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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1976-08-17; City Council; 3738; Travel service land useCITY OF CARLSBAD Initial: AGENDA BI:LL NQ. Dept. Hd. DATE: August 17. 1976 ' ' DEPARTMENT: PLANNING cit" ' • City Mgr. SUBJECT: TRAVEL SERVICE LAND USE Ref: AB 3701 (ZCA-176, L. Bruce Stallard) 'Statement of the Matter At the City Council meeting of July 6, 1976, the Council denied a request by L. Bruce Stallard to change zoning from R-A-10,000 and C-l to C-2 (General Commercial) on property between 1-5 and Avenida Encinas north of Palomar Airport Road. The Council, however, instructed staf.f to prepare a report out- lining alternative courses of action that the City Council could take, which would achieve General Plan and Zoning consistency. The attached report provides the Council with several options and the Staff recommendation. Exhibit: Memorandum Report to City Manager of August 4, 1976 Recommendati on: If the City Council concurs with the recommendation of the Planning Director's Memorandum to the City Manager, it is recommended that the Council direct Staff to prepare the necessary documents and set the matter to hearing. Council action 8-17-76 It was agreed to, delete from the TS category of the Land Use Element, Subcategory 2 relating to Travel. Dependent uses; and.amend-the Land Use Map for the TS district North of Airport Road, west of 1-5 to provide for a form of commercial development for the northerly 1.7 acre portion of the property. FORM PLANNING 73 MEMORANDUM AUGUST 4, 1976 TO: CITY MANAGER FROM: PLANNING DIRECTOR SUBJECT: TRAVEL SERVICE 1AND USE HISTORY: At the July 6, 1976 meeting, the City Council upheld the Planning Commission recommendation and denied a request to rezone to C-2 property north of Palomar A'i rport-Road between Avenida Encinas and 1-5 (ZC 176). The basic reason for denial was that the General Plan calls for a travel service or traffic dependent (T-S) use on the property which the C-2 zone cannot adequately guarantee. In arriving at their decision, the City Council and Planning Commis- sion noted that Carlsbad does not have a specific zone to implement the travel service category. And that the uses permitted by the C-2 zone were too broad to effectively implement the General Plan Land Use designation. Therefore, the City Council directed staff to report on a possible travel service and traffic dependent commercial use zone. The City Council was also interested in determining alter- native General Plan Land Use which could provide for an auto dealer- ship. In addition, the City Council was concerned about ambiguous wording in the General Plan text describing the travel service land use category. GENERAL PLAN: The full title of the T-S category is "Travel Service and Traffic Dependent Commercial" and is divided into two categories, which are as follows: (1) Travel Service areas, including motels, highway-oriented service stations, and restaurants, serve business and industrial areas as well as the traveling public. These establishments should be accessible to interregional traffic, but they need not have direct roadway access as long as their location is easily identifiable. While many patrons pass through the City and stop only over- night, these establishments a-lso serve as the residence of people visiting the area for business or pleasure. Their space require- ments relate to the needs to the entire northern San Diego County area. The space requirement for a specific location is depen- dent on the amount and type of transient traffic and the needs, and extensiveness of nearby business and industrial areas. A site of five or more acres is required to provide a full range Travel Service Land .se August 4, 1976 Page Two of travel services and facilities. Two important factors in developing travel service areas are: (1) maintaining a func- tional street system through access control, and; (2) preventing detrimental affects on or by adjacent land use. (2) Traffic dependent businesses serve the whim and fancy of .the motoring public.. Typical of this group are such "impulse" establishments as "hot dog" stands, roadside fruit stands, ice cream stands and novelty or curio stands. Because of their dependence on high traffic volumes, they generally locate on the edge of a group of retail establishments or near recreation facilities. They require direct access to the street and a high degree of visibility. Because they are unique and generally incompatible with other land uses, they are not good neighbors to residential areas or to certain commercial uses. Their frequency and space needs are too diverse to project. Possibly the most unobtrusive locations for traffic dependent businesses are along major streets and adjacent to extensive business or recreational areas. Traffic dependent business establishments should be separated from residential areas. Although both of these subcategories are based on auto traffic they are dissimilar in uses. Subcategory 1 is tourist or traveling public oriented and contains uses of high quality. Subcategory 2 is basically a "strip commercial" area catering to local traffic as well as travelers The uses in Subcategory 2 can be very different and implies a lower quality. The land use map generally indicates T-S in high traffic volume areas, which are primarily tourist oriented, -i.e., beach areas, La Costa recreation area, 1-5, etc. 