Planning Commission Draft Action Minutes County of Ventura Resource Management Agency Planning Division 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura, CA 93009-1740 (805) 654-2478 ventura.org/rma/planning 1. 8:30 A.M. MEETING CALLED TO ORDER BY CHAIR RODRIGUEZ 2. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE TO THE FLAG 3. ROLL CALL Commission: Paul Magie, Vice-Chair District 1 Nora Aidukas District 2 Stephen Onstot District 3 Michael Wesner District 4 Richard Rodriguez, Chair District 5 Absent: County Staff: None Kim Prillhart, Planning Director Jeffrey Barnes, County Counsel Brian Baca, Commercial & Industrial Permits Manager Jay Dobrowalski, Case Planner Holly Harris, Staff Biologist Lori Gaines, Recording Secretary 4. PUBLIC COMMENTS None 5. APPROVAL OF JULY 3, 2014 MINUTES Commissioner Wesner moved to approve the minutes. Motion was seconded. Motion passed, 5-0. 6. APPROVAL OF AUGUST 7, 2014 MINUTES Commissioner Magie moved to approve the minutes. Motion was seconded. Motion passed, 5-0. 7. PL13-0046 DCOR Oil and Gas Exploration Appellant s Request: The Appellant requests that the Planning Commission direct the Planning Director to withdraw her decision and prepare an Environmental Impact Report that appropriately evaluates the direct, indirect and cumulative environmental and public health impacts of the project.
Page 2 of 5 Applicant s Request: The Applicant requests that a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) be granted to authorize the installation and operation of two exploratory oil wells and associated temporary facilities for a 5-year period on a modified existing drilling pad in the Piru Oil Field. Appellant: Citizens for Responsible Oil & Gas (CFROG), Post Office Box 114, Ojai, California, 93024, and Los Padres Forest Watch (LPFW), Post Office Box 831, Santa Barbara, California, 93102 Applicant: DCOR, LLC, 290 Maple Court, Suite 260, Ventura, California, 93003 Property Owner: Thomas Williams, Post Office Box 7028, Ventura, California, 93006 Project Location: Modelo Canyon Area north of the community of Piru CEQA Doc: Mitigated Negative Declaration Case Planner: Jay Dobrowalski Assessor Parcel No s: 055-0-060-010, 055-0-060-100, 055-0-120-050, and 055-0-120-060 RMA-Planning Division Case Planner, Jay Dobrowalski, presented the staff report on this matter. The following recommended actions were presented to the Planning Commission. 1. CERTIFY that the Commission has reviewed and considered the staff report and all exhibits thereto, and has considered all comments received during the public comment process; 2. DENY appeal No. PL13-0046 of the Planning Director s decision to grant CUP No. PL13-0046; 3. FIND, based on the whole of the record before the Planning Commission, including the MND and any comments received, that there is no substantial evidence that the project will have a significant effect on the environment and that the Mitigated Negative Declaration reflects the Planning Commission s independent judgment and analysis; 4. ADOPT the MND (Exhibit 4c of the staff report) prepared for the DCOR Project as meeting the requirements of CEQA, with the following modifications; 1. The MND will be clarified to specify that the drill pad to be used for the proposed wells is the former Crocker #10 well site. 2. Mitigation Measure #5 will be revised to: a. Include a requirement that new power lines be installed underground.
Page 3 of 5 b. Include revised language that authorizes the Planning Director to modify the mitigation requirements in consultation with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. c. List cigarette butts as microtrash and include revised language to specify that microtrash is not limited to the listed items in Mitigation Measure #5. d. Add the requirement that Modelo Canyon Road from the drilling pad to Piru Canyon Road shall be cleared of microtrash as it is part of the project site. 3. Mitigation Measure 5.5 will be revised to: a. Include revised language that authorizes the Planning Director to modify the mitigation requirements in consultation with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. b. Include revised language to authorize immediate access to the project site by the State and Federal wildlife agencies. c. Add the requirement that dead animals ( road kill ) found on the project access road will be collected and disposed during the project life. 4. Mitigation measure #6 will be revised to: a. Grant a County-approved biologist engaged in construction monitoring the authority to temporarily stop work pending confirmation of such an order by the Planning Director. b. Include a requirement that all personnel of the Permittee that are involved in onsite activities receive training on how to avoid impacts on endangered species. 5. The MND will be augmented to include the information on greenhouse gas provided to the Planning Commission in the staff errata memorandum. 6. MND response to comment #P-3 will be revised to include language to clarify that the project involves only a single road crossing of Modelo Creek. 7. The MND will be revised to specify the use of construction fencing rather than caution tape to protect sensitive resources. 8. The Mitigated Declaration adopted on March 1, 2012 for a previous design of the project (LU08-0100) will be incorporated into the MND for the PL13-0046 case. 9. The late submittal documents and the staff responses to comments included in these documents will be incorporated into the MND. 5. MAKE the required findings for the granting of a CUP based on the substantial evidence presented in Section E of the Planning Director staff report (Exhibit 4b of the staff report) for the June 30, 2014, hearing and the entire record; 6. GRANT CUP No. PL13-0046, subject to the conditions of approval (Exhibit 4d of the staff report) with the following modifications; 1. All conditions of approval that implement mitigation measures will be revised to be consistent with the changes indicated in section 4 above (items 1-9).
Page 4 of 5 2. Condition of Approval #47 will be revised to include the requirement that a hand-washing station be made available to all drilling personnel. 3. Condition of Approval #70 will be added and state: Truck traffic involved with the transport of fluids (oil and wastewater) generated during the production testing phase of the project shall be limited to daytime hours between 7:00am and sunset (as defined in a local newspaper) unless an Emergency Use Authorization is granted by the County Planning Division in accordance with Section 8111.1.2.1.c of the Ventura County Non-Coastal Zoning Ordinance. 7. SPECIFY that the Clerk of the Planning Commission is the custodian, and 800 S. Victoria Avenue, Ventura, CA 93009 is the location, of the documents and materials that constitute the record of proceedings upon which this decision is based. Commission s Disclosures: Commissioner Aidukas looked up how many California Condors are in the area, and printed it out Commissioner Rodriguez read the article in the newspaper Commissioner Wesner read the article in the newspaper Presentation of Public Speakers: Eric Nagy, Consultant for the applicant Brett Matthews, speaking against the appeal Lynn Jensen, Ventura County CoLab, speaking against the appeal Jeff Kuyper, LPFW, Appellant John Brooks, CFROG president, Appellant Richard Holly, CFROG Leif Dautch, CFROG Carol Holly, CFROG Steve Colome, CFROG Theresa Hartigan, CFROG Michael Shapiro, speaking for Jim Hines, CFROG Helen Conly, CFROG Julianne Lugo, Piru Neighborhood Council Kathy Pace, resident of Fillmore Romelia Richman, resident of Santa Paula Jennifer Sage, resident of Upper Ojai, supporting appeal David McDermot, Speaking for the Applicant
Page 5 of 5 Deanna McCormick, Ojai Raptor Center Ron Whitehurst, resident supporting appeal Cherie Topper, Santa Barbara Audubon Society John Arbelaez, Earthworks, supporting appeal Rain Perry, CFROG Planning Commission Deliberation and Vote: Commissioner Aidukas moved to approve staff s recommended actions with the following modifications; Motion was seconded. Motion passed 5-0. 8. DISCUSSION: a) REPORT BY THE PLANNING DIRECTOR ON BOARD ACTIONS OR OTHER MATTERS Director Prillhart spoke to the BOS hearing, held on Tuesday, September 23, 2014, she wanted to Commissioners to know the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 decision, not to grant Tropical Paradise s CUP. Also, there was an item on the Tentative Schedule for October 2, 2014 that was postponed to October 16, 2014. There was a problem with the mailing labels, every other postcard didn t have a date on it, so staff notified the applicant and it is going to be postponed and re-noticed. She said there is a Planning Commission Hearing on October 30, 2014, to bring to the Commission the WCF Ordinance, there is also a variance that day and the compliance report due to your Commission, 1 year compliance report on LARC. b) ITEMS THE PLANNING COMMISSION MAY WISH TO INTRODUCE Commissioner Onstot would like County Counsel to review the policy on late filings. 9. MEETING ADJOURNMENT Meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m. Lori Gaines, Recording Secretary Ventura County Planning Commission