City of Corona
Staff Report
400 S. Vicentia Ave.
Corona, CA 92882
File #: 22-0331
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
DATE: 05/04/2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning & Development Department
SUBJECT:
Precise Plan 2019-0009 for the review of the site plan, architecture, and landscaping of six new apartment units on 0.34 acres in the R-3 (Multiple Family Residential) zone located at 1109 Circle City Drive.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
Precise Plan 2019-0009 (PP2019-0009) is an application by Anthony Lopez of Castlegate Properties, LLC that proposes the construction of six apartment units on 0.34 acres in the R-3 (Multiple Family Residential) zone located at 1109 Circle City Drive. The R-3 zone is intended for multiple family residential development. The project’s site plan adheres to the development standards of the R-3 zone and the buildings include architectural elements and materials recommended by the City’s architectural residential design guidelines for multiple family residential.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council:
a. Take no action, thereby affirming the Planning and Housing Commission’s action granting PP2019-0009, based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval.
OR
b. Set the item for review at a subsequent meeting.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The project site is vacant and the zoning and General Plan designation is R-3 for multiple family residential and High Density Residential (HDR). The HDR designation allows residential development at a density of 15 to 36 dwelling units to the acre. The project’s preliminary development application was submitted to the City in 2018 as Development Plan Review (DPR) 2018-004.
City of Corona Page 1 of 4 Printed on 4/26/2022
powered by Legistar™
File #: 22-0331
SB 330 Housing Legislation
On October 9, 2019, Governor Newsome signed into law Senate Bill 330, known as the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, which is intended to address California’s housing shortage. The bill went into effect on January 1, 2020. Under the bill, a housing development may only be required to comply with the ordinances, policies, and standards that are adopted by a local agency, and in effect when a preliminary application is submitted. Essentially this means a residential developer only needs to meet the code requirements that were in effect at the time the developer submitted their preliminary application. Additionally, the City’s evaluation of the project is limited to the objective development standards adopted by the Corona Municipal Code.
ANALYSIS:
Site Plan
The proposed site layout complies with required yard setbacks, building separation, and lot coverage requirements prescribed in the Corona Municipal Code for the R-3 zone. The two buildings on the project site total six apartments. The buildings are separated by a shared driveway that provides direct access to private garages located on the ground floor of each unit. Adjacent to each unit’s entrance is a dedicated private ground floor patio with a wood trellis structure and a metal wall trellis for climbing plants. Guest parking spaces, common open space areas with recreation amenities, and a trash enclosure are located at the northern portion of the project site.
Buildings
The buildings have varying rooflines with an overall height of 38 feet and 9 inches, which is below the maximum building height of 40 feet in the R-3 zone. Building articulations such as covered balconies and column projections serve to reduce the three-story massing. The arched windows and decorative wrought iron crossbars over the recessed wall areas provide visual interest to the façades.
The applicant has chosen a design and color palette that can be easily integrated with the existing streetscape. The proposed Spanish Colonial-styled buildings are coordinated with earth tone colors traditionally associated with the style and roof tiles with a blend of tan, reddish-brown, and brown colors. The buildings provide textured exterior stucco walls in an off-white color and architectural features such as rafter tails, wood brackets, balcony railings, and wrought iron trellis will be painted in a flat medium brown color to create contrast with the primary off-white color.
Floorplan
All six apartments share an identical layout with a two-car garage and storage area on the ground floor, the common living areas (living, dining rooms, and a powder bathroom) on the second floor, and two bedrooms and two bathrooms are located on the third floor. Two balconies are provided for each unit, a second-floor balcony adjacent to the living room and a balcony on the third floor accessible through the master bedroom. Each unit offers two bedrooms and two-and one-quarter baths with a total livable area of 1,012 square feet.
