DATE: 03/19/2025
TO: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
FROM: Planning and Development Department
2025-111
REQUEST FOR CITY COUNCIL ACTION
SUBJECT:
WAIVER FROM CORONA MUNICIPAL CODE SECTION 15.60.080 ON THE
UNDERGROUNDING OF EXISTING OVERHEAD UTILITY WIRES LOCATED IN THE REAR YARD OF 912 BEVERLY ROAD (APPLICANT: JAVIER VILLANUEVA) EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
This staff report asks the City Council to waive the requirement of Corona Municipal Code (CMC) Section 15.60.080 on the undergrounding of the existing overhead utility wires located at 912 Beverly Road. CMC Section 15.60.080 requires overhead wires that transmit less than 34,000 volts to be relocated underground when a new building or structure is proposed, or an addition is made to an existing building or structure. In this case, a vacant parcel will be developed with a new single family dwelling. According to CMC Section 15.60.060, the City Council may grant a waiver from the requirement of CMC Section 15.60.080, if the undergrounding of the overhead wires would be unreasonable, impractical, and cause undue hardship to the applicant or the public.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
That the City Council waive the requirement from CMC Section 15.60.080 requiring the existing overhead utility wires located in the rear yard of 912 Beverly Road to be relocated underground.
BACKGROUND & HISTORY:
The project site is located at 912 Beverly Road with the rear of the property adjacent to a concrete flood control channel. The project site is 0.57 acres and is being subdivided by a parcel map, PM 38314, to create an additional parcel of approximately 0.28 acres on the vacant portion of the property. The existing single family dwelling on the property will remain but will be located on a separate parcel. The vacant parcel will be developed with a single family dwelling and two Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). The project site is located in the R-2, Low Density Multiple Family Residential zone.
The proposed construction of the single family dwelling on the vacant parcel requires the existing overhead utility wires of less than 34,000 volts on the property to be placed underground according to the requirement of CMC Section 15.60.080. The existing overhead utility wires located in the rear yard of 912 Beverly Road extend beyond the boundary of the project site and connect to other above ground poles located parallel to the flood control channel on adjacent, private properties.
The applicant submitted a request to the City on March 3, 2025, requesting that the City Council grant a waiver from undergrounding the overhead wires on the project site. The applicant has indicated that the overhead wires will continue to exist above ground beyond the boundary of the project site. If the overhead wires on the project site, which has a length of approximately 121.5 feet, were to be relocated underground, the underground would need to extend beyond the project site’s boundary to the nearest poles, which is an offsite improvement. The distance of the nearest pole to the west is 101.5 feet and to the east is two feet, totaling approximately 225 feet (approximately 123.5’ onsite and 101.5 feet offsite) of overhead wires that would need to be relocated underground.
ANALYSIS:
CMC Section 15.60.080 recognizes that overhead utility wires exist within the City and are considered nonconforming to the city’s ordinance governing underground wires (CMC Chapter 15.60). CMC Section 15.60.060 allows the City Council to grant a waiver to the requirement of CMC Section 15.60.080 if the finding can be made that the undergrounding of the overhead utility wires would be unreasonable, impractical, and cause undue hardship to the applicant or public.
Staff have determined that the finding exists for the City Council to grant a waiver from CMC Section 15.60.080, requiring the overhead wires to be relocated underground for the following reasons:
a) The overhead wires located parallel to the flood control channel will continue to exist beyond the boundary of the project site, and the overhead utility wires on the project site would need to be relocated underground to the nearest poles which are located offsite.
b) The total length of the overhead wires to be relocated underground is approximately 225 feet (approximately 123.5’ onsite and 101.5 feet offsite). An underground electrical conduit would need to be installed to accommodate the relocated overhead electrical lines along the rear of the project site, which is estimated to cost $105,000. As such, the cost of relocating the overhead wires underground would make the prospect of developing the property according to the zoning of the property financially infeasible.
FINANCIAL IMPACT:
The applicant has paid the Utility Underground Request Waiver Request fee of $2,013.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS:
This action is exempt pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the Guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), which states that a project is exempt from CEQA if the activity is covered by the commonsense exemption that CEQA applies to only projects that have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment, the activity is not subject to CEQA. There is no possibility that this action on granting a waiver from CMC Section 15.60.080, to place overhead utility lines underground will have a significant effect on the environment.
Therefore, no environmental analysis is required.
PREPARED BY: CHRISTOPHER AGUILAR, ASSOCIATE ENGINEER
REVIEWED BY: JOANNE COLETTA, PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR ATTACHMENTS:
1. Exhibit 1 – Utility Waiver Letter
2. Exhibit 2 – Photos
3. Exhibit 3 – Waiver Plat