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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/18/1997, 4 - CONCEPTUAL INTERIM ZONING STRATEGY FOR THE AIRPORT AREA council j acEnba nEpoRt CITY O F SAN LUIS OBISPO FROM:' Arnold B. Jonas, Community Development Director (�V Prepared By: Glen Matteson,Associate Planner J SUBJECT: Conceptual interim zoning strategy for the Airport Area CAO RECOMN ENDATION Endorse the recommended conceptual interim zoning strategy for the Airport Area as a criterion for individual .annexations that may be processed before the Airport Area Specific Plan is adopted. DISCUSSION Situation The General Plan says the City should prepare and adopt a specific plan for the Airport Area,and then annex it. The City has initiated the annexation and started work on the specific plan, which will resolve the best approach to regulating land use and providing necessary services in the area. Until the specific plan is completed, properties may be annexed only if they meet certain criteria in the Land Use Element that are intended mainly to assure that services are or will be adequate to serve the annexed property (attached). Over the last year or so, several of these "interim" annexations have been approved or requested. When the City approves an annexation, it must establish land use zoning for the area being annexed.In processing interim annexations,the question of what zoning is most appropriate for a given property has been raised. The Land Use Element of the General Plan guides zoning, but does not prescribe individual zone categories or exact boundaries for all areas. Since some land use designations may be implemented by more than one zone, a basis for preferred zoning is needed. As an example, the potential for several zones caused difficulty for the Spice Hunter annexation, where the land use designation allowed either C-S or M zoning. The specific plan will be much closer to a zoning package, but it is not scheduled for adoption until Fall 1998. Council endorsement of a conceptual interim zoning strategy for the Airport Area, in anticipation of the specific plan, will establish another useful criterion for interim annexations and help reduce uncertainty as to appropriate zoning. The conceptual interim zoning strategy will only provide a guideline. Adoption of zones will require Planning Commission recommendations and Council approvals at separate public hearings. Vision The General Plan contains some overall objectives for the area, such as attractive entries to the community and protection of creeks and wetlands. Also, it outlines a vision for the proposed business parks in the Airport Area(and the one in the Margarita Area). The General Plan further Council Agenda Report-Airport Area conceptual interim zoning strategy Page 2 describes where certain kinds of uses, such as auto sales, specialty and general merchandise stores, and offices should be concentrated —outside the Airport Area. However, it does not rule out a wide range of uses in the Airport Area. In addition to the direction of the adopted General Plan, there exists an evolving vision of what the Airport Area should become, in the minds of property owners and occupants, City officials and advisors, and City staff. This vision will be defined in the specific plan. At this time, key components of this vision include, in no particular order: • Visually attractive buildings and grounds • Developments which can accommodate businesses that provide head-of-household jobs • A mix of compatible uses that will minimize the need for vehicle trips for work-day errands • Protection of on-site natural resources • Correction or containment of past contamination • Development sufficiently intensive to financially support urban services, without being subsidized by the rest of the city • In relation to aircraft over-flights, acceptable risks for those on the ground and in the air (consistency with County Airport Land Use Plan) Issues The specific plan for the Airport Area will be able to define future uses and the character of development in the Airport Area. It can do so by listing or describing allowable uses and specific development standards designed to address development impacts particular to the area. Until the specific plan is adopted, allowable uses and development impacts will need to be addressed by existing zoning districts and development standards. In some cases, existing zoning or development standards will need to be applied with S or PD designations to supplement the base zones. As an interim measure, this can help insure that desired long-term goals are not compromised. By attempting to address issues in the Airport Area using existing zones and standards, particular issues best addressed comprehensively may need to be addressed incrementally on a case-by-case basis in the context of an interim annexation. This underscores the need for the specific plan and its timely completion. The attached maps show the recommended application of existing zoning and development standards to the Airport Area, focused on the Broad Street and South Higuera Street corridors. Part of the