Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

I pledge allegiance to the flag of The United States Of America and to the republic for which is at hand. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.

Moving on to the next item, which is public comment. Got an empty chamber tonight. But if there's anybody who would like to make a comment on anything that is not on the agenda or would like to have something pulled from the consent calendar, this would be the time to do it. Seeing none, I close the public comment, move on to commissioner's reports and items of interest. Commissioners?

Seeing none, move on to the consent calendar.

I move that we approve the, the consent calendar as presented.

I second.

It's been moved and seconded. All in favor, say aye. Aye. Opposed? Consent calendar is adopted. Moving on to public hearings. We have one item, conditional use permit number 2026Dash01.

The item before you is a request by Maria Ramirez to operate a Century Mobile vending vehicle on property located at 1010 South Blackstone Street. The business will operate from 8AM to 11PM, seven days a week. The vending operation contains refrigerator, cooking appliances, and food preparation areas. Customers will have access to restrooms. There will be two tables where customers will be able to eat at.

The proposed site is Zone M 1 light industrial, and general plan designation is light industrial. The use requires a conditional use permit. The project is category exam pursuant to section one five three zero four of the in of the California Environmental Quality Act. In conclusion, staff recommends approval of conditional use permit application number 2026Dash01 subject to the recommended conditions approval provided in your staff report. This concludes my presentation. Staff is available to answer any further questions.

Thank you. This is a public hearing item. Anybody would like to speak for or against this proposal or this agenda item? Seeing none, I close the public hearing. Commissioners?

Where's just tell me where it's at exactly. Like, what's it by? I I see the address, but that I, you know, I don't tell me what it's by. I just

It's across the street from the old Arnhem Market and ampm on Blackstone And Bartley.

Ampm, not at the Valero.

Okay. Yeah. Was at the Valero, I believe. It's it's across the street from AM PM.

Okay.

It's it's the Southeast Corner.

Yeah.

So their hours will coincide then with the the gas station.

That's correct.

Okay.

I thought that there was please explain to me the ability of the food truck. I'm sorry. I can't talk. To have tables and benches. What are the parameters around that?

So the tables and chairs will be located right behind the trailer

Mhmm.

On the eastern portion of it. They will be removed daily after hours operation.

Okay.

Okay. And to think to more directly answer your question, vice chair Miller, your commission has the ability to so the code allows them to have tables and chairs, but they have to request it, which they have with this proposal. Staff has reviewed it and believe they can work. Your commission is able to approve or deny that request or modify it. Okay.

Well, as long as you guys think there's room in that in that spot, I think it's fine. It's nice to have tables and chairs. I've you know, I'm a taco truck girl, so I it's nice to have tables and chairs if there's room for that.

Yeah. Staff actually worked with the applicant. I think they were proposing more or different size ones, and and we had them pared down to make sure that it it it fit in that location and didn't impede access pedestrian or vehicle.

And so will the truck be under the canopy? I mean, where

No. The canopy will be covering the table and chairs. Okay. So where is the truck gonna be parked? So I don't know if you can see it on the screen. There's a little blue rectangle right there. It's also in your packet.

Oh, okay. I see it.

Okay. It's kind of it'll be parked kind of in one of it's a driveway area there, I believe. Right? I I know it is because I was just there today. So

So I noticed in the aerial photo that's in the staff report, it looks like the trailer's actually already there. Have they been operating?

This is a renewal. A renewal? This is, like, the third time, but this is a different applicant.

I see. Thank you. And there's no relation to I believe is there a taco truck across the street also? I thought I saw one at Dollar Tree.

There shouldn't be one there. There's only one approved at least in that location.

Okay. That might be a separate Alright.

We'll contact one person about that.

There's a potato truck.

Don't don't mess with my potato truck.

I don't think there was a potato truck.

The potato truck's down parked by the grind. That's further, though. Yeah. Yeah. It's further down. But yeah.

I've heard nothing but good things about it.

The potato truck is my favorites my favorite place in the whole world.

So does the city have an ordinance about number of food trucks allowed at any one, say, intersection?

No. The ordinance isn't restricted by intersection. There's a distance provision between food trucks, so that that's 300 feet.

Okay.

And then 500 feet from establishes with on-site a b c licenses. There's a number of other provisions. So, usually, the the number of requirements that these vendors have to meet in order to obtain a legal permit is what kinda limits their density, so to speak.

Got it. Thank you. Right now, we have around a dozen approved, and we have people coming in regularly wanting to set up another one. And they struggle to find another location that can be approved because of the distance provisions from from each other and from alcohol and things like that.

Okay.

And so I'm not necessarily saying that 12 is our max, but there's very limited in then how many more we could have just because of

Location.

What's available and and those requirements.

Okay. Thank you.

I will will move that we approve conditional use permit number 2025Dash oh, I'm reading the wrong one. Sorry. 2026DashO1, subject to the findings and conditions as listed in the staff report. I second.

It's been moved and seconded. Please pull the commission.

Commissioner Limas? Aye. Commissioner Hanford? Aye. Commissioner Guerrero? Aye. Vice chair Miller? Aye. Chair Miguel?

Aye. Item passes. Moving on to let's be it for the public hearings. Moving on to general business.

There's no general business this evening.

Thank you. Staff updates.

Good evening, planning commission. The only thing I have is, thank you for your attendance this evening. Staff will be working, to try to be better about not having just one item on the agenda, everyone's busy schedules. And I know we have, like, a number of items for the next meeting, which is February 10. So we'll try to do a better job of

February 10 is PharmShow?

That may be the case. I'm not sure.

