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Home My WebLink AboutSP 146A; Santa Anita Development Corp.; Specific Plan (SP)CITY OF CARLSBAD PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT June 23, 1976 TO: PLANNING COMMISSION FROM: PLANNING DEPARTMENT CASE NO.: SP-146(A) APPLICANT: SANTA ANITA DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION Request: The applicant requests approval of a sign program for the Carlsbad Plaza Shopping Center as required by Condition 16 of Council Ordinance 9419. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that Case No. SP-146(A) be APPROVED by Resolution because of the following findings and subject to the following conditions: FINDINGS (1) The proposed sign program is consistent with the Carlsbad General Plan because: (a) The proposed sign program conforms with the require- ments of the City's Sign Ordinance for General Commercial si tes; (b) The site is zoned General Commercial in conformance with the Intensive Regional Retail designation of the Land Use Element; (c) The sign program implements the Quality of Site Design Development guidelines of the Land Use Element. (2) The proposed sign program is consistent with the Specific Plan adopted for this site because: (a) The program fulfills a requirement of the adopted Specific Plan that a sign program be approved; (b) The extent, location and sign materials approved herein complement the site plan and architectural elevations previously approved for the site. (3) The proposed sign program is consistent with the City of Carlsbad Environmental Protection Ordinance because: (a) An Environmental Impact Report for the Shopping Center project was previously certified by the City Council; (b) Neither the impacts of the proposed sign program nor the circumstances under which the program will be performed differ from those addressed in the E.I.R.; (c) The project therefore complies with the Carlsbad Environmental Protection Ordinance through Prior Compllance (Section 19.04.153). CONDITIONS (1) Except as otherwise provided herein, all signs shall conform to, and shall be approved according to, the provisions of the Sign Ordinance, Chapter 21.41 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code. (2) For the purposes of computing allowable sign area, "Building Frontage" is defined for each building as those frontages noted in Exhibit A, dated June 18, 1976. Each building shall be entitled to the total sign area shown in Exhibit 'A', calculated according to the following formula: (1.5) (Buildina Frontaae in Feet) — gross floor area^ of building (size of freestanding) gross floor arecT of Shopping Center( sign in feet ) Should amendments be made to SP-146(A) modifying the site plan for the Shopping Center, said modifications shall be automatically made a part of Exhibit 'A', and the Planning Director shall recompute the signing allowances of the buildings affected according to the above formula. (3) Building identity signs shall be allowed at service en- trances to buildings. Said signs shall not be included in the total sign area allowed provided that the entrances are not used for general public access. Said signs shall be limited to the name and address of the business estab- lishment whose entrance is being identified. (4) All signs, except the freestanding sign described in Condition 7, shall conform to one of the following specification classes: (a) Sign TYPE A: Shall be interior-illuminated.' construc- ted with plexiqlass faces and metal siqn cans. -2- (b) Sign TYPE B: Shall be exterior-illuminated wood, sandblasted and stained, with raised, painted letters and logos. Mounting shall be on the continuous header beam at the forward column line. Signs shall be fabricated from three-inch thick stock in lengths on 10.01, 12.0' and 14.0'. Copy shall be in red, orange, yellow and white, with a maximum letter height of 1.0 foot (c) Sign TYPE C: Shall be chain-mounted, double-faced, hand-crafted wood signs, sandblasted and stained with raised, painted letters and/or design. (d) Sign TYPE D: Shall be exterior-illuminated, carved wood, similar to sign type B except limited to 4 square feet per sign. (5) All sign liahtina. exterior or interior, shall be arranaed to reflect away from adjoining properties and streets. (6) Directional signs shall be allowed at points of traffic movement within the Shopping Center. Said signs shall not be included in the total sign area allowed individual buildings or the Shopping Center, provided said signs are limited to directional symbols and the names of businesses. Said signs shall be limited to an area of 1.5 square feet. (7) One freestanding sign may be located at the Shopping Center entrance as shown in Exhibit 'A1 dated June 18, 1976. Said sign shall be of the size and copy shown in Exhibit's1, dated June 18, 1976. Said sign shall be made of sandblasted wood, double-faced. The sign structure shall be stained dark brown; the copy shall be stained in gold leaf, antique red and white. (8) One flagpole may be located at the Shopping Center entrance as shown in Exhibit 'A1 dated June 18, 1976. Said pole shall not exceed the height of the tallest Shopping Center building iii the Shopping Center. (9) Amendments to this sign program may be initiated by the City Council or Planning Commission by Resolution of Intention, or by the Shopping Center owner or his authorized representative upon payment of a $50 application fee. Said amendment shall be considered by the Planning Commission upon the report of the Planning Director. The Commission's decision shall be final unless appealed to the City Council within 10 days of adoption of the Commission's Resolution. -3- BACKGROUND REPORT Location of Pro per ty: East side of El Camino Real between Haymar Drive and Marron Road Existing Zoning: Subject Property: North: South: East: West: Existing Land Use: Subject Property: North: South: East: West: C-2 C-l P-C R-l-10,000 C-2 Permanent Savings and Loan and temporary bank structures; remainder vacant Gas Station and Vacant Gas Station and Vacant Vacant Plaza Camino Real Shopping Center Past History and Related Cases: A Specific Plan (SP-146) for a Shopping Center on the subject property was approved by City Council December 18, 1973 (Resolution No. 3304). SP-146(A), approved by Council March 4, 1975 (Ordinance No. 9419) separated the project into five phases. Environmental Impact Information: EIR-131 was prepared for the Shopping Center property and certified by Council at the time the property was rezoned, December 18, 1973 (ZC-131, Resolution No. 3303). As outlined in the findings, the Planning Director has found that the current project complies with the Environmental Protection Ordinance by Prior Compllance (Section 19.04.153). EIR-131 is available in the Planning Department for review. General Plan Information: The project site is designated for Community Commercial use in the Land Use Element of the General Plan. Public Facilities: Water and sewer service will be provided by the City of Carlsbad. Major Planning Considerations: Does the proposed sign program adequately protect the City's interest in maintaining an aesthetically pleasing Shopping Center? Does the proposed sign program complement the Hispanic motif and previously approved elevations of the Shopping Center? -4- DISCUSSION Condition 16 of SP-146 states that: "No signs or advertising of any type whatsoever shall be erected or installed until plans therefor have been approved by the City of Carlsbad. Prior to issuance of any permits for signs, a sign program for the total development shall be submitted to the Planning Commission for consideration and approval. Said sign program shall conform to the City's sign limitations in effect at the time of development. Said development for sign ourooses shall be considered a single development." Planning Staff's approach to developing the required sign program was to set up criteria against which individual signs can be com- pared. Commercial signs are typically changed from time-to-time, even if tenants remain the same. In the case of the Carlsbad Shopping Center, all tenants cannot even be identified at this time For these reasons it appeared impractical to Staff to submit a set of specific signs to the Commission for approval. Staff there- fore drafted the recommended conditions to provide the criteria necessary for adequate sign control. ATTACHMENTS: Exhibit A, 6/18/76 Exhibit B, 6/18/76 AM:cpl (6/18/76) -5- ,° 0> si