron along the east and the west. So as far as continuum, we will have that. We will have the block walls along the north and south, but that's also for sound attenuation kind of considerations. And so part of the reason was because one of the properties already has a certain pattern, so we're gonna continue that so it's completely continuous along the north. and then completely continuous along the south with our block walls. So just wanted to clarify, we do have that fully closed campus, six foot all the way around, and then that continuum in terms of the wrought iron, if you're going down Sierra, it's gonna be all wrought iron. If you're going down Lugo, same thing. It's just the block walls for the residential neighbors.

And then just to support that in terms of the applicants addressing the comments from Commissioner Pratt, there is a site fencing plan as part of the materials. It just didn't squeeze its way onto the presentation.

Okay, and then I just wanted to also add with regards to the last speaker, happy to connect further. I know that we've been working with the church, the current owner, with regards to that access. That was one of the primary points as we were, you know, moving forward with regards to the plans. And so we made sure that we were working with Springs Charters with regards to the operations to ensure that we maintain that access for that back gate in the backyard. So the way that our layout and our site plan has been developed has been developed with that as a primary factor. As Angeline also mentioned, it does take into consideration safety, right? So there are specific protocols that we're happy to discuss and connect with you on.

Thank you, anything else by the applicant?

We just have a written comment that they'd like to submit, not a speaking comment, I don't know. Okay. We're residents.

If there's any other questions, let us know. We'll stick around.

Just let me have a moment here. So this individual just has a safety of students concerned about heavy traffic and speeding of Sierra Way. Correct, in favor, thank you. If you'd like to speak, we need you to be sworn in and come to the microphone. Rhonda, okay.

Yes, please swear and Miss Abdullah. OK. Can I please have you raise your right hand? Do you solemnly affirm that the testimony you're about to give before this body will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? If so, please say I do.

I do.

Thank you.

Yes, Sierra Way, I live on Sierra, so it's got a lot of heavy traffic and it's been getting worse. And the light there at North Sierra Way and 30th, a lot of accidents. So safety for the students and the parents and all adults involved. Thank you.

I am going to assume that we have police look at the conditions and they had no additional comments.

Staff isn't in receipt of any comments or revisions from PD.

Staff could work with PD to have them enforce the speed limit on Sierra and Lugo.

We'll go ahead and look into that. I believe this was righted out to PD as part of our practice and we did not receive comment back.

Thank you. If there's no more public speakers, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing and take it back to the Planning Commission for discussion and motion. closing the public hearing at 6 26 p.m. before I ask if the Commission's have any questions for records of transparency I'd like to note that I have met with the applicants and they did go over their project with us I did not make a decision at that time I let them know that no decision would be made at that time it was just for informational purposes are there any questions or deliberations starting with the Commission Commissioner Lopez Sanchez

I want to ask the question from the lady who?

Oh, for the applicant? Yes, for the applicant. Okay, I'll go ahead and open the public hearing back up at 6.27 p.m. Well, either one.

Sure, go ahead.

Both of you.

Absolutely.

Is this your first venture in the city of San Bernardino?

It is. However, we do have about 150 students already enrolled within some of our home-based programs in the city of San Bernardino and another 150 within about a 20 to 30 minute driving radius. So our students are here and we're hoping to open this location to better serve them with support in person instead of making them drive.

So you saw a need to expand.

Yes, it's been part of our long-term goal when we're looking at our heat map of where our students are enrolled. Our goal is always to get in-person support and services in places where we have a collection of students because as well as anything can be done over Zoom, Nothing beats seeing those kiddos in person and so this has been part of our kind of long term plan is to expand in this area so that we don't have students driving all the way down you know from long distances to come and see us for example for a special education support and services. Those families don't need the extra burden of driving all the way to Rancho Cucamonga to receive their services if I can provide it to them close to home.

And what are the grade levels, kindergarten to eighth grade?

Kindergarten to eighth grade on this campus. We do serve all the way through 12th grade. We're fully WASC accredited all the way through 12th grade, kindergarten through 12th grade. But this campus will focus on supporting TK to eighth grade.

So you already have students registered to attend?

We do have students registered to attend, correct.

Now this last question that I have may seem a little odd to ask, but I have to ask it. Absolutely. I noticed that in the landscaping, there are beautiful pictures here of drought plants. Yes. You're going to do those, right? Yes. Because I have seen applicants in the past who will put anything on paper, and it looks good, and it passes, and then.

I will let the architects. And then, and then. On behalf of the design team, yes, we're committed to moving forward with what we have submitted. Wait, wait, wait.

