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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1994-12-07; Planning Commission; ; RP 94-02|CDP 94-02|CUP 94-02 - ARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY MASTER SITE PLANAPPLICATIOI^TOMPLETE DATE: SEPTEMBER 28. 1994 STAFF PLANNER - JEFF GIBSON STAFF REPORT ® DATE: TO: FROM: SUBJECT: I. DECEMBER 7, 1994 DESIGN REVIEW BOARD AND PLANNING COMMISSION PLANNING DEPARTMENT RP 94-02/CDP 94-02/CUP 94-02 - ARMY AND NAVY ACADEMY MASTER SITE PLAN - Request for approval of a Major Redevelopment Permit, Conditional Use Permit, and Coastal Development Permit for a master site plan to close Cypress Avenue and redevelop and expand the existing facilities of the Army and Navy Academy located along the east and west side of Carlsbad Boulevard, north of Beech Avenue, in Local Facilities Management Plan Zone 1. RECOMMENDATION That the Design Review Board ADOPT Design Review Board Resolution Nos. 216, and 217 recommending DENIAL of RP 94-02, and CDP 94-02, and the Planning Commission ADOPT Planning Commission Resolution No. 3727, DENYING CUP 94-02, based on the findings and subject to the conditions contained therein. II. PRO.IECT DESCRIPTION & BACKGROUND The project consists of a Major Redevelopment Permit, Conditional Use Permit, and Coastal Development Permit to allow the future relocation, reconstmction, renovation, and expansion of existing facilities at the Army and Navy Academy. The school site is 4.38 acres in size and is located on the east and west side of Carlsbad Boulevard, north of Beech Avenue, in Local Facilities Management Plan Zone 1. The Army and Navy Academy is a private junior and senior high school for boys. The school currently has dormitories to accommodate 296 students, with facilities that include faculty housing, academic halls, a library, chapel, dining haU, gym, infirmary, athletic fields, pool, administrative offices, 25 on- site paridng spaces, and maintenance buildings. The school is located in the Coastal Zone and has the foUowing General Plan and Zoning designations: 1) General Plan Designations - Private School (P), Residential Medium High (RMH), and Open Space (OS); RP 94-02/CDP 94-02/CUP ^fe ARMY & NAVY ACADEMY MASTER SITE PLAN DECEMBER 7, 1994 PAGE 2 2) Zoning Designations - Village Redevelopment, R-3 Multiple-Family Residential, Open Space, and Beach Area Overlay Zone. The school is within several different zoning designations, therefore, a Major Redevelopment and Coastal Development Permit are required for the portion of the campus located in the VUlage Redevelopment Zone and a Conditional Use Permit is required for the portion of the site located in the R-3 and Beach Area Overlay Zone. Because of the split zoning designations the project must be reviewed by the Design Review Board, Housing and Redevelopment Commission, and the Planning Commission. The surrounding neighborhood includes the foUowing land uses: 1) North - Single and Multiple-Family Dwelling Units; 2) East - AT&SF Railroad Tracks; 3) South - Magee Park, Ebb-Tide Inn, and Single and Multiple-Family Dwelling Units; 4) West - Sand Beaches and the Pacific Ocean. The applicant is proposing a conceptual master site plan for the school that would guide the future renovation of the campus. The master site plan would not grant specific discretionary entitlement to constmct any of the facilities, but rather, provide a master plan framework for the review of future Redevelopment/Conditional Use/Coastal Development Permits. For the actual physical constmction and renovation of each new facility shown on the plan the applicant would apply for an individual Redevelopment/Conditional Use/Coastal Development Permit. At that time, the Design Review Board or Planning Commission would determine comphance with City codes and poHcies, and determine conformance with the master site plan, including the proposed Design Guidelines. The master site plan would coordinate the provision and timing of the public and private improvements to the campus and provide a comprehensive framework for the overall architectural and land use design of the school. The master site plan includes the following major components: 1) The expansion of existing school facilities by approximately 66,000 square feet, and the constmction and renovation of buildings; 2) The closure of Cypress Avenue from Carlsbad Boulevard west to Ocean Street; 3) The addition of 110 on-site parking spaces for students, employees, and visitors; 4) A phasing improvement plan for the buildout of the master site plan; RP 94-02/CDP 94-02/CUP ARMY & NAVY ACADEMY MASTER SITE PLAN DECEMBER 7, 1994 PAGE 3 5) A planned maximum enrollment of 350 students and 100 employees - (302 resident students and 48 daytime students); 6) Site and Architectural Design Guidelines, and; 7) A pedestrian bridge crossing Carlsbad Boulevard. III. PUBLIC HEARINGS AND PERMFFS Because of the split zoning designations on the property, the project's discretionary review is within the purview of both