Planning Commission Preview for Sept 26 - Pouring Gas on a Fire?

The Planning Commission (PC) meets this Thursday night without their newest commissioner, Jolene Fuentes, who is attending a wedding out of state. Given her performance in the first meeting, her lack of attendance at this meeting will probably not be noticed. Readers will recall at her first meeting, when asked to comment on the proposed ban on medical marijuana dispensaries, a hot issue for the City and one that cost us over $1,000,000 in legal expenses, she remarked “Nope”.

Two issues are on the PC agenda this week – a Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station on El Toro and the Tentative Tract Map for the Portola Hills project, the future home of 930 new homes and 10,000 square feet of commercial space at the intersection of Glenn Ranch Rd and Saddleback Ranch Rd.

NATURAL GAS STATION

(FWIW - I think natural gas is a great source of fuel and my investment portfolio has several natural gas companies in it.)

The unmanned CNG station will go on El Toro at the intersection of Bridger, right next to the tallest building around, Chase Bank. The already approved project includes a fuel dispenser island with capacity for up to four vehicles, two restrooms, a utility room, an unroofed four-walled compressor enclosure, two parking spaces and perimeter landscaping. The approved project was appealed by neighbor Chase who were worried about the safety issue and traffic concerns, among other things.

Chase and the gas guys are now happy with the revised plans, but quite frankly traffic in that area is a mess. It’s probably one of the worst areas in the City and fraught with danger. Of course, NG vehicles are not common yet, so there is no immediate danger from the project, but should vehicle traffic pick up, which most environmentalists favor given the advantages of NG vehicles, we might have a real traffic problem here. Right now the traffic study commissioned by the applicant suggests about 40 extra vehicles per hour during am and pm peak periods. The current project, OTOH, is a 10 year lease which seems like a good window in which NG vehicles will not be crowding our roads. But 40 extra vehicles per hour during peak times is a lot given this strategic intersection where people already dance the hully gully while switching lanes vigorously.

It's also worrisome to me that if many of the CNG vehicles are attracted to the station from the I-5 going North, they are going to exit on El Toro and then make the U-Turn where El Toro intersects with Rockfield, and then in a few hundred feet they must cross 4 or 5 lanes of traffic to get over. Meanwhile, traffic from Rockfield turning right on El Toro is also trying to get over in the opposite direction.

With regard to safety, I didn’t see much in the reports. Perhaps I missed it. But a search on Google for CNG accidents reveals that they are not uncommon, but almost all of these involve the vehicles, not the stations per se. Given the proximity of the station to a major arterial intersection as well as pedestrians and businesses, I’d like to be assured that the risks of accidents at CNG stations are no greater than the risks at fossil fuel gas stations. I think it’s also important to be sure that Police and first responders are up-to-date on responding to CNG vehicle accidents, because once we get a CNG fueling station, the numbers of CNG vehicles in our city will probably grow, and the risks of accidents in turn will grow.

Bottom line – I’d like to see the CNG station with access and egress on Bridger, not on El Toro, and quite frankly, I’d rather not see it in such a strategically important area at all. And I definitely think some education to the public in general, and first responders in particiular, is essential.

PORTOLA HILLS

There isn’t much new to report about the Portola Hills project. It was highly contentious last year, and with extensive communication between the builders and the citizens (Dave Herzberg particularly), a modified plan was finally approved. It wasn’t a win-win situation, but it seemed to be a compromise that most people could accept.

Because the PC date conflicted with the back-to-school night at Portola Hills Elementary School, it is being postponed until October 10.

TIME FOR SOME PLANNING

Note to the PC. This is going to be a very short meeting. Why don’t you take these opportunities to plan? You are, after all, a PLANNING Commission and there are lots of things to plan for in the City. Here’s a partial list –

·  What’s the best use for Whispering Hills?

·  What’s the best use for that enormous parcel adjacent to El Toro and the railroad tracks?

·  How and when will we develop Normandale Park?

·  What are the infrastructure challenges of adding 4,200 new homes?

·  What kinds of committees could you establish to help you do a better job?

KUDOS TO C.J.

Planning Commissioner C.J. Brower took off his commissioner hat and showed up at a Parks and Recreation Commission (PRC) meeting as a citizen to talk about planned developments in his neighborhood near Darrin Park. His comments were spot on and he might have solved a vexing problem for the PRC. Click here to see C.J.’s suggestion.