CITY OF LA HABRA HEIGHTS

 

REGULAR MEETING MINUTES

 

OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION

 

APRIL 22, 2008

 

 

OPENING CEREMONIES

 

1.         CALL MEETING TO ORDER

 

            Chairman Black called the April 22, 2008 Regular Planning Commission Meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.

 

2.              ROLL CALL

 

Present: Chairman Larry Black, Vice Chairperson Margarita McCoy, Commissioners Brent Grebbien, Tony Liu and Carl Westerhoff

 

Staff present: Planning Commission Counsel Daniel Ballin, Community Development Director Justin Powers, City Planner Barbara Feeler, City Engineer Majdi Ataya and Deputy City Engineer Pat Stanton.

 

FLAG SALUTE

 

Commissioner Westerhoff led the flag salute.

 

3.              ITEMS FROM THE PUBLIC NOT ON THE AGENDA

 

Norm Zezula gave his opinion of the development process and delays; he was opposed to an increase in time people have to use their permit.

 

Stephen Blagden, stated there are issued on Project 2006-03; asked that the Commission Call for Review on the project when staff has made a final decision.

 

Ken Parsons, asked that the Commission consider the extended time that can be allowed for the exercise of a permit; that he has three projects that are close to approval that would benefit by a third year; these projects were approved under the old code and due to various problems it has taken longer than expected, we have had small time extensions; we were not aware that we could have asked for a full year extension under the old code; now the new code is being applied for extensions; asked that it be considered that they be allowed the one year extension under the old code.

 

CONSENT CALENDAR

 

4.              APPROVAL OF MINUTES FOR JANUARY 22, 2008, FEBRUARY 19, 2008 AND FEBRUARY 26, 2008

 

Commission Member Westerhoff moved to approve the above minutes as presented. The motion was seconded by Vice Chairperson McCoy and approved as follows:

 

AYES: Black, Grebbien, Liu, McCoy and Westerhoff

NOES: None

ABSENT: None

 

PUBLIC HEARINGS

 

5.        CONFORMANCE WITH GENERAL PLAN FOR A VACATION OF PUBLIC RIGHT OF WAY (LA HABRA HEIGHTS COUNTY WATER DISTRICT) AT 1500 E. SKYLINE DRIVE

 

            City Planner Feeler stated that La Habra Heights County Water District proposes to replace the present water tank at 1500 E. Skyline Drive with a larger reservoir; this will require the acquisition of ½ to .85 acre of land owned by the Puente Hills Native Habitat Preservation Authority; they are asking to abandon a portion of the West side of Skyline Drive Public Right of Way, per section 83.13 of the Streets and Highway Code and Section 65.402 of the California Government Code; the Planning Commission must determine whether that project is in conformance with the General Plan; Skyline Drive has now been identified as a “Country Road” in the General Plan and is required to have a 40 foot Right of Way and it is actually 80 feet wide; staff recommended the Commission authorize staff to collect a deposit of $2196 to offset the cost incurred by the City on this project; the City does not have a fee for Vacations of Rights of Way; staff recommends adoption of Resolution 2008-03.

 

            Planning Commission Attorney Ballin explained that the issue before the Planning Commission is the proposed Vacation is in conformance with the General Plan.

 

            Vice Chairperson McCoy noted that she feels unsure of approving something that doesn’t have all of the information.

 

            City Planner Feeler noted that this project is only conceptual at this time; is the Vacation of the right of way in compliance with the General Plan.; would this land being by the Water Company and becoming Public Facility property; be in conformance with the General Plan? All of the other decisions will be made by the City Council.

 

            Mr. Ballin indicated that there is no plan before the Commission to make a decision on, only if a “Vacation” is in conformance with the General Plan; if the Commission does not act within forty days, it is automatically deemed in conformance with the General Plan.

 

            Vice Chairperson McCoy was concerned about what the Puente Hills Native Habitat Preservation Authority knows about this; there is not enough information.

 

            Community Development Direct (CDD) Powers explained that the original 80 foot wide Right of Way was made to develop Powder Canyon in a high density; when we redid the General Plan, we made this a Country Road and limited what the Right of Way should be on this road; that we are interested in the trails and the Habitat Authority being aware of what is happening; that the Water District actually owns the property to the middle of the street, so we are not giving them ownership, they already have that.

 

            Commissioner Westerhoff asked for confirmation on what he understood.

 

            City Planner Feeler stated that the “Vacation” of the Right of Way will not come back to the Commission because the Council is the authority that deals with City owned property; when the water tank comes forward, depending on what the scope of the property is, that may come back to you.

