Planning Commission - Regular Meeting

Good evening and welcome to the February 17, 2026 meeting of the City of Vista Planning Commission. I call this meeting to order. Would you please rise and join us in the pledge of allegiance led by Commissioner Reading. I pledge allegiance to the flag 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.

Thank you. Could we have the roll call, please? Chair De Jesus here. Vice Chair Martin here. Commissioner Grim here. Commissioner Jolof here. Commissioner Reading here. Commissioner Simmons here. Commissioner Thompson here. Student Commissioner Wyn absent. Student Commissioner Parish absent.

Thank you. Commissioners, you've been provided with the minutes from our previous meeting from November 4th, 2025, I believe, was the correct date. If there are no changes, can we hear a motion to approve? Commissioner Grim. So moved. Commissioner Martin,

I'll second that. It's been moved and seconded to approve the minutes from our November 4th meeting. Please cast your votes and lock it in. The minutes have been approved. Four yes votes. Three abstension. Three have abstained. So it passes. Miss Chow, any changes to the agenda tonight?

Good evening, chair. No changes tonight. Thank you.

Thank you. The next item on the agenda is oral communications. This is the time commission sets aside for members of the public to address the commission on items that are not on our on our agenda. Seeing that we have no speaker slips tonight for the oral communications, um does anybody here want to address the commission on anything else that they've been waiting for? Okay. Thank you. Are there any exparte disclosures communications from the commissioners asked this uh before we go to the public hearing items? Hearing none, we'll move on to our first public hearing item. Some protocol to review for tonight's meeting. Staff will make a presentation followed by the applicant's presentation if any. Then co uh the commissioners will have a chance to ask questions of staff and the applicant and then I will open the public hearing for comments from the public. Each speaker will have three minutes to address the commission. Please make sure you fill out a speaker slip. Then I will close the public hearing and we will have a commission discussion and motion will be made concerning the project. Can we have the staff presentation please?

Thank you chair and commissioners. I'll be presenting the Hosienda Drive town homes project which is located 1160 Oianda Drive planning case P240141. This first slide shows the project site and surrounding uses. It is a vacant 4.6 acre parcel located south of SR78 and Hosienda Drive just west of Pomelo Drive. Site access is from Hienna Drive and uh overall topography wise for the site there's approximately 80 feet of elevation change. One of Vista Creek is along the northeast property line. Uh there is a hill in the central uh southern portion of the project site that basically slopes down in all directions from there. Surrounding uses include retail sales where there's an open sales yard for uh ornamental statues to the northeast. Uh and there are surrounding uh apartment developments on all sides to the east, west, and south uh with the rideway to the north. The existing general plan designation for the site is high density, which allows for 15 to 21 dwelling units per acre. Uh, as you can tell on the left image there, there's also open space that overlays a portion of the parcel right along the northeast property line and that is adjacent to or uh covering the Buenav Vista Creek open space area. Uh there is high density uh general plan designation surrounding the property as well as open space. Uh the slide on the right or the image on the right shows the zoning designation which is residential multifamily at 21 dwelling units per acre maximum. To summarize the project, it is a tenative subdivision map site development plan and condominium housing

permit to construct 63 town homes. The buildable area on the project site is approximately 4 acres when the uh open space area along Pav Vista Creek is excluded. There's also a raparian habitat there. Uh the project proposes to build seven buildings with attached sidebyside units. Uh the breakdown is that there's one 12plex, a 10plex, a 9plex, and four eightplexes proposed for the site. Uh the project driveway is 24 foot wide which meets emergency access requirements. Uh regarding landscaping, a minimum 15% of the site must be landscaped under the development code which equates to approximately 3/4 of an acre or 30,000 square ft. The project is proposing 53,647 square ft. Um some of the features to point out would be the decorative entryway along Hosienda Drive. Uh there would be a landscaped uh bio retention basin along the street vonnage at the bottom of the slope. And um there are there is a central common recreational area between uh the center of the buildings there that would include seating, barbecue area and open lawn area. Regarding the architecture, uh it's described by the architect as a traditional design design with Spanish influences. Uh the buildings include balconies, patios, varied roof pitches, and ridges. And uh the buildings have been designed to incorporate some of the features of the surrounding complexes for uh compatibility. Uh this slide shows the perspective renderings. There's basically two different color schemes uh that will be mixed amongst the buildings.

A miniature site plan is shown on the lower left that shows where each color scheme will go. And the two images top and bottom center uh are the first color scheme. And uh the second color scheme basically has a lighter tile work uh stone work on the facade and and lighter stuckle colors are the the main features there. The front elevation uh of BU building 10 which is top middle is what would face Hosienda Drive. Uh the buildings are configured with their driveways facing the drive aisle. So the more decorative uh features at the front of the building where the private patios are is what would face um to the outside of the project to the south and uh for building 10 towards Aina Drive. Uh this slide shows some of the architectural details which include Spanish s tiley roofing, the stone veneer, vinyl winner uh windows, fiber cement paneling, uh low patio walls along the private patio areas, metal grill work added over some of the select windows, decorative light features, sectional metal metal garage doors and metal handrails along the balconies. Uh this shows the overall floor plan for a building. There are four design types for the units. Uh those units are going to range from 1323 ft to 1731 ft of living space. There are six two-bedroom units proposed, 32 three-bedroom units, and 25 fourbedroom units. Private patios and deck areas range from 71 to 132 square ft. Uh, as you can see at the lower right, some of the units feature twocar garages with a side byside configuration, and some of the units feature tandem

