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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1975-05-27; Planning Commission; ; CUP 106 - LUSK & SONCITY OF CARLSBAD PLANNING DEPARTMENT STAFF REPORT May 27, 1975 TO: PLANNING COMMISSION FROM : PLANNING DEPARTMENT SUBJECT : CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 106 APPLICANT: JOHN D. LUSK & SON, by DONALD STEFFENSON P. 0. Box 2140 Newport Beach, California 92663 I. REQUEST: The applicant is requesting approval of a Conditional Use Permit to allow construction of a 414-unit mobile home park on a 59.98 acre site located on the north side of Poinsettia Lane between 1-5 and the AT&SF Railroad. 11. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the project as outlined be DENIED without prejudice for the following reasons: The Conditional Use Permit cannot be granted because the necessary facts in granting a CUP cannot be found, in that: a) The existing street system cannot adequately provide for adequate traffic circulation for the project because the necessary permits and agreements have not been obtained for the Poinsettia Lane Railroad Overcrossing. b) Because of certain design features - such as lack of variety in coach placement, and street layout - the use cannot be successfully integrated into the neighborhood. The application does not meet the City's Public Facilities Policy requirement that future school facilities be ensured to serve the project. Discussion: The applicant has prepared an a1 ternate design concept which staff feels solves most of the problems apparent in the original project. This alternative concept will be available for the Commission's review at the May 27 meeting. Should the applicant and the Commission desire it, full staffing and processing of a new hearing based on the alternative concept can be initiated. Recommended Conditions of Approval: the project as proposed, Staff recommends that the following conditions be attached: Should the Commission desire to approve - 2- 3) 7) The approval is granted for the land described in the application and any attachments thereto, and as shown on the plot plan sub- mitted labeled Exhibit A, dated 1/31/75. The location of all buildings, fences, signs roadways, parking areas, landscaping, and other facilities or features shall be located substantially as shown on the plot plan labeled Exhibit A, except or unless indicated otherwise herein. Unless the construction of the structure or facility is commenced not later than two years after the date the approval is granted and is diligently pursued thereafter, this approval will auto- matically become null and void. All requirements of any law, ordinance or regulation of the State of California, City of Carlsbad, and any other governmental entity shall be complied with. All outside storage areas shall be screened from adjacent property and streets. A detailed landscape and sprinkler plan prepared by a landscape architect, shall be submitted to the Planning Director for con- sideration and approval. All utilties, including electrical , telephone and cable television, shall be installed underground and/or shall be completely concealed from view. The applicant shall install all required fire hydrants and dry-stand pipes prior to framing construction, and said fire appurtenances shall be functional prior to commencing such work. Prior to occupancy of Phase I, applicant shall install a solid noise barrier along the entire western perimeter of the site which is adjacent to the railroad right of way. in a manner acceptable to the City Engineer. The applicant shall submit for the Planning Director's review and approval a revised plot plan which will provide a curvilinear street pattern. The applicant shall submit the project's C.C. & R's for the Planning Director's review and approval prior to building permit issuance. These C.C. & R's shall include measures to ensure varied and aesthetic roof and exterior architectural treatment of all coaches in the park. This shall be accomplished Right of way shall be dedicated and complete public improvements shall be made to provide a 51-ft. half-street section for Poinsettia Lane along the parcel frontage prior to occupancy of Phase I. -3- Right-of-way shall be dedicated and complete pub1 ic improvements shall be made to provide a 52-ft. half-street section for Avenida Encinas along the parcel frontage, including a separated bikeway. Street improvements shall be made from Poinsettia Lane to 30 ft. beyond the main entry for Phase I and shall be completed prior to occupancy of Phase 11. Prior to building permit issuance, the developer shall enter into an agreement with the City providing for contribution by the developer toward the cost of a traffic signal at the intersection of Poinsettia Lane and Avenida Encinas in an amount to be determined by the City Engineer pursuant to such a traffic signal policy as the City Council may adopt. The proposed entrance abutting Poinsettia Lane shall be for emergency access only. The existing 12-ft. easement through the center of the parcel shall be quitclaimed and replaced with a similarly aligned easement not less than 15-ft. wide dedicated to San Diego County Flood Control District for storm drain purposes or to the City as a general utility easement, prior to occupancy of Phase I. A 20-ft. sanitary sewer easement shall be dedicated to the City at the southwest corner of the parcel prior to issuance of building permits. The centerline of such easement will be parallel to the toe of embankment for the proposed Poinsettia overcrossing and wi 11 intersect the westerly property line approximately 30 ft. north of the southwesterly