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HomeMy WebLinkAbout09-16-2004 Minutes ~'t\\ SAN p. %0 ~ -.....~.~<f c} -.~"L ;:~,,~;t. ~ fi'''' - --;{"~ ~. '.. i.~lI (J) tll'1 1.",."",__... laln u~~:o _.a..._..~ ~4 h-,~-":"..;:.A1ii;,j. ~~~ C4iIF~;~\.~ MINUTES September 16, 2004 CITY OF SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO REGULAR PLANNING COMMISSION CALL TO ORDER / PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE ROLL CALL / CHAIR COMMENTS TAPE 1 7:30 D.m. PRESENT: Commissioner Giusti, Commissioner Honan, Commissioner Sim, Commissioner Teglia, Commissioner Zemke, Vice Chairperson Ochsenhirt and Chairperson Romero ABSENT: None STAFF PRESENT: Planning Division: Thomas C. Sparks, Chief Planner Susy Kalkin, Principal Planner Bertha Aguilar, Admin. Asst. II Kimberly Johnson, Assistant City Attorney Dennis Chuck, Senior Civil Engineer Sergeant Alan Normandy, Planning Liaison Maurice Dong, Assistant Fire Marshall City Attorney: Engineering Division: Police Department: Fire Prevention. AGENDA REVIEW No Changes ORAL COMMUNICATIONS CONSENT CALENDAR 1. AGS Linen SelVices John M. Ward/applicant Elisa Sandoval/owner 915 Linden Ave. P04-0103 &. UP04-0029 None Continue to October 7, 2004 Use Permit to allow an existing linen supply service to expand into three adjacent tenant spaces at 915 Linden Avenue in the C-1 Retail Commercial Zoning District in accordance with SSFMC Chapters 20.22 and 20.81. Motion Sim / Second Giusti to approve the Consent Calendar. Approved by unanimous voice vote. PUBLIC HEARING 2. Hillside Church of God/Owner The Alaris Group-Grant Wilson/ Applicant 1415 Hillside Blvd. P04-0028 &. UP04-0008 Continued from September 2, 2004 Use Permit to allow a wireless telecommunication facility mounted inside of a cross atop an existing church steeple within 300 feet of a residential neighborhood in the Medium Density Residential (R-2-H-P) Zoning District in accordance with SSFMC Chapter 20.105. Chief Planner Sparks presented the staff report. Grant Wilson, the Alaris Group, noted that there has been landscaping incorporated closer to the street and that planting materials similar to the Stonegate Estates Development would be used on their site. Public Hearing opened. Planning Commission Meeting of September 16, 2004 Greg Erion, Hillside Church of God, noted that they were in favor of the antenna proposal and that the applicant has met all of the Churches requirements. Public Hearing closed. Vice Chairperson Teglia noted that the intent of the landscaping was to clean up the corner. He questioned why the encroachment onto City property was not pursued. Chief Planner Sparks noted that it is not responsibility of the applicant to do this but the responsibility of the Church. Vice Chairperson Teglia noted that the landscaping would take some of the parking lot area. Chief Planner Sparks replied that the landscaping would be at the beginning of the parking lot. Mr. Wilson noted that the second landscape plan submitted to the City in July had the landscaping in the public right-of-way but it was later noted by Senior Planner Carlson and Dennis Chuck that it was not feasible to do so. Vice Chairperson Teglia noted that this could be made feasible and the applicant could work with the Engineering Division. Commissioner Romero noted that the sidewalk on the block is not continuous and stops at the crosswalk and then at the new proposal for Stonegate Estates. He asked that the sidewalk improvements for this site be included in the next Capital Improvement Program at which time landscaping can also be added. Motion Teglia / Second Romero to approve P04-0028 & UP04-0008 with the provision that the applicant meet with the Engineering Division to incorporate the Commission comments. Approved by unanimous voice vote. Recess called at 7:42 p.m. Recalled to order at 7:45 p.m. 3. CYROSPEC Douglas F. Wells/applicant Wattis Jr., Paul L./owner 156 W. Harris Ave. P04-0114, DR04-0065 &. UP04-0032 Use Permit to allow an outdoor storage tank to be located behind an existing industrial building in the P-I Planned Industrial Zoning District in accordance with SSFMC Section 20.32.070 and Chapter 20.81. Chief Planner Sparks presented the staff report. The applicant noted that they have met all the requirements and ask that the Commission waive the 4% landscaping that they cannot meet because they need all the room in the driveway and cul-de-sac for the large trucks that would be entering and exiting the site from one access point. Public Hearing opened. There being