HomeMy WebLinkAbout9/12/1994MINUTES OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR
REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION
SEPTEMBER 12, 1994
CALL TO ORDER
Chairman Meyer called the meeting to order at 7:07 p.m. at the
South Coast Air Quality Management District Office, Diamond Bar,
California.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The audience was led in the Pledge of Allegiance by Chairman
Meyer.
ROLL CALL
Present: Chairman Meyer; Vice Chairwoman Plunk;
Commissioners: Flamenbaum, Schad, and
Fong
Also Present: Community Development Director James
Destefano; Associate Planner Rob Searcy;
Assistant Planner Ann Lungu; Interim
-�, City Attorney Michael Montgomery;
Engineer Consultant Mike Myers;
Administrative Secretary Marilyn Ortiz;
and CBA Consultant, Don Cotton
Absent: None
Commissioner Fong arrived at 7:12 p.m.
MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE/PUBLIC COMMENTS - None
CONSENT CALENDAR - Minutes of July 16, 1994 and July 18, 1994
C/Flamenbaum stated in several instances he was referred to
as the Chairman and asked that he be correctly identified.
Motion was made by C/Schad and seconded by VC/Plunk to
approve the minutes as amended. Motion was carried 4-0 with
the following roll call:
AYES: COMMISSIONERS: C/Schad, VC/Plunk,
C/Flamenbaum, Chair/Meyer
NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None
ABSTAIN: COMMISSIONERS: None
ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Fong
CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING:
September 12, 1994 Page 2 Planning commission
1. .ADOPTION OF THE 1994 DRAFT GENERAL PLAN
A. CIRCULATION ELEMENT
Gary Neely, 344 Canoe Cove Drive, stated the Planning
Commission has not fulfilled the mandate of the
Circulation Element. This document does not
acknowledge or identify a known problem with the
infrastructure surrounding the new high school
construction, nor does it present a comprehensive
transportation plan to accommodate the needs of the
community.
He further stated that in the case of Tonner Canyon
Road, according to the agreement to mitigate the Grand,
Avenue Agreement with San Bernardino County prior to
incorporation of the City, Diamond Bar is currently in
default. If the Circulation Element is not changed, it
will either be an admission of fraud or a willful act
to breach the contract.
Mr. Neely indicated the 1989 Grand Avenue agreement was
used to placate the residents who vehemently opposed
the opening of Grand Avenue. In his opinion, the
Planning Commission document does not keep this pledge.
In fact, it purposely breaks that pledge. He suggested
the Planning Commission reinstate the Traffic and
Transportation Commission verbiage as it pertains to
the eventual construction of Tonner Canyon Scenic
Highway. This road was not only promised to the
citizens of Diamond Bar; it is the only professionally
documented solution to the traffic problems.
Additionally, Mr. Neely pointed out the Traffic and
Transportation Commission Circulation Element did not,
send the road through Tonner Canyon. It was argued
that if this road was built, it should not infringe
upon SEA No. 15. As the road was presented to the
Planning Commission by the Traffic and Transportation
Commission, it did not, and in his opinion, this
presentation is a compromised document.
Regarding the response to comments section of the EIR
for Diamond Ranch High School prepared by the Planning
Network for the Pomona Unified School District, Mr.
Neely stated the reference to the General Plan no w
longer exists. He requested the Planning Commission
adopt the Traffic and Transportation Commission
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September 12, 1994 Page 3 Planning Commission
verbiage as written in the approved Circulation Element
entitled "Major Circulation Issues". Additionally, he
requested the Planning Commission adopt all Traffic and
Transportation Commission suggested changes to the
Goals, Objectives and Strategies section of the
Circulation Element.
C/Flamenbaum asked Mr. Neely how he would balance
placing a multi -lane road through Tanner Canyon with
the concept of keeping Diamond Bar rural. Secondly, he
asked if Mr. Neely was willing to stand up and say -with
absolute certainty that the alignment the Traffic and
Transportation Commission inserted for Tanner Canyon
will absolutely, positively, be outside of SEA No. 15.
