HomeMy WebLinkAbout10/01/1996, C-6 - AMENDMENT TO VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE ZONING REGULATIONS IN ORDER TO IMPLEMENT POLICIES OF THE 1994 LAND USE ELEMENT OF THE GENERAL PLAN (TA 79-96). council MdamD�w 10
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CITY O F SAN LUIS OBISPO
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FROM: Arnold Jonas, Community Development Director
Prepared By: Ronald Whisenand, Development Review Manage
SUBJECT: Amendment to various sections of the Zoning Regulations in order to implement
policies of the 1994 Land Use Element of the General Plan (TA 79-96).
CAO RECOMMENDATION
Give final passage to Ordinance No. 1310 (1996 Series), as introduced on September 17, 1996,
amendment the Zoning Regulations in order to implement certain policies of the General Plan.
DISCUSSION
The City Council introduced Ordinance No. 1310 on September 17, 1996. The ordinance
implements policies of the Land Use Element of the General Plan. Minor modifications were
made by the Council to the draft relating to calculation of cross-slope density and the level of
review for various sizes of warehouse stores. Those changes have been made in the attached
ordinance which is now ready for adoption.
There was some discussion at the Council meeting regarding follow-up amendments items that will
return to staff for further analysis. These items include:
• Amendment to policies of the Land Use Element that will allow offices for contractors,
engineers, architects, organizations, secretarial services, and utility companies to locate
within the Services and Manufacturing areas of the City consistent with current zoning
ordinance language;
• Parking standards for warehouse stores; and
• Definition and zoning category for convenience markets that will be allowed within the
City's C-S zoning districts.
This last item is important given concerns that adoption of the regulations would render stores like
Circle K and Trader Joes (which are presently located in the C-S district) non-conforming. It is
our intention to establish floor area ranges for grocery stores to differentiate between
"convenience" and "super" markets. Based on staff s research, six San Luis Obispo grocery stores
that could be considered in the convenience category, range from 1,500 to 8,600 square feet.
Staff anticipates recommending that a 12,000 square foot limit be established for convenience
markets when the ordinance goes back to the Planning Commission and City Council.
These follow-up amendments are currently underway. We expect that the draft language and staff
analysis to be presented to the Planning Commission within two months.
TA'79=96
Page'2-
The.ioning text amendment contained.in, the attached ordinance will.go into effect 30 days after
final passage.
Attachments
Ordinance No. 1.310, as introduced
a
V♦W1 N\ 1•L iL 1\V. i.11V k�;�Yw J"'i ,
AN ORL ANCE OF THE.CITY OF SAN LL. OBISPO
AMENDING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE ZONING REGULATIONS IN ORDER TO
IMPLEMENT POLICIES OF THE 1994 LAND USE ELEMENT
OF THE GENERAL PLAN
(TA 79-96)
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission conducted public hearings on June 12'h, and
August 14th, 1996, and recommended approval of certain amendments to the City's Zoning
Regulations; and
WIIEREREAS, the City Council conducted a public hearing on September 17, 1996, and has
considered testimony of other interested parties, the records of the Planning Commission hearing
and action, and the evaluation and recommendation of staff; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds that the proposed provisions are consistent with the
General Plan and other applicable City ordinances; and
WHEREAS, the City Council has considered the EIR for the Land Use and Circulation
Elements of the General Plan (Certified on August 23, 1994) and staff's determination that these
implementation amendments constitute a secondary phase of the "project" evaluated by that EIR;
and
BE IT ORDAINED by the Council of the City of San Luis Obispo as follows:
SECTION 1. The City Council finds and determines that the EIR for the Land Use and
Circulation Element of the General Plan addresses the potential significant environmental impacts
of the proposed text amendments to the Zoning Regulations, and reflects the independent
judgement of the City Council. The Council hereby determines that no further environmental
review is required.
