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HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/25/2005MINUTES OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR STUDY SESSION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 25, 2005 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman McManus called the meeting to order at 5:38 p.m. Room CC -2 of the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center Building, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765. 1. ROLL CALL: Present: Chairman Joe McManus; Vice Chairperson Ruth Low; and Commissioners Kwang Ho Lee, Dan Nolan and Tony Torng Also present: Nancy Fong, Interim Community Development Director; Bradley E. Wohlenberg, Assistant City Attorney; Ann Lungu, Associate Planner; David Alvarez, Planning Intern; and Stella Marquez, Senior Administrative Assistant A. Information Regarding the Country Hills Towne Center project ICDD/Fong presented staff's report. She pointed out that the requested zone change is consistent with the City's General Plan and the design for the project requires a Conditional Use Permit and Development Review. In addition, the applicant requested a Variance to deviate on the building heights in order to obtain better visibility from the Diamond Bar Boulevard street grade. Chair/McManus and VC/Low pointed out that that the majority of the proposed businesses are food related (95,000 square feet) and the retail is 50,000 square feet. Without the market the food related businesses total more than 50 percent of the entire area. C/Nolan asked who would pay the difference between the actual cost of $1.4 million in improvements and the $79,000 fair -share contribution and ICCD/Fong responded that other area developments would pay for the difference to mitigate the several intersections named in the report. There are no out-of-pocket expenses for the City with respect to this project. In fact, the total amount covers ultimate development to the year 2016 for the six intersections. C/Nolan asked why there was so much fascination with having a grocery store in the center because two of the nation's largest retailers failed in that location and there had been no grocery store in that location for six plus years. He said he also noticed that residents were managing to find a way to purchase groceries and that according to the parking study that the grocery store would use about a third of the total parking spaces. He wondered if the development company had considered an alternate use for the space and asked if all of the retail spaces were filled with OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 2 PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY SESSION tenants? ICCDIFong explained that shopping centers need major anchors to attract shoppers and that the ancillary retail businesses supplement and compliment that major anchor. Chair/McManus asked the applicant to make a presentation and comment on the types of businesses and how the parking was contemplated. VC/Low felt it was important to know if the particular mix of food and retail was good for the City because the City needed retail and food was somewhat limited. C/Nolan said he interpreted mixed use to include living space. C/Nolan asked if the proposed anchor tenant was a certainty and wanted to know if that tenant had experience in the grocery business other than as distributor. ICDDIFong responded that the applicant was working with a prospective tenant that had 15 or 16 stores and was currently in the business of owning and operating grocery stores. CILee asked for a more detailed explanation of the required and shared parking and the difference in numbers. ICDDIFong responded that the center was required to have 1078 parking spaces and had only 1012 spaces so it appeared that the center was short the required number of parking spaces. However, the City's Development Code allows the center to conduct a shared parking study to meet the required number of parking spaces so the 1004 and 1012 numbers are correct. The 1004 number is the number of parking spaces needed at peak time for the highest use (1.00 p.m.) and the center meets the peak demand because it has 1012 parking spaces. It is common for a mixed-use shopping center to share parking spaces. C/Torng said he too was uncomfortable with the number of restaurants proposed for the center. Secondly, he was concerned about the proposed height and wanted to know what kind of signage would be placed on the tower. He felt that the median helped to mitigate the massiveness of the entry driveway. He also believed that the center should provide a left -turn signal out onto Cold Spring Lane at Diamond Bar Boulevard. He felt that the main entry was too large and had too many lanes. ICDDIFong said staff agreed about the entry and the applicant modified the design with a wide landscaped area and waterfeature to narrow the entry leaving two lanes for ingress and two lanes for egress. With respect to the tower for the fast food restaurant (Building #17), the height was anticipated to be within the 35 -foot height requirement. The 49 -foot towers are proposed for the main buildings that sit 20 feet below grade. ICDDIFong indicated to C1Nolan that the residences on the west side were more than 