[4:41] Sorry about that. We're just waiting on
some technical issues. Good evening.
[4:47] Just wanted to do that one last time. My
name is Rachel Diamond. This is the City
[4:50] of Ventura director's hearing. I'm uh
again, Rachel Diamond. I'm the community
[4:54] development director. Um and I'm the
hearing officer this evening. Um,
[4:58] tonight is a special meeting of the um,
director's hearing. Um, and um, just
[5:06] going through the agenda here. Um, I do
want to acknowledge that we're gathered
[5:10] on unseated Chumash land. We do have a
city council adopted Chumash land
[5:15] acknowledgement. Um, and we have a link
in our agenda if you'd like to see that
[5:19] full acknowledgement. Um, if anyone does
have public comment, you can give a
[5:23] speaker slip to the clerk. Um, we have
just called to order. Um, and next we'll
[5:29] go to public communications, which is a
time set aside during the hearing for
[5:33] members of the public to address me on
any planning related business, anything
[5:37] other than scheduled agenda items.
Madame Clerk, do we have any members of
[5:41] the public who wish to speak during this
item?
[5:44] » Thank you, Director Diamond. No public
communications.
[5:46] » Okay, moving along, we have our consent
items. Um there is one item on consent
[5:53] which is just the con um approval of the
minutes from July 20th. I went through
[5:57] those and looked at the um video and I
will go ahead and um approve those
[6:02] minutes unless do we have any speakers
on the consent agenda?
[6:06] » No speakers.
>> Thank you for that. So I'll go ahead and
[6:09] approve the minutes as provided in the
draft. Um moving along to our public
[6:14] hearing items. Um, our first item, we
actually have two items on public
[6:18] hearings. Um, let's go ahead and move
forward with project 261 1150. Um, which
[6:26] is an off- streetet parking agreement at
1973 East Main Street. And we have Grant
[6:31] White with us. Oh, no. We have Ruby with
us this evening, uh, with the
[6:35] presentation.
>> Yes. Good afternoon. My name is Ruby
[6:39] Triggero, assistant planner in the
community development department,
[6:42] presenting on behalf of my colleague,
acting senior planner Grant White. And
[6:46] the agenda item before you is a request
for a use permit to permit an off-
[6:50] streetet agreement, parking agreement,
and minor design review for a new
[6:53] commercial daycare.
[6:58] The project site is located
[7:03] at 1971 through 1975 East Main Street
within the Midtown community. The
[7:08] approximately 7,750
foot project site is a mixeduse site
[7:12] developed with two structures. The
property is zoned T4.5 Urban General and
[7:18] is regulated by the Midtown Quarters
Development Code. Surrounding uses are
[7:22] primarily commercial in character. To
the west store a restaurant, a Pilates
[7:25] studio, and a corner market with various
commercial businesses located east and
[7:29] south of the project site. A single
family residence is located directly
[7:33] north of the site.
The proposed project includes the
[7:39] request for a use permit to authorize
the majority of the required off-
[7:42] streetet parking spaces to be to be
provided at an off-site location.
[7:47] Additionally, the project includes the
request for a minor design review to
[7:50] construct an outdoor playground area at
the rear to support the licensed daycare
[7:55] use. And in conjunction with these
entitlements, tenant improvements would
[7:58] convert the interior commercial space to
a daycare use, including a co-working
[8:02] room and preschool. Not included in the
project scope of work is the existing
[8:07] residence located on the second floor.
This unit would be maintained as is with
[8:11] no changes proposed.
As seen in the depicted site plan,
[8:17] building A fronts East Main Street as a
two-story structure with commercial on
[8:21] the ground floor and one residential
unit on the second floor. Building B
[8:25] sits at the rear of the property at
approximately 1,000 square feet. And the
[8:30] proposed project will utilize the ground
floor space of both building A and B.