no speakers the Public Hearing was closed. The Commission agreed to grant the 4% landscape waiver and asked the applicant to pay Cultural Arts in-lieu fees. Motion Teglia / Second Sim to approve P04-0114, DR04-0065 & UP04-0032. Approved by unanimous voice vote. Recess called at 8:01 p.m. Recalled to order at 8:05 p.m. 4. Costco Gas Station and Parking lot Reconfiguration Costco Wholesale Corporation/applicant City of South San Francisc%wner 479 So. Airport Blvd. s:\MlvclAtes\Flvc~Lluct MlvclAtes\2oo4\oj-iG-04 RPC,ctOt p~ge 2 of b Planning Commission Meeting of September 16, 2004 P04-0043, UP04-0011 &. ND04-0002 Use permit to construct an automated self-service fueling facility consisting of 4 pump islands containing 8 gasoline dispensers (16 fueling positions), a pump island canopy, 3-30,000 gallon underground fuel tanks and minor accessory structures, generating in excess of 100 additional average daily trips at 479 South Airport Boulevard and to reconfigure the parking and landscaping in the main Costco warehouse parking lot at 451 South Airport Boulevard, in the Planned-Commercial (P-C) zone district, in accordance with SSFMC section 20.24.030(c) APN# 015 173080,015 173040,015 180 170 Kim Sanford, Costco Wholesale, presented the team and noted that they have complied with the Planning Commission and the City Council's concerns. Stephanie Gordon, South Airport Warehouse Manager, noted that the Costco facility at the South Airport site has been an active participant in the community. She added that they provide assistance to Martin Elementary School and are also active with the Chamber of Commerce. Bruce Creager, Barghausen Consulting Engineers, gave a PowerPoint presentation and noted that the gas station has been relocated and the gas tanks have been reinforced with a mat slab foundation which increases the safety factor by 40% over the previous proposal. He added that MTBE is no longer in the market as of January 2004. He also pointed out that they would continue to maintain the Bay Trail and the warehouse parking lot would be reconfigured. Public Hearing opened. Sam Twenat spoke in favor of the proposal and noted that the location is ideal for shopping and getting gas at the site. Those speaking in opposition were: Don Mason, 10 Arlington Drive, was concerned with the congestion on South Airport Boulevard. Russ Hampton, owner of the Shell Gas Station at 248 S. Airport Blvd, noted that there is not any solution being made by moving the tanks. He added that there will be traffic impacts and that there is not any room for additional traffic on South Airport Boulevard. He pointed out that the parking lot reconfiguration should be a separate approval and not considered with the gas station. He added that the City will not gain any tax revenues at this new gas station and pointed out that the tax revenues from small gas stations will shift to Costco. Public Hearing closed. Commissioner Honan asked that the applicant give a description of the concrete mat slab foundation for the tanks. Mr. Creager noted that there is an 8-inch concrete foundation, which is wider than the tanks. The tanks are anchored using bolts and V2" galvanized steel cable. Vice Chairperson Teglia asked if the straps were due to a buoyancy issue. Mr. Creager noted that the entire anchoring system all works toward providing countervailing forces towards the buoyancy factors. He added that they have to analyze the groundwater elevation and if it is found that there is groundwater, the anchoring system is analyzed to be certain that if the tanks are empty and there is water that can create a buoyancy effect it can hold the tanks in place. Vice Chairperson Teglia noted that the anchoring system needs to be in place because the site is close to the bay and due to the elevation. Commissioner Zemke asked what the groundwater level is in the area. Don Graham, Kleinfelder Engineers noted that the groundwater level is 4-10 feet below the ground surface. He added that the primary purpose of the mat slab is to provide additional weight to preclude the tanks from floating when they are empty. He compared it to a scuba diver wearing a weight to prevent floating. Commissioner Romero was concerned with the gallonage projections of gas being pumped per year at the South Airport location and asked how much the EI Camino location was pumping. Principal Planner Kalkin noted that the traffic analysis increased the 6.5 million gallons in the Costco projections by 50%. Commissioner Romero added s:\MlvclAtes\Flvc~Lluct