PINOLE PLANNING COMMISSION
MEETING AGENDA
April 22, 2024
7:00 PM
Attend in Person: PINOLE CITY COUNCIL CHAMBERS - 2131 PEAR STREET OR
Attend VIA ZOOM TELECONFERENCE – Details provided below How to Submit Public Comments:
In Person:
Attend meeting at the Pinole City Council Chambers, fill out a yellow public comment card and submit it to the City Clerk.
Via Zoom:
Members of the public may submit a live remote public comment via Zoom video conferencing. Download the Zoom mobile app from the Apple Appstore or Google Play. If you are using a desktop computer, you can test your connection to Zoom by clicking here. Zoom also allows you to join the meeting by phone.
From a PC, Mac, iPad, iPhone or Android:
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86505375301
Webinar ID: 865 0537 5301
By phone: +1 (669) 900-6833 or +1 (253) 215-8782 or +1 (346) 248-7799 • Speakers will be asked to provide their name and city of residence, although providing this is not required for participation.
• Each speaker will be afforded up to 5 minutes to speak • Speakers will be muted until their opportunity to provide public comment.
When the Chair opens the comment period for the item you wish to speak on, please use the “raise hand” feature (or press *9 if connecting via telephone) which will alert staff that you have a comment to provide and press *6 to unmute. To comment with your video enabled, please let the City Clerk know you would like to turn your camera on once you are called to speak.
Written Comments:
Please submit public comments to Planning Staff before the meeting via email to [email protected].
Please include your full name, city of residence and agenda item you are commenting on.
Planning Commission
Agenda - April 22, 2024
OTHER WAYS TO WATCH THE MEETING
LIVE ON CHANNEL 26. They are retelecast the following week. The Community TV Channel 26 schedule is published on the city’s website at www.ci.pinole.ca.us.
VIDEO-STREAMED LIVE ON THE CITY’S WEBSITE, www.ci.pinole.ca.us and remain archived on the site for five (5) years.
If none of these options are available to you, or you need assistance with public comment, please contact Planning Manager David Hanham at (510) 724-8912 or [email protected].
Americans With Disabilities Act: In compliance with the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990, if you need special assistance to participate in a City Meeting or you need a copy of the agenda, or the agenda packet in an appropriate alternative format, please contact the City Clerk’s Office at (510) 724-8928. Notification at least 48 hours prior to the meeting or time when services are needed will assist the City staff in assuring that reasonable arrangements can be made to provide accessibility to the meeting or service.
Note: Staff reports are available for inspection on the City Website at www.ci.pinole.ca.us. You may also contact the City Clerk via e-mail at [email protected].
CITIZEN PARTICIPATION:
Persons wishing to speak on an item listed on the Agenda may do so when the Chair asks for comments in favor of or in opposition to the item under consideration. After all of those persons wishing to speak have done so, the hearing will be closed and the matter will be discussed amongst the Commission prior to rendering a decision.
Any person may appeal an action of the Planning Commission or of the Planning Manager by filing an appeal with the City Clerk, in writing, within ten (10) days of such action. Following a Public Hearing, the City Council may act to confirm, modify or reverse the action of the Planning Commission and the Planning Commission may act to confirm, modify, or reverse the action of the Planning Manager. The cost to appeal a decision is $500 and a minimum $2,500 deposit fee.
Note: If you challenge a decision of the Commission regarding a project in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing or in writing delivered to the City of Pinole at, or prior to, the public hearing.
Ralph M. Brown Act. Gov. Code § 54950. In enacting this chapter, the Legislature finds and declares that the public commissions, boards and councils and the other public agencies in this State exist to aid in the conduct of the people's business. It is the intent of the law that their actions be taken openly and that their deliberations be conducted openly. The people of this State do not yield their sovereignty to the agencies, which serve them. The people, in delegating authority, do not give their public servants the right to decide what is good for the people to know and what is not good for them to know. The people insist on remaining informed so that they may retain control over the instruments they have created.