parking, but all units do have a two-car garage meeting the city's requirements. This is a close-up view some of the example floor plans. Uh at the top uh left and top center is the plan one two-bedroom 2.5 bath designed unit and at the lower left and lower center which is the second and third floors is the plan for a three-bedroom 2.5 bath unit. Uh as I mentioned there's a combination of the sidebyside and tandem parking. Um there's separate entryways on the first floor where there's garage access and stairways leading up to the residential or living space area of the units. Uh the the project was submitted with two state laws uh as part of the application. Number one is Senate Bill 330 which is under the housing crisis act. It exempts uh the project from any changes in the development code as of the submittal date of the project when it's taken in at the front counter. Uh it limits uh the project to going through five public meetings. And this law prohibits local agencies from denying projects that comply with the city's objective uh design standards or conditioning such projects in a manner that reduces their density unless the project would have an adverse impact on the public health safety. uh or violate a specific state or federal law. Uh the aim of that law essentially is to develop more needed housing to protect existing housing and that's in place uh and also to streamline as much as possible the ent entitlement process. The other law that would apply to the project is state density bonus law uh based on the general plan highdensity area of the project site which is four just over four acres 4.1 acres. Um it would allow 15 to 21 dwellings per acre.

The remaining halfacre of the site is open space which will remain undeveloped and undisturbed. The project proposes to build 63 units at a density of 15.36 uh units per acre which is consistent with the general plan. It's within the range of the allowable density. By reserving 10% of the units, seven of the 63 homes for moderate income households, the project is allowed one concession and unlimited waiverss from development standards, which must be approved by the city so that the project may achieve the proposed density. The one concession requested is to modify the city's inclusionary housing requirement to allow that 10% of the units be reserved for moderate income households instead of what the code uh stipulates as 4% for moderate income house households and 5% for low-income households as a split and that's require required under section 1834 which is a multif family residential code section. The waiverss going along with that concession request is to reduce the required common usable open space uh which is 125 square ft per bedroom and would total 26,000 square ft down to approximately 19,000 square ft. Uh another waiver is to allow for an increase to the maximum building height of two stories or 35 ft under the RM code to allow for three stories at approximately 38 ft. So, it's a small increase there of 3 ft basically and one story. The next waiver request is to reduce the 15t minimum building separation to allow for building separations ranging from 9 ft 8 in to 12 ft. All buildings would still comply with the building and fire codes. The next waiver is to reduce the required parking stall width by 1 ft for the open guest parking stalls. Uh that would make them 8t wide instead of 9 ft wide. I believe that is just for the

stalls that are parallel to the internal driveway. So essentially it wouldn't really make a difference on the stall width. Um to reduce the common the next waiver is to reduce the common recreation amenities required under the city's objective design standards to allow for one amenity space uh instead of two as would normally be required for projects that have uh over 20 units. And that amenity space would be the central open space and barbecue area. The last waiver is to allow a wall height greater than 10 ft to plant vines and beautify and conceal that wall instead of utilizing a block wall with planter cells such as a verdura wall which would normally be required for any retaining wall over 5t in height. So in this case at the rear of the property there's going to be a a retaining wall that I believe goes up to 14 ft. However, it's predominantly screened by the buildings themselves and faces the building. So, they're going to do a decorative type of column and u a wood wall uh that will have vines growing adjacent to it for some concealment, but it's really only going to be visible to the residents on site at the rear of the property. Under the state density bonus law, waivers of any development standards must be granted so that the project may achieve the proposed density. And as you can tell from the list of waiverss, uh they're all designed to allow more units basically within a very constrained site due the topography under general plan uh conformance and consistency. Uh the analysis shows that pro the project would protect community character by being compatible with surrounding uses. Uh it's been submitted with a quality design and it would add to the city's overall housing supply for a variety of income and age groups and contributes to the city's housing needs allocation under the housing element. Under zoning conformance and objective

design standards, the project would be consistent with the RM21 development standards on the multif family residential zone regarding minimum dwelling size, minimum landscape area, and other requirements excepting for the concessions and waivers that are allowed under the state state density bonus law. Um the project in this case is deemed consistent with both G's general plan and zoning when it comes in and as a state density bonus law project. Uh the project would also comply with the city's objective design standards for site design, access and building design accepting the waiver allowed under that state density bonus law and that would be for the open space amenities. Under environmental review, the project was uh studied through a mitigated negative declaration process uh in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act, which determined that the project would not result in any unmitigated significant environmental impacts. The amend was circulated for public review between December 12th and January 12th, 2026. Four comment letters were received during that period and the comment letters were responded to and those responses and the letters are included in the final MND. The project will be required to comply with the mitigation measures specified in the M&D and included with the project's mitigation monitoring and reporting program. These mitigation measures related to biological resources, cultural resources, tribal cultural resources, noise, and land use planning are included in the project's conditions of approval. Um, a memo is distributed to the planning commission in late discussions with the applicant. They asked if there could be uh a modification to two of the conditions that you should have in front of you. Um staff was acceptable to the changes. So we prepared this memo to to

