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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-09-02; City Council; 14339; Urgency Ordinance Carlsbad RanchP. CITY OF CARLSBAD -AC&i BILL AB# /vi 339 TITLE: %if- 43 URGENCY ORDINANCE RELATING TO THE MTG. PROCESSING OF COMMERCIAL PROJECTS IN PROXIMITY TO CARLSBAD RANCH DEPT. CM DEPT. HD. CITY ATTY. CITY MGB RECOMMENDED ACTION: That the City Council ADOPT Ordinance No. #C- 418 an Urgency Measure to require City Council consideration of all commercial projects in proximity to the Carlsbad Ranch/ LEGOLAND Development. ITEM EXPLANATION: Recently, the City Council directed staff to do a study on the appropriate mechanism for requiring City Council approval of all future commercial development proposals in areas near the Carlsbad Ranch/LEGOLAND Development. The extent and boundaries of the area to be affected was also to be reviewed as a part of the study. Staff has been preparing the study which should be completed in approximately three weeks. In the meantime, four new commercial projects have been proposed in the area surrounding Carlsbad Ranch/LEGOLAND: 1) a Costco Service Station on the Price Club (Costco) property which was recently approved by the Planning Commission; 2) a request to convert the Denny’s Restaurant at l-5 and Palomar Airport Road to an Island’s Restaurant; 3) a new Service Station at the SE corner of Cannon Road and Avenida Encinas; and 4) a 143-room Hilton Hotel at the intersection of Carlsbad Boulevard and Palomar Airport Road. In order to allow staff the time to complete its study and to process any ordinance revisions that result from Council’s review of the study, Council Member Julie Nygaard has requested that the Council adopt an Urgency Ordinance. The Urgency Ordinance would require any pending commercial projects which have not received final approvals (including the four referenced above) or any new applications for commercial projects in proximity to Carlsbad Ranch (as defined in the Ordinance) to be brought before the City Council for final review and consideration. Final consideration for most of these types of projects presently rests with the Planning Commission unless the matter is appealed to the City Council. The Urgency Ordinance as proposed would only apply to commercial projects and not residential, office or industrial uses. The Ordinance would not place a hold or moratorium on the processing of any commercial projects as it would only be adding a procedural step requiring the project to be brought before the City Council for final consideration. Because this is an Urgency Ordinance processed under Government Code Section 65858(a), a four-fifth vote of the City Council is required. FISCAL IMPACT: Staff time involved in preparing and processing of City Council agenda bills for any projects affected by the ordinance. EXHIBITS: 1. City Council Ordinance No. NS- 4/g , - 1 ORDINANCE NO. NS-418 2 AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA, ADOPTING AN URGENCY MEASURE THAT REQUIRES THE CITY COUNCIL’S REVIEW AND APPROVAL OF ALL PENDING AND FUTURE COMMERCIAL PROJECTS IN THE VICINITY OF THE LEGOLANDKARLSBAD RANCH SPECIFIC PLAN AREA. WHEREAS, the City Council passed a motion on June 24, 1997 directing staff to 8 study the establishment of an appropriate mechanism or process to make the Council a standard 9 part of the approval process for commercial projects near the Carlsbad Ranch Specific Plan area; 10 and 11 WHEREAS, staff is currently working on the Council directed study to determine 12 13 14 15 how to most appropriately and effectively require City Council approval in the standard permit processing of commercial sites around the Carlsbad Ranch Specific Plan area; and WHEREAS, staff will also present options for the delineation of the geographic area to be subject to Council review and approval of commercial projects as part of the study; 16 and 17 WHEREAS, currently commercial projects in the vicinity of Carlsbad Ranch may 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 receive final approval from the Planning Commission and would only go on to the City Council in the event of an appeal; and WHEREAS, the City Council desires to strengthen and reinforce their role in the commercial development adjacent to the Carlsbad Ranch area and has determined that to not review and approve such commercial projects represents a current and immediate threat to public health, safety and welfare since several commercial projects are currently pending and in the City’s processing ,system; and WHEREAS, this ordinance is adopted pursuant to Government Code Section 65858(a) allowing the adoption of such urgency ordinances by a four-fifths vote of its legislative 27 body to address a land use issue that the City is currently studying; and 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 WHEREAS, it is the intent of the City Council to extend this interim ordinance for ten months and fifteen days or until the final implementation of the Council directed study (future zone code amendment) following a notice and public hearing prior to the expiration of 45 days f%om the adoption of this ordinance. NOW, therefore, the City Council of the City of Carlsbad, California, does ordain as follows: SECTION I: That the above recitals are true and correct. SECTION II: The area covered by this urgency ordinance and subject to immediate Council involvement is bordered by Carlsbad Boulevard to the west, Cannon Road to the north, the eastern edge of the Carlsbad Ranch property south to Palomar Airport, east to the intersection of Palomar Airport Road and Aviara Parkway, and south to Poinsettia Lane which forms the southern boundary as shown on the map attached hereto. SECTION III: For the area described above, pending and future commercial projects subject to Planning Commission review and use changes subject to Planning Director review shall be required to undergo City Council review and approval regardless of current zoning ordinance regulations regarding the review and approval of land use entitlements. SECTION IV: On or before 45 days following the adoption of this ordinance, the City Council shall hold a public hearing to consider extending this ordinance for ten months and fifteen days plus any additional one year extension or until the zone code amendment is considered and acted upon, whichever is the lesser time period. The City Clerk is directed to notice the hearings as required by Government Code Section 65090. DECLARATION OF URGENCY: This ordinance is hereby declared to be an emergency ordinance adopted as an urgency measure to protect the public health, safety and welfare and shall take effect immediately upon its adoption. The facts constituting the emergency are set forth above and represent a current and immediate threat to the public health, safety and welfare. -2- , i 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 i7 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 h EFFECTIVE DATE: This ordinance shall be effective immediately upon passage and shall be of no mrther force and effect after 45 days of the date of its adoption unless extended by the City Council pursuant to Section 4. At least ten days prior to the expiration of this interim ordinance, or any extension thereof, the City Council shall issue a written report describing the measures it has taken to alleviate the conditions which led to the adoption of this ordinance. The City Clerk of the City of Carlsbad shall certify to the adoption of this ordinance and cause it to be published once in the Carlsbad Journal within 15 days after its adoption. SEVERABILITY CLAUSE: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or part of this division is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the final decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining parts of this chapter. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this division and each section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or part thereof irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, clauses, phrases, or parts be declared invalid or unconstitutional. ///I ///I ///I ///I ///I ///I ///I ///I ///I ///I ///I //I/ ///I -3- 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 - 1. INTRODUCED, PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular meeting of the Carlsbad City Council on the 2”d day of September, 1997 and thereafter AYES: Council Members Lewis, Finnila, Nygaard, Kulchin, and Hall NOES: None ABSENT: None APPROVED AS TO FORM AND LEGALITY RONALD R. BALL, City Attorney ATTEST: -4- . AREA SUBJECT ~0 URGENCY ORDINANCE Lm, -~R~WD,HAMIL~~N&SP~PSUP ATTORNEYS AT LAW l FOUNDED 1873 RONALD W. ROUSE, PARTNER D1~~crD~~Nu~~ar(619)699-2579 INTERNET: rrou~~som Oux FILE No: 15457-00005 September 2, 1997 Mayor Lewis and City Councilmembers City of Carlsbad 1200 C&bad Vie Drive Carl&ad, CA 92008 Re: Opposition to Urgency Ordinance Relating to the Processing of Commercial Projects in Proximity to Car&ad Ranch Dear Mayor Lewis and Councilmembers: We are legal counsel for Mr. and Mrs. Ray Winter and their Gmily members, who are landowners of commercial property in the Carlsbad Ranch area. We just learned of your proposed urgency ordinance earlier today. On behalfof my clients (the “Winters”), they wish to have their voice heard on the unfaimess, lack of necessity and counterproductive elements associated with the proposed urgency ordiice. The Winters are long standing property owners within the Cii of Car&&& having made positive, economic contriiiions to the Cii and conformed their prop&y uses to the uniformly high standards of development approvals. It so happens that in Agenda Bill 14,339, two of the “proposed projects” will be on the Winters’ property, namely the proposed Islands Restwant and the proposed service station at the southeast comer of Cannon Road and Avenida Encinas. Both of these projects are entirely appropriate for their f+eeway service commercial orientation and designed to conform to the high development standards of quality required in the City of Carlsbad. The Wmters’ objection to such an urgency ordinance is threefbki. First, the City already has extensive proceduml ordinances, architectural and engineering guidelines uniformly applicable to the projects inquestion. Nojlrrtificatioa~fixanynewruksor~~appliedtothecarlsbad Ranch area The specific boundaries of the area, bii Cannon Road and PoinsetGa Avenue are arbitraryandmakenosense. Second, already in place is an intricate procedural hearing process to evaluate each and every special or conditional use permit, or development plan review, and nothing relevant is added by the proposed urgency ordinmce. Already, whether a particular project is approved or disapproved by the Planning Commission, your city ordinances already authorize the right of appeal to the City Council. 