Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/8/2013MINUTES OF THE CITY OF DIAMOND BAR REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OCTOBER 8, 2013 WTTTFIIIR�� Chairman Torng called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m. in the City Hall Windmill Room, 21810 Copley Drive, Diamond Bar, CA 91765. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE: Commissioner Dhingra led the Pledge of Allegiance. 1. ROLL CALL: Present: Commissioners Ashok Dhingra, Jimmy Lin, Jack Shah, Vice Chairman Frank Farago, Chairman Tony Torng Also present: Greg Gubman, Community Development Director; Dave DeBerry, City Attorney; Grace Lee, Senior Planner; Natalie Tobon, Assistant Planner; and Stella Marquez, Administrative Coordinator. 2. MATTERS FROM THE AUDIENCE/PUBLIC COMMENTS: Vinod Kashyap owns a property at 3839 Castle Rock Road which gets a lot of noise and shaking of the retaining walls from the freeway. In some instances people have gone off the freeway, through the fence and ended up close to his back yard. The traffic flow is very fast and there are a lot of heavy vehicles going through the area. He fears that one day someone will plow into. his house. He asked the Commission to address the safety issues in the area. 3. APPROVAL OF AGENDA: As presented 4. CONSENT CALENDAR: 4.1 Minutes of the September 24, 2013, Regular Meeting. VC/Farago moved, C/Dhingra seconded, to approve the September 24, 2013, regular meeting minutes as presented. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: NOES: ABSENT: 5. OLD BUSINESS: 6. NEW BUSINESS: COMMISSIONERS COMMISSIONERS COMMISSIONERS None None Dhingra, Lin, Shah, VC/ Farago, Chair/Torng None None OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 2 PLANNING COMMISSION 7. PUBLIC HEARING(S): 7.1 Development Review No. PL2013-77 — Under the authority of Diamond Bar Municipal Code Section 22.48, applicant Steven Phillips and property owner Mei Deng, requested Development Review approval to construct a new single- family residence consisting of 13,360 square feet of livable area; a 2,207 square foot garage, and 2,471 square feet of patio areas on a 1.21 gross acre (52,707 square foot) lot. The subject property is zoned Rural Residential (RR) with a consistent underlying General Plan land use designation of Rural Residential. PROJECT ADDRESS: PROPERTY OWNER 24074 Falcons View Drive Diamond Bar, CA 91765 Mei Deng 500-999 West Broadway Vancouver, BC V5ZIKS APPLICANT: Steven Phillips 23177 La Cadena Drive #101 Laguna Hills, CA 92677 CDD/Gubrnan recommended that the Planning Commission continue the matter to October 22, 2013, to allow the applicant additional time to complete the public hearing notification requirements. Chair/Torng opened the public hearing. There was no one present who wished to speak on this item. C/Dhingra moved, VC/Farago seconded, to continue Development Review No. PI -2013-77 to October 22, 2013. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote-, AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Dhingra, Lin, Shah, VC/ Farago, Chair/Torng NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None 7.2 Development Review No. PL2013-215 — Under the authority of Diamond Bar Municipal Code Section 22.48, applicant Dan Wainwright, representing America's Tire Co and property owner Larry Zerner, representing Diamond Bar Plaza, requested Development Review approval to construct a 7,149 square foot building for a new retail automotive parts and service establishment. The subject property is zoned Community Commercial (C-2) with an underlying General Plan land use designation of General Commercial. OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 3 PLANNING COMMISSION PROJECT ADDRESS PROPERTY OWNER APPLICANT: 2875 S. Diamond Bar Boulevard Diamond Bar, CA 91765 Diamond Bar Plaza 1801 Century Park East, Suite 2400 Los Angeles, CA 90067 Daniel Wainwright America's Tire Co. 20225 N. Scottsdale Rd Scottsdale, AZ 85255 AP/Tobon presented staff's report and recommended Planning Commission approval of Development Review No. PI -2013-215, based on the Findings of Fact, and subject to the conditions of approval as listed within the resolution. C/Shah asked what is currently on the site and APfFobon reiterated that the site is a vacant lot. Daniel Wainwright, America's Tire Co., 20225 N. Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85255, said he was before the Commission to request approval of a Development Review application for a new America's Tire station on Diamond Bar Boulevard at Cold Springs Road. He gave a brief background of the company and talked about the proposed project, America's Tire Co. has been in business for 54 years and there are Currently 865 locations in 24 states with over 15,000 full time employees. America's Tire is the largest and most successful retail tire company in the United States. The company does not perform any mechanical work, there are no automotive fluids and there is no hazardous waste. The business is strictly retail sales and service of passenger car and light truck tires and wheels. All of the work is done inside of the building; all of the storage is inside of the building; and, in this case the service bays face to the north, away from the residential property. All of the work is performed within a clean, modern and efficient environment. Hours of operation are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., Saturday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and the shops are closed on Sundays. This project will create about 10 full time new jobs for the community and those employees will receive benefits, retirement plans, medical insurance, training, etc. In the 50 years the company has been in business it has never laid off any employees. He thanked staff for their input and fine tuning to the project. He said his company agrees to all of the conditions of approval which to him are comprehensive and thorough. C/Lin asked if the headquarters was in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Mr. Wainwright responded that the company was started in Ann Arbor and there is still an office in that City. The owner decided he would like to live in warmer climate and 30 OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 4 PLANNING COMMISSION years ago he and his wife moved to Scottsdale, Arizona. C/Lin asked why the company was hiring only 10 employees in Diamond Bar when the average store staffs 20 employees. Mr. Wainwright responded that 10 would be the initial employment level to get the business going. As the store becornes established, which usually occurs within a year, more staff would be brought on as the level of business dictates. C/Dhingra said that staff and the applicant were to be congratulated on a very good project and design. He also spoke supportively of the site plan design that eliminates the shared drive aisle with the neighboring car wash. Chair/Torng opened the public hearing. Natalia Baudin, 2904 Crooked Creek, said she retired from South Coast Air Quality Management District where she worked in environmental justice. She is concerned about the proposed tire company. When there was a service station in the location, people would work on cars all night and compressors could be heard at 2:00 a.m. With the shopping center, the building noises start at 5:30 to 6:00 a.m. in the mornings and after stores open, there were large 18 -wheel transfer trucks in the neighborhood that would park along Cold Spring Lane waiting to gain access to the shopping center area, trucks which sat along the side of the fence bordering her yard and dump diesel fumes into the yard. Now there are trucks delivering to the super market with half loads that when they hit the speed bumps she is violently awakened. In addition, she has to contend with lawn service at 6:00 a.m. for the daycare. She does not mind the businesses being in her neighborhood but wishes they would realize there are people who are retired and sleep later in the morning. Her concerns about the tire store is: 1) that the noise be minimized during the building of the store by limiting the hours from 8:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.; include in the occupancy permit, no compressors, impact wrenches or other noise making tools be used prior to 8:00 a.m.; tire deliveries should be made by way of Diamond Bar Boulevard and riot Cold Spring Lane; all tires left outside of the building should be covered; and, no parking for the business along Cold Spring Lane; 2) no underground storage of chemicals or vats larger than 50 gallons, no use of toxic chemicals that can be released into the neighborhood; and 3) she is concerned about loss of property values. Tire stores generate a lot of traffic and cars to be worked on and all cars that are being worked on should be kept in the property boundaries of the company. Mrs. Baudin said that she and her husband have worked hard to build a pleasant life in Diamond Bar and she understands that the City needs revenues. Tire stores in neighborhoods are not very pretty. She asked the Planning Commission to reconsider this project or put limitations she has stated on the occupancy permit. Vinod Kashyap said he appreciated the presentation. He asked if the tires were American made and asked if the company had a provision for vocational OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 5 PLANNING COMMISSION training for kids. He wanted to know if it was a LEED design based on zero energy use. The previous speaker covered his other concerns. Mr. Wainwright responded to speakers that with respect to noise the hours of operation (as previously stated) are 8:30 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Friday and 8:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. on Saturday. The store is closed on Sunday. Construction hours will be complied with in accordance with the City's conditions. He will be personally involved with the project throughout the construction phase and if there are any concerns about early morning starts, he will address those and make certain everything is properly handled. With respect to chemicals, he again stated that the store does not handle any automotive fluids or any kind of hazardous waste, oil, antifreeze or brake fluid and no fluids are stored on site or