HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes 07/17/1969Regular meeting of the
June 17, 1969, at 7:10
Petaluma, California.
June 17, 19'69.
Petaluma City Plann'i.ng Commission was held on
o'clock p.,m, in the Coungi Chambers, °City 611,
PRESENT: Comm. Battaglia, Koenitzer, Perry, Styles, 'Stanley.
ABSENT: None
STAFF: William,C. McGivern,, Director of..Planni g.
Andv Anderson,Assistant Planning birector.
OTHER CITY OFFICIALS: Robert H. Meyer, City,Manager
Edouard' .Robert, City Attorney
Counci=lmen: Joerger, Colin, Mattei, Brunner.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
The minutes for June 3, 1969 . were approved as, submitted.
CORRESPONDENCE
Sonoma. County Referrals:
She llmaker, Inc. File: 4.822
Request to re zone 109'.36 acres ,located on the east side of the
Petaluma Piver between State,Highway 37 & the Northwestern
Pacific railroad r/w in the Petaluma Area from U (Unclas;sfied)
- to R -3 (Garden Apartment) and M 72 (Heavy InermitiA'1) districts
or some other zoning districts which will ome
park, retail commercial shopping facility and a contractor's
storage yard', a marina services nark and a marina.
While the subject. request is outside of the area of influence
of the General Plan, the Commission voted unanimously to direct
the Planning Director to inform the County that the Commission
is concerned regarding possible .problems of additional water
pollution and what effect the remote development would have on
the orderly expans =ion of the City.
Mrs. Eug ene Strain, - ,F1e, :-4871
Request to hermit a single, mobilehome to be located at 775 Palm
Avenue. In view Of the fact that the site is located outside
of the area of influence of the Genera -I Plan, the Commission
elected to make no comment regarding this application.
LAKEVILLE The Commission, at their regular meeting held on
REVhEhI April 8, 1969, revi;ewed.the.Conditions of Approval
of. Use Permits issued to several places of business
in an M -L Zone, .located on 1akeville Highway. At
that time the Commission granted the various property
owners 60 days within which to comply with the con-
ditions of approval listed.on their use permits. At
this time, Building Inspector Olsen informed the
Commiss.ion.what had-been accomplished within the 60
days. Af`terhearing the testimony presented by
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Planning Commission ;
• Minutes - June 17, 1969
Mr. Olsen and the property owners involved, the
Commission determined the following:
Barta-Hi Company, La Hi ghway
An agreement signed.by Mr. ,& Mrs. Barta relative
to repairs to building, landscaping, resurfacing
parking area, and fence repairing to be done by
July 15, 1969, was satisfactory to the Commission.
The Barta Hide Company further agreed to bring the
balance of the substandard building up to meet
building code requirements, or demolish the struc-
ture,. within two and one -half years from the date
of - agreement - (' June 10 - 1965)
Al-,Stack, 815 TIil Street
The Commission concurred that Mr. Stack had complied
with the conditions of-approval outlined in the use
permit, but every effort must be made to keep all
vehicles in Mr. Stack's ownership off the public
street. Permission was granted to provide a parking
lot for =-All operating, licensed, vehicles on property
located directly across the street from Mr. Stack's
wrecking yard.,
C & V7 Wreckers, - 59'0:- ,Lake:ville and
Scrappy --J.im s, S8 Wilson Street
Both ,property owners were-granted a 30 days' exten-
sion of time within which to finish the work started_
,itowards compliance with the conditions of approval
of their use permits. Chairman Stanley stated that
the cases would again be reviewed in 120 days.
ROBERT'KOENITZER The - Commission, considered the variance application
VARIANCE filed by Robert Koe,nitzer 'to allow a reduction in
FILE Vll -69 rear and sidevard setbacks for reconstruction of a
garage located at 311 Keller Street. The staff re-
port, presented by Mr. McGivern, stated that the
former garage structure was severely dilapidated.
The owner had removed the hazardous structure with
the intent of building a new garage on the same founda-
tion. There was no onno'sition voiced to the granting
of the variance. Based.on the findings as stated,
Res. V11 -69, granting the variance, was introduced
by Comm. Perry, seconded'by Comm. Battaglia and
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passed by'the following vote: Ayes: Battaglia, Per -
ry, Styles, Stanley. Abstained: Koenitzer.
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.Planning Commission Minutes
Tune 17, 1969 .
'40
ROBERT E. SMARTT Chairman Stanley opened the public hearing to con-
USE PERMIT
s der the use permit ,application filed by Robert
FILE U17 -69
E. Smartt to permit -a distribution warehouse and
office in a C -H Zone located on A.P. V- 412 -05
(approximately 600 feet southeast of the inter-
section of Petaluma Blvd. North with Old Redwood
Highway and Stony Point Road). The comprehensive
staff report included the following comments: the
applicant proposes to construct a distribution
warehouse 40 ft. deep by 168 feet wide with a 30
foot setback from the front property line and a
10 foot seback from the southeast side property
line. The submitted plans sjhow.a filled area ex-
tending approximately 25 feet from the existing
edge of the river toward the centerline of the
channel. Correspondence received from the Sonoma
County Flood Control & Water Conservation District
recommended against any encroachment into the water -
way area of the river and further recommended that
all structures be outside a building setback line
established as follows.: "30 feet from top of the
bank or 30 feet beyond a theoretical 2 -1/2 to 1
.,
slope from the toe of the existing bank. The set -
back P- , 7hich is most distant from the river shall be
used." The staff report further stated that the sub-
ject site has an average depth of approximately 99
feet to the centerline of the river, with approximate-
ly 50 feet of depth of usable flat area at the shal-
lowest,point. The C -H District requires a minimum
front yard setback of 10 ft.. It would be impossible
to provide the setback areas required by Sonoma Coun-
ty Flood Control and the City Zoning Ordinance and
construct the proposed building on the 50 feet of
usable depth available. The staff report, therefore,
recommended that th e. use permit application not be
approved<., Dick Lieb;, rerr.e's:enting the applicant,
stated that the applicant has'been losing land due
to the property owner across the river filling in
his land, thereby diverting the flow of the river.
