Documented by Kristina Mansfield
Here’s what you need to know
- The commission approved a conditional use permit to allow a drive-thru car wash facility in the Loma Vista area of the city at 3741 Shaw Ave.
- Commissioner Paul Hinkle expressed the need to “stop Sacramento” and urged residents to “look into SB9, SB10,” which are aimed at addressing the state’s housing crisis.
- The next Planning Commission meeting is scheduled for Oct. 26.
Follow-up questions
- How many times during the last five years has the Clovis City Planning Commission denied or changed its plans based on community feedback, if ever? What were the circumstances?
Notes
The regular Clovis Planning Commission meeting took place at 6 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 28, 2023, in Council Chambers at City Hall, 1033 Fifth St. in Clovis. It was streamed live on CMAC1, CMC2 and CMC3 and will be available on demand here. The commission consists of five members appointed by the mayor and approved by the City Council. There were eight people in attendance at the meeting.
Planning Commissioners in attendance:
Alma Antuna, chair
Brandon Bedsted, commissioner
Amy Hatcher, commissioner
Joseph Hebert, commissioner
Paul Hinkle, commissioner
Also in attendance were:
Dave Merchen, city planner
Joyce Roach, planning staff
Lily Cha-Haydostian, senior planner
Marissa Jensen, assistant planner
Matt Lear, deputy city attorney
Sean Smith, supervising civil engineer
Regular meetings are held generally on the fourth Thursday of each month (third Thursday in April, November and December). They are open to the public, and there are many ways to participate: in person at City Hall, by calling in by phone, by submitting written comments online, or by viewing the meeting as it is webcast. Detailed instructions on how to participate can be found on each meeting agenda.
Per its website, the Planning Commission is the body that reviews the development proposals for compliance with the general plan and makes recommendations to the City Council in the following areas: long-range plans and maps for the city and plans for public improvements; plans and development plans; and zoning and rezoning of property.
CALL TO ORDER AND PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
The meeting was called to order in the Clovis Council Chamber at 6 p.m. by Antuna, followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF MINUTES
Planning Commission Minutes for the Meeting of Aug. 24
- Motion by Bedsted to approve the Aug. 24 minutes.
- Motion carried by unanimous consent.
COMMISSION SECRETARY COMMENTS
- None.
PLANNING COMMISSION MEMBER COMMENTS
Hinkle was the only Commissioner to contribute any comments during this section of the meeting.
- “I’ve been saying that Sacramento would like to control what the cities are doing; I’ve been saying it for some time,” Hinkle said. “You may want to look into SB9, SB10. SB9 eliminates all single-family zoning in California and allows developers to take a single family house and replace it with up to four homes. SB10 allows for up to 10 homes if the plot is within a certain distance of a transit stop.”
- Hinkle continued, “If we get an opportunity, we need to do what we can to stop Sacramento. They are now in control of how Clovis is going to look in the future. If the house next door to you is torn down, they can build four more.”
PUBLIC COMMENTS
Next was the public comments section of the meeting. There were no public comments or online comments.
CONSENT CALENDAR
None.
PUBLIC HEARINGS
Marissa Jensen, assistant planner, presented to council a request for a conditional use permit to allow a drive-through car wash facility at 3741 Shaw Ave. (at Leonard Avenue).
- The project is located within the existing El Mercado Planned Commercial Center (P-C-C) within the Planning Area (PA4) of the Loma Vista Community Centers North and South Master Plan. It is part of the second phase of the center which was approved Nov. 16, 2015. The Clovis City Council approved an amendment to allow drive-up and drive-through establishments through conditional use permits (CUP) on Nov. 17, 2017; the project site is included in the approximately 16 acres this amendment applies to.
- “El Mercado is memorialized by a master site plan, which established the layout of the first phase of El Mercado and conceptually depicted the remaining portion of PA4,” said Jensen. “The first phase of development included a freestanding fuel service station, convenience store, pizza restaurant and a gym.”
- The proposed car wash facility includes a roughly 4,831-square-foot main building at the northwestern area of Shaw and Leonard avenues, directly north of the existing Starbucks and The Little Gym. The site layout also includes a 115-foot tunnel, a 240-foot-long queueing lane, 15 covered vacuum parking stalls, a small restroom facility and three standard parking stalls. Proposed hours of operation are 8 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday and 7:30 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday.
- Its drive-through lane is accessed at the northwest side of the project site and is accessible from the main shared driveways from both Shaw and Leonard avenues. The project will maintain the general circulation pattern by retaining primary ingress/egress.
- To mitigate potential headlight glaring from vehicles in the drive-through lane the project will screen areas along the lane as required as a condition of approval. Jensen addressed the noise impact on surrounding areas and said the applicant provided a sound modulating exhibit that indicated that at no point will the sound levels be higher than 65 decibels.
- Jensen concluded the presentation with the recommendation that the commission approve the conditional use permit for the project. Antuna then opened up the meeting to anyone with comments in support of the project, either in person or online. There were none.
- Charles Adkins, resident and multiple homeowner in the area, spoke against the project. “As a resident in the area, we’re beginning to have some concerns about whether the land is being used for highest and best use,” said Adkins. “There’s another car wash being put in nearby, and the redundancy of the tenant mix is a concern for some of the residences there and I do want the commission to take that into consideration.”
- Hinkle disagreed. “This is just one business that’s going to be in the area. I don’t see how it’s going to have any effect on livability of the houses.”
- The commission approved the request for a conditional use permit to allow the car wash.
- Motion by Hatcher, motion carried by unanimous consent.
ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:19 p.m.
If you believe anything in these notes is inaccurate, please email us at fresnodocs@fresnoland.org with “Correction Request” in the subject line.
