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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAgenda Bill 6.A-Attch04 09/20/2004G • lw, Planning Commission Minutes - June 8, 2004 Ci of Petaluma, California City Council Charbbefs Af -y.H:all Cit 1 11 English Street Petaluma, CA 94952 Telephow: 7 / Fwx 707%778-4498 E-M ML ail Ii I lafifiih�rti;c i'.petAtirnaxams Web Page • • 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 '19 20 21 22 23 24 25 16 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 3 ' 6 Planning Commission Minutes EXCERPT June 8, 2004 7:00 P Commissioners: Present: Ass,ehricien, Barrett, Darg,ie*, Harris,, McAllister, Rose, von Raesfeld Absew:, As'se Chair Staff: George White, Assistant Director, Community Development Jayni Allsep, Project Planner Anne, Windsor, Administrative Secretary Public hearing began: @ TOO PUBLIC HEARING: NEW BUSINESS :,. 1. RIVERVIEW SUBDIVSION McNear Avenue at Mission Drive APNo. i 010-110-0 . 1 l , ,0 1 9,027,t030,,031,03,7 File: W-PRZ-01'87 Planner: Jayni Allsep Applicant is requestitig a�xocommcndation to, the City Council of a proposal to . 1) prezone the property at'McNe'ar Avenue .near Mission Drive totaling 22.9 acres to Planned Unit Pevelopment.(PUD) ; 2)Ao annex the prez,oned propertyja the City of 'Petaluffid and 3) to subdivide a 17.11 -acre portion of the property into 63 residential lots. Continued ;fro,m Ma. ,.,11, . 2004 ' y Jaym Allsep presented the staff report. Frank Denney, ' st l Co beone Homes: Presentddthe changes to th I - Y '. � the project since the last Planning Commission meeting of May 11, 2004. Introduced the arbor-i'st and Went over the evoltifi"On of the project. -Suggested . creation, of a. Landscape Lighting Assessment ATTACHMENT 4 Planning Co,mmissi'on Minutes - June 8, 2004 1 District or a Special `Tax. district instead of a Home Owner's Association to cover 2 maintenance of play area, open space and water, quality structures. 3 4 Becky Duckles arborist: Discussed her report included as•Attachme'nt G to the Staff 5 Report. Reviewed the trees retained. 6 7 Commissioner McAllister: Asked arbonst's opinion regarding saving trees 108410 ,and 8 86: and, 87. 9 19 Becky Duckles: Did not see any way to these trees. 11 , -12 The commission identified the following_ issues for discussion: 13 ■ Rear yard setbacks 14 • Landscape Buffer vs. Fences on Lots•3842. 15 Preservation of Trees on private property 16 .,Play area/open,space 17 ■' Infiltration/st6rrn water 18 ■ Tree Preservation 19 Use of the Church 20 ■ Open Space dedication 21. 22 Rear Yard Setbacks: 23 24 Commissioner McAllister: Rear yard, Setback issue:' 'minimum is 15 feet, most cases the 25 yards.meet that, however, lots. 1, 3, 5, & 7, 11,.:13 also. ,Lots 10 and 11 are also tight. 26 Asked other' Commissi'oner's opinions on' these lots. Lots on - Jacquelyn "Lane And 27 Mission , 43 -47 and 39 -42 - fencing will be odd visually. Can yards come down slope 28• with perimeter as a landscape easement? Lots 43-47 there are some plantings proposed, — 2 9 feel that is a good.thing. Not Visually as prominent because there are downhill, fences as 30 opposed to up hill. 31 32 Commissioner :Barrett; My concern, is._units 2, 4 and 6, because they have a living unit in 33 the ,garage: Would prefer no bonus :room on the above lots,- and potentially 18, and 20 . as 34 well. 35 36 Frank Denney: Will agree that Lots.2, 4..and 6 will have one -story garage. 37 38 Commissioner Barrett: Agree about °the uphill fencing - landscape buffers would 39 enhance. 40 41 Comm_ issioner von Raesfeld: Agree with Commissioner McAllister regarding lots -'l,; 3, 5' 42 & 7 solution lies in the .architecture as well as the development plan. 'Do not think it's 43 an egregioussituation. 