And then I had, they didn't do it. A store that we have here in San Bernardino, and if I go into too much detail, the people will know what store I'm talking about, but they didn't do any of the landscaping whatsoever. And so it's dead vegetation and dead trees and so forth. So I just, I know you're gonna be making a big commitment, a lot of renovations to best suit best serve your students. Yes, ma'am. And a beautiful campus is not only serving them, but also serving the community. Absolutely. And so I'm hoping that when it comes down to actually putting the landscaping, because sometimes that's the last thing on the list, or the priorities, that that will happen.

I will say our facilities team is committed to doing that for a couple of reasons. Number one, obviously, the long-term upkeep of that is in our financial interest to go ahead and put in native plants that are drought-tolerant and water-wise, but also that there's No, I'm going to lose the word. But not reimbursements, refunds. Oh, my gosh, my brain is not going to handle it. But discounted rates on those kind of plants. There's rebates. Thank you. I knew it started with re. I apologize. So rebates available for those types of plants. And so it really benefits us on both ends, right, from the beginning of the project all the way through long-term upkeep and maintenance. And so, yeah, that's definitely something we're interested in.

Okay, because I'll visit your campus. I look forward to it. Thank you.

Yes, ma'am. Commissioner Quill. Yes.

Thank you for the applicant. Number one, are you purchasing this property or leasing it?

Purchasing.

Good. Thank you. Thank you.

Welcome to San Bernardino.

Another question. We notice in our school districts have done away with a lot of the trade classes. And I know you're only going, I think you said, to the eighth grade in the school. But for the schools that go to the eighth to the 12th perhaps, are you working with students to teach them trades?

Absolutely. So one of the kind of core tenants of our high school program is that we're a real world academy. My goal is to graduate all of our students to be college and career ready. And more and more over the last few years, career has definitely taken a new interest and swing. We do have just under 20 career technical education pathways for our high school students. So even our students who are served at this campus in TK through eighth grade, many continue on with us in high school through one of our independent study programs. and we always focus our scheduling to allow those students to participate, not only in career technical education, we want them to get that training, we also partner them with local businesses for internships in those career pathways, and we have a program partnerships with local colleges, including San Bernardino City College for articulated college courses. Many of our students, because of the flexibility that our high school programs offer, are graduating high school with an AA or at least a good chunk of their undergrad done.

Thank you.

Yes, sir.

Would you mind, for the benefit of the commission, talking about your Van Gogh program?

Oh, Van Gogh. So it's actually Leonardo da Vinci.

Oh, excuse me.

That's all right.

Da Vinci program.

Leonardo da Vinci. So Leonardo da Vinci, our five-day-a-week program is kind of modeled after the seven principles of Leonardo da Vinci. And without going too much into detail, of course I will if you want me to, those students are... taken through a thematic set of lessons throughout the year that are four to six weeks long based on each one of those principles. So for example, one of the principles is innovation. We know Leonardo da Vinci was a fantastic innovator and a thinker. Also the idea of connection so that everything is interconnected. Science is math and math is art and all around everything is connected. We also have them go through a thematic unit called Sensione Sense yoni is this idea that like your body takes up space in the world But also your thoughts take up space and how you are kind of moving throughout the world with consciousness and and you know being a good citizen We do have a full thematic unit on community and citizenship and so those are kind of the core tenants that are moving our students through at each grade level. And so those thematic units follow them each year. So they're learning, you know, the little kindergartners are learning sensione by learning a dance in class and learning how to, you know, jump rope and those sort of things. And then as they get older, those lessons are tailored to the material that is at that grade level. Thank you.

If there are no other questions.

I have one more question. Sounds like an exciting project. It's great. With a school or learning campus of this size, are you required to have any type of security on campus?

Required is probably a strong word, but we do value student safety and security. All of our campuses go through a very rigorous safety protocol, so there's safety standards that are set forth at local and state levels, and we always strive to meet or exceed those. And if moving through this project you know we decide that having a security guard on campus you know is necessary in addition to the staff that we have trained in safety and risk management then that's obviously something that we would consider and that probably applies to crossing guards on the street and that type of thing yeah we Charter schools are kind of small but mighty, and so we have a lot of staff that are cross-trained to do multiple things. So for example, all of our classrooms have a full-time credentialed teacher and a full-time aide in the classroom. Those aides are the ones that help us in the morning with pick-up and drop-off and crossing guard duties and those sort of things, and then they're able to move into the classroom after the morning community circles are done and help with instruction throughout the day. Yes, sir? Commissioner Pratt?

