Consent Calendar

The consent calendar and the meeting minutes for March 27th and April 24th meetings passed 5/0.

Below are the public hearings from those meetings. 

Public Hearings for March 27th and April 24th meetings

SUB-2023-0003. Applicant: Tait & Associates, Inc.; Property Owner: CPP Orangefair Marketplace LLC. (was Continued from March 13, 2024) 

A request for a Tentative Parcel Map to subdivide a fully developed commercial property into two parcels with no proposed development. Motion carried 5-0.

ZON-2023-0072. Applicant: Illumination Foundation; Property Owner: Dyer 18 LLC.

A request to modify a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) to operate a Human Service Agency, including a recuperative care and navigation center with wrap-around services. Chair Gambino opened the public hearing at 7:18 p.m. Commissioners requested the Resolution be amended to include an additional condition (12.f.vii.) of quarterly reporting of individuals receiving services distinguishing those from the City of Fullerton.

It was moved by Vice Chair Mansuri, seconded by Commissioner Dino, to adopt Resolution No. PC-2024-07 – A Resolution approving a modification to conditional use permit zon -2019-0131 to operate a Human Service Agency including recuperative care (110-beds) and Navigation Center (40-beds) with wrap-around services at 3535 West Commonwealth Ave. Motion carried 5-0.

LRP-2020-0014. Applicant: City of Fullerton Zoning Ordinance Amendments pertaining to noise standards and regulation.

At the meeting on March 27, 2024, the Planning Commission considered Code Amendments to Chapters 15.90 (Noise Standards and Regulation) and 3.08 (Entertainment) of the Fullerton Municipal Code as it pertains to noise standards and regulations.

After public comment and deliberation, the Planning Commission voted to continue the item to a date certain of May 22, 2024, to allow for Commissioners to conduct sound testing in Downtown and for Staff to gather additional information. Due to the inability of all Commissioners to attend an in-field sound test, the item was continued from May 22, 2024, to June 12, 2024.

Currently, the staff is working on gathering information and research to conduct a study session and is requesting to continue the Code Amendments of Chapters 15.90 and 3.08 of the Fullerton Municipal Code.

Noise Standards and Regulation Continued to June 26, 2024.

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Watch the full video here: https://fullerton.granicus.com/player/clip/1899?view_id=2&redirect=true

On the Agenda: Wednesday, June 12 Meeting

Review the CP and tentative parcel map at the property at 3950 N Harbor Blvd for a major site plan. Jonathan Kwan, a contract planner from CSG, presented the project.

This is a parcel near the northern edge of the city, located at the intersection of Harbor Blvd. and Imperial Highway. It’s zoned GC for general commercial, and the general plan land use designation is commercial.

The existing site is developed with a gas station, a convenience store, and a car wash. These existing land uses were approved through a series of entitlements beginning in 1983. More recently, in 2004, the use permit was amended to approve car wash use. In 2023, a minor site plan review application was approved to expand the gas station and convenience store. Building permits for expansion have not been issued at this time.

The current request today is a tentative parcel map, site plan review, conditional use permit and these would be to divide the property, to separate the gas station and convenience store from the car wash and to construct an addition and remodel for the car wash.

The proposed lot would divide the two parcels. Parcel 1 is closer to Imperial Highway and would contain the gas station, and parcel 2 is for the car wash. The city engineer has reviewed the proposed map, including access and drainage, concerning the provisions of Title 16 and of the full code and the Division Map Act and has found the map conditioned to conform with these regulations.

In addition, the developers intend to remodel the existing car wash, and they’ll be constructing a new vacuum Plaza with shade structures in the middle of the car wash parcel. It’d be relocating the trash enclosure from the edge of the property in front of Harbor Blvd., and it’d be relocated to two locations, 1 by the car wash and one behind the convenience store. They would extend the carwash queue to allow up to 14 vehicles to stack on site. There would be minor site improvements to improve circulation through the gas station property. Some lights would be removed, and the pavement would be pushed back to allow vehicles to circulate through the site without reversing. Then, landscaping is proposed throughout the site as well.

The majority of the proposed landscaping is around the car wash parcel. It’s both around the parcel itself and around the vacuum closets that provide screening. There is landscaping proposed around the gas station parcel as well, but the priority here was for circulation, so some of the landscaping areas were pushed back.

