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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2001-11-13 - AGENDA REPORTS - GVR SIERRA HWY SHOPPING CENTER (2)CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT City Manager Approve Item to be presented by: Vince Bertoni PUBLIC HEARING DATE: November 13, 2001 SUBJECT: GOLDEN VALLEY ROAD/SIERRA HIGHWAY COMMERCIAL SHOPPING CENTER DEPARTMENT: Planning and Building Services RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council conduct a public hearing and adopt resolution approving the Mitigated Negative Declaration for the project and approve the following entitlements requested under Master Case 01-037 (General Plan Amendment 01- 001 and Conditional Use Permit 01-015) subject to the conditions of approval and introduce an ordinance for Zone Change 01-001 and pass to a second reading on November 27, 2001. BACKGROUND An application for a General Plan Amendment, Zone Change, and Conditional Use Permit was filed with the Planning and Building Services Department on February 5, 2001. The request is to change the land use/zoning designation of the property from residential to commercial and to allow to construct a commercial building that would include various retail/office/restaurant uses. The applicant is also requesting to allow for one restaurant to provide on-site consumption of alcohol and live entertainment. On October 16, 2001, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing on the commercial shopping center project and recommended approval of the project to the City Council with modifications that resulted in taking out the live entertainment request and limited the alcohol request for the restaurant to beer and wine only. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The 1.44 -acre site is located within the community of Canyon Country. The site is currently vacant. As part of site preparation, the site will be graded as part of VTTM 48892 which will result in a finished relatively flat pad elevation. Adopted --41 Agenda item: The applicant is proposing to construct one 9,600 square foot commercial building. The building would consist of multiple uses varying from retail to restaurants. The 9,600 square feet of commercial building would be divided up according to each tenant's square footage request. The applicant is requesting (as part of the conditional use permit application) to allow one restaurant in the commercial building to provide on-site consumption of beer and wine only. The applicant is looking at a family type restaurant to provide beer and wine which would be served within the restaurant and outdoor patio area of the restaurant subject to all the guidelines of the Alcohol Beverage Control agency. The restaurant would be required to serve a full food menu at all times when beer and wine is being provided. The architectural theme of the building is a mix of Italian and Spanish with the use of clay tile roofs, parapets, wood trellises, and river rock. The building's colors consist of various colors in the brown and terra cotta palette. The proposed height of the commercial building ranges from 34 1h feet to 26 feet. The main portion of the building consist of parapets and pitched roofs that average 26 feet in height. A tower element is proposed within the building elevation and consists of 34 '/s feet in height which gives the commercial shopping center a defined identity which is also proportional to the rest of the building. The applicant wanted this element to give the commercial shopping center and the future/existing surrounding residential communities an identity. The proposed shopping center consist of 60 parking spaces which exceeds the City's parking requirements by 22 spaces. By exceeding the required parking it gives the shopping center the ability to offer more than just retail and office such as a Rubio's restaurant and/or a Starbucks Coffee House. The landscaping within the shopping center also exceeds the City's landscaping requirements by 23%. The City requires commercial projects to provide a minimum of 10% of landscaping. The proposed shopping center provides 10 foot landscaped setbacks on Golden Valley Road and Sierra Highway and a varied landscaped buffer between the center's parking lot and single family homes. ANALYSIS General Plan, Surrounding Land Use, Zoning The project site is located within the RS (Residential Suburban) General Plan land use designation category. The zoning designation consist of RSPD (Residential Suburban Planned Development) for the project site. The applicant is proposing to change the general plan designation from RS to CC (Community Commercial) and the zoning designation from RSPD to CCPD (Community Commercial Planned Development) which allows for commercial with an approved conditional use permit. The proposed general plan amendment from RS (Residential Suburban) to CC (Community Commercial) is consistent with the goals and policies of the City's General Plan. The zone change is consistent with the findings of the Unified Development Code as there is a need for more of a balance between commercial and residential within the surrounding area and that with a Planned Development Overlay on the property it would ensure compatibility with adjacent future residential homeowners in the area. A conditional use permit is being requested, as it is required because of the Planned Development (PD) Overlay. All new development in the PD Overlay areas of the City are required to obtain a conditional use permit approval. The overlay was put on the project site to ensure that all new development be