Notetaking by Eunice Choi

Here’s what you need to know:

  • The commission approved a gated single-family home development on the southeast corner of Armstrong and Gettysburg Avenues. The developer is Gary McDonald Homes/Gleneagles Homes. 
  • They also approved the components of the Home Place Master Plan project for 310 acres bound by Leonard Avenue on the west, Thompson Avenue on the east, Gettysburg Avenue on the north and Ashlan Avenue on the south. The project will include 1,174 single-family homes, 132 multi-family units and a five-acre neighborhood commercial site. 

The Scene

The meeting began on Thursday, July 28, 2022, at 6:00 p.m. via YouTube  Livestream. The meeting was held at the Clovis Council Chamber on 1033 Fifth Street, Clovis, CA. Here is the link to the meeting.

One of the officials conducted the pledge of allegiance and one of the administrators worked a roll call afterward. All officials were present. The attendees or officials suggested no additions or deletions from the agenda.

After the meeting came to order, the commission came to a unanimous vote on the approval of the Planning Commission Minutes for the Meeting of June 23, 2022.

The agenda for this meeting can be found here (download).

Commission Members 

Commissioner Cunningham 

Commissioner Bedsted

Commissioner Hatcher

Commissioner Antuna

Chair Hinkle

Staff:

Dave Merchen, City Planner

Ricky Caperton, Deputy City Planner

Kelsey George, Assistant Planner

Joyce Roach, Planning Technician I

Sean Smith, Supervising Civil Engineer

Gene Abella, Civil Engineer

Tyler Brown, Business Workflow Specialist 

Commission Secretary Comments

There is a new commission secretary who has been working for the last two weeks.

Planning Commission Member Comments 

The Planning Commission Member expressed his gratitude to the Planning Development Department for the new church built recently.

Public Comments 

None.