Hi, thanks for being here. Are your applications accepted, limited to residents of San Bernardino, number one, and then number two, What does your selection process look like? I know this isn't in the purview of the Planning Commission. I'm just curious how I live here, you know?

It's a fantastic question. Thank you so much for asking. So charter schools are a little unique in that your charter schools are public schools. However, the barrier or entry requirement is not that you live in a certain neighborhood. Really the kind of thought process behind a charter school is that your zip code shouldn't dictate which kind of school you attend. So anyone from San Bernardino County or technically any county that borders San Bernardino County could enroll in the school. I don't expect that that was gonna be a lot of contiguous county folks because they would be driving. However, that is open to all students who are interested in attending Springs. There's absolutely no barrier to enrollment. There's no need to have a particular income level, grade level, anything like that. We accept every single student who applies to our school. There may be a situation where, for example, we have enough third graders that the third grade classroom is full. And so those students would be offered the opportunity to do any of our at home learning programs, to attend one of our other learning centers. And at that time, they can make the decision if they'd like to remain on a pending list for this particular campus, at which point we enroll first come first serve.

Yes, sir. Are there any other questions for the applicant or staff? Seeing none, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing at 6.37 p.m. and entertain a motion.

I would like to make a motion to accept staff's recommendation that the Planning Commission adopt resolution number 2026-025.

I second. Thank you. Can we have a roll call, please? We have a first by Commissioner Cuella, second by Commissioner Sanchez-Lopez.

Commissioner Lopez? Yes. Commissioner Ali? Yes. Commissioner Quayle? Yes. Chair Sherrick? Yes. Commissioner Pratt?

Yes.

Vote passes unanimously.

Thank you. Yeah, can we take a five-minute break real quick, please? Thank you.

I did have that magazine that I shared with you. I brought copies.

Would it be appropriate to share with the other commissioners? Yes, please. Thank you.

It's a good project. Yes, yes.

Yeah, yeah.

OK if we could start back up with our meeting please. Excuse me we're going to go ahead and start back up with our meeting. If we can have staff go ahead and start presenting on item number four gentlemen we're going to move on with our meeting.

GOOD EVENING, CHAIR AND COMMISSIONERS. MY NAME IS KIMA RUSSELL WITH THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT AND I'LL BE PRESENTING REAL PROPERTY STREET VACATION NUMBER 15.30-445. THIS ITEM INVOLVES THE PROPOSED VACATION OF A PUBLIC UTILITY EASEMENT LOCATED WITHIN THE SAN BERNARDINO VALLEY COLLEGE AT 701 SOUTH MOUNT VERNON AVENUE. The request before the commission today is to make a finding that the proposed vacation is consistent with the city's general plan and to find the project categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act, or CEQA. My apologies. Let's back it up here. Okay, the proposed action is the vacation of approximately 8,809.40 square feet of public utility easement located within the San Bernardino Valley College property. So this is within the campus. The reason for the requested vacation is that there are no known utilities located within this portion of the easement. San Bernardino Valley College is proposing improvements within the area and the college has requested that the city vacate the existing public utility easement to accommodate those improvements. So in short, the request is to formally remove the existing public utility easement because there is no longer a need for its intended utility purpose. Moving to the location map, this shows the location of the proposed vacation within the San Bernardino Valley College campus. The area proposed for vacation is located within the college property, as previously mentioned, and is not a public street vacation. The map provides the commission with the overall location and helps identify where the proposed vacation is situated within the campus. So as you can see, it is south of Esperanza Street within the college campus. This aerial provides a closer look at the area. As shown, the proposed vacation is located within the college property, close to one of the adjacent fields. And the college is proposing improvements in this area, which is why removing the unnecessary utility easement is being requested. Again, there are no known utilities within the area proposed for vacation, and staff has not received any requests from utility providers to reserve easement rights. staff reviewed the proposed vacation for consistency with the city's general plan and applicable requirements based on that review staff is determined that the proposed vacation is consistent with the general plan staff also reviewed that the environmental implications of the request and concluded that the proposed vacation is categorically exempt from CEQA and would not result in a significant impact on the environment. As part of the review process, the utility companies were also notified. And to date, staff has not received any request to reserve easement rights within the area for the proposal of the vacation. These findings do support staff's recommendation to move the item forward. Notice of today's hearing was published in accordance with the applicable requirements. This provides the public with an opportunity to review the request and to provide comments regarding the proposed vacation. At this time, staff is not aware of any outstanding utility concerns or requests to retain easement rights within the area. Based on the analysis presented, staff does recommend that the Planning Commission adopt the proposed resolution. The resolution would make a finding of conformity within the city's general plan for street vacation number 15.30-445 based on the applicable findings of fact. The resolution would also find that the project is categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act. And finally, the resolution would forward that finding to the mayor and city council for their consideration that concludes my presentation i'm available to answer any questions that the commission may have excuse me yes thank you i'll go ahead and open up the public hearing at 6 49 pm is the applicant present to speak no the applicant is not present thank you is there any questions by the commission

No, we have no public speakers for this item either. I'll go ahead and close the public hearing at 6.49 p.m. and ask for a motion.

I'd like to make a motion to uphold staff's recommendation on item number four.

Thank you, Commissioner Pratt. Is there a second?

Second.

Thank you, Commissioner Ali. I have a motion by Commissioner Pratt, a second by Commissioner Ali. Please roll.

Commissioner Lopez?

No.

Commissioner Ali yes Commissioner Quayle yes Chair Sherrick yes Commissioner Galan oh sorry Commissioner Pratt yes thank you item passes 4-1 item passes 4-1 thank you thank you we'll go ahead and move to item number five

All right. Good evening, Madam Chair, commissioners, and members of our public. The item before us today is item number five. This is subdivision 26-02, otherwise known as tentative track map number 20858, as well as development permit type D number 26-02. So subdivision 26-02 and development permit type D number 26-02 is a request to subdivide one lot of approximately 1.76 acres and some change into seven single family lots ranging in size of 7,200 square feet to 11,300 square feet, as well as site and architectural review of seven two-story single family homes of approximately 1,800 square feet. The project site is generally near the northwest corner of Kendall Drive and Western Avenue. And we'll look at the location a little bit more in detail with the slides ahead of us. And then the zone of the property is within our university district specific plan within the residential suburban planning area. Here's an aerial view of the site, again located generally near the northwest corner of Kendall Drive and Western Avenue. Highlighted in red is generally the boundaries of the property, which is approximately 1.76 acres. Within the vicinity, there are primarily residential uses. To the north and east, we have existing single-family residential. directly to the south we have the san bernardino county flood control and just beyond that even further south we have the mountain gate apartment complex and to the west across the street from little mountain drive we have the bob holcomb elementary school the zone of the property is residential suburban within the university district specific plan and It does correspond with the land uses we just talked about a moment ago, and it is consistent with our general plan land use designation. So here's our site plan. Part of this project includes the development of a cul-de-sac to access the homes to as well as the other off-site improvements, such as the installation of curb, gutter, sidewalk, and street lighting. At 1.76 acres, this project is within the allowable density, and there are seven homes that are approximately 1,800 square feet on lots ranging in size from 7,200 square feet to 11,300 square feet, so some nice-sized lots there. Here are the elevations. With this project, the applicant is proposing a modern craftsman type of architectural style. All units are light earth tone colors consisting of primary colors of green and blue and accent colors of brown. This does include decorative lighting, recessed areas, board and batten siding, pop outs, faux shutters, varied stucco planes, Garage windows we have decorative venting pipes as well as well as window mullions They also included different elements to accentuate the craftsman style look they're going for So for example, they didn't include a lot of wood features and then just an emphasis with horizontal design. I With this project, the applicant is proposing one floor plan with reverse mirrored floor plans throughout. And so this is, again, 1,800 square feet. This consists of three bedroom, three bath, as well as a two-car garage. Here's their landscape plan. The applicant proposes a mix of drought-tolerant, non-evasive five gallon shrubs along with 15 gallon and 24 inch and 36 inch box trees in addition to some of the ground cover. Here's the existing site looking west from Kendall Drive. And then here are the renderings. Here you're able to see the staggered style of alternating floor plans and the different architectural styles just a little bit better. And just overall the buildings in a way and how they're going to be configured on the site. And then here's that same plan, but just a sort of dusk or nighttime rendering. So we have both the daytime and nighttime visuals for the planning commission's consideration. And so that being said, staff's recommendation is for Planning Commission to adopt resolution number 2026-028, finding the project categorically exempt pursuant to infill development. It does meet all the criteria for infill development with the size of the project and what's around it. And then ultimately approving subdivision 26-02 or tentative track map number 20858 and find and development permit type D 2602 based off the findings and the conditions of approval. As always staff did properly notice this project in preparation for tonight's hearing up until now I haven't received any public comments and staffs been monitoring the phones and emails and We that concludes my presentation staff and the applicant are here if you have any questions.