Ordinance No. 1310 (1996 Series)
Page 2
SECTION 2. Sections 17.16.010, 17.16.060, 17.22.010, 17.40.020, and 17.50.010 are
hereby amended to read as follows:
17.16.010 Density.
A. Determination of Allowed Development.
1. "Density" is the number of dwelling units per net acre. In the C/OS and R-1 zones, each
dwelling counts as one unit. In the other zones, different size dwellings have unit values as
follows:
a. Studio apartment, 0.50 unit;
b. One-bedroom dwelling, 0.66 unit;
C. Two-bedroom dwelling, 1.00 unit;
d. Three-bedroom dwelling, 1.50 units;
e. Dwelling with four or more bedrooms, 2.00 units.
2. The following procedure shall be used to determine the maximum development allowed on a
given lot or land area:
a. Determine the Average Cross-slope of the Site. "Average cross-slope" is the ratio, expressed
as a percentage of the difference in elevation to the horizontal distance between two points on the
perimeter of the area for which slope is being determined. The line along which the slope is
measured shall run essentially perpendicular to the contours.
Ji. Where a site does not slope uniformly, average cross-slope is to be determined by proportional
weighting of the cross-slopes of uniformly sloping subareas, as determined by the Community
Development Director.
ii. Cross-slope determinations shall be based on the existing topography of the net site area after
accounting for any approved on-site grading necessary to accommodate right-of-way
improvements, and before grading for other proposed on-site improvements.
Hi. Cross-slope shall be calculated only for the "net area" as defined in Subsection A2b below.
iv. When the calculation of cross slope results in a fractional number, it shall be rounded to the
next highest whole number if the fraction is one-half or more; otherwise it shall be rounded down
to the next lowest whole number.
v. No slope-rated density reduction is required in the C/OS, C-R, C-C or PF zones.
vi. The maximum development allowed for each average cross-slope category is as follows:
e-6-�
Ordinance No. 1310 (1996 Series)
Page 3
TABLE 1
MAXIMUM RESIDENTIAL DENSITY FOR
CROSS-SLOPE CATEGORIES
% Average Maximum Density
Cross Slope (units per net acre)
R-1 R-2, 0 R-3 R-4 C-R &
C-N, C-T C-C
0 -15 7 12 18 24 36
16-20 4 6 9 12 36
21-25 2 4 6 8 36
26+ 1 2 3 4 36
By approving an administrative use permit, the Director may grant exceptions to the reduction of
density with slope where the parcel in question is essentially surrounded by development at least
as dense as the proposed development. The exception shall not authorize density greater than that
allowed for the category of less than 15% slope for the appropriate zone. (See also Section
17.12.020.D, Nonconforming Lots - Regulations.)
b. Determine the Net Area of the Site. "Net area" is all the area within the property lines of the
development site excluding the following:
1. Street right-of-way dedicated to the City;
2. Area between the tops of banks of creeks shown on the Open Space Element
"Creeks Map;"
3. Habitat occupied by species listed as "endangered" or "threatened" by the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Service or the California Department of Fish and Game, or as
"plants of highest priority" by the California Native Plant Society;
4. Area within the drip line of "heritage trees" designated by the City.
c. Multiply the resulting area (in whole and fractional acres) by the maximum density allowed (in
units per acre) according to the table in subsection A.l.a. of this section.
d. The resulting number (in dwelling units, carried out to the nearest one-hundredth unit) will be
the maximum residential development potential. Any combination of dwelling types and numbers
may be developed, so long as their combined unit values do not exceed the maximum potential.
��S
Ordinance No. 1310 (1996 Series)
Page 4
17.16.060 Parking space requirements.
Table 6- Parking Requirements by Use is hereby amended as follows:
Type of Use Number of Off-Street Parking Spaces Required
Research and development One space per 300 square feet office or laboratory area,
plus one space per 500 square feet indoor assembly or
fabrication area, plus one space per 1,500 square feet
outdoor work area or indoor warehouse area.
