Planning staff and commission recommend keeping industrial buffer; recommend June Lake PZD change to permit medical offices

Planning staff briefed the board on two land-use items: a proposed amendment to Ordinance 15-20 that would remove a condition requiring an undisturbed buffer on an industrially zoned parcel, and a request to amend the June Lake Planned Zoning District (PZD) to list medical offices as a permitted use rather than a special use.

Ms. Sanders, planning staff, said the property in question was rezoned in 2015 from agricultural to industrial with a staff-imposed condition: a 150-foot undisturbed buffer between industrial development and the single-family residences to the west. Staff and the planning commission recommended denying the applicant’s request to amend that condition, explaining that industrial uses can generate noise, vibration, glare and odors and that the undisturbed buffer was intended to protect the residential neighborhood. Staff noted the applicant proposed placing a detention area within the 150-foot area, which would allow removal of large trees and other vegetation that provide separation.

On the June Lake PZD amendment, Ms. Sanders explained that the PZD is a small, project-specific development code. The applicant asked to move medical offices from the special-use category to permitted use. Staff and the planning commission recommended approval, and Ms. Sanders corrected an error in her memo to state that staff supports approval.

No final board action was recorded at this meeting on these work-session items; staff said they would provide additional information and answer questions at a later date if the board wished to move to first reading or adopt an ordinance.