Juggled Agenda And Early Departure

NO SURPRISES
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission met for its last meeting of the month last night and the meeting went about as anticipated with a couple of exceptions.

SHUFFLING THE DECK
Chairman Rob Dickson shuffled the deck following the Consent Calendar and moved New Business #1, the discussion of the staff review of the parking situation at the new Planet Fitness store in the K-Mart Shopping Center - part of the original approval of that occupancy.  Following the staff report five people spoke to the issue discussed proximity of handicapped spaces, lack of use of the parking spaces at the back of the center and safety due to the transient population.  In the end the commission concurred that some small adjustments could be made from a signage standpoint to encourage parking in the back, then voted to receive and file the report.

AS EXPECTED...
Then Dickson moved Public Hearing #5, the triplex on Melody Lane, forward and the commission voted to continue this item until the meeting on September 14, 2015.

REQUEST FOR EXTENDED HOURS...
At just about 7:00 p.m. the commission began the Public Hearing #1, the request by The Hub restaurant for extended hours.  The CMPD was included in the Staff Report and discussed calls for service to the restaurant over the last nine months in great detail.  The commissioners were grateful for that input.  The General Manager, Stacey Peoples, explained the circumstances of many of those calls, but some of the commissioners didn't seem particularly satisfied.  Questions were raised wondering about comparisons to other similar establishments, but that information was not available.

...FELL ON DEAF EARS
Resident Mark Korando, who lives behind the restaurant, was not eager to see the hours extended because of the impact on his home and those of his neighbors.  Others were concerned about the number of calls for service by the police and expressed concern that the commission may not give proper weight to that report.  One old fella apparently rolled off his gurney to drag what's left of his body from his cave in Mesa North to the speaker's podium to plead for the applicant, citing that it was not fair to not give them the business hours they requested while other restaurants in the area have them.  At the end they ignored his ideas - another example of his waning influence in this community - and decided to continue this item

until the second meeting in January, 2016.  In the meantime further information will be gathered about calls for service to that location and comparable statistics will be requested from the CMPD for other venues nearby.  The interim will provide an opportunity for the applicant to demonstrate they can be a responsible operator and a good neighbor by "controlling their customers", including the use of private security, if necessary.  Because the issue was continued it may not be appealed.

EASY-BREEZY...
Public Hearing #2, the small lot development at 355 Rochester, breezed through after only 30 minutes of discussion.  It met all requirements of the Small Lot Ordinance.

...TWICE
Public Hearing #3, the other small lot development on the agenda at 215 Knox Place, also was approved after a short discussion.  By this time Commissioner Colin McCarthy seemed almost orgasmic at the ease with which the last two items moved through the process.

STACKING CARS APPROVED
Public Hearing #4, the Conditional Use Permit for nineteen (19) vertical car lifts in an older apartment development on Merrimac, generated some interesting discussion.  The commissioners were very cautious about this one because it would be the first such installation in Costa Mesa and they didn't want to establish a precedent for future developments.  Several times they expressed concern and were told by staff that this was just an experiment, and that NO NEW developments would be approved with this kind of a parking arrangement.  Only existing marginally parked developments would be given consideration, and only after this project had been installed and operated awhile.  Other concerns were expressed about safety - the representatives of the company assured us that there had been no problems at their other installations in 7 cities throughout the county.   When they voted to approve the Conditional Use Permit they modified one of the conditions - #9 - to require the report of property damage or injury as a result of the operation of the equipment within 48 hours.  That tightened-up the issue.  They also added a condition that any malfunctioning unit must be repaired within 72 hours or removed or the CUP might be revoked.

PACKED STUDY SESSION IN SEPTEMBER
Finally, Assistant Director of Development Services, Claire Flynn, reminded the commissioners that their next meeting would be a joint study session with the City Council on September 8th at which the General Plan, the Urban Plans and the future of the Fairview Developmental Center property would be discussed.  That's going to be a doozy!  The meeting ended before 10:00 p.m.