used in any of the store's operations. Some of the tires are American made and many are "world source" tires. Tires are made in a number of countries and the company does not discriminate against any nation's products. The company looks very closely at the quality of the tires. Any tire that the company sells is thoroughly tested by staff. The company's poly chemist looks at the construction of every tire and works with the manufacture to make certain the tire has the proper adhesives, tread design, as well as steel and polymer ingredients to ensure that it is a safe tire. The company also wants to offer customers good value for their tire and not everyone can afford the most expensive tire so the company offers tires that are good value at all market points throughout the range of products. With respect to vocational training, the company absolutely welcomes young people. As he previously mentioned, the company has an extensive training program and loves to have young people after school that have an interest and a passion in working for a really good company that promotes from within. The company would love to partner with vocational instructors at the local high schools and community colleges to bring folks into the organization. The company has looked at the LEED design very closely. The building does not quite meet the LEED criteria. The company has tried but the nature of the use of the building makes it very difficult to create the energy envelope. However, what they have done in the design is to include a number of skylights that are screened behind the parapet walls to harvest natural sunlight. The building also uses occupancy sensors and light level sensors within the building and an extensive number of LED light fixtures to reduce the electrical demand. The roof is made from steel, about 90 percent of which is recycled, and the remaining components are masonry and concrete which can be recycled at the end of the useful life of the facility. This site was formerly a gas station which closed due to leaking underground storage tanks and were removed a number of years ago and significant mitigation measures were performed to bring any toxic levels of contaminant below the minimum thresholds. In fact, the report from the water quality board verified that indeed, the contamination levels are below action limits and the site case is closed. The store proposes to do a ground lease on the site for 40 to 50 years. The company makes a long-term commitment to the OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 6 PLANNING COMMISSION community. The construction costs for the building will be approximately $1.5 million. America's Tire Co. plans to be a long-term positive part of the Diamond Bar community. Mr. Wainwright said that customers will be on the property for 30-45 minutes and cars are not kept offsite nor are they kept overnight. Generally, 85 percent of the product is available on site and customers can be on their way in about 30 minutes. C/Shah asked about the storage of used and new tires and if during construction the project uncovers contaminant materials how will that be handled. Mr. Wainwright responded that all of the new tires are stored within the building and all of the used tires are stored within the building and picked up by a licensed recycler that converts them to crumb rubber which is used to make road beds (overtopping for asphalt) which reduces road noise and tire wear. Tires do riot go to the landfill. Phase I and Phase II environmental site assessment and technical evaluation have been conducted. Multiple borings were done at the site to assess both the geostrategic analysis and structural foundation designs. Samples were taken to validate that the environmental contamination had decreased to below action levels. C/Lin said that the property has 20 parking spaces with 10 spaces taken up by employees. He asked if the remaining 10 spaces would be adequate to take care of customer parking with no spill over onto the streets. Mr. Wainwright said he believed the parking would be sufficient because customer vehicles are turned over (bay turn) so quickly. There are four service bays which leaves sufficient parking for additional customers. C/Shah asked whether tire delivery and pickup would take place during working hours. Mr. Wainwright responded that tire delivery takes place during normal business hours only. Trucks deliver replenishment goods only to replace what was sold the previous week. Chair/Torng asked staff about the parking and whether there was a "no parking" zone on the street. CDD/Gubman said he was not familiar with the history on reviewing the parking situation or studying whether or riot to designate Cold Spring Lane as a no parking zone because that is actually within the purview of the Traffic and Transportation Commission, which is staffed by the City's Public Works Department and any recommendation that would follow such a review and analysis would be forwarded to the City Council for discussion and possible action. This question can be directed to the Public Works Director and staff would be happy to get in touch with Mrs. Baudin to provide her with a more thorough answer about the traffic situation on her street and how her request/inquiry can be responded to. PAGE 7 PLANNING COMMISSIOil� Vinod Kashyap felt that an influx of business from shopping center visitors would create traffic flow and parking problems for the tire store and shopping center. VC/Farago asked staff to respond to Mrs. Baudin's concerns about construction hours. CDD/Gubman stated that the City's Code limits hours of construction and construction related noise to Monday through Saturday 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. C/Dhingra asked if the delivery would be executed via Diamond Bar Boulevard or Cold Spring Lane. CDD/Gubman responded that there is no stated restriction on the delivery points of access. Since this is a use that is permitted by right and not a conditional use, there are no use restrictions that could be conditioned on the project. However, America's Tire Co. is a national credit tenant that has a highly regarded reputation for being a good neighbor so this is probably a more appropriate opportunity to have this discussion with America's Tire Co. so that the company can reach out to the neighborhood residents and address any issues with respect to the property and the availability of the company representatives to the neighborhood to abate any potential and/or future problems. Chair/Torng closed the public hearing. C/Lin said that typically, tire stores generate about half of the traffic of a service station. With respect to more people visiting the store on Saturday, the opportunity for service is limited by the parking and bays so generally, people will be scheduled to return. He believes it is a good project and architecturally, the project is very sound. C/Lin moved, C/Shah seconded, to approve Development Review No. PL2013.- 215, based on the Findings of Fact, and subject to the conditions of approval as listed within the resolution. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS: Dhingra, Lin, Shah, VC/ Farago, Chair/Torng NOES: COMMISSIONERS: None ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: None 7.3 Vesting Tentative Tract Map No. 72295, Development Review and Tree Permit No. PL2013-229 — The applicant requested approval of a Vesting Tentative "Tract Map to subdivide an existing vacant 30 -acre site known as "Site D" into 63 lots for the development of 182 for -sale dwelling units and a minimum two -acre neighborhood public park. Development Review approval was requested for the proposed architectural and landscape design elements associated with the proposed residential component of Site D. A Tree Permit OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 8 PLANNING COMMISSION was also requested to remove 83 existing protected trees consisting of 75 Southern Black Walnuts, 6 Willows and 2 Coast Live Oaks; and, replace them at a 3:1 ratio with 75 Coast Live Oak and 174 Sycamore trees. The property is zoned Specific Plan (SP) with a consistent underlying General Plan land use designation of Specific Plan. PROJECT ADDRESS: Site comprised of approximately 30.36 acres located at the southeast corner of Brea Canyon Road and Diamond Bar Boulevard (Los Angeles County Assessor's Parcel Numbers 8714-002-900, 8714- 002-901, 8714-002-902, 8714-002-903 and 8714- 015-001). PROPERTY OWNERS: Walnut Valley Unified School District and City of Diamond Bar APPLICANT: Lennar Homes of California, Inc. 25 Enterprise, Suite 300 Aliso Viejo, CA 92656 CDD/Gubman explained that Site D is predominately surplus Walnut Valley Unified School District property and has been surplus property for several decades. The City, in partnership with the school district embarked on a master planning effort around 2008 to establish a roadmap and set of goals, policies and objectives for the buildout of the Site D property. Initially, over the 30 acre site, the Specific Plan that was presented to the public and Planning Commission when the public hearing process started consisted of half of the site (about 15 gross acres) being allocated for up to two hundred residences and the other half (about 15 gross and 10 net acres) would be a commercial shopping center with a maximum intensity of about 153,000 square feet. The public process that ensued resulted in neighborhood workshops and further analysis of the market feasibility of the commercial, etc. and the outcome of the public process was that the commercial component was eliminated from the project and approved as a 100 percent residential development but still with a unit count capped at 200. In addition, the Specific Plan included a requirement for a minimum of a two -acre useable park that would be constructed by the eventual purchaser and developer of the property and would then be dedicated to the City in a turnkey fashion. The Specific Plan was ultimately approved with those specifications in early 2012 and since that time, the property has been placed for sale. Lennar Homes, one of the country's largest residential developers, has entered into escrow with the school district as the majority owner of the property and the City which is 4.5 percent owner of a small