Planning Commission

So Mr. Villalobos, would you please make the TV coverage announcement?

Yes thank you Chair Reed and good morning to the Commission and everyone else today. Excuse me. Sorry to reorganize the agenda, I get lost a little bit here. Planning Commission hearings are televised live on County of Santa Barbara television CSB TV channel 20 at 9 a.m. in the South Coast Lompoc Salinas Valley San Maria and Orchid areas where we broadcast the County Planning Commission hearings on Fridays at 5 p.m On CSB TV channel 20 today's hearing will also be streamed live on the county's website as well as the county's YouTube channel And will be available for download in a day or two should I move on to roll call? Please do all right You may have noticed that we have

a new

commissioner among

us is

Mr. Steve Americana representing District 1 replacing our former Commissioner

Michael Cooney as both commissioner and vice chair. So Mr. Maricona, would you take a moment or two and just introduce yourself to the audience?

MICHAEL CONNOR I will thank you Chair Reed. I

appreciate it.

Well need to turn on the microphone in order to be heard is that the protocol so let me express my appreciation to the chair for inviting me to introduce myself good morning everybody My name is Stephen Americana. We've lived here in Santa Barbara since 1982, I served as the Santa Barbara City Attorney for eight years between 82 and 90. I joined a private law firm here in Santa Barbara in 1991 worked there until the end of 2021 at which point I retired so that My wife and I could take care of our new grandson, who is now five years old and doesn't need us so much anymore.

And so when the supervisor of the First District asked if I would serve on the Montecito Planning Commission, I quickly and gratefully said yes. A few weeks ago, he asked if I would serve on the County Planning Commission. And I quickly and gratefully said yes. And I want to express my appreciation to Supervisor Lee for that invitation. And I'm looking forward to my work with this commission which is one of the truly excellent places to serve and work in this community. And i'm excited about the opportunity so thank you for that.

Now we need to proceed to the next task, which is to elect the vice chair for the Planning Commission for the balance of 2026. At this time do we have any nominations?

I usually leave it on, don't

I?

Okay. So I will nominate Mr. Merrick Conner as our vice chair Did you know this was coming?

No.

Well it's worse than you think because next up to bat, I've got to use baseball terms for former Commissioner Cooney, was Commissioner Cooney next year as I understand and this is going to be important because we will not have a replacement for our fourth district planning commissioner our chair until after our next meeting. So you will be our chair at the next meeting.

reminder on how to do it all.

I'll second

that. Learning the light is the tough part, I'm still working out and on it so we have a nomination and a second for vice-chair so can we just do it with the general vote? All in favor of naming Stephen Americana as vice chair signify by saying aye. Aye. Any nays?

Great, welcome. Well thank you I think.

Okay now can we just go ahead to item six? No we can't. Okay I will leave this to Mr. Wilson

Mr. Chair and Commissioners, at this point we'd like to present a resolution to Commissioner Roy Reed. Before we do that, we want to acknowledge Supervisor Bob Nelson who's in the audience with us. We'd like to invite him to come up and say a few words before we present the resolution to Chair Reed.

Make sure I got this right here. All right, got the light going. Well thank you Mr Wilson for the opportunity here to come and speak this morning when your accounting supervisors there's nothing more scrutinized than your pick for planning commissioner And when I got elected originally, I had a really easy opportunity to have my predecessors planning commissioner serve continue to serve under me. So I was able to have Larry Frini transition from Supervisor Adam to my service and so that was a really easy pick but when Commissioner Frini came to me and said that he was ready to go back the farm and really spend a little more time mentoring his sons in the next generation that we had a tall task in the 4th District to fill those shoes. And so, we started looking around and Roy's name came up and it was a natural fit.

The things that we value in the 4th District are a few things. One is we always want to be thinking about the taxpayer. And you know, Roy was a former president of the Santa Barbara County Taxpayers Association We also, agriculture is a big deal in the 4th District and maybe some of you guys may have heard that. You know Roy is a multi-generational farmer rancher and has great ties to land.

