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PC Minutes-2007-04-2432400 PASEO ADELANTO SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO, CA 92675 (949) 493.1171 (949) 493-1053 FAx www.sanjuancapistrano.org CALL TO ORDER MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION TUESDAY, APRIL 24, 2007 MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL SAM ALLEVATO THOMAS W. HRIBAR MARK NIELSEN JOE SOTO DR. LONDRES USO The meeting of the Planning Commission was called to order by Chairman Cardoza at 7:00 p.m., followed by the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag. ROLL CALL Commissioners Present: Robert Cardoza, Chairman Sheldon Cohen, Vice Chairman Tim Neely Gene Ratcliffe Commissioners Absent: Joe Drey (resigned) Staff members in attendance: Steve Apple, Planning Director, Jason Retterer, Deputy City Attorney; Larry Lawrence, Consulting Case Planner; William Cunningham, Contract Planner; Sue McCullough, Recording Secretary. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS Mr. Apple said a letter was received April 23, 2007 from Mr. Joe Drey resigning his position as Planning Commissioner. CONSENT CALENDAR Items listed on the Consent Calendar are considered routine and will be enacted by one motion and one vote. There will be no separate discussion of these items. If discussion is desired, that item may be removed from the Consent Calendar and will be considered separately. San Juan Capistrano: Preserving the Past to Enhance the Future 0 Printed on 1 DO% recycled paper Planning Commission Minutes 2 April 24, 2007 1. APPROVAL OF PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES OF APRIL 10, 2007 Minutes of April 10, 2007: Vice Chairman Cohen moved approval, seconded by Commissioner Ratcliffe. The motion passed by a vote of 4-0. PUBLIC HEARINGS 1. CELEBRITY THEATRE: TO BE CONTINUED ON MAY 8, 2007 MEETING. Motion Vice Chairman Cohen moved, seconded by Commissioner Ratcliffe, to continue the item to the meeting of May 8, 2007. The motion passed by a vote of 4-0. 2. CODE AMENDMENT CA 07-01: AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY'S LAND USE CODE TO PROVIDE SIGN REGULATIONS FOR OFFICE COMPLEXES AND OTHER DEVELOPMENT. CONTINUED FROM THE MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2007. Written Communications April 24, 2007 Staff presentation & recommendation Mr. Lawrence presented the staff report stating three changes outlined in the written communications that have been made to the draft amendment as a result of discussion at the March 27 meeting. Sign examples were included in the written communications. Staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt a resolution forwarding the sign regulations code amendment to the City Council with a recommendation of approval. Commissioner Questions and Comments Vice Chairman Cohen asked for clarification of the limit of one 10 sq. ft sign per tenant in Table 3-42. Mr. Lawrence said the wording could be clarified. Commissioner Neely asked for clarification of signage facing the freeway. Mr. Lawrence said the only signage allowed to face the freeway is a major project identification sign up to 40 sq. ft. Chairman Cardoza voiced concern regarding unsightly temporary signage adjacent to the freeway. Mr. Apple said staff will contact individual property owners of specific properties referenced tonight. Public Hearin Planning Commission Minutes 3 April 24, 2007 Mr, Robert King, 29499 Spotted Bull Way, president of Save our San Juan, submitted a letter to the dais and asked that signage be addressed by the Planning Commission, and that for any permits not requiring a Planning Commission hearing, a thirty day waiting period be required and written notice be provided to all property owners within 1,000 feet of the project plus any City property owner who has requested notification within the past twelve months. Mr. Trevor Dale, resident, voiced concern regarding the Mammoth signage and voiced opposition to any lighting on office space adjacent to the freeway. Mr. Dan Friess, resident, asked how the Serra Plaza project would be affected by this modification. Mr. Lawrence said it would be one of the projects affected since it is an office complex over 20,000 sq. feet although existing signs would not be affected and would be grandfathered in. Mr. Robert King referred to page 4 and said the project is exempt from CEQA guidelines, since CEQA applies to projects, not codes. Mr. King said he would oppose giving a blanket approval to signs. Mr. Apple said standards are being proposed that would have less potential visual