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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10-09-2007 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING BOARD OF ZONING ADJUSTMENT OF THE CITY OF BAKERSFIELD Held Tuesday, October 9, 2007, 3:00 p.m., City Council Chamber, City Hall, 1501 Truxtun Avenue, Bakersfield, California. 1.ROLL CALL BOARD MEMBERS: Present: DONNA KUNZ, Chairperson PHIL BURNS RAUL ROJAS STAFF MEMBERS: Present: PAUL HELLMAN, Principal Planner MICHAEL RICHARDS, Attorney GEORGE GILLBURG, Engineer II FELIX LANDAVERDE, Planning Technician DELORES OLDHAM, Recording Secretary 2.PUBLIC STATEMENTS No speaker cards were presented. 3.CONSENT CALENDAR A.Non-Public Hearing Items: 1. Approval of the minutes of the regular meeting held September 11, 2007. Member Rojas requested to continue this item to the next meeting since he and Member Kunz were not in attendance at that meeting. Attorney Michael Richards stated that the Board has the option of either approving the minutes or postponing action until the next meeting. Member Rojas stated that he would be more comfortable postponing action since he was not present at the last meeting. Member Kunz continued this item to the next BZA meeting. B.Public Hearing Items: 1.File No. 07-1743: Zoning modification to reduce the required off-street parking from 243 to 42 spaces to allow for the construction of a 970-seat sanctuary building for the Garden Community Church in a C-C nd (Commercial Center) zone district located at 900 22 Street. Minutes, BZA, 10/09/07 Page 2 2.File No. 07-1630: Zoning modification to reduce the required rear yard setback from 5 feet to a minimum of 2 feet and to reduce the required street side yard setback from 20 feet to a minimum of 10 feet to allow for an addition to a single-family residence, and to allow for the retention of a 7-foot 2-inch tall masonry wall within the rear and interior side yard setbacks where a maximum of 6 feet is permitted in an R-1 (One-Family th Dwelling) zone district located at 2901 20 Street. 3.File No. 07-1653: Conditional Use Permit to allow a 720 square foot commercial coach as a sales facility for a 2-year period of time for Tract 6475 in an R-2 (Limited Multiple-Family Dwelling) zone district located at 6419 Declaration Way. 4.File No. 07-1801: Conditional Use Permit to operate a recycling collection center (truck only) for the purchasing of California Redemption Value (CRV) containers from the public within a portion of an existing restaurant parking lot in a C-2 (Regional Commercial) zone district located at 2125 Brundage Lane. 5.File No. 07-1751: Zoning modification to reduce the required front yard setback along K Street from 10 feet to 0 feet and to reduce the required off-street parking from 76 to 60 spaces to allow for a retail development, including a Floyd’s hardware store, in an M-2 (General Manufacturing) zone district located at 3650 Chester Avenue. 6.File No. 07-1040: Zoning modification to reduce the required off-street parking for a 26-person residential facility with two employees from 22 spaces to 3 spaces in a C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial) zone district located at 2000 Baker Street. The public hearing was opened. No one from the audience requested removal of any item from the consent calendar. Member Burns requested the removal of item 1 from the consent calendar. Member Rojas requested the removal of items 2 and 6 from the consent calendar. The public hearing on the consent calendar public hearing items not removed was closed. Member Rojas moved to approve consent calendar public hearing items 3, 4, and 5. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Members: Kunz, Burns, Rojas NAYS: None ABSENT: None Minutes, BZA, 10/09/07 Page 3 4.PUBLIC HEARINGS 1.File No. 07-1743: Zoning modification to reduce the required off-street parking from 243 to 42 spaces to allow for the construction of a 970-seat sanctuary building for the Garden Community Church in a C-C (Commercial Center) zone nd district located at 900 22 Street. The public hearing was opened. No one spoke in support or opposition to the staff recommendation to continue this item to the November 13, 2007 BZA meeting in accordance with the applicant’s request. The public hearing remained open. Member Burns moved to continue this item to the November 13, 2007 BZA meeting. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Members: Kunz, Burns, Rojas NAYS: None ABSENT: None 2.File No. 07-1630: Zoning modification to reduce the required rear yard setback from 5 feet to a minimum of 2 feet and to reduce the required street side yard setback from 20 feet to a minimum of 10 feet to allow for an addition to a single- family residence, and to allow for the retention of a 7-foot 2-inch tall masonry wall within the rear and interior side yard setbacks where a maximum of 6 feet is th permitted in an R-1 (One-Family Dwelling) zone district located at 2901 20 Street. The public hearing was opened and the staff report was given. Member Rojas asked if the rear yard of the property abuts and alley, to which staff responded in the affirmative. Member Rojas inquired about the improvements proposed to be constructed within the