REPORT To the Honorable Mayor and City Council From the City Manager March 14, 2016 SUBJECT Study Session for Consideration of Proposed Development Requiring General Plan, Zoning Code and/or Downtown Precise Plan Amendments RECOMMENDATION Hold study session regarding General Plan, Zoning Code and/or Downtown Precise Plan Amendments for Two Projects: 557 East Bayshore Road and 851 Main Street BACKGROUND The City of Redwood City adopted the current version of the City s General Plan in 2010. The General Plan creates the framework for private land development, describes the vision for all areas (neighborhoods, corridor, etc.), designates the maximum development intensities and allowed land uses for development sites, and generally describes the City s approach to land use regulation. As required by the California Environmental Quality Act, the City also adopted an Environmental Impact Report which examined the impacts associated with adoption of the General Plan. The General Plan is a long term planning document. At the same time, the General Plan recognizes that it must also be a dynamic document, updated periodically to respond to changing community needs. The General Plan states that property owners may request General Plan amendment, while other changes may be initiated by the City. Furthermore, the City s Municipal Code allows the Council to decide whether to initiate a General Plan amendment. Even if the Council opts to initiate the General Plan amendment process, the City is under no obligation to approve the General Plan amendment, as it constitutes a legislative act. The Study Session involves two requests for General Plan and Zoning Code amendments. The first request is from SyRes Properties to develop 550 apartment units and a 100,000 square foot health club at 557 East Bayshore Road (former Century Park 12 site). The second request comes from Acclaim Companies, which is proposing to construct an 88,000 square foot commercial building (office/retail) at 851 Main Street.
The scope of the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance amendment requests, as well as general details about the developments, are described in this report. At the March 14, 2016 Study Session staff will give a general overview of the requests and the process moving forward. The applicants will also be present and will describe their development proposals. No action by Council is requested at this time. Following the Study Session, staff will review all comments and will then consider the appropriateness and timing of future processing of general plan amendments. ANALYSIS The following report outlines the General Plan and/or Zoning Code Amendment for two Projects: 557 East Bayshore Road and 851 Main Street. Project details and staff analysis are as follows: 557 East Bayshore Road Applicant SyRes Properties Formal Submittal October 23, 2015 Plan Review Committee November 19, 2015 Application Status Incomplete as of December 8, 2015 Conceptual Design Review Yes, March 2015 Environmental Review Other Reviews Completed Site Area An Environmental Impact Report would be prepared None 14.4 acres Project Description: Proposed construction of a 550-unit rental housing development and 100,000 square foot sport club ( Villa Sport ). The proposal includes development of a new six-story apartment building at the rear of the site extending to a height of approximately 74 6. The proposed building would be set back over 50 from the rear property line (adjacent to the Bay Trail) and public access would be provided along one side of the project to the Bay Trail. A new sport club is proposed to be located at the front of the property and includes outdoor pools and indoor fitness center within a twostory building extending to a height of 36. Images excerpted from the project plans are contained in Attachment 1.
Existing Uses: The site is the former Century Park 12 and is currently utilized for overflow parking for car dealerships. General Plan: Front: Commercial Regional, approximately four acres Rear: Mixed-Use Waterfront Neighborhood, approximately 10 acres General Plan, uses (site is currently split between two designations): 1. Commercial Regional: general retail, vehicle sales, commercial and office uses, restaurants and commercial recreation. This land use designation does not permit residential uses. 2. Mixed Use Water Front Neighborhood: allows for the creation of unique neighborhoods including housing and commercial uses with public access and open space amenities. Maximum residential density: 40 units per acre Zoning: General Commercial (CG), entire site. Would allow commercial recreation uses, such as the proposed Villa Sport athletic facility. This district would not permit residential either as a permitted or conditional use. General Plan: Front- Commercial Regional; Rear: Mixed Use Waterfront Neighborhood Zoning: General Commercial Requested Entitlements: A General Plan amendment is required to designate the entire site MU-WF (currently, the designation applies only to the rear portion of the site) and a Zoning Map amendment is required to apply the Residential Combining District (R) to the entire site. These map amendments would allow the requested residential use of 550 net new residential units and the 100,000 square feet of commercial recreation space. The application also includes requests for an Architectural Permit and Tentative Map. Staff Comment: During the Conceptual Plan Review process in March 2015, City staff advised the applicant that the proposal is not consistent with the General Plan as the