Planning Commission
Agenda - April 22, 2024
A. CALL TO ORDER
B. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
C. LAND ACKNOWLEDGMENT
Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge the Ohlone people, who are the traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respects to the Ohlone elders, past, present, and future, who call this place, Ohlone Land, the land that Pinole sits upon, their home. We are proud to continue their tradition of coming together and growing as a community. We thank the Ohlone community for their stewardship and support, and we look forward to strengthening our ties as we continue our relationship of mutual respect and understanding.
D. ROLL CALL
E. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD
The public may address the Planning Commission on items that are within its jurisdiction and not otherwise listed on the agenda. Planning Commissioners may discuss the matter brought to their attention, but by State law (Ralph M. Brown Act), action must be deferred to a future meeting. Time allowed: five (5) minutes each.
F. MEETING MINUTES:
1. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes from March 25, 2024 G. PUBLIC HEARINGS
At the beginning of an item, the Chair will read the description of that item as stated on the Agenda. The City Staff will then give a brief presentation of the proposed project. The Commission may then ask Staff questions about the item.
For those items listed as Public Hearings, the Chair will open the public hearing and ask the applicant if they wish to make a presentation. Those persons in favor of the project will then be given an opportunity to speak followed by those who are opposed to the project. The applicant will then be given an opportunity for rebuttal.
The Public Hearing will then be closed and the Commission may discuss the item amongst themselves and ask questions of Staff. The Commission will then vote to approve, deny, approve in a modified form, or continue the matter to a later date for a decision. The Chair will announce the Commission's decision and advise the audience of the appeal procedure.
Note: No Public Hearings will begin after 11:00 p.m. Items still remaining on the agenda after 11:00 p.m. will be held over to the next meeting.
H. OLD BUSINESS
I. NEW BUSINESS
1. Selection of Chair, Vice-Chair, and the Ad-Hoc Planning Commission Sub-Committee for 2024-2025
J. CITY PLANNER'S/COMMISSIONER'S REPORT
K. COMMUNICATIONS
L. NEXT MEETING(S)
Planning Commission
Agenda - April 22, 2024
1. Planning Commission Regular Meeting, May 13, 2024, at 7:00PM M. ADJOURNMENT
I hereby certify under the laws of the State of California that the foregoing Agenda was posted on the bulletin board at the main entrance of Pinole City Hall, 2131 Pear Street Pinole, CA, and on the City’s website, not less than 72 hours prior to the meeting date set forth on this agenda. _______________________
David Hanham
Planning Manager
POSTED: _______ pm
1 March 25, 2024
1 DRAFT
2 3 MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING
4 PINOLE PLANNING COMMISSION
5 6 March 25, 2024
7 8
9 THIS MEETING WAS HELD IN A HYBRID FORMAT
10 BOTH IN-PERSON AND ZOOM TELECONFERENCE
11 12
13 A. CALL TO ORDER: 7:05 p.m.
14 15 B1. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
16 17 B2. LAND ACKNOWLEDGEMENT: Before we begin, we would like to acknowledge the 18 Ohlone people, who are the traditional custodians of this land. We pay our respects to 19 the Ohlone elders, past, present and future, who call this place, Ohlone Land, the land 20 that Pinole sits upon, their home. We are proud to continue their tradition of coming 21 together and growing as a community. We thank the Ohlone community for their 22 stewardship and support, and we look forward to strengthening our ties as we continue 23 our relationship of mutual respect and understanding. 24 25 B3. ROLL CALL
26 27 Commissioners Present: Banuelos, Bender, Lam-Julian, Martinez, Sandoval, Vice28 Chairperson Menis, Chairperson Benzuly 29 30 Commissioners Absent: None
31 32 Staff Present: David Hanham, Planning Manager
33 Alex Mog, Assistant City Attorney
34 Justin Shiu, Contract Planner
35 36 Vice-Chairperson Menis reported on ex parté communications and stated he had sent out 37 email messages about the meeting to his email list.
