HomeMy WebLinkAbout4. Draft Minutes 02-17-21
MINUTES
DOWNEY CITY PLANNING COMMISSION
WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 17, 2021
CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS, 11111 BROOKSHIRE AVENUE
DOWNEY, CALIFORNIA
6:30 P.M.
Chair Duarte called the February 17, 2021, Regular Meeting of the Planning Commission to order at 6:42
p.m., at Downey City Hall, 11111 Brookshire Avenue, Downey, CA. After the flag salute, Secretary
Cavanagh called roll.
COMMISSIONERS PRESENT: Miguel Duarte, District 1, Chair
Arturo Montoya, District 3
Dimitrios Spathopoulos, District 4
Horacio Ortiz, Jr., District 5
COMMISSIONERS ABSENT: Patrick Owens, District 2, Vice Chair
OTHERS PRESENT: Aldo E. Schindler, Director of Community Development
Yvette Abich Garcia, City Attorney
Edwin Norris, Deputy Director of Public Works
Crystal Landavazo, City Planner
Guillermo Arreola, Principal Planner
Alfonso Hernandez, Senior Planner
Mary Cavanagh, Secretary
PLANNING COMMISSIONER ANNOUNCEMENTS; REQUEST FOR FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS; AND
CONFERENCE/MEETING REPORTS: None
PRESENTATIONS: None
REPORT ON CITY COUNCIL ACTION: None
PUBLIC HEARINGS:
1. PLN-19-00192 (Conditional Use Permit): Chair Duarte opened the public hearing for PLN-19-00192
continued from the February 3, 2021 hearing.
Principal Planner Guillermo Arreola presented a request to expand the existing restaurant use at 8104
Firestone Boulevard into the west abutting tenant space, 8100 Firestone Boulevard. The new space will
increase the 945 square foot restaurant by 2,284 square feet. The interior expansion includes a bar area,
additional seating, kitchen prep area and men’s and women’s restrooms. The restaurant operates with an
Alcohol Beverage Control (ABC) Type 47 license (On-Sale General – Eating Place) and live entertainment.
Site improvements include removal of non-conforming parking spaces and existing driveway, to be replaced
with a 1,347 square foot covered dining area, a 36-inch high reinforced wall topped with a 12” high glass
panel along the north and west property lines surrounding the outdoor dining area. The applicant will enter
into a Downtown Parking Waiver Agreement with the City of Downey for 27 parking spaces.
The current business hours of operation are 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 a.m.; the applicant seeks to modify the hours
of operation to open at 7:00 a.m. to accommodate breakfast. No other changes are proposed to the
operating hours. The existing CUP (Conditional Use Permit) allows the applicant to operate with live
entertainment in the form of amplified music with up to four amplified musicians, and charge an admission
fee during pay-per-view sporting events. The applicant seeks to modify the form of live entertainment to add
a disc jockey (DJ) and karaoke to the business. Live entertainment is limited to the inside of the restaurant
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February 17, 2021 Minutes
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building, the existing outdoor seating area (east of the restaurant), and karaoke is limited to the inside of the
restaurant building only; only string instruments, accordion and singer can be amplified. The business will
continue to provide the permitted hours of live entertainment and proposed hours of operation (7) days a
week.
Hours of Live Entertainment Inside:
11:00 a.m. – 11:00 p.m. Monday – Wednesday
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. Thursday – Sunday
• Hours of Live Entertainment Outside:
6:00 p.m. – 11:00 p.m. Monday – Wednesday
6:00 p.m. – 1:00 a.m. Thursday – Friday
11:00 a.m. – 1:00 a.m. Saturday – Sunday
The proposed Resolution will incorporate the previous conditions of approval from Resolution Nos. 15-2920
and 16-2971, and subsequently rescind the same resolutions so the business will operate under one
Resolution instead of multiple. The Police Department reviewed and approved the revised security plan,
which includes one additional security guard.
The Commission discussed the location of the nearest public parking lot, which included discussion of a
possible crosswalk at Firestone Boulevard and Myrtle Avenue.
The Commission also discussed the incorporation of bollards and the reinforced wall around the outdoor
dining area.
The applicant agreed to the conditions of approval.
Public Comments: None.
Chair Duarte closed the public hearing.
It was moved by Commissioner Spathopoulos, second by Commissioner Montoya, and passed by a vote of
4-0-1, with Vice Chair Owens absent, to adopt Resolution 21-3131, thereby approving the request for a
Conditional Use Permit (PLN-19-00192).
2. PLN-19-00132 (Site Plan Review, Conditional Use Permit and Zone Change): Chair Duarte opened
the public hearing for PLN-19-00132 and Ms. Cavanagh affirmed proof of publication.
City Planner Crystal Landavazo presented the request for a Site Plan Review (SPR) to allow for the
construction of a 44,162 square foot industrial tilt-up building on property located at 12021 Woodruff
Avenue. A Conditional Use Permit (CUP) due to the proposed use as a Freight Terminal. In addition to the
storage component for the freight terminal, 8,020 square feet will be used as a complementary accessory
office use. Lastly, a Zone Change (ZC) is requested to remove the zoning designation of P-B (Parking
Buffer) from the property so the entire lot has one zoning designation M-2 (General Manufacturing). the
proposed hours of operation for the business will be twenty-four (24) hours a day seven (7) days a week.
