HomeMy WebLinkAboutDraft Minutes of 03-09-2016
Planning Commission Minutes
DRAFT
SAN LUIS OBISPO
PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES
Wednesday, March 9, 2016
CALL TO ORDER
A Regular Meeting of the San Luis Obispo Planning Commission was called to order
on Wednesday, March 9, 2016 at 6:01 p.m. in the Council Chamber, located at 990
Palm Street, San Luis Obispo, California, by Chairperson Larson.
PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
Chair Larson led Pledge of Allegiance.
ROLL CALL
Commissioners
Present: John Fowler, Michael Draze, Ronald Malak, William Riggs,
Hemalata Dandekar (arrived 7:17 PM), and Chair John Larson.
City Staff
Present: Deputy Community Development Director Doug Davidson,
Contract Planner John Rickenbach, Transportation Operations
Supervisor Jake Hudson, Assistant City Attorney Jon
Ansolabehere, Utilities Project Manager Jennifer Metz, and
Recording Secretary Brad T. Opstad.
ACCEPTANCE OF THE AGENDA
The agenda was accepted with change by Chair Larson to shift Agenda Forecast
forward.
CONSIDERATION OF MINUTES
Commissioner Riggs requested consideration of the Minutes of Planning Commission
meetings of January 27, 2016 and February 10, 2016 continue to March 23, 2016
meeting; agreed upon by consensus.
PUBLIC COMMENTS ON NON-AGENDA ITEMS
Bob Shanbrom, San Luis Obispo, spoke on a campaign to insist that the City
recognize its water shortage before passing along any more development projects.
Lea Brooks, San Luis Obispo, representing Bike SLO County, invited Commissioners
to the March 16th presentation of “How to Design Cities for People” at Bello Mundo.
Planning Commission Minutes of March 9, 2016 Page 2
STAFF DISCUSSION
Agenda Forecast:
Deputy Director Davidson provided the Agenda Forecast through April:
March 23: Motel Inn project & San Luis Ranch study on Circulation and Infrastructure
Improvements; April 13: Use Permit hearing & draft Environmental Impact Report on
Water Resource Reclamation facility;
April 27: Urban Water Management Plan (including water shortage contingency plan)
& GP Annual Report.
PUBLIC HEARING
1. 175 Venture Drive & 173 Buckley Road. SPEC/ER-1318-2015 (Project PR-
0090-2015): Preliminary review of the Development Plan for the Avila Ranch
project; review of Development Plan chapters regarding Circulation and
Infrastructure Framework.
Chair Larson recused and departed the dais; Chair assumed by Commissioner Draze.
Deputy Director Davidson introduced Contract Planner John Rickenbach who
provided the second-half continuation of the Avila Ranch Plan, reviewing primarily
circulation and infrastructure aspects. Planner Rickenbach indicated that comments
assembled from prior meeting’s first half have been summarized for the current
meeting’s presentation.
Contract Planner Rickenbach presented PowerPoint slides summarizing the General
Plan framework that supports the concept being proposed and the development
parameters that the Applicant is following as pertinent to circulation & infrastructure
considerations. He indicated that if this project were to go forward, the Airport Specific
Plan would be updated to include area details for consideration.
Contract Planner Rickenbach displayed PowerPoint slides of a proposed Circulation
Element map with collector roads extended through the project area. He spoke about
the project’s six phases, and various graphics related to proposed bicycle circulation,
transit stop and infrastructure improvements, including water supply and wastewater
plans.
COMMISSION QUESTIONS
In response to Commissioner Fowler’s inquiries, Contract Planner Rickenbach showed
a rendering of how the upgrades to Venture Road run to Vachel Lane and indicated
that a more detailed tract map would be part of an approved project which would
provide details and conditions that relate to circulation.
In response to Commissioner Malak’s inquiry, Transportation Operations Manager
Jake Hudson indicated that the project proposal is to connect Horizon Lane from
Planning Commission Minutes of March 9, 2016 Page 3
Buckley Road up to the project boundary, the expectation within the General Plan
Circulation Element being that it would ultimately continue up to Suburban Road and
then on up to Tank Farm Road.
In response to Commissioner Riggs’ inquiry, Manager Hudson pointed out that the
Chevron Project is going to take a Class 1 bicycle lane along the north boundary of the
Avila area and then continue it along Tank Farm Creek.
