AGENDA REPORT
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 08/05/2020
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Community Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
City Council consideration of CUP2019-0008, a Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application, to construct a 2,650 square foot restaurant with drive-through service within a proposed 5,182 square foot multi-tenant commercial building on 1.11 acres located on the north side of Parkridge Avenue and west of Main Street in the Commercial Retail (CR) District of the North Main Street Specific Plan. (Applicant: Chris Costanzo, Costanzo Investments, LLC.)
End
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Take no action, thereby affirming the Planning and Housing Commission’s action granting CUP2019-0008, based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval.
OR
b. Set the item for review at a subsequent meeting.
Body
ANALYSIS:
Conditional Use Permit 2019-0008 (CUP2019-0008) is an application to establish a 2,650 square foot restaurant with drive-through service for The Habit. The tenant space for The Habit is part of a multiple tenant building that proposes to allow another restaurant use that will only allow dine-in or walk-in take-out service. The second tenant space within the building is 2,532 square feet. The project site is 1.11 acres and is part of a proposal for a new commercial center on 4.49 acres located on the west side of Main Street and north of Parkridge Avenue. The zoning of the project site is Commercial Retail (CR) of the N. Main Street Specific Plan (SP99-01) and the General Plan designation is General Commercial (GC).
Site plan
The site plan for the proposed restaurant is shown in conjunction with other commercial buildings proposed as part of the new commercial center. The restaurant site will occupy 1.11 acres of a 4.49-acre commercial site that also includes two additional freestanding buildings for an additional restaurant and a carwash. The carwash building is 3,596 square feet and the other restaurant building with a drive-through service is 3,761 square feet. These buildings are located to the south and southeast of the restaurant pad for The Habit and will share driveway access into the center and parking. The restaurant pad is adjacent to street frontage on Main Street. The closest portion of the building to Main Street is set back approximately 28 feet from the property line meeting the minimum 10-foot building setback requirement of the specific plan.
The Habit will be located on the west side of the building with the drive-through pick-up window located on the west side. The entrance into the drive-through lane originates on the east side of the building and extends around the back of the building before reaching the pick-up window on the west side. Vehicles will exit into the parking lot. The drive-through lane has a queueing capacity for 14 vehicles from the entrance to the pick-up window. From the menu board, the queueing capacity is 9 vehicles meeting the municipal code requirement of 6 vehicle stacking spaces from the menu order board.
A trash enclosure is located to the south of the building in the parking lot. The applicant is coordinating with Waste Management to have trash pick-up occur during non-operating hours to avoid trash pick-up activities interfering with the operations of the business. The restaurant accommodates indoor and outdoor seating. The indoor area has a seating capacity for approximately 70 seats and the patio area is 250 square feet.
Operation
The restaurant intends to operate seven days a week between the hours of 10:00 a.m. to midnight.
Elevations
Each business that will be occupying the site will be constructing a building that reflects its company’s own brand in terms of design and colors. This is allowed by the North Main Street Specific Plan, which encourages diversity of form and design between buildings. The architecture for the multi-tenant building is contemporary and features a flat roofline that incorporates tower elements up to 25 feet in height. The design helps to break the massing of the building while screening rooftop mechanical equipment from view at ground level. The exterior colors are tan, adobe, white, and grey. All three buildings within the center are compatible with one another as they all have a contemporary style. The buildings feature similar rooflines and utilize similar combination of materials and finishes such as masonry, stucco, or plaster. Also, all three buildings feature neutral colors as the primary colors with dark and rich accent colors. Overall, the development conforms to the architectural guidelines of the North Main Street Specific Plan for commercial development in terms of materials, colors, and overall design.
Access, Circulation, and Parking
Vehicular access to the commercial site will be provided from Parkridge Avenue and Main Street via a 30-foot wide driveway proposed at each street frontage. Both driveways will have full turn-movements from the streets. Main Street has a two-way left-turn center lane that will allow for left turns in and out of the project site. Parkridge Avenue will be restriped to include a left-turn pocket in the center lane in front of the project driveway to allow for left turns into the project site. Left turns out of the project site will also be allowed on Parkridge Avenue.
