HomeMy WebLinkAbout1997-09-02; City Council; 14339; Urgency Ordinance Carlsbad RanchP.
CITY OF CARLSBAD -AC&i BILL
AB# /vi 339 TITLE:
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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;
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11 WHEREAS, staff is currently working on the Council directed study to determine
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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;
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17 WHEREAS, currently commercial projects in the vicinity of Carlsbad Ranch may
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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
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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.
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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.
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- 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:
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. 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.
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Lute, Forward, Hamilton & Scripps us
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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
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‘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.”