44 45 Commissioner Barrett: PUD'ties SPARC's hands — designgui'deliiaes need to be, subject, 46 to SPARC approval and changed if :necessary.'. Need, to•°move forward "m a way that does; °47 not tie SPARC's hands. 2 1i y. Planning Commission Minutes June 8, 2004 1 , 2 George. White: We can make clear,in a condition that final d' esign guidelines are subject 3 to SPARC approval. 4 S Ira Bennett: Sounds as.if you are, recommending that SPARC can change the house plan 6 type. This would be trying* to make the site work' from `scratch.. Changes we are talking 7 about can' be minor, such as window placement. 8 9 'Commissioner won Raesfeld: Possibly introduce a modified plan to those lots now. 10 11 Frank Denney: Will maximize,'the rear yards based on the architecture and modify the 12 PUD accordingly. 13 14 Ira Bennett: This is a ; SPARC issue to make changes to the PUD on :those particular lots. 15 16 Frank De nney: Lots 2, 4 and 6 ,can be two= story,,,SPARC will `look at these lots regarding 17 privacy issues. 18 19 Landscape Buffer vs. Fences on Lots 37.42': 20 21 Bonnie Di'efendorf, 'Those 5 lots were a challenge: All lots have a useable patio space — 22 - will put in'retaining walls._ - 23 24 Commissioner Barrett: , Concur with Commissioner McAllister though some creative 25 solutions are possible. in ,these - uphill lots. 26 27 Commissioner McAlllster: Can they be treated the same as lots 43 -47 with trees for 28 mitigation.' 29 30 'Commissioner von Raesfled: Final landscape plan could include trees for screening in 31 the rear of lots 37 -42. 32 33 Preservation of trees, on' private property: 34 35 George White: It is,d fficult to preserve trees on private property. 36 37 Jayni Allsep: Want the 'issue addressed in the PUD :as well ad the CC &R's, since the 38 City does riot enforce CC &Rs. 39 40 Commissioner Barrett: Asked for clarification of conservation easement.. 4'1 42 George White: Would prevent „homeowners .from cutting down trees in. the easement and 43 it would only.be specified trees 44 46 language for the conservation eas.on to w. with. staff and the City Aftorney to draft the 45 Ira Bennett: Asked the commiss ork i ernent. 47 3 Planning Commission Minutes June 8, 2004, 4 1 -ommissioner Barrett Suggested lots 35, 59, 49, 16 to have conservation „easement. 2 3 Chair Darge: Want significant native trees to be, addressed only.. 4 5 George White: Staff could provide a list to the council. 6 7 Play area /open space 8 9 Commissioner Rose: My :intent was ',not, to get rid of retention ponds. My concern was to that the design of retention ponds not be a liability for part of the year. Need` 11 homeowners to oversee some of the !tree preservation — needs to be seen as a community 12 effort. 13 14' Commissioner von Raesfeld: I am split on this issue. 15 16 Commissioner McAllister: My primary.,conc:em would be the upkeep of the trees. 17 Believe trees in the open space would be best served by the City. 18 19 George White: Jim Carr is suggesting property tax assessment. 20 21, Frank Denney: Have just done this in Santa Rosa, suggest a special tax bill.., 22 23 Commissioner McAllister: Would prefer that to a Horeowner's Association. 25 Chair Darge. Confirmed the special tax :district is intended for open space, ;path, park: 26 maintenance and the storm water fTltratiori system. 27 28 Commissioner Rose: Homeowners Association homeowner would provide the :information to', the 29` homeowners the assets that need to be. preserved such as "the - park ; open'spaee, 30' trees etc. 31. 32 Frank Denney: Usually if there are .no strong elements, Homeowner's Association may 33 dissolve. 34 35 Commissioner Rose: That is why Isuggest the Home .Owners Association manage all "of -3:6 the above: 37 38 Council Member Harris: fbelieve a special tax district is'the best solution: 39 4o Craig :Spaulding: What the applicant is proposing, is =the first in .Petaluina — . City would 41 not want to maintain. 