uh highlight those and add them as a modification to the conditions tonight. The changes are to planning uh conditions under development service fees to state as it shows on number 12 that the proposed project will require uh development fees to be paid at the time of building permit issuance except as required by government code section 66007. Um, basically what this does is it defers uh development impact fees to a time uh somewhere around occupancy. And the second condition that would be was modified here is under the affordable housing. Uh the city's council policy requires that the affordable units be like forlike type units as far as um m construction materials and so on. uh number of bedrooms dispersed through the project. So this uh condition states that the seven affordable units shall be proportionately distributed among the project buildings not grouped together and shall consist of a mixed of unit types floor plans based on the number of bedrooms proportionate to the overall unit count subject to approval by the city and as reflected in the afford in the regulatory agreement for the affordable housing. So sometime in the future, the applicant will go into a regulatory agreement uh to document those affordable units and the income level and as part of that uh the determination will be made on where the units are located within the project and the number of bedrooms for those units. That concludes staff's presentation. Um staff's recommendation is for the planning commission to adopt resolution adopting the mitigated negative declaration and a mitigation mitigation monitoring and reporting program for the ocended drive town homes project and to adopt a resolution approving a tenative

subdivision map site development plan and condominium housing permit to allow for the construction of the 63 condominiums and associated site improvements on the 4.6 6acre site at 1160 Hosana Drive. The project applicant is also here with their team to answer any detailed questions about the project design and they also have a brief presentation they would like to give when the planning commission is ready. Thank you so much, Chris. The commissioners have any questions for staff on this report? Commissioner Grim

um on the elevations the um elevation uh to the north with the stone veneer just looks looks outstanding. Was there any discussion and and I guess I should add this these are ownership units so sometimes you expect a little bit more out of out of ownership units. Was there any discussion at the staff level having that stone veneer go to the other uh buildings as well?

The stone veneer was not initially included um on the project. It had a a little bit of a more stark look to it and staff also received some feedback from members of the public uh that had a concern with uh dressing it up to some degree. Um I think the the primary concern usually from staff's perspective is the the outside view of the project street wise and the neighbors and so on. So in that discussion we talked about having the veneer basically on the front of the unit opposite the garage doors on the side of the building that would face adjacent properties or the rideway and to wrap that around the side. Um, I don't believe the project's been going on for a couple years now, but I don't believe we discussed adding it to the other elevation.

Okay. Second question, um, on the waiver to allow minimum building separation and it goes down to 9'8 in. Is that something that, um, I thought uh, fire code was 10 feet unless the structures were attached. So it would be legal to drop it down to nine nine feet. That's correct. It's my understanding that basically what happens is you might have a change to the materials, the fire rating of the wall, potentially boxing of any eaves and things like that to still comply with the building and fire codes. Great. Thank you, Commissioner Martin.

Thank you. I had a question about the common usable open space and um in the presentation you noted and in the staff report as well that it's being reduced from 26,000 square ft to 19,000 square ft as one of the waiverss. But I'm wondering what is included within common usable open space? Does that include the 25% manufactured slopes throughout the site or is it really just areas that are usable and then is there a minimum dimension for those types of areas?

Uh in this case it does not it does not include the manufactured slopes. Those would be landscaped areas uh that will cover over an acre of the property. Um it's primarily if we go back to the landscape plan I can go back to that uh it would primarily be the area considered in the central area of the buildings here as uh pointed out on the large image and there's a there was a walking path. There are some areas around the perimeter but essentially it's the open landscaped areas around the central area of the buildings and there's a lookout uh area I believe right here where that number four is. It's where the number seven is.

Thank you. right behind that building there. So, those would be considered the open usable space. Um, we would have more area if the waiver were not requested. And, um, I might need some help remembering, but I think we do have a 30 by something foot dimension where we try to have at least half of that area meeting a certain uh, width and depth requirement. It might take me a minute to look up those exact numbers if we don't know. That's fine. That that answers my question, but I'll have more comments on that uh later. Thank you, Commissioner Jolith.

Thank you. I don't have a question, but I wanted to thank you for a very thorough report and in particular, I appreciated, Chris, that you got feedback from um the county uh department of environmental health and uh the vector control program. Thank you.

These mic buttons are very touchy today. So, pardon me for the pause.

Um, thank you Chris for a great presentation. A question I had is the waiverss that are granted under SB 330. Um, the height waiver that would be a waiver versus a variance request because that's allowed under the Can you give me a little bit of an explanation how that works? Basically there there isn't much of a limit to it under state density bonus law. The applicant proposes to um develop uh at a certain density in this case just over 15 units per acre and they can wave any development standards that would constrain the project to where they could not achieve that number of units. Um the request for the height increase is I believe exactly 3 feet and 4 in for the tallest building over the 35 ft that would normally be allowed. So they're going up an additional 3 ft. As well as we have a twotory cap and they're going three stories. So by getting that extra feet, they're getting an additional story as well. There isn't really a limit to what they request as far as I know under the state density bonus law. it wouldn't be feasible, but they could propose to go four or five stories a night height,

right? Okay. Thank you. I I understand that. I just want to make sure that we're clear in the in a public hearing that this is not something even though the zoning may say a certain height that under the state densities bonus densities um mandate SB 330 that a developer can use one of their waiverss to increase the height and it's not substantial. I think it looks great. So, I'm I'm not concerned about But I just want to make sure we understand that that is not doesn't require a variance. It's a waiver. So, thank you for that.

