AGENDA REPORT
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 4/17/2019
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Community Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
Public Hearing for City Council consideration of Resolution No. 2019-013 for GPA2018-0002, approving an amendment to the City’s General Plan to change the land use designation for 3.8 acres of real property (located on the west side of North Main Street, north of Parkridge Avenue) from (Medium Density Residential (MDR) to General Commercial (GC). (Applicant: Keith Osborn of K&A Engineering, Inc.)
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RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
1. Approve GPA2018-0002 as recommended by the Planning and Housing Commission, based on the analysis and findings contained in the staff report.
2. Adopt Resolution No. 2019-013, approving an amendment to the City’s General Plan to change the land use designation for 3.8 acres of real property (located on the west side of North Main Street, north of Parkridge Avenue) from (Medium Density Residential (MDR) to General Commercial (GC) and implement corresponding changes to associated text and exhibits within the General Plan as part of Cycle 1 of the General Plan Amendment for 2019. (GPA2018-0002)
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ANALYSIS:
GPA2018-0002 is an application by Keith Osborn of K&A Engineering, Inc., on behalf of the property owners to change the General Plan designation of the 3.8 acres from MDR (Medium Density Residential) to its previous designation of GC (General Commercial) located on the west side of Main Street north of Parkridge Avenue.
The project site is located within the boundaries of the North Main Street Specific Plan and is an in-fill site surrounded by existing developed commercial, office, light industrial, and mobile home park uses. The properties immediately south and located east beyond Main Street are designated GC and Mixed Use I (MU I - Commercial/Residential) on the General Plan and contain existing commercial buildings.
The abutting property to the north of the project site is located within the jurisdiction of the City of Norco. The property is developed with a Riverside County Department of Public Social Services office building and is designated as Specific Plan with a zoning of Commercial District on Norco’s General Plan and zoning maps, respectively.
On February 5, 2014, the City Council approved an amendment to the City’s General Plan to change the land use designation on the subject site from GC (General Commercial) to MDR (Medium Density Residential, 6-15 du/ac). The purpose of the General Plan amendment, GPA13-005, was to enable the development of a 45-unit attached townhome project on the site. To facilitate the development of the 45-unit townhomes, a specific plan amendment (SPA13-002) along with a precise plan (PP13-007) and a condominium map (TTM 36642) were approved with GPA13-005.
Since the approval of the aforementioned amendments and entitlements, the property owners have faced difficulties in securing a quality residential builder to construct the townhomes on the subject property. However, the property owner has had increased interest in commercial development by commercial developers on the project site. As such, the applicant is seeking to revert the site’s General Plan designation from its current MDR designation to GC which would allow the site to be developed for commercial.
GPA 2018-0002 is consistent with the General Plan Goal 1.18 which promotes the enhancement of the North Main Street corridor as a vital center of professional offices, entertainment, and retail activity. The amendment is also consistent with General Plan Policy 1.18.1 which accommodates the development of entertainment/specialty retail, commercial retail, service commercial, business park, industrial, and mixed uses in accordance with the North Main Street’s land use plan’s designations and applicable density standards and design and development policies.
COMMITTEE ACTION:
The Infrastructure Committee at its meeting on December 6, 2017, discussed the potential of changing the land use of the site to commercial. The Committee did not object to the site being reverted to commercial.
STRATEGIC PLAN:
Not applicable.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid $7,359.86 in application processing fees for the General Plan amendment.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Pursuant to § 15183 of the State CEQA Guidelines, a project which is consistent with the development density established by existing zoning, community plan or general plan policies for which an EIR was certified shall not require additional environmental review, except as might be necessary to examine whether there are project specific significant effects which are peculiar to the project or its site. The project site is part of the North Main Street Specific Plan in which an EIR was certified by the City Council on January 5, 2000 for the North Main Street District Specific Plan and Corona Entertainment Center. The North Main Street Specific Plan designated the site Commercial Retail (CR) and the General Plan designation was General Commercial at the time of its approval. Subsequently, an amendment to the North Main Street Specific Plan was approved to change certain land uses within the plan to accommodate Urban Density Residential Development and Mixed Use (residential/commercial) land uses on certain properties. An EIR for the North Main Street Specific Plan Amendment was prepared and certified by the City on November 5, 2008. The project site at that time was designated CR by the specific plan and GC by the General Plan. Therefore, the build out condition considered for the specific plan took into consideration the project site’s commercial designation.
GPA2018-0002 does not change the analysis that was considered under the previously certified North Main Street District Specific Plan and Corona Entertainment Center EIR and North Main Street Specific Plan Amendment EIR, as the commercial land use being proposed is the same commercial land use that previously existed on the property. Therefore, GPA 2018-0002 is exempt from further environmental review and a Notice of Exemption was prepared.
PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION ACTION:
At its meeting of March 25, 2019, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Jones/Norton) and carried unanimously with Commissioner Shah absent, that the Planning and Housing Commission recommend approval of GPA2018-0002 to the City Council, based on the findings contained in the staff report, and adopt Resolution No. 2532 granting GPA2018-0002 as part of Cycle 1 of the General Plan Amendments for 2019. The minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting are included as Exhibit 5.
PREPARED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
REVIEWED BY: KERRY D. EDEN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER/ADMINISTRATIVE SERVICES DIRECTOR
REVIEWED BY: MichELE NISSEN, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
SUBMITTED BY: MITCHELL LANSDELL, ACTING CITY MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - City Resolution No. 2019-013.
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 March 25, 2019.
APPLICANT INFORMATION
Keith Osborn of K&A Engineering, Inc., 357 North Sheridan Street, Suite 117, Corona, CA 92880