REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 03/06/2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning & Development Department
SUBJECT:
Title
PRECISE PLAN 2023-0006 TO REVIEW THE SITE PLAN, ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPING AND OTHER PHYSICAL FEATURES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A 107-UNIT ASSISTED SENIOR LIVING FACILITY ON 5.15 ACRES, LOCATED AT 430 W. FOOTHILL PARKWAY IN THE PROPOSED SENIOR CITIZEN RESIDENTIAL LAND USE DESIGNATION OF THE MOUNTAIN GATE SPECIFIC PLAN (APN: 114-070-020, 114-070-021 AND 114-070-022) (APPLICANT: O & I DEVELOPMENT) NOT AN ADVERTISED PUBLIC HEARING
End
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to affirm the decision by the Planning and Housing Commission to approve Precise Plan 2023-0006 for the site design of an assisted senior living facility consisting of 107 units on 5.15 acres located south of Foothill Parkway and west of Main Street. The assisted senior living facility will consist of a two-story building totaling 109,551 square feet, common recreational amenities, and parking lot.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Recommended action
That the City Council affirm the Planning and Housing Commission’s action granting PP2023-0006, based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval.
Body
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The subject property is comprised of three vacant parcels totaling 5.15 acres. The project site is adjacent to the Mountain Gate shopping center, which contains an Albertsons supermarket, inline commercial tenants, and freestanding commercial buildings. The shopping center plan, which originally included the 5.15-acre project site for a total of 15 acres was approved by the City Council on July 15, 1998, by Precise Plan 97-6 (PP97-06). The 5.15-acre project site was intended to be developed as the second phase of the shopping center; however, the market has not supported additional commercial uses on the property. Over the years, the property has been considered for other uses such as a tire shop and townhouses. However, those uses were not considered the best use for the property. The applicant will be processing a lot line adjustment to merge the three parcels into one and to remove a portion of the shopping center’s parking lot from the project site.
Applicant
The applicant manages a portfolio of communities under the Oakmont Senior Living and Ivy Living brands. Oakmont is an owner, operator, and developer in the senior housing industry. Oakmont currently serves over 8,000 seniors across approximately 90 communities in California, Hawaii, and Nevada.
The assisted senior living facility proposed by the applicant is licensed by the Department of Social Services (DSS) as Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly (RCFE). A RCFE must meet care and safety standards set by the State and are licensed and inspected by the Department of Social Services, Community Care Licensing. The project will serve persons 60 years of age and older as outlined in the Residential Care Facilities for the Elderly License and Manual of Policies.
ANALYSIS:
The assisted senior living facility will consist of 107 units within a single, two-story building totaling 109,551 square feet. The facility will provide 75 assisted living units and 32 memory care units. The project results in a density of 20.7 du/ac which is within the maximum allowable density of 40.5 du/ac for the Senior Citizen Residential (SCR) designation.
Thirty-eight assisted living units include a kitchenette with the remaining 37 assisted living units consisting of only a sink, under counter refrigerator, and microwave. The 32 memory care units will not have kitchenettes.
Table 1 provides a summary of the proposed unit mix and floor plans.
Table 1: Unit Summary
|
Unit Type |
Beds per Unit |
Bathrooms |
Unit Square Footage |
Total Unit Types |
|
Assisted Living |
|
|
Studio |
1 |
1 |
409-457 |
20 |
|
1B |
1 |
1 |
501-879 |
49 |
|
2B |
2 |
2 |
986-1,138 |
6 |
|
Memory Care |
|
|
Private Studio |
1 |
1 |
408 |
24 |
|
Shared Studio |
2 |
1 |
501-565 |
8 |
The facility offers 24-hour staffing and support services for its residents. The following services will be available to the residents:
• Three meals a day are served in a variety of dining formats, including the community’s main dining room, bistro, or lobby lounge.
• Assistance with daily living such as eating, bathing, dressing, walking, and other personal needs.
• Housekeeping services.
• Transportation and shuttle service to and from appointments as well as weekly activities.
• Access to health and medical services.
• Emergency call systems.
• Exercise and wellness programs.
• Medication management.
• Laundry services.
