All right good evening and welcome to the thursday february 22nd 2024 regular
meeting of the walnut creek planning commission
this time i'll ask our commission secretary to please call the roll
commissioner reiser here commissioner nating here commissioner lizak here
commissioner pickett here uh commissioners anderson and strongman
are absent chair ward here okay so we have a good quorum here and
we'll just move along to our item two which is the consent calendar
We have one item on the consent calendar adoption the minute meeting minutes
Would any commissioner like to remove this item from the consent calendar?
All right, seeing none
I guess i'm supposed to have public comment on every agenda item, right? So technically
Okay, so is there any member of the public who would like to comment on our consent calendar item today?
All right, seeing none. I would entertain a motion to approve the minutes of
February 8th, 2024. I move to approve the consent calendar. Do we have a second? I second. Great,
thank you. We have a motion and a second. If we could please call the roll. Commissioner Reiser.
Yes. Commissioner Nating. Yes. Commissioner Lisek. I'm gonna abstain. I was absent.
Don't actually have to do that. You're, but okay. Commissioner Pickett. Yes.
Commissioners Anderson and Strongman are absent.
Chair Ward?
Yes.
Great, thank you.
The motion passes.
All right, thank you.
All right, next on our agenda is item three,
public communication.
Public communication portion of the meeting
is reserved for comment on items not on the agenda.
This means comments which are not
about the First Bank conditional use permit
or the North Downtown specific plan amendments.
Under the Brown Act, the commission cannot act
on items raised during public communications
that may respond briefly to statements made
or questions posed, request clarification
or refer item to staff.
Additionally, I would like to remind everyone
that not all speech is protected
and that I will not tolerate or allow hate speech
during public comment at any meeting that I chair.
Hate has no place in our community
and our words must reflect our community commitment
to equality and inclusion for all.
At this time, are there any members of the public
who would like to make a comment?
All right, seeing none.
We'll move onward to item four, public hearings.
I would like to suggest that we switch the order
of these two items and move the second item
and hear it first.
So I guess I need the consent of the commission to do that.
So do we have any objection to switching the order?
No.
I see only shaking heads.
So do I need an actual motion?
Yes, please.
Okay, I would like to move that we move item 4B up to 4A and do I have a second on that?
Second.
Lots of seconds.
All right, call the roll, please.
Ward and the motion and who was second?
Everybody.
Commissioner Reiser?
Yes.
Commissioner Nating?
Yes.
Commissioner Lezak?
Yes.
Yes. Commissioner Pickett? Yes. Commissioner Strongman and Anderson are absent.
Chairwoman? Yes. Thank you for that. So after all that excitement my
understanding is that we are moving this item to a date certain which is March
14th 2024. So that item will not be heard tonight but will be heard on March
14th. And just Chair Ward so to avoid having to re-notice the item I would
the commission to open the public hearing tonight but to the extent
there's anybody here to comment you can take the comment but you will not hear
the item tonight. Okay that's excellent then on the advice of council I will
open the what is now the first item public hearing item and open the public
hearing and we'd like to accept any public comment regarding this item at
this time. Are there any members of the public present who would like to address
to address the commission with regard to this item.
All right, seeing none,
we will close public comment for tonight.
And I guess.
That we'll continue the public hearing itself
to March 14th, 2024.
I get all the magic words in there.
If we can have a motion and a vote.
We need a motion to continue.
All right.
So moved.
Thank you.
Second.
Okay.
Commissioner Reiser.
Yes.
Commissioner Nating?
Yes.
Commissioner Lezak?
Yes.
Commissioner Pickett?
Yes.
Commissioners Anderson and Strongman are absent.
Chair Ward?
Yes.
Motion passes.
All right, thank you everybody for that.
We'll look forward to that in next month.
So our next public hearing that we would like to do
at this point is the first bank conditional use permit
application number Y24-004.
The address is 1760 North Broadway at the APN 178351018.
I understand we have a staff presentation
by Simmer Gil, our associate planner.
Good evening commissioners, Simmer Gil, associate planner.
Before I begin, I actually wanted to express my gratitude
to both commissioner Pickett and commissioner Lezak
for the exceptional service, dedication and experience
that you brought to this commission.
And I've been presenting before you for the past few years
and I've learned a lot.
And your comments and your input has always been appreciated
and it has resulted in better designed projects
for the city so I just wanted to say thank you
since this might be my last opportunity to say it at the dais.
And now moving on to tonight's project.
This project is a request for a conditional use permit
for a bank that will operate in the single story.
excuse me, single-story building at 1760 North Broadway.
The application number is Y24-004.
The applicants that are representing the project,
Kathy Delio and Shanna Petit are both here tonight
as am I to answer any questions
that you may have after the presentation.
And just to orient you with the site,
the North Broadway Business Center
is a single-story commercial building
that consists of a total of five commercial tenants
with 36 parking spaces on site,
and access to the parking is provided
from Carlback Avenue and exit on North Broadway,
as you can see here.
And the site is own mixed-use residential.
The property is located in the boundaries
of the North Downtown specific plan,
and the surrounding area consists of a mix of retail
and commercial uses.
And First Bank is currently operating
in the two-story building at the corner of North Civic
and North Broadway, the building that you see here,
and the applicant is looking to relocate the business
to a smaller tenant space,
to the single-story building adjacent
to this parcel to the north.
And First Bank is a full-service facility
that will offer banking and lending services,
and a total of four associates
that consists of bankers, tellers, and business partners
will be employed at this location.
The hours of operation are Monday through Friday,
9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and no exterior changes are proposed to the building or the parking lot.
And because the bank will be located within a single-story building, a conditional use
permit is required.
More discussion will be provided on that in the next slide.
This site was previously zoned central retail which did permit banks and retail uses by
rights and with the adoption of the specific plan in 2019, the property that area was rezoned
from central retail to mixed use residential,
where bank and retail uses are now only allowed
in multi-story buildings.
And this is a single-story building,
and because of that, the banks would not be allowed
under the current zoning.
However, the non-conforming uses section
of the Walnut Creek Municipal Code does allow such buildings
that are non-conforming due to the use or the structure
to remain viable until any future development happens
in this area.
And per the code, a new nonconforming use
can occupy a tenant space that was previously occupied
by a nonconforming use.
And in this case, it was occupied
by a retail tenant, which was Jenny Craig.
And here is a map from the North Downtown specific plan
that does highlight what is intended
for the different areas in the specific plan.
The red dashed lines that you see here,
they depict the ground floor pedestrian retail activity
neighborhood serving businesses along North Broadway. Bank uses are neighborhood serving
services therefore it meets the policies and the uses that are envisioned in this area.
And listed here are the required use permit and the continuation of non-conforming uses findings.
The bank does comply as it does not impair the character of the zone as it will be located within
a building that has similar commercial uses and the relocation of this bank provides the ability
to retain a local serving business in the city.
And the general plan, specific plan and the zoning also encourages ground floor retail
and commercial uses, if this were a multi-tenant building, the banks and retail uses would
be allowed by right.
The Walnut Creek Police Department has also reviewed this proposal and has expressed no
safety concerns, as the bank is a low impact use in terms of noise and traffic.
And staff does believe that the planning commission can support the approval of the use permit
as it meets all of the required findings that are listed on this slide.
And the project is exempt from CEQA as the project is only a change of use for an existing
commercial tenant space.
Again, no exterior changes or expansion of the footprint is proposed.
And with that, staff does recommend that the planning commission move to determine that
project is exempt from CEQA and also adopt the resolution approving a
conditional use permit to establish a bank at this location. And that is all I
have but I'm happy to answer any questions. Thank you. Great. Thank you very
much for that very clear presentation. We appreciate it and also for your kind
words about my colleagues here. Do we have any questions from commissioners at
this point? No questions. All right. So at this point I'd like to open the public
hearing regarding this matter and the applicant will have 15 minutes for their presentation
if they would like to take advantage of that. Nothing? Okay. Great. Do you want to come
up and just introduce yourselves and tell us who you are? And then if we have any questions
for you, you'll already be up here. Thank you. If you could come to the microphone,
Thank you.
My name is Kathy D'Elio, I'm the property manager of the Broadway Center, where First
Bank would like to move into.
And that's really all I have to say.
I mean, you covered it all.
All right.
Yes, it was an excellent staff presentation.
All right, so do we have any questions from commissioners for the applicant at this time?
No.
I guess you can sit back down.
I'm sorry to have made you come all the way up here.
Seeing no questions from commissioners, are there any members of the public who wish to
provide public comment regarding this item at this time?
Going gone.
All right.
I see none.
So there's nothing for you to respond to.
So that makes it easier.
And at this time, I will then close the public hearing with regard to this agenda item and
bring it back to the Commission for any comments questions deliberation or
possibly a motion I would like to make a motion that we the planning Commission
to approve the conditional use permit for first bank second okay where the
the exemption from CEQA was included in that resolution so everything's in it
all right excellent all right so we have a motion and a second and if we could
please record the vote.
Commissioner Reiser?
Yes.
Commissioner Nating?
Yes.
Commissioner Lezak?
Yes.
Commissioner Pickett?
Yes.
Commissioners Anderson and Strongman are absent.
Chair Ward?
Yes.
The motion passes.
All right, excellent.
Thank you very much for that.
All right, so moving right along to agenda item five,
Commission considerations and I believe this is where we're going to do our okay.
All right so at this time it's my great pleasure to get to recognize and speak a
few words because I have the microphone so I get to do that about two of the
folks who are sharing that dais here with me who are retiring from the
Planning Commission I can't believe they do not want to devote all of their spare
time to this endeavor but here we are and so both Peter Lezak and Bob Pickett
are this is their last meeting which is hard to believe so I wanted to just say
a few words so Peter first of all I want to thank you for your service to
the city on this Commission you've served on this Planning Commission for
eight years, two full terms since 2016 and obviously you have a planning
background. I noted that your current title involves forward planning. I'm, you
know, this is not my area so I'm a little confused about how you could do backward
planning but I'm glad that you were helping us with the forward planning. It
seems to be a term of art in the industry although as a real estate
attorney I think maybe I do that when people engage in backward planning
and that's where I come in to help.
The failure to do forward planning
involves me helping with backward planning.
But I think that's super cool.
And obviously your professional planning experience
has been a tremendous asset to us here.
And I also mostly really have appreciated
your incredibly thoughtful questions
and your very clear explanations
of some kind of complex planning concepts
and procedures that sometimes were confusing to me,
which demonstrated that you were not only
an outstanding technician
and had a huge substantive knowledge in this area,
but that you're able to explain it in language
that those of us without that kind of technical skill
could understand.
And I think it made all of us better for having done that.
And I'm greatly, greatly appreciative of that.
So I will definitely miss you with regard to that.
Bob is apparently going for the record here for planning commission
having served for 13 years on this planning commission since 2011. I
actually thought it had been longer because I couldn't imagine. Nine years
before. Since 2011 so the math is bad but I got 22 years on the planning
Commission. Well, that sounds more low. So definitely a record for us to aspire to.
And you also have used your extensive planning and development background and contributed
a good amount of your retirement time as well, which is I think maybe even a greater contribution
to us to our city's incredible benefit. And I know from your resume, you have a little
a little bit of forward planning in your titles as well.
That also has helped us out quite a bit.
So other than Bob's obvious and very consistent
contributions to all of us here on planning
and to the city, when I think of you,
I think of the word inquisitive in part.
No one has more questions than Bob.
And I really appreciate that if only because when I say,
any questions from the commission?
I know there's gonna be some.
and they're gonna be good ones too, so.
I really appreciate your attention to detail
and also your tenacity in not letting an item go
until you and the rest of us have a really full
and clear understanding of what's going on,
and I think that is, has been a tremendous benefit
to all of us, and I will for sure miss your insight
and your inquisitiveness for sure,
and when you are not here serving.
Well, you can come at any time,
you can come to member comment and ask more questions,
but we won't be able to answer them in the same way.
So, but it's been a joy to work with both of you,
you know, and I will miss you all.
Now I understand we have some fancy door prizes for you
on the way out and they're pretty awesome.
So we have street signs that we've made for you
to take as a little token of our appreciation.
And I don't know, I think you should put it in
like it's displaying your living room or somewhere like really awesome or you
know maybe we can replace the street signs on your street I don't know that's
that's above my pay grade I can't do that but how do we want to do this if
you'd like to present the signs to each of the commissioners all right that's
cool I want to go on that run with you chair while I have not prepared any
remarks, I'd just like to ditto a couple of your comments. You took some some
great points in terms of their expertise. The amount of questions having been here
six years now. I'm still learning something every meeting and looking back
over the last six years that I've been serving with these two guys have been an
honor. I want to thank them for their commitment to the city and I'd like to
say I'm gonna miss the questions. Every time we have one, in fact I thought it
going to happen tonight when we have one that is pretty straightforward and all of a sudden it's
like, oh wait a minute and the sheet comes up and the questions come out so I'll be missed.
I just miss you guys. I'll miss you guys. It's been an honor. Yeah, thank you very much.
Can I say a few words? You may. Now's your chance. Can I ask a question? You may. The mic is yours.
I just want to say in the last 25 years, I have 22 years serving on this planning commission.
Some of us were kids in the day, Pam, I think how old you were when I started.
Anyhow, I'd like to say that the greatest part of this responsibility has been the people,
and not only the people on the Planning Commission,
our city staff, other commissions,
the residents of Walnut Creek, applicants.
It's just been a wonderful experience
being able to meet people in our community
and help guide the community to where it is today.
So I've been rewarded for the service I've put in.
So I'm grateful for that.
Thank you.
Thank you so much.
And Peter.
And I'll just add also,
It has been an honor to serve the citizens of Alna Creek
and it's been an honor to serve the council,
but it's really been a pleasure to work with all of you.
And I got a lot of friendships from city staff
and other folks along the way with this journey
and I really appreciate that.
And I really learned to serve
because being a volunteer
and putting in this number of hours,
you don't do it because of your ego,
You don't do it for the technical expertise.
You don't even do it just because you're trying
to do great things for a particular item.
You do it because you learned to serve
and it's really been an honor to do that.
So thank you all for that opportunity.
Thank you both.
Just we really appreciate it
and we wish you the best on your next adventures.
All right, any other comments for this agenda item?
No, but for number six.
I just want to let the public know that the special meeting for Monday, February 26th has been canceled.
Okay, great. Thank you very much. Any other commission member and staff reports or announcements?
All right, seeing none, we will adjourn this meeting at 6.25. Thank you very much, everyone.