[8:35] Between the two structures, the existing
paved area would be converted to
[8:39] construct an outdoor play area and two
sparking parking spaces would be
[8:43] provided on site. One ADA parking space
and one space reserved for the upstairs
[8:47] residential unit. At the street frontage
off Main Street, the applicant has
[8:52] requested a 46 46 foot wide loading zone
to be striped to accommodate multiple
[8:58] daily drop off and pickup windows which
the transportation division mentioned
[9:01] they are amendable to that request.
[9:07] And due to the maximization of the
project site for proposed childcare
[9:10] operations, a use permit has been
submitted for allowance of an off-
[9:13] streetet parking agreement between the
project applicant, Blue Crush, and a
[9:17] neighboring church property, Community
Presbyterian Church, located about half
[9:22] mile away at 1555 Poli Street.
Consistent with the requirements of the
[9:28] zoning ordinance, the applicant has
submitted a use permit and signed lease
[9:31] agreement between Blue Crush and
Community Presbyterian Church to allow
[9:35] for the 15 parking spaces to be provided
off-site at the church to allow parking
[9:40] of its employees. Blue Crush off-site
parking spaces will be clearly labeled
[9:44] and reserved within the church's parking
lot that currently provides up to 150
[9:48] parking spaces.
[9:52] And to accommodate the spaces at the
church site, the applicant will provide
[9:55] a shuttle service to its employees. Two
morning shuttles at 6:45 and 8:15 a.m.
[10:01] will drop off teachers at the child care
center, and two shuttles will return the
[10:04] employees to the off-site parking lot at
3:45 and 5:15 p.m. For daily childare
[10:10] operations, the applicant has proposed
utilizing the front curb as a designated
[10:14] loading zone for parent drop off and
pickup and to avoid reliance on the
[10:18] alley um in the rear for child access.
And those drop off and pickup windows
[10:23] happen three times during the day for
classes at 7:15, 8:15 a.m., and 12:30
[10:28] p.m.
[10:32] The proposed minor design review
proposes the construction of a 2,000
[10:36] square foot nature playscape outdoor
area utilizing a portion of the existing
[10:41] parking lot area. Consistent with the
daycare state licency requirement, the
[10:45] new outdoor area will be provided for
use of child care at the day for
[10:49] children at the daycare emphasizing an
outdoor play environment.
[10:55] And the proposed project is category
categorically exempt from the California
[10:59] Environmental Quality Act as provided
under section 15303 of the sequelines
[11:04] and therefore no further environmental
review is required.
[11:11] Staff is recommending that the community
development director approve the project
[11:15] as condition and please note that an
updated resolution has been prepared for
[11:19] this item and this concludes staff's
presentation and I'm available for any
[11:23] questions.
>> Thank you. Excellent presentation. No
[11:26] notes, no questions. Applicants, do you
have anything you'd like to add? You
[11:30] have how many minutes?
>> Three minutes if or you're welcome to
[11:34] come up. Are they present?
[11:38] » Available for questions if you want to
come up
[11:42] if you don't mind.
>> Did you call me?
[11:45] » No, I didn't.
>> Oh, I'm sorry.
[11:47] » First, just the applicant, then we'll
get to members of the public.
[11:55] » Hi, I'm the I'm the director at the
Midtown location. and I'm here on behalf
[12:00] of Melissa who is the um owner and
applicant for this project. Um I just
[12:05] wanted to say that we really appreciate
you guys reviewing this. We are um we
[12:10] have our first location over downtown
just a couple blocks from here. We've
[12:14] built this location um with a similar
structure, small amount of parking,
[12:19] large amount of outdoor play space for
young children. Most of our staff walk
[12:23] to school or carpool to school. Um, we
do utilize like farther away parking
[12:28] spots and walk into the space. Our, uh,
parents do loading and unloading,
[12:33] 10-minute drop off, and it works really,
really effectively. Um, and so we're
[12:36] grateful for your consideration of this
proposal. I'm happy to answer any
[12:40] questions as well.
>> Great. Thank you. Um, I'll come back to
[12:44] you if I have questions. Um, but it's
more comments, so I don't want to make
[12:47] you stand there. Do we have any members
of the public who wish to speak?
