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12-20-2011 - General Plan Amendment No. 11-01Zone Change No. 11 - Item 18 Attach 13 (2).docMINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION CITY OF WEST COVINA Tuesday, November 22, 2011 The regular meeting of the Planning Commission was called to order at 7:00 p.m. by Vice Chairman Redholtz in the West Covina Council Chambers. Commissioner Stewart led the Pledge of Allegiance and the Commission observed a moment of silence. ROLL CALL Present: Redholtz, Stewart, Holtz, Sotelo Absent: Carrico (excused) City Staff Present: Nichols, Anderson, Wong, Garcia, Davis, Chung, Kim and de Zara APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Regular meeting, November 8, 2011 - The minutes were approved as submitted. A. OTHER MATTERS OR ORAL COMMUNICATIONS None B. CONSENT CALENDAR FORTHCOMING PLANNING COMMISSION MEETINGS AND PUBLIC HEARING SCHEDULE 2. EXTENSION OF TIME PRECISE PLAN NO. 09-04 CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. 09-05 CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. 09-13 APPLICANT: Stephan Schmidt LOCATION: 501 South Vincent Avenue Planning Director Jeff Anderson presented the staff report. He informed the Commissioners that there were items scheduled for the next Planning Commission meeting on December 13, 2011. Motion by Stewart, seconded by Sotelo, to approve the items listed. Motion carried 4-0 (Carrico absent.) C. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING (1) GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT NO. 11-01 ZONE CHANGE NO. 11-01 PRECISE PLAN NO. 11-02 TREE REMOVAL PERMIT NO. 11-04 VARIANCE NO. 11-08 TENTATIVE TRACT MAP NO. 71595 MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT APPLICANT: Eric Chen, Creative Design Associates, Inc. LOCATION: 1607 West Covina Parkway (Southeast corner of West Covina Parkway and West Garvey Avenue South – Civic Center) REQUEST: The project consists of a request for a General Plan amendment, zone change, precise plan, variance and tentative tract map to construct a new medical office building. The subject property is the northwestern section of the Civic Center where the library parking lot is currently located. The applicant is proposing a General Plan amendment to change the land use designation from “Public Facilities” to “Service and Neighborhood Commercial.” The applicant is also proposing a zone change from “Public Building” (P-B) to “Neighborhood Commercial (N-C). The applicant is requesting a precise plan to allow for a 55,680-square foot four-story medical office building on an approximately 2.02-acre site with surface parking. The precise plan also includes the expansion of the parking area to the south of the library. In addition, the applicant is requesting a variance to deviate from the City’s parking requirements. A tree removal permit is required to remove various types of existing mature trees within the front setback on West Covina Parkway. A tentative tract map is also proposed for the subdivision of the property. Senior Planner Fabiola Wong presented the staff report. During the presentation, Ms. Wong told the Commission that a Negative Declaration of Impact had been prepared in conjunction with this project. In addition, she told the Commission that this area would be included in the Cal Trans HOV lane project and that mitigation measures were in place to mitigate congestion at Pacific Avenue and the freeway caused by the proposed project. Ms. Wong also said that this area is currently developed with public buildings, including West Covina City Hall, the Los Angeles County Library, the Los Angeles County Health Department and the Los Angeles County Courthouse. She said the applicant was proposing a medical office facility, and spoke about the proposed architecture of the building, the landscape plan, parking lot and removal of some of the existing trees and berms. In addition, Ms. Wong spoke about the number of parking spaces that would be provided and said that a variance would be necessary since they were deficient in parking by 43 spaces. She said that a parking survey had been conducted and the survey indicated that the City Hall parking lot would have a sufficient number of parking spaces available for use by the medical office. Ms. Wong also spoke regarding the Economic Development Element and said that it was anticipated that the project would benefit the city economically in many different ways. Commissioner Stewart asked about the tree replacement ratio and how it would be determined which trees will be removed. Vice Chairman Redholtz opened the public hearing. PROPONENTS: Peichin Lee, owner/president of CGM Development, Ping Shih Sun, George Teter, Javier Fernandez, Donna Capili and Craig Duncan, Landscape Architect for the project, spoke in favor of the project. Ms. Lee addressed the Commission regarding the proposed medical facility and told them that she had spoke to many people in the community who indicated they would like to have a medical facility on this site. In addition, she spoke about the success of another project her company had built on Nogales Avenue. She also addressed the Commission regarding the requested variance for parking. During her testimony she answered questions by the Commission regarding the proposed parking, how paid parking meters would be installed and implemented, parking for employees working in the building, the number of trees that would be removed and the number of trees to be replaced and if there was already a list of potential tenants for the new office space. Ms. Capili spoke to the Commission regarding her desire to open a new business once the building is completed. She also commented on the condition of the trees and expressed her opinion that the new landscaping would improve the look of the site. Mr. Fernandez said he was an art teacher and he would like to open a business in the new building because most of his clients live nearby. Mr. Teeter said he was interested in the building because it would be centrally located for his business clients. Mr. Sun said he was a resident and he was in favor of the project because he believed