PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION
STAFF REPORT
DATE: 8/26/2019
TO: Honorable Chair and Commissioners
FROM: Community Development Department
APPLICATION REQUEST:
Title
PP2019-0003: A precise plan application to review the site plan and architecture of two medical office buildings totaling 58,900 square feet on 3.48 acres located on the south side of West 6th Street between Sheridan Street and Belle Avenue in the Downtown District zone of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan (SP98-01) (Applicant: Richard Boureston, Boureston Development, 650 Town Center Drive, Suite 890, Costa Mesa, CA 92626)
End
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the Planning and Housing Commission adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Plan and adopt Resolution No. 2539 GRANTING PP2019-0003 based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval.
Body
PROJECT SITE SUMMARY
Area of property: 3.48 acres combined (13 properties)
Existing General Plan: MUD (Mixed Use: Downtown)
LDR (Low Density Residential, 3-6 du/ac)
OP (Office Professional)
Proposed General Plan: MUD (Mixed Use: Downtown)
OP (Office Professional)
Specific Plan: Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan (SP98-01)
Existing Zoning: D (Downtown District)
SF (Single Family District)
CS (Community Services District)
Proposed Zoning: D (Downtown District)
Existing Land Use: Vacant land and parking lot
Proposed Land Use: Medical office buildings
Surrounding Land Uses / Zoning:
S: Parking lot for the Corona Regional Medical Center / CS District of SP98-01
N: Sixth Street and commercial buildings beyond / D District of SP98-01
E: Tire shop, Belle Avenue, and Corona Public Library beyond / D and CS Districts of SP98-01
W: Sheridan Street and automobile dealership and single-family residences beyond / TC and SF (Transitional Commercial and Single Family Districts) of SP98-01
BACKGROUND
The project site is comprised of two blocks containing 13 parcels located on the south side of West 6th Street between Sheridan Street and Belle Avenue. The two blocks are physically separated by 7th Street which will be vacated adjacent to the project site so that the land area can be included as part of the project’s on-site improvements. Two alleys which are located between the parcels will also be vacated adjacent to the project site and included within the project boundary. In total, the project site is 3.48 acres which will be developed with two medical office buildings totaling 58,900 square feet. The development also includes on-site parking to serve the buildings and on-street parking located on Belle Avenue adjacent to the project site.
The project site consists of 12 vacant parcels and one developed parcel containing a parking lot for the Corona Public Library which is located east of the project site. The parking lot and the adjacent vacant property (315 W. 7th Street) located directly west of the parking lot are currently under the ownership of the City of Corona. The remaining 11 vacant parcels are under the ownership of the Corona Housing Authority.
On November 7, 2018, the city entered into a Development and Disposition Agreement with the applicant, Boureston Companies, to allow the applicant to acquire the 11 properties owned by the Corona Housing Authority. The applicant is also acquiring the two city-owned properties. All 13 properties are currently under escrow and, per the terms of the Agreement, the sale of the properties will be finalized once the applicant has obtained project approval.
The Agreement establishes certain milestones for the construction of the project which will be phased. Phase 1 will be the construction of Building A which is located closest to Sixth Street and Phase 2 will be the construction of Building B which is located on the southern portion of the project site closest to the Corona Regional Medical Center. The Agreement requires the applicant to complete construction of the building associated with Phase 1 and all necessary related off-site public improvements within 36 months after the close of escrow. The building associated with Phase 2 is required to be completed within 36 months of the first certificate of occupancy issued for the building in Phase 1. However, the Agreement does not prevent the applicant from constructing both buildings at the same time under Phase 1. Building A is intended to be occupied by City of Hope, a cancer treatment center. Building B will be a medical office building occupied by multiple tenants specializing in specific medical practices.
