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Record of Proceedings

Monterey Architectural Review Committee Meeting - June 18, 2025

Boards and Commissions — Wednesday, June 18, 2025
BodyMonterey, California
SessionBoards and Commissions
DateWednesday, June 18, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
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Transcript — Verbatim
1:00

Okay, we'll go ahead and call this meeting of the architectural review committee to order.

1:05

Um let's go ahead and do roll call.

1:08

Committee member Hunter.

1:10

Vice Chair Ostevar?

1:12

Here.

1:12

Chair Polly.

1:14

Here.

1:14

Committee Committee Member Sanders.

1:16

Here.

1:17

And committee member Turgeon.

1:19

And we have committee member Palmer absent today.

1:22

Staff present today is Planning Manager Hill, Principal Planner Rovere, Senior Associate Planner Schmidt, and myself recording Secretary Argonbre.

1:32

Information on participating in this meeting and providing public comment, including remotely by Zoom or telephone, is on this meeting's agenda, which is online at Monterey.gov forward slash agendas.

1:42

Remote comments will be muted until it is their turn to speak, and a timer will be shown on the screen.

1:46

If you are connected on Zoom, the timer is accurate with no delay in the chamber.

1:50

We recommend keeping phones and devices muted to prevent audio interference with the meeting.

1:54

Thank you for participating in your city government.

1:59

All right.

2:00

Thank you, Spencer.

2:01

And with that, we'll go ahead and open up the consent agenda.

2:08

Um the only thing we have on the consent agenda today is the approval of the minutes from the June 4th meeting.

2:17

Anyone that would like to comment.

2:21

Anyone online?

2:26

See there are no attendees online with their hands raised.

2:31

All right.

2:31

I move that we approve the consent agenda.

2:35

Second.

2:37

All those in favor.

2:39

Aye.

2:39

Hi.

2:39

Aye.

2:40

All those opposed.

2:43

All righty.

2:44

The motion carries.

2:47

And so that ends the consent agenda.

2:53

And before we go into our first public appearance, is there any member of the public that would like to make a general comment?

3:02

There are no attendees online with their hands raised.

3:05

Okay.

3:05

So with that, we will move to our first agendized item for public appearances.

3:10

Consideration of two upper Ragsdale Drive.

4:48

And the recommendation from staff tonight is to adopt a resolution to approve SIM permit application with conditions of approval.

5:00

For a little bit of background, the site is located at two upper Ragsdale Drive and has a general plan designation of employment.

5:04

The zoning for the site is IR, which is our industrial research and development district with uh 150,000 square feet minimum lot size.

5:14

It's also located in our D2 design overlay and emergency shelter overlay.

5:20

The project site is developed or under construction with a new medical office building that went under construction in 2024.

5:32

So the proposal before you today is for five wall signs.

5:35

They're all internally illuminated and are proposed in a design that would match existing signage on the rest of the buildings in the montage montage health complex.

5:59

So this slide here shows some of the uh proposed signage design.

6:04

Uh there's two different signs that are being proposed.

6:07

And this first one is signed uh signage sign type one with the montage health logo.

6:12

And as you see here on this slide, it's located on two different building frontages.

6:16

It's proposed to be 62.8 square feet, uh, and that's each signage.

6:22

And then it's illumination style is internally illuminated.

6:25

And here's a little sample imagery there on this slide that shows uh the push-through illumination style.

6:35

Also being proposed is sign type two, and this is to identify the building as building E amongst the other buildings on the complex.

6:43

And here on this slide, you should see it's proposed on three different frontages and is measuring in 12.56 square feet each, and it's also illuminated in a similar style.

6:58

Here's a rendering of the uh structure with the two different sign types shown here.

7:07

And then this is the other frontage.

7:20

It was noticed by staff that uh upon reviewing the project, but after the uh report was published, that a uh some of the calculations were not uh updated uh from whenever staff last received or provided comments on this, and this is a result of a calculation error uh in signage for circular signage in the city is actually calculated by the actual area of the circle itself and not a uh uh square box drawn around that circle as calculated in the plans.

7:53

So the actual uh square footage uh total for the sign type two, which would be that circular building E signage is actually gonna be 12.56 square feet rather than the 16 square foot box that would go around that uh 48-inch diameter signage.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Signage Regulation█████████████████████████████████33%
Zoning And Land Use████████████████████████████████32%
Board Operations███████████████15%
Engineering And Infrastructure██████████10%
Procedural█████5%
Affordable Housing███3%
Public Engagement██2%
Summary of Proceedings

Monterey Architectural Review Committee Meeting - June 18, 2025

The Architectural Review Committee (ARC) of Monterey, California, met on June 18, 2025, to consider two agenda items: a sign permit application for a medical office building at 2 Upper Ragsdale Drive and exterior alterations to a residence at 3 Cielo Vista Drive. The committee also received a planning update and discussed the potential consolidation of the ARC with the Planning Commission. The meeting was held in person with remote participation available.

Consent Calendar

  • The committee approved the minutes from the June 4, 2025 meeting by unanimous vote.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public provided comment, either in person or remotely.

Discussion Items

  • 2 Upper Ragsdale Drive – Sign Permit Application (SI250109): Staff presented a proposal for five internally illuminated wall signs for a new medical office building (Building E) in the Montage Health complex. The signs included two types: Sign Type One (62.8 sq ft each, two signs) with the Montage Health logo, and Sign Type Two (circular, originally calculated as 16 sq ft but corrected to 12.56 sq ft each, three signs) identifying the building as "E." Staff noted a calculation error in the plans regarding the circular sign area and recommended a special condition requiring the applicant to submit revised plans with correct calculations. The applicant, Sean Adams (owner of Monterey Science), spoke in favor, citing improved wayfinding for the community and reduced light pollution (signs on a photocell timer, turned off by 11 PM). The committee found the proposal consistent with sign ordinance objectives despite exceeding the 50 sq ft maximum for wall signs and the two-sign limit, due to the large building scale, emergency wayfinding needs, and matching existing campus branding. The sign permit was approved with the special condition to correct the square footage calculation.
  • 3 Cielo Vista Drive – Architectural Review Permit (ARP240253): Staff presented a proposal for exterior alterations to an existing two-story residence on a steep lot. Changes included expanding the second-story deck by approximately 70 sq ft (to a total of 385 sq ft), new deck materials with steel posts and cable railing, roof form changes (including a switch from asphalt to metal seam roof), new windows and doors, a new paint scheme (green with black accents), and other minor alterations. The roof change increased the building height slightly, triggering ARC review. Staff found the design compatible with the neighborhood and that views, privacy, and living environment were not unreasonably impaired. The owner, Josh, spoke in favor, noting the metal roof improves fire hardening. The committee approved the permit unanimously, praising the improvements.

Key Outcomes

  • Consent Agenda: Approved unanimously.
  • Sign Permit (2 Upper Ragsdale Drive): Approved with a special condition requiring the applicant to submit revised plans correcting the circular sign area calculation (from 16 sq ft to 12.56 sq ft per sign). The motion carried unanimously.
  • Architectural Review Permit (3 Cielo Vista Drive): Approved unanimously.
  • Appeals: Both decisions are appealable to the Planning Commission within 10 days; forms available online and at the planning office.
  • Planning Update: Staff reported that on June 10, 2025, the Planning Commission recommended to the City Council amendments to implement the local SB9 ordinance (allowing up to six units on single-family lots with affordability requirements) and other housing element programs. The council is expected to consider this in August. Staff also noted that the City Council directed staff to bring back legislation to consolidate the ARC with the Planning Commission, a process expected to take two to three months. Committee member Ostrovar is stepping down (term ending June 30), and member Hunter’s term also ends June 30. The next ARC meeting is scheduled for July 2, 2025 (not July 3 as originally printed), with tentative items including 66 Mara Vista, 17 Antelope Lane, and 601 East Franklin. Committee members expressed support for the consolidation and suggested streamlining minor projects for staff-level approval.

Meeting Transcript

Okay, we'll go ahead and call this meeting of the architectural review committee to order. Um let's go ahead and do roll call. Committee member Hunter. Vice Chair Ostevar? Here. Chair Polly. Here. Committee Committee Member Sanders. Here. And committee member Turgeon. And we have committee member Palmer absent today. Staff present today is Planning Manager Hill, Principal Planner Rovere, Senior Associate Planner Schmidt, and myself recording Secretary Argonbre. Information on participating in this meeting and providing public comment, including remotely by Zoom or telephone, is on this meeting's agenda, which is online at Monterey.gov forward slash agendas. Remote comments will be muted until it is their turn to speak, and a timer will be shown on the screen. If you are connected on Zoom, the timer is accurate with no delay in the chamber. We recommend keeping phones and devices muted to prevent audio interference with the meeting. Thank you for participating in your city government. All right. Thank you, Spencer. And with that, we'll go ahead and open up the consent agenda. Um the only thing we have on the consent agenda today is the approval of the minutes from the June 4th meeting. Anyone that would like to comment. Anyone online? See there are no attendees online with their hands raised. All right. I move that we approve the consent agenda. Second. All those in favor. Aye. Hi. Aye. All those opposed. All righty. The motion carries. And so that ends the consent agenda. And before we go into our first public appearance, is there any member of the public that would like to make a general comment? There are no attendees online with their hands raised. Okay. So with that, we will move to our first agendized item for public appearances. Consideration of two upper Ragsdale Drive. And the recommendation from staff tonight is to adopt a resolution to approve SIM permit application with conditions of approval. For a little bit of background, the site is located at two upper Ragsdale Drive and has a general plan designation of employment. The zoning for the site is IR, which is our industrial research and development district with uh 150,000 square feet minimum lot size. It's also located in our D2 design overlay and emergency shelter overlay. The project site is developed or under construction with a new medical office building that went under construction in 2024. So the proposal before you today is for five wall signs. They're all internally illuminated and are proposed in a design that would match existing signage on the rest of the buildings in the montage montage health complex. So this slide here shows some of the uh proposed signage design. Uh there's two different signs that are being proposed. And this first one is signed uh signage sign type one with the montage health logo.

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