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 Ordinance No. 3269, first reading of an Ordinance of the City of Corona, California for SPA2018-0002 amending the North Main Street Specific Plan (SP99-01) to change the designation of 3.8 acres (located on the west side of North Main Street and north Parkridge Avenue) from Single-Family Condominium (SFC) to its previous designation of Commercial Retail (CR). (Applicant: Keith Osborn of K&A Engineering, Inc.)
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RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
1. Approve SPA2018-0002 as recommended by the Planning and Housing Commission.
2. Introduce by title only and waive full reading for consideration of Ordinance No. 3269, first reading of an ordinance approving an amendment to the North Main Street District Specific Plan (SP99-01) to change the land use designation for 3.8 acres of real property located on the west side of North Main Street and north of Parkridge Avenue from Single-Family Condominium (SFC) to Commercial Retail (CR). (SPA2018- 0002)
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ANALYSIS:
Specific Plan Amendment 2018-0002 is an application by Keith Osborn of K&A Engineering to amend the North Main Street Specific Plan to change the land use designation of 3.8 acres from Single Family Condominium (SFC) to Commercial Retail (CR) located on the west side of Main Street and north of Parkridge Avenue. The project site is vacant but is adjacent and near to other commercial land uses located within the specific plan. At the time of the adoption of the North Main Street Specific Plan the project site was designated CR. On February 5, 2014, the City Council approved an amendment to the specific plan to change the land use designation on the subject site from CR (Commercial Retail) to SFC (Single-Family Condominium) and to amend specific plan text to introduce development standards and design guidelines for single family attached condominiums/townhome product types. The purpose of the specific plan amendment, SPA13-002, 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 General Plan amendment (GPA13-005) along with a precise plan (PP13-007) and a condominium map (TTM 36642) were approved with SPA13-002.
Since the approval of the previous amendments and entitlements, the property owners have faced difficulties in securing a quality residential builder to construct the townhomes on the subject property. However, there has been an increased interest in commercial development by commercial developers on the project site. As such, the applicant is seeking to revert the site’s zoning designation from its current SFC designation to CR which would allow the site to be developed for commercial. For consistency purposes, the applicant is also amending the site’s General Plan designation from its current MDR (Medium Density Residential) designation to GC (General Commercial).
The specific plan amendment also includes various text and graphical changes throughout the specific plan document as a result of the change in the land use on the 3.8 acres.
SPA2018-0002 is consistent with 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, and 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 $5,672.00 in application processing fees for the specific 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.
SPA2018-0002 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, SPA 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 (Siqueland/Jones) and carried unanimously with Commissioner Shah absent that the Planning and Housing Commission recommend approval of SPA2018-0002 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, 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 Ordinance No. 3269.
2. Exhibit 2 - Locational and Zoning Map.
3. Exhibit 3 - Planning and Housing Commission Staff Report.
4. Exhibit 4 - 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)