The majority of the building (36,142 square feet) will be used as a warehouse, and the remaining portion
(8,020 square feet) will be used as office. New landscaping, parking, and pedestrian access is harmoniously
designed at the front of the property. All elements of the proposed SPR are consistent with the Downey
Municipal Code, and no deviations or special privileges are requested as a part of this proposal. The (CUP)
is required for the operation of a “Freight Terminal” business. The facility will have a total of 70 loading
docks and 76 freight truck parking stalls, with a capacity for 100 employees at any given time. Vehicles and
freight trucks are allowed to access the site at two separate entrances via two 40’ wide driveways allowing a
disbursement of traffic North towards Firestone Boulevard and South towards Imperial Highway.
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Research conducted of other freight terminal facilities in nearby cities found that these hours of operation
are a common practice. In addition, the one other freight terminal operation found in the City is allowed to
operate twenty-four (24) hours a day Monday through Friday, five (5) hours on Saturday, and four (4) hours
on Sunday. The applicant has requested that they be allowed to operate twenty-four (24) hours a day every
day for this site. A Mitigated Negative Declaration was prepared for this project and studies concluded that
impacts related to the operation of the facility would be less than significant or would not create an impact in
comparison to the current use on site and nearby uses. The zone change is requested to eliminate the (P-B)
zone and designate the entire lot to (M-2), which will be consistent with the adjacent lots along Woodruff
Avenue.
The applicant agreed to the conditions of approval.
Public Comments: None.
Chair Duarte closed the public hearing.
The Commissioners spoke in favor
It was moved by Commissioner Montoya, second by Commissioner Ortiz, and passed by a vote of
4-0-1, with Vice Chair Owens absent, to adopt Resolution 21-3132, thereby approving the request for a
Conditional Use Permit (PLN-19-00132).
3. PLN-19-00173 (Site Plan Review, Conditional Use Permit and Variance): Chair Duarte opened the
public hearing for PLN-19-00173 and Ms. Cavanagh affirmed proof of publication.
Principal Planner Guillermo Arreola presented the request to approve a Site Plan Review, Conditional Use
Permit and a Variance (PLN-19-00173), to allow the demolition of an existing 2,231 sq. ft. building, and
construct a new 1,698 sq. ft. coffee shop with outdoor seating, a drive-thru, and a parking reduction for
property located at 9002 Firestone Boulevard, located within the Lakewood/Firestone Specific Plan (SP-91-
2). The proposed hours of operation for the coffee shop and drive-through are Monday through Sunday,
4:30 a.m. to 12:00 a.m. The nearest residentially developed properties are located approximately 400-feet
south of the subject site, across the railroad tracks, and 433 feet across Lakewood Boulevard, and a
condition of approval has been added that requires the project must comply with the City’s noise ordinance.
A Traffic Impact Analysis (TIA) was prepared by Ganddini Group, Inc., which conducted a drive-through
queuing, collision history, vehicle mile traveled (VMT) Assessment and a Parking Demand Study. The
assessment analyzed Starbucks locations in areas with comparable demographics. This assessment found
that the proposed queue length would not cause impacts to the area.
The Planning Commission requested a condition be added to install bollards along the southeast corner of
the building.
City Planner Landavazo proposed the following condition:
“Bollards will be installed 3 feet apart, placed and camouflaged within the street facing landscaping
planter from the middle of Firestone Boulevard, to the middle of Lakewood Boulevard.”
Public Comments: Staff received (2) emails in opposition of the project that were read into record.
Chair Duarte closed the public hearing.
The Commissioners spoke in favor of the project.
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It was moved by Commissioner Spathopoulos, second by Commissioner Ortiz, and passed by a vote of
4-0-1, with Vice Chair Owens absent, to adopt Resolution 21-3133, thereby approving the request for a
Conditional Use Permit (PLN-19-00192) with an added condition of approval.
NON-AGENDA PUBLIC COMMENTS: None
CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS:
4. General Plan Consistency Finding
5. 2020 General Plan Progress Report
6. Approval of the Minutes from October 21, 2020
Item No. 6 of the Consent Calendar was continued to the next Planning Commission Meeting due to a lack
of quorum.
It was moved by Commissioner Spathopoulos, seconded by Commissioner Montoya, and passed by a vote
of 4-0-1, with Vice Chair Owens absent, to approve items 4 and 5 of the Consent Calendar.
OTHER BUSINESS: Commissioner Ortiz wished everyone a Happy Easter season.
STAFF MEMBER COMMENTS: Director of Community Development Schindler thanked the Commission
for their support of item 4 of the Consent Calendar. He said this helps achieve a great administrative
milestone in regard to the construction of the Sports Complex that is being built in partnership with the
County of Los Angeles. The groundbreaking will be held on March 13, 2021; with limited attendance and
virtual attendance to include members of the community.
ADJOURNMENT: Chair Duarte adjourned the meeting at 8:56 p.m., to Wednesday, March 3, 2021, at
6:30p.m., at Downey City Hall, 11111 Brookshire Ave.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 20th day of April, 2022.
Miguel Duarte, Chair
City Planning Commission
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing Minutes were duly approved at a Regular meeting of the Planning
Commission held on this 4th day of May, 2022, by the following vote:
AYES: COMMISSIONERS:
NOES: COMMISSIONERS:
ABSENT: COMMISSIONERS:
ABSTAIN: COMMISSIONERS:
Mary Cavanagh, Secretary
City Planning Commission