Brief Planning Commission Meeting Yields Info

EARLY AND INTERESTING
The Costa Mesa Planning Commission meeting Monday night went about as anticipated.  It started on time and finished just before 8 p.m. - a nice change.

CANDY FOR THE 1/5 MARINE KIDS
During Public Comments Beth Refakes reminded us that the Candy Drive is underway for the families of the 1/5 Marines at Camp Pendleton.  There's a collection point in the City Hall lobby and every piece of candy must be individually wrapped.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Ann Parker asked for clarification about her appeal of the Solid Landings issue, citing the fact that Mayor Pro Tem Jim Righeimer had called her a liar in a public forum.  It was confirmed that Commissioner Stephan Andranian was the only commissioner who expressed interest in appealing the issue, but changed his mind at the last minute, forcing Parker to dash to City Hall and post the fee to get the item appealed, which was successful.  She also address other sober living venues in the city.

COMMISSIONER COMMENTS
Stephan Andranian said he was honored to participate in the Joint Study Session last week and complimented the staff.  He also responded to Ann Parker's comments, affirming he was planning to appeal the Solid Landings issue, but changed his mind at the last minute.

Tim Sesler chided Parker for her attitude at the speaker's podium, admonishing her that she'll get more accomplished with sugar than vinegar.

Colin McCarthy started off by saying he's hearing an undercurrent of criticism of the staff and he doesn't understand it.  Maybe he's hearing that on the Costa Mesa Public Square, because I don't hear it at all.  He told us he was proud of the Building Inspection group.  He praised the Joint Study session, calling it "illuminating".  He addressed the Westside Plans, saying that he was getting tired of hearing complaints about them.  He said, "I'm not interested in hearing discussions on Westside plans.  That ship has sailed."  Really, Colin?  So, one more exposition by a member of the folks in power that they don't want to hear a dissenting voice.  Well, tough!  You're still going to be hearing from folks if they don't like what you're doing.  Get used to it or get out.

Chairman Rob Dickson thanked Beth Refakes for the information on the Candy Drive and asked her to be sure another video of the event is produced this year.  He also praised the Joint Study Session and the staff for the work they put into it.  He also mentioned that, during the month of August, 11,000 building permits had been pulled - substantially more than a year ago.

Vice Chair Jeff Mathews had nothing...

NEW FIRE PLAN SUBMITTAL CHECKLIST AND GUIDELINES
The new Fire Plan Submittal Checklist and Guidelines presentation was pulled from the Consent Calendar and Fire Chief Dan Stefano and Fire Prevention Specialist Dave Hollister were ready to answer questions about this new, valuable document.  The whole presentation, including questions and observations, took about five minutes.  Kudos to Chief Stefano and Hollister for the production of this important guideline.

PUBLIC HEARINGS
As expected, the first two public hearings were continued to a future, un-named, date.

APPROVED - WITHOUT UNDERGROUNDING
#3, the design review and subdivision of  two new 2-story residences at 288 E. 15th Street, should have gone right through without much discussion but the developer was thrown a curve at, literally, the last minute.  Apparently, at 4:00 Monday afternoon, he was advised that the City wanted him to underground the utilities to his project.  Based on some quick investigation he learned it might cost $200,000 - something he had not anticipated.  At one point he said that, if forced to pay for the undergrounding, he might just have to walk away from the project.  It was anticipated that the two units might sell, based on his other projects in the City, from $1.1 - 1.175 million each.  In the end the commission moved the project forward without the burden of undergrounding the utilities.

APPROVED - WITH UNDERGROUNDING
#4, the 10 unit 2 and 3 story residential development at 527-531 Bernard Street, was a different story.  Most of the commissioners were also uncomfortable about the new undergrounding requirement, but they ended up passing the project WITH the requirement of the utilities being undergrounded with some qualifying language that went something like the utilities would be undergrounded "to the extent logistically feasible".  The Director of Development Services will determine the feasibility issue.

