Planning Commission Preview - Nov 14

There are only two items on the agenda for this week’s Planning Commission. With such a light schedule you’d think the PLANNING Commission would put aside some time to do some “planning”. But alas, they aren’t.

JAZZING UP THE GAMBLING DEN

Having allowed a gambling den (i.e., “restaurant with mini-satellite horse race wagering”)  to be opened in the City, the owners now wish to advertise their “Las Vegas style” salon with the kind of light bulb signs we’ve all come to expect to see in B movies, usually in some scene near a broken down waterfront bar. This touch of class will face the 5 freeway so everyone coming or going will be able to see how low we’ve sunk as a City.

Incredibly, the staff report says that the sign “will not negatively impact the aesthetics of the site or the surrounding area” (page 6). That statement says a lot about the standards of the people writing the report, none of whom actually live here. The staff is asking that the owners don’t blink the lights, which is something, but the mere use of light bulb signs suggests the sleazy side of life. Of course, for a gambling den, attracting the sleazy side is their life’s blood, so it’s perfectly appropriate for what the owner’s wish to accomplish. But is this how we want our City to be portrayed to the hundreds of thousands of cars that pass by every day?

This is just another in a long line of ludicrous and harmful recommendations being made by the Planning Department staff. Just off the top of my head, here are some recent boners –

·  Recommending adding more homes to the 4,000+ already slated to be built in the City, without even knowing what the impact of the current pipeline will be.

·  Recommending a big ugly U-Haul storage facility to go in the area vacated by a nursery (Thank you Council members Nick and McCullough for appealing and reversing this decision).

·  Recommending an unspecified number of CNG vehicles entering the City at the worse possible spot for traffic congestion.

At the last Planning Commission meeting, the staff report on parking had so many errors I had to write a 4 page report to cover them all. At the previous meeting, my report covering their errors in the CNG report went for 18 pages. You’re free to get a copy of these reports by writing me at DrJGardner@gmail.com

NEW GYM

The other item on the agenda is a request to put a gym in a 37,520 square foot building near Dimension and Prism. “Wildfire Gymnastics” currently operates in Tustin and wants to move to Lake Forest where they can double their space.

COMMENDING TIM HUGHES

Prior to the start of the public meeting, the Planning Commission with honor former Chairman Tim Hughes who stepped down a few months ago. Tim served for 21 years, from the time we were a neophyte city until earlier this year. Everyone in the City can be grateful to him for his efforts on our behalf.