City of San Juan Capistrano Agenda Report

Transcription

1 ITEM E1 TO: FROM: City of San Juan Capistrano Agenda Report Planning Commission Development Services Department Submitted by: Sergio Klotz, Acting Development Services Director (9t~t:? f- Prepared by: Charlie View, Project Manager f)c kvr C,,V. DATE: SUBJECT: Update from the Historic Town Center Ad-hoc Committee. The Historic Town Center is Generally Bounded by Acjachema Street to the North, the San Diego Freeway to the East, Avenida La Paloma and Existing Commercial Uses to the South and Paseo Adelanto to the West. RECOMMENDATION: By motion, recommend the City Council: 1. Adopt a Resolution initiating a General Plan Amendment (GPA) to establish an appropriate Land Use Designation, Classification and Development Capacity for the Historic Town Center area; and, 2. Initiate a Code Amendment (CA) to the HTC Form Based Code relating to various development standards for the Town Center portion of the HTC Master Plan area; and, 3. Initiate a review of the Land Use (Zoning) classification for the properties along the west side of Camino Capistrano near Acjachema Street. 4. Appoint a Representative and an Alternate Representative to attend the City Council meeting to represent the view of the Commission and to answer any questions the City Council may have. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: In 2014, staff identified a discrepancy between the apparent intention of the Historic Town Center (HTC) Master Plan and Form Based Code and the current General Plan. As discussed below, in adopting the HTC Master Plan, the resolution amending the General Plan did not make the necessary changes to the Land Use Map or Land Use Classification System and thus the HTC area retains the underlying Land Use

2 Page 2 of 7 designation of 3.1 General Commercial. Residential uses are not an allowed use in the General Plan's General Commercial (3.1) Land Use Category. A General Plan Amendment is necessary to reconcile the intent of the HTC Master Plan and the General Plan Land Use Element. In addition to the discrepancy with the current General Plan, staff has identified a number of ambiguities and inconsistent regulations in the Form Based Code standards applicable in the HTC Town Center District (Title 9, Section ). To resolve these discrepancies requires the adoption of an ordinance amending the Land Use Code (Title 9). With the support of the City Council, the Planning Commission appointed a 3 member Ad-hoc Committee (Committee) to review the City's current General Plan, the HTC Master Plan and the Form Based Code to develop recommendations to reconcile the discrepancies in these documents. The Committee has completed their work and is recommending a General Plan Amendment and Code Amendment as discussed below. BACKGROUND: General Location: General Plan Land Use Designation: Zoning Map designation: The Historic Town Center is generally bounded by Acjachema Street to the north, the San Diego Freeway to the east, Avenida La Paloma and existing commercial uses to the south and Paseo Adelanto to the west. General Commercial Town Center, Town Center Edge/General Commercial, Specific Plan DISCUSSION/ANALYSIS: The Committee met several times to review the various documents and discuss the vision for the HTC area as it has evolved since The Committee also conducted field research in order to observe various examples of commercial and residential development that might fit the HTC area. Thru this process, the Committee developed recommendations regarding development intensity (Floor Area Ratio or FAR) and density (Dwelling Units Per Acre or DU/AC) as well as recommendations regarding preferred residential development types and parking relief thru implementation of the Park Once option. General Plan Amendment The HTC Master Plan update was approved in The update to the HTC Master Plan was a community based effort to establish a vision for the future of Downtown San Juan Capistrano and the surrounding area. In researching the actions taken in 2012,