UNDERGROUNDING
All the commissioners, during both discussions, expressed angst about having this issue sprung on them at the last minute.  Most expressed the need for more specific direction from the City Council on this issue.  Undergrounding is VERY expensive, which is the reason the idea has stalled.  However, to do it piecemeal like this - in 50 foot segments, as was described at the meeting - makes little sense.  IF there is an intention to enforce some kind of an undergrounding edict, there needs to be more formal discussions on the issue, including input from the public.  Both items felt very loosey-goosey - not the way business is normally done.

BIG JERRY GONE
The biggest news that came my way Monday was word that former consultant and, theoretical, new city employee Jerry Guarrancino is no longer with The City.  Apparently this news broke in a special staff meeting last Friday, with no more information available at this time.  It's my understanding that his Code Enforcement staff will be folded into the regular Code Enforcement organization, at least temporarily, until a decision is made about whether, and how, to fill his slot.  You might recall that he spent more than a year working in various jobs as a consultant, including acting as Interim Assistant Development Services Director during Claire Flynn's absence - and being paid a lot of money doing so - before a position was created that seemed specifically crafted for him.  We don't know what prompted his departure, but the curiously quiet circumstances only adds to the speculation.  And, it's unclear whether he actually ever did become an employee, since his consulting gig was to have shifted from one vendor to his own consulting practice.  It's all very strange.

Sober Living, Development Appeals And Matt Leinart Money

HERE WE GO AGAIN...
The Costa Mesa City Council meets again on Tuesday, July 21, 2015 in City Council Chambers at City Hall beginning at 5:45 p.m., with a closed session preceding that meeting at 5:30.  There's a lot on the agenda, HERE, so we'll just take it from the top.

MAYOR'S AWARD AND I-405 PROJECT
Following the Pledge of Allegiance and a Moment of Solemn Expression Mayor Steve Mensinger will present his Mayor's Award to Frank Gavel, followed by a presentation by the Orange County Transportation Authority on the disastrous I-405 project.  That will be followed by the always-exciting Public Comments segment and the Council Members Comments and, if Mensinger doesn't forget, the CEO's Comments.

A LOAD ON THE CONSENT CALENDAR
Next up is the Consent Calendar - items of such a routine nature that they are anticipated to be voted upon in one vote, with no discussion.  This time there are seventeen (17) items listed and I expect at least a couple of them to be pulled for comment and separate vote by members of the public.  If so, they will be trailed to the very end of the meeting, to force interested residents to endure the rest of the meeting first.  We'll see.  I'll comment here on a few that piqued my personal interest.

THE WARRANT
First is Item #3, Warrant 2539, HERE - items paid for services rendered.  Here are a few of them that caught my eye:

Apple One Employment Services - $5,777.91 - Temp Svcs, June, various
City of Huntington Beach - $23,660.00 - Helicopter Svcs, May, 2015
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $17,828.63 - Legal Svc, Negotiations and others
Heroes Hall Veteran's Foundation - $25,000.00 - Grant for Museum
Siemens Industry, Inc - $24,934.00 - Card Reader Installation
Accountemps - $4,578.40 - Temp svcs, various
Government Staffing Services, Inc - $9,581.25 - Temp svcs, various
HdL Software, Inc. - $8,323.20 - Business License Use Fee
Liebert Cassidy Whitmore - $3,014.00 - Legal svcs, various

More legal fees and temporary services this time around.

REBUILDING FIRE STATION #1
Item #7, Professional Engineering Services for the Design of Fire Station #1, HERE, is interesting.  The staff is requesting the award of a contract for $499,000.00 against the $1,676,201.00 budgeted for this year for this project.  An alternative would be for the staff to do the in-house engineering planning, which would apparently delay this project 12-15 months.