the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission. The Design Review Board maintains authority over aU Redevelopment Permits and Coastal Development Permits within the VUlage Redevelopment Zone. For Major Redevelopment Permits the Design Review Board ftinctions as an advisory body to the Housing and Redevelopment Commission. The Planning Commission has final approval authority for the Conditional Use Permit, which appHes to the portion of the school located in the R-3 Zone and the Beach Area Overlay Zone. Due to these unusual circumstances, the public hearing on December 7, 1994 has been consolidated into one joint public hearing with the Design Review Board and the Planning Commission. The Design Review Board will make a recommendation to the Housing and Redevelopment Commission on the Major Redevelopment Permit and the Coastal Development Permit. The Planning Commission will act on the Conditional Use Permit and be the final decision-maker, unless the decision is appealed to the City Council. If for example, the Planning Commission denies the portion of the project covered by the Conditional Use Permit, the entire master plan, in effect, is denied, because it is a comprehensive plan that covers the entire school. Under this scenario the applicant would have to appeal the Planning Commission's decision to the City Council, and then the City Council/Redevelopment and Housing Commission would make the final decision on the project. In addition, the project must be reviewed and approved by the Califomia Coastal Commission. The Coastal Commission maintains pemiit authority over the property because part of the project is in a portion of the Coastal Zone that is located outside of the ViUage Redevelopment Zone. IV. PROJECT PROCESSING AND ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW During the City's review ofthis application the Planning and Engineering Departments have identified several issues of concem with the proposed closure of Cypress Avenue. Staffs concems focus on the impacts to public parking in the beach area, public beach accessibiUty, and the continuity of community circulation, all created by the proposed closure of the pubhc street and the phasing of the master site plan. The appHcant has been unwiUing to RP 94-02/CDP 94-02/CUP ARMY & NAVY ACADEMY MASTER SITE PLAN DECEMBER 7, 1994 PAGE 4 discuss these issues with staff or modify the master site plan to address staffs concems. The closure and vacation of Cypress Avenue is a central element in the design of the master site plan for the Army and Navy Academy, however, as proposed on the master site plan, staff cannot recommend approval of the project. Typically projects are not scheduled for public hearing until all issues of concem are resolved and the required environmental review has been completed for the project. In this case, the appHcant requested that the project be scheduled for a public hearing immediately after the project application was deemed complete in order to receive a determination from the appropriate decision-makers in regards to the Cypress Avenue closure issue. When staff recommends an expedient project denial based on non-compliance with either City codes, adopted land use plans, or policies, the Califomia Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) does not require environmental review. This legal premise is based on the assumption that a project can not create a significant adverse impact to the environment if the project is denied, and therefore, never physically constmcted. When staff recommends denial of a project early in the project review process, not having to perform CEQA review prior to the public hearing saves the applicant the additional money necessaiy to hire consultants to prepare further environmental studies and documents. However, because the environmental review for the project has not been conducted, it limits the decision-maker's options at the public hearing. For example, if at the public hearings the Design Review Board/Redevelopment Commission and Planning Commission/City CouncU disagree with staffs recommendation, and decide, in concept, to support the closure of Cypress Avenue, the project cannot be legally approved at the hearings. The project must be returned to staff for further processing, including the completion of the environmental review. Once the project's environmental review is completed, per CEQA, the project can be rescheduled for public hearings and further discretionary review. As proposed on the master site plan, the closure of Cypress Avenue would create a significant, unmitigated, and adverse impact on future public paridng near the beach area, therefore, an Environmental Impact Report would likely be required. In addition, the school contains buildings that may qualify as historically significant per CEQA, thus, resulting in potentially significant impacts to cultural resources. At this point in time, a cultural resource survey and analysis of the school's buUdings has not been conducted by a qualified and professional cultural historian, per