sliver of the property. Since entering into escrow Lennar has followed through with obligations to embark on a public outreach effort on the park design and although the particulars of the park are not a part of tonight's approval, there is OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 9 PLANNING COMMISSIOZ a park concept plan, provided in the Planning Commission packet, that is being designed for presentation to the City Council at a later date. It should be noted, however, that the conceptual plan is faithful to the neighborhood consensus that was achieved through the neighborhood outreach process. What the Commission is being presented with tonight is a residential development for 182 units and 2.5 usable acre neighborhood park that would be dedicated to the City upon completion. The Commission's charge this evening is to review the Tract Map, Development Review and Tree Permit and the Addendum to- the EIR that addresses refinements to the actual project in comparison to the vision for the development that was set forth in the Specific Plan, and to determine whether or not what is being proposed is Substantial conformance with the Site D Specific Plan. If so, staff Would recommend that the Planning Commission adopt a Resolution that recommends approval of the project that is composed of several entitlement components to the City Council for its approval. CDD/Gubman further stated that the components of the park that the Commission will be reviewing are in the Tract Map wherein the two parcels are delineated that provide the location for the park. If the Commission recommends approval of the Tract Map it will set in place the footprint in which the park would be placed. As SP/Lee will explain, there is a part of the park called "the rain garden." Under the Federal and State Water Quality mandate/requirements, all of the stormwater runoff for this site needs to be retained up to a specified storm event. The proposed rain garden satisfies that stormwater retention requirement but it is being placed within the park and similar to how a golf course is often designed within a flood plain, this feature is being designed as a useable recreational amenity. As far as the concept of the rain garden, it will be a necessary and integral component to this development because it serves a stormwater retention mandate. Park amenities such as benches and play equipment, tree species and other features are part of a public park, which is outside the scope of the Planning Commission's review authority. The Parks and Recreation Commission will review the park portion of the project and provide its recommendation to the City Council. SP/Lee stated that this project executes the Site D Specific Plan which was approved in February 2012. The Specific Plan set forth criteria to guide the development of this approximately 30 -acre vacant land to allow up to 200 for - sale dwelling units and require that at least two useable acres be set aside for a public neighborhood park. The project is located at the Southeast corner of Brea Canyon Road and Diamond Bar Boulevard and consists primarily of Walnut Valley Unified School District property, as well as an approximately one acre strip of land along Brea Canyon Road west of the flood control channel. The flood control channel and the portion of the channel that breaches the City and school district properties is owned and maintained by the LA County Flood Control District. Lennar Homes is proposing to develop a new master planned gated residential community which consists of 182 for -sale dwelling units, as OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 10 PLANNING COMMISSION well as a 4.7 gross acre -2.5 useable acre -neighborhood park to be dedicated to the City. The following entitlements are being requested and the Planning Commission will forward its recommendation to the City Council for a Vesting Tentative Tract Map to subdivide the property into 63 lots for the development of 182 units and a 2.5 net useable acre public park; Development Review of the proposed architectural landscape design elements associated with the proposed residential project; and, a Tree Permit to remove 83 existing protected trees and replace them at a 3:1 ratio with 249 trees to be planted on site. The project site can be described as a relatively flat plateau with steep slopes. There are three types of protected trees that currently reside on the property including 75 Southern California Black Walnut, 6 Willow and 2 Coast Live Oak. There are three intermittent blue line streams which flow generally from east to west. The site has unique planning challenges due to ancien! landslides on the property and although the landslides are inactive, they have created layers of weakness that require designing the site to achieve minimum code of factors of safety. There are two main building pads proposed which were designed around the geotechnical constraints of the site. The site was designed to build the southeastern portion of the site indicated as Pad #1 at a higher elevation in order to establish grades that meet certain elevation targets to comply with the minimum safety factors. Raising the pad levels resulted in the curvature of the private streets. There are two 16 foot high retaining walls (highlighted in red on the plan) that separate the two main building pads. The townhome and detached single family neighborhoods are located on the lower pad which is indicated as Pad #2 and the detached single family neighborhood is located on Pad #1. The lower pad consists of two tiers, townhomes on the lower tier (far western portion of the site) and the single family detached condos on the upper tier (along the north side of the site). The design to build up the building pads along the southeastern portion of the site also helps to stabilize the slopes of the existing homes on Ambusher Street abutting the site. The basic framework for development of the underlying Tract Map, the Vesting Tentative Map, proposes to subdivide the property to accommodate the following different uses: 62 townhomes; 73 detached condominiums (cluster homes) on Pad #2; 47 lots for individual sale of production homes on Pad #1 along the southeast portion of the site; private streets, slopes, open space areas owned in common by the HOA and a neighborhood park. Lennar proposes to market the new community as Willow Heights and the development will consist of the three distinct neighborhoods previously mentioned, each of which will be defined by its own housing type. The project complies with the Specific Plan Design Guidelines through a diversity of architectural styles and smooth transitions between structures and landscape features. #CTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 11 PLANNING COMMISSION One of the neighborhoods includes 62 townhomes. Each structure is three stories high with a total of 11 structures. There are four different floor plans with livable areas ranging from 1,491 to approximately 2000 square feet. The townhomes have two architectural styles, Spanish and Italian. Buildings provide articulation and integration of various textures, colors and accents on walls, as well as variation of details around the entry doors to create individuality between the units. There are 72 units proposed for the cluster homes (detached single family condos). Each home is two -stories high with a maximum height of 32 feet. There are three different floor plans with livable areas ranging from approximately 1,800 to 2,000 square feet. The homes have good streetscape diversity facing Diamond Bar Boulevard and within the private streets. There is individuality between each unit that faces street views. All of the front entrances have alcoves. The Italian style has exposed rafter tails and stone veneer incorporated around the building are the Tuscan style has detailed cornices below the edges of the roof, trim around the corners of the exterior walls and wainscoting on the base of the building. There are 47 units proposed on 60 x 70 foot parcels which have two exterior styles, Spanish and Tuscan. Lot sizes range from approximately 4,000 to 7,800 square feet. Each home is two stories with the maximum building height at 29 feet. There are two floor plans with livable areas ranging from 2,850 to 3,400 square feet. These detached traditional single family homes have a higher caliber of design detail and materials such as simulated limestone around the base of the buildings, entry doors with roof elements and varied window enhancements that are thoughtfully arranged and balanced. The conceptual park plan incorporates an approximately 4.7 gross area neighborhood park which contains the City owned parcel along Brea Canyon Road and 3.8 acres of land east of the flood control channel. The 3.8 acres includes a rain garden and paseo along the southwest portion of the site, The conceptual park plan was derived with input from the park design charrette early January 2013. The precise plan of the park is not part of the Planning Commission's review this evening; however, it is noteworthy that the Specific Plan envisioned the neighborhood park site near Pasado Drive with vehicular access through the park through a public street at Cherrydale Drive and Diamond Bar Boulevard. At the time, the Specific Plan did not envision a viable use of the City owned strip along Brea Canyon Road, therefore, was not viewed to be a park site since the area did not meet the 2 -acre minimum requirement. However, during the Specific Plan neighborhood workshops, the community wanted a park where it is currently proposed near Brea Canyon Road and with input from the park design charrette held early this year, Lennar came up with creative use of the land along Brea Canyon Road by providing a link between the two parcels via a pedestrian bridge. OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 12 PLANNING COMMISSION The park is comprised of the following features- The rain garden which serves a dual purpose as a public recreational amenity and a private stormwater collection facility for the residential development. The rain garden is modeled after a facility in Aliso Viejo, which is very similar to the one being proposed for this project. The park also contains an approximately 600 foot long. 30 foot wide pedestrian