TRAFFIC ENFORCEMENT GRANT
Item #8, HERE, is the request for the acceptance of $150,000 in grand funds for "Selective Traffic Enforcement Programs" to include:

• To conduct five (5) DUI/DL checkpoints.  
• To conduct forty-four (44) DUI saturation patrols.  
• To conduct five (5) special traffic enforcement operations targeting red light, excessive speed and other violations at or near intersections with a disproportionate number of traffic collisions. 
• To conduct three (3) special enforcement operations targeting distracted driving violations.  
• To conduct two (2) bicycle and pedestrian safety enforcement operations.  
• Provide advanced officer training in DUI enforcement to ten (10) officers.

Especially considering the depleted staffing levels of the CMPD at this time, this grant funding should be welcomed with open arms.

IMPROVING FIRE STATION #4
Item #9, HERE, is for improvements at Fire Station #4, including expansion of the apparatus room and building a rescue vehicle storage building, to the tune of $690,000.

GREASING DEVELOPMENT SKIDS
Items #10, HERE, and #11, HERE deal with the vacation of easements and right-of-way for a project at 970 West 16th Street.

BIKE TRAIL DESIGN
Item #12, HERE, is for the design of the West 19th Street Bicycle Trail in the amount of $180,000.

CREATING A JOB FOR JERRY...
Item #13, HERE, is the creation of a brand new job in the Development Services Department.  This job, Assistant Director - Community Improvement Division - seems to be earmarked for Jerry Guarrancino, who has been a consultant in Development Services for more than a year and is presently heading up the Community Improvement Division as a part-time employee.  He's the only consultant I've seen receive a proclamation by the Planning Commission - and he didn't even leave!  It's my understanding that this group - 4 code enforcement officers - have responsibilities that will include the implementation and monitoring of the Group Home Enforcement, Hotel/Motel Enforcement, Neighborhood Stabilization Programs and other related community improvement activities as required.  They were moved to Development Services from the Executive Suite and, it's my understanding, that this entire organization will be domiciled at the soon-to-be-renovated Police Substation building across the street from Lions Park.  Hmmm, they must be making room for more staff on the 5th floor again.

CARE AMBULANCE EXTENSION - WHY?
Item #16, HERE, is another extension of the term of the agreement with CARE Ambulance Services.  This one has me puzzled.  We recently purchased six (6) quarter million dollar rescue ambulance units which, under the deployment model crafted by former Interim Fire Chief Tom Arnold and - we were told - adopted by the City Council, would shift the transportation of injured folks from CARE Ambulance Service to the Fire Department and result in a significant chunk of change for The City.  Presently we are only deploying half of those units and now we're extending CARE's contract for another year.  I guess I'm concerned that something is seriously amiss here, and wonder if it could possibly have anything at all to do with the fact that CARE Ambulance Service has been a big campaign contributor to certain local politicians?  What do you think?

GENIS TO VECTOR CONTROL
Item #17, HERE, is the appointment of Sandra Genis to the Vector Control District - the item that got botched up the last time it appeared.

PLANT PALETTE FOR MEDIANS
Public Hearing #1, HERE, is the recommendation by the Parks and Recreation Commission on the Mesa Verde Drive and California Street Medians.  The staff did their usual good job on this and the commission moved it on up the pipeline.  This one shouldn't take long.

APPEAL OF APPEAL OF SOBER LIVING OUTFIT
Public Hearing #2, HERE, is the biggie for the evening.  This is the appeal of the Planning Commission's recent denial of a Zoning Application for deviation from parking requirements for a group counseling use at 657 W. 19th Street.  One of the interesting aspects of this is the fact that the group counseling organization, Solid Landings, is the subject of one of the items on the Closed Session earlier in the evening - a lawsuit.

RESIDENT APPEAL PROMPTED THIS ONE

This item was appealed to the Planning Commission by resident Ann Parker and she and her compatriots did an outstanding job of presenting their case and persuaded the commission to overturn the Zoning Administrators approval.  I noted with great interest that neither she, nor any of her associates, were included in the distribution of the staff report on this item. 

