Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout07/21/94MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF BAKERSFIELD Held Thursday, July 21, 1994, 5:30 p.m., City Council Chamber, City Hall, 1501 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, California. 1. ROLL CALL COMMISSIONERS: Present: STEVE MESSNER, Chairperson JEFF ANDREW, Vice Chairperson MATHEW BRADY STEPHEN BOYLE DOUG DELGADO KENNETH HERSH JIM MARINO DARREN POWERS, Alternate ADVISORY MEMBERS: Present: STAFF: Present: LAURA MARINO, Assistant City Attorney FRED KLOEPPER, Assistant Public Works Director DENNIS FIDLER, Building Director JACK HARDISTY, Planning DirectOr JIM MOVIUS, Principal Planner JENNIE ENG, Associate Planner LAURIE DAVIS, Recording Secretary PUBLIC STATEMENTS No one made any public statements at this time. Commissioner Powers said since there were no items on the agenda on which he could act he would excuse himself. Chairman read the notice of right to appeal as set forth on the agenda. 3. CONSENT AGENDA ITEMS Agenda Item #6. - Final Development Plans (PCD, Zone Change No. 5516) Commissioners Brady and Boyle abstained because of conflicts of interest. Minutes, PC, 7/21/94 Page 2 Motion was made by Commissioner Hersh, seconded by Commissioner Mar/no to approve consent agenda. Motion carried. Commissioners Boyle and Brady Were absent due to conflicts of interest. 4. PUBLIC HEARING - TENTATIVE PARCEL MAP 10053 Staff report recommending approval was given. Public portion of the hearing was opened; no one spoke in opposition. Harold Roberts°n repreSented the applicant. He stated they have no problem with the conditions of Exhibit "A". Public portion of the hearing was closed. Responding to question by Commissioner Boyle, Mr. Robertson said in meeting with the City Engineer, they were advised it would be their responsibility to provide a.design to the satisfaction of the Fire Chief and City Engineer to support a 35-ton fire truck. Mr. Kloepper responded to question by Commissioner Boyle, saying there are other areas in which emergency access roads have .been allowed to be aggregate based. Mr. Robertson said the reason for changing the wording to reflect an all-weather surface is because of the length of the secondary emergency access. Mr. Hardisty expanded on Commissioner Boyle's qUestion explaining the aggregate base.~ ~ ~ Mr. Hardisty responded to concerns by Commissioner Andrew saying trees would be required around the berms to soften the effect. Motion Was made by Commissioner Marino, seconded by Commissioner Hersh to make findings in the staff report including finding number 13 shown on Planning Director's memo dated July 13, 1994, approve and adopt the Negative Declaration, and aPprove proposed Tentative Parcel Map 10053 subject to the conditions in Exhibit "A," dated July 21, 1994. Motion carried. 5.1 PUBLIC HEARING - ZONE CHANGE 5575 Staff report recommending approval was given. Public portion of the hearing was opened; no one spoke in favor or opposition. No one was present representing the applicant. Minutes, PC, 7/21/94 Page 3 Public Portion of the hearing was closed. Responding to question by Chairman Messner, Mr. Hardisty said the applicant was sent a copy of the staff rep°rt and staff received no comments in return. Responding to qUestion by Commissioner Hersh, Mr. Kloepper did not feel placing these churches so close together would generate a traffic jam. Mr. Hardisty said he was under the impression that the church is looking into eliminating the lot lines,· therefore he felt this was an effort to obtain a much larger site rather than adding another church in a-side-by-side fashion. Motion was made by Commissioner Marino, seconded by Commissioner Andrew to adopt resolution making findings as set forth in staff report and approve the Negative Declaration, and approve Zone Change No. 5575, subject to the conditions of approval on Exhibit "A," and recommend same to City Council. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: CommissiOners Andrew, Boyle, Brady, Delgado, Hersh, Marino, Messner · NOES: None 5.2a b PUBLIC HEARING - ZONE CHANGE 5559 FINAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS Commissioners Boyle and Brady abstained because of conflicts of interest becauSe a client of their law firm owns property adjoining subject property. Staff report recommending approval was given. John Wilson questioned Public Works Condition #'s 13 and 18. Mr. Kloepper gave some clarification on these conditions, saying it is up to the project engineer to make proposals and convince the Fire Chief and City Engineer that the proposal is adequate, to satisfy the conditions. Responding to concerns by Mr. Wilson, Mr. Kloepper suggested the Commission may want to continue this item so that issues can be worked out. Mr. Hardisty said secondary access would change depending on use and intensity of use. He explained the purpose of 72-hour notice requirement, saying Mr. Wilson had not had this notice time. Minutes, PC, 7/21/94 Page 4 Responding to question by Commissioner Hersh, Mr. Wilson said Parks Condition #1 makes reference to double frontage lots which do not exist. Regarding Planning Department Condition #7 referencing their property being adjacent to Highway 178, he said it is not. Mr. Hardisty said it could be amended to including the wording "along the northern boundary of the property." Responding to question by Commissioner Marino, Mr. Kloepper said if a condition proves Unworkable, the applicant can ask for revision. Mr. Wilson said he has no problem with what the Fire Department is asking, however it would be a problem if they had to buy access. Responding to discussion and questions, Mr. Wilson said he would waive the 72- hour notice for receiving the Fire Department conditions. Assistant Chief Pacheco said the road surface was never in question it was the location of secondary access which was the issue. He felt the location on Highway 178 would be very unsafe. Responding to question by Chairman Messner, Mr. Pacheco said this area is a little more susceptible to wild land type fire. Motion was made by Commissioner Marino, seconded· by Commissioner Andrew to adopt resolution making findings as set forth in staff report and approve the Negative Declaration, and approve zone change #5559, subject to the conditions of approval on Exhibit. "A," and recommend the same to City Council with the following changes: Public Works Condition #'s 5, 9, 11, 12 and 15 to be deleted per the July 18, 1994 memo. Public Works COndition #'s 3 of Exhibit "A" shall be subject to further negotiation and resolution between all parties prior to approval of final development plans. -~ Parks condition #1 shall read as follows: Walls and landscaping are required adjacent to the north property line as approved by future wall and landscape plans. Minutes, PC, 7/21/94 Page 5 Planning Department Condition #7, first sentence to be changed to read as follows: Prior to filing of a final map, the subdivider shall construct a six- foot high masonry wall along the northern'property boundary as shown On the tentative tract. Mr. Hardisty suggested that Condition #'s 13 and 18 be subject to final resolution prior to building permit. Commissioner Marino amended his motion to add the following condition: Public Works Condition #'s 13 and 18 shall be subject to final resolution prior to issuance of a building permit. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Commissioners Andrew, Delgado, Marino, Messner NOES: Hersh ABSENT: Commissioners Boyle, BradY Motion was made bY Commissioner Marino, seconded by Commissioner Andrew to make findings set forth in staff report and approve the Final Development Plans - PUD (ZC 5559) subject to conditions of approval on Exhibit "A", with the same changes as in the previous motion. Motion carried. Commissioner Hersh voted no. 6. FINAL DEVELOPMENT PLANS - PLANNED COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT - ZONE CHANGE #5516 Approved as consent agenda item. PRESENTATION BY AT'FORNEY'S OFFICE - BROWN ACT AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST Ms. Marino submitted guidelines for declaration of conflicts of interest. She stated it did not contain every possibility, however addressed the majority of situations which would affect the Commission. She outlined enforcement and the Commission's responsibility of c°nforming to the Political Reform Act. She said if questions arise she may be asked for assistance and that the FPPC can be called directly which can give a written opinion. This is the only opinion that can be used as a defense in the case of prosecution. She advised Commissioners to Minutes, PC, 7/21/94 Page 6 act conservatively and avoid participation if there are any doubts of a conflict. She stated her advice would be conservative. She also felt it would be best in situations in which a perceived conflict of interest is declared that the Commissioner state that they may have a conflict of interest. She also stated that the reason of the conflict of interest must always be declared. She said a case may arise in which a commissioner may have to participate even with a conflict of interest such as if a quorum cannot be reached and a decision is required to be made. She said straws would have to be drawn, the commissioner participating would haVe to disclose his financial interest on the record with particularity, state the reason there is no alternative source of decision-making authority and minimize participation only to the point necessary to resolve the issue. Responding to question by Chairman Messner, Ms. Marino said campaign contributions are not considered sources of income. Responding to question by Commissioner Brady, Ms. Marin° said she was not aware of information concerning correction of past action if a commissioner were to find out after the fact that he had a conflict. She stated she would check into this and forward the information she obtains. Responding to a concern by Commissioner Brady, Mr. Hardisty said he could work on getting names of all parties involved in projects included in the application process. Commissioner Boyle responded to question by Chairman Messner, saying he and Commissioner Brady have had verbal communication with the FPPC and since Commissioner. Brady is not a partner in the firm unless it is an active client directly affecting his income level technically he does not have to declare a conflict. He questioned if the Commissioner does not know who the owner of the property is and has not been given that information would it be a conflict of interest. Ms. Marino said the FPPC takes the position that a. Commissioner needs to actively seek this information, ignorance is not a defense. She felt, however if the information was withheld and there is no way it can be obtained this could be a defense. cOmmisSioner Brady Stated he had written to the FPPC and obtained a written response, howevei it took more than one month. He felt the response was very vague~ placing the burden for decision on the Commissioner. 8. COMMUNICATIONS A) Written None Minutes, PC, 7/21/94 Page 7 B) Verbal None 9. COMMISSION COMMENTS A. Committees ' Commissioner Hersh said a memo had been distributed concerning the Subdivision Committee regarding the previous meeting held on July 19, 1994. He said discussion centered on 80 percent lot sizes and requirements for open space amenities. It was agreed that the main interest was the opportunity for lot size variety within the community. The committee would like to see consistency between zoning districts with regard to requirements for small lot subdivisions. There was also agreement on the need for public benefits when deviating from adopted standard lot sizes. Commissioner Brady proposed reduction of minimum lot size area for a minimum of 50 percent of lots in a subdivision or 80 percent of lots within a phase of the subdivision. He also suggested the elimination of Section 16.28.170 0.3. which applies to multi-family dwelling zones. This would make the outline of 16.28.170 O.2. from A through F applicable to all residential zones, allowing for public benefit for small lot subdivisions. He asked for Commission comments on these proposals before the next committee meeting of August 16, 1994. Commissioner Marino gave information regarding the League of California Cities Conference, saying a planning committee would tentatively be scheduled for August 26th. He asked for topics for the .agenda of the Spring Conference saying this commission was invited to participate in developing this agenda. Commissioner Boyle stated a work project would be held at the Fox Theater the following Saturday. 10. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Commission, meeting was adjourned t 6:47 p.m. Laurie Davis Recording Secretary ning Dire~,~ ·