Agenda #: 6.1
Meeting Date: May 17, 2022
TO: Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
FROM: Daniel Fox, City Manager
TITLE: CROOKED CREEK RESIDENTIAL SUBDIVISION PROJECT -
VESTING TENTATIVE TRACT MAP NO. 54081, DEVELOPMENT
REVIEW, TREE PERMIT, AND CONDITIONAL USE PERMIT
(PLANNING CASE NO. PL2017-203)
STRATEGIC
GOAL: Open, Engaged & Responsive Government
RECOMMENDATION:
A. Receive presentation, open Public Hearing to receive testimony, close Public Hearing;
B. Adopt Resolution No. 2022-24 adopting the Mitigated Negative Declaration and approving the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program; and C. Adopt Resolution No. 2022-25 approving Vesting Tentative Tract Map No. 54081, Development Review, Tree Permit and Conditional Use Permit No. PL2017-203, based on the Findings of Fact, and subject to the conditions of approval listed within the draft resolution.
BACKGROUND & PROJECT SUMMARY:
The applicant is requesting approval to subdivide a 12.9-acre, undeveloped parcel located at the southerly terminus of Crooked Creek Drive. The proposed project requires approval of the following entitlements:
1. Vesting Tentative Tract Map No. 54081 (“VTTM 54081”) to subdivide the subject property into nine parcels for the following purposes:
• Seven (7) single-family residential lots;
• One lot to be reserved as a trailhead that anticipates the future improvement of Los Angeles County-owned easements to provide access to the Schabarum Trail system;
• One lot containing approximately 10.4 acres of preserved open space and associated maintenance access; and
• The extension of Crooked Creek Drive, as a public street, to provide access to the proposed lots.
2. Development Review to approve the site, architectural and landscape design of a new residential development to ensure consistency with the General Plan, Development Code, and compliance with all applicable and design guidelines and standards.
3. Tree Permit to remove 62 protected trees, consisting of 58 Southern California black walnuts and four coast live oaks, and to replace them with 201 Southern California black walnuts and 12 coast live oaks, totaling 213 replacement trees to be planted on-site.
4. Conditional Use Permit to approve development on a site subject to a Planned Development Overlay District and allow modifications to the following development standards:
• Increase the exposed retaining wall height limit from six feet to 17 feet; • Reduce the minimum front setback requirement for Lots 4 and 5 from 20 feet to 14 feet and 13.75 feet, respectively; and
• Reduce the minimum lot size requirement for Lots 1 and 3 from 10,000 to 8,294 square feet and 8,482 square feet, respectively.
Project History
2007 Entitlements
On February 20, 2007, the City Council approved a 16-lot residential subdivision on the subject site which included, among other entitlements, a Tree Permit to remove 269 protected trees (197 trees were considered dead and 72 trees were to be mitigated). Of the 72 trees, 43 were coast live oaks and 29 were California black walnut trees. Additionally, 11.5 acres of mixed coast live oak and California walnut woodland would have been impacted. This proposal anticipated a total of 98,000 cubic yards of cut and 86,000 cubic yards of fill. The entitlements were valid for up to ten years. On October 24, 2014, the property was sold to the current owner, Cathay View Development, LLC. During the plan check process, the project team identified a variety of technical deficiencies in the previously-submitted improvement plans and the project expired on February 20, 2017. The project team then began work on a complete redesign of the project.
Commencement of New Design Process
In 2018, after two developer-hosted neighborhood meetings, the applicant submitted a subdivision map with 12 residential lots. The design included a pair of tiered retaining walls on the western portion of the project area (i.e., the Brea Canyon Channel side) with heights of each wall reaching 12’-6” and 15’-6”. On the eastern portion of the project area (i.e., the hillside), five tiers of 20-foot high retaining walls were proposed, which would have resulted in 100 vertical feet of exposed wall surfaces. This design anticipated a total of 90,000 cubic yards of cut and 52,000 cubic yards of fill.
In 2019, the design was further reconfigured and the number of residential lots was reduced from 12 to 11. The reduction in grading reduced the encroachment into existing native habitat, and reduced the visual impact of the previous retaining wall configuration. Additionally, the proposed sidewalk on the east side of the Crooked Creek Drive extension was eliminated from the plans to reduce grading impacts. The number of retaining walls facing the Brea Canyon Channel was increased to five, but reduced in height to four feet apiece. On the eastern portion of the project area (i.e., the hillside), the lineal footage of the five tiers of retaining walls was reduced, and the height of each wall was reduced to 15 feet. Lastly, split-level, step-down building pads were introduced to reduce grading impacts. Total earthwork resulting from this revised design was reduced to 35,000 cubic yards of cut and 13,000 cubic yards of fill.
After receiving further community and staff feedback, the applicant made additional, substantive revisions to the subdivision design, including the following:
• Reduction in the number of residential lots to 7.
• Realignment of the roadway extension to eliminate the tiered retaining wall system. Now, a single retaining wall at the base of the slope is proposed, which ranges in height from four to 17 feet.
• Reduction in overall grading to 14,480 cubic yards of cut and 19,510 cubic yards of fill.
The Planning Commission staff report, which includes a detailed discussion of the project history, description and analysis is included as Attachment 3.
Planning Commission Meeting
On April 26, 2022, the Planning Commission conducted a noticed public hearing to consider the Project. By a 4-1 vote, the Commission recommended that the City Council adopt the Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) and Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) and approve the Project.
