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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2003-05-13 - AGENDA REPORTS - RICE SELF STORAGE DEV (2)Agenda Item: —19 CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT PUBLIC HEARING City Manager Approval Item to be presented by: Vincent P. Bertoni DATE: May 13, 2003 SUBJECT: RICE SELF STORAGE DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT: Planning and Building Services RECOMMENDED ACTION City Council receive the staff report; open the Public Hearing, receive testimony, close the Public hearing; approve a Resolution adopting the mitigated negative declaration for the project and Conditional Use Permit 02-022; and introduce and pass to second reading an Ordinance (Specific Plan Amenment 02-003) to modify the North Valencia I Specific Plan. BACKGROUND On April 10, 2002, a one stop application was filed with the Planning & Building Services Department by Rice Development to construct a self storage facility in the Lowe's Home Improvement shopping center which is in the North Valencia I Specific Plan commercial area. Staff provided feedback to the applicant that self -storage facilities were allowed in the industrial areas but not the commercial areas of the North Valencia I Specific Plan. Staffs comments included that if the applicant wanted to pursue formal entitlement, the applicant would need to submit a formal application that included a specific plan amendment to allow self storage facilities in the commercial areas of the North Valencia I Specific Plan. In addition, staff requested that the amendment include that all self -storage facilities require conditional use permit approval rather than allowing these uses by right. On August 28, 2002, an application was filed with the Planning & Building Services Department by Rice Development. The application included a specific plan amendment to the North Valencia I Specific Plan that would allow self -storage facilities with an approved conditional use permit in the commercial areas of the Specific Plan. ( (94tarlce. VgSSe,� +c3 Sec�nQ �et�c�ln� Thus, in addition to the specific plan amendment, the application included a conditional use permit to allow the construction of an 82,500 square foot self -storage facility in the commercial area (Lowe's Home Improvement shopping center) of the Specific Plan. The project site is located within the Lowe's Home Improvement shopping center, which is one of the four commercial areas in the North Valencia I Specific Plan. The three other commercial areas consist of the Promenade shopping center on McBean Parkway, the Pony League Auto Center on Valencia Boulevard (approved but not built), and the Harborwoods Apartments (approved but not built) on McBean Parkway. The Lowe's Home Improvement shopping center includes Lowe's, In/Out Burger, American Tires, Chevron Gas Station/Carwash, CLWA Pumping Station, Panda Express, Starbucks, Verizon, and an approved building for four retail/restaurant uses that is not built. On February 25, 2003, the City Council took final action to approve a Unified Development Code amendment that would prohibit self -storage uses in the commercial areas of the City. However, the North Valencia I Specific Plan is not effected by this recent amendment as the Specific Plan consists of a smaller, defined area within the City that has it's own set of requirements and policies apart from the Unified Development Code. Thus, the proposed Specific Plan Amendment allowing self storage facilities in the commercial areas of the Specific Plan would be required to meet the requirements and policies of the North Valencia I Specific Plan. The Specific Plan area consists of the four previously mentioned commercial areas and the entire residential community of Bridgeport. On March 18, 2003, the Planning Commission recommended to approve to the City Council the specific plan amendment and conditional use permit for the self -storage facility proposal. Environmental Review Prior to the adoption of the North Valencia I Specific Plan, an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was certified by the City Council. Although an EIR was certified, additional environmental review was warranted as a result of the request for a specific plan amendment to allow self storage uses in the commercial areas of the Specific Plan with an approved conditional use permit. Therefore, a Mitigated Negative Declaration has been prepared to address any additional environmental impacts as a result of the proposal. PROJECT DESCRIPTION The applicant is requesting to construct an 82,500 square foot self -storage facility with an approved specific plan amendment and conditional use permit. The project site is located on a vacant, previously graded pad within the Lowe's Home Improvement shopping center in the North Valencia I Specific Plan commercial area. The shopping center consists of 19.3 acres with a maximum floor area ratio of 315,266 square feet. The applicant is requesting to construct the self -storage facility on a 2.18 -acre pad within the center. Full square footage build -out of the shopping center with the self -storage facility, if approved, would consist of 254,652 square feet. The self -storage facility would consist of one building with a tower element on each of the four comers. The tower elements were designed as architectural features, which consist of 42 feet in height. The main building will be 38 feet in height, which includes raised parapets. The height of the tower elements and the main building are below the 50 foot maximum height for the North Valencia I Specific Plan commercial areas. The self -storage facility consists of a 1,000 square feet of office area and 81,500 square feet of self -storage area. The storage areas will consist of three stories. The first level on the south side of the building will include 15 door bays for 15 different storage units (8'x 10'). The remaining area of the first level will include smaller storage units that will have access through regular doors. The second and