the requirements of the Cify of Carlsbad Cultural Resource Guidehnes, nor has the project and the required study been reviewed by the Carlsbad Historic Preservation Commission. These application processing steps are associated with the environmental review of the project and are legally required. RP 94-02/CDP 94-02/CUP ARMY & NAVY ACADEMY MASTER SITE PLAN DECEMBER 7, 1994 PAGE 5 V. ANALYSIS Planning Issues 1) The closure of Cypress Avenue and it's impact on future parking and access in the beach area, and the continuify of neighborhood circulation. DISCUSSION Staffs central reason for recommending denial of the master site plan revolves around the proposed closure of Cypress Avenue, therefore, this report primarily focuses on this one issue, and does not fully analyze all aspects of the project's compliance with Cify ordinances, standards, and policies. Mello II Segment of the Carlsbad Local Coastal Program: When the master site plan is fully developed or built-out, and all the school's public street frontages are improved (Ocean Street, Pacific Avenue, Garfield Street, Beech Avenue, and Mountain View Drive), the closure of Cypress Avenue would result in the elimination of approximately 25 to 29 public parking spaces. On the current master site plan there is no proposal to replace this lost public parking. Cypress Avenue is located in close proximity to a coastal accessway that leads to the beach from Ocean Street. The elimination of a public street that provides additional roadway access to the beach area from Carlsbad Boulevard, and the future loss of public paridng spaces near a coastal beach accessway creates a significant impact on public accessibiUty to the beach. The MeUo II Segment of the Carlsbad Local Coastal Program requires mitigation when public beach accessways are adversely impacted by development that burdens existing road capacity or on-street pubhc paridng areas. This project makes it more difficult to gain access to and use of the coast, therefore, the master site plan is not in conformance with the Local Coastal Program. The Planning Department has consulted with the Coastal Commission staff about the project. The Coastal staff has given the City a preliminary indication that they would not support the master site plan if it negatively impacted accessibility to the public beach accessway near Cypress Avenue or reduced public paridng in the Coastal Zone. Historically, the Califomia Coastal Commission has taken a policy position that there should be no loss of public parking in the Coastal Zone. Public and On-Site Parking: The Army and Navy Academy has the school facUity capacity for 350 students and 100 employees which, per current City paridng standards, requires 135 on-site parking spaces. Currently the school has approximately 25 on-site parking spaces which is 110 spaces short of today's parking standard. As a result of this non-conforming parking situation many of RP 94-02/CDP 94-02/CUP ARMY & NAVY ACADEMY MASTER SITE PLAN DECEMBER 7, 1994 PAGE 6 the school's students, employees, and visitors park their vehicles on the public streets that surround the campus, including Cypress Avenue. The proposed master site plan indicates that Cypress Avenue would be closed in Phase 1 of the project as part of the constmction of a new academic haU, however, additional on-site parking lots west of Carlsbad Boulevard would not be constmcted until Phase 4, and 9. According to the Planning Commission and City CouncU adopted North Beach Planning and Traffic Study, dated April 1987, Cypress Avenue currently has 25 non-standard public parking spaces. Elimination of these existing 25 parking spaces in Phase 1, without constmction of required on-campus parking spaces until Phase 4, would force the students, employees and visitors, who currently park on Cypress Avenue, to park on Ocean Street, Garfield Street, Pacific Avenue, or Mountain View Drive. The master site plan's phasing, in conjunction with the proposed closure of Cypress Avenue, intensifies the use of public street parking to help satisfy the paridng demand generated by the school. Until adequate on-site parking is constmcted for the school the amount of public paridng available in the area will be affected. Qosing Cypress Avenue reduces public roadway access and public parking in this beach area, however, the closure would not significantly reduce citywide beach visitor demand to the area. The amount of useable City beaches that have dedicated public coastal accessways is relatively fixed, yet the population of North County and beach visitor demand continues to increase. The North Beach Planning and Traffic Study concluded that in this area of the City, beach parking demand will continue to exceed the supply on peak user days and that there is near and long term need for additional beach paridng in this area. Qosure of Cypress Avenue and elimination of it's public parking spaces would concentrate beach traffic on the remaining residential streets, increase the competition for the remaining parking spaces, and force