SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF CENTRAL PARK VILLAGE BREA ENTITLEMENT DOCUMENTS FOR A PROPOSED MIXED USE PROJECT AT W.

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1 City of Brea Agenda Item: 18 COUNCIL COMMUNICATION Date: July 17, 2012 TO: FROM: Honorable Mayor and City Council City Manager SUBJECT: CONSIDERATION OF CENTRAL PARK VILLAGE BREA ENTITLEMENT DOCUMENTS FOR A PROPOSED MIXED USE PROJECT AT W. CENTRAL AVENUE RECOMMENDATION Approve all documents related to the Central Park Village Brea development proposal. Approve Resolutions and Ordinances as listed below (full text included in Attachment B): 1) Resolution Certifying Final Environmental Impact Report No. EIR which includes a Statement of Overriding Considerations (SOC) 2) Resolution adopting General Plan Amendment No. GPA ) Ordinance for first reading approving Zone Change No. ZC concerning property referenced in the Central Park Village Brea proposal 4) Ordinance for first reading approving Development Agreement No. DA concerning property referenced in the Central Park Village Brea proposal Staff recommends further reading of Ordinances to be waived. Final modifications to the Development Agreement which have been proposed since the Planning Commission s hearing are shown in bold text in Attachment B.4, and are discussed within this report.

2 BACKGROUND The applicant, Brea Central LLC (JH Real Estate Partners Ernie Rivas, Project Manager), requests to construct the Central Park Village Brea project at 340 to 420 West Central Avenue. In order to do so, the applicant requests modification of the subject property General Plan and Zoning designations as well as approval of a Development Agreement to govern site development. The subject site sits adjacent to an existing multi-family 48 unit apartment complex to the east (Tamarack Pointe Villas) and light industrial uses to the south. North of Central Avenue is Memory Garden Memorial Park and Central Plaza, a multi-tenant commercial shopping center, located east of Site Drive. The property currently has a General Plan Land Use designation of Light Industrial and a Zoning designation of M-P, Planned Industrial. The property has historically been the location of the Brea Community Hospital and associated medical office buildings. This 162 bed facility closed in April 2005, was demolished in March 2006, and the land was sold to the applicant out of bankruptcy proceedings. DISCUSSION Project Overview The property is approximately acres and is proposed for 452 residential units and 66,000 square feet of commercial space (31,000 square feet of retail shown in red and 35,000 square feet of medical shown in blue in Figure 1 Site Plan). The site plan shows a mix of residential and commercial uses featuring two types of residential dwellings: 369 loft apartments (shown in tan) that generally wrap the two proposed parking structures and 83 townhomes depicted in yellow along the southern edge of the project site (see Figure 1 Site Plan). 2

Figure 1- Site Plan To achieve the vision for the Mixed Use designation, the applicant proposes the construction of a mixed use development largely in a horizontal configuration with multifamily

3 Figure 1- Site Plan To achieve the vision for the Mixed Use designation, the applicant proposes the construction of a mixed use development largely in a horizontal configuration with multifamily lofts/flats and townhomes, medical office building with an urgent care provider, and locally serving retail and service tenants. Site Drive, nearly the mid-point of the project s approximately 1,000 linear feet of frontage on Central, will serve as the primary vehicle and pedestrian entry point to the project. 3

4 The project includes several private open space areas and strong pedestrian connections throughout the site with a privately maintained Central Park an important community benefit due to its access to the general public. It also features extensive landscaping and architectural treatments for the commercial and residential structures and unique amenities for the park which are further described and outlined in the attached Planning Commission Staff Report of April 24, 2012 and Project Plans Booklet (see Attachment A, pages 4 10 and Attachment C). Since the Commission hearing, the project has received a Golden Nugget Award at the PCBC (Pacific Coast Builders Conference), the annual gathering of the California Building Industry Association, representing thousands of companies, including homebuilders, trade contractors, architects, engineers, designers, suppliers and other industry professionals. The project received this honor in the category of On the Boards Site Plan. Additional information on this recognition can be found via this link on page 37: The applicant has worked for a number of years to realize a mixed use plan for redevelopment of the site which requires the subject actions in order to implement. These actions very notably include a General Plan Amendment and Zone Change which would take the property from its historical Planned Industrial designation to Mixed Use II an action which will change the character and function of the property for the future. 4