42 43 Commissioner Barrett:_ Trees determined to be significant and warrant conservation 44 easement could be designated as a Heritage Trees. 45 46 George White: This still does not address the greater good for the community. 47 4 Planning Commission Minutes- June 8,; 2004 I Commissioner Barrett:. `Trees could be added to Heritage Tree Gist. 2 3 Ira Bennett: City. of Petaluma does not have a tree ordinance — this would solve the issue 4 citywide. 5 6 Infiltration /Storm Water: 7 8 Commissioner von Raesfield: Do not want the City to be - respons ble for maintenance, 9 particularly if the ponds do ,not work andrmaintenance is:mor&ofan issue down the road. 10 11 Frank Denney: Would be taken care ofby special, tax district., 1`2 13 Commissioner Barrett: Would need to have wording in the special tax district for 14 replacement funds: 15 16 George White: Suggested staff °work with the applicant and the City Attorney. 17 18 Tree Preservation: 19 20 Commissioner McAllister. Appreciate the efforts of - the, applicant: Heritage trees are a 2.1 community asset. Looked gat the trees being removed tried to find a practical solution 22 for saving, come trees and could not - without losing several lots. Rovina Lane come up 23 the hill beiween -the tree groupings 108, 109 land, 11.0 and 10.6 and 107= pull the center line 24 of street between those tree groupings: Looks es'though the contour•could work — do not 25 necessarily need to lose lots. Provided a sketch for the applicant. Difficult to let 86 and 26 87 go — looked at curving Quarry Street and :retain` those lrees. Also suggested changing 27 the location of the play area'to take advantage of the trees. 28 29 Commissioner Rose: Have the'most , concerns' with tree 87=— suggested sortie revisions to 30 preserve trees 85; 86 and ,87' and .lose 83 and :8'4. 31 32 Commissioner von Raesfieldc 'Suggested swapping residence on lot 49 and making that 33 the play area. 34 35 Frank Denney: Believe that we have:a good circulation plan — do not want to have to go 36, back and revisit these things at this juncture.. 37 38 Bonnie Diefendorf. Need both accesses on Rovina 'to serve the number .of lots — cannot 39 get rid of Rovina.lane. ',Putting Rovina between two groups of trees would be .more 40 grading than .you may, be "aware'of Feel we have made our best effort to save as. many 41 trees as possible. ;Do not believe shifting road alignment will accomplish'"what you are 42 requesting. 43 44 Commissioner von; Raesfield': Asked about the swapping of lot: 49 for the play area. 45 ,0 46 Bonnie: Play area is flat. and lot 49 has quite a slope. 47 5 Planning Commission Minutes - June 8, 2004 4 1 Break @ 9,:.10. 2 3 Resumed. @.9:20. 4 5 Commissioner McAllister: Would like to see the ideas regarding saving the significant 6 trees, discussed explored. Have strong feelings about these particular trees'. Would .like to 7 see if this concept would work to save these trees because the loss, of .the trees cannot be 8 mifigated...I am hopeful that this is a; solution, that could work. If this is explored and the 9 trees could: be saved it, would be an asset- to the. subdivision. Perhaps one to two-foot 1.0 retaining walls are part of the solution. The solution places both of "the tree masses on 11 public land and would be part of the special tax district and could'bepreserved 12 13 Commissioner Rose: Echo Commissioner McAllister. Suggest that we direct staff to 1,4. work with the applicant because some of these trees , are an asset to the development. We 15 are '.not asking to save all of the trees: Recommend that we include 'Commissioner 16 McAllister I ;s!. concept and direct,the applicant to develop an alternate plan to be presented 17 to the City Council that would retain the significant trees discussed. 