impact than the present signage standards. From staff's standpoint, something with potential of less impact than the present standards should be exempt from the CEQA process. Commissioner Comments Commissioner Neely said code amendments are projects under CEQA and are subject to CEQA. Mr. King may be concerned that by categorically exempting the code amendment, it would automatically be exempting future sign projects. That is not the case. Each future project would be reviewed on a case-by-case basis to have a CEQA determination made for it. Mr. Apple concurred with Commissioner Neely. Commissioner Ratcliffe voiced concern regarding the possible monument sign size. Vice Chairman Cohen voiced concern about including commercial, industrial, and retail, allowing 10 sq. ft. of signage per tenant, and allowing illuminated signage. Commissioner Neely concurred with Vice Chairman Cohen's comments and thanked staff for moving in the right direction. Commissioner Neely finds the Mammoth signs to be offensive, that signage should not be allowed along freeway exposure, and suggested looking at signage on a case-by-case basis, and phasing out existing signage over time. Chairman Cardoza said the signage along the freeway has been disappointing, and that signage should match the style of architecture, and asked about the Planning Commission Minutes 4 April 24, 2007 possibility of an urgency ordinance. Mr. Retterer said an urgency ordinance could be explored from a legal standpoint. Motion Vice Chairman Cohen moved, seconded by Commissioner Neely, to continue the sign regulations code amendment, agendized in connection with the complete review of the Land Use Code, with a recommendation that in the interim the City Council pass an interim urgency action deferring all requests for sign applications to the DRC and/or Planning Commission in lieu of over-the-counter approval pending action on the Land Use Code amendment. The motion passed by a vote of 4-0. AYES: Commissioners Neely Ratcliffe, Vice Chairman Cohen, Chairman Cardoza NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Chairman Cardoza asked staff to provide lettering size standards. OLD BUSINESS 1. ARCHITECTURAL CONTROL (AC) 02-07 MODIFICATION #2: AN APPLICATION TO APPROVE A SIGN PROGRAM AND SCOREBOARDS FOR JSERRA HIGH SCHOOL, SOUTH CAMPUS, LOCATED ON THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF JUNIPERO SERRA ROAD AND CAMINO CAPISTRANO, AND IDENTIFIED AS AP NOS. 649-011-025 & 030. (APPLICANT: JSERRA HIGH SCHOOL) CONTINUED FROM THE MEETING OF MARCH 27, 2007. Written Communications April 24, 2007 Applicant Randall Boone Signs, 919 Calle Amanecer, San Clemente, CA 92673 Owner Pueblo Serra Worship Holdings, 26351 Junipero Serra Road, San Juan Capistrano, CA 92675 Staff presentation & recommendation Mr. Cunningham presented to the Commissioners the August 31, 2004 Conditions of Approval, and said that Karen Crocker, Community Services Director, said a provision for use of the swimming pool was included in the Joint Planning Commission Minutes 5 April 24, 2007 Use Agreement for uses other than children's activities. Staff found that scoreboard signs in other institutions did not include corporate sponsor panels. Staff notified Mr. David Belardes, the most likely descendant (MLD), of the April 24, 2007 Planning Commission meeting. Staff continues to recommend that a scoreboard be lowered to be no higher than the 8 ft. masonry wall along the boundary. Staff's opinion is that the signage and scoreboards are consistent with the Land Use Code and with the originally approved Architectural Control. Staff recommends approval of Code Amendment 07-01 relating to sign regulations. Commissioner Questions and Comments Vice Chairman Cohen asked if football field lighting had been reviewed by the Planning Commission. Chairman Cardoza said the plans had been reviewed by the DRC, the Planning Commission denied the application, and it was appealed to City Council, which approved the project. Mr. Cunningham said the field lighting test had taken place recently and it was within the approved lighting plan. Commissioner Ratcliffe asked which condition covers signage scoreboards. Mr. Cunningham said signage is covered under Condition 9.g, and the sign program was to go back to the DRC. Since scoreboards were not mentioned, staff brought the item back to the Planning Commission. Public Hearing Dana Boone with Randall Boone Signs provided photos of Santa Margarita Catholic High School scoreboard with sponsorship panel, Saddleback Valley Christian School scoreboard with a school identification