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Planning Commission Special Meeting Minutes Excerpt January 26, 2012 Page 3 of S When Senior Planner Livermore confirmed this as correct unless there were to be a zone change, Commissioner Dlugosh asked why the restriction would apply to those areas. Senior Planner Livermore replied that the Planning Commission disagreed with the staff recommendation, which was to remove Commercial Recreation and Entertainment Activities from among those uses that could be Conditionally Permitted Uses in the IL, IG and IP Districts. That recommendation, Senior Planner Livermore explained, had been based upon the General Plan Advisory Committee's thinking that the City's industrial base was very important, and introducing such uses would threaten the industrial integrity of those areas. She said that staff reviewed General Plan goals and policies that also spoke to the desire to protect and preserve the City's industrial base. According to Commissioner Dlugosh, it sounds similar to the discussion that took place when retail uses were allowed to go into the industrial areas, which some argued was inconsistent with the industrial designation. As it turned out, he said, retail has worked out fine in industrial zones. He said, too, that it seems that all of the uses included as Conditionally Permitted Uses in the AU designation would be applicable as well in the IL, IG and IP Districts. Senior Planner Livermore said that IL(AU), for example, is the same as IL, except that in IL(AU), Assembly Uses, Commercial Recreation and Entertainment Activities are added on as Conditionally Permitted Uses. Commissioner Dlugosh said that he had misunderstood that those uses would be Conditionally Permitted Uses throughout the Industrial Districts. Senior Planner Livermore acknowledged that this issue is complicated to either explain or understand. Commissioner Dlugosh went back to his comments at the December 15, 2011 meeting regarding the difficult time he had finding a buyer or tenant for his building in the IG District. Had the staff recommendation prohibiting Commercial Recreation and Entertainment Activities been in effect, he said he would have been unable to bring in someone who wanted to use it for an indoor go- kart racing operation. He characterized the idea of pursuing a zone change to accomplish something like that "beyond ridiculous" and totally out of character with San Leandro's longstanding efforts to eliminate spot zoning. Senior Planner Livermore agreed with Commissioner Dlugosh's summary of the current recommendation as restricting property use throughout IL, IG and IP Districts that don't have an AU designation. He said that he has a hard time with that recommendation. When he first reviewed it, he'd hoped it would solve the problem; now, he said, he's pretty sure it won't. Commissioner Dlugosh said that staff is well - qualified to handle Conditionally Permitted Uses in those districts, particularly when the uses are spelled out as explicitly as they are in the revised proposal. Senior Planner Livermore suggested that one possibility is for the Planning Commission to tell the City Council that the staff s nuanced approach is not what it hoped for and recommend pursuit of further nuanced approaches. Commissioner Reed said that his review of the materials, staffs presentation and the subsequent discussion have brought him back to where the December 15, 2011 ended. He said that he agrees with Commissioner Dlugosh that staff has always been very competent, not overly restrictive, and careful not to send the business community a wrong message that this is not a business - friendly community. He said, too, that San Leandro has had and used a flexible approach to Commercial Recreation in industrial areas that has worked well so "if it's not broke, don't fix it." Commissioner Rennie reiterated his concern with the noticing procedure regarding this meeting. He said that he believes it appropriate for the Planning Commission to act in a way whereby proper notice is given to property owners who would be affected by a proposed change, and then