The Merced Planning Commission met on the evening of January 21, 2026, to consider six public hearing items related to the Virginia Smith Trust (VST) Specific Plan, including one large lot map and five small lot subdivision maps. All items except one were approved unanimously; one phase was continued to the February 4, 2026 meeting due to an administrative error. No members of the public provided oral or written comments on any agenda item.
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen for being patient with us. I call to order the meeting of the Planning Commission for January 21st, 2026. I now ask for a moment of silence. Commissioner Ochoa, would you plead lead us in the Pledge of Allegiance? We now move on to item B. Kayla, roll call. Commissioner Smith. Present. Swiggert. Absent excused. Ochoa. Present. Gregens. Present. And Chairperson Gonzalez. Present. We have a quorum. Kayla will now read information about how the public may participate in the meeting. Members of the audience who wish to address the planning commission are requested to complete a speaker card available at the podium at the back of the council chamber. Please submit the completed card to the clerk before the item is called, preferably before the meeting begins. I would like to briefly go over the process of submitting comments to the planning commission. Please submit your public comment to the planning commission electronically no later than 1 p.m. on the day of the meeting. Comments received before the deadline will be sent to the planning commission and will be part of the record and mentioned as part of the public comment portion of the agenda. Material may be emailed to Planning Web at City of Merced.gov and should be limited to 300 words or less. Please specify which portion of the agenda you are commenting on. For example, oral communication or item number. Your comments will be presented to the planning commission at the appropriate time. Any correspondence received after 1 p.m. will be distributed to the planning commission and retained for the official record. TV video or listen to the planning commission meeting live, go to the city's website, www.city of versette.gov, Facebook Live or Comcast Public Access Channel 96. Thank you, Kayla. We now move on to item C public comment. Members of the public who wish to speak on any matter not listed on the agenda may speak during this portion of the meeting and will be allotted three minutes. State law prohibits the planning commission from acting at this meeting on any matter raised during the public comment period. Members of the public who wish to speak on a matter that is listed on the agenda will be called upon to speak during discussion of that item. Kayla, do we have any requests to speak? No. Thank you. We now move on to item D, which is consent calendar, including meeting minutes. Would the commission like to remove any items for separate consideration? Done. Do we have any requests to speak forms for any of the consent items? No, we do not. No. I'll be able to approve items on a vote. Motion to approve. Second. I have a motion to approve consent calendar by Commissioner Orchoa, second by Commissioner Gregens. We now move it to a vote.