Planning commissions must balance community needs with neighborhood compatibility when approving land use applications, requiring commissioners to make specific findings based on facts and evidence rather than pre-committing to approval or disapproval before hearing all public testimony.
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Planning Commission Meeting July 20, 2026
Added:Thank you everyone. Roll call, please.
>> I'm here.
here.
>> Commissioner Burke, >> present.
>> Commissioner Cannon, >> present.
>> Commissioner Hernandez, >> present.
>> Commissioner Underwood, absent. We have a quorum.
>> Mr. Canon, welcome to the DAS.
>> Thank you, sir.
>> This is his first meeting. Okay. So, take it easy on them.
>> Okay. Now, we have our public business from the floor. Any person who would like to address the planning commission on any agendaized item is requested to complete a speaker card for the recording secretary and identify the agenda item you would like to discuss.
Each person will be given the opportunity to address the planning commission at the time such item is discussed by our commission. Speaker cards are available at the rear of the council chambers. Remember, speaker cards are limited to three minutes each.
Give you guys an opportunity to do that.
Otherwise, we'll move on to our minutes.
So, commission, we have the ability to review and approve our minutes from our regularly scheduled meeting of June 15th.
>> Motion.
>> Second.
>> Motion by Commissioner Burke, second by Commissioner Hernandez. Any discussion?
Okay, we're going to do an oral vote today because M Mr. Cannon does not have the ability to log a vote electronically. Oh, we're good. Okay, never mind. So, we'll we'll do it the uh we'll do it the electronic way. So, let's vote.
Motion passes with four yeses, one abstension, and one absence.
Well, with um with a new commissioner here, um I think it'd be a good opportunity for all of us to get a a refresher from our council here. So, um on some of the some of the matters before us and how we vote and what to expect. So, um, those of us in the audience will get a little education as well on what we do here as a planning commission. Um, so council, if you can give us a little direction here, um, I'd appreciate it.
>> Thank you, Chairman Derry Bur. And first of all, congratulations, Commissioner Cannon.
Um, I just thought that as your planning commission council and with staff's recommendation that I do so, I would present to you a little bit of an overview about two things which I think commissioners should focus on as they generally go about their duties.
The two items are number one to always look for findings that are required to be made for every land use application that comes before you. And the second is to keep an open mind and not precommmit to approval or disapproval of any item that comes before you as a public hearing item until the public hearing is completed. And that's a matter of due process. They'll explain each in a minute and very briefly.
First of all, regarding findings, staff always gives to you and you have them in your agenda packet this evening on all three action items, proposed findings that you're required to make under the municipal code or state statute to approve a specific land use item.
Uh it's not enough simply however as a commissioner to recite the finding as recited to you and the staff report and the proposed resolution of approval. You have to actually think about the facts that support or perhaps don't support each required finding. And if you marshall enough facts in your own mind that supports that support the finding that staff recommends for approval, then you can go ahead and make that finding and approve the item before you. If on the other hand, you feel that there's one maybe more than one finding that can't be made based on specific facts, that would entitle you to vote to disapprove the application in front of you. But you should, wherever possible, mention whatever fact that might be that causes you not to be able to approve an item. Now that holds true for the first item tonight which is modification of a track map.
The second item is a proposed conditional use permit and the third item is a specific plan proposal.
So uh again all the findings are set forth for your consideration in both the staff report and the proposed resolution of approval if you should wish to proceed with approval.
Now to the other item that I mentioned and that is to keep an open mind without pre-commitment regarding any matter that comes before you as part of a public hearing. Now tonight all three items are public hearing items.
The law requires that you not precommit in advance of hearing testimony and receiving evidence at the public hearing regarding approval or disapproval of an item.
That's to guarantee the fairness to the applicant and for that matter to any party that may be opposed to the application and they're entitled to be heard fully before you make up your mind. So, for example, uh for each public hearing item, the chair will be asking first for staff to submit its staff report orally to you.
After that's completed, the chair will be asking commissioners if you have any questions for staff.
You should limit yourself at that point not to commenting on the pros and cons of the project, but instead simply ask questions of staff if you have them. Any discussion of pros and cons would take place after the public hearing is opened and testimony is heard and the public hearing is closed. At that point, but not before, that's when you can submit all your comments for the record, your feelings about the pros and the cons, etc. And that I think covers what I wanted to basically for your thought and consideration especially regarding the three items before you tonight or today.
Thank you.
>> Thank you counselor. Does anybody have any questions before we get started? You're very welcome. Okay. Well then uh we'll go ahead and open the public hearing on item number two. This is tenative track map modification number 26-001.
And I think our presenter tonight will be Mitsy Alvarado. Miss Alvarado, the floor is yours.
>> Good afternoon, Chairman Dairberry and members of the planning commission. This item we have before you is uh tenative map modification number 26001, which is for map 70182, a modification um to its existing approval.
And um my name is Matthew Alvarado again. and I'm the associate planner on this project and I'm presenting on behalf of Jocelyn Swing.
The proposed project is located at the southwest corner of West Avenue and 40th Street West. The project site is zoned as um single family residential or R7000 and it consists approximately of 27.9 acres.
It is vacant land and it's made up entirely of eight parcels. The subject property is surrounded by another single family residential development immediately west and also vacant land.
The applicant for this project um is the property owner Civil Design and Drafting Inc. uh represented by Emmad Abuja who is here if you have any questions.
In March of 2019, planning commission approved tenative trackm 08-000077182 and conditional use permit 15-16 for 139 lot single family residential subdivision as a residential plan development or RPD.
This allowed for smaller lots in exchange for a public open space. The approval included three open space lots and one drainage lot with all streets in the subdivision being private but built to public standards. The lots ranged in size from 3900 ft² to 10,500 ft². The proposed modification is mainly to update street alignment which changed lot sizes from 3900 ft to the largest being 9,300 square feet and would maintain the 19% open space.
A notice of public hearing was mailed to property owners per the Lancaster Municipal Code as well as posted in three public places and noticed in the Animal Valley Press on July 9th. No public letters or no public comment letters have been received on this item.
With that, staff recommends planning commission adopt resolution 269, recommending approval for a tenative map modification 260001 to allow for the modification of the previously approved tenative trackm and cup and finding that the adopted ISM and MMRP adequately address all environmental impacts and no further environmental review is necessary. Myself and the applicant are here to answer any questions you may have.
>> Wonderful. There may be some Does anybody have any questions for Miss Alvarado or the applicant?
>> Does the applicant have anything to add this afternoon?
Do we have any um speaker cards on this item?
>> Chair Dairberry, there are no speaker cards for this item.
>> Okay.
Anyone on the dice have any comments or questions?
None. Then I'll entertain a motion.
We'll close the go ahead and close the public hearing without objection and we'll open the floor for a motion.
Uh, I motion to adopt resolution number 26-10 approving tenative map modification number 26-001 to allow the for the adjustment of the private street configuration and resolution lot dimensions and sizes previously approved as tenative track map number 08-0070182 and conditional use permit number 15-016 on 27.9 gross acres bound by Avenue I, 40th Street West, Jaclyn Street, and 402nd Street West identified as assessor's parcel number 3153- 008-006- 007-10-11-12-13-14 and 17 in the R7000 zone and finding that the previously adopted initial study mitigated negative declaration number 201929061 and mitigation monitoring and reporting program adequately addresses all environmental impacts and no in no further environmental review is necessary pursuant to public resource code section 21166 and SQA guidelines section 15162.
>> Quite a mouthful. Do we have a second?
I'll second that.
>> Second by Mr. Hernandez.
Any more discussion?
Then let's vote.
Motion carries. Five yeses with one absence.
Next up, we have item number three. This is conditional use permit number 26-008.
Our presenter tonight is Miss Alvarado again. So, the floor is yours. Thank you.
Thank you. This next item is um conditional use permit 260008 for resilient recovery treatment center. The proposed project is located at 43900 Clark Court. The project site is zoned single family residential or R7000 and it consists of a single family house and an ADU. The existing community care facility um is resilient uh treatment center and it has been in operation within that single family home since February of 2023.
The applicant for this project is the property owner Vadim Legov and he is here to answer any questions you also may have after this presentation.
In May of uh 2026, the applicant applied for a conditional use permit or a CUP to allow for the expansion of the community care facility from six beds within the single family house and adding six more beds in the existing ADU for a maximum of 12 beds on the site. The provision of care for more than six residents is considered a health facility per section 1708050 of the Lancaster Municipal Code or the LMC in the R7000 zoned. Um, health facilities are required to obtain a conditional use permit for more than six beds.
The facility provides beds to individuals seeking treatment recovery services within the residential program.
The maximum 30-day program offers medically supported detox with staffed uh employees of the facility as well as medical professionals. The facility is 24 hours and is staffed with approximately 12 employees that have staggered schedules. There are rules of conduct for the client such as no loud or unnecessary noise, disposing of trash appropriately, and remaining within the approved facility boundaries.
There are also operational safety procedures for the facility such as no lawyering policies, daily inspections, and crisis intervention for situations that render actions such as deescalation, CPR, first aid, and Narcan administration.
Security measures are also in place such as alarm systems and um camera surveillance systems. The facility has been and is required to comply with all applicable provisions of section 1250 of the California Health and Safety Code. I want to take a moment and just say that um they have an existing community care facility, a health facility, uh with the maximum six beds that is allowable by the state. So regardless of the decision tonight for the proposed CUP, they are allowed per that uh section of the state uh requirement to operate with the six beds.
A public notice was mailed to property owners within 500 foot radius on July 8th. Um as well as uh posted in three public places and noticed in the Anala Valley press on July 9th. There is also a posting sign that was posted on the site on July 9th.
To date, we have received 10 letters from eight households within the vicinity and staff has had conversations with the applicant as well as residents within the past week.
Um, some of those topics include traffic security among other concerns.
And all of those uh comments were provided to you in your agenda um or they were provided after the agenda posted and they've been provided to you at this moment.
With that, staff recommends we allow the expansion for the extension community care facility from six beds to 12 at 43900 Clark Court, finding that the project is categorically exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act, authorizing staff to execute and file the notice of exemption. Myself along with the applicant are available for any questions you may have.
