MINUTES
LIVINGSTON PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING
FEBRUARY 12, 2019
A regular meeting of the Livingston Planning Commission was held in the City Council Chambers on February 12, 2019. The meeting was called to order at 7:02 p.m. by Vice-Chair Robert Wallis.
ROLL CALL
Commissioners Present: Vice-Chair Bob Wallis, Commissioner Francisco Mendoza-Gonzalez, and Alternate Commissioner Jason Roth
Commissioners Absent: Chair Ranjeet Jhutti (excused)
Staff Present: City Planner Randy Hatch and Sr. Administrative Analyst Filomena Arredondo
Others Present: Council Liaison Gagandeep Kang, Blaine Yagi, Jose Moran, Katherine Schell-Rodriguez, David Blevins, and Mike Torres
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The pledge of allegiance to the flag was recited.
CONSENT AGENDA
Action Meeting Minutes From the November 13, 2018, Regular Meeting
Motion by Alternate Commissioner Roth, seconded by Commissioner Francisco Mendoza-Gonzalez, to approve the minutes of the Regular Meeting of November 13, 2018. Motion carried 3-0-1 by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Vice-Chair Wallis, Commissioner Mendoza-Gonzalez, and Alternate Commissioner Jason Roth
NOES: None
ABSENT: Chair Ranjeet Jhutti
PUBLIC COMMENT
Vice-Chair Wallis opened the public comment period at 7:04 p.m. Katherine Schell-Rodriguez, PO Box 164, Livingston
• She remembers that a few years ago the City Council waived enforcing the vacancy requirements in the residential part of Main Street that was zoned Downtown Commercial. She cannot recall if the City ever rezoned this section back to residential, but if they did not, she thinks it may be time for Council to consider another waiver.
City Planner Hatch said the zoning is still DTC, Downtown Commercial, so residential units in this zoning district are nonconforming uses. However, minor repairs or improvements, such as reroofing, are allowed regardless of the zoning.
• She was directed to a CNN business article about Rite Aid poised to sell its first cannabis derived drug. She asked if this would fall under the City’s cannabis ordinance that prohibits the sale of cannabis products within the Downtown Commercial zoning district. She thinks this question will come up when the application for a cannabis ordinance amendment goes to the Planning Commission.
City Planner Hatch said this is a question for the City Attorney. Discussion followed regarding delivery of cannabis products.
City Planner Hatch said the League of California Cities filed an objection to the administrative ruling by the State’s cannabis regulatory board. The objection went to the administrative judge and was denied and so the issue of cannabis delivery is now in the legislators’ hands to see if they are going to make clear that delivery has to occur only on those jurisdictions that allow it.
Vice-Chair Wallis closed the public comment period at 7:11 p.m.
Vice-Chair Wallis acknowledged the presence of Gagandeep Kang in the audience. He is the newly appointed Council Liaison to the Planning Commission.
Adoption of the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration US/MND) and the Mitigation Monitoring/Reporting Plan for the Arco am-pm project; approval of Site Plan and Design Review 2018-03 and Conditional Use Permit 2018-01
Applicant, Raja Chandi Group, is proposing to build a new Arco am/pm 3,800 sq. ft. convenience store with car wash and vacuum stations; 2,500 sq. ft. quick serve restaurant (QSR); truck fueling with 3 fuel dispensers; vehicle fueling with 10 fuel dispensers; and a standalone 2,800 sq. ft. restaurant. The site is located on the southwest corner of Campbell Blvd. and Hammatt Avenue, Livingston, CA,
APN#: 023-060-001. The property is zoned C-3, Highway Service Commercial, and has a General Plan designation ofHC, Highway Commercial according to the official zoning map of the City of Livingston and the 1999 Livingston General Plan.
City Planner Hatch explained this item has a bit of delay because the applicant has objected to some of the proposed conditions, so City staff is working with the applicant trying to come to an agreement. Given the urgency on the part of the applicant, City staff suggests that rather than continuing this item to the next regularly scheduled meeting on March 12, 2019, it be continued to a Special Meeting on Monday, February 25, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. Since the public hearing was already noticed for this meeting, the public hearing would remain open and continued to the Special Meeting, so mailing out or publishing in the newspaper is not required for the continued public hearing. Staff will only post a public notice on the City’s website and on the bulletin board.
Vice-Chair Wallis opened the Public Hearing at 7:17 p.m. No comments were received from the public.
The Public Hearing was left open and continued to a Special Meeting on Monday, February 25, 2019, at 7:00 p.m. in the City Council Chambers.
Motion by Vice-Chair Wallis, seconded by Commissioner Mendoza-Gonzalez to continue the Public Hearing for the Arco am-pm Project to a Special Meeting on Monday, February 25, 2019, at 7:00 p.m., in the City Council Chambers. Motion carried 3-0-1, by the following roll call vote:
AYES: Vice-Chair Wallis, Commissioner Mendoza-Gonzalez, and Alternate Commissioner Jason Roth
NOES: None
ABSENT: Chair Ranjeet Jhutti
REPORTS
Planning Commission
Commissioner Mendoza-Gonzalez
• Attended the City-County Relations Dinner in Gustine. He got to talk to board members from other cities and find out what is going on in their city and how they are doing with Measure V and SB1 funds. It was a very productive meeting.
