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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2011-09-07; Planning Commission; Resolution 68051 PLANNING COMMISSION RESOLUTION NO. 6805 2 A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, RECOMMENDING APPROVAL OF AN AMENDMENT TO (1) POLICY 2.3 OF 4 THE AGUA HEDIONDA LAND USE PLAN REGARDING FUTURE EXPANSION OF THE ENCINA POWER PLANT 5 AND (2) TO TABLE "A" OF ZONING ORDINANCE SECTION 21.36.020 REGARDING GENERATION AND TRANSMISSION 6 OF ELECTRICAL ENERGY IN THE PUBLIC UTILITIES ZONE. 7 CASE NAME: CHANGES TO POWER PLANT STANDARDS • CASE NO: LCPA11-06 9 WHEREAS, the City of Carlsbad has filed a verified application for an 10 amendment to the Local Coastal Program, LCPA 11-06, to amend portions of the Zoning 11 Ordinance (as provided by application Zone Code Amendment ZCA 11-05) and the Agua 12 Hedionda Land Use Plan, an implementing ordinance and a segment of the City's Local Coastal j 4 Program, respectively; and 15 WHEREAS, the City has filed LCPA 11-06 to respond to City Council 16 Ordinance CS-110, which extends Urgency Ordinance CS-067 and (1) prohibits, through 17 October 20, 2011, the expansion or location of thermal electrical power generation facilities 18 within Carlsbad's Coastal Zone, (2) describes the City's concern about expansion of the 19 Encina Power Station, and (3) states the City's objective to study existing land use 20 standards regarding electrical power generation, particularly at the Encina Power Station 21 and in the Coastal Zone, due to concerns regarding the appropriateness and sufficiency of 22 the standards to protect the health, safety, and welfare, of its citizens; and WHEREAS, the City has also filed LCPA 11-06 to respond to City Council 25 Resolution 2010-038, which (1) declares the City Council's intent to study and consider 26 amendments to the General Plan Land Use Element, Zoning Ordinance, and other 27 regulations pertaining to the location and operation of thermal electric power generation 28 facilities within the City and (2) directs city staff to prepare the necessary applications to implement land use recommendations; and WHEREAS, California State law requires that the Local Coastal Program, 4 General Plan, and Zoning designations for properties in the Coastal Zone be in conformance; and 5 WHEREAS, said verified applications constitute a request for a Local Coastal 6 Program Amendment as shown on "Exhibit X - ZCA 11-05" dated September 7, 2011, attached to Planning Commission Resolution No. 6804, and as shown on "Exhibit X- LPCA li- 06" attached hereto and also dated September 7, 2011, as provided in Public Resources Code 10 Section 30514 and Section 13551 of California Code of Regulations Title 14, Division 5.5; and 11 WHEREAS, the Planning Commission did on September 7, 2011, hold a duly noticed public hearing as prescribed by law to consider said request; and WHEREAS at said public hearing, upon hearing and considering all testimony 14 and arguments, examining LCPA 11-06, analyzing the information submitted by City staff, and 15 considering any written and oral comments received, the Planning Commission considered all 16 factors relating to LCPA 11-06; and 17 WHEREAS, State Coastal Guidelines requires a six-week public review period18 for any amendment to the Local Coastal Program. 20 NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT HEREBY RESOLVED by the Planning 21 Commission of the City of Carlsbad, as follows: 22 A) That the foregoing recitations are true and correct. B) At the end of the State-mandated six-week review period, starting on July 29, ~. 2011, and ending on September 9, 2011, staff shall present to the City Council a summary of the comments received. 25 C) That based on the evidence presented at the public hearing, the Commission 26 RECOMMENDS APPROVAL of CHANGES TO POWER PLANT STANDARDS - LCPA 11-06 based on the following findings, and subject to the 27 following conditions: 28 PC RESO NO. 6805 -2- Findings: 1. LCPA 11-06 meets the requirements of, and is in conformity with, the policies of Chapter 3 of the Coastal Act and all applicable policies of the Agua Hedionda Land Use Plan segment of the Carlsbad Local Coastal Program not being amended by this 4 amendment, in that: 5 a. Power generation is not allowed on the property affected by Policy 2.3(b), the policy proposed for deletion. The only property to which Policy 2.3(b) 6 applies, a 45-acre parcel identified by Assessor's Parcel Number 211-010-24 and on the east side of Interstate 5, has General Plan and Local Coastal Program land use designations ("Travel/Recreation Commercial" and "Travel Services Commercial") that do not allow generation of electrical energy. The property is also within the Commercial Visitor Serving Overlay Zone. The underlying zoning of this property, Public Utilities, is not consistent with the land use designations. 10 b. The purpose for which the policy was written, to preserve power plant 11 expansion opportunities for the Encina Power Station, is no longer needed or appropriate for the following reasons: 12 The Agua Hedionda Land Use Plan was adopted in 1982 and no power generation uses have been proposed on the 45-acre parcel. Instead, in 1989 and 2007, power plants were proposed within the 14 boundaries of the existing Encina Power Station, west of the 45-acre parcel and separated from it by Interstate 5. ii. Power generation is not a coastal dependent development or use, and thus does not require a prime coastal location such as the 45-acre parcel. "Coastal-dependent development or use," as defined in Coastal Act Section 30101, is "any development or use which requires a site on, or adjacent to, the sea to be able to function at all." As recent advances in technology demonstrate, state of the art power 19 plants (e.g., Palomar Energy Center in Escondido, Mountainview Power Project in Redlands) are able to operate away from large water 20 bodies such as Agua Hedionda Lagoon. 