REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 08/07/2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning & Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT 2023-0004 TO AMEND THE LAND USE ELEMENT OF THE GENERAL PLAN AMENDING THE LAND USE OF 0.59 ACRES FROM HIGH DENSITY RESIDENTIAL TO GENERAL COMMERCIAL LOCATED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF SECOND STREET, APPROXIMATELY 450 FEET WEST OF BUENA VISTA AVENUE (APPLICANT: GREENS DEVELOPMENT)
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EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to approve General Plan Amendment 2023-0004 (GPA2023-0004) to amend the Land Use Element amending 0.59 acres from High Density Residential (HDR) to General Commercial (GC) located on the north side of Second Street, approximately 450 feet west of Buena Vista Avenue. The 0.59 acres is a remnant parcel from the State Route 91 widening project. The parcel is adjacent to State Route 91 to the north and another remnant parcel to the west. The parcel to the west is designed GC on the General Plan. The applicant owns the property to the west and GPA2023-0004 will allow both parcels to be combined to support the development of commercial uses.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Approve GPA2023-0004 as recommended by the Planning and Housing Commission, based on the analysis and findings contained in the staff report; and adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Plan.
b. Adopt Resolution No. 2024-082 adopting a mitigated negative declaration and mitigation monitoring and reporting program and approving an amendment to the City’s General Plan to change the land use designation on 0.59 acres located on the north side of Second Street, approximately 450 feet west of Buena Vista Avenue from High Density Residential to General Commercial (Cycle 3 of the General Plan Amendment for 2024) (GPA2023-0004).
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BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The project site was originally occupied with mobile homes but was eventually removed to accommodate the State Route 91 widening project. The Riverside County Transportation Commission (RCTC) was the agency responsible for the freeway widening project and purchased the property to accommodate the right-of-way needed for the extension of Second Street to Lincoln Avenue and the new freeway on-ramp design.
After the construction of the freeway widening, RCTC determined the project site to be excess surplus land and disposed of the property according to the state’s Surplus Land Act. The applicant purchased the 0.59-acre project site and the adjacent 0.81 acres to the west. The zoning and General Plan of the adjacent 0.81 acres are C3 (General Commercial) (C3) and GC, respectively. The adjacent property was once an automobile dealership, which was bifurcated by the extension of Second Street to Lincoln Avenue. The applicant intends to combine both parcels and develop the property for commercial.
The General Plan designation of the 0.59 acres is HDR and the applicant is proposing to amend the General Plan to General Commercial (GC). The applicant is also requesting to change the zoning of the property from R3 (Multiple Family Residential) to the C3 zone proposed by CZ2023-0006.
ANALYSIS:
The project site is located between the right-of-way for State Route 91 to the north and Second Street to the south. GPA2023-0004 proposes to amend the General Plan land use from HDR to GC to be consistent with the adjacent parcel to the west. The proposed change to the GC designation in conjunction with CZ2023-0006, changing the zoning for the site from R3 to the C3 zone, will allow the project site to be combined with the adjacent parcel and allow for commercial land uses.
GPA2023-0004 will establish a logical transition of the GC designation on the project site. The adjacent environment which consists of the freeway, a vacant commercial parcel designed GC, and a commercial shopping center at the southeast corner of Lincoln Avenue and Second Street makes the GC designation a compatible land use for the area.
California Housing Accountability Act
The state’s Housing Accountability Act (Government Code Section 65589.5) was amended in 2019 to include the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 (Government Code Section 66300). The Housing Crisis Act of 2019 requires cities to maintain the residential capacity that existed at the time of adoption of the legislation to ensure a no net loss in the zoning for residential units. Cities are allowed to rezone and amend the General Plan of residential properties to a non-residential zone or less intense residential use only if the city concurrently rezones another parcel to make up for the shortfall in housing units lost under the previous zoning.
The applicant’s subsequent request proposed by CZ2023-0006 takes this into consideration. The project site along with 4.01 acres generally located at the southwest corner of Second Street and Buena Vista Avenue are both zoned Mobile Home Park (MP), which allows a maximum density of 8 dwelling units per acre (du/ac). This density allows 5 residential units on the project site, and 32 residential units on the 4.01 acres. CZ2023-0006 proposes to change the zoning of the 4.01 acres to the R3 zone, which increases the maximum density to 36 du/ac. Minus the residential units already allowed by the MP zone on both properties, the R3 zone will allow an additional 107 residential units on the 4.01 acres. CZ2023-0006 satisfies the requirement under the Housing Crisis Act of 2019 because the rezoning will result in no net loss in residential units.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid the application processing fees of $7,790 to cover the cost of the General Plan Amendment.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Per Section 15070 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 because the Initial Study identified that 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 of July 8, 2024, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Siqueland/Longwell), and carried with Commissioner Alexander abstaining, that the Planning and Housing Commission recommend adoption of the Mitigation Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Plan, and approval of GPA2023-0004 to the City Council, based on the findings contained in the staff report, and adopt Resolution No. 2640 granting GPA2023-0004 as part of Cycle 3 of the General Plan Amendments for 2024. The minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting are included as Exhibit 5.
PREPARED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Resolution No. 2024-082
2. Exhibit 2 - Locational and zoning map
3. Exhibit 3 - Proposed Amendment
4. Exhibit 4 - Planning and Housing Commission staff report
5. Exhibit 5 - Draft Minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of July 8, 2024