>> Does anyone have any questions for Miss Alvarado?
The applicant isn't obliged to, but if you'd like to address us, you're more than welcome to take the floor, sir.
Good afternoon, chair, commissioners, and city staff. My name is Vadim Legov, and I am the founder and CEO of Resilient Recovery Treatment Center.
Thank you for the opportunity to speak today and for your service to the city of Lancaster.
Before I explain our request, I'd like to share why this project means so much to me. Nearly eight years ago, addiction took me to the darkest place in my life.
It took everything from me. I couldn't see a future anymore. I truly believed that there was no way out. But someone believed I deserved another chance when I couldn't believe in myself.
The opportunity changed my life.
Today, I stand before you as a husband, a father to a four-year-old daughter with a baby boy on the way, and someone whose life was completely transformed by recovery. Our program is licensed by the California Department of Healthc Care Services and accredited by the Joint Commission, reflecting our commitment to providing safe, ethical, highquality addiction treatment.
For more than three years, we have had the privilege of serving the Lancaster community from this location. Throughout that time, we have worked hard to be responsible neighbors by maintaining our property, responding to concerns, and continually improving our operations.
Every Christmas since opening, we have proudly participated in the Candy Cane Lane tradition by decorating our home alongside our neighbors. We value being a part of this community, and being a good neighbor has always been important to us. Every day, our mission is simple.
to provide safe, compassionate, highquality addiction treatment that helps people rebuild their lives, reunite with their families, and become productive members of our community.
Today's request is straightforward. We are asking to expand the current use on our property to increase our license capacity from six beds to 12 beds. We are simply requesting approval to utilize an existing structure. There is no upcoming construction, no change in the services we provide. I understand and respect the concerns that have been expressed. This is a family neighborhood and I'm a family man myself. I appreciate those concerns because I share many of the same values. If approved, we will continue working every day to be the kind of neighbor this community deserves. Each additional bed represents another opportunity for someone to rebuild their life, reunite with their family, return to work, and contribute positively to our community.
I hope you will consider our track record over the past three years, the professionalism of our team, and the positive impact this program has already had in Lancaster. For these reasons, I respectfully ask for your approval.
Thank you for your time, your consideration, and your service.
>> Thank you, sir.
>> I have some questions for you if you don't mind.
>> Yes, ma'am.
>> So, you currently have six patients in treatment at any one time. Is up to six patients. Correct.
>> Up to six. Yes. Now, what's your patient to occupant ratio?
>> Patient to occupant? Do you mean staff to patient ratio?
>> Correct. I said >> Yeah. One to six.
>> One to six.
>> One to six.
>> So, you have one staff member on for six. Yes.
>> 24 hours a day.
>> 24 hours a day.
>> So, what's your plan with the expansion?
Same ratio.
>> Uh we're hoping to get uh above I guess uh six beds, right? So I think same ratio, everything will be the same.
We're just adding one more staff member into the mix on each of the three shifts.
>> So you have three people a day.
>> Yes.
>> Do you have any idea how many if if any calls of service the sheriff's department or Lancaster PD you've had to your facility since you opened?
>> Um we've had a couple, but uh one major one we had was a overdose we had at the facility. Um, we did our due diligence of calling for emergency services so they can respond right away. That's our protocol if everything we've done is, you know, in congruent. Um, and I believe that's it. That's the one major one I think we have.
>> Are you aware of any calls of service or any of your neighbors or the surrounding occupants, the other residences?
>> No.
Does anyone else have any questions for the applicant?
>> I do. Um I I am aware that you can open the facility with six beds. The state allows that, right? That is it something that we're subject to. Is there a particular reason why you're choosing to expand to 12 beds at this particular location?
>> Yes, we've been serving for this location for three years and we've updated our policies and protocol each year to make sure we're ready for this expansion.
Do you operate other facilities in the city?
>> Uh, not in this city, but I have a sober living. I operate after this program.
They go to my sober living where they that's where they get jobs. They become, you know, members of society and go to meetings and have curfews and stuff.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you.
>> So, I think we have a number of speakers. There's an opportunity potentially for you to come back. We may have some more questions for you. So, don't go too far. Okay. Thank you.
>> All right. Wonderful. So, I know we have some speakers. Mr. Win >> Chair Jerry Bry, we have an additional 17 speakers.
>> Okay. Who's up first?
>> First one up is Dimmitri Legolf. Uh followed by Scott Roberts. So, Dimmitri.
>> Mr. Leoff, you're up first, sir.
>> Good afternoon, chair. Good afternoon, commissioners. Uh my name is Dimmitri Lego. I am father of Vadim and uh I'm serve at the operation as a registered nurse with a 20 years of intensive care experience and also I'm one of the owners of the house with my wife. We bought this place uh in 2022 and um given history that Vadim already described, we it was the family decision, okay, that we want to do help others and we do have resources and desire to do so.
uh we've been operating since 2023 and uh as a medical professional I my role is to make sure that um all the patients get their services at the facility safely and uh with it proper care.
But as a owner of this place, as a father and as a member of community, I truly do care about the neighborhood and safety of the others.
Um like Vadim said, we we knew this is the candy cane lane. This is the iconic place in city of Lancaster and um we are trying to make this neighborhood even safer having 24-hour stuff, having surveillance cameras.
Yes, it was bumpy road. Okay. And uh given the um who do we treat there, it takes a lot to make sure that everything is going smooth for everyone around.
And 3 years into the operation, we were we are ready to expand.
And um again, I've seen the concerns, okay?
I've read the letters. I understand.
But as a neighbor, as a fuzzer, I truly believe that we can accommodate amount of people that we asking for to be there safely for them and everybody around.
So therefore I'm um asking you to approve this project and um let us try to give to the community whatever we desire.
That would be all.
>> Wonderful. Thank you sir.
>> Any questions?
>> No sir. Thank you. Who's up next?
>> Scott Roberts is next followed by Jack Wayne.
>> Mr. Roberts.
Okay. Good afternoon, chair and honorable commissioners. My name is Scotty Roberts and I am the outreach co coordinator for Monarch Recovery Center located in Ventura County. I also serve as a referral source for resilience recovery treatment center. Monarch Recovery Center and Resilience Recovery have a strong professional re relationship built on trust, collaboration, and a shared mission to provide high quality care for those in need.
We regularly re refer clients to one another and ensure individuals receive the appropriate level of care along with the recovery journey. Resilience recovery consistency demonstrates professionalism, compassion, and a deep commitment to their clients and families.
Their team is respons responsive, accountable, and invested in long-term recovery outcomes. I fully support their request to expand from 612 license bed.
The ex the expansion will allow them to help more individuals and families in our community who are in in need of life-changing treatment.
>> Thank you, sir. Who's up next?
>> Next up is Jack Wang. Following uh Jack is Robert Kim.
Good afternoon, chair and honorable commissioner. My name is Jack Juan. I'm the uh nurse practitioner at a resilient recovery uh treatment center. My responsibility here is to provide medical care to our patients. I perform uh medical evaluations uh medication management uh and monitor withdrawals and also other medical conditions.
Uh I also work closely with our uh medical director and the clinical team to ensure every patient receives safe and evidence uh based care.
From my direct uh experience at this facility, I can confidently say that patient safety is our highest priority.
Every patient is medically screened prior to admission and continuously uh monitored throughout treatment and cared for underestablished clinical protocols.
In my professional opinion, increasing resilience capacity from six beds to 12 beds does not change the quality or safety of the medical care we provide.
Our clinical standards, supervision, staffing, emergency proc uh procedures, and oversight remains exactly the same.
What this expansion does change, however, is access to treatment.
Every additional license bed is another opportunity for someone with substance use disorder to receive medical care instead of remaining untreated in our communities.
As a nurse practitioner, I believe expanding access to safe, supervised treatment benefits not only our patients but the community as a whole. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you.
>> Thank you, sir. Next up is Robert Kim followed by Manuk Mike Paramian.
Good afternoon, chair and honorable commissioners. Uh, my name is Robert Kim. I'm 60 years old. I am a alumni from the resilient recovery treatment center.
I spent 30 days in residential treatment where I safely completed detox and received the structured education and support I needed to rebuild my um life. During my treatment, my employer accidentally terminated my health insurance.
Instead of giving up on me um and asking me to leave, Veim and the head lead technicians worked with my employer's human resource department and insured and insurance company until my coverage was reinstated, allowing me to complete my treatment without interruption.
After completing residential treatment, they safely trans transitioned me into an intensive outpatient program and helped me move on to a sober living home so I can continue my recovery.
Today I have 128 days sober.
I attend my AA meetings.
I participate in an intense outpatient treatment. And I continue to rebuild my life.
I truly believe that this program changed my life and I hope you will approve the expansion so more people and families can receive the same um opportunity I did. Thank you for your time and consideration.
>> Thank you sir. Congratulations on your recovery.
>> Who's up next?
>> Next up is Manuk Mike Paramyan followed by Rebecca Leot.
Good afternoon, chair and commissioners.
Uh, my name is Mike Paramian and I'm the owner of Mindpace Recovery Center, an outpatient substance use and mental health treatment program in North Hollywood. In addition to owning MindSpace, I've worked as a nurse for the past 14 years. And throughout my career, I've seen firsthand how important it is for people to have timely access to quality behavioral health care. I understand how critical it is for every level of care to be available. so individuals can receive the treatment that's appropriate for their needs. MySpace Recovery Center has worked closely with Resilient Recovery Treatment Center throughout the strong professional referral partnership. As an outpatient program, we regularly refer clients who need residential treatment and Resilient Recovery also has referred uh individuals to us when they are ready to transition to outpatient care.
Together, we help ensure clients continue their recovery without unnecessary gaps in treatment. From our experience, Resilient Recovery has been professional, ethical, and reliable partner. Their team has always demonstrated a commitment to providing quality care and doing what is the best interest of the people they serve. As someone who works in behavioral health care every day, I know our community needs more access to treatment. When quality programs have the ability to serve more people safely and responsibly, it benefits not only the individuals receiving the care, but also their families and our community as a whole. For this reason, I fully support Resilient Recovery's request to expand from 6 to 12 license beds. I believe the expansion will strengthen the continuum of care in our community and help more people receive the treatment that they need at the right time. Thank you for your time and consideration.