 

            Chairman Black opened the Public Hearing for Public Comment.

 

            Stephen Blagden, felt it may be necessary to switch the tank and the road location due to slope instability; the City Engineer needs to look at the tank placement as well as existing tanks; tank will need multiple variances and Standards Modifications in order to be approved; conditions should be added; on the Resolution, the second section three should be stricken; add a condition that if the project is not approved, the “Vacation” reverts; he wouldn’t be surprised to see them ask for more.

 

            Brad Cooke, La Habra Heights County Water District, stated that they found a deficiency in water storage and found which site would be best to correct this; the larger tank will bring the deficiency into line; he stated they have been working for two years with the Habitat Authority on buying some property and we are in the final stages of signing an agreement with them; no impact to the trailhead leading into the Habitat Authority; he took offense with Mr. Blagden’s statement that the Water District may come back asking for more.

 

            Chairman Black asked how any improvement would take place for the trailhead.

 

            Mr. Cooke answered that they are not expecting any problems with the placement of the tank, but they have an agreement with the Habitat Authority that if there is any damage during the construction we will make the trailhead “as is” or improved.

 

            Mr. Ballin noted that he wanted to clarify a former question that was asked; there is a possibility that the project might not come back to the Planning Commission for a decision on whether the project of the water tank because it is a water facility.

 

            City Engineer Ataya stated that the Water District is governed under a separate code; they do not need to get City approval to build the Water Tank.

 

            Chairman Black closed the Public Hearing and brought the meeting back to the Commission.

 

            Commissioner Westerhoff moved to Adopt Resolution 2008-03 as written with one change in the second portion of Section 3; change the word “project” to the word “abandonment”.

 

            City Planner Feeler noted that it is a typographical error and will be renamed Section 4. The motion was seconded by Chairman Black and approved as follows:

 

            AYES: Black, Grebbien, Liu, McCoy and Westerhoff

            NOES: None

            ABSENT: None

 

5.              CONFORMANCE WITH GENERAL PLAN FOR THE REMOVAL OF A WATER TANK (A LA HABRA HEIGHTS COUNTY WATER DISTRICT) AT 1830 TUMIN ROAD.

 

City Planner Feeler stated that this is a conformance to the General Plan for the disposition of the property at 1830 Tumin Road pursuant to Government Code Section 654.02 C; this is identified as a Public Facilities Zone; with the abandonment of the tank and sale of the property; if they list it for sale we will want to decide if we want to rezone it and since everything around it is Residential/Agricultural, you probably will want to rezone it to that use; staff is recommending that you establish fees for this particular application of $1220 for the purpose of this application; the cost associated with the determination of conformance with the General Plan be incurred solely by the Water District; the Planning Commission should review the General Plan and determine if the Water District site on Tumin Road is in conformance with the General Plan and adopt the Resolution and conditions of approval; we again have two Section C 3’s in the Resolution and we will correct the numbers; Prospective buyers will be notified that it is zoned for R-A, but may be developed only if the City development standards can be followed as it is only 40,000 square feet; the Resolution will be recorded on the Title to the property prior to the sale of the property and a copy of the Title given to the City; staff ask the Commission to add a condition to the Resolution for disclosure that this property is in an Alquist Priola Zone and may have an earthquake fault running through it.

 

Chairman Black stated that he was trying to understand whether or not this is a restoration project and where our responsibility comes in specifically where there will be grading to restore the topographical features to their point of origin; there are probably no records to follow; was he correct that the Commission is only being asked to go no further than noting portions of the General Plan to which this would or would not conform.

 

City Planner Feeler stated that you have a Public Facility property on a Public Facility zoned lot; they are proposing to sell that lot; they can sell it and it will remain a Public Facility lot until someone comes in and rezones it for some other use; that you may want to rezone the lot as R-A as that is what surrounds the lot; will that also be in conformance with the General Plan?

 

Chairman Black asked if they can add conditions as to what the zone may be.

 

Mr. Ballin stated that he did not know if conditions could be added at this time and asked if this would go before the City Council.

 

City Planner Feeler stated that it would not.

 

Vice Chairperson McCoy stated there was a statement from the Water District that states they want to use the lot for open space, recreation or affordable housing.

 

Commissioner Westerhoff asked what the zoning options are.

 

City Planner Feeler read the list of different zones possible.

 

CDD Powers referred to Land Use Element Policy 56 which states that pre-existing parcels of less than one acre in size created as water tank sites or for other non residential purposes, may be developed for residential use only if it is possible to do so in a manner that is consistent with set back and other development standards of this plan and Zoning Ordinance.

