CITY OF PACIFICA
COUNCIL AGENDA SUMMARY REPORT
8/31/2022
1 SUBJECT:
Consideration of Adoption of the Sharp Park Specific Plan.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Move to adopt the attached Resolution to:
A. Find approval of the Sharp Park Specific Plan to be substantially consistent with the plan evaluated in the General Plan Update and Sharp Park Specific Plan Final Environmental Impact Report, State Clearinghouse No. 2012022046, certified by the City Council on July 11, 2022, for purposes of complying with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and
B. Approve the Sharp Park Specific Plan as recommended by the Planning Commission; and
C. Incorporate all maps and testimony into the record by reference.
STAFF CONTACT:
Christian Murdock, AICP, Acting Planning Director
(650) 738-7341
[email protected]
BACKGROUND/DISCUSSION:
The City initiated the creation of a Sharp Park Specific Plan (SPSP) as a City Council priority project in 2019. The process started with a community engagement process including five community meetings across the City attended by more than 250 community members in Summer 2019. These community meetings and other community engagement on the SPSP were combined with those for the General Plan update and Local Coastal Land Use Plan (LCLUP) update under the umbrella of an effort branded as Plan Pacifica. Community engagement unique to the SPSP included:
• Stakeholder interviews with 17 representatives of residents, community organizations, business owners, and developers in fall 2019 • Online community survey with over 100 responses in fall 2019 • Planning Commission presentation of SPSP Existing Conditions Report in November 2019
• Formation of a City Council ad hoc subcommittee on SPSP outreach in November 2019
• SPSP community meeting at Little Brown Church in January 2020 • Online community survey with over 350 responses in spring 2020 • SPSP virtual “walk” along Palmetto Avenue in November 2020 • SPSP policy direction at City Council in September and November 2020 Following the extensive community outreach for Plan Pacifica generally and the SPSP itself, staff focused on drafting a complete SPSP document and performing environmental review throughout 2021. Environmental review of the SPSP was combined in a single environmental impact report (EIR) with the General Plan update. The draft EIR and draft SPSP were released for public review and comment in January 2022.
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Since the conclusion of the public review and comment period in March 2022, the City Council certified the EIR evaluating the General Plan update and SPSP and approved the General Plan update on July 11, 2022. The Planning Commission has also held public hearings to consider the SPSP. Additional background materials from the Planning Commission’s public hearings on the SPSP are available on the City’s meeting portal at the following links: June 6, 2022 | June 11, 2022 | June 20, 2022 | June 23, 2022 | July 18, 2022 | August 1, 2022 | August 15, 2022. Videos of the Planning Commission’s substantive hearings on the SPSP can be viewed on Pacific Coast TV’s YouTube channel: June 20, 2022 | June 23, 2022 | July 18, 2022 | August 1, 2022 | August 15, 2022.
The Planning Commission adopted Resolution No. 2022-017 recommending City Council approval of the SPSP as modified by the Planning Commission on August 15, 2022. Key issues discussed by the Planning Commission during its consideration of the SPSP are discussed further, below.
A. Purpose and Contents of Sharp Park Specific Plan
The City Council identified preparation of the SPSP as a priority to encourage revitalization of the West Sharp Park neighborhood. The desire for revitalization recognized the existing assets of the neighborhood, including but not limited to the Pacifica Pier, Beach Boulevard Promenade, coastal trail linkage to Mori Point, proximity to the historic Sharp Park Golf Course, a core of dedicated small businesses, civic amenities such as the Sharp Park Library, Civic Center, and Council Chambers, walkability based on gentle topography and grid street pattern, existing transit service in the area, and convenient vehicular access from Highway 1. Yet, the City lacked a plan to cohesively organize and emphasize these existing neighborhood strengths.
To support City Council vision for revitalization, the SPSP contains the following chapters with core content which are titled to express the key objectives of each:
• Vibrant Sharp Park: Land Use
• Accessible Sharp Park: Mobility and Parking
• Attractive Sharp Park: Urban Design and Public Realm
• Livable Sharp Park: Public Facilities and Infrastructure The SPSP also includes chapters on the past, present, and future to recognize the important history of the West Sharp Park neighborhood.
