3A Public Hearing 2012 0221 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

Attachment A: Excerpt of the Draft Minutes of the Planning Commission meeting of January 19, 2012 Item 7A: Public Hearing Consideration of Amendments to the City's Zoning Code Related to Large Family Day Care, Accessory Structures, Fences in the Residential Single - Family View Preservation Overlay District, and Paving in Residential Front Yards. (Barros) Senior Planner Barros presented her staff report via a PowerPoint presentation and explained the staff recommendations for: 1) Large Family Day Care Small Family Day Care operations are not regulated, but for facilities that care for up to 14 children, the California Health & Safety Code enables cities to impose regulations and assess impacts of the operation on the neighborhood. Since the 1980s, the San Leandro Zoning Code has contained a series of standards used to judge whether Large Family Day Care is appropriate to a residential neighborhood. The assessments of neighborhood impacts are based on proximity to other Large Family Day Care providers, the amount of legally permitted on- street parking, street width, traffic volume and the availability of employee parking. Senior Planner Barros said several instances have arisen in which a day care operator's home didn't have sufficient frontage to provide the 32 -foot minimum requirement (basically to accommodate two vehicles) for on- street parking. The proposal is to use an administrative review by the Zoning Enforcement Official (ZEO) for providers who don't meet that requirement, or other criteria, rather than imposing the burdensome process of applying for a conditional use permit (CUP) and appearing before the Board of Zoning Adjustments (BZA). As with CUPs, Senior Planner Barros explained, the administrative exception process enables the City to impose conditions of approval. She pointed out that it would cost from $2,000 to $4,000 to receive a CUP, whereas the more agile residential administrative exception process would cost about $420. In response to Commissioner Dlugosh, Senior Planner Barros said that up to six or eight children, depending on whether any of them are infants, can be cared for in an unregulated day care operation. A Large Family Day Care facility may care for up to 14 children. Commissioner Fitzsimons asked whether the rationale behind the criterion requiring a certain amount of curbside parking involved areas for pickup and dropoff. Senior Planner Barros explained that the 32 -foot minimum basically accommodates two cars. If a provider had no on- street parking available in front or in a driveway, she added, the City probably would deny the exception because that could create an undesirable impact on traffic. She said that when the City sent a courtesy notice about this hearing to the homeowners' associations, the Marina Gardens' HOA president called to express concerns about double - parking. Senior Planner Barros told her that the volume wouldn't be like what it is with a school, and that the police could enforce provisions of the Vehicle Code if such situations were to arise. Commissioner Rennie said concerns that San Leandro's regulations may not meet the California Health & Safety Code standards governing Large Family Day Care operations distracted him somewhat from the purpose of the proposed amendment. Senior Planner Barros explained that the Health & Safety Code does allow communities to establish