To make up for the loss of the 49 parking spaces within the library’s off-site parking lot, the city will be entering into a shared parking agreement with the applicant to allow library patrons to utilize the new on-street parking spaces proposed on Belle Avenue which will have 54 parking spaces. Library patrons will be able to utilize the parking spaces during the evenings and weekends when the library is heavily trafficked. This agreement was discussed at the Infrastructure Committee meeting on July 31, 2017. The Committee was receptive to the proposed on-street parking as it would provide parking that is much needed, and the spaces are also at a safe walking distance to the library. The Committee also discussed the appearance of the buildings from Sixth Street with then-Council Member Jason Scott directing that if the rear elevations of the buildings face Sixth Street they should receive as much architectural detail along the backs as the fronts.
The 13 parcels have varied General Plan land use designations and zoning under the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan. Due to this, the project requires a General Plan Amendment (GPA2019-0001) which would bring each parcel into one General Plan designation under the project’s proposed parcel map application (PM 37565). Parcel 1 will maintain its existing General Plan designation of Mixed Use Downtown and Parcel 2 is proposed to have a General Plan designation of Office Professional. The area for Parcel 2 contains two General Plan designations of Low Density Residential and Office Professional. Therefore, to facilitate the creation of the new parcel being created by Parcel Map 37565, the parcel needs to have one General Plan designation. A Specific Plan Amendment (SPA2019-0001) is also being processed to bring all the parcels into one consistent zoning. Additionally, the project requires a precise plan (PP2019-0003) to review the site plan and architecture of the project.
The project was initially reviewed by staff through the city’s Development Plan Review (DPR) process in November 2018. The applicant officially submitted the GPA, SPA, parcel map, and precise plan applications to the city on March 15, 2019. The applicant was issued an application incomplete letter due to missing or incomplete application items. The applicant over time submitted the required application materials to staff with the applications finally considered complete on July 23, 2019, and cleared for public hearing before the Planning and Housing Commission on August 26, 2019.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Site Plan
The project site is comprised of two parcels as proposed by PM 37565 (Exhibits A and C). The site is bounded by 6th Street, Sheridan Street, and Belle Avenue to the north, west, and east, respectively. Abutting the northeast perimeter of the site is a tire shop business and abutting the south perimeter is a parking lot for the Corona Regional Medical Center. Building A is proposed on the northwest corner of Parcel 1 near Sixth Street. Building B is proposed on the southeast corner of Parcel 2 near Belle Avenue. The parking lot associated with the buildings extends across both parcels and will be shared. Additional on-street parking spaces are located on Belle Avenue adjacent to the project site. Pedestrian access is provided from the adjacent streets to the buildings via sidewalks that lead to the entrances of the buildings.
The Specific Plan prescribes minimum yard setbacks for the front, street side, interior side, and rear yards which are 8 feet, 8 feet, zero feet, and 10 feet. In determining which perimeter is considered the front yard for each parcel, the Corona Municipal Code defines the lot frontage as the portion of the lot that abuts a public street, but if the lot abuts two or more streets then the front yard would be the narrowest portion of the lot that abuts the street. Based on this definition, the front yard of Parcel 1 is the perimeter that fronts Belle Avenue since this portion of the lot is narrower than the other two other portions on 6th Street and Sheridan Street. This makes the west perimeter which abuts Sheridan Street the rear yard. Parcel 2 has street frontages along Belle Avenue and Sheridan Street which are equal in width making either portion the front yard, but since both parcels are being developed together staff is considering the perimeter that fronts Belle Avenue as the front yard and the perimeter on Sheridan Street as the rear yard to be consistent with Parcel 1.