• Social and recreational activities.
Site Plan
The project site fronts Foothill Parkway to the north. The rear of the property fronts Mountain Gate Drive to the south. The sides of the property are adjacent to the Heritage Park and Mountain Gate shopping center. The site will only be accessed from Foothill Parkway. No access is provided from Mountain Gate Drive. Additionally, the project site is at a lower elevation than Mountain Gate Drive with the parking lot approximately 10 feet lower than the street.
The project has been designed to meet the SCR development standards that the applicant has proposed for the Mountain Gate Specific Plan under companion application SPA2023-0004. The setbacks for the project include 25 feet of landscaping along Foothill Parkway with the building set back 153 feet, five feet of landscaping along Mountain Gate Drive to the parking lot with the building set back 177 feet, a landscape setback of five feet along the west property line with the building set back approximately 38 feet, and a building set back of 15 feet to 52 feet along the east property line with open space amenities in between.
The adjacent shopping center has an access easement over the southeast portion of the project site for supermarket delivery trucks to access the store’s loading docks. The project is designed around this easement which is the reason for the varied east side yard setback that occurs mostly at the site’s southeast perimeter.
Common and Private Open Space / Amenities
The project is required to provide private and common open space to serve the residents of the development at a ratio of 150 square feet of open space per unit. The project is required to provide at least 16,050 square feet of common open space and at least 4,025 square feet of combined private open space. The project provides approximately 17,315 square feet of common outdoor recreational space and provides approximately 13,935 square feet of combined private open space.
Recreational amenities include a pool, pool house, overhead wood trellis patio covers and two courtyards in the center of the project site. Additional amenities include outdoor dining areas, a pet area with shade structure, a citrus grove, a garden bed area, a courtyard with a putting green, and other passive open space areas with paths and benches.
Access, Circulation and Parking
Access to the site will be provided from Foothill Parkway via a proposed 28-foot-wide driveway located at the site’s north perimeter. The driveway features a stamped and stained concrete pattern. A 28-foot-wide internal drive aisle provides access to the parking areas located north and south of the building. A secondary gated emergency access is provided near the southeast corner of the site, leading to the parking lot of the adjacent commercial center. A pedestrian sidewalk is proposed along the perimeters of the building and through the recreational areas within the project.
The project is parked using the City’s parking requirements in Chapter 17.76 of the Corona Municipal Code. Specifically, the 75 assisted living units are being parked at the senior congregate housing parking requirement, and the 32 memory care units are being parked at the disabled housing parking requirement. Although the parking requirement for senior congregate housing requires covered parking to be provided for the residents, the applicant’s specific plan amendment proposes uncovered parking if the parking lot is sufficiently shaded by canopy trees. The project requires 107 parking spaces, and the site provides 109 parking spaces.
Table 2: Parking Summary
|
USE |
CODE REQUIREMENT |
NUMBER OF UNITS/BEDS/EMPLOYEES |
REQUIRED PARKING |
PROVIDED PARKING |
|
Assisted Living (congregate care) |
1 covered space per unit or bed, whichever is greater, plus 1 uncovered guest space per 4 units or beds1 |
75 units and 81 total beds |
101 |
103 |
|
Memory Care (disabled housing) |
1 space per employee |
32 units and 6 Employees Maximum per Shift |
6 |
6 |
|
TOTAL |
107 |
107 |
109 |
Notes:
1. Per SPA2023-0004, uncovered parking may be utilized, provided that the parking lot is sufficiently shaded by canopy trees, as determined through the Precise Plan review process.
The parking space are distributed in the following manner:
• 8 carport spaces located along the northern portion of the site.
• 29 uncovered spaces located along the northern portion of the site; and
• 72 uncovered spaces located towards the rear of the site.
The project is expected to generate approximately 264 daily trips including 16 trips during the AM peak hour and 20 trips during the PM peak hour per the trip generation analysis prepared for the project by a licensed engineering consultant (Vehicle Miles Traveled Screening Analysis, prepared by EPD Solutions, Inc., dated November 2023). The city’s Traffic Engineer has reviewed the analysis and has determined that no Traffic Impact Analysis is required because the project results in less than 50 peak hour trips, and the trips would fall within the capacity of Foothill Parkway, a secondary four-lane road.
Architecture
The Mountain Gate Specific Plan includes architectural design guidelines to ensure quality architecture for residential developments and prescribes three architectural styles: Ranch, Mediterranean, and Traditional. These styles are not absolute rules for design, as the specific plan also encourages creativity and a diversity of architectural styles. The applicant has proposed a building that features design elements that are consistent with the Spanish Mediterranean architectural theme.
The building features various building materials typically associated with Spanish Mediterranean architecture such as pitched “Mission” clay tile roofing, arches, columns, recessed windows, decorative ledge stone accents, white smooth plaster walls and overall wall reveals and trim. The project features decorative balconies for several of the residential units, outdoor seating areas and an architecturally enhanced main covered entry area for vehicular drive-thru access. The design of the building is compatible with the existing architectural styles that are found throughout South Corona.
The two-story building is proposed at a height of 35 feet and 8 inches, measured from finished grade to the top of the highest roof point, which complies with the maximum 40-foot building height limit.
Landscaping
The Conceptual Landscape Plan includes a variety of evergreen screen trees ranging from 15-to 36-inch box sizes, with a mix of 24-to-36-inch box Coast Live Oak, Olive and Brisbane Box trees located throughout the site and within the parking areas. Additional 36-inch box flowering accent trees are proposed at the project’s frontage to enhance the project entrance, with 24-inch box trees proposed along the site’s perimeters. As for the five-foot landscaped setback located along the southern property perimeter, staff has conditioned that the applicant provide a maintenance access gate at the top of grade.
Perimeter Walls and Fencing
The project includes a 7-foot-high splitface masonry wall with pilasters along the eastern property line which will include a climbing vine, and a 6-foot-high splitface masonry wall along the northwest property line, which would match the existing 5-foot-high splitface masonry wall located along the southwest property line. The applicant, however, has agreed to provide tubular steel fencing on top of the retaining wall shown along the west property line adjacent to the Heritage Park if requested by the owner of the park. The existing 5-foot-high painted steel fence with splitface pilasters located along the southern property line would remain in place.
Additionally, 42-inch-high wrought iron fencing is proposed around the dog park and 5-foot-high wrought iron fencing would be installed around the pool. Terra cotta block accent walls and stucco-finish dividing walls are also proposed throughout the Project site.
Signage
The project features a monument sign proposed within the front landscaped setback area. The 39-square-foot sign measures eight (8) feet in width and six (6) feet in height and includes the project name. The monument sign will be located outside corner cut off areas as set forth in CMC Section 17.70.050.
The sign’s design is also consistent with the building’s architectural theme and includes stucco column posts, stone ledge base and timber trellis.
On-Site Utility and Drainage Improvements
The applicant is required to install a 4-inch sewer lateral in the center of the site that would connect to the existing sewer sub within an existing public utility easement, and a 4-inch water lateral that would connect to an onsite domestic water backflow preventor to the east, which would continue to the existing 4-inch water line. A 4-inch water lateral that would connect to an existing 12-inch diameter reclaimed water main in Mountain Gate Drive is also required.
On-site surface runoff will be directed to a water quality biotreatment system proposed to be located to the south of the project’s entrance off Foothill Parkway and to the southwest side of the proposed structure before discharging into an existing 36-inch storm drain located in Foothill Parkway.
Public Right-of-Way Improvements
The street sections for Foothill Parkway and Mountain Gate Drive adjacent to the project site are improved with roadway pavement, curb and gutter, sidewalk, and landscaped parkways. No additional street dedication or widening is warranted with the development of this project.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid the application processing fees of $9,545 to cover the cost of the Precise Plan.
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’s mitigation measures and mitigation monitoring and reporting program 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 February 12, 2024, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Woody/Longwell) and carried unanimously, with Vice Chair Vernon and Commissioner Siqueland absent, that the Planning and Housing Commission adopt Resolution No. 2625 granting PP2023-0006, 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 PP2023-0006
3. Exhibit 3 - Planning and Housing Commission staff report
4. Exhibit 4 - Minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of February 12, 2024