corner. This and the existing slope easement in that area should be shown on the Specific Plan. I I I. BACKGROUND A. B. C. D. E. Location: North of Poinsettia between 1-5 and the AT&SF Railroad. Legal Description: A portion of the east half of the northeast quarter of Lot 3, Section 29, Township 112 South, Range 4 West, San Bernardino Meridian in the County of San Diego, State of California. Site Description: cultivation. attractive, mature eucalyptus trees follows the proposed a1 ignment for Avenida Encinas. The site is currently used for commercial flower The land gently slopes down to the west. A row of Project Description: park. lots to a central recreation center lake and park. bays are shown in reasonable proximity to the lots and camper storage areas are located on either end of the park. Zoning: Subject Property: R-1-10,000 The applicant proposes a 414-unit mobile home Internal pedestrian corridors are proposed to link individual Guest parking North: R-1-10,000 South: R-1-10,000 East: c- 2 West: P-C and R-1-10,000 - 4- ..^ 1v F. Surrounding Land Use: the north, east and west and b.y the Lakeshore Mobile Home Park to The site is surrounded by vacant land on the south. currently being cultivated. Much of the land in the vicinity of the project is G. General Plan Recomnendation: The General Plan Land Use Element shows the subject pr0pert.y as Residential Medium Densi t.y (4-10 .. dwelling units per acre).- The applicant proposes a density of 7.3 dwelling units per acre. The Housing Element proposes that housing types within the community be balanced and that sprawl should be minimized. The Open Space and Conservation Elements require that natural resource options be retained. ments will be necessary to offset the effects of allowing a concentration of one housing type in a single area. Staff believes that certain exemplary design adjust- H. Environmental Impact Requirements: An Environmental Impact Report for the entire Occidental Land holdings at 1-5 and Poinsettia was certified by the City Council on May 15, 1973. This Environ- mental Impact Report did include a mobile home park on the subject property. which it is proposed to be constructed have significantly changed since the Environmental Impact Report was certified no further environmental review is required. supplemental environmental information, which staff deemed to be adequate. Since neither the project nor the circumstances under The applicant did submit I. Public Facilities Policv: 1) Schools: The subject property is within the Carlsbad Unified School District. To date, the City has not received a letter from the school district assuring that school facilities will be available to serve the project. The Planning Commission will not be able to approve the project until such a letter is received. 2) Sewer: property and has sufficient capacity to serve the project. Sewer connection fees are the same for mobile homes as they are for other types of residences. The Ponto sewer line runs along the west side of the 3) Water: District. Water District stating that the applicant may be required to participate in offsite water line construction in order that water service be supplied to the project. The major issue with the application is The project is served by the Carlsbad Municipal Water The City has received a letter from Carlsbad Municipal MAJOR PLANNING CONSIDERATION: project design. - 5- V. DISCUSSION OF SPECIFIC ITEMS: A. Mobile Home Park Policy: The City Council in April directed staff to prepare Mobile Home Park Standards and further directed staff to continue processing Mobile Home Park applications based on the merits of each individual project. In doing so, the Council, in essence, asserted that mobile homes are a viable housing type. B. Land Use: In adopting a Master Plan for the entire Occidental Land holdings and in approving the original Conditional Use Permit for the Lusk Mobile Home Park, the City endorsed a mobile home park land use for the subject property. Also, the Land Use Element of the General Plan would allow a mobile home park to be built on the site. Staff is assuming that the previous land use committment for a mobile home park is still a valid one, However, situations can change and it is certainly within the purview of the Commission and Council to change the land use committment for this property. C. Conditional Use Permit Requirements: Section 21.42.020 stipulates that several findings must be made in granting a Conditional Use Permit. ments cannot be met: In particular, staff believes that the following require- 1) "That the site for the intended use is adequate in size and slope to accommodate the use." exceptionally flat and regularly shaped. The potential for monotony is compounded by the project design: are the same, street design is very straight and uninteresting, and all units are to face in the same direction. that the units themselves will provide much variety. From a design point of view, the site does not lend itself to an interesting and varied mobile home park. In this instance, the site is Pad elevations It is unlikely 2) "That all of the 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.'' One thousand mobile homes in the visual corridor of 1-5 is not, in staff's opinion, a desirable land use to view. Design adjustments will be necessary to mitigate adverse aesthetic affects, especially in light of the site's prominence from 1-5. 