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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11/18/1997, 5 - REVIEW OF AN APPLICATION FILED WITH THE COUNTY OF SAN LUIS OBISPO TO CHANGE THEIR GENERAL PLAN TO ALLOW COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE FROOM RANCH WITHOUT ANNEXATION. council j agenda Repoat CITY OF SAN LUIS OBI S PO FROM: Arnold Jonas, Community Development Director Prepared By: Ronald Whisenand,Development Review Manager SUBJECT: Review of an application filed with the County of San Luis Obispo to change their General Plan to allow commercial development of the Froom Ranch without annexation. CAO RECOMMENDATION Authorize the Mayor to send a letter to the Board of Supervisors on behalf of the San Luis Obispo City Council opposing the requested amendment. DISCUSSION The County of San Luis Obispo has received an application for amendment of their General Plan by Alex Madonna-and Eagle Hardware. The requested amendment would delete the planning area standard that applies to the Froom Ranch property that limits the use of this site to agricultural until such time as it is successfully annexed into the City of San Luis Obispo. If successful with the requested General Plan Amendment,the applicants would like to develop 15 acres of the property for a new 204,235 square foot Eagle Hardware and Garden center. In addition, a separate 5 acre parcel is proposed that would accommodate an additional 100,000 square feet of retail commercial development. No site plan was available from the County at the time of the writing of this report. The applicant's statement however is attached for Council reference. The County processes General Plan amendment through a two step process. The first step consists of a preliminary staff review followed by a hearing before the Board to determine whether the application is accepted for processing. This hearing has been tentatively set for December 2, 1997. City staff was advised that the hearing may address the level of environmental review(i.e. EIR or Mitigated Negative Declaration),or that this decision may need to come back to the Board following preparation of a detailed initial study. Should the Board accept the processing of the General Plan amendment request,the matter will then be turned over to County staff for completion of required studies and analysis. The General Plan amendment and development permit application would then proceed through the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisors public hearing process. Early in the process,City staff was asked to provide the County with our comments and feedback. We provided a response (attached) that outlined the history of the City's processing of various Froom Ranch development proposals as well as policies in our General Plan that require new urban uses adjacent to the City limits to be annexed prior to development. Council Agenda Report-Madonna/Eagle Hardware General Plan Amendment Page 2 The County's General Plan contains similar policies related to urban development. In fact, the County's General Plan recognizes the property's"General Retail"land use consistent with the City's General Plan,but with restrictions limiting it to agricultural uses until it is annexed into the City. This limit on land use is at the heart of the applicant's amendment request. Staff feels that it is extremely important that the City and County abide by the key principles behind our respective General Plans. These planning documents establish appropriate locations for urban uses and should be closely followed. The cooperative effort between the City and the County is critical especially where our jurisdictional boundaries meet. Urban development should be located in the City limits where services can be provided in an orderly manner. In order to show the Board of Supervisors the City's resolve in this matter,it is recommended that the Mayor and Council send a letter outlining the City's position. Staff has drafted such a letter for Council review and revision as appropriate. Attachments A. Draft Letter to Board of Supervisors B. Central Coast Engineering Application Statement C. City's September 22, 1997 Response to County S-Z 0� y o CIytoo oOf SAn Wis OBISPO l(r S OFFICE OF THE CITY COUNCIL 990 Palm Street■San Luis Obispo, CA 93401-3249■805/781.7119■ FAX 805/781-7109 November 18, 1997 San Luis Obispo County Board of Supervisors County Government Center San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Re: Madonna/Eagle Hardware& Garden General Plan Amendment Co. File No. G970007T Honorable Chairman and Members of the Board: The City has been notified that the above referenced applicants have applied for a General Plan Amendment with the County that would allow the establishment of a retail commercial development on 20 acres of property known as the Froom Ranch. The request, if approved, would eliminate the land use restriction that limits use of the property for agricultural use and thereby allow development without annexation. If the processing of the amendment application is accepted by the Board, the applicants will request for concurrent processing of their proposed development plan. The plans include development of a 204,235 square foot Eagle Hardware and Garden Center on 15 acres and a 5 acre parcel to be set aside for 100,000 square feet of retail commercial development. As you know, the City has been working with the property owner over the past several years on development of the Froom Ranch property. The development area is located within the City's Urban Reserve line and is immediately adjacent to the present City limits. The property was re- designated General Retail when the Land Use Element of the City's General Plan was updated in 1994. The general retail designation, along with various General Plan policies encourage annexation