>> Thank you, sir. Next up, Rebecca Lego, followed by Brian Kingston.
Good afternoon, chair, vice chair, and city staff. My name is Rebecca Lego, chief financial officer and co-founder at Resilient Recovery. Sorry. I oversee our financial operations, budgeting, payroll, human resources, and administrative compliance. Since opening in February 2023, we have focused on building a strong organization before requesting expansion. This approach ensures that our growth is responsible, sustainable, and always centered on patient care.
At this time, we are in a position to financially support this expansion. We maintain adequate reserves, manage our resources responsibly, and continuously reinvest in improving our staff training and patient care. Expanding from 6 to 12 licensed beds is a natural next step that will allow us to serve more individuals seeking treatment while maintaining the same standards.
Sorry.
Aside from being the co-founder and CFO, I'm also a wife, mom, and woman in recovery.
I'm also pregnant, so I'm sorry, guys. I understand why families care about the safety of their neighborhoods because I care about those same things and would never support this expansion if I believed it had a negative impact on the community.
Over the past three years, I've seen our team operate professionally, respectfully, and with compassion while helping people rebuild their lives.
Expanding to 12 beds will will allow us to help more people without changing the way we care for our clients or our commitment to being good neighbors.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
>> Thank you, ma'am.
>> Next up is Brian Kingston, followed by Christine Shakarian.
>> Hi, good afternoon, chair, honorable commissioners, and neighbors.
Uh, my name is Brian Kingston. I'm the program director at Resilient Recovery.
I'm also a certified alcohol drug counselor three times over. means I have uh over 9,000 supervised hours and also a bachelor's in sociology. I care about the addiction field. Um also my family and I own a home on Candy Cane Lane. So uh I am also a neighbor where I'm raising my family. Um my 17-year-old son, 80year-old mom, uh who's got disability, uh and a new 14 day baby boy. Yeah. So, um I'm a family man and a neighbor as well as a staff member and I care deeply about recovery as I am also in recovery coming up on 16 years of sobriety.
As both a treatment professional and neighbor, I see this program two perspectives. Uh every day I oversee residential treatment program operations. I supervise staff, ensure our policies are followed. I work directly with the individuals and the clients uh who are recovering from substance use disorder. Um I help them with their treatment plans and and and work with them on on on rebuilding their physical, emotional, spiritual, social health. Um and a lot of that helped me become a neighbor uh and Candy Cane Lane here in Lancaster. Um, I deeply care about the neighborhood because my family lives here and I saw the the welcoming of this neighborhood. Uh, I wasn't a a neighbor when I first started at Resilient, but when I saw how welcoming the neighborhood was to thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of people during Christmas, Halloween, you know, decorating their homes, dedicating themselves to bringing hope in the holiday seasons to the neighbor, people that might not be able to have a decorated home, um, and then welcoming us as a treatment center there. It truly impacted my decision on buying a home in on Candy Cane Lane. And um I support the expansion because I know that there isn't a risk to my family. I mean, I got my 80-year-old mom. I got my newly found wife. Uh just been married about over a year. And um my baby I have a baby boy and a 17-year-old son who's who's growing up growing out. And um I see I see the the opportunities that um Resilient brings to the neighborhood and the neighborhood that brings it to to Resilient. You bring the the the neighborhood brings hope to those that we serve there. So um expanding to six from 6 to 12 would not change our standards of care, supervision or professionalism. It'll simply help us help more people. Thank you for your time.
>> Thank you, sir.
Next up is Christine Shakarian followed by Philip Drayton Gibbs.
>> Good afternoon. Thank you for for allowing me to be here today. Uh my name is Christine Shakarian. I'm a licensed clinical social worker. Um and I serve as clinical director for uh resilient recovery treatment center. I oversee clinical operations including treatment planning, supervision of our clinical staff, uh quality assurance, and ensuring that every client receives individualized evidence-based care.
Um, every client receives an individualized treatment plan based on their needs. And our clinical team works together to provide care in a safe, structured, and supportive environment.
Over the past several years, we have built strong clinical systems, invested in qualified staff, and maintained high standards of care. Our treatment model emphasizes safety, accountability, and individualized recovery planning. From a clinical perspective, I support this request to expand from six to 12 licensed beds. I am confident that our clinical team, supervision, and treatment processes can continue to provide safe, effective, and compassionate care care, excuse me. Uh, while serving additional patients.
Uh, thank you. Any questions?
>> No. Thank you so much for your time.
>> Okay.
>> Next up is Philip Drayton Gibbs, followed by Michael Tran.
Good afternoon, chair and honorable commissioners. My name is Philip Drayton Gibbs. Um I'm a a proud member of the Resilient Recovery alumni. By the grace of God, I have a little bit over two years clean and sober today. Um when I went into resilient recovery, I was hopeless. I I was beaten down by life and I was in a toxic relationship.
Not only did they helped give me the counseling to recover from alcohol and and drugs, but they helped counsel me uh to believe in myself, right? And they believed in me when I didn't believe in myself and showed me that I was worth a lot more than than I was giving myself credit for. And today I have a full-time job.
I'm actually just got promoted to a foreman. Um I've I've got a house of my own now. I've got a beautiful fiance.
I've got healthy relationships with friends, family, um, by the grace of God. My dad is 61 years old. Never never seen him sober in my life. He's got a little over seven months clean and sober right now back in Oklahoma. And, uh, I give that credit to God, but he he gives it to me. Um, and that wouldn't be possible if I hadn't have gone through resilient recovery. And so I know firsthand not only the impact that this treatment center has on people's lives, but also the lives of everyone else that come in contact with the person that comes out of that recovery treatment center clean and sober. Um, with that being said, I I fully support the expansion from from six beds to 12 beds. Um, it just means more lives that can be changed by this horrible epidemic that's struck in the not just this state or city but this country. Um that's all I've got.
>> Thank you sir.
>> Is Michael Trand followed by Martin J.
Welch.
>> Good afternoon uh chair and commissioners.
Um the first thing I was very impressed of uh Commissioner B say that the quality of life um through our CD and not only that I'm a college professor who actually teach at uh Antelope Valley College for 20 27 and a half years already and graduate many uh engineers um doctors and also nurses and they work on this valley which is great. I have so many student come back and teach at the college as well. Not only that, our neighbor has a very status. Um we have lawyers, we have nurse, we have doctors, we have educators who actually move into our neighborhood. And of course, you know, uh we're human. Um we will decay at some point. And some of my um wonderful neighbors, they get older and their kids moving out and uh that they have to move out. And of course, I witnessed um so many great neighbors moving in and share our cultures and also our communities. And then the voice spread out. Not only that, it it reach out to Palmdale as well. Uh and not only that, it also reach out to activ people like to show up in our neighbor and then congratulate what we did for for our Christmas days and share stories and then of course we want this not to happen in our neighborhood. Um for one things I wanted to share with you the owners is not living there. I live there plus with my 12 neighbors who show up today. There was a big incident. The SWAT team will show up and I would say shoot M16 in my neighborhood the the cases which is I don't know much but then there's couple incident where ambulance show up which is the owner was not there either. So that caused a lot of traffics and then cut down the resource from all emergencies process and then have it to increase to from 6 to 12. As a math professors when you teach in statistics if you move in from one normal distribution to double it you actually increase by a factor of nine.
I'm round I round it up because E is 2.71.
Yeah. And then I just round it up to three. So that way you guys can see the number figured out much better. I mean if you increase from one normal distribution to two, you actually exponentiate it to nine factors a problem. That's it. I'm out of time.
>> Thank you, sir.
>> Next up is Martin J. Welch followed by Patricia Garcia.
>> Chairman Dairberry and the council. Good afternoon. Uh my name is Martin Welch.
Lived in Clark Court for six years. I'm a retired engineer for the Air Force at Edwards. Um so far the facility there is a and nobody doubts the good work that they're doing and the help that they're uh putting out there, but so far it's been the six bed. It's been pretty manageable. It's almost uh equivalent to just a single family residence with a lot of people living there and the associated parking and traffic. But by doubling it now, it's going to move kind of conceptually beyond to me single family residence. It's now like a small apartment complex in that part of the culde-sac.
Given the all the traffic and the things that Mike was just talking about, it's hard to see that it's not going to get not linearly worse, but significantly worse or potentially significantly worse. Um, and it's also a commercial business that we need to look at as well. And like Mr. Leoff said, there's some bumpy roads in there. Problem with the from our perspective is we're on that bumpy road with them. So there's any business operates with risk and reward. Uh the reward goes to the business but the and it's u personal to them but the uh risk is all socialized and anything that goes wrong uh we end up having to deal with as a community.
Thank you for your time.
>> Thank you sir.
>> Next up is Patricia Garcia followed by Michael S. Vogle. Miss Garcia, welcome.
>> Thank you. My name is Petrica Garcia. Uh good afternoon to the chairman, commissioner, city council members. Um I actually sent videos which I was told um could not be displayed here, but it was shared. Um my home is actually directly behind the main house and I have a pool and they have a pool on their side. They have a patio with a gazebo. So, what happens in in my backyard is um I'm no longer enjoying the use of it. My husband's a helicopter mechanic. He's one week on, one week off of work. Um and he cannot be around cannabis and you can smell the pot when they're outside smoking even cigarettes. You can smell the cigarettes. And when right we're in our spa, we don't smoke. A lot of their um cigarettes and the butts have been thrown into our yard. We showed pictures of that as well. And uh we did have the owners come. It took us till November to find out who the owners were. And we have an address of Enino, California.
and they actually came to our house and they were very sincere about, you know, their concerns, our concerns with the trash being thrown into our yard. But we also had in, by the way, I didn't even know they were in there until May of 2025 when the sheriff showed up because they were there to help the US Marshalss serve a warrant on a fugitive and they wanted to have access to my yard. They said, "Stay indoors. Keep away from the windows because we're trying to find a guy from from New York and if he runs into your yard." Then in I think it was September, I ended up um finding another police officer. They were also in wanting access to my yard because there was serving a warrant as well as there. I talked to that deputy and he said, "Do you have cameras in your backyard?" At that time, I didn't.