trail along the southwesterly boundary of the site. The pedestrian access is at the end of Pasado Drive which leads to the rain garden and pedestrian bridge that connects to the park. An entry feature will be located in close proximity to the corner of Brea Canyon Road and Diamond Bar Boulevard which will serve as a prominent landmark into the entrance of the City and the precise location of the park entry feature will be determined when the park plans are finalized. Parking for the park trailhead will be incorporated along the Brea Canyon Road on the City owned piece of property. The configuration and number of parking spaces will be finalized at a later date. SP/Lee showed slides of the Glenwood Basin in Aliso Viejo which showed trail access, native landscaping and water features. Primary access to the project is at Diamond Bar Boulevard at Cherrydale Drive which will serve as the spine road to the tract and terminates at the cul-de-sac at the southeast corner at the uppermost portion of the property. The development will be gated and the internal streets will be private roadways maintained by the HOA. Secondary emergency -only access will be provided at the cul-de-sac of Pasado Drive and will be gated to prohibit vehicular ingress/egress. The access way from Pasado Drive will be an entrance into the park from the adjoining neighborhood. Upon entering there will be a linear paved trail along. the southerly boundary of the site. The proposed development is designed according to the Development Standards and Design Guidelines contained in the Site D Specific Plan and incorporates the following features: it provides a green and sustainability model requirement that looks at energy efficiency, as well as healthy indoor air quality, water efficiency, and the landscape irrigation will be designed for a future reclaimed water connection. Buildings will have 30 foot landscape setbacks from Diamond Bar Boulevard and along the perimeter of the project site. The building along street view will be articulated and diversified and in addition, a dense stand of Sycamore and Oak trees to replace the protected trees on site will be planted within the large slopes abutting the existing residences. All retaining walls constructed along Diamond Bar Boulevard will be three feet high with integral color -faced retaining walls and hedges to cover the face of the walls to soften its visual appearance along Diamond Bar Boulevard. The two 16 foot high Verdura walls will be filled with live vegetation landscaping and flowering evergreen vines will be planted at the top of the slope to provide for cascading plants to further landscape the retaining wall. Canopy trees will be planted along the private internal streets, as well as along Diamond Bar OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 13 PLANNING COMMISSIOI Boulevard and special treatment and decorative textured pavement at the main driveway. The table compares the proposed project with the development standards in the Specific Plan and the Specific Plan assumes that there would be modifications to these standards with a project -specific application and that the appropriate setbacks would be determined at the project level. Based on the traffic impact analysis prepared for the original EIR and updated to address the proposed development, the proposed project will not cause any intersections or street segments in the vicinity to operate at unacceptable levels with the following mitigation measures and improvements: 1) At Brea Canyon Road and Diamond Bar Boulevard the developer will be required to widen and/or restripe the northbound Brea Canyon Road to provide second dedicated right -turn lanes; 2) widen and/or restripe the eastbound departure on Diamond Bar, Boulevard to provide a third through -lane through the project frontage; 3) modify the existing median and restripe the westbound approach on Diamond Bar Boulevard to provide a second left -turn lane; 4) and maintain the existing bike lane on Diamond Bar Boulevard along the entire project frontage. At Cherrydale Drive and Diamond Bar Boulevard, the developer will provide: 1) an option left -through lane and a separate right -turn lane on the northbound approach; 2) restripe the southbound approach to provide an option left -through right -turn lane on Cherrydale Road; 3) widen the eastbound approach to provide a third through -lane along the project frontage; and f) widen the eastbound approach to provide a second separate right -turn lane. Additional improvements will include modifying medians and restriping Diamond Bar Boulevard to provide a single westbound left -turn lane and installing a traffic signal. In addition, the developer will pay fair -share fees of construction costs to implement additional traffic mitigation improvements. The project is designed to conform to the City's Hillside Management Regulations and the Specific Plan complements the character and topography of the hillside areas with 16 foot high Verdura walls which are lower than the maximum 18 foot high retaining walls prescribed in the Specific Plan. The retaining wall supporting fill slopes along the perimeter of the property do not exceed four feet. All finished slopes are not greater than 50 percent and earth tone building materials and color schemes are used to blend in with the natural landscape and landscaping is used to screen view of downslope building elevations. The project is designed to be compatible and complementary to the neighborhood by providing a quality housing development that will be attractive and serve as a visual gateway into the City; it is designed to minimize the negative impacts on the surrounding homes by providing landscape buffers; it creates minimal visual impact to the adjacent homes by building the new homes downhill on a lower pad level than the existing homes in the vicinity in order to retain view corridors; it creates a community environment with recreational OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 14 PLANNING COMMISSION opportunities by incorporating a neighborhood park; and it incorporates a community identity through a landmark entry feature at the corner of Brea Canyon Road and Diamond Bar Boulevard. The project will include street improvements along Diamond Bar Boulevard with street trees, sidewalk and bike trails and will comply with the Streetscape Design Standards currently being drafted by the City, which will incorporate tree wells, bus shelters, fencing and walls within the public right-of-way. Although there is no view protection standard in the City's Development Regulations, staff required a viewshed analysis because the southeasterly portion of the site is more elevated than envisioned in the Specific Plan. As shown in the visual simulations, the proposed development will respect the views of existing residential uses abutting the site. The key map illustrates the viewsheds from the rear yards of five existing residences located on Ambusher Street. These five homes were selected because the area of the site is elevated due to geotechnical constraints of the site. These residences are located approximately 120 to 190 plus feet away from the nearest buildings within the development. The existing residences are located on an approximately 10 foot higher building pad than the proposed homes. The applicant lowered the building pads by approximately 10 feet for the lots that most impact the lots on Ambusher Street. The City certified the Final EIR for the Specific Plan in February 2012 and the Final EIR analyzed the potential impacts resulting from the Specific Plan approval from both programmatic and project level perspectives. It analyzed development of the site for residential and recreational uses. With submittal of the project, staff prepared an Addendum to the Final EIR which includes minor technical changes in order to determine the project's consistency with the Specific Plan and documents that no new environmental issues have been identified. The project has been conditioned to include the mitigation measures to address the site-specific conditions for the project in order to make the project acceptable. SP/Lee noted a typo on Page 16 of the Resolution under Tentative Tract Map Condition of Approval #5 to include the following change to the last sentence: "If the 100th dwelling unit is within a multi -unit building, the building permit for the entire building shall be withheld until the park is completed." SP/Lee noted that staff received a letter from a resident recommending that the project be denied because the project will cause traffic to be worse than it currently is, a copy of which has been presented to the Commission this evening. Staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt the attached resolution recommending City Council approval of Vesting Tentative Tract Map No. 72295, Development Review and Tree Permit No. PL2013-229, based ori the OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 15 PLANNING COMMISSIO-J, Findings of Fact, and subject to the conditions of approval as listed within the Resolution. C/Shah asked for an explanation of the proposed "optional" left turn. Rich Barretto, PE, LLG Engineers, who prepared the traffic addendum for the project, responded to C/Shah that it is an optional left through lane so the project would require the addition of appropriate striping to indicate that on a particular lane, a driver is permitted to make either a left turn or continue through the intersection. Chair/Torng asked for a clarification of the lot sizes on Page 5. He asked for a clarification of the "Next Gen" home also referred to on Page 5. S P/Lee explained that one of the floor plans in the 60 x 70 lots include a master suite. These homes are called multi -generational homes marketed by Lennar as "NextGen", The Home within a Home®. The intent of the suites is to provide a flexible space that is connected to the main living areas of the home which contains a separate space with separate entrance, living area, bedroom, wet bar and laundry unit that could be used for a variety of uses or lifestyles including a second master bedroom suite, entertainment area or guest suite. These homes will be required as part of the CC&R's, as well as a condition of approval to prohibit cooktop kitchen facilities and separate metered utilities. All utilities serving the site will be common and dependent on the primary residence. Chair/Torng asked if a fire truck could go through the secondary emergency access and SP/Lee said that the gate functions as a pedestrian access but also serves as an emergency -only access that allows safety vehicles which will be able to access the subdivision. CDD/Gubman said that neighborhood access to the park would be allowed for pedestrians at Pasado Drive which would be served by a pedestrian gate which would be locked during the hours the park is closed. In the event of an emergency requiring emergency vehicles or if the fire department mandates an evacuation, the gate would be opened LIP for such purposes. Chair/Torng asked if Sycamore trees were a proper replacement tree for protected trees. SP/Lee explained that Sycamore trees are a protected trees in the City's Tree Preservation Ordinance so the applicant will be replacing with Sycamores and Oaks, both of which are protected trees. Chair/Torng opened the public hearing. Geoff Smith, Lennar Homes, applicant, said that Lennar Homes is very excited to bring Willow Heights to the City and to the Planning Commission for its consideration. When this project was first contemplated, Lennar Homes was OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 16 PLANNING COMMISSION very happy to read the Specific Plan because it is really a great example of modern master planning techniques and methods so Lennar simply used the Specific Plan as its template for moving forward. Beyond the Specific Plan, the company drew its inspiration from the rich character of the site, surrounding area and the authenticity and rich character of the City. For example, Lennar Homes took to its heart the Tree Protection Ordinance and will use Live Oaks and Sycamores which are protected trees in Diamond Bar. These trees will be used throughout the site as a street tree and in focal areas, open space areas, etc. Lennar is using materials such as pavers and retaining wall in neutral earth tones to blend the development into the hillside. Lennar is using decorative luminaires in the streets that will provide a common design theme throughout the community. And the community will boast sustainable building practices such as high energy efficient homes, use of low VOC paint and drought tolerant landscaping. The homes located in one of three neighborhoods offer a diverse range of housing types for the City and will provide for a broad range of lifestyles. Some homes will be designed to meet the needs of multi -general households, which is a very common situation in today's society. With all of that said Willow Heights will bring a wonderful amenity to the City, with the four - acre public park which will offer new linkages to existing trails that will provide a connection to the natural environment and promote a healthy lifestyle. He introduced his design team and offered to respond to any questions the Commissioners might have. C/Lin said there was a specific reference to "the sufficiency of the project's sewer storage" and it was very vague as to how it will be solved when the sewage capacity is overrun. Mr. Smith responded that the EIR spoke in broad terms about the site sewer being connected to a public system. As Lennar moved forward with its technical studies there was a specific study done generating sewage rates, etc. and through that process working through the City and LA County Public Works Department, it was determined that the storage capacity of the existing system for decades has been deficient when it comes to emergency storage. So during this process which is still ongoing as to how the City, as the owner of the system, and how LA County as the maintenance purveyor of the system, can work together to increase the emergency capacity or the safety of the system during power outage and other emergencies. Willow Heights was somewhat caught in the middle of that situation so Lennar"s solution to that tonight is that Lennar will be paying a fair - share fee to the City that is related to this project's fair -share of the ernergency storage. At a later date, the City and LA County will address the deficiency. C/Lin said it was a very costly undertaking and was surprised that the sewage capacity was deficient and in case of a major power outage after two hours the sewage would spill back. C/Lin said that neighbors are very concerned about the traffic. He read the traffic report this evening which states that this project will generate about 1,800 OCTOBER 8, 20113 PAGE 17 PLANNING COMMISSIO1 cars per day which is not a lot in the scheme of things except during a.m. and p.m. peak hours when Diamond Bar Boulevard usually spills back to the proposed project entrance. The report says that both today and in the horizon year of 2030 when everything is built out, the level of service will be E and F for those intersections under analysis. Furthermore, there are recommended improvements but he did not see the resulting analysis after implementation of the recommendations. Also, it was not quite clear that upgrading street facilities at a cost of about $6.1 million would meet the horizon years' traffic demands. And, the project share is only $158,000 which seems to be a very small portion. He lives in a newer gated facility and he wanted to know how far the gate would be located from the street. He presumes that the project does not want to have a guardhouse at the gate in the future. In fact, his neighborhood did not intend to have a guardhouse but later put one in. A guardhouse is usually 20-25 feet further toward the street from the gate which means that at times, the tail of the third car might be sticking out into the street. Mr. Smith said he understood about the stacking distance behind the gate. Lennar asked the traffic engineer to look at that to ensure that a reasonable number of cars could stack behind the gate while it opened and Lennar felt comfortable with the design. He said he would check to see the exact distance between the gate and the street. He knows that the LA County Fire Department has definite requirements for that issue. C/Lin said that 50 feet is required. Mr. Smith said that in terms of level of service questions were best left to his traffic engineer. Rich Barretto stated that with respect to project impacts to the surrounding street system that yes, Diamond Bar has congested intersections and interchanges which are most likely due to bypass freeway traffic. The report identified locations of impacts at Diamond Bar Boulevard and Brea Canyon Road, Cherrydale Drive at Diamond Bar Boulevard and the southbound ramps at Diamond Bar Boulevard. With respect to the impacts at the southbound ramps and Diamond Bar Boulevard, the mitigation has been completed. That area has been signalized to take care of the bad service level. With respect to Diamond Bar Boulevard and Brea Canyon Road, the report calls Out what the resulting service level would be at that intersection if the mitigation measures as identified were implemented and the result is a good service level. At Cherrydale Drive and Diamond Bar Boulevard, the result of implementing the mitigation measures is a good service level. Tables call out the result of implementation of recommended mitigation measures. He referred to Table 6, intersection 16 which looks at a buildout scenario. Regarding the project's fair -share of only $154,000 of the total $6.9 million projected for mitigation measures, it is relative to the project's contribution from a volume standpoint to the intersection. Table 6, ICU increment barely gets more than 2 percent at any of the intersections and in most cases, the report is down to the third level before any project impacts can be identified which is the primary reason the project's share is so small — it is because the measurable impact resulting from the added volume from the project is so small to everything else that is going on in the area. 1,500 trips during peak hours in comparison to what the original traffic study looked at with OCTOBER : 2013 PAGEPLANNING COMMISSION a mixed-use commercial with 150,000 square feet of retail resulted in over 9000 daily trips and under that scenario that project's impact resulted in a much higher fair -share contribution. Because this project looks at residential units based on peak hour volumes it actually lowers the volume. If all of the improvements are implemented along the frontage at Diamond Bar Boulevard and Brea Canyon Road the project's impacts are more than offset. In fact, more capacity will be added for the traffic making its way through the City and not traffic that is generated by the project. Relative to the gate location, the document reports on the LA County Fire Department requirements for access and location and beyond that the analysis looked at a queuing assessment. Figure #14 calls out the dimensions including the location of the call box which is 50 feet in from the property line and frorn the curb face it is probably closer to 60 feet. The critical issue for most gated communities is not what the residential queue would be, because the remote gate opener in the driver's car would have been used and the gate would be open by the time the driver reached it. The guest queue demand for a community of this size would most likely be no more than one guest car during the peak period. He said he felt confident in saying that there would not likely be an issue of visitor vehicles backing up onto Diamond Bar Boulevard. C/Lin asked for confirmation that the $158,000 fair -share fee was a fee in addition to completion of the mitigation measures. Mr. Barretto responded "absolutely" and that includes the supposed share for the Diamond Bar Boulevard and Brea Canyon intersection for which the City is making improvements beyond the project's recommendations. On top of that, the signal is already installed at the southbound ramps but because the starting point on this project was pre -signal it made sense to do an apples - to -apples comparison and consider how the street may have changed from that standpoint. C/Dhingra said the plans show 6,000 cubic yards more of cut than the 2013 EIR indicates. He asked how the impacts of the truck traffic would be mitigated during