of the property into the City and development Of commercial uses similar to those Planned by Eagle Hardware and Mr. Madonna. Following a 1994 City Council approval to change the property's land use designation to General Retail use, Mr. Madonna made two sequential requests of the City to annex and develop portions of the Froom Ranch. The first application called for approximately 700,000 square feet of retail uses. The second, was for a smaller development that totaled 360,000 square feet. Following a thorough environmental analysis in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the City determined that either of the developments would require the preparation of a focused Environmental Impact Report. The identified issue areas included water supply, geology, secondary drainage impacts, air quality, transpOrtatiOn/circulation, biology/botany, soil contamination, noise, utility systems, and aesthetics. Since the City's General Plan prohibits extension of services outside of the City limits, we would also have a concern, within the generally urbanized area, with the installation of a packaged sewer treatment plan, which the City would discourage. ® The City of San Luis Obispo is committed to include the disabled in all of its services,programs and activities. Telecommunications Device for the Deaf(805)781-7470 " 2 � J Clty of san tuts osispo The applicant has chosen not to pursue either of the projects with the City. A lawsuit is now Pending in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court in which Mr. Madonna is seeking to compel the City to review his proposed project using a Mitigated Negative Declaration rather than a focused Ea We certainly understand the applicant's desire to develop the property in question with retail commercial land uses. Our General Plan calls for this area upon annexation, to receive urban services and be developed in the City with uses similar to what Eagle Hardware and Mr. Madonna are proposing. Land Use Element policies support the principal that areas within the urban reserve line which are to be developed with urban uses should be annexed before urban development occurs (emphasis added). We understand that the County also has several policies in place which discourage the development of urban projects adjacent to the boundaries of cities, and on the whole the County has carefully abided by these policies. A departure from these shared policies would be of grave concern to our City Council. The City respectively requests that the County deny this amendment and support the planning principals that have been established by our respective general plans that encourage annexation of urban scale development. We are ready and willing to review the development proposal when it comes before us, after preparation of a focused environmental impact report. Sincerely, Allen Settle Mayor c. Alex Madonna John Dunn, City Administrative Officer s-y CENTRAL COAST 19 August 1997 ENGINEERING E2211 396 Buckley Road,Suite 1 San Luis Obispo Califomia 93401 (805)544-3278 FAX(805)541-3137 County of San Luis Obispo Planning and Building Dept. County Government Center San Luis Obispo, CA 93408 Attn: Kcmii Griffin Subject: Froom Ranch General Plan Amendment Application Staff... The applicant for this general plan amendment is: Eagle Hardware and Garden 960 Powell Avenue Renton,Washington 98055 Their request would allow: Development of an approximately 20 acre area on the Froom Ranch (San Luis Obispo Planning Area) as a commercial retail use (see exhibit). Please review the following information and accept it complete. Inclosed items include: • General plan amendment application. • 8.5"x 11"map exhibit. • Filing fees($4543.00). • Agreement for cost accounting form. • Application for real time billing.. • Consent of property owner form. • Surrounding property owners list(within 300�. • Applicant statement(below). A. Introduction. As part of the recent update of the San Luis Obispo Area Plan, the County changed the urban zoning over the Froom Ranch from residential to commercial retail. This change reflected the zoning the City of Sari Luis Obispo E221 Arvwoutln doc 2 placed over the same property during their general plan update. Both City and County general plans refer to this area as the Irish Hills specific area. Concurrent with the update, the County also adopted a communitywide urban area standard that effects only parcels within the City of San Luis Obispo's urban reserve line and outside of specific areas. The standard limits development use to that associated with agriculture and makes the Froom Ranch one of the few commercially zoned parcels (if not the only) within the area plan that can not develop to it's fullest potential unless annexed into the City. For example, none of the commercially zoned parcels within the Airport Area has this same limitation because this area has specific standards. B. History. In the early 1980's, the land owner approached the City of San Luis Obispo about annexing the Froom Ranch property and was told the proposal was premature because the general plan update was in progress. Because the City was still updating their general plan in 1984, the land owner submitted general plan amendment and development plan for a portion of the Froom Ranch outside of the City's urban reserve fine and under County control. A Final E1R was certified in December 1989 when the County Board of Supervisor's denied the land owner's appeal request for rezoning. At the hearings, the Planning Commission and Board of Supervisor's heard testimony from the City stating that development in this area was still premature because their update was still in progress. From August 1993 up to the final approval of their update in June 1994, the City of San Luis Obispo encouraged the land owner to submit development and annexation proposals