That's all correct. And essentially, it is to achieve more units uh on the property. Uh it helps this it helps the city to comply with their housing u allocations that come from the state. So, we're supposed to build or have zoned for a certain number of units to be constructed each year uh to keep up with population growth and so on. Um and basically when the applicants make an application under those laws, uh the city is required to deem the project consistent with our general plan.

Great. Thank you for that. And um this the zoning for this allows for up to 20 units per acre and they're only doing 15.36 units per acre. So they're not even exceeding the the allowance by by adding the affordable units. they were able to get the waiverss, but they didn't ask for an increased density uh number of more units than are allowed. So, that's I think that's a nice offset. Um, thank you for that. I'd like to invite the um the developer up to um offer any insight if they'd like. Good evening, chair, commissioners. Uh, my name is Eric Miller. I'm the director of development at City Ventures. I'd like to thank you for the opportunity to present and discuss our proposed project located at 1160 Hosienda Drive. Before I get before I dive into the project, I wanted to provide a little history as to who City Ventures is. Founded in 2009, City Ventures is one of the leading infield development companies in the state of California. We have always been an allectric homebuilder focusing on underutilized properties with the opportunity to redevelop into housing. We've completed projects in over 100 cities, entitling more than 150 communities while building and selling 10,000 plus homes. Now, as an infield developer, we're always

building in areas that have previously been developed. So, we know we're going to have neighbors. We're sensitive to the neighbors, and we do everything we can in the planning and design stage to reduce the impact to our neighbors. Here are some examples of past city ventures town homes projects we've developed in San Diego County. Um, some showcasing similar architectural style to the one we're proposing tonight. Now, here you'll see we started on this project almost three years ago in the summer of 2023, and we've worked extremely hard through the the extraordinary site constraints as well as the the various city submitt requirements to get us here before you this evening. I would like to thank city staff for their time and efforts on this project over the years. Um, I know it's been challenging, um, but we've made it here. Here's an aerial view of our site, which sits just south of the 78 freeway. Um, if you're familiar with the site or if you've driven past it recently, you understand the topography issues. It's it's an extremely steep hill. This gives you a better idea of what the current conditions are. Um these images are different angles of the site, some looking up, some looking down. Um as noted in the staff report, the site has sat vacant for over 20 years. It and it was previously approved and permitted for a residential project in the early 2000s. Um over the years, there have been many homeless encampments set up on site. Um you can kind of see it in the bottom right picture, and I know the sheriff's department has been called out to the site countless times. So, our proposed project will not only utilize the vacant land, but it'll also help deter the unauthorized activity that's going on out there today.

Our planner did a great job highlighting the project details, so I don't want to be repetitive. Um, I did want to be sure to include this uh site plan in the presentation because I feel it gives a a good visual of what the project would look like. Uh I do also want to note once this community is completely built out, it will be managed by a homeowners association. So all private streets, landscaping, exteriors of the buildings, roofs, perimeter walls, um common open space will be managed and maintained by the HOA. Again, this is our architectural renderings which there's been some discussion on. Um, working with city staff, we have incorporated some materials and elevation recommendations that really enhance the appearance of the buildings and the project overall. As an all-electric home builder, there are many benefits that the homeowners receive. Um, the main benefit is that there's absolutely no gas to the site, so all appliances will be electric, which saves on the overall utility bills. Uh, on top of that, the solar panels come with the purchase of the home. So on day one, the homeowners will receive uh substantial savings to their electric bill. Um every garage comes pre-wired for EV chargers and modern appliances are included in the home as part of our standards. So no upgrades are required and that applies to the affordable units as well. This concludes my presentation. I thank you for your time and again the opportunity to be here. myself and the rest of our team is happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you so much. Thank you. Commissioners, do you have any questions? Commissioner Martin. Yeah.

Thank you. I'd like to follow up on my question regarding the usable open space and maybe get your thoughts and insight um into the amount of open space that you're providing and whether uh you feel it's uh commensurate with the needs of this community that you're creating. Yeah, again with the with the topography the the site constraints we were working under it was it was very challenging to get the minimum density and still you know creating some sort of open space where the community can gather. You know we feel that we did the absolute best we could on this site by creating the common open space with the barbecue and the picnic tables um and the play lawn. Thank you,

Commissioner Simmons. Thank you. Um I'm just really happy that we have um opportunity more opportunity for ownership in Vista. So, thank you for that. One question that came up um uh is well, just to confirm, there's only going to be 13 external parking spots within the community. Correct.

Okay. So there's obviously going to be some overflow staff. Do you cu could you reiterate um I know that there was a study done uh impact study on and have any insights on the parking situation that might happen on Hosienda um as a result of the limited parking.