MlvclAtes\2oo4\oj-iG-04 RPC,ctot p~ge 3 of b Planning Commission Meeting of September 16, 2004 that the Crane Transportation report shows that Santa Clara, Sunnyvale and Sacramento were pumping about 7.7 to 9.69 million gallons. He questioned why the South Airport facility had a low estimate. Ms. Sanford noted that they compare sales between warehouses and the South Airport facility does half the sales as the EI Camino store does, which is why the projections that the South Airport store will sell half the gasoline that the EI Camino store sells. She added that EI Camino is one of the highest volume gas stations in the company. She added that their analysis shows that customers combine their trips. Commissioner Romero noted that there is not a cap that Costco will have if the sales reach what EI Camino reached. Ms. Sanford noted that the South Airport site is not expected to reach to EI Camino Store numbers. Commissioner Romero noted that there will be a problem with queuing in the overflow parking on Belle Air. He noted that several aisles would not have an exit due to cars queuing and blocking the ends of the driveway. Ms. Sanford noted that the overflow parking is underutilized and could be used as employee parking. She added that they have submitted a queuing plan that closes off certain driveways to mitigate the traffic. Commissioner Zemke asked what drives the parking spaces required by Costco. Principal Planner Kalkin noted that the parking requirement is set out in the Zoning Ordinance at 5 spaces per 1,000 sq ft. Commissioner Honan asked if they could designate the overflow parking to be designated for employees only, and whether that could be added into the conditions of approval. Principal Planner Kalkin noted that a portion of the parking lot could be designated for employee parking, but not the entire lot, since the number of parking spaces in the lot exceeds the number of employees and some number of parking spaces are needed for customer overflow. Mark Crane, Crane Transportation, noted that they studied the traffic issues in 2001 at the EI Camino Costco and at that time the facility was pumping 150,000 gallons per week with a maximum of 68-70 vehicles queuing. He added that both these facilities have 16 fueling stations. The plan for the South Airport gas facility shows the capacity for 100 cars queuing. He noted that this facility will be pumping less gas than the EI Camino facility resulting in fewer cars queuing, so queuing capacity should far exceed demand. Commissioner Romero noted that the large queuing lines were not expected with the EI Camino store and he is trying to prevent this from happening in the new gas facility. Vice Chairperson Teglia noted that there is not any difference between this application and the other gas stations because customers buy gas when it is needed. He noted that people would not combine shopping with purchasing gas. He noted that Costco estimates are understated and may be created to make the current design pencil out. He noted that this site would have a regional draw due to easy access off the freeway, which understates the traffic issues. He added that the queuing of the cars is a hazard because the engines will be idled and there will be exhaust and other fumes released. Costco gas stations are not like regular gas station and most of the criteria that is used to analyze them is for regular gas stations. He disagreed that the impacts are less than significant allowing for mitigation. He felt that this is the most impacting application in the E-101 and felt that an Environmental Impact Report is required to look at this specific operation. He added that the price differential between Costco and the neighboring gas stations on EI Camino is smaller but did not occur until the City complained of these problems. He added that Costco at EI Camino was planning on developing the site adjacent to their property and how a portion of that site could have been used to mitigate the queuing problems. Vice Chairperson Teglia noted that if the differential would increase once again the queuing lines would flow to the streets. He noted that Costco felt the facility at South Airport would be an employee serving amenity. He noted that an employee serving amenity is a restaurant, cafe, dry cleaner etc... He pointed out that gas is already well- served in the area and the Use Permit requirement is to allow the Planning Commission to plan the City in order to not have too much of one use in one area. He stated that the San