Public Hearings 

  1. Consider items associated with approximately 4.45 acres of land located at the southeast corner of Armstrong and Gettysburg Avenues. Gary McDonald Homes/Gleneagles Homes, property owner/applicant; Harbour & Associates, representative. 
    1. Consider Approval – Res. 22-___, TM6403, A request to approve a vesting tentative tract map for a 15-lot single-family subdivision on approximately 4.45 acres of land.
    2.  Consider Approval – Res. 22-___, PDP2022-001, A request to approve a planned development permit to allow deviations from the R-1-B (Single-Family Residential – 12,000 Sq. Ft.) Zone District residential development standards associated with TM6403. 
    3. Staff: George González, Senior Planner 
    4. Recommendation: Approve 
  • Gonzalez presented that the surrounding area will have development on a vacant lot and is surrounded by similar residential uses. 
  • Applicant is requesting two entitlements: tract map and a planned development permit (PDP) 2022-001, which would include 8,000 sq. ft minimum lot size, gated SFRD, private street, no interior sidewalks, and reduced setbacks and increased lot coverage.
  • Staff recommends to approve the above, including making a finding of consistency that the dedication toward public right of way is proportionate to the development being requested. 
  • One member pointed out what Gonzales meant by “finding of consistency.”
  • Another member pointed out that the lot size is deviating from the minimum standard, which seems “extreme.”
    • Gonzales said that they look at previous existing projects around the location that have been developed.
    • The deviation is minor.
  • Lauren Smith made a public comment saying that this is a low density project. 8,000 sq feet is larger than most lots in the southwest. The project is gated and they are not proposing sidewalks in the interior streets. 
  • A member said that she heard that the developer is going to put no parking on the streets. A safety concern is that there would be a reduction in the yard size. She wants to know if there could be a condition of approval where there could be a little bit of parking and guests could be parking on the street. Then, she would be more confident in supporting this plan. 
    • There is enough space, like 25-30 yards, for children to play in.
  • CCNR is identifying that there will be 2 parking spaces kept in the garage. Guest parking can be used in the driveway.
  • Gary McDonald said there is a lot of construction in gated communities in Fresno and Clovis. There are plenty of spaces for children to play. There are speed limits that are 20 MPH, which is why the safety issues are practically nonexistent. There will be gates put in, which will cost around $150,000, which is why safety issues are nonexistent. 
  • A commission member spoke that he wants to ensure that the site will still be a walkable community. 
  • A commission member says that she does not like that there are no sidewalks on the streets, but other than that she will approve.
  • This item has been approved with the condition to prohibit parking near location at all times and yard setback from 9 feet to a minimum to 20 feet. 
  1.  Consider items associated with approximately 310 acres of land bound by Leonard Avenue on the west, Thompson Avenue on the east, Gettysburg Avenue on the north, and Ashlan Avenue on the south. The Home Place Holdings, LLC Applicant, 4Creeks Inc. Representative; Dog Creek Land & Farming LLC, Owner. 
    1. Consider Approval, Res 22-__, Rezone 2021-001, A request to establish a Master Plan Community (MPC) Overlay District in conjunction with the prezoning of Home Place Master Plan boundaries. 
    2. Consider Approval, Res 22-__, Rezone 2021-003, A request to prezone properties within the boundaries of the Home Place Master Plan to a combination of zone districts to implement the land uses identified in the Home Place Master Plan. 
    3. Consider Approval, Res 22-__, TM 6364, A request for a master tentative tract map to create approximately 1,174 new residential lots. 
    4. Consider Approval, Res 22-__, PDP 2022-002, A request for a planned development permit to establish development standards and criteria for the proposed Tract Map 6364. 
    5. Staff: Dave Merchen, City Planner 
    6. Recommendation: Approve
  • Components will facilitate the annexation of the project area into the City limits.
  • Project site is 310 acres in total. 
    • Generally bound by Leonard, Thompson, Gettysburg, and Ashlan Avenues.
    • Clovis East HS adjacent to the west
    • Developing residential to the north
  • Primarily agricultural to the east
  • Master Plan Concept 
  • Loma Vista Specific Plan adopted in 2003 to guide development within the Southeast Urban Center
  • 4 master plan communities in loma vista
  • Provide innovation, variety, & character
  • Establish continuity and connectivity within each master plan
  • The Gettysburg/Ashlan master plan area did not include schematic land use pattern to provide flexibility in the ultimate design.
  • Home Place Master Plan
    • Land uses
      • 1,174 Single Family lots
      • 132 Multi-Family units
      • 5 acre neighborhood commercial site
      • 25 acre Historic Home Place
      • Design/Development standards included for each type of use.
  • Parks and Trails
    • Class 1 Trails
    • Enhanced Dog Creek Parkway
    • Pocket parks distributed throughout the master plan
    • Multiple neighborhood parks
  • Thematic Elements
    • Primary thematic elements will be consistent with Loma Vista Specific Plan such as community gateways, trail lightways, arterial and collector street trees, residential architecture.
    • Internal master plan features will incorporate cohesive design features such as wayfinding signage, monuments, landscaping. 
  • Prezoning
    • MPC Overlay District applied to the entire project boundary to implement the Home Place Plan
    • Base zoning proposed to reflect the proposed uses.
    • Base zoning and the MPC Overlay work in tandem to define allowable uses and development standards for each type of use.
  • Tract Map 6364
    • 1174 SF lots which are 3,000-13,000 sq ft.
    • Overall density of 3.8/Ac matching Loma Vista Specific Plan
    • Public streets with no gates.
    • Sidewalks will be on both sides of most residential streets.
    • Sidewalks one side proposed in areas where compact lots will be developed.
  • There are no impacts peculiar to the project or the site that have been identified that were not previously evaluated.
  • The project is exempt from further evaluation pursuant to Sections 15192 and 15183 of the CEQA guidelines.
  • There has been a correction to conditions. Instead of a community gateway, it has been corrected to monument sign that will be in conjunction with the neighborhood commercial center near Thompson and the Gettysburg Alignment.
  • There were concerns regarding the water Master Plan and the groundwater dependency. 
  • Adrian Barn representing the developer expressed her gratitude for the commission members for their consideration.
  • The item has been approved.

Adjournment

The Committee adjourned at 7:55 p.m. The meeting lasted 1 hour and 55 minutes.

If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at Documenters-admin@fresnoland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.

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