 

City Planner Feeler stated that the conditions were placed there for very specific reasons; as a Public Facility zone it is compliant with the General Plan. If the applicant goes through all of the steps in the conditions, it will be compliant with the General Plan as an R-A zone.

 

Commissioner Westerhoff stated that the Resolution refers to R-A zoning and Sections 3.4 and 3.5. Do we as a Commission have the authority to change those zoning references or not?

 

Mr. Ballin stated that you might say that the disposition of the property will conform with the General Plan only if number 4 is done or number 3 is done, but he does not think you can force a rezone at this point.

 

Vice Chairperson McCoy stated that she found the letter she had referred to from La Habra Heights Water District, written on April 8, 2008; her concern was that the wording suggests that what we could use this land for is park, recreational, open space or low or moderate income housing.

 

Mr. Ballin explained that the Government Code Section they mentioned states that before they can dispose of the property they have to offer it to certain Public agencies.

 

Chairman Black opened the Public Hearing.

 

Brad Cooke, La Habra Heights County Water District clarified there has been some interest in this property; the Board of Directors had passed the Resolution to sell the property as is; the cost to remediate the site may not be recoverable in this economy; one of the statutory rules is they have to offer the land to several different Public Agencies first.

 

Stephen Blagden, felt that the conditions should be made; no “as is” sale; the Whittier fault runs through this property; additional language needs to be put into the conditions.

 

Chairman Black closed the Public Hearing and brought it back to the Commission.

The consensus of the Commission was that they did not like an “as is” condition and were not ready to make a decision

 

City Planner Feeler clarified that in Government Code 65.402 it states that if the Planning Commission does not determine that this is in substantial conformance with the General Plan by May 19, it automatically is deemed in conformance; the City got the request on April 9^th.

 

Chairman Black stated that he is still unsure that this can be conditioned.

 

Mr. Ballin stated that if you cannot find the “as is” lot in conformance with the General Plan and deny it; you would have to make a Resolution that it does not conform with the General Plan.

 

Chairman Black asked if we did that by May 19^th, would it then fall into a status of conformance?

 

City Planner Feeler asked if as it currently stands, as a Public Facility Zone, does it conform with the General Plan.

 

Chairman Black stated in his opinion it does not because it has been abandoned as to its purpose.

 

City Planner Feeler asked if it is offered to someone for sale would you want it to stay as a Public Facility Zone.

 

Commissioner Grebbien stated that it is hard to make a decision without knowing what the intent is for the lot; the Applicant’s statements really don’t seem to agree with the Resolution.

 

Vice Chairperson McCoy stated the possibility that the Water District’s request to sell the property “as is” might not be known to staff.

 

City Planner Feeler stated that the Water District is going to sell the property somehow; who it’s going to be to, we don’t know; they have to offer it to a Public Agency first; the Resolution was written the way it was so the City would have some control on what was done; we put the change of zoning and the General Plan amendment in so itwould be done before they sold the property.

 

Chairman Black opened the Public Hearing.

Brad Cooke stated that the City Resolution is far different than the Resolution passed by the Water District. He stated he can do nothing about that. He stated that it did not sound to him like any kind of delay could be requested, but they would just have to withdraw the application and resubmit it and the forty day clock starts. He stated that he would withdraw the application if staff would hold our deposit over and they will get back with staff so the application is very clear.

 

Mr. Ballin stated that the applicant has withdrawn the application and you have accepted that.

 

City Planner Feeler stated that the application has now been withdrawn in writing.

 

7.         STANDARDS MODIFICATION FOR HARDSCAPE, STANDARDS MODIFICATION FOR CUMULATIVE FOOTPRINT AND A STANDARDS MODIFICATION FOR BUILDING DESIGN FOR CONSTRUCTION OF A BARN (POULIS 2301 E. SKYLINE DRIVE

 

Chairman Black asked what the PRJ number stands for.

 

CDD Powers explained that the Standards Modifications and the application may change so we decided to give the projects a Master Project number.

 

City Planner Feeler stated that this project number 2007-47 came in to us in 2007 and was the 47^th project we saw.

 

CDD Powers gave the staff report on PRJ 2007-47; this is 2301 E. Skyline Drive and the applicant is Mike Kowalski; he is asking for a Standards Modifications for Building Design, what we used to call View Preservation; the allowed Hardscape on the 3.127 acres is 20,008 square feet; Planning Commission Hardscape limit is 40,016; the existing hardscape is 36,742 and the proposed barn is 2,287 which totals 39,029; the next Standards Modification is Building Design; the trigger for allowable size is 1500 square feet and the proposed barn is 2287, the allowable height is 20 feet and the proposed height is 16 feet.