APPLICANT COMMENT
Applicant Representative Stephen Peck indicated that the Applicant began studying
items toward resolution from the February 24th Planning Commission Meeting,
including: conventional Land Use coding, a wider range of housing sizes with a
preference for lower price point, street geometry, function of the Town Center, off-site
traffic concerns, and uses of recycled water. Mr. Peck showed slides of the site’s
circulation system framework in pointing out how it is achieved through phases, how it
all fits with Buckley extension and how bike path network is implemented. Mr. Peck
discussed project maintenance and financing as proposed to be administered by a
Community Facilities District (CFD).
PUBLIC COMMENT
Michelle Tasseff, San Luis Obispo, shared that the project’s impact on traffic in nearby
neighborhoods would be considerable given that the area is besieged by traffic issues,
such as inordinate wait times to merge and unsuccessful signage.
Myron Amerine, San Luis Obispo, spoke about multimodal concepts as they pertain to
connectivity; espoused the reduction in amount of parking built within development’s
structures; lobbied for City to place priority emphasis on roadways to handle the
escalation of traffic resulting from this development.
Cheryl McLean, San Luis Obispo, quoted from 1994 Land Use Element to give
historical perspective of currently relative philosophical conditions facing City regarding
growth’s impact on social, economic and environmental costs and consequences;
implored for common sense and deeper evaluation.
Acting Chair Draze noted that correspondence had been received, read and put into
official record.
Mila Vujovich-LaBarre, San Luis Obispo, expressed concerns on multiple aspects of
the project, chiefly climate change being the critical new factor in the water supply,
traffic infrastructure and the LUCE inadequately reflecting desires of concerned
existing residents.
Lea Brooks, San Luis Obispo, representing Bike SLO County, spoke about the need of
connectivity for a transportation network; expressed strong support for both a bikeway
to Higuera and Class 2 bike lanes on Buckley.
Planning Commission Minutes of March 9, 2016 Page 4
Drew Munster, CEO of Sports Warehouse, spoke about the need for the County road
to fully shift to City standards prior to development; questioned use of the project in a
primarily agricultural and industrial area.
Sarah Flickinger, San Luis Obispo, voiced support for more careful circulation planning
in the southern part of City by indicating that impacts on Los Osos Valley Road
(LOVR).
Camille Small, San Luis Obispo, shared her concerns with bicycle accidents and stated
that accidents would increase if Avila Ranch was allowed to develop, noting that the
influx of commuters to City from other communities do not wish to live in San Luis
Obispo.
Anne Wyatt, San Luis Obispo, voiced concerns for proposed projects such as double-
turn lanes, which are of serious danger to cyclists; voiced concern for proposed high-
density housing.
Ken Tasseff, San Luis Obispo, expressed sympathy for residents of Los Verdes and
their challenges in enduring traffic issues; requested that the project not be approved.
Kayla Plourde, San Luis Obispo, discussed personal experience with the daily difficulty
of making left-hand turns on to Buckley Road; voiced disapproval of number of new
houses but heavily endorsed Buckley Road improvements if Avila Ranch becomes
foregone conclusion.
Ty Safreno, San Luis Obispo, CEO of Trust Automation on Suburban Road, shared
concern about lack of buffer between noisy industry zone and residences; voiced
larger philosophical problem of the imbalance occurring when creating a City
community where workforce lives but does not work versus overall LUCE Plan where
one lives where one works.
Kathy Borland, San Luis Obispo, three-decade resident of Buckley Road, shared
experience of witnessing City incrementally encroach on homestead; indicated largest
issue as being order of operations in infrastructure development as evidenced by big
box retail outlets built multiple years prior to the overpass construction; voiced opinion
that Buckley Road should be expanded to four lanes before Phase 1 of Avila Ranch.
Paul Rys, San Luis Obispo, presented a slide of preamble to the Land Use Element
which pertains to preserving natural environment and controlling excessive growth
detrimental to long-term sustainability of community; indicated that project Plan has
multiple number of inconsistencies with LUCE.
COMMISSION COMMENT
Commissioner Dandekar arrived to the dais at 7:17 PM.