'These areas appear correct for the uses listed in subcategory 1, but it is doubtful if too many uses of sub- category 2 would locate here on a permanent basis. Therefore, there appears to be an inconsistency between the text and the map. The City Council noted this inconsistency and the apparent poor<wording of subcategory 2 and suggested review. ZONING: Prior to the necessary revisions for zoning consistency of the General Plan, staff anticipated using the C-2, General Commercial Zone, to implement the T-S category. This zone permits all uses listed in both subcategories of the T-S land classification. The Planning Commission and City Council noted, however, that the C-2 zone also permits many additional uses th.at are not compatible with travel oriented uses. DISCUSSION: During the discussion of ZC 176 the City Council directed staff to* answer some particular questions regarding the matter. The following are these questions and staff's report on each. Travel Service Land .se August 4, 1976 PageThree 1. IS A TRAVEL ORIENTED SERVICE LAND USE CATEGORY NECESSARY IN THE GENERAL PLAN? The tourist and traveling public are in Carlsbad and play an impor- tant part of our commerce, and is growing as more people are using the beach, traveling to San Diego and Mexico on 1-5 and the develop- . ment of recreation spas Ijke at La Costa. It is necessary to set aside areas purposely for the traveling public to promote compatible uses and reduce traffic congestion. 2. IS THE TEXT OF T-S CATEGORY ADEQUATE? As stated in the General Plan discussion of this report the T-S category actually contains two categories and these categories are not totally compatible. Staff believes there is a necessity to have a tourist service area (subcategory 1) as stated in Question 1 above, but staff does not believe a traffic dependent category is necessary (subcategory 2). Traffic dependent uses can generally be considered the old concept of "strip commercial" that modern planning practices attempt to reduce or eliminate. Therefore, staff suggests an amendment to the General Plan text to eliminate subcategory 2 uses oriented to the traveling public. The particular uses listed are a minor part of the commercial -community and can be accomodated in more general commercial category without specific reference.. 3. DOES THE GENERAL PIAN MAP INDICATE THE PROPER LOCATIONS FOR TRAVEL ORIENTED USES? As stated in the General Plan background discussion of this report, the areas indicated on the General Plan map relate well to the needs of the tourist and traveling public. However, these areas are not correct for the more general traffic oriented uses. If this last category is eliminated as suggested in answer to Question 2 above, then the map is adequate, subject of course to periodig adjustments and refinements. 4. IS THE GENERAL PLAN DESIGNATION OF T-S CORRECT FOR THE PROPERTY AT PALOMAR AIRPORT ROAD AND AVENIDA ENCINAS? The property is definitely in an area of high traffic volume (1-5 and Airport Road). The northwest corner is presently developed with a service station which conforms to the T-S designation. The vacant lots to the north (Proposed Priestly property) is adequate for a motel, restaurant or other T-S type uses. Adjacent to the north, the pro- perties are developed with non-T-S uses (nurserie and office building ) and appear to be too far removed from Airport Road to be an effective T-S area. Travel Service Land use August 4, 1976 Page Four The area under consideration can be divided into two parts the northerly 1.7 acre east of Avenida Encinas and the 4.3 acre between the AAA Tire Service location and the northerly parcel. The 4.3 acre parcel is the area under consideration for a purported auto dealer- ship. And the 1,7 acre is the location of the office building (.9 acre) and the nursery (.8 acre). The staff feels that the 4.3 acre parcel is of sufficient size to accomodate a number of Travel Dependent uses. However, the problem occurs if the Travel Dependent designation i.s considered for the 1.7 acre parcel. The office building is relatively new and is not Travel Dependent nor could it reasonably be converted to such a use. There- fore, if 4.3 acre is of sufficient size, staff would recommend that the remaining 1.7 acre (nursery and office) be designated as Regional Retail Intensive and be zoned C-2Q (general commercial) with site development plan. 5. IS AN AUTO DEALERSHIP A COMPATIBLE USE IN A TRAVEL SERVICE AREA? The primary function of an auto dealer is retail, providing autos to local residents, not the traveling public. However, the dealers pro- vide a maintenance service to autos and this form of maintenance is important to the traveling public. Therefore, auto- dealers that pro- vide maintenance service could in theory be considered compatible with travel service uses in the broad sense. 6. IS A SPECIAL ZONE NEEDED TO IMPLEMENT-THE T-S CATEGORY? To properly implement and protect a well functioning tourist service area as indicated in the General Plan subcategory 2, the City needs a special zone. Presently, there is no zone that meets this require- ment. Staff suggests the creation of a commercial tourist zone to implement the T-S subcategory 2. 7. IS IT POSSIBLE TO ACCOMODATE THE USE OF AN AUTO DEALERSHIP WITHIN THE PRESENT GENERAL PLAN AND REQUESTED C-2 ZONE (ZC 176) AT PROPERTY SITUATED ALONG THE WEST SIDE OF'I-5, NORTH OF AIRPORT DRIVE? Do to this the City Council would' need to determine that the C-2 zone is consistent with the T-S land use designation. As stated in this report this determination is aot acceptable and therefore amendments to the General Plan and Zone Code must precede requests for a change of zone for a compatible zone. This question would be fully answered as the City reviews the T-S category, General Plan map and creates a commercial tourist zone. RECOMMENDATIONS: It is recommended that the City Council direct staff to draft amend- ments and/or reports on the following and submit to City Council for review: I.Travel Service Land use August 4, 1976 PageFive . • 1. Delete from the T-S category of the Land Use Element Subcategory 2. 2. Amend the Land Use Map at the (T-S) district north of Airport Road, west of 1-5 to provide for Regional Intensive Commercial at the northerly portion of the property. 3. Create a commercial tourist zone that provides-for such uses as hotels, motels, restaurants, service stations, etc. Auto dealer- • ships to be permitted by CUP. Donald A. Agatep DAA:BP:cs