beach users to park on other residential streets in the area. The influx of beach visitor vehicle and pedestrian traffic into a residential neighborhood and the resulting competition for street parking in front of private residences can be dismptive to a residential community. In comparison to the potential impacts on the predominately residential streets in the neighborhood, the public parking along Cypress Avenue is less dismptive. A majority of the street frontage is located adjacent to administrative or educational facilities that are more likely to be unoccupied during peak, beach parking periods such as summer weekends and holidays. As an example, a beach visitor can park adjacent to the school's library on Cypress Avenue, walk directly west on Cypress Avenue to the public beach accessway, while passing by the front yards of only two private residential lots. Neighborhood Circulation: The proposed closure of Cypress Avenue would increase the traffic volumes on the surrounding circulation system, including Mountain View Drive, Pacific Avenue, Ocean Street and Beech Avenue. The Mountain View Drive and Carlsbad Boulevard intersection is less than optimal because of the inability to legally tum left on Carlsbad Boulevard. In addition, the road segment of Ocean Street between Cypress Avenue and Beech Avenue is RP 94-02/CDP 94-02/CUP 92 ARMY & NAVY ACADEMY MASTER SITE PLAN DECEMBER 7, 1994 PAGE 7 very narrow and not fully improved. The closure of Cypress Avenue and elimination of the legal left tum onto Carlsbad Boulevard may negatively impact the Mountain View Drive and Carlsbad Boulevard intersection, and increase the traffic on Ocean Street and Beech Avenue. These traffic impacts would require mitigation, including the potential for intersection and roadway improvements at Mountain View Drive, Pacific Avenue, and Carlsbad Boulevard, or roadway improvements on Ocean Street between Cypress Avenue and Beech Avenue. Before staff would recommend approval of the closure of Cypress Avenue, these mitigation altematives must be investigated further by the applicant's traffic consultant and submitted for staff review. VI. SUMMARY This project is not in conformance with the Local Coastal Program or the General Plan, not consistent with the adopted recommendations of the North Beach Planning and Traffic Study, would adversely impact pubhc parking in the beach area, adversely impact traffic circulation in the neighborhood, and could have a potentially significant impact on cultural resources, therefore, staff recommends that the Design Review Board recommend denial of RP 94-02, and CDP 94-02, and the Planning Commission deny CUP 94-02. ATTACHMENTS 1. Design Review Board Resolution No. 216 2. Design Review Board Resolution No. 217 3. Planning Commission Resolution No. 3727 4. Location Map 5. Background Data Sheet 6. Disclosure Form 7. Coastal Commission Letter, dated November 8, 1994 8. Exhibits "A" - "K", dated December 7, 1994. JG.-vd October 28, 1994 SITE VILLAGE Y REDEVELOPMENT AREA BEECH AVE City of Carlsbad ARMY NAVY ACADEMY MASTER SITE PLAN RP 94-02/CDP 94-02/ CUP 94-02 BACKGROUND DATA SHEET CASE NO: RP 94-02/GDP 94-02/GUP 94-02 CASE NAME: Armv & Naw Academv Master Site Plan APPLICANT: Armv & Naw Academv REQUEST AND LOGATION: East and West side of Carisbad Boulevard, North of Beech Avenue. LEGAL DESGRIPTION: Lot 46 and a Portion of Lot 47 of Granville Park According to Map Thereof No. 1782, Februarv 21, 1924: Lots 58-73. 75, 76, 94-96. 98-101, 102-130, 131, 153-170, 177-198 Inclusive of Granville Park No. 2, According to Map Thereof No. 2037, Tune 18, 1927; A Portion of Block 3 of Town Garlsbad, According to Map Thereof No. 755, February 15, 1894; That Portion of Block 1 and 2 of Oceanside Addition To Carlsbad, According to Map Thereof No. 893, April 8. 1903; That Portion of Lot 1, Block "A" of Hayes Land Company Addition to Garlsbad, According to Map Thereof No. 1221. November 4. 1909: all Filed in the Office of the County Recorder of San Diego County, and all in the City of Garlsbad, County of San Diego, State of Califomia. APN:203-041 -02:203-043-06; 203-010-16; 203-142-06; 203-141 -03,23; 203-051 -03; 203-052-01,02; 203-053-01 Acres: 4^ Proposed No. of Lots/Units: N/A GENERAL PLAN AND ZONING Land Use Designation Private School (P)/Residential Medium High (RDM'l/Open Space (OS) Density Allowed N/A Density Proposed N/A Existing Zone V-R/R-3/BAOZ/OS Proposed Zone N/A Surrounding Zoning and Land Use: (See attached for information on Carlsbad's Zoning Requirements) Zoning Land Use Site V-R/R-3/BAOZ/OS Army & Naw Academy North R-3/OS Single-Family Residences South V-R/R-3 Park/Multi-Family Residences East T-G Railroad Corridor West OS Pacific Ocean/Beaches PUBUC FACIUTIES School District Carlsbad Water District Carlsbad Sewer District Carlsbad Equivalent Dwelling Units (Sewer Capacity) N/A Riblic Facilities Fee Agreement, dated N/A ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT Negative Declaration, issued N/A Certified Environmental Impact Report, dated N/A Other, J^^'"'^"'