third level will also be accessed through regular doors and the elevator. The storage units are only within the main building and not in the tower elements as they were incorporated as design features only. In addition, the top of the third level will be 35 feet in height. The entire self -storage facility would be enclosed with two vehicular gates and 8' high steel fencing covered in green polyester plastic. The fencing would allow for landscaping vines and eventually provide a "green wall." In addition to the vines on the fencing, the applicant will be required to provide mature landscaping including large trees along the fencing to create a visual buffer between the self -storage building and Valencia Boulevard/Bouquet Canyon Road. The self -storage facility will also be providing 50 parking spaces, which is four above the required 46 parking spaces. PROJECT ANALYSIS General Plan Designation, Surrounding Land Use, Zoning The General Plan land use designation is Specific Plan (SP) with a zoning designation of Specific Plan (SP). The land use designation within the North Valencia Specific Plan is Commercial (COM) which permits a wide range of retail, service, and general commercial activities. These areas are intended for retailing and service uses of a community wide nature that attract people from beyond the immediate neighborhood. Surrounding land uses include: GENERAL PLAN SPECIFIC PLAN/ZONING LAND USE North SP SP - C (Commercial) Shopping Center South SP SP - OS (Open Space) Santa Clara River/trail West CC CC CLWA Pumping Station East SP SP- OS/R (Residential) River/trail/SF Homes Land Use Compatibility The commercial areas of the North Valencia I Specific Plan permit a wide range of retail, service and general commercial activities. Although self -storage facilities are allowed in the specific plan, they are permitted only in the business park areas and not within the commercial areas of the specific plan. Although the use would not be appropriate directly adjacent to major roadways such as McBean Parkway, Newhall Ranch Road, Bouquet Canyon Road or Valencia Boulevard, certain commercial situations or locations that would be appropriate as long as the self -storage use meets all of the findings of a conditional use permit. This proposal before the City Council is one of those commercial situations and locations where staff believes a self -storage facility could meet all of the findings. The location of the proposed self -storage facility is proposed within an existing commercial shopping center that includes Lowe's Home Improvement, CLWA Pumping Station and other retail/restaurant uses. The self -storage building would be located 600 feet from Bouquet Canyon Road and 900 feet from Newhall Ranch Road. Both are the adjacent roadways to the center. Because the self storage building is similar in height to the Lowe's Home Improvement building, the self storage building is screened from Newhall Ranch Road and is also partially screened from Bouquet Canyon Road by the CLWA Pumping Station and In/Out Burger when viewing the site directly in front of the shopping center. There are public views from the Bouquet Canyon Road Bridge (approximately 800' away) and Valencia Boulevard (approximately 2000' away). Staff has been working with the applicant on the architecture of the building and landscaping to ensure that it is aesthetically pleasing when seen from those views. There are also public views from the trail that extends along the Bridgeport community which with the landscaping plan and building architecture will ensure that the facility will be aesthetically pleasing. Staff believes that the unique location lends itself well to a self -storage facility and would be compatible with the existing uses in the center as it is located in the rear of the center with limited direct street frontage. In addition, the facility consists of similar operating characteristics as retail and is similar in hours of operation (8 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily). Even though the City Council took action in February 2003 to prohibit self storage facilities in the commercial areas outside of the North Valencia I Specific Plan, it is staffs opinion that allowing self storage facilities with an approved conditional use permit in the commercial areas of the Specific Plan is consistent with the policies of the Specific Plan and would not conflict with the intent of the City Council's most recent Self Storage Ordinance for the following reasons: • All of the commercial areas in the North Valencia I Specific Plan are within a small geographically area of the City which requires these areas to be reviewed and analyzed differently than the commercial areas outside of the Specific Plan. • All of the commercial areas in the Specific Plan have been approved for uses such as automobile dealerships, apartments, and retail/restaurant uses, thus not resulting in a proliferation of self -storage facilities in this area. • The project site is the last commercial parcel in the North Valencia I Specific Plan that has no entitlements. • The lack of street frontage, the significant distance from the self storage building to the street (600+ feet), and being located in the rear of an existing shopping center is not desirable or economically feasible to retail users. • A majority of the self -storage facilities are located in the commercial and industrial areas of Newhall, Canyon Country, and Saugus. The proposed specific plan amendment would allow a service that is lacking in the community of Valencia and by requiring a conditional use permit will ensure that the use will be compatible and aesthetically pleasing for the community. The area surrounding the proposed self storage facility consist of the City's most dense residential communities which creates a need for self storage facilities in the immediate area. The proposal would provide a service that is already lacking in this area of the City. The proposal would result in less vehicle trips traveling through the City to other