As proposed, the project is capable of complying with the required perimeter setbacks, except for the rear yard setback along Sheridan Street. The applicant’s site plan shows Building A and the parking lot encroaching into the rear yard setback by two feet. To address the two-foot encroachment, the applicant applied for and obtained approval of a minor variance to allow for the two-foot reduction. The minor variance, VMIN2019-0003, was approved by the Zoning Administrator on June 13, 2019. Section 17.99.060(A)(3) of the Corona Municipal Code allows for the minor reduction of yards by not more than 20 percent of that required in the subject zone. The applicant’s justification for the variance was based on the site’s infill location and surrounding land uses which impacted the layout of the buildings. Located to the west of the site beyond Sheridan Street is an automobile dealership with residential homes that front Sheridan Street. In order to reduce the project’s potential noise and visual impacts to these residences, Building A is being placed near Sixth Street and is situated between the dealership to the west and a tire shop to the east. Building B is being placed near Belle Avenue away from the residences. This layout would be least impactful to the residences as the buildings are not situated directly in front of the residences, but in order for the applicant to maintain this layout a two-foot encroachment into the setback area along Sheridan Street is necessary to allow for the placement of Building A on the northern and narrower portion of the site. The northern portion of the site also accommodates the site’s primary driveway on 6th Street which further restricts this area. The 6th Street access is intended to minimize vehicular traffic entering the site from Sheridan Street where the residences are located. A two-foot encroachment along the same setback by the remainder of the site is also necessary in order to accommodate the placement of Building B in this area in addition to the required parking and adequate drive aisle widths. It is worth noting that the setback reduction for Building A applies only to 50 percent of the building’s total length as the balance of the building is set back 11.5 feet from the property line on Sheridan Street. Building A is designed to have no entrances or exits on Sheridan Street.
A loading space for parcel delivery trucks is proposed on the south side of Building A next to a row of parking spaces. A five-foot wide landscape planter is required to be provided between the loading space and nearest parking stall. The additional planter will result in the elimination of a parking stall; however, this should not be an issue as the site is sufficiently overparked by 30 spaces.
Floor Plan
The floor plan for Building A is attached as Exhibit D1. Building A has two floors with an overall building area of 32,500 square feet. Primary access into Building A is located on the east side of the building. A secondary entrance is located on the south side for employees and an exit is located at the northwest corner of the building. The two vaults that are depicted on the ground floor of Building A will house linear accelerator equipment to be used by the building’s only tenant, City of Hope, for cancer therapy.
Exhibit D2 depicts the floor plan for Building B, which also has two floors but is slightly smaller than Building A with a building area of 27,325 square feet. Primary access into Building B is located on the north side of the building. A secondary entrance is located on the west and east sides of the building. As previously indicated, Building B will be occupied by more than one medical tenant.
Architecture
The medical office buildings are subject to the architectural design guidelines of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan, which recognizes that the Downtown area has been shaped by different eras and maintains various architectural styles. To ensure that new developments are well designed and that new buildings are architecturally compatible with other existing buildings in the project area, the Specific Plan prescribes four architectural themes for new development within the Downtown District which are Spanish Colonial, Mediterranean, Commercial Block, and Classic. The Specific Plan also requires new buildings in the Downtown District to incorporate historical architectural elements to retain/restore historic or memorable features that are significant to the downtown fabric. However, new buildings are not required to replicate the architecture of the existing historic building.
Each building is two stories and designed within the Commercial Block style. The front entrance is recessed and flanked by large windows in a traditional transitional order with transom window panels. The second floor has individual window panels and sash mullions. The window panels are separated with pillars in the commercial two-story style. The entry has a raised element with an extended cornice. In keeping with the Commercial Block massing and design, the buildings’ two-story wall panel has a cornice with an accent relief panel below. Brick is used at the entry and along the corners only on the first floor, as this design is common on historic buildings to give the buildings a visual base. The colors of the brick have tan, brown, and yellow hues which are historically common colors. The buildings have a combination of vertical and horizontal elements with a flat roof that give the elevations a grid-like look that is common with the Commercial Block style. Each building is approximately 40 feet in height which is within the maximum allowable building height limit of 60 feet. Elevations of the buildings are attached as Exhibits E, F, G, and H. A letter submitted by the applicant addressing the architecture’s consistency with the Specific Plan is attached as Exhibit I.
Trash Enclosure
Two trash enclosures are proposed for the project and placed near employee access doors for accessibility. One is located near the south side of Building A. The other is located at the south perimeter on the west side of Building B. Each trash enclosure is designed to accommodate two wastes bins and is required to be constructed of decorative block with metal swing gates.
