Planning Commission Meeting

MINUTES PLANNING COMMISSION Tuesday, January 22, 2013 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm 7:00 pm - 11:00 pm FEW MEMORIAL HALL OF RECORDS, COUNCIL CHAMBERS MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA Commissioners Present: McCrone, Davis, Osorio, Stocker, Reed, Widmar, Garden Commissioners Absent: None Staff Members Present: Principal Planner Cole, Principal Planner Caraker, Associate Transportation Planner Green, Recording Secretary Hanes, CALL TO ORDER Chair Garden called the meeting to order at 4:00 pm CONSENT ITEMS On a motion by Commissioner Stocker, seconded by Commissioner McCrone, and carried by the following vote, the Planning Commission approved the CONSENT ITEMS: AYES: 5 COMMISSIONERS: Garden, McCrone, Davis, Osorio, Stocker NOES: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None ABSTAIN: 2 COMMISSIONERS: Reed, Widmar RECUSED: 0 COMMISSIONERS: None Approval of Minutes 1. December 11, 2012 ACTION: Approved as submitted. ***End of Consent Agenda*** PUBLIC COMMENTS None. PUBLIC APPEARANCE 2. Receive Report on the Proposed General Plan Amendments and Multi-Modal Mobility Plan ("Monterey on the Move") ACTION: Received a report on the Multi-Modal Mobility Plan ("Monterey on the Move") and Proposed General Plan Amendments. Staff Report & Commission Questions: Kim Cole, Elizabeth Caraker and Ariana Green presented the Agenda Report and answered Commissioners' questions.  Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 Public Comments: Max Green said he is happy to see that public restrooms are a part of the discussion and suggested staff consider adding a public restroom to the corner of Del Monte and Camino Aquajito. Commission Comments: Commissioner McCrone expressed concern about the use of acronyms in the document and encouraged staff to reconsider the Monterey on the Move (MOM) acronym because the Museum of Monterey is already well known as MOM and there may be confusion. Commissioner Widmar said he did not see a section on the bike sharing plan in the document and encouraged staff to explore the topic and include it in future drafts. Commissioner Osorio encouraged staff to explain to the City Council where the project fits in with the Work program work that has been done so far. Chair Garden called for a recess at 5:00 pm. The meeting reconvened at 7:00 pm. CONTINUED PUBLIC COMMENTS Richard Ruccello, Casanova Oak Knoll Neighborhood Association (CONA), requested the topic of a neighborhood revitalization plan be agendized for a future meeting to provide guidance on a productive way to direct federal funds into the CONA neighborhood. He said the neighborhood has impacts from the airport, Seaside, Del Rey Oaks, the Navy and other factors in Monterey. Chair Garden said the City Council restricts the Planning Commission work program to Specific Plans. Mr. Ruccello said he would bring the topic up at a City Council meeting to request it be agendized for Planning Commission consideration. PUBLIC APPEARANCE 3. Receive Report on Draft North Fremont Specific Plan and Direct Staff to Conduct Environmental Review ACTION: Received a report on the October 2012 Revised Draft North Fremont Specific Plan and directed staff to conduct an environmental review. Staff Report & Commission Questions: Elizabeth Caraker presented the Agenda Report and answered Commissioners' questions. Commissioner Garden suggested allowing the public to make comments before the Commission asked staff any questions. The Commission concurred. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 2 Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 Public Comments: Mike Brassfield, board of directors for the Casanova Oak Knoll Neighborhood Association (CONA), said he is the assigned representative for the North Fremont Specific Plan and asked for consideration with buffer zones areas that are directly adjacent to residential properties. He said CONA objects to the height requirement that is allowed adjacent to Bruce Lane and suggested the 130 additional dwelling units be located between CVS Pharmacy and the Travel Lodge. He also expressed concern about the plan for shared parking and said the plan will not work if residents are not provided with their own parking space. Mr. Brassfield thanked staff and the subcommittee for the work that has been done on the project. Robert Yoha said Cal Trans will not approve the proposed changes to the gateway intersection because of previous accidents and expressed concern about the commercial trucks traveling up Casanova onto Euclid. He requested the plan not include the implementation of an Island and suggested the bicycle pedestrian plan be expanded to also include the neighborhoods of Downtown and along the beach. Mr. Yoha said the CONA neighborhood is lacking in parks and open space and suggested staff consider using the Zone 1 and 2 crash areas to implement the necessary parks and open space. He also suggested no left hand turn at the intersection. Adwina Brassfield, resident of the CONA neighborhood, expressed concern about the impacts to the homes in the sunbelt and the effect the project will have on the sunlight on the properties. She said pedestrians cannot get through crosswalks during heavy commute times and question the plan for parking for the additional commercial properties and residential units. She also said the homes on Dundee that back up to Bruce Lane are concerned about loss of privacy and the addition of noise that could potentially be generated from the project, and suggested the proposed commercial buildings be relocated between CVS Pharmacy and the Travelodge. Kim Svetich said she is thankful for the comments from the CONA residents and concurred with the concerns expressed. She said there is still room for improvement with the plan and the changes are necessary for the neighborhood. Jerry