noticed and that the Planning Commission and/or City Council conduct a public hearing to ensure all new development is compatible with adjacent future residential neighborhoods through site planning and conditions. The proposed commercial site is surrounded to the east by 150 (148 homes if proposed commercial site is approved) future single family homes (VTTM 48892) and 111 future condominiums to the west of the commercial project site. In addition, there is vacant residentially zoned property directly south of the proposed commercial site. Thus, a commercial element within this future residential community would help balance the character of the future neighborhood. Project Issues To ensure compatibility and consistency with the future adjacent residential neighborhoods staff worked with the applicant regarding the following issues: Bufferin The applicant moved commercial building away from the future adjacent single family homes and towards Sierra Highway and Golden Valley Road resulting in the building being a minimum of 80 feet from the residential property line and more than 100 feet away from the residential structures. In addition, the applicant is conditioned to construct a masonry wall along the northeastern property line which is the back property line of two single family homes. The applicant will also be required to provide at a minimum of 36 inch box trees spaced 20 feet apart along the pasec/masonry wall. Aesthetics The building elevations of the commercial center was sent to RRM Design Group (the City's Design Consultant) to ensure that the architecture and proposed materials being used would be consistent with the neighborhood's overall character. The Design Consultant wanted the applicant to utilize "wood" materials in the design of the building. Staff worked with the applicant regarding these comments which resulted in the applicant using various materials such as wood beams and trellises. Circulation There were many revisions made to the original site plan to ensure that circulation within the shopping center would not pose a problem. The driveway access points were redesigned in such a way to discourage drivers on Golden Valley Road to use the shopping center as a short cut onto Sierra Highway. In addition, the applicant was required to provide additional right-of-way for a bus turn out on Sierra Highway which would help maintain the flow of northbound traffic on Sierra Highway. Pedestrian Access Staff had several meetings with the applicant to ensure that the center would provide pedestrian access throughout the center. The center provides pedestrian access from Sierra Highway and Golden Valley Road directly to the pedestrian bridge and all businesses within the commercial building and the immediate adjacent residential neighborhood. Hours of Operation The shopping center will be required to have limited hours and not be allowed to operate 24 hours a day. The hours of operation for the commercial shopping center will be from 5 a.m. to midnight Sunday thru Thursday and from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. on Friday and Saturday. The limited hours will be compatible with the adjacent future residential neighborhood. It will give the coffee houses and drycleaner type businesses the ability to provide services before people go to work and during the evening it gives the residential community a place to go within walking distance rather than getting in their vehicles and driving to a restaurant or other evening business. FISCAL IMPACT No fiscal impact is anticipated at this time. ALTERNATIVE ACTION 1. Other action as determined by the Council. ATTACHMENTS Resolution Ordinance Conditions of Approval Vicinity Map/Site Plan/Elevations Minutes from the October 16, 2001 Planning Commission Meeting (reading file) October 16, 2001 Planning Commission Staff Report (reading file) Initial Study / Mitigated Negative Declaration (reading file) 2 opposition letters (reading file) JJL:VPB:JWH S \PBS \ CURRENT \ 97143 \ COMME RC IALAR CITY OF SANTA CI ARITA NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING NOTICE IS HEREBY GIVEN: A Public Hearing will be held before the City Council of the City of Santa Clarita in the City Hall Council Chambers, 23920 Valencia Blvd., 1" Floor, Santa Clarita, California, on the 13" day of November, 2001, at or after 6:00 p.m. to consider Master Case No. 01-037; General Plan Amendment 01-001; Zone Change Amendment 01-001; Conditional Use Permit 01-015. The proposed project involves changing the current general planlzoning designation from Residential Suburban Planned Development to Community Commercial Planned Development in order to construct a new 9,600 square foot commercial building on 1.44 acres and to provide on-site consumption of alcohol (beer and wine only) within one restaurant of the center . The project site is located on the northeast corner of Sierra Highway and Golden Valley Road. The project applicant is Zephyr Newhall, LP. Proponents, opponents, and any interested persons may appear and be heard on this matter at that time. Further information may be obtained by contacting the Department of Planning and Building Services, Santa Clarita City Hall, 23920 Valencia Blvd., Third Floor, Santa Clarita, CA 91355, (661) 255-4330 — Jeff Hogan, Associate Planner. If you wish to challenge this action in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described in this notice, or in written correspondence delivered to the City Council, at, or prior to, the public hearing. Dated October 23, 2001 Sharon L. Dawson, CMC City Clerk Published Date: October 23, 2001