MINUTES. REGULAR MEETING OF THE LANCASTER PLANNING COMMISSION July 17, View this Meeting on the web:

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1 MINUTES REGULAR MEETING OF THE LANCASTER PLANNING COMMISSION July 17, 2017 View this Meeting on the web: CALL TO ORDER Chairman Vose called the regular meeting to order at 5:01 p.m. INVOCATION Vice Chair Hall. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE Commissioner Cook. ROLL CALL Present: Absent: Commissioners Cook, Harvey, Smith, Vice Chair Hall, and Chairman Vose. Commissioners Also present were the Assistant City Attorney (Jocelyn Corbett), Planning Director (Brian Ludicke), City Engineer (Trolis Niebla), Principal Planner (Jocelyn Swain), Associate Planner (Chris Aune), Associate Planner (Cynthia Campaña), and Recording Secretary (Sydney Yeseta). There were 18 people in the audience. CONSENT CALENDAR 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES It was moved by Commissioner Harvey and seconded by Vice Chair Hall to approve the Minutes from the Regular Meeting of June 19, Motion carried with the following vote ( ): Cook, Hall, Harvey, Smith, and Vose.

2 CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARINGS 2. General Plan Amendment 17-04, Draft Master Plan of Complete Streets, Amendment of Chapter (Subdivision Ordinance) Chairman Vose opened the item at 5:09 p.m., to hear a presentation and review the City of Lancaster Draft Master Plan of Complete Streets, associated general plan amendment (GPA 17-04), and ordinance amending Chapter of the Lancaster Municipal Code (Subdivision Ordinance). Brian Ludicke spoke briefly about the project. The City received written comments from the California Department of Transportation and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority in favor of the project. There was one speaker card. Speaker No. 1: Fran Sereseres asked if there was a map available of the streets identified by the plan to be improved. Brian Ludicke responded, stating that the plan identifies potential locations for implementation and locations where the City has already received funding to implement the concepts. The plan is designed to set-up the framework to evaluate street design, so the streets that are identified currently might change, and more locations could be added. Street design will always include trade-off issues. The City needs to manage the right-of-way and make decisions for what best suits the needs of the street users. It is important to recognize that street design needs to be flexible to reflect the changes in neighborhoods and street usage. The documents will be updated to reflect the changes to City department names that went into effect with the change in organizational structure. The item was continued to the August 14, 2017, regular meeting. NEW PUBLIC HEARINGS 3. ONE-YEAR EXTENSIONS a. Tentative Tract Map No Chairman Vose opened the public hearing at 5:21 p.m., to hear a request for an extension by Civil Design and Drafting, Inc., to subdivide 65 single-family lots in the R-7,000 Zone, located on 15.0± gross acres at the southwest corner of 22 nd Street East and Avenue J-2. The reading of the staff report was waived; however, an uncontested hearing letter was not received from the applicant stating agreement with the conditions of approval as stated in the staff report. Chairman Vose asked if the applicant, or their representative, was in attendance of the meeting, and inquired if a Civil Engineer was actively working on the final map. There were none in the audience who wished to speak on the request. The public hearing was closed at 5:23 p.m. P a g e 2

3 It was moved by Vice Chair Hall and seconded by Commissioner Smith to grant a one-year extension to June 18, 2018, based on the findings contained in the staff report and subject to the Revised Conditions List, Attachment to Resolution No Motion carried with the following vote ( ): Cook, Hall, Harvey, Smith. Vose. b. Tentative Tract Map No Chairman Vose opened the public hearing at 5:24 p.m., to hear a request for extension by United Engineering Group, to subdivide 45 single-family lots in the R-10,000 Zone and one remainder parcel in the CPD Zone, located on 26.6± gross acres at the southwest corner of Avenue K and 30 th Street East. The reading of the staff report was waived because the applicant was requesting a continuance to the August 14, 2017, regular meeting. There were none in the audience who wished to speak on the request. It was moved by Commissioner Harvey and seconded by Commissioner Cook to continue the public hearing to the August 14, 2017, regular meeting to provide the applicant additional time to post the public hearing notice on the project site. Motion carried with the following vote ( ): c. Tentative Tract Map No Chairman Vose opened the public hearing at 5:25 p.m., to hear a request for extension by Antelope Valley Engineering, to subdivide nine single-family lots in the RR-1 Zone, located on 8.45± acres at the northwest corner of Avenue M and 23 rd Street West. The reading of the staff report was waived because an uncontested hearing letter was received from the applicant stating agreement with the conditions of approval as stated in the staff report. There were none in the audience who wished to speak on the request. The public hearing was closed at 5:25 p.m. P a g e 3