proposed development exceeds the General Plan density of 40 units per acre on the rear portion of the site. Staff and the applicant have had numerous conversations on the size and scope of the development. The applicant proposes to amend the Zoning Map to apply the R (Residential) Combining District on the entire site and apply the residential density of 40 units per acre based on the entire site area (14.4 acres). This would allow a residential development with up to 576 housing units. Staff finds this approach to be inconsistent with the current General Plan designation of CG Commercial General along the front portion of the site as this General Plan designation does not permit residential uses. As such, consideration of the applicant s development proposal of 550 residential uses with 100,000 square feet of commercial recreation space would require a General Plan amendment to designate the entire site MU-WF and consider a Zoning Map Amendment to apply the R (Residential) Combining District on the entire site. Alternative Project Consideration: An alternative development could also proceed with a Zoning Map Amendment to designate only the rear portion of the site (with the General Plan designation of Mixed Use Waterfront Neighborhood) to the R (Residential) Combining District. The R Combining District designation would apply the R-5 High Density Residential zoning standards to a portion of the Mixed Use Waterfront Neighborhood. The project would be required to comply with the General Plan maximum density of 40 units per acre, which results in a maximum of approximately 400 housing units. This alternative project would contain a density consistent with current General Plan limitations. 847-851 Main Street Applicant Formal Application Submittal Plan Review Committee Acclaim Companies November 14, 2014 December 14, 2014 Application Status Complete as of September 1, 2015 Conceptual Design Review Environmental Review Other reviews Site Area No An Environmental Impact Report would be prepared Historic Resources Advisory Committee, September 10, 2015 Approx. 28,068 square feet
Project Description: Partial demolition of an existing commercial building at 847-851 Main Street (a designated historic resource, 75% of which is proposed to be retained), and full demolition of both a commercial building at 855-857 Main Street and a warehouse at 852-860 Walnut Street. Construction of a 4-story mixed-use office and retail building consisting of approximately 86,910 gross square feet (approximately 6,900 square feet of retail and 80,000 square feet of office) and 2 levels of underground parking with 215 parking stalls with valet parking. A parking in-lieu payment for approximately 45 stalls is also proposed. Images excerpted from the project plans are contained in Attachment 2. Existing Uses: Restaurant (La Victoria), commercial (leasing office) General Plan: General Plan, Uses: Zoning: Zoning, Uses: services Z Mixed Use Downtown Offices, retail, restaurants Downtown Precise Plan (P) Ground floor: retail; Above ground floor: office, residential, personal General Plan: Mixed Use Downtown Zoning: Downtown Precise Plan Requested Entitlements: General Plan and Downtown Precise Plan (DTPP) amendments would be required to exceed the Maximum Allowed Development for the Office; Downtown Planned Community Permit, Tentative Parcel Map, and Parking In- Lieu request for 45 parking stalls are also requested. Staff Comment: The applicant first submitted their proposal in November 2014. In December 2014, City staff informed the applicant that the remaining office square
footage available within the DTPP Maximum Allowable Development (MAD) was reserved by developers who have had their application deemed complete, as allowed by City Council Resolution No. 15372. No additional office square footage was available to be reserved. Since that time, the applicant continued to modify and refine the project to address City staff s technical plan review comments. In September 2015, staff determined that all technical issues related to the project had been substantially addressed, and deemed the application complete, with the understanding that a DTPP and General Plan amendment to exceed the MAD for offices uses would be required, as well as an environmental impact report that would analyze the impacts of additional office area within the DTPP area. Consideration of the applicant s development proposal to construct an additional 80,000 square feet of office uses would require a DTPP and General Plan amendment to increase the MAD cap. City staff would also initiate the formal environmental review process for the project. The environmental review would entail completing a comprehensive review of traffic in the downtown and surrounding areas (at the applicant s expense). Upon review of all comments received, City staff will consider whether to recommend a General Plan and DTPP Amendment. Staff may also consider forwarding a recommendation for denial to the Zoning Administrator (ZA), as outlined in DTPP Section 2.0.3 (A), Project Review Process. As the project is on a combined site of less than 30,000 square feet and would be considered Statutorily Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (Section 15270, Projects which are Disapproved ), the Zoning Administrator has the decision making authority. The ZA s decision may be appealed to the Planning Commission. ALTERNATIVES No alternatives are proposed as no action is requested at this time. FISCAL IMPACT Expenses related to the processing of each application (staff and consultant time expenditures, including administrative costs such as advertisements and noticing) are recovered through the cost recovery process. Reimbursement agreements between the City and each applicant have been prepared. As such, costs associated with these projects would not impact the General Fund. ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW No environmental review is required as no action is requested at this time. If City Council initiates the respective amendments to the General Plan, Zoning Code, and/or the Downtown Precise Plan (as applicable), the City would prepare an Environmental Impact Report for each project, consistent with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act.
STEVEN TURNER PLANNING MANAGER AARON AKNIN ASSISTANT CITY MANAGER COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR MELISSA STEVENSON DIAZ CITY MANAGER ATTACHMENTS 1. 557 E. Bayshore Road, excerpted images from the project plans 2. 851 Main Street, excerpted images from the project plans