A WHOLE NEW BALL GAME
Since this is a so-called "de novo" hearing, everything is brand new.  Any issues relevant to this subject can be introduced, so this should be a VERY interesting item - and one that may take a couple hours to plow through.  For example, there are thirteen (13) attachments to the staff report, and several of those have attachments, too.  It's very likely that this staff report, when printed, will have killed a small forest.

RESIDENT APPEALED THIS ONE
Public Hearing #3, HERE is the appeal of the Planning Commission approval of a controversial development at 2366 Orange Avenue by an organization that includes former major league baseball legend, Doug DeCinces.  He spoke during the Planning Commission hearing on this one.  This one could stretch an already long evening even further.

REPLACING A CHURCH WITH 10 HOMES
Public Hearing #4, HERE, is the rezone of a site on Mesa Verde Drive East, replacing the Church of Christ Scientist with a 10-unit residential development.  This one shouldn't take long once the council members stop praising the developer for his fine project - which just happens to be on the way to a couple of their homes.

FIGHTING OVER THE "LEINART" MONEY
There is no Old Business scheduled, but New Business #1, HERE, is going to be VERY interesting.  This is the item requested by councilwoman Katrina Foley to be brought before the council to determine how the monies being paid by Matt Leinart Flag Football as a result of their misrepresentation over a year ago that resulted in under-billing them for field use should be used.  Foley wants the roughly $25,000 to be split between the Estancia and Costa Mesa high schools athletic programs.  Under normal circumstances this money would go to the General Fund and could be applied to other items within the budget.  This discussion should be fun.

BEFORE MIDNIGHT?  MAYBE...
So, that's it for the agenda items.  Unless there are carry-over public comments or Consent Calendar items, we will be finished after this one.  I'm thinking 10:45 might be an optimistic departure time... we'll see.

Another Interesting Council Meeting On Tuesday

CLOSED SESSION FIRST - 4 LITIGATION ITEMS
The Costa Mesa City Council will meet for its final regular meeting on Tuesday, April 21, 2014, beginning at 5:45 in City Council Chambers at City Hall.  It will be preceded by a Closed Session at 5:00 which will cover four (4) bits of existing litigation, so a forty-five minute closed session may be optimistic.  You can read the agenda HERE.

HONORING KAREN MCGLINN
(Photo Courtesy of OC Register)
Follow the Costa Mesa Minute there will be a presentation of the Mayor's Award to Karen McGlinn, CEO of Share Our Selves (SOS).  Her husband, John, was recently appointed to the new Senior Commission.  There is no question about the good works SOS does in our community, but some view it as an "attractant" - that's the mayor's own word - and a source of the presence of "undesirables" in our community.  For example, when the agenda was posted, The Mouth From Mesa North went out of his way to post a very critical mini-essay about these kinds of businesses in town.

PUBLIC COMMENTS - ALWAYS AN ADVENTURE
We never know what the Public Comments segment will bring for the council's consideration.  The mayor had imposed restrictions on the number of folks to be heard early in the meeting, but he's been loosening his grip on this recently, to his credit.  We'll see how it goes this time.

THE WARRANT - LOTS OF BUCKS
The Consent Calendar has a couple interesting items among the eight (8) on the agenda.  As has been my practice in the recent past, I'll start by providing you with a few examples of entries listed on Item #3, Warrant 2534, HERE.  I've listed items I found to be of interest.  They are shown in the order they appear on the long list:

• Civil Source - $44,480.00 - Temp Support, various
• David Taussig & Associates, Inc. - $17,580.00 - Park Impact Fees, 2/28/15
• Johnson Favaro LLP - $40,925.50 - Library/NCC Architect Planning
• CSG Consultants, Inc - $1,870.10 - Bldg Plan Check/Inspect. 2/15
• City of Huntington Beach - $12,390.00 - Helicopter Svcs, 2/15
• FTOG, Inc. - $1,957.50 - Interim Buyer, 3/16-3/27/15
• Glenn Lukos & Associates, Inc - $6,932.44 - Fairview Park Biological Svcs, 1/10-2/20/15
• Government Staffing Services, Inc. - $7,689.70 - Temp Svcs, Various
• Keyser Marston Associates, Inc. - $5,530.00 - Consulting, Various
• Meyers Nave - $1,047.40 - Legal, Fairview Park
• Mobile Home Improvement - $11,335.00 - SFHR-1845 MonroviaSp82
• Stradling Yocca  Carlson & Rauth - $12,231.90 - Legal Svcs, Various and Many
• United Industries - $4,309.20 - Warehouse Stock - Latex Gloves
• Jones & Mayer - $24,708.49 - Legal (Dadey, Solid Landings BH)
• Government Staffing Services - $12,120.00 - Temp Svcs, Various
• Jones Day - $7,246.25 - Legal, CMCEA, 12/14
• Waxie Sanitary Supply - $4,391.88 - For Warehouse Floor Stock

CONSULTANTS, LEGAL FEES AND MORE
Now, that is by no means a complete list, but represent a few items of note because I think they are important - or because they amused me.  For example, we're still spending a load of money each month on temporary services, in the same positions, month after month.  We're still spending money on helicopter services to Huntington Beach.  We're still spending a load of dough on legal services in addition to Jones and Mayer.  On this Warrant alone there's well over $40,000.00 shown.  And, I chuckled when I saw more than $4,000 for latex gloves and another similar amount to Waxie for sanitary supplies.  Yikes!

JUGGLING JERRY, AND WHY?
Item #8 on the Consent Calendar, HERE, is a professional services agreement with Tri Planning Group.  This one is REALLY interesting, because it involves shifting the cost for Jerry Guarrancino (shown here receiving a proclamation from the Planning Commission in September) - who has been a consultant in various capacities for 16 months through Lilley Planning Group, but now this request is to retain his services through Tri Planning Group (TPG) - a company in which he has an ownership interest.  This contract is for $100,000, to cover 6 months!  And, buried down in the staff report is this comment, "Funds for this agreement will come from City-wide salary savings. During this time, the City Council will review and consider adding a full-time position to ensure that the needs of the community are met regarding group home oversight."  So, specifically WHICH salary savings pays for Jerry?  Hold that thought until later.  And, NOW we are finally going to consider hiring a full-time person to do this work - after all these months of very expensive consultant costs?  Oh, wait... new employee means more greedy pension costs.  Sorry, I forgot.

NO BOOZE FOR YOUZE...
The only Public Hearing on the agenda is an appeal of a conditional use permit for a convenience store at 2281 Newport Blvd. (Union 76).  The original item was approved, with conditions, by the Planning Commission earlier this year.  The applicant apparently doesn't like the fact that, despite the fact that one of the conditions denies the ability to sell alcoholic beverages, he disputes another condition that requires a buyer's notice to be recorded notifying any potential future buyer of that first restriction.  This is a so-called "de novo" hearing - which means the council can start from scratch and re-hear the entire project.  Ugh!  This one should be very interesting.

CORRECTING A PARKING MISTAKE
Old Business #1, HERE, is the second reading (again) of amendments to the city's Small Lot Ordinance.  The last time, earlier this month, language about parking was amended, so we're back to hear this one - again.  Read the staff report - it's short, but very enlightening about the impact of this ordinance on our city.

CONVERTING PRINT SHOP INTO A MEETING ROOM
Finally, New Business #1, HERE,  is the delayed presentation of a request for authorization of construction of a community meeting room and outdoor meeting space and remodel of the employee lounge on the first floor of City Hall.  This proposal converts the old Print Shop - presently being used as an elephant graveyard for surplus furniture - into much-needed meeting space in the building.  I've had a chance to take a peek at this space and it looks like it might be segmentable - able to be carved into several smaller meeting spots - instead of just being used permanently as one big space.  It is 1,625 square feet.  Plans include the capability of broadcasting from that venue, too.

NICER MEETING SPACES
The plans also include an outside sitting/meeting area and renovation of the employee lounge - a miserable little space behind council chambers than now doesn't even have vending machines in it!

