HomeMy WebLinkAbout1999-07-06; City Council; 15301; Commercial Visitor Serving Overlay ZoneCITY OF CARLSBAD -AGENDA BILL
AB# $%d- -- TITLE-
MTG.7’6-77
COMMERCIALNISITOR-SERVING OVERLAY ZONE -
FOLLOW-UP REPORT TO COUNCIL
ZCA 98-01
DEPT. PLN
CITY ATTY. a
CITY MGR-&@ ’
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council ACCEPT the Overlay Zone Follow-up Report and DIRECT staff as necessary.
ITEM EXPLANATION:
On May 18, 1999, the City Council considered and approved the Commercial/Visitor-Serving
Overlay Zone (ZCA 98-Ol/ZC 99-03/LCPA 98-05). During the development of the
Commercial/Visitor-Serving Overlay Zone, it became apparent that certain elements of the Overlay
Zone could have other appropriate applications elsewhere in the city. Therefore, as part of the approval, Council directed staff to prepare a report that outlines potential follow-up items based on
issues or opportunities uncovered during the processing of the Overlay Zone. The attached Exhibits
1 and 2 provide a descriptive overview and summary table, respectively, of the potential follow-up
items. Collectively, they present the various tasks, who would be involved, time estimate for
processing, initiator of the item, related impacts/issues and degree of task difficulty based on an
“easy , ” “moderate” and “difficult” scale.
Staffs recommendation is to direct staff to pursue the two tasks noted as “easy” in difficulty; and
then to pursue the two tasks noted as “moderate” in difficulty since these items would not have significant impacts to Planning Department workloads. If Council concurs, a Minute Motion would
direct the Planning Director to initiate the zone code amendments as allowed by Section
21.52.020(4) of the Zoning Ordinance (CMC). The two “difficult” tasks do represent major impacts
to the Planning Department workload and specific Council direction to pursue these items would be
required.
Another issue raised at the May 18th hearing was a request by the Mayor for staff to present trip
generation rates relative to office and commercial developments specific to the five acre parcel at
the southeast corner of Poinsettia Lane and l-5. The memo attached as Exhibit 3 addresses this
issue.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Aside from the administrative and staff resources to carry out any Council directed follow-up items, or to perform additional land use research, no fiscal impacts will be created for the city.
EXHIBITS:
1. Overlay Zone Follow-up Items - Descriptive Overview 2. Overlay Zone Follow-up Items - Summary Table
3. Memo dated June 16, 1999 - Office vs. Commercial Trip Generation Rates.
1 1 - -
OVERLAY ZONE FOLLOW-UP ITEMS
EXHIBIT 1
DESCRIPTIVE OVERVIEW
The follow-up items being presented to the City Council are either direct or indirect results of
the development and processing of the Commercial/Visitor-Serving Overlay Zone. The follow-
up items are described based on origin: City Council, the City Attorney’s Office, or Planning
staff.
City Council
During Overlay Zone Workshops and input sessions, the Council concurred that the Carlsbad
Ranch Specific Plan could be excluded from the Overlay Zone if the Specific Plan was
amended to include certain elements of the Overlay Zone. Specifically, the requirement for the
City Council to be the final decisionmaker for commercial/visitor-serving projects, and the
integration of the Overlay Zone’s enforcement provisions were cited.
Another item raised by Council during the Overlay Zone’s development was to consider
applying some of the Overlay’s sign provisions citywide where appropriate. This is a complex
task that is included in the list of potential follow-up items.
City Attorney Office
During the legal review of the Overlay Zone ordinance, some suggestions were made by the
Attorney’s Office as far as considering two elements of the Overlay for citywide application as
follows: (1) Proiect site notification whereby a sign is required to be physically posted in the
ground at a project site should be considered for citywide application; and, (2) Pre-filinq
submittal procedures currently in use are not formalized or codified in any way. This process is
voluntary outside of the Overlay Zone but mandated within; the suggestion is to formally
establish this process within the zoning ordinance.
Planning Staff
The two follow-up items proposed by Planning staff can be considered indirect consequences
of processing the Overlay Zone. The first is to bolster the “basement” definition because now
only 50% of the building perimeter needs to qualify; but this leaves the other half of the building
that does not qualify. Underground parking areas must qualify as “basement” area. Staff
recommends that the requirement change to 75% so that more of the structure truly is
submerged below grade. With higher parking standards in the Overlay Zone, underground
parking may be pursued more so than in the past.