Roy also appreciates the oil industry which is a big portion of North County. And he's a fierce defender of you know the North County and that's really a big deal in the fourth district. So you know Roy's name quickly rose to the top we didn't interview anybody else And I'm so proud that we did. That we brought Roy on and Roy agreed to serve as Planning Commissioner. It's also, I have to thank the Redistricting Commission because that got Roy into the 4th District previously leading to that he was in the 5th District. It is actually unusual, Roy is actually a City of Santa Maria resident and so typically When you're representing a large area of unincorporated area that we want to have somebody coming from that area to represent it. But I think Roy's history, his values, his etiquette really serves this district well and has served this district well and I'm so appreciative Roy for your service to me, to my constituents into the entire county.

I understand why you're leaving when I filled up my speaker slip I didn't want to put in favor of, right? I wanted to oppose this resolution because I would rather you stay than to go. But again, I think Santa Barbara County and the 4th District is well served by your time here and on behalf of our district and my constituents, I wanted to thank you for your service Roy so thank

you. Thank You Bob it was honored have been chosen and definitely an honor to have been able to serve

I just want to actually bring up a couple of highlights that maybe come out in the resolution and that I wanted also mention. When he did come on, I came right on to the arena conversation which we knew how big that was in the county and I think it also speaks to his intellect that he picked it up quickly and ended really well with that. He also helped shepherd The FAMCON project to get approved in the North County that's a big tax revenue generator as well as a jobs generator for us. He also helped lead on the cannabis conversation that we had both at the board and here at the Planning Commission, and I think where he shined the most was during the Ag Enterprise Ordinance conversation where he was able to draw on his relationships as well as his own personal experience to serve the county so well in that.

So again I wanted to highlight those things as well. Again thank you Roy.

Thank you, Supervisor Nielsen. Before we present the resolution we'd like to read it into the record and then we'll present it to you.

It's my honor to read this resolution to the record I would like The Lompoc Valley Medical Center, the 2024 cannabis ordinance amendments package. The Miramar Acquisition Company LLC housing mixed-use development, the outdoor lighting and signs ordinance amendment and the highway 101 widening segment 4D amendment. Whereas Roy Reed learned the operations of the Planning Commission very well very quickly and always came well prepared for each hearing with detailed questions Whereas Roy Reed was very much respected, admired by staff for his detailed and insightful project review as well as his efforts to engage with staff outside of hearings.

Whereas Roy Reed continually demonstrated that members of the commission can be friends and collaborators regardless of their political differences. Whereas Roy Reed has brought a tremendous amount of professional experience and insight to his role on the Commission providing a unique perspective in style to his decision-making. Whereas Roy Reed consistently arrived at the meetings of the Planning Commission well ahead of the scheduled start time, impeccably dressed and well prepared. During his time as chair on the commission, Roy's punctuality was unmatched and led to efficient hearings for the benefit of all.

Whereas Roy Reed's affinity for county-branded stationery and pens has sometimes created a shortage of the commission supplies for their subsequent hearings Whereas Roy Reed impressed his fellow commissioners with his thorough review of staff reports, applicant documents, comment letters etc. as evidenced by his multicolor highlights and notes on every page and the consumption of whole cartons of post-its.

Whereas Roy Reed always provided constructive feedback to staff in great leadership during his time as chair And whereas Roy Reed took the time to meet with interested or affected parties regarding projects or ordinance changes that were before the commission and did an exceptional job in representing the interests of the 4th District. Now therefore be it, and it is hereby resolved that the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission on behalf of staff and the citizens of Santa Barbara County present this resolution to 4th District Commissioner Roy Reed.

I guess I'm supposed to say something. Well, as I said before, I've always thought that among the many functions that government performs particularly at the county level land use and support of property rights was probably One of the most important on the list. So I was honored to be able to participate for this last two and a half years in that endeavor. I think I was very fortunate to have worked with a gifted group of fellow commissioners, and I really appreciate Well, every member of county staff I encountered. But in particular the people in planning and development who I think as a group are often the most unjustly criticized members of county staff but are in fact without a doubt the most undervalued members of county staff Who primarily work behind the scenes compiling these ordinances and things that we deal with, things that would drive me crazy.

Yet they are complete, well-documented, and foundational to our activities, our actions and things. Sometimes they get some of the blame because people think they create the ordinance and things whereas what they work on are mandated or assigned by Board of Supervisor or even State of California. They neither create nor destroy but they develop and refine to support the necessary actions of county government And within that, the Planning Commission fits in because we're keepers of the general plan. So in conjunction with county staff, we have to prepare them, refine them, and present them ultimately to board of supervisors because that's the legislative body in the county that enacts things. I think often one of my main objectives Was to establish more transparency so that the general public in the county could understand how these things work.