18 19 Chair Dargie. Understand the applicant has made some changes; however, there may be 20 a concept to be explored that would benefit the applicant and the City. . 21 22 George White: We could assess the feasibility of the alternate. plan concept before going 23 to council. This would require: the applicant's cooperation and sufficient time for staff to' 24 review the information submitted by the appl'icant.prior to the City Council,hearing: 25 26 6 Frank Denney? Would gladly consider your idea and work with staff however, we. would 2 like. to move forward tonight. '28 29 Commissioner von Raesfeld: Asked ,Commission to weigh in on swapping lot 49' for the 30 play area. " 3 -1 32 George White:, The alternative plan could also include swapping. Lot 49 for the play area. 33 34 Commissioner Barrett: Suggested Ed Anehordouguy be involved in evaluating the 35 alternate plan. 36 37 George White: The applicant-'s arbori'st should also be involved in developing the 38 alternate plan.. 39 40 Becky Duckles: Regarding swapping' lot 49 for the play area to ave trees - outlet for 41, public trail is: difficult near private residences. I, however, welcome `the: opportunity to 42 review .the .sketch. 43 44 Commissioner McAllister- I support having the play area an;area with trees instead of 45 where .'it is proposed. 46 . 6 Plannin9.Co.mmi,ssion Minutes - June 8, 2004- 1 Comm> ss ioner';B'arrett Regarding the PUD Development Standards — there are two items 2 which are too restrictive, pgs. 5 and 6T , solar system restrictions,, causing glare. Do not 3 want to see, restrict °ions for upgrading to solar. No signs displayed in public view — do not 4 think freedom_ of speech should be restricted. 5 6 Committee Consensus: 7 p to SPARC for units 1, 3, & 1; look .at, 2- storygarages on 2', 4, and 6 regarding 9 privacy ; on .lots 37 -42 — planting reviewed by 'S'PARC; use conservation 10 easement to ,designate significant native trees, exhibit or 14st would' be compiled for City 11 Council. consideration; explore: the adequacy of a special tax- district to maintain storm 12 drain system; explore Commissioner McAllister Is conceptual alternate plan subject to 13 staff review before going to Council, including the, possibility of swapping Lot 49 for 14 proposed play area; tree #26 on - lot 16 evaluated in terms of 'street width; rework PUD 15 guidelines re solar and .Signs; seek Heritage Tree Status for trees on conservation 16 easement to be done as part:of council action. 17 18 Commissioner McAllister: Requested copies for the Commission.on the Council Agenda 19 Bill. 20 21 M/S Rose /Harris to adopt a mitigated negative declaration; prezone to PUD, subdivide 22 property into 63-residential lots. 6 -0, Asselmeier absent. 23 Discussion regarding General Plan Workshops: 25 26 Commissioner Rose :: Want to direct our time and attention to 'update the alternatives 27 from what was presented.and what'is;happening - . Would like some background on how 28 we arrived at where we are so we7 can begin from the same point. 29 30. Commissioner Barrett: Want'the meeting covered' by the access channel. 31 32 George White- Can look- into `this. 33 34 Commissioner von Raesfeld Suggest Commissioner's get the public notice that is 35 mailed: 36. 37 Chair Dargiey Want, to have the.opportunity to explore what we need to explore — m appreciate l a road map, hove_ ver, ;may need to veer from the map. 39 tings, others on as needed basis. Need to know 41 1 Commission es s a as labf l 'tt to make sure there is -a quorum.. 42 f 43 Public hearing ended at 9;5'5 p.m. 44 r „ 45 46 Adjournment: 10:05: pm. 47 S: \PC- pia nnnig.Comfnission\ Minutes \PC \060804 i P, i.