REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 06/21/2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning & Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
TENTATIVE TRACT MAP 36864 TO SUBDIVIDE 2.09 ACRES INTO SEVEN LOTS FOR RESIDENTIAL PURPOSES AND ONE LETTERED LOT FOR STREET PURPOSES LOCATED ON THE SOUTH SIDE OF CORONA AVENUE AND WEST OF INTERSTATE 15, IN THE R-1-7.2 ZONE (APPLICANT: Fathi Manasrah, 9319 Alta Cresta Avenue, Riverside, CA 92508)
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to consider the recommendation by the Planning and Housing Commission to approve Tentative Tract Map 36864 (TTM 36864), which is to subdivide 2.09 acres into seven lots for single-family residential purposes and one lettered lot for a new local street. The project site is located on the south side of Corona Avenue and west of Interstate 15. The zoning of the property is R-1-7.2, which allows single-family residential on a minimum lot size of 7,200 square feet.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Plan and approve Tentative Tract Map 36864 subject to the findings and conditions as recommended by the Planning and Housing Commission.
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The project site is vacant and zoned R-1-7.2, which permits single-family residential on a minimum lot size of 7,200 square feet. The site has a General Plan designation of Low-Density Residential which permits residential development within a density range from 3 to 6 dwelling units per acre (du/ac) of land.
In 2006, a tentative tract map was previously approved on the project site. However, the tentative tract map was never recorded and expired in 2008. In 2017, a second tentative tract map was approved on the project site but was never recorded. The tentative tract map expired in 2019.
The current tentative tract map, TTM 36864, was reviewed by the Planning and Housing Commission at its meeting on May 22, 2023, with the Commission recommending approval of TTM 36864 to the City Council.
ANALYSIS:
Tentative Tract Map 36864 proposes to subdivide 2.09 acres into seven lots for single-family residential purposes and one lettered lot for a new local street. The proposed lots range in size from 7,448 square feet to 14,041 square feet meeting the minimum lot size of the R-1-7.2 zone, which is 7,200 square feet. The lots also comply with the minimum lot width and depth requirements of the zone, which are 65 feet and 100 feet, respectively.
The project’s density is 3.4 du/ac, which is within the density range of 3-6 du/ac allowed by the General Plan for the Low-Density Residential designation.
The project site abuts the right-of-way for Interstate 15 to the east, existing single-family properties to the west and south, and Corona Avenue to the north. The project site will have access from Corona Avenue. The new lots will have access from the new local street created by TTM 36864.
Access and Roadway Improvements
Corona Avenue is classified as a local street in the General Plan and is required to have an overall right-of-way width of 66 feet. The south half of Corona Avenue adjacent to the project site is currently improved with 22 feet of roadway pavement, curb and gutter, and an 11-foot-wide parkway, which includes a five-foot wide sidewalk. No additional widening is required for Corona Avenue adjacent to the project site. However, the applicant is required to provide landscaping for the parkway.
The lots are designed to have access from a new cul-de-sac street identified as Street “A”, which is designed as a modified public local residential street having an overall right-of-way width of 42.50 feet. The east half of the street, which abuts the lots, is designed to have 18 feet of roadway pavement, curb and gutter, and a five-foot wide sidewalk located behind the curb line.
Typically, a landscaped parkway is also required within the City’s public right-of-way. However, the applicant has proposed a street design that places the landscaped parkway within a five-foot wide public utility easement (PUE) in the front yards of the seven lots, immediately behind the public sidewalk. This design will allow the developer to plot the dwelling units closer to the street and farther away from the freeway, as building setbacks are measured from the property line. As the landscaped parkway will be within an easement which is required to be dedicated to the City, all future front yard fencing proposed by the developer or future homeowners within this development will need to be constructed behind the easement/landscaped parkway. Aesthetically, the streetscape for this development will look the same as a neighborhood where the landscaped parkway is placed within the public right-of-way. The Development Services Division has reviewed and approved the modified street design.
For the west half of the cul-de-sac street, the street is designed to have 18 feet of roadway pavement, curb and gutter, and 1.5 feet of parkway. Due to the size of this parkway, staff is allowing the applicant to improve the parkway with exposed concrete aggregate or other material as approved by the Development Services Division. No homes front this side of the street and no sidewalk is proposed, due to an abutting six-foot wide public utility easement that occurs in the back yards of the adjacent residential properties, which extends along the entire length of the project site’s western boundary. In order to maintain a minimum of 28 feet of clear width for fire lane access, on-street parking is not allowed along the west side of Street “A”.
Fences and Walls
The applicant proposes to replace the existing chain link fence along the east boundary line of the development with wrought iron fencing. However, due to the remaining open space between the project’s east boundary line and Interstate 15 sound barrier wall, staff recommends a six-foot high solid decorative block wall along the east boundary line. A short retaining wall with a six-foot high decorative block wall is proposed along the street side lot line (north perimeter) of Lot 1, adjacent to Corona Avenue. A six-foot high decorative block wall is proposed along the south boundary line, which is the rear lot line of Lot 7.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid the application processing fees of $18,842.14 to cover the cost of the Tentative Tract Map.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Per Section 15070(b) of the State Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Section 6.02 of the City’s Local Guidelines, a Mitigated Negative Declaration was prepared for the project, which demonstrates the project’s potentially significant effects to the environment are capable of being mitigated to less than significant. Therefore, based on the project mitigation measures identified in the Mitigated Negative Declaration, there is no substantial evidence, in light of the whole record before the City, that the project may have a significant or potentially significant effect on the environment.
PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION ACTION:
At its meeting on May 22, 2023, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Siqueland/Woody) and carried with Commissioner Alexander absent, that the Planning and Housing Commission recommend adoption of the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Plan and approval of TTM 36864 to the City Council, based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval. The minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting are included as Exhibit 4.
PREPARED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Locational and zoning map
2. Exhibit 2 - Site Plan for TTM 36864
3. Exhibit 3 - Planning and Housing Commission staff report
4. Exhibit 4 - Draft Minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of May 22, 2023