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2010/02/25 Planning Commission MinutesROHNERT PARK PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES THURSDAY, February 25, 2O1O The Planning Commission of the City of Rohnert Park met this date in a regular session commencing at 7:00 p.m. in the City Hall Council Chambers, 130 Avram Avenue, with Chairperson Borba presiding. Call To Order Roll Call Declaration of Abstention Acknowledgement of Public Noticing Unscheduled Public Appearances Approval of Minutes Sign Program PL2010-0015R Malcolm BoothlNAMO Ço,, LLC Chairperson Borba called the meeting of the regular session to order at approximately 7:00 p.m. with Chairperson Borba leading the pledge. Present (5) Commissioners: Chairperson Borba, Commissioner Armstrong, Commissioner Ahanotu Commissioner Nilson and Commissioner Nordin were present. Development Services Director, Darrin Jenkins, Planning and Building Manager, Marilyn Ponton and Recording Clerk Suzie Azevedo were present. Chairperson Borba acknowledged the posting of the Agenda of this meeting in three (3) public places, per the requirements of the Brown Act. Upon motion by Commissioner Armstrong, seconded by Commissioner Ahanotu, the minutes of the February '11,2010 meeting were approved as presented with a 5-0 vote. Planning and Building Manager, Marilyn Ponton provided the staff report. She stated that the request was for an amendment to the existing Master Sign Program for the Rohnert Park Mall, 6591-6599 Commerce Boulevard. Recent tenant improvements have prompted the owner to revisit the sign allowances and criteria previously approved for this location. More specifically, Goodwill has relocated to the Rohnert Park Mall center and desires additional sign presence for directional purposes. Ms. Ponton noted that the original proposal submitted included a freestanding monument sign. Staff notified the applicant of applicable section of the zoning ordinance that states "in no case more than 1 freestanding monument sign" shall be allowed. To achieve the business center and Goodwill's desired sign copy and to maintain consistency with the sign standards contained in the zoning ordinance, a "directory" sign has been proposed. Ms. Ponton reviewed the proposed amendments as proposed including the addition of a 6 sq. ft. directional sign and reported that that the calculation of all on-site signage does not exceed the 480 square feet maximum total allocation established in the original Master Sign Program. Ms. Ponton recommended approval of the Master Sign Program proposed amendments, as conditioned. Comment Sessíon for Northeast Specific Plan Draft Envíronmental lmpact Report File No. PL2003-0205P ñllat:ters from Commissioners Illlatters from Planning St¿lff Adjournment A brief discussion was held by the Commission and staff. Key points included: o Visibility - Location of directional signage will be installed so as not to create visual impact to pedestrians and vehicular travel. Additionally, landscape maintenance will provide increased visibility. o Lighting/Aesthetics - Staff approval required prior to building permit issuance.o Additional comments- Will there be an increase in other business centers requests for directional signage - Sign approval for this type of signage will be at the Commission's discretion. A motion was made by Commissioner Armstrong, seconded by Commissioner Ahanotu to adopt Resolution No. 2010-03 approving proposed amendments to the Master Sign Program for Rohnert Park Mall, 6591-6599 Commerce Boulevard. The motion passed with a 5-0 vote. See atüached submittal by Stephanie illcllllurtrie, RPR, CSR No. 111431or complete transcript of the Gomment Session for the Northeast Specific Plan Draft EIR Comment Session. Ms. Ponton reported on the status of the following items:o Walmart. Applications Received - CUP for Wine tasting room/internet sales, Amusement Center (Qzar)to occupy previous Levitz site. There being no further business, Chairperson Borba adjourned the meeting at 7:27 pm. CTTY OF ROHNERT PARK PLANNING COMMTSSTON ---ooo--- PUBLIC HEARING RE PL2OO3-O2OSP COMMENT SESSTON FOR NORTHEAST SPECTFIC PLAN DRAFT ETR City of Rohnert park L30 Avram Avenue RohnerÈ Park, California 94g2g Thursday, February 25, 2OLO ---oOo--- Reported byt STEFANIE L. McMURTRfE, RpR, CSR No. 1l-143 Certified Shorthand Reporter 