There's existing parking along Hosienda Drive on both uh sides of the street uh heading westerly from the project site. The road narrows there on Hienda heading towards Pomelo and there's no parking from basically what would be the entrance to the project site head heading east towards Pomelo. Um when the property frontage is developed for the project, it would probably create additional parking where there's currently curb cuts and the existing access way is uh at the the westerly frontage portion of the project. And when the driveway is reconfigured towards the east, um that's essentially an area where the road narrows and it enters the bike lane area and you're not going to have parking in that area. So there might be some uh distance that may need to be limited for line of sight reasons for vehicles entering or uh exiting actually the project site. That's typically looked at in the final construction drawings, but the plans have been reviewed and approved by the city's traffic engineer as far as the conceptual design. In the future, they're also going to be looking at when those final construction drawings come in, and they're going to be looking at uh the width to confirm that a left turn lane can be added. At this time, it looks like there is room to do so.

Thank you,

Commissioner Thompson. I was wondering why the um sidewalk kind of stops around 8 and doesn't actually like connect to the sidewalk on the street because I would assume people will walk up that and so then they're they won't have like a safe sidewalk to walk on. So this is something that we analyzed and with how steep the hill is in order to make that an ADA pathway, we weren't able to do it. So the only way we could have made an ADA pathway would have been to create kind of a concrete zigzag

eight or nine ways down which financially just it it wasn't feasible for this project. Okay. And I was also curious about a stop light or also probably financial constraints, but it did seem like people might have a hard time getting in there if they could only get in from one side, one direction.

And so we, as part of our traffic study, we analyze nearby intersections with this project specifically as laid out in the study. Um peak hours of travel in the morning would be 41 trips. In the night in PM it would be 51 trips. Um which is lower than the intersections are at an acceptable level even with that trip generation. And worst at at a worst case scenario as part of the study there would be one car kind of in Q to turn into the project as it stands today. Commissioner Grim,

the staff report mentions that uh you have had some experience using tandem parking in other projects. Um have you had the chance to use them in ownership units and what kind of feedback did you get? Yeah, I would say 85% of our projects generally have some number of tandem parking. A lot of the time it is to meet minimum densities, right? You know, on this project we we had to meet 15 units to the acre um which we barely made and and that's with a decent number of tandem. Um, but it also creates a different purchase price for the units, making it more attainable for maybe your firsttime home buyer, um, as opposed to the larger sideby-side units. And so, generally, there's no, you know, those it's not that those are the the last units to sell. It's just kind of a a a mixed bag of uh homeowners.

Great. Thank you. I I had one thing about traffic and and thank you for bringing that up. Um, Commissioner um the you're I I think I'm going to ask this to staff. I apologize. Um the left turn lane will only be decided once it the drawings get along further. What what point will we understand more about traffic and about that? I'm I think my concern is the left turn lane. Um that's a very the blind turn and then having to stop there um and making a left turn into the um complex. It seems like it might be a little challenging. And how does traffic uh the traffic study affect that?

The the traffic study analyzes the traffic flow and and traffic at the intersections and so on. The city's traffic engineer reviews the project ingress egress um for proper flow without having cars back up or having line of sight issues or anything like that. So it is reviewed through the conceptual design process. He looks at where cars would stop. He our traffic engineer comments on where the stop line should be placed at the project exit so the cars have room to look in both directions. If there were any concerns there, it would trigger him to have modification to landscape with the project frontage or other features to make sure there weren't slopes that were making it difficult to see either way down the street. Uh it is uh typically in the final design phase though that when they when they do look at uh left turn lanes to put there um from the traffic engineer to myself, he is anticipating that to happen.

Great. Thank you. And thank you so much. I will We're good. Thank you so much. Um I will now um open our public hearing and we have two speakers tonight. The uh first speaker is now Brown and the second is Stephanie Jackal. If you could um come up uh now is it now? I'm sorry. Val, I'm sorry. Val, you could state your name.

My name is Val Brown. Good evening, chair and commissioners. Thank you for the opportunity to speak. I have reviewed the staff report and the materials, and I do appreciate the work that's gone into this project. I live above the project. I am southeast of it. I look directly down onto it from my backyard so it will be visible from my property. Uh I am glad to hear that you are speaking about driveway access and traffic safety. Uh I am concerned about that. There is regular backup at uh the stop sign at Pomelo and that driveway is on a curb and so I would definitely want to know whether or not that was I mean tr um Chris did answer that that it was looked at. It is a dangerous curve. So that is a concern and would like that to be considered. uh on street parking is already heavily used on hosianda uh and it comes up into the the neighborhood. So I would like clarification. I guess that will happen when it gets closer to whether or not any parking spaces on would be lost. Um and then the HOA is going to have a parking requirement that the garages be used for parking. I'm curious how is that monitored and enforced? uh because there is not a lot of extra perking around there. And then lastly, a visual buffering. I did learn some um things tonight that I wasn't really um aware of is that the backside is not going to have the stone on it and that's what I will see. Um and that's what will be seen from the surrounding areas. So I respectfully request and I can see that this company has put a lot of work into this um enhanced visual screening on

that southeast backside um so that over time that the trees evergreen if possible would grow up and create a visual buffer from the surrounding communities. And then finally, uh, during construction, uh, traffic management, noise, dust, uh, prevailing winds come right on over. And I know that the city does have standards. I just would ask that they are clearly enforced. And thank you kindly for your time.

