DATE: 10/16/2024
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning and Development Department
2024-79
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBJECT:
PRECISE PLAN 2023-0007 APPLICATION FOR THE REVIEW OF THE SITE PLAN,
ARCHITECTURE, LANDSCAPING AND OTHER PHYSICAL FEATURES ASSOCIATED WITH THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GAS STATION, 3,725-SQUARE-FOOT CONVENIENCE STORE, AND A 4,110-SQUARE-FOOT AUTOMATED CARWASH TUNNEL ON 1.40 ACRES, 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 Precise Plan 2023-0007 (PP2023-0007) to establish automobile service related uses consisting of a gas station, convenience store, and a self-service car wash on 1.40 acres in the C-3 (General Commercial) zone. The project site is located at the northeast corner of 2nd Street and the Interstate 91 on ramp, west of Buena Vista Avenue.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council:
a. Take no action, thereby affirming the Planning and Housing Commission’s action to adopt the Addendum to the adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigated Monitoring Plan and Resolution No. 2641 GRANTING PP2023- 0007, 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:
Greens Development is proposing to develop two adjoining parcels that have a combined acreage of 1.40 acres for commercial purposes. The zoning of the project site is C-3, which allows for gas stations and convenience stores. The project also includes a carwash, which is allowed by a conditional use permit and reviewed separately as Conditional Use Permit 2024-0006 (CUP2024-0006). The Planning and Housing Commission at its meeting on September 23, 2024, approved PP2023-0007.
ANALYSIS:
The project includes:
Gas station with five double-sided fuel pumps (10 fuel pumps total) 3,725-square-foot convenience store
4,110-square-foot automated carwash tunnel with 11 vacuum stalls (CUP2024- 0006)
The development is designed per the C-3 zone development standards established in Chapter 17.33 of the Corona Municipal Code (CMC). The gas station and carwash facility also conform to additional standards in Chapter 17.72 of the CMC, which contain supplemental standards applicable to automotive related uses.
Site Plan
The project site is surrounded by the SR-91 freeway on-ramp to the north and west, and 2 nd Street to the south. The layout of the development is dictated by the site’s irregular shape, which tapers into an acute corner at the east end of the site. The carwash facility is proposed on the western and widest portion of the site. The convenience store and a water quality retention basin are proposed on the eastern portion and the gas station is situated within the middle portion of the site. The development has 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.
Carwash Facility. The carwash facility is a self-service facility consisting of a 130-foot long automated carwash tunnel and 11 covered self-serve vacuum stalls. Vehicle access into the 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.
Gas Station. The gas station is comprised of a gas canopy that will provide shade over five double-sided fuel pumps. In total, there will be 10 fueling positions.
Convenience Store. Customer entrance into the convenience store is located at the west elevation. Additional entrances for employees and deliveries are located on the east elevation. A 12’ x 25’ loading space for the convenience store is provided at the north perimeter of the site, near the convenience store.
Parking
The project requires 16 parking spaces per the requirements in the CMC’s Parking Ordinance (Chapter 17.76). The project is capable of providing the 16 spaces plus one loading space. 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 project. The buildings feature tower elements, parapet walls with varying heights, metal awnings, and glazed storefronts. 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 buildings are approximately 24 to 26 feet in height, which complies with the CMC’s maximum allowable building height limit of 40 feet for the C-3 zone.
Landscaping and Perimeter Fencing
The grounds of the site including the front yard setback area and parking lot will be landscaped with a variety of shrubs. The remote area surrounding the water quality basin will be landscaped with desert and drought tolerant plant materials to discourage trespassing. The project is also required to install dense screen shrubs along the exterior side of the carwash drive-through lane.
A wrought iron fence with flowering vines is proposed along the site’s westerly and northerly perimeters to enhance the site and screen the freeway from view. The easterly portion of the site’s north perimeter has an existing freeway soundwall which will remain.
All plant materials will be reviewed for full compliance with the CMC’s Landscape Ordinance, Chapter 17.70.
Signage
The applicant proposes to construct one 40-foot-tall freeway sign with an electronic message center at the site’s freeway perimeter and one 15-foot-tall pylon sign at the west corner of the site. Additionally, a six-foot high monument sign advertising gas prices is proposed at the east entrance. Since the monument sign is less than 25 square feet and advertises only gas prices, the sign is allowed by right per California Business and Professional Code § 13531.
All three signs comply with the applicable standards in the Sign Ordinance and are summarized in Table 2.
Table 2: Parcel Identification Signs
Proposed Sign
Type & Location
Proposed
Sign
Height
Proposed
Sign Area
Proposed
Number of
Tenant
Panels
Complies
with the
CMC?
Freeway sign,
placed at the north
perimeter,
adjacent to SR-91
40 feet 199.83 SF
Electronic
Message
Center
N/A Yes
Pylon sign, placed
at the west corner,
adjacent to 2nd
Street
15 feet 53.50 SF
Static Sign
Area
3 Yes
Gas price sign 6 feet 24.92 SF
Static Sign
Area
N/A Exempted,
per California
Business and
Professional
Code § 13531
Building signage is proposed for the carwash, gas station canopy and convenience store.
Sign permits are required prior to installation and will be reviewed for compliance with the Sign Ordinance regulations at the time of permit review.
Public Improvements
The segment of 2nd Street in front of the project site is a modified secondary four-lane street. The applicant is required to construct the missing public improvements on the north half of 2nd Street adjacent to the project’s frontage. The improvements include the construction of the missing roadway pavement to include two 12-foot-wide travel lanes, a six-foot-wide sidewalk, and a modified landscaped parkway that will vary in width from approximately one foot to five feet. The Development Services Division is requiring the applicant to dedicate a one- to five-foot wide easement to the City for utility and access purposes along the project’s frontage.
In addition, the applicant will be constructing two raised medians with a left-turn pocket on 2nd Street in front of the project site to allow vehicles traveling eastbound to make left turns into the east project driveway. This driveway will allow vehicles to make full turn movements. Vehicles will be restricted to right-in and right-out turn movements at the west project driveway due to the raised medians.
As there is currently no sidewalk on the north side of 2nd Street between Lincoln Avenue and Buena Vista Avenue, the applicant is required to provide pedestrian connectivity that would cross 2
nd Street from the project site. The two options are applicable to the project. Option One. Construction of a crosswalk at the intersection of 2nd Street and the SR-91 eastbound on-ramp. This option will only occur if the applicant obtains approval from Caltrans for the crosswalk since the crosswalk would require a modification to Caltran’s traffic signals at this intersection. Option Two. Construction of the missing sidewalk along the north side of 2nd Street from the project site’s easterly limits to Buena Vista Avenue to connect the pedestrian path of travel from the intersection of 2nd Street and Buena Vista Avenue.
If Option One is not attainable within a timely manner and according to the applicant’s construction schedule, the applicant shall construct Option Two. Option Two was also the preferred option by the Planning and Housing Commission.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The applicant paid the application processing fees of $7,940 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 unanimously, with Vice Chair Vernon absent, that the Planning and Housing Commission adopt the Addendum to the adopted Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigated Monitoring Plan and Resolution No. 2641 GRANTING PP2023-0007, 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 Precise Plan 2023-0007
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