Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

ready. Okay. I'd like to call the order of the planning commission meeting to order at 6 p.m. April 13, 2026. Uh, could I get a roll call, please? Certainly. Commissioner Sarno here. Commissioner Cervantes here. Commissioner Flores here. Vice Chair Yala here. Chair Jimenez here. All present. Okay. Okay, I would like to call upon Commissioner Sarno to please lead us in 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 liberty and justice for all. Great. Thank you, Commissioner. Exparte Communications. This section is intended to allow all planning commissioners the opportunity to reveal any disclosure regarding site visits or exparte communications about public hearings. Are there any exparte communications? None. None.

None.

None. Okay. None. Moving on to public comments on non-aggenda and non-public hearing agenda items. At this time, the general public may address the planning commission on both non-aggenda and non-public hearing agenda items. Comments relating to public hearing items will be heard during public hearing. Please be aware that the maximum time allowed for members to publicly speak shall not exceed three minutes per speaker. State law prohibits the planning commission for taking action or entertaining extended discussion on a topic not listed on the agenda. Please show courtesy to others and direct all your comments to the chairperson. Planning Commission Secretary, do we have any members of the public wishing to speak today? No speakers today.

Great. I will close public comment and move on to the next item. Okay. Consent calendar. All matters listed under consent calendar are considered to be routine. Any consent item a planning commissioner wishes to discuss should be designated at this time. All other items may be be approved in a single motion for consent. Item number one. Is there a motion and a second for the approval of this consent? I'll move. I'll second. Okay, we got a first and a second. Can we get a roll call vote, please? Commissioner Sarno, I. Commissioner Cervantes, I. Commissioner Flores, I.

Vice Chair Yella, I. Chair Jimenez, I. Passes Fiser. So ordered. There's a 14-day appeal appeal period for anyone wishing to appeal these matters. Moving on to public hearing. We will now begin with item number two on the agenda. At this time, I will open the public hearing at 6:04 p.m. I now call upon consultant Laurel Rhymer to introduce this item.

Good evening, commissioners. The item before you tonight is a general plan amendment to amend table LU1 and related uh pages pertaining to floor area ratios within the general plan. Can I just Thank you. So on February 8th, 2022, the city council adopted the Santa Fe Springs 20 240 general plan, which was a comprehensive update of the city's general plan with a 20-year planning horizon. The general plan included seven required elements and one optional element. The land use element is considered the blueprint for development within the city. And within that there are it consists of several land use categories that identify the types and intensities of land uses that are allowed within that land use designation. The 2040 general plan also added floor area ratios for all non-residential land uses uh land use designations. Floor area ratio or F is the ratio between the total gross floor area of all buildings on a lot divided by the total lot area. Higher FS generally indicate larger buildings or buildings with more stories. Although uh the size and height of buildings can vary greatly within a set F. For Santa Fe Springs, the general plan has a F of 1.04. 0 for the light industrial land use designation and 75 for the industrial land use designation. Prior to the general plan uh adoption, the city had relied solely on the zoning code to dictate or restrict building

sizes and that would be through development standards within the zoning code such as building height setbacks and parking requirements. Um unfortunately when we adopted the general plan update there were some uh uses that frequently uh exceed the floor area ratio maximums that we had set within the general plan. However, those uses are allowed within the zoning code. So for example, modern-day warehouse buildings are typically made or designed with several stories and they frequently have a floor area ratio closer to 1.5. So per the general plan with strict adherence to the general plan with it saying maximum uh the land or the self- storage buildings that have been approved by the city in the recent years would not be allowed. So the general plan amendment for before you tonight would be to change the word maximum within floor area or after floor air ratio to typical. So as you can see here in very small print this is uh pages land use 24 or LU24 and LU25. So as you might be able to see in red um under the intensity of 1.0 O F A R maximum is crossed out and replaced with typical and similarly for the industrial 75 typical is is crossed off or F is maximum is crossed off and replaced with typical and then if you advance the slide one more thank you. Uh similarly in the land uses table uh there some updates needed to be made uh specifically to cross off the word and maximums in the title and then to clarify whether the floor area ratio was a map maximum or a typical floor area