Thank you, Stephanie Jackal. Good evening. My name is Stephanie Jackal and I'm speaking uh this evening on behalf of South District Communities. We were pleased to meet with Eric Miller in May last year to learn about City Ventures proposed development on Hosienda Drive. We like we really like the proposed project. We like the layout on the hillside. We like the architecture and feel this will be a very good addition to our community. We do have one concern which you've already heard about which we've expressed to Mr. Miller that 13 guest parking spaces for 63 houses will not be enough. And we hope that space for additional guest parking spaces can be found. I'm not sure about counting in parking spaces along Hosienda. Uh I don't know if that would work. We also hope that an HOA will be part of the development, which we understand it will be, along with strictly enforced rules about cars being required uh to be parked inside the garages, residents cars inside the garages and that the garages not be used for storage. With thanks to City Ventures, we are looking forward having the Hosianda Drive uh development to be part of Vista. Thank you. Thank you. That was my last speaker slip. The public hearing is now closed and I'm opening up for commissioner discussion.

Commissioner Simmons, um, if there's an opportunity for, uh, the builder to elaborate on how to enforce the parking in the garage versus the storage. Thank you.

Yeah. So, this comes up on pretty much every project. So, as part of the CCNR is when someone goes to purchase the home, it will be clearly stated in there that the garage is not for storage and the HOA will routinely inspect to make sure that happens. And I believe there's a condition of approval um that pretty much states the same thing. So, that'll be included. And then if I may respond to Miss Brown's comment. Um in terms of uh you know I received I received a letter um which states her house is at approximately 378 ft in elevation. I didn't make it clear in my presentation and I apologize. Um but we will be in order to develop the site we do have to take off a lot of the hill. So, our highest building is at an elevation of 327 feet plus the additional 38 feet, which sits at roughly 365. So, it's actually going to be it it won't obstruct any views from from her property. Um, in terms of the the veneer wrapping around, as kind of Chris mentioned, we don't feel that that architecturally looks as good as maybe it sounds. um which is why we kept it to the front half of of the buildings.

Thank you. If if the chair will allow I just wanted to clarify that the stone veneer at the rear buildings does face the south and the east on there. Great. Thank you so much, Commissioner Martin. Thank you.

Uh I would agree with the other comments that the 13 guest parking spaces will not be enough to satisfy the needs on this property, particularly since 90% of the units are three and four bedrooms. And so um we can expect there to be quite a few cars associated with this project. Um so my question then becomes what about Hosienda Drive? um the apartments to the west or condos, whatever they are, they park on both sides of Hosienda Drive and they fill that street. And so I'm wondering if there's going to be an opportunity for this project as well to park on both sides of Hosienda because I don't believe that parking on the north side is currently allowable. So will that be now allowed um once this project is completed? And will we be allowed to park on both sides of Hosienda essentially all the way up to the stop sign to the east? So so there is a parking on both sides of Hianda towards the west. On the east there is not going to be a change triggered by the project that would bring parking onto both sides of the street there towards the east. Um the state the project is designed to comply with the parking requirements under the state density bonus law. So it does tie the city's hands in some regard is how much we can require on site. Um they do comply with this the minimum under state density bonus law and and go above and beyond that a bit.

No, I appreciate that and I and I recognize we cannot require any additional parking spaces on site and so I appreciate that comment. Um, and so I'm just looking for kind of a real world solution here is where are we going to park these cars? Um, because I, like I said, I don't believe parking on the north side of Hosienda is currently allowable. You've got some new trees you've planted over there that look like they're about 30 feet on center. And so those would either be knocked over by cars or they'd have to park behind them. Not sure how that would work. Um, but I just see some some real parking issues associated with this project, even though it meets state law requirements. Um, does anybody else want to talk about parking before I move on?

I'll talk about parking. Okay, then I'll I'll yield time.

Um, it's not just the parking I I'm concerned about. I understand that the state of California has imposed quite um a lot of allowances for developers and restrictions on the local level SB 330. So we're our hands are are the city's hands are sort of tied with this parking. Uh I'm not I don't want to speak about that. I want to speak about parking on Hosienda Drive. Um we have other projects going on South Santa Fe and my concern is for pedestrians, right? And if you're going to walk across the street after parking your car on the other side of Hosianda, if you actually can fit a car there, um you're taking your life into your own hands on that corner because it's a blind corner mostly. Um I've driven it a thousand times on my way to Costco. Um that corner is uh it seems to be quite um it's going to be a challenge. you have um these this development here and if people when people because it's not if it's when people are parking there how are we you know traffic studies will say hey this is great we're fine we have enough um there's nothing that's in in in our mind that requires a left turn lane that's going to be surprising to me and and this is something we have control over so I would hope that we could have a left turn lane there that we could have a crosswalk there. If you're we're going to allow um if we're going to allow parking on the other side, then maybe two separate crosswalks or something where pedestrians safety is taken into consideration. Fourbedroom units are going may or may not have children, so crossing the street with children. Um I just think it's something I would like to see um expanded upon. So, uh, that's my concern is parking, um, and people and crossing hosianda. And to that end, um, would you like, uh, I'll get to you after Commissioner Grim,

please?