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I 9 t_0 Ll_ L2 L3 l4 l_5 T6 t7 18 L9 20 2I 22 23 24 25 LEONARD REPORTTNG SERVICES, TNC (41-s) ¡r2-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 L0 1l_ L2 13 L4 l_5 L6 L7 L8 L9 20 2I 22 23 24 25 APPEARANCES Chairperson,John Borba Vice Chairperson Gregory Nordin Planning Commissioner Mark NiIson Planning Commissioner Amy Ahanotu Planning Commissioner David Armstrong Planning & Building Manager Marilyn ponton Dírector of Development services Darrin ,renkins Community Development Assj-stant Suzie Azevedo EsA consult.ant Paul- Mi-tche11, senior proj ect Manager EsA consultant cory Barringhaus, senior Associate ATTACHMENTS city of Rohnert park planning commission Agenda, two page s rnteroffice Memo dated 2/2s/to with attached Notice of Availability of DErR for Northeast specific pran project SCH# 2003l-22071-, four pages LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC.(41-s) ¡r2-9040 L 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 l_0 LL L2 l_3 J-4 15 t6 I7 18 L9 20 2t 22 23 24 25 PROCEEDINGS '--ooo--- THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 25, 2O1O 7:L8 P.M. cHArRpERsoN BORBA: Great. we,11 move on to Public Hearing. This is for Fire No. pL2o03-o2osp. ït's a comment session for Northeast specific plan Draft Environmental rmpact Report, the ErR. The pranning commission's job tonight is going to conduct a pubric comment, session on t,he Draf t ErR f or the Northeast. Specific p1an. so ure welcome your comments . we have, f irst, a Staff report. MS. PONTON: Thank you, Commissioner. This evening we have the public session for comments on the proposed Nort,heast specif ic plan ErR. This will be a public Heari-ng to take those comment,s, and I will be very brief about my comments. we are in the public review period right now, and itrs a 45-day period. This evening hre have consurtants with us, Mr. cory Barringhaus and Mr. paur Mitchell of EsA, who will provide an overview for the hearing this evening, and \^re arso have represented members of the deveropment t'eam f or the Northeast specif ic plan and their LEONARD REPORTTNG SERVTCES, TNC.(41-s) :r2-9040 L 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 l-0 LL L2 L3 l4 15 1_6 L7 L8 L9 20 2L 22 23 24 25 consultants. So at t,his time I'd like to turn over the session for comments to our consultanÈs, and particularly Mr. Barringhaus, Lo present that overview. CHAIRPERSON BORBA: Thank you. MR. BARRINGHAUS: Good evening. I just wanted to give you a really brief summary of the EfR process and where we are and talk briefly about some of the project itself. Again, t.he purpose of the environmental review was Èo determine whether t.he proposed project, in this case the Nort.heast Specific PIan, would result in a significant adverse effect on the environment in accordance with t.he Calif ornia Environment.al eual-ity AcÈ, commonly known as CEQA. CEQA requires that before a decision can be made as to the approval of the project, that the environmentaL effects of implementing a project must be disclosed in an Environmental Impact. Report, âr1 EIR. Again, the EIR is a public informational document used by government agencles and the publi_c to evaluate the environmental consequences of a proposed pro j ect, and if there are j-mpacts identif ied, lou recommend mitigation measures to either lessen or eliminate those impacts, and, a1so, to put forth LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, TNC (41_s) :r2-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 i.0 t- 1_ I2 l-3 I4 L5 I6 L7 l-8 t9 20 2T 22 23 24 25 feasible alternatives to the project. The EIR will be reviewed and consj_dered by the governing agency prior to t.he ultimate decj-sion to approve, disprove or modify Ehe proposed project. The Draft EIR for the Northeast Specific Plan was published on .Tanuary 29Lh, and that init.iated a 45-day public review period which will end on March L5th. And again, the purpose of tonight.'s meeting is to provide additional opportunity to the public to provide comments directly to the City and Planning Commission regarding the EIR. In the ETR itself , h¡e have identif ied impacts. I ' 11 touch briefly upon the few that werve identified as significant impacts, and they would remain significant, and unavoidable even after the implementation of any applicable mitigation measures. I won't go through them one by one, but I'11 give you a summary of the significant. impacts. Several are related Eo the conversion of the project site to urban uses. This has to do with altering the visual character, and, through the loss of open space, this would also result in a loss of existing farmlands and conversion to nonagricultural use. This would also be considered a cumulative impact, the conversion of open space and loss of farmland. LEONARD REPORTING SERVÏCES, TNC.