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PC - 05-05-08CITY OF ROSEMEAD PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES May 5, 2008 CALL TO ORDER: The regular meeting of the City of Rosemead Planning Commission was called to order by Chairman Lopez at 7:00 p.m. in Room 8 of Rosemead Community Recreation Center at 3936 N. Muscatel Avenue, Rosemead. Commissioner Bevington led the Pledge of Allegiance. Chairman Lopez delivered the invocation. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Commissioners Bevington, Cam, Vuu, Vice - Chairman Kunioka, and Chairman Lopez ABSENT: None EX OFFICIO: Everling, Gonzalez, Trinh and Yin 1. EXPLANATION OF HEARING PROCEDURES AND APPEAL RIGHTS: Attorney Yin explained the public hearing process and the right to appeal Planning Commission decisions to the City Council. 2. PUBLIC COMMENTS Chairman Lopez asked if anyone would like to speak on any items not on the agenda, to step forward. Mr. Brian Lewin, residing at 9501 Ralph Street, a resident, stated at a couple of the Valley Vision Plan meetings, it has been mentioned by two or three people that supposedly the improvements that were done on Valley Boulevard were removed because Cal Trans as directed. He questioned since no one gave any proof of Cal Trans being the reason they were removed, if it was because the improvements that were made were not popular. City Planner Everling stated that is a good question and at the moment he does not know the answer. He stated he has to research that and it was also something he had been wondering about as well. He stated removal of the median, he is not sure whether it's factual or a rumor. Mr. Lewin stated he's generally in favor of the Valley Vision idea, but obviously if it is something that Cal Trans is going to shoot down or even has the power to shut down, he thinks it would be good to establish if that's the case before we proceed. He said we don't Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, May 5, 2008 Page 1 of 9 want to start something and get too far along, in case Cal Trans says no. He questioned if there was any information on that. Mr. Jim Flournoy, residing at 8655 Landis View, a resident, stated he attended the Governor's Office Emergency Services Kick -off down at the Ontario Airport today for the Golden Guardian exercise in November. He said there will be a meeting this Friday at Cal Tech, and in June there will be a public meeting that the City of Rosemead and the Chamber of Commerce have been invited to. He stated the local region for Los Angeles County is Region E. He stated there is a lot of good information coming out of this and he wants the City to stay on top of it and participate. He said as far as the San Andreas Drill, it will be pretty idle for a couple of months. Chairman Lopez questioned the procedures of the drill. Mr. Flournoy stated it would be up to a four day drill and explained the breakdown of the days. He then said, we are here in the hot spot. He stated what he really wanted to talk about was that they think the number one problem is going to be water. He then discussed the idea of talking to water companies in order to implement a 10 to 20 year plan to purchase pipe, so that we could be ahead of the game incase an emergency does occur. He stated if our water system goes down, everyone is going to try to buy pipe at one time and it would take a year to supply that kind of amount. He said if we do not do something like this, we will eventually pay for it later, and this seems much more cost effective. He said we should choose a main street like Garvey Avenue or Valley Boulevard and redo it. Chairman Lopez stated Garvey Avenue Mr. Flournoy stated right before they clean it up, they should put new pipe in. 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 and April 21, 2008 Chairman Lopez asked for a motion for approval of the other items on the Consent Calendar. MOTION BY VICE - CHAIRMAN KUNIOKA, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER BEVINGTON, TO WAIVE FURTHER READING AND ADOPT CONSENT CALENDAR. Vote results for April 7, 2008: YES: BEVINGTON, KUNIOKA, AND LOPEZ NO: NONE ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: CAM, VUU MOTION BY COMMISSIONER VUU, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER CAM, TO WAIVE Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting.' Monday, Mays, 2008 Page 2 of 9 FURTHER READING AND ADOPT CONSENT CALENDAR. Vote results for April 21, 2008: YES: BEVINGTON, CAM, KUNIOKA, LOPEZ AND VUU NO: NONE ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE Chairman Lopez declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. 4. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Conditional Use Permit 07- 1111 — 7839 Emerson Place Presentation: Assistant Planner Trinh Staff Recommendation: Approve, subject to conditions, for six (6) months and ADOPT Resolution 08 -05. Assistant Planner Trinh made her presentation and then stated the applicant was present and asked the Commissioners if they had any questions. Mr. Paul Gerst, residing at One Venture, Suite 200, Irvine, CA 92618, the T- Mobile Representative, stated they've reviewed the conditions of approval and are fine with all of them. He said if anyone had questions for him, he would be happy to answer them. Chairman Lopez opened the item to the Commissioners. Vice - Chairman Kunioka stated that the panels were inside the branches and questioned if what one actually sees is a Cypress tree. Mr. Gerst stated that the actual tree is a larger diameter than that of the example he brought with him, but everything is inside. Chairman Lopez stated it's amazing how you can match it to an actual Cypress tree. Mr. Gerst stated it comes close and works well, as long as there are other Cypresses. Commissioner Bevington questioned if they were planting a new Cypress tree. Mr. Gerst stated there is a row of probably one dozen, and we are planting a new one at the very end. Commissioner Bevington questioned if the equipment is going to be inside walls and if it was going to have a roof structure. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, Mays, 2008 Page 3 of 9 Mr. Gerst stated no, it is a CMU enclosure. He said they do quite a number of them with CMU. He stated the cabinets are a transformer -grade metal. Commissioner Bevington stated this will be the fifth wireless communication facility he has been associated with, and for the first time, this project was not roof secure. Mr. Gerst stated some of the carriers like AT &T and Nextel used to use prefabricated shelters primarily because equipment manufacturers like Motorola did not make an exterior cabinet, so you had no choice. Commissioner Bevington stated he is not objecting, but he just wanted to clarify in his own mind what they're proposing. He stated he thinks it's a great and clear presentation. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned if the air conditioning would cause a noise impact. Mr. Gerst stated the door of these cabinets is actually an air conditioner compressor unit and it has a 62 db at three feet, so once we place it inside an enclosure like that, you do not hear it. He said typically, it goes on during the day to take the heat away from the radiator and at night when it's cooler, it doesn't go on as often. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned if once enclosed, do the compressors exceed the forty - five decibel noise level. Mr. Gerst stated within that, the enclosure will knock off at least another ten to fifteen decibels. Commissioner Bevington questioned if the electricity would be ready before the equipment because with one similar project, the equipment was ready before the electricity and they ended up running the equipment on a generator. He stated he did not want any generators involved. Mr. Gerst stated he can accept that as a condition; no start -up generators. He stated they do have provisions for start up generators. Commissioner Bevington stated that is different. Chairman Lopez opened the public hearing to those IN FAVOR of this application: Mr. Jim Flournoy, residing at 8655 Landis View, a resident, stated at the Governor's conference today, they were talking about Building Code standards for these towers. He said they could not identify what code these fell under. They were concerned they didn't know about cell phone systems. He questioned if the enclosure has room for the roll up emergency generator if we have to bring one in. Mr. Gerst stated no, there is a plug in the exterior. Mr. Flournoy questioned where the nearest unit that their back up generator was located. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, Mays, 2008 Page 4 of 9 Mr. Gerst stated they have a number of switches where they have some stored and they also have sub - contractors that are on -call. He said T- Mobile alone has approximately 3,000 cell sites alone, in Southern California. They do not have 3,000 generator sets. Mr. Flournoy questioned even with the sub - contractors. Mr. Gerst stated they have a disaster preparedness plan, and there are a number of sites that are considered core central sites. What they do, he said, is as they add more sites, they reduce the power level at the sites so they don't overlap on each other. He said they then would reconfigure the power levels via computer, so you can transmit further covering a larger amount of area; you could not carry as many calls, but you would have service. Bhante Chu, residing at 7839 Emerson Place, the property owner, stated thank you for considering the approval of this because the money from this will go a Children's Fund. Chairman Lopez opened the public hearing to those who wished to OPPOSE the application: None. MOTION BY VICE - CHAIRMAN KUNIOKA, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER VUU TO APPROVE CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 07 -1111. Vote results: YES: BEVINGTON, CAM, KUNIOKA, LOPEZ AND VUU NO: NONE ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE Chairman Lopez declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. 