ratio. And so that's for consistency. As you can see under the commercial item it already has 1.0 F maximum uh and the other ones did not. So now we're just clarifying whether it's the maximum or a typical. Advance to the next slide. Thank you. So the general plan amendment um is consistent with the three general plan goals and policies listed here. Namely uh this city initiated general plan amendment will allow for future users uh in various uses without requiring a general plan amendment. So, this will save future applicants the time needed to go through a general plan amendment and also the um fees for the um general plan amendment. The general plan amendment reduces barriers to development and provides flexibility for future uses that may not currently be envisioned um while still relying on the zoning code for uh to dictate or restrict building sizes. The general plan also uh enables more creativity with building design by removing the strict cap on floor area ratio when the development standards which historically have worked for Santa Fe Springs um will continue to be um required to achieve a similar outcome as floor area ratio. So this general plan amendment is exempt from SQA. um it would simply change the uh words from maximum to typical. So it qualifies for the common sense exemption pursuant to SQA guidelines section 15061B3. So it does not have the potential to create uh significant impact on the environment because it does not allow for additional development. All requirements within the zoning code are still in effect. Um, and future projects would be required to comply with all health and safety regulations. And

additionally, any future buildings that would be constructed within these land use designations would have to comply with the zoning code. And at that time, they would go through uh SQA review for that specific project. This item was publicly noticed on March 24th, 2026. It was posted throughout the city and published in the Whittier Daily News and staff has not received any correspondence regarding this item. So therefore, staff is recommending that the planning commission find and determine that the project is categorically exempt from SQA, find and determine that the project is consistent with the goals, policies, and programs of the general plan, and adopt resolution number 317-2026, which incorporates the planning commission's findings, and actions regarding this matter, and recommends that the city council approve and adopt a resolution. Um, and because this is a general plan amendment, it does require the approval from the city council. Um, but only one reading. So once the city council were to um make their determination, that determination is final. And that concludes my presentation. I'm available for any questions.

Thank you, Laurel. Uh, we will now move to commissioner questions or comments. Does any member of the commission have any questions or comments for staff? I have one. Can you go back to um LU24 and 25 that page?

So, two two more slides. There you go. Yeah. Is this to act because I haven't reviewed this in a while, but like just for consistency when you guys end you put periods. Some have some have them and some don't. I don't know if that matters, but that way there can't be a continuation of other verbiage afterwards or um say like under industrial intensity 1.0 you know, F typical nothing and then the bullet point below it's like period just to this point because then you can just add on to it and then you know it ends here but see like

for consistency. Exactly. Okay. So like all these should either have them or not. Right. It's a style thing. I mean, it could be one way or the other, but I think he makes a good point that it should be consistent. We can certainly make that that change when it goes to the city council. Okay. If the if the planning commission wants to adopt that, that's all that's all I have. Yes. Great. Good catch. Any other questions or comments? I don't like the fun. No joke. We got a little bigger.

Yeah, I could have done two slides for this. Okay, so we will now open public comments for this item. Planning Commission Secretary, did we receive any speaking cards or written comments for this item? None.

Okay. If there are no further commission questions or comments, I will now close public hearing at 6:13. May I have a motion and a second to approve resolution number 3172026, which incorporates the planning commission's findings and actions regarding this matter and recommends that the city council approves and adopts the resolution to effectuate and proposed amendments to the text of the city's general plan. Could I have a motion in a second? Second, please. I'll second.

Okay, we got a motion and a second. Can I get a roll call vote, please? Commissioner Sarnum, hi. Commissioner F uh Cervantes, I. Commissioner Flores, I. Vice Chair Yella, I. Chair Jimenez, I just 50. So ordered.