3 Page 3 of 7 they reflect the intention to recognize the benefit of potential future residential development in the Historic Town Center as expressed in the Vision Plan and HTC Master Plan Exhibits and the Form Based Code. While the intention is clear, a modification requirement to allow for the residential uses was not put in place with adoption of City Council Resolution The HTC Master Plan and supporting environmental document divide the HTC into three subareas and each of these is associated with different development characteristics. As depicted in the HTC Master Plan introduction, the three areas are the Connectivity Area (Los Rios), Revitalization Area (Town Center) and the Repositioning Area (Town Center Edge) (Attachment 1). The focus of the Committee was the Revitalization Area that includes what many view as Downtown San Juan Capistrano including the commercial uses along Camino Capistrano and Ortega Highway. This area is also referred to as the Town Center area in the HTC Master Plan. This area is regulated by the HTC Form Based Code and is identified for both residential and commercial development opportunities in the HTC Master Plan. As discussed in the Plan, this area is envisioned to revitalize through the elimination of some older, underperforming buildings and the development of new buildings hosting a variety of complementary uses including retail, office and housing. As discussed in various sections of the HTC Master Plan the lower density and intensity standards applicable to other areas of San Juan Capistrano are not conducive to the type of development envisioned for the Town Center area. To support the development vision for the Town Center (Revitalization) area, the plans suggest that a Floor Area Ratio in the range is appropriate. The plan identifies the communities of Carmel, Laguna Beach and Ojai as examples of other California communities that accommodate this village-like intensity. The related Form Based Code standards also support this intensity level. The Form Based Code encourages development patterns with a larger ground floor coverage area than typical commercial standards with requirements to step-back the second floor. The general restriction of two story development in the Form Based Code will also address massing considerations in the Town Center area. For the Town Center area, the Master Plan envisions residential development in several configurations including courtyard, townhouse, flat, live-work and mixed-use projects. As discussed in the HTC Master Plan, the introduction of residences into the area is expected to support the existing and new commercial uses as well as support the goal to increase evening and weekend activities in downtown. The HTC Master Plan identifies a desired density of approximately 33 dwelling units per acre. In the City of San Juan Capistrano, the Very High Density Residential classification establishes a density limit of 30 dwellings units per acre. The EIR prepared in support of the HTC Master Plan envisioned a total of 71 dwelling units in the Town Center area.

4 Page 4 of 7 The Committee had extensive discussions regarding the Implications of the HTC vision for the Town Center area as related to development applications considered after adoption of the HTC Master Plan and Form Based Code. They also discussed the implications of the lack of development of a public parking structure for implementation of the Park Once program. As mentioned above, the Committee also conducted field research to consider such matters as building scale and mass as new structures are added to an existing lower scale environment, residential product types and their integration into a commercial area and parking options. In consideration of the desire to maintain the village character of Downtown San Juan Capistrano and the desire to encourage revitalization while not overwhelming the existing built environment, the Committee recommendation for the HTC Town Center is to establish a 0.75 FAR for non-residential development with the potential to increase the FAR to 1.0 if the project includes provisions for public gathering space such as an open publically accessible plaza or accommodation of a public use such as a museum or civic facility. The specific details regarding the FAR will be developed if the City Council authorizes the initiation of a General Plan Amendment. After review of various residential developments and consideration of the additional public dialog that has occurred since the adoption of the Master Plan, the Committee recommendation is that residential development be restricted to vertical mixed-use buildings with no residential uses on the ground floor level at a density not exceeding 30 DU/AC. The Master Plan discusses various infrastructure design options for the Town Center area, including street and sidewalk configurations. In reviewing the plan and the adopted City Council Resolution there are some street sections that require additional clarification and this topic will also be addressed through this process. Form Based Code The HTC Master Plan v1s1on calls for revitalization of the core downtown area and identified this area as the Town Center. To encourage revitalization and establish a "village scale" development pattern, the City Council adopted the HTC Form Based Code (Code) for the Town Center area. The Code is inclusive of standards regarding uses, setbacks, height, scale, massing and related matters. Currently, Code Table 2B allows for the following unit types: Studio, Multi-family: 1 BR, 2 BR, and 3 BR. The HTC Form Based Code defines dwelling types to include flats, lofts and townhouses. The Code only permits multi-family dwellings, not single family. The Committee recommendation to restrict residential development to vertical mixed use buildings with attached units and no residential uses on the ground floor will require modification to the Form Based Code.

