PC 03-25-85 �A1 CITY OF CUPERTINO, STATE OF CALIFORNIA PC-462
(J � 10300 Torre AvenuePag e 1 •
• Cupertino,Ca. 95014
Telephone : (408) 252-4505
MINUTES OF THE REGULAR MEETING OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION
HELD ON MARCH 25, 1985
SALUTE TO THE FLAG 7 : 3 0 P .M.
ROLL CALL
Commissioners Present : Com. Mackenzie
Corn. Adams
Com. Sorensen
Vice Chairperson Szabo
Staff Present : Dir. of Ping. & Development Sisk
Assistant Planning Dir. Cowan
City Attorney Kilian (7 : 40 p .m. )
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
MOTION: Com. Sorensen to approve the Minutes of the
Meeting of March 11, 1985 as submitted.
SECOND : Com. Adams
VOTE: Passed 4-0
(Chr. Claudy absent )
POSTPONEMENTS OR NEW AGENDA ITEMS
110 WRITTEN COMMUNICATIONS
ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
CONSENT CALENDAR:
1 . Application 13-TM-82 of D . C .E. (Richard Childress) :
Request for Extension of Tentative Map.
MOTION: Com. Adams, to recommend approval of the
Tentative Map extension.
SECOND : Com. Sorensen
VOTE: Passed 4-0
(Chr. Claudy absent)
ITEMS REMOVED FROM CONSENT CALENDAR
PUBLIC HEARINGS
None .
UNFINISHED BUSINESS :
2 . Application 6-U-85 of GREGG C . BUNKER (PHOTO DRIVE-UP) :
USE PERMIT to construct a single-story, 4, 930 sq. ft .
expansion to the existing 1, 210 sq . ft . Photo Drive-Up facility
for a total building area of 6,140 sq . f t . The subject
property is located on the northwest corner of South
Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road and Wildflower Way in a P (Planned
Development wiht commercial, office and residential 5-15
adwelling units per gross acre intent ) zoning district .
Referred back to Planning Commission from City Council meetinL,
of March 18, 1935 . Tentative City Council hearings date -
April 1, 1985.
-462 PLANNING COMiMMISSION MINUTES, MARC 25, 1985 '
age 2-
Director of Planning and Development Sisk advised that the
Application was now consistent with the South Saratoga-Sunnyvale •
Road Conceptual Plan and was satisfactory, in Staff ' s opinion.
William Plimpton, Raymond Rooker, 1,Architects, representing the
applicant, had concerns regardingiCondition 25, in that because
of difficulty in establishing a point of measurement for the
height of the mounding, they would prefer to work with Staff for
height approval . Also, in Condition 26, they felt that recording:
of a further easement for the landscaping on Mr. Yamagami ' s
property was expensive, time-consuming and superfluous .
• Com. Adams asked Mr. Plimpton to clarify the amount of retail
space, since it seemed far More thin the 1, 000 sq. ft . mentioned
• at the last Meeting. �.
Mr. Plimpton explained that outdated information was shown on
their drawings, and that the new building ,mild now mainly
consist of corporate office space . 'I
Bob Lawrence, General Manager of Photo Drive-Up, confirmed the
intended use was primarily corporate office and training space,
that there would be no laboratory extension and no extra equip-
ment, but. that the retail space might triple, from 1,100 to
3,300 sq. ft . He projected that ten to fifteen percent of the
business might be drive-up, and confirmed that parking would meet
requirements .
Staff ' s concern about the easement T•ras discussed, and Director •
of Planning and Development Sisk felt that Use Permit control
might be adequate . He also mentioned that Staff was not too
concerned about strict mounding height .
City Attorney Kilian advised that a written undertaking should
probably be required from Mr. Yamagami, the adjacent property •
owner, to the eff:ect that he would allow the landscaping and the
continued maintenance of same.
Com. Mackenzie suggested that the drive-up window be conditioned
in such a way that if anything happened to the landscaping on
the Yamagami property, the drive-up •aindow on the Bunker property
would be eliminated.
The consensus of the Commission was to incorporate City Attorney
Kilian ' s and Com. Mackenzie ' s suggestions into the Conditions .
Vice Chair. Szabo called for public input . There was none .
MOTION: Com. Adams, to recommend the granting of a Negative
Declaration.