17.22.010 Uses allowed by zones.
Table 9- Uses Allowed by Zone is hereby amended as follows:
Table 9-Uses Allowed bv Zone R-1 R-2 R-3 R4 C/OS O" PF C-N C-C C-R C-T I C-S M
Research and development- A A/D A A A
services,software,consumer
products,instruments,office
equipment and similar items,and
related light chemical processing
Research and development- PC D
transportation equipment,
weapons,metals,chemicals,
building materials,and similar
items
Retail sales-indoor sales of As A A A A
building materials and gardening
supplies(hardware, floor and
wall coverings,paint,glass
stores,etc.)
[R�il sales-groceries, liquor A A A PC
and specialized foods(bakery,
meats,dairy items,etc.)
Ordinance No. 1310 (1996 Series)
Page 5
Table 9-Uses Allowed by Zone R-1 R-2 R-3 R-4 C/OS O" PF C-N C-C C-R C-T C-S M
Retail sales-general merchandise
(drug,discount, department and
variety stores) (see also"Retail
sales-warehouse stores')
- 15,000 square feet or less gross
floor area per establishment A A A
-15,001 to 60,000 square feet
gross floor area per establishment PC A A
-more than 60,000 square feet
gross floor area per PC D
establishment.
Retail sales-warehouse stores
-45,000&quart feet or less gross PC D D
floor area per establishment
-more than 45,000 square feet PC PC PC
gross floor area per
establishment.
Social services and charitable A D D A A
agencies(see also
'organizations')
A - The use is allowed;
D - If the Director approves an administrative use permit as provided in Sections 17.58.020 through 17.58.080,the use may be established;
PC- If the Planning Commission approves a use pennit as provided in Sections 17.58.020 through 17.58.080,the use may be established;
A/D- The use is allowed above the ground floor. If the Director approves an administrative use permit,it may be established on the ground floor.
17.40.020 Property development standards.
The property development standards for the C-R zone are as follows:
A. Maximum density: 36 units per net acre for all dwelling, including dwelling units in hotels and
motels, but not including other hotel or motel units (see also Section 17.16.010).
B. Maximum street and other yards: See Section 17.16.020.
C. Maximum height: 35 feet (see also Section 17.16.020 and 17.16.040).
D. Maximum coverage: 100%
E. Parking requirements: See Section 17. 16.060.
Ordinance No. 1310 (1996 Series)
Page 6
17.50.010 Purpose and application.
The planned development zone is intended to encourage imaginative development and effective
use of sites. It does this by allowing more variation in project design than normal standards would
allow. Such variation from normal standards should provide benefits to the project occupants or
to the community as a whole which could not be provided under conventional regulations. PD
rezoning must occur simultaneously with approval of a specific project. In the C-N, C-C, C-R,
C-T, C-S, and M zones, the PD zone may be applied to any parcel. In all other zones, the PD
zone may be applied to any parcel or contiguous parcels of at least one acre.
SECTION 3. Sections 17.04.328, 17.04.455, are hereby added to read as follows:
17.04.328 Research and development.
"Research and development" means a facility where basic scientific, marketing, or similar types
of research are conducted, or where new products or services aredesigned, or prototypes are
produced or tested, excluding retail sales and production-run manufacturing.
17.04.455 Warehouse store.
"Warehouse store" means a retail or wholesale store which sells items primarily in bulk quantities
or containers, and which has minimal range of brands and minimal display space that is separate
from storage areas.
SECTION 4. A summary of this ordinance, together with the names of Council members
voting for and against, shall be published at least five (5) days prior to its final passage, in the
Telegram-Tribune, a newspaper published and circulated in this City. This ordinance shall go into
effect at the expiration of thirty (30) days after its final passage.