200 feet away from the main buildings. The residents would have a view of the OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 3 PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY SESSION fencing adjacent to the channel and then the backside of the building. Generally, the residences are at the same elevation as the main buildings. The medical building is 54 feet high at the peak of the parapet and only the third story of that building would be viewed from Diamond Bar Boulevard. Chair/McManus was concerned about pedestrian traffic and the lack of pedestrian walkways from one area to other areas of the center. VC/Low agreed. CINolan asked if staff was aware of how much sales tax the center would generate if it were built out as proposed and ICDDIFong responded "no." She agreed that in general grocery stores were low sales tax revenue generators and in general, retail was the best sales tax revenue generator. CILee pointed out that there was a discrepancy in the number of parking spaces in the report and ICDDIFong responded that it was a typing error and that 1003 was correct. CILee also felt there were too many restaurants and fast food business proposed for the center and wanted to know how many food retailers were proposed. ICDDIFong explained that the demarcation lines did not necessarily project that there would be five restaurants in one location for example. If the developer found one tenant to occupy the entire 5000 feet of designated restaurant space it could mean one restaurant instead of five. Or, it could be divided into four smaller restaurants such as Subway, donut shop, etc. VC/Low felt the traffic study neglected the Brea Canyon/Golden Springs and Brea Canyon/Fountain Springs intersections. She was also concerned about whetherthe high school peak hour traffic was taken into consideration. ICDDIFong said that the City was implementing traffic mitigation measures along the two streets mentioned that would most likely discourage short trips and cut through. Tom Smith, Environmental Consultant, referred the Commissioners to page 15. The Table indicates that the distribution of traffic on those two streets is quite minimal. Most of the vehicles going to the shopping center will come from Diamond Bar Boulevard. C[Torng said he was told there would be an Asian market at the Center.1CDD/Fong said that the developer was precluded from limiting what types of businesses could locate in the shopping center. Michael McCarthy, applicant, stated that he purchased the property two years ago. As an investor he looks for failed shopping centers where past development failed to capitalize on demographics and other factors that would control the destiny of a particular shopping center. He gave a brief history of the shopping center and said that it suffered as a result of the market closing, a lack of density in the immediate trade area and because it was situated below grade. He pointed out that it is a OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 4 PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY SESSION mistake for developers to design a shopping center based on what they might like while ignoring what the community and the neighbors in the demographic profile will support. In this case he spent more than a year on the project attempting to match the center with big box users, destination locations, regional players and national tenants, all of which turned the site down. After about a year he began looking more closely at the demographic base as being 55-60 percent Asian population and at that point he began to get strong interest in the shopping center. As a result, he focused his attention on anchoring the shopping center with an Asian market. Although he has not yet signed a market there are two potential tenants looking at the space. in addition, once the focus was centered on an Asian anchor market he began receiving proposals for the balance of the space, many of which were for food use. This concept is about bringing the neighborhood back into the neighborhood center. He felt that the interest in an Asian market and a variety of food centers would not prevail unless business owners felt they could survive and create synergy within the center. In keeping with ICDDIFong's vision of the center, he decided to match the architecture with the average household income of residents living in "The Country Estates" because the center would then draw the higher income households as well as the lower income households in the surrounding area. In addition, the center would pull from other areas such as Puente Hills and Rowland Heights. Chair/McManus said the proposal resembled the center at Calabasas and he liked the fact that Calabasas had a 12-15 foot wide sidewalk with trees and park benches and that the center allowed vendors to set up carts on the weekends. Calabasas has a lot more retail but the concept is the same and it is a very user-friendly center. Mr. McCarthy agreed that if an environment were inviting the shoppers would come. Mr. McCarthy responded to C1Nolan that the closest project was the Phillips Ranch shopping center that he purchased in 2001. The center was in worse shape than the Country Hills Towne Center due to deferred maintenance and 50 percent occupancy. Today the