38 39 C. CITIZENS TO BE HEARD
40 41 Andrew Uch, a student at San Francisco State, commented on the housing issues in the 42 Bay Area and while he recognized not one city could handle this housing crisis, asked 43 whether or not there were any cross-planning discussions with the City of Hercules 44 emphasizing the importance of communication and collaboration working on issues facing 45 residents of the Bay Area. He understood the City of Hercules had been ambitious in its 46 development of housing and transit hubs and asked whether the City of Pinole was in 47 discussions with the City of Hercules on that development potential. 48 49
50
2 March 25, 2024
1 Chairperson Benzuly reported the City of Pinole had been working to meet its Regional 2 Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) figures and housing projects had been approved for 3 below market and affordable housing units.
4 5 Commissioner Lam-Julian reported on the recent establishment of a Planning 6 Commission subcommittee for Community Engagement Outreach to address the need for 7 an increase in communication with the rest of the community. It was possible the 8 subcommittee could reach out to other municipalities to learn of their Best Practices and 9 how to implement them in the City of Pinole. She encouraged the speaker to reach out to 10 City staff. She added the monthly Mayors’ Conference was open to the public and the 11 meetings were rotated between cities in Contra Costa County. Residents may attend the 12 meetings and address any concerns along with contacting staff with any concerns or 13 ideas.
14 15 Commissioner Banuelos added the City of Pinole shared the Pinole-Hercules Wastewater 16 Treatment Plant with the City of Hercules and held regular subcommittee meetings to 17 discuss upgrades to the project. There had been some back-and-forth communication 18 with the City of Hercules but it would be interesting to speak with the City of Hercules more 19 than Pinole currently did. He acknowledged that while the City of Hercules may have 20 more development projects, Pinole was primarily built out with infill development or with 21 the rehabilitation of some properties. He agreed the Mayors’ Conference allowed for 22 public comment and offered a wide range of information from the different cities in Contra 23 Costa County.
24 25 Commissioner Martinez also added the San Pablo Avenue Bridge between the cities of 26 Hercules and Pinole was a project both cities were funding and there were other examples 27 where the cities had collaborated. There were also state and regional planning 28 conferences where more information was available.
29 30 Vice-Chairperson Menis highlighted the background of the Association of Bay Area 31 Governments (ABAG) and the RHNA mandates for local municipalities and the more 32 formal collaborations between the cities of Hercules and Pinole. Informal collaborations 33 may be possible with the Bay Front Chamber of Commerce and other sources. 34 35 D. MEETING MINUTES
36 37 1. Planning Commission Meeting Minutes from January 8, 2024 38 39 Vice-Chairperson Menis requested a revision to Lines 40 through 42 of Page 1, as follows:
40 41 Raquel Contreras, Uptown Yard, 2337 San Pablo Avenue, Pinole, stated to date she 42 had received no update from City staff or communication from the Public Works 43 Department to redraw an easement line.
44 45 Commissioner Lam-Julian requested a revision to Page 3, Lines 30 through 32, as follows:
46 47 The application had been continued from the December 11, 2023 Planning 48 Commission meeting and the Planning Commission may discuss any aspect of the 49 application along with the additional information provided by Planning Manager 50 Hanham.
3 March 25, 2024
1 And to Page 3, Lines 34 through 42, to read:
2 3 The Department of Alcohol and Beverage Control (ABC) requirements for sites selling 4 alcohol were clarified with the site required to be 1,000 feet from a school or park. A 5 determination of Public Convenience or Necessity (PCN) was required by ABC when there 6 was an overconcentration of alcohol sales licenses within a defined census tract. ABC 7 determined there was an overconcentration of licenses in a census tract and would require 8 a PCN determination from the City. The City Council was the appropriate authority to 9 review and make a PCN determination. This determination must be made prior to Planning 10 Commission review of a conditional use permit to allow alcohol sales. 11 12 MOTION with a Roll Call vote to approve the Planning Commission Meeting Minutes from 13 January 8, 2024, as amended.