There's a 14-day appeal period for anyone wishing to appeal this matter. Okay, moving on to item number three on the agenda. At this time, I will open the public hearing at 6:14 p.m. I now call upon consultant, planning consultant Laurel Rhymer to introduce this item, please. Uh this next item before you tonight is a zoning code amendment to amend section 155.181 which is the principal permitted uses within the limited manufacturing zone. Next slide. So the vast majority of Santa Fe Springs according to the 2040 general plan um is devoted to industrial land uses. Um and then in our sphere of influence only the vast majority is dedicated to residential land uses. Only 7% of the city's land area is devoted to commercial land uses and only 4% of the the city sphere of influence is dedicated to commercial land uses. The zoning code currently only allows for barber shops and beauty shops within the commercial and mixeduse land designations, which are such a small percentage of the city's land area. This means that there are several um personal care item or or personal care services that are not readily accessible to residents uh within Santa Fe Springs. And over the years we have had applicants come in wishing to open barber shops and beauty shops within areas outside of the commercial uh land use designations or sorry rather outside of the commercial uh zones but they have been prohibited from doing so because we

don't allow for barber shops and beauty shops. Uh next slide please. So, the proposal before the planning commission tonight is to amend section 155.181, which is the principal permitted uses within the limited manufacturing zone, which would allow for barber shops and beauty shops to be allowed uh as permitted uses within the limited manufacturing zone. And because our code builds where if something is allowed within the limited manufacturing zone, it's also allowed within the um M1 zone and M2 zones, that means that um this zoning code amendment would essentially allow for barber shops and beauty shops within all of the manufacturing zones within the city. It is important to note that we are adding this caveat that in order for them to be permitted um or a permitted use, they need to have a parking justification study first be approved by the director of community development. And that's because most of the industrial buildings are constructed with a parking ratio of one space per 500 square feet of building area. And there is not currently a parking ratio for personal care services, but for commercial services, usually it's 1 to 250 or or somewhere in between. So by requiring that a parking justification study be reviewed and approved by the planning or the director of community development that requires um or that ensures that that use will be compatible with either the existing tenants if it's a multi-tenant situation or that the building itself does have sufficient parking to avoid spillover effects. Um similarly for modifications, we get parking justification or parking modification requests regularly before the planning commission and those parking um studies

would include things like what are your business operations, how many employees do you have, how do you plan to operate with um appointments only or will you take walk-ins and so on and so forth. So, it's a way for staff to vet these uses to ensure um that we anticipated parking uh issues will not be experienced. Next slides, please. The zoning code amendment is consistent with the four general plan goals and policies um seen here. Uh, barber shops and beauty shops can be complimentary to business park and industrial uses because that's where people are. They're working in these areas. Um, they could go on their lunch break to, you know, get their hair done, whatever it may be. And um, the vast majority of the city is industrial and then the vast majority of the sphere of influence is residential. So we've inadvertently limited a lot of these needed service items by um restricting these uses to only the commercial areas. So by allowing for these in industrial areas, we've now provided for additional services for our residents. Um and then by requiring a parking justification study that will ensure that we are minimizing the impact of these uses to existing um industrial and and business park uses. Next slide. This only code amendment is exempt from SQA uh because it falls within the common sense exemption pursuant to SQA guidelines section 15061B3. Uh and that indicates that SQA is only applicable if it has the potential to create a significant effect on the environment. Um the proposed zoning code amendment would not be an activity with the potential to create significant effect on the environment uh because it

does not allow for additional development. This is for allowing uses within existing buildings and future projects would be required to comply with all health and safety regulations. Next slide. This project was publicly noticed on March 24th, 2026 and no comments were received. Next slide. So therefore, staff recommends that the planning commission find and determine that the project is categorically exempt from SQA, find and determine that the project is consistent with the goals, policies, and programs of the general plan, and adopt resolution number 318-2026, which incorporates the planning commission's findings and actions regarding this matter. um and recommends that the city council approve and adopt an ordinance. And because this is a change to the zoning code, it will require a first and second an introduction or the first reading and then a second reading or adoption by the city council. And after they make their determination if they were to approve it, it would go into effect 30 days thereafter. That concludes my presentation and I'm available for any questions.

Great. Thank you, Laurel. We will now move to commissioner questions or comments. Does any member of the commission have any questions or comments for the staff? Yes, sir.