So hopefully we've done a bit of that. But I think they need to understand and not blame staff for the ordinances and things that come out. They may be dissatisfied with, but they should be very thankful they have such a professional and competent staff in planning and development Direct and simple language that just simplifies the whole process. So I think they're a gem, and we're lucky to have them particularly when you look at some of the things that go on in other counties specifically relating to oil and gas and that oil and gas division which is part of planning and development. We're so professional here. You look what happens in other counties, and they're nowhere near The quality of the staff and the people we have here. So again, I don't need to go on forever.

But just it's been an honor to serve. It's been a pleasure to serve with my fellow commissioners. And it has been a great honor to conserve and work with the many members of planning and development staff. So thank you all. Yeah. Good. Thank you all.

So Chair Reed and Commissioners, if we just take a moment for any of the other commissioners to say a few words and then open up to public comment just on this item. And then we'll conclude. I know Commissioner or Chair Reed this is your favorite time but...

Very uncomfortable. Okay.

Commissioner

Park? You know, I always have something to say. Oh you wanted me

last, I don't think so.

I'm gonna take my time, of course. You know, I want to tell a Roy Reed story when I first met him that to me is emblematic of just how he is and who he is. Some of you may remember that I chaired the Cat Canyon oil hearings, and I just wanted to tease everybody in the room why not? And I asked all the fancy consultants, our staff, all the opponents How do you think they got the oil out of Cat Canyon when they discovered it in 1915?

And no one could answer. So I showed a map of the Pacific Coast Railway, which showed it was taken out by rail and I said for extra credit who can tell me how that Railway was powered, and of course folks said well it wasn't coal. It must have been oil because it was oil but one person knew the answer. It was him and it was powered by electricity. They were electric cabs they strung power lines in 1915 and he came up to me during the break and showed me a picture of the electric cab. Do you remember that? Yeah, it's parked in front of the Bradley building which is related to Roy's family. I was impressed by that and he proceeded to invite me to tour around, see properties and things which I had very much appreciated. Larry Freeney had done the same thing for me.

And I thought this is a good guy. I'd hope to keep track of him. Then he became on the Planning Commission so I thought that was a wonderful thing. We became best of friends and I hope Thank you. As shy and reserved as Roy sometimes presents himself, he has the most hilarious sense of humor you can imagine. If anybody in this room could do stand-up comedy it's him and he does it with the same deadpan but it's just the words change and it's just hilarious. You know what I'm talking about don't you?

The other thing is something that I take very seriously because I really do appreciate my time with the other planning commissioners And I always learn something from all of them. What I have learned from Roy more than anybody else is to appreciate his empathy for the people involved in the process, for the people that will be affected by it. It really matters to Commissioner Reed I I think that my relationship with Commissioner Reed proves, it lives out something that my father taught me that is so great about this country. How we can disagree but we always come down to working it out and working with each other. You are probably the most right wing member here in politics and I am probably the most left wing you have ever met but it doesn't matter.

We are in 99 percent agreement I thank you for being my friend and serving with us.

Thank you. Well, first of all I'm upset because Roy we were just getting started but I do understand I am really happy for you especially that you are choosing to be focused on prioritizing the needs of your family. What a nice and generous dad and granddad. You're amazing. You were the first person to call me, to welcome me to the commission and I want to thank you for always just responding to my questions and helping me gain insight into the practice and procedures as well as the culture of the planning department and the Commission And while we have not also agreed on all issues, I really admire your preparation. It's unbelievable. Intellect, candor, your wry sense of humor and your impeccable manners as well as your constant and determined efforts to do what is right for the people of the county and especially for your district.

I will really miss you but I wish you the best.

Mr. Martinez.

Thank you. Well, I'm really impressed by the fact of how you take family first. That says a lot about you and who you are. And I'm also impressed by the fact that thank the Lord sometimes that you were never an attorney across from me because you know every single fact. You memorize every single issue and you would be a hard one to be an adversarial against. I appreciate your logic and your understanding of what's happening here.

