The year is quickly coming to a close and the last meeting of the year for the Tustin Planning Commission is at hand. Not a lot on the agenda this time around save for two public hearings.

Item 2 – Code Amendment and Conditional Use Permit – The Kiddie Academy Child Care Learning Centers would like to establish their presence in a new commercial construction on the corner of Walnut and Newport Avenue. The company proposes to demolish the existing structure and replace it with a 6,300 square foot day care center. The request also includes  establishment of new and reduced parking requirements for day care facilities with drop-off and pickup areas. The day care center will be able to accommodate 108 children with a one story structure and play area in the rear.

Item 3 – Code Amendment Update to the City of Tustin Parking Code – This is an update to the parking code that includes new business definitions and re-aligns some types of commercial parking to better serve the community. There were a couple of items we saw in a draft copy of the amendment that we had issues with. But, they did not appear to make the final cut coming before the commission.

There may be some discussion concerning the parking as it relates to business, although we don’t really see anything to get excited about. One of the changes will allow for greater flexibility in parking related to restaurants that are part of a larger shopping center. And, for some reason, the planners saw fit to change the code to make definitions for different types of parking equal between residential areas and business enterprises. That may be workable for apartments and condominiums, where parking can sometimes be at a premium but, it’s probably not neccessary for single-family homes.

Hopefully, for the commissioners at least, this will be a short meeting so they can get back to their eggnog. Of course, the last time I said that they wound up in a two and a half hour meeting.