Venice Planning Commission Meeting - September 1, 2026
Venice Planning Commission Meeting - September 1, 2026
The Venice Planning Commission met on Tuesday, September 1, 2026, at 1:30 PM in Council Chambers. The meeting began with roll call, approval of the August 18, 2026 minutes, and proceeded through public hearings on a variance continuance and two related petitions for a car wash development. All items were approved unanimously. Planning Director Roger Clark provided updates on upcoming meetings, the comprehensive plan, a data center moratorium, and a remanded project.
Consent Calendar
- Approved the minutes of the August 18, 2026 regular meeting (motion by Jasper, second by McKeon, unanimous).
Public Comments & Testimony
- No members of the public provided testimony or comments during the meeting.
Discussion Items
- Variance Petition 26-34VZ (PAM Health Venice Signs): Senior Planner Nicole Tremblay presented. The applicant requested a continuance to the September 15, 2026 regularly scheduled Planning Commission meeting. No public comment. Motion to continue by McKeon, second by Sherberg, passed unanimously.
- Design Alternative Petition 26-39DA & Site and Development Plan 26-25SP (Lightning Fast Car Wash): Both items were heard together by mutual agreement, with separate votes required. The project is located at 209 Hulstein Street, approximately 1.15 acres, zoned Laurel West within the Laurel Road neighborhood. Staff Planner Brittany Smith presented the staff report. The four design alternative requests were:
- Modify maximum side yard setback (Table 2.39) from 55 feet to approximately 128 feet on the western property line due to the long, narrow car wash building orientation.
- Reduce buffer type from Type 3 to Type 1 (Table 4.5) because the adjacent use is commercial, not residential; the applicant agreed to maintain planting requirements but eliminated the 6-foot fence requirement.
- Increase wall signage from the code maximum of 61 sq. ft. to 79.3125 sq. ft. on the narrow Laurel Road frontage; the single sign is less than half the signage approved for neighboring Mavis and Panda Express.
- Reduce terminal island width from 10 feet to 8.8 feet and relocate required landscaping to perimeter areas to accommodate vacuum equipment.
- Applicant agent Jackson Boone (Boone Law Firm) provided testimony, noting the project team included representatives of Lightning Fast Car Wash and engineers. He argued the design alternatives provide superior design and efficiency with no material negative impact. The site plan includes a 5,211 sq. ft. automated single-tunnel car wash building, vacuum stations, and pay kiosks. Traffic impact: 102 PM peak hour trips, within the approved 1,208 trips for the overall Venice Crossing commercial center. The site meets all code requirements except for the requested design alternatives. No public comment was heard.
- Planning Director Comments: Roger Clark announced the next meeting on September 16 will include a presentation on the Parks Master Plan by consultants, a rezoning application, and an annexation/comp plan/rezoning for a single-family lot. He reported that the comprehensive plan update is now complete and available online; no commissioners requested a hard copy. He noted City Council verbally approved an 18-month moratorium on data centers to allow staff time to develop regulations. The Ajax property site plan was remanded by Council back to staff for further review.
Key Outcomes
- Variance continuance (26-34VZ): Unanimously continued to September 15, 2026.
- Design Alternative (26-39DA): Motion to approve by McKeon, second by Harrell, passed unanimously.
- Site and Development Plan (26-25SP): Motion to approve by Jasper, second by Harrell, passed unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
And we're ready to go. Okay. Chair Wilson. I'm here. Mr. Harrell. Here. Ms. Sherberg. Here. Mr. McKeon? Here. Ms. Fresca. Here. Mr. Jasper. Here. And Mr. Ferlagi. Here. All right. We have a set of minutes from August 18, 2026 regular meeting. Do I hear a motion? Mr. Chair. Yes, Mr. Jasper. I I uh make a motion to approve the minutes as submitted. We have a motion to approve. Do I have a second? Second. We have a second by Mr. McKeon. Any discussion? Seeing none, all in favor say aye. Aye aye. All opposed the same. And the approval passes. I'm assuming we don't have any audience participation. No, we do not. Oh great. I thought I was accurate about that. Uh that brings us up to a variance petition number 26-34 Z. Pam Health Venice signs. The staff is Nicole Trembley, the agent is Kathy Song, Titan Sign Company. This is a quasi-judicial hearing. I do have a memorandum to read. This is to certify that the public hearing for this petition was appropriately advertised on August 15, 2026, as required by the City of Venice Land Development Code.
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