CITY OF LA HABRA HEIGHTS
MINUTES OF A REGULAR MEETING OF THE LA HABRA HEIGHTS
PLANNING COMMISSION
JUNE 27, 2006
1. CALL MEETING TO ORDER
Chairman Larry Black called a meeting of the La Habra Heights Planning Commission to order at 7:40 p.m. at the Community Center, 1245 North Hacienda Road, La Habra Heights California.
2. ROLL CALL
Those present: Chairman Larry Black, Vice Chairman Layne Baroldi Commissioners Brent Grebbien and Stephen Garcia. Commissioner Margarita McCoy has an excused absence. Also present: City Attorney Levin, Community Development Director Powers, City Engineer John Skeith and City Landscape Architect Jim Pickel.
3. FLAG SALUTE
Chairman Black led the flag salute.
4. ITEMS FROM THE PUBLIC NOT ON THE AGENDA
There were no public comments at this time.
5. APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR MAY 23, 2006
Vice Chairman Baroldi moved to approve the minutes for May 23, 2006 as presented. The minutes were seconded by Commissioner Garcia and approved as follows:
NOES: None
ABSENT: McCoy
0:02:00
6. STANDARDS MODIFICATION 2006-09, GRADING MODIFICATION 2006-02, CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 2006-01 AND TREE REMOVAL PERMIT 2006-02 (Smith) 707 Dorothea Road
Community Development Director Powers gave the Staff Report and noted that the applicant, Ken Parsons, proposes to utilize the provisions of La Habra Heights Municipal Code Section 9404 to request a Standards Modification for view preservation to exceed the 750 square foot building area and 16 feet in height limitation, Section 8500 to exceed the allowable graded area, Section 9401 for Conditional Use Permit to export more than 2,500 cubic yards of soil to correct an illegal condition, and Section 9380 for a Tree Removal Permit for the construction of a single family residence. Mr. Powers noted the illegal conditions that were being corrected. There have been no changes made to the plans. He stated that the first floor of the proposed plan is smaller than the previously approved plan but the second story and the garage are larger. The total square footage is over the previously approved plan. It is a smaller footprint and is lower. There is a conceptual landscape plan. There are renderings of the view of the proposed site from 677 Cypress and 720 Dorothea. There is also a draft of CEQA Mitigated Negative Declaration. Any comments on this should be in writing. Mr. Powers detailed the grading goals. He noted conditions for mitigation measures and recommended approval of the project.
The Commission discussed the landscaping with Charles Lamb, Landscape Architect for the project.
Jerry Shipman, Dorothea Road, stated that he thought the applicant was supposed to bring back a changed plan as it was much too large; asked that Commission clarify what is meant by original topography; the trees proposed by Cypress will be too tall and will block the view from the road; the trees by the driveway should be planted closer to the driveway so they are higher.
Michael Bagwell, Dorothea Road, noted some of the trees are inappropriate; the new soils report does not alleviate the safety issues related to this project; trees along Cypress that provide privacy for Mr. Bagwell will be removed; the drainage report was incorrectly done; do not approve this project; try harder on this project.
Ken Parsons, architect for 707 Dorothea Road agreed that they had not made the house smaller, as they found within a 500-foot radius, a few houses were near the same size and within 1,000 feet they found several houses that are larger. There have been several that have been approved through the last 18 months and 707 Dorothea falls about in the middle as to size; Mr. Parsons stated that according to what else is being built he did not think this project was out of line; this is a preliminary submittal and some things will be refined and changed between now and the time any construction begins; Mr. Parsons stated that as far as drainage goes, he did not like a collection of water setting for any length of time, we will do the best we can and make it work; he was not sure he heard a clear direction from the Commission at the last meeting; he also has to consider the ownerÕs wishes.
Community Development Director Powers clarified that the condition mentioned that the trees should not grow past the roofline, was not actually in the conditions of approval but was just part of the recommendations and probably would have been removed later.
Ken Parsons stated that they can change some of the kinds of trees that were mentioned tonight and they can try to protect the trees that are providing privacy for Jerry Shipman.
City Attorney Levin clarified that Number 4 on page 2 of the Settlement Agreement should read that tree replacement shall be applied for by March 31, 2006 and obtain it at some time in the process.
Michael Bagwell and City Engineer Skeith discussed the drainage management calculation and the hydrology report.
Ken Parsons commented that he hoped the project would be approved and if not, that the reasons be clearly listed.
Chairman Black brought the meeting back to the Commission for consideration.