[12:50] » Uh, yes, director. We have two public
comments.
[12:53] » Great.
>> First will be Ray Hennessy. followed by
[12:55] William Groden. You'll each have three
minutes.
[13:01] » Good afternoon.
>> Could you bring the graphic up that you
[13:06] just had as far as showing the new uh
playground,
[13:11] proposed playground? There you go.
Um
[13:15] again, my name is Ray Hennessy. I've
been a resident here in Ventura for
[13:20] since 1977.
um moved to this location which is that
[13:25] house right there on the right hand side
of the playground
[13:29] uh where my two living room windows are.
Uh lived there for six years and just
[13:36] let me say that I would be the last
person in the world that would move in
[13:40] next to an airport and then complain
about the noise. Um, but this because
[13:46] I'm pretty much semi-retired
and serve the community and half a dozen
[13:52] different organizations,
I am at my house frequently and uh
[13:57] having a playground right outside my
living room windows uh would be less
[14:03] than ideal for me. So, thank you for the
consideration.
[14:10] » Thank you.
[14:14] William.
[14:23] » Hi, Rachel. Um, William Grouden. I'm the
uh I'm the business owner at 1963. He's
[14:29] uh on Main Street and my wife has a
plotty studio that you mentioned and my
[14:34] architect's office is there. Um I will
be directly impacted by the project and
[14:41] I support it. 100%. Um, I look forward
to the kids noise. I I used to live next
[14:48] to the school, which I miss the kids
actually being loud. I don't I don't
[14:53] worry about the drop off. Um, I don't
have really any objections and I support
[14:57] staff for uh for you to recommend
approval. Um,
[15:03] I do and I I've talked to a lot of the
neighbors of the other businesses, which
[15:08] I know I'm not really supposed to talk
uh speak for them, but everybody I've
[15:11] spoke to has been in support of it. So,
thank you.
[15:15] » Thank you for that. Um, I do have a
question. Oh, do we have another
[15:19] speaker?
>> That concludes public comments.
[15:23] » Did you want to speak?
>> Yes. Hi, I'm Linda Callas. I am the
[15:27] property owner of 1974 to 1998 East Main
Street across the street, directly
[15:33] across the street. So, um I'm wondering
how this is going to impact with this
[15:39] lane, how it's going to impact the
traffic there. uh there is not a lot of
[15:43] parking and um I didn't see any sort of
adjustment to
[15:51] uh the flow of traffic through there
with the drop off directly across from
[15:57] my businesses.
Um and as far as the gentleman saying he
[16:02] talked to everybody um the my tenants
are not supportive of this because of
[16:08] the traffic issue.
Thank you. Thank you. Um any other
[16:14] speakers, Madam Clerk?
>> Um no other speakers.
[16:18] » Um to the woman who just spoke, if you
could fill out a speaker card. Um
[16:22] typically you fill out a card first. You
were up there. It's great. Um but this
[16:26] way we have in the record all your info.
If you um can provide that. Um can I
[16:30] have the applicant up here again? I just
have some questions. So obviously you've
[16:34] heard some concerns. Um for any of us
who have dropped off our own children at
[16:40] um child care, it I mean drop off is
always a challenging time. Um how do you
[16:45] plan to deal with pickup drop off? How
do you make it work? Do you phase pickup
[16:52] drop off people? I know there's some
conditions as well that get into this.
[16:55] So I'm going to ask you about your
process and then I'm going to ask staff
[16:58] how we're conditioning this to kind of
keep these things in in check. So that's
[17:02] where we'll go from there.
>> Yeah, absolutely. So we have a few
[17:06] different pickup and drop off times
slated. So it's not our first location
[17:11] here. We're 9 to5. So pretty much all
families drop off at 9:00 and most of
[17:15] the families pick up at 5. But here
we're going to be phasing it. So I think
[17:19] you heard part of that will be a 7:30
option, an 8:15 option, a 9:00 a.m.