Vice Chairperson McCoy asked if the allowable size is for accessory buildings as well as residences.

 

City Planner Feeler stated that with the new code the trigger for any building is 1500 square feet in size and a height of 20 feet.

 

CDD Powers stated they are also applying for a Standards Modification for Architectural Articulation; the proposed barn is 100 linear feet; is the articulation is for any structure or just primary structures; the concern is the hardscape amount; we suggested that they try to do something with the driveway to reduce hardscape; the applicant would like to keep the driveways; we requested a condition that if approved they decrease the amount of hardscape equal to that at the barn; we recommend approval with that condition.

 

City Planner Feeler stated that there is a possibility that two trees might have to be removed.

 

Commissioner Liu asked if the roof has to be articulated.

 

City Planner Feeler commented that there has to be articulation if the size is over 6,000 square feet.

 

Mike Kowalski, Civil Engineer on the project stated that he did not think any trees would have to be removed. We are asking that the condition to remove some of the hardscape be removed.

 

Commissioner Westerhoff mentioned a letter they received that asked that certain things be done and he asked Mr. Kowalski if there was any problem following those suggestions.

 

Mr. Kowalski stated that there should not be a problem.

 

Pete Poulis, owner, stated that he spoke to the person who wrote the letter and there are no problems.

 

Chairman Black closed the Public Hearing and brought it back to the Commission.

 

Commissioner Westerhoff moved to adopt Resolution 2008-02 with the deletion of Condition 18 on page 4, with the idea of starting discussion.

 

Chairman Black commented that he would approve the project as is, without the Condition to remove some of the hardscape.

 

Commissioner Westerhoff was of the opinion that the Resolution is defective and noted that if we approve the project without removing Condition 18 it will be meaningless as the applicant stated he will not remove the hardscape and if we defeat the Resolution the project will rightly not go forward.

 

Vice Chairperson McCoy seconded the motion for discussion purposes.

 

Vice Chairperson McCoy stated that she did not believe that if we remove the Condition it will be the end of the project; the total number for the hardscape is very close to the maximum allowed; she is very nervous when numbers come so close to the maximum.

 

Chairman Black stated that his concern was the usage of the project and after being there he could not make findings that hardscape should be taken away.

 

Commissioner Grebbien stated the design is very well planned; the size of the property gives them the space to have multiple uses; he did not feel anything needed to be removed.

 

Commissioner Liu stated that he agreed with Chairman Black that some of the hardscape should not be removed.

 

The motion was approved as follows:

 

AYES: Black, Grebbien, Liu, McCoy and Westerhoff

NOES: None

ABSENT: None

 

Chairman Black noted that the motion passed unanimously with the striking of Condition 18.

 

8.              MUNICIPAL CODE AMENDMENT

 

CDD Powers stated the City Council adopted the new Municipal Code they requested that within a year staff should look at the changes to see how they are working and see if there are any changes needed; the Council appointed an Ad Hoc Committee made up of Council Member Brian Bergman, Layne Baroldi and Planning Commission Chairman Larry Black; staff met with the Committee to get input from them; the Committee met with the Public, Engineers, and Architects; from this meeting staff has made the following suggestions.

 

Chairman Black opened the Public Hearing.

 

Norm Zezula felt almost all of the changes favor developers and will make La Habra Heights less rural, particularly the ongoing attempt to subvert our General Plan in the area of minimizing the alteration of the natural terrain and minimizing hardscape; how can swimming pools be eliminated from hardscape; a swimming pool is artificial and not natural terrain; excluding all but the first 35 feet of a driveway is not logical; our General Plan does not agree with these changes and it would have to be amended.

 

Stephen Blagden noted that it took the City five years to develop the General Plan and Municipal Code; now we see attempts to unravel this work behind closed doors and in consultation with builders; key to the inappropriateness of tonight’s changes is Land Use; a Public Hearing should have been held prior to final Code Committee reference; he then gave his opinion of the changes.

 

Ken Parsons, Architect stated that the majority of the homes are moderate sized homes; he has some concerns on the time limits; it is not uncommon that getting all of the plans and engineering figures together to take six months or more especially if it is a difficult lot and then there are other items that have to be considered that also take time; it is not unusual to take a year and this is if there aren’t any other complications and changes to the plans; with just a year it penalizes an applicant so that he is forced to rush through a lot of what he has to provide; The old code worked pretty well with two years and a one year extension; Impervious Coverage especially for long driveways, there does need to be some control in place as to what that means; there are some conditions when a long driveway will be needed to access the only buildable area on the property and if there is not some provision to accommodate that, and still be approved, the City would be coming near creating lots that are unbuildable.