DO THIS ONE FIRST!
This is a good idea.  In my view, since the major renovation of Council Chambers is supposed to begin kind of contiguously with this project, it would be a good idea to do THIS project first, then use this space to hold council meetings while the chambers renovation is being completed.  Otherwise, the City will be scrambling for adequate meeting space for council meetings - and likely would NOT be able to televise live from any other venue around town.  The availability of this new space solves that problem.  The space available could likely hold more than 100 people, making it usable for all but the most action-packed council meetings.  Most council meetings have well short of 100 attendees, including staff members.

EXACTLY WHICH "SALARY SAVINGS" PAYS FOR THIS?
The cost for the several elements involved in this project comes to $1.2 million and the recommendation is that those costs come from FY 2014-2015 salary savings.  Remember up top when I told you to hold that thought?  Well, I'd like to know just EXACTLY where these presumed salary savings are coming from!  Is this a result of poor budgeting, slow recruiting, bad management or all of the above?

NO MAS, NOW... SEE YOU TUESDAY
So, that's it for this entry.  See you at the council meeting Tuesday.  There's a lot more happening around town next week.  More on that later.

Yellowstone Recovery Accommodation Denied, And More

 MARATHON WITHIN A MARATHON
At the Costa Mesa Planning Commission meeting that lasted seven hours and fifteen minutes last night, four hours and fifteen minutes were spent on one issue alone - the request from Yellowstone Recovery for a "Reasonable Accommodation" for their facility at 3132 Boston Way.  More on that in a minute.

POTPOURRI REPORT
Chairman Jim Fitzpatrick pulled Item #2 from the Consent Calendar for discussion, so Consultant Staffer Jerry Guarrancino provided a short report on several items previously requested by the Planning Commission.  They included a report on the Smartphone app, Costa Mesa Connect; Nuisance Abatement Ordinance, Sober Living Ordinances for R2 and R3 Zones and Motel Inspection Data.  You can read all the numbers in the staff report, HERE.

SOBECA PLAN
Resident, former councilman and recent council candidate Jay Humphrey - who remains engaged in municipal activities - pulled Item #3, the SOBECA Traffic and Parking study, for discussion.   Actually, he wanted to express appreciation for the information, but bemoaned the lack of similar studies for other vital parts of the City - the Westside and Eastside, for example.

SCOOTER SALES TO BE RESCHEDULED
The first Public Hearing, on a Scooter Sales Store, was taken off the calendar and will be re-noticed if it is ever brought back.

YELLOWSTONE RECOVERY APPEAL
Then, at 6:40 p.m., came the elephant in the room - Public Hearing Item #2, the request for Reasonable Accommodation by Yellowstone Recovery for their facility at 3132 Boston Way.  The staff recommendation was to uphold the denial of the request by resolution.  Four hours and fifteen minutes later, including breaks, the commission voted to uphold the denial.

THE YELLOWSTONE CASE
During the hearing - which was conducted more like a trial than a normal hearing, including having many of the speakers sworn-in - the lawyer (Steven Polin) for the appellant (Yellowstone Recovery) presented his "case" for approval of the appeal and, thus, permit Yellowstone to continue to operate a sober living home with 15 residents at 3132 Boston Way.  The maximum permitted is 6.  Before it began, though, Polin suggested that Commissioner Timothy Sesler had a conflict because he was part of a team put together by then-mayor Jim Righeimer to evaluate the Newport Beach sober living situation and Yellowstone had been part of that discussion.  He indicated that Sesler should recuse himself.  That prompted a short break while Deputy City Attorney Yolanda Summerhill consulted with Sesler.  The result was that Sesler - also a lawyer - felt he could be an objective and fair participant and the commissioners agreed.  He stayed on the dais.

