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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCUP 64; Eugene Chappee; Conditional Use Permit (CUP) (36)MEMORANDUM DATE : March 23, 1983 TO : City Attorney FROM : Michael J. Holzmiller, Land Use Planning Manager SUBJECT: Chappee Auto Wrecking Nuisance On January 16, 1983, the conditional use permit (CUP-64) allowing the operation of the Chappee Auto Wrecking facility on Ponto Drive expired. This CUP had been conditioned so as to expire ten years from the date of its approval (January 16, 1,973). Although our office has informed Mr. Chappee of this expiration in writing on three different occasions (attached letters), the business continues to exist as it has over the past several years. This conditional use permit was granted when the area known as Ponto (including the subject property) was zoned M (industrial). Section 21.42.010(6)(B) of the Zoning Ordinance allows auto storage or impound yards in M zones upon approval of a CUP. On March 6, 1974, this area was rezoned from M to RD-M (Residential density-multiple). This is the zoning that presently covers the property. RD-M zoning does not allow for auto wrecking uses or their extension or renewal. The Ponto area has several businesses that do not conform to the existing zoning. Our staff has recently been working on a program to set abatement dates for such nonconforming uses in the area-. Others in the area are also allowed through CUP, and will be removed upon the expiration of their respective CUP'S. Mr. Chappee's use, however, is the most undesirable and unattrac- tive use in the area, as shown on the attached pictures. Vehicles of all types, in various state of disrepair and dis- mantlement, clutter the entire acre parcel and are clearly visible from every direction. An eight-foot high solid fence along the westerly property line does little to hide junk vehicles which are piled up to fifteen feet high. The entire lot is visible from northbound Carlsbad Boulevard, an eligible scenic highway, per the Scenic Highway Element of the General Plan. To the east, no attempt has been made to buffer the view of the lot from the 382-unit Lakeshore Gardens Mobile Home Park and the AT&SF Railroad, which passes directly by the site. Our office has received complaints from surrounding property owners due to unsightliness and the extreme fire hazard. Discussions with the California State Fire Insurance Commission has indicated that the hazardous situation resulting from this yard has increased fire insurance rates of surrounding properties $1000 - $2000 per year. The Land Use Element of t,,e General Plan designates this area for medium-high density residential uses. Recently, a tentative tract map for a 354-unit condominium was approved just to the south of this property. In addition, a specific plan for the commercial area to the east (at 1-5 and Poinsettia) was approved. The area is beginning to take shape according to the approved General Plan. As such, this land use is becominq less and less compatible with the uses developing around it. I request that since this use is operating without a permit, since it does not conform to the zoning on the site, and since it is incompatible with uses developing in the area, your office pursue nuisance abatement proceedings per Section 6.16 of the Carlsbad Municipal Code, or whatever action you believe is most feasible to remove this use. MJH:PJK:kb Attachments 1. Chappee Auto Wrecking Data Sheet 2. City Council Reso. No. 3053 3. Location Map 4. Letter to Eugene Chappee, dated February 25, 1983 5. Letter to Eugene Chappee, dated December 14, 1982 6. Letter to Eugene Chappee, dated September 29,1982 7. Photgraphs of Chappee Auto Wrecking -2- *. . Chappee Auto Wrecking Data Sheet Owner: Eugene C. and Margaret M. Chappee 654 N. Highway 101 Encinitas, CA 92024 Address: 7200 Ponto Drive Carlsbad, CA 92008 I Legal Description: All that portion of the south two-thirds of Lot 4 of Section 29, Township 12 South, Range 4 West, San Bernardino Meridian, in the County of San Diego, State of California, according to the United States Government Survey approved October 25, 1875, and further described in the files of the City Clerk. A.P.N.: 214-160-28 Acreage: .92 ac. - Site Description: The site is umimproved except for an 8' high masonry block wall. Car bodies are stacked generally above the fence line, in some places to a height of approximately 20 feet. There are no water or sanitation (sewer) services to the site. Zoning: Subject Property: RD-M North: RD-M East: A-1-8 (County) West: RD-M South: RD-M General Plan: The Land Use Element of the General Plan show the .subject property as medium h.igh density residential. The subject use is in conflict with this designation (and was, in fact, in conflict with the General Plan designation of Residential at the time of the original Conditional Use Permit approval). Environmental Status: This project was originally submitted to the City prior to CEQA requirements- being applied to private discretionary acts. !