Here’s what you need to know:
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At its first meeting of 2022, the Clovis Planning Commission found that the Athletic Performance training facility on Clovis Avenue is out of compliance with its conditional use permit and extended its deadline until May 2. They also amended the conditions for approval and it will come back before the commissioners on May 26 for approval.
The meeting (in full)
The Scene
The Clovis Planning Commission meeting took place on Thursday, Jan. 27, 2022 at 6:00 p.m. The Planning Commission consists of five Clovis residents appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council. They meet monthly to make decisions and recommendations on city planning issues and review proposals for compliance with the General Plan, in order to make recommendations to the City Council.
Commission Members:
Paul Hinkle, Chair (also real estate agent with Kellner Properties)
Mike Cunningham, Chair Pro Tem
Alma Antuna
Brandon Bedsted (also Director of IT & Data Services, Community Medical Centers)
Amy Hatcher
The meeting was made available via Webex and YouTube Live. The agenda states that Webex participation continues to be available. Hinkle was absent, all other commissioners were present in council chambers.
The meeting opened quickly with the Pledge of Allegiance.
Commission Secretary comments:
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No items are scheduled for the Feb. 24 meeting and it may be canceled due to lack of items.
Hinkle opened the meeting for commissioner comments:
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No comments were made.
Cunningham then opened the meeting for public comment:
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No comments were made.
Actions
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Approved minutes from the Dec. 16, 2021 meeting.
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Approved finding the CUP noncompliant and will be decided on again on May 26, as well as amending the conditions of approval for a conditional use permit that allows Athletic Performance to include outdoor training and activities.
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Reviewed last in Oct. 28, 2021 and neighbors and commissioners expressed safety concerns about soccer balls coming out into traffic or onto the adjacent business.
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City Planner Dave Merchen presented the item.
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Approved on 9/24/20
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Merchen said eight items are still out of compliance, which are related to the construction of sidewalks and required physical improvements.
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The improvements will cost $90,000-$100,000 and the business owner is wanting to finance them when he closes on the purchase of the property, which is holding things up.
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Staff is recommending that the commissioners find that they are out of compliance with at least 8 conditions and amending the conditions to remove allowance for special events and extend the deadline to May 2, 2022.
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Hatcher asked if the applicant could complete the work by the new proposed deadline of May 2.
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Merchen said they would have to get some feedback from the applicant on whether that presents a hardship or not.
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He said that is six months from the initial application date.
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Owner David Standifer was in council chambers.
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He said they hope to be completed with the purchase of the property in the next few weeks. He said they have agreed on pricing at this point.
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He said they agree that the sidewalk needs to be completed, but now they are up to $93,000 for sidewalk and a trash enclosure.
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He asked if they could save $23,000 on a new trash enclosure and put doors on the existing enclosure so they can put that money toward the sidewalk.
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Bedsted asked if they had talked to the property owner. He said that they have heard that they are in the process of purchasing the property for quite some time.
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Standifer said it has taken longer than they were hoping and the owner kept raising the price.
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He said the amount of revenue they lost during covid was well over $100,000 so it has delayed things.
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The current property owner said that the sidewalk falls on Standifer because they installed the outdoor area.
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“I want to be in Old Town,” Standifer said. “We want to own this property so we can make it something nice.”
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Hatcher asked if he had talked to city staff yet about the trash enclosure.
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Antuna said that she is with Bedsted that they have given him a year and a half to come into compliance. “Is this something that is going to be possible to come into compliance?”
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“If we today take the staff’s recommendations that come May 2, we are going to be here in this position again,” she said. “I want Old Town to have a diversity of businesses but I’m just concerned about what we’ll see in May.”
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To which, Standifer said that he doesn’t want to be in another meeting about this. “We are trying to do something good for everyone in this community that’s why we have pushed for this,” he said.
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He said once they sign the purchase then they can move forward.
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He said the current owner has done anything to make it better in 11 years and they want to make it a destination.
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Bedsted said that he agrees about what they are doing for the community.
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Standifer said his contractor is telling him he needs 8 to 10 weeks for permitting.
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City staff said that they can condense the permitting process and that the trash enclosure modifications are already in the conditions of approval so that is possible.
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Cunningham said that they want to do what’s right for the business and what’s right for the city.
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He said he was very close to saying that the CUP should be done away with in October.
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He asked if the owner wants to sell the property. Standifer said that he does want to get it off his books.
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Standifer said they are working with professional athletes.
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Antuna said that May 2 is reasonable, but not past that.
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Bedsted said he would like to see the business succeed and not revoke the CUP, but they need to uphold the requirements. “If we’re not fully compliant by May 2, would the May 26 hearing still be a go?”
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Bedsted said if it’s done on May 26 that is a go with him.
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Cunningham also said the May 26 cut off is fine with him.
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Approved unanimously.
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The meeting adjourned at 6:40 p.m. Future Planning Commission meetings are scheduled on Feb. 24, 2022.
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