Yeah, I wanted to talk a little bit about parking, too. I think, um, one one I you're right, a big problem is the guest parking, but I think one of the things that's actually a positive is that I think people will tend to use their garages. It's it's a little bit of a a hoof from Hosienda up to the to the building. So I think that might keep you know a number of people from parking off on Hosianda which as someone pointed out is is probably impossible to get a space at at night. Uh the other thing I just wanted to add is that uh as you could tell when I brought up the question about tandem parking have a lot of problems with tandem parking. I lived in a place where there was tandem parking. It was constantly, hey, move your car. No, you move your car. I got to be out at 7:30 in the morning. Please move your car tonight. You know, those kinds of things. The only positive to add to that is that I was This was a a roommate, not a partner. And I think if you had a situation where a couple were married or something, it' probably be easier uh to work that out. You could you could probably just change cars. Uh to be honest, I didn't want my roommate driving my car. So that that was one one of the problems is he'd had a lot of accidents. But um basically, you know, like I said, I think there's it's a pain, but I think your point being the developer, your point that, you know, there's a housing crisis right now, the cost of the the units would be lower. I think you can argue in a time like right now that does kind of take care of some of those issues. Commissioner Thompson,

I just wanted to mention one more time about the lefthand turn. Also, I I was driving in Hill Hellcrest last week and I know it's a lot more traffic, but you can see the distress on the people who live who have moved into these like beautiful fancy new apartments and they can't get into them. And it's rid it's just ridiculous because the traffic makes it so they can't go around. You know, it would take half an hour to get in from the side that you could turn in versus trying to go across the traffic. So, it just it's not nice for the people that live there besides like safety and walking and stuff like that, too.

Thank you, Commissioner Jolof. I also drive to Costco. Um, I think the people in those apartments have enough trouble crossing the street right now. So, I I think a crosswalk is is probably called for no matter what. Um, and I think Didn't it the the speed limit recently get lowered on that road? I think it used to be higher. Um I don't know if anyone can answer that, but

yeah. And I believe there's a trail head just north on the north side of Hosianda. Here there's a trail head. So that's another reason to have a crosswalk. Um that's all.

Chair Dejus, may I provide some information? Um it's clear that the commission has had and brought up many concerns regarding uh the issue of parking availability of parking uh on Hassienda as well the potential of crosswalks. Um, I know from previous conversations with our traffic engineer on other projects, um, providing a crosswalk or entertaining the idea of that, uh, actually sometimes may create more dangerous situation where actually having a mid block crosswalk um, in situations where there were not before. So, it's kind of like encouraging somebody to actually do that movement when they actually should not be doing that. uh if it is not a controlled signal or something that it provides a safe you know mechanism for people to actually cross Hienda which is quite busy road as we all know it. So from having worked with um our traffic engineer on several projects in the past, all of us, you know, in community development, um I know it is a obviously an issue of concern that you guys are raising here. Uh but I would just caution that some of these uh perhaps uh solutions that might be uh coming up here um on the DAS may not provide um you know the best alternative in terms of safety issues from a traffic standpoint. Um and Hassianda is pretty busy as it is. It's not a a small street. You know it's it's definitely a uh to consider there with the traffic on both directions coming and going. Um and I know from talking to Chris as the uh project planner and having talked to Sam Hassan and the design that has been proposed as part of the project is uh in the opinion of the traffic engineer the best scenario as he can support the project right now. We can certainly ask questions of our traffic engineer or you

know perhaps uh with the developers um you know participation in that if you direct us to do that. Uh but I just wanted to provide some feedback on past experience.

Thank you for that Miss Chow. My concern is I I've been up here for three years and I haven't heard this much conversation about traffic and I think it's a valid point. I think everyone in here that's spoken about it has a valid point that is we're familiar with that street. I'm familiar with that corner and I'm not I I know staff has uh we have good traffic engineers and and you've put a lot of thought into this. It's a genuine concern of not only the the commission um but of some speakers um that that that is going to be a dangerous situation period. I mean, how we can look at that, Albert? I I think what I would ask is that

if we could be a little bit more um thoughtful about it, you know, if if the traffic engineer finds that there's no there's no um reason to add a left turn lane or add a crosswalk, um I walk in Carl'sbad a few days a week and they have the crosswalks on Carl'sbad Boulevard that have the lights on them and people still don't stop. So, I don't know. We have to be smart pedestrians as well. It's for, you know, we can't just take for granted that we just get to walk in the street. And I understand that and I would ask any of the residents there to be cautious of that. Um, but we need I I think there's I think it's fair to say that we're all requesting some some deeper thought on that. So, if we need to bring a traffic engineer here to make us feel better about it or give us some ideas, um, I think that's what what we're asking. Um, to that end, does anybody have anything else to say or if there's a motion anybody would like to make? Commissioner Martin?

Yeah, I've got

one more comment that um I want to bring back up. Um, so like I mentioned, 90% of these these units are three and fourbedroom. And uh that of course is going to appeal to families as your buyers. And the amount of area that you're providing for children that are going to be throughout this community to play in is negligible. And I would just uh ask if there's a way that whether through incorporation of more walls or um some other space because the middle area, your common area there, the the only part that's really usable is probably that eastern third. The western twothirds of it is a slope. And so it's not usable. Um again, you're gonna have a lot of kids in this neighborhood. There's nowhere for them to go. There's nowhere for them to play. There's no parks nearby. Um, I just ask that you take another look at that.