In response to Commissioner Malak’s inquiry pertaining to a section of text in the Avila
Ranch Development Plan, Transportation Operations Manager Hudson explained the
process of how traffic studies and analysis are performed before indicating that the
Planning Commission Minutes of March 9, 2016 Page 5
difficulty in making forecasts for project currently proposed is that it is being developed
in six (6) phases with no specific time frame assigned to each; pointed out that
Operations is able to determine project’s build-out in its entirety with existing
infrastructure as best evaluation scenario. Contract Planner Rickenbach indicated that
the project’s compliance with Circulation Element Level Of Service (LOS) “D” policy”
still needs to be analyzed in the traffic study for verification.
In response to Commissioner Malak’s second inquiry, Transportation Operations
Manager Hudson stated that through Staff’s ongoing observations and analysis outside
the project area, the study area associated with Avila Ranch is currently operating
within City thresholds except for the intersection of Vachel & Higuera; added that
County intersection of Buckley and Highway 227 is operating at LOS “D”, which is
satisfactory for City, but not for State thresholds in which adequate would be LOS “C”.
In response to Commissioner Malak’s further inquiries, Transportation Operations
Manager Hudson shared that when Staff was working on Development Plan in the
early stages, the Traffic Study Recommendations now in the Plan stemmed from
feedback based on some preliminary data that has evolved since then; indicated that
LOVR interchange is projected to improve LOS between LOVR/US 101 ramp junctions
and LOVR/South Higuera.
In response to Commissioner Malak’s final inquiry, Contract Planner Rickenbach
informed that the site is still currently zoned Business Park.
Commissioner Riggs expounded on the Theory of Induced Demand as it pertains to
parking resources, Level of Service city standards, land use & circulation policies and
multimodal goals; discussed the project by indicating that consistency with Circulation
Element Policy 6.1.1 needs to be given more consideration within LOS objectives,
especially if City is attempting to achieve a multimodal model.
Acting Chair Draze reminded Public that, legally, Commissioners cannot support or
oppose a project at this preliminary review; commented on phasing of infrastructure in
regards to predominant amount of traffic flowing to Vachel & South Higuera during
Phase 1 and no park facilities being developed on site until Phase 3.
Commissioner Fowler concurred with Chair Draze on phasing improvements;
advocated for more centrally-located and earlier-phased commercial area on-site;
discussed efficacy of traffic studies during extended build-out schedule; shared
concerns on Chevron remediation, questioning whether City’s involvement should be
escalated; discussed infrastructure priorities given level of Prado and Unocal
unknowns.
Contract Planner Rickenbach addressed Commissioner Fowler’s comments regarding
the commercial point. Commissioner Fowler responded by suggesting that relocating
commercial from large artery, embedding it into development off smaller streets,
potentially encourages local community use and becomes dimensionally smaller.
Commissioner Malak suggested an alternative commercial arrangement given the park
next door to site which attracts outside visitors; voiced problem in visualizing how
Planning Commission Minutes of March 9, 2016 Page 6
known finite improvements alone are going to improve Circulation with this
development; shared concern about time-lags between infrastructure upgrades and
project development.
Commissioner Riggs challenged status-quo of 11-foot public right-of-way for auto
traffic in sharing concern for development to end up with overdesigned roads;
discussed the potentially shorter timeline of future autonomous vehicles in terms of
urban design implications and roadway requirements for Level 5 Automization;
advocated for formulating an up-front CFD to prioritize bulk of infrastructure funding
prior to site development.
In response to Commissioner Riggs inquiries, Transportation Operations Manager
Hudson indicated City is in process of updating short-range Transit Plan, taking into
account proposed Avila Ranch, with identified spots for new routes and service stops,
the funding component for which remain fare box revenues and transit subsidies.
Acting Chair Draze shared belief that autonomous vehicles, impacting future and
multiple infrastructure decisions, are forthcoming in the short term.
Commissioner Dandekar shared her thought that Commercial within internally-
servicing complete neighborhoods might just possibly be a figment of imagination and
that people are now inherently attracted to large-service areas; commented on live-
work concept as potentially squeezing out capacity for people creating jobs and
possibly creating a dormitory town.
In response to Commissioner Fowler’s inquiry, Utilities Project Manager Metz informed
that Applicant is considering two alternatives to pumping wastewater, both involving an
existing lift station at Tank Farm Road and a proposed lift station.
Commissioner Riggs suggested experimentation with a live-work loft typology,
particularly on section of site nearest quasi-industrial area, as buffer-transitional use.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 8:48 P.M.
Respectfully Submitted,
Brad T. Opstad
Recording
Secretary