It was Mr. Lieb's contention that a structure of
different size could be located on the property, meet-
ing the setback requirements.. Mr. Lieb and Mr. Smartt -
were both of the opinion that,the first step would be
to obtain the use permit,. Comm. Koenitzer agreed the
:matter at hand is whether or not to grant a use permit
for a warehouse to be located in C -H Zone and those
problems relating to setbacks, etc. would be con-
sidered at the time site design approval is requested.
City Manager Robert Mever cautioned the Commission
about granting any use permit on land which abuts a
moving river bank. City Attorney Edouard Robert stated
that the city would not be liable for problems caused
as a result of flooding or erosion of land, even though
a use permit is granted by -the Planning Commission.
Planning Commission
Minutes - June 17, 1.9;69
However, Mr. Robert said that the use permit could
not be used as a level to aid and abet a private
litigation matter.- After further consideration, a
motion to deny the use permit, was introduced by
Comm.. Battaglia, seconded by Comm..Styles, and was
pA daa4ne4 by the fol'lowinq `vot:.e: Ayes: Comm., Battaglia,
Peary, Styles; Noes: Comm. Koenitzer, Stanley.
REZONING
Chairman Stanley opened the public hearing to con -
FILE Z7 -69
sider rezoning the area generally described as ly-
ing between Schuman Lane and.Cherry Street, and ex-
tending westerly to the City Limits, from an R -1- 10,000
Zone or District to an R -1 -6,, 0`00 'Zone or District,
initiated by the Planning Commission. The staff re-
port, presented by Mr. McGivern, stated that the City
Council approved a rezoning in January of 1964
an R -1 -6,000 District to 'an R -1- ,10,000 District for
approximately 65 acres of land located between Magno-
lia Avenue and the southerly city limits as they
existed at that time. At the time the area was zoned
for 10.;,.00`0 sgu-'are foot lots, tentative mans already
had been approved for subdivisions with lots having
less than 10,000 square feet. Approval was granted
in April, 1967, for a tentative subdivision man of
Property located on the easterly end of the subject
area proposed.for rezoning. This map expired and a
new tentative man was approved again in February 1969.
This proposed subdivision is located partly in the.
R -1- 10,000 District and partly in the adjacent P -1 -6,000
District. It was the recommendation of the City
Attorney that the Planning Commission initiate rezon-
ing for the appropriate areas, and that the subdivision
on file, not be recorded until the proper zoning is
adopted. In view of the existing development pattern,
topogr,aph,ical condition's and available city services,
the staff report recommended approval of the rezoning.
Mr. McGivern noted the rezoning was not for the pur-
pose of changing the use or changing the chaaracter
of the area, but to reduce the size of the single
family lots in the R -1 District. Mr. McGivern read
correspondence the following: Albert L. Rice -
opposing the rezoning; Petaluma Christian Church
and Cherry Malley Estates, Inc. (Castlewood Subdivi-
sion) favoring the rezoning. Opposition to the rezon-
ing was voiced from the floor by ;john Mohrman, Dan
Plumley and George De Long. Basically they wished
to retain the country-type environment for the area.
Mr. Ron Simpkins, Engineer for the developers of
Castlewood Subdivision, spoke in favor of the rezon-
ing. After further consideration, a motion to reject
the proposed re;zon ng, was introduced by Comm.. Bat-
taglia, seconded by Comm. Styles, and was
by the following vote: Ayes: Battaglia, Perry,
Styles; Noes: Koenitzer, Stanley.
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Planning Commission
Minutes - June 17, 1969
MOBILEHOME Chairman Stanley _stated that a study session would
ORDINANCE be held on Tuesday, June 24th at 7:30 o'clock p.m.
PILE 19 -69 to review the resolution prepared by the staff for
the Mobilehome Ordinance. The Commission will act
on the matter on July 1, 1969.
GNERAL PLAN Continuation of the public hearing to review proposed
Res. 20 -69 modifications to the General Plan was held at this
time. Mr. McGivern defined the purpose of the City's
General Plan and pointed out there is a distinct dif-
ference.between a General Plan for land use and
specific. zoning of the land. Mr. McGivern further
said that the term ' ° open space and "green belts"
are very general and should be defined more specifi-
cally. The Planning Director also pointed out that
it is up to the city and the school districts to take
the initiative in securing land for school sites and
park facilities which is open space in residential
areas. Chairman Stanley said he had received a tele-
phone call from the President of the Chamber of Com-
merce reguestinq that review of the General Plan
be continued until July 15, 1969, - at which time the
Chamber will submit specific recommendations relative
to the Plan. Mr. McGivern read a letter received
from M. S. !maters, President of the East Petaluma
Civic Association presenting the Association's sug-
gestions for implementing the General Plan. The
main issues involved dealt with retention of indus-
trial lands; development of a seawall on the Petaluma
.River; providing for larger residential lots; the
disposition of the money, received from the "bedroom
tax." Mr. McGivern then read the letter written by
him in reply to the Association's letter which is
part :of the permanent file. City Manager Robert
Meyer informed the audience that, except for 1968,
the General'Plan has been reviewed yearly since its
adoption in 1962. . The public hearing on modifications
to the General Plan will be continued on July 15th.
ADJOURNMENT - there being no further bussnes to come before the Commis-
sion, the meeting was adjourn
Attest:
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