on the Froom Ranch. In February 1996 and February 1997, a majority of the City Council of the City of San Luis Obispo voted to require full . EIR's for commercial development applications. C. Summary. Over the past 15 years, development of this area.has been put off because it was deemed to premature. When the City expressed interest in the property in 1993 and 1994, the land owner followed through with proposals consistent with their general plan only to have the applications obstructed with unwarranted determinations. Eagle Hardware and Garden has no desire in pursuing annexation into the City and instead is interested in development within the County. To accomplish this goal, they request a general plan amendment exempting the Froom Ranch property from the communitywide urban area standard that limits use to that associated with agricultural zoning by either deleting the stmtdard completely, exempting the property specifically, or by creating standards for commercial retail development in the Irish Hills specific area E2211\rvwout1n.doc G . A 3 1. Deletion of the Standard. Since the majority of the undeveloped parcels within the urban boundary are within the Airport Area (an exempted area), the limitation standard apples to a very few pieces of land. Deletion of the standard will not adversely effect the area or it's plan. 2. Exempt the Property. The simplest way to exempt the property from the standard is to specifically state that standard does not apply to the Froom Ranch zoned retail commercial. 3. Create Irish Hills Standards. The Froom Ranch property is the only commercially zoned parcel in the Irish Hills and makes up more than half of the specific area (72 of approximately 122 acres). Specific areas are exempted if they have area standards. The applicant can work with staff and create commercial retail standards. D. Request. Exempt the Froom Ranch property from the communitywide urban area standard limiting use on parcels within the City's urban reserve line and outside of specific areas to permit Eagle Hardware and Garden to develop an approximately 20 acre commercial retail project. 1. Applicant's Statement. The standard the applicant is requesting exemption from was adopted to prevent the creation of large service areas associated with residential subdivisions on the outskirts of the City, and to generally consolidate development in the urban core for service efficiency. At one time, all of the Irish Hills area was designated for residential use, but with the most recent City and County general plan updates, use on this portion of the area was changed to commercial. a. The type of development proposed by the applicant does not have high demand on utility services (estimates are from 3 to 4 acre feet per year). This coupled with the ability of the property to provide.private water and sewer systems allows the County to reasonably conclude that the request will not cause undo hardships with respect to these issues. b. The Froom Ranch is one of the few commercially zoned parcels (if not the only) within the San Luis Obispo urban planning area whose development use is limited by the County to that associated with agriculture. Approving the amendment request provides the property the same benefits other's enjoy within the same planning area. C. During the most recent update of the San Luis Obispo area plan, the County changed the zoning on the properties commonly referred to as the Dalidio specific ' area (Dalidio, McBride and Madonna) from residential and commercial to agriculture. This change virtually makes annexation of this area improbable, if not impossible. Based on this, how E221 IW%vou ln.doc 4 does the urban portion of the Froom Ranch annex without landlocking the Dalidio specific area? d. Based on past experiences, the applicant is not interested in pursuing annexation. 2. Supporting Documents. A goal of the applicant is to receive mitigated negative declarations for the general plan amendment and eventual development plan application. If authorization is achieved from the Board of Supervisor's, the applicant will process the development plan application concurrently with the general plan amendment. Between the City, County and land owner, there are four FE1R's that address site specific and cumulative impacts associated to commercial development on the Froom Ranch (City Land Use and Circulation Element FEIR and Supplemental FEM, County Update FEIN and Madonna General Plan Amendment FEIR). Along with these documents, the City is currently processing an additional EIR over adjacent Irish Hills property (Duvaul) and the applicant has environmental materials focusing on issues such as noise, views, circulation, botanical and air quality. E. Conclusion. Based on past experiences, the applicant is not interested in annexation into the City of San Luis Obispo and should not be forced to do so. Not approving the request forces annexation as the only alternative available to enjoy the property's fullest .potential under it's current commercial retail zoning, and in a sense is a taking of rights without real justification as to why on this property and not on others in the planning area. Please accept the application complete and schedule a general plan amendment authorization hearing with the Board of Supervisor's as soon as possible. Thankx for your consideration... Dennis Schmidt C. Pete Gallina, Eagle Haraivare and Garden Representative Tom Scwrzo, Sconzo/Hallstrom Architects, Architect Alex Madonna,Froom Ranch Property Owner E2211\n,woutlndoc i 5' -� - La J�. ❑ _❑ I'�Tl t] hu�lVDA❑ �� �� 977 ❑ DATE �� ITEM # 1 AW1 ❑❑❑ Rfi , v . e m C) To: Kami Griffin, San Luis Obispo Co. Department of Planning and Building From: Ronald Whisenand, DevE?Iopment Review Manager A` City of San Luis Obispo Community Development Department Subject: Madonna/Eagle