These are the proposed elevations. The maximum height of the proposed car wash is 18 1/2 feet. The proposed remodel updates the exterior to reflect the company branding and introduces stone, plaster, polycarbonate panel siding, and a panel roof. The mix of materials, score lines, windows, and doors breaks up the massing of the structure, and the varied height creates visual interest. In addition, the roof would screen the mechanical equipment. The elevations of the shade structures would be a maximum of 9 feet high.

A queuing and turning study was submitted with the project application. The traffic in the Traffic Division reviewed the study and found that the proposed plan was conditioned to be in conformance with city regulations. Condition of approval was added to restrict stopping or parking within the public right of way, require vehicle queues for the proposed car wash to be contained on-site, and require that driveways are not blocked during deliveries of equipment, materials, goods, and supplies.

It is conditional regarding the conditional use permit, the gas station with convenience store and car wash, or existing uses that were permitted through the use permit. The requested use permit will be associated with the new car wash parcel. Most operations will remain the same. The biggest change is that the hours of operation would be reduced from 24 hours a day to 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. daily, and there’d be additional vacuums.

Regarding signage, no new signs are approved with this request. All proposed signs would need to meet the Fullerton Municipal Code Sign Ordinance. And it would still be subject to review and approval from planning staff. There is a specific sign on the parcel now, but due to the proposed lot split, it would be located on the car wash parcel even though the sign is for the gas station. Because of this, conditional approval was added to replace the sign so that it’s for the car wash or remove the sign before the final building permit.

Under the Municipal Code, notice of this public hearing was mailed to property owners and tenants within a 300-foot radius of the subject property. The staff has not received any comments or correspondence to date.

One of the IT resolutions was revised. Resolution PC2024-14 was modified since the agenda was posted. This modification was to remove the public works engineering conditions from this resolution. The public works engineering conditions.

With that, staff recommends that the Planning Commission find that the project is categorically exempt from SEQUA and adopt resolutions numbers PC2024-13-14 and Dash 15 to approve the tentative parcel map, Major site plan, and Conditional Use Permit with the recommended conditions of approval.

Keith Boyer from Team Real Estate Consultant said, “I would like to introduce the two owners. One of the owners is the architect Brett Blanchard, who speaks first. Then Jeff Bergman, the architect and general contractor who built the project, can answer all the technical questions.”

Brett Blanchard, one of the partners that used H2go Express, said, “My brothers and I built our first each-to-go Express in 2012. And if this project is approved tonight, this one would be our 7th one under operation. When the site became available, we were excited by the potential in the redevelopment of this very looking property, so currently, each to-go has about 25,000 members and club members, and we’re thrilled to be opening our first North Orange County location to our customers in the beautiful city of Fullerton.

“Our state-of-the-art water reclamation system recycles about 85% of our water use, which we all know. They’re critical for our state in the future. Currently, H2GO employs about 100 wash employees, which doesn’t include our gasoline facilities and locations, which should create another 10 to 15 local jobs for the community. The business is a family affair with my two brothers, son and daughter, and nephews. And one niece, we hope to take this family flare and continue this goodwill with the community and involvement here in the city of Fullerton as well. We appreciate Jonathan’s effort in our project planner, and we enjoyed working with staff to develop a great plan. We think that we’re going to be. Three citizens here. We’re here for any questions, and Jeff, our architect, is here for any technical questions.”

Jeff Bergman, the architect and one of the partners at H2GO, said, “Years ago, there were a lot of mergers. The project is not adding more driveways, just having reciprocal easements to each other for common access. I know you’re not proposing any changes to the gas station use, but are you looking at including any kind of charging ports within the car wash port? Yes, we have to buy the code now. There are EV charging requirements. There’s ADA for the Vacuum Plaza; there’s ADA parking for employees. There’s. All the standard state requirements. As to landscaping and trees, they’re mostly palm trees on site. There are no offsite trees, and none are proposed. On the sidewalk, a code requires the number and size of those trees.

The vote was called with a condition that would read: The existing poll sign on the West side of the property along Harbor Blvd. is proposed to be located on the car wash property and would be considered an offsite sign. The sign shall be modified to be a sign for the car wash or removed. It may also be modified to be assigned to the car wash and removed before the building permit is finalized. Alternatively, the applicant may apply for a variance to keep the sign for both the car wash and the gas station.

Unless an appeal is made in writing, the Planning Commission’s approval or denial of any action on this agenda shall be final and effective ten working days after this decision. Passed 5/0.