The Los Banos Planning Commission approved a single amendment to a multifamily housing development at its April 23 meeting.
Chair Gregory Hicks led a quorum of commissioners Rob Robinson and Steven Nunes. William McBride was absent, and the district 1 council spot remains vacant.
According to Assistant Planner Justin Ragunton’s report, the amendment was for a multifamily housing development. It will be located on Seventh Street on the plot just north of San Luis High School. The amendment removes two multi-family units and converts one into an accessory dwelling unit.
The plan now has four four-plexes with an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) conjoined to one of the four-plexes. Each four-plex takes up a corner of the property. The two units were removed from the south-west corner building, and the ADU is conjoined on the north-east building’s east side. The total number of multi-family units has been reduced from 19 to 17. The units range from 1,275 square feet to 935 square feet and are all two-story.
“The reduction in units enhances the circulation for this proposed site. And increases usability of open space. It [also] improves off-street parking by allowing [2] extra parking spaces,” Ragunton said.
The amendment was approved unanimously without discussion.
During Community and Economic Development Director Stacy Elms’ report, she thanked the commissioners for coming to the community standards workshop that happened the night before.
Elms explained that a joint study session over the community standards with the city council is coming soon, but no date has been locked in yet. She also mentioned that one item is guaranteed for the May 14 meeting.
In his report Commissioner Nunes mentioned his upcoming meeting with Parks and Rec Director Joe Heim. “I have continued to study how to develop pride in Los Banos,” Nunes said. He continued that he wants to incorporate what Love Turlock and Love Modesto are doing in their communities. “I’m going to present that to Director Joe. And we’ll see where we go from there,” Nunes said.
Commissioner Robinson thanked the staff and press. He specifically thanked Planning Commission Secretary Haley Leonard for coming back from maternity leave. “It’s been a long time. Welcome back,” Robinson said.
In Chair Hicks’ report, he thanked staff for the history lesson at the community standards workshop. He mentioned how he and council member Deborah Lewis led the annual easter egg hunt. “That was fun. Half of my students were there,” Hicks, the principal for Lorena Falasco Elementary School, stated. Hicks ended the report by thanking staff, “Thanks everybody for all ya’ll do for Los Banos.”