And you really do bring an experience to things and you never cease to surprise me about the little things you can talk to people who are presenting. I would love to sit down and have even more cups of coffee with you to hear about your experiences in life. Maybe I'll still have that opportunity. What you're doing now says a lot about you and your family. Congratulations, and thank you for your service here.

Thank you. Thank you. Commissioner? Yes.

So we met 45 minutes ago.

Right.

But having been well-trained as a lawyer I have a lot to say. OK. One of the reasons I was so pleased and honored to be appointed to this commission is because of the extraordinary reputation this Commission has in the community. And, I think a large part of that has to do with your leadership of the Commission and the way that the Commission has operated, the way that the Commission has listened to the community, and the way that the Commission deals with itself, the respect, the intelligence, the care that you've taken in leading this commission.

And so while we don't know each other, your impact on this commission and on this community has been extraordinary and I believe lasting. And you have earned our respect and our appreciation. So thank you.

Thank you very much. I appreciate all those kind comments, although I don't know who they were about but I'll take them and John I didn't realize I was ever trying to be funny but I'll take that as well. But you know I just think I was as I said I've been gratified and honored to have been able to serve. We need, the Commission needs to do everything it does with a great degree of thoughtfulness and seriousness because in most every matter we're faced with we have one party that considers themselves the winner and one party that considers themselves the loser.

So, I mean we need to treat them with great consideration regardless of our personal views. And and I think the same goes then I'll shut up with public comment when we receive public comment no matter what it sounds like we need to treat it with respect because for many members of the general public it's not an easy thing to do to stand up in front of a group and speak so I think we need to show them we value that With that, I will be quiet.

I know there's no requests online so I think we can move on.

Good, all right now let's get on with the real business. Agenda status report Mr. Wilson?

Chair and Commissioners looking at the status of the agenda today we have two items. The first is the continuing item of Chick-fil-a at Cali Real and then we have the second item which is an appeal of a parcel map and those are the only two items on our agenda today Our next hearing will be on June 3rd. We have two items, we have a vesting determination on the B rock quarry and then we have the five-year capital improvement program presented by long range planning.

This commission may want to consider canceling those hearings, especially June 10th and June 24th. We did move items off of those dates, moved them further down so as we wait for the other commissioner to join us from District 4. Our next hearing after that will be July 1st. We have two items on July 1st, the track map and airport land use compatibility plan on July 1st in Santa Barbara.

July 29th, we will be back in Santa Barbara. So far there is only one item projected which is a tentative parcel map. There are no other items projected for the remainder of the year so that concludes the projection report. Chair and commissioners if you wanted to consider cancelling June 10th and June 24th unless we want to trail that until the end of the hearing in case any items today get continued.

Can we revisit that at the end of the hearing?

Chair Reed, that's correct. We can trail canceling any dates until the end of the hearing today.

All

right. Let's just remember we do it.

Yes. Okay so with that we can progress to public comment this time is allocated for general public comment that is public comment for items not on today's agenda So if anyone is prepared to make a general public comment, they can proceed to the podium. Those online or on Zoom can signify their readiness by raising their hand.

I see no requests.

No requests. So general public comment is now closed. So time for Planning Commissioner's Informational Reports. These are reports by individual commissioners on planning issues and seminars, meetings literature, anything else they may have noticed that they think would be useful and relevant information.

There are two upcoming events I want to share with commissioners and the public at large that I think will be interesting to what we do. First is here locally on June 8th, and 9th and 10th is Organization Mindset. It's a conference on regenerative agriculture practices in the winemaking industry. We have speakers from all over the state that are well known, and my friend Jesse Smith from the White Buffalo Land Trust who is an excellent speaker, very knowledgeable will be conducting a workshop on the first day. It's really a great event and it'll be at the Cambria Vineyards facility in Santa Maria so it will be a good thing to go to. The second thing is our California Agritourism Summit which I attended and David Lackey attended Last year is going to be in Paso Robles this year.

I thank you.

OK. Commissioner, your light's on.

Oh my mic is

on. So no other reports? All right if there are no other reports let's proceed to looking at the minutes of the April 30 and May 6 hearings.

Mr. Chair?

Yes.

So since I have just been appointed to the commission, and I was not at the April 30 or May 6 meetings nor have I reviewed the videotapes of those meetings. I'm going to abstain from voting on approving the minutes.

OK thank you. So among the commissioners if you've had an opportunity to review the minutes of those meetings does anyone note any corrections additions or deletions So if there are, go ahead.

Just before anyone makes a motion I just want to correct for the record that it's April 29th and May 6th.

Oh instead of April 30th? Nice catch who typed this thing up? Okay, all right. So I will revise that so looking at those two groups of minutes for the April 29th and the May 6 hearings if they're acceptable can we have a motion to approve? Motion to approve. Commissioner Martinez?

I'll second.

OK, so all in favor of approving the minutes for the April 29 and May 6th 2026 hearings, all in favor signify by saying aye. Aye. Opposed? Approved. Which brings us to the Director's Report and the Board of Supervisors Hearing Summary.

Good morning Mr. Chair, members of the Commission. First I would like to welcome Mr. O'Mara Conner, Commissioner O'Mara Conner to the County Planning Commission. It has been a really positive experience having him on the Montecito Planning Commission So he's all tuned up to launch to the County Planning Commission, so we're looking forward to having your participation and your service to the community. I waited to make any remarks about Commissioner Reed because I wanted to have the last word.

But Commissioner Reed has been a significant contributor to this commission in his short time here. He is incredibly passionate about the constituents of the 4th District and the issues that affect that district, and I've seen...I mean he's always very level-headed and considered in his comments. I have occasionally maybe just once seen a little fire from Commissioner Reed but it's because he cares so much and I appreciate that about him And I greatly appreciate his intellect. He is a very, very smart man and he has so much knowledge in that head of his. And just talking with him like Commissioner Park said, I learn something new all the time and he has a very rich background which I think has brought a lot of value to the commission both professionally and personally.

And I agree with Commissioner Ford about his wry sense of humor. It's quiet, but it is very funny and I appreciate that. And I just want to say thank you so much for the way you've collaborated with our staff, the way you collaborated with Commissioner Park on the different programs that we've brought forward to the Commission because I think it's made a better process.

You have been willing to go out and talk with the people of the community and explain what our programs are about, particularly related to the Ag Enterprise Ordinance. And that's really meaningful like the general public often doesn't get a chance to get involved because they have lives they have to lead right? And they're busy maybe they're just getting dinner on the table or they're taking their kids to school or They're working late or whatever it is but the efforts that you made to do the outreach I think have made a big a significant difference in our process.

And I'm very sorry to see you leave the commission, maybe someday you'll come back. You never know and I also agree that it speaks volumes that you are moving to support your family and I appreciate that about you as a person so thank you so much for your service. So I do have a couple other things to report on. Just a few things because the board didn't have a few meetings but since we last met, we did go to the board with a briefing on changes that we want to make to our process to streamline permitting and create more truly ministerial permits.

So we presented some ideas to the board to get direction from them and really what we're talking about is Moving certain permit types from a land-use permit, which are currently noticed and appealable or a coastal development permit but are noticed and appealable to a ministerial permit. Meaning no notice, no appeal. And that is what most jurisdictions do the County of Santa Barbara has been quite unique so we're looking at single family homes as and in the accessory structures that are associated with single family homes Moving to a truly ministerial process And we're looking at different thresholds that might drive What projects get some design review and what projects may not need design review?

Because those that's a discretionary process So and we're also looking at trying to make some changes that are minor in commercial projects be truly ministerial. So this is a big change for the county It's been something that I think in my mind as a professional planner in Santa Barbara County, I have thought we needed to do. And the board has supported that and asked for it when I first started in this position and were finally able to bring that forth.

I'm sure it will generate a lot of conversation at the commissions, the two commissions and we look forward to that. We expect to be bringing this back to this County Planning Commission early fall because we have committed to the board to bring it to them before the end of the year. And so that's what happened on the 12th of May and then the other two items I wanted to mention is that on June 23rd we have the oil and gas Phase one, which is the prohibition of drilling new wells going to the Board of Supervisors. And then utility scale solar, which the commission reviewed and provided comments on and made some recommendations to change it, is going on July 14th.

And that's all I have to report. I'm happy to answer any questions. All right? CHRIS

RODGERS. Great. Thank you very much. So at this time, I guess we will begin our standard agenda. Mr. Villalobos could you please read in the first item?

Yes thank you. The following is a hearing on the request of Turnpike Lodges property owner to consider case numbers 22 CUP7 as well as 26 LUP53 and determine that no additional environmental review is required for the project pursuant to section 15183 of the state guidelines for implementation of the California Environmental Quality Act.

Okay at this time I would like to ask for any ex parte or site visit disclosures From the Commission? Mr. Mara Conner.

So I've reviewed all the written material provided to the commission for both the March 25, 2026 hearing and today's hearing including staff reports, technical memoranda, letters from the applicant and the public. I've watched the videotape of the March 25th, 2026 hearing And I visited the site of the project and met with Tom Patton at the site for approximately 15 minutes.

And then, I have an additional disclosure I would like to read into the record if I may. The applicant in this matter is represented by the Brownstein Law Firm. I was a partner in that law firm until my retirement at the end of 2021. Since then, I've had no financial connection with Brownstein or any of its clients. I've consulted with County Council and have concluded that I am not disqualified from participating in the Commission's consideration of this matter due to any financial interest I might have had prior to 2022.

I've also considered whether or not to voluntarily recuse myself from this matter due to my previous business relationship with the Brownstein Law Firm and the California legal requirement that a public agency hearing be conducted before a reasonably impartial, non-involved reviewer. I've carefully reviewed California law on this subject and have concluded that there's no reason to believe that my impartiality in this matter has been compromised by my previous business relationships.

Moreover, I believe that recusal under these circumstances would set an unworkable precedent in a small community like ours where longtime business and personal relationships are common, particularly among people who have lived here for many years. Thank you, Mr. Chair. CHRIS

JERRAM. OK, thank you. Thank you. Any other? Commissioner Park.

Yes, I wanted to disclose some ex parte contacts on this matter but I wanted to make a few comments about the point that Commissioner Mary Connor made about his service here. One, I hope everybody in the public knows that we file what's called a form 700 every year and it discloses under penalty of perjury what financial interests we have Okay? And that includes payments from former law firms. So if you look mine up, you will see that I received funds in excess of $500 in the last 12 months from my old law firm. It's just part of my retirement arrangements and it's right there for everybody to see. You can, it's a public website that the FPPC has and it's available to everyone. I've looked at mine. I've looked at Mr. Americana's Under penalty of perjury, just as he said, he has received no funds in excess of $500 in the last 12 months.

He has filed two or three of these Form 700s because he had to file one coming on to the Montecito Planning Commission and file one leaving the Planning Commission and coming onto this Planning Commission. There is a point that I want to address with regard to the appearance of impropriety. There's something that I've witnessed every planning commissioner grappling with as they come on here. We all realize we have past contacts with people and then we wonder, well God, we don't want to look like we're biased. We don't want anybody thinking ill of us But then what you evolve into, and I did personally, is we've got to remember that we are the representatives of our district.

And we're here because we were appointed by members of the Board of Supervisors who are relying on us to hear these matters and to vote on them. And so if Mr. Americana decided well, if every case Brownstein brought in front of here meant he was going to recuse himself because appearance of impropriety then he would be doing a disservice to Supervisor Lee who is relying on him to vote on these matters.

I realize this with some of mine, you know if I recuse myself there's no vote from the 3rd District. There's no one from the 3rd District to express the problems and things, the issues we have at the 3rd District with a given matter so I think we need to be very conservative about voluntarily recusing ourselves. And of course on this matter I also met with Mr. Patton and I had a few conversations with Ms. Collins, and I had all sorts of conversations with different staff people and I'll refer to that later when we get to questions.

Thanks.

Okay so if we're concluded with that well we can move ahead to the staff presentation

Good morning commissioners, my name is Willow Brown and I will be presenting the Chick-fil-A at Calle Real project. The project was last heard on March 25th and was continued to today's hearing to provide time for staff to obtain additional information regarding air quality emissions from the project. The LUDC has a standard for drive-throughs requiring that they do not have a greater air quality impact than the same project without the drive through.

Staff provided a memo to the commission with additional information that I will summarize in this presentation. To recap, the project site is located on Calle Real accessed off of Turnpike Road from the Highway 101 off ramps. The site has been developed with a restaurant use since 1970 and is currently developed with an IHOP restaurant that has been closed since summer of 2022.

The project site is adjacent to a commercial development which contains a Starbucks drive-through and is across from the Ramada Hotel. The project is a request for a land use permit to allow for the demolition of the existing restaurant on-site and construction of a new 2,647 square foot quick service restaurant. The project also includes a conditional use permit to allow for a dual lane drive through with two covered canopy areas.