And he says, "I suggest you put cameras in your backyard because of the nature of the business." And sure enough, we put cameras in and within a month, we had one of their clients jumping into our backyard, running across my yard, which by the way, my daughter had just been outside 30 minutes prior to that.
And um and that was a big issue because we were concerned that we were going to lose privacy in our backyard. So we have no not even privacy in our own backyard anymore because everything we do is caught on camera. And um so this for me I say no. It's hard enough with six people smoking and us breathing that in.
I don't even want to u to consider like 12. That's a lot of people. And a lot of times when people are addicts um they turn to smoking. That's one of the things they do. So I thank you for your time and I hope that you do not approve.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you Miss Garcia.
>> Next up is Michael S. Vogle followed by Vicky Lynn Vogle.
>> Mr. Vogle, you're up sir. Welcome.
>> Well good afternoon commissioner and commissioners. Um, my name is Mike Vogle and I've lived in this valley since 1970. I've lived on Clark Court since 2000. And the lure of us moving to Clark Court was the reputation that it had in the valley, the neighbors, we've played kids that played little league together, all that sort of stuff. the first half, most of those people have been in rehab, which I am completely in support of the business. I have no objection to it. You know, whatever we can do to help.
However, outside of Brian, Brian has been a neighbor. I've talked to Brian. We've interacted um setting up decorations. Nobody else associated with that facility have I ever talked to except maybe I think it was Dimmitra once the first year the neighbors were concerned Christmas wasn't going up and I've I don't know not officially usually one of the persons that says hey Mike you need to go down there and talk to the neighbors and get them straight. Had no idea.
never any warning knowledge that it was a rehab center of any type until months after the the transaction had occurred and the rosins the previous owners had moved out and I told I talked to Demetri the first time I'd ever seen him and he said no problem I'll have some guys out and they put up decorations and they have every year since Um, you know, 26 years on that street, my children were raised there and now we've had the pleasure of our grandchildren are now in the picture and they reap the benefits of Clark Court. Christmas, Halloween is extra special when you've got four, five, six, and seven year olds. Um, it's it's it's those special bonding moments that make Clark Court so special. The neighbors through the years have come from different in ethnicities, cultures, religions, and that's part of the the beauty of it. You know, educators, engineers, doctors, nurses, lawyers, and it makes it it all great. Christmas and Halloween we've been talked about.
Um, again, no prior knowledge to this, no prior knowledge to the remodeling to convert the garage into a 12 bed facility until about when the sign went up. And in a a residential neighborhood to me does not count 12 beds and I've counted as many as four or five cars from the workers at at one time. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Next up is Vicky Lynn Vogle, followed by Christina Coyle.
>> Hello. I would just like to point out um echoing my husband's work, I'm not doubting the quality that of care that's happening at the care facility. I would like to point out to you that I believe we've heard from two alumni from the facility and all of the other speakers in favor benefit financially.
Their owners, their employees, their business does referral work with the facility. And so that's who spoken in favor. We live in Clark Court. My husband said it's been delightful. That is true. People buy on Clark Court for a variety of reasons. This sense of community. We think Clark Court means something to the city of Lancaster and the people in the AV.
About three years ago, when these extensive renovations went in, we wondered what was going on. Seemed very hush hush. Extra security, passcodes, no notification on the street whatsoever. We had concerns from the beginning. People in cars started arriving, vehicles parked in front of our house daily, more traffic, deliveries. The beauty of our culde-sac is that there's not traffic.
There is no intersection. People don't come down unless they have a purpose on our 12 houses.
Well, now there's a big purpose with deliveries and men even in the middle of the night. I don't know if the next door neighbors are speaking today, but late night doorbell ringing because deliveries are going to the wrong houses and so on. Well, I've seen the emergency crews there. I've seen a person escorted on a stretcher. I wondered what was going on. But we wonder a lot of things.
And then one week ago or 10 days exact, 11 days exact, the sign went out. Want to go to a six bed facility. My husband and I both retired teachers. me 34 years Lancaster School District. Michael taught 25 years at Palmdale High.
Severely emotionally disturbed students, a very atrisisk population.
Mike is known for his great calmness, his rapport with students, focus on academics, helping students turn their behaviors around, and he was very successful and highly thought of. His teaching assistant and him had nine students this one particular year.
It was going great. And then things started changing. The principal asked him, "What's going on in there?
Now you're calling admin. Now you're calling security." What's going on is they doubled the class size to nine.
Yes, doubled it. And as has been spoken, doubling the number exponentially increases problem situations, interactions among others. And they're not doubling the space. Severely at risk individuals need space.
Oh boy. When I finally met Vadim when I did know Christian previously came to my house a week ago.
>> Thank you Miss Vogle. I'm sorry to cut you off. Your time's up. Thank you.
>> If there's another speaker, could they finish my comments if they choose to?
>> That's up to them.
>> That's up to Christina Coyle. Christina Coyle is next, followed by Sandra Gordon.
>> Good afternoon. commissioner and council. Um I'm representing my neighborhood watch and my neighborhood is on J9 and 30th. We're part of um uh Ilopolis from that's that area there and also secure place. Um and so um one of the questions I have for them is why was there an overdose?
I'm very familiar with um the safe house houses. My son was in a safe house. He was an alcoholic and I have to tell you that they get out of the safe house because they're not watched. And apparently one to six is not enough because they're while they're asleep, they're jumping over neighbors yards. As we just heard, my son had Norcan on him. Uh he was never in there for drugs, but he was an alcoholic. And he would he saved three people with Norcan because he found them when they they came in and they were loaded. And so he had to he got one kid out of the out of the garage. He was freezing in the winter time and he walked him to his bed and sprayed his nose and said, "Here's a a bucket throw up in this." And he said, "Don't mess up my bed my bathroom because I'm the one that cleans it." He had a job there.
That was his job. So, um, later on, uh, and I'm wondering, um, they let, uh, felons come in from the prison because they were, um, had to come in and and do, uh, rehab. Is that what's is that what's going to happen there, too? You know, I wonder, are there any right now from the prison that are in there? And so, and these are felons. They're not misdemeanors. So, um, you know, I'm just concerned about everything. you know, like I said, um we've had our we've had three meetings for our uh neighborhood watch and our, you know, chief of police came and spoke with us and explained a lot of things to him and he gave us a lot of answers. But like I said, is that a safe house, but who is it safe and it who is it safe for whom? And that's all I have to say. Thank you.
>> Thank you, ma'am. Next up is Sandra Gordon, followed by Kevin Walsh.
Good afternoon, Mr. Chairman, commissioners. My name is Sandra Gordon.
I'm here on behalf of my husband, John Meyer. We both live on Clark Court. Um, I would like to point out I would like to comment about what attorney is it Deech? What attorney Deech said about what your obligation here is for this decision. You need to make certain specific findings of fact. One principle finding of fact you need to make under Lancaster Municipal Code is whether this expansion is compatible with the neighborhood and from the testimony you've heard from Miss Garcia and Miss Vogle and the lady who spoke before me, it is not compatible with the neighborhood.
You asked um Mr. um Leov why the expansion and I noticed he did not answer your question. We've heard a lot of moving testimony about the success of the recovery and the good work that I'm sure the facility does. That is not the issue. The issue is whether the expansion is consistent with our neighborhood. This is a 12 home culde-sac.
Parking is already limited. It's already hard to get in and out.
How many how many of the staff members will bring cars? How many of the residents will bring cars? Where will they park?
You haven't been given enough factual finding to approve this cup.
Thank you.
>> Thank you. Next up is Kevin Walsh, followed by Eddie Gonzalez.
>> Mr. Walsh, thank you.
Good afternoon, chairman and commissioners. My name is Kevin Walsh.
I'm a retired NASA aerospace engineer and project manager. Um, my wife have lived on a secure place directly behind the subject home. Uh, I would also I would like to thank the previous presenters who live in the neighborhood on Clark Court. I want to reiterate what they have said. Um, and like them, we didn't know what was going on with the property until all of a sudden construction workers were there, you know, remodeling the it was a large RV garage that was remodeled. And uh, my wife have we, like I mentioned, we've lived there for 36 years. Um, I am not here to oppose recovery services.
I'm all for that. I am here because the existence existing six resident operation has already had a significant impact on our neighborhood. We have experienced repeated excessive noise, loud music, profanity, loss of peaceful enjoyment of our property, and even a serious safety incident when a large metal canopy blew into our backyard during a windstorm. This canopy was u metal poles approximately 20 feet long, 12 feet high, 12 feet wide. And during a San An event, it ca it was very fortunate that my wife and I were looking out our back our kitchen window in our backyard and see this large tank blowing over the wall and we ran out just in time to catch it before it hit our house. Um, if we weren't there, you know, damage could have happened to our house. Um, these are not hypothetical concerns.
They are events we have personally experienced. Um, I have provided more details in a two-page letter that I sent to Miss Alvarado.
I respectfully ask the council, the commission to consider whether doubling the occupancy from 6 to 12 residents is compatible with our single family neighborhood. Therefore, I respectfully ask that you deny conditional use permit 26-008.
Thank you.
>> Thank you, sir.
>> Next up is Eddie Gonzalez, followed by Nshwan Alsaman, >> Mr. Gonzalez, the floor is yours, sir.
>> Hi. Uh, thank you guys for hearing this out, chairman and commissioners. I actually have nothing planned for you guys. I wasn't even going to speak. Um, I am actually president of Candy Cane Lane. Um, I highly support what they do.
I I'm not against it. On the contrary, we have actually had family that had uh treatment. But I am opposed from going from six beds to 12 beds because with that treatment I also know that it there is a lot of uh unpredictability that can happen in the process and that state of mind I've had that I've witnessed is not is not I feel that can in the process of being in that that rehabilitation they can leave whenever they want and if they're not in the right state of mind what's stopping them from getting into our house. I have four daughter. I have three daughters and a and a a little one. And my biggest concern is if they do decide to leave and they walk away and they're not in the right state of mind and they don't know what they're doing, I what how that's going to put my family at risk and which is my biggest concern. Um other than that, I have nothing. I have seen a lot of traffic that does get increased, but that's my biggest concern.
