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Home My WebLink AboutLCPA 98-05; Carlsbad Ranch Overlay Zone; Local Coastal Program Amendment (LCPA)The City of Carlsbad Planning Department P.C. AGENDA OF: March 17,1999 A REPORT TO THE PLANNING CO MMISSION Application complete date: NIA Project Planner: Eric Munoz Project Engineer: Bob Wojcdc SUBJECT: ZCA 98-01IZC 99-03LC PA 9805 -- COMME RCIALMSITO R-SERVING OVERLAY ZONE - Amendments to the Zoning Ordinance, the Zoning Map and the City's Local Coastal Program to establish a CommerciaWisitor-Serving Overlay Zone for various properties that are located near, or on roadways leading to, the Legoland theme park within the Carlsbad Ranch Specific Plan. I. RECOMMENDATION That the Planning Commission ADOPT Planning Commission-Resolution Nos. 4527,4528, and 4529, RECOMMENDING APPRO VAL of Zone Code Amendment ZCA 98-01, Zone Change ZC 99-03 and Local Coastal Program Amendment LCPA 98-05, based on the findings and subject to the conditions contained therein. 11. INTRODUCTION The proposed CommerciaWisitor-Serving Overlay Zone is being processed pursuant to City Council direction to prepare new procedures and regulations for certain uses in general proximity to the Legoland theme park within the Carlsbad Ranch Specific Plan. The primary concern is to ensure high quality commercialhisitor-serving developments, prevent the over-proliferation of certain uses and establish the City Council as the final decision maker for such projects within the overlay zone coverage area. The primary elements of the overlay zone involve: new procedural details for processing a commerciaYvisitor-serving project within the overlay zone; the requirement of a conditional use permit for commercial/visitor-serving projects; new parking standards for certain uses; architectural, signage and landscape provisions; and, new enforcement provisions. The configuration and coverage area of the proposed CommerciaWisitor-Serving Overlay Zone is the result of direct City Council input as to which areas and parcels need to be covered by the provisions of the overlay zone. The basic rationale was to include commercially designated parcels near the Legoland theme park, or adjacent to freeway frontage. Vacant parcels as well as developed parcels are included. The overlay zone will replace an Urgency Ordinance which is currently in effect until August 30, 1999. It is anticipated that City Council consideration of the overlay zone will take place in April or May, 1999. By May 31, 1999, LCPA 98-05 will be submitted to the Coastal Commission for processing so that the Local Coastal Program Amendment, and therefore the overlay zone, will be effective by September 1, 1999. ZCA 98-01/ZC 99-03LCPA 98-05 - COMMERCIALNISITOR-SbRVING OVERLAY ZONE March 17,1999 111. PROJECT DESCRIPTIO N AND BACKGROUND Below is a timeline of past and future events for the CommerciaWisitor-Serving Overlay Zone. June 24, 1997 - Mayor requested a City Council agenda item to discuss the need for City Council review and approval of commercial projects near the Legoland theme park. September 2, 1997 - Urgency Ordinance NS-418 passed and adopted by the City Council. Requires City Council review and approval of any commercial project within the Urgency Ordinance’s coverage area. October 15, 1997 - Consistent with Government Code Section 65858(a), which regulates urgency ordinances, Urgency Ordinance NS-424 is passed and adopted which extends NS-418 for 10 months and 15 days, until August 30, 1998. Council also accepted staffs findings which recommended the development of an overlay zone to replace the Urgency Ordinance. March 12, 1998 - City Council Workshop conducted to assist in the development of, and provide policy guidance for, the proposed overlay zone. Public input was solicited and received. April 30,1998 - AnaheimBuena Park field trip conducted by Planning staff with Mayor Lewis and then Mayor Pro-Tem Finnila to visually assess various elements in the urban landscape which should be prohibited, encouraged, or otherwise regulated, by the overlay zone. August 4, 1998 - One year extension of the Urgency Ordinance NS-424, consistent with Government Code Section 65858(a), by the Council adoption of NS-454. This allows for the completion of the staff work on the overlay zone and is a one time extension until August 30, 1999. No more extensions of the Urgency Ordinance are allowed by the applicable government codes. December 9, 1998 - A noticed Public Workshop to further develop the overlay zone was conducted with the City Council, affected property owners, and the general public. December - March 1999 - Finalization of the contents and format of the overlay zone. Coordination with the City Attorney’s office; extensive property owner contact and briefings; and final preparation of the overlay zone, staff report and related documents. March 17,1999 - Planning Commission public hearing. mil - Mav. 1999 - City Council public hearing takes place. May 3 1.1992 - Submit LCPA 98-05 to the Coastal Commission by the end of May 1999 June - Aum 1992 - Coastal Commission review and approval of the LCPNoverlay zone. September 1. 