center is about 90 percent complete and the total lease area is 124,000 square feet. Some of the old tenants moved into new spaces. Others could not afford the rent and moved to other shopping centers. On average the shop spaces rent for between $1.75 and $2.25 per square foot. He spoke about other projects. C/Nolan asked what grade Mr. McCarthywould give the Country Hills Towne Center and Mr. McCarthy responded that compared to Pomona Ranch the bones of the Country Hills Towne Center are stronger and that the general maintenance and structure are okay to a C+ or B- rating. The difficult part is that the center rests on a lower grade and the issue is how to get around that fact by increasing visibility. OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 5 PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY SESSION Signage on Diamond Bar Boulevard is important and he said he would be coming back to the Planning Commission with a sign program. Studies indicate the community's need for a medical office building. The focus has been to obtain the City's entitlements and approval for the vision of the retail with the office building being secondary to the anchor tenant. The plan is for Phase I to include the market with the storefront colony extending across the center. Phase ll would include the two-story walkup and dovetail into the medical building shortly thereafter. VC/Low asked Mr. McCarthy how much he expected the renovations to cost and how much of it is the developers own money and how much is capital he expects to obtain. Mr. McCarthy responded that the project is fully capitalized and expected it would take another $12 million to complete going forward from the present time. C/Torng asked if Mr. McCarthy expected to complete the project by December 2006 and Mr. McCarthy said he would like to break ground in .January 2006. Mr. McCarthy responded to VC/Low that they were close to signing the anchor market and the focus had been on that aspect of the project. At that point the rest of the shopping center would come into line and the development of the anchor would proceed. VC/Low said she was concerned that so much of the space (two-thirds) was dedicated to food and wanted to know why that aspect would lend itself to making the center a community town center. What about the design makes it a community town center? Mr. McCarthy felt that the medical office and AAA would help balance the remainder of the center and stated that the entire center was about 225,000 square feet and food uses were about 54,000 square feet so the food portion was less than 25 percent of the overall space. VC/Low felt that that too many food spaces may result in a fall out. She asked if Mr. McCarthy had a plan for 25% food, 25% retail, etc., orwas it a "free for all" concept according to the interest. Mr. McCarthy felt that his concept would work because he intended to pick from the highest quality restaurants according to types of food and that he had no intention of duplicating the types of foods - he intends to have one pizza parlor, one Chinese food restaurant, one Sushi bar, etc. TCDD/Fong said that staff was working with the applicant on several conditions of approval and since those items had not yet been completed staff would seek a continuance of tonight's public hearing to November 8. Chair/McManus said that the City could request certain things of the applicant but could not restrain trade to any great extent. Having a long history with small businesses, many fail. However, he was certain the applicant would do everything possible to make sure the center was successful. OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 6 PLANNING COMMISSION STUDY SESSION C/Nolan recommended the Planning Commission schedule a field trip to visit the sites that the developer had successfully rehabilitated. His colleagues concurred. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business before the Planning Commission, Chair/McManus adjourned the study session at 6:50 p.m. to the regular meeting. Respectfully Submitted, Nancy Fong ' Interim Com unity D elopment Director Attest: MINUTES OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 25, 2005 CALL TO ORDER: Chairman McManus called the meeting to order at 7:10 p.m. in the South Coast Air Quality Management District/Government Center Auditorium, 21865 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, California 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Vice Chairman Low led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1. ROLL CALL: Present: Chairman Joe McManus; Vice Chairperson Ruth Low; and Commissioners Kwang Ho Lee, Dan Nolan and Tony Torng Also present: Nancy Fong, Interim Community Development Director; Bradley E. Wohlenberg, Assistant City Attorney; Ann Lungu, Associate Planner; David Alvarez, Planning Intern; and Stella Marquez, Senior Administrative Assistant 2. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE/PUBLIC COMMENTS: Ian Stewart, 20755 Northampton Street, said that his house was built in 1963. He wanted to build a garage/shop in the backyard area and if he were to meet the City's requirements the building would be about 10 feet from the back of his house leaving 20 feet behind the building to the property line. Since in his opinion a building in that location would not be functional and a poor use of his land he wanted to know if he had any options for placing the building in another location. ICDD/Fong recommended that Mr. Stewart visit the Planning Department at City Hall to discuss the matter. If Mr. Stewart wanted to deviate from the code he would need to apply for a variance and the matter would then come before the Planning Commission. Mr. Stewart said he was told by the City's Planning Department that a variance would not necessarily apply to his situation because the statute does not limit him from building the addition - it merely causes him to place the building in what he considers an inappropriate location. AssocP/Lungu said she spoke with Mr. Stewart and was told he wanted to build a workshop in his backyard. The code requires that the workshop meet the same setbacks as the residence which means that the workshop needs to be 20 feet from OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 2 PLANNING COMMISSION 3 4. 5 the rear yard line and maintain the five and 10 -foot setback in accordance with the residential structure and not exceed the 40 percent lot coverage. If Mr. Stewart wishes to place the shop in a different location he must apply for a variance through the Planning Department to be reviewed by the Planning Commission would have to make the findings that related to something unusual about his lot that would cause him to not be able to meet the code rather than claiming a self-imposed hardship. Mr. Stewart said he would bring a site plan back to the Planning Department to determine whether a variance would be possible. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: CONSENT CALENDAR: As Presented. 4.1 Minutes of the Regular Meeting of October 11, 2005 C/Torng asked that his comments (third paragraph on page 3) be moved to after the close of the public hearing. C/Torng moved, V/C Low seconded to approve the Regular Meeting Minutes for October 11, 2005, as amended. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote. AYES: COMMISSIONERS: NOES: COMMISSIONERS: ABSTAIN: COMMISSIONERS: ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: OLD BUSINESS: Torng, VC/Low, Lee, Chair/McManus None Nolan None 5.1 Planning Commission Policy and Procedures Manual VC/Low asked if staff could provide a copy of the manual with the old text stricken and the new text underlined. ICDD/Fong responded affirmatively. C/Torng believed that his proposed changes were completed. C/Nolan pointed out that pages 23 and 24 have bullet points that were underlined which would indicate to him that the changes were made. VC/Low said she did not want to assume that. Chair/McManus asked that page 16 be revised to rephrase the section regarding motions on amendments to make it clearer. He felt it would be a OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 3 PLANNING COMMISSION good idea for new Commissioners to get together with staff to go over the items in the manual. C/Nolan moved, VC/Low seconded to continue review and discussion of the Planning Commission Policy and Procedures Manual to November 8, 2005. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: 6. NEW BUSINESS: 7. COMMISSIONERS: COMMISSIONERS COMMISSIONERS PUBLIC HEARING(S): None Nolan, VC/Low, Lee, Torng Chair/McManus None None 7.1 ZONE CHANGE NO. 2004-1 CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. 2004-01, DEVELOPMENT REVIEW NO. 2004-19 AND VARIANCE NO. 2004-01 - In accordance with chapter 22 of the City of Diamond Bar Development Code, the applicant requested the following approval: A zone change from Neighborhood Commercial (C-1) to Community Commercial (C-2) District consistent with the General Plan Commercial designation; a Conditional Use Permit and a Development Review for the renovation of the facade of the existing shopping center totaling 221,083 square feet; and a Variance to increase the building height for the proposed three story office/medical office building from 35 feet to 40 feet. The proposed renovations include the existing 45,031 square feet of existing in-line shop buildings or retail and restaurant uses with outdoor dining area, a new 49,100 square foot three story office/medical office building and a new 6,800 square foot two story office/retail building. PROJECT ADDRESS: Diamond Bar Boulevard between the northwest corner of Cold Springs Lane and the southwest corner of Fountain Springs Road (Country Hills Towne Center), Diamond Bar, CA 91765 PROPERTY OWNER/ MCC Realty Management APPLICANT: 9595 Wilshire Boulevard, Suite 214 Beverly Hills, CA 90212 OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 4 PLANNING COMMISSION ICDD/Fong recommended that the Planning Commission open the public hearing, receive testimony and continue the matter to November 8, 2005. Chair/McManus opened the public hearing. Robert Troxel, 2732 Castle Rock Road, said he has lived in the area for 40 plus years and his home is situated directly behind Rite-Aid. On two previous occasions he attempted to have the previous property owner plant trees behind the center's parking lot. He also felt Rite-Aid should move their trash receptacles to the side of the building instead of over the fence from his property because the trash receptacles were