>> Thank you.
>> Thank you for your time, sir.
Lastly, we have Nashwin Alsaman.
>> Good afternoon.
My name is Nashwan Alsaman. I am the next door of the rehab house.
I come to United State 25 years ago.
I've been visit this street every Christmas with my family. We dream to buy house in this area.
So one uh above of my uh project uh over my money in the end I buy house 11 years ago after that uh we we do Christmas we are happy we don't know is rehab next door I have most of the time coming Uber eat or something this your food it's not mine next door.
I sleep 9 10 o'clock. I am businessman in the community here. I have many businesses.
I wake up in the morning. Three, four cars in my sidewalk block almost my house completely in the front.
So, we don't know it's rehab center or something. And now they want to double it even if we can say no in the six bid. But I know is by state or they can have it with no meeting or any any license but now they want to move it from six to 12 bid it's a lot new face I see in the morning walking with him every month couple month five six new faces walking in and out in the in the sidewalk so I think it's not good idea to raise it from 6 to 12 for our my neighbor and I am sure is dangerous for everybody in my street.
That's what I want to say. Thank you very much.
>> Thank you, sir. Chair Dari, that concludes our speaker cards. I will uh announce that we've received uh three different types of letters. Um they were received uh around the time the meeting started and after we printed them off and are providing them to you right now.
>> Wonderful.
The first letter we had was from Mr. Walsh, one of the speakers tonight.
Looks like the second one was from Darren Lipchitz.
And the third one was from LC Winheim.
So, we'll note that for the record, we did receive them. Um, I can tell you I haven't reviewed it yet. Neither has anyone here on the DIS. So, um, I do have a couple questions. Maybe Miss Alvarado, you might be able to answer.
So currently the six occupants that are at the facility currently each have a bedroom to themselves. Correct.
As as I as I reviewed the plans as look there's a six bedroom available in the house for the occupants.
>> Uh so I think uh two bedrooms are shared. Um but I'll defer to the applicant to confirm here.
>> Okay.
one bedroom is shared >> and the these are all the expansion in the ADU in the rear of the property is two occupants per bedroom. Is that what we're looking at here?
>> That is correct.
>> Anyone have any questions for staff?
>> I've got one question and maybe you can educate me a little bit on it. Um is there a guideline or sort of requirement as far as like spacing and distances between facilities of this type?
So, I think the state has that requirement. I believe it may be the 300 ft. Um, but I haven't I haven't seen another facility on this site.
>> Okay.
>> The applicant actually might know a little bit more than me on that.
>> Is that something they'd be willing to share if they have that number?
Vice Chair Curio, I'll just add to that that in the Lancaster Municipal Code, it doesn't indicate any type of distance like it is for other types of uses like, you know, alcohol, bars, smoke shops, that type of stuff.
>> Sorry, if I may add, the applicant has confirmed there is no distance requirement for this particular type of use per the state requirement.
So what what I heard, you know, just talking here, what I heard is that we're going to seek a to double the occupancy and only also double the staffing as well. So I've got some pretty extreme concerns taking because right now I I'm estimating the current house is a 4,000ish foot house. The ADU is a small fraction of that. We're going to have the same occupancy of individuals seeking treatment in that extremely smaller location with only one to one staff the way that it was one to six staff um that the way it is currently. So some of the comments I heard this evening with respect to does the does the use fit the neighborhood?
Are we going to be able to keep the neighborhood safe? That's some of my concerns.
So those are some of my comments. I don't know if anyone else has anything else to add.
>> Yeah, I guess for staff I mean I remember my first vote was uh the King Bar, right? So there were specific guidelines for the CPU. Are there any guidelines for the CPU that have been outlined um that maybe could be shared with not only us but the residents as well of you know I mean if there were any incident calls the CPU could be pulled right things like that where you know I I don't think anybody in here wants nobody not to get treatment right but then as well we don't also want to cause issues for the homeowners there, right?
So, what would those guidelines be for the conditional use?
>> So, there are conditions of approval that have been uh drafted. The applicant has received the copy. He's gone over them and formally understands them. They have a lot to do with not creating a public nuisance um because it is in a residential zone and making sure that they have their safety plan in um in effect and maintained. Um everything else is inspections and requirements by uh you know other entities whether it be building and safety for ADA requirements um potentially fire department to make sure the occupancy is up to date and then any state requirements with health department things like that and then I have one more right after that. Um so again like like chair said every and and echoing the the neighborhood, right? Um would it be fair to maybe start with less than six, right? So like in the ADU maybe start with uh you know conditions to see how if nothing else changed, right? because we already, you know, heard from uh the neighborhood. Maybe there's a couple ambulance visits, maybe a couple police visits, maybe starting out with two people in the ADU. Um and then kind of going from there, right? I mean, if if it's a new business, right, we we all have, you know, there's struggles, there's hurdles to go through to make sure that everything you're implementing is is correct. So, I don't know if that's an option, but just trying to at at both sides here.
>> Do you have any comments of those options on limitations?
>> Um my understanding is that may be possible to confirm.
>> Commissioner Burke, to I guess to answer your question, um it is well within your commission's purview to apply conditions of approval. And for those that um are new to this, um the applicant is applying for a conditional use permit.
That means that staff um on behalf of our director of community development can apply conditions. Think of them like you know commandments, things that they have to do, rules um that that usually um is connected to code or something like that. So it's entirely possible, entirely within your commission's perview to apply new conditions. The applicant is obviously still here. it would be a good idea to share those with him if you do have any ideas to see if he confirms or not. Um, in addition to conditions of approval, um, I've received some, um, documents from the applicant um, regarding um, their own community good neighbor policy. So, they have their own kind of best management practices, if you will, um, that they have, I believe, posted um, and probably required to have. It's it's just how to be a good neighbor, how to operate the business, all that stuff.
So, between the conditions of approval and their own policies, um those are kind of like the guiding documents, except conditions aren't guidelines.
It's something that they have to do. We can specify time frames, numbers, whatever it is, if it pleases the commission.
I just I I just want to acknowledge that um we know addiction, you know, affects the community um quite a bit and and I I admire you dedicating your lives to helping the community. Um we need a place where people can recover with dignity and and respect. Um although uh I did read the letters, you know, the 10 letters and and I thank the community for coming out because However, just the operation expanding in in a residential neighborhood, I I question the compatibility and and I also have the concerns that Benjamin, you know, M Commissioner Burke has whether whether we can do so responsibly for the families in that neighborhood.
>> December 23rd every year, I've walked that street for the past 15 years.
I parked my car over at the college.
Maybe illegally. I don't know. Uh don't come get me.
>> It's legal, isn't it?
>> And then we walk we walk Clark Court. So when we first started doing it, we just had my my oldest daughter and we have a group of four families. We've done it every year practically. Sun, sun, rain, it doesn't matter. And we've walked that street with umbrellas. It's the same day every year. Um, you know, I I remember growing up whose house that was because, uh, I I don't want to say their name, but I always loved the scripture that was on the roof. So, um, but but ultimately we we we've spent, you know, most of us in this room, you know, you can't from Thanksgiving practically until until the first of the year.
You're not you're not driving in and out of that street once it hits sundown.
It's a pretty special place. Um, you know, I think I've probably spent thousands of dollars on decorations because of all of you guys because my girls have come home every every Christmas and they want our house to look just like yours. Um, but irrespective of that, you know, to to to comment the the the residents, it is our candy cane lane. Um, before coming to Lancaster, we had a candy cane lane in Ventura where where I was born. And so to know that we have that here is pretty special. You know, I I think you drive around our streets and it's very apparent what you guys do is is necessary. Um I I just personally have some very extreme concerns about expanding to to double the size this quickly with some of the comments made by by your neighbors. Um and in some of the data points that that you guys have brought forth, a 6:1 ratio um may work.
You know, I think Mr. Tran, is it Dr. Tran or Mr. Tran?
>> Professor, >> Professor Tran. Um, you know, when you anytime you double the crowd, it's it's even more difficult to maintain. So, I I I do simply have some concerns that that six six uh occupants to one staff member at any one time is is just simply not enough or six or 12 to two even. Um, I've got some big concerns there.
Looking at the floor floor plan of the ADU, I have some concerns shoving people into recovery into very small places where they're forced to be stuck next to somebody. Um, also recovering depending on the circumstances could be very difficult. Um, recovery is necessary.
You know, it doesn't take a genius to drive around our city and know that we need your help and and thank you for what you do. Please understand. But you got to understand too, you know, that that we we we owe a duty not only to you as the property owner and the business owner, but all these individuals up here to hear them out. So our job is to try to figure out how do we balance this for the success of everybody. Um, so again, my my I've got some pretty good safety concerns. You know, we've got some comments about cleanliness and issues that I think that need to get addressed before I personally can get behind the project as proposed.
So, probably for the education of our new commissioner, council, can you give us the the options generally what we can do um so I don't maybe miss misspeak or provide us a different direction because obviously we can approve a motion to approve the project. we can potentially deny the project. Um, and I know there's other options. So, I think it might be might be sound for um, Mr. Canyon if we get an opportunity to understand what our options are before we present a motion.
>> Uh, thank you, chairman. Regarding approval of the project, you can approve it as proposed if you wish or you could approve it and add conditions of approval if you think there are any in particular that staff or I can help you draft. either right away at this meeting or perhaps bring forward at the next meeting for your consideration along with potential approval.
If you are of a mind collectively to deny approval of the application for the cup, my recommendation would be to uh first of all prel the motion would be to preliminarily deny the CUP and direct staff to bring forward at the next planning commission meeting for consideration and possible action by the commission.
of a resolution disapproving or denying the cup.