 

Stephen Blagden stated that you want to make rules for the exception, not make the exception the rule; he stated that table 7-12 supplies extra room for both Impervious Coverage and Grading for such a case and if more is needed we have the Variance.

 

Chairman Black closed the Public Hearing and returned it to the Commission to discuss with staff.

 

Mr. Ballin stated that the City got a notice of a violation of the Brown Act that the Code Committee met in secret, a violation of the Brown Act and that the Planning Commission should not be acting on these change suggestions; we do not think there is a Brown Act violation; we do think that as a matter of policy it would be good for the Code Committee to reconvene and take public comment and if there is anything to add they can be brought back to the Planning Commission; you can go ahead with what has been brought before you now.

 

City Planner Feeler explained that after meeting with the Sub Committee we decided to have a Public Meeting and advertised it in the newspaper and sent a notice to all of the applicants and property owners who had been working under the new code, inviting them to this meeting to give their input to the Committee; a lot of people showed up and gave recommendations; the result is what the City Attorney came up with for tonight’s meeting.

 

The Planning Commission consensus was to continue with the Code Amendments tonight.

 

1.         Section 7.14.40 (W) (Grading, Retaining Walls and Hardscape Standards) of Article 7

 

Discussion followed.

 

                        Deputy City Engineer Pat Stanton explained that you have to have a circle of 150 feet in diameter, 75 feet in each direction. The new wording was to clarify the directions, not to change them.

           

The Commission approved Item 1 as written.

 

Chairman Black called for an intermission at 10:03 p.m. and reconvened at 10:13 p.m.

 

2.              Section 7.17.40 B 1 and 2 (Development Standards for Grading, Retaining Walls and Hardscape) (Grading, Retaining Walls, and Hardscape Standards) of Article 7

 

Discussion followed.

 

Chairman Black asked that “Agricultural Grading” be defined in the definitions.

 

3.         The Commission approved Item 2 as written with a 3-2 vote.

            Section 7.1H of Chapter 7.17 (Grading, Retaining Walls and Hardscape Standards) of Article 7

Discussion followed.

 

H 1 was approved with the addition of the word “primary”.

 

H 2, the Commission asked that this be brought back at a future Planning Commission meeting.

 

4.         Section 7.19.80 Table 7-12 of Chapter 7.19 (Zoning Administration) Standards Modifications Article 7 needs to be amended to Include: a. and b.

 

                        Discussion followed.

 

                        Item 4 is to be brought back to a future Planning Commission Meeting.

 

5.              Section 8.3.50 Time Limits and Extensions of Permits

 

Discussion and explanations followed.

 

Item 5 Approved as written 5-0

 

6.              Section 12.2.10 of Chapter 12.2 (Definitions) of Article 12 (Definitions) of the La Habra Heights Municipal Code

 

Discussion followed.

 

Item 6 was Approved as amended

 

Commissioner Westerhoff moved to approve the above mentioned items as discussed and bring back those items so mentioned. The motion was seconded by Vice Chairperson McCoy and approved as follows:

 

AYES: Black, Grebbien, Liu, McCoy and Westerhoff

NOES: None

ABSENT: None

 

ITEMS FROM THE PLANNING COMMISSION

 

            Commissioner Westerhoff stated that it would be helpful to have a Study Session just to discuss these things without taking any actions. Then we can give direction to staff to come back to the next meeting with a Resolution for these items.

 

            City Planner Feeler stated that she was going to recommend this as they have no Agenda Items to bring forward to the May Planning Commission meeting. She stated she can bring the Planning Application and show the Commission how they go through the application for a project so you can understand our process. At that meeting if you see issues that you think you might want to change we can make a list of items and agendize it for the next meeting and bring it back to you.

 

            CDD Powers suggested that at that meeting we might also agendize the nonconforming topic.

 

            Vice Chairperson McCoy stated that there is not a hierarchy in View Protection between local and far off views as stated by City Attorney Levin. This is in conflict with the General Plan. She stated that she would like this to be on the Agenda.

 

            Chairman Black agreed to this.

 

ITEMS FROM STAFF

 

9.              MONTHLY COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT REPORT

 

            Chairman Black moved to receive and file.

 

ADJOURNMENT

 

            Chairman Black adjourned the April 22, 2008 Planning Commission Meeting at 11:39 p.m. to the next Planning Commission Meeting on May 27, 2008.

 

 

_________________________________

Larry Black, Chairman

 

ATTEST:

 

_____________________________________________

Justin Powers, Community Development Director