HomeMy WebLinkAboutPRE 2018-0028; I-5 AND PALOMAR; Admin Decision Letter• ~\-<! 11-IS-:I;
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Carlsbad
November 13, 2018
Leah Lombardi
P.O. Box 270571
San Diego, CA 92128
SUBJECT: PRE 2018-0028 {DEV2018-0177}-l-5 AND PALOMAR
APN: 210-170-08, -09
Thank you for submitting a preliminary review for the demolition of a two-story, 10,977 square-foot office
building and the construction of a 3,427 square-foot, 24-foot-tall drive-thru restaurant. The 0.85-acre site
is located on the east side of Avenida Encinas and is addressed as 5850 Avenida Encinas.
In response to your application, the Planning Division has prepared this comment letter. Please note that
the purpose of a preliminary review is to provide you with direction and comments on the overall concept
of your project. This preliminary review does not represent an in-depth analysis of your project. It is
intended to give you feedback on critical issues based upon the information provided in your submittal.
This review is based upon the plans, policies, and standards in effect as of the date of this review. Please
be aware that at the time of a formal application submittal, new plans, policies, and standards may be
in effect and additional issues of concern may be raised through a more specific and detailed review.
Planning:
General
1.
2.
General Plan and zoning designations for the property are as follows:
a. General Plan: Planned Industrial (Pl);
b. Zoning: Planned Industrial (P-M);
c. Zoning Overlay: Commercial Visitor-Serving Overlay Zone; and
d. The property is located in the Coastal Zone. The Coastal Zone land use designation and zone
are the same as the General Plan and zoning above
The proJect requires the following permits:
a. Zone Code Amendment (ZCA) to allow drive-thru restaurants (please see Planning Comment
No. 3 below for additional information);
b. General Plan Amendment (GPA) to change the General Plan land Use designation from Pl to
Visitor Commercial (VC);
c. Local Coastal Program Amendment (LCPA) to change the Coastal land use designation to VC
to correspond with the new VC General Plan land Use designation;
d. Zone Change (ZC) to change the Zoning designation from P-M to Commercial Tourist (C-T);
e. Conditional Use Permit (CUP) for the restaurant use.
Community & Economic Development
Planning Division I 1635 Faraday Avenue Carlsbad, CA 92008-7314 I 760-602-4600 I 760-602-8560 f I www.carlsbadca.gov
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3.
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5.
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f. Non-Residential Planned Development Permit Amendment {PUD) to analyze the shared
parking and access for the commercial center;
g. Coastal Development Permit (CDP) for development in the Coastal Zone; and
h. Sign Program Amendment. An amendment to PS 92-101 will be required to address the
change in use and to assess the appropriate allocation in wall signage.
As legislative actions are proposed, approval from the City Council is required. In addition,
approval from the California Coastal Commission will be required for the LCPA.
Land Use/Discretionary Permit Process. The subject preliminary review proposes a drive-thru
restaurant in the P-M zone. Drive-thru restaurants are currently a prohibited use city-wide. To
remove the prohibition and allow for drive-thru restaurants as a permitted or conditionally-
permitted use, a ZCA is required to be initiated by staff. Planning staff is not supportive of
initiating a ZCA for a single development as a comprehensive update to the Zoning Code is
currently underway. Staff will be proposing to allow drive-thru restaurants in certain zones such
as the C-T zone; however, approvals from the Planning Commission, City Council and the California
Coastal Commission {CCC) are required for the Zoning Code update. It is anticipated that a draft
of the update to the Zoning Code will be available for public review in the summer of 2019. If
drive-thru restaurants are permitted,· please be advised that staff is recommending the
requirement for a Conditional Use Permit which requires approval from the Planning Commission.
Further, it is likely that additional development standards will be adopted to address aesthetic
and site design issues related to drive-thru restaurants, such as. screening and vehicular
circulation. The comments provided below may.assist you in addressing some of these potential
issues. Additional comments will be provided when a formal application is submitted {if drive-
thru restaurants are an approved land use).
Site Design/Circulation. Due to potential conflicts with cars backing up, as well as concerns
regarding aesthetics associated with the entry to the drive-thru, please add a five-foot-wide
landscape planter with screening shrubs adjacent to the southern drive-thru lane. To
accommodate this planter and maintain a minimum of 24 feet for vehicles to back out of the
parking stalls, a different building footprint may need to be considered. In addition, please revise
the site plan to identify any shade canopies over the drive-thru entry.
Parking/Access. Please provide an existing site plan and identify the existing number of parking
spaces. In addition, as parking and access are shared throughout the commercial center, a
reciprocal parking and access agreenient should already be recorded on title, or will be required
as part of the proposed project. Please submit the agreement and the title report for APNs 210-
170-08 and -09 with the project application. If it is determined that the subject proposal requires
more parking than the existing office use, a parking study may be required.