14 15 MOTION: Banuelos SECONDED: Lam-Julian APPROVED: 7-0 16 17 E. PUBLIC HEARINGS: None
18 19 F. OLD BUSINESS:
20 21 1. New Parklet/Outdoor Dining Regulation Framework 22 Updating Planning Commission on the progress of developing 23 Parklet/Outdoor Dining Standards.
24 25 Planning Manager David Hanham provided the staff memorandum dated March 25, 2024 to 26 provide an update on the New Parklet/Outdoor Dining Regulation Framework. This was an 27 informational item only with no action to be taken.
28 29 Responding to the Commission Mr. Hanham clarified:
30 31 • Draft regulations from other cities had been reviewed by staff but nothing had been 32 formalized since staff needed to determine the direction the City Council wanted to 33 take. The City Council would review a summary of interviews and would be asked to 34 make a recommendation at the regular City Council meeting on April 2, 2024, which 35 could include the development of parklet regulations. 36 37 • If the City Council decided to move forward with parklet regulations, staff would work 38 with the Planning Commission Ad-Hoc Subcommittee that had been created to 39 review other cities’ regulations and develop actual regulations for the City of Pinole. 40 41 • The Pinole Municipal Code (PMC) currently had regulations in place for outdoor 42 dining, as referenced in Section 16.68.020 of the PMC. There were currently no 43 parklet regulations in place pending City Council direction. Once a policy was in place 44 businesses would be notified.
45 46 • Most of the existing outdoor dining regulations included guidelines on the sidewalk of 47 the businesses. Issues related to the public right-of-way (ROW) would involve the 48 Public Works Department in terms of liability, encroachment and the like. 49
4 March 25, 2024
1 Currently, the PMC only addressed outdoor dining on sidewalks with no regulations 2 for parking lot use. As an example, Tina’s Place and other businesses had been 3 allowed to use some outdoor space during the pandemic and under the approval of 4 an Emergency Ordinance.
5 6 • The businesses/restaurants that had been interviewed and which had a component 7 of food service and storefronts/dining in the five categories of the Downtown Corridor:
8 San Pablo Avenue, Appian Way, Fitzgerald Drive and Pinole Valley Road had not 9 involved any formal selection but met the criteria in the five categories. 10 11 PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
12 13 There were no comments from the public.
14 15 PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
16 17 2. Update – Objective Development Design Standards (ODDS) 18 Updating the Planning Commission on the progress of developing the 19 Objective Development Design Standards (ODDS).
20 21 Mr. Hanham provided the staff memorandum dated March 25, 2024 for the Objective 22 Development Design Standards (ODDS) and reported that staff in collaboration with the 23 Planning Commission Ad-Hoc Committee was completing its work and would bring the 24 ODDS back to the Planning Commission when complete.
25 26 There were no questions from the Planning Commission. 27 28 Vice-Chairperson Menis thanked Commissioner Bender and Mr. Hanham for working on the 29 ODDS as part of the Planning Commission Ad-Hoc Committee. While he understood the 30 difficulty of using concrete criteria, he recognized state law required objective standards. 31 32 Commissioner Bender found the ODDS had been an exhaustive process. He agreed if 33 ODDS were not in place developers would be free to dictate development in the City 34 depending on how they applied.
35 36 In response to the Chair, Mr. Hanham again highlighted the timeline for the ODDS and 37 commented that if additional meetings were needed that could be done, with the ODDS 38 involving a lot of material to presented to the Planning Commission in phases. The sooner 39 the ODDS were in place the sooner the City of Pinole would be compliant with Senate Bills 40 (SB) 330 and SB 35. He reported that for some cities without ODDS, the development 41 community had been able to take over and he emphasized the desire to prevent that from 42 occurring in Pinole
43 44 PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
45 46 There were no comments from the public.
47 48 PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
49 50
5 March 25, 2024
1 Vice-Chairperson Menis suggested the timeline for the ODDS would depend on the level of 2 detail the Planning Commission desired to go into with multiple meetings possibly being 3 required to go over all of the material.
