PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION
STAFF REPORT
DATE: 1/6/2020
TO: Honorable Chair and Commissioners
FROM: Community Development Department
APPLICATION REQUEST:
Title
PM 37748 (PM2019-0005): A parcel map application to create one lot on 0.39 acres located on the northeast corner of North Main Street and Eighth Street in the Downtown designation of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan (SP98-01). (Applicant: Kendall Beas with Kaidence Group, 5070 N. 40th Street, Suite 210, Phoenix, AZ 85018).
End
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the Planning and Housing Commission recommend APPROVAL of PM 37748 to the City Council, based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval.
Body
PROJECT SITE SUMMARY
Area of Property: 0.39 acres
Existing Zoning: D (Downtown) designation of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan (SP98-01)
Existing General Plan: MUD (Mixed Use Downtown)
Existing Land Use: Parking lot
Proposed Land Use: Coffee shop with drive-through service
Surrounding Zoning/Land Uses:
N: D (Downtown) designation of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan (SP98-01)/Corona Mall commercial center
E: D (Downtown) designation of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan (SP98-01)/Office building
S: Eighth Street and CS (Community Services) designation of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan (SP98-01)/Medical office building
W: Main Street and CS (Community Services) designation of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan (SP98-01)/Church building
BACKGROUND
The 0.39-acre project site is located within the Corona Mall on the northeast corner of North Main Street and Eighth Street. The site has a zoning of Downtown (D) under the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan and a General Plan designation of Mixed Use Downtown (MUD). The surrounding land uses are primarily commercial, office and residential.
The Corona Mall is an existing 224,485 square foot commercial center located on both sides of East Sixth Street between Third Street and Eighth Street. The 0.39-acre subject property is within the South Corona Mall shopping center and is currently used for parking.
The Infrastructure Committee at its meeting on May 1, 2019, discussed the project’s history in relation to a Disposition and Development Agreement that was originally entered between the City and the property owner in 2015. Initially, the owner of the subject property proposed developing the site for a coffee kiosk that would provide only drive-through services. The council at that time, however, preferred the coffee shop to include walk-in services in addition to drive-through services. The agreement was later amended in 2018 to extend the performance deadlines for entitlement and construction because of the time it took to secure a tenant for the site. Pursuant to that agreement the owner has a project entitlement date of September 16, 2019, but is allowed two extensions with each extension granting an additional three months. The owner is working within the second extension which requires the project to be entitled by March 16, 2020.
The project was initially reviewed by city staff at the Development Plan Review meeting on December 13, 2018. The applicant submitted official applications for the parcel map and conditional use permit on October 14, 2019, which were reviewed by the Project and Environmental Review Committee on November 7, 2019 and determined to be incomplete. The applicant submitted the revised items to staff and the application was considered complete on November 19, 2019 and cleared for public hearing before the Planning and Housing Commission.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Parcel Map 37748 proposes to create one lot on 0.39 acres for the development of a Starbucks coffee shop with drive-through service within the Corona Mall. Currently, the project site consists of six separate lots. Parcel Map 37748 proposes to merge all six lots into one single lot for commercial purposes shown as Parcel 1. Lot A will rededicate Main Street for right-of-way purposes, Lot B will rededicate Eighth Street for right-of-way purposes, and Lots C and D will dedicate the adjacent alleys for right-of-way purposes. No minimum lot area, width, or depth requirement is prescribed for newly created lots in the Downtown District. Table 1 summarizes the lot information for the parcel map.
Table 1
Parcel Summary
|
Parcel No. |
Acreage |
Lot Area |
Width |
Depth |
|
Parcel 1 |
0.39 |
16,860.13 |
149.95’ |
115.16’ |
|
Total |
0.39 |
|
|
|
ACCESS AND PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
Exhibit C contains the proposed site plan for the project which is being reviewed by the accompanying conditional use permit application. The parcel will have access from Main Street and Eighth Street. The access is shared among the Corona Mall tenants. Per the General Plan, Main Street is a major arterial and Eighth Street is a collector street. Main and Eighth Streets are fully improved with curb, gutter, parkway, and sidewalk and have an overall width of 104 feet and 62 feet respectively.
As part of this project, the applicant is required to reconstruct the driveway alley approach on Eighth Street to comply with the city’s commercial driveway standard, reslurry Eighth Street, and replace all broken, cracked or deficient sidewalk panels and curb and gutters fronting the property on Main Street and Eighth Street.
EASEMENTS
The proposed project accommodates several easements for reciprocal ingress and egress and for maintenance purposes. The southwest corner of the project site currently contains a historical bronze fire hydrant statute. The hydrant statute was installed by the Corona Historic Preservation Society in October of 1998, to commemorate the location of the city’s first Corona fire station and city hall. The bronze fire hydrant is currently located in the parking lot and has bollards around it to protect it from vehicles. The bronze fire hydrant will remain in place; however, it will now be located within the project’s front yard landscape setback area and surrounded by landscaping and groundcover. The applicant is granting an easement in favor of the Corona Historic Preservation Society for maintenance of the bronze fire hydrant. A picture of the bronze fire hydrant is shown in Exhibit D.