[17:23] option. And so that helps spread it out
throughout the morning so that it's not
[17:27] all congested all at one time. Similarly
for pickup, we max the children out at 8
[17:32] hours a day. So then, right, the 7:15
becomes a 3:15, the 8:15 becomes a 415,
[17:38] etc. So that's how we plan on staggering
it. Also, we do plan on having 75
[17:43] families on site, but my apologies, 75
children on site, but a lot of those are
[17:49] multiple children families, right? The
most common age gap between children is
[17:53] two to three years. And so typically we
expect that there will be a lot of
[17:56] duplicates coming into the site. Um, and
that being said, if we carve out that
[18:01] space, that loading zone that we
discussed, um, it shouldn't impede the
[18:04] flow of traffic if parents are just
pulling over, they're dropping off their
[18:08] children, um, and then they're able to
walk out, return to their cars after
[18:12] less than 10 minutes and head out.
>> So, is there do you anticipate having
[18:16] staff greet the parents outside?
>> Yeah, that's absolutely something that
[18:21] we can work on is having staff that are
able to support with the drop off
[18:25] because it can be challenging if your
child's all the way in the back. you
[18:28] know, we want to make sure that we're
creating space so that parents can stay
[18:31] within that 10-minute window.
>> Okay.
[18:33] » Um I'm sorry to to interrupt. I did want
to let you know that the business owner
[18:37] is on Zoom if you'd like to ask
questions directly to her.
[18:40] » Okay. I mean, I I'm happy for anyone to
answer. So, if the business owner, while
[18:45] you're on Zoom, if you want to jump in,
perhaps um she can raise her hand and
[18:50] then if you could just let me know.
She's raising her hand.
[18:52] » Can you can you hear me?
>> Yes, absolutely. Feel free to jump in
[18:55] anytime. Sorry, I had I had hands raised
to try and um also answer the question
[19:00] from the neighbor that's living right
beside us if that's helpful.
[19:04] » Sure. Yeah, I'm open to really I don't
know if we can if we need this in the
[19:09] use permit, but I'm open to building
block wall and we were going to make
[19:13] that wall next to his house an orchard
anyway, so it has trees along it, which
[19:18] is known as a green buffer. But I'm
really open to putting a block wall
[19:22] behind that if that's helpful with the
sound barrier.
[19:25] » Can you put up the um the picture of the
the playground, the rendering? Is it
[19:32] possible to get that up there while we
look? Oh, perfect. So, it looks like a
[19:37] wall. Now, is that not going to be a
wall along that side?
[19:41] » It was a It was a wooden fence, which is
what's required by state licensing.
[19:46] » Okay.
>> And so, you have to have a six foot high
[19:48] fence all the way around. So, that's
required. So, that way children can't
[19:52] jump over it, that sort of thing. But,
I'm open to making that side block,
[19:56] which would help with the sound buffer
because we already have plants and trees
[19:59] going along it as well.
I mean, if you want to volunteer that,
[20:03] that sounds great. So, are you okay if I
condition you to and require you to do
[20:07] that? This is like the moment.
[laughter]
[20:10] » Well, I don't want to be required to do
it because I haven't quoted it yet, but
[20:13] I do want to have good neighbors, right?
So, we we're doing this for the
[20:18] community. Just so everyone knows, 30%
of Californians don't have daycare for
[20:22] ages 0 to three, and 56% of Venturans
don't have it. 67% of families with zero
[20:27] to three children in Ventura are trying
to work. So we we're fitting a a target
[20:33] in the in the daycare industry right
here in Ventura. We have 142 children on
[20:38] our weight list. From our fir first
location, we have 48 spots. So this one
[20:42] we're trying to do 72. And but we want
to work with the community. And the
[20:46] reason why we chose Midtown is because
there's so many young families that live
[20:49] in Midtown. There's so many that walk
their strollers to places. And we
[20:53] thought, how cool would it be to bring
more industry into Midtown? We just won
[20:57] the new economy award for the central
coast because we've created a new
[21:01] economy for mothers and fathers. Uh they
get to work near their children. So, but
[21:05] we do want to have good neighbors. We
believe in community. We believe in
[21:09] getting along with people. And I would
like to get this quoted out, but I don't
[21:12] have a quote yet. But I I'm I'm willing
to make it work.