rear yard. Staff requested that Paul Skarphol, project architect and applicant, describe the proposed improvements. Mr. Skarphol stated that the garage would be expanded to the south towards the alley. He stated that a second floor is proposed to be constructed above the expanded garage. Member Rojas requested clarification regarding the proposed street side yard setback reduction. Mr. Hellman stated that the required setback for garages facing a street side yard is 20 feet and that the existing garage observes only a 10-foot setback. He explained that a modification is required in order to expand the existing one- car garage to a two-car garage while maintaining the garage’s current 10-foot setback. Member Rojas requested clarification of the final proposed modification. Mr. Hellman responded that the existing wall was built by the previous property owner at a height of 7 feet, 2 inches along the rear yard and the interior side yard. The public hearing was closed. Minutes, BZA, 10/09/07 Page 4 Member Rojas moved to adopt the attached resolution with all findings and conditions approving Modification 07-1630 as depicted in the project description. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Members: Kunz, Burns, Rojas NAYS: None ABSENT: None 3. File No. 07-1040: Zoning modification to reduce the required off-street parking for a 26-person residential facility with two employees from 22 spaces to 3 spaces in a C-1 (Neighborhood Commercial) zone district located at 2000 Baker Street. The public hearing was opened and the staff report was given. No one spoke in opposition to the staff recommendation. Lisa McFadden, the property owner, stated that it is their intention to improve the neighborhood and to keep this property occupied by establishing the proposed Jason’s Retreat facility. The public hearing was closed. Member Rojas stated he is not in favor of losing that much parking. He stated that he understands the applicant’s proposed use and that there is another facility that may be used for vehicles, but that he is struggling with the proposed reduction in required parking from 22 to 3 spaces. He stated that the applicant has property available to provide the required parking and that he is not in favor of reducing the requirement all the way down to 3 spaces. Jenny Bell, Clinical Director for Jason’s Retreat, stated they do not allow their residents to have cars and that staff parks across the street at their existing facilityat 600 Bernard Street, so the only space needed for the proposed facility would be the handicap space in case they need to transport disabled residents in their van. Member Kunz stated that she wasn’t present the last time this item was heard. She stated that she heads up the City’s redevelopment efforts and pointed out that several years ago a community planning and design charrette was conducted for the Baker Street area. She stated that almost 200 participants specified that they did not want the City to encourage further concentration of social service, group homes, and rehabilitation facilities in this location. They understood that in some locations such uses are permitted by-right, but stated that they did not support anything extraordinary or special that would encourage such uses because they felt there were already too many. She stated that reducing the project’s parking requirement down to 3 spaces would be going way above and beyond to help this particular request go forward, but that she will support the request if an agreement can be reached on a higher amount of parking since the parking concession wouldn’t be to such an extreme degree. She concluded by stating that if this is not possible, then she would not be able to support the request. Minutes, BZA, 10/09/07 Page 5 Member Burns stated that he met with the applicant at the site and discussed potential locations for the handicap parking and that he would like to hear Ms. McFadden’s response to Member Kunz’s comments. Ms. McFadden stated that she understands the Board’s concerns regarding parking and traffic, which we all deal with on a regular basis. She stated that the residents of the facility will never use vehicles. She stated that they have the ability to provide parking on adjacent properties that they own, but that encumbering these properties with parking for vehicles that will never exist would hinder their ability to expand and promote this area, which is what they would like to do. She stated that they would like to develop these properties with appropriate parking. She stated that if there were a parking problem she would certainly like to address it by providing additional parking, but that she would rather see a thriving business than a vacant parking lot that is not utilized. She reiterated that Jason’s Retreat’s regulations prohibit the use of vehicles and that residents would utilize their main facility at 600 Bernard Street. She stated that a childcare facility was previously operated at this location without the need for off- street parking. She stated that they could use their corner property for parking if need be but that they would rather see thriving businesses than parking lots in the area. Member Kunz stated that she