MEETING DATE: June 2, 2022
APPLICATION NUMBER: ANX 21-172, GPA22-049, PRZ 21-173
PROJECT NAME: Sedan Avenue Annexation
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends the Planning Commission:
Adopt Resolution _______ recommending that the City Council approve an annexation and subsequent LAFCo application for said annexation, recommends approval of the General Plan Amendment, and recommends the City Council approve and waive the first reading of the Ordinance for the Pre-Zoning designation for the parcel located at 7189 East Sedan Avenue.
Project InFORMATION
Applicant:
2014 Quaresma Family Trust
Property Owner:
2014 Quaresma Family Trust
Project Address:
7189 E. Sedan Ave. (APN: 226-100-20)
Existing General Plan Designation:
UR-VLDR (Urban Reserve – Very Low Density Residential)
Proposed General Plan Designation:
LDR (Low Density Residential)
Existing Zoning:
N/A
Proposed Pre-Zoning:
R-1 (Low Density Residential)
Existing Use:
Existing residential home with outbuildings
Proposed Use:
No proposed change
Parcel Size
1.68 acres
Adjacent Uses:
North: Existing almond orchard/future Griffin Park Subdivision South: East Sedan Avenue
East: Existing almond orchard/ future Griffin Park subdivision West: SSJID property and existing residential property
CEQA Determination
Exempt per Section 15319, Annexations of Existing Facilities and Lots for Exempt Facilities Project Description
The proposed project consists of an Annexation, General Plan Amendment, and the Pre-Zoning of a 1.68 acre parcel of unincorporated land in San Joaquin County into the City of Manteca. This application will clean up the existing City boundary line and allow the property owner to apply for a lot line adjustment to legalize an accessory pool house structure that was built across the City/County boundary line as shown in Figure 1 below. This particular parcel was left out of the Griffin Park Annexation process at the owner’s request. With this annexation, the 1.68 acre lot will now be brought into the City so that staff can process a lot line adjustment for the property owner. Currently, the parcel line cannot be moved and lot line adjustment cannot be completed as neither the City nor the County have full jurisdiction. Consequently, annexation of the entire parcel is required so the lot line adjustment can be processed by the City. The existing home and all accessory buildings are proposed to remain.
PROJECT LOCATION
The parcel to be annexed is located at 7189 East Sedan Avenue (APN: 226-100-20) on approximately 1.68 acres, adjacent to the southern-most end of town. The site is bound by East Sedan Avenue to the south, existing almond orchards to the north and east (Griffin Park Master Plan area), and agriculture and residential uses to the west.
Figure 1: Project Location – 7189 East Sedan Avenue. Project site outlined in yellow.
ANNEXATION
The San Joaquin County Local Agency Formation Commission (LAFCo) controls the process of annexation. LAFCo is a regulatory agency with county-wide jurisdiction, established by state law (the Cortese-Knox Act) to coordinate logical and timely changes in local city boundaries, and to ensure that services are provided efficiently while agricultural lands are protected. When an applicant requests annexation into the City, it is the applicant asking the City to apply for annexation approval from LAFCo. Before the City is willing to consider applying for annexation on the applicant’s behalf, the City must ensure that the annexation can be supported by the General Plan.
General Plan Land Use Policy LU-P-9 states that the City will only consider applications for annexation that meet specific criteria below:
Are contiguous with city boundaries and provide for a logical expansion of the city; Analysis: The proposed annexation area is immediately south and west of existing City limit lines. This annexation will bring in a remnant parcel into the City, creating a cleaner and more logical corner boundary for the City’s limit line. Further, moving the existing city limit line will allow the owner to process a lot line adjustment so that an accessory structure will no longer straddle a property line and will conform to building and safety code.
Create clear and reasonable boundaries;
Analysis: As noted above, the annexation will bring the City limit line to a logical edge of the existing Griffin Park Master Plan boundary.
Ensure the provision of adequate municipal services;
Analysis: Because there is only one home to be annexed, there will be a negligible impact on existing municipal services. City services will be extended to the site through the development of the Griffin Park Master Plan area, and will be made available to this site at no cost to the City.
Reflect a long-term fiscal balance to the City and its residents, when reviewed cumulatively with other annexations; Analysis: Given the size of this annexation, the annexation will be subject to the 80/20 property tax sharing agreement the City currently has with the County. Due to the limited size of the parcel there is nominal impact on the City regardless of tax sharing split with the County.