5. MATTERS FROM THE CHAIRMAN & COMMISSIONERS The Commissioners and City Planner discussed two issues. Chairman Lopez stated entering the post office there is still trash and it looks horrible. It looks bad especially since it is across the street from the City Hall. He stated that on the north side of the overpass on Rosemead Boulevard, at the west end, there are weeds. He questioned if it was Cal- Trans. City Planner Everling stated it is Cal- Trans, but the City Council right now is trying to obtain all of the property up to Garvey Avenue. 6. MATTERS FROM THE CITY PLANNER AND STAFF Chairman Lopez stated for this matter, we are going to leave it for staff only. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, Mays, 2008 Page 5 of 9 City Planner Everling stated based on the meeting we had April 21, 2008, staff was directed by the Commission to contact the original noise consultant from the previous study on the roof mounted air conditioning units equipped on adjacent residents to the west. He stated staff did contact the consultant, who did a quick turnaround on a noise study from two locations; on Delta Avenue at the condos at the second floor window / line of sight height. He said they concluded in their report that there was a point and time the decibel level did exceed the allowable noise level under the Rosemead Municipal Code. He stated staff supplied the applicant's representative with a copy of this report, so they could get an idea of what was discovered and work with the applicant in resolving the issue. He stated then maybe they will add screening to their HVAC unit to help with the noise. He said the second issue was clarification on the correspondence received from Southern California Edison regarding the underground utilities on Delta Avenue, which were not readily available. He stated staff attached an e-mail and they received background from Edison resolving that issue. It stated the vault mounted units are not available at the size, based on the service that Wal -Mart requires. All the other issues, of the six, were resolved at the May 5, 2008, meeting. In staff's opinion, the transformer issue would be resolved, but the ongoing issue working with the applicant's representative would be the sound. Commissioner Bevington questioned if City Planner Everling had received any information regarding the carts and why they're not locking. He stated he visited Europe 6 -8 years ago and it worked beautifully. When you walked past the line, it was like you walked into a solid wall. He questioned if there was something wrong with their system and if they ever explained why it does not work. He's sure they intended it to work since these shopping carts are expensive. City Planner Everling stated he thinks Vice - Chairman Kunioka brought up the fact that at the last meeting that based on the condition of approval, they did meet that condition by installing the units on each shopping cart. Commissioner Bevington stated he thinks the condition meant the cart- locking system should be a working condition. He stated the Commissioners have to be satisfied with the conditions being met. People just don't take a cart outside the boundary and as much as the community is interested in this issue, Wal -Mart should be much more interested; these shopping carts are hundreds of dollars. City Planner Everling stated at the last meeting, the applicant's representative confirmed that Wal -Mart contracted Western Shopping Cart Service to help with this issue. City Planner Everling and Commissioner Bevington further discussed the issue. Chairman Lopez opened to matter for public comment. Jennifer Gunther, a Wal -Mart representative, located at 550 E. Hospitality in San Bernadino, CA, stated Wal -Mart has hired a service to collect the carts; she has data back from November. She stated there was a glitch in the system in January, and a few more carts than normal escaped, but that glitch has been fixed. Commissioner Bevington questioned if they think the system is now working the way it was Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, May5, 2008 Page 6 of 9 i intended to. Ms. Gunther stated it should be. She said the number of carts that have actually escaped from the parking lot are pretty minimal, between nine and seventeen carts per month. They have been retrieved, and they are making sure that system continues to stay in play. Chairman Lopez questioned if all four wheels lock up, or if just the back two, or front two lock. Ms. Gunther stated she is not sure how it works. Commissioner Bevington stated while he was in Europe, all four wheels locked. He said even after passing the line, it stood locked; it worked! Ms. Gunther stated just so they know, they have been in contact with their client to work with them on the noise issue and we'll be back with suggestions. Mr. Flournoy discussed three issues. Regarding shopping carts, he