Hardwar-3 & Garden; your file # G970007T Date: September 22, 1997 The City has reviewed the above referenced County referral and would like to provide you with the following input. As we understand the application, Eagle Hardware, in conjunction. with Alex Madonna, have applied to the �',ounty for a General Plan amendment that would allow commercial development of the property without the need for annexation to the City. As you may know, the City has been wcrking with the property owner over the past several years on development of the Froom Ranch property that is located within the City's Urban Reserve and adjacent to the present City limits. The property was re-designated General Retail when the Land Use Element of the City's General Plan was updated in 1994. The general retail designation, along with va;ious General Plan policies encourage annexation of the property into the City and development of commercial uses similar to those planned by Eagle Hardware and Mr. Madonna. Following the 1994 update of the Land Use Element, Mr. Madonna applied for annexation and prezoning of 67 acres of the Frocrn Ranch property with 55 acres to be devoted to general retail uses. A development plan was submitted with the application that called for development of approximately 700,000 square feet of large and small retail uses in three phases. Community Development Department staff conducted a thorough environmental analysis consistent with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and determined that the project required a focused CEIR in order to address potentially significant environmental impacts. The identified issue areas included open space dedication, agricultural land conversion, geology, drainage, water supply, transportation/circulation,. biology/botany, noise, utility systems; and aesthetics. . A copy of the initial study is attached for your reference. The applicant appealed staffs determin-tion to require a focused EIR to the City Council. The Council met on February 61h19K and upheld staff's determination that an EIR was needed in order to meet the project's r'=QA requirements. J San Luis Obispo Co. Department of Planning and Building Page 2 September 22, 1997 The applicant subsequently revised his proposal to reduce the annexation and prezone request to 42 acres with 360,000 square feet of warehouse store development. This revised application was also subjected to CEQA review and once again, the Community Development Department concluded that a focused EIR was needed. A copy of this second initial study is attached for your information as well. Issue areas this time included water supply, geology, secondary drainage impacts, air quality, transportation/circulation, biology/botany, soil contamination, noise, utility systems, and aesthetics. Again, the applicant appealed staff's determination to the City Council. The Council discussed the appeal of the revised project and environmental analysis on February 4t', 1997. Although the Council indicated some willingness to modify the scope of work to eliminate or narrow some issue areas to be considered in the EIR and agreed to delete certain analysis if the applicant was in fact proposing on-site storm water detention, the decision to require a focused EIR was upheld. A lawsuit is now pending in San Luis Obispo County Superior Court in which Mr. Madonna is seeking to compel the City to review his proposed project using a Mitigated Negative Declaration rather than a focused EIR. Also, as I believe you are aware, the City is presently processing a focused EIR for a residential development (DeVaul Ranch) on Los Osos Valley Road adjacent to the Froom Ranch. If you feel it would be helpful, I can provide you with information regarding both of these matters. We certainly understand the applicant's desire to develop the property in question with . retail commercial land uses. As mentioned above, our General Plan calls for this area upon annexation, to receive urban services and be developed in the City with uses similar to what Eagle Hardware and Mr. Madonna are proposing. Land Use Element policies 1.1, 1.3, 1.5, 1.6, 1.13.2, and 8.10 support the principal that areas within the urban reserve line which are to be developed with urban uses, should be annexed before urban development occurs (emphasis added). We would therefore request that the County not alter existing General Plan policies that support urban development only after annexation has occurred. We believe that the County also has several policies in place which discourage the development of urban-like projects adjacent to the boundaries of cities, and on the whole . the County has carefully abided by these policies. A departure from these shared policies would clearly be of concern to our City Council, and probably, to communities throughout the County. We recognize that the County will be the Lead Agency for this specific application request. . As a "project' pursuant to CEQA, the General Plan amendment and the development that would occur as a result of the land use change, must be evaluated for potential environmental impacts. Based cn our detailed evaluation, which included input from. outside agencies including Caltrans, the County, and the Air Pollution Control District, we San Luis Obispo Co. Department of Planning and Building Page 3 September 22,1997 I came to the conclusion that an EIR must be prepared. Based on our assessment, we don't see how the County will be able to process the matter consistent with CEQA with a Mitigated Negative Declaration as proposed by the applicant's agent. To this end, staff would be happy to share our files with you should you feel that they may help you in completing your review. CC: Mayor & Council ciJohn Dunn, CAO Ken Hampian, Assistant CAO Jeff Jorgensen, City Attorney Arnold Jonas, Community Development Director i