Recording in progress.

Good afternoon.

I hereby call the December eighteenth, twenty twenty-five zoning administrators administrator meeting to order.

My name's Levi Hill.

I'll be serving as zoning administrator for today's meeting.

Also in attendance today is Senior Associate Planner Matthew Bugart, Principal Planner Fernanda Riveri, and recording Secretary Erica Barrera.

Ms.

Barrera, will you please remind the public how they can participate in today's meeting?

Sure.

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

Thank you for participating in your city government.

Thank you.

I'll first open up the consent agenda.

Item number two, the consideration of the October 16th, 2025 meeting minutes.

Ms.

Barrera, are there any members of the public online that would like to speak on this item?

There are a few attendees online.

However, I see no hands raised.

Great.

Seeing none in the chambers.

The October 16th, 2025 minutes are hereby approved as submitted.

I'll now open the meeting up to public comments for items not on the agenda.

If there are any members of the public wishing to speak on items that are not on today's agenda, please approach the podium, or if participating online, use the raise hand function.

I see no hands raised.

Thank you.

Seeing and hearing none in the chambers, we will move on to item number three, which is the consideration of 240 Del Monty Center, bearing it's application V250263 to allow construction hours for nighttime work at 240 Del Mani Center.

Applicant Eric Chang, owner AAT Del Monty LLC.

Do we have a staff report?

We do indeed.

I will share my screen.

Good afternoon.

My name is Matthew Buggert, and I'm a senior associate planner with the City of Monterey's planning division.

Today we're here to talk about 240 Del Mani Center, nighttime work variants at today's zoning administrator meeting.

Some background on the project site.

240 Del Monte Center is one unit in the Del Monte Center complex.

It is a two-story structure on one side is one story.

And then as you go to the rear of the structure, it becomes two story.

The land use is commercial by the general plan, and the zoning is C two SC, that is community commercial district shopping center.

The proposed variants is for the Apple store, and it is for temporary construction.

The existing store hours for this location are 10 to 9 during certain days of the week and 10 to 8 during other days of the week.

The allowed city construction hours throughout the city are from seven to seven, Monday to Friday.

Considering their store schedule, this would allow three hours in the morning.

On Saturdays, construction is allowed from 8 to 6 p.m.

This will be about two hours.

And then on Sunday, uh loud construction is from 10 to 5 p.m., which would overlap with the entirety of their operating hours.

So with that, their requested hours from the applicant are Monday to Sunday, 6 to 9 a.m., essentially allowing nighttime work at will at this location.

The days being requested are January 26th of next year to April 26th, 2026.

We usually offer our code allows up to three months of variance work before needing to apply again.

They're not exactly sure on their start date.

They've gone for a three-month range in this period.

Monterey City Code Section 38-112.2.

A permit to allow an exception to the existing construction hours of the city can be issued by the zoning administrator following the public hearing in accordance with the hearing section of city code.

The request for exemptions must show that compliance with the hour limitations would be impractical and that the exemption is necessary to accommodate unique factors specific to the property.

The exception shall be for a limited duration and may be conditioned to require renewal after three months.

Findings from staff, special circumstances applicable to the subject property.

Is that the site is located within a shopping center complex?

It is removed from nearby residential uses.

Daytime construction may not just negatively impact this business, but adjacent businesses as well, especially with transfer of materials.

And prompt completion of the project will benefit the mall complex as a whole.

Public noticing was conducted, and properties nearby that could be negatively impacted were contacted.

And we received one comment.

Um same individual, both phone and via email.

They had concern about transportation on the north side of the center, which is closer to where residential properties are.

And we discussed requiring all construction activities, staging, and whatnot to be on the opposite side of the mall complex, which is at the level that the uh Apple store is at.

Uh, and there are two recommended conditions based on this uh concern.

Those special conditions are that the staging areas and material transportation shall occur on the southern side of the center complex.

And uh two, that a construction manager's contact number shall be provided to address any complaints that may come up available during all construction hours.

Finally, the findings from staff uh are that uh the exception to the allowable construction hours would be in accordance with the objectives and purposes of the zoning code because it allows for the project to be completed without significant negative impact to the adjacent properties and the immediate in the immediate neighborhood to the benefit of residents, visitors, and adjacent uses.

That concludes staff's presentation.

And the staff's presentation uh conclusion is recommendation is to approve the variance with conditions, and I believe that the applicant is on the line for any questions as well.

Great.

Thank you for that report, Mr.

Bugger.

I don't believe you answered the question I had regarding the special conditions that were included.

So I think you did a good job summarizing the origin of those conditions.

Um the applicant present and would they like to speak or make a presentation?

The applicant is present.

I will go ahead and ask them to unmute.

Hi, this is uh Eric Chang.

I um don't have questions.

Um, and I just want to kind of uh uh let everybody know that I'm here if there's any follow-up questions to what uh Matthew just presented.

Great.

Thank you very much.

I don't think I have any questions at this time.

Um I'll now open up the meeting for public comment on this item.

Uh recording Secretary Barrera, is there any can you remind the public how they can participate and then let us know if there's anyone that'd like to speak on this item?

Sure.

Once again, information on how to participate remotely by Zoom or telephone is found at Monterey.gov forward slash agendas.

If you are joining by telephone, dial star nine to raise your hand and star six to unmute.

I currently see no hands raised.

Thank you.

Um, hearing and seeing none in the chambers, I will close the public hearing.

Um, I have read the staff report and reviewed the draft resolution, uh, heard from the applicant today, and uh we've opened this meeting up for public comment.

We did receive one written comment for the record, but none in the meeting.

Uh, with that, I agree with the staff recommendation and the findings as drafted in the uh attached resolution to the packet.

Um specifically, I find that the special circumstances applicable to the subject property resulting from the immediate surroundings are such that the site is located within a mall complex and is removed from nearby residential uses that would uh typically be affected by such construction noise.

Additionally, we find that the daytime construction may uh would not only negatively impact the primary business in which the project site's located, but also a number of immediately adjacent businesses, and that the project has direct benefits to the business and the prompt completion of the project, which will benefit the city and the mall complex as a whole.

Um, I will have her make a couple of small uh modifications to the conditions of approval.

Uh specifically, I want to modify condition 3A to read as follows.

Um, that the approved project construction hours shall be Monday through Sunday from 9 p.m.

to 6 a.m.

from January 26, 2026 to April 26, 2026, in addition to standard city allowed construction hours.

And the second modification is to strike condition 5D in its entirety uh as this approval is for a limited duration.

And with that, I hereby approve variance application V250263 with the conditions of approval as modified in the approval action today.

Decisions of the zoning administrator are appealable to the planning commission within 10 days of the meeting, and applications for appeal can be found online or at the planning office.

Congratulations.

Uh, the variance has been approved.

And with there being no further business, this meeting is adjourned.

Thank you.