grading and construction. Mr. Smith said that he is concerned about truck traffic on the City streets as well, and one of the conditions of approval is to prepare a traffic control plan for any construction traffic that would be required on City streets. In terms of the 6,000 yards, there may or may not be that amount by the time all of the grading activity and soil shrinkage occurs. There may not be any export or there may be more export. The odds are that there will be some export from the site and plans will be implemented to keep the City streets safe and proper demarcation of sidewalks and bike lanes will be done. C/Dhingra asked if this was intended to be a mitigation measure and Mr. Smith said he believed it was a condition of approval prior to grading permit. Jeanette Ulrich, Assistant Superintendent of Business, Walnut Valley School District, stated that the district is very excited to be involved in this project with Lennar Homes. The Walnut Valley Unified School District is a very desirable district for schools to attend as the areas within the district are very sought after OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 19 PLANNING COMMISSIOJ with respect to property and property values. Should the district succeed with the closing of escrow in this project the district can continue to provide a superior educational program for students within Diamond Bar and the City of Walnut and to continue updating its facilities and keep its facilities in the condition they are matured to at this time with the support of the constituents in the issues of Measures S and 'Y which moves modernization of facilities forward. She thanked the Commission for its consideration. Chair/Torng repeated that the public hearing was open for comments. Taylor Luan, 20955 Gold Run Drive, felt the project would negatively impact an already difficult traffic Situation, especially during peak hours and wanted to know if that issue was addressed in the report. He complained that mature trees would be replaced with smaller trees. Vinod Kashyap, 21452 Chirping Sparrow Road and 3839 Castle Rock Road, said he went to the City Council meeting and expressed his concerns that the EIR was flawed for the following reasons: 'The EIR was based on as if one was doing a room addition on a cul-de-sac. He asked if he could have a list of people who were mailed notices because he lives within 300 yards and from what point is the distance measured for notices. He did not believe that anyone is living within 300 yards. CDD/Gubman touched on the history. This land was given to the school district in 1970 when the SR 57 was built, specifically for educational purposes. He is personally going to have Supervisor Knabe investigate the City Council and this entire process because the City paid for the EIR and said he believes fraud is being perpetrated on the citizens of Diamond Bar. He stated that this project is not going to happen. RECESS: Chair/Torng recessed the meeting at 9:08 p.m. RECONVENE: Chair/Torng reconvened the meeting at 9:20 p.m. Taylor Luan, 20955 Gold Run Drive expressed concerns about removal of mature trees and traffic in the area. Nick Prokop, 20909 Gold Run Drive was upset that this was a "done deal" and wondered why he was here this evening. He was concerned about traffic and other issues. He commented that when the City was unincorporated the citizens were promised that incorporation would never happen and look at where we are today. John Jones, 20925 Ambushers, stated he is a woodshop teacher and walnut trees make great furniture. He understands the EIR and Specific Plan are approved and will move forward and wondered if the trees that were being removed could be used for class projects. He was also concerned about OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 20 PLANNING COMMISSION construction relocating wildlife into nearby neighborhoods. He was also concerned about traffic but believed traffic would be a problem in the City whether or not this project was built. He further added that he visited a new park in the City of Brea and would like to see one here too. He asked if the wetlands (rain garden) was designed to address mosquito problems. Octavio Colon, 3101 Crooked Creek Drive, asked why the fire fighters and police were not present tonight and was curious to know how the proposed development would impact the response time. He was also concerned about wildlife, and the trees that would be removed. He stated that he lives on a curved street and it was designed incorrectly. He asked who would be responsible if a car ends up on his yard. Ryan Farsai, Laguna Hills and owner of the Diamond Bar Arco station said he understands the neighborhood's concern however he was in favor of the project and believed it would beautify the corner and rid the area of trespassers and dirt bike riders. Darcy Gunter, 3427 Castle Rock Road said they told her that she could not attend any meetings (she did not clarify who "they" were) and pointed out the location of her house and how she thought the project would affect her. She stated that this was the first she heard of these meetings and did not know they were going on for as long as has been mentioned this evening. She believes the City did not do a good job in notifying the residents and she is very upset. She went to the board and identified her home and wanted the Commission to know how this development would affect her neighborhood. She believes it is a bad development that would lower the value of homes around her neighborhood. After hearing Ryan Farsai speak in favor of the project she said she would no longer buy her gas at the Arco Station and would persuade her neighbors to do the same. Lew Herndon, resides on Rio Lobos, spoke on behalf of Pastor Mark Hopper of the Evangelical Free Church located across the street from Site D. Pastor Hopper had to leave the meeting due to another commitment. The church wants to know if this project would cause the City to withdraw its permit for street parking on Diamond Bar Boulevard in front of the church on Sundays. David R. Busse, 21455 Ambushers Street attended all of the meetings. Unfortunately, when the applicant was responding to comments people were speaking from the audience and he missed the response about how high or low the new houses would be compared to his house. He still has not received an answer to that question. He has listened to the applicant but still no direct answer how high or low the homes will be as it relates to his property. He said he did not want to live in Irvine or Aliso Viejo or sit in traffic for 40 minutes. He added that there should be access to the park from the development. He was OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 21 PLANNING COMMISS10a, upset that this appeared to be a done deal with a lack of transparency and it greatly concerns him. Fara Lou, resides on Gold run. She stated that she has concerns with the planting of Sycamore trees causing allergies. She asked if adequate visitor parking is provided on-site and whether it complies with the development code. Mike Perez, 3241 Castle Rock, stated there was lack of transparency and information was not on City's website. James Eng, 20935 Running Branch Road, expressed concerns about traffic patterns at the intersections of Diamond Bar Boulevard at Brea Canyon Road and at Copper Canyon Road on work days. Salim Akbany, 21179 Chirping Sparrow Road, said he was ignorant about this project until today and now finds it is progressing toward conclusion and questioned the notification process. Brenda Ashraf, 3407 Crooked Creek Drive said that until today she knew nothing about this project and did not understand the concept of protected trees if the trees were going to be removed. Chair/Torng closed the public hearing. Mr. Smith responded to Mr. Busse that in working with staff, existing home sites were selected because they represented the "worst case" of the viewshed. The way the topography works is that these homes climb higher further away from Willow Heights so the viewshed becomes better and better as one moves up Ambushers Drive. He provided a visual to show Mr. Busse that at a certain point his home is 74 feet above the homes and over 335 feet away. The Tentative Tract Map establishes grades and the rear yard of the home pointed out on the visual is 74 feet above the grade established on the Tentative Tract Map. Mr. Busse asked if that grade was higher or lower at that point than the present elevation of the ground. Mr. Smith responded that the proposed grade is roughly 10 feet above natural in that area. Mr. Smith explained that the viewshed analysis is based on proposed and not existing so the analysis is reflecting the future condition. Mr. Smith responded to speakers concerned about tree replacement that there are a number of problems with the Black Walnuts. The landscape architect explained that he attempted to work within the confines and outline of the replacement trees that were dictated by the City and while the Black Walnut is certainly a candidate tree, in his experience it tends to have a weak branch structure and is susceptible to breakage during windstorms. And while this is no longer an open space situation and more of a rural suburban development, OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 22 PLANNING COMMISSION his team sought a tree that was more respectful of those exposures and leaned toward the Sycamore. While there have been comments about the allergy consideration of the Sycamore, there are considerations with different cultivars of Sycamore and he is not sure that the tree replacement that the City has provided allows for that interpretation but it may be a consideration. The same is true of Oak Trees. There are smaller varieties of oak trees as opposed to Live Oak that would allow for planting of more oaks and less Sycamores which is also a consideration. Mr. Smith stated that as the project moves forward with its final design they will work with staff to choose the correct variety and number of Sycamores versus Live Oaks to create a good balance. As part of the permits with the Fish and Wildlife Agency they are mitigating at a 3:1 ratio Black Walnut habitat offsite. Mr. Smith responded to a question about traffic on Pasado Drive. This project will