SECOND : Com. Sorensen
VOTE : Passed 4-0
(Chr. Claudy absent )
MOTION: Coy:. Adams, to recommend approval of Application
6-U-85, subject to Standard Conditions 1-15;
Conditions 16-24 ; Condition 25 modified to leave the •
height of the mounding to the discretion of Staff; •
Condition 26 modified to delete the landscape
I
il i
+ PLANNING COi * ISSI0\ MINUTES, RC . 25, 198, P -462
easement and instead to require a letter from Page 3
the adjacent property owner, Mr. Yamagami,
110 allowing the landscaping and continued maintenance
of same; also adding to Condition 26 that if said
landscaping is ever eliminated the drive-up window
on the Bunker prop sty be eliminated also .
SECOND : Corn. Sorensen
VOTE: Passed 4-0
(Chr. Claudy absent )
3 . Guidelines for review of land use activities on surplus
school sites.
Assistant Planning Director Cowan described Staffis meeting
with Mr. Edmiston of the School District , when the main
concern had been traffic flexibility; that earlier guideline
did not differentiate between sites . He reported the
the guidelines had been revised to indicate the willingness
of the Commission to examine more intensive uses on well-
travelled sites, but emphasizing that the turfed areas must
still be available to the public . He further reported on
his research on the way in which other cities had handled
the situation, that San Jose school sites were zoned R.l
with a fairly comprehensive list of uses, and that Sunnyvale
school sites were zoned quasi-public, also with a fair amount
of flexibility . He advised Staff was recommending their
March 25 draft guidelines be sent to the Cupertino School
District for approval and then on to City Council .
411 Vice Chr. Szabo questioned the exclusion of warehousing,
since- it had been discussed that mini-storage might be
permissible .
Assistant Planning Director Cowan explained that this use
had been found to be prohibited under the present General
Plan and would hinge upon an Amendment .
The matter of counselling use was discussed, and Staff
advised that the Commission would have to determine
whether this was a quasi-public use . After some discussion,
the Commission felt that this use would qualify under the
present General Plan guidelines .
Co :. Sorensen established with Staff that Mr. Edmiston had
not received a copy of the March 25 proposed guidelines unt'41
that day. She requested that the guidelines come back to
the Commission prior going to City Council, should there be
any major concerns .
Vice Chr. Szabo requested that the Commission ' s willingness
to expand uses under a new General Plan Amendment be made
clear to the School District . He called for public input .
Them was none .
MOTION: Com. Mackenzie, to adopt Staff ' s Resolution
of Parch 25, 1985 and to send it on to the
110 Cupertino School District , to be returned to
the Planning Commission prior to going on to
City Council, should there be any major concerns .
SECOND: Com. Adams
VOTE: Passed II-0
L
(Chr. Claudy absent )
PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, MARCH 25, 1985 • • PC-462
The consensus of the Commission was to refer the matter to Page 5
the Public Relations Officer, understanding that a
Commissioner might be required toi read a prepared statement .
Com. Mackenzie reported on the Mayor' s luncheon, that
neighbors ' dissatisfaction with the design of Linda Vista
Park had been discussed, as had the new No-smoking Ordinance
and the findings of the Transportation 2000 Group study,
that the Highway 85 corridor would not support light rail..
Two Committee and Commission openings, due to resignations,
had been mentioned, he said.
•
Com. Sorensen mentioned that she Was still receiving
complaints about the junction of Vista Drive and Stevens
Creek Boulevard and had referred the complainants to City
Council.
REPORT OF THE PLANNING DIRECTOR
5. Review of Change in Use for a ilon-Conforming Use -
"10345 North De Anza Boulevard", Commercial Parts, Inc .
Director of Planning and Development Sisk drew attention to a
letter from the owner' s attorney dated March 21, 1985, and
advised there was enough information to judge the use as of a
lesser intensity, but that, because of the sensitive nature
of the area, he had decided to bring the matter before the
Commission.
Com. Adams mentioned that the owner, had previously said he
was not about to change uses . Though he appreciated the
owner' s rights, he was not in favorlof the change because
of the parking situation and the driveway access, which he
felt might create problems or accidents .
Patricia Vorreiter, attorney representing Edward J . Murphy,
Trustee, the owner, outlined her letter of March 21, 1985,
addressing Ordinance No . 1295 and giving arguments why no
Use Permit should be required, since there would be no change
in the nature of tle use or the intensity of the use or the
• traffic . She emphasized there would, be no narking problems,
since there would be few in-store customers, and also that
the exterior and tl-e landscaping in particular would be
cleaned up to benefit the community. \
Com. Mackenzie questioned the enlargement of the retail sales
space . I
Tom. Clarke, son-in-law of the owner; clarified that .the
carpet samples would take up more space than the auto parts,
but that the use of the entire building had always b�been and
would remain entirely retail .
The number of parking spaces was discussed, and the applicant '
representatives could not give details of the number of
employees, but the Commission determlhed that the parking
would not be a problem with the type of use, and that it was •
a lesser intensity use .
