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Home My WebLink About07/01/1997, C-12 - REQUEST TO COUNTY TO RESCIND ITS RECENT DESIGNATION OF ADDITIONAL INDUSTRIAL LAND SOUTH OF THE CITY'S URBAN RESERVE LINE jcouncit ':'74 D _ 9.7 agenda REpout ,�Nu. �. CITY OF SAN LUIS O B I S P O FROM: Arnold B.Jonas, Community Development Director e Prepared By: Glen Matteson,Associate Planner Cin SUBJECT: Request to County to rescind its recent designation of additional industrial land south of the City's urban reserve line CAO RECOMMENDATION Authorize the Mayor to sign a letter requesting the County to rescind its recent designation of additional industrial land south of the City's urban reserve line, to better reflect City and County general plan policies. DISCUSSION In December 1996, as part of its San Luis Obispo Area Plan Update, the County Board of Supervisors voted three-to-two to redesignate about 300 acres outside the City's adopted urban reserve line from Agriculture to Commercial Service, Industrial, and Public Facility. Prior to the Board's action, the City had requested that there be no redesignation of agriculturally zoned land south of the City's urban reserve line. The City expressed the concern that designating more land for urban uses would conflict with policies of the both the County and the City to focus development and its associated public services in areas already planned for such uses, and to maintain open space between urban areas. The City also described how its policies could accommodate minor changes to the adopted urban reserve line for projects involving open space protection. The City has proceeded toward annexation of the previously designated Airport Area based in part on the belief that annexation would preclude the need for further development just outside the urban reserve line. Until the Board action in December, the City and the County had mutually supported that policy. Board membership changed in January. The new Board has indicated a willingness to reconsider actions of the previous Board. The longer the industrial designations remain in place, the more likely are development proposals that would be allowable with under designations, but which would be contrary to City policies. Attachments Draft letter to County(with location map and policy citations attached) County reconsideration CAR DRAFT July 1, 1997 Board of Supervisors San Luis Obispo County RE: San Luis Obispo Area Plan -industrial land added south of City's urban reserve line Honorable Chairwoman and Board Members:. The San Luis Obispo City Council requests that you reconsider and rescind the Board action of December 1996, which redesignated about 300 acres outside the City's urban reserve line from Agriculture to Commercial Service, Industrial, and Public Facility. These areas (see attached map) have been referred to as the Polin-Caltrans, Avila Ranch, Maddalena, and East Airport properties. Prior to the Board's final action on the area plan update, the City had requested that there be no redesignation of agriculturally zoned land south of the City's urban reserve line. Because County staff and existing and draft County policy supported this request, we felt the County would support the City's request. In fact, the area plan contains a goal stating, "The City of San Luis Obispo has an urban edge that is more distinct than many other communities in the state. However, land use proposals at the urban fringe could threaten to blur that edge and create urban sprawl, and therefore this plan proposes to maintain the city's urban edge and to enhance it where possible. " This County-adopted goal was a part of the Area Plan at the same time the Board was acting to add the additional urban land uses beyond the City's urban reserve line. Because the City's policy is to provide urban services only to areas within the City's urban reserve line, additional urban development allowed by the County beyond this boundary will not have urban services, and therefore likely be lower intensity development. This will blur the City's edge. Without a clear edge it becomes more difficult to limit additional landowner requests to convert their land to non-rural uses, denying these subsequent land owners the same privilege extended to their neighbors. This is the process of sprawl. The City and the County agree that sprawl is undesirable and have adopted policies to focus development and its associated public services in areas already planned for such uses and to maintain open space uses between urban areas (attached excerpts from County plans). Designating more land for urban uses beyond the City's urban reserve line is in conflict with these policies. More industrially designated land is not needed at this time. Vacant land within the City's urban reserve line in the Airport Area is expected to easily meet the area's need for commercial and industrial uses for the foreseeable future. Furthermore, the City and the County have been working to reduce difficulties of ranching and farming next to urban uses through means other than converting agricultural areas to other uses. Policies and programs to do so include land buffers in the urban areas, drainage improvements, the "right-to-farm" ordinance, and tax assessments that reflect agricultural rather than development values. Board of Supervisors DRAFT Industrial land addition Page 2 The City has proceeded toward annexation of the previously designated Airport Area based in part on the belief that annexation would preclude the