Planning Commission
City Council Chamber, 2nd Floor, Merced Civic Center, 678 W. 18th Street, Merced, CA 95340
Agenda — 22 items
- 1 NOTICE TO PUBLIC
- 2 WELCOME TO THE MEETING OF THE MERCED PLANNING COMMISSION
- 3 At least 72 hours prior to each regular Planning Commission meeting, a complete agenda packet is available for review on the City's website at www.cityofmerced.org or at the Planning Division Office, 678 W. 18th Street, Merced, CA 95340. All public records relating to an open session item that are distributed to a majority of the Commission will be available for public inspection at the Planning Division Office during regular business hours. The Planning Commission also serves as the Board of Zoning Adjustment and the Design Review/Historic Preservation Commission. Assisted hearing devices are available for meetings held in the Council Chamber.
- 4 PUBLIC COMMENT: OBTAIN SPEAKER CARD FROM THE CLERK
- 5 Members of the audience who wish to address the Planning Commission are requested to complete a speaker card available at the podium against the right-hand side of the Council Chamber. Please submit the completed card to the Clerk before the item is called, preferably before the meeting begins. Speakers will be called up, 3 to 5 at a time, in the order in which the forms are received. Please use the microphone and state your name and city of residence for the record. For permits, licenses, and other entitlements, the applicant will be allowed 15 minutes (including rebuttal), the appellant/leader of the opposition will be allowed 15 minutes (including rebuttal), and all other speakers shall have 3 minutes each, unless the number of speakers is over 10, which in that case, comments shall be limited to 2 minutes each. For all other issues, for 3 or less speakers, 3 minutes each and for over 10 speakers, 2 minutes each shall be allotted. A timer clock is located above the City Council dais illuminating the remaining time. Once the buzzer sounds, please be courteous and conclude your remarks. Material may be emailed to planningweb@cityofmerced.org no later than 1 PM on the day of the meeting. Please specify which portion of the agenda you are commenting on, for example, Item # or Oral Communications. Your comments will be presented to the Planning Commission at the appropriate time. Any correspondence received after 1 PM will be distributed to the Planning Commission and retained for the official record.
- A. CALL TO ORDER
- A.1. Moment of Silence
- A.2. Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag
- B. ROLL CALL
- C. PUBLIC COMMENT
- 11 Members of the public who wish to speak on any matter not listed on the agenda may speak during this portion of the meeting and will be allotted 3 minutes. The Chairperson may, at their discretion, reduce the time to 2 minutes if there are more than 10 speakers, in order to accommodate as many speakers as possible. State law prohibits the Planning Commission from acting at this meeting on any matter raised during the public comment period. Members of the public who wish to speak on a matter that is listed on the agenda will be called upon to speak during discussion of that item. Please submit a Request to Speak card prior to the item being called.
- D. CONSENT CALENDAR
- 13 Adoption of the Consent Calendar may be made with one motion of the Planning Commission provided that any Planning Commission member, individual, or organization may request removal of an item from the Consent Calendar for separate consideration. If a request for removal of an item from the Consent Calendar has been received, the item will be discussed and voted on separately. With Consent items, there is generally no staff presentation but staff is available for questions.
- D.1 SUBJECT: Vacation #24-02, to abandon an undeveloped 10-foot-wide storm drain easement at 1965 West Olive Avenue ACTION: Finding 1) The proposed vacation is consistent with the General Plan. SUMMARY Merced Security Storage, LLC is requesting a vacation of a 10-foot-wide storm drain easement at the eastern portion of 1965 West Olive Avenue (Attachment 1). This public utility easement was originally included in the plans for this development, but it was never completed. City Engineering and Planning have agreed that the proposed easement is no longer needed and can be returned to the property owner. The General Plan does not address the abandonment or vacation of easements; and thus, this action does not conflict with any General Plan policies, text, or maps, so it can be considered “consistent.” The area to be vacated is 10 feet wide and runs from the southern property line to the northern property line for approximately 13,850 square feet. (Attachment 3) RECOMMENDATION Adopt a motion by minute action adopting a Finding that the proposed Vacation #24-02 is consistent with the General Plan.
- D.2 SUBJECT: Planning Commission Minutes of September 18, 2024 ACTION: Approving and filing the Planning Commission Minutes of September 18, 2024
- E. PUBLIC HEARINGS AND ACTION ITEMS
- 17 Members of the public who wish to speak on public hearings listed on the agenda will be heard when the Public Hearing is opened, except on Public Hearing items previously heard and closed to public comment. After the public has commented, the item is closed to further public comment and brought to the Commission for discussion and action. Further comment will not be received unless requested by the Commission.
- E.1 SUBJECT: Conditional Use Permit #1281, initiated by Moe Jawad, property owner. The application involves a request to establish a mobile food vendor plaza for up to ten mobile food vendors with on-site seating for customers. The project consists of three parcels that total 0.68 acres or 30,000 square feet. The subject site is generally located on the northeast corner of West 16th Street and Martin Luther King Jr Way. The site has a General Plan designation of Regional/Central Commercial (CC) and is zoned Central Commercial (C-C). **PUBLIC HEARING** ACTION: Approve/Disapprove/Modify Environmental Review #24-24 (Categorical Exemption) Conditional Use Permit #1281 SUMMARY Moe Jawad is requesting conditional use permit approval to establish a food truck parking area to allow up to ten food truck vendors and outdoor seating located at the northeast corner of West 16th and Martin Luther King Jr Way (231 and 245 W 16th Street and 1616 Martin Luther King Jr. Way). Mobile food vendor parking areas are considered a conditional use within a Central Commercial (C-C) Zone. The proposed parking area spans across multiple lots. The Planning Commission will be reviewing this proposal to ensure that the provided site plan is designed in a manner that minimizes negative impacts to the existing site and promotes compatible and orderly development. Staff is recommending approval with conditions. RECOMMENDATION Planning staff recommends that the Planning Commission approve Environmental Review #24-24 (Categorical Exemption) and Conditional Use Permit #1281 (including the adoption of the Draft Resolution at Attachment A) subject to the conditions in Exhibit A and the findings/considerations in Exhibit B of the Draft Resolution.
- F. INFORMATION ITEMS
- F.1 SUBJECT: Report by Temporary Director of Development Services of Upcoming Agenda Items ACTION Information only.
- F.2 SUBJECT: Calendar of Meetings/Events Oct. 7 City Council, 6:00 p.m. 9 Planning Commission, 6:00 p.m. 21 City Council, 6:00 p.m. 22 Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee, 4:00 p.m. 23 Planning Commission, 6:00 p.m. Nov. 4 City Council, 6:00 p.m. 6 Planning Commission, 6:00 p.m. (To be Cancelled) 18 City Council, 6:00 p.m. 20 Planning Commission, 6:00 p.m. (To be Cancelled)
- G. ADJOURNMENT