MOTION: Com. Sorensen, that the proposed change in use of
10345 North De Anza Boulevardlkwas of a lesser intensity
and would therefore conform to the Non-Conforming
Use Ordinance .
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PC-452 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, MARCH 25, 1985 ,
Page 4-
4 . Interpretation of the Commercial Ordinance regarding
definition of restaurant with bar facility .
110 Assistant Planning Director Cowan pointed out that the present
definitions were quite vague and that Staff needed more inter-
pretations for borderline requests, and had therefore asked the
Commission to examine the three criteria listed in the Staff
Report used for classifying a restaurant as a restaurant without
bar. He mentioned that Staff might want to bring some border-
line cases before the Commission under "New Business" items .
Com. Adams suggested that having tables not large enough to eat
from might be an indication of a bar area.
Vice Chr. Szabo restated his past position that a closing time
after 11 . 00 p .m. was a good indication.
The balance of the Commission felt that although the after
11. 00 p.m. closing time Use Permit requirment was a good tool,
there were still potential problems that would not be addressed
by it.
Com. Mackenzie suggested adding to the three negative criteria
five positive ones; 1 . a separate cashier for drinks; 2 . a
separate cocktail waitress; 3 . a seating area unsuitable for
consuming food; 4 . a dispensing bar larger than 20 sq . ft . ;
5. more than one dispensing bar, where a customer could walk
up and obtain a drink.
Using the criterion of liquor as a percentage of receipts was
discussed, but was dismissed as being unworkable .
111 City Attorney Kilian established that the Alchol.ic Beverages
Commission had no guidelines, and- suggested using the clause,
"if it is the opinion of the Planning Director, subject to an
appeal to the Planning Commission, that the primary purpose of
any particular area in the restaurant, at any time, is to serve
liquor or alcoholic beverages, the following list of factors
shall be considered by the Planning Department as guidelines
for so determining" .
Com. Mackenzie established with City Attorney Kilian that the
Planning Commission would not have to use the same criteria as
Staff would use, when hearing an Appeal .
MOTION: Com. Adams, to direct Staff to reconstruct the
interpretations of the Staff Report and the findings
and subconclusions of the Hearing into a Minute
Order for adoption at the next Meeting under the
Consent Calendar.
SECOND: Com. Sorensen
VOTE : Passed 4-0
(Chr. Claudy absent )
NEW BUSINESS
REPORT OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION
Vice Chr. Szabo relayed a request he had received from the
Chamber of Commerce that a member of the Planning Commission
prepare a public interest statment on the function of the
Cornihission to be aired on KLZE . s
x
*Cupertino Public Radio Station
•
•
PC-462 PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, MARCH 25, 1985 . •
Wage 6 f
SECOND : Com. Mackenzie
VOTE : Passed 3-1
11/
(Com. Adams voting against the motion,
Chr. Claudy absent ) .
Director of Planning and Devlopment Sisk requested that the
April 22nd Meeting be moved to Argil 29th, because of Staff
absences . It was the consensus o,f', the Commission that this
should be done .
Director of Planning and Developm'',ent Sisk asked the Commission
for their opinion on Staff ' s interpretation of "gross density"
in the case of two properties where a public street was on one
property entirely, the interpretation being that the entire
street could be calculated into the "gross density" of the
property it was on.
Com. Adams, establishing that the street would be split with
the adjoining property if the street occurred between them,
and that in that case, the same area would be used for the
calculation, felt it was reasonable to use the total street for
the calculation if it was on one propertyon1y .
City Attorney Kilian observed that the two parcels would be
entitled to the same density, assuming the same zoning was on
h eac .
I
f The Commission observed that one property would have larger
lots, but the same number of units per acre, and therefore
there would just be less useable land on the property containing •
the street than on- the 'other..
Director of Planning and Developmet Sisk reported that on
April 8th when the Planning CommIslIsion would be meeting, there
would be a seminar elsewhere in City Hall on the feasibility of
6 City
in Cupertino, which had been commissioned bythe
p �
Council .
The Commissioners expressed regret , that because of the timing of
the seminar they could not ,attend.
Com. Sorensen questioned Director Of Planning and Development Sisk
on the projected senior housing onHt'he St . Joseph ' s property that
she had read about .
Director of Planning and Development Sisk confirmed that he and
Assistant Planning Director Cowan dad seen some schematic drawings,
and that the project would be in the sphere of influence and urban
service area of Cupertino .
Adjournment : 8 : 50 P .M. •
ATTEST: APPROVE:
/s/DorothY Cornelius /s/Nicholas Szabo 411City Clerk Vice Chairperson