REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 05/17/2023
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning and Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
VARIANCE 2022-0002 TO REDUCE THE MINIMUM FRONT YARD SETBACK REQUIRED BY SECTION 9.4.5 OF THE MOUNTAIN GATE SPECIFIC PLAN FROM 20 FEET TO 15 FEET ALONG CHASE DRIVE, ASSOCIATED WITH THE CONSTRUCTION OF A NEW 52,423 SQUARE-FOOT HEALTH CLUB FACILITY ON 4.09 ACRES LOCATED AT 2895 S. MAIN STREET, WITHIN THE QUASI-PUBLIC (QP) DESIGNATION OF THE MOUNTAIN GATE SPECIFIC PLAN (APPLICANT: JOSEPH BALBAS, BALBAS CONSTRUCTION, INC.)
End
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to consider the recommendation by the Planning & Housing Commission to approve Variance 2022-0002 (V2022-0002), which would reduce the front yard building setback from 20 feet to 15 feet on 4.09 acres located at the northeast corner of Main Street and Chase Drive. The front yard property line would be the site’s frontage on Chase Drive. The request is associated with the development of a new 52,423 square foot health club facility on the project site. The building will be set back 84 feet from the property line, but the parking for the new building will only have a setback of 15 feet.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council:
a. Take no action, thereby affirming the Planning and Housing Commission's action granting V2022-0002, based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval.
OR
b. Set the item for review at a subsequent.
Body
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The applicant proposes to develop the 4.09-acre site with a 52,423 square-foot, two-story health club facility. The site is located within the Quasi-Public (QP) designation of the Mountain Gate Specific Plan (SP89-01), and Office Professional (OP) designation of the South Corona Community Facilities Plan (SCCFP). The property is designated Office Professional (OP) in Corona’s General Plan Land Use Element. The zoning of the property permits a health club.
The property was previously occupied by a single-family residence with orchards. The home was recently demolished, and the orchard has been removed. Surrounding land uses include medical offices to the north, a flood control channel and water detention basin to the east, single family residential to the south across Chase Drive and single family residential to the west, across Main Street.
V2022-0002 was reviewed by the Planning and Housing Commission at its meeting on April 24, 2023, and was approved.
ANALYSIS:
The applicant’s request is to vary from the front yard setback requirement of Section 9.4.5 of the Mountain Gate Specific Plan (Specific Plan). The variance is proposed to accommodate the on-site parking requirement for the proposed development.
The property is a corner lot with two street frontages. The western perimeter has a frontage on Main Street, and the southern perimeter has a frontage on Chase Drive. Although Main Street has more traffic volume, Chase Drive is considered the front of the property because it is the narrowest portion of the property abutting a public right-of-way. This determination is based on Corona Municipal Code (CMC) Section 17.04.267, which states:
“Lot frontage” means that portion of a lot which abuts a public right-of-way or approved private right-of-way; provided, however, if certain portions of a lot abut two or more public rights-of-way or approved private rights-of-way, the frontage of the lot shall be the narrowest portion of the lot which abuts the rights-of-way.
Per Section 9.4.5 of the Specific Plan, the setbacks are specifically for structures, except that the front yard setback shall not allow parking. The setbacks required by the Specific Plan are a) front yard, 20 feet minimum; no parking shall be permitted with a required front yard, b) side yard, 10 feet minimum, and c) rear yard, 20 feet minimum.
The special circumstances applicable to this project are due to the asymmetrical shaped lot, which resembles a flag design, causing the property to have a narrower frontage on Chase Drive. This configuration also causes the northeastern portion of the site to be narrow, which limits development in this area to parking, thereby requiring structures to be constructed on the western portion of the parcel. Because Chase Drive is considered the front of the property, the 20-foot front yard setback, which restricts parking from being located within the setback, makes the on-site development more restrictive. V2022-0002 would allow the setback to be reduced to 15 feet to accommodate parking spaces.
The public right-of-way improvements along Chase Drive include a 24-foot wide parkway, which when combined with the proposed 15-foot on-site landscape setback results in a depth of 39 feet from the back of the street curb. Also, the structure is set back 84 feet from the property line along Chase Drive. Furthermore, the project site is at a lower elevation than the street by five feet in this location.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid the application processing fees of $5,743 to cover the cost of the Variance.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Per Section 15070 (b) 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 since 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.
PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION ACTION:
At its meeting of April 24, 2023, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Alexander/Siqueland) and carried unanimously, with Commissioner Woody absent, that the Planning and Housing Commission adopt Resolution No. 2609 granting V2022-0002 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, PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Locational and zoning map
2. Exhibit 2 - Site Plan for V2022-0002
3. Exhibit 3 - Planning and Housing Commission Staff Report
4. Exhibit 4 - Draft Minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of April 24, 2023