City Council Public Hearing – November 15, 2022
712 Baker Street – River Park Residential Development Project • Location – 712 Baker Street
• Zoning – Commercial Storage (CS), Commercial Storage
with Horse Overlay (CS (H)), and Single-Family
Residential, Standard Lot (R-1-N)
• General Plan PlaceTypes:
o Founding Contemporary Neighborhood (FCN)
o Open Space (OS) in small areas of site
• Site Area – 20.4 acres
• Current Development – Vacant
• Surrounding Land Uses:
o North – Freeway
o South – Residential (south of Wardlow Road)
o East – Residential
o West – Los Angeles River (LA River), Flood Control
Channel, trails and recreation
Project Site
2 Current Zoning and General Plan
3 General Plan
FCN
Project
Site
Current Zoning
Project
Site
Project Proposal Overview
4 Project Proposal
226 Dwelling Units
• 74 two-story detached single-family homes
• 99 two-story row townhomes
• 53 three-story carriage townhomes (12 affordable units) • Two-car garage for each unit
• 12 Very-Low Area Median Income (AMI) level affordable units (5 percent)
Park
• 4.81-acre park
• Active and Passive recreation
• Seamless integration with existing city park
• Fully open to the public same as a city park
• Improvements to existing Baker Street park and Wrigley Heights Dog Park
5 Two-story Row Townhomes
Project Renderings – Proposed Residential Development
6 Project Renderings – Proposed Park
7 Existing Baker
Street Park
Baker Street
I-405 Freeway
• Required Common
Usable Open Space:
133,293sf or
3.06 acres (15% of
the project site)
• Proposed Common
Usable Open Space:
209,523sf or
4.81 acres (24% of
the project site)
• 1.75 acres
(76,230sf)
greater open
space than
required
Entitlements Required
• Zone Change – A Zone Change request must accompany any Planned Unit Development (PUD) proposal. Zone Change to RP-15 is requested. RP-15 is the PUD district, 15 designates density in du/ac.
• Development Agreement – Development Agreement for this project, which will assure the developer of the development rights to the project as approved, and will assure the City of the off-site improvements and community benefits.
• Site Plan Review (SPR) and Planned Unit Development (PUD) – For a PUD project, a PUD approval is required in tandem with the SPR approval for the project design. • Vesting Tentative Tract Map – Vesting Tentative Tract Map No. 82712 to subdivide the project site into one master ground lot and individual condominium airspaces for each dwelling unit.
• General Plan Conformity Certification – The developer requests vacation of the segment of Baker Street between Golden Avenue and the Los Angeles County Flood Control District property, and vacation of unused right-of-way adjacent to Wardlow Road. 8 Zone Change
Existing Zoning
• CS: Commercial Storage
• R-1-N: Single Family Residential
• Horse Overlay on southeastern portion
of CS
Proposed Zoning
• RP-15: Planned Unit Development
• Allows for 15 dwelling units per acre
• Horse Overlay to remain unchanged
9 Development Agreement
Purpose of Development Agreement
• Vests development rights
• Ensures development is completed once begun
• Ties building permit issuance to completion of on-site and off-site improvements at several milestones
• Specifies public improvements
10 SPR and PUD Compliance
• Project complies with development standards and design guidelines for SPR and PUD. • Project is consistent with General Plan FCN PlaceType. • Achieves General Plan objectives: Housing, Land Use, Mobility, and Urban Design Elements. • Required common open space for PUD is provided in park development. • Baker Street to be vacated per PUD requirement that a PUD cannot be bisected by public right-of-way. • Project will be required to make significant off-site improvements. 11 Three-story Carriage Townhomes
SPR and PUD – Required Off-Site Improvements
• Fully-signalized intersection at project driveway
and Wardlow Road, allowing all turning
movements into and out of project site (left-in,
right-in, left-out, right-out). Additional traffic
control devices (signs, striping, and lights) will
be added to Wardlow Road to the east.
• Full improvements to sidewalk, parkway, curb,
and gutter on Golden Avenue, Baker Street, and
Wardlow Road adjacent to project site.
• Street trees
• Complete pedestrian connection between
Wardlow Road bridge over LA River and Golden
Avenue.
• Improvements to City’s Baker Street and
Wrigley Heights Dog Parks
Traffic Signal Location
12 Vesting Tentative Tract Map
• Subdivision
o One master ground lot
o Individual condominium airspaces for each unit
• Ownership
o Master lot for Homeowner’s Association (HOA)
o Individual ownership for each unit
o Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions required
o HOA responsible for maintaining common areas, park, and front yard landscaping of each unit 13 General Plan Conformity Certification
General Plan Conformity Certification
required for vacations of right-of-way
• Baker Street right-of-way vacation
o Will be vacated west of Golden Avenue, as PUD
Ordinance requires that a PUD cannot be bisected by
public right-of-way.
o Easement will be reserved for City and County
maintenance access to LA River parcel
o Easement will provide public access to LA River
• Wardlow Road right-of-way vacation
o City will vacate unused portions of Wardlow Road
right-of-way, which will become part of the
development site.
o City will retain a slope easement over Wardlow Road
embankment.