Thank you Thank you at this time. I'll go ahead and open the public hearing at 6 56 p.m. And give the applicant an opportunity to speak

Sorry, can I have you just put on your mic?

Good evening, commissioners and staff. My name is Jose Ponce, and I'm here on behalf of a construction LLC, and I'm representing the project. I didn't really have anything to say other than they told me to sign in, so I figured I'd sign in just in case I need to speak or something.

Thank you. Are there any questions by the commission for the applicants? Commissioner Pratt.

Hey, how you doing? Fantastic, sir, thank you. This looks like a good project for my neighborhood. That's right.

Are there utilities to the property already? I believe they're on the street. We're obviously gonna have to take them in to the property, but they're on site. So will there be a proposed street closures? as far as for temporary closure? Yeah, just when you're doing the street crossings and everything? I believe so. I'm not aware of that, to be honest with you, but there's really no one access to that street. There's nothing. I mean, nobody drives down that street, so this will be the only project that actually will be directly in the pathway of that street.

Okay, and my other question is, do you guys just have dust and noise mitigation plans, start times and things of that nature?

Yes, it's part of the standard condition of approval, that hours of operation, dust control, that we do have staff available, that if there's those types of things, that those should be addressed as soon as possible.

Of course. Of course, and that's all I got. Thanks. Yep, yep, no problem. Thank you.

Commissioner Ali. I have a question. For the back of the houses, I see the flood control over there. Is it going to be kind of a little fencing over there to secure that area for kids not to jump into that?

Oh, absolutely. So to the right of us, it's all block wall. There's already housing there. To the left of us, it's all chaining fence. So most of that, I mean, the entire left side from where the flood channel's at, all that's going to be covered up. Those are going to be most of the backyards to the homes in that direction.

That's my question, and I'd like to welcome your project to the city. Thank you, sir.

I appreciate you. Thank you.

Yeah, just if I may, to add to that, there's existing chain link that's been there for quite some time as part of the proposal of this project. They are removing that, and they're going to have vinyl fencing along the perimeter boundary of the subject site and the properties there.

Thank you. I have a question. Are you asking for any in lieu or fair share fees to be paid by the city?

Not that I'm aware of.

If I may, no, because they're doing all the off-site improvements.

Thank you. And you agree with all of the conditions of approval for the project? Yes. Is there parking going to be allowed on Western? I didn't see if there would be. Yeah. Is there parking allowed on Western?

We can regroup with traffic. Up until now, I haven't seen any signage saying they can't or any painted red curbs or anything like that. But we can get you an answer.

Thank you. I was just curious. It doesn't affect the project or anything. I don't mean construction parking. I mean after the project is completed, yeah. Is there any other questions by the commission? No?

I have a question to staff, perhaps. A lot of these projects we're approving, I don't know what the standards are for street width, but since we've incorporated so many ADUs in various neighborhoods, The cars are parking around on the streets. And it looks like there's a lot of cases where emergency vehicles or just driving down a street is difficult in a lot of cases. So when they started allowing all the ADUs, did they make any conditions or consideration for widening any of the streets? That's a good question.

I think not only San Bernardino, but cities overall throughout California have concerns with just the influx of ADUs and parking and how emergency vehicles would access them. As we're aware, but a lot of cities don't have any regulation for parking, that's the thing. So we plan accordingly based off of just the general plan and the size of the streets and what the single family development would otherwise allow and accommodate. The ADUs, it's hard to govern just because we have limited, cities have limited teeth in them. We just have guidelines on architecture I'm even parking they've been exempt in a lot of ways. We have the architecture the spacing between the structures to the property line as far as planning regulations go there's there's not a whole lot that we have.

So what you're saying is there has been no change to the requirements for the width of the street? So you have cars that are going east or west, and they can still allow parked cars?

Yeah, I mean, I'm not in traffic or anything like that, but the streets are accommodated based off of just whatever the general plan identifies the street classification to be.

Yeah, I've been in many streets in San Bernardino where you actually have to pull over and let an oncoming car go by. so you can pull back out and the flow, and if that was an emergency vehicle, it'd be a real problem.

Please use your microphone, your microphone. Your microphone.

I was just agreeing with Commissioner Quigley, and a lot of times the property out in front or the side is too small to park more than two cars, so they have to park on the streets.

The benefit with this property and the subject site is it is typically you've seen just naturally space gets a little bit more dense. A lot of the projects, the lot sizes are a lot smaller. In this case here, you're at almost two acres with just max, almost maximizing the density at, at seven homes. So the lot sizes in comparison are on the sizable side. They're a little bit bigger than normal.