Open Space
A minimum of 200 square feet of open space is required per unit. This project requires a total of 1,200 square feet of open space on-site. The project is providing 861 square feet of common open space area, which are proposed at the rear of the property. Outdoor amenities within the open City of Corona Page 2 of 4 Printed on 4/26/2022
powered by Legistar™
File #: 22-0331
space area, which are proposed at the rear of the property. Outdoor amenities within the open space include permanent landscaped areas, play equipment, and picnic tables along with a barbeque cooking island under a trellis structure. Private outdoor living areas are provided for each unit in the form of ground floor patios. Each patio is 138 square feet. Therefore, the total square footage of outdoor living space provided in the project is 1,689 square feet.
Perimeter Walls
The project proposes to remove an existing block wall along the north and west property lines. The new perimeter wall along the north (rear), east, and west property lines will be a six-foot tall splitface concrete block wall with cap block in a medium beige color.
Access, Circulation and Parking
Access into the project site will be provided from Circle City Drive via a 28-foot wide, new driveway approach at the center of the property. The shared driveway is the only route for on-site vehicular circulation which provides direct access into individual garages and guest parking spaces located at the north end of the project site. In accordance with the minimum parking requirements under Section 17.76.030 of the CMC for multiple family residential developments, each unit is provided with a two-car garage, and two uncovered guest parking spaces are provided for the six-unit development.
Public Improvements
The property owner is required to dedicate four feet along the project frontage to Circle City Drive to meet the City’s collector street standard of 34 feet for the north half width of the street. The dedication will allow for the missing public improvements to be constructed adjacent to the project site. This includes a 7-foot-wide landscape parkway and 5-foot wide sidewalk. The owner is also required to grind and overlay the roadway pavement within the north half of the street adjacent to the project site.
General Plan Consistency
The project is consistent with the High Density Residential (HDR) land use designation of the General Plan because the density is 18 du/ac, which is within the allowable density range of 15 to 36 du/ac.
The project also supports General Plan Land Use Policy LU-3.1 which is to permit land use and development consistent with the Coronal General Plan Land Use designations; General Plan Land Use Policy LU-8.1 which is to promote the conservation of existing residential neighborhoods, permitting the infill of housing that is compatible with density and scale with existing uses, and General Plan Goal H-1 which is to promote and maintain a balance of housing types and corresponding affordability levels to provide for the community’s demand for housing within all economic segments of the City.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid the application processing fees of $16.471.75 to cover the cost of the Precise Plan.
City of Corona Page 3 of 4 Printed on 4/26/2022
powered by Legistar™
File #: 22-0331
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Per Sections 15303(b) and 15332 of the State Guidelines for Implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and Section 3.21 of the City’s Local CEQA Guidelines, a Notice of Exemption has been prepared for the project because the project qualifies as a Class 3 (New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures) and Class 32 (In-Fill Development Projects) categorical exemptions. The project consists of the construction of six apartment units in an urbanized area; the project is consistent with the General Plan, zoning requirements, and would not result in any significant traffic, noise, air quality, or water quality impacts. Moreover, none of the exceptions to the Categorical Exemption apply, nor will the project result in a significant cumulative impact of successive projects of the same type in the same place over time or have a significant effect on the environment due to unusual circumstances or damage a scenic highway or scenic resources within a state scenic highway. The site is not located on a hazardous waste site and will not cause a substantial adverse change in the significance of a historical resource.
PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION ACTION:
At its meeting of April 11, 2022, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Sherman/Meza) and carried unanimously, that the Planning and Housing Commission adopt Resolution No. 2587 granting PP2019-0009, based on the findings contained in the staff report and added conditions of approval regarding adding signage and language in tenant agreements regarding no long-term parking in guest spaces, and extending the lattice patio cover over the units ground floor patios from two to four feet. The minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting are included as Exhibit 4.
PREPARED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR Attachments:
1. Exhibit 1 - Locational and zoning map
2. Exhibit 2 - Site plan for PP2019-0009
3. Exhibit 3 - Planning and Housing Commission staff report
4. Exhibit 4 - Draft minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of April 11, 2022 City of Corona Page 4 of 4 Printed on 4/26/2022
powered by Legistar™