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HomeMy WebLinkAbout12/12/2018 Item 2, Lopes (2) From:James Lopes < To:Advisory Bodies Cc:Fowler, Xzandrea Subject:REVISED COMMENTS - Lopes - PC 12-12-18 Item 2: 650 Tank Farm Road December 11, 2018 Planning Commission City of San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 RE: REVISED COMMENTS: December 12, 2018 Agenda Item 2: 690 Tank Farm Road Dear Chair Fowler and Commissioners: I am hoping that you will agree with my REVISED suggestions for the amendments which are proposed: 1. Consider approval of a different zone than Service Commercial, which limits building height to only 35 feet, such as Business Park, which has a 45-foot height limit. However, the BP zone does not allow mixed use development, which is illogical! This omission needs to be changed, since that zone is otherwise a mirror of the CS zone. Perhaps the Neighborhood Commercial zone is much more appropriate for this scale of residential development. Or, perhaps the existing residential zoning, or an R-3 zone, might be best if combined with a Mixed Use overlay zone and requirement for commercial ground-floor development. 2. Consider limiting allowable uses to a selected list from Table 2-1 in the Zoning Ordinance. The very limited commercial space should be occupied by neighborhood-serving and general retail uses, not by funeral parlors or other out-of-place uses. 3. Add and approve a Mixed Use Overlay Zone for this site. With this Overlay, add zoning standards to require development of affordable and middle-class housing units at a density of at least 24 units per acre (about the proposed density). The rezoning for this project should not allow for an ordinary service commercial complex, in the event of a change in plans or ownership. 4. Add an affordable housing zoning standard for this property to build more affordable housing units than the required 2 ADU's per acre, which would be only 20 total, or only 8% of the 249 units. This number is clearly not enough, when market-rate units are not affordable to our workforce. You have the discretion to require more than the minimum, as long as you are not arbitrary or capricious, in this zoning standard. The reason for a greater requirement is that the owner is gaining a windfall in property value, by obtaining a rezoning from R-2 to Service Commercial zone. The R-2 zone allows 12 units per acre, or about 120 units on this 10-acre site, compared to the requested 249 units at the 24 units/acre allowed in Service Commercial. Consider requiring that at least 20% or 50 units be enforceable affordable housing units. We all wish that at least 50% could be dedicated affordable units, in the full very-low to moderate range. The developer may then request a Density Bonus under the Density Bonus Law, with exemptions for parking or height for these units. Include direction to seek City support for these or even more affordable units with financial incentives.See Zoning Ordinance, Chapter 17.138- Inclusionary Housing Requirements. 5. Require a Noise Study which focuses on outdoor noise impacts from aircraft flights. A helicopter training service flies over or near the site approximately every 5 to 10 minutes, from 8 a.m. to at least 7 p.m., with a raspy, irritating racket. It is a definite nuisance to residential neighborhoods east of Broad Street. The Airport should modify the operator's permit to fly a 1 different route away from the Broad Street corridor to impact fewer residents. Consider continuing this application until an alternative flight pattern can be negotiated. Otherwise, the residents and users will have persistent problems from this and perhaps other flights. 6. Require a Traffic Study to identify the best access to Tank Farm and connections to adjacent properties. Traffic impacts could be significant at the location proposed by staff, compared to the traffic signal location at Mind/Body. Traffic access to adjacent properties and the proposed shopping center at Tank Farm and Broad should be required. 7. Approve site plan and building design standards which at least: 1. Require structured parking for a percentage of the units, to create more usable open space, and to reduce the dominance of parking ways and spaces. 2. Require buildings in C-shaped layouts, similar to the Villa Rosa project, with parking in the middle, not necessarily in garages. 3. Require buildings aligned facing interior drives with a lane of guest parking, so that frontages face each other. 4. Require a similar mixed-use lane with a "village main street" appearance, rather than a parking lot. 5. Require buildings fronting Tank Farm Road to have wide landscape planters and sidewalk behind, away from the street. And require entrances on the street to these buildings. I do hope that you will not approve a Use Permit for the proposed project, since all that the community has seen is a rough concept plan. A full CUP application should be submitted after the rezoning to enable community review of a fully designed project. With the discussion which these recommendations would need, I also recommend that your Commission continue the hearing with desired direction for information or feedback from staff before making a decision on the Zoning and General Plan amendments. Sincerely, James Lopes On 12/8/2018 3:24 PM, James Lopes wrote: December 8, 2018 Planning Commission City of San Luis Obispo San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 RE: December 12, 2018 Agenda Item 2: 690 Tank Farm Road Dear Chair Fowler and Commissioners: This proposal is a step in the right direction toward reducing the City’s jobs-housing imbalance, by providing rental housing in the heart of the business park – service commercial area instead of more of that type of development. The proposal for mixed-use commercial in the front four buildings is a start for the City to create very livable (lively, 2 comfortable, pedestrian-friendly) mixed use villages. However, the design falls short of an effective mixed-use residential environment. Approve the General Plan and Zoning Amendments. I support the change to the proposed commercial service zone, although I recommend a mixed-use zoning if the City has one. This site should be the first of many which are re-designated for mixed-use commercial development, and property owners should be aware of that intent. Review the design before the use permit. I recommend that your commission postpone any further action on the use permit portion of this application until you and the Architectural Review Commission have reviewed all of the designs first. A use permit is intrinsically tied to the design of a project. It is basic nonsensical planning to take the route proposed by staff. Require many design changes and traffic patterns. The single conceptual drawing conveys a very vehicle-oriented design. It is a warning sign that the City does not have adequate Zoning standards for mixed-use projects! The project should be redesigned substantially to meet the needs and promises of a mixed-use village. I suggest that you put aside any recommendation, or recommend denial, of the use permit until after a thorough community and City design review. Access might best be made to Tank Farm at the Mind-Body signal. This is the sort of issue that a detailed design review should encompass with adjacent properties shown and included. Sincerely, James Lopes -- James Lopes Ph. 805-602-1365 -- James Lopes Ph. 805-602-1365 3