[21:16] » Okay. Um
I I appreciate that. And I mean to your
[21:21] point, obviously, you know, we have an
extreme shortage of child care in this
[21:28] community um and throughout the region.
And I think just from a a use
[21:32] perspective, you know, this is clearly
um not oversaturated in any way.
[21:38] Sometimes it feels like it in certain
specific areas, but we clearly have kind
[21:42] of an over um a massive need for child
care. And I think figuring out ways to
[21:48] fit it into spaces within the our
existing community and um you know
[21:53] mitigating the um potential
um you know consequences of this land
[21:59] use going in next door to neighbors as
much as possible I think is is great. So
[22:03] I appreciate hearing you want to to work
with the neighbors. Um, and certainly,
[22:08] you know, while you didn't move in next
door with the this type of use, this is
[22:12] certainly something that can go in this
area and frankly at this point in the
[22:16] state of California can go into, you
know, regular single family homes as
[22:20] well and not come to a a public hearing.
So, this is more commercial in nature.
[22:25] » Yeah, we're permitted by right to be in
that space. So, daycare is permitted by
[22:29] right for that location 1971 and 1973.
What wasn't permitted and why we're
[22:35] having to bring it to you is having the
parking offsite.
[22:38] » Right. Yeah. So,
>> and the reason why we're doing that is
[22:41] to try and help with parking in Midtown.
So, we're actually spending an extra
[22:44] $1,000 a month. Our rent is going to be
$9,000. And so, it's a $10,000, you
[22:49] know, incre it's an extra increase for
us of $1,000 onetenth of our budget is
[22:54] going to parking teachers somewhere that
doesn't cause congestion in Midtown. And
[22:58] that's really important to us, right?
One for children's safety. And then
[23:02] doing this staggered drop off is we're
hoping that it helps with the traffic
[23:05] because we have 12 students coming at a
time, right? Which is really great. No
[23:10] school I know of does that. Every school
I know is like all hundred kids pop in
[23:14] at the same time. So we're we're trying
to help with both those things. And it
[23:18] does help. The reason why we didn't want
to use the alley is we don't want
[23:20] children walking down the alley because
it's tight. So, we wanted them on the
[23:24] front road where you have a bike lane
which we parents could bike and walk
[23:28] their kids from the local community and
also it has two lanes plus a a turn left
[23:35] lane. So, it's much wider, right, for
cars to pull in and then you have
[23:39] parking on either side as well of the
road. So, you've got a nice wide birth
[23:43] and you have a sidewalk. So, that's the
reason for drop off and pickup in the
[23:46] front.
[23:51] » Okay. Okay. Um,
all right. Well,
[23:56] again, I appreciate you trying to figure
this out in terms of parking. Um, you
[24:00] know, I think this is a great example of
how you can use this type of situation
[24:04] to make these sites work. Um, you know,
certainly I think the um the operational
[24:12] aspects of the business seem to help
address some of these issues. Do we have
[24:17] any of the operational stuff in our
conditions that you can go over in terms
[24:21] of um particularly the staggered drop
off and staff being available to help
[24:28] people in?
>> Yes. So, the project has been
[24:31] conditioned um according to what the
applicant has provided in terms of the
[24:36] staggered drop off um and shall traffic
on Main Street be severely impacted, the
[24:42] project has been conditioned to further
review and perhaps an amendment and
[24:46] looked into further by our public works
department.
[24:49] » If traffic is impacted,
>> do we quantify that at all or is it just
[24:54] left open-ended? Sorry, I'll pull up the
language as well.
[25:01] I believe if you look at condition 19,
it notes these spaces shall not be
[25:06] removed, reduced, um, obstructed or
reassigned to other uses without prior
[25:10] written approval without an amendment.
So that is condition 19 and that
[25:14] requires that they maintain the spaces
on site. If you go to condition 17 and
[25:19] 18, they further describe the 15 off-
streetet parking spaces that have to be
[25:23] provided at the church.