self storage facilities located in Canyon Country and Newhall. The proposed self -storage facility is different than the typical self -storage facilities that have been built in the past. The typical self -storage facility in the City consist of long rows of storage units with highly visible roll up doors and metal roofs along major commercial roadway corridors. As a result, the City Council took action to prohibit this situation (self -storage in commercial areas) from occurring again. However, the proposed self -storage is operated and designed significantly different than those typical self -storage facilities already in the City. The proposal consist of one building that has been designed to look commercial with tower elements, windows, roof parapets, and wall articulation. In addition, a majority of the storage units are accessed through regular doors and an elevator. The south side of the building will include 15 roll up doors that will be screened as mentioned previously within this report. Aesthetic s/Landscaping Staff and the City's Design Consultant have worked with the applicant for the past seven months on the architecture of the building and the landscaping within the project site. The applicant has incorporated many of the City's Design Consultant's comments that have resulted in tower elements at the four comers of the building; raised parapets to break up the north and south roof plane; variations along the building wall which includes pop -outs and recessions; windows for added detail; geometric seams in the stucco; utilization of earth tone colors; and cornices along the roof line. Staff and the City's Design Consultant believe the architecture is well designed and compliments the other five buildings within the shopping center. Staff and the applicant also worked on providing a landscape buffer along the east (Bouquet Canyon Road Bridge), south (Valencia Boulevard) and west (Bridgeport community trail) boundaries of the project site where the self -storage building could be seen. The applicant reduced the building square footage and shifted the building north to provide a ten -foot landscape buffer along the eastern, southern, and western project boundaries. In addition, the applicant will be required to install a new type of eight foot high steel fencing that is covered with green polyester plastic and will run along the perimeter of the site which will allow vines to grow and eventually cover the fencing giving a "green wall" look. The ten feet of mature landscaping, which will be located in between the fencing and public viewing areas, will include a combination of 24", 36", and 48" box trees. Staff believes, with the enhanced architecture and preliminary landscape plan, the project will be aesthetically pleasing from public viewing areas such as Bouquet Canyon Road Bridge and portions of Valencia Boulevard. ALTERNATIVE ACTIONS 1. Deny the specific plan amendment and conditional use permit. 2. Other action as determined by the Council. FISCAL IMPACT The proposed self storage facility would provide minimal sales tax to the City compared to retail users which would generate significantly more revenue. ATTACHMENTS Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration available in the City Clerk's Reading file March 18, 2003 Planning Commission Staff Report available in the City Clerk's Reading file Minutes from the March 18, 2003 Planning Commission meeting available in the City Clerk's Reading file Planning Commission Resolution P03-09 available in the City Clerk's Reading file Project Site Plan Elevations Vicinity Map Lowe's Shopping Center site plan Landscape Site Plan Resolution Ordinance CITY OF SANTA CLARITA APPLICATION: MASTER CASE NUMBER MC 02-321 (Conditional Use Permit 02-022, Specific Plan Amendment 02-003) PROJECT LOCATION: Southwest corner of Newhall Ranch Road and Bouquet Canyon Road PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The applicant is requesting a specific plan amendment to the North Valencia I Specific Plan to allow self storage facilities in the commercial areas with an approved conditional use permit. As part of the request the applicant is requesting a conditional use permit to allow a 82,500 square foot self storage facility in the rear (behind CLWA's pumping station) of the Lowe's Home Improvement shopping center. PROJECT PROPONENTS: Rice Development The Public Hearing to discuss the merits of this project will be conducted by the City of Santa Clarita City Council on: DATE: May 13, 2003 LOCATION: City Council Chambers TIME: At or after 6:00 p.m. 23920 Valencia Blvd., First Floor Santa Clarita, CA 91355 A DRAFT MITIGATED NEGATIVE DECLARATION was prepared for this proposed project and was available for a public review period, during which the City of Santa Clarita Planning & Building Services received comments, which began at noon (12:00 p.m.) on February 24, 2003 and ended at noon (12:00 p.m.) on March 17, 2003. During the public review period a copy of the mitigated negative declaration and all supporting documents were located at: City Hall Planning & Building Services Department 23920 Valencia Boulevard, Suite 302 Santa Clarita, CA 91355 A copy of the draft mitigated negative declaration (without all supporting documents) will be posted at the Los Angeles County Library, Valencia Branch during the public review period noted above. If you wish to challenge the action taken on this matter 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 of Santa Clarita at, or prior to, the public hearing. For further information regarding this proposal, you may contact the City of Santa Clarita, Department of Planning and Building Services, 23920 Valencia Boulevard, 302, Santa Clarita, CA 91355; Telephone: (661) 255-4330. Project Planner: Jeff Hogan Posted: Santa Clarita City Hall and Los Angeles County Library (Valencia Branch) Dated: April 14, 2003 Sharon L. Dawson, CMC City Clerk Publish Date: April 18, 2003 m i r CQ'. i o; r= m i a Qg d§ u� / ®$( / }� '2 ; :r 3m /� « m . 2 (}t /�(®I C!!/SfL w � 400 ( \( 8 � 400