Following a discussion, Mr. Flamenbaum requested a copy
of the Traffic and Transportation Commission map.-
Chair/Meyer indicated he would like'to continue with
the Draft General Plan and to review the document and
? make a recommendation to the City Council. The City
Council may or may not follow the recommendations of
the Planning Commission. What the Commission is doing
in this format, he continued, is collecting and
analyzing information, putting it into document form,
and passing it along to the City Council. He
emphasized the Planning Commission makes no binding
decisions regarding the document.
Chair/Meyer further stated he supported the Circulation
Element as it is currently -drafted and that nothing in
the recommendation would preclude the review of a road
through, near, -or around Tanner Canyon in the future.
Such an alignment -would be supported by in-depth
environmental review, engineering information and full
scope information.
In summary, Chair/Meyer stated the Planning Commission
has done nothing to deny access to the high school and
does not understand the relationship to a road through
Tanner Canyon.
Mark Hopper, 1125 Grubstake Drive stated he was alarmed
to hear that a Tanner Canyon road is not included in
the General Plan. The impact of traffic has severally
impeded the access to Grand Avenue from side streets,
� and it is imperative that the City have alternate
traffic routes such as Tanner Canyon.
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September 12, 1994 Page 4 Planning Commission''!
C/Flamenbaum referred Mr. Hopper to the August 30, 1994
Circulation Element, Page V-25, Element 4.
Yon Kang, 24239 Delta Drive, stated he is sick of the
traffic. Approximately 70 percent of the traffic
coming from Chino Hills makes a left turn onto Diamond
Bar Boulevard. He requested the Planning Commission
please consider alternate routes for non-residents.
Wilbur Smith,'21630 Fairwind Lane feels people have
spoken out against Tonner Canyon Road and does not
believe it is the answer to traffic problems. He
stated if there is a provision for a road through
Tonner Canyon in the General Plan, there will be
organized resistance.
Ron Clark, 20940 Ambushers stated he is in favor of a
by-pass road and would like the Planning Commission to
leave in the language to maximize review of alternative
traffic routes.
in response to Chair/Meyer, Ron Clark indicated he
would support a proposed through -road on a map with an
access to the Diamond Ranch High School.
Virginia Sylkowski, 667 Fox Haven Place, addressing the
high school access issue, stated she did not want it
related in any way to Tonner Canyon. She suggested
arterial access to the high school and on to Pomona
could be from Golden Springs Drive with controls to
protect the neighborhoods. North Diamond Bar is not
particularly rural and it is not a pristine
environment; however, there is need to protect the
environment that exists. She requested the Planning
Commission members drive Gold Rush Drive to Deepsprings
Drive, and Carpio Drive to Deepsprings Drive, so they,
can see first hand the potential safety hazards. Mrs.l
Sylkowski reiterated the.Planning Commission is charged
with addressing the Diamond Ranch High School access I
and the protection of the surrounding neighborhood in'
the General Plan.
C/Flamenbaum referred Mrs. Sylkowski to Page V-29,
Strategy'l.3.4 and Page V-30, Strategy 2.2.2.
Mrs. Sylkowski responded the verbiage is too weak. She r''=
offered to organize a citizen's committee to address'
the issue, gain input and return to the Planning
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September 12, 1994 Page 5 Planning Commission
Commission with suggested verbiage.
C/Flamenbaum stated the school district is a separate
governmental agency and can build a 6,000 seat stadium
with three parking places. The City has no control
over the school district and Mrs. Sylkowski may wish to
contact them direct regarding their plans.
Mrs. Sylkowski responded she learned from Sue Sisk,
Diamond Bar Booster Club, that the school district is
willing to satisfy the legal requirements for access
routes for emergency vehicles and feels it is the
responsibility of the Planning Commission to set the
parameters.
CDD/Destefano stated he is unaware of any ongoing
discussions between the City of Diamond Bar and the
Pomona School District. The issues currently being
discussed involve location, timing, and funding. All
discussions have indicated the access will be through
single family neighborhoods before entering the road
direct to the school property.
Terry Halderman, 23404 Sand Ridge Road encouraged the
Planning Commission to consider the Traffic and
Transportation Commission version. He feels the
current verbiage in the General Plan is too vague.
RECESSED: Chair/Meyer recessed the meeting at 8:32 p.m.
RECONVENED: Chair/Meyer reconvened the meeting at 8:45 p.m.
Bob Huff, 1641 Firehollow Drive indicated the best way
to design a road is to have traffic engineers discuss
the issue as the Traffic and Transportation Commission
has done. The 1989 Parson, Brinkerhoff study indicated
a road should be put down the middle of Tanner Canyon.
He cited Page V-28, Strategy 1.1.4 and asked why
verbiage was added to GPAC's restrictive recommendation
to "incorporate no major road through Tanner Canyon".
He indicated he favors the Tanner Canyon road over
increased residential traffic through the City.
In response to VC/Plunk, CE/Meyers stated there was
discussion by the Traffic and Transportation Commission
indicating a roadway through Tanner Canyon would flow
the traffic to central Chino incorporating a greater
number of users, whereas, Soquel and Carbon Canyon
CP'6.
September 12, 1994 Page 6 Planning Commission
roadways are further to the south and wouldP rovide a
better alignment into Orange County only, rather than
into both Orange County and Los Angeles County.
Responding to VC/Plunk, CE/Meyers stated the Diamond
Ranch High School issue was placed on the Traffic and
Transportation Commission agenda. The school district
plans to house approximately 2400 students. A first
phase is for planned construction to house 1200
students with access from the Chino Hills Parkway
(easterly„side of the project).- With the second phase,
the school district would want a second 'access. He
stated a considerable number of students would be drawn
from the Diamond Bar populous.
C/Schad stated Diamond Bar High School is.comparable
to the number of students and vehicles anticipated at
Diamond Ranch High School.
Chair/Meyer indicated a reluctance to draw a line on
the map. While options are crucial, this concept is
premature. The Planning Commission is under time ,'s
constraints and this may be more appropriate to address
at the time of a Specific Plan for Tres Hermanos.
Gary Neely again addressed the Planning Commission with
respect'to traffic, citing the proposed Tonner Canyon
road disclosed on the Parson, Brinkerhoff map.
Max Maxwell, 3211 Bent Twig Lane takes exception with
Mr. Neely's statements and asks that the Planning
Commission proceed with the adoption of the proposed
Draft General Plan.
Donald Gravdahl, 23988 Minnequa Drive stated the
biggest problem Diamond Bar faces, and will continue to
face, is traffic: The Diamond Ranch High School and
Tanner Canyon are two separate items which effect one
issue, the traffic. The EIR for the proposed high
school indicates 400 trips per day in and out of
Deepsprings Drive. With the first phase of the school,
there will be an additional 15.0 trips per day. He
asked the Planning Commission to strengthen the
verbiage with respect to the proposed high school.
Barbara Beach-Courchesne, 2021 Peaceful Hills Road '
stated she is concerned with blatant attempts on the
part of citizens to manipulate the Planning Commission,
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September 12, 1994 Page 7 Planning Commission
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and while she supports all citizen's right to opinion,
all schools have major gridlock. She further stated
while she has been opposed to many decisions made by
the Planning Commission, she will accept the decisions
and take her opposition to the City Council. To argue
with Planning Commission members, to use City On -Line
to make insulting and obscene remarks regarding
Commission members, is inappropriate and
unprofessional. Tanner Canyon and Diamond Ranch High
School are two separate issues.