• Both vacations are consistent with the General Plan
14 Wardlow Road ROW vacation
Affordable Units and Waiver
Affordable Housing Units
• Project includes 5 percent affordable units (12
units)
o Units provided at Very-Low AMI level
o Will be deed-restricted affordable for 55
years
• State law (Cal. Gov’t Code §65915) allows
developer to request one development standards
waiver for 5 percent Very Low AMI units.
• Waiver will allow three-story carriage townhomes,
otherwise limited to two stories by Land Use
Element Map.
• Waiver is mandated by State law, not
discretionary action by City
• Units are privately-funded, high-quality housing,
larger than normally-available affordable units, in
high-amenity location.
Affordable unit locations shown in orange
15 Environmental Review and California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Compliance Project Environmental Impact Report
• Environmental Impact Report (EIR) was prepared in accordance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines (EIR-07-20, SCH#202120492)
• Notice of Preparation (NOP) distributed for 30-day public review period 2/25/21 – 3/29/21. 26 comments received on NOP .
• Scoping meeting held 3/24/21.
• Draft EIR circulated for 60-day period 1/18/22 – 3/21/22. 15 comments received on Draft EIR. • Responses to Comments and Final EIR distributed on 8/4/22. • CEQA Findings of Facts has been prepared.
• Project EIR found that there are no potentially significant impacts that cannot be mitigated to a level of less than significant, and there are no cumulatively significant impacts that would result from the project. • A Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) has been prepared, which contains mitigation measures in the following areas: air quality, biology, geology and seismicity, hazards and hazardous materials, noise, traffic and circulation, and tribal cultural resources. • Remediation Action Plan (RAP) for site cleanup is a required mitigation measure. 16 Site History and Remediation
• 1923–1988: Site was used for treatment of oil field production brines, water, and wastewater. • 2000: Remediation ordered.
• 2000–2001: Buildings, above-ground storage tanks, and other structures cleaned, demolished, and disposed of off-site.
• 2002: Site remediation begins per workplans approved by regulatory agencies, including boring, soil sampling, monitoring wells, and soil remediation through a bioremediation filtration process. Other ongoing activities include groundwater monitoring for hydrocarbon plume and arsenic presence in the groundwater.
• 2012–2014: Vapor extraction (VES) system installed to remove volatile and some semi-volatile contaminants (VOCs and SVOCs) from the soil by installing vapor extraction wells underground to capture VOCs
• 2015–2018: Additional VES wells installed.
• Present: Revised RAP approved by Los Angeles Regional Water Quality Control Board (LARWQCB). o Remediation must be completed prior to any residential use of the site. Approval and oversight is the responsibility of LARWQCB.
o RAP is included in Project EIR. RAP will be administered by LARWQCB, or Department of Toxic Substance Control (DTSC) if specified.
17 Public Comments
Public Comments focused on:
• Need for park space in west Long Beach
• Access to LA River
• Traffic and parking
• Site contamination/remediation
• Proximity to freeways
• Development standards and building height
• River master plans
18 Staff Responses to Public Comments
• Written response to comments received prior to Planning Commission, • Written response to verbal comments received at Planning Commission; and,
• Written response to written comments received at Planning Commission.
19 Park Use and River Master Plans
City Efforts and Decisions on Site Acquisition
• 2000–2004 City effort to acquire the site failed due to budget constraints, need for site remediation, private ownership of the site, and lack of a willing seller. • A 2016 funding evaluation provided to the City Council showed that acquisition of the property could range between $17-$22 million dollars and cleanup of the site an additional $10 million dollars. These dollar amounts do not include any proposed improvements. • The site was again dismissed from consideration in the City’s 2021 Park Acquisition Feasibility Report, which was provided to the City Council.
River Plans
• Five different plans for the LA River identify this site as a park opportunity site. • These plans are advisory and aspirational in nature, but not regulatory. • These plans do not render the project inconsistent with the City’s General Plan. 20 Recommendation
Adopt a Resolution certifying the River Park Residential Project Environmental Impact Report (EIR-07-20, SCH#2021020492);
Declare the Ordinance approving a Zone Change (ZCHG20-002) from Commercial Storage (CS), Commercial Storage with Horse Overlay (CS (H)), and Single-Family Residential, Standard Lot (R-1-N) to Residential, Planned Unit Development (RP- 15) and Residential, Planned Unit Development with Horse Overlay (RP-15 (H)), read the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading;
Declare the Ordinance approving a Development Agreement (DA20-001) between the City and The River Park Project Owner, LLC, read the first time and laid over to the next regular meeting of the City Council for final reading; 21 Recommendation (cont.)
Approve Site Plan Review (SPR20-007) for construction of a new residential Planned Unit Development of 226 dwelling units consisting of 74 two-story detached single-family homes on small condominium lots, 99 two-story row townhouses, and 53 three-story carriage townhouses, located on 15.53 acres of a 20.4-acre development site, with a park to be developed on the remaining 4.81 acres of the property; Approve Vesting Tentative Tract Map No. 82712 (VTTM20-002) to create one master ground lot and 226 airspace lots, on a 20.4-acre development site; and, Adopt a General Plan Conformity Certification (GPC21-003) for the vacation of 1) Baker Street between Golden Avenue and the western edge of the project site, and 2) portions of unused right-of-way on Wardlow Road adjacent to the project site. (District 7) 22 Thank you
23 23
Christopher Koontz, AICP
Director
Development Services Department
[email protected]