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PC - 08-16-08CITY OF ROSEMEAD PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING MINUTES August 18, 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 at Rosemead Community Recreation Center at 3936 N. Muscatel Avenue, Rosemead. Vice - Chairman Kunioka led the Pledge of Allegiance. Commissioner Gay delivered the invocation. ROLL CALL: PRESENT: Chairman Lopez, Vice- Chairman Kunioka, Commissioners Cam, Gay, and Vuu ABSENT: None EX OFFICIO: Bermejo, Everling, 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 FROM THE AUDIENCE Chairman Lopez asked if anyone would like to speak on any items not on the agenda, to step forward. None. 3. 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 — August 4, 2008 Vice - Chairman Kunioka had corrections on pages 2, 7, 9, and 10. Chairman Lopez asked for a motion for approval of the items on the Consent Calendar. MOTION BY COMMISSIONER VUU, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER GAY TO WAIVE FURTHER READING AND ADOPT CONSENT CALENDAR. Vote results: Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: August 18, 2008 Page 1 of 9 YES: CAM, GAY, KUNIOKA, LOPEZ AND VUU NO: NONE ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE Chairman Lopez declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. 4. PUBLIC HEARINGS A. Design Review 08 -02 — 9358 Valley Boulevard — Vrej Minasian has submitted a Design Review application for the construction of a new two -story office building, totaling 2,000 square feet of floor area, located at 9358 Valley Boulevard in the C31D (Medium Commercial within a Design Overlay) zone. PC RESOLUTION 08 -20 - A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF ROSEMEAD, COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES, STATE OF CALIFORNIA, APPROVING DESIGN REVIEW 08 -02, FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF A TWO -STORY OFFICE BUILDING, TOTALING 2,000 SQUARE FEET OF FLOOR AREA, LOCATED AT 9358 VALLEY BOULEVARD (APN: 8594 - 005 -007). Recommendation - Staff recommends that the Planning Commission APPROVE Design Review 08 -02 for a period of one (1) year and ADOPT Resolution 08 -20, subject to conditions outlined in Exhibit "B" attached hereto. Presentation: Senior Planner Sheri Bermejo Senior Planner Bermejo stated the applicant and designer were present to answer questions. Chairman Lopez asked if there were any questions for staff. Commissioner Vuu stated questioned if the applicant would object to breaking up the east elevation, since it's so plain. Senior Planner Bermejo said staff has added a condition to have the wainscot wrapped around the building. She stated staff has also requested that the windows on this elevation be recessed. She said the building will be built right to the property line, so if they have a cornice trim on that property line, it will get them into legal issues, such as crossing property lines and private airspace. Commissioner Vuu questioned if the recessed windows should be treated with foam molding to make it more attractive. He said it doesn't do them any good to only recess their windows without any treatment. City Planner Everling stated staff can look at that, but it will interfere with airspace and property line issues. He said any projections on the building would encroach into the adjacent property. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: August 18, 2008 Page 2 of 9 Commissioner Vuu questioned if the building is built right on the property line. City Planner Everling stated yes. He said any embellishment on the elevations becomes a maintenance issue, so they would have to ask the adjacent property owner for permission to access the east elevation. Commissioner Vuu said maybe the applicant can break up the wall by painting the base one color and the upper portion another color. City Planner Everling stated that might be possible. Senior Planner Bermejo stated there was a condition of approval that required that. She said the band of dark brown wainscot will be wrapped around all elevations. Commissioner Vuu questioned if stone veneer is incorporated. He suggested that staff require stone veneer to wrap around all elevations, so they won't change their color later on. City Planner Everling stated that is something that the Commission can discuss. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned if that elevation will be invisible to the public. Senior Planner Bermejo stated yes, a portion of it will be. Chairman Lopez questioned if it will be part of the existing building. Senior Planner Bermejo stated no. She gave an example that if the applicant pushes the building west, we will get a gap that will accumulate junk and trash. City Planner Everling said it's a dense space that is not usable. Chairman Lopez stated it's just a face wall. City Planner Everling stated the placement of the building is based on the width of the lot. He said the driveway meets the minimum requirements and the sidewalk has to meet ADA access. Commissioner Gay questioned what the actual space is between the two buildings. City Planner Everling stated it's usually inches. Commissioner Vuu stated he wants the building to be attractive because it's the borderline of the City of Rosemead and the City of El Monte. Chairman Lopez asked the Commissioners if they had any other questions. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned condition of approval #12. He questioned if staff should make it more specific. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: August 18, 2008 Page 3 of 9 Senior Planner Bermejo said she will modify the condition to: Prior to issuance of building permits, all school fees shall be paid. The applicant shall provide the City with written verification of compliance from the School District. Chairman Lopez asked the Commissioners if they had any other questions. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned the previously approved conditional use permit and zone variance, and whether this project needed it or not. Senior Planner Bermejo stated originally in the year 2000, the applicant wanted to expand their auto repair and had applied for a zone variance due to the expansion of a legal non- conforming use. She stated it expired and was null and void. Vice - Chairman Kunioka said he wanted to clarify that an office building would not require a conditional use permit or zone variance. Chairman Lopez asked the applicant and designer if they wish to speak. Mr. Matt Jeng of 713 W. Duarte Road, Arcadia, the designer, stated the east elevation is right against the property line. He said you have to think about how the guy will stand on the other side and be able to step on the other property to do the stucco. He questioned if there is a way to resolve this. City Planner Everling stated staff ran into this same issue on a different project and what happened was they did a combination of smooth -faced and split -faced block and it was unpainted, so it was not a maintenance issue, but when the contractor was out there building the wall, he was able to do it from behind without going on the adjacent property. Mr. Jeng said he noticed that's how they did it on a project on Valley Boulevard. Chairman Lopez said the Commissioners are okay with having the applicant work with staff. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned if it would become a graffiti abatement issue. City Planner Everling stated no. Mr. Jeng stated he's been working with the planners and they will make corrections to better the projects. He also said he brought the roof tiles. Commissioner Vuu questioned if the applicant will have any problems with adding stone veneer to north and west elevation. Mr. Jeng deferred the question to the owner. Mr. Vrej Minasian of 9358 Valley Boulevard, the property owner, stated he's interested in the stone veneer. He said he's not happy with the colors, but he will work with staff. He also said he's been the owner for the last 20 years. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: August 18, 2008 Page 4 of 9 Commissioner Vuu said the reason he asks for the stone veneer is because he does not want to see future tenants to change the paint color. He said stone veneer is difficult to paint. Chairman Lopez asked if anyone else wished to speak in favor of this project. Mr. Jim Flournoy of 8655 Landis View, a resident, questioned what type of construction is the project. Senior Planner Bermejo stated its wood frame. Mr. Flournoy questioned if the block wall is against the wood frame. Mr. Jeng stated he believes there should be a block wall against the property line for structural purposes. Mr. Flournoy questioned what the construction is for the building next door. Mr. Jeng said he thinks its stucco. Mr. Flournoy said he's concerned about maintenance of the existing building. He questioned what is on the south side. City Planner Everling stated it's a single - family home to the south of the property. Mr. Jeng said a six (6) foot block wall will be built all around the property. He said they hired a landscaper to design the block walls. He also said staff has asked them to plant taller trees for buffering in the back. Mr. Brian Lewin of 9501 Ralph Street, a resident, questioned if the entirety of project is only at 9358 Valley Boulevard. Senior Planner Bermejo answered yes. She said it's very small and consists of one parcel. Mr. Lewin questioned if there is a graffiti abatement requirement to have the east wall coated with graffiti- resistant material. He said he's noticed that the wall to the east of this building has graffiti and it can't be removed until they get a boom truck because it's not safe for them to walk of the roof. He said he's wondering if the whole roof is like that on the east elevation of this building. He said the taggers will probably target this wall, just like they did with the other building. City Planner Everling there's a coating that they can apply. Mr. Lewin said he has no objections with the project, but he's just wondering about that potential problem. City Planner Everling said condition #32 refers to property damage and staff may be able to add some language about coating the east elevation. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: August 18, 2008 Page 5 of 9 Mr. Lewin said there is access for graffiti on the east side, but not the west side. Chairman Lopez questioned if we should add to this. City Planner Everling answered if the Commission desires for that. Chairman Lopez questioned if there is a graffiti problem in that area. Mr. Lewin said it's been hit numerous times. Chairman Lopez questioned if other buildings have been affected. Mr. Lewin said he's not sure. Commissioner Gay asked Mr. Lewin what building he's referring to. Mr. Lewin stated it's the new building located at the southwest corner of Valley Boulevard and Rio Hondo Avenue. Chairman Lopez said maybe we should come back to this later, if it becomes a problem. Mr. Minasian said it may be the kids behind his property. He said he's been noticing them and he thinks they are responsible for the graffiti. He said its easy access for them. He said there's no way to stop them. Mr. Lewin said he's just suggesting some type of coating. Chairman Lopez said we'll leave it open and when it's a problem, staff will ask them to protect the wall with coating. Mr. Jeng added that condition #18 refers to graffiti. Chairman Lopez said in the future if they get hit a lot, then staff will step in. City Planner Everling said it would be handled through Code Enforcement. Mr. Flournoy questioned if Code Enforcement is informed of this issue. Mr. Lewin said yes. City Planner Everling stated we should not get into that and make speculations since it's not the subject of the public hearing. Mr. Flournoy questioned why this building is restricted to office uses only. City Planner Everling answered parking is a problem. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned the parking requirements for restaurants. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: August 18, 2008 Page 6 of 9 City Planner Everling stated restaurants are 1 parking space per 100 square feet. Senior Planner Bermejo stated in addition to that, city code defines a minimal] as a mixture of offices and retail or multiple retails and they would have to come back to the Planning Commission for a separate conditional use permit. Chairman Lopez asked if there is anyone else who is wishing to speak. None. Chairman Lopez stated if there is anyone wishing to speak against this project. None. Commissioner Vuu questioned the exterior light fixtures. Mr. Jeng answered there's one for the parking lot for security purposes. He also pointed out other lighting on the property. Commissioner Vuu said there isn't any lighting in the front. City Planner stated there's parking lot lighting along the west property line. He said they will have one wall mounted light on the south elevation. Commissioner Vuu said at least the entrance should have some lighting. City Planner Everling stated they can add a recessed canned light under the entry. He also said some businesses have light underneath their canopies. He said staff will work with the applicant on this. Mr. Jeng said it'll be indicated on the construction plans. Chairman Lopez said the Commission will leave it up to the applicant to work with staff. MOTION BY VICE - CHAIRMAN KUNIOKA, SECONDED BY COMMISSIONER CAM TO APPROVE DR 08 -02. Vote results: YES: CAM, GAY, KUNIOKA, LOPEZ AND VUU NO: NONE ABSENT: NONE ABSTAIN: NONE Chairman Lopez declared said motion duly carried and so ordered. Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: August 18, 2008 Page 7 of 9 S. MATTERS FROM THE CHAIRMAN & COMMISSIONERS Vice - Chairman Kunioka said he was at a public event and people questioned the issue of freeway on and off ramps. He said other off ramps have some sort of landscaping. City Planner Everling stated the management team worked with the field services team today. Chairman Lopez questioned if the city has plans to beautify the city. City Planner Everling said he's talking to the Public Services Director Don Anderson about this. He also said Cal Trans is very slow to respond. Chairman Lopez said the city should stop paying them until the work gets done. Vice - Chairman Kunioka questioned if San Gabriel and Alhambra got permission from Cal Trans to do things to their off ramps. City Planner Everling stated they probably got permission from Cal Trans and is maintaining it themselves. Chairman Lopez said the city should look into that. City Planner Everling said the city is discussing about just doing it. Chairman Lopez said on Walnut Grove, the right side looks nice because we take care of it, but the left side is filled with trash. City Attorney Yin said he would advise the city not to just do it. 6. MATTERS FROM THE PLANNING SERVICES ADMINISTRATOR AND STAFF City Planner Everling announced that Sheri Bermejo is now Senior Planner. The Commission congratulated her. A. Cancelled Meeting City Planner stated the next Planning Commission meeting on September 2 nd has been cancelled due to lack of quorum. B. Completion of Council Chambers Renovation City Planner Everling announced that this is the last meeting that will take place at the Rosemead Community Recreation Center. He said the next meeting on September 15 will be held in the Council Chambers. Chairman Lopez discussed about the General Plan meeting on September 29 Rosemead Planning Commission Meeting: August 18, 2008 Page 8 of 9 City Planner Everling asked the Commission to please forward him their comments. 7. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Lopez adjourned the Planning Commission Meeting at 7:42 p.m. MOTION BY COMMISSIONER VUU to ADJOURN UNTIL THE NEXT REGULARLY SCHEDULED PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING. 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