07.14.16 Planning Agenda Packet
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- A City of Sonoma Planning Commission AGENDA Regular Meeting of July 14, 2016 -- 6:30 PM Community Meeting Room, 177 First Street West Sonoma, CA 95476 Meeting Length: No new items will be heard by the Planning Commission after 10:30 PM, unless the Commission, by majority vote, specifically decides to continue reviewing items. If an item is not heard due to the length of the meeting, the Commission will attempt to schedule a special meeting for the following week. If a special meeting is necessary, potential dates will be established at the close of this meeting, and a date set as soon as possible thereafter. CALL TO ORDER – Chair, Robert Felder Commissioners: Michael Coleman James Cribb Chip Roberson Mary Sek Ron Wellander Bill Willers Robert McDonald (Alternate) Be Courteous - TURN OFF your cell phones and pagers while the meeting is in session. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: Presentations by audience members on items not appearing on the agenda. MINUTES: Minutes from the meeting of June 9, 2016. CORRESPONDENCE ITEM #1 – CONSENT CALENDAR REQUEST: RECOMMENDED ACTION: These items will be acted upon in one Request for a one-year extension to the Grant one-year extension. motion unless removed from the Use Permit allowing a multi-tenant Consent Calendar for discussion by marketplace, including restaurant uses, Commissioners or any interested party. for the Sonoma Cheese Factory at 2 West Spain Street (Applicant: Viviani Trust). ITEM #2 – PUBLIC HEARING Project Location: RECOMMENDED ACTION: 458 East MacArthur Street REQUEST: Approve with conditions. Consideration of Exceptions to the General Plan Designation: height standards and rear yard setback Low Density Residential (LR) CEQA Status: requirements to legalize an existing Categorically Exempt. accessory structure located in the rear Zoning: yard of a residential property. Planning Area: Central-East Area Applicant/Property Owner: Base: Low Density Residential (R-L) Robert Baumann & Associates/Leslie Overlay: None Carlson Staff: Wendy Atkins City of Sonoma/Planning Commission Agenda Page 1 ITEM #3 – PUBLIC HEARING Project Location: RECOMMENDED ACTION: 456 Fifth Street West REQUEST: Commission discretion. Consideration of a Use Permit to General Plan Designation: convert a building into a vacation rental Mixed Use (MU) CEQA Status: unit. Categorically Exempt. Zoning: Applicant/Property Owner: Planning Area: Northwest Area Ryan Martin Base: Mixed Use (MX) Staff: Wendy Atkins Overlay: None ITEM #4 – PUBLIC HEARING RECOMMENDED ACTION: ISSUE: Review of Draft Downtown Sonoma Forward to City Council, with Preservation Design Guidelines. recommendations. Staff: Wendy Atkins CEQA Status: Not applicable. ISSUES UPDATE COMMENTS FROM THE COMMISSION COMMENTS FROM THE AUDIENCE ADJOURNMENT I do hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing agenda was posted on the City Hall bulletin board on July 8, 2016. CRISTINA MORRIS, ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT Rights of Appeal: Any decision of the Planning Commission may be appealed to the City Council. Appeals must be filed with the City Clerk within fifteen (15) calendar days following the Planning Commission’s decision, unless the fifteenth day falls on a weekend or a holiday, in which case the appeal period ends at the close of the next working day at City Hall. Appeals must be made in writing and must clearly state the reason for the appeal. Appeals will be set for hearing before the City Council on the earliest available agenda. A fee is charged for appeals. Copies of all staff reports and documents subject to disclosure that relate to any item of business referred to on the agenda are available for public inspection the Monday before each regularly scheduled meeting at City Hall, located at No. 1 The Plaza, Sonoma CA, (707) 938-3681. Any documents subject to disclosure that are provided to all, or a majority of all, of the members of the Planning Commission regarding any item on this agenda after the agenda has been distributed will be made available for inspection at the Administrative Assistant office, No. 1 The Plaza, Sonoma CA during regular business hours. If you challenge the action of the Planning Commission in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described on the agenda, or in written correspondence delivered to the Administrative Assistant, at or prior to the public hearing. In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the City Clerk (707) 933-2216. Notification 48-hours before the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting. City of Sonoma/Planning Commission Agenda Page 2 CITY OF SONOMA PLANNING COMMISSION REGULAR MEETING June 9, 2016 Community Meeting Room, 177 First Street West, Sonoma, CA Draft MINUTES Chair Cribb called the meeting to order at 6:30 p.m. Roll Call: Present: Chair Cribb, Comms. Wellander, Heneveld, Willers, Sek Absent: Comms. McDonald, Chair Felder Others Present: Planning Director Goodison, Associate Planner Atkins Administrative Assistant Morris Chair Cribb stated that no new items would be heard after 10:30 p.m. unless the Planning Commission so decides. Any decisions made by the Planning Commission can be appealed within 15 days to the City Council. He reminded everyone to turn off cell phones and pagers. Comm. Willers led the Pledge of Allegiance. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: None. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Comm. Willers made a motion to approve the minutes of April 14, 2016, subject to the correction noted by Comm. Wellander. Comm. Wellander seconded. The motion was unanimously approved (4-0, with Comm. Sek abstaining). Comm. Willers made a motion to approve the minutes of May 12, 2016. Comm. Cribb seconded. The motion was unanimously approved (4-0, with Comm. Sek abstaining). CHANGES TO AGENDA ORDER: None CORRESPONDENCE: Item 1 staff revision; late mail on Items 2 and 3 from David Eichar and Mary Martinez; issues update. Item #1 – Public Hearing – Consideration of a Temporary Use Permit to allow outdoor live music in association with a wine club event from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, June 12, 2016 at 389 Fourth Street East. Applicant/Property Owner: Sebastiano Winery /Foley Family Wines, Inc. Associate Planner Atkins presented staff’s report. Chair Cribb opened the item for public comment. Gary Geiger, Senior Hospitality Manager/Sebastiani Winery appreciated the consideration for having this one-time event. Comm. Willers asked about the capacity of the parking lot. Mr. Geiger stated that in his understanding, there were 129 parking spaces. Comm. Sek asked how event attendance would be controlled. The applicant stated that it is was being done through an RSVP process and that only those who made a reservation would be admitted. The applicant responded that wine club members would pre-register for the event. He stated that the estimated attendance represents the total over the course of the event and he expects there would be fewer people on the site at any one time. Chair Cribb closed the item for public comment. Comm. Wellander supported the application in light of the proposed conditions of approval since there have been similar events at the winery with no recent noise complaints. He noted that if it is not managed well, the next event may be evaluated differently. Comm. Willers stated that although he had some reservations about the number of attendees, he did not object to the hours or the proposed music. He agreed that if problems occurred, that would affect how future requests are reviewed. Comm. Coleman concurred. Comm. Sek concurred with her fellow Commissioners and felt that all 600 people would not attend at the same time. Chair Cribb agreed, especially as no neighbors have voiced objection. Comm. Willers made a motion to approve the Temporary Use Permit as requested. Comm. Coleman seconded. The motion was unanimously approved (5-0). Item 2 – Public Hearing – Consideration of a Use Permit to convert a second floor space into a vacation rental unit within the Sonoma Court Shops complex at 533 First Street East. Applicant/Property Owner: STRATAap Architecture/Sonoma Court Shops, Inc. Planning Director Goodison presented staff’s report. Comm. Coleman questioned if four occupants are allowed in the one-bedroom unit. Planning Director Goodison agreed with the concern, suggesting that if the Use Permit is approved, occupancy should be limited to two persons. Chair Cribb opened the item for public comment. Terrance Redmond, representing Sonoma Court Shops, noted that the reference to four persons was an error ant that occupancy should be limited to two. He stated that he was available to answer questions and in his view that proposal complies with the requirements of June 9, 2016 Page 2 of 7 the Development Code. He envisions a greater amount of revenue generated for the City by the proposed vacation rental use than other available options. The demand for office use within the complex has slowed over the years, but there is increased demand for short-term rentals. Comm. Wellander asked about the number of long-term residential apartment spaces within the Sonoma Court Shops complex. Mr. Redmond stated there were approximately 6-8 residential apartments within Sonoma Court Shops. Chair Cribb noted that changing economics can guide a property owner’s business decisions and asked the applicant if he could provide specific metrics as to the difference between the financial performance of the space as an office versus that of a vacation rental. Mr. Redmond stated that he could not provide those specifics, but noted that as he mentioned before, there is simply much less demand for office space. In the future that might change, in which case other uses might come into the forefront. Jim Bohar, resident in the Historic district, asked whether the provisions of the Historic Overlay Zone had any implications with regard to the this proposed change in use.