Landscaping
The project’s conceptual landscape plan is attached as Exhibit J. The plan proposes a mixture of deciduous, evergreen, and palm trees which will be installed around the perimeters of the development, buildings, and throughout the parking lot. The tree palette includes several brightly colored flowering trees to enhance the development. The grounds will be further enhanced with a variety of shrubs and groundcover. Street trees are required to be installed within the parkways along Sheridan Street and Belle Avenue. All plant materials are drought tolerant and the irrigation system shall be water efficient as required by the city’s landscape ordinance. Landscape plans will be reviewed by the applicable city departments for compliance with the landscape ordinance during the plancheck process.
Signage
Per the sign regulations established by the Specific Plan for the Downtown District, the development is allowed to have one monument style sign on each perimeter that fronts a street; however, only one monument sign is currently proposed on 6th Street by the driveway based on the applicant’s site plan and conceptual sign program in Exhibit K. The monument sign is 6 feet in height and includes 12-inch decorative stone base. The sign face is approximately 57 square feet and has four tenant panels with City of Hope occupying the largest panel. The Downtown District permits monument signs up to a maximum height of 3 feet and a maximum sign area of 24 square feet with no more than four tenants. Since the applicant’s sign exceeds the height and size limit, the applicant is required to make the necessary revisions to the monument sign prior to obtaining a permit for the sign. Also, the sign is depicted partially within the public right-of-way and corner cut-off area adjacent to the driveway. Therefore, the applicant is required to revise the sign’s location to be behind the property line and outside of the corner cut-off area as required under CMC Sections 17.70.030. 17.70.050. This ensures that the sign will not create an obstruction for drivers at the driveway. Since there are no residential land uses on the north side of Sixth Street, the monument sign may be internally illuminated. If additional monument signs are proposed on Belle Avenue or Sheridan Street, the signs shall also comply with the same height and size limitations established for Downtown District and corner cut-off regulations. However, any sign proposed on Sheridan Street shall not be internally illuminated. Diffused methods of lighting such ground mounted lighting may be permitted.
Building signage is proposed on all four sides of each buildings as shown by the sign program. Each building will be restricted to having signage on no more than three sides per the sign regulations for the Downtown District. On each side where signage is proposed, the maximum allowable size of the sign is based on a ratio of one square foot of sign area per one lineal foot of building frontage up to maximum of 150 square feet.
Conditions of approval have been added to the Conditions of Approval in Exhibit B requiring revisions to the sign program as discussed in this section. The revisions will be reviewed by the appropriate city department for compliance with the Specific Plan prior to issuance of a sign permit.
ACCESS AND PARKING
Parcel 1 will have access from 6th Street and Sheridan Street. Parcel 2 will have access from Belle Avenue. However, the access and parking for both parcels will be shared for the two buildings planned on the project site.
Per Section 17.76.030 of the Corona Municipal Code, medical offices are required to provide parking at a ratio of one parking space per 200 square feet of building area. Based on the square footages of the buildings, the project is required to have 255 parking spaces total. As shown by the applicant’s site plan, the project is providing 231 parking on site and 54 on-street parking spaces on Belle Avenue. In total, 285 parking spaces are provided. Table A summarizes the project’s parking requirement.
Table A
Parking Summary
|
Use |
Building Area (Net Sq. Ft.) |
Parking Ratio |
Parking Required |
Parking Provided |
|
Building A - Medical Office Building |
27,325 sq. ft. |
1/200 |
137 |
--- |
|
Building B - Medical Office Building |
23,600 sq. ft. |
1/200 |
118 |
--- |
|
TOTAL |
|
|
255 |
285 |
PUBLIC IMPROVEMENTS
Public improvements are required for the south half-width of 6th Street along the project site’s frontage. The south half-width of Sixth Street from the centerline to the right-of-way line is required to be 50 feet. Currently, the south half-width is 40 feet; therefore, the applicant is required to dedicate an additional 10 feet of public right-of-way along the project’s street frontage where insufficient right-of-way exists. This dedication is being provided by Parcels C and D. The applicant is also required to construct the necessary public improvements including curb and gutter, a 7-foot wide sidewalk and 10-foot landscape parkway along this frontage.