4 It was moved by Commissioner Cook and seconded by Vice Chair Hall to grant a one-year extension to July 16, 2018, based on the findings contained in the staff report and subject to the Revised Conditions List, Attachment to Resolution No Motion carried with the following vote ( ): d. Tentative Tract Map No Chairman Vose opened the public hearing at 5:26 p.m., to hear a request for extension by Stratham Properties, to subdivide eight single-family lots in the R-7,000 Zone, located on 1.71± acres at the northeast corner of 52 nd Street West and Avenue J-8. The reading of the staff report was waived because an uncontested hearing letter was received from the applicant stating agreement with the conditions of approval as stated in the staff report. There were none in the audience who wished to speak on the request. The public hearing was closed at 5:26 p.m. It was moved by Commissioner Smith and seconded by Commissioner Cook to grant a oneyear extension to June 18, 2018, based on the findings contained in the staff report and subject to the Revised Conditions List, Attachment to Resolution No Motion carried with the following vote ( ): 4. Conditional Use Permit No Chairman Vose opened the item at 5:27 p.m., to hear a request by High Desert Cultivation Center, LLC, for a conditional use permit to operate a medical cannabis cultivation facility within an existing building in the Light Industrial (LI) Zone, located at Yucca Avenue, with a distance requirement waiver. Cynthia Campaña presented the staff report. The project required a distance waiver because it is within 1,000 feet of the University of Antelope Valley campus, and within 600 feet of a church. An uncontested hearing letter was received from the applicant stating agreement with the conditions of approval as stated in the staff report. There were four speaker cards. P a g e 4

5 Speaker No. 1: Myrle McLernon, the applicant s representative, stated that the project will look like a standard industrial building from the outside, and the proposed operation would take place internally, including all deliveries and pick-ups. There are improvements that would be made to the interior and exterior of the building, such as sealing most roll-up doors on the inside and screening the top units from public view. There would be on-site security 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and the Sheriff s Department would have 24-hour access to the facility. The facility would be equipped with a negative pressure vacuum system to prevent odors from escaping. The product would not be sold in the City of Lancaster and would not be for recreational use. Currently, the State of California does not have regulations for the monetary aspect of the business, but something should be put into place by The cannabis manufactured in the facility would be sold to a licensed distributor to be processed and sold for medical purposes. Speaker No. 2: Tom Obarr spoke about the negative pressure vacuum system and the activated charcoal carbon filter to help eliminate odors. He mentioned that multiple cultivation facilities are in the process of implementing the system; however, they are not currently operational. Speaker No. 3: Fran Sereseres voiced concerned about transients near the building. She also asked about the block wall, details about the distributor, the proposed security plan, and cannabis odors on employees clothing. Speaker No. 4: David Paul spoke about a listening session held by the County that he attended. He thanked the Commission, and the applicant, for their willingness to work through the process since this is just the beginning of medical cannabis cultivation facilities. The applicant s representative, Myrle McLernon, responded to the questions posed by Ms. Sereseres. The block wall would be 8 feet in height with 3 feet of wrought iron on top. The details related to the distributor have not been finalized, and the facility is subject to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration regulations to protect the employees. The public hearing was closed at 6:38 p.m. It was moved by Commissioner Smith and seconded by Commissioner Cook to adopt Resolution No , approving Conditional Use Permit No Motion carried with the following vote ( ): P a g e 5

6 NEW BUSINESS 5. Conditional Use Permits- Alcohol Sales Chairman Vose opened the item at 6:39 p.m., to hear information and statistics from City Staff regarding requests filed for alcohol sales, including requests for distance waivers, under the current ordinance adopted in January Jocelyn Swain presented the data stating that Commission has heard 81 alcohol-related cases since the adoption of the current ordinance. Of those, 41 were restaurants; seven were drug or grocery stores; three were banquet halls; five were winery/breweries; 15 were convenience markets (standalone and/or accompanying a gas station); two were hotels; and a handful were for miscellaneous uses. The Commission also heard two revocations. Waivers were requested for 12 of the cases. Of the 15 convenience market conditional use permits, eight requested waivers. Five of the eight waivers were denied, and three were approved. Four of the five denied waivers were appealed to the City Council. Three of the four appeals were approved by the City Council, and in one case, the City Council upheld the Planning Commission denial. One Planning Commission denial is being refiled and will be heard by the Planning Commission in the future. DIRECTOR S ANNOUNCEMENT The August Planning Commission meeting dates were changed to: o Special Meeting for Agenda Review on Monday, August 7, 2017 o Regular Meeting on Monday, August 14, 2017 There are three applications for medical cannabis facilities that will be heard at the August meeting. The City Council approved the amendment to the Lancaster Municipal Code (Title 17) modifying the building setback requirements along street frontages in the C (Commercial) and OP (Office Professional) Zones, and the amendment to the Lancaster Municipal Code (Title 16) to allow approval of multi-year extension requests for tentative maps. COMMISSION AGENDA P a g e 6

7 PUBLIC BUSINESS FROM THE FLOOR NON-AGENDA ITEMS Fran Sereseres thanked the Commission for their support, and asked if it was permissible to get a copy of the information Jocelyn Swain presented during Agenda Item No. 5. ADJOURNMENT Chairman Vose declared the meeting adjourned at 6:50 p.m. to the Special Meeting for Agenda Review on Monday, August 7, 2017, at 4:30 p.m., in the City Council Chambers, Lancaster City Hall. ATTEST: JAMES D. VOSE, Chairman Lancaster Planning Commission BRIAN S. LUDICKE, Planning Director City of Lancaster P a g e 7