[25:30] And further condition number 20 and 21
further state that any substantive
[25:35] modification to the local location,
length or hours of operation of the
[25:39] loading zone shall be subject to review
and approval by the community
[25:42] development director and is applicable
by the public works department.
[25:48] Okay, great. Um, I appreciate the
thoroughess of the conditions. I think
[25:52] that these um address all of the issues
that I have as far as like kid noise.
[26:00] It's it is a permitted use. So, we can't
really push any more conditions in terms
[26:05] of um limiting that. That's just part of
the reality of being next to a use like
[26:10] this. And I think um you know, more
broadly, you know, staggering the kids,
[26:15] staggering the hours of play obviously
all you know, help with that. I'm not
[26:20] going to require the block wall,
particularly since it sounds like you
[26:23] can't quite commit to it yet. But
certainly, if you want to use a block
[26:27] wall instead of a wood fence, that would
be fantastic and is highly encouraged.
[26:31] Um, but again, I can't condition you to
that. Um, so with that, I'm going to go
[26:36] ahead and approve this item with all of
the required conditions noted by staff
[26:41] in the report and the resolution as
written. So, thank you and good luck.
[26:46] » Thank you.
>> And thanks to everyone else who came
[26:48] out. Um the next item this evening
before you um we'll give it a second to
[26:56] get switched over here
and thank you Ruby.
[27:01] Um is GG's Parklet located at 2493 Grand
Avenue
[27:06] for Gigi's Cocktail Lounge. Um and we
have AJ Burnernhard, senior planner here
[27:11] with a presentation and then it looks
like Ben Turner um is the applicant's
[27:16] representative.
AJ whenever you are ready.
[27:24] » Yeah. Good afternoon members of the
public. Director Diamond last meeting.
[27:29] Excited to have you on the dis one last
time.
[27:33] [laughter] Uh my name is AJ Burnernhard
for the record and I'll be presenting
[27:36] agenda item number three, the GG's
Parklet.
[27:40] Uh the project site is located at 2493
Grand Avenue. The site is zoned
[27:45] commercial plan development and has a
land use designation of mixeduse 3. On
[27:50] the vicinity map to the right, you'll
note the project site outlined with a
[27:53] blue square. To the east is a
residential neighborhood. To the north,
[27:58] south, and west is commercial and
industrial uses, and further to the
[28:02] south is Ventura Boulevard and the 101
freeway.
[28:07] The site is currently improved with a
multi-tenant commercial shopping center
[28:11] that was constructed in the 1960s.
During CO 19, one of the tenants, the
[28:17] GG's Cocktail Lounge, erected a
temporary parklet in response to CO 19
[28:22] restrictions. In September of 2024, the
city issued a violation for the
[28:26] unpermitted use of the parklet.
The project today would remove that
[28:33] temporary parklet installation and
replace it with a permanent parklet
[28:36] installation. That parklet is comprised
of a 1,270
[28:41] ft parklet that would occupy six
existing parking spaces, provide an
[28:46] outdoor seating area, be surrounded with
six foot tall perimeter fencing,
[28:51] incorporates landscape screening in
front of the fencing, incorporates a
[28:55] trellised roof structure, and accessible
entrances to the north and south.
[29:00] On the site plan to the right, you'll
note the existing shopping center and
[29:04] related building footprint in blue and
the proposed parklet area in green.
[29:11] This project requires three separate
permits. First is a minor design review
[29:15] which authorizes the look of the
parklet. Second are minor variances
[29:20] which enable deviations from our
citywide parklet design guidelines and
[29:23] standards. The third is an alcohol use
permit which allows alcohol service and
[29:28] consumption in the Parklet area.
We'll start with the aesthetics and the
[29:34] look of the Parklet and we'll uh and
we'll share the east elevation or the
[29:38] primary elevation facing Grand Avenue. I
want to highlight that the proposed
[29:43] structure is predominantly constructed
of wood painted gray and white which
[29:47] complements the existing building
facade. That wood fencing is topped with
[29:51] a white lattice fence topping providing
some design articulation and is screened
[29:56] with landscaping including ital Italian
cypress and Chinese juniper trees.