5 General Plan Amendment GPA & Zone Change ZC The property has a land use designation of Light Industrial and a zoning designation of Planned Industrial (M-P) which allows for planned industrial development. The applicant is proposing to amend the general plan to Mixed Use II and change the zoning classification to Mixed Use II in order to implement the project. The Planning Commission has found the project to fulfill several goals and policies of the General Plan. The current General Plan provides a number of urban design goals and policies for Northwest Brea, where the subject site is located. Two goals, Creating a Sense of Place and Creating Connections were considered by the Planning Commission as part of their action recommending Council approval. These goals are discussed further on pages 2 and 3 of Attachment A (Planning Commission staff report) for Council consideration. During the comprehensive update of the General Plan in 2003, the property was actively being used as the Brea Community Hospital and was not anticipated to change uses in the near future. As part of that update, the subject site was not identified for a land use change. Simply, at that time it was a viable hospital with no apparent basis for consideration of changing its core land use characteristics. Had the City known at that time that the hospital use was in decline with bankruptcy on the horizon, a review of this property, and its reuse for the future, would have been merited and likely undertaken. Development Agreement No Due to the location, size, infill nature of this property and to memorialize several unique development features, a Development 5

6 Agreement (DA) is the most suitable entitlement action for this project. The DA provides the flexibility to achieve the maximum efficient utilization of the site, specifically with its mix of residential unit types, commercial uses with a medical and urgent care vision, and open space components as part of the Central Park element. All minimum required standards of the Mixed Use II zoning will be observed together with additional design considerations based on sound urban design planning principles provided in the City s General Plan, in concert with a DA, a more beneficial and integrated project can be achieved. A DA is a contractual covenant that commits the development to specific terms, conditions, and timelines. This instrument conditions the site configuration, assures the level of architectural quality, details on the park, landscaping treatments, open space amenities and pedestrian connections, and the site development standards. The DA further establishes project benefits (as described in Section 11 of the Development Agreement) that will be of value to the larger Brea community as well as provide entitlement assurances to the developer. Finally, the DA also provides the ability to capture discussion for a Community Facilities District (CFD) to cover the additional costs for municipal services generated by the new project. Annual funding in an amount agreed upon by the applicant is reflected within the DA. ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act, DEIR No. EIR was circulated for a 45-day public comment period commencing on June 1, The Draft EIR examined the Central Park Village Brea project in the context of several issue areas. These areas included are land use, traffic and parking, air quality, climate change, noise, 6

7 hazards, water supply, sewer capacity, and public services, cumulative impacts, and growth-inducing impacts. The analysis and the supporting documentation can be found in the DEIR, which the Council received during the review period. In addition to identifying where significant project impacts could occur, the DEIR discusses appropriate mitigation measures that would eliminate or minimize project impacts as required by CEQA. A Mitigation and Monitoring Program (see Attachment D) is included within the Final EIR. This Program complies with CEQA requirements to specify the required timing and City staff oversight responsibilities to ensure the successful implementation of all the mitigation measures identified in the Final EIR. Significant Unavoidable Impacts The EIR found a significant adverse impact related to traffic that, even with mitigation, could not be reduced to a less than significant level. The project will have a significant contribution toward a significant cumulative effect at the SR-57/Lambert Road interchange. Importantly, the applicant is required to provide its fair share payment contributions (e.g. nexus fee payment) toward the eventual mitigation solution for this interchange. However, since no final intersection design has yet been authorized by Caltrans and no timeline for construction has been adopted, there is a legal need to find this a significant and unavoidable impact. The approval of the development will therefore require adoption of a Statement of Overriding Considerations (SOC) as part of the EIR certification. In considering the adoption of an SOC, the decision makers are 7

