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Home My WebLink About1985-10-15; City Council; 7902-5; Revisions to City's Coastal Program AmendmentCITV JF CARLSBAD _ _ ,, >^^5£o *3 iV6 ^'""A B *P /^%^% *""" ^ ^ MTR. 10/15/85 nPPT_ R/AG REVISIONS TO THE COASTAL PROGRAM -AGENDA BILL 1l CITY'S LOCAL AMENDMENT DEPT. HI CITY ATI CITYMG &/ _/ j 3/W -y\/Fft B.'^^L, RECOMMENDED ACTION: Oo:a.a. o Council approve the revised Local Coastal Program (LCP) amendments (Mello I and II) ITEM EXPLANATION: On February 19, 1985 Council adopted Resolution No. 7913 accepting the existing Carlsbad LCP with amendments and requesting Coastal Commission approval. The amendments contained provisions for the grading of steep slopes and the assess- ment of a fee for the conversion of non-prime agricultural land to urban uses. As a consequence of negotiations with Coastal Commission staff and property owners the LCP Committee revised those amendments. The revisions called for stricter grading requirements and the elimination of the conversion fee. In place of the fee, and consistent with the Coastal Act, the LCP Committee proposed an innovative land exchange program. The program would permit the conversion of non-prime agricultural land in Carlsbad if a property owner either proved agriculture infea- sible or mitigated the conversion by preserving prime land elsewhere in the Coastal Zone. The LCP Committee assumed that those revisions resolved all disagreement between the City and Coastal staff. Council expressed some reservations about elimina- ting the fee and replacing it with a program that provided mitigation outside Carlsbad. However, Council approved those revisions August 20, 1985 in advance of the scheduled Coastal Commission hearing on August 27, 1985. On August 21, 1985 the City received the Coastal Commission's staff report that recommended denial of the City's LCP amendments. The lengthy staff report raised new issues. The City, therefore, requested a continuance of the Coastal Commis- sion hearing on the amendments in order to resolve the new disagreements. f Subsequent negotiations between the LCP Committee and Coastal staff have narrowed the disagreements. The unresolved issues are as follows: 1. Coastal staff's recommended modifications that prohibit the grading of steep slopes which contain moderately erosive soils or geologic hazards are too inflexible and restrictive. The LCP Committee believes that the City's grading ordinance provides adequate measures to reduce accelerated erosion and safeguard against geologic hazards. 2. Coastal staff insists that the Hunt Properties (Mello I) should be developed according to a master plan that preser- ves agriculture, under a mixed-use scheme. The LCP Committee believes that the Hunt Properties (Mello I) should have the • same conversion options as do properties in Mello II. PAGE 2 of AB# Another issue that surfaced during discussions with Coastal staff was the addition of a fee as an option available to property owners wishing to convert agricultural lands. The Committee initiated the fee option dis- cussions in order to address Council concerns expressed at the August 20th meeting. Commission staff said it could not officially support a fee but recommen- ded that the City propose the fee and let the Coastal Commission resolve the issue. These final issues will be debated before the Coastal Commission on October 24, 1985 in Los Angeles. In order to properly present the issues at the hearing the LCP Committee recommends that Council adopt the attached revisions regarding grading restrictions (Exhibit 1) and the fee option (Exhibit 2). EXHIBITS: 1. Drainage & Erosion Control (grading restrictions). 2. Mitigation Fee Option. EXHIBIT 1. Drainage and Erosion Control Any development proposal that affects steep slopes (25% inclina- tion or greater) shall be required to prepare a slope map and analysis for the affected slopes. Steep slopes are identified on the PRC Toups maps. The slope mapping and analysis shall be prepared during the CEQA environmental review on a project-by- project basis and shall be required as a condition of a coastal development permit. 1) For those slopes mapped as possessing endangered plant/animal species and/or coastal sage scrub and chapparal plant communities. highly credible soils ffgeelagie haearda, the following policy language would apply: a) Slopes of 25% grade and over shall be preserved in their natural state, unless the application of this policy would preclude any reasonable use of the property, in which case an encroachment not to exceed 10% of the steep slope area over 25% grade may be permitted. For existing legal parcels, with all or nearly all of their area in slope area over 25% grade, encroachment may be permitted; however, any such encroachment shall be limited so that at no time is more than 20% of the entire parcel (including areas under 25% slope) permitted to be disturbed from its natural stale. This policy shall not apply to the construction of roads of the City's circulation element or the development of ul.ility systems. Uses of slopes over 25% may be made in order to provide access to flatter areas if there is no less environmentally damaging alternative available. b) No further subdivisions of land or utilization of Planned Unit Developments shall occur on lots that have their total area in excess of 25% slope unless a Planned Unit Development is proposed which limits grading and development to not more than 10% of the total site area. J. c) Slopes and areas remaining undisturbed as a result of the hillside review process, should be placed in a permanent open space easement as a condition of development approval. The purpose of the open space easement shall be to reduce the potential for localized erosion and slide hazards, to prohibit the removal of native vegetation except for creating firebreaks and/or planting fire retardant vegetation and to protect visual resources of importance to the entire community. 