Are consistent with State law and San Joaquin LAFCo standards; and Analysis: The proposed annexation is consistent with all State and LAFCo laws in that the annexation is following correct city procedures, it is consistent with the City’s General Plan, and the appropriate actions for annexation will be completed by the Council prior to an annexation application being made to LAFCO by the City.
Are consistent with the General Plan.
Analysis: Based on the analysis of the above five items, this annexation is consistent with Land Use Policy LU-P-9. In addition to this policy, this annexation is consistent with the overall intent of growth and clean city limit boundaries expressed throughout the General Plan.
In addition to complying with this General Plan policy, the annexation of this parcel is also consistent with the Primary Urban Service Boundary in the City’s Sphere of Influence (SOI), shown in Figure 2. The General Plan’s Primary Urban Service Boundary identifies parcels that were designated for annexation prior to the year 2013. This site has been identified as a logical addition to the City limits with the adoption of the 2003 General Plan and its inclusion into the City was expected by 2013. Given that it’s 2022, the annexation of this parcel is time-appropriate and has been anticipated since the approval of the prior General Plan.
Figure 2: General Plan Primary Urban Service Boundary
Based on the analysis of the above findings, staff believes that the Planning Commission can recommend approval of the Annexation to the City Council.
PREZONE
Unincorporated land outside the City’s limits do not have a City Zoning District designation. Rather, the unincorporated land has a San Joaquin County zoning designation. Per section 17.10.180 of the Manteca Municipal Code, unincorporated property adjoining the City, but within the Sphere of Influence, when brought before the City Council for Annexation consistent with California Government Code Section 65859, must be pre-zoned. The procedure, review, and action for pre-zoning are the same as that established for a Zoning Amendment pursuant to Section 17.10190 of the Zoning Ordinance. The proposed pre-zone for the parcel is R-1. See Figure 3 below for the existing Zoning Map:
Figure 3: Zoning Map - Sedan Avenue Annexation
In order to recommend approval of the Pre-Zoning to the City Council, the Planning Commission must make the following findings:
The proposed Zoning Amendment (text or map) is consistent with the General Plan and any applicable Specific Plan goals, policies, and implementation programs.
Analysis: The General Plan Update proposed Land Use Designation for this parcel is LDR and the General Plan Amendment is to change the land use designation to LDR. This parcel is considered a remainder parcel of the adjacent Griffin Park Master Plan, so although the lot will not meet density requirements of LDR, it is still an allowed use that meets the spirit of the underlying land use designation and the R-1 zoning district. This project is not part of a Specific Plan.
The proposed amendment would not be detrimental to the public interest, health, safety, convenience, or welfare of the City.
Analysis: The proposed pre-zoning to the R-1 designation will not be detrimental to the public interest, health, safety, convenience, or welfare of the City, in that the existing use is allowed in the R-1 district. Any future changes to the site will be required to conform to the zoning district development standards and performance standards established by the City’s Municipal Code for the R-1 zoning district.
The amendment has been reviewed in compliance with the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Analysis: This project is determined to be exempt from CEQA review, per Section 15319, Annexations of Existing Facilities and Lots for Exempt Facilities. This exemption applies to annexations to a city containing existing private structures developed to the density allowed by the current zoning or pre-zoning of either the gaining or losing government agency, whichever is more restrictive, provided, however, that the extension of utility services to the existing facilities would have a capacity to serve only the existing facilities.
This project qualifies for this exemption because it is an annexation of existing private structures, which will meet the intent of the pre-zoning district, and this site can be served by existing utilities that will be brought down to the site and made available to the property by the adjacent Griffin Park subdivision.
If a map amendment, the site is physically suitable (including absence of physical constraints, access, compatibility with adjoining land uses, and provisions of utilities) for the requested zoning designations and anticipated land uses/development.
Analysis: The site is physically suitable for this zoning district, as a single family home already exists on site. The existing use of a single-family home will remain compatible with the other rural residential property to the west, as well as to the future single-family homes that will be adjacent to the north and east as Griffin Park develops.
If a text amendment, the amendment is internally consistent with other applicable provisions of this Zoning Code.
Analysis: This project does not include a text amendment.
Based on the analysis of the above findings, staff believes that the Planning Commission can recommend approval of the Pre-zoning designation to the City Council.
ADDITIONAL ANALYSIS
In addition to the Annexation and Pre-Zoning analysis completed above, the General Plan Amendment and project as a whole is analyzed for conformance with the below documents:
Manteca General Plan
Manteca Zoning Ordinance
Manteca Climate Action Plan
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
GENERAL PLAN CONFORMANCE
The current General Plan Land Use Designation Map is below (Figure 4), showing that the project is designated as UR-VLDR. The preferred land use map for the General Plan Update has the parcel designated Low Density Residential (LDR) to match the surrounding parcels’ land use designations.
