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PC MINS 19950822APPROVED 9/12/95 QF) CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING August 22, 1995 The meeting was called to order at 7:04 P.M. by Chairman Mowlds at the Hesse Park Community Building, 29301 Hawthorne Boulevard. The Pledge of Allegiance followed, led by Commissioner Alberio. PRESENT: Commissioners Alberio, Vannorsdall, Wang, Whiteneck, Vice Chair Hayes, and Chairman Mowlds. ABSENT: Commissioner Ferraro (excused) Also present were Planning Administrator Petru, Associate Planner Jerex, and Recording Secretary Drasco. APPROVAL OF AGENDA The Commission approved the agenda, as presented, (6-0). COMMUNICATIONS Staff: Planning Administrator Petru noted that a flyer had been presented to the Planning Commission regarding the annual conference of the California Chapter of the American Planning Association to be held in Santa Barbara from September 30 through October 3, 1995. She added that the Commissioners could attend if they wished, at their own expense, as there was no City funding for their attendance. Any Commissioner who was interested in attending should contact Jackie Drasco at City Hall to coordinate registration. Commission• Commissioner Vannorsdall indicated that he had received copies of newspaper items from Mr. Rollin Sturgeon, a city resident. The other Commissioners reported that they had also received the same copies. Chairman Mowlds stated that Mr. Harold Hermann, a City resident, had provided copies of letters to the Commission that evening in reference to his property, but not related to any item on the agenda. • APPROVAL OF CONSENT CALENDAR 1. MINUTES OF AUGUST 2, 1995 Commissioner Alberio moved to accept seconded by Commissioner Whiteneck. Commissioners vannorsdall and Wang, abstaining as they were not present the wayfarers Chapel site. CONTINUED BUSINESS 0 the Minutes, as written, Approved, {3-0-3}, with and Chairman Mowlds at the adjourned meeting at 2. CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. 33 - Rev. "M" GRADING PERMIT NO. 1803; Wen -Jen Lee, 1 Burrell Lane. (DJ) Associate Planner Jerex presented the Staff Report, stating that the sample hold harmless agreement included with the Staff Report was being reviewed by the City Attorney. She also stated that the applicant's architect had requested approval for reconfiguration of the garage, which would be necessary if the sideyard setback for the tennis court were changed to 51, as the Commission had requested, rather than the 1' setback shown on the original plans. Commissioner Alberio remarked that he believed the actual hold harmless agreement, approved by the City Attorney, should have been included with the Staff Report. Chairman Mowlds suggested that on Page 4 of 4 of the proposed Resolution, Condition No. 9 should read "A hold harmless agreement...... shall be submitted to the City", rather than "......submitted to the Planning Department". Associate Planner Jerex said that this change would be made. Chair Mowlds indicated that this was a continued public hearing and called for the first speaker. Mr. Tim Racisz (applicant's architect), 3480 Torrance Boulevard, Torrance, CA 90503. Mr. Racisz was concerned that there would be inadequate driveway space if the sideyard setback requirement for the tennis court was 5' from the side property and requested that the Commission approve movement of the garage further east. He clarified that the sideyard setbacks would then be 10' on the east and 5' on the west, which would meet Code minimums. He stated that an alternative to this arrangement would be some other reconfiguration of the garage. Associate Planner Jerex added that the garage would need to be pivoted slightly and that a very minor additional excavation PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 22, 1995 PAGE 2 would be required. She indicated the proposed change on her copy of the plans. Commissioner Alberio moved to close the public hearing, seconded by Commissioner Whiteneck. Approved (6-0). Commissioner Alberio said that he did not oppose the reconfiguration of the garage, but reiterated that he would prefer to review the actual hold harmless agreement that would be required. Commissioner Whiteneck felt strongly that the hold harmless agreement should include provisions for personal injury or loss of life in addition to property damage. Commissioner Alberio concurred with Commissioner Whiteneck. Vice Chair Hayes asked if the sample hold harmless agreement included in the Staff Report was typical of the ones used for construction in the Landslide Moratorium Area. Planning Administrator Petru said that it was. Vice Chair Hayes wondered about the precedent that might be set for projects in the future. Planning Administrator Petru replied that she had spoken