Anderson, President of North Fremont Business District and representing the Saucito Land Company that owns properties on North Fremont Street said he is in support of the plan moving forward because North Fremont could be a much better neighborhood. Mary Alice Fettis, past President of North Fremont Business District and property owner on North Fremont Street, said the residents should realize that revitalization on Fremont Street is imperative to their residential values and any changes developed from the Specific Plan will be a positive change for the neighborhood. She said the plan should allow for existing commercial owners to develop their properties to ensure a commercially sound investment. Richard Ruccello, President of CONA, thanked staff and the subcommittee for the work that has been done on the plan, and made mention of a petition he brought to the last Planning Commission meeting and a letter he submitted in October 2012. He expressed concern about the location of the 130 additional units and suggested they be located near the Fairgrounds to eliminate the impact to the residential areas. He also said the Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 3 Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 village core is a problem and expressed concern about pedestrian crossing in the intersection and the safety concerns because of the increased traffic. Alan Robinson, representing a property owner on Fremont Street, commended staff on the work done for the plan, and asked if a Environmental Impact Report (EIR) will be prepared. Chair Garden said the Commission may consider directing staff to perform an EIR. He said the statement in G3.2 is very vague and expressed confusion about the descriptive guidelines in G3.10. He also said that both business and property owners need to have a clear vision of the proposed changes and the language in the document is vague in terms of the scale, mass and bulk section. Mr. Robinson asked staff if a Specific Plan can be developed that expedites the development process and expressed concern that every proposed development will have to submit an EIR. He expressed concern that buildings will have a lot of limitations with the 35 foot height limit, and suggested bonus incentives for properties where no Floor Area Ratio (FAR) exists. He also suggested redesigning the character areas to cut zones between blocks rather than at the end of blocks so that intersections have surrounding areas that complement each other. Lesley Svetich, member of the North Fremont Business District and North Fremont Street property owner, said the Village Core should spread out and not be concentrated in one area. She said an EIR should be done and adopted before the project is implemented, and it should include noise studies on each side of the street to eliminate the potential for each site to be required to have a separate analysis. She also requested flexibility for the Visitor Accommodation Facilities (VAF) zoned areas, and emphasized that the hotels/motels in the area are excited for the opportunity to expand. She expressed concern that the cap of 690 rooms would take away opportunities that are currently available to properties and will potentially drop resale values, and said a cap is necessary with some flexibility. She requested staff consider including professional use on page 49 and concurred with Mr. Robinson regarding his suggestion to split character areas in the middle of blocks rather than at the end. Commission Comments: Commissioner Davis and Commissioner Osorio gave a brief presentation on the results of the Subcommittee Meeting. Commissioner Osorio thanked everyone in the Community that has been involved in the process and clarified that throughout the process he was never pushing his ideas. He said the General Plan is being implemented and there are some differences as to how this will be achieved in the North Fremont Area. He made mention of the Charter Amendment and guidelines specific to the Bruce Lane Area. He said there will never be an agreement. He said if the Village Core is moved as has been suggested by the members of the community, to the area near the Fairgrounds, many of the uses already in existence are hotel/motel use and the current plan does not restrict any mixed-use in that area. He also said the purpose of a Specific Plan is to create a Village within the City, and when you have a Village you have a Core. He said Bruce Lane was discussed at length and the issue is that the zoning is changing from basic zoning regulations to a form-based code which allows flexibility. In terms of development in the current world, you need that flexibility. He also said the task was to create guidelines to allow the implementation of the General Plan. He requested that members of the community submit a letter prior to the meeting to allow the Commission an opportunity to formulate answers. He said that Guidelines are not to be set in stone and suggested not moving Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 4 Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 the Village Core at this current time because it is where it needs to be in terms of providing feasibility for an upgrade for the area. He said that commercial and residential conflicts will always exist and requested more information about a comment from a member of the public about there being a lack of consideration for buffer zones. He clarified that buffer zones are already in the plan by the issue of what the Form-Based Code will require or allow in the development of those areas and the Statement of Intent is the Vision of the Plan and the objectives of the plan for the development of this area and these are already in the plan and may require some refinement. He said the Commission should move with the recommendation made by staff to move this project onto the City Council and if the