not be using Pasado, Crooked Creek or Castle Rock as construction entrances. The construction entrance will be off of Diamond Bar Boulevard and will have a traffic control plan implemented for construction traffic. Mr. Smith responded to a question about rodent control prior to grading and Lennar has agreed to a Condition of Approval prior to grading that would involve rodent control. This is a concern that the company has had in the past that as soon as the machines are fired up the rodents move into neighbors yards so there will be a rodent control measure implemented. Mr. Smith responded to a question about a timeline and stated that Lennar is planning to break ground in January 2014 and should have model homes open in the fall of 2014. Mr. Smith stated that with respect to mosquitoes in the rain garden, Lennar will be working with the LA County Vector Control. Most important is that the park maintenance plan will be critical and Lennar will work with City staff on an adequate maintenance plan that will ensure that any plants that are grown in the pond do not take over the pond and become a mosquito habitat. Regular maintenance will be provided to ensure that mosquito fish are kept alive and the ponds can be adequately accessed to keep them maintained which will be part of the strategy going forward. Regarding comments about the pictures of the Aliso Viejo Glenwood Basin, Mr. Smith indicated that tonight the design details of the park are not being addressed but it will be the City's unique opportunity to help Lennar design the park that meets the City's and community's needs. In no way is Lennar attempting to copy a landscape palette from Aliso Viejo, this park will be the City's own and Lennar will be working with the Parks and Recreation Commission and CSD/Rose and his people to ensure development of a park that meets the needs of the City. OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE23 PLANNING COMMISSION' Mr. Smith responded to comments about emergency access, traffic and the fire department review. The Tentative Tract Map was reviewed by the LA County Fire Department and was approved as part of the process. Mr. Smith stated in response to a comment about construction hours that the City Ordinance calls out hours of 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday and the project hours will typically not go until 7:00 p.m., rather typically to 3:00 p.m. There are times when extended work is necessary but by and large construction will go from 7:00 a.m. to approximately 3:00 p.m. Monday through Friday. C/Shah asked Mr. Smith to comment on visitor parking for the park. Mr. Smith said that this project far exceeds the visitor parking requirement called out in the Specific Plan. Visitor parking is distributed throughout the site and generally for the single family detached homes and the detached condos the parking will be along the backbone streets which are wide enough to accommodate parking on both sides. For the townhomes, parking stalls will be spread throughout the area. C/Shah asked about access points for the park area. Mr. Smith said this is a very important consideration that Lennar has given a lot of attention. Certainly, there will be pedestrian public access from Pasado Drive. From inside the community there will be points of connection for pedestrians and obviously, the entrance will also have pedestrian gates. Other access points are under consideration. C/Lin asked the distance between the intersections of Diamond Bar Boulevard and Cherrydale Drive and Brea Canyon Road. Mr. Smith responded that the distance is approximately 900 feet. C/Lin asked if the traffic engineer tested the queuing to see if the overall coordination would work during the pm peak hours. Mr. Barretto responded that the 800-900 feet meets the stacking requirement for the project. Cherrydale is a non -issue. The project is adding a second lane southbound on Brea Canyon which extend +220 feet. The critical movement is the westbound left to go southbound and bypass traffic to northbound right. The project improvement is the second northbound right. With respect to comments about traffic, Mr. Barretto explained that from a traffic standpoint and a modeling standpoint, the general belief is that when projects like these are built, traffic generally gets worse which may be the case in some instances; however, when the project is actually putting in capacity enhancing improvements like a second westbound left and a second northbound right, the post project condition is actually better. C/Shah said that the City and residents are very concerned about cut through traffic and 2030 projections. Mr. Barretto said that as these improvements are installed the traffic gets to a good service level and the project is actually OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 24 PLANNING COMMISSION implementing one of the most important improvements in the City because of the congestion in the area. C/Shah said the report did not project cut through traffic. Mr. Barretto said that C/Shah is correct. One of the modeling expectations when looking at forecasting volumes in the future is to either use a model that tries to consider what is happening on the freeway, or whether it is a straight line growth or compounded growth. What the report does take into consideration is what is happening in terms of planned improvements so the forecast volumes take into consideration the project, freeway, proposed improvements and Caltrans proposed improvements. Is it to the point one could actually predict that all of this growth that is happening between now and 2030 is X amount of cut through traffic and that cut through traffic will double or triple? No, the report does not get into that level of specificity. C/Dhingra said that earlier it was stated that the distance between Brea Canyon Road and Cherrydale Drive was about 900 feet. He asked what kind of stacking Cherrydale Drive can take to make a left turn exiting the development. Mr. Barretto reiterated that the gate is 80 feet back and will accommodate four cars. There has been a lot of talk about cut through traffic but when people come off of the SR57 to make a right turn on Grand Avenue it is the portion of roadway that is generally most congested. One of the mitigation measures is to put pressure sensors on the extension of Cherrydale Drive which would give a driver the prior right to make a left turn. This is a City of Diamond Bar issue, not a project issue, and is probably not within the purview of the Planning Commission but more likely within the purview of the Traffic and Transportation Commission to see how the arterial and cut through traffic that has to sit at traffic lights will quit cutting through. His point to the designers is that four cars to make a left turn is not adequate because traffic will begin to stack up on Cherrydale Drive. Mr. Barretto responded that this project deals with less than 200 homes. C/Dhingra said that what is not acceptable is that during peak hours only four people can make a left turn. Chair/Torng said he believed that the City had been open and transparent about this project and he has complete confidence in City staff. The audience seems to have concerns about the issue of transparency and he asked staff to tell the audience where they can get the information pertinent to this project. Chair/Torng also asked staff to comment on the notification procedure. CDD/Gubmari stated that the notification boundary is 1000 feet from the perimeter of the project. He used an overhead to show the perimeter and indicated that all properties touched by the 1000 foot radius would receive a notice. In addition to properties within 1000 feet of the exterior boundaries of the project site a mailing list was maintained for individuals that had contacted the City in response to other notifications, either in the City's newsletter or the City's website. When the EIR was out for public review and when public workshops were being held there was information on the homepage of the OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 25 PLANNING COMMISSIOZ Diamond Bar website. There is still information on Site D under a search bar on the home page. In addition to the radius and people who asked to be notified, through the four workshops that were held during the entire Specific Plan and Park effort, anyone who attended those workshops and signed in were added to the mailing list. There were several efforts to publicize this project during the Specific Plan process and through the notification process, while state law requires a 300 foot radius Diamond Bar goes out 1000 feet and adds to its mailing list when requested to do so. In addition to the numerous contacts received by the City when the Draft EIR was released for public review, those individuals were added to the mailing list. In terms of transparency, the City makes every effort to go as far as possible to notify people. Unfortunately, no matter how genuine the attempt to provide public notification, staff always hears it has fallen short. The reality is that the City takes extra efforts to reach out to the public about its projects. Chair/Torng asked about a speaker's concern regarding the Church parking issue and CDD/Gubman said he had no response other than if the Church is currently permitted by the City to park on the street it is a Public Works approval and a matter for that department. He said he did not see a nexus between development of this project and continuing the on -street parking along the Church frontage. The Church is looking at doing some improvements. In fact, CDD/Gubman has met with Pastor Hopper about plans being envisioned for the site which include opportunities to add off-street parking and parking within the Church campus. He said he did not believe there would be anything as a result of this project that would preclude an ongoing practice with respect to on -street parking to serve the Church. C/Dhingra asked if the Tree Ordinance contains a blanket 3:1 replacement ratio or is it based on tree damage which evolved into a ratio of 3:1. CDD/Gubman said the Ordinance calls out a 3:1 ratio and there is a minimum diameter and the caliper for a protected tree has to be eight (8) inches and if it is at that threshold or larger it