to the City Attorney on that issue and the City Attorney felt that in cases in which the Planning Commission or the City Council believed a hold harmless agreement was prudent, and the reasons could be articulated in the Resolution, a hold harmless agreement could be required. However, Ms. Petru stressed that this would not become general practice for all projects. Vice Chair Hayes indicated that she found this acceptable. Chairman Mowlds stated that he was satisfied with the tennis court setback change and that he was confident that a hold harmless agreement approved later by the City Attorney would adequately protect the City. Commissioner Alberio responded that he simply believed that the Commission should be approving a complete project and he believed this completeness required that the actual hold harmless agreement should be finalized before the approval of the P.C. Resolution. Chairman Mowlds stressed that the Commission would be approving the P.C. Resolution based on a requirement for a hold harmless agreement, which would meet the satisfaction of the City Attorney PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES .AUGUST 22, 1995 PAGE 3 .7 and was agreeable to the applicant. acceptable. • He believed that this was Commissioner Whiteneck repeated that he believed the hold harmless agreement should include personal injury as well as property damage, indicated that he had 18 years of experience with the Los Angeles Harbor Department and that this element had always been included in their documents. Planning Administrator replied that Staff would make that suggestion to the City Attorney. Chair Mowlds added that if the City Attorney agreed, mention of personal injury would be included in the hold harmless agreement. Vice Chair Hayes moved to approve the project with that direction to Staff to suggest to the City Attorney that the required hold harmless statement include a provision for personal injury or loss of life. The motion was approved, (5-1), on the following roll call vote: AYES: Commissioners Vannorsdall, Wang, Whiteneck, Vice Chair Hayes, and chairman Movids NOES: Commissioner Alberio Planning Administrator stated that P.C. Resolutions Nos. 95-31 and 95-32 would be signed that evening, with conditions of approval, as modified by the commission. Chairman Mowlds added that the 15 -day appeal period would begin that evening. PUBLIC HEARINGS (NO ITEMS) NEW BUSINESS 3. CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. 119 - Rev. "All - Clarification; Air Touch, c/o Dean Brown, The Planning Consortium, 30940 Hawthorne Boulevard (City Hall) (DJ) Vice Chair Hayes left the dais, recusing herself from hearing this item as her home is within 3001 of the project site. Associate Planner Jerex presented the Staff Report,astating that Air Touch's current request was to revise its most recent approval for antenna modifications approved by the City Council (on appeal) in April 1994. She explained that those approved modifications included the removal of five whip antennas, two of PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 22, 1995 PAGE 4 which would be replaced, as well the addition of eleven new antennas of various sizes. Ms. Jerex stated that the five whip antennas were still in place, but were scheduled to be removed and that nine of the eleven antennas of varying sizes had been installed. She said that, as the installation of nine of the eleven antennas was in progress, Air Touch requested that two additional whip antennas be allowed in lieu of two 5211 panel antennas. Staff's recommendation was that a formal review process was not necessary as the visual impact was not considered to be significant and the emission levels would not be increased. Associate Planner Jerex also reported that Staff had recently fielded many requests from other interested cellular phone companies. Staff felt that it would be wise to consider placing a moratorium on future additions to the monopole, to allow Staff time to evaluate visual impacts or potential health risks of such an intensification of use. Commissioner Alberio asked if, in light of the Code Enforcement activity regarding this project and the revisions requested, a new public hearing should be held. Associate Planner Jerex reiterated that Staff did not feel that the new request was significant enough to hold a full review, but that if the Commission felt otherwise, the item could be postponed and noticed for a public hearing. Commissioner Alberio asked if the moratorium would have to be approved by the City Council and Associate Planner Jerex said that it would. Chairman Mowlds, disclosing that he was a contractor, questioned the fact that Air Touch performed antenna installation without a building permit, left incomplete work, and provided no advance notice or precautionary safety measures. He believed that it would have been appropriate to shut down their operation, as would be done with any other commercial structures. Associate Planner Jerex clarified that, to be fair to the applicant, there was a miscommunication between Air Touch and their contractor and that, even though the Conditional Use Permit allowed the modifications, a building permit was required for each one of the changes. She added that after -the -fact permits were obtained and that the situation was corrected now. she stated that, in the future, non-compliance with the proposed Conditions of Approval would cause the work to be stopped and the City's Code Enforcement Department would take action. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 22, 1995 PAGE 5 0 1 0 Commissioner Alberio believed that the miscommunication between Air Touch and their contractor was an excuse, not a reason, and believed that Air Touch was ultimately responsible. Associate Planner suggested that Mr. Brown could speak to this issue. Chairman Mowlds anticipated that the comment from the applicant would be that the City was trying to shut down cellular service, contrary to Federal regulations. The Chairman said that it was too easy to say it was the subcontractor's fault. He desired that, if Staff experienced the same problems again, Air Touch would have to start over again with the permit approval process. Planning Administrator Petru responded that a hearing would be required before the Planning Commission in order to revoke or modify any prior approval. Chairman Mowlds stressed that he was most concerned about safety and that he wanted the City to be able to stop work on the monopole, if necessary. Planning Administrator Petru answered that the City's Building Official had that ability now, if the work was being conducted in an unsafe manner. Mr. Dean Brown (applicant), 1111 Town & Country Road, #37, Orange, CA 92668. Mr. Brown stated that he had reviewed the Staff Report and that he agreed with the conditions of approval. He apologized for the misunderstanding regarding previous installations, in reference to notification and taking precautionary measures. He explained that, when Air Touch first installed the panel antennas, they did not plan to install the one microwave dish that was approved with the last changeout, but the Building Inspector said that he would not final the building permit until that antenna was installed. In response, Air Touch installed the dish without providing the required attachment detail to the Inspector. Mr. Brown felt that this was what created the initial misunderstanding. He added that, approximately two to three days after the microwave dish was installed, the proper permit was obtained. Mr. Brown mentioned that Ms. Alicia Kiddy from Air Touch was responsible for monitoring compliance with the conditions and she was present to indicate that there would be compliance in the future, especially regarding a 24-hour notice, roping off the area, and cleaning up after the work was complete. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 22, 1995 PAGE 5 Commissioner Alberio asked if the antennas would be transmitting or receiving, and whether the proposed changes would increase the emission levels. Mr. Brown responded that the antennas transmitted and received, and that there would be no change in emission level or the number of channels. Commissioner Alberio asked if the new antennas would be at a lower elevation on the pole. Mr. Brown said that the large 151 whip antennas which pointed up were no longer necessary so the new antennas would be technically located at a lower elevation on the monopole. He noted that Southern California Edison had put up 151 whip antennas pointed up. 'Air Touch's three whip antennas would be pointed down and only -one small 51 whip antenna would be pointed up, which was shown on Sheet No. 4 of the submitted drawings. Therefore, of the three antennas pointed up, two of those were Edison's, which were approved by the Planning Commission during the previous year. Mr. Brown introduced the Air Touch representative, Ms. Alicia Kiddy. She stated that she had no comments. Mrs. Lois Large, 3136 Barkentine Road, Rancho Palos Verdes. Mrs. Larue objected to the lack of public notification for this item because she felt that the residents on the hill above City Hall would like to have commented on the visual impact. In addition, she stated that she believed she had read that the cellular telephone companies were attempting to gain complete freedom throughout the State Legislature to keep cities from interfering in their activities. Chairman Mowlds replied that actually there would be less visual impact from the proposed change because the new antennas would be replacing large ones. A discussion ensued between Mrs. Larue, Chairman Mowlds, and Commissioner Alberio in which it was determined that there would be fewer antennas, that they would be in a lower position on the pole and that the majority of them would be pointed down, rather than up. Mrs. Larue indicated that she was concerned for the safety of the City Hall staff members. Commissioner Alberio moved to adopt the P.C. Resolution approving the installation of the new antennas, seconded by Commissioner Vannorsdall. Approved, (5-0-1), with Vice Chair Hayes abstaining. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 22, 1995 PAGE 7 commissioner Alberio moved to request Staff to recommend to the City Council that a moratorium be placed on placement of additional antennas to allow time to study the issue, seconded by Commissioner Vannorsdall. Approved, (5-0-1), via Minute Order, with vice chair Hayes abstaining. Planning Administrator Petru indicated that P.C. Resolution No. 95-33 would be signed that evening. Vice Chair Hayes returned to the dais. 4. Development Code Revision program clarification regarding the designation of property lines by the Director. Planning Administrator Petru stated that there was existing language in the Development Code regarding property line designation and that Staff and the City Attorney have developed some language further clarifying that the Director's decision shall be final in determining properly lines. The new language will be included in the Development Code Revisions to be brought back to the Commission for final review. The consensus of the Commission was that this would be agreeable. 5. Completeness Review for projects that require a Negative Declaration. Chairman Mowlds stated that he had realized that it was probably not possible to implement his suggestion. Planning Administrator elaborated, stating that, in researching the possibility of changing the procedure, Staff determined that CEQA and the Permit Streamlining Act precluded modification of the current method, even though the suggestion had seemed initially like a good idea. 6. Provide staff with direction regarding the starting time for the September 12, 1995 Planning Commission meeting. Planning Administrator Petru reported that, although there had been significant progress in the City Attorney/Staff analysis of the Development Code Revisions, the entire document would not be available for Planning Commission review on September 12, 1995. She explained that ground was lost because the City Attorney's availability had been limited recently and the Senior Planner had been heavily involved with Redevelopment Agency projects on which the City Council had placed a high priority. Ms. Petru stated that the balance of the Code Revisions would be available at the next meeting on September 26, 1995. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 22, 1995 PAGE 8 • Vice Chair Hayes expressed concern that insufficient time for review before the meeting if the copies were delivered the the meeting. 11 there would be September 12, 1995 Thursday night before Planning Administrator Petru reassured the Commission that review should be simplified, as the substantial changes would be highlighted and in the Staff Report, so that the entire document would not have to be studied carefully. Commissioner Wang asked how much time was anticipated to be needed to complete the final review. Chairman Mowlds speculated that at least two meetings would be required. Planning Administrator Petru agreed. She reiterated that she did not believe an early starting time at the September 12, 1995 meeting was necessary because it was likely to otherwise be a light agenda. The consensus of the Commission was to begin the September 12, 1995 meeting at the regular starting time of 7:00 P.M. ITEMS TO BE PLACED ON FUTURE AGENDAS Staff: 7. Pre -Agenda for the regular Planning Commission meeting of Tuesday, September 12, 1995. Commission• None COMMENTS FROM AUDIENCE (regarding non -agenda items) Mrs. Lois Larue, 3136 Barkentine Road, Rancho Palos Verdes, noted that Staff had included an article in the Staff Report for Item 3 indicating that the cellular telephone companies were attempting to push through legislation denying local authorities the right to control cellular phone antenna installations. She also stated that her son had discovered a new landslide at Abalone Cove in December 1992. PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 22, 1995 PAGE 9 ADJOURNMENT Commissioner Alberio moved to adjourn, seconded by Commissioner Whiteneck. The motion carried, (6-0), and the meeting was duly adjourned at 8:02 P.M. The next regular meeting of the Planning Commission would be on September 12, 1995. (A.JDMIN#10 - MIN8.22) PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES AUGUST 22, 1995 PAGE 10