And what that would accomplish, if that's your uh preliminary conclusion tonight to deny, that would enable a full record to be created at the planning commission level with a reference to the findings that you cannot positively make, only negatively make with the help of staff and myself drafting the resolution with those negative findings.
and enable an appeal if one is to be presented to the city council within 10 days of the uh next meeting with an ample record for the council to consider what you've done in the form of a resolution. And that's why I would recommend that if you're leaning towards denial.
And again, if you are, I can help by reciting the recommended motion once again at the right time.
>> Did everyone understand what he just said? What the option is? Okay.
>> Thank you. And thank you to the members of the community. Thank you to the applicant. I have three questions. So my first question is are is the facility or representative or the homeowner or the owner of the property are they a member of that community's neighborhood watch or something that something similar to that?
>> Um if I may defer to the applicant to answer that question.
>> Thank you. Um and Are there this is probably a question to you too. I hope that's okay. Um are there any >> sir if you want to if you want to so we're not we're not hollering at you over the staff. You don't mind joining us again? We we might ask you some more questions please.
>> And I recommend the answer to that question be repeated at the microphone if if you can.
>> Can you want me to repeat the question?
Uh so the my first question was are you a member of the neighborhood watch um of the community? So, we are not a member of the neighborhood watch, but we definitely are willing to.
>> Thank you. And my uh other question is in regards to your referral and intake process. Um, so are there and I'll just keep it simple. Are there any priorities that you do you prioritize an intake process or patients from Lancaster?
Because I know that you get patients from Ventura County and uh you get referrals from North Hollywood. So, other counties and other parts of this county. So, we're a facility that only accepts private insurance. So, we don't take medical, Medicare, we only take PO insuranceances, you know, business professionals, families. That's the type of demographic we take.
>> Thank you. And what and I see in the in the staff report that there you guys do have safeguards and safety plans in place. So, >> I don't let me know if you can answer this question here in the setting. What are the safeguards that you have in place to prevent overdoses?
>> So, we have 24-hour staff. We do an excessive screening on who's coming in so we know what type of drugs they're on. We know exactly the medication management that we need for these clients. But sometimes, you know, people bring stuff where we can't search. So, we do our due diligence by monitoring everybody from 15 to 30 minutes every 15 to 30 minutes daily, 24 hours a day. We look at the security cameras. We have locks everywhere in place. Everything is just protocols and security measures are added and if something goes wrong, we talk and we deliberate and fix the issue and make new protocols and new security systems and new measures.
>> Thank you. And lastly, same question, but for what is the safeguards in place to make sure that you don't intake someone who is a fugitive of law enforcement or who has an open-ended criminal history, right? Somebody who's on trial or somebody who's >> Yeah. So, we do the screening. We have a very intensive screening, but we unfortunately can't deny people like that. But usually those people don't have private insuranceances. They usually come from the state. They have medical, Medicare, and that's that's the answer.
>> Thank you, sir. Thank you, Mr. >> Thank you.
>> Thank you. Anyone else have any other questions for the applicant before we excuse him?
>> Not the applicant, but staff. I I have a a sort of recommendation I've been brewing over um if it's okay with you guys to to put out.
>> Well, before you do that, um without objection, let's go ahead and close the public hearing. We've heard from the public and the applicant and now you can we can proceed to a motion.
So, I don't know if this is if if if both sides, I hate to say sides or the the the the rehab and and the property owners are up to it, but maybe coming back next meeting with uh I'm sorry, sir, the the teacher um Palmdale High School might be a great representative for the community to sit down with the business owner. um hear from your neighbors, come up with what is, you know, kind of uh beneficial to both, right? I mean, like like I recommended, maybe two, maybe one additional bed per time under the CPU, something like that. I'm not sure how that would go, but to come back with a new um recommendation for the CPU to be in place Without putting words into your mouth, um it seems like you're not in favor of approving the CU as currently prepared.
>> Correct.
>> Or denying >> or denying it. So something similar to what council provided, >> right?
>> I think Do you mind giving us another just rehash that one more time so I think that everyone can understand what what what that recommendation is, please?
Uh, Commissioner Burke, please let me know if I'm wrong, but I think what you're suggesting is uh the uh proponents and the opponents of the proposed CUP meet and confer as to whether uh additional conditions of approval may be imposed on the project such that the project can be brought forward with a resolution. olution of approval as before you tonight, but with augmented conditions of approval beyond those in your agenda packet tonight. Is that what you have in mind?
>> That's why I have you, sir. Good job.
>> So then, how would how would he formulate that into a motion if he were going to do so?
I think the motion would be uh to continue uh this matter, not to necessarily reopen the public hearing. You don't have to do that. you've heard full testimony, but to continue the commission's deliberation now that the public hearing has been closed in order to enable staff to oversee generally the proponent of the cup and the neighbors uh getting together to discuss additional conditions of approval that can be brought forward. forward at your next meeting along with a potential resolution to approve much like is in the packet tonight.
>> Can I motion what you just said?
>> Yes.
>> I just motion what council said.
>> So we have a motion then by Commissioner Burke. Obviously with open motion we have to entertain a second if someone's willing to second his motion.
>> I'll second it.
>> So now with a second then we need to take that to a vote. Okay. So everyone give yourselves an opportunity to consider the motion. Do you need it clarified again before we vote?
>> Mr. Cannon.
>> So motion the motion, so I'm understanding is to continue the public hearing with the understanding that the next time this comes before the commission, there will be some special conditions for this spe for this conditional use.
>> Actually, the public hearing itself will not be continued. It has been closed.
However, the item itself, the potential approval or disapproval of the cup will be brought back at the next meeting to see where things stand regarding addition additional conditions of approval. Okay.
And for whatever it's worth for my my my discussion up here um for the for everyone in the audience, I think it's very important to recognize that what we heard today is public safety, parking, cars in and out of the street. Um the number of people at the facility, um how do we address those with those conditions on the cup if they can be? I don't know. Maybe they can't. Maybe they're maybe we're not willing to on either side. Um, you know, I think to the comment I I think Miss Vogel said that they had 10 days to consider responses um, you know, for a 12 house street 11 not including your house because I know you're in favor of it, sir. Um, but I don't think it's enough time for them to have an opportunity to to really weigh on on on what they need.
And I know staff works incredibly hard, our staff here to prepare these reports.
Um, but a lot of what was said today, they didn't hear until today either. So, um, so I'm in I'm in favor of keeping the public hearing closed and continuing this item for whatever it's worth.
>> Can I ask a question?
>> No.
>> So, we have a motion, second, so we're going to vote.
>> Any more discussion?
>> Okay, we'll take it to a vote.
Mr. Burk's motion carries. Four yeses and one no with one absent. So we'll see everyone back likely at the next meeting. Hopefully there's some meeting of the minds here. Okay.
Okay. So we'll go ahead and move on to public hearing item number four. This is the Sierra Gateway neighborhood plan. Um we have our applicant of course is our own city of Lancaster. Um and Miss Edwin I'll let the audience uh we can let the audience leave before we get started so we don't have to interrupt you. So >> chairman you said no questions yet to we have an opportunity to ask a question.
>> You can address questions to staff ma'am.
staff here, >> right? So, >> staff here, >> right? I'd wait till the meeting was over maybe tonight on the on any questions you may have. Otherwise, you can reach out to staff, you know, later on this week.
>> Well, I'm Yeah, very confused about being ordered to meet.
>> You weren't ordered to meet, ma'am.
>> But if we care about the issue, >> we have plans to be gone for the next month.
>> So, So, we're hoping the neighborhood can continue to discuss along with the applicant to give us an opportunity to consider whether the the conditions could be approved.
>> We never met him until the sign went up.
>> Sure.
>> Then he came around and introduced himself.
>> I understand.
>> He wants to be a good neighbor, but we never met him >> until a big >> change was to happen.
>> Well, I think that I think your your voice was heard tonight. So, we'll continue to hear you. I assure you.
>> And to give more input by emailing you or how would we do that?
>> Communicate with staff. Ma'am, >> they email it to you.
>> They get the information to us. Correct.
>> Thank you.
>> Okay, Miss Edwin, floor is yours. Thank you.
>> All right. Thank you. Um, good afternoon, Chair Dairberry and members of the planning commission. My name is Shannon Edwin. I am an associate planner with the city's planning division. The next item I have before you is for a new specific plan known as the Sierra Gateway Neighborhood Plan.
I'm going to get started with an overview of the area uh that the specific plan covers and even what a specific plan is. Um, a specific plan is essentially a focused visioning and zoning document for an identified or specific area of the city. For example, downtown Lancaster and the boulevard are within the downtown Lancaster specific plan, which is what allows for more flexibility to support compact and mixeduse development patterns, creating that classic downtown environment that's present today.
The area we are looking at is located directly adjacent to the downtown Lancaster area and the boulevard. The plan area covers approximately 323 acres and is generally bounded by Avenue I to the north, Division Street to the east, Fern Avenue to the west and Avenue J to the south with Sierra Highway bisecting the planning area.
Some of the key landmarks in this area include the Boeing plaza with the famous Boeing plane at Sierra Highway and Lancaster Boulevard and these are also shown on the screen, the Lancaster Metroink station on Sierra Highway, Jane Reynolds Park located on the west side of the planning area off of Avenue J, and the Lancaster Community Center located on the east side of the plan area off of Yaka Avenue.
Next, I want to give a little background on this area and some of the previous planning efforts. This area is currently governed by the transitoriented development or TOD zones plan. This plan was adopted in 2015 with the most recent update in 2020. The plan had a vision for compact walkable mixeduse development oriented around the Metroink station. A major goal of this plan was to also capitalize on the success of the boulevard revitalization that had been completed in 2010.
So why are we updating this plan now?
The TOD zone plan as it exists now heavily focuses on design and architectural styles which has been complicated for the public to understand and challenging for staff to implement.
For example, uh the plan as it currently is has no residential density maximums.
Instead, applicants would have to essentially design a project first to determine how many units they could be able to fit on their property because most of the standards were based on the design of the building.
To help streamline and simplify, the new Sier gateway plan identifies maximum density allowances so applicants and staff can do that back of the napkin math to get a sense of how many units um they can build on their property.
We also have seen that the vision of the TOD zone plan itself has just unfortunately not come to fruition. Um and it is no longer reflective of the community's current needs.
