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Draft Mins 09.26.12Planning Commission Minutes Page 1 September 26, 2012 DRAFT TOWN OF LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING ACTION MINUTES TOWN COUNCIL CHAMBERS 110 E. MAIN STREET WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2012 ROLL CALL Present: Chair Marcia Jensen, Vice Chair Charles Erekson, Commissioner John Bourgeois, Commissioner Thomas O'Donnell, Commissioner Marico Sayoc, and Commissioner Margaret Smith. Absent: Commissioner Joanne Talesfore Others: Deputy Town Attorney Mazarin Vakharia, Acting Community Development Director Todd Capurso, Acting Assistant Community Development Director Sandy Baily, Acting Principal Planner Joel Paulson, Associate Planner Marni Moseley, Associate Planner Jennifer Savage, Assistant Civil Engineer Trang Tu- Nguyen, and Recording Secretary Linda Rowlett. Chair Marcia Jensen called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Led by Vice Chair Charles Erekson. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF SEPTEMBER 12, 2012 Motion by Commissioner Thomas O'Donnell and seconded by Vice Chair Charles Erekson to approve meeting minutes of September 12, 2012. Motion carried 6-0 with Commissioner Joanne Talesfore absent. WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS Chair Marcia Jensen noted that there was a desk item for Item #1. Planning Commission Minutes Page 2 September 26, 2012 REQUESTED CONTINUANCES - ITEM #3 Motion by Vice Chair Charles Erekson and seconded by Commissioner John Bourgeois to grant continuance of Item #3 (Zoning Code Amendment A-12-002) to October 10, 2012. Motion carried 6-0 with Commissioner Joanne Talesfore absent. SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS Historic Preservation Committee -- Vice Chair Charles Erekson reported that the committee met this afternoon and approved Architecture and Site (A&S) applications for 44 Broadway, 202 Tait Avenue and 1-17 N. Santa Cruz Avenue; recommended approval of an A&S application for 198 Broadway, and continued A&S applications for 236-238 Bachman Avenue and 327 University Avenue. There were also two informational items for homes at 15880 Winchester Boulevard and 16405 Kennedy Road that are pre-1941 with requests pending to be removed from the Historic Resources Inventory. VERBAL COMMUNICATIONS (AUDIENCE) - NONE CONSENT CALENDAR 1. *630 University Avenue - Conditional Use Permit Application U-12-014. Requesting approval to operate a dance/pilates studio with alternating use of parking on property zoned LM. APN 529-10-069. PROPERTY OWNER: Ron Martino. APPLICANT: Marcie Ryken. PROJECT PLANNER: Marni Moseley. Motion by Commissioner John Bourgeois and seconded by Commissioner Margaret Smith to approve Consent Item #1, including the modification in Desk Item #1. Motion carried 6-0 with Commissioner Joanne Talesfore absent. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS - NONE NEW PUBLIC HEARINGS 2. 268 Jared Lane - Architecture and Site Application S-12-041. Requesting approval to modify an approved architecture and site application to construct a single family residence and pool on property zoned HR-1. APN 532-34-069. PROPERTY OWNER: Stephen & Anne Milligan. APPLICANT: Tom Sloan/Metro Design Group. PROJECT PLANNER: Marni Moseley. Chair Marcia Jensen opened the public hearing. Associate Planner Marni Moseley noted that she did not have anything to add to the staff report. Planning Commission Minutes Page 3 September 26, 2012 Stephen Milligan, Applicant, gave a presentation on the proposed project. Chair Marcia Jensen closed the public input portion of the hearing and returned to the Commission for deliberations. Chair Marcia Jensen  Asked if this project could have been approved by staff rather than being heard by the Planning Commission.  Asked about the neighbor's concerns. Associate Planner Marni Moseley  Commented that the modifications required an A&S application that could have been processed through the Development Review Committee (DRC), but staff chose to bring it to the Commission because it was previously approved by the Commission and staff anticipated that the project may be appealed from DRC to the Commission.  Commented that the project was properly noticed and the story poles were installed prior to any notification. Motion by Vice Chair Charles Erekson and seconded by Commissioner John Bourgeois to approve Architecture and Site Application S-12-041 subject to the conditions as noted in Exhibit 3 of staff report dated September 26, 2012. The required findings were made as noted in Exhibit 2 of staff report dated September 26, 2012. Motion carried 6-0 with Commissioner Joanne Talesfore absent. Acting Principal Planner Joel Paulson recited appeal rights. 