She further stated there are approximately 1700 schools
in Los Angeles County and they all have gridlock at
peak hours. She agrees with C/Flamenbaum that Grand
Avenue is an example of promised relief that never
happened. The agreement the City had with Chino Hills
was for San Bernardino County to work with Diamond Bar
to solve the traffic problems; however, they have not
done so. Mr. Chavers agreed that this is a snake oil
agreement. Mrs. Beach-Courchesne requested the
Planning Commission recommendation be submitted to the
City Council as other recommendations have been
written.
Chair/Meyer declared the Public Hearing closed and opened
the Planning Commission discussion on the Circulation
Element.
A motion was made by VC/Plunk and seconded by Chair/Meyer
for the following verbiage with respect to Page V-28,
Strategy 1.1.4: "Proactively work with adjacent
jurisdictions in the evaluation of environmentally sensitive
regional transportation corridor options and their potential
funding mechanisms. Acceptable corridor or corridors will
recognize environmental sensitivity by avoiding the
disruption of SEA No. 15 and will not go through Tanner
Canyon, but around it."
In response to C/Flamenbaum, CDD/DeStefano referred the
Planning Commission to the Resource Management Element, Page
2, Existing Conditions, discusses the portion of Tanner
Canyon within the City's Sphere of Influence and later
discusses that portion as the middle 3600 acres of Tanner
Canyon, a portion of which is considered a Significant
Ecological Area due to its wealth of biological resources.
He further stated the General Plan refers to the area north
of Grand Avenue as "Tres Hermanos Ranch".
September 12, 1994 Page 8 Planning Commission
Responding to C/Fong, CDD/DeStefano stated there are
approximately 10,000 acres considered to be Tonner Canyon:
approximately 3,000 within Chino Hills; approximately 3,600
acres within Diamond Bar, and approximately 3,000 within
Brea. Diamond Bar controls, through the deneral Plan, the
middle portion of the 10,000 acre area.
C/Flamenbaum called for the question with regard to
VC/Plunk's motion. The motion failed 3-2 with the following
roll call: I
AYES:
COMMISSIONERS:
NOES:
COMMISSIONERS:
ABSTAIN:
COMMISSIONERS:
ABSENT:
COMMISSIONERS:
VC/Plunk, Chair/Meyer
Fong, Schad,, Flamenbaum
None
None
A motion was made by C/Shad and seconded by C/Fong that
Strategy 1.1.4, Page V-28 to remove the word "major" so that
the strategy now reads: "Such considerations will
incorporate no road through Tonner Canyon." The motion
failed 3-2 with the following roll call:
AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Schad, Fong
NOES: COMMISSIONERS: Chair/Meyer, VC/Plunk,
Flamenbaum
ABSTAIN: COMMISSIONERS: None
ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None
RECESS: Chair/Meyer recessed the meeting at 10:15 p.m.
RECONVENE:' Chair/Meyer-reconvened the meeting at 10:20 p.m.
C/Fong suggested the following changes under the Circulation
Element;
Page V-5, add data reference to LOS.
Page V-6, middle of page indent, line 4, "Brea Canyon,
Road north of Pathfinder Road (1.01)" does not
correlate with table V-3.
Page V-6, last paragraph, second line from the bottom;
the word yellow needs to have a definition. CE/Meyers
indicated yellow is correct according to the vehicle
code. C/Flamenbaum suggested a capital "Y".
e Page V-9, V-10, V-11, Table V-3, delete (Without Tonner
Canyon Road) from the heading and add as a footnote
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September 12, 1994
Page 9 Planning Commission
under c), Page V-il, insert sentence to read: "This
Traffic Forecast model (TF model) did not include any
new bypass roadway corridor for the determination of
the future average daily volume." In addition, put
spaces between "Existing" and "Future" on page V-11 so
that the table looks like pages V-9 and V-10. Correct
footnote c) on Page V-11 to read "Future average daily
volume represents a 1991 projection of year 2010
traffic conditions made by application of a Traffic
Forecast Model developed by DKS Associates."
Page V-10, the figures under "s/o Pathfinder Road" do
not correlate with the LOS in Table V-6. -
Page V-14, needs a reference date for the data.