Sheridan Street is required to be widened to have an overall right-of-way width of 60 feet which shall include a paved roadway width of 40 feet curb to curb and a 10-foot wide parkway for landscaping and sidewalk on both sides of the street. The improvements on the west half of Sheridan Street between 6th Street and 7th Street shall include space for a new bus stop for the Corona Cruiser. Beyond 7th Street to the south, the improvements will transition to match the existing conditions on the west half-width of Sheridan Street. The east half-width of Sheridan Street is required to be improved with curb and gutter plus a 5-foot wide landscape parkway and a 5-foot wide sidewalk adjacent to the project site.
Belle Avenue is required to have an overall right-of-way width of 80 feet with 28 feet of paved roadway that will have unobstructed access. The street will be modified to include angled parking spaces on both sides of the street (Exhibit M). Beyond the 28-foot wide roadway a paved width of 19.7 feet will be provided on both sides of the street to accommodate the on-street angled parking design. The parkway width on Belle Avenue adjacent to the project site will include a 5-foot wide landscape parkway and a 4-foot wide sidewalk. The parkway width on the east side of the street will include a 6-foot wide sidewalk and no landscape parkway.
OTHER CONSIDERATIONS
The section of 7th Street between Sheridan Street and Belle Avenue and the two existing 16-foot wide alleys located between Sheridan Street and the project site’s east property line and between 7th Street and the site’s south property line will be vacated by separate instrument in order for these areas to be included within the project boundary. The alley having access from Sheridan Street is located within Parcel 1 and the alley having access from 7th Street is located within Parcel 2. It is worth mentioning that this alley used to extend southward but the southerly portion was vacated as part of the expansion to the Corona Regional Medical Center and is now part of the hospital’s parking lot. For the alley that is located within Parcel 1, the applicant intends to transfer the portion of the alley that borders the south side of the adjacent commercial property (tire shop) located at the corner of 6th Street and Belle Avenue to the owner of the commercial property which will allow the tire shop to continue to utilize the alley.
The Corona Cruiser Blue and Red Line routes currently run on Belle Avenue and on the roadway section of 7th Street that is proposed to be vacated with this project. Since this section of 7th Street is to be vacated, the bus routes are being rerouted from Belle Avenue to Sixth Street and to Sheridan Street as shown in Exhibit L. To accommodate the change in the route, a new bus stop will be placed on 6th Street going eastbound and another one on Sheridan Street going southbound. The remainder of the route will be protected in place as the route will continue to travel on Sheridan Street beyond the project site.
Due to the existing residences that are located to the west of the project site beyond Sheridan Street, the project is required to submit to the city a photometric analysis demonstrating the project’s compliance with CMC Section 17.84.070 which requires exterior lighting including building and parking lot lighting to be designed to direct light downward with minimal spillover onto the nearby residential properties. This requirement is discussed in the project’s Mitigated Negative Declaration under the Aesthetics section and is a mitigation measure (Exhibit M). The photometric analysis is required to be submitted to the city prior to issuance of a building permit.
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. The Mitigation Negative Declaration is recommended for adoption (Exhibit O).
FISCAL IMPACT
The applicant paid $6,854.00 in application processing fees for the precise plan application.
PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENTS
A 20-day public notice was mailed to all property owners within a 500-foot radius of the project site, as well as advertised in the Sentinel Weekly News and posted at the project site. As of the preparation of this report, staff has received calls from two property owners of two residential properties located on Sheridan Street south of Eighth Street. The property owners requested clarification on the location and use of the project with one property owner expressing support for having the City of Hope in Corona.