Figure 4: General Plan 2023 Land Use Designation Map. Project site outlined in red.
However, the General Plan Update is not yet complete. As such, since the applicant wished to precede the adoption of the General Plan Update, he is required to process this General Plan Amendment.
When a General Plan Amendment is requested by a property owner, the applicant has to demonstrate that there is a substantial benefit to be derived from such amendment. The City Council must find that the proposed amendment meets the letter and intent of the General Plan’s goals and policies.
The LDR land use designation requires a density range of 2.1 to 8.0 dwelling units per acre. While the existing density for the project site is slightly lower than the 2.1 dwelling units per acre, the existing single family home is compatible with the use and intent of the LDR land use designation. The larger home on the larger lot is similar to the use and lot pattern of the larger estate homes west along Sedan Avenue. Further, the LDR land use designation allows substantial flexibility in selecting dwelling unit types and parcel configurations to suit particular site conditions and housing needs. Given that this site needs to be annexed in order to process the lot line adjustment, and since this site should have been annexed with the larger Griffin Park annexation where the density of this one house on this one parcel would not have changed the overall conformance of the Plan to the LDR land use designation, the use of the site for a slightly less dense project works within the spirit of the LDR land use designation. Any future development on the property will require conformance to the low density General Plan designation.
In addition to complying with the LDR land use designations regarding density and use, the proposed project complies with the following General Plan goals and policies:
Policy LU-P-4: The City shall encourage a development pattern that is contiguous with the boundary of the City.
Analysis: This project is contiguous to the existing City boundary line, on both the north and east property lines.
Policy LU-P-5: The City shall establish and maintain a Primary Urban Service Boundary line designating lands eligible for annexation and urban development prior to the year 2013.
Analysis: As noted in the above map, the project is located in the Primary Urban Service Boundary which designated lands eligible for annexation and urban development prior to the year 2013. As this application is being processed in 2022, the overall annexation is time-appropriate.
ZONING CONFORMANCE
This project will be assigned a pre-zone of R-1. The current use of the parcel, as stated above, will meet the intent of the zone, in that single-family homes are an allowed use in the R-1 zone. The R-1 designation of this site will continue the zoning pattern of the adjacent incorporated area. The findings for a pre-zoning designation are made above and further detail the consistency of this zoning designation with the existing use on site.
CLIMATE ACTION PLAN COMPLIANCE
On October 15, 2013, the Manteca City Council approved and adopted the Air Quality Element Update and Climate Action Plan in response to the passing of Assembly Bill AB32. The intent of this plan is to reduce overall greenhouse gas emissions in both private and public sector development.
The project complies with the following Climate Action Plan strategies:
CAP Strategy: Compact Development CD-1: The City shall encourage projects consistent with the development densities allowed by the General Plan and are contiguous to existing development meet compact development criteria.
Analysis: This project meets the spirit of the LDR Land Use Designation in use and in form. Also, it is contiguous to existing residential development to the west and future residential development north and east.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This project has been determined to not be subject to the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per Section 15319, Annexations of Existing Facilities and Lots for Exempt Facilities. This exemption applies to annexations to a city containing existing private structures developed to the density allowed by the current zoning or pre-zoning of either the gaining or losing government agency, whichever is more restrictive, provided, however, that the extension of utility services to the existing facilities would have a capacity to serve only the existing facilities.
This Annexation contains an existing residential structure with associated accessory structures which will comply with its pre-zoning of the City of Manteca, and this site can be served by existing utilities when the property owner desires to connect to City services. No new development is proposed at this time.
Report prepared by: Mallorie Fenrich, Associate Planner Attachments:
Attachment 2- Planning Commission Resolution
Attachment 2a - Exhibit A – Annexation Plat Map
Attachment 2a1 - Exhibit A1 – Annexation Legal Description Attachment 2b - Exhibit B – Conditions of Approval
Attachment 3 - City Council Ordinance
Attachment 4 – City Council Resolution
Attachment 5 – PowerPoint Presentation
Reviewed by:
__________________________________________________ ____________ Lea Simvoulakis, Planning Manager Date Approved by:
_________________________________________________ ____________ Chris Erias, Development Services Director Date
ATTACHMENT 4
City of Manteca Planning Commission
AGENDA REPORT