21 iii. The 45-acre parcel is located in a sensitive coastal location; as demonstrated by the City's findings on the Carlsbad Energy Center Project (California Energy Commission filing 07-AFC-6), new power generation in the Agua Hedionda Land Use Plan area would have significant environmental impacts, including but not limited to air 24 quality, land use, and visual impacts and may affect public access to coastal resources. 25 c. By deleting Policy 2.3(b), LCPA 11-06 improves the use and internal 26 consistency of the Agua Hedionda Land Use Plan by deleting a policy which enables consideration of a future power plant on the 45-acre parcel in 27 conflict with the parcel's Travel Services Commercial land use designation. 28 PC RESO NO. 6805 -3- 1 d. Deletion of Policy 2.3(b) does not change any Local Coastal Program standards regarding important coastal resources such as public access and view protection, and sensitive biological and geological resources and in fact ~ potentially enhances opportunities for public access and protection of existing views and resources, consistent with the goals of the Coastal Act as 4 found in Public Resources Code Section 30001.5. 5 2. By eliminating a policy of the Agua Hedionda Land Use Plan that enables consideration of a future power plant, LCPA 11-06 responds to and is consistent 6 with the concerns and intent of City Council Ordinance CS-110 and City Council Resolution 2010-038. 7 3. As demonstrated in Planning Commission Resolution No. 6804, ZCA 11-05 is also ° consistent with the Local Coastal Program in that it provides clarification regarding generation and transmission of electrical energy in the Coastal Zone, does not change Local Coastal Program standards regarding coastal resources, and potentially enhances opportunities for public access and protection of coastal resources. 11 4. The Planning Director has determined the project is exempt from the California 12 Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it will not have a significant effect on the environment. This determination is pursuant to State CEQA Guidelines Section 13 15061(b) (3) and Municipal Code Section 19.04.070 A.l.c.(l). CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b) (3) states "when it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the ,,- environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA." Furthermore, Municipal Code Section 1919.04.070 A.l.c.(l) identifies minor zone or municipal code amendments 16 that refine or clarify existing land use standards, which the project does, as being exempt from CEQA because they also are not considered to have a significant 17 environmental effect. 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PC RESO NO. 6805 -4- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Planning Commission of the City of Carlsbad, held on September 7, 2011, by the following vote, to wit: AYES:Chairperson L'Heureux, Commissioners Arnold, Black, Scully and Schumacher NOES: ABSENT: Commissioner Nygaard and Siekmann ABSTAIN: STEPHEN^HAP* L'HEUREUX, Chairperson CARLSBAD PLANNING COMMISSION ATTEST: DON NEU Planning Director PC RESO NO. 6805 -5- Exhibit X-LPGA 11-06 September?, 2011 LCPA 11-06 - Changes to Power Plant Standards Revision to Agua Hedionda Land Use Plan (Note: Proposed text additions are shown as bold and underlined. Proposed deletions are shown as strike-outs.) 2. Agriculture Policies 2.3 Conversion of the 45-acre SDG&E south shore property identified as TS on Exhibit "C" to this plan shall be subject to the following conditions: a) Prior to development SDG&E shall record a permanent open space easement over the remaining OS lands on said Exhibit "C" in favor of the City of Carlsbad. Said easement shall not prohibit or limit the following utility uses which are also permitted as a matter of right in the Cannon Road Agricultural/Open Space Zone: Energy transmission and distribution facilities, including but not limited to rights-of-way and pressure control or booster stations, substations, gas metering/regulating stations or operating centers for gasoline, electricity, natural gas, synthetic natural gas, oil or other forms of energy sources, with the necessary accessory equipment incidental thereto, together with utility buildings/facilities that are built, operated or maintained by a public utility to the extent they are regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission. Conversion of these remaining lands to non-agricultural uses shall be subject to the City's Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Program. b) SDG&E shall provide a written report demonstrating to the satisfaction of the City, that preservation of the site is not necessary to assure reasonable expansion opportunities for the Encina Power Plant in accordance with Coastal Act Section—3Q413(b),—and—that—future—expansion could reasonably be accommodated at the present power plant srte^—Said report shall be a requirement of a future specific development plan for the property. ef-b) Prior to issuance of a permit for development of the parcel, the owners shall make a portion of the site available for development as a public recreational use if the City finds that current or future recreational needs require the development of such uses in the south shore portion of the Land Use Plan area. Exhibit X-LPGA 11-06 September 7, 2011 LCPA 11-06 - Changes to Power Plant Standards Revision to Agua Hedionda Land Use Plan (Note: Proposed text additions are shown as bold and underlined. Proposed deletions are shown as strike-outs.) d)-cj Development of the parcel with non-agricultural uses shall be subject to the City's Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee Program.