3B Public Hearing 2007 0402 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Draft Excerpt February 22,2007 Planning Commission Meeting Page 2 of 4 The applicant is proposing to purchase Lots D and E, and merge them together for a new regional/division headquarters. The project site encompasses 4.69 acres total and is located immediately south of the existing Buildings A and C. The applicant is proposing to put its office building up near the western edge of the site and the mechanics building in the center. The original Planned Development was for an eco-industrial park that envisioned a cluster of value-added manufacturing companies ideally using recycled materials and resources from the adjacent Davis Street Transfer Station and/or gray water from the City's Water Pollution Control Plant to create products. Although a number of potential users showed interest, and Stopwaste.org offered financial incentives for businesses to go in, none ultimately materialized. Although the structures built on speculation have been sold (the last of them just in 2006), no appropriate buyers for the four interior parcels have emerged. Staff believes that with inclusion of outdoor storage as a conditionally permitted use in this development, adequate discretionary control and review would remain such that there will be no overall adverse effects on aesthetics and compatibility. Future applications for outdoor storage would go before the BZA. The outdoor storage use specific to National Construction Rentals would be located along the northern and eastern boundaries. Their site plan identifies three separate areas for temporary storage of construction rental items. Approximately 7,500 square feet each along the northern property line would house temporary power poles, portable fencing, and portable restrooms. The equipment would be stacked no higher than eight feet. An additional area of approximately 4,100 square feet on the eastern property line would be reserved for storing up to 60 containers; double-stacked, their height would not exceed 16 feet. Overnight parking for up to 17 of the company's own delivery trucks is sited along the eastern and southern boundaries. There is a 56-space parking area in front for employees and clients. Hours of operation are typically 6 a.m. until 10:30 p.m., over two shifts with a total of up to 90 employees. The first shift starts at 6 a.m., and the second starts at 2:30 p.m. Pumper trucks would service portable toilets at the construction sites during the day, then return to the mechanics building for dumping, cleaning, sanitizing and deodorizing. Proposed amenities include: . Generous landscaping in front of the wall along the frontage as well as in front of the office building and on the cul-de-sac . Decorative rolling iron gates for access to the yard area . An eight-foot tall white-colored wall around the northern, eastern, and southern borders. Secretary Pollart explained that staff realizes that the new buildings will differ somewhat from Buildings A, B, and C, which are 30-foot concrete tilt-ups, in contrast to the proposed office building, which rises to about 16 feet, and the mechanics building to about 17 feet. However, she added that staff is working with the applicant to make the structures as compatible with the neighboring buildings as possible. Efforts are underway, for instance, to bring the office building in particular closer in appearance to existing buildings in terms of paint and emulation of some architectural features, including windows, awnings and entryways. She noted that this project is exempt from CEQA. Michael Adams of Mission Hills, California, represented the applicant, National Construction Rentals. He said that his company may be better known as National Rent-A-Fence, renting temporary fences on construction sites. Currently based out of Hayward, on a 1.5-acre facility plus office space in an industrial complex, it has outgrown its current site and would prefer the parts of its operation not be separate from one another. After looking for quite some time, they were unable to find suitable land and buildings for their vision. They built a flagship operation in Montebello that they want to duplicate to some degree here, which forms the basis for the plan for the Bayside Business Center property. ill business for more than 40 years and the Northern California market for 30-plus years, National Construction Rentals services virtually every major metropolitan area in the