Caliber Collision, an auto-body repair and paint shop, has requested permission to expand its existing, non-conforming facility into five additional units in three buildings, within its existing six-building development at 2370 Walnut Ave.
The commission also viewed a video from the California Department of Housing and Community Development regarding housing opportunities.
Conditional-use permit
Caliber Collision, an auto-body repair and paint shop, has requested permission to expand its non-conforming facility into five additional units in three buildings, within its existing six-building development at 2370 Walnut Ave. The business, which is located within a light-industrial zoning district, made the request based on its status as the “majority service provider” for Long Beach Honda, which is also located in Signal Hill.
Signal Hill Planning Manager Colleen Doan provided a report on the request, indicating that, since that portion of the meeting was a public workshop, the commission would make no decisions on the matter.
Doan said an auto-center accessory-use ordinance was adopted in 2016 to facilitate the economic viability of the city’s auto center. It allows certain auto-accessory uses to be located off the main dealerships’ sites and on industrially zoned properties, so that sales could be the primary focus at the dealerships’ sites and auto-body repair with a conditional-use permit (CUP), painting and storage allowed off-site.
“The important factor in determining eligibility for the uses is that they demonstrate a specific type of affiliation with one or more of the auto-center dealerships,” Doan said, before going into detail on the logistics of the operations at Caliber.
She explained that the auto-body work in the new spaces at Caliber would include squaring up frames, applying filler, welding, painting and detailing.
Doan also said Caliber had provided a statement letter from Long Beach Honda indicating that the dealership shall refer all parties seeking auto-body collision-repair services for any automotive lines to Caliber.
After Doan’s presentation, Planning Commission Chair Victor Parker opened the discussion for questions from commissioners, but there were none. He then opened the workshop to public comment, during which time Caliber’s property manager and regional manager introduced themselves at the podium and offered to answer any questions or provide further information. Parker then closed the public-comment portion of the workshop, after which Commissioner Rose Richárd sought clarification on the existing relationship between Caliber and the Honda dealership. Doan said their working relationship began around November of 2017.
Parker asked Doan if there are any other dealerships that Caliber is working with, to which Doan responded that Toyota is also listed in the agreement.
The commission then voted to move the discussion to a public hearing at a later date.
Housing video
As a continuation of a “Director’s Report” series on housing legislation, the commission viewed a five-minute video from the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) that features Ben Metcalf, that agency’s director, explaining the “California 2017 Housing Package” that contains what Metcalf called “15 new game-changing laws.”
In the video, he says that Assembly Bill 72 is one of those laws and grants HCD the authority to look at action or lack of action pertaining to cities’ housing elements, which require local officials to plan for their share of the state’s housing.
“AB 72 gives the HCD the authority to revoke housing-element compliance or engage the attorney general if the local government actions do not comply with state law, but the fact is we really don’t want to,” Metcalf says. “We would much prefer to see every city and county fully complying, because that is what facilitates the development of the housing that Californians so desperately need.”
The HCD director then explained the steps that will be taken if his department must engage in enforcement, including gathering information, contacting the local governments, providing them with technical assistance and advice, and issuing a formal correction letter. If the jurisdiction is still found to be not in compliance, HCD will issue a 30-day notice of its intent to revoke housing-element compliance if the required remedy is not completed. If still not resolved after 30 days, HCD will formally revoke compliance.
“Revocation opens up the city or county to private litigation, which could lead to court injunction to cease issuing residential or non-residential permits,” Metcalf says in the video. “Revocation of the housing element also means that jurisdictions become ineligible for a range of funds. Several federal and state funding programs consider housing-element compliance as eligibility or ranking criteria.”
He added that if the issue is egregious or recurring, HCD may refer it to the state attorney general’s office and work with them to pursue direct legal action. Currently, out of the 539 jurisdictions requiring housing elements, 53 of them are out of compliance.
The commission voted to receive and file the video.
The next Signal Hill Planning Commission meeting will be Tuesday, Sept. 18 at 7pm in the council chamber, 2175 Cherry Ave.
