AGENDA REPORT
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 4/3/2019
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Community Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
Public Hearing for City Council consideration of Ordinance No. 3294, first reading of an Ordinance of the City of Corona, California for ZTA2019-0001 amending Title 17 of the Corona Municipal Code amending Chapter 17.74 (Signs) to revise the regulations for parcel identification signs for commercial properties. (Applicant: City of Corona)
End
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
1. Approve ZTA2019-0001 as recommended by the Planning and Housing Commission.
2. Introduce by title only and waive full reading for consideration of Ordinance No. 3294, first reading of an ordinance amending Chapter 17.74 of Title 17 of the Corona Municipal Code pertaining to regulations for parcel identification signs for commercial and office centers. (Applicant: City of Corona). (ZTA2019- 0001)
Body
ANALYSIS:
ZTA2019-0001 is an application by the City of Corona to amend the city’s Sign Ordinance governed by Chapter 17.74 of the Corona Municipal Code (CMC). The amendment is intended to provide more signage opportunity for tenants within commercial centers that are 10 acres and greater in addition to centers that are less than 10 acres. The amendment proposes changes to Section 17.74.130 (I) of the CMC which describes the regulations for parcel identification signs in the commercial zones, specifically the C-2 (Restricted Commercial), C-3 (General Commercial) and C-P (Professional Office) zones. In summary the amendment would make the following changes.
• Increase the number of tenants allowed on a parcel identification sign from 3 tenants to 6 tenants if the center is 10 acres and greater and to 4 tenants if the center is less than 10 acres.
• Continue to allow one parcel identification sign per street frontage but allow a second parcel identification on the same street frontage provided the other street frontage has no parcel identification sign. The total sign area for both signs combined on one street frontage shall not exceed the maximum sign area allowed.
• Increase the maximum allowed sign area from 200 square feet to 240 square feet for centers that are 10 acres and greater.
• Allow 32 square feet of sign area to be exempt from the maximum sign area to allow the name of the center to be advertised on the parcel identification sign.
• Increase the number of tenants from 2 to 3 on monument signs for multi-tenant office professional business or industrial centers.
The amendment would not change how the size of the sign is determined for a property. The city would still use a 1:1 ratio meaning one square foot of sign per lineal foot of property street frontage. The only change to the size is the maximum allowed sign area increases to 240 square feet from 200 square feet for centers 10 acres and greater. All other commercial properties would still be limited to the 200 square foot maximum sign area. The amendment does not change the height of parcel identification signs which is 15 feet but can go up to 40 feet for properties contiguous to a freeway.
Section 17.74.150 was also amended to show the applicable changes reflected in Table 1 Parcel Identification.
The language in Section 17.74.170, Non-conforming and Abandoned Signs, is also being amended to protect signs that were permitted (or grandfathered) under previously adopted regulations that may no longer exist. An existing sign that was permitted under previous regulations would be allowed to continue and altered provided that the location of the sign is protected in place. However, if the sign is relocated the current signage provisions at the time of relocation would apply.
COMMITTEE ACTION:
At the request of Councilmember Wes Speake, the city’s sign ordinance was set for discussion at the Infrastructure Committee at its meeting on January 9, 2019. The discussion centered on the city’s regulations for commercial center pylon signs that are not located within specific plans and governed by the city’s municipal code under Chapter 17.74. The purpose of the discussion was to provide more opportunity for tenant identification signage on the freestanding pylon signs located along street frontages.
The proposed amendment was discussed at a subsequent Infrastructure Committee at its meeting on February 6, 2019. The Committee expressed a 50/50 split on the proposed changes with Councilmember Speake in support of the changes and Mayor Scott being neutral. The Mayor indicated he needed to understand visually how much bigger the pylon sign would look with the proposed changes. Exhibit B within the attached Planning and Housing Commission staff report provides a visual comparison of a parcel identification sign with three tenants and six tenants. The attached Planning and Housing Commission staff report also provides the background information on the research done for the proposed amendment.
STRATEGIC PLAN:
Not applicable.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The amendment was initiated by the city. Therefore, no application fees are associated with this amendment.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Per Section 15061 of the State Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Section 3.07 of the City’s Local CEQA Guidelines, ZTA2019-0001 is exempt from CEQA because the text changes to the CMC will not cause a significant effect on the environment and it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment. Therefore, a Notice of Exemption was prepared for the project.
PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION ACTION:
At its meeting of March 11, 2019, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Shah/Siqueland) and carried with Vice Chair Jones and Commissioner Norton absent, that the Planning and Housing Commission recommend approval of ZTA2019-0001 to the City Council, based on the findings contained in the Staff Report. The minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting are included as Exhibit 4.
PREPARED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
REVIEWED BY: KERRY D. EDEN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER/ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR
REVIEWED BY: MichELE NISSEN, ACTING CITY MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - City Ordinance No. 3294.
2. Exhibit 2 - Amendments to Chapter 17.74 (Redlined Version)
3. Exhibit 3 - Planning and Commission Staff Report.
4. Exhibit 4 - Draft Minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of March 11, 2019.
APPLICANT INFORMATION
City of Corona, 400 S. Vicentia Avenue, Corona, CA 92882