Planning Comm'n Votes Without Dissent To Deny Applicant-Sought/City Staff-Recommended Drive Thru At Proposed New Del Taco Restaurant on Bellflower @ Abbeyfield; Mayor Garcia Signals His Opposition To Proposal Hours Before Hearing
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(May 6, 2016, 2:55 a.m.) -- As carried LIVE on LBREPORT.com and reported by us minutes later on our front page and on Facebook, LB's Mayor-chosen/Council-approved Planning Comm'n voted unanimously on May 5 to deny a Conditional Use Permit for a drive-through lane at a new Del Taco restaurant proposed at the NW corner of Bellflower/Abbeyfield.
The Commission's vote followed over an hour of public testimony unanimously opposed to the proposal...after city staff recommended approval of the applicant's CUP request.
The grassroots Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhoods (LACAN), which organized opposition to the proposal, stated on its website that Mayor Robert Garcia had sent a Twitter "tweet" at 2:52 p.m. -- a little over two hours before the start of the 5 p.m. Planning Commission meeting -- signaling his opposition to the proposal. "All night drive-thru's on residential streets, like the proposal on the corner of Abbeyfield Rd in Los Altos, are bad for neighborhoods," LACAN says the Mayor indicated via Twitter.
Source: Twitter.com/RobertGarciaLB
[Scroll down for further.
According to the LACAN website, Fourth District Councilman Daryl Supernaw sat in the back of the Council Chamber, watched the Planning Commission meeting and greeted and congratulated residents after the vote in lobby area.
At Planning Commission hearings, speakers are required to testify under oath and Commission members and the City are required to consider testimony by the applicant and nearby property owners in a manner that respects their due process rights.
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The applicant, Centerra Retail Group of Calabasas, said the restaurant (which would be a Del Taco corporate operated location) would mean less pollution, less noise and less traffic than a gas station currently on the site.
Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhood leader Joe Mello led off public testimony, itemizing instances in which he alleged that the city staff report (which recommended approval with conditions) was inaccurate.
A mix of long time propery owners and more recent residents followed, citing quality of life, traffic, trash, noise. One speaker noted that the gas is closed Sundays and doesn't operate late night hours. Realtor Joe Sopo said he'd sold properties in area for over 30 years and knows the residents value their quality of life.
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Residents argued that the proposed use effectively "adjoined" their neighborhood in a manner not allowed by the Municipal Code, but Assistant City Attorney Mike Mais said city staff properly applied the Muni Code's strict definitions of "abut" and "adjoin" as requiring that the proposed use actually "touch" nearby property lines (which this proposed use didn't do although it came close.) Mr. Mais added that the Muni Code also allowed the Planning Commission to deny an applicant's request if it concluded there were other neighborhood impacting grounds to do so.
Early in the hearing before public testimony, Commissioner Fox asked the applicant if it might accept closing the drive-through earlier than 2 a.m., and after the public testimony Comm'r Van Horik again asked if the applicant would agree to reduce the drive through lane hours (Van Horik proposed 8 a.m.-11 p.m.) A Del Taco rep said the company prefers the flexibility of having the drive-through lane open till 2 a.m. and adjusting its closing hours as customer demand warrants but indicated he'd take shortened hours back to HQ for a response.
A turning point in the hearing came shortly thereafter when Commission chair Christoffels said he didn't think the drive through layout is compatible with the area and said he would probably vote to deny the CUP application. Commissioner Templin made a motion to deny. Commissioner Perez seconded...and the motion to deny carried unanimously.
Some in the crowd could be heard shouting "thank you" to the Planning Commission.
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It's not immediately clear if the applicant will appeal what took place to the City Council, where Mayor Garcia doesn't have a vote but could veto a Council action if it were to reverse the Planning Commission decision (and reversal of the Planning Comm'n action would then require six Council votes for a veto override.)
Following the Planning Commission vote, Garcia tweeted: "Thank you Planning Commission for voting to unanimously deny the proposed drive-thru restaurant at Abbeyfield Rd -- good work by all."
Los Altos Center Adjacent Neighborhoods noted on its website that residents had been given only ten days notice of the upcoming hearing on the proposed development [a time period specified in the Municipal Code, which the Council could increase but hasn't] and had to move quickly. The group said it used "old fashioned community organizing and 21st Century social media" in which "LACAN community residents have united to save their neighborhood from a poorly planned and conceived" threat. On its website, the group called the proposed development "a unique threat to [the neighborhood's] quality of life."
According to the agendized city staff report (which recommended granting the CUP with conditions; a proposed site plan is at this link), 4th dist. Councilman Supernaw conducted an April 26 community meeting where the applicant and a Del Taco representative fielded questions. At some point, the applicant then dropped plans for a 24 hour drive-thru, proposing (in the city staff report) to reduce the drive-through lane use by four hours from 6 a.m. to 2 a.m...which didn't quiet the opposition.
LACAN members organized and held a visible demonstration at the site (photos below) to voice their opposition and spread the word of the impending Planning Commission hearing.