An update to the to zone plan is also identified as a program in our certified housing element. The housing element identifies this area as an opportunity for more housing near transit and calls for a more streamlined approach to better support housing development in the area.
And just a little bit on the update process. Um, this update was made possible through grants awarded to the city by the Southern California Association of Governments or SCAg for the regional early action planning grants 2.0 program.
Through this grant, we have been able to receive support from SCAKAG as well as well as our consultant Dudek who assisted us at every stage of plan preparation.
I also want to make a note that there is no development or construction proposed as part of this plan update. The plan itself would serve as the visioning, land use, and zoning document that would guide future development in the area.
So, what things are like today in this area? Uh, it's primarily made up right now of a mix of low density commercial uses and includes some light industrial uses and auto repair businesses. There's also a mix of single family and multifamily residential throughout the plan area.
On the screen, we have a few photos of some of the different types of land uses in the plan area, including the Lost Angel's Career Center, which is shown on the upper right um located on Beach Avenue.
A major goal of this plan was to uh truly be shaped by the community. We really wanted to make sure it was reflective of the current community needs so that we could create a plan that was more usable to help support future investments in this area.
With the support of Skag and Due, um we were able to host two openhouse style community workshops. We had four targeted stakeholder meetings with local groups including Lost Angels, the Boulevard Association, the Lancaster Community Center, and Metroink. We also had a presence at multiple community events to pass out information and gather uh input. This included the Boulevard Farmers Market, the Love Your City Cleanup event, and last year's state of the city. We also had online participation available through a dedicated web page and information as well as uh an online survey people could participate in.
On the screen, we have a few pictures of some of these different outreach events.
And I also want to give a major shout out to city staff um as well who are our internal stakeholders. We were able to meet with and get feedback from public works, parks, housing, and the Lancaster Police Department. Uh these conversations helped us shape the plan to be more implementable so we could more realistically work towards the community's vision.
So after the existing conditions analysis and feedback we received from the community, the plan was reinvisioned as the Sierra Gateway Neighborhood Plan or SGNP.
The intent of this name change was to celebrate and capture the unique characteristics of this neighborhood both now and its vision for the future.
This area functions as the gateway to both the city and the region with being located along Sierra Highway, a major route both within the city and throughout the county as well as being at the center of the city near Lancasto Metro Link which provides regional commuter service throughout Southern California.
The hope of this plan is to continue to support goals of walkable, transit oriented mixeduse development in a more approachable, streamlined, and implementable capacity given its prime location at the city center and with such strong connections to major travel corridors.
Now, let's get into some of the major changes from the TOD zones plan to the new Sierra Gateway plan. First, we simplified the zoning. Uh the TOD zones had three commercial zones that uh varied pretty greatly between what was allowed there and uh the different building designs that were permitted. So we reduced this down to uh two commercial designations uh mixed use or MU which is shown in pink on the screen and then corridor or C which is shown in red.
the sea zone is um located along mostly the major uh travel corridors. Uh so these is more appropriate for being located along them. So development standards take that into account as well as as well as allowing more of the nightlife uh entertainment and autooriented uses um with the appropriate entitlements.
The mixed use zone allows for a wide variety of commercial uses with development standards that also reflect its closer proximity to uh neighborhoods and residential uses.
All zones including mixed use and corridor allow residential uses by right uh and as a standalone use uh which was not the case in some of the zones under the previous to plan.
Another major zoning update is the reszone of an existing drainage basin to public or P. Uh that's shown kind of in the middle of the screen. Um there's a big area in green that's uh labeled P.
Uh while there are several tiny parcels that make up this site, it currently functions as an existing drainage basin um and was previously zone neighborhood medium. Um after conversations um with uh public works um it was determined that through um the likelihood of this being able to be a neighborhood or developed with housing and redirecting that drainage would be pretty difficult.
Um so the likelihood of getting housing there would be pretty minimal. So, as part of this, we are reszoning it to public um with the intent that it could be potentially uh open space um and recreation space.
It was mentioned several times through community outreach that there's a desire for more open space and recreational space, especially on the east side of the plan area where there currently isn't any. Um so we saw this basin as a potential opportunity which I'll also um touch on a little bit more in the next few slides.
Uh neighborhood low which is shown in beige and neighborhood medium in um orange uh are largely remaining the same uh as the previous to plan given that these neighborhoods are fairly built out. Um the biggest update for the neighborhood medium zone is that some commercial uses may now be permitted in these zones. um with the appropriate entitlements.
So the next part of the plan um is also really rooted in feedback we received from the community. Uh what came across almost all outreach platforms was his desire to see more aesthetic improvements in the area as well as improved safety. It was mentioned often that the area lacks shade trees, lighting, and sidewalks, which make it a less comfortable environment to walk in, as well as the lack of maintenance and upkeep on some of the older buildings in the area.
Street improvements are often associated with new buildings in construction.
However, since a lot of this area is built out, a new tiering approach is being proposed in the plan to hopefully support gradual redevelopment and safety improvements to this area.
the plan would work. The way this plan would work is that um projects would fall into one of three tiers. Tier one would include things like a change of occupancy of an existing building, tenant improvements, or very minor expansions to an existing building. A tier one project would be required to provide a security plan and also provide one to two improve one to two improvements to their site.
The Sierra Gateway plan provides a catalog of various improvements that can be selected from um and that can range from something simple like adding a decorative trim of paint to an otherwise um solid colored building um and to yeah something like enhanced landscaping. Um a few examples are shown on the screen of what some of these things could be.
A tier 2 project would be a larger more significant expansion up to 50% total expansion to the floor area of the building. Tier 2 project would also need to provide security plan as well as uh bringing their landscaping up to code requirements and providing two to three improvements um from the improvements catalog or they may propose additional improvements that are similar.
A tier three project would be any expansion over 50% or new development which at that point they would need to comply with the requirements of the plan uh which also include uh requirements to provide a security plan.
The hope is that this approach provides flexibility to applicants while also achieving the community's goals to see both improved safety and aesthetic improvements to the area.
Lastly, I wanted to touch on a few key features of the future visioning for this area. First, while the area is fairly built out, there would be limited new development anticipated. Uh there's likely one larger multif family development that would occur south of Lancaster of the Lancaster Community Center off Yaka and Nent.
Um shown on the left are uh city housing authority owned parcels which are highlight highlighted in red.
Uh the long-term goal of this area is to see a major new housing development on these sites which may be a catalyst for other public improvements in this area.
Uh there's no projects proposed currently but given that they are housing authority uh properties that is um the intended use for those. Um I also wanted to share the graphic on the right which provides a vision for the drainage basin that we discussed earlier. Uh there's no open space or park space on the east side of the plan area. So the hope would be to eventually make the basin multi-use to include a walking path around the perimeter as well as sports fields that could be used uh during dry seasons.
Again, this isn't currently a real project, but it is a vision should uh something similar um hopefully we can do something similar in the future.
And the plan um was crafted to support this vision. so that these future improvements will be fewer barriers to implementation.
Getting into the public review and next steps, the draft plan was made available for public review on June 30th, 2026. A 20-day notice went out to all residents within the plan area as well as within a 500 foot radius. It was also uh posted in the Analopee Valley Press.
To date, we've received three comment letters. Uh, one letter expressed concerns over some of the roadway recommendations presented in the plan.
Uh, we did clarify with the commenter that there was no development proposed at this time and that these just reflect potential recommendations. Um, but any projects that could could come to the fruition in the future would be thoroughly evaluated to address any concerns.
A second letter received expressed a desire for the city to focus on beautifification or revitalization to improve the area. And lastly, a third comment letter was provided that included suggestions for more incentives for affordable housing in the plan.
These letters have also been provided to the commission for reference.
Now, on the next steps, uh should the planning commission recommend the plan for approval, the plan will be taken to city council on August 25th and the second reading in September. Uh should the plan move forward, it would come into effect in October of 2026 and would replace the TOD zones plan.
Uh before making the recommendation, I just want to reiterate that there's no new development or construction that would be associated with this plan approval.
Um there are also a couple minor typos on the resolution uh that were provided in the PC packet I wanted to call out.
Uh first is the numbering of the sections. Um section eight on the resolution is listed twice. The sections would be updated to be sequential.
Um second, the date on the resol resolution on the signature page will be updated to reflect today's date. With that staff recommends with the mentioned typo fixes, the commission adopt resolution 2610 recommending the city council adopt this year gateway neighborhood plan.
I'm available for any questions.
I don't think besides the staff does anyone recognize how much work really goes into what she what Miss Evan just put together for us. So, thank you.
Thank you for what you're doing here.
>> Thank you.
>> You know, we know that this is an area of of town that that that needs some attention. So, thank you. Do we have any speakers tonight on this item?
>> Chair Dairberry, we do not.
>> Okay. Well, with that said, do we have any more questions for Miss Edwin? Does anybody not necessarily questions but comments or observations over the years that I've noticed. Um so you mentioned that the previous to plan uh lack enthusiasm and participation from developers or you know some of the goals were not implemented. So as I was reading uh this packet I was looking at some of the areas regarding like setbacks, front yard sites, things like that. And one of the things that I seem to recall is existing lot sizes, right?
Some of those parcels are very small and once you account for all the different setbacks and things like that, it yields a really small footprint that could be developed. Um, so I think that maybe limits the type of developers or interests, you know, that want to develop into those areas. Uh, the other thing that I seem to recall is existing infrastructure. So fire, water, utilities, things like that, I know have also in the past kind of been a deterrent for people. Um because when you have a small pars and you're trying to develop it, incurring, you know, the cost of the utilities is is just doesn't pass out. So just observations.
>> Um thank you for that. I do appreciate it. And uh if I could just add on, that was definitely something we took into consideration with some of the development standards, especially in regards to some of the open space and landscaping requirements that would be required typically on like say apartment buildings. Um given that we anticipate most developments would be on the smaller side or smaller multifamily. So that was taken into account um so that they're not they wouldn't require necessarily as much as um something in a on a larger uh lot in the city.
Okay, that'd be great because I know in the past plan that was >> a challenge.