Thank you. If there's no more questions, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing at 7.03 p.m. and entertain a motion. I'll go ahead and move to approve. Is there a second?

I'll second the motion.

Second by Pratt.

Commissioner Lopez? Yes. Commissioner Ali? Yes. Commissioner Quill? Yes. Chair Sherrick? Yes. Commissioner Pratt?

Yes.

Vote passes unanimously.

Thank you guys, appreciate you guys. Thank you guys for your time. Thank you. We're gonna do some more of those too. Thank you guys.

Thank you. Item number three.

All right. Hello again. Good to be back. I guess shifting backwards a bit before us is item number three. This is conditional use permit number 26-05 and public convenience or necessity number 26-012. So this project is a request for their approval to upgrade an existing alcoholic beverage control license or otherwise known as ABC for short. They have an existing type 40 which authorizes on sale consumption of beer at the premise and they're requesting to upgrade to a type 48 Which is beer wine and distilled spirits? so this project as always this will get into momentarily, but the address is at 357 West Highland Avenue and then the zoning of the property is commercial general one or CG one for short and Here's an aerial view of the site, again, located at 357 West Highland Avenue. More specifically, sort of mid-block, you have Arrowhead over there to the east and then D Street over there to the west. Within the vicinity, there are primarily commercial uses. Directly north, south, east, and west are other commercial-related uses. The zone of the property is Commercial General 1, which is consistent with our general plan land use designation. And here's their floor plan. The alcohol will be on the north end of where the bar is located, only accessible to employees for distribution to patrons. And here is an existing site. Here is the existing site looking north, directly north. And some quick background, this is within census tract 54. You can see the boundaries sort of delineated here in red. This area is approximately half a square mile. And per alcoholic beverage control, they allow six on sale establishments and currently there are eight. As such, this tract is already over concentrated. And if approved, this would put the total to remain at eight, which is why we have provided the public convenience or necessity finding before us tonight. As represented before us are the approximate location and distances of the other on sale establishments. So as mentioned in the previous slide, we are asking for a public convenience or necessity finding as part of this project because of the over concentration. Now with the help of our police department, they ran calls for service, they ran statistics, that sort of thing, and found that out of that crime review period, uh, there were 215 crimes that were observed and 48 of them were alcohol related. However, as standard practice, The police department neither approves nor denies this project. So we have no recommendation from them. That being said, myself, city staff, and the applicant are here for questions you may have. We did properly notice this project. And similar to the last project up until now, we haven't received any public comment. And that does conclude my presentation, and we're available if you have any questions. Thank you.

Thank you. I'll go ahead and open up the public hearing at 7.07. I have no speaker slips on this project. Does the applicant wish to speak? Please come forward. Were you sworn in at the beginning of the meeting? No. Okay, can we go ahead and swear her in before she provides testimony?

Okay, can I have you raise your right hand, please? Okay, thank you. Do you solemnly affirm that the testimony you're about to give before this body will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth? If so, please say I do. I do. Thank you.

Perfect, thank you. Good evening, Chairperson and members of the Planning Commission. My name is Liliker Damaso with LiquorLicenseBrokers.com. I am here today as a representative of today's last item on the agenda. I am also here with the applicant and my business partner, Robert De La Torre, as well, from LiquorLicenseBrokers.com. We respectfully request that the commission approves the application or considers it for approval, consistent with the recommendation of the planning division staff. I wanted to begin with an important distinction about this specific application. This is not a request to establish a new bar. This is a request to introduce alcohol, or is it to request a new sales of alcohol at an existing location? This is an existing sports bar that already holds a Type 40 on-sale license, ABC. And that premise has actually held that Type 40 ABC license. since 1995 through various patrons. Most recently, the applicant has held that type 40 license since 2018, and she's done so responsibly. And you guys can look at the ABC website that she holds no type of issues that she's had with the license since she operated since 2018. Again, the request before you is to upgrade those licensing privileges from a type 40 to a type 48 ABC license. The underlying use of the property as a sports bar is not changing. The floor plan itself is not expanding. Again, it's just the upgrade of the liquor license. We do recognize the commission's concerns regarding alcohol establishments, particularly with those concerns involve crime, over concentration, noise, loitering, and late night activity. We do take those concerns seriously, as does the applicant, and I would specifically like to address the police department's review. Police department identified elevated crime statistics within the larger reporting district. The reporting district experienced 215 part one and part two crimes during the one year review period compared within a citywide reporting district average of approximately 99.76 as stated by the planner. We're not attempting to minimize or disregard those statistics. However, there is a very important statistic in the police department's report I also wanted to point out. They conducted a separate one-year incident analysis specifically for the address covering the years 2025 through 2026 and there wasn't any specific incident or there has never been any specific call for that address itself with regarding alcohol issues. And we do believe that that distinction is valuable and important. The surrounding reporting district may experience elevated crime, but the police department's own data does not indicate a history of significant police activity generated by this particular establishment. And again, the location has been licensed with the type 40 since 1995. In addition, the police expresses, states in the memorandum that it does not endorse or oppose the application and offers neither approval nor denial, which we consider is good news. Nevertheless, the applicant understands that a Type 48 license carries additional responsibility. She's very aware.

