Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Minister, statement of purpose. Sorry, is there no non-agenda public comments for special meetings? cool learn something new every day all right um the zoning administrator is appointed by the planning and economic development director has the responsibility and authority to conduct public meetings and hearings and to act on applications for minor or reduced review authority projects or entitlements a determination or decision by the zoning administrator may be appealed to the design review and preservation board planning commission or city council as applicable to the decision All actions taken by the zoning administrator may be appealed within 10 calendar days. If the final day of the appeal period falls on a non-business day, the appeal period will be extended to the next business day. Our first scheduled item is a public meeting, MITRE design review for expansion of the Children's Museum on West Steele Lane. I have no ex parte disclosures on this item. I did visit the site. Can we have a staff report, please?

Okay, all right, good morning. Thank you, Zoning Administrator McKay. My name is Anna Michaelson. I'm the project planner for the Children's Museum of Sonoma County Expansion Project, located at 1835 West Steel Lane. This project is a minor design review to construct a new 7,272 square foot two-story museum building, which will offer expanded exhibit space, classrooms, administrative offices, and storage. This will also involve the demolition of a single-story museum building, as well as a new 336 square foot maker space building. And the project also includes new outdoor design and landscaping features, including an upgraded plaza entry with enhanced ADA accessible parking. The project is located in the northwest quadrant of Santa Rosa on a 4.02 acre site. And as you can see, the project site is there on the left, and the project location within the overall city is the red star on the right. The general plan land use designation is public institutional. The zoning district is public and institutional north station area, so combining district. The project is consistent with, or sorry, the general plan and zoning districts are consistent. And museums are allowed by right within the PI zoning district. The project is consistent with the North Station Area Specific Plan, which identifies the Children's Museum as part of a cultural center with family-oriented activities along West Steel Lane, and supports Policy E-1.4 to expand the area's tourist focal point centered around the Schultz Museum and Ice Arena. The project also implements General Plan Goal 6-8 and Action 6-2.6 by promoting accessible amenities and opportunities that support community connection and well-being. Here's the site plan, and so the in yellow is really the area of work, and then the overall project site is in the tan. The smaller building on the left is the maker space, and then the larger yellow is the two-story building, as well as the plaza, the new sort of ADA parking. The project meets all of the PISA zoning district development standards, including lot coverage, setbacks, height, access and parking. The traffic analysis that was submitted by the applicant concluded that there is less than significant impact on vehicle miles traveled and that the project site is adequately served by existing pedestrian, bicycle and transit networks. Additionally, there is no tree removal as part of this project, and all existing trees will be preserved. Here you're looking at various elevations of the project. The project satisfies applicable design guidelines, including building orientation, articulation, landscaping, materials, sustainability. Here's a rendering of the two-storey building. will be sited on top of the demolished one-storey building. And it will also, as I said earlier, improve site circulation with a larger arrival plaza featuring a brick paved maze, a new entry corridor, as well as enhanced ADA parking access. And on the bottom slide, you can make out the brick... paved maze In this slide Here's an additional rendering of the 336 square foot makerspace And that's in the rear of the site well rear north east east The building design incorporates corrugated metal panels and roofing, which are durable, sustainable, and recyclable. There's a dynamic color palette with varied materials that help break up the massing and reduce the visual scale of the project. And again, the project meets all the design guidelines under the North Station area, urban design, and as well as the city's design guidelines. The project was reviewed for compliance with the Environmental Quality Act, CEQA. It's categorically exempt per Section 15301 because it involves construction of two commercial structures not exceeding 10,000 square feet where all necessary public services and facilities are available and the surrounding area is not environmentally sensitive. Additionally, it's exempt, statutorily exempt, under Guidelines Section 15183 because it's consistent with the North Station Area Specific Plan for which an EIR was certified by Council in 2020, and it's also consistent with the 2050 General Plan for which an EIR was certified by Council in 2025. There are no unresolved issues as a result of staff review. The applicant has reviewed and accepted all conditions of approval. Staff analysis has concluded that all required findings can be met, and there were no public comments received as a part of this project. Therefore, it is recommended by the Planning and Economic Development Department that the Zoning Administrator, by resolution, approve minor design review for the Sonoma County Museum expansion project located at 1835 West Steel Lane. My contact information is on the bottom left, and the applicant team is also here should you have any specific questions. Thank you, and this concludes my presentation.

Great, thank you. Would the applicant like to make any comments or presentation at this time? Okay, thank you. With that, let's go to public comment. If you're attending in person and would like to make a comment, please approach a podium at this time. Okay, seeing no one approached the podium, I'll close public comment. I did have some questions that I sent to Planner Michelson prior to the meeting, and she answered all of them comprehensively. Generally, I think this is a great project. I think this is definitely an asset to our community. A lot of people attend. various offerings in this corridor from the schultz family and the managers and such of those facilities i think this design is a great improvement to the existing um uh development which is not uh it's a it's an expansion obviously and um the playful kind of coloring and material changes i think lend itself well to kind of the nature of the use i think the maker space is a great will be a great opportunity for kids and be very interactive as well. It's great that there's no trees being removed. I think that's a really cool aspect of this project as well. And in addition to increasing the on-site solar production in coordination with the existing canopies over the parking lot, which I noticed during my site visit. Let's see. As staff mentioned in their draft resolution of approval, this is directly consistent with policies of the North Station Area Specific Plan, which call to expand the area's tourist focal point centered around the museum and the ice arena. along with other cultural and recreational activities. So I really appreciate the applicant's investment in this project. I don't think I have any further good things to say about this project. I really appreciate your work on this and staff's presentation. With that, I have no further conditions of approval or changes to any of the existing conditions as presented by staff in the draft resolution of approval, and as such, will approve the project. Thank you. Please note that this action is final unless an appeal is filed with the Planning and Economic Development Department within 10 calendar days of today's decision. For this item, that date is Monday, June 15, 2026. And that concludes our business for this meeting, so this meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.