An easement for reciprocal ingress and egress is proposed along the northerly portion of the project site. The easement will be seven feet wide and will be part of the alley. A second easement for reciprocal ingress and egress is proposed along the easterly portion of the project site. The easement will be nine feet wide and will also be part of the alley.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
A Notice of Exemption was prepared for the project because the proposed drive-through coffee shop is 1,800 square feet and qualifies as New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures under Section 15303 and In-Fill Development Projects under Section 15332 of the State Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Section 3.21 Class 3 and Class 32, respectively of the City’s Local CEQA Guidelines. Additionally, the project is consistent with the MUD (Mixed Use Downtown) General Plan Designation, the project site has no value as habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species, and approval of the project would not result in significant effects relating to traffic, noise, air quality, or water. Therefore, there is no possibility that the project may have any significant adverse effects on the environment. The Notice of Exemption is attached as Exhibit F.
FISCAL IMPACT
The applicant paid $6,475.00 in application processing fees for the parcel map application.
PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENTS
A 10-day public notice was mailed to all property owners within a 500-foot radius of the project site, as well as advertised in the Sentinel Weekly News and posted at the project site. As of the preparation of this report, the Community Development Department has not received any response from the public regarding the proposal.
STAFF ANALYSIS
The proposed parcel map facilitates the development of a Starbucks coffee shop with drive-through services on the subject property which is consistent with the property’s Downtown zoning and General Plan designation of Mixed Use Downtown. The parcel is provided with adequate vehicular access to the site from Main Street and Eighth Street. The parcel map generates the necessary improvements on Eighth Street to comply with the city’s commercial driveway standard and guarantees the reslurry Eighth Street, and the replacement of all broken, cracked or deficient sidewalk panels and curb and gutters fronting the property on Main Street and Eighth Street.
FINDINGS OF APPROVAL FOR PM 37748
1. A preliminary exemption assessment has been conducted by the City of Corona and it has shown that this project does not require further environmental assessment because the project qualifies as a Class 3 Categorical Exemption per Section 15303 (New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures) and Class 32 Categorical Exemption per Section 15332 (In-Fill Development Projects) under CEQA. The project consists of developing a 1,800 square foot Starbucks coffee shop with drive-through services and does not involve the use of hazardous substances. In addition, the project is consistent with the MUD General Plan Designation, the project site has no value as habitat for endangered, rare or threatened species, and approval of the project would not result in significant effects relating to traffic, noise, air quality, or water. Therefore, there is no possibility that the project will have any significant effect on the environment.
2. Pursuant to California Government code Section 66411.1 this division of land necessitates the inclusion of conditions of approval for the following reasons:
a. The guarantee of the construction of improvements for Main Street and Eighth Street are necessary for the public’s safe access to and round the site.
b. The improvement of Main Street and Eighth Street for the orderly development of the surrounding areas and to ensure the general safety and welfare of the public. The site must contribute to the improvements so that further development would not be detrimental to the public.
3. None of the conditions provided in Section 66474 of the California Government Code exist for the following reasons:
a. The proposed map is consistent with the General Plan designation of Mixed Use Downtown because it facilitates the development of the site for commercial purposes.
b. The design or improvement of the proposed subdivision is consistent with the subdivision standards prescribed by Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan for the Downtown zone.
c. The site is suitable for the type of development proposed and offers adequate access from Main Street and Eighth Street as demonstrated by the project’s site plan attached as Exhibit C.
d. The site is physically suitable for the development of an 1,800 square foot Starbucks coffee shop with drive-through service, which is capable of meeting the development standards required by the Downtown designation of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan as demonstrated by the project’s site plan associated with CUP2019-0009.
e. The design of the subdivision or the proposed improvements is not likely to cause substandard environmental damage or substantially injure fish or wildlife or their habitat because the project site is currently developed as a parking lot for the Corona Mall.
f. The proposed subdivision will not result in adverse impact to the public health, safety or general welfare because the necessary public improvements are guaranteed as conditions of approval for this parcel map and future development will be subject to the development standards of the Downtown Revitalization Specific Plan and Corona Municipal Code to ensure orderly development of the project site.
g. The design of the subdivision or the type of improvements will not conflict with easements, acquired by the public at large, for access through or use of, property within the proposed subdivision because no such easements exist on the project site, or the easements are being protected in place or relocated elsewhere on the project site.
4. Pursuant to California Government Code Section 66464.6, the discharge of waste from the proposed subdivision into existing community sewers could not result in violation of existing requirements present by Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board pursuant to Division 7 (commencing with Section 13000) of the Water Code for the following reason:
a. The amount of discharge to be produced by the developer does not exceed the limit established by the Santa Ana Regional Water Quality Control Board as monitored by the City of Corona’s Department of Water and Power.
5. The proposal is in conformance with the standards of the Downtown designation of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan for the following reason:
a. The Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan prescribes no minimum lot area, width, or depth requirements for new lots created in the Downtown designation. Therefore, the proposed parcel map is in compliance with the Downtown designation.
PREPARED BY: LUPITA GARCIA, ASSISTANT PLANNER
REVIEWED BY: SANDRA YANG, SENIOR PLANNER
SUBMITTED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
EXHIBITS
1. Locational and Zoning Map
2. Exhibit A - Parcel Map 37748
3. Exhibit B - Conditions of Approval
4. Exhibit C - Site plan
5. Exhibit D - Photos of bronze fire hydrant
6. Exhibit E - Applicant’s letter dated April 28, 2019
7. Exhibit F - Environmental Documentation
8. Exhibit G - GIS Aerial Map
Case Planner: Lupita Garcia (951) 736-2293