1999 - Urgency Ordinance expires; replaced by the new CommerciaWisitor- Serving Overlay Zone which will be effective by September 1, 1999. / ZCA 98-01/ZC 99-03LCPA 98-05 - COMMERCIALMSITOR-SERVING OVERLAY ZONE March 17,1999 3 The proposed CommerciaWisitor-Serving Overlay Zone is attached to Planning Commission Resolution No. 4527 as Exhibit “X”, dated March 17, 1999. A brief overview is provided below. The overlay zone defines CommerciaWisitor-Serving Uses and requires such developments within the overlay zone to process a conditional use permit that would be approved by the City Council; the Planning Commission typically is the final decision maker for conditional use permits. The overlay zone has some requirements that are unique including a mandated pre- filing submittal and review process; a project site notification process that physically posts a sign on the project site during project processing; and, enforcement provisions designed to provide rapid, effective code enforcement for code violations within the overlay zone. A Performance Monitoring Condition is required and will be a standard condition of approval for conditional use permits within the overlay zone. Required findings are also provided to ensure that applicable projects satisfy the intent and purposes of the overlay zone. Existing uses will be subject to the provisions of the overlay zone if they propose new or expanded CommerciaWisitor-Serving uses that either invoke a higher parking standard, or add more than 200 square feet of floor area to existing structures. The Carlsbad Ranch Specific Plan is not part of the overlay zone; residential, church, school, industrial and office uses are exempt from the overlay zone; and, automobile dealerships within the Car Country Specific Plan are exempt from the overlay zone. - The Development Standards section of the overlay zone addresses the following: Parking, Signs, Building Height, Building Setbacks, Building MaterialdColors, Architectural Style, Landscaping and Use Separation Standards. increased parking space requirements for certain uses; less signage than is allowed citywide (1 square foot of signage per lineal foot of building ‘frontage vs. current allowance of 1.5 square feet of signage per lineal foot of building frontage); architectural criteria and the allowance for the review of building materials, texture and colors; and, specific landscaping criteria. Motelshotels are subject to a 600 foot separation standard and gas stations are assigned locational and design criteria within the overlay zone. Prohibited uses within the overlay zone include: stand-alone liquor stores, RV parks, campgrounds, outdoor display of goods or services, any drive-thru facility, and sales from temporary displays or mobile platforms on private or public property. In general terms, the overlay zone provides for: Under the Parking Development Standards, parking provisions are established in the overlay zone for the following: Motels/hotels/suites/inns/lodges/resorts; Time Share Projects; Gas Stations/mini-marts; Restaurants; Coffee shops/beverage-serving uses/delicatessens; Meeting rooms/assembly space/convention facilities; Individual retaiVgift shopdtoy stores/convenience storedgeneral sales; Shopping center retail; Museums; Visitor/information center; Bed and Breakfasts; Car rental agencies; and, Movie theaters. In most cases, the overlay zone requires incrementally more parking than do current codes citywide and/or accounts for employee parking. Some uses are assigned parking provisions in the overlay zone that are not directly addressed in citywide parking provisions. ZCA 98-01/ZC 99-03LCP~ 98-05 - COMMERCIALMSITOR-SkRVNG OVERLAY ZONE March 17,1999 1. Does the proposed CommerciaWisitor-Serving Overlay Zone address the concerns of the City Council which prompted the initial adoption of an Urgency Ordinance in June 1997? 2 Are the requested legislative actions adequate to establish the new overlay zone? 3. Is the proposed overlay zone consistent with the City’s General Plan and Local Coastal Program? DISCUSSION .. 