Staff also received a letter of protest from Mr. John Vazirian who owns the automobile dealership and three residential properties located to the west of the project site. The letter is attached in Exhibit P. Mr. Vazirian’s concern is related to the design of the project. He indicates in his letter that Building A would visually obstruct his business and future commercial development on his properties from Sixth Street. His letter includes three site plans depicting alternative layouts of Building A that would reduce visual impacts to his properties. Staff has spoken to Mr. Vazirian and informed him that his properties including the residential properties are zoned Transitional Commercial which requires only an 8-foot front yard setback. Therefore, any future commercial development proposed on his properties could be built as close as 8 feet from the Sixth Street right-of-way line. This setback is closer to Sixth Street than the setback that is being proposed for Building A which is designed to have a 10-foot setback from Sixth Street with the majority of the building being set back 20 feet from Sixth Street. Also, the medical office buildings could be built up to a height of 60 feet which is allowed in the Downtown District but the applicant has chosen to design them as two-story buildings with a height of approximately 40 feet. It is also worth mentioning that this segment of 6th Street is intended for commercial development and the city’s development standards do not require the preservation or protection of views along the street from certain distances. The development standards are adopted by the city to provide equal application of the standards to all property owners that develop their property in accordance with the zoning of the property.
STAFF ANALYSIS
The applicant’s proposed project is consistent with the Downtown District of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan and General Plan designation of Mixed Use Downtown and Office Professional. The project is consistent with several General Plan policies that promote growth and development in the city, a well-designed development that enhances the historic character of the Downtown, and having various land uses to help sustain Corona as a cohesive and self-sustaining community. The project is also consistent with several land use and design polices established by the Specific Plan that promote transit and pedestrian-oriented developments in the Downtown area, medical and professional offices uses within the southwest quadrant of the Grand Boulevard, and the preservation of the city’s historic heritage through architecture.
The project includes architecture that is consistent with the Design Guidelines for the Downtown District within the Grand Boulevard Circle. The design of the buildings are aesthetically attractive, utilizes quality building materials, and retains historic elements and design features that reflect the historic character of the area. Furthermore, the development is enhanced by landscaping and provides sufficient on-site parking as well as on-street parking which will be shared with patrons visiting the Corona Library. The on-street parking creates a downtown quality for the area as it provides parking that is in safe walking distance to other buildings. The developer is responsible for the construction of missing Street improvements on Sixth Street, Sheridan Street, and Belle Avenue adjacent to the site. Therefore, based on the following findings and conditions of approval in Exhibit B, PP2019-0003 is recommended for approval.
FINDINGS OF APPROVAL FOR PP2019-0003
1. An initial study (environmental assessment) has been conducted by the City of Corona so as to evaluate the potential for adverse environmental impacts. The initial study identifies potentially significant effects on the environment, but:
a. The project applicant has agreed to revise the project to avoid these significant effects or to mitigate the effects to a point where it is clear that no significant effects would occur, as reflected in the Conditions of Approval attached as Exhibit B.
b. There is no substantial evidence before the City that the revised project may have a significant effect.
2. All the conditions necessary to granting a Precise Plan as set forth in Section 17.91 of the Corona Municipal Code do exist in reference to PP2019-0003 for the following reasons:
a. The proposal is consistent with the General Plan designation of Mixed Use Downtown and Office/Professional which are being proposed for the project site by associated General Plan Amendment application GPA2019-0001. The project is also consistent with the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan’s designation of Downtown District which is being proposed for the project site by associated Specific Plan Amendment application SPA2019-0001.
b. The proposal complies with the use, design guidelines, and development standards of the Downtown District zone and the applicable provisions of the Corona Municipal Code in conjunction with the project’s minor variance application to allow for a two-foot reduction along the rear yard along Sheridan Street.
c. A Mitigated Negative Declaration was prepared for the project pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act to ensure development of the proposed project will not significantly impact the environment of the subject site and surrounding community.
d. The site is of a sufficient size and configuration to accommodate the design and scale of proposed development, including buildings and elevations, landscaping, parking and other physical features of the proposal, as demonstrated in Exhibit A of this report.
e. The design, scale and layout of the proposed development will not unreasonably interfere with the use and enjoyment of neighboring existing or future developments, will not create traffic or pedestrian hazards, and will not otherwise have a negative impact on the aesthetics, health, safety or welfare of neighboring uses because the proposal complies with the City’s development standards for the Downtown District and the applicable standards under the Corona Municipal Code.
f. The architectural design of the proposed development is compatible with the character of the surrounding neighborhood, will enhance the visual character of the neighborhood by improving vacant undeveloped and underutilized properties and will provide for harmonious, orderly and attractive development of the site. The architecture also preserves the historic character of the Downtown area by incorporating historic elements and features as required by the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan.
g. The design of the proposed development will provide a desirable environment for its occupants and visiting public as well as its neighbors through good aesthetic use of materials, texture, and color that is aesthetically appealing and will retain a reasonably adequate level of maintenance.