3. Zoning Code Amendment - Zoning Code Amendment A-12-002. Requesting to amend Section 29.60.320 of the Town code regarding permitted uses in the C-2 Zone. APPLICANT: Hallway Partners LLC. PROJECT PLANNER: Marni Moseley. Continuance granted to October 10, 2012. See Requested Continuances above. CONTINUED OTHER BUSINESS 4. Sustainability Plan - Consider adoption of a Sustainability Plan to serve as the Town’s GHG Emissions Reduction Plan and satisfy 2020 General Plan Action ENV-13.1. No significant environmental impacts have been identified as a result of this project and an Addendum to the 2020 General Plan EIR is recommended. APPLICANT: Town of Los Gatos. PROJECT PLANNER: Jennifer Savage. Chair Marcia Jensen opened the public hearing. Planning Commission Minutes Page 4 September 26, 2012 Commissioner John Bourgeois  Thanked staff for the additional time to review the document and for the additional information provided, and asked for clarification about the CEQA (California Environmental Quality Act) analysis for projects.  Asked why the measure for intensification was focused only on Los Gatos Boulevard. Associate Planner Jennifer Savage  Commented that the tiering would be allowed for a specific component of a project’s environmental review. For projects that require an environmental review, they can use the Sustainability Plan to tier off of for the greenhouse gas emissions evaluation in the CEQA analysis. This does not mean that a project can forego any normal required analysis, but rather refer to the specific analysis that is reviewed in the Sustainability Plan.  Commented that there was already a level of intensity along Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street that could not be increased at this point. Commissioner Marico Sayoc  Asked what numbers were used in analyzing future impacts, particularly the North 40, when creating the formulas to estimate GHG (Greenhouse Gas) emissions.  Asked about the rationale for moving the measure for water conservation efforts to 2015- 2020.  Asked who quantifies whether or not the Town is meeting its reduction and how the information is reported. Associate Planner Jennifer Savage  Commented that the numbers used were the numbers analyzed in the General Plan EIR (Environmental Impact Report).  Commented that the Town does not want to waste water but Los Gatos is seen as a green community with lush vegetation, so Council believed that it would be better to revisit this matter at a later time to allow for a thorough analysis on how to address this matter.  Commented that the calculations for quantification were provided by the consultants who would provide staff with the formulas. Staff could also use those formulas to do future calculations. It has not yet been determined if the future calculations will be performed by a consultant or a staff member. The information would be periodically reported to staff who would update the Town to determine if the goals are being met. Commissioner John Bourgeois  Asked about the rationale for removing the measure for promoting the use of reclaimed water. Acting Community Development Director Todd Capurso  Commented that removing the measure for the use of reclaimed water was discussed at Council and the real time line for construction for bringing the waste water line out to the west valley area is about 20 years out, so Council believed it did not belong in this plan. Planning Commission Minutes Page 5 September 26, 2012 Commissioner John Bourgeois  Asked how the review of the Sustainability Plan will link up to the monitoring systems.  Asked how much of the Plan is feasible with the level of staffing available. Associate Planner Jennifer Savage  Commented that the monitoring and reevaluation of the emissions will occur every year on a piece-by-piece and measure-by-measure basis to see what the reductions are based on the value of each measure or the value of each project using that measure.  Commented that there is the potential to implement some of these measures through grants and there may be other opportunities for funding. The Plan does call for a staff member to oversee the implementation of the Plan, but the staff person has not yet been determined. Some decisions will involve staff and other issues that involve policies will come back to deciding bodies. Chair Marcia Jensen  Asked what kind of flexibility is built into the document as we go forward. Associate Planner Jennifer Savage  Commented that above and beyond the federal and state regulations that the Town must comply with that affect GHG emissions, the Plan provides flexibility if there is a portion of the Plan that does not allow us to meet our target. Commissioner Marico Sayoc  Commented that she would like to ensure that there is at least one body responsible for ensuring that the Plan is being fulfilled and is consistent with the General Plan.  Asked how to advise Council about the Commission’s priorities for some of the 2012-2015 measures discussed tonight.  