It is. No. It is. I will be yeah. I won't be at that meeting. It'll be really hard for me to get in. I'm out there all week. I didn't know. I was gonna ask that question if we did it during farm show week or if not. So

Do do we have other planning commission members that cannot make the meeting because of

the I cannot. I'm heading the finance committee. K.

I will be at the farm show, but I will be at the meeting. I'm lucky.

Just so there's a quorum.

But Yeah. I'm just trying to see if there we have at least three that can attend.

Yeah. I'm on the tram, so I can make it.

You'll be. Sandy, will you be here? Yes. Okay. So Good. I just know I'm out there from six in the morning until I get home at night at six, 06:30.

Yeah. Understandable. That is

Yeah. And I'm here. I'm there all week. So so, Shauna. Yeah. Starting the weekend before we're there.

No. That that that's perfectly fine. Thank you for the advanced notice. It looks like we'll have three commissioners present, so we should have a maintain a quorum. And, obviously, we commend you all wear many hats in the community, and so you'll be carrying on your duties for Tilary's great annual event that evening as well. So, that'll be appreciated. Thank you.

I'd like to mention that I really appreciate the progress being made at Cart Mill in '99. That's moving quickly. Very happy to see that.

Yes. They are. They're flying. Our inspectors are out there daily. They're making very quick progress on the Chick fil A. The Maverick's coming along as well. We're getting close to approving a site plan for another user at that location too. Thank you.

I just wanted to and I'm I know you guys are not aware probably, but when I go home some nights, if I go down Bard's sleeve versus Page, I turn. And right when you turn, there's usually one or two people setting up cooking. I mean, that's a big elaborate setup. They do it right there by the grapes, and then you go down a little bit further down Pratt Street, and there's a second one. And they they have big griddles.

They're not food trucks. They're they're but it's after hours, so I don't know how we I mean, I I feel bad with them because they're just trying to make a living. I get that. But you wanna know that they've been inspected and that their food is good. And I would assume the food is good because there's a ton of cars there at both of them, but they're very similar. And and it's like a big long spread with their griddles and they have tables and chairs they throw out, but there's two of them, and they're not very far apart. Like, that house kinda separates them.

They're on Barnsley?

No. The you go down Barnsley and turn on Pratt. And right when you turn on Pratt, there's one right there. And you go down, there's a house, and then you go down, and there's another taco setup. But they're not food trucks. They're literally griddles, and they and they have big, what do you call them? Like, the thing that ices down all of the condiments. It's a condiment bar. I mean, it's they're pretty elaborate setups.

Are they on the on the county side? East side or the west side of the road?

They're on the West side. Yeah. So that west side

What's happening is that they're actually in the county, and they're outside of our jurisdiction.

Are you kidding? Right there off of Pratt Street. So the West side is county and the East side is city.

Yes. Correct.

It's like 264. One side's Tulare and the other side's Visalia.

Yes. So we have yeah. And in fact, I think there's some that's set up in other parts, right, where you get out of city limits where you'll see them in the evening. Yeah. Unfortunately well, our code enforcement's aware. We try to work with our county counterparts. Those types of operations, without going into too much detail, are not they're not permitted, and they're involved with some unpleasant

Other stuff.

Yes. So

There's a lot of activity there. I will just tell you that.

Yeah. They they get dropped off. They're not from this area. And so there's, you know, code, police, county counterparts. There's a whole kind of group of folks that work on those, but those kinda pop up and they're kinda fly by and out operations.

Kinda like the ones that drop at the fairgrounds or showed up at the Yeah. Christmas parade.

Yeah. So it's very different from our the the folks that obviously, like, this evening come through and get the process tend to be local folks that live in the community. They go through. They obtain the proper permits. And so it's one thing I, you know, I've mentioned in my comments before the council is our local entrepreneurs and small businesses are they follow the rules. They wanna comply. They're part of the community. So usually, we have these issues with kind of these these other other folks that are coming in. And it's not just hilarious, you know, kind of throughout the really throughout.

I just didn't realize right when you turn the corner, that's county.

Yeah. And that's why they tend to you tend to see them if you if you kind of sometimes if you catch them in the city, we can call code, and code can respond. But oftentimes, I'll post just outside the city limits where they know it's county.

And it's and and they create a traffic hazard because the cars pull in, you know, and they're kinda still sticky. I try not to go home that way. It just depends on how much I wanna go down K Street to Page to get out where I live. So okay. Well, then I'll just because I know I know there's a few out

that way. Can inquire we can inquire with code to see whether or not they've had contact with the county about this particular spot.

Well, it be because my concern is there it's the traffic hazard. I don't care if they're trying to make a dollar.

But

They should also have county health permits and things like that too.

So I mean, we're trying really hard to make sure our city is in alignment with everything, and so I really didn't realize that was county right there. So, anyway yeah. But there's two of them.

So how how I'm sorry. How far north does the city of Tulare's sphere of influence go along Mooney Boulevard?

Oh, along Mooney?

Yeah. Because there's another one of those setups on Mooney.

Yeah. It goes well, the sphere of influence goes up to Oakdale. Oh, okay. But the city limits only go to Pacific. So oftentimes where I know I've seen one set up on 264. It's almost in Visalia. Yeah. Yeah. So they purposely you'll see them kind of in those in between areas between the city limits because in this county jurisdiction. And it's not necessarily you know? And there may be some that have a county permit. The county has other requirements in the city. But oftentimes, you know, it's kind of intentional to avoid to try to be outside the city's jurisdiction. Yeah.

Anything else? At that, I'll call it adjournment. Everybody have a good evening.