3. The proposal is consistent with the General Plan for the following reasons:
a. The project is consistent with Land Use Policies 1.1.1 and 1.1.2 in that it supports the diverse needs of Corona’s residents by accommodating a use that will help sustain Corona as a cohesive, distinct, and self-sustaining community, and minimize the need for Corona’s residents to travel to surrounding communities for services and employment.
b. The project is consistent with Growth and Development Policy 1.4.3 as it would allow for the development of vacant lands within the City on the periphery of existing development that complements the scale and pattern of existing uses, protects development and population from natural hazards, and where it is logical and feasible to extend infrastructure improvements.
c. The project is consistent with Downtown Corona Policy 1.17.6 in that the project is designed with a centralized parking lot that can be shared by multiple tenants within the two medical office buildings.
d. The project is consistent with Downtown Corona Policy 1.17.7 in that it would allow for the development of a medical office park that is attractive in architectural design and landscaping and creates an image conducive to economic revitalization in accordance with the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan.
e. The project is consistent with Downtown Policy 1.17.15 in that the proposed buildings are designed to enhance the historic character of the Downtown area by being architecturally compatible with existing surrounding buildings.
4. The project is consistent with the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan for the following reasons:
a. The project conforms with the General Plan, Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan, and all relevant provisions of the Corona Municipal Code as demonstrated by the applicant’s plans herein.
b. The structures, site plan, and landscaping create an internal sense of order, provide a visually pleasing setting for occupants, visitors and the general community are appropriate to the function of the site, and provide safe and convenient access to the property for pedestrians, cyclists, and vehicles and comply with the intent of the design guidelines of the Downtown Corona Revitalization Specific Plan.
c. The proposed land use, structures, site plan, and landscaping are in scale and harmony with existing and future development adjacent to the site, and in the vicinity and with the land forms and vegetation in the vicinity of the site.
d. The project will not adversely affect the views, sunlight, or privacy of any nearby residences as the buildings are being placed on portions of the project site where they would not be located directly in front of the residences and the buildings’ main entrances are appropriately oriented away from the residences. Also, the development provides adequate buffering between residential and non-residential uses with Sheridan Street, building setbacks and landscaping, and otherwise is in the best interest of the public health, safety, and general welfare.
e. The design and location of the proposed signs are consistent with the character and scale of the buildings to which they are attached or which are located on the same site, and the signs are visually harmonious with the surrounding development as shown by the project’s sign program, and any illegal or non-conforming signs have been removed from the property.
REVIEWED BY: SANDRA YANG, SENIOR PLANNER
SUBMITTED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
EXHIBITS
1. Resolution No. 2359
2. Locational and Zoning Map
3. Exhibit A - Site Plan.
4. Exhibit B - Conditions of Approval.
5. Exhibit C - Parcel Map 37565.
6. Exhibit D1-D2 - Floor Plans.
7. Exhibit E - Colored Elevations for Building A.
8. Exhibit F - Colored Elevations for Building B.
9. Exhibit G - Detailed Elevations for Building A.
10. Exhibit H - Detailed Elevations for Building B.
11. Exhibit I - Applicant’s letter dated June 6, 2019, addressing the architecture of the buildings.
12. Exhibit J - Landscape Plan.
13. Exhibit K - Sign Program.
14. Exhibit L - Proposed Corona Cruiser Bus Route Change.
15. Exhibit M - Angled parking design on Belle Avenue.
16. Exhibit N - Applicant’s letter dated March 15, 2019, addressing criteria for Precise Plans.
17. Exhibit O - Environmental Documentation.
18. Exhibit P - Public Correspondence.
Case Planner: Sandra Yang (951) 736-2262