Commented that she would prioritize Green Building as item #1. Her concern is that a lot of the measures require community participation. Associate Planner Jennifer Savage  Commented that the Commission’s suggestions and priorities are very beneficial and it can make recommendations on the update process and prioritization of the measures. Council will receive verbatim minutes of tonight’s discussion to take into consideration. Commissioner Marico Sayoc  Commented that she would prioritize Green Building as item #1 because a lot of the measures in Transportation & Land Use require community participation. Commissioner John Bourgeois  Agreed that Green Building should be priority #1. Commissioner Thomas O’Donnell  Commented that while Transportation & Land Use may affect greater reductions, it may be more difficult to implement because it requires voluntary community involvement whereas Green Building is something that can be imposed on the community. Planning Commission Minutes Page 6 September 26, 2012 Commissioner Marico Sayoc  Commented that there is more reassurance in knowing that you can make things happen through regulation versus hoping that things will happen through voluntary change. Vice Chair Charles Erekson  Commented that he would like the implementation schedule for GB-5 to be changed. Commissioner John Bourgeois  Asked what discussion happened around leaf blowers and why it is not in the 2012-2015 time frame. Associate Planner Jennifer Savage  Commented that Council removed the leaf blower ordinance from the first iteration of the Plan, but community members suggesting putting it back in during the community workshops. The ordinance was put back into the second iteration that Council reviewed and Council chose to consider it in the future. Commissioner Marico Sayoc  Asked if there are different types of leaf blowers. Acting Community Development Director Todd Capurso  Commented that there are at least two types of gas blowers and at least one type of electric blower. This issue may come up sooner rather than later due to the noise issue rather than GHG emissions. Commissioner Marico Sayoc  Commented that she believes that Water and Wastewater are important for sustainability and believes this should be priority #2 and would like to see it moved closer to 2012-2015. Commissioner John Bourgeois  Commented that he concurs that Water and Wastewater should be moved up to priority #2 to 2012-2015. If Council’s concern is aesthetic, he does not believe that is a reason to move it back. Chair Marcia Jensen  Commented that she agrees that Water and Wastewater should be priority #2 and that the Town has requirements in other adopted policies regarding water conservation and native landscaping. The Town should support the other Town policies and lean towards plants that do not require so much water. Commissioner Marico Sayoc  Asked if the Town has been able to quantify if recycling has gone up since recycling containers have been placed around Town. Planning Commission Minutes Page 7 September 26, 2012 Commissioner Thomas O’Donnell  Asked about the timing for banning the use of plastic bags and if the measure could be moved up sooner. Associate Planner Jennifer Savage  Commented that recycling has gone up substantially.  Commented that there is a multiple-city organization that is looking into implementing a ban on plastic bags in this area of the county so that may come sooner than the Town's plan. Commissioner John Bourgeois  Asked about OS-1 and why parks were completely removed from consideration for community gardens. Acting Community Development Director Todd Capurso  Commented that none of the neighborhoods have expressed an interest in taking up existing park land for use as a community garden space. Commissioner Marico Sayoc  Asked what is considered "significant" in the removal of significant biomass that is not planned for in the General Plan relative to upcoming projects that are currently open space. Joanna Jensen, Consultant  Commented that there is no significant project in the Town, but the vegetation on the North 40 site is an amount that is large enough that it could make an impact on the Town’s GHG emissions and could show a measurable increase in emissions if that biomass was removed. Chair Marcia Jensen  Asked about heat islands and how this relates to the North 40 area. Joanna Jensen  Commented that the concept of a heat island has to do with the color more than replacing vegetation with a hard surface. Black parking lots and black rooftops absorb and reflect more heat back which creates a heat island. The concept of heat island mitigation is to use lighter color paving and roofing materials so that the sunlight is not absorbed and reflected back after daylight hours. Commissioner John Bourgeois  Asked about the Target and Gap Analysis.  Asked about monitoring of state and federal measures.  