Hi. Um, two well two actually. So, the first uh I think this is a a great idea for the simple fact is I think we're going to start seeing what's going on in the world right now. We're starting to see a lot more of these uh warehouses uh become vacant because the the type of businesses that were in there are no longer needed and wanted and it ends up being cheaper for a business like this to become in these types of areas rather than somewhere in the prominade that's $5 a square foot when you can get something like this for maybe a$150 or $2 a square foot. So, we're encouraging uh new types of business. I think that's a a great thing that we're doing. And for parking, I would say like for a business like this, maybe we look at how many chairs that they have there and then that would determine, you know, if you have six chairs there, then you're going to have six people. So, you need to make sure that you have a minimum of six spaces plus the barbers. So, that would be 12. So, something to that nature to help us. But I think this is a I think we're going to get more and more businesses um really going to these smaller type warehouses because of the fact that it's a lot cheaper for them to rent a place like that than in our commercial, which is better foot traffic, but when it costs twice as much. I think we just had a a barber shop that wasn't even here a year uh that was in the prominade and it already closed because just couldn't pay the rent. So, I think that's a a good idea. Thank you.

Yeah. No, I I I I second that. I think that um opening it up to uh different types of businesses. Um especially something like barber shops and and beauty salons. Um you know, it's it's an up andcoming trend right now. Um there's a lot of, you know, barbers now doing inhome haircuts because it's a lot cheaper. Um, so to to your point, um, if we can provide them with a space that isn't going to cost them an arm and a leg to, you know, rent an actual location, um, I think it it not only creates opportunity for the city, but also for these individuals. So, um, I think it's it's great.

Well, well, for a beauty shop, it's a little different because it's not just the hair. You also go in if they can set up a nail salon and if they do pedicures and all that requires a parking for the client and they get a lot of turnovers on those. So nice quality. I mean, an abundance of parking is something that you need to look at because I've I know a couple of ladies that have been run out of areas because the clientele was taking up too much of the parking and interfering with other clientele businesses. So, that's a good idea. It's great. Yeah.

Well, contrary to my colleagues, I have no need for that service, but I think business growth is always great. What about your back? I get waxed. Men Men get pedicures. Yes, we do. Consult with the counselor here. Okay. Any other questions or comments? Okay. So, we will now open public comments for this item. Planning Commission Secretary, did we receive any speaking cards or written comments for this item? None.

Okay. So, no further questions or comments. I will now close the public hearing at 6:25 p.m. May I have a motion to adopt resolution number 3182026, which incorporates the planning commission's findings and actions regarding this matter? A motion. I'll second. Okay. Uh, could I get a roll call vote, please? Commissioner Sarn, I. Commissioner Cervantes. I Commissioner Flores I, Vice Chair Yala, I, Chair Jimenez, I, passes 5-0.

So ordered, there's a 14-day appeal period for anyone wishing to appeal this matter. Moving on to new business. We will now begin with item number four on the agenda, new business. Staff is recommending a continuence to the May 11th meeting. Assistant Director Vince Velasco, can you please give us an update as to the reason for the continuence?

Yes, thank you, Chair. Um the main reason to recommend this continuence is due to the um applicants availability. Due to personal reasons, they weren't able to attend. So, it's in, you know, everyone's best interest that uh we pushed this to the uh May planning commission meeting. Um so, they have an opportunity to attend and be present for any questions or comments. Great. Thank you, Vince. If anyone wishes to speak on this continuence, please approach the podium. Okay. No one wishing to speak. So, can I get a motion to continue this item to the May 11th, 2026 planning commission meeting? I'll move. I'll second.

All right. We have a first and a second. Planning Commission Secretary. Roll call vote, please. Commissioner Sarno, I. Commissioner Cervantes. I. Commissioner Flores. I vice chair yella I chair Jimenez I passifer so ordered all right staff communications on items of community interest staff have any announcements? No, not tonight. Thank you, chair. Okay, great. Uh Commissioner AB1234 council conference reporting. Do any commissioners have something to report on? None. None. None. None.

And none here. Just hoping to see everyone on Saturday, April 25th, 2026 at the Artfest. Uh that being said, this meeting is now adjourned at at 6:27 p.m. The next meeting of the planning commission is set for May 11th, 2026 at 6 p.m. Thank you. Have a good evening, everyone. Yes, I got a question. How come when he's president? President, chair.