8 asked to weigh the public benefits that will be derived as a result of the project against the significant unavoidable adverse impact. Staff has identified project benefits as part of the Development Agreement and the Draft CEQA Resolution which are offered for the Council s Statement of Overriding Considerations (a) CEQA requires the decision-making agency to balance, as applicable, the economic, legal, social, technological, or other benefits of a proposed project against its unavoidable environmental risks when determining whether to approve the project. If the specific economic, legal, social, technological, or other benefits of a proposed project outweigh the unavoidable adverse environmental effects, the adverse environmental effects may be considered "acceptable." (b) When the lead agency approves a project which will result in the occurrence of significant effects which are identified in the final EIR but are not avoided or substantially lessened, the agency shall state in writing the specific reasons to support its action based on the final EIR and/or other information in the record. The statement of overriding considerations shall be supported by substantial evidence in the record. (c) If an agency makes a statement of overriding considerations, the statement should be included in the record of the project approval and should be mentioned in the notice of determination. This statement does not substitute for, and shall be in addition to, findings required pursuant to Section consideration within the draft SOC. These considerations include establishment of a funding stream (CFD) that covers the recurring annual costs associated with public safety expenditures generated by the project, meeting affordable housing goals and providing a new RHNA opportunity site not currently identified in the Housing Element, a covenant for the 1.16 acre Park parcel to assure for its public use, and providing for an integrated, compact, mixed use plan that reduces vehicle miles traveled for the SCAG region and which may serve as the activity node for Northwest Brea envisioned by the General Plan. 8

9 COMMISSION/COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION As previously discussed, the deleted CFD condition has been reinserted in the final DA as agreement with the applicant on this condition has occurred. The Planning Commission (PC) certified the EIR, approved Tentative Tract Map (TTM No ), and recommended approval of the project to City Council on April 24, While the PC unanimously supported the Development Agreement, it voted 3-2 to delete Condition 8 (CFD requirement) from the draft DA due to concerns raised by three Commissioners. Much of the discussion focused on the City Council role versus Planning Commission role relating to financial requirements upon development. The Commission also modified two parts of Condition 14 regarding medical uses and the urgent care facility to increase the marketing program required to secure these uses from a period of six months to a minimum of one year. Project considerations regarding credit toward park fees due to the inclusion of a private park amenity open to the general public was also reviewed by the Parks, Recreation, and Human Services Commission at its March 27, 2012 meeting. With the inclusion of specific conditions of approval related to the park and its amenities, including a splash pad feature, the PRHS Commission supported a partial credit of park fees for the project. The conditions of approval captured through this review are reflected within the DA for the Council s consideration. Consistent with code requirements, this fee credit recommendation was then forwarded to the City Council Finance Committee who concurred with the recommendation at its meeting held on April 10,

10 FISCAL IMPACT As conditioned, the project has no impact on the General Fund. Since the time of the Planning Commission hearing the applicant has agreed to enter into a service CFD and this agreement is now reflected within the draft DA (see Attachment B.4, Development Agreement DA No , Condition 8). SUMMARY The Central Park Village project has been proposed to meet the City s Mixed Use II zoning requirements and additional benefits are also provided to the Brea community through a Development Agreement. The Planning Commission and staff recommend approval of the project. Respectfully submitted, Prepared by: Tim O Donnell, City Manager Adrienne Gladson Senior Planner Concurrence: David M. Crabtree, AICP Deputy Director / City Planner Eric Nicoll Community Development Director 10

11 ATTACHMENTS A. Planning Commission Staff Report dated April 24, 2012 B. Resolutions and Ordinances approving the Project: 1. Resolution Certifying Final EIR No Resolution adopting GPA No Ordinance for first reading approving ZC Ordinance for first reading approving DA C. Project Plans Booklet, dated April 24, 2012, on file with the City Clerk (electronic and hard copy provided) D. Final Environmental Impact Report No. EIR 11-01, Mitigation Monitoring Program & Response to Comments, on file with the City Clerk E. Planning Commission minutes from April 24,

After taking public testimony, staff recommends the City Council take the following course of action:

After taking public testimony, staff recommends the City Council take the following course of action: City Council Agenda May 5, 2015 Public Hearings Agenda Item No. B.04 Reviewed by City Mgr s office: /KLM Memo to: From: Manteca City Council Erika E. Durrer, Senior Planner Date: April 22, 2015 Subject: