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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1984-07-25; Planning Commission; ; CUP 248 - CITY OF CARLSBADSTAFF REPORT APPL~ ~":'ION SUBMI'ITAL DATE: -IA APRI!r ::..1, 1984 . C}' DATE: July 11, 1984 Planning Commission ® TO: FROM: Land Use Planning Office SUBJECT: CUP-248 -CITY OF CARLSBAD -Request for a Conditional Use Permit to allow construction of a 2600 square foot temporary office structure in front of the Carlsbad Civic Center adjacent to Elm Avenue in the R-P-Q zone. I• RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the Planning Commission APPROVE the Negative Declaration issued by the Land Use Planning Manager and ADOPT Resolution No. 2322 DENYING CUP-248 based on the findings contained herein. II. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The City is applying for a Conditional Use Permit for the construction of a 2600 square foot temporary modular building. The building will be located adjacent to the Council Chambers and the existing modulars housing the Personnel Department and Purchasing Department. The office structure will constitute a temporary relocation of two City departments, the Finance Department and Research and Analysis Group. The area presently occupied by the Finance Department will be occupied by the City Clerk's Office. The Research and Analysis Group is presently renting office space on Harding Street. The Zoning Ordinance makes provisions for such temporary uses in all non-residential zones with the following conditions: 1) The occupancy shall not exceed one year after the issuance of the permit unless otherwise extended by the Planning Commission. The conditional use permit shall not be extended unless construction of the structure intended for occupancy by applicant has begun and reasonable progress toward completion is being made. 2) The method of placement of the trailer, the landscaping and other design aspects shall be approved as part of the conditional use permit. The Civic Center is located in the R-P-Q zone and, as such, the proposed use could be permitted in conjunction with the issuance of a conditional use permit. II. ANALYSIS Planning Issues 1) Can the four findings, required for approval of a conditional use permit be made? Specifically: a) That the requested use is necessary or desirable for the development of the community is essentially in harmony with the various elements and objectives of the general plan, and is not detrimental to existing uses or to uses specifically permitted in the zone in which the proposed use is to be located? b) That the site for the intended use is adequate in size and shape to accommodate the use: c) That all yards, setbacks, walls, fences, landscaping, and other features necessary to adjust the requested use to existing or permitted future uses in the neighborhood will be provided and maintained: d) That the street system serving the proposed use is adequate to properly handle all traffic generated by the proposed use. Discussion Staff believes that the site is inadequate in size and shape to accommodate the proposed use. Specifically, the existing parking facilities are inadequate to handle the parking demand at the Civic Center. Technically these parking facilities are adequate to comply with the parking requirements for an office facility of this size. However, many of the required parking spaces are used for the large number of City service vehicles. Also, City Hall receives a much greater number of visitors than the average office building, so additional spaces above the office parking requirements are needed. The inadequacy of the existing parking facilities is evident on any work day by the number of employee and visitor vehicles parked on Elm Avenue, Laguna Drive and Pio Pico Drive. The proposed modular buildings would necessitate an additional nine parking spaces. The only room to put these spaces is adjacent to the Parks and Recreation Departments storage yard on the west side of Pio Pico Drive. However these spaces would be over 360 feet from the proposed modular buildings. Generally, City policy requires that all parking be located within 150 feet of the building it serves. The parking situation adjacent to the Civic Center is described in detail in the attached memo to the City Manager. -2- In addition, construction of the proposed modulars would require the elimination of a 25 foot wide heavily landscaped area between the Council Chambers and the existing modular buildings. This landscaped area would be replaced with a 3 foot wide landscape strip. Staff believes that this project must be considered the same as any other project submitted for Planning Commission review. Therefore, since staff can not make all of the findings necessary for the approval of a Conditional Use Permit, staff can not recommend approval of CUP-248. IV. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW The Land Use Planning Manager has determined that this project will not have a significant impact on the environment and, therefore, has issued a Negative Declaration on June 26, 1984. ATTACHMENTS 1) Planning Commission Resolution No. 2322 2) Memo to City Manager, dated June 19, 1984 3) Location Map 4) Background Data Sheet 5) Environmental Documents 6) Exhibits "A" -"D", dated June 20, 1984 MH:bw 6/28/84 -3- JUNE 19, 1984 TO: CITY MANAGER FROM: Land Use Planning Office CITY HALL PARKING LOTS This memorandum is intended to provide additional information on the City Hall parking situation as you requested. Per your instructions staff has re-evaluated the square footage of the City Hall and included the library. The attached exhibits show the City Hall parking lot and the library parking lot. Staff was unable to obtain a blueprint of the library's floor plan. A staff member from the library informed us that the library has an area of 24,600 square feet. The following table summarizes the parking situation for the city buildings: Library Parking provided Parking required City Hall excluding Council Chambers Parking provided Parking available for visitors & employees Parking required (as office use) 24,600 sq.ft. 57 -1:432 sq.ft. 64 -1:250 sq.ft. 19,170 sq.ft. 87 spaces 47 -1:408 64 -1:300 As shown by the table above the City Hall buildings do technically comply with the office parking requirements. It should be pointed out, however, that there is no parking requirement for government buildings in the code. Office was used because it was the closest in terms of land use. Office parking, does not take into consideration the large number of city vehicles which are parked in the required spaces. If you subtract the number of city vehicles from the parking provided (87-40=47) it leaves 47 spaces available to visitors and employees. This is well below the required 64 spaces. The parking shortage is even more evident when viewing the number of employee cars parked along Elm Avenue, Pio Pico and Laguna Drive at about 9:00 A.M. and 4:00 P.M. In considering the proposed modular, which would have a gross floor area of 2700 square feet, nine additional parking spaces would be required. The closest available location to construct a parking area for nine cars would be adjacent to the Parks and Recreation Department's storage area on the west side of Pio Pico. This parking area would be over 360 feet from the proposed modular addition. I ' Twenty-three of the existing 38 employee parking spaces are already over 150 feet from the nearest portion of City Hall. Generally, staff would like to see parking spaces within 150 feet of the building in which they serve. In summary, the parking as proposed would meet the office parking standards but would not be adequate considering the type of use. Staff also feels that existing parking is inadequate because of the number of city vehicles kept on site and because of the amount of visitors received each day. The addition of the proposed modular would only make a bad situation worse. If you have any questions please let us know. CG/ar 6/20/84 LQCA TION MAP HIGHLAND DRIVE CITY OF CARLSBAD L_ __ w ::, z w > c( CUP-248 BACKGROUND DATA SHEET CASE NJ: CUP-248 APPLICANT: City of Carlsbad REQUEST AND I.DCATICN: Conditional Use Permit for construction of a nodular building at the northeast corner of Elm Avenue and Pio Pico Drive. LEGAL DESCRIPI'ION: A portion of Tract 117 according to Map thereof No. 1661 filed March 1, 1915. APN: 156-18-34 Acres 3.85 Prq,osed No. of Lots/Units ---------------- Land Use Designation Density Allowed GENERAL PIAN AND ZOO'ING G -------- Density Prq,osed ------------------ Existing Zone RP-Q ____ __,;;;;'-------Proposed Zone --------- Surrounding zoning and Land Use: Zoning Land Use Site RP-Q Office North RP-Q & R-1 Office & SFD South RP-Q Office East R-1 Vacant West Freeway Freeway PUBLIC FACILITIES School District Carlsbad Water Carlsbad Sewer carlsbad EDU's ----- Public Facilities Fee Agreement, dated ----------------- ENVIRONMENT AL IMPACT ASSESSMENT _!_Negative Declaration, issued __ J_u_n_e_2_6-,_1_9_8_4 ___ _ E.I.R. Certified, dated -------------- 0th er, ------------------------------- .. DEVELOPMENTAL SERVICES LAND USFPLANNING OFFICE C itp of Carlsbab 1200 ELM AVENUE CARLSBAD, CALIFORNIA 92008-1989 (619) 438-5591 NEGATIVE DECLARATICN PRO.JECT ADDRESS/IDCATICN: N:>rtheast ex>mer of Elm Avenue and Pio Pico Boulevard • .. PRO.JECT DESCRIPl'ICN: Conditional Use Permit for the oonstruction of a tenporary 2600 square foot nodular building. The City of Carlsbad has conducted an environmental review of the above described project pursuant to the Guidelines for Implementation of the california Environmental Quality Act and the Environmental Protection Ordinance of the City of Carlsbad. As a result of said review, a Negative Declaration (declaration that the project will oot have a significant impact on the environment) is hereby issued for the subject project. Justification for this action is oo .file in the Land Use Planning Office. A copy of the Negative Declaration with supportive oocuments is oo file in the Land Use Planning Office, City Hall, 1200 Elm Avenue, Carlsbad, CA. 92008. Carments fran the public are invited. Please suanit conments in writing to the Land Use Planning Office within ten (10) days of date of issuance. DATED: June 26, 1984 CASE 10: a.JP-248 APPLICANI': City of Carlsbad PUBLISH Dt\TE: June 30, 1984 Nlr-4 5/81 '- i\~J~U~w~ Land Use Planning Manager