>> Yeah, it was addressed. That's great.
>> Yeah. Yeah, it was definitely one of the constraints of it. So, we um tried to address that now.
>> I think this is the area and I I may be dating myself where the the gazette lots are, isn't it?
>> Yeah, they are lovingly referred to as the Herald Trust.
>> Herald. Yeah, the Herald. Yeah. Sorry, I had that I had that incorrect. So, when you when you do estate planning and trust work like my office does, uh, every once in a while we'll get people that come by that have the the Herald lots. Sorry, I call them gazette lots, but yes, they're incredibly small lots here in in the the in this specific site. So, well, anyone else have any questions or comments for staff before we entertain a motion?
>> Just want to say thank you for all the hard work and I see the vision. I do.
Um, and I think this would be good for the community center as well. Visibility I can't go without saying thank you no as well. So, thank you.
>> Okay. Well, then I'll entertain a motion if no one has any more comments.
>> I'll make a motion to adopt resolution number 26-10 recommending to the city council the following actions. Uh a approval of general plan amendment number 26-001 changing the land use designation of the plan area to specific plan. Uh B, approval of zone change number 26-001, changing the zoning of the plan area to specific plan. Uh C, approval of the zone text amendment number 26-001 to remove references to the MU-T zoning and TOD zones plan by amending title 17 of the Lancaster Municipal Code. Uh D, approval of the Sierra Gateway neighborhood plan number 26-00001.
and E, finding the project of statutoily exempt under California Environmental Quality Act, CEQA.
>> Second the motion.
>> And just to clarify for the record, that was subject to the minor clerical edits that >> staff recommended. Correct.
>> Yes.
>> Okay. Wonderful. Okay. No, no further discussion. We'll go ahead and uh I didn't close the public hearing yet, so I'll go ahead and confirm that we've done that now. Um and we'll go ahead and vote.
Motion carries. Uh, five yeses with one absent.
Thank you again, Miss Edwin.
Mr. Nwin, I think you're up. Any announcements for us?
>> Maybe a couple. Good afternoon, Chair Dairberry, members of the planning commission. I am Hi Nuin. I'm the assistant director for community development. Uh first and foremost, congrats to the chair and congrats to the vice chair Curo on the new appointments. I feel like this commission is in good hands. Um I'd like to thank former commissioner Denise Latanzi for her contribution to this commission. And of course, welcome, big welcome to Commissioner Sha Cannon to this planning commission. Uh Mr. Cannon is no stranger to the city. We're very excited to work with you. Um and uh yeah, like I said, I think this commission is in good shape. Um a couple announcements for the August PC. Um as we discussed earlier, uh the continued item will be heard by the commission. So we heard the directive to have the applicant work with the neighbors uh to uh figure out some conditions of approval that might work out and we will share with you those uh findings um in August. Um, we also have a couple maybe two or three other items as well.
Nothing to really mention at this point.
Um, and then lastly, looking ahead at the schedule, I guess we were talking about Candy Cane Lane. Let's talk about uh the December PC. Um, letting you know now that we are moving the December uh PC date from December 21st to December 14th uh one week earlier so everyone can stop by Candy Cane Lane and do what they do during the holiday season. So, um, thank you, uh, thank you for a well-ran meeting. Everything was nice and smooth.
Very impressed with, um, all the participants. Um, great discussion overall. So, thank you to everyone that can hear me. Thank you.
>> Thank you. Okay. This is the uh public business from the floor. This is the portion of the agenda that allows an individual uh the opportunity to address the commission on any subject uh regarding city business. Under state legislature, no action can be taken on non-aggendaized items. Members of the public should be aware that when addressing our planning commission regarding items not specifically referenced on the agenda. Um please complete a speaker card for the recording secretary. Um speakers are limited to three minutes each. Do we have any public speakers?
>> Chair Dairberry. We have one public speaker. David Paul.
>> Mr. Paul, come on down.
Mr. Chairman, vice chair, and commissioners, good afternoon. You know, I probably should have read the agenda, but it wouldn't have mattered. I It would have been the same thing. I um I want to not forget some of the important things I want to say. And staffing ratios, if I don't get to that, let me remind me, please. You know, my first job after the army in 1975 was as a mental health technician in a residential treatment facility that had 80 beds in eight houses um on the facility and it was built in a corn field away from neighbors and um Scott Errol actually consulted me when he was built in Kensington for just the overall construction of a facility like that and how to get it to work. Now, the things you're talking about or the residents are talking about are the operational features that I have some thoughts on.
And um I mentioned the staffing ratios.
You know, it's hard when you live in a neighborhood like that. When I first moved into Lancaster, there was a adolescent treatment facility down the street. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but they were teenage girls who there were eight of them in a house that had um four bedrooms. So, I don't know how that all worked, but um it was noisy. It was they, you know, they went around the neighborhood and did a lot of things and they're young kids and girls, and you don't want to be too hard on them, but some of these I was most heartened by the fact that they only take good insurance. So if you have people in the facility that are responsible citizens from the beginning and have good insurance, you know, the odds are lessened. But things happen and I could tell you stories. I mean, I've worked in county jails and state uh prisons as well as residential treatment facilities.
So there are things that happen and the staffing at night sometimes gets a little sleepy and you can't have that.
So some of these things you're going to build in have to deal with how problems in the facility are handled initially by the staff and if you only have one person there and they're not equipped to deal with it, it will spill over. So, you know, good luck on that because Commissioner Hernandez, of course, we need resident, we need drug treatment, we need treatment for all sorts of things. Um, I mentioned after the army, it took me 15 years to put the cork in a bottle and it's been almost 40 years since then. And that was just because I was disgusted with myself. So, that's how treatment actually occurs. People do it themselves. They need help and the neighbors also need their neighborhood preserved. So tough decision. I'll be looking forward to the next time to see what you do. Thank you.
>> Thank you, Mr. Paul. Good. Always good to see you, sir.
>> Chair Dairberry, we have another speaker uh by the name of Vicky Vogle.
>> Miss Vogle, come back. You can finish what you were telling us.
>> I would like to I did time myself and practiced at home.
>> Oh, so I won't don't start the clock yet.
>> Thank you. when I do when I do public speaking, I always add time and and and I tend to I tend to do a lot and so I when you know and when I run programs, a lot of MC work I do, I'm very careful to make sure we try to keep it on track. Um so, but I can appreciate you know, especially something as passionate as you are. So, the floor is yours. Welcome back. We're glad to hear from you.
>> Thank you. I have a master's degree in ed psychon counseling and a school counseling credential as well as elementary teaching credential. I've experienced running special programs.
What I didn't finish my story was these 12 these students of my husband's had dual diagnosis. Some of them addiction issues, depression, self harm, bipolar. If you go to the website of this recovery center, which we never knew the name of, secret secret till 10 days ago, you might be alarmed. I was.
They accept dual diagnosis. Addictions of all kind. Alcohol, cocaine, fentanyl, opioid, meth, gambling, pornography, sex addiction, addiction, borderline personality disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, extremely high-risisk individuals. And that's why putting so many in the same space is not a good idea. I don't think I finished the following year. They hired two new teachers, two separate classrooms in addition to my husband's because it didn't work. So many high-risk individuals in a small space. Other points, we are zoned for single family dwellings. It's why we have zoning laws.
Quality of life. Homeowners and many, many others are affected by this decision. We are loyal citizens of Lancaster. What if the next house goes up for sale next door? They can make it six beds with no approval whatsoever when they buy it. How about 12? Now we have 24. A small apartment complex in the middle of Clark Court. Never met the owner before until he came to my house with a box of Se's candy.
Nice to meet you. I said, nice to meet you. Would have been nice to meet you over the last three years. He said, yes, but I'm here now and I want to be a good neighbor. Really? Or do you want to make a lot more money by taking in double the number of residents? And he informed me, we only take private insurance. We're not taking people off the street.
Well, if you really want to help people, there's an awful lot that need help that might not have private insurance.
Um, quality of life, I said it. Living on Clark Court, I'm distressed by the decision because I feel like it puts it in our court to negotiate.
They want more residents. They want more money.
I'm I appreciate your thoughtfulness. I know this will go on. I'm recovering from cancer. Stress is one of the bad things in your life. When you are recovering, excuse me, from a serious illness, and we do have plans. We'd love to lead the street, but we have lives and other things. Thank you. Thank you. Well, Miss Bogle, I can't speak for the other individuals on the dis here with me, but I can tell you I you know, I hope you enjoy the planned vacation. It sounds like you may have stay stress free to the best extent possible. Um I I know that at least I heard the comments made tonight in great detail. Um, you know, the unique thing about this CUP application general is that at this with the six bed occupant facility, the city doesn't have any real control over that.
So, when the CUP gets applied for, things change in that circumstance. So, it's possible something could be done that's better for you. That's the reason why I think some of us may have made the decision that we did here tonight. So, take that into consideration as well.
Please work with staff. We will as well.
Um, and then we'll see you at the next meeting. Okay? Please take care of yourself.
>> When is the next meeting?
>> We haven't gotten there yet. Um I haven't quite adjourned, but our next meeting will be August 17th, 3:30 in these chambers. Okay.
>> Will not be here.
>> A trip that had to be postponed last year because of the cancer battle and so on, but but other representatives will.
>> Please, please. Thank you.
>> Does anyone else have anything this afternoon before we adjourn?
>> No, just want to welcome um our new commissioner. Welcome to the commission. I'm also excited as um you know the city mentioned to have you on board and and thank you to the community for taking the time to come and voice their opinions. They were definitely heard.
>> Mr. Canon's no no stranger to this dis up here. He's he's uh I've I watch from afar usually at the my my computer. So he's he's been up here I think more than I have and I've I've sat in this dis with a number of commissions over the years. So welcome sir. Thank you. Well, with that then, um, council, thank you for for coming up here and helping us out today. Of course, the staff, um, we I always say this, we have the best staff in the world, city of Lancaster.
Um, so we'll go ahead and adjourn the meeting um to our next regular schedule meeting of August 17th, 2026, 3:30 in these chambers. Everyone have a good
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