Ordinance No. 1310 (1996 Series)
Page 7
INTRODUCED AND PASSED TO PRINT by the Council of the City of San Luis
Obispo at its meeting held on the day of , 1996 , on a motion of
seconded by , and on the following roll call
vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
Mayor
ATTEST:
Bonnie Gawf, City Clerk
APPROVED:
y J 'Prg(/sene
ORDINANCE N0. 1310 (1996 SERIES)
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO
AMENDING VARIOUS SECTIONS OF THE ZONING REGULATIONS IN ORDER TO
IMPLEMENT POLICIES OF THE 1994 LAND USE ELEMENT
OF THE GENERAL PLAN
(TA 79-96)
On September 17, 1996 the San Luis Obispo City Council voted 3-1; (Council Member
Romero voting no) to introduce Ordinance No. 1310 which:
modifies the Zoning Regulations relating to density calculations, parking standards
for research and development uses, land use matrix changes, building height
standards in the C-R zoning districts, planned development regulations, and
definitions for research and development and warehouse stores.
The Council must vote again to approve this ordinance before it can take effect. That
action is tentatively scheduled for October 1, 1996 at a Regular City Council meeting to begin
at 7:00 p.m. in the Community Room of the City/County Library, 995 Palm Street.
Copies of the complete ordinance are available in the City Clerk's Office, Room No. I of
City Hall. For more information, contact the Community Development Department at (805) 781-
7170.
Bonnie Gawf, City Clerk
ML_.ING AGENDA
DATE �0=ITEM #
San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce � couiuclLDD DIR
1039 Chorro Street • San Luis Obispo, California 93401-3278 17CAO ❑ FIN DIR i
(805) 781-2777 • FAX (805) 543-1255 j dACAO ❑ FIRE CHIEF t'
e-mail: slo-chamber®slonet.org Q ATRNEY ❑ PW DIR
David E. Garth, Executive Director !3� TOOLERKiORIG ❑ POLICE CHF?
September 30,1996 ❑ MGMT TEAM ❑ REC DIR
❑ D FILE ❑ UTIL DIR
r-f ❑ PERS Diq •i
Mayor Allen Settle and Members of the City Council
City of San Luis Obispo RECEIVED
990 Palm Street
San Luis Obispo,California 93401 OCT 1 19%
Honorable Mayor and Councilmembers: CLAN I CoolcPO ^o
The San Luis Obispo Chamber of Commerce would like to request that item C6 on your October
1 agenda be continued to a future date.
As you know,there was some confusion on the part of the business community as of the last City
Council meeting when the changes proposed in item C6 were discussed and passed to print.
Since that meeting,the Chamber has engaged in several conversations with city staff,and they
have very effectively cleared up our confusion. We have been making strong progress with staff
in reaching a flexible compromise that best serves our community as well as business needs,and
would like for this item to be continued so that some issues that we failed to properly address at
the last Council meeting and which we are in the process of resolving with staff can come to light.
We apologize for the necessity of requesting this continuance but feel that this zoning change is
such an important issue that the entire community's best interests will be served by allowing
additional discussion to take place.
Most of the issues that we have been working on with staff revolve around the proposed
restrictions on retail uses in the C-S zone. After much discussion,we are convinced that from a
policy standpoint,eliminating these retail uses from the C-S zone makes sense because the C-S
zone can be more effective with other identified uses,such as R&D or office uses.
From a practical standpoint,however,the proposed changes would make it very difficult for these
uses to find a place in the city where they could locate. A good example is the Marigold center,
as Councilmember Romero pointed out at the last meeting. If uses like the Marigold center are
restricted from locating in the C-S zone,there is currently a lack of available land on which they
could locate.
An option that we are currently exploring with staff that may help resolve this conflict
between policy and practicality is the removal of large retail uses from the C-S zone as
TFJE YEARS
currently expressed in the revised ordinance,coupled with a rezoning of certain areas
so that these important retail uses have somewhere to go.
ACCREDITED
c-.ue..v co.n•ce
While such a solution makes sense for the C-S zone,for larger retail areas,and for the evolution
of important gateway areas into the City,there are still details of how such a rezoning would
take place that need to resolved. These include issues such as whether the rezoning could be
accomplished all at once,or whether it should take place incrementally over time.
We ask for your continuance on this issue to allow ourselves and others to come up with the most
effective plan for resolving these issues. We ask that you not cast in concrete the reduced
flexibility of the proposed changes until we can explore all of the available options.
