AGENDA REPORT
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 4/18/2018
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Public Works Department
SUBJECT:
Title
City Council consideration to waive the Corona Municipal Code Section 15.60.080 requirement to place underground the overhead utility lines along the north side of Quarry Street fronting Assessor’s Parcel Number 115060048 - Third Street Annex LLC, a California Limited Liability Company.
End
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council waive the requirement to underground the overhead utility lines along the north side of Quarry Street fronting Assessor’s Parcel Number 115060048.
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ANALYSIS:
Third Street Annex, LLC is the developer of a project located on the north side of Quarry Street, east of Rimpau Avenue and at the terminus of Third Street in the M-1 (Light Manufacturing) zone, as shown on Exhibit “A.” The project proposes to subdivide 8.59 acres and was approved for the construction of a new self-storage facility by City Council on March 21, 2018.
As shown on Exhibit “B,” Third Street Annex, LLC has submitted a request to waive their condition of approval requirement to underground overhead utility lines fronting the property. Corona Municipal Code Section 15.60.080 stipulates that the owner of a property is obligated to comply with the requirement to place all overhead utility lines less than 34 kilovolts underground when a proposed addition exceeds 50 percent of the cost of replacing the existing building. The existing power lines along Quarry Street carry both distribution and transmission lines, some of which are greater than 33 kilovolts. The undergrounding of the lines less than 34 kilovolts will not result in the removal of the poles as transmission lines will remain. In addition, power lines which span over the Riverside County Flood Control Channel would be affected.
In response to the request, staff has reviewed the site, the surrounding properties and the existing condition of the utilities in the area. Due to the existence of the transmission lines on the poles, the undergrounding of certain lines will not impact the removals of those poles, making the condition impractical. For this reason, the Public Works Department supports the request for a waiver of the requirement to underground the overhead distribution lines on Quarry Street. The Developer will still be required to underground the overhead wires along their frontage on east Third Street.
COMMITTEE ACTION:
Not applicable.
STRATEGIC PLAN:
Not applicable.
FISCAL IMPACT:
All applicable fees have been paid by the applicant.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. This action merely approves a waiver of the requirement to underground the overhead distribution lines, and there is no possibility that approving this waiver will have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: CHRIS HORN, P.E., SENIOR CIVIL ENGINEER
REVIEWED BY: TOM KOPER, P.E., ASSISTANT PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
REVIEWED BY: NELSON D. NELSON, P.E., PUBLIC WORKS DIRECTOR
REVIEWED BY: KERRY D. EDEN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER/ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR
SUBMITTED BY: DARRELL TALBERT, CITY MANAGER