She's willing to go beyond the security measures already contained in the proposed conditions of approval.

The applicant is voluntarily proposing a dedicated security guard Thursdays through Sundays, considering a time from 6 PM to closing time 2 AM. The guard will be present during the evening and late night hours when additional supervision is most appropriate. And will assist when monitoring the entrance, patrons, exterior areas, parking areas to discourage exactly that loitering, maintaining conduct, and ensuring patrons leave their premises appropriately at closing time. Conditions also require adequate exterior and parking lot lighting, prohibit loitering, require security cameras throughout the project site, and of course, require suspicious or criminal activity to be reported to law enforcement. And the applicant already has had those cameras and everything set in motion and in place. All owners and employees involved in alcohol sales, and this is also something that ABC requires, they have to complete the ABC-approved responsible beverage service training. And this includes training regarding IDing, servicing to minors, recognizing intoxicated patients as well. I also wanted to address the overconcentration issue. And we understand why the city has identified the overconcentration as an issue for the census tract. However, I wanted to respectfully ask the commission to look a little bit more closely at what those eight license records actually represent. And if I may ask, is it possible to go back to, I don't know if you can zoom in a little bit. But on the licenses, or if you can see, I mean, yeah, you guys can see it right there on the bottom left-hand corner. Of the eight licenses identified in the table, two are what's called type 58 caterers permits. Those two Type 58 permits belong to businesses that are already represented in the table by their primary Type 47 licenses. So what does that mean? Type 58 licenses cannot be used on its own. They're not a standalone type of license. It's a secondary license that's given to licensees, holders that have on-site privileges, such as what's already in the table. Stone and cherries which has a tight foot for 47 and also a 58 as you can see an uptown or which also holds a tight 47 and a tight 58. Therefore the 8 ABC records do not necessarily represent the 8 separate alcohol serving establishments. They represent six distinct business premises with two of those businesses holding an additional type 58 caterers permit. And this is a very important distinction that we wanted to point out today. So no, we're not suggesting that a type 58 is not an ABC permit, it is. Rather, we're asking the commission to consider the purpose of the concentration analysis to evaluate the concentration and impact of alcohol serving establishments in the community. ABC itself describes a Type 58 license as a caterer's permit that allows qualifying on-sale licensees to cater alcoholic beverages for off-site consumption. What does that mean? If I am a restaurant and I hold a 47, which is for on-sale consumption, and I also have a Type 58, it means that an applicant or a business owner can come to me and ask for those services for me to cater their party or private event at a different location. And when you hold a type 58, ABC limits you the times that you can actually offer those services in a year. So operationally, the Type 58 does not create another permanent bar, restaurant, or any type of retail alcohol establishment at that location. If we were to remove the duplication created by those two ancillary Type 58 licenses or permits, then we would leave with six distinct establishments identified within that census tract, which is what is allowed, not the eight.

And if I may add, just to simplify that, just to bring some clarity, overconcentration unfortunately is the norm. It's a highly dense area with just naturally over time you have a lot of establishments that sell alcohol. So yes, ABC places a limit on the certain number you can have regardless if it's on or off. But the standard is that you have an overconcentration and that is quite common.

Correct, it is. Especially for 48, type 48 licenses. And then lastly, I did want to add, if the entitlement is approved, this would not mean an addition to the already over-concentrated census tract. The applicant would cancel their current type 40 and it would be replaced with a 48. Under the proposed conditions of approval, planning will conduct inspections every six months over a two-year period, again to verify compliance. And one of the conversations that George and I have had within this process is the fact that The previously approved type 40 at the site was approved. They have what's called the grandfathered use, meaning that there is no conditional use permit that was ever approved at the site in 1995. So if the item is approved, then the city will be able to have operatives and conditions that the applicant will need to abide by. And in the event that that doesn't happen, then, of course, the city will take whatever measures are needed at that time. And again, the applicant who's also here, she understands the responsibility that comes with this license. She's been a part of this community since 2018, has gone through COVID, which is admirable, has gone through fixing her roof which has fallen and is going through all of those expenses as well. And she's resilient, she really likes to continue to be a part of this community and she's requesting the upgrade because at the end she wants to be a viable business and continue to be a part of this community. So we are here available if you have any questions and we do appreciate your consideration at this time.