Francisco Bay is a delicate resource that was abused for years but has been improved over the last 30 years. He felt that the gas station will have a negative impact. He added that all gas stations leak and this is near the bay, which will contaminate it. He pointed out that traffic could reach the freeways and be adverse to the area. He noted that gas is a hazardous material and is not what you would want in the groundwater and felt that this is not going to be an asset to the City. He suggested that the Commission uphold the past decisions of the Commission and Council and deny the application. Commissioner Honan felt that the wastewater sewage plant has been overlooked. She noted that the plant has large trucks and emergencies. She was concerned with access to and from the plant in enough time to respond to emergencies. s:\MlvclAtes\Flvc~LlUI> MlvclAtes\2oo4\0,j-ib-04 RPC.I>Ot p~ge 4 of b Planning Commission Meeting of September 16, 2004 Commissioner Zemke noted that he is in favor of project and this would take some pressure off of the store on EI Camino. Vice Chairperson Teglia noted that Costco claims their stores serve separate spheres. He reiterated that the differentials would increase and traffic issues would rise again. Chairperson Ochsenhirt felt that there will be a shift whether it be significant or not. Commissioner Sim asked if there was an analysis of another City or region stores in close proximity to each other that might give an idea of how the community is affected. Principal Planner Kalkin and Chief Planner Sparks noted that the both stores are within approximately 3 miles of each other. Ms. Gordon added that San Jose, Santa Clara and Sunnyvale are in very close proximity to each other and they have stabilized. She added that there is cross shopping between South Airport and EI Camino. Commissioner Romero noted that the application claims to be consistent with the General Plan Community Commercial designation by being a service station. He noted that there is a distinction between a service station and what Costco is proposing. He noted that a service station is a business that sells more than gas and has additional services such as bathrooms, shops, checking water and radiators, snacks and other items. Assistant City Attorney Johnson noted that if the Commission was inclined to deny the project, they continue the matter to the next meeting in order to allow staff to review the record and make a determination as to what Findings should be adopted for denial. Chairperson Ochsenhirt noted that the location of this new gas station is ideal due to its proximity to Highway 101 and 380. This will keep cars out of more residential areas. He added that there is also queuing at gas stations, car washes and other services. He pointed out that this new gas station is a great source of tax revenue for the City. Motion Teglia / Second Honan to continue the item to allow staff to draft Findings of Denial. Commissioner Romero asked to amend the motion to include an analysis by the Assistant City Attorney Johnson of the draft Findings of Denial. Vice Chairperson Teglia and Commissioner Honan consented to amending the motion. Roll Call: Ayes: Commissioner Giusti, Commissioner Honan, Commissioner Romero, Commissioner Sim and Vice Chairperson Teglia Commissioner Zemke and Chairperson Ochsenhirt None None Noes: Absent: Abstain: Item continued to October 7,2004. Approved by a 5-2 roll call vote. ADMINISTRATIVE BUSINESS 5. Items from Staff Chief Planner Sparks reminded the Commission to RSVP for the Boards and Commission appreciation lunch on September 26,2004 and of Day in the Park on Saturday, September 18, 2004. He added that 80 South Spruce cell site has been appealed. He pointed out that the Zoning Administrator granted a Minor Use Permit at an existing cell facility for an emergency generator at 212 Shaw. 6. Items from Commission 7. Items from the Public None 8. Adjournment 9:41 P.M. s:\MlvclAtes\Flvc~Llul> MlvclAtes\2004\oj-ib-04 RPG.I>Ot p~ge 5 of b Planning Commission Meeting of September 16, 2004 Motion Giusti / Second Zemke to adjourn. Approved by unanimous voice vote. Th~~~ /-(,'<. /.' ~ ~ \ i'. ..~-f;'': .A~ ~./.'"'1.....A, .~,__.}-A,.,; Rick Ochsenhirt, Chairperson Planning Commission City of South San Francisco Secretary to the Planning Commission City of South San Francisco NEXT MEETING: Regular Meeting October7, 2004, Services Building, 33 Arroyo Drive, South San Francisco, CA TCS/bla s:\MlvclAtes\Flvc~Llzel> MlvclAtes\2oo4\03-ib-04 RPC.l>ot p~ge b of b