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Commissioner Gartner will abstain from Item D, Conditional Use Permit No. 2005- <br />03. <br />D. FINAL REVIEW OF CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT NO. 2005-03 <br />Final review of conditions of approval for Abel Food Service to allow vendor <br />trucks at the property located at 2520 South Birch Street. <br /> <br />1 <br />RECOMMENDATION: <br />Approve compliance with the conditions of approval for Conditional Use Permit <br />No. 2005-03. <br />MOTION: Approve compliance with the conditions of approval for Conditional <br />Use Permit No. 2005-03. <br />MOTION: De La Torre SECOND: Mill <br />VOTE: AYES: Alderete, De La Torre, Leo, Mill, Munoz (5) <br />NOES: None (0) <br />ABSTAIN: Gartner (1) <br />ABSENT: Betancourt (1) <br />WORK STUDY SESSION <br />E. DISCUSSION OF CITY LANDSCAPING STANDARDS <br />Landscape Development Associate Marvin Ellenbecker and Planning Manager <br />Haluza provided a presentation on the City's current landscaping standards, as <br />well as the more recently adopted Citywide Design Guidelines for commercial <br />landscape design. These standards were compared to landscape standards in <br />surrounding cities including Orange, Tustin, Anaheim and Irvine in order to <br />ascertain if Santa Ana's landscaping standards should be increased or otherwise <br />improved in an effort to achieve more aesthetically pleasing and environmentally <br />friendly landscaping throughout the City. <br />The Commission discussed the need to balance the need for establishing a "gold <br />standard" of landscaping excellence with the realities of Santa Ana's existing <br />development pattern, as well as the needs to not further disincentivize <br />redevelopment of small vacant lots. Some Commissioners further expressed <br />that in recent years landscaping has been significantly improved on projects and <br />they felt that the City had begun to turn around in this regard. Other <br />Commissioners expressed what they felt as the need to be more aggressive in <br />requesting, and even mandating, increased landscaping standards. The <br />Commission acknowledged that code enforcement should play a larger role in <br />ensuring that landscaping is maintained over time and that better maintenance <br />standards might be more appropriate than increasing minimum landscaping <br />standards. They also expressed concern over the practice of "topping" trees. <br />The Commission suggested that perhaps the City's standards need to be <br />amended in order to prohibit this damaging tree pruning practice. <br />Due to the complexity of the topic and the desire for a more in-depth discussion, <br />the Planning Commission decided to continue the discussion at a subsequent <br />meeting. <br />F. Recess to Council Chambers (6:36 p.m.) <br />Planning Commission Minutes 2 July 23, 2007 <br />