DATE:
August 20, 2024
TO:
Mayor and Council Members
FROM:
Rachel Molina, City Manager SECOND READING AND ADOPTION BY:
Nathan Freeman, Director of Development Services
Edgar Gonzalez, Senior Planner
SUBJECT:
Specific Plan Amendment SPLA24-00003; Applicant: City of Hesperia; Location: Regional Commercial (RC) zoned properties along the I-15 Freeway Corridor, Main Street, and Highway 395
RECOMMENDED ACTION
The Planning Commission recommends that the City Council introduce and place on first reading Ordinance No. 2024-08 approving Specific Plan Amendment SPLA24-00003 to increase the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) within the Regional Commercial (RC) zone of the Main Street and Freeway Corridor Specific Plan from 0.23 to 0.35.
BACKGROUND
FAR is the measurement of the total floor area of a building relative to the total area of the lot on which the building stands (total floor area divided by the total lot area). This measurement includes any additional floors above the ground floor.
Within the past year, the City has received feedback from developers requesting an increase to the existing FAR restrictions in the RC zone within the Main Street and Freeway Corridor Specific Plan. Currently, the FAR within the RC zone is substantially lower than the FAR within other commercial zones in the City. For example, within the Neighborhood Commercial (NC) zone, the FAR is 0.35 and within the C2 General Commercial zone, the FAR is 1.0.
Planning Commission Review: On July 11, 2024, the Planning Commission voted 5-0 to forward this item to the City Council with a recommendation for approval. During the hearing there was one resident, Tom Steeno, who questioned whether the FAR could be increased beyond 0.35. However, staff explained that the 0.35 ratio is being recommended to be consistent with other commercial zones within the Main Street and Freeway Corridor Specific Plan. There were no other residents who spoke either in favor of or in opposition to the code amendment at the public hearing.
ISSUES/ANALYSIS
The Main Street and Freeway Corridor Specific Plan currently has five commercial zones: Regional Commercial (RC), Neighborhood Commercial (NC), Auto Sales Commercial (ASC), Office Park (OP) and Office Commercial (OC). All the zones allow similar types of commercial developments and uses that are consistent within the Regional Commercial zone. Most of the zones have a maximum FAR that ranges from 0.35 to 0.75 in comparison to the 0.23 FAR within the RC zone, except for the Auto Sales Commercial (ASC) zone which has an FAR of 0.15. The primary purpose of Auto Sales Commercial (ASC) zone is to allow the development of auto dealerships, with smaller building footprints, so most of the property can be used for the outdoor display of vehicles for sale.
The RC zone is intended for regional commercial, and service uses that are designed to serve the region (as a whole). Permitted uses in this zone include large-scale regional shopping centers, medical offices, entertainment uses, hotels, convention spaces, as well as restaurants and supporting retail. The development standards for this zone are intended to provide a high-quality appearance from the Interstate-15 freeway. Properties within the RC zone are vital to our community, as these properties are meant to provide a wide range of services to residents, the region, and to visitors that are drawn every day from the Interstate-15 freeway.
Staff is recommending an amendment to the Main Street and Freeway Corridor Specific Plan to increase the FAR from 0.23 to 0.35 within the RC zone to be consistent with the majority of the remaining commercial zones within the Main Street and Freeway Corridor Specific Plan. This increase will maintain consistency across the various commercial zoning designations that allow similar types of commercial developments and will prevent the future submittal of variance applications that will ultimately be submitted from developers.
In addition, this will incentivize developers and landowners to develop areas within the RC zone, as it will allow additional building area to be constructed to accommodate future commercial developments. Incentivizing commercial development will benefit the City as future development will generate additional sales tax revenue to the City while eliminating vacant areas of blight throughout the City.
ENVIROMENTAL: The Specific Plan Amendment is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per Section 15061(b)(3), where it can be seen with certainty that there is no significant effect on the environment. The proposed Specific Plan Amendment does not include any proposed development. As future development is proposed, the proposed project will be reviewed independently for CEQA compliance. In addition, the proposed Specific Plan Amendment would not introduce any new significant environmental impacts that were not previously analyzed in the General Plan Environmental Impact Report.
CITY GOAL SUPPORTED BY THIS ITEM
Future Development - Facilitate balanced growth to ensure cohesive community development and pursue economic development.
CONCLUSION: The Specific Plan Amendment will provide consistency with the FAR requirement among commercial zones within the Main Street and Freeway Corridor Specific Plan and will contribute to more development opportunities within RC zoned properties.
FISCAL IMPACT
There are no fiscal impacts identified with this action.
ALTERNATIVE(S)
Provide alternative direction to staff.
ATTACHMENT(S)
Ordinance No. 2024-08
Exhibit “A”
Planning Commission staff report with attachments
City of Hesperia STAFF REPORT City of Hesperia STAFF REPORT City of Hesperia
STAFF REPORT
City of Hesperia
STAFF REPORT
Staff Report to the Mayor and City Council Members
SPLA24-00003
August 20, 2024