3) "That the street system serving the proposed use is adequate to properly handle all traffic generated by the proposed use." If the mobile home park is contracted prior to the time the City secures necessary agreements and permits for the construction of the Poinsettia Lane Railroad Overcrossing, the only access which will be available to the proposed development will be Poinsettia Lane. Tentative agreements have been reached between the City and the former property owner (Occidental Land Company) but necessary permits, California Coastal Commission permit, have not been -6- secured. which would indicate the street system to serve the proposed use is adequate to handle potential traffic. Therefore, no assurances are currently available Additionally, emergency turn arounds are not provided at the terminus of streets adjoining the walking green. This could present a problem for fire access. D. Mobile Home Park Design: Mobile home parks traditionally lack variety in the feeling of openness. The monotony of mobile home park design is frequently compounded in the lack of variety in unit design. The City of Carlsbad's experience so far with mobile homes has indicated a high quality of mobile home park design evidenced by Rancho Carlsbad and Sequoia Pacific. The applicant has proposed several innovative features as part of the mobile home park plan: an attractive substitute for sidewalks. to units and camper and recreational vehicle storage is provided within the park design. However, the proposed site is extremely flat and the current design does not provide for variation in coach placement in a vertical plane nor does it provide for variety in street layout. Central walking greens as outlined provide Parking is easily accessible Some examples of mobile home park design concepts have been attached to this report. While it is impossible to directly apply a textbook design to a particular site, these examples do show ways of varying coach placement and street design. i ncl ude: Other useful design techniques 1) 2) Varying pad elevations, if at all possible; Providing for variation in the exterior and roof treatment of the coaches through the C.C. & R's; 3) History: Sequoia Pacific/Lake Shore Gardens Mobile Home Park and the proposed Lusk Mobile Home Park was approved for the subject property in November, 1969. A copy of the approving resolution (Planning Commission Resolution #646) is attached. Breaking up clusters of units through the use of greenbelts and clumps of tall trees or bushes. A Conditional Use Permit to allow construction of the E. Sequoia Pacific and Occidental Petroleum and Land Development Corporation requested the City's opinion on expiration of the Conditional Use Permit on March 19, 1971. A letter from the former City Attorney stated that the project could be exercised in three stages provided that construction start in first unit by August 31, 1971 and that subsequent units be completed within one year of completion of the prior unit. The last phase of Sequoia Pacific Mobile Home Park was completed in August, 1974. The applicant, by correspondence, requested issuance of necessary permits to enable them to proceed with the development of their portion of the Conditional Use Permit. -7- The City staff held the position that the Conditional Use Permit on the Lusk parcel was not valid because phasing of the proposed development had not been incorporated into the Conditional Use Permit. The City Code is clear in its intent that when the approving resolution does not specify a time limit for construction of the project, a one year time limit applies. ed that a new Conditional Use Permit application be filed with the City. The present application is essentially the same proposal as originally presented to the City in 1969 with the exception the number of units has been reduced from 434 to 414 mobile home spaces. Therefore, the staff request- F. Noise: A portion of the site abutting the Atcheson, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad right-of-way is subject to ambient noise levels in excess of 65 dB(A). A noise contour map with the site superimposed has been attached to this report. standard (by both the State and Federal Governments) at which noise becomes unacceptable for residential uses. this noise level roughly equates to freeway traffic noise at a dis- tance of fifty feet. and telephone use is difficult. Sixty-five decibels is an established For comparative purposes, At this level, the noise becomes "intrusive" Should the project be approved, Staff recommends a condition of approval be attached to require installation of a solid wall barrier for the purpose of noise attenuation. the noise to acceptable levels. This measure would reduce G. Physical Design: Many of the mobile homes currently manufactured are between 50-60 feet long and 15-24 feet wide. carport and porch along the side of the coach, coverage on a 50'x70' pad (as proposed by the applicant) could easily exceed 50% of the pad. Allowing for a The applicant proposes a private perimeter street at 30 ft. and private interior street at 27 ft. that no on-street parking be allowed. provided at a ratio of 1/2 space per unit, on-street parking can be eliminated entirely. These widths are adequate, providing With guest parking bays The alignment of the northerly extension of Avenida Encinas was established with approval of the Final Map for CT 71-2. the existing row of eucalyptus trees will be virtually eliminated with construction of this road. The applicant will be responsible for half street improvements on Avenida Encinas and Poinsettia. Unfortunately, DH/br - 5/23/75 ATTACHMENTS: Plot Plan, Exhibit A, 1/31/75 Letter from San Diego Coast Regional Commission Letter from Carlsbad Municipal Water District Overlay of property boundaries on noise controur map (prepared by Wyle Laboratories) A1 ternative Concept (to be displayed at hearing)