3B Public Hearing 2012 0221 - Laserfiche WebLink

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Planning Commission Regular Meeting Minutes December 15, 2011 Agenda No. 11 -12 Page 3 of 9 Stephen Cassidy's top priorities, Commissioner Crow said that he'd appreciate more transparency in this instance. In response to Commissioner Crow's inquiry into her role and experience, Senior Planner Livermore summarized her professional qualifications, including mention of her involvement in the 1991 Zoning Code update and the General Plan update. She explained that the slowdown in projects creates opportunities to address such work as Zoning Code updates, and that frequent discussions between the Community Development Director and City Manager lead to shifts in workload and reassessment of priorities. For efficiency's sake, she continued, staff tries to package amendments for Planning Commission and City Council consideration. Senior Planner Livermore added that Zoning Code changes including tonight's proposal and past efforts to address big box retail provisions turn out to be less straightforward than staff expects sometimes. She noted that BZA members raised a lot of questions previously so the staff report prepared for the Planning Commission meeting tonight contains the detail it does. She suggested that the Planning Commission discuss Commissioner Crow's points before reaching a recommendation to forward to the City Council, which is the ultimate arbiter of Zoning Code amendments. In response to further questions about viable uses that existed in the industrial area from Commissioner Crow, Senior Planner Livermore said that she is not aware of any previously existing Commercial Recreation facilities there. Nor, she said, is she aware of any currently operating artists' studios or daycare. She said that she doesn't know about any strip clubs and /or sex shops there, but believes there may be a health and fitness center. She said that the health and fitness clubs attracted to an industrial area tend to be smaller and more compact than Commercial Recreation uses such as the Bladium and City Beach facilities. Commissioner Crow, noting that health and fitness clubs are permitted uses under the current Zoning Code, said that he doesn't understand why the City would want to eliminate recreation but leave health and fitness centers. Senior Planner Livermore said that one thing that hasn't entered the discussion is parking. Industrial properties in San Leandro have parking requirements on the basis of building square footage, from 750 to 1,500 square feet, whereas large Commercial Recreation facilities would have significantly greater parking requirements. Commissioner Fitzsimons asked what staff considers incompatible about Commercial Recreation and Entertainment Activities that are located in industrial areas. He understands that residential uses would not be compatible, but suggested that uses involving night and weekend activity would be, because they probably would have different hours of operation. Industrial uses, he observed, tend to be Monday through Friday, early morning to early afternoon. Senior Planner Livermore said that it seemed to improve overall land -use compatibility in San Leandro to separate the Commercial Recreation and Entertainment Activities from industrial uses. She referred to City Beach in Fremont, which attracts large numbers of people. While such a facility might seem compatible at this point, she said that she can imagine conflicts arising if, for instance, a 24/7 heavy trucking business were to move into a vacant property next door. Those are the types of situation that she said the proposals would help San Leandro avoid. Bit by bit, she said, such conflicts would erode the viability of the industrial base and inhibit the City's ability to keep the area's industrial focus. Commissioner Crow asked whether any San Leandro buildings outside the industrial area could accommodate an indoor soccer field if someone wanted to invest a lot of money retrofitting a warehouse for that purpose in San Leandro. Senior Planner Livermore said that in the scenario he described, the Office of Business Development would look for appropriately zoned locations to facilitate the development.