Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout01 PC MINUTES 01-10-23 MINUTES COUNCIL CHAMBER & VIDEO CONFERENCE TUSTIN PLANNING COMMISSION MEETING JANUARY 10, 2023 NOTICE REGARDING PUBLIC PARTICIPATION *DUE TO TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES, THE MEETING START TIME WAS DELAYED.* 7.21 p.m. CALL TO ORDER Mello PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE All present ROLL CALL: Chair Mello Chair Pro Tem Kozak Commissioners Chu, Higuchi, and Mason None. PUBLIC INPUT Approved the CONSENT CALENDAR: Consent Calendar as presented. 1. APPROVAL OF MINUTES — DECEMBER 13, 2022 RECOMMENDATION: That the Planning Commission approve the Minutes of the December 13, 2022 Planning Commission meeting, as provided. 2. FINDINGS REQUIRED BY AB 361 FOR THE CONTINUED USE OF TELECONFERENCE FOR MEETINGS In order for the Planning Commission to continue to have the option to meet via teleconference during the pandemic, AB 361 requires the Commission to make specific findings at least every thirty (30) days. RECOMMENDATION: Make the following findings by a majority vote of the Planning Commission: a. A state of emergency has been proclaimed by California's Governor due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and continues to be in effect; b. The Planning Commission has reconsidered the circumstances of the state of emergency; and Agenda— Planning Commission Meeting—January 10, 2023 - Page 1 c. Local health officials continue to recommend measures to promote social distancing. Hurtado Hurtado confirmed no public input received regarding the Consent Calendar. Motion: It was moved by Mason, seconded by Chu, to approve the Consent Calendar, as presented. Motion carried 5-0. PUBLIC MEETING: 3. APPEAL OF DENIAL OF REQUEST FOR A DISABILITY-RELATED REASONABLE ACCOMMODATION APPELLANT: CALIFORNIA TREATMENT SERVICES, A SUBSIDIARY OF ACADIA HEALTHCARE COMPANY, INC. PROJECT SITE: 535 E. FIRST STREET, 2ND FLOOR (APNS: 401-151-13, 401-163-10, 401-151-08) REQUEST: California Treatment Services, a subsidiary of Acadia Healthcare Company, Inc. ("Acadia" or "Appellant"), requests reconsideration of the Community Development Director's denial of Acadia's request for a disability-related reasonable modification of City policies, practices, and/or procedures to allow Acadia to operate an outpatient treatment and counseling center, commonly referred to as a "comprehensive treatment center" or "CTC" ("Project") at the Project Site. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT ("ADA") ADVISORY STATEMENT RELATED TO THE PROPOSED PROJECT: If approved, the proposed CTC would exclusively serve persons receiving treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. To be a patient at the CTC, an individual cannot be actively using illegal drugs. Persons receiving such treatment are "qualified individual[s] with a disability" afforded full protection under the ADA. And the ADA prohibits the City from discriminating against qualified individuals in making land use decisions. In considering this application and appeal, the Planning Commission may not treat the proposed CTC differently than it would any other medical clinic. It may not base its decision on the fact that patients at the CTC will be receiving treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. Nor may unsubstantiated fears, prejudice, or stereotypes related to persons recovering from Opioid Use Disorder form the basis of the Planning Commission's decision. RECOMMENDATION: Agenda— Planning Commission Meeting—January 10, 2023 - Page 2 Pleasure of the Planning Commission. Daudt Daudt advised the Commission that the City received additional correspondence from Acadia's legal counsel (Rutan) at approximately 1:00 p.m. on January 10, 2023, pertaining to Agenda Item Nos. 3 and 4. He also presented a PowerPoint presentation. Ms. Diana Ms. Diana Wydo, Regional Director of Acadia Healthcare and her legal Wydo counsel, Alisha Patterson, also provided a PowerPoint presentation to the Commission. Mr. Phillip Teyssier also spoke on behalf of the project. 8:36 p.m. Opened the Public Comment portion for Item No. 3. Public Input Opposition — overall, the public's concerns generally included: (Patrick Adams) location of project; (Jaime Mourad) increase in crime rate, safety of pedestrians and children walking to and from school; (Ian Carter) the effect this project site could have on the dialysis center (located on the first floor) of the project site; (John Nielsen) public safety, Santa Ana location historical background, hours of operation, security on-site, incompatible uses, costs for additional security for surrounding uses, curbside dosing; (Tony Magnemi) fear of opioid addicts relapsing, homeless issues; (Jay Hollett) possible decrease in neighboring properties; (Johnny Johnson) concern with what could occur outside of the clinic, safety of children walking to Columbus Tustin Middle School; (Diane Alsop) commented on the appellant's attorney comments during her presentation. In Favor— Taylor Friend and Monica Hampton Willkom For the record, Willkom asked staff to provide a summary of all public comments received (via email, phone calls, web page) that were already provided to the Commission. Huitron Per Huitron, since the preparation of the Planning Commission meeting packet, the City received approximately 69 public comments related to both Agenda items Numbers 3 and 4. As of 5:45 p.m. on January 10, 2023, the City received an additional 57 public comments, along with an additional petition stating opposition to both items. In general, most comments stated concern with the proposed item and two (2) stated support for the proposed item. 9:03 p.m. Chair Mello closed the Public Comment portion for Item No. 3. Commission Deliberation among the Commission generally included: question for the applicant regarding their request for a reasonable accommodation. Whether applicant thinks that a discriminatory act had already occurred. Agenda— Planning Commission Meeting—January 10, 2023 - Page 3 Daudt Daudt stated that the City maintains the position that the Planning Commission is capable of conducting a fair hearing and would make a determination based on non-discriminatory factors and legal basis. Patterson In response to Higuchi's question, Ms. Patterson stated that the appellant's position was that discrimination had occurred during the CUP process, and was outlined in Rutan's January 10, 2023 appeal letter. She referred the Commission to Attachment F of the agenda report. Daudt Per Daudt, Ms. Patterson reiterated the eleven (11) reasons for appeal that were listed in Acadia's appeal letter to the City. Daudt stated, for the record, the City provided detailed responses to those assertions which are in the Community Development Director's November 28, 2022 response to the appeal letter, and was included in the Commission's meeting packet. * Motion: It was moved by Mason, seconded by Mello to adopt Resolution No. 4466 denying the request for disability-related modification of policies, practices and/or procedures related to a proposed out-patient treatment and counseling center for opioid use disorder utilizing medicated-assisted treatment (MAT) in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies at the project site. Motion carried 4-1 (Mello, Kozak, Higuchi, Mason —Ayes / Chu — Nay). PUBLIC HEARING: 4. CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT (CUP) 2022-0009 APPLICANT: PROPERTY OWNER: California Treatment Services, LLC., Philip Teyssier A Subsidiary of Acadia Healthcare Atomic Investments, Inc. Company, Inc. 3200 Highland Ave., 134-2 c/o Brian Spalding National City, CA 91950 9009 Carothers Blvd., Suite B-1 Franklin, TN 37067 PROJECT SITE: 535 E. First Street (2nd Floor) (APNS: 401-151-13, 401-163-10, 401-151-08) ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS: This project is Categorically Exempt (Class 1) pursuant to Section 15301 of the California Environmental Quality Act. REQUEST: A request to allow the operation of an out-patient treatment and counseling center (Comprehensive Treatment Center or CTC) for opioid use disorder Agenda— Planning Commission Meeting—January 10, 2023 - Page 4 utilizing medicated-assisted treatment (MAT) in combination with counseling and therapies at 535 E. First Street, Second Floor. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT ("ADA") ADVISORY STATEMENT RELATED TO THE PROPOSED PROJECT: If approved, the proposed CTC would exclusively serve persons receiving treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. To be a patient at the CTC, an individual cannot be actively using illegal drugs. Persons receiving such treatment are "qualified individual[s]with a disability" afforded full protection under the ADA. And the ADA prohibits the City from discriminating against qualified individuals in making land use decisions. In considering this application, the Planning Commission may not treat the proposed CTC differently than it would any other medical clinic. It may not base its decision on the fact that patients at the CTC will be receiving treatment for Opioid Use Disorder. Nor may unsubstantiated fears, prejudice, or stereotypes related to persons recovering from Opioid Use Disorder form the basis of the Planning Commission's decision. RECOMMENDATION: Pleasure of the Planning Commission. Daudt For the record, Daudt read the advisory statement (listed above). Huitron Presentation given. Ms. Diane In response to Huitron's presentation, Ms. Wydo discussed the following, in Wydo general: her background with a CTC and her past experiences with the patients; CTC clinics are licensed, regulated, audited on an annual basis, etc. and have always been in compliance; patients go to the clinic, receive their medications, then they leave the clinic; the transient issue mentioned in the Santa Ana police activity reports do not involve patients from the Santa Ana location; medications are ordered based upon the patient's needs; CTC clinics are highly secured (i.e. security cameras inside/outside of every clinic she operates); Ms. Wydo mentioned if the City wants security cameras, she would have cameras installed on every corner of the project site; patients are not violent; if a patient does not follow the clinic's policy and procedures, they are no longer considered a patient; one (1) unarmed security guard would secure the exterior of the clinic; discussed the stigma and stereotype relative to individuals in recovery; curbside dosing came into effect during COVID; hours of operation are determined by the State Department of Health Care Services; number of patients per day/average time per patient is four(4) minutes; ample parking on- site; Santa Ana CTC is located in a problematic area which is why Acadia wants to re-locate; and the source of the problem is the homeless encampment in Santa Ana, not Acadia. Agenda— Planning Commission Meeting—January 10, 2023 - Page 5 Teyssier Mr. Teyssier added the following, in general: The Commission's vote on Item No. 3 along with City staffs presentation are reasons why the project cannot be considered via a CUP process; lack of communication between the appellant and the City regarding addressing the concerns mentioned in the presentations; and that Acadia is subject to many state and federal regulations. Commission's Asked if the applicant could work with staff to identify a location within the Closing parking lot for curbside dosing; whether or not the medications affect the Comments: patient's ability to operate a motor vehicle; the percentage of patients receiving take-home dosing at the Santa Ana clinic; on average, the number of times per week the patients visit the Santa Ana clinic; and if the Tustin Police Department provided any comments. Ms. Diane Ms. Wydo's response to the Commission's questions/comments generally Wydo included: she prefers not using the curbside dosing and was willing to work with staff on a specific location in the parking lot for dosing; the medications do not affect the patient's ability to operate a motor vehicle; all dosing orders are prescribed by an addiction board certified medical director (MD); after a dose is increased for a patient, the patient is observed by staff to ensure the safety of the patient; her patients drive themselves to the clinics and there are no issues with driving while on medication; once COVID began, California Department of Healthcare Services had different take-home requirements (i.e. extended take-homes to qualified patients in order to reduce foot traffic in a clinic which equated to 65-70% of patients); depending on the type of medication or if there is a new patient, daily dosing typically occurs for several weeks or months; and she did not have the exact data of the daily dosing that occurred at the Santa Ana clinic to provide to the Commission (mentioned that data could be provided at a later date). Huitron Per Huitron, the Tustin Police Department is one of various departments that participates in the City's development application review process, and their comments were incorporated into the agenda report provided in the meeting packet. The development review process funnels all correspondence from City departments through the project planner to the applicant and from the applicant to the departments. In addition, two (2) resolutions were provided to the Commission and the Tustin Police Department's comments, along with City staff's comments, were also incorporated into the two (2) resolutions. 9:46 p.m. Opened the Public Hearing portion of Item No. 4. Public Input Opposition: Overall, the public's concerns generally included: (Ian Carter, Owners Association Wellington Plaza) Santa Ana police incident reports; (John Nielsen) the number of calls for service at the Santa Ana clinic; traffic will increase; high number of patients going in and out of the proposed location daily; (Pete Beatty)attorney's threatening comments towards the Commission; concern the Tustin Police Department will be overwhelmed; (Patrick Adams) Agenda— Planning Commission Meeting—January 10, 2023 - Page 6 equating the proposed clinic to a Flame Broiler is insulting; and what happens when the patients are no longer patients? In Favor. (Taylor Friend) homeless encampments are the cause of the issues with the Santa Ana clinic and the proposed clinic would have ample parking to accommodate the patients and staff. 10:00 P.M. Mello closed the Public Hearing portion of Item No. 4. Mason Mason asked City staff to explain the role of the Planning Commission in the decision-making when reviewing a CUP. She stated her concern with the appellant's legal counsel comments regarding potential litigation addressed to the Planning Commission. Ms. Wydo & In response to Mason's previous comments, Ms. Wydo stated she was not Ms. Patterson trying to offend the Commission. Ms. Patterson apologized for having offended the Commission. She was only wanting to discuss the legal requirements, and she did not mean for that discussion to seem threatening. Huitron As to the role of the Planning Commission, Huitron referenced and referenced the TCC Section 9291C and the Downtown Commercial Core Specific Plan Section 6.14 which authorizes the Commission to make determinations on application requests for CUPs and she explained the deliberation process. 10:03 p.m. Re-opened the Public Hearing Item No. 4. to allow the Planning Commission to address questions to the applicant. Commission The Commission's final questions/comments generally included: operations and security; the applicant's lack of data regarding the high number of patients; asked for data on number of appointments during the first part of January 2023 at the Santa Ana location, the proposed location being larger than the Santa Ana clinic and the concern of having only one (1) unarmed security guard; questioned if the staff at the clinic ever used the panic button; security camera monitoring; questioned if any community engagement was done in Tustin since the beginning of the process; inconsistencies with what the Santa Ana police activity reports state versus what the applicant stated; and why the applicant did not look into other areas in Tustin instead of the proposed location. Ms. Diane Wydo's final comments generally included: the number of patients that were Wydo dosed on January 2, 2023 were 78 patients, January 3, 2023 dosed a total of 304 patients, January 4, 2023 dosed a total of 298 patients, January 5, 2023 dosed a total of 280 patients, January 6, 2023 dosed a total of 332 patients; the panic button was never used at the Santa Ana clinic; however, the Santa Ana police were called on several occasions (i.e. transient on top of building smoking meth, someone broke into the clinic, etc.); security cameras recorded and monitored during operating hours only by Johnson Controls Tyco; she Agenda— Planning Commission Meeting—January 10, 2023 - Page 7 Ms. Diane stated the Murrieta/Temecula/Colton/Riverside clinics have had no police Wydo incidents; less issues with transients when clinics are located on a second floor; Wydo reached out to two (2) individuals who vocalized concerns, but no return calls; DEA's involvement with background checks on Acadia employees; if patients are found on the property trafficking drugs, they will no longer be a patient or if they threaten staff, bring weapons on site, immediate discharge and are referred to another treatment clinic; the reason for the proposed location is because it is only one (1) mile from the Santa Ana location and several of the patients have travel restrictions, Santa Ana location served between 78 and 332 patients daily between January 2 and January 6. 10:48 p.m. Closed the Public Hearing Item No. 4. Commission Additional comments generally included: better understanding of the mode of transportation to/from the clinic; what do the number of patients look like in the next 2-3 years; and the Commission needs a better understanding of the implications of this type of business use. Motion: It was moved by Mason, seconded by Chu, to adopt Resolution No. 4456, denying CUP 2022-0009 requesting to operate an out-patient treatment and counseling center for opioid use disorder utilizing MAT in combination with counseling and behavioral therapies at the project site. Motion carried 5-0. None. REGULAR BUSINESS STAFF CONCERNS: Willkom Happy New Year. No concerns. Mason Happy New Year. Thanks to everyone for attending. Chu Chu thanked everyone for attending and she made various other comments. Higuchi No comments. Kozak Thanks to staff and for everyone in attendance. Mello Mello echoed Kozak's comments. COMMISSION CONCERNS- 11-25 ONCERNS:11:25 p.m. ADJOURNMENT: The next regular meeting of the Planning Commission is scheduled for Tuesday, January 24, 2023. Agenda— Planning Commission Meeting—January 10, 2023 - Page 8