need for finther development just outside the urban reserve line. Until the Board action in December, the City and the County had mutually supported that policy. Prior to making that decision, the Board and its constituents emphasized the importance of avoiding urban conflicts with airport operations. The County's December 1996 action to finther urbanize land around the airport conflicts with this concern. Clearly, the most compatible land use to be adjacent to an airport is relatively undeveloped rural land. Any structural improvements and activities that bring people near an airport increase the potential for land use conflicts and accidental losses associated with airport operations. The City's current urban reserve boundary in the Airport Area is the result of previous County industrial zoning and the goal of creating consistent City and County plans. Controlling sprawl is an important goal for the City, so we are concernedabout additional expansions of our urban reserve line to try to create a new edge where the County has expanded its urban reserve. This could lead to a process where the City is ever trying to maintain a distinct edge as the County expands the area. The language in your plans indicates that the County would maintain the City's edge rather than lead the way to expanding it. Recently, your Board has expressed a desire that the City exclude the airport itself from the proposed annexation boundary. In the spirit of cooperation,the City will be accommodating that request by modifying the scope of work for the Airport Area Specific Plan to evaluate alternative strategies for annexing the other properties within our urban reserve boundary. We still encourage your Board to remain open minded until the information the specific plan will produce is available. In addition, several years ago the City made a significant exception to its policy of not providing water and sewer service outside the city limits, to serve the airport as requested by the County. Your reconsideration of the additional urban land uses south of the previously adopted urban reserve line would be appreciated as the same spirit of cooperation that the County relies on when making requests of the City, such as your recent request to exclude the airport from the City's future annexation boundary, and to work more closely with the County relative to airport land use planning. Sincerely, Allen K. Settle Mayor Attached: location map adopted policies I:Board reconsider mayor letter e-161-S COUNTY S.L.O. AREA PLAN MAP (December 1996) URBAN USES DESIGNATED OUTSIDE CITY'S URBAN AREA ® Agriculture u 0 Rural Lands CHUhIASH PEAK ® Recreation Residential Rural 0 22 Residential Suiburban BISHOP _ +�'`:•:yj�,-;:;;� - PEAK •e;xt }. _ 21 ' ;_;sc -. . 2 0 Residential Single Family " ._c'.: ® Residential Multi Family sCeli(emia.pi+Iyteeiii ..........:3iaie Universiyr^:;;=, Office l Professional W=- ® Commercial Retail F—— —— — FOOTHILL BLVD. ,p ® Commercial Service za \0 Hwy fol FEWIndustrial 0 / \ Public Facility Open Space \ \ � I zT \ D \ CE ` SAN LUISS O OB/SPO 1 ' 33r CITY OF \� SAN LUIS OBISPO 90 ~O l Q TERRACE HILL SOUTH ST L_ CO \\ SO SO SL 9l Y�9� ORCU7T RO. O 0.:. SPP r Fier RADO RD. 4' e h ?P 2 J� y \ W W ISLAY \ •,vrs. HILL :....::.::: BUCKLEY RO. to ZA� C�I—xqf-j/ ADOPTED COUNTY POLICIES ON S.L.O.'S URBAN EDGE FRAMEWORK FOR PLANNING • Encourage the phasing of urban development in a compact manner, first using vacant or underutilized `infill' parcels and lands next to existing development. (Framework for Planning, Inland Portion, Goal# 12) • Work closely with cities to provide continuity between city and county land use planning and to achieve common land use goals through reciprocal agreements. (Framework for Planning, Inland Portion, Goal #22) • Industrial uses located outside urban service lines should be limited to activities which are not employment intensive and do not require urban services and infrastructure. (Framework for Planning, Inland Portion,Industrial policy"c'D SAN LUIS OBISPO AREA PLAN • Focus urban development within established urban and village areas. (Goal 6,page 1-6) • Devote the remainder of the planning area to a "greenbelt" consisting of production agriculture and low-density development. (Goal 7,page 1-6) • Focus employment and housing within the San Luis Obispo urban reserve. (Goal 8,page 1-6) • Reserve urban residential, commercial and industrial expansion areas at the fringe of the City of San Luis Obispo which are scheduled for annexation by the city within a 10 to 20 year time frame. [emphasis added] (Goal 10,page 1-6) • The City of San Luis Obispo has an urban edge that is more distinct than many other communities in the state. However, land use proposals at the urban fringe could threaten to blur that edge and create urban sprawl, and therefore this plan proposes to maintain the city's urban edge and to enhance it where possible. (Discussion under Clean Air Plan Goal 1, on S.L.O. Area Plan page 4-3) CLEAN AIR PLAN • Plan compact communities. Urban communities should be compact, and rural areas maintained in a largely undeveloped state. (Goal 1, cited on S.L.O. Area Plan page 4-3) • Balance jobs and housing. The gap between the availability of jobs and housing should be narrowed and should not be allowed to expand. (Goal 3, cited on S.L.O. Area Plan page 4-3) [Additions to the already large reserve of industrial land make it harder to prevent San Luis Obispo's gap between jobs and housing from expanding.] board letter attachmen ,e a-.:S