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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-11-20 - AGENDA REPORTS - MC 03-199 USE PERMIT 03-023 (2)PUBLIC HEARING DATE: SUBJECT: DEPARTMENT: Agenda Item: CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT City Manager Approval Item to be presented by: November 20, 2003 Vincent P. Bertom MASTER CASE 03-199; MINOR USE PERMIT 03-023 Planning and Building Services RECOMMENDED ACTION 2 City Council adopt a resolution to deny the appeal and uphold the Planning Commission decision to approve Master Case 03-199, and allow for the operation of an elementary school at the existing Seventh Day Adventist Church site located at 24436 Valley Street. BACKGROUND On May 5, 2003, an application for a minor use permit was submitted to the Planning Division to allow for the operation of a kindergarten through sixth grade elementary school at the existing Seventh Day Adventist Church property located at 24436 Valley Street. Upon noticing the project, staff received community opposition requiring a hearing before the Planning Commission. A Planning Commission hearing was scheduled for August 5, 2003, and was continued to August 19, 2003 in order for the applicant to meet with the neighbors. The applicant revised the project to allow for the operation of second through fourth grade classes for the coming school year, and would expand to allow for second through fifth grade the following year at the Seventh Day Adventist Church facility. At the August 19, 2003 Planning Commission hearing, the Planning Commission approved the project by resolution and with conditions of approval. The project was appealed to the City Council on August 28, 2003 by property owners within 500 feet of the project site. A petition was attached to the appeal letter that included 71 additional signatures appealing the decision by the Planning Commission. This item was originally scheduled for hearing with the City Council on October 14, 2003. However, the applicant did not post the project site in accordance with the City's noticing Adopted: E�- 3 requirements, so the item was continued to the November 20, 2003 meeting. ANALYSIS Existing Operations The Seventh Day Adventist Church owns and operates a church on the property located at 24436 Valley Street. Church services are held on Saturdays, with occasional meetings throughout the week. Seventh Day Adventist is currently under construction of a new multi-purpose room. The multi-purpose room was approved by the Planning Commission on October 16, 2001. Faith Community Church had been utilizing the church facilities during the construction of their new facility. The project is completed and they no longer utilize the Seventh Day Adventist Church facilities. Permits Required Educational institutions of this nature typically require a conditional use permit in accordance with Section 17.13.030 of the Unified Development Code. However, since the school is an accessory use to the permitted church use on the project site, a minor use permit is required. No construction is proposed with this project. The applicant will be utilizing the existing facilities on the project site and will not be using the new multi-purpose room that is under construction at this time. Community Response As with all minor use permits, staff notified the property owners abutting the site of the proposed elementary school. Upon receiving this notice, three property owners sent letters opposing the project to the Planning Division. These letters addressed concerns with the anticipated traffic and safety surrounding the project site, noise that will be generated, the effect on the residential character of the neighborhood, privacy walls surrounding the property, and the permit procedure. Staff later sent notices to property owners within 500 feet of the project site of the hearing before the Planning Commission. Upon noticing the neighbors of the public hearing, staff received 76 letters of opposition. These letters raised concerns with the traffic generated by the school, noise created by the children playing, and the permit procedure. hi an effort to address these concerns, the applicant held a community meeting with these property owners. The applicant was unable to mitigate the concerns raised by these letters of opposition. Hours of Operation and Noise Impacts One concern raised by the neighboring property owners was the anticipated hours of operation and the noise that will be created by the proposed school. After hearing the concerns, Northpark agreed to operate within the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. to reduce the noise generated early in the morning as well as in the early evening hours. No day care is provided before or after school on the project site. The amount of noise that will be generated on the project site will be at it's peak during the recess times and during pick-up and drop-off times. The applicant has proposed a staggered recess and lunch schedule that will limit the number of children out on the field at any one time. Further, no recess times will take place on the property before 10:00 a.m. with all lunch times concluded by 2:00 p.m.. Three events will take place in the course of the school year that will exceed these hours of recreation. These events are Thanksgiving Feast (November 21, 2003-10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.), Grandparents Day (March 16, 2004 — 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.) and NCA Olympics (June 3, 2004 — 12:30 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.) In an attempt to further reduce noise and nuisance impacts in the neighborhood, Northpark proposes to keep children a minimum of 25 feet from any property line. This 25 -foot setback is typically only required for structures, but the applicant has proposed to mark this area as off limits for the children during recess and lunch hours. In addition, the applicant will be conditioned to install a masonry wall, a minimum of six feet (6'-0") in height in accordance with Section 17.15.040.A of the Unified Development code. This will further help to reduce the noise impacts, provide additional privacy for homeowners, as well as safety for students. After School Activities Another concern raised by the neighboring property owners were the activities that would be taking place on the project site outside of the general school activities/hours. No daycare will be provided before or after school with the proposed project, however, the applicant will hold Parent Orientation (no children), Dedication Night, Back to School Night (no children) and Open House events with the proposed project. All of these events will be conducted on the project site. Any other events associated with the school will be conducted at off-site locations as they are needed. Trajftc The neighbors also expressed concern with regard to the traffic that is generated by the proposed elementary school. Based on the total number of students enrolled at Northpark for the coming year, a maximum of 53 vehicles are anticipated during either pick-up or drop-off times. This number takes into account all siblings, children of teachers that attend the school, and represents a worst case scenario if each vehicle were to arrive at exactly the same time to pick up or drop off their children. The Seventh Day Adventist Church property currently has 89 parking stalls available to be utilized during business hours and would provide more than adequate parking on the project site for each vehicle at any one time. In addition, the applicant has provided an on-site traffic plan that clearly identifies the stacking space for drop-off and pick-up of students. Based on that plan, the project site would be able to accommodate 49 car stacking space at any one time. In an effort to help keep on-site traffic circulation working smoothly, the applicant has also agreed to provide staff members throughout the project site to direct on-site traffic and keep traffic flowing during their peak traffic times in the morning and afternoon. Current traffic counts obtained from the City's Traffic Engineering Division total 2,800 vehicle trips per day on this residential portion of Valley Street. The proposed project will generate a maximum of approximately 200 to 240 vehicle trips per day on Valley Street, or a less than 10% increase. A 10% increase in traffic is considered to be a less than significant increase according to the City's Traffic Engineering Division. In addition, Valley Street is currently a two lane road with one traffic lane in each direction. Based on information obtained from the Traffic Engineering Division, two lane roads can accommodate up to 7,000 vehicle trips in each direction or 14,000 total vehicle trips per day. Therefore, an increase of 240 vehicle trips will be less than significant based on the current design of Valley Street. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS 1) Deny Master Case 03-199, Minor Use Permit 03-023 for the operation of an elementary school at 24436 Valley Street. 2) Other action as determined by Council. FISCAL IMPACT No fiscal impact is anticipated with the proposed project. ATTACHMENTS City Council Resolution Appeal Letter Planning Commission Minutes Site Plan Planning Commission Staff Report available in the City Clerk's Reading File Planning Commission Resolution available in the City Clerk's Reading File Letters from Community available in the City Clerk's Reading File August 279 2003 CITY OF SANTA CLARITA Sharon Dawson City Clerk 2033 AUG 28 P 1. 12 City of Santa Clarita RECEIVED CITY CLERK': OFFICE Re: Master Case #MC03-199 (Minor Use Permit 03-023) City of Santa Clarita Planning Commission Decision of August 19, 2003 " Dear Ms. Dawson: We wish to appeal the City of Santa Clarita Planning Commission's (Commission) approval of the minor use permit referenced above, which allows the property of the Seventh Day Adventist Church (Church) located at 24436 Valley Street, Newhall to be used by North Park Christian Academy for a private elementary school. We request a hearing on the matter before the City Council. The character of our residential neighborhood is quiet, with light traffic. The Church is already a traffic generator two days a week. We feel that the addition of a private elementary school will be an unreasonable interference within our neighborhood. Valley Street is a two lane semi -rural road with large oak trees and intermittent sidewalks, curbs and gutters. The neighborhood children walk down the street to their public schools. Residents old and young jog and walk their dogs; children skateboard and ride their bikes, usually in the street because there are no sidewalks. There were no traffic studies for this proposed use of the Church and the particular traffic patterns at the specific starting and pick up times of the school day. The residents of Happy Valley include young children, stay-at-home parents, seniors, retired men and women, those who work during the day and those who work at night. The proposed elementary school - playground's noise is an unreasonable interference with the neighbor's right to use and enjoy their homes and property as intended. The residents of the area question why this project was allowed to proceed as a Minor Use Permit request. It is our understanding that the type of permit application is at the discretion of City staff, and we believe they erred in allowing this to proceed as a "minor use" change. Homes in the area were purchased with the assumption that the Church would cause noise and traffic one or two days on the weekend, not seven days a week. Traditional weekend church use is consistent with a residential zoning designation. It is also important to note that the Church is being run like a business and this is not a business district, it is a quiet residential neighborhood. The Seventh Day Adventist Church is once again subletting to renters, as they have in the past. Now they want to sublet to a private school - which is also a business. We have a right to expect that our neighborhood won't be turned into a seven -day -a week business district. The Commission's approval will allow a major change in the use of the property, not a minor change. August 27`h Letter of Appeal, page 2 The residences surrounding the Church property on Cedartown are elevated. We stand inside our homes and look directly into the playground area. The proposed 6 -foot wall will not help. We still anticipate the problems of children climbing the oak trees and getting into our backyards, of rocks being thrown and windows being broken. It has all happened in the past. The residences on 8'h Street that share the property line with the Church have the opposite problem. The Church has added so much dirt to its yard that its elevation has been raised, which has caused flooding of property in the past. The Church's property is 2 -feet higher than that of the residences on the 8s' Street side. The past history of the Seventh Day Adventist Church indicates that they have little regard for their neighbors. Examples of their lack of concern and regard were presented to the Commission and will be presented to the Council. While the North Park Christian Academy is a new tenant in the Church's facility we have no reason to believe that the landlord will act any differently than it has in the past. Previous tenants and the Church itself have not complied with the City's conditions nor have they shown adequate consideration of the neighbors' concerns and property rights. Many residents believe that the use of the Church's property in this manner will cause a depreciation of property values in this neighborhood North Park Christian Academy currently has an alternative location at another church in the valley that is away from residential property. We feel the Commission made an error in approving this minor use permit and seek a hearing before the full City Council. Please contact Dan Cole, 23303 Cedartown Street, Newhall, CA 91321, phone 254-6430, with information about the hearing or if there are further questions. Please notify those listed on the signature list of the hearing date and time. Sincerely, Residents of Cedartown St, 80' Street, Valley Street, Maple Street, Derian Drive, Timon Lane, Oakrun Lane, Treasure Vista (please see signature list attached) cc: Vince Bertoni Director of Planning Signatures to August 27, 2003 Letter of Appeal Master Case #MC03-199 (Minor Use Permit 03-023) City of Santa Clarita Planning Commission Decision of August 19, 2003 Printed Name 1 �a_m\int range WAlIffl M r. 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