1. erciaWisitor-Serving Overlav Zom The prospect of a major new theme park opening in the City (Legoland) caused the City Council to reconsider the standard approval process for commercial projects within the area around, and near roads leading to, the Legoland theme park. Based on the experience of other cities which have undergone an accelerated economic stimulus due to new land uses, the City Council wanted a safeguard against unchecked, uncontrolled commercial development. Council clearly wanted to be established as the final decision maker for such projects. The overlay zone is intended to be a tool by whch the Council can become part of the standard processing of commercial/visitor- serving projects while also instituting regulations to ensure high quality projects. It is also intended to be suficiently detailed so that property owners and development applicants may design projects using established standards and criteria. The contents of the proposed overlay zone have been conceptually supported by the City Council during previous workshops designed to solicit and incorporate Council direction. Property owner input has also been considered and integrated into the ordinance where applicable. Section 21.208.060 lists prohibited uses in the overlay zone and gas stations, motels and hotels are subject to use separation and locational standards. The overlay zone focuses on quality appearance, adequate and compatible functioning of a commercial use, adequate parking provisions, controlling signage, ensuring high quality architecture and providing detailed landscaping criteria. The conditional use permit is designated as the entitlement permit for applicable projects in the overlay zone. Related to the processing of such conditional use permits are unique regulations requiring pre-filing interaction between the city and applicant, project site notification to maximize public disclosure about a pending project, and new enforcement provisions which provide more rapid code enforcement compared to current citywide enforcement procedures. Given the above described elements of the overlay zone, and considering the circumstances leading to Council’s involvement in this issue, the intended objectives of the overlay zone and the high degree of City Council direction and input into the development of the overlay zone, staff recommends that the Planning Commission support the CommercialNisitor-Serving Overlay Zone. ZCA 98-01/ZC 99-03LCP~ 98-05 - COMMERCIALMSITOR-SWVING OVERLAY ZONE March 17,1999 Be 5 Adding a new overlay zone chapter to the City’s Zoning Ordinance requires a Zone Code Amendment (ZCA 98-01). Placing the overlay zone onto the City’s Zoning Map to establish its boundaries and coverage area requires a Zone Change (ZC 99-03). Since the City’s Zoning Ordinance is the implementing ordinance for the City’s Coastal Zone, a Local Coastal Program Amendment (LCPA 98-05) is necessary to ensure consistency between coastal and city designations and regulations. Subsequent to Coastal Commission’s consideration of LCPA 98- 05, these legislative actions will collectively establish the CommerciaWisitor-Serving Overlay Zone within the City. Staff believes that the new development standards, use of a CUP, and designating the City Council as final decision maker, is adequate to establish the level of commercial development control desired by the Council without over-regulating, or placing excessive limitations on hture development. - 3. General and LCP Consist- The proposed overlay zone does not alter any General Plan or LCP land use designations or regulations. In fact, several development standards are more restrictive than underlying designations so that inconsistency between zoning and the General Plan or the LCP will not result. Existing zoning regulations, which implement the General Plan, will be supplemented via new processing procedures, standards and enforcement provisions for commerciaVvisitor-service uses within the overlay zone. V. RONMENTAT, REVIEW The Planning Director has determined that the project is exempt fiom the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per Section 15061(b)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines and will not have any adverse significant impacts on the environment. Section 15061(b)(3) exempts projects which can be seen with certainty, will have no possibility of having a significant environmental impact. The proposed CommerciaWisitor-Serving Overlay Zone qualifies for this exemption because the overlay zone’s procedural regulations and development standards will not create environmental impacts when applied to applicable projects in the future. A Notice of Exemption will be issued by the Planning Director after project approval. ATTACHmNTS : 1. 2. 3. 4. Location Map Planning Commission Resolution No. 4527 (ZCA) Planning Commission Resolution No. 4528 (ZC) Planning Commission Resolution No. 4529 (LCPA) EM:eh c COMMERCIALNISITOR-SERVI NG OVERLAY ZONE ZC 99-03lZCA 98-01 ILCPA 98-05