rat infested. He said he had assurance from the previous owner that the air-conditioning units, vent pipes, etc., on top of the buildings would be covered with barriers. He asked the City to include the following in their approval: Plant trees of the same variety that exist behind the theater in the rear access area behind the existing buildings next to the existing fence adjacent to the flood control channel; provide barriers to conceal air-conditioning, vent pipes and other items on the roofs of the original existing buildings; request Rite-Aid to place their trash receptacles on the side of the building rather than against the fence. Rita Myer, 2634 Crooked Creek Drive (north of the theater) has lived in her home for 30 years. She noticed that the center had deteriorated over time especially after losing the grocery store. During the past two years the City has lost the one-hour photo, Subway, The Game Store, Hello Kitty store and the movie theater. Craig Cox, 2615 Rising Star said he was concerned about tonight's hearing because he agreed with the past two speakers. He wanted to know what the new owner intended to do and how he intended to fill the spaces and if the Planning Commission knew what businesses would be located in the center. Chair/McManus explained that the center has a new owner who is in the process of upgrading the center. The new owner presented plans to the Planning Commission tonight during the study session prior to this regular meeting. The owner is spending a lot of money to upgrade the center and has a vested interest in making sure the buildings are filled with tenants. Trushar Patel said his wife is an optometrist and has been at the center since it opened. If the Commission does not approve the plan for rehabilitation the OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 5 PLANNING COMMISSION office will close and move to another location because the center is a ghost center. He said he would really like to see the City approve the plans the new owner has proposed. Lopez Espinosa said he has lived in Diamond Bar for 43 years and lives a block west of the shopping center. The last thing he wants to see when he exits his home is a three-story building. The center needs to be remodeled but a three-story level is not good for his front yard. Dr. Doshi wanted to locate at the center in order to have visibility from the street. When he first moved into the center there was a Ralph's Market and many other businesses including the theater. He said he was very concerned about the center because it affects his livelihood. In spite of many businesses leaving the center he has survived and thrived. He felt there were too many food courts proposed because in the past food businesses have failed in the center. A medical building sounds good but there are already too many empty medical offices in north Diamond Bar, Cecilia Camada said she had watched the center deteriorate to the point that it was no longer a center. As a resident she would like to see a grocery store, a Hallmark shop with a post office and a retail store where she can purchase a gift. She would not like to see a two -or three-story building in the center because she felt the area was too small to house that type of a building. She felt the owner should do something to fix the center but at the same time she believed he needed to survey the residents in the area to learn what types of businesses they would like to have at the center. Sonya Robinson has owned GNC for 92 years and has had her business at the center for that entire time. She was happy to move to the center but the day Ralph's left the center is the day the center began deteriorating and slowly it has "gone to the dogs." it is very difficult to continue paying rent and although she would like to hold on she may have to move to another area because she is not getting any answers about when the new owner is going to help the tenants. Tom Snyder, 2629 Rising Star, asked if there were plans available for public viewing. ICDDIFong responded that plans were available for public viewing at City Hall and at the Diamond Bar Library. Mr. Snyder said he was concerned about where the three-story medical building would be built. ICDDIFong pointed out the proposed location of the three-story building close to the childcare area using an overhead site plan. Mr. Snyder asked if the residents OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 6 PLANNING COMMISSION would be notified about what businesses would be locating at the center. Chair/McManus explained that the City recommends what types of businesses go into a center but cannot restrict certain uses. The owner is putting more than $12 million dollars into rehabilitating this center and has a vested interest in making sure that it is successful. Roger Myer, 2634 Crooked Creek Drive asked how long it would take to complete the rehabilitation once the Planning Commission approved the plans. Chair/McManus responded that the owner of the center would like to get started as quickly as possible and possibly by January 2006 because the center was not currently generating any income. The reconstruction will be done first and future build -out will be done in phases after the rehab is completed. Mr. Myer wanted to know if