neighboring Edna-Islay Specific Plan's secondary planning area is shown too, because Council also has initiated annexation of that area. Circled numbers on the maps key to notes on a following page, which explain some of the zoning recommendations. Basic zoning considerations can be outlined as follows. C-S or M? The General Plan Land Use Element designates much of the Airport Area as Services and Manufacturing. This designation can be implemented by either the Service Commercial (C- S) zone or the Manufacturing (M) zone. These zones are very similar in terms of development standards and allowed uses. Up to now, the C-S zone typically has been applied to property with frontage on arterial streets, since the retail and service businesses emphasized by the C-S zone benefit from public visibility. The M zone usually has been applied to property that does not Council Agenda Report-Airport Area conceptual interim zoning strategy Page 3 have frontage on arterial streets, because its primary uses of manufacturing, storage, and distribution do not require public visibility. In the Airport Area,the following seven types of uses in particular raise issue of consistency with General Plan policies and the emerging vision. - Contractor's yards are allowed by right in both C-S and M zones. - Trailer and equipment rental are allowed by right in both C-S and M zones. - Scrapping and recycling, including auto wrecking, are not allowed in the C-S zone, but they are allowed by right in the M zone. Effective visual screening of these uses along South Higuera Street and Broad Street would tend to block attractive views of the surrounding hills, which provide a sense of place. Even with effective screening, it is doubtful that all these uses would fit the vision if they would displace manufacturing uses. Since these uses typically have a lot of space devoted to equipment and material, and relatively low concentrations of on-site employees or customers, it would make sense to emphasize them in locations that are less visible from the entry roads and more restricted by aircraft noise and safety considerations. -Convenience stores can be approved by administrative use permit in both the C-S and M zones. They usually have a lot of pavement and traffic in relation to building area. Even if standard corporate building plans are avoided, they can be difficult to integrate into the entryway character envisioned for Broad Street and South Higuera Street. On the other hand, they might help keep employee trips within the Airport Area if developed in central locations, near the .business parks. - Warehouse stores can be approved by administrative use permit or Planning Commission use permit, depending on size, in the C-S zone; they are not allowed in the M zone. The General Plan says stores with regional draw (which would include warehouse stores) should be near Highway 101 and Madonna Road, and Highway 101 and Los Osos Valley Road. The Land Use Element map designates as General Retail about 40 acres next to the existing Madonna Road shopping centers (Dalidio)and about 50 acres west of Los Osos Valley Road (Froom). These designated areas could accommodate several warehouse stores, which individually desire sites of about 10 acres. Warehouse stores could help "anchor" existing retail areas. Warehouse store chains typically want sites with freeway visibility, or at least easy access from a freeway. So far, this has ruled out serious interest in the Broad Street corridor. With development of the T-K annexation and Higuera Commerce Park, there are no large sites left along South Higuera Street. -Auto repair is allowed by right in both the C-S zone and the M zone.Auto sales are allowed by right in the C-S zone, and can be approved by Planning Commission use permit in the M zone. The Land Use Element says auto sales are to be concentrated at Auto Park Way. Auto repair can be incompatible with some light industrial uses. Auto repair and sales are questionable uses for entry corridors. 77 Council Agenda Report-Airport Area conceptual interim zoning strategy Page 4 - Sales of building & home improvement supplies are allowed by right in both C-S and M zones. Indoor sales and plant nurseries would more readily fit the entry character than lumber yards or yards for larger-scale steel and concrete items. Until the specific plan is adopted, these issues may need to be addressed individually, depending on the issues that arise for a particular interim annexation. One of the Community Development Department's current work items is to examine the City's commercial zoning districts comprehensively. However, many of the Airport Area zoning issues may not be resolved before they arise in an interim annexation. Add the S zone? The Special Considerations (S) zone is one way to have more discretion over the types of land uses that can locate in a given area. Therefor it could address several of the concerns noted in the discussion above. Unless stipulated otherwise at the time of adoption,the S zone simply requires an administrative use permit for any substantial new development or change in use. Whenever the S zone is