600 WEST BROADWAT. Sum 2600 l SAN DIaGo. CALIP~RNIA 92101 l TELC?HONE (619) 2361414 l Fms~vrre (619) 232-8311 SAN DIEGO l LAJOLLA l NEW Yorx l Los ANGELES l SAN FRANCISCO 0 CHICAGO ?R~&,,J~GD -PQ C-CUMCIL DuRId,G )r Gel-ItiC aF q/+ ) LCTF~ *OS 16' Lucy FORWARD,HAMILTON &?RIPPS ATTORNEYS AT LAW l FOUNDED 1873 Mayor Lewis and City Councilmembers September 2, 1997 Page 2 Third, serious questions exist as to the authority of the City to adopt an urgency ordinance under Government Code section 65858(a) under these circumstances. That section requires that there be animmediatethreatandneed “. . . to protect the public safety, health and welfare . . .” as a result of being in conflict with contemplated general plan, specific plan or zoning proposals under consideration. Here, since the only purpose of the urgency ordinance is to require a “mandatory appeal,” there is no logical connection between a public safety health or welfare threat and the proposed urgency ordinance. Further, to change the fundamental rules of the game while projects are pending is violative of substantix and pnxedural due process requirements. Absent a significant public safety, health and welfare showing with facts supporting those conclusions, property owners are entitled to have their permits and approvals valuated in accordance with the rules and regulations that exist at the time the applications are submitted. This entire urgency ordinance process seems to be rather heavy handed. The area in question is one that has been identitled consistently as the service commercial, industrial and office corridors, and all of the design and associated regulations have been developed accordingly. Piecemeal urgency ordinances are contrary to the spirit and intent of the Growth Management Program in Carlsbad and ought not to be used at the expense of established, objective development standards. -~ii.lg iii&~-- of Lute, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps us RWR:sh Encl. CC: City Clerk Benchmark Pacific 2892]effenonStreet*Carlsbad,C492008 l 619729-1677 l Fax:619729-2080 September 2, 1997 Mayor Claude Lewis Members of the Carlsbad City Council City of Carlsbad 1200 Carlsbad Village Drive Carlsbad, California 92008 c: Mayor City Council city mer City Attorney cm ckulf Dear Mayor Lewis and Council Members: I have just reviewed the Agenda Review for the Urgency Ordinance Relating to The Processing of Commercial Projects in Proximity to Carlsbad Ranch which is scheduled for your agenda tonight. I am most surprised to see that a portion of our Poinsettia Properties Specific Plan area is included in the area covered by the Urgency Ordinance. We are just now completing a three year, very intensive planning process involving your Planning and Engineering Departments. Our Specific Plan is tentatively scheduled for hearing at the Planning Commission on October 1, 1997. Our project is primarily made up of residential land uses. Of the area included in the Urgency Ordinance Area two small parcels are commercial in nature, The first is a visitor serving commercial area of three acres at the northwest comer of Poinsettia Boulevard and Avenida Encinas. The other is a mixed-use, transportation-oriented neighborhood of five acres, made up of transportation related office and commercial mixed with residential. Both of these areas are well regulated as to acceptable uses in the Specific Plan document itself. They are not General Commercial uses. In addition, although we have greatly reduced traffic impacts from the existing land uses, we have completed a focused Environmental Impact Report which clearly shows that all of the intersections affected by these two small areas, much less our entire project, operate - ‘Mayor Claude Lewis Page 2 August 30, 1997 at Level of Service A. Our entire project is designed as a Transportation-Oriented Development (TOD), the purpose of which is to reduce circulation impacts in the immediate neighborhood. Mayor and Council Members, your decision whether or not to impose the proposed Urgency Ordinance is a matter for your own judgement and relates to a much larger scaled series of developments around The I-S/l?alomar Airport Road and I-S/Cannon Road intersections. The scope of our two small commercial areas, already restricted greatly as to their ultimate development via the Specific Plan will have no affect on the ultimate outcome of your “target area”. I would respectfully ask that if you do decide to implement the proposed urgency ordinance, that you please delete any portion of Poinsettia Properties Specific Plan from the study area. As always, thank you for your consideration. Sincerely, Doug Avis cc: Marty Orenyak Community Development Director Michael Holzmiller Director of Planning . .* c4 -4 URGENCY ORDINANCE Revise Section III to read as follows: “For the area described above, pending and future commercial projects subject to Planning Commission review and use changes subject to Planning Director review shall be required to undergo City Council review a.nd approval regardless of current zoning ordinance regulations regarding the review and approval of land use entitlements.”