City of San Juan Bautista
July 11, 2006
Members Present: Rick Edge, Erika Spencer, Reuben Garza, Javier Mendez, and Michael Ostrowski.
Staff Present: Jan McClintock, City Manager; Matthew Sundt, City Planner; Trish Paetz, Deputy City Clerk.
There was no public comment received.
Chairman Edge suggested minor corrections to the minutes.
A motion was made by Commissioner Garza and seconded by Commissioner Mendez to approve the affidavit of posting of the agenda and the minutes for the June 6, 2006 meeting with corrections. The motion passed unanimously.
Chairman
Edge recused himself from this item stating he is a family friend of the
restaurant owner, Casteneda.
City Planner
Sundt presented a staff report stating Dona Esther Restaurant and property
owners Tami Castaneda-Haracha and Alfonso Castaneda are requesting a
conditional use and sign permit application.
The sign is a cactus with a rustic banner with lettering identifying the
restaurant and the iconic figure of Dona Esther. At the base of the sign is what appears to be
three brightly painted Easter eggs. The
sign was constructed and installed by the applicant prior to obtaining a sign
permit. The applicant subsequently
submitted an application to the HRB, who denied the sign permit at their April
2006 hearing on the basis that it does not conform to the City sign
ordinance. Their suggestions were to
remove the brightly colored eggs and make the sign fit the sign ordinance, tone
down the colors and shine, and focus on Dona Esther as the iconic figure rather
than the bright, shiny cactus.
Vice
Chairman Garza commented that his interpretation of the brightly colored Easter
eggs depicted on the sign is actually colorful food trays common in old Mexican
kitchens.
During
public comment HRB member Rebecca McGovern stated the Commission should make
allowances for the family because they recently suffered a tragedy.
Wanda
Guibert of the HRB commented that the applicant should have followed the rules.
Chairman
Rick Edge, speaking from the audience, commented there are other signs that are
illegal, need to enforce code on everyone to be fair. City Manager McClintock stated the ordinance
reads that if a sign is up longer than 60 or 90 days, then it is deemed
acceptable. To which Edge commented, how
would the City know when the sign was erected and when to start the clock if
the sign owner did not submit a request for a permit.
Vice
Chairman Garza suggested shortening the sign to bring it within the sign
ordinance guidelines by cutting off the bottom part consisting of the colorful
food trays.
Upon discussion, it was the consensus of the Commission to bring this
item back after staff discusses the suggested changes to the sign with the
applicant.
Chairman Edge returned to the dais.
This item was continued to the August 2006 Planning Commission Meeting.
Additionally, Sundt stated he would be on vacation when the Planning Commission was scheduled to meet next month, and asked if the Commission could rescheduled that meeting for when he returns.
A motion was made by Commissioner Garza and seconded by Commissioner Ostrowski to move the August meeting to August 8. The motion passed unanimously.
5.
Comments
Commissioner Ostrowski commented that the illegal sign posted on the outskirts of town was moved out of the city limits.
Commissioner Mendez asked if AT&T had started changing their landscape, and City Planner Sundt responded, yes.
Commissioner Spencer commented on the attractiveness of the Mission Gardens complex and asked if Muckelemi would be repaved on both sides. City Manager McClintock responded, yes. The City Council had approved a very reasonable bid to pave the side of the street opposite from that that the developer would be responsible for.
Chairman Edge commented that he had not discussed his thoughts, shared with the Commission during public comment, with Dona Esther Restaurant owner Al Casteneda.
Chairman Edge then commented that there would not be street parking for Mission Gardens tenants or visitors as the street is very narrow there. City Manager McClintock commented that she guessed that a citizens committee together with developer Musitelli approved changes to the original plans, but she would investigate who decided to make the street so narrow.
City Manager McClintock announced that City Council would hold a Special tomorrow night to discuss points to be taken to COG in regards to the Highway 156 widening which are the results of a Council subcommittee’s meeting with a COG subcommittee.
McClintock also announced that the HRB’s July meeting would be a Joint Meeting of the Council, Planning Commission and HRB and includes a presentation about revitalizing downtowns, and held on July 20.
Also, the City has had a tremendous response to the RFP released for special events producers and promoters for 2007 and asked if a member of the Planning Commission would participate in reviewing responses when they time came.
McClintock commented that the sign ordinance could be updated, specifically, a change needed to be made to exclude Little League sponsorship signs.
City Planner Sundt updated the Commission on projects and approximate timeline for hearing them.
6.
Adjournment
A motion to adjourn the meeting at 8:11 p.m. passed unanimously.