it would make the Civic Center look more modern and it would revitalize the Civic Center. OPPONENTS: Lloyd Johnson, Beverly Bulthuis, Joaquin Castaneda, representing Assemblyman Roger Hernandez, Cody De Bray, Angie Gillingham, Robert Lockwood, Ed Scheidler, Kim Sutliffe, Dana Sykes, Phillip Moreno, Blanca Venzer, Ann Chase, Shirley Buchanan, Elsie Messman, John Shewmaker, Fernando Torres, Baalah Drook, James Toma, Joanne Wilner, Irene Fleck, Jerrie McCluskey, Carolyn Arndt, Al Yerkish, Frank Skislock, Bobby M. Reyes, Barry Sutliffe, and Robert Orth spoke in opposition. The opponents expressed their concern that the new medical building would have a negative impact on the Civic Center because it would be out of character with the government buildings and open area. In addition, they expressed their concern that the mature trees would be difficult to replace, since the existing trees had been there for more than 40 years and contributed to clean air and the environment. Many of the opponents said the Civic Center is unique and the community would lose the benefit of this open space. Some of the opponents identified themselves as members of the Friends of the West Covina Library and expressed their concern that the new structure would have a negative impact on the library parking and people visiting the library. There was also concern that the new building would attract many people to the Civic Center adding to the traffic and congestion in the area. During the testimony by the opponents, many said that they were not opposed to growth in West Covina or the new medical offices, they were opposed to the location because it would change the character of the Civic Center forever. In addition, they objected to replacing mature trees with box trees, the additional traffic the project would generate, loss of the park-like open space, and possible additional water run-off. REBUTTAL: Ms. Lee asked Craig Duncan, Landscape Architect, to speak regarding the comments from opponents regarding the tree removal and proposed replanting of trees. Mr. Duncan told the Commission that his survey of the property revealed that there were no protected trees and that many of them were tightly spaced and old. He added that it was the applicant’s intent to replace some of the older trees with young pine trees, and flowering trees. He stated that they did not want to overcrowd the trees in the proposed landscape plan. He discussed the sizes of the trees proposed. Commissioner Holtz asked Ms. Lee if she had considered other sites prior to choosing the Civic Center. Ms. Lee said other sites in the city were less desirable. Vice Chairman Redholtz closed the public hearing. Community Development Commission Director Chris Chung spoke to the Commission regarding the project. He told the Commission that the project would improve the City’s economic development by providing more revenue to the City and creating more jobs. In addition, he said that the site was zoned P-B, Public Building, and not open space. Mr. Chung also told the Commission that this project was in conformance with the General Plan and would provide a solution to maintain parking for the library when their lease expires in the future. There was a discussion by the Commission regarding various aspects of the proposed project. Commissioner Redholtz asked if the property was considered vacant land. Commissioner Stewart asked if underground parking had been considered. Commissioner Sotelo asked what would happen when the lease for parking expired in 12 years. Commissioner Stewart said that he felt the proposed building wasn’t architecturally compatible with other buildings in the Civic Center. He also expressed his concern that the lack of parking for the proposed project would have a negative impact on the County library and Civic Center. Vice Chairman Redholtz concurred with the comments by Commissioner Stewart and added that he was concerned because of the request for a variance for parking. In addition, Vice Chairman Redholtz indicated he would not support the project because he felt there were other more suitable locations for a medical office building and once the Civic Center property was developed, the uniqueness of the location would be lost forever. He also said he was concerned for the quality of life of the citizens and was hesitant to grant a variance for parking. Commissioner Holtz agreed that the parking was of concern and he also expressed his concern about the parking for patrons of the library. He also said he wasn’t as concerned about the removal of some of the trees since many of them were very large and overcrowded. He indicated he would abstain from voting. Commissioner Sotelo said this was a difficult decision and thanked everyone for their testimony. He said he agreed the Civic Center was unique but said the project would help generate jobs in West Covina and the applicant was willing to plant more trees in other areas of the city. He also said the revenue generated by this project was much needed, and he felt the building would be beneficial to the City. He said he would support the project. Motion by Stewart, seconded by Redholtz, to adopt Resolution No. 11-5448, denying General Plan Amendment No. 11-01. Motion carried 2-1-1 (Sotelo opposed; Holtz abstained; Carrico absent.) Motion by Stewart, seconded by Redholtz, to adopt Resolution No. 11-5449, denying Zone Change No. 11-01. Motion carried 2-1-1 (Sotelo opposed; Holtz abstained; Carrico absent.) Motion by Stewart, seconded by Redholtz, to adopt Resolution No. 11-5450, denying Precise Plan No. 11-02 and Tree Removal Permit No. 11-04. Motion carried 2-1-1 (Sotelo opposed; Holtz abstained; Carrico absent.) Motion by Stewart, seconded by Redholtz, to adopt Resolution No. 11-5451, denying Variance No. 11-08. Motion carried 2-1-1 (Sotelo opposed; Holtz abstained; Carrico absent.) Motion by Stewart, seconded by Redholtz, to adopt Resolution No. 11-5452 denying Tentative Tract No. 71595. Motion carried 2-1-1 (Sotelo opposed; Holtz abstained; Carrico absent.) Vice Chairman Redholtz stated that these actions are final unless appealed to the Planning Commission within ten days.