Design review board approves Panda Express landscaping

Businesses arriving in Ramona are set to continue or adjust their landscaping and sign plans based on reviews by the Ramona Design Review Board (DRB).

Updated landscaping plans for a Panda Express proposed to be built on a vacant lot on Main Street between 13th and 14th streets — between D’Carlos and the building that houses Bank of Southern California and Starbucks — received favorable feedback from DRB members. They ultimately approved the landscape design 7-0.

Panda Express representative Carole Wylie of Wylie Architecture Planning Interior Design said designers eliminated the use of succulents but kept the landscaping drought tolerant.

Joe Chisholm, the project’s landscape architect, said the landscaping will incorporate plants that reflect the community character. The design calls for ornamental grasses consistent with those along Main Street, sycamore trees that match those across the street, and eucalyptus trees that have become a symbol of Ramona, Chisholm said.

DRB member Scotty Ensign of Scotty’s Plantscapes praised the landscaping portion of the project.

“You have a fine palette that represents everything we’re looking for,” Ensign said during the Nov. 29 meeting. “It sets a good precedent, and I love the use of eucalyptus trees by D’Carlos.”

Wylie said nothing about the building’s architecture or design changed since DRB members last reviewed the project on Oct. 25. The rustic building is set to include columns, rafters and beams made of rusting metal, and barn and shed roofs over porches made with corrugated metal. Accents include real stones, two colors of stucco and galvanized light fixtures. A center courtyard with tables and chairs will serve as a community gathering space.

Wylie said Ramona artist Caylor Nuth has proposed to donate a piano painted with historic scenes and one area may be designated to be painted with a mural. Wylie said permits for the Panda Express project are expected by July 19 and construction on the less than 1-acre lot is estimated to take nine months.

Waiver requests for separate used auto sales and auto lending businesses could not be approved by DRB members until signage issues on the proposed property site at 2366 Main St. near Kalbaugh Street are corrected.

DRB Chairman Rob Lewallen said signage on the Dardeen Real Estate lot where the projects are proposed to be located exceed sign requirements. Lewallen said Dardeen’s roof sign is 32 square feet, its pole sign is 32 square feet and a small sign is 12 square feet. The total of 76 square feet of signs is more than twice the allowed 36 square feet of combined signage, he said.

Although Jim Dardeen said he thought the current signs were grandfathered in and believes there are no code violations, Lewallen countered that neither a pole sign nor roof sign have been allowed since 1987.

DRB member Barb Roberson said there have been at least two periods of time when the pole sign wasn’t used for at least 12 months.

“Sometimes it was unused on the top and sometimes it was unused on the bottom,” she said. “Any grandfathering in is a moot point because you’ve met other county requirements that disallowed a pole sign.”

Other sign plans for a proposed Releaf Meds medical marijuana building at 618 Pine St. received more favorable reviews.

Project representative Clarice Cioe said 12-inch channel letters are proposed to be internally illuminated with LED lights on a monument sign.

DRB members helped Cioe adjust the size of the sign to be in proportion to the lettering by increasing it from 30 inches high and 60 inches wide to 36 inches high and 64 inches wide.

Board members approved the sign design with a monument sign height of 60 inches 7-0. In a separate 7-0 vote they approved a 4-foot fence as a modification to a 6-foot fence on the property as previously approved.

In anticipating discussion of Ramona Village Center Form Based Code updates at the DRB’s Dec. 20 meeting, board members considered possible revisions to the code’s landscaping requirements.

Lewallen is expecting several county representatives including Land Use Environmental Planner Tim Vertino to attend the Dec. 20 meeting.

Vertino said the planners will present proposed text changes to the Form Based Code to get feedback from the DRB and community members. He said the text changes focus on parking, but landscaping changes could also be considered.

DRB members indicated the landscaping changes are needed to clarify plant requirements in the V1 through V5 zones as well as in the Ramona Village Center sub-areas of Colonnade, Paseo and Old Town.

“As landscaping plans come through, I’ve noticed weaknesses in the Form Based Code,” Ensign said. “We’re running into controversial areas over and over again. We just want to give direction.”

Ensign said with more than 500,000 different types of plants and trees to work with it wouldn’t be practical to delineate specific plants, but general guidelines should be given. For example, he said they could define a “medium size” shrub.

Some of the plants that might be discouraged from being planted in town could include succulents and cactus, jacaranda trees and palm trees, they said.

Ensign said he will draft guidelines that can be discussed by DRB board members.

Vertino said he cannot confirm when the San Diego County Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors will consider the Ramona Village Center Form Based Code updates until after meeting with the Ramona Community Planning Group.