4 5 Commissioner Martinez asked whether it would be possible to hold a workshop to introduce 6 the concept of the ODDS, with options for developers that could be introduced to the group 7 as a whole. He asked whether that was possible before the ODDS were reviewed. 8 9 Mr. Hanham confirmed if that was the direction the Planning Commission wanted to take that 10 could be considered. Staff was working on how to group the information together and that 11 could be considered.
12 13 Commissioner Banuelos understood there would be a lot of material to be reviewed and he 14 understood other jurisdictions were doing the same work. Based on impressions from other 15 cities and architects, the ODDS could be so intense they could become subjective by default, 16 and he urged that objectivity be maintained. He asked whether there were overarching 17 beginning steps being considered relative to the existing building stock in Pinole. He 18 understood the City of Santa Ana had developed an area with large multi-housing projects in 19 a neo-Mission style, which was generic since their ODDS had taken away the meaning of 20 where they were going, which was something that needed to be considered when discussing 21 Pinole’s ODDS, particularly since the state mandate was not taking into consideration the 22 characteristics of individual cities or areas where people would be developing. 23 24 Commissioner Banuelos referenced the Pruitt-Igoe housing development, which had been 25 built in St. Louis, Missouri in the 1950s, when public housing had been popular, and had 26 been built with progressive architecture of that time period but which had problems with its 27 architectural design where people were later getting robbed, attacked or killed. Eventually 28 the public housing development had been demolished and he wanted to prevent such 29 development in Pinole. He emphasized the importance of retaining the character of Pinole 30 in the ODDS while also meeting the state mandate. He looked forward to some conceptual 31 information provided on the guiding force behind the ODDS. He also offered examples of 32 how the ODDS could become too subjective.
33 34 Vice-Chairperson Menus understood the ODDS were trying to get rid of subjective standards, 35 such as compatibility with nearby buildings or a neighborhood style, as examples, and 36 replace them with specific design standards that could be applied and he offered a number 37 of examples. He recognized that subjective standards were easier to work with, but when 38 trying to get that down to concrete styles, characteristics, materials and nature and make it 39 reproduceable and explainable was the challenge, which issue had been discussed during 40 the Planning Commission Ad-Hoc Subcommittee meetings. 41 42 G. NEW BUSINESS
43 44 1. Zoning Code Amendment Target Timeframes
45 Informational item on target timeframes for Planning Commission review of 46 anticipated zoning code amendments to implement the Housing Element 47 programs.
48 49
50
6 March 25, 2024
1 Mr. Hanham provided the staff memorandum dated March 25, 2024 for the Zoning Code 2 Amendment Target Timeframes as part of the Housing Element implementation tasks and 3 target timeframes. This was an informational item only with no action to be taken. 4 5 Responding to the Commission Mr. Hanham, Contract Planner Justin Shiu and Assistant 6 City Attorney Alex Mog clarified:
7 8 • Staff would review all changes that may be required as part of the ODDS which may 9 also play a part in the Zoning Code Amendments where more zoning changes may 10 be necessary, with an effort for the changes to be made at one time, if possible. The 11 Zoning Code Amendments process may take the next two to three years given the 12 different things that may come up during the process, with many sections of the 13 Zoning Ordinance to be rewritten. Many of the changes were specific and mandated 14 by state law.
15 16 • The implementation tasks had been organized and prioritized based on what would 17 be easier to implement based on difficulty and flexibility in the PMC to allow for 18 modification.
19 20 • The Housing Element itself included an Implementation Program which identified 21 broader timeframes for when some items would be updated. 22 23 • The Housing Element Annual Progress report was due on April 1 of each year and 24 had been presented to the City Council at its March 19, 2024 meeting. 25 26 PUBLIC COMMENTS OPENED
27 28 There were no comments from the public.
29 30 PUBLIC COMMENTS CLOSED
31 32 H. CITY PLANNER’S / COMMISSIONER’S REPORT
33 34 Vice-Chairperson Menis provided a brief update of his attendance at the Planner’s Academy 35 in Long Beach and highlighted the sessions attended. 36 37 Commissioner Banuelos had also attended the Planner’s Academy, appreciated the 38 information provided and was pleased he had attended. He encouraged Planning 39 Commissioners to attend future events.