the center ingress/egress would be impaired during construction and ICDD/l=ong indicated that the current entry to the center would remain available. Richard Ortiz was also concerned about a three-story building and how it would affect the views of the neighboring residents on Cold Springs. He said he would rather have a three-story building on Diamond Bar Boulevard. Luna Chu, 2953 Rising Star Drive, said she did not believe a three story building was appropriate to back up to a pre-school and in the vicinity of the elementary school on Castle Rock near Evergreen because she feared there would be additional traffic on Cold Springs Lane that would create a safety hazard for the children. She was also concerned that there would not be enough people using the center even after it was built out. She goes to Brea or Chino Hills to shop because there are no places to shop in Diamond Bar and Diamond Bar is like a dead city, a pass through city to go somewhere else. She would prefer to have tenants commit to leasing space before the center was refurbished and more buildings were built. Chair/McManus commented that the City and the new owner were certainly hopeful that there would be increased traffic once the center was refurbished and that traffic mitigation was the primary concern of City staff. Michael McCarthy, applicant, requested the matter be continued to November 8, 2005. Chair/McManus continued the public hearing to November 8, 2005. OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 7 PLANNING COMMISSION 8. PLANNING COMMSSIONER COMMENTS/INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: C/Torng said that as a resident and Commissioner he would seriously evaluate the proposed Country Hills Towne Center project. C/Nolan felt the Country Hills Towne Center project was a major concern for Diamond Bar and that the Commission would do its due diligence to put together a recommendation to the City Council that was easily understood and would move forward. This is an opportunity for the City to revitalize the area and he hoped that the new owner would listen to his constituents' needs and wants, and move forward in a good business sense. C/Lee felt that all of the Commissioners were grateful to Mr. McCarthy for his decision to rejuvenate the Country Hills Towne Center. He hoped that the questions and comments put forth by the residents would not discourage Mr. McCarthy from his mission. He said that Mr. McCarthy intends to spend a great deal of money to accomplish his goals and in his opinion, if the City could expedite the approval it would be good for Mr. McCarthy and for the community. Based on his subjective experience CILee felt that at least 3,000 people per day would visit the center and take advantage of the food businesses and that theywould naturally take advantage of other businesses within the center. VC/Low agreed with C/Nolan that the concerns are voiced because everyone wants to see a good project for the benefit of the developer and the community. She hoped that staff, the Commission and the property owner could work together to move the project forward in a timely fashion. 9. STAFF COMMENTS AND INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: ICDD/Fong stated that prior to the meeting she handed out flyers dealing with the November 3 Emergency Response and Narrow Streets Workshop. Dan Burton will talk about how to improve the walkability of the community. She encouraged the Commissioners to attend the discussion because the information pertains to the form -based code currently under consideration. Staff will provide meeting handouts for those who are unable to attend. ICDD/Fong reported that on October 18 the City Council received a brief report on the form -based code during their study session and the Council would like to schedule a joint meeting to review and discuss the form -based code. TCDD/Fong stated that the City Council also discussed the use of palm trees in the Target and Country Hills Towne Center shopping centers and the City Council directed staff to OCTOBER 25, 2005 PAGE 8 PLANNING COMMISSION compose language that would allow for limited use of palm trees as long as they were grouped together with other types of shade trees. ICDDIFong confirmed the Commission's intent to forward a recommendation to the City Council to create a program for art in pubic places. ICDDIFong said she would acquire information from other cities on their programs and place the item on the January agenda for discussion and possible action. Chair/McManus believed that some developers would voluntarily place art in their centers if it were mentioned to them during the approval process. VC/Low congratulated ICDDIFong on the new look of Von's. Shopping Center. Chair/McManus reiterated his recommendation for new Commissioners to meet with staff to discuss the Commissioner's Policy and Procedures Manual. 9.1 Public Hearing dates for future projects. 10. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE EVENTS: As listed in tonight's agenda. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business before the Planning Commission, Chair/McManus adjourned the meeting at 8:15 p.m. Respectfully Submitted, Nancy Fon ' Interim Coromunity evelopment Director Attest: U lA"(-V ,/ McManus, Chairman