header panel, and St. Margaret's School scoreboard with a bottom dedication panel. She said generally no activities go past 7 p.m. during Daylight Savings Time. David Belardes, 31742 Via Belardes, the MLD for this project, said there is no problem with the signs and they don't protrude into the cultural resource area since the football field has 8 feet of fill and the rest of the campus has 5 feet of fill. The southern section is out of the cultural resource area. Trevor Dale, 27781 Camino Veranda, said the City Council approved JSerra High School and the majority of the Council was in favor of the Joint Use Agreement (JUA). Mr. Cunningham said under the original approval there was specific language in the Development Agreement and Joint Use Agreement approved by City Council for swimming pool uses. Commissioner Questions & Comments Vice Chairman Cohen paraphrased paragraph 5 of the Joint Facilities Use Agreement dated June 6, 2006 as follows: the City and JSerra agree to discuss entering into a Separate Joint Use Agreement for the swimming pool facilities to be constructed on JSerra's campus. Vice Chairman Cohen said that when the Planning Commission Minutes 6 April 24, 2007 JUA was entered into, it was apparently agreed that the pool would be addressed at a later date. The pool was not brought before the Planning Commission. Mr. Cunningham concurred that is correct. Mrs. Boone said that all the other fields at JSerra are used by the community at large. Motion Vice Chairman Cohen moved, seconded by Commissioner Neely, to deny approval of a Code Amendment relating to sign regulations due to the massiveness of the signs requested. The motion passed by a vote of 3-1, with Chairman Cardoza opposed since he feels the conditions could be modified to restrict the size and number of signs. AYES: Commissioners Neely and Ratcliffe, Vice Chairman Cohen NOES: Chairman Cardoza ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Mr. Cunningham said the resolution of denial will be brought to the May 8, 2007 meeting for confirmation of the findings. Chairman Cardoza asked for a short recess at 8:35 p.m. and reconvened the meeting at 8:44 p.m. NEW BUSINESS 1. WORKSESSION REVIEW OF DRAFT AMENDMENTS TO GENERAL PROVISIONS AND ADMINISTRATIVE SECTIONS OF TITLE 9 LAND USE CODE (CODE AMENDMENT 04-01) Mr. Apple said that staff and the City Attorney are available to answer questions. Vice Chairman Cohen asked for black strike through of language going out and red or blue in the replacement wording. Mr. Apple said that he discussed with Molly Bogh her recommendations to make the procedures more user friendly. Commissioner Ratcliffe asked if pages 10 through 13 are all new. Mr. Apple said some wording has been relocated from other sections. Mr. Retterer said much of the new language has been formatted from the flow chart figures which are no longer included. Planning Commission Minutes 7 April 24, 2007 Chairman Cardoza asked if Ms. Bogh could walk the Planning Commissioners through the wording. Mr. Apple offered to set up a conference call with Ms. Bogh at a Planning Commission meeting. COMMISSION/STAFF COMMENTS Vice Chairman Cohen said that if, in fact, Tannins Restaurant was for sale or in escrow when it came before the Planning Commission, that fact should have been disclosed. Commissioner Neely voiced displeasure regarding the extremely large wall - mounted lighting fixtures at the law offices being built next to the kennels on Ortega Highway, the butchering of trees and shrubs along the freeway frontages of the Ortega Business Plaza and church in the Gates building area, and the building with the hole in it. Commissioner Ratcliffe suggested notifying everyone in the Native American community of projects of potential interest to the Native American community. Commissioner Ratcliffe voiced concern with the extensive tree trimming along the Ortega Business Center. Chairman Cardoza said the condition stated that the pet care lighting be the same as the lighting of the adjacent new building. Chairman Cardoza said that at the DRC meeting Steve said that the Ortega Ranch building with the hole in the roof is to be completed this week. Mr. Apple said that staff will look into this situation. Chairman Cardoza spoke with Joe Drey this morning who is retiring. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business before the Commission, the meeting was adjourned at 9:12 p.m. The next regular meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 8, 2007, at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers. Approved: Cz77 o Steve pple, Plan Dee'