City Attorney Levin clarified that the Settlement Agreement was approved by the City Council and executed by the Mayor. She also clarified that the Settlement Agreement says that as long as the applicant follows the schedule and moves things along, the City will not take them to court for the past illegal violations. This does not promise any approvals as the previous approvals have expired and do not allow anything approved to be done at this time. They do represent findings by the City Council and Planning Commission. The findings and conditions can be changed if there is any further information. Ms. Levin asked for a break to consult with staff as to questions that have come up.
Chairman Black called for an intermission at 8:59 p.m. and returned to the meeting at 9:23 p.m.
Chairman Black noted that there have been some challenges from the community tonight and we want to have staff comment on some of these items.
1:18:00
City Attorney Levin spoke concerning whether the grading could be accomplished and preserve the trees on the Dorothea side that are slated to be preserved. This is a challenge for the applicant as the resolution conditions approval on preserving those trees. There seem to be some discrepancies in the figures between cross sections and grading plans and we will look at this closer to make sure they are not significant.
City Engineer Skeith explained that SUSMP approaches drainage from a criteria of a given intensity of peak flows for a year and would be a facet of a larger hydrology report and would not dictate size of a drainage basins for a catastrophic event and the hydrology study leans more to a catastrophic event.
Commissioner Grebbien stated that he was most concerned about the grading and he was not worried that it could be accomplished. The house is large, but he did not think this was a reason alone that it should be denied.
Vice Chairman Baroldi noted that his opinion on the findings has not changed. There are deadlines in the Settlement Agreement.
City Attorney Levin explained that these deadlines are for the applicant and are not something the Commission has to meet.
Chairman Black stated that the actual footprint is smaller and the house is lower, which is pleasing to him. He stated that he is not sure that the landscape plan will accomplish everything they want. We need adequate screening but not view obstruction from Cypress.
Commissioner Garcia noted that in his opinion the landscaping would be very important. He thought the preliminary landscape plan should show more of what they would do. He was not sure how they can plant the trees planned in a 2 to 1 slope (might need some retaining walls), one group of trees will be too tall and need to be changed, those at the top of the slope will need an under story planting done, we need to define what kind of treatment is going to go into the detention basin and all areas of disturbance need to have soil erosion control. He was of the opinion that if one of the tamarisk trees die they should remove all of them and replace them with a different type of tree.
Vice Chairman Baroldi noted that the proposed Resolution 2006-02 at 8.E notes that all trees in the landscape plan should be planted as soon as practicable, but not later than the completion of the rough grading. Mr. Baroldi stated that this would not be reasonable.
There was consensus of the Commission to delete the latter half of the sentence in 8.E.
City Attorney Levin asked for clarification that the trees by Cypress should be adjusted to be something shorter so at maturity they screen the house but will not impact the view from Cypress or the property north of the project. We will note that the Commission wants to see a detailed landscape plan showing the shrubbery and under planting in a future landscaping plan. The under planting should be sufficient to screen the home when the trees grown to maturity. Ms. Levin noted that she would check into the erosion control to make sure the provisions are completely covered in the conditions of approval.
City Landscape Architect Pickel noted that it might be best to use tall shrubs to screen the house on the northeast area as it is about even with Cypress at that point and we donÕt want to violate the view from Cypress. Trees can be used for screening further west as the elevation lowers.
City Attorney Levin commented that the information that if a tamarisk tree is damaged they should all be removed and something else planted, should be inserted in the resolution at Condition 43.
Vice Chairman Baroldi moved to recommend to the City Council to approve Standards Modification 2006-09, Grading Modification 2006-02, Conditional Use Permit 2006-01 and Tree Removal Permit 2006-02, subject to the conditions added this evening. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Garcia and approved as follows:
AYES: Baroldi, Black, Garcia and Grebbien
NOES: None
ABSENT: McCoy
City Attorney Levin stated that the resolution will be modified as noted tonight and the Chair will sign it and it will be forwarded to the City Council.
1:54:40
7. STANDARDS MODIFICATION 2005-24 AND GRADING MODIFICATION 2005-16 (OÕKeefe) 2191 Papaya Drive
Community Development Director Powers reported that the applicant has withdrawn the application.
There were no comments from the Planning Commission.
ITEMS FROM STAFF
9. REPORT ON PLANNING/BUILDING CASELOAD
Chairman Black noted the report is on file.
City Attorney Levin stated that they can probably see the next segment of the Municipal Code at their July meeting.