40 41 Commissioner Sandoval had also attended the Planner’s Academy and he too briefed the 42 Commission on the sessions he had attended. He thanked staff for planning and 43 coordinating Commissioners’ attendance.
44 45 Commissioner Banuelos reported he had recently gone through the permitting process 46 through the City of Pinole and was disappointed in the process and he hoped it would 47 improve in the future. He also had recently been interviewed by the newspaper 48 Oaklandside regarding his experience with the City of Oakland’s Building Department. 49
7 March 25, 2024
1 Commissioner Banuelos requested a future presentation on the City’s planning and 2 building permit process.
3 4 Chairperson Benzuly suggested that could be something the Community Engagement 5 Outreach Subcommittee could consider.
6 7 Commissioner Sandoval reported the Community Engagement Outreach Subcommittee 8 had held a discussion on strategies to be implemented and next steps such as partnership 9 with other City Departments and having Planning Commission representation at 10 community events. He hoped the Committee would have something concrete in the near 11 future.
12 13 Commissioner Lam-Julian reported the City’s Code Enforcement Officer had recently 14 presented a flow chart of the process for permits to the Pinole Rotary Club, which 15 demystified the process and what the City did behind the scenes. It was possible that 16 information could be incorporated into the Community Engagement Plan. 17 18 Commissioner Banuelos suggested the same presentation should be made to the 19 Planning Commission.
20 21 Commissioner Sandoval understood that was something the Community Engagement 22 Outreach Subcommittee could look into.
23 24 Commissioner Lam-Julian also briefed the Planning Commission on her attendance at the 25 Planner’s Academy. She looked forward to future conversations with representatives from 26 other municipalities. She also reported she had been in communication with City staff 27 regarding the crime matrix and hoped to have an update in the future. 28 29 I. COMMUNICATIONS
30 31 Vice-Chairperson Menis announced upcoming community events including the Senior 32 Food Distribution at the Senior Center on March 26, 2024; Finance Subcommittee meeting 33 on March 27, 2024 at 3:00 p.m., and the Community Services Commission meeting on 34 March 27, 2024 at 5:00 p.m.
35 36 J. NEXT MEETING
37 38 The next meeting of the Planning Commission to be a Regular Planning Commission 39 Meeting scheduled for April 8, 2024 at 7:00 p.m.
40 41 K. ADJOURNMENT: 8:18 p.m.
42 43 Transcribed by: Reviewed and edited by:
44 45 Sherri D. Lewis City Staff
46 Transcriber
PLANNING COMMISSION
REPORT I.1.
DATE: APRIL 22, 2024
TO: PLANNING COMMISSION
FROM: DAVID HANHAM, PLANNING MANAGER
SUBJECT: SELECTION OF CHAIR, VICE-CHAIR, AND THE AD-HOC PLANNING COMMISSION SUB-COMMITTEE FOR 2024-2025
RECOMMENDATION
Select the Planning Commission Chair, Planning Commission Vice-Chair, and the Ad-Hoc Planning Commission Sub-Committee for 2024-2025
BACKGROUND
Annually, in April, the Planning Commission selects the Chair, Vice-Chair and Ad-hoc Committee composition. All of these positions have a term of one-year.
REVIEW AND ANALYSIS
Section 2.40.030 of the Pinole Municipal Code sets the parameters for the selection of the Chair, Vice-Chair, and Ad-Hoc Subcommittee composition. Section 2.40.030 states: The Commission shall elect a Chairperson and Vice Chairperson from among the appointed members for a term of one (1) year, subject to other provisions of law, and may elect such other officers as it may determine.
The Ad-Hoc Subcommittee is composed of three Planning Commissioners who meet sporadically to provide input on Planning Commission-related projects on an as-needed basis.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
ATTACHMENTS
None