Asked if the prioritization was done with the gap in mind. Joanna Jensen  Commented that part of the reason that Target and Gap Analysis is in the Plan is in anticipation of the Bay Area Quality Management District review. The concept is to find out how much the Town needs to do to add to the reductions that will occur as part of the state Planning Commission Minutes Page 8 September 26, 2012 and federal measures as opposed to the Town doing nothing at all. The gap is the difference between the estimation of emissions in 2020 based only on state and federal changes.  Commented that the monitoring of climate action plans and GHG emission strategies is evolving and the only future year that there is any target at the state level is 2020.  Commented that the gap is more of a benchmark than a target. The implementation schedule is based on what is most feasible for the Town and what Town staff can achieve. Commissioner Marico Sayoc  Asked if any cities have reported out on the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement for 2012 and if Los Gatos is expected to report out. Joanna Jensen  Commented that she would get back to staff regarding reporting out on that program. Commissioner Thomas O’Donnell  Asked if there is any problem if the Town does not report out. Joanna Jensen  Commented that there is not an explicit law that a Sustainability Plan must be adopted. The primary mechanism by which the state or regulatory agencies are urging jurisdictions to adopt these plans is through CEQA. Commissioner John Bourgeois  Asked if there are items that can be pushed back to allow the ability to move some of the items forward. Joanna Jensen  Commented that she did not foresee any problem with changing time frames for the measures. Vice Chair Charles Erekson  Commented that he would like to know staff capacity before agreeing to push any items back. Commissioner Thomas O’Donnell  Commented that staff will need to advise the Town what it is capable of doing. Commissioner Margaret Smith  Asked why the item to train a Sustainability Coordinator is in 2015 when the plan is being implemented in 2012. Associate Planner Jennifer Savage  Commented that staff can change the time frame for the Sustainability Coordinator. The responsibilities for implementation may be shared among several staff members. Planning Commission Minutes Page 9 September 26, 2012 Vice Chair Charles Erekson  Asked if the Sustainability Plan will stand by itself or if the measures will be incorporated in the way staff does business. Commissioner Thomas O’Donnell  Asked what the cost to the Town will be to implement these measures and if the Council should know what the cost implications are and where the money is coming from. Joanna Jensen  Commented that she hopes that many of the measures can be integrated into existing procedures. Other measures that are dedicated to municipal operations will require personal responsibility among Town staff members for contributing to this community wide goal. The cost is difficult to estimate but the cost savings will outweigh the cost of installing certain measures or adopting procedures at the Town level. Commissioner John Bourgeois  Thanked the staff and consultants and said that the Sustainability Plan and EIR Addendum are very good. Motion by Commissioner John Bourgeois and seconded by Commissioner Marico Sayoc to forward a recommendation to Town Council for adoption of the Sustainability Plan and the EIR Addendum as noted in Exhibits 3 and 4 of staff report dated August 8, 2012, with the following recommended changes to the implementation schedule: Measures GP-5, RE-4, WW-1 through 6, SW-8 and CA-2 moved to the 2012-2015 time frame. It is also recommended that everything in the Green Building section receive top priority and the Water and Wastewater section receive second priority for staffing and work planning. Motion carried 6-0 with Commissioner Joanne Talesfore absent. NEW OTHER BUSINESS 5. Report from Director of Community Development a. Acting Principal Planner Joel Paulson noted that the General Plan Committee, the Historic Preservation Committee and the Planning Commission each have one vacancy and the deadline for submitting applications is October 8. Interviews are scheduled for October 22. 6. Commission Matters a. Chair Marcia Jensen noted that Commissioner Smith has requested that she be reassigned from the Historic Preservation Committee due to a schedule conflict. Commissioner O’Donnell has agreed to switch and go to the Historic Preservation Committee and Commissioner Smith will switch to the Conceptual Development Advisory Committee. Planning Commission Minutes Page 10 September 26, 2012 ADJOURNMENT The meeting was adjourned at 8:30 p.m. TOWN OF LOS GATOS PLANNING COMMISSION Wednesday, September 26, 2012 ___________________________________________ Marcia Jensen, Chair APPROVED AS TO FORM AND ATTEST: _____________________________ Joel Paulson Acting Principal Planner