Our second reason for requesting continuation centers on the revised height limitations in the
C-R zone. We continue to feel that this proposed change is inconsistent with adopted city
policies and goals,will encourage sprawl and poor land use planning. We feel that the proposed
change will create significant negative impacts to quality of life in San Luis Obispo.
The most significant of these impacts is increasing pressure to sprawl. As you know,our
Chamber has consistently promoted the concept of Compact Urban Form,which simultaneously
encourages greater density and mixed land use in the city core while protecting the greenbelt and
outside areas from development.
Reducing the height limits from 45 to 35 feet in the C-R zone will reduce density near the city
center,and will discourage mixed uses. While under current policies we might see a three story
building with a residential floor on top,that top floor of residences will disappear under the
proposed revision. Quality of architectural design will also suffer. Faced with a maximum of
two stories to develop,new buildings will become rectangular boxes,with every possible inch of
space used to create office space or other economically viable uses. Aesthetically pleasing three
story buildings in the C-R zone,with their attractive balustrades and balconies,will no longer be
developed. Instead,we will look more and more like Santa Maria with its buildings designed to
maximize function at the expense of aesthetics.
There are few positive impacts that reducing the C-R height requirement will have on the
community. Currently,there are two C-R zones,one on each end of the city core. The eastern
zone backs on a large hill so that 3 story buildings would still be lower than the residential
buildings located above it on either side. The western zone backs primarily on either the freeway
or the large Promontory hill. Only on the south side of Dana Street and on one block of Pacific
street does the C-R zone meet residential areas. Thus,continuing to allow a 45 foot height limit
in the C-R zone will encourage better architectural planning and better mixed land use,but will
not place additional pressure on residential areas.
For all these reasons,we ask for a continuance of this item for further discussion. Again,we
apologize for this need,and we would like to thank staff once again for their helpfulness in
working toward a conclusion to this issue that is fair and beneficial to all concerned.
Yours very truly,u�
Robert L.Griffin,President
10-01-1996 3:OSPM FROM PATTERS❑N REALTY 8US Saa 2837 P. 1
MEETING AGENDA
_i_ 9�ITEM #
DATE /o
Pipattason realty
October 1, 1996
To City Council:
RE: Removing retail sales of groceries, liquor, specialized foods, general
merchandise, drug, discount, department, and variety stores from CS zoning.
To remove these uses from the CS zoning matrix is a mistake for the following
reasons:
Numerous businesses will become nonconforming. Examples are Trader
Joes, Weber Bread, Circle K, and Cuesta Food Coop.
Numerous new businesses will be unable to find locations because of a
lack of suitably zoned property.
Existing businesses will be unable to relocate or expand.
Most vacant commercial property is zoned CS. To delete the above uses
unfairly decreases land value.
Various kinds of potential businesses are effectively prohibited from
locating in SLO.
Owners of CR, CC, and CN properties receive a bonanza and owners of
CS property are unjustly penalized.
The current matrix requires a planning commission use permit for most of
the above uses in CS areas. This is an effective safeguard yet allows these
uses where appropriate.
Future use of the old Vons Store on Broad Street is severely impacted.
Foods for the Family may be prohibited from relocating to its land at Broad
and Orcuitt.
Hairsplitting and complicated zoning decisions are unwise.
Creating numerous nonconforming uses is poor planning.
It is recommended that the removal of the retail uses be further analyzed.
(� OUNCIL W
CDD DIR
CAO ❑ FIN DIR
Respectfully submitted, VCAO ❑ FIRE CHIEF
RNEY ❑ PW DIR 1
CLERK/ORIG ❑ POLICE CHF I
F ❑ MGMT TEAM ❑ REC DIR
Charles L. enn ❑ C READ FILE 13UTIL DIR
❑ PERS DIR �
444 M sera Stret,P.O. Boa 1224 San Luis Obispo, CA 93406
(805 544-8662 Fax (805) 544-2837