ADDICTS AND SUPPORTERS SPOKE
Polin's presentation, in which he attempted to convince the commissioners that Yellowstone perhaps should be "grandfathered-in", included short speeches by a dozen current and former residents of the recovery home, plus two other supporters of the program - resident Grant McNiff (shown) and Richard Dumont of the Recovery Network.

RECOVERED AND RECOVERING
The comments by the recovered and recovering addicts were quite moving in many cases.  Each was sworn-in by the clerk before they spoke. Based on the body language of the crowd and reaction and comments by the commissioners, there were few unsympathetic people in the auditorium last night.

 HONEY

Owner of the home, "Honey" Thames, stepped up to address the commission to convince them of the value of the operation, and the value of having more than 6 residents at the site.  She failed to do so.

GERLI LED THE CITY TEAM
Elena Gerli led the presentation by the City Staff.  She presented a lengthy slide show, outlining the elements of the issue.  She outlined the law,  and described the request by Yellowstone.  Those slides are shown here.

 CONSULTANT
Additionally, the City also presented testimony by Patricia Shields, a lawyer, recovering addict and consultant, who apparently was being paid $2,500 by the City for consultative support on this issue.  She, in response to questions by Greg Palmer of the City Attorney's office, established her credentials, gave a work history and then provided an assessment of the situation.  The short version is that she, and other highly qualified persons who provided opinions, felt there was nothing demonstrated by Yellowstone that having 15 persons in a recovery home was necessary to the recovery when compared to the permitted 6 residents.

TUCKER, TOO
Code Enforcement officer Mike Tucker also aided in the presentation by providing a history of this home, which apparently dates back fifteen years at that site.  He discussed the history of calls for service at the site, including the most recent one which resulted in this action when a resident apparently jumped off the roof of the building into the swimming pool.

NEIGHBORS ANGRY
In addition, several members of the public, including some from the neighborhood in which the house is located, spoke to address the issue.  It turns out that the Yellowstone Recovery home is but one of four (or five-it was unclear) additional similar facilities close to it.


DENIAL UPHELD
After all was said and done, and following what certainly sounded like a threat of legal action by Polin near the end which upset at least one member of the commission - Colin McCarthy - the commission voted to uphold the denial of the request for Reasonable Accommodation and directed staff to work with Yellowstone to come up with a transition plan for the reduction of residents in the facility.  I suspect nobody left in the room expected that was going to go smoothly, but the commission gave the staff one month to work out a plan.

SADDLEBACK CHURCH AT 1901 NEWPORT BLVD.
Finally, at 10:55, the commission took a short break before moving to the next item and reconvened at 11:05 to discuss the proposal from Saddleback Church to occupy several spaces at the building at 1901 Newport Boulevard.  This issue has come before the commission previously and the last time was sent back for more work on a traffic and parking plan.

POTENTIAL BIG PARKING PROBLEMS
It turns out that was a good idea, because several issues were uncovered - like a shared parking arrangement with The Triangle to provide overflow employee parking for that venue.  Several people spoke to this issue, including the Pastor of the church, Moses Camacho and the minister from the adjacent United Methodist Church, Reverend Julie Elkins, whose church is diminishing and could close down if it looses members due to parking and traffic problems.  The discussion went on and on and it looked like Fitzpatrick and McCarthy were going to pull the plug on this request, but when the vote was taken it ended up 3-2, with Fitzpatrick and McCarthy voting NO, at 12:10 a.m.!

3-UNITS ON VIOLA PLACE APPROVED
Public Hearing #4 is the three-unit development on a skinny little lot on Viola Place.  After a half hour of discussion the commission voted 5-0 to approve the project at 12:40 am.

5-UNITS ON ORANGE AVENUE ALSO APPROVED
The final item on the agenda, Public Hearing #5, was a similar kind of development - 5-units on another skinny lot at 2661 Orange Avenue.  The developer made an excellent, and rapid, presentation and - even though this fell under the Small Lot Ordinance and had variances -  the commission voted, 5-0, to move the project forward.  An exhausted commission adjourned the meeting to the January 12, 2015 meeting.