Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Administrators to order. Looking at the draft minutes of the August 13th, 2026 meeting, we are now taking public comments on those draft minutes. If you are attending in person and would like to make a public comment, please approach the podium at this time. Seeing none, I'll close the public comment and approve those minutes as submitted. Non-agenda public comment. We are not taking public comments on item three, non-agenda matters. This is the time when any person may address matters not listed on the agenda, but which are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the zoning administrator. If you are attending in person and wish to make a non-agenda public comment, please approach the podium at this time. Seeing no one, I will close the non-agenda public comment and move on to the statement of purpose. The zoning administrator is appointed by the planning and economic development director and 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. There are no zoning administrator reports, nor are there any consent items, so we'll move on to our scheduled item for this morning, which is a public meeting for the Nelson Project PLN 250470, and I have no ex parte disclosure on this item. May we please have a staff report?

Good morning, the project in front of you today is Nelson Project, which requires a minor landmark alteration permit, and this is located at 634 Wheeler Street. The applicant requests approval of a modern landmark alteration permit to replace existing exterior wall lopsiding with James Hardy fiber cement lopsiding and to replace 22 existing windows with Marvin Essential fiberglass frame windows. The replacement windows will be installed on a life-like basis with no changes to existing window openings. And here is a location map of where the site is located, and this site is within the Burbank Gardens Preservation District near downtown. And this district primarily includes small-scale residential buildings, and these small-scale residential buildings have an architectural style of a bungalow, which this structure has. and here is the neighborhood context of the proposed location in downtown Santa Rosa near Julliard Park along Santa Rosa Avenue, and the proposed location is indicated by the purple star. The zoning and land use destination is plan development 0225-H, and the general plan land use destination is low density residential. In here is a floor plan, and there are 22 windows that are proposed to be replaced on a light flight basis. And the top of the floor plan is the second floor addition, which is not part of this project. And here are existing photos of the site right now as is. And the proposed work retains the existing building form, window openings, fenestration pattern, and residential character. The replacement materials are intended to be visually compatible with the existing residence and surrounding structures. Here are some additional photos of the existing windows. As you can see, these windows are not up to par. They can use some replacement. And here are more photos of the existing siding, and just like the windows, this siding is not up to par and can use some replacing. And here is a mock-up of what the structure would look like with the proposed windows and cement lap siding. And this is a material slide for the windows and the siding. And the slide shows that the siding is green, but the proposed project is to replace the siding with beige siding, which matches the existing structure. This project has been reviewed in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act and it has been found categorically exempt pursuant to SECA guidelines section 15331 because this is rehabilitation of historical resource. Additionally, it is categorically exempt pursuant to SECA guidelines section 15331 because this is an existing facility with no expansion of use. At this time, there are no unresolved issues as a result of staff review. No public comment has been received. Staff analysis has concluded that all findings can be met and the applicant has reviewed and accepted all conditions of approval. It is recommended by the Planning and Economic Development Department that the zoning administrator approve a resolution for a minor landmark alteration permit to replace existing siding with fiber cement siding and to replace 22 existing windows with new windows and the same existing openings at 634 Wheeler Street. And my contact information is at the bottom left of the screen should you have any questions.

Great, thank you. Do you know if the applicant is on Zoom?

No.

Okay, thank you. So with that, let's go to public comment. If you're attending in person and would like to make a public comment on this item, please approach the podium at this time. Seeing no one in the room, I will close the public comment. And yeah, I think this is a great investment of a property in a historic district. I've spent a lot of time in this district and I love the charm of the neighborhood. And I have noticed that many of the homes could use some love. So I appreciate the applicant's investment in their property. I can make the required findings as outlined in the draft resolution of approval prepared by staff. I agree with each and every finding that staff has made. I have reviewed the conditions of approval and have no edits or suggested additional conditions of approval. So with that, I approve the project. Thank you. Please note 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 Tuesday, September 8th, 2026. And that concludes our business for this meeting. So the meeting is now adjourned. Thank you.