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Home My WebLink About1958-02-04MUTES OF THE HUNTINGTON BEACH PLANNING C01Z1I5SICN Council Chambers, City Hall Huntington Beach, Calif. Tuesday, February 4. 1958 Commissioners Present: Bazil, Stang, Liles, Davis, Schryer, Presson, Bardwell. Commissioners Absent: None. Minutes On motion by Schryer and seconded by Davis, the minutes of the Huntington Beach Planning Commission of Tuedday, January 21, 1958, as transcribed and mailed by the Secretary, were accepted as mailed. Continued Hearing The Secretary was asked by the Chairman if he Use Variance, UV 103 Red Star Oil Comnany had additional reports to make prior to the public hearing. The Secretary did not. Chairman Bazil opened the hearing to the public. Clarence Augustine, representative of Red Star Oil Company, addressed the Commission and gave a brief resume of the type of operations which would be conducted if the variance were granted as requested. He explained the exploratory nature of the lease, and the inability to pin point locations until enough geological information can be gathered. There being no further comment, the hearing was closed to the -public. A study session was held, to review existing oil field districts and present location of wells. It was noted that the 40 acres in question were virgin farm lands as well as the land to the north and east. Bazil Opposes Chairman Bazil went on record as being vigorously Blanket Variance opposed to any type of variance which would allow oil drilling sites to be haphazardly placed on large sites of land without approval of the Planning Commission.- He stated that he had faith that the petitioning oil firm would use good sense and discretion. But he said that what was good for one firm was good for another, and not all firms are reliable. Schryer Gives Being an expert on the oil business, Commissioner Exnlanation Schryer was asked to give his opinions of directional drilling and.the problems of the petitioner. Schryer said that directional drilling was common practice and not an unreasonable request for the city to Aake. He further described what had to be done to explore the fault line oil pockets. -1- Page 2. 1 1 1 Decision Reached After other arguments were heard, Chairman Bazil _protested any oil drilling variance which did not specify the exact site. Other members of the Commission supported this viewpoint at the urging of Commissioner Schryer. It was decided informally to grant a specific variance for each well site, and that the hearing should be continued until such time as the applicant was able to choose the site or sites. This was agreeable to the representatives of the applicant oil drilling firm. Conditional Exception UV 104 J. P. Terry - Applicant The Secretary read the report -recommend- ations as requested by the Chairman. The public hearing was opened to the audience to consider the request for establishment of an industrial use on Lots 9 & 11, Block 415, Huntington Beach Tract which is located at 411 - 15th Street. Hermann Protests Fred C. Hermann, 408 - 15th Street, addressed the Commission and protested that he and 7 others had not received a mailed notice. He demanded that the hearing be dropped." Chairman Bazil ruled him out of order, and asked the Secretary to explain the notification procedure to him. Hermann was allowed to continue. He argued against the merits of the Secretary's report and declared that there were absolutely no oil sumps in the block. (Note: Oil Field Inspector's report will not substantiate that statement.) He went on to demand that the block be cleared for residential use. Megli Protests Ray Megli, 1520 Magnolia Avenue, addressed the Commission. He replied to the Secretary's question by admitting that he had recieved ,his mailed notice. He went on record to protest the variance because he felt the area was in a rapid stage of upgrading and that it was reasonably close to the Elementary School. For this reason he contended that the block should be kept for residential development. He explained that he had built his home and rental unit in good faith with the assumption that residential housing would supplant existing oil fields. He admitted that there were a few wells in the vicinity of his property. He asked for consideration. The Secretary asked Mr. Megli how many oil storage tanks were on his and the adjoining property. He stated that there were six. The Secretary then asked Megli if he would object if the City passed an ordinance restricting oil drilling from his block. Megli said he would not object. Page 3. Mrs. Leroy Hermann Mrs. Hermann living at 416 - 15th Street, addressed Protests Variance the Cormission and told of the dangers of having the children pass by the oil fields on their way to school and to the recreation center. Commission Debates It was argued by the Secretary that as long as oil drilling is permitted the block could never be developed as residen- tial. He also pointed out that approximately 80' of the owners were out of town and maintained their property for potential oil drilling and the almost insurmountable task of clearing title to the lots. Chairman Bazil argued that the master plan for the entire block should determine the outcome of this variance. He stated that this portion of the plan should be reviewed at the next meeting and that the resultant decision should be also applied to the variance at hand. The Commission was unanamously in favor of the suggestion, the hearing was continued to the next meeting. Secretary Requests Approval Pronosed Precise Plan Mans The Secretary gave a review and demonstration of what the newly proposed precise plan mapping system would consist of and how it could be integrated into the present county system. It was explained that the maps would be of 200' scale and that each mile square section as laid out by U. S. Government survey system would be mapped individually and would become a portion of a mosiac system with control limits to be established approximately at the city boundaries. The sources of official information were listed as well as the materials required. It was emphasized that the Engineering Department would collaborate in order to obtain their base maps of the City Streets Systems. The Secretary was questioned in regards to expense of the requested maps. He estimated that the maps would cost anywhere from $100.00 to $300.00 per section depending upon where it was located and -how many special features, such as tracts, were involved. He estimated it took one draftsman approximately 3 weeks to complete the average map, and that it had to have accuracy. He pointed out that the Planning Commission had $2,500.00 which was ear marked in an special Engineering studies for precising master plan, and that approximately 15 original maps would be required in the near future to begin the phase of actual rezoning. Page 4. The Secretary also asked the Commission to recommend approval for a 351" x 45" steel map filing case cabinet to store and protect the valuable maps that were proposed. He estimated the cost to be approximately $200.00 with exact figures to be presented to the City Council. It was noted that the filing cabinet would last for 30 years. A motion was made by Schryer and seconded by Stang to recommend approval as a joint request of the proposed precise plan mapping system and to include the requested map filing case and to be conducted in collaboration with the Engineering Department. Said recommendation to come under the heading Special Engineering Studies for Precising the Master Plan Acct. No. 2352. The motion carried. Bardwell Resigns Allen Bardwell announced his resignation from the Planning Commission effective February 5, 1958; the reason stated was in order to take an extended vacation and assume Elk Club management responsibilities upon his return. The meeting was adjourned. 1 Clifford E. Tril p)n Secretary 1 Bob Bazil Chairman