understands the applicant’s dilemma in trying to get the highest and best use out of their property. She stated that her problem with the request is that almost 200 people asked the City not to make it easier for social service providers to increase the concentration of such uses in this area and that the presence of such uses impacts the City’s ability to redevelop the area. Member Rojas asked the applicant if there is a possible middle ground that can be reached because he is still having trouble with the proposed reduction to 3 spaces. Jenny Bell stated that in addition to their main facility at 600 Bernard Street, they operate three homes in the area which they plan to close once the 2000 Baker Street facility opens. Member Kunz inquired if they plan to increase the total number of beds, to which Ms. Bell responded in the negative. Robert Neath, representing the property owner, stated that he wanted to emphasize that the McFadden’s have owned this property for more than 30 years and are part of the group that Member Kunz referred to. He pointed out that they are no more interested in seeing the neighborhood decline than any of these other residents. He further pointed out that they have put a lot of time, effort, and money into fixing up this property, which is more than 100 years old, and keeping it in good condition. He reiterated that additional parking required would not be utilized and pointed out that vacant properties in the area are often used illegally by vendors, which is something that area residents do not want to see. Minutes, BZA, 10/09/07 Page 6 Member Rojas inquired of Ms. Bell if it is their intent to consolidate their facilities in the area, to which Ms. Bell responded in the affirmative. Ms. Bell pointed out that they closed a sober living facility they operated because it was causing problems for the neighborhood. Member Rojas commented that the proposed consolidation actually makes him more nervous about the request and feels that they should definitely be required to provide more than 3 spaces. Member Burns inquired if the Members would support postponing this item for another meeting to allow the applicant to come up with a plan with additional parking. Member Rojas stated he would be in support of this if they need more time. Ms. McFadden inquired if they have a suggestion regarding the amount of parking that is needed and stated that they could certainly turn their corner lot into a parking lot. Member Rojas responded that he thinks a reduction from 22 to 3 spaces is extreme, but that he would be willing to support something in the middle, such as 12 spaces. Ms. McFadden stated that they considered providing the required 22 spaces, but decided to request the reduction since the facility doesn’t require parking. She stated that they can provide 10 spaces on the corner lot, but then they will have to continue to deal with the vendors that they continually kick off of there. Ms. McFadden stated that she will do what the Board asks. Member Rojas stated that he suggested a number and that he would like to hear what the other members think about it. Member Kunz inquired if the owner plans to develop the vacant parcels in the near term. Ms. McFadden responded that they had an architect prepare plans for commercial office space with the required number of parking spaces that they would like to develop on the corner lot. She further explained that they have architectural plans to develop the vacant lot to the west. She stated that their plan is to phase the redevelopment of their property since it would not be financially feasible to do it all at one time, and that they would prefer not to encumber the corner lot with required parking for the 2000 Baker Street property. Member Kunz stated that if the applicant is willing to agree to Mr. Rojas’ recommendation of 12 spaces, she would support the request, but that she would not be willing to support the request for 3 spaces. Member Burns stated that he too would support a proposal for 12 spaces today if the applicant is in agreement; otherwise, the item would need to be continued. Ms. McFadden responded that they can provide 12 spaces. Member Rojas inquired if the Board approves the 12 spaces if it will go to staff for approval, or if the plan needs to come back to the Board to approve the location of the spaces. Staff responded that the applicant would be required to specify the location of the proposed off-street parking spaces through a future Site Plan Review process. Member Rojas moved to adopt the attached resolution with all findings and conditions approving Modification 07-1040 reducing the required off-street Minutes, BZA, 10/09/07 Page 7 parking for a 26-person residential facility with two employees from 22 to 12 spaces. Motion carried by the following roll call vote: AYES: Members: Kunz, Burns, Rojas NAYS: None ABSENT: None 5.COMMUNICATIONS None. 6. BOARD COMMENTS None. 7. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business the meeting was concluded at 3:50 p.m. The next Board of Zoning Adjustment meeting is scheduled for November 13, 2007. Delores Oldham, Recording Secretary _______________________________________ JIM EGGERT, Assistant Planning Director