CE/Meyers indicated that item 1 should read: "Based on
Volume -to -Capacity ratio from Table V-1, level of
service interpretation."
Page V-15, label graphics.
Page V-17, in the second from the last paragraph after
by-pass corridor, delete "in and" so the sentence
reads: "By nature of the location of the by-pass
corridor around the SEA No. 15, the corridor should be
for regional traffic and should not encourage local
access for adjacent development except as required by
safety and emergency access requirements."
Page V-18, second paragraph under a. Transit Services:
remove comma after Route 482 and insert "and" so that
the sentence reads: "Two fixed route transit lines
serve the City of Diamond Bar: Foothill Transit Route
482 and MTA Route 490.
Page V-18, second paragraph from the bottom of the
page, second line, correct spelling of Amtrak.
Page V-18, last paragraph, remove "has been" from the
first line so the sentence reads: "Diamond Bar -is
served by a Metrolink commuter rail station recently
implemented along the Union Pacific Railroad at Brea
Canyon Road, just north of State Route 60."
Page V-19, second paragraph from the bottom of the
page, the last sentence was inadvertently deleted.
Reinsert "Figure D-3 shows designated bicycle routes in
the City of Diamond Bar."
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September 12, 1994 Page 10 Planning Commission
Page V-19, the last paragraph should replace the first,
paragraph at the top of V-20.
Page V-22, first paragraph under C. Circulation Issues,
1. Future Development in Diamond Bar, first line,
verify the correct number of dwelling units is 700.
Page V-28, 7. Surrounding Roadway Systems Impacting the
City, add a third bullet under ISSUE ANALYSIS: to read;
"Improve the present capacity of Route 142, Carbon
Canyon Road."
Page V-28, Strategy 1.1.7 add (e),to read as follows:
"Improve present capacity of State Route 142.
Page V-29, Strategy 1.3.4, add "proposed future" so the
sentence reads: Minimize impacts of roadways serving
the proposed future Diamond Ranch High School site on
surrounding residential neighborhoods." Chair/Meyer
asked for roll call with the result as follows:
AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Fong, Schad, Flamenbaum,
Chair Meyer
NOES: COMMISSIONERS: VC/Plunk
ABSTAIN: COMMISSIONERS: None
ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None
CDD/DeStefano suggested adding Strategy 2.2.3, Page V-30 to
read as follows: "Coordinate with the Pomona Unified School
District and City of Industry Urban Development Agency to
ensure the timely design and construction of connector
roadways to the Diamond Ranch High School site."
Motion was made by C/Flamenbaum and seconded by C/Schad to
accept the Circulation Element as amended. The motion was
carried unanimously.
PLANNING COMMISSION ITEMS: - None
INFORMATIONAL ITEMS:
CDD/DeStefano stated the City is currently recruiting a
Planning Intern and a part time Code Enforcement officer.
Approximately 70 applications have been received. It is'
anticipated that these positions will be filled by the next
Planning Commission meeting.
CDD/DeStefano further stated the South Pointe Middle School
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September 12, 1994 Page 11 Planning commission
project grading began approximately three weeks ago and is
scheduled to be completed in about two months.
He further indicated the City is in the process of
determining a new source for the transcription services for
Planning Commission, Parks and Recreation, Traffic and
Transportation, etc. This project will go to City Council
for award the first meeting in October in anticipation of
having a full time source for minute taking by the middle of
October.
CDD/DeStefano confirmed his meeting with the developers of
Tract 47850 September 13 to schedule tasks in order to get
the project before the Planning Commission and the City
Council.
C/Flamenbaum objected to a joint City Council/Planning
Commission meeting. The Planning Commission members
concurred. He asked that this sentiment be passed on to the
City Council.
CDD/DeStefano raised the issue of working with other
commissions.
Chair/Meyer declared
September 22, 1994 at
11:05 p.m.
the meeting adjourned to Thursday,
6:00 p.m. The meeting adjourned at
Respectful ,
t
3
J"es DeStefano
Secretary
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