Campbell Planning Commission approves Chase Bank site and tree removal at 2060 South Bascom

The Campbell Planning Commission on May 12 approved a site-and-architecture review permit and a tree removal permit for a proposed 3,600-square-foot Chase Bank at 2060 South Bascom Avenue, with a unanimous 6-0 roll-call vote. The decision, recorded as file PLN2025-157, allows associated lighting, parking (31 spaces), refuse management and landscaping improvements and authorizes removal of a 23-inch California fan palm tree, which staff said would obstruct the required 25-foot backup distance for adjacent parking.

Project planner Daniel Fama told the commission the application is consistent with the zoning code and the Campbell general plan and that removal of the palm was necessary “due to an unusual hardship.” The site is the vacant former Denny’s property, about one acre, and the project would provide roughly 50% landscaped area and a building height of about 21 feet.

Hunter Decker, a Collier’s Engineering Design representative for JPMorgan Chase, said the design aims to fit with the neighborhood and provide pedestrian access: “The intent here is really to create a service for the community,” he said, adding the proposal includes a walk-up ATM rather than a drive-through.

Commissioners pressed staff and the applicant on several site details before the vote. Public Works senior civil engineer Roger Storrs explained the design and intent of a bioretention area at the southeast corner: such devices typically treat a first-flush portion of runoff (to remove contaminants) and bypass during very large storms. Commissioners also asked about a block wall and planting along the south property line to prevent cut-through to the adjacent Mister Pickles deli; the applicant said revised plans increase dense shrubbery to act as a barrier and the final building-permit set will show the change.

Neighbors had raised a separate concern in a written letter that sanitary cleanouts might affect an adjacent property; the applicant said it found no evidence of private cleanouts on the project parcel so far and pledged to investigate further with the sanitation district. The staff report includes a condition allowing the police chief to require a site-specific security plan if security issues arise.

A commissioner moved to approve the site-and-architecture review and tree removal permit (file PLN2025-157); the motion was seconded and approved by roll call, with the commission noting the action is final unless appealed in writing to the city clerk within 10 calendar days. Chair Davis Fields announced the vote and next procedural steps.

The commission’s approval includes the conditions and findings listed in the staff report and standard permit conditions; the city will address remaining technical details during the building-permit review.