New and old projects approved

The Tehachapi Planning Commission met on the evening of Dec. 13 at the Tehachapi Police Department Community Room to consider several projects.

The only completely new project approved by the commission was a proposal by Caltrans to build a maintenance station at the intersection of Industrial Parkway and N. Curry St. The facility will contain three parcels totaling 5.66 acres and will be made up of a crew building, a mechanics building, two equipment canopies, a wash rack, fuel island, brine building, bins and other accessory buildings. The area will be surrounded by a chain link fence.

Development Services Director Jay Schlosser said he assisted Caltrans with the selection of this site for the $18 million project when learning that they wanted to move from their current facility on Tehachapi Blvd. While the project meets all city requirements, Caltrans is not required under the law to pay fees for permit issuance, inspection services or plan checking. However, in light of the 2015 mudslides, the City feels it will be good to have the facility here.

Sherwood Condominiums, a 32-unit duplex and triplex condominium community to be located at the southwest corner of Elm Street and Applewood Drive was also approved. The 1.9 acre project was originally approved in 1987 as part of Applewood Estates. Due to economic changes over the past few decades, most of the single family homes were completed but the parcels designated for multi-family housing remained undeveloped. The units will exhibit Craftsman style architecture including lower pitched roofs, protruding gables, overhanging eaves, exposed beams, wood siding and cedar shingles. Schlosser added that the development will have a HOA.

The commission also voted to approve a door to be cut into the Monolith mural on F Street to allow for a fire exit from a banquet room in the new Village Collective located on the site of the old St. Vincent de Paul thrift shop. Approval was based on the agreement of the original mural artist, Lyn Bennett, to recreate that portion of the mural over the door. Commissioner Charles White explained that the same thing had to be done for the side door of the BeeKay Theatre.

Again the issue of water was brought up by the commission. Schlosser said that the city plans for its own water supply and receives it from multiple sources that are leased and owned as well as from Tehachapi Cummings Community Water District. The city master plan has provided for an annual growth of 2 percent per year. Over the years, the city has approved 1000 homes and only 500 have actually been built, so growth has been less than expected. He believes this may remain the case in the future. "The City is actually using less water today than it did in 2015," said Schlosser.

The Tehachapi Planning Commission meets on the second Monday of the month at 6 p.m. at the Tehachapi Police Department Community Room located at 220 W. C St.