Thank you. Are there any questions by the commission?

Yes, I have a question. I'm looking at the chart down below here, and it looks like I see a lot of type 47. Correct. But you're asking for a type 48. What's a 47?

A 47 is for a sit-down restaurant. 48 is for a bar. So the main difference is food is served or has to be served with a type 47. With a type 48, food is not served.

Okay, because I see no 48s on this list. Okay.

I have a question. You said that the applicant is willing to have a security guard on Thursdays through Sundays from six to two a.m. Is the applicant willing to put that as a condition of approval? Are we willing to amend the conditions of approval to add that?

Can I bring her over here so she can? Yeah, absolutely. And if it's okay, I can translate in Spanish. Please, yes. So security guard. que si usted esta de acuerdo que le pongan eso como parte de las condiciones de que tiene que tener uno de seis.

Gracias. Thank you. I have no other questions. If there are no other questions from the commission, I'll go ahead and close. Are there any other questions?

I have one more question.

Commissioner Quill.

Okay, I'd like to talk to you about the parking. Now, do you park on the west side of the building? Or, I'm sorry, yeah, the west side? Or do you park in back of the building?

so she says there is shared parking in the back of the building but and at nighttime when she utilizes it it's empty so she'll her patrons are able to use that as

Okay, and there's adequate lighting on both elevations on the, that would be the west side and the back of the building?

Their lighting?

If I may, yes, and that's part of the conditions of approval.

Okay. Lights and cameras.

Are there any questions by the commission? No, I'll go ahead and close the public hearing at 7.21 p.m. and entertain a motion. I'll go ahead and move to approve. Is there a second?

I'll second.

Oh, can we draw straws for that? Commissioner Quill is the second, thank you.

Commissioner Lopez?

No.

Commissioner Ali?

Yes.

Commissioner Quill?

Yes.

Chair Sherrick? Yes. Commissioner Pratt? Yes. All right, both passes, four to one. Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you very much.

Yes, thank you. That is our last public hearing. Do we have any commissioner reports? Do we have any director reports?

Yes, Madam Chair and Commissioners, we do have a director's report this evening. Mike Rosales, senior planner with the planning division. So our updates today is planning did 68 zoning verifications for business licenses since the last hearing we've had in this room. We have 17 new projects that were submitted between the last meeting and this meeting. The Building and Safety Division issued 251 permits and finaled 87 from the last meeting to this meeting. The Lutheran Social Services received their certificate of occupancy today. I did the final sign off and they will be up and running. The iconic branding iron is set to reopen its doors again. The owners are currently going through a facade and tenant improvements, so hopefully they'll be open before the holiday season. September 26, 2026, the city will host the anniversary of the Mount Vernon Bridge reopening. There will be vendors, car shows, music, and food. That will be during the daytime. I believe it starts at 1030. um the gpac meeting occurred on uh monday august 31st uh 2026 and is one of the last meetings needed to complete the general plan update we believe it will come in front of the planning commission uh november if not next month so we're working on that um also we need to elect a new vice chair so um if you want to give it some thought mary will be in for the october 13th meeting so maybe we can go ahead and do that then And then Commissioner Lopez, did you want to give me addresses or send me some addresses of anybody that you've seen that is not landscaping? Because I will go out there personally and take care of it. You could shoot me an email. Yes, thank you, yes. And I'll go ahead and make sure that that gets done. And if there's anything else that anybody else needs, you can go ahead and just give me the assignment and I'll take care of it.

That was actually, I forgot I had a comment I was gonna ask if Commissioner could get with you offline and we could get code enforcement or planning out there.

We sure will. Anything else? No?

So it sounds like you're busy.

I'm very busy, we're all very busy. That's good. We're getting a lot of projects in. Yeah, keeping people happy, keeping things moving.

And reaching back out to applicants.

And reaching back to applicants, making sure everybody's in a good spot. Yep. Thank you. You're very welcome.

If there are no further updates or comments by the commission, I'll go ahead and adjourn the commission meeting at 7.24 PM. Thank you.