[30:03] Next, I'll transition to the minor
variances. This project includes four
[30:07] deviations from our citywide parklet
design guidelines and standards. The
[30:11] first of which is related to perimeter
fence height. Under our current
[30:15] standards, a 3 and 1/2 ft fence is
permitted. The applicant is proposing a
[30:20] six- foot tall perimeter fence. Staff
supports this request as it buffers the
[30:25] additional homes through additional
screening and some modest sound
[30:27] attenuation.
Second relates to the shade canopy or
[30:31] the roof structure which our standards
require uh that the structures
[30:36] constructed of soft fabric. This
proposed project proposes a wood lattice
[30:41] structure and in staff's review we felt
it better integrated with the design of
[30:45] the existing shopping center.
Third is a deviation related to the
[30:49] emergency access gap requirement which
requires a three-foot gap for every 40
[30:54] feet of parklet length. The proposed
parklet is 54t 4 in in length and
[30:59] there's no emergency access gaps. We
reviewed the deviation with the Ventura
[31:04] fire and police departments who
supported the deviation.
[31:08] Relatedly, it supports ABC's licensing
requirements uh pertaining to controlled
[31:13] entry.
Finally, our design guidelines and
[31:16] standard require that the post material
of the fence is painted black or
[31:20] constructed of C10 steel. This project
proposes gray.
[31:26] This is supported as it matches the
shopping center's color palette.
[31:32] Finally is a request for the alcohol use
permit. In reviewing the crest, in
[31:37] reviewing the request with the Ventura
Police Department, staff felt it was
[31:40] compatible with nearby uses.
Specifically, the use of screening,
[31:44] fencing, landscaping, and controlled
access minimize impacts to the
[31:49] neighborhood. Secondly, the conditions
of approval for the project are intended
[31:54] to ensure responsible management and
security, ultimately protecting public
[31:58] safety.
Third, we don't anticipate any
[32:02] significant crime impacts and Ventura
Police was in support of the expansion.
[32:09] Staff reviewed the request in the
context of the California Environmental
[32:12] Quality Act and found that the project
was exempt pursuant to the new
[32:16] construction or conversion of small
structures exemption under SQUA.
[32:21] In conclusion, staff recommends that the
director approves the project as
[32:24] conditioned.
[32:28] Thank you for the presentation. Do we
have the applicant here as well? Would
[32:31] you like to come up?
[32:35] » Thank you, director. My name is Ben
Turner. Just a quick round of thank yous
[32:39] and introductions here. I have the
owner, uh, Julie here, as well as the
[32:43] project architect, Nicole Harding. I'm
the project manager who work at Nicole
[32:47] Harding Architect. I'm going to say
thank you to AJ. I'm not going to repeat
[32:50] uh his very thorough review and all the
work that he did. uh as well as a quick
[32:54] thank you to the police, fire and
building departments because we had to
[32:58] coordinate with them. We think this
replaces the co era park lit and makes
[33:02] improvements for the screening uh
compatibility with the neighborhood and
[33:05] visuals. So that's it. Thank you for
your consideration.
[33:08] » Great. Thank you for that. Uh do we have
any members of the public who are here
[33:11] to speak on this item?
>> Thank you, Director Diamond. No public
[33:14] comments.
>> Okay, with that very thorough
[33:17] presentation. Thank you for yours as
well. No notes, no comments. Julie, good
[33:21] luck to you. Approved. Thank you so
much.
[33:24] » Thank you. Um this is my last meeting of
um as a director here um and for the
[33:30] director's hearing. I really want to
thank the staff. You're the best. Thank
[33:32] you to the clerk's office. Thank you to
the legal team. Um it's been such an
[33:36] honor working here. Um and so with that,
I will adjourn this meeting. Have a good
[33:40] evening.
[33:45] The last