Architectural Design and Materials. Staff has the following recommendations with respect to the
architectural design:
a. Please refer to the architectural design of the existing drive-thru restaurant in 4S Ranch in San
Diego as a guide with respect to the architectural style and materials that staff would like to
see for the proposed restaurant.
b. The brick should be removed and a mixture of white stucco and stone veneer should be
utilized to complement the existing development in the commercial center.
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7.
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c. Building articulation (i.e., recesses, projections, changes in building height) should be added
to the east and west elevations.
d. To provide more variation in height and architectural interest, the tower projections should
be increased in height by one to two feet.
e. In lieu of the umbrellas, a trellis with columns clad in stone and a low stucco wall are
recommended for the outdoor eating area. In addition, landscaping is recommended in front
of the stucco wall.
Building Height. The maximum building height in the C-T zone is 35 feet. The preliminary design
identifies a maximum proposed height of 21' -8". The preliminary design will therefore be
consistent with a future C-T zoning designation (assuming drive-thru restaurants are permitted
and the zone change to C-T is approved by the City Council and CCC).
Setbacks. The C-T zone does not currently include setback regulations as it defers to the
Commercial Visitor-Serving Overlay Zone {CVSOZ). As part of the ZCA that staff is processing, the
CVSOZ will be eliminated and the following building setbacks will likely be recommended in the
C-T zone, but are subject to decision-maker approval:
Front: 15 feet
Side: 10 feet
Rear: 10 feet
The setbacks shall be landscaped pursuant to the city's Landscape Manual. As currently designed,
the project does not meet the landscaped setback requirements for the trash enclosure and the
parking lot. Please note that a 2.5-foot vehicle overhang into the 15-foot landscaped front yard
setback is allowed pursuant to Carlsbad Municipal Code {CMC) Chapter 21.44, Parking Ordinance.
The trash enclosure is required to be located outside of the setbacks. In addition, due to aesthetic
concerns, please locate the trash enclosure to the rear of the property.
Parking. Pursuant to CMC Chapter 21.44, the parking requirement for restaurants less than 4,000
square feet is one parking space per 100 square feet of gross floor area. The project proposes a
3,427 square-foot drive-thru restaurant with a 324 square-foot outdoor dining area. Please n'ote
that a maximum of 400 square feet of outdoor dining area is permitted without having.to provide
additional parking. Therefore, a total of 35 parking spaces are required. A total of 37 spaces are
proposed. As discussed in No. 5 above, staff will need to verify the existing number of parking
spaces for the office use and review the reciprocal parking and access agreement to ensure that
adequate parking continues to be provided for the commercial center. If any modifications to
parking standards for drive-thru restaurants are approved as part of the Zone Code update, the
project will be required to meet those standards.
Landscaping. A solid landscape screen shall be added along the rear property line to screen the
drive-thru from the Interstate 5 (1-5) freeway.
Signage. The Palomar Place Sign Program {PS 92-101) assigns an allocation for signage for six
commercial buildings, including the existing office building which is proposed to be demolished
and replaced with the drive-thru restaurant. To address the change in use and analyze how the
signage has been allocated throughout the shopping center, an amendment to the Sign Program
will be required. Based on an initial review of PS 92-101, it appears that the office building did
not utilize its full share of the allocation for wall signage and a majority of the difference was
redistributed to the existing restaurants in the commercial center. As part of the amendment to
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the Sign Program, staff will require an inventory of all existing signage so an accurate assessment
can be made as to how much sign area can be allocated to the new drive-thru restaurant.
In addition, please be advised that the calculation for sign area has been modified since PS 92-101
was approved. The Sign Program allocated two square feet of signage for each lineal foot of
building frontage. The current Sign Ordinance permits 1.5 square feet of signage for each lineal
foot of building frontage. The existing buildings will be able to retain the original allocation (i.e.,
legal nonconforming status); however, the new drive-thru restaurant will be subject to the current
regulations in the Sign Ordinance.
Finally, the Sign Program permits one monument sign v,tith a maximum area of 72 square feet.
Pursuant to the approved site plan, the monument sign was originally located at the northwest
corner of Palomar Airport Road and Avenida Encinas but has been removed. If you would like the
monument sign to be replaced, please work with the property owner and tenants of the shopping-
center regarding the location. The current maximum size for the monument sign is 60 square
feet. Because the sign was removed (or never installed?), the monument sign will be limited to
60 square feet. A freestanding pole sign facing the freeway is not permitted for the proposed
drive-thru restaurant.
Directional signs. Three per driveway entrance; six square feet per sign. Please coordinate
directional signage with ln-N-Out drive-thru restaurant to the south. The signs count toward the
allocation of wall signage for each building.
Reader Board wall or monument signs for drive-thru restaurant. Two per establishment; 24
square feet per sign; maximum height of six feet above finished grade. Reader Board signs are
allowed in addition to other permitted signs and are not counted toward the overall allocation
per building in the commercial center.
