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Oversight group approves accessory uses and 10,000-sq-ft storage cap for Pasiglia Nursery
Summary
Planning staff presented and the Citizens Oversight Group approved revised land-use language for Site 5 (Pasiglia Nursery), adding educational uses and allowing a storage facility limited to 10,000 square feet; the group said a conditional-use permit and subsequent Planning & Zoning review would still be required.
Planning Department staff presented revised language for Site 5 — identified in the meeting materials as Pasiglia (also recorded as Pisiglia/Pasiglias in earlier drafts) Nursery — and the Citizens Oversight Group approved the change on a roll-call vote.
The department described Site 5 as an approximately 8-acre parcel whose primary use would remain a plant nursery with greenhouses and a sales room. Planning Department staff said the recommended description explicitly allows accessory activities (initially six items) and adds "educational facilities that offer classes, seminars, and/or workshops on topics associated with trees, plants, shrubs, perennials, natives, and other flora, including planting and care." Planning staff also proposed language to permit an office/warehouse-type building related to nursery operations but capped that building at 10,000 square feet.
"Office warehouse facility for plant nursery related items and yard care equipment, but building size cannot exceed 10,000 square feet," Planning Department staff said, explaining the department used existing town-center sizing standards as a reference.
A member suggested the term "storage facility" instead of "warehouse" to make the description less polarizing; staff agreed the wording change would not alter the substantive use. Other members raised concerns about allowing what they described as commercial activities in areas adjacent to residential neighborhoods, asking whether the change would encourage more commercial uses beyond the unique circumstances of this site.
Planning staff responded that the accessory uses are contingent on the underlying nursery use and on a conditional-use permit process that includes minimum-lot requirements (typically about 5 acres for the nursery conditional use), Planning & Zoning Commission review and eventual council endorsement for any conditional-use approval. "If it's not considered accessory," staff said, "then the tail's wagging the dog," emphasizing the department intends the nursery to be the primary use.
After discussion, the group approved the description with the nomenclature change from "warehouse" to "storage facility." A roll-call vote recorded multiple "yes" responses and at least one recorded "no" (Member McCutcheon). The chair confirmed the motion carried and instructed staff to proceed with the approved wording in the master-plan materials.
The department noted that any future construction of the storage building or other accessory elements would still need to comply with the city's conditional-use and development-review processes, including architectural review and any required permits.
Next steps: the revised Site 5 wording will be incorporated into the master-plan documents and will be available to Planning & Zoning and other decision-making bodies as they consider conditional-use applications tied to the site.