Nine members of the public spoke during public hearing. Eight residents spoke in opposition to the Project, including three that alleged that the City did not adequately address the comments received from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW). CDFW’s comment letter, dated December 17, 2021, recommended additional mitigation measures for the Project, including additional replacement trees and mitigation for purported habitat loss. Other concerns raised at the meeting included the cost of the proposed housing, fire danger and traffic impacts. No comments were received regarding the site plan, design, aesthetics/visual impacts, grading or architecture. The draft minutes of the Planning Commission hearing is included as Attachment 4.
Environmental Review Process
This Project was reviewed for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Based on that assessment, the City prepared an Initial Study and filed a Notice of Intent to Adopt an MND for the Project with the Office of Planning and Research on November 9, 2021, and with the Los Angeles County Clerk on November 10, 2021. The notice was published in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune newspaper (see Exhibit A of Attachment 1). The notice was also mailed to public agencies and residents who attended applicant-hosted community meetings.
Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15105, the public review period for the IS/MND began on November 10, 2021, and ended on December 20, 2021, for a total of 40 days. During the public review period, the City received seven comment letters on the draft IS/MND. The commenters and the topics of their comments are summarized below:
1. CDFW – Impacts to biological resources; need for additional habitat mitigation.
2. County of L.A. Department of Parks and Recreation – Need to ensure public access to the proposed trailhead and future County trail improvements.
3. County of L.A. Fire Department – Access and water requirements. Impacts to erosion control, watershed management, rare and endangered species, vegetation, fuel modification, archaeological and cultural resources, and the County Oak Tree Ordinance.
4. Diamond Bar – Pomona Valley Sierra Club Task Force – Biological resources, air quality, hydrology, fuel modification, wildfire, trail access and concurrence with CDFW’s additional mitigation measures.
5. L.A. County Sanitation Districts – Wastewater requirements.
6. Responsible Land Use – Concurrence with CDFW’s recommended additional mitigation measures.
7. Sierra Club Wildland Urban Wildfire Committee – Wildfire impacts.
Responses to each of the comments received were prepared and posted on the City’s website at http://www.diamondbarca.gov/crookedcreeksubdivision. On April 15, 2022, the agencies/groups that commented were individually notified of the availability of the Response to Comments, and of the Planning Commission hearing scheduled for April 26, 2022.
Responses to Issues Raised at the Planning Commission Meeting At the April 26, 2022 Planning Commission meeting, the City's environmental consultant, Michael Houlihan of ESA, explained that upon receiving CDFW’s comments, the City prepared a detailed Response to Comments (RTC), which incorporated most of the agency’s recommended mitigation measures, but also explained why CDFW erred in its assertions that habitat replacement and higher tree replacement ratios were required. Specifically, the RTC explained that ESA’s mapping of natural communities and subsequent analysis of impacts followed the identification criteria set forth in A Manual of California Vegetation, the current standard by which CDFW describes and categorizes natural communities. Citing the manual’s criteria, the RTC explained why CDFW misidentified the oak woodland occupying the southern portion of the site to be walnut woodland, a sensitive habitat that would be negatively impacted by the fuel modification requirements for the new homes.
There is a walnut woodland natural community on the property, but it only occupies the northern portion of the site, an area that is already disturbed because it is located within the fuel modification zone for the existing homes on the east side of Crooked Creek, south of Gold Run Drive. This area would not be further impacted by the proposed subdivision; to the contrary, it will be supplemented with additional walnut trees required to mitigate the removal of the walnuts where the new residential lots are proposed. Additionally, except for the drainage lines extending into the Brea Canyon Channel, there are no direct impacts to CDFW jurisdictional resources for which Section 1602 of the Fish and Game Code would apply.
ESA further clarified that the new fuel modification areas are within the aforementioned oak woodland area, which, based on the manual’s criteria is not considered a sensitive community. Moreover, no oaks are proposed to be removed for fuel modification purposes.
In summary, the RTC incorporates most of CDFW's recommended mitigation measures, and articulates in detail why compensatory habitat is not required, and why the 3:1 tree replacement ratio required per the City’s tree ordinance is applicable to this project. As such, the City has followed all legal requirements per CEQA. CDFW has not responded to the RTC as of the publication of this report.
NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING:
On May 6, 2022, public hearing notices were mailed to property owners within a 1,000-foot radius of the project site, as well as to the public agencies that commented on the IS/MND and residents who attended the community meeting. On May 6, 2022, the notice was published in the San Gabriel Valley Tribune newspaper. A notice display board was posted at the site, and a copy of the notice was posted at the City's designated community posting sites.
PREPARED BY:
REVIEWED BY:
Attachments:
1. 6.1.a Resolution No. 2022-24 (Approval of MND and Adoption of the MMRP)
2. 6.1.b Resolution No. 2022-25 (Approval of VTTM, DR, TP and CUP) and Standard Conditions of Approval
3. 6.1.c Planning Commission Staff Report dated April 26, 2022 (Without Attachments)
4. 6.1.d Minutes of the April 26, 2022 Planning Commission Hearing for the Project
5. 6.1.e Site Utilization Map, Vesting Tentative Tract Map, Conceptual Grading Plans, Architectural Plans, and Landscape Plans