The project is a commercial use on a commercially zoned lot which has been developed with the restaurant use for over 50 years. Restaurants are permitted use in the retail commercial zone and the conditional use permit is solely required for the drive-thru use. This is a photo simulation of the project as viewed from Calle Real. I will now summarize the information provided in the staff memo discussing air quality emissions from the project. This table is an excerpt from the air quality report provided for the project and shows anticipated emissions from the drive-thru compared to emissions from walk-in customers.

The study assumed that the wait time for a vehicle in the drive-through would be five minutes, and the wait time for a walk-in customer would be ten minutes. The emissions estimated from a customer parking and turning off their car, going inside and ordering, and getting back in their car and restarting it are significantly higher than the emissions from a customer idling in the drive-thru as shown in this table.

The project includes additional components that contribute to a reduction in air quality emissions. As shown in the image on this slide, there is an existing Chick-fil-A restaurant located approximately 2.7 miles east of the project site. By adding the second Chick-fil-A location, the cumulative vehicle miles traveled would be reduced because it can be assumed that the majority of existing customers will go to whichever location they are closest to.

Additionally, the air quality standard was adopted in 1981. Vehicles have become cleaner since that time and the use of electric and hybrid vehicles further reduces impacts to air quality emissions. Air quality emissions are largely dependent on the amount of time a customer spends onsite. The project includes design features to minimize time spent in the drive-thru, including an iPad ordering system so that employees can take orders prior to cars reaching the ordering board and an online system that allows customers to put in their order before they even arrive on site.

These design features will reduce the amount of time cars are idling in the drive-through lane waiting for their order. Additionally, the dual lane drive-through allows for employees to maneuver cars so that if for example a car ordered ahead or has a faster order the employee can direct them to go in the second lane to get their food and leave the site faster.

The results from the project's air quality study are consistent with analysis done by APCD. This image from APCD's memo regarding drive-thru facilities shows that a park and restart emits higher emissions than an idling vehicle. APCD also reviewed the air quality report and agreed with the analysis. Staff is recommending a change to one condition in the Public Works condition letter included as attachment B to the staff memo.

The condition letter from Public Works included language regarding undergrounding utilities, as shown on this slide. Staff coordinated with Public Works and they stated that this condition was added in error as there's no trigger for undergrounding utilities for this project. Staff recommends that conditions be modified to remove the requirement for undergrounding utilities.

Staff recommends that your commission make the required findings for approval of the project specified in Attachment 1 of the staff memo, determine that the project is exempt from CEQA pursuant to CEQAs Guidelines Section 15183 and approve the project subject to the conditions included as attachment 2 of the staff memo and as modified in today's hearing. Staff and the applicant are available for questions. Thank you.

All right questions from Commissioners for staff and applicants?

Commissioner Park? There was a Chick-fil-A nearby, so it was my first visit to Chick-fil-A. And I stayed there quite a while watching the things, so I should have disclosed that. That's kind of like a site visit and I noticed it was a very short menu. Food was very wholesome. I could well imagine why people want to have that there for their families and I saw how quickly the cars moved through the line. It was just a matter of seconds frankly And I also saw a set of tables that have QR code on them where you go in, you don't even go to the counter. You just sit down, put your phone over it and order on your phone and they bring it to the table. That's what Chick-fil-A is all about.

I then went to our Santa Maria P&D office where I had a meeting with Tina Mitchell over the Los Alamos project we heard a couple of weeks ago. At the end of that, I said, Tina, you are a homegirl. You grew up in Orkut and Santa Maria. Help me try to understand what drive-thrus have come in over the years because I had this feeling in my mind I thought we should try to be consistent in enforcing this development standard that a drive-thru project in front of us not worsen the air quality. But I thought, you know, that would be true of every drive-through. So what precedents do we have?

With our staff, the next day, in the morning, I had an e-mail from Willa Brown here, Shannon Reese and Tina Mitchell. They had researched this and sent me a list of every drive-thru project that counties approved in the last few years, gave me links. And I looked at that stuff. It was very useful, referred to a report from Recon Engineering that was used in all those three projects. It has very detailed data on emissions, and in every case our Planning Commission of various diverse people voted to approve those projects.