(¿rs) ¡r2-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 I 9 L0 L1 T2 L3 L4 15 i-6 T7 LB t9 20 2t 22 23 24 25 There's another cumulat,ive impact werve identified relating to the loss of biological resources as irretrievable loss. There are a few air quality impacts, primarily operational emissions of criteria air pollutants, reactive organic gasses, commonly referred to ROG, and PM-L0, which is particulate matter. And because these are signiflcant impacts, project impacts, it would also be considered a cumulatj-ve air quality impact according to the Bay Area Air Quality Management District guidelines. And additionally, it would also be not consistent wiUh the current Clean Air Pl-an. The f inal air quality impact is related to greenhouse gas emissions. There are a few transportation-related impacts. There are two primary intersections t,hat are significant under both projects and cumulative conditions. The first is the Bast Cotati Avenue/Old Redwood Highway intersection, and t,he second is the Adobe Road/Petaluma Hill Road intersection. The first one is in Cotati, and the second one is in Penngrove. There is another significant impact associated \^rit.h the Highway L0L south off-ramp approach to Wilfred Avenue, and there's another final transportation-related impact, which is the Highway l-0L freeway capacity under LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC (4L5)312-9040 l_ 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 L0 L1 L2 L3 L4 1-5 t6 l7 L8 L9 20 2L 22 23 24 25 both proj ect and cumulative scenarios. So thatts, brief ly, t,he signif icant and unavoidable impact.s we've identif ied in the EIR. guess, finally, just to give you a summary of what the next steps would be. once the comment period ends on March 15, we will take those comments from t.he agencies and the public and respond to them in a writt,en document which will become the final EIR, also known as the Response to Comments document.. And at t.hat time we will also prepare an MMRP, which is the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program. And, finally, the last step as far as the EIR itself will be the certification by t,he City. I think that's a brief summary of where we are in the EIR process. CF{AIRPERSON BORBA:Great. Thank you. ExcellenL. Are there any questions of the city consultanE before we move on? Seeing none, okay. Then we'11 move on to the Public Comment session of this, and wetll invit'e anyone f rom the public t.hat wishes to come f orward and of f er comments relating to this project, please come forward. Seeing no one come forward, wê will close the Public Comment session of t,his meeting tonight. LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, INC (41s )3L2-9040 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 l_0 1L L2 13 L4 L5 L6 17 l-8 L9 20 2t 22 23 24 25 The way it works, for you to know, is that you do have Èime to submit letters to the consultants, to the City, and t,hey'11 become part of the record for this EIR. So we thank you for that, and wer1l move on. (Public Hearing re PI"2O03-02OSP concluded at 7:24 p.m.) ---oOo--- LEONARD REPORTTNG SERVTCES, rNC.(41-s) gr2-9040 L 2 3 4 5 6 7 I 9 10 1l_ T2 t3 L4 l5 16 l7 18 T9 20 2L 22 23 24 25 REPORTER ' S CERTIFICATE St,ate of Cal i f ornia CounEy of Sonoma ss. f, STEFANIE L. MCMURTRfE, RpR, CSR No. 11143, a Cert.if ied Short.hand Report.er of t.he State of California, hereby certify: That I was presenE at, the above_menÈioned proceedings; that r took down in shorthand notes all proceedings had; that r thereafter transcribed a port.ion of said short.hand notes into typewri t ing; LhaE t.he foregoing is a full, complete and accurate Lranscript.ion of all proceedings had in t.he matter of the pubric Hearing re PLzO03-O2OSp. Dated: March 1, 201_0 - -Vt44w-d:I44u,tw.STEFANIE L . MCÌ"TUÉTRIE Cert. i f ied Short.hand ReporterState of California LEONARD REPORTING SERVICES, TNC (41s)3r2-9040