2) For all other steep slope areas, nete mapped, the City Council may allow exceptions to the above grading provisions provided the following mandatory findings to allow exceptions are made: 1. A soils investigation conducted by a licensed soils engineer has determined the subject slope area to be stable and grading and development impacts mitigatable for at least 75 years, or life of structure. 2. Grading of the slope is essential to the develop- ment intent and design. 3. Slope disturbance will not result in substantial damage or alteration to major wildlife habitat or native vegetation areas. 4. If the area proposed to be disturbed is predomin- ated by steep slopes and is in excess of 10 acresrno more than one third of the total steep slope area shall be subject to major grade changes. 5. If the area proposed-to be disturbed is predomin- ated by steep slopes and is less than 10 acres, complete grading may be allowed only if no inter- ruption of significant wildlife corridors occurs. 6. Because north-facing slopes are generally more prone to stability problems and in many cases contain more extensive natural vegetation, no grading or removal of vegetation from these areas will be permitted unless all environmental impacts have been mitigated. Overriding circumstances are not considered adequate mitigation. EXHIBIT 2. September 26, 1985 TO: LCP COMMITTEE PROM: City Attorney AMENDMENTS NEEDED TO ADD MITIGATION FEE OPTION Mello I page 5f policy 2: modify findings to read as follows: l.a. Conversion would preserve prime agricultural land or concentrate development consistent with Section 30250 of the Public Resources Code; or, 1.b. Continued or renewed agriculture is no longer feasible; or I.e. Payment of an agricultural conversion mitigation fee in an amount not less than $5,000 and not more than $10,000 per net converted acre has been made; and 2. Conversion would be compatible with continued agricultural use on surrounding lands; 3. The master plan provides overriding benefits to the resources of Batiquitos Lagoon; 4. The master plan provides significant protection and enhancement of environmentally sensitive habitats above and beyond the existing land use control's current requirements. The amount of agricultural conversion mitigation fee shall be determined by the City Council at the time it considers a development permit for conversion of the property to urban uses and shall reflect the per acre cost of preserving prime agricultural land pursuant to paragraph 1.a. The fee shall be deposited in the State Coastal Conservancy Fund and shall be expended in the following order of priority: 1. Restoration of natural resources and wildlife habitat in Batiquitos Lagoon, including but not limited to payment for operation and maintenance of a Lagoon enhancement program. 2. Development of an interpretive center at Buena Vista Lagoon. t 3. Restoration of beaches managed for public use in the City of Carlsbad. 4. Purchase of agricultural lands for continued agricultural production within the Carlsbad Coastal Zone as determined by the Carlsbad City Council. LCP COMMITTEE -3- September 26, 1985 5. Agricultural improvements which will aid in continuation of agricultural production within the Carlsbad Coastal Zone as determined by the Carlsbad City Council." Amend the sentence immediately following existing Option 2 as follows: "For purposes of implementation no option shall have priority over any other option." This would follow immediately after new Option 3. Amend the CA zone as follows: §21. ^.060 c. add "or subsection d" immediately after "subsection b" in the second sentence. §21. .060 d. redesignate as subsection e. §21. .060 d (new) added to read as follows: d. Agricultural conversion mitigation fee. In lieu of the procedures established by subsection b. or subsection c. property may be converted to urban uses upon payment of an Agricultural Conversion Mitigation Fee. The amount of the fee shall be determined by the City Council at the time it considers a Coastal Development permit for urban development of the property. The fee shall not be less than five thousand dollars nor more than ten thousand dollars per net converted acre of agricultural land and shall reflect the approximate cost of preserving prime agricultural land pursuant to subsection b. The fees shall be paid prior to the issuance of building permits for the project. All mitigation fees collected under this section shall be deposited in the State Coastal Conservancy Fund and shall be expended by the State Coastal Conservancy in the following order of priority: 1. Restoration of natural resources and wildlife habitat in Batiquitos Lagoon including but not limited to, continued funding of any maintenance, operation or enhancement costs necessary to implement any lagoon enhancement program approved by the City Council. 2. Development of an interpretive center at Buena Vista Lagoon. 3. Restoration of beaches managed for public use in the coastal zone in the City of Carlsbad. 4. Any other project or activity benefiting natural or agricultural resources in the coastal zone in the City of Carlsbad that is provided for in the certified land use plan. 7 LCP COMMITTEE -4- September 26, 1985 Amend 21. .070 to add a new paragraph c. to read as follows: "c. Where a property owner has agreed to pay an agricultural conversion mitigation fee pursuant to Section 21. .060 then the City Council prior to approval of a master plan or planned development permit must find that: 1. The master plan or planned development permit is consistent with the certified LCP. 2. Conversion would be compatible with continued agriculture on adjacent agricultural lands. 3. The property owner has executed an agreement to pay the fee and the agreement has been approved by the City Council." . HENTSCHKE fistant City Attorney rmh