12. Noise study. The proposed project is located adjacent to the 1-5 freeway and within the 75dB
noise contour pursuant to the city's Noise Guidelines Manual. The maximum interior noise level
is 55 dB(A) CNEL. A noise analysis prepared by a registered acoustician will be required with the
submittal of the application. The noise analysis shall describe, in detail, the exterior noise
environment and the acoustical design features required to achieve the interior noise standards.
Evidence shall also be provided which indicates that the specified sound attenuation measures
have been incorporated into the design of the project.
13. CAL TRANS Review. Please contact CAL TRANS in.advance of the submittal of the formal application
to determine if an easement will be required for the future widening of 1-5. Please submit
correspondence confirming what the requirements will be, if any.
14. Early Public Notice. The project is subject to City Council Policy Statement No. 84, Development
Project Public Involvement Policy. Pursuant to the Policy, applicants are required to send a public
notice within 30 days of submittal of development applications. In the event the project proposes
50,000 square feet or more of enclosed space, an enhanced stakeholder outreach will also be
required. Please see the attached Policy for additional information.
15. Please see attached Development Permits P-2 form for a list of submittal requirements for the
application submittal, including details which are required to be included on the site plan, floor
plans and elevations, etc.
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All necessary application forms, submittal requirements, and fee information are available at the Planning
counter located in the Faraday Building at 1635 Faraday Avenue or on line at www.carlsbadca.gov. You
may also access the General Plan Land Use Element and the Zoning Ordinance online at the website
address shown; select Department Listing; select Planning Home Page. Please review all information
carefully before submitting.
Land Development Engineering:
Land Development Engineering Division staff has completed a preliminary review of the above-referenced
project. Priorto formal application submittal the following items must be adequately resolved/addressed:
1. Complete a Stormwater Standards Questionnaire (Form E-34). This questionnaire will guide you
and the city in determining what type of reports and storm water mitigation must be completed
to satisfy state and city stormwater quality requirements. The questionnaire can be obtained
from the city's website (http://www.carlsbadca.gov/services/depts/landev/engineering.asp).
Preliminary analysis suggests that the project is a Priority Development Project (PDP) and
therefore is subject to numerically-sized stormwater pollutant treatment BM P's and submittal of
a Preliminary Storm Water Quality Management Plan (SWQMP). In addition, unless a proper
exemption can be cited, PDP hydromodification requirements will apply. No Critical Course
Sediment Yield Areas appear on this property per the WMAA.
Plot proposed water quality basins and hydromodification storage facilities with profiles. In
addition, identify on the site plan all source control and site design BMPs proposed per the
completed standard project requirement checklist (Form E-36) to be included in the SWQMP.
2. Include preliminary grading plans and soils report with your submittal for discretionary review.
Provide grading quantities, including cut, fill, and remedial volumes. It is anticipated that a
grading permit will be required.
3. Provide a preliminary hydrology study including map and calculations to demonstrate
capacity/sizing of proposed and existing storm drain infrastructure, and show before and after
discharges for the site.
4. Provide preliminary title report. All easements listed in the title report should be represented on
the site plan and preliminary grading plan. Show all easements on the plans, or if the easements
cannot be plotted, indicate so and list on the plans.
5. Provide documentation showing reciprocal access from adjacent parking lot.
6. Show existing and proposed contours, as well as finished surface elevations.
7. Show all existing utilities on-site and in the right-of-way, including grease trap, water meter, water
service, and sewer lateral sizes. Propose upgrades as needed, and provide a will-serve letter for
water and sewer service.
8. Providing queueing analysis for the drive-thru, as well as passenger car turning paths through the
drive-thru.
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9. Plot truck turning radii on site plan for path leading to trash enclosure (Caltrans Highway Design
Manual Figure 404.5B).
10. Move trash enclosure to the rear of site where it will not be visible from the street or block
driveway access. A potential location could be near the existing ln-N-Out trash enclosure.
11. Improvements in the Caltrans temporary construction easement may require Caltrans approval.
12. Existing driveway will be required to be improved to meet current ADA standards.
13. Address comments on the attached red lined plan.
If you would like to schedule a meeting to discuss this letter with the commenting departments, please
contact Shannon Harker at the number below. You may also contact each department individually as
follows:
• Planning Division: Shannon Harker, Associate Planner, at 760-602-4621
• Land Development Engineering: Jennifer Horodyski, Project Engineer, at 760-602-2747
Sincerely,
Yi~
DON NEU, AICP
City Planner
DN:SH:dh
Enc: Engineering red lines
City Council Policy No. 84
Development Permits, P-2
c: Jennifer Daw, 15635 Alton Parkway, Ste. 350, Irvine, CA 92618
Bill Grosse, 5850 Avenida Encinas, Ste. A, Carlsbad, CA 92008
Don Neu
Kyrenne Chua
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