Mayor Mahan
Vice Mayor Kamei
Councilmember Candelas
Councilmember Jimenez
Councilmember Foley
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND FROM:
CITY COUNCIL
SUBJECT: SEE BELOW DATE: 03/24/2023
Approved Date
03/24/2023
SUBJECT: C20-012 & SP20-024 - Conventional Rezoning and Special Use Permit on Certain Real Property Located at 2740 Ruby Avenue
RECOMMENDATION
Approve the Planning Commission’s recommendation and ensure the following conditions of approval are included in the permit:
1. Require the maximum allowable occupancy on-site at any one time to be 300 guests. a. For any event over 100 people on-site, require the identification and presence of an onsite event compliance, traffic control, and security coordinator.
2. Require a parking management plan so that the surrounding community’s parking burdens are mitigated.
a. A system of valet parking shall be used for any event that exceeds the current parking available on-site, and off-site parking shall be made available and encouraged.
b. When the parking lot is unable to accept additional vehicles, require the temple to communicate through signage the alternative parking options available to guests. c. Require adequate, secure bike parking is made available on-site.
COUNCIL AGENDA: 03/28/2023
ITEM: 10.4
d. To protect pedestrian safety, the applicant shall work with the city to provide sidewalks and a traffic circle to slow the pace of cars and increase safety on the street.
e. Direct city staff to explore appropriate traffic calming measures near the project to increase traffic safety.
3. Confirm no late-night usage of the temple is allowed. The regular hours of operation shall be set at 9:00 am to 10:00 pm.
4. Require the applicant to remove the designated, outdoor smoking area from the project plans.
5. All trash and refuse storage areas should be effectively screened from view, covered, and maintained in an orderly state.
6. A six-foot sound barrier shall be erected along the perimeter between the temple and the neighboring homes on Sweetleaf, Pin Oak Ct., and alongside the currently existing single-family home.
7. The applicant is required to communicate construction plans and timelines to the neighbors within a 500-foot radius of the project.
a. Prior to construction, the applicant shall host a virtual or in-person community meeting explaining the timeline for construction and any construction impacts. b. The applicant shall establish a primary point of contact to the community that is shared at the community meeting.
c. Construction of the project shall not take place on weekends.
BACKGROUND
First, we would like to thank the many community members that have met with us to express their concerns. We would also like to thank the hardworking city staff, the applicant, and their project team for remaining engaged on this project application — an application that lingered in the development process for 4 years.
2740 Ruby Avenue is mostly vacant land. Just one single-family home sits on the site. The neighborhood consists mostly of one- and two-story single-family homes. Many of the residents have lived in these homes for decades. Throughout the area are several places of worship including, but not limited to, the Evergreen Islamic Center, Grace Baptist Church, Holy Cross Romanian Orthodox Church, Sikh Gurdwara San Jose, and many others.
The Wat Khmer Kampuchea Krom (WKKK) Temple will be a home for the Khmer Krom community hoping to practice their Buddhist faith. Those that come here will come here to pray and to meditate. The WKKK Temple has been designed with community input and will have a required set of conditions that they must abide by. The project can work for the monks who will eventually live here, the guests who will visit, and the neighbors who will reside nearby.
The project has earned staff and Planning Commission support. After including over 40 conditions of approval to ensure that the Temple lives in harmony with its neighbors, this project earns our support too. We urge our colleagues to approve the proposed temple at 2740 Ruby Avenue.
The signers of this memorandum have not had, and will not have, any private conversation with any other member of the City Council, or that member’s staff, concerning any action discussed in the memorandum, and that each signer’s staff members have not had, and have been instructed not to have, any such conversation with any other member of the City Council or that member's staff.