would have to be replaced at a 3:1 ratio. With the 3-1 ratio there is a proportion of a 24 -inch box and 15 gallon trees that have to be provided for. C/Lin said that there has been a lot of discussion about traffic issues and the purpose of this agenda item has been lost, one of which is to review the architectural landscape design elements. He asked if the building color is set in stone and CDD/Gubman responded that part of the Commission's design authority is to comment on the colors and make recommendations. C/Lin said that the color on the Tuscan home A 21 is not really earth toned. He would not buy a home with this color on the exterior, Mr. Smith provided the color charts to the Commissioners. Allen Scales from KTGY Group said he recognized that color output sometimes shifts on copy process and from one computer to the next. There is no intent to go with "blue" color schemes and the colors are OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 26 PLANNING COMMISSION trying to conform to a warmer and richer earth tone. Certainly, the color design is very subjective and they are open to making changes and finding a palette that is acceptable to the City. The goal of the project is to provide variety to the street scene. The cluster home colors are provided six different color schemes to meet that objective — three are for the Spanish architecture and three additional color schemes for the Tuscan architecture. C/Lin said that when the plan is approved, the sequence of the color scheme will be set and homeowners will not be allowed to stray from those colors. Mr. Smith said Lennar would work with the architect, design team and the City to create a plotting of colors so that they are distributed in a way that makes sense and remains in overall harmony with the project. C/Lin is correct that the developer does not allow the homeowner to pick and choose colors because it could potentially create a "scatterboard" effect. The developer takes a holistic approach to the community in making sure that everything is in harmony and all of the design works together. C/Lin read from Item C on Page 5 with reference to selling a portion of a unit. He felt there was no way that the HOA would find out if a cooktop kitchen was installed because the best CC&R's would not prevent people from doing so. Mr. Smith said the intent of those conditions is to discourage the NextGen component of the horne to be sold or rented. One could not sell the NextGen piece separately because the property is not being subdivided in that manner. Regarding the metering, the developer will be processing meter plans with the City and utility agencies and these homes will not have two meters and two services to each home. With respect to the cooktop, in any situation a developer can only control what it builds and a developer can set up CC&R's that it trusts and hopes will maintain the integrity of the community down the road. Ultimately, the developer does not have much control after that. He felt it would be prohibitive for a homeowner to put in a cooktop because it would result in a major remodel and at that point the City would not allow a building permit. C/Dhingra stated that with respect to this project, the scope of the Planning Commission is very narrow because the EIR has been certified and the Specific Plan has been adopted and approved. He is frankly very surprised that people have said tonight that they have not heard about this project. When one considers how long this project has been in the works and in his opinion, staff has done a tremendous job. There were four workshops and residents within 1000 feet of the project were notified even though the state requires only 300 feet. The Planning Commission's scope is the Tree Permit, Development Review (architecture and color schemes, etc) and Vesting. Vesting is essentially the right of the property owner to develop the property. The Commission's scope is to determine that this project complies with the Specific Plan and that the EIR has been certified. If people feel strongly about a OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 27 PLANNING COMMISSIOZ developer being able to drive a tractor through the area they need to challenge CEQA on the matter. From his vantage point he is satisfied that the Tree Permit complies with the City Ordinance. The applicant made concessions to look at a different blend of Sycamores and Oaks for a better balance in the event that some of the species produce more allergies and 75 of the trees are Black Walnut which will be mitigated under a California Fish and Game Wildlife Permit. Someone asked why the City would destroy protected species and if they are being destroyed at a 3:1 ratio those trees are being planted elsewhere in accordance with the state agency's requirement. With respect to the Development Review, there is room to figure out the final color panels and there are at least one half dozen schemes that have been shown to the Commission. Regarding the Vesting Tract Map he understands that traffic is an issue but traffic is an issue not because of this development, it is because of the people using Diamond Bar Boulevard as an alternative to the freeway which is not within the purview of the Planning Commission. Perhaps people who are present tonight could attend one of the Traffic and Transportation Commission meetings and ask them to alleviate those concerns. The Traffic and Transportation Commission would provide a more appropriate forum for those particular concerns. C/Shah said he agreed with C/Dhingra's summary of the project. The community has some good ideas about the traffic and believes these issues should be aired in front of the Traffic and Transportation Commission which has the authority to respond to such concerns. What he observed is that the developer has shown good faith in his estimation of this project. He is and will remain concerned about traffic but that issue is not within the purview of the Planning Commission. C/Lin echoed C/Dhingra's comments that the scope of tonight's meeting is limited to those three items. He understands that traffic and other issues are very emotional issues for residents. He believes the developer is doing the , ir best to mitigate the 1,500 daily vehicle trips and spending a substantial amount to alleviate the traffic issue. The big problem is 50,000 or so cars a day on Diamond Bar Boulevard that will not go away whether a piece of property is developed or not. Chair/Torng thanked residents for attending tonight's meeting and understands their concern for Diamond Bar. He thanked staff, his colleagues and the developer for addressing all of the questions and concerns. Tonight's decision will be based on the facts and what the Planning Commission is challenged to do at this time. Chair/Torng advised Mr. Herndon to contact staff about parking on Diamond Bar Boulevard in front of the Evangelical Free Church. C/Dhingra moved to approve staff's recommendation that the Planning Commission recommend approval to the City Council of Vesting Tentative Tract OCTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE28 PLANNING COMMISSION 0 91 Map No. 72295, Development Review and Tree Permit No. PI -2013-229, based on the Findings of Fact, and subject to the conditions of approval as listed within the resolution. C/Shah seconded the motion. Motion carried by the following Roll Call vote: AYES: COMMISSIONERS NOES: COMMISSIONERS: ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS: Dhingra, Lin, Shah, VC/ Farago, Chair/Torng None None PLANNING COMMISSIONER COMMENTS/INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: C/Shah said this was an interesting meeting that was handled very well by Chair/1-orng and his colleagues. Of course staff put a great deal of effort into tonight's presentation and he thanked staff and Lennar Homes. C/Dhingra thanked staff for doing such a wonderful job and preparing the Commission as it did. He said he was very pleased to see the participation by the public on a project like this. If nothing else it not only voices their concerns it shows their concern for the community in which they live and in the City as a whole. VC/Far-ago thanked staff for doing a great job preparing the Commission for tonight's meeting. He thanked C/Dhingra for so eloquently stating the Commission's charge to the public which really moved things along. Chair/Torng felt C/Dhingra did a very good job tonight and the City is very fortunate to have such an experienced individual join the Planning Commission. He just learned that four of the five Commissioners are engineers. VC/Farago said he was a construction manager. Chair/Torng thanked staff and his colleagues for a very smooth meeting. The Commission does its best to do its job as it is charged to do for the benefit of the community. STAFF COMMENTS/INFORMATIONAL ITEMS: 9.1 Public Hearing dates for future projects. CDD/Gubman thanked the Commissioners for their compliments to staff for supporting them for their charge as Commissioners. He highlighted SP/Lee's exemplary efforts in preparing a very difficult staff report and putting together a very densely packed and information filled presentation and delivering it to the Commission. It was not an easy task and was made even more difficult because she had to turn in her work to him to be reviewed because lie is not the shiest person with a red pen. *CTOBER 8, 2013 PAGE 29 PLANNING COMMISSION The next Planning Commission meeting is October 22. He will be on vacation that week and the meeting will be staffed by SP/Lee. The October 22 agenda consists of the matter that was continued tonight, the new residence on Falcons View. In addition, there is an addition to an existing residence on Birdseye. The continuance for the addition on Ridgeline to address the retaining wall issue, the applicant is ready and the item will be heard on November 12, the only item on the November agenda at this time. 10. SCHEDULE OF FUTURE EVENTS: As listed in tonight's agenda. ADJOURNMENT: With no further business before the Planning Commission, Chairman Torng adjourned the regular meeting at 10:47 p.m. The foregoing minutes are hereby approved this 22nd day of October, 2013. Attest: Respec-Liully Submitted, "GcV G u b m Community Development Director Ton orng, Chairnian