• Gave his condolences to the family of late Finance Director/Assistant City Manager Odi Ortiz who passed away on January 25, 20I9. He was a great man, a great friend, and a great mentor. He left a lasting impression. He feels lucky to have known Odi and is happy that the universe and God allowed their paths to cross.
• Asked if staff is seeing some intake of residential building permits for new single family homes.
City Planner Hatch said staff is averaging about 21 building permits a month for single family homes. That is about twice what they were doing a year ago. Two of the ongoing residential subdivisions, Sun Valley Estates and La Tierra, submitted their last building permits and are nearing built out. The Legacy Homes subdivision is continuing to pull building permits. The Bright Homes Development (Country Villas #4) is getting their model home complex and their construction office set up. They should be selling and building single family homes in a month or so.
• Asked if there were any limitations with the City’s water capacity in being able to sustain development.
City Planner Hatch said not for the level of development the City is experiencing. Recently, a couple of additional wells have come online, so according to Public Works and Engineering, the City has no water supply or sewer treatment problems or limitations for the foreseeable future per the development on the City’s current General Plan. Those issues have been resolved in the last couple of years.
Alternate Commissioner Roth
• Attended the Gustine City-County Relations Dinner. It is always nice to meet new people.
Vice-Chair Wallis
• Attended the Gustine City-County Relations Dinner along with other Commissioners and City Council Members. He enjoyed conversing with people from other cities.
• Sent his condolences to the Ortiz family.
• Asked how many applications were turned in for the Planning Commission vacancies.
City Planner Hatch said eight applications were received. The applicants’ names are public record, so if anybody is interested in knowing who applied, they can call the Planning office during regular business hours.
• Livingston Municipal Code section 2-2-3 ( C) Absence With/Without Cause states that a Planning Commission seat shall automatically be deemed vacant for failing to attend any three meetings in a 12-month period. He asked if it includes excused absences. He thinks the City should consider revising the language in this section to clarify the meaning of “with/without cause” because it is open to interpretation.
City Planner Hatch said an excused absence has not historically counted for that absence total.
Vice Chair Wallis recommends this section be changed to state that an excused absence does not count in the 12-month period.
• Asked if any applications have been received for the Gallo 9 lots that were recently created.
City Planner Hatch said there has been some interest on one of the lots for an industrial trucking center type of use. They are talking about a truck wash area with various related truck service businesses. Staff has some concern with turning movements and radius, so Planning and Engineering staff have requested more details and are awaiting their response.
City Staff
City Planner Randy Hatch
• Noted the item on the Planning Commission vacancies was scheduled for consideration at the February 19, 2019, City Council Meeting. He added that the City Council is considering the possibility of appointing two alternates, so that it be less likely to not have a quorum.
• Staff is working diligently to resolve all the Arco am/pm project issues.
• Staff had a predevelopment meeting with the proponents of a 434-unit apartment project. It is tentatively called The Villages @ Main. The property is located across from the existing Newcastle Apartments on the west side of the City. They are proposing a mixed of I-bedroom, 2-bedroom, and 3-bedroom apartments. It will fulfill some of the needs that the community has for rental housing of various sizes. This is a market rate housing apartment complex; there are no subsidies involved, but it will provide some other housing opportunities for the community. The project was well received during the predevelopment meeting. He explained the purpose of the predevelopment meeting is to get initial comments from the applicant and answer their questions and from the City side, to indicate all the potential concerns and issues. The meeting went well. City staff is anticipating a turnaround for an actual application in a matter of 1-2 weeks.
• Staff is working with several cannabis businesses to locate in the City. One applicant has submitted a Phase 1 application and is waiting for the FBI clearance to happen.
• Staff is expecting a predevelopment application for a cannabis project on Bird Road at the northern end of the City. It is a relatively large piece of property. They are looking to develop a variety of buildings that will be used as indoor cannabis growing operations or processing facilities. The property is zoned Limited Industrial, so it is properly zoned. There is no residential anywhere around it, so it looks good from the City’s point of view.
• City Manager Ramirez is working with some large employers on the Hammatt interchange area. One of them is an industrial laundry that will create job opportunities.
• The Livingston Community Health project is right on track. Staff approved their Landscape Plans two weeks ago, so he anticipates it won’t be much longer for issuance of their Certificate of Occupancy.
ADJOURNMENT
The regular meeting was adjourned by consensus at 7:37 p.m. to the Special Meeting on February 25, 2019.
APPROVED: March 12, 2019
Chair, RANJEET JHUTTI Secretary of the Planning Commission, RANDY HATCH
The written meeting minutes reflect a summary of specific actions taken by the Planning Commission. They do not necessarily reflect all of the comments or dialogue leading up to the action. All meetings are digitally recorded and are an official record of the meeting’s proceedings. Digitally recorded verbatim minutes are available upon request and may be obtained at Livingston City Hall.
The Gardening Snail 2 