used, the adopting ordinance must identify the special concerns to be addressed. Without a statement of objectives that is readily available to the public and staff, the S zone can establish a procedure without a clear purpose. However, the ordinance adopting the S zone can be a useful tool for narrowing the normally allowed range of uses in response to specific concerns. In several places within the city, the S zone has been added to the base zone to enable greater control over the types of uses that can be established For example, when the City sold its property at what is now Zaca Lane, the S zone was added to the C-S base zone to address compatibility with the neighboring mobile home park and traffic generation through the new intersection. There, an initial, overall use permit under the S zone allows some C-S uses to be established by right,while others are prohibited, and some that would normally be allowed by right need separate use-permit approval. The S zone could be used this way in the Airport Area,to address issues that the base zones and development standards alone can not Any interim use of the S zone would be superseded by adoption of the specific plan. The S zone does not add to the list of allowed or conditionally allowed uses in a base zone. In applying the S zone, it is important to avoid giving the impression that "you can apply for anything, and we'll figure out as we go along what is acceptable." Tank Farm Recreation The Land Use Element designates much of the Unocal property as Recreation. When the Land Use Element update was adopted, a golf course or sports fields were seen as appropriate uses for the site. According to Resolution No. 8332 adopting the 1994 Land Use Element update, the Recreation designation can be implemented by the following zones: Conservation/Open Space (C/OS); Public Facility (PF); either C-S or M, if combined with a Special Considerations (S), Planned Development (PD), or Specific Plan (SP) overlay. The overlays would assure that uses are consistent with the Recreation land use designation, since not all uses in the C-S or M zones would be consistent with the description of the Recreation designation in the Land Use Element The Unocal property is unlikely to be considered for an interim annexation because it meets few of the criteria (attached). If part of the Unocal property is annexed ahead of the specific plan, C/OS, PF, or M-S would be consistent zones, depending on ownership at the time of annexation. The PF zone has been limited to land owned by Council Agenda Report-Airport Area conceptual interim zoning strategy Page 5 government agencies. Adoption of the PD overlay typically coincides with adoption of an applicant-initiated development plan, while the SP overlay usually goes with adoption of a specific plan. Business Parks The Land Use Element designates several areas as Business Park. The specific plan will result in preparation of business park standards. According to Resolution No. 8332 adopting the 1994 Land Use Element update, this designation can be implemented by C-S, M, or Office (0) zones, but only if combined with PD or SP. For the attached maps, lacking any more specific proposals, M-PD is suggested as the zoning for interim annexation of areas designated Business Park The M zone would accommodate the desired range of uses, while the development plan required under PD zoning would screen out undesired uses and provide development standards. FISCAL VAPACT Long-term, area-wide fiscal impacts will be addressed by the "public facilities financing plan" that is a component of the Airport Area work. Fiscal impacts of proposed individual annexations will be evaluated as they are presented to Council. The recommended interim zoning itself is not expected to have any negative fiscal impacts. ALTERNATIVES The Council may endorse conceptual interim zoning designations different from those shown in the attached maps (such as switching C-S and M zones, or using different overlays). However, since actual zoning actions must be consistent with the General Plan, basic differences such as residential vs. commercial would most appropriately be addressed through consideration of Land Use Element amendments,which would require separate hearings. There is the no-action alternative: zoning designations for individual interim annexations would continue to be decided as they are now. Continuing the individual-application approach is probably less efficient and offers less opportunity for a comprehensive view. Council may continue discussion. Attached: Map(2 pages)with notes Land Use Element excerpt: interim Airport Area annexation criteria �-s Omni 0 w m , It I11111�11111111 `�►J' �/�/ �� o�uu , Airport Area Conceptual Interim Zoning Strategy rr- Eastern Part PRADO RO `,',,i ���` `• ` �' Margarita Arm M Area V A ✓ l \ �I 1 S./\J� \�.11�N T VVV f per . doe-, J � 13 � LUJJJJ F AWS gis. /y b � /s Yi J/r � ✓ ir/ r ..: coidenroa„�, •�? T7T N Annexation :,� . —� 4 ti :a .i� :: Conservation/Open Space (GOS) \\ 11ti Public Facilities(PF) `\ Low Density Residential (R-1) / Medium Density Residential (R-2) ® Tourist Commercial (C-T) ® Service Commercial (C-S) ® Manufsclin no (M) .