5 Page 5 of 7 The Code allows for a maximum two story building and a maximum building height of thirty five (35) feet with a specific exception to allow three stories for hotel uses. The Code did not clearly identify a maximum height for the three story hotel use and during the review of previous development proposals, this discrepancy created uncertainty for the community and applicants. Given the Code allowed thirty five (35) feet for two story structures, there was consideration of allowing hotels with a height of approximately forty two (42) feet. The additional height would allow for higher first floor ceiling heights to create greater volume for the hotel lobby and other common areas. After reviewing the scale and mass of buildings in other Downtown areas, the Committee is recommending that the Code be revised to limit the height of two story structures to twenty five (25) feet and the height of hotel structures to thirty five (35) feet. The Committee members indicated that a twenty five foot height limit would be more effective in insuring new buildings integrate with the scale and mass of existing Downtown structures. A related matter that can be addressed in the Code Amendment is clarification of the type and allowed height of architectural features such as towers, spires etc. Another area the Committee reviewed was the viability of the Park Once program in light of the uncertainty of the development of the public parking structure which was envisioned in the HTC Master Plan and Form Based Code. The Municipal Code established the Park Once program in the Land Use Code (9-535 (h)) in 2011 and for the Town Center area as part of the Form Based Code ( ) in The Form Based Code allows for the use of the Park Once Garage for various land uses such as retail, commercial, entertainment and food uses "upon satisfying all in-lieu fee requirements". There are two impediments to the implementation of Park Once as anticipated in the Form Based Code: 1) There is no established Parking In-lieu Fee 2) No Park Once Garage has been constructed In consideration of the lack of an established fee or resolution of the construction of a Park Once Garage, the Committee recommends the elimination of the Park Once option/regulations until such time as there is adequate information to develop a complete and viable program. The Committee also recommends codifying the setback requirements for two historic structures called for in the modifications to the Master Plan as identified in Exhibit A to City Council Resolution This language included in Exhibit A to the 2012 City Council resolutions is as follows:

6 Page 6 of 7 c. Esslinger Building & Judge Egan House: These two properties would be substantially preserved in their existing condition and adaptive re-use of these existing structures would be maintained or could occur consistent with the Secretary of the Interior's Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties with Guidelines for Rehabilitating Historic Buildings. New buildings on directly adjoining lots must provide a minimum setback equal to the height of the new structure and such new buildings could not exceed the height of the historic structure. To meet the intent of this policy, the Committee recommends establishing an absolute building height limit for structures located on adjacent parcels that is equal to the height of the Esslinger Building and Egan House respectively, and specifying that the setback requirement is to be established from the property line of the parcel, not the distance to a new structure. This standard would limit the height of adjacent structures even if located outside the recommended setback area. Implementation of this standard may result in unintended subdivision requests to avoid the setback and height restrictions, this will be evaluated should the City Council initiate the recommended Code Amendment. In staff's implementation of the Form Based Code, several additional irregularities and inconsistencies have been identified that merit evaluation should the City Council initiate a review through the Code Amendment process. These include the following: Table 2.2A (Required Yard) establishes a required Front Yard setback of zero (0) feet while Table 2 C (A) (Building Placement and Type) establishes a range for the minimum Front setback from zero (0) to ten (1 0) feet Table 2 C (B) (Building Configuration) calls for a minimum two (2) foot vertical separation of the ground floor to the adjacent sidewalk while many existing and anticipated buildings Downtown are configured with an at-grade transition to the sidewalk. There is also conflict between the vertical limit of 2C (B): of two (2) feet minimum and the Terrace frontage type (3A.5) that allows for a six (6) inch vertical separation. The properties located along the west side of Camino Capistrano near Acjachema Street are included in the Town Center designation and subject to the Form Based Code however the prevailing development pattern is more consistent with the General Commercial policies and standards. The General Plan and Code Amendment process will include review of this area. In summary, the Committee and staff recommend the City Council adopt a resolution to initiate consideration of a General Plan Amendment, Code Amendment and Zoning Designation review for the HTC Town Center Area.

7 Page 7 of 7 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT: The initiation of the General Plan and Code Amendment study has been determined to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The activity of initiating the studies to consider the General Plan and Code Amendments is exempt per CEQA Guidelines section (Class 6) research activity and study for an action a public agency has not approved or adopted. NOTIFICATION: The proposed project does not require newspaper publication of a public notice nor the mailed notification of individual property owners. Public notice has been satisfied through the State-mandated posting of the meeting agenda at City Hall and on the City's website. This agenda item has been provided to the following interested parties. Jerry Nieblas Janice Pickartz Rudy Reyes Paul Fulbright Susie Wernet Jeff Singer Katherine Ransom Dan Friess Roy Nuun David Wood Andrew Wood John Gilloti Mechelle Lawrence Adams ATIACHMENT(S) : Attachment 1 -Aerial Photo Attachment 2 - General Plan Land Use Map Attachment 3 - Zoning Map

8 Historic Town Center Master Plan Project Area & Sub-Areas ~~XftiR~r:i Historic Town Center Master Plan Project Area Historic Town Center Master Plan Sub-Areas ATTACHMENT 1

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