project has to come back to the Planning Commission, he requested that the City Council make that decision. Commissioner Davis clarified that no EIR is slated to be done because there is a General Plan EIR. Ms. Caraker said a Negative Declaration or a Mitigated Negative Declaration is expected to be the CEQA document for this corridor, and future development can qualify for exemptions. In answer to Commissioner Davis’ question, Ms. Caraker said the Planning Commission will hold another public hearing to make a recommendation to the City Council to adopt the Specific Plan and CEQA document. Commissioner Davis gave a brief explanation of the actions of the subcommittee and the work that was done to prepare the draft document and concurred that there are parts of the plan that may need to be more specific. Chair Garden called for a recess at 8:21 pm. The meeting reconvened at 8:29 pm. In answer to Commissioner Stocker’s question, Commissioner Osorio said that the following specifics still need to be researched: 1) the new location is an area that is across from the Fairgrounds and is it an appropriate area to put a high number of apartments; and, 2) this is an area where a substantial number of hotel rooms are and will the current hotels want to radically change their hotels to mixed-use development, which is a question of economic feasibility. Commissioner Davis said in terms of shared parking, this is a concept that the City of Monterey has been using for several decades on mixed-use projects and it has been successful. Commissioner Widmar said the character areas ignore the reality of the current uses in the neighborhood, and the location of the village core should be in an area where it causes the least amount of disruption. He concurred that the character zones should be re-evaluated and appropriately placed. He also said that parking should be provided as much as possible on site, and expressed concern about the narrowing of the street at the point where traffic travels onto North Fremont Street from the Highway and suggested the narrowing occur closer to the bridge over Highway 1 to minimize the potential for accidents. He suggested hotels be given an opportunity to develop if an adjacent hotel becomes available and is acquired by the property owner. Commissioner Reed said the neighborhoods in the North Fremont area will always be affected or bothered by the surrounding activity and some mitigation is necessary, and suggested more flexibility on room caps and sunlight issues. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 5 Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 Commissioner Stocker said the goal of the Specific Plan is to give the property owners the tools necessary to redevelop properties on their own. He agreed with the cap on rooms of properties that are adjacent to residential properties, and encouraged staff to review the concerns brought forward by the public and consider adding them to the document. Commissioner McCrone said the plan is ready for recommendation to City Council, but he is not convinced that the plan should include obtaining a charter amendment. He suggested allowing existing VAF properties an opportunity to “down-use” their property, and he is opposed to the idea of letting VAF float along Fremont Street. The Commissioners generally concurred. Commissioner McCrone said the off ramp from Highway 1 onto Fremont Street should not be narrowed to one lane. Commissioner Davis said Cal Trans and other professionals should be given an opportunity to determine what is possible. Commissioner Reed said a traffic issues exists and the topic should remain in the document. The Commission concurred to leave this topic as it is proposed in the document. Commissioner McCrone said the urban planning goal is to get people out of their cars and onto the streets. He suggested adding an option to add residential permits to assure that the residents are not impacted by parking with the addition of the businesses and new residents. In answer to Chair Garden’s question, Commissioner Davis said the guidelines require rooftop equipment to include the appropriate screens necessary to meet requirements. The current max height should remain as defined. The Commission had a discussion about whether to include rooftop equipment in the max height number. The Commission had a discussion about the noise/sunlight study and concurred that the subject should be reviewed. Commissioner Stocker said the study should only occur if a project is over two stories. Chair Garden suggested no more examples of brick buildings in the plan and omit the reference to a residential parking program. He suggested adding a charter amendment to allow some flexibility for VAF properties, and he asked staff to review the parking in lieu fee on page 59 that appears to be too low. Commissioner Davis said the plan should not determine a fee amount, rather should reference that a fee may apply. Commissioner Davis said the subcommittee should meet again to provide an opportunity to review the proposed ideas and suggestions. The Commission concurred. Chair Garden recognized acceptance of the report on the October 2012 Revised Draft North Fremont Specific Plan and directed staff to conduct an environmental review. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 6  Planning Commission Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 COMMISSIONERS COMMENTS Report received. New comments:  Commissioner Osorio asked staff to follow up with the AMBAG Subcommittee on the Sustainable Communities Act. INFORMATIONAL REPORTS & STAFF COMMENTS 4. Planning Office Update Report received. No new comments. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 9:48 pm. Respectfully Submitted, Approved, Kimberly Cole, AICP Chair Principal Planner Planning Commission Planning Commission Meeting Minutes Tuesday, January 22, 2013 7