Commissioner Grim,

Mr. Martin, if you wanted to propose some kind of a condition, I would support that. Uh, honestly, I don't know that we can because I think he would need to take out some units in fact to to put in, you know, a decent amount of of open space and I think state law would prohibit us from doing that. So, in the old days, yeah, that's exactly what I would have asked for as a condition. I was thinking about something just really mar, you know, something that just was fairly minimal like some kind of a small jungle gym or something that maybe I don't know if you want to put it down towards Hosianda, but something that and maybe that's something the developer could address. I don't know. Is there a place that that he feels he could do it?

It looks like they've got less than 100 square feet there where that number nine is sitting that they could do something like that. It's really really deficient for uh so many three and four bedroomedroom units in this development. Could they extend the number seven uh outlook area like Can you please turn on your microphone?

Would it be possible to extend the like outlook area number seven across so there is like a little bit more outdoor space on the front there? I mean, from what I've seen in the plans, that's about a five foot wall already. And if you want to push that further down the hill, you know, to pick up a few more feet, you're you're going to get up to a 10 15 foot high wall to to do that. So, you know, you're you're adding cost to the development once again, and that's something that we're prohibited from doing,

right? Exactly. So, knowing that, do we have any or I'm sorry, Commissioner Thompson, did you want to add anything to your comments or I mean, it's it's too bad we don't have unlimited funding because if it if you did go like snake back and forth across the front, then there would be opportunities for like benches and more seating and more walk space, but doesn't

and I'm not sure if this is the case, but sometimes when a development goes in and you have an HOA and you have um a lot of owners, maybe they can have a convers conversation, set aside some budget money with their HOA and who's ever managing it to do a switch back from the from the first one down a little bit, but we can't um propose that to them here on this, but it's something hopefully the residents maybe can think of. Um, if we have any more don't have any more discussion, if we could get a motion. If we have does anybody want to make a motion,

Commissioner Martin.

Um, so I've been kind of critical of your project, but I do want you to know that I I like a lot of it. I I think the architecture is really well done. The floor plans are really well done. Um I I like the way that you've you've graded the site. Um there's a really a lot to like about this project. And so um with just those those few things, the parking and the open space, um I think it would be an outstanding project if we could take care of those. But um as it sits, it's it's uh it becomes more of an acceptable project, I suppose. And um so with that, I'll make a motion to recommend approval as uh as submitted by staff.

If I may, um does your motion also include the recommended changes that were submitted as part of the memo? Uh yes, they do. Thank you.

Thank you, Commissioner Jolof. Yeah, I mean clearly it's very difficult topography. Um we're looking at it right now and we see space but it's not really space. It's hills. So that's very very tough. Um I you've done a great job under these constraints putting together a very nice um project here and so I will uh second motion. Thank you. We have a motion and a second. Cast your vote and lock it in, please. And the motion passes unanimously. Thank you. So we can move on to reports. Um check. Uh so Paty, do you have anything? Thank you. Thank you. Turn the Jesus. Um as far as upcoming meetings, uh it looks like it could be March 17th tentative at this point. Maybe one or two projects. So, just pencil it in for now. Um, as we get closer to the dates, we'll be definitely able to inform you better on that. Um, just wanted to report out from the last city council meeting, there was a discussion on movable tiny homes. Uh, Chair De Jesus was present at that meeting on February the 10th. Uh, I provided a presentation regarding the topic that was required uh and asked of staff to provide more information on movable tiny homes. And out of that

discussion and the research that was done, uh, the council voted 50-0 to have the item come back, um, actually not come back, actually to be forwarded to the planning commission for discussion. So, I'll be providing similar discussion that was done at city council before the planning commission hopefully in the upcoming month or so. Uh, so that I can take your input, your feedback on the matter back to city council for additional discussion. And that's what I have. And if director Vaka has anything that he would like to add.

Thank you, Miss Chow. Welcome back, planning commission, and happy new year. It's great to be together making the new developments come through the process efficiently and and I'm grateful to staff for all their hard work on this one. It did take a little bit of time and we're grateful for the applicant working with staff and arriving at a successful project that um is consistent with state law and is tight. We recognize that. But um there's a lot of benefits from this project as well. I want to take a moment and recognize Mr. Reading and Mrs. Simmons and welcome them to the planning commission. So, there are two new recently appointed commissioners and we're um really thrilled to have them on board. They're very engaged citizens um and their hearts are in the right spot just like the rest of the commission. So, we know they're going to do a great job. So, welcome aboard. Um I also wanted to update the commission that we have scheduled the general plan update workshops for the final round of community engagement for the first week of March. So, we'll be having workshops, one in each district, um for the first uh four nights in March, starting on March 2nd, and then 3rd, fourth, and 5th. So, we'll be sure to send you guys that notice tomorrow if you haven't received it already. And then with that, I'm available for any questions.

Thank you so much. And happy new year to you. Also, you stole a little bit of my thunder. I was going to welcome them as well. So, from the chair and the rest of the commission, welcome to the to the commission. And we're glad to have you. We have a full house. I know. It's great. You all did a great job. Thank you all. And thanks to staff. I really appreciate the report, Chris. Um, let's see. Well, there you go. That's it for us tonight. Appreciate it. Meeting's over. Thank you.