B. Planning Commission Review
The Planning Commission, following five substantive public hearings and multiple public comment opportunities, recommended City Council approval of the SPSP as provided in Attachment B. The August 2022 City Council Review Draft of the SPSP incorporates multiple revisions directed by the Planning Commission to the previously released May 2022 Public Review Draft. The Planning Commission’s deliberations focused on the key areas summarized below:
1. Specific Policies for Future Development of the Eureka Square Shopping Center The SPSP recognizes the Eureka Square Shopping Center as a key opportunity site for potential future redevelopment. The multi-acre size of the site is uncommon within the SPSP area which presents the potential for significant residential development as part of a mixed-use project based on the site’s Mixed Use Center land use designation.
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The Planning Commission’s consideration of the site focused on ensuring that at least the same amount of commercial area that is present currently on the site would be included in a future project. It also tied additional residential development density and height increases to the provision of additional commercial area. The Planning Commission also limited buildings containing residential uses to no more than half the project site. Lastly, the Planning Commission provided an exception to the provision of additional commercial floor area to obtain additional residential density and height for 100 percent affordable housing projects.
These provisions are detailed in Policy 3-I-24 and elsewhere in the SPSP. Additional provisions specific to Eureka Square can be found in Policies 3-I-21 through 3-I-25.
2. Building Height and Density on Palmetto Avenue North of San Jose Avenue Prior City Council direction on the SPSP included limiting building heights on Palmetto Avenue north of San Jose Avenue to 45 feet, in contrast to the maximum allowable building heights of 55 feet on Palmetto Avenue south of San Jose Avenue. The intent of the reduced building heights north of San Jose Avenue was to ensure compatibility of scale with other development in the area.
More recent community feedback has reinforced the importance of affordable housing in Pacifica. With this in mind, the Planning Commission considered whether additional building height and density north of San Jose Avenue should be allowable as an incentive to provide affordable housing units.
The Planning Commission revised the provisions of Policy 3-I-39 to set a baseline building height of 45 feet and density of 30-35 dwelling units per acre. Then provided an allowance for building heights up to 55 feet, density up to 50 dwelling units per acre, and residential uses on the ground floor for projects that fall below the unit count of the City’s existing below-market rate inclusionary zoning ordinance (currently eight dwelling units) but that nevertheless provide one low-income and one moderate-income affordable housing unit. Projects that invoke State Density Bonus Law would not be eligible for these modifications.
3. Specific Policies to Address Preservation and Replacement of Three Existing Buildings at Palmetto Avenue and San Jose Avenue
The Planning Commission received public testimony about the community importance of three existing buildings at the northwest corner of Palmetto Avenue and San Jose Avenue, known either as 1914, 1922, and 1926 Palmetto or as 1922, 1926, and 1932 Palmetto Avenue. See the figure, below.
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Based on this public testimony, the Planning Commission considered various options to preserve the character of these buildings including requiring preservation of the buildings, requiring preservation of the building facades only, or describing the exemplary architectural features of these buildings that could inform design guidelines for other development along Palmetto Avenue.
The Planning Commission ultimately created Policies 5-I-38 and 5-I-39 to require the incorporation of elements of historic-age buildings, including but not limited to the three subject buildings, into new projects to impart heritage and character where feasible, and where not in conflict with promoting Sharp Park development and housing affordability.
The policies also require the preservation of the existing building facades as part of any future project on the site unless the Planning Commission grants an exception based on the incorporation of sufficient representative architectural elements from the buildings into the new project, such as siding materials, window and door treatments, proportion of façade area as glazing, roofline, and other similar desirable architectural elements.
4. Off-street Parking
a. Balancing Off-street Parking Requirements with Safe and Walkable Building Frontages
The Planning Commission considered how best to balance provisions in the SPSP that require at least 70 percent of property frontage meets the “build to” line created by the maximum front setback of 5 feet along Palmetto Avenue, with other provisions in the SPSP that require off-street parking on individual project sites.