The internal circulation consists of a central 30-foot wide drive aisle that extends from the Parkridge entrance to the Main Street entrance, which will provide access to each parcel within the site. The access and drive aisles will be shared among the businesses who will be occupying the site.
Per Corona Municipal Code (CMC) Section 17.76.030, restaurants are required to provide parking at a ratio of one space per 100 square feet of floor area. The project will share parking and access with the restaurant planned in the 3,761 square foot building proposed to the southeast. Based on the total building square footage intended for restaurants on the 4.49-acre site, the required parking is 99 spaces and 104 parking spaces are provided resulting in five excess spaces. Parking for the carwash is provided entirely on the carwash pad and not shared with the restaurants.
Landscaping
The development’s overall conceptual landscaping includes a variety of drought tolerant trees, shrubs, and groundcover that not only enhance the site but are also functional. Accent palm trees will be installed along both street frontages while the parking lots will have canopy type trees for shade and the buildings will be enhanced with accent trees. The main drive aisle and drive-through lanes will be lined with screen shrubs to help delineate each pad area and provide a buffer for headlights. Screen shrubs will also be installed between the streets and parking spaces for headlight buffering purposes. The on-site landscaping overall complies with the CMC and North Main Street Specific Plan for commercial developments.
Signage
The North Main Street Specific Plan permits commercial centers that are less than 15 acres in size to have one pylon per street frontage. Each pylon sign is allowed a maximum sign height of 30 feet, maximum sign width of 15 feet, and a maximum sign area of 220 square feet, which applies to the entire sign structure and not just the message area. One 20-foot high double-sided pylon sign with an overall size of 200 square feet is proposed on the Main Street frontage. A second identical sign is proposed on the Parkridge Avenue frontage. Each sign contains four tenant panels to accommodate the future users of the buildings. The sign cabinets will be internally illuminated during the nighttime hours. To reduce glare during the nighttime, the sign is conditioned to have an automatic nighttime dimmer installed.
Public Improvements
The project site is associated with Parcel Map 37747, which is being reviewed in conjunction with this CUP. PM 37747 creates the 1.11 acres for the restaurant site in addition to two other parcels for the two additional buildings planned within the commercial center. Therefore, the public improvements required along Main Street and Parkridge Avenue adjacent to the overall 4.49 acres will be done simultaneously. Main Street along the commercial center’s frontage is required to be widened by 20 feet to provide an overall right-of-way width of 100 feet, which includes 80 feet of paved roadway from curb to curb and parkways on both sides of the street. This widening will allow the construction of a third southbound lane on Main Street as this section of the street currently has only two southbound lanes. The required improvements include approximately 16 feet of paved roadway, curb and gutter, and a 10-foot wide parkway, which includes a 6-foot wide sidewalk and tree wells.
The section of Parkridge Avenue along the center’s frontage is required to be widened by 14 feet to provide an overall right-of-way width of 88 feet, which shall include 64 feet of paved roadway from curb to curb. This widening will allow for the construction of an additional westbound lane on Parkridge Avenue as this section of the street currently has only one westbound lane. The required improvements include 23 feet of paved roadway, curb and gutter, and a 12-foot wide landscape parkway, which includes a 6-foot wide sidewalk.
Additionally, the applicant is required to repave portions of Main Street to the satisfaction of the Public Works Department where trenching will occur for the installation of the 8-inch sewer line and water line within Main Street.
Also, a left-turn pocket is being added just beyond the intersection of Parkridge Avenue/Cota Street to allow a left-turn onto the project site, and the turn lanes on Parkridge Avenue/Main Street will be lengthened to accommodate more vehicle stacking space.
• The southbound left-turn pocket on Main Street at Parkridge Avenue is being increased from 105 feet to 220 feet in length to accommodate more stacking of vehicles.
• The eastbound left-turn pocket on Parkridge Avenue at Main Street will be increased from 85 feet to 230 feet in length to accommodate more stacking of vehicles.
• The westbound left-turn pocket on Parkridge Avenue at Main Street will be increased from 90 feet to 115 feet in length to accommodate more stacking of vehicles.
Traffic Impact Study
A Traffic Impact Study (TIS) was prepared by LSA Associates (June 2020) to analyze the traffic generated by the entire commercial development proposed on the 4.49 acres, which included the project site for the restaurant and drive-through service. The commercial center project was exempted from performing a Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) analysis because the project is considered a local-serving retail project that has less than 50,000 square feet of total building area.
The land uses anticipated on the 4.49 acres are expected to generate 2,356 total daily vehicle trips, with 40 total trips in the A.M. peak hour and 189 total trips in the P.M. peak hour. The intersections and roadway segments analyzed in the study are expected to operate at a satisfactory Level of Service (LOS) D or above at the time the project is in operation, which is anticipated to be year 2021. The City’s General Plan considers collector, secondary, and major arterials that operate at LOS D or above as an acceptable level of service. The analysis took into consideration the roadway improvements that will be completed as part of the project including the widening of Main and Parkridge adjacent to the project site.
A drive-through stacking analysis was also prepared for The Habit. Weekday and weekend stacking counts were collected from The Habit facility located in the City of Moreno Valley, which is similar in size to the project site. The stacking counts were collected on two typical weekdays (January 29 and 30, 2020) and two typical weekends (February 1 and 2, 2020) between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 midnight. The data was collected at five-minute intervals. The maximum queue observed at the Moreno Valley facility was 8 vehicles (January 29) and 7 vehicles (January 30) in the drive-through lane on the two weekdays, and 9 vehicles (February 1) and 8 vehicles (February 2) on the weekends. The proposed site plan for The Habit in Corona provides an approximate queuing space for 14 vehicles in the drive-through lane. Therefore, sufficient on-site vehicle queue storage is provided in the drive-through lane.
Consistency with the General Plan
The restaurant is consistent with the General Commercial designation of the General Plan that is established on the project site, which is intended for general commercial type uses. Also, the proposed use is consistent with the General Plan land use goals and policies established for the North Main Street area because it contributes to the revitalization and enhancement of the North Main Street corridor as a vital center for professional offices, entertainment, and retail activity with supportive commercial uses.
COMMITTEE ACTION:
Not applicable.
STRATEGIC PLAN:
Not applicable.
FISCAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid $6,547.00 in application processing fees for the Conditional Use Permit.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
The project is categorically exempted from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it qualifies as a Class 32 Infill Development project under Section 15332 of the CEQA Guidelines. The project qualifies as an exemption from CEQA because it is consistent with the project site’s General Commercial designation of the General Plan and Commercial Retail zoning, is less than five acres, has no value as habitat for endangered, threaten, or rare species, and would not result in any significant impacts relating to traffic, air, water quality, and noise, and the site can be adequately served by all required utilities and public services. Therefore, a Notice of Exemption was prepared.
PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION ACTION:
At its meeting of July 6, 2020, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Meza/Hooks) and carried unanimously, that the Planning and Housing Commission adopt Resolution No. 2545 granting CUP2019-0008, 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: ROGER BRADLEY, ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER
SUBMITTED BY: JACOB ELLIS, CITY MANAGER
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Locational and Zoning Map
2. Exhibit 2 - Site Plan for CUP2019-0008
3. Exhibit 3 - Planning and Housing Commission Staff Report
4. Exhibit 4 - Draft Minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of July 6, 2020
APPLICANT INFORMATION
Chris Costanzo, Costanzo Investments, LLC., 17 Corporate Plaza Drive, Ste. 250, Newport Beach, CA 92660