DATE: 10/16/2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning and Development Department
2024-76
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBJECT:
CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT 2024-0006 FOR A 4,110-SQUARE-FOOT CARWASH WITH 11 VACUUM STALLS PROPOSED AS PART OF A 1.40-ACRE COMMERCIAL
DEVELOPMENT CONSISTING OF A GAS STATION AND CONVENIENCE STORE, LOCATED ON THE NORTH SIDE OF 2ND STREET, APPROXIMATELY 450 FEET WEST OF BUENA VISTA AVENUE IN THE C-3 (GENERAL COMMERCIAL) ZONE (APPLICANT: GREENS DEVELOPMENT)
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to affirm the decision by the Planning and Housing Commission in granting Conditional Use Permit 2024-0006 (CUP2024-0006) to establish a 4,110 square foot self -service carwash on 1.40 acres in the C-3 (General Commercial) zone. The carwash is part of a larger development that will consist of a gas station and convenience store. The establishment of a carwash requires a conditional use permit in the C-3 zone, which is the reason for CUP2024-0006.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council:
a. Take no action, thereby affirming the Planning and Housing Commission’s action granting CUP2024-0006, based on the finding contained in the staff report and conditions of approval.
OR
b. Set the item for review at a subsequent meeting.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
Greens Development is proposing to develop two adjoining parcels that have a combined acreage of 1.40 acres for commercial purposes. The project site is located on the north side of 2
nd Street, west of Buena Vista Avenue, and south of State Route 91 (SR-91). The zoning of the project site is C-3 (General Commercial). The carwash is one element of the proposed project. Additional uses proposed on the project site include a gas station with 10 fuel pumps and a 3,725 square foot convenience store. The carwash is limited to the review under CUP2024-0006, whereas the remainder of the project is subject to review by Precise Plan 2023-0007 (PP2023-0007). The Planning and Housing Commission at its meeting on September 23, 2024, approved CUP2024-0006.
ANALYSIS:
Site Plan
The 4,110 square foot carwash facility is proposed on the western portion of the project site. The carwash tunnel is 130 feet long and plotted on the site in a manner where the openings of the tunnel are not directed towards 2nd Street. The 11 drying spaces and vacuum stalls are located on the south side of the tunnel. The eastern portions of the project site will be developed for a gas station and convenience store. The overall development provides sixteen (16) parking spaces and a trash enclosure which are to be shared among the tenants within the development. Vehicular access to the site is provided from 2nd Street via two driveways proposed at the site’s south perimeter.
The C-3 zone requires a minimum front yard setback of 10 feet along 2nd Street and no setback along the side and rear yards. As designed, the carwash complies with the setback requirements.
Vehicle access into the carwash tunnel is facilitated by a drive-through lane that splits into two lanes at the payment kiosks and merges into a single lane before the entrance into the tunnel. Section 17.76.030 of the Corona Municipal Code (CMC) requires the carwash drive-through lane to be able to accommodate at least one car before the tunnel and at least six cars from the payment kiosk. The project’s drive-through lane is designed to accommodate seven cars between the tunnel entrance and payment kiosks, and 12 cars between the payment kiosks and the entrance of the drive-through lane.
The carwash is subject to supplemental standards that are applicable to automotive related uses in Chapter 17.72 of the CMC. These standards ensure that the drive-through lane does not interfere with parking or drive aisles. The carports for drying areas are constructed of durable materials, and drying areas do not occupy required parking and drive aisles. Additionally, the use of honking horns or other amplified noise is prohibited.
The applicant’s plans demonstrate compliance with the supplemental standards.
Parking
Per the CMC’s Parking Ordinance, Chapter 17.76, the carwash is required to have at least two parking spaces per self-wash stall (tunnel). Since the carwash will operate in conjunction with the other uses planned on the project site, the overall development requires 16 parking spaces per the requirements in the Parking Ordinance. The site provides 16 spaces plus one loading space for the convenience store. The 16 parking spaces are in addition to the 11 vacuum stalls.
Table 1: Parking Summary
Use Gross
Square
Footage
Net Square
Footage
(minus
utility room)
Parking
Requirement
per CMC
Chapter 17.76
Required
Parking
Provided
Parking
Carwash 4,110 SF 3,957 SF 2 spaces per
carwash stall
2 ---
Gas Station
and
Convenience
Store
3,725 SF 3,500 SF 1 space per
250 SF of floor
area
14 ---
16 16
Elevations
The CMC prescribes no specific architectural style for commercial buildings in the C-3 zone. The applicant is proposing a contemporary architectural style for the carwash tunnel. The building features tower elements, parapet walls, metal awnings, and glazed storefronts and windows. The buildings’ primary exterior finish is stucco with splitface block and stone veneer as accent materials. The color palette consists of shades of grey and brown with green as an accent color. The rooftops are designed to accommodate mechanical equipment which will be screened from street view behind parapet walls. The vacuum canopies have a matching design to the building. The building is 26 feet in height, which complies with the CMC’s maximum allowable building height limit of 40 feet for the C-3 zone.
Landscaping
The landscaping includes a mixture of trees and palms and shrubs which will be installed within planter areas located around the perimeters of the carwash site. The landscape coverage, placement of trees, size of trees at the time of installation, and the use of drought tolerant materials comply with the CMC’s Landscape Ordinance, Chapter 17.70.
Surroundings
The carwash use is compatible with the surrounding commercial land uses, the proximity to the freeway, and is separated from the nearest residentially zoned property to the southeast by 2nd Street. Noise associated with the carwash tunnel and drying vacuums were analyzed in the project’s Mitigated Negative Declaration Addendum, and the stationary noise levels anticipated from the project comply with the City’s stationary noise standards. Additionally, the site is also located adjacent to State Route 91 where the ambient noise level is elevated due to the number of daily vehicles traveling on the freeway. Therefore, activities associated with the carwash use are not anticipated to be impactful to the nearest residential areas.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid the application processing fees of $8,722 to cover the cost of the Conditional Use Permit.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
Pursuant to Section 15164 of the State Guidelines for implementing the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the City has prepared an Addendum to the previously adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) associated with General Plan Amendment 2023-0004, for the project site. The City has determined that the revised project and the Addendum demonstrate that the environmental analysis, impacts, and mitigation measures identified in the previously adopted MND remain substantively unchanged despite project modifications. The proposed revised project does not raise any new issues or result in impacts not previously analyzed in the prior MND, and none of the conditions described in Section 15162 of the State CEQA Guidelines requiring the preparation of a subsequent MND exist.
PLANNING AND HOUSING COMMISSION ACTION:
At its meeting of September 23, 2024, the Planning and Housing Commission considered the subject matter and took the following action:
Motion was made, seconded (Longwell/Siqueland) and carried, with Vice Chair Vernon absent, that the Planning and Housing Commission adopt the Addendum to the adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Plan, and adopt Resolution No. 2648 GRANTING CUP2024-0006, based on the findings contained in the staff report and conditions of approval. The minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting are included as Exhibit 4.
PREPARED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR ATTACHMENTS:
1. Exhibit 1 – Locational and zoning map
2. Exhibit 2 – Site plan for Conditional Use Permit 2024-0006
3. Exhibit 3 – Planning and Housing Commission staff report
4. Exhibit 4 – Draft minutes of the Planning and Housing Commission meeting of September 23, 2024