Staff highlighted that the existing lot widths of many sites on Palmetto Avenue would not feasibly allow compliance with the 70 percent requirement while also allowing for construction of code-compliant driveways.
The Planning Commission settled on a preferred approach, contained in the revised Policy 3-I-12, to prioritize payment of in-lieu parking fees adopted by the City Council for project sites that cannot accommodate off-street parking due to site constraints.
b. Parking Standards and Exception Processes
The Planning Commission revised Table 4-4 to establish thresholds for approval of deviations from certain off-street parking requirements either by the Planning Pacifica City Council 5
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Commission or the Planning Director. In particular, the Planning Commission considered how off-street parking requirements and costly or time-consuming parking requirements could affect very small businesses, including those with less than 2,000 square feet in commercial floor area.
5. Planned Bikeways within the Sharp Park Neighborhood
The Planning Commission extensively discussed the sufficiency of proposed bikeway improvements described in Chapter 4 of the SPSP. The discussion settled on two notable revisions to the SPSP, summarized below:
a. Class I bikeway along Beach Boulevard as part of future Beach Boulevard Infrastructure Resiliency Project (BBIRP) – The Planning Commission revised Table 4-2 to “support study of a Class I shared use path as part of the Beach Boulevard Infrastructure Resiliency Project Promenade improvements.” b. Additional bikeway improvements on San Jose Avenue and Santa Rose Avenue – The Planning Commission revised Figure 4-4 and Table 4-3 to require east-west bikeway improvements on Santa Rosa Avenue and San Jose Avenue. These improvements were focused on providing suitable bicycle circulation with access to the San Jose Avenue overcrossing that provides a connection across Highway 1 in the middle of the Sharp Park neighborhood.
C. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Review
As noted above, the City Council certified the General Plan Update and Sharp Park Specific Plan Environmental Impact Report, State Clearinghouse No. 2012022046, on July 11, 2022.
This final EIR evaluated potential environmental impacts for the SPSP as well as the General Plan update. Adoption of the SPSP as currently drafted would be consistent with the certified EIR. Therefore, no further environmental review would be required pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
D. Public Comments
All written public comments received on the SPSP prior to agenda packet publication are included in Attachment C.
E. Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends adoption of the attached Resolution which would approve the SPSP as recommended by the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission’s consideration of the SPSP was extensive and made numerous revisions and improvements to the document.
However, should the City Council desire to make further revisions to the SPSP, it should consider whether any recommended changes to the SPSP would require further environmental review or would require consideration for consistency with either the GPU adopted by City Council on July 11, 2022, or the Local Coastal Land Use Plan (LCLUP) approved by City Council in February 2020. Staff can assist the Council with consideration of these issues once specific revisions have been identified.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION:
1) Amend components of the SPSP as recommended by the Planning Commission. 2) Choose not to adopt the SPSP.
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RELATION TO CITY COUNCIL GOALS AND WORK PLAN:
Because initiation of the SPSP occurred in a prior fiscal year, adoption of the SPSP would be consistent with the following Fiscal Year 2021-2022 Council Goals and Work Plan initiatives:
• Goal: “Fiscal Sustainability” includes investing in economic development to increase revenues, funding a reserve/emergency fund, and being well prepared for grant opportunities.
• Goal: “An Engaged Community” includes taking actions to restore trust in city government, expanding communication, and building community. • Goal: “Stewardship of City Infrastructure” includes repairing/replacing outdated city facilities such as city hall, the libraries, fire stations, etc., improving streets, and responding to impacts of sea level rise.
• Goal: “A Healthy and Compassionate Community” includes addressing affordable housing and mental health services, investigating strategies related to homelessness, and supporting youth services.
• Goal: “Environmental Sustainability” includes mapping out parks and open space, preserving hillsides and beaches, paying attention to flora and fauna needs, environmental health, and climate adaptation.
• Goal: “Maintaining a Safe Community” includes supporting our first responders (police, fire, public works), responding to storm emergencies, protecting people, property, businesses, and our infrastructure (streets, sidewalks, storm and waste water), