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PC - 04-21-08CITY OF ROSEMEAD PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES April 21, 2008 CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the City of Rosemead Planning Commission was called to order by Chairman Lopez at 7:03 p.m. in Room 8 of Rosemead Community Recreation Center at 3936 N. Muscatel Avenue, Rosemead. Commissioner Cam led the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Vuu delivered the invocation. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Commissioner Cam, Commissioner Vuu, Vice - Chairman Kunioka, and Chairman Lopez ABSENT: Commissioner Bevington EX OFFICIO: Everling, Gonzalez, and Yin 1. EXPLANATION OF HEARING PROCEDURES AND APPEAL RIGHTS: Attorney Yin stated there were no public hearing items, so he would not be explaining the procedures and appeal rights. 2. PRESENTATIONS Economic Development Administrator, Michelle Ramirez, gave her presentation regarding the merger of Project Area No. 1 and 2 for the benefit of spending tax increment funds generated in one area into another, and explained the Planning Commission's role. She then stated the consultant from Urban Futures, Inc. that she has been working with was available to answer any questions. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned which two zones this would affect. Mrs. Ramirez stated Project Area 1, which is approximately 511 acres, is located generally along Garvey Avenue and San Gabriel Boulevard corridors. She continued stating that Project Area 2 is approximately 203 acres, and is located along Valley Boulevard. She said it's all commercial zoning in Project Area 2. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned if it covered the area located by Temple City Boulevard, which is on the east side. Attorney Yin stated there's a portion of it on the west side that is not in. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting.' Monday, April 21, 2008 Page 1 of 8 Mr. Jim Flournoy, residing at 8655 Landis View, a resident, questioned if these areas are continuous or if they needed to be. Mrs. Ramirez stated they do not need to be and are not continuous. Mr. Flournoy questioned if one of the Project Areas was in a greater surplus than the other. Mrs. Ramirez stated currently yes, because Project Area 1 has been in existence much longer, so we have a cash flow in that project area. She said Project Area 2 is much newer. Mr. Flournoy questioned if they expected any people from Project Area 1 to object to their funds being sized down by Project Area 2. Mrs. Ramirez stated that is what we're looking at, but technically we're able to do that once they are merged. Urban Futures Representative, Mr. Paul Schowalter, stated it's possible that there may be some opposition on it, but what will happen is it becomes a greater pot of money to fund improvements everywhere; it will give the agency more flexibility and a longer planned standpoint. Mrs. Ramirez stated anything is possible. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned if the trailer parks near San Gabriel Boulevard and Garvey Avenue were part of the Project Areas. Mr. Schowalter stated no. 3. PUBLIC COMMENTS Chairman Lopez asked if anyone would like to speak on any items not on the agenda, to step forward. Mr. Jim Flournoy, residing at 8655 Landis View, a resident, discussed two items. He stated he was driving down Valley Boulevard and has noticed there are a lot of red -tile roofs in the City. He said some are real tile, but most of the new ones are imitation. He stated those types of buildings tend to be dangerous, especially in an earthquake. We need to figure out a way to retrofit or fund to make sure these buildings are tied down well and mitigated, he said. The second point, he stated, is they've been putting this GEO -1 condition of approval on there and he wants to verify and make sure there's a process that when plans come in to plan check, as he understands, they are supposed to get routed to planning. He said he does not know if the others get looked at before they are approved, and if not, let's ask City Planner Everling if he has enough staff to get these plans and make sure the mitigation measures are being met. City Planner Everling stated yes, the Building Department routes us a set of plans to look at and we verify that they comply with the conditions of approval. He stated when the plans come in for their construction drawings, the same planner that processed the entitlement for the project also does the plan check. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, April 21, 2008 Page 2 of 8 Chairman Lopez questioned if these plans were physically being looked at. City Planner Everling stated yes. He said they have rolls of plans that they look at. Mr. Flournoy questioned if the reports they are looking at do not meet the requirements, do they have to ask someone about that. City Planner Everling stated no, they pull the project files and go through each condition of approval. He stated building inspectors do their own plan check review and we do ours. Chairman Lopez stated as long as it's in the file, each condition is marked off and verified. Mr. Flournoy & the Commissioners further discussed these issues. 4. CONSENT CALENDAR — These items are considered to be routine actions that may be considered in one motion by the Planning Commission. Any interested party may request an item from the consent calendar to be discussed separately. A. Approval of Minutes —April 7, 2008 Chairman Lopez, referring to the revised minutes the Commissioners were given before tonight's meeting, stated there has been an update on the minutes for April 7, 2008. City Planner Everling stated based on the last meeting, when the conditions of approval for the Panda Project were pulled from the Consent Calendar, we have added the language that was in the recorded minutes to the minutes for approval. Attorney Yin stated he had some additional minor changes that needed to be made. He said on page one, in the very last paragraph from Mr. Flournoy, the sentence should read," He questioned if the binder with these comments was given to the Planning Commission for review and stated that this was turned in quite a while ago." He also stated on page nine, in the sixth paragraph, it should state. "Attorney Yin stated the City has no jurisdiction over the licensing of alcohol, but we do have jurisdiction over granting a conditional use permit against the land use Vice - Chairman Kunioka stated he had some corrections to make off the revised minutes. He stated on page six, the first paragraph should read, "Commissioner Bevington stated he thinks there should be an escape clause on condition 13." He then said on page six, in paragraph fourteen, it should state, "Vice- Chairman Kunioka discussed the sign ordinance and questioned the language of the signs The absence of Commissioner Bevington did not permit the Commissioners to vote for approval of the corrections for the minutes. Chairman Lopez asked for a motion to continue the items on the Consent Calendar Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, April 21, 2008 Page 3 of 8 MOTION BY VICE - CHAIRMAN KUNIOKA, SECONDED BY CHAIRMAN LOPEZ, TO CONTINUE THE MINUTES OF APRIL 7, 2008, MINUTES TO THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING. Chairman Lopez declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. 5. PUBLIC HEARINGS None. 6. MATTERS FROM THE CHAIRMAN & COMMISSIONERS Chairman Lopez stated the Cal Trans area has been cleaned up as well as the area by Universal Bank. Vice - Chairman Kunioka noted that Doug's Liquor is still missing a letter. 7. MATTERS FROM THE CITY PLANNER AND STAFF Chairman Lopez stated this matter is not for approval, but is just wording from the City Planner and will be opened for public comment. City Planner Everling stated based on direction staff received on November 19, 2007, from the Planning Commission, there were six outstanding issues that took place at that meeting regarding Wal- Mart's compliance with the adopted conditions. He discussed these issues and then asked if the Commissioners had any questions. Chairman Lopez stated they should inform the Sheriff's Department to cite delivery trucks using the residential street to enter the shopping center. He stated to make sure these trucks are aware they should not be on any street other than Walnut Grove Avenue, because if not, they're going to continue to do it. He stated if the Sheriffs are aware of it, then they'll be able to cite the company. The Commissioners discussed who should cite these delivery trucks. City Planner Everling stated the applicant's representative was there to clarify and answer any questions the Commissioners may have. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned if Fed Ex trucks are governed by the delivery requirements or do they come whenever they please. City Planner Everling stated they could be if the Planning Commission decides that. Vice - Chairman Kunioka stated in regards to issue five, in the letter it doesn't state that the underground transformer was unavailable, but that it was not readily available which is quite Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, April 21, 2008 Page 4 of 6 different. He stated if you agree to one thing, then you agree to one thing; it is not a matter of which is easier. It is not one of the conditions we approved, he said, for the applicant to do the easiest thing possible. He said he is not 100% sure how they should read the Edison letter, but it is not saying that it is impossible. He said there are no problems with issue four. He questioned if it was titled under Christmas Season or Holiday Season. City Planner Everling stated it's Christmas Season. Vice - Chairman Kunioka stated regarding the sound issue, he noted at the last meeting that the sound monitoring is occurring below the line of sight per the windows of the condominiums adjacent to the Wal -Mart Super Center. He stated if you are below the line of sight, the sound level is not what the people living next door are going to experience if their windows are above where the microphones are located. He said the windows are undoubtedly above a fifteen foot level. He wanted to make sure that is what the sound studies focus on. One of the one studies specified the height of fifteen feet, and the other study in terms of being inside the unit, presents no details on how it was conducted. He stated the first study though, should've been conducted between the line of sight, the roofs and windows. He stated issue two he has been discussing. He stated he's not so much concerned about direct lighting as he is with indirect lighting. He stated in the future, when we specify the pole cut -off, he wants to make sure they agree the pole cut -off means not just the shield on top, but directly down with no side body, and visibility below 180 degrees. He continued stating he has no issues with issue one. He said the condition that they agreed to and are enforcing is the wheel locks; the fact the wheel locks do not work does not place them in violation of the conditions. If they are willing to work with neighbors, he said, to do a sweep of the area that would be great, but it's certainly not required under the conditions. He stated that the same time he noticed the Fed Ex truck on the residential street, he also noticed that there is a dead Magnolia tree behind the building. He does not know whether it is a City tree or a Wal -Mart tree, but someone needs to take care of that, he said. There are several other trees which aren't looking hot. Attorney Yin stated in response to Vice - Chairman Kunioka's comments regarding the utility issue, we'll go back and get further clarification on what "not readily available" means. Vice - Chairman Kunioka stated his recollection for CEQA is that just because it costs more, doesn't make it unfeasible. Chairman Lopez questioned if a transformer that size is capable of going underground. He stated what is so complicated with them having a unit that cannot go underground. Not readily available could mean maybe they're working on it, but at that point and time, it looks like they didn't, he said. City Planner Everling stated he will get clarification from Edison to see what that means. Chairman Lopez opened the matter for public comment. Mr. Jim Flournoy, residing at 8655 Landis View, a resident, stated issue one is a matter of fact and the shopping carts are not suppose to leave the lot. He stated regarding the second issue, direct light is visible driving down Walnut Grove Avenue, as well as through the parking Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting.' Monday, April 21, 2008 Page 5 of 8 lot, and it blinds your eyes. He said they are not down - shielded and he thinks there is a shadowy safety issue and not only that, people don't want to have bright light in their eyes. He stated the third issue was sound and there happens to be a problem with that in the back of the building, south of Panda. He doesn't really know if the City Noise Ordinance has anything to do with this. He stated if they had a ten foot wall or shields around it, you wouldn't hear it at all anyway. It's a real easy fix he said, and what's in the back now does not screen sound at all. Regarding issue four, he questioned if the Christmas Season would begin the first week in December when Hanukkah begins. The Commissioners replied no. They said it would begin after Thanksgiving. Mr. Flournoy stated regarding issue five, the underground utilities are available in size, but they are not readily available in size. He said the point is, the transformer could have been placed somewhere else; either above ground where no one would have been thinking about it, or underground out in the parking lot some place. He stated it's a tight squeeze to get a big underground transformer in the space available, and they would probably have to go with three smaller transformers: one transformer at the north end of the building and two at the south end of the building. He said the fix for this is not infeasible nor is it impossible; it is fixable. He said in regards to the sixth issue, the Sheriffs will not do anything regarding these delivery trucks because there is no ordinance. They will not even enforce the sign, he said, which says "Do not enter here," located on Delta Avenue because it is not added and doesn't have the code citation on it. He stated the Sheriff will not enforce a condition of approval unless they have an ordinance to enforce this. He said the Sheriff came down a couple of times on people driving in and out the Rush Street driveway, but they claimed that the sign is inadequate. He stated they said there were not enough details, so you should find out what wording needs to be placed on that sign. Attorney Yin stated we'll contact Code Enforcement in order for them to look into that issue. Mr. Flournoy stated a friend of his who lives on Bleeker Avenue claims the glare from the skylights is intolerable and asks that the skylights be turned off at night. City Planner Everling stated he does not know how they would turn the skylights off. Mr. Flournoy stated this is what she wants to see, a dark sky at night. He said when it gets a little foggy, it just makes the whole area glow and you can't see the lights across the Valley or anything. Ms. Jennifer Gunther, Attorney at Law with Gresham Savage Nolan & Tilden, located at 550 East Hospitality Lane, Suite 300, San Bernardino, CA 92408, a representative of Wal -Mart, stated she wanted to address some of the points made by the Commissioners. She said with regard to shopping carts, she just wanted to let the Planning Commission know Wal -Mart entered into a contract with West Coast Shopping Cart Service to retrieve shopping carts that are around the neighborhood. She stated this has been going on for many months. They retrieved twenty shopping carts in November, nine in December, thirty -one in January, sixteen in February, and seventeen in March. She said they are making an effort to go out. She said they have implemented, and she think this is also standard Wal -Mart policy, to have someone go out in the parking lot every hour to retrieve the carts that are in the parking Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, April 21, 2008 Page 6 of 8 lot to try to keep those carts from escaping, because it is costly for their business. She said with regard to delivery trucks, they have made every effort to instruct all Wal -Mart trucks to enter and exit the appropriate avenue. The trucks that tend to be in violation are independent vendors, and Wal -Mart has made every effort to educate those vendors and make sure they know where they are supposed to enter and exit. She stated they have also placed signs in the loading dock area and by the exit to try to keep those trucks from exiting onto residential streets. She said they are making a very considerable effort to be a good neighbor. In regard to sound, she said, if you read the report, they state on page five that noise levels were monitored with the nearest sensitive noise receptors. They went to houses and planted microphones where the noise complaints were being heard. Vice - Chairman Kunioka stated the problem is that all the windows on the second floor are above fifteen feet so the direct line of sight is not being addressed. Ms. Gunther stated regarding the letter from Edison, her sentence in the last paragraph states that Wal -Mart has complied as much as they could with the underground service requirement. She stated they did check with the store manager, Jorge Lopez, who made sure that there were no truck deliveries being made after 10:00 pm. He has informed us that there are actually no deliveries made after 6:00 pm, with the exception of independent vendors. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned, regarding cart retrieval, how often they're sweeping the streets. Ms. Gunther stated she made every effort to find that information out, but she has not received an answer. She stated her understanding is that this occurs several times a month, but she knows their goal is to keep these carts on -site because carts are very expensive. Mr. Flournoy stated one thing he has observed is unloading of trucks while they open and shut the doors and questioned if this is going on at night. Ms. Gunther stated there is some unloading of pallets after 6:00 pm, but there is no delivery or loading after 10:00 pm. There is also some pallet removal after 6:00 pm, but nothing after 10:00 pm. Attorney Yin stated at the last meeting, Commissioner Bevington asked him to look into the residency qualifications, but since he is not present, he'd like to table this matter to the next meeting. 8. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Lopez adjourned the Planning Commission Meeting at 7:45 p.m. MOTION BY VICE - CHAIRMAN KUNIOKA, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER CAM TO ADJOURN UNTIL THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING. ME /AG Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, April 21, 2008 Page 7 of 7