The other item raised by Planning staff addresses the south shore of the Agua Hedionda
Lagoon. This extensive area is included in the Overlay Zone and while current property ownership issues as well as inconsistent land use designations over the area will prevent any
immediate land use planning, the City has an opportunity to facilitate the eventual planning of this area if we could secure coastal permit authority. This will be a complex effort because the
Coastal Commission would be involved and coastal issues and policies would need to be
addressed by the City. However, by securing permit authority , the City would have full coastal
permit authority throughout its coastal zone (except wetland and submerged lands areas where
Coastal Commission always has permit authority).
The Summary Table which follows provides a summary of the above information in a table
format.
c
FOLLOW-UP
TASK
Revise current
“basement’
definition
Amend
Carlsbad
Ranch Specific
Plan to: (1)
Make Council
final
decisionmaker
for commercial,
visitor-serving
projects; (2)
Add the
enforcement
provisions of
the Overlay
Zone
Establish
project site
notification
citywide into
21.54 of the
municipal code
Establish pre-
filing submittal
process
citywide into
21.54
Secure Coastal
Permit
Authority for
the Agua
Hedionda
Lagoon LCP
from the
Coastal
Commission
Sign ordinance
modification
INITIATED BY
Planning Staff
-
OVERLAY ZONE FOLLOW-UP ITEMS
City Council
Direction from
past Overlay
Zone
Workshops
City Attorney
suggestion
City Attorney
suggestion
Planning Staff
City Council
Direction from
past Overlay
Zone
Workshops
SUMMARY TABLE
DEGREE OF
DIFFICULTY
Easy
Easy
Moderate
Moderate
Difficult
Difficult
WHO IS
INVOLVED
Planning Staff
Planning Staff
Planning Staff
Planning Staff
Planning Staff
& Attorney’s
Office
Planning Staff
& Attorney’s
Office
TIME
ESTIMATE
9 months
9 months
12 months
12 months
18-24 months
18-24 months
EXHIBIT 2
IMPACTS -
ISSUES
Currently, 50%
of a building’s
perimeter must
meet the
basement
definition; staff
proposes 75%
for compliance
The concept is
to include the
Overlay Zone’s
enforcement
provisions and
requirement of
City Council
approval into
this existing
specific plan.
Attorney’s
office
recommends
this item apply
citywide
Attorney’s
office
recommends
this item apply
citywide
Development
of the south
shore of AH
Lagoon would
be facilitated if
we had coastal
permit authority
Review sign
ordinance and
modify to apply
Overlay Zone
sign provisions
where
appropriate
3
EXHIBIT 3
JUNE 16,1999
TO: CITY MANAGER
VIA: Planning Director w
FROM: Senior Planner Munoz gfi
OFFICE VS. COMMERCIAL TRIP GENERATION RATES
At the May 18, 1999, City Council hearing which considered and approved the Overlay Zone, the
Mayor requested that staff make a presentation on trip generation rates; and to specifically assess
office vs. commercial development at the vacant 5 acre pad designated for neighborhood commercial uses located at the southeast corner of l-5 and Poinsettia Lane.
Commercial Uses
All data is based on SANDAG figures for July 1998 which is in use throughout San Diego County
and a preliminary submittal by the applicant in compliance with the Overlay Zone’s pre-filing procedures. The basic neighborhood commercial shopping center trip generation rate is 120 trips per 1000 square feet of area (or 120:1000). A 50,000 square foot center on the subject parcel
would therefore generate 6.000 trios per dav. Another method of calculating trips using SANDAG
data is to assess trip generation based on specific commercial uses and their related trip generation
rates. Using this method, there is a range 4.142 trips per dav UD to 5,792 trips per dav to represent potentially generated trips from the commercial development. Some cities and traffic engineers account for by-pass and linkage situations whereby cars already on the road enroute to a destination visit a site thereby potentially reducing the trips per day. It has been Carlsbad’s practice
to acknowledge these situations but not to account for them by reducing trip generation amounts;
the most traffic intensive scenario is assessed and presented to decisionmakers.
Office Uses
The basic office trip generation rate is 2O:lOOO. Assuming a 150,000 square foot office building
(50,000 square foot footprint with three levels and underground parking and/or a parking structure)
would yield 3.000 trips per dav from the office development. By-pass and linkage trips associated with commercial project do not significantly apply to office developments.
Relationship to Growth Management Plan - Zone 4
The Zone 4 Local Facilities Management Plan (LFMP) considered the subject parcel as vacant with
a commercial designation. The amount of commercial square footage associated with this parcel in
the LFMP is 89,211 square feet which translates to 10.680 trips. The proposed neighborhood commercial site, with approximately 50,000 square feet and 4.142 UD to 6.000 trips generated, represents a 38% to 56% reduction in development intensity based on the maximum commercial development intensity as allowed in the LFMP to comply with the City’s Growth Management Program for Local Facilities Management Zone 4.
SOURCE: SANDAG Trip Generation Rates - San Diego Region, July 1998