stated, the bottom line is they do not want them leaving the lot, which is one of their conditions. The second issue he discussed was noise on the roof. He said nobody wants to look at those units no matter where they are, much less hear the noise. He said lately, there have been ambulances running around someplace and they can't tell whether the ambulance is on Walnut Grove Avenue or Rush Street. Whatever the noise frequency is, it's being excited he said. He stated there is also a noise issue in the back of the building between the refrigeration units and Panda restaurant. Also, there is the noise of the transformer. The bottom line is the City Ordinance is not being held to this project; it's what the Environmental Impact Report and what's been promised to the people. He stated regarding the transformer issue, they could have an above ground transformer and all they would have to do is bring the proposal to the Planning Commission for approval. They could have three smaller transformers and place them underground, but they can't just say it's not available. Chairman Lopez asked if anyone wanted to respond to Mr. Flournoy. City Planner Everling stated there was an e-mail sent out by a previous City Manager stating that condition did not apply to that type of transformer and it was approved that way. Mr. Flournoy stated it is the Planning Commission that makes those decisions, not the City Manager. City Planner Everling stated, but it was approved that way. Commissioner Bevington stated no and told City Planner Everling to back off that subject. City Planner Everling stated that's just the information he found in the file. Commissioner Bevington stated the Assistant City Manager wrote such a statement, but he thinks Mr. Flournoy is correct and that action should be taken. He said the Planning Commission should run the bases of all the information they have available. He said the condition should state all the electrical wiring should be underground and take the Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting.' Monday, Mays, 2008 Page 7 of 9 transformer out of the game. He stated he thinks he's heard enough from Edison, and he has talked to others regarding the issue, who told him you just don't put something that big underground. He stated he thinks some bad wording has been changed back and forth here, but all that they require, based on the evidence presented to the Planning Commission, is that conditions change. He stated he suggest the City Attorney be requested to revise the wording on that to meet the conditions. City Planner Everling stated we can put that on the next Planning Commission Meeting agenda. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned whether the underground utilities were part of the CEQA Mitigation Process. He stated we have to settle it one way or the other to whether it's ok or not to have a transformer above ground. He stated regarding the noise, they have to do something about it. He also discussed that there might be a vibration issue. He stated he does not know if anything is required for that, but they should look into it. Chairman Lopez discussed the issue of wind blowing through the hallways. He questioned if it's a funnel of wind or normal wind that is causing the noise and stated something needs to be done about it. City Planner Everling stated the condo has dedicated air conditioning units so they need to calculate the noise from those and deduct it. Commissioner Bevington questioned where we are on the Rush Street Report. Mr. Brian Lewin, residing at 9501 Ralph Street, a resident speaking as Traffic Commissioner, stated his understanding is that since the City Council commissioned the new study, it is the City Council that will receive it. He stated it is due to happen either the second meeting this month or some time in June. City Planner Everling questioned if the Commissioners wanted to bring the condition of approval regarding the underground utilities to the next meeting. Chairman Lopez stated a decision should be made before Commissioner Bevington resigns. Commissioner Bevington stated based on the safety factor, what he suggests is the building of a concrete block wall around an above ground transformer. He questioned what could be done with an above ground transformer in lieu of an underground transformer. Chairman Lopez stated that is for staff to look into. Attorney Yin questioned with regard to Commissioner Bevington's departure, if May 19, 2008, would be his last meeting. Commissioner Bevington stated yes, it will be no later than May 19, 2008. 7. ADJOURNMENT Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, Mays, 2008 Page 6 of 9 Chairman Lopez adjourned the Planning Commission Meeting at 7:53 p.m. MOTION BY COMMISSIONER BEVINGTON, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER CAM TO ADJOURN UNTIL THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING. M E /AG Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: Monday, Mays, 2008 Page 9 of 9