�•v° Urban Reserve Line SP Specific Plan S Special Considerations PD Planned Development N NUMBERS LEY TO REPORT AI-7 AIRPORT AREA CONCEPTUAL INTERIM ZONING STRATEGY Numbered Map References These maps show recommended zones that would take affect with incremental interim annexations, which are subject to change when the Airport Area Specific Plan is adopted. 1. The RV storage lot, designated Services and Manufacturing and with primary frontage on Vachell Lane, should be shown as M, reflecting its current use, with the S zone to assure compatibility with entry character along South Higuera Street. 2. Areas that the General Plan shows as Services and Manufacturing, which are not on or close to South Higuera Street or Broad Street, would be shown as M. 3. Areas that the General Plan shows as Services and Manufacturing, which have frontage on South Higuera Street or Broad Street, or the parts of Tank Farm Road that are close to these streets and that are largely developed with "C-S" uses, would be shown as C-S. 4. Areas that the General Plan shows as Business Park would be shown as M-PD. 5. Parts of the Unocal property that the General Plan shows as Recreation would be shown as Conservation/Open Space (C/OS). 6. Areas owned by the County mainly for "clear zones" near the ends of the airport runways would be shown as C/OS. 7. This parcel opposite Industrial Way straddles the border between the Margarita Area and the Airport Area. An optional alignment for the Prado Road extension goes through this parcel. The C-S-S zone would require use permit approval for any development proposed before the specific plan is adopted. 8. Except for the mostly developed Fiero Lane and "Creekside" projects on Broad Street, the C-S and M sites along Broad Street would have the S zone to assure desired entry character. Staff suggests that the following uses, normally allowed by right in one or both of these base zones, not be allowed: retail sales - vehicles; scrapping and recycling, including auto wrecking. The S zone would not require use permits for all new uses, but would require administrative use permits for the following: contractor's yards; trailer and equipment rental; auto repair; outdoor sales of building materials. (The Bradley annexation was continued from the October 21 Council meeting; the Planning Commission recommended C-S without the added S zone.) 9. The area fronting Broad Street, occupied by the confluence of two substantial creeks, would be shown as C/OS, consistent with General Plan policies (even though the Land Use Element map extends the Service and Manufacturing designation over this area). 10. The Airport Area Specific Plan may show part of these large parcels fronting Broad Street as C-S, but their depth and proximity to the airport suggest that most or all of the area should be occupied by uses more in line with the emphasis of the M zone. 11. County-owned parcels occupied by the airport, airport-dependent businesses, and other County functions would be shown as Public Facility (PF). d/'a Land Use Element SLO General Plan C. Above elevations reliably served by gravity-flow in the City water system; D. Below elevations reliably served by gravity-flow or pumps in the City sewer system. 1.13.2 Annexation Purpose and Timing Annexation should be used as a growth management tool, both to enable appropriate urban development and to protect open space. Areas within the urban reserve line which are to be developed with urban uses should be annexed before urban development occurs. The City may annex an area long before such development is to occur, and the City may annex areas which are to remain permanently as open space. An area may be annexed in phases, consistent with the city-approved specific plan or development plan for the area. Phasing of annexation and development will reflect topography, needed capital facilities and funding, open space objectives, and existing and proposed land uses and roads. (See also Section 7.0, Airport Area.) 1.13'.3 Required Plans Land in any of the following annexation areas may be developed only after the City has adopted a plan for land uses, roads, utilities, the overall pattern of subdivision, and financing of public facilities for the area. The plan shall provide for open space protection consistent with policy 1.13.5. A. For the Airport area, a specific plan shall be adopted for the whole area. Until a specific plan is adopted, properties may only be annexed if they meet the following criteria: 1. The property is contiguous to the existing city limits; and 2. The property is within the existing urban reserve line; and 3. The property is located near to existing infrastructure; and 4. Existing infrastructure capacity is available to serve the proposed development; and 5. A development plan .for the property belonging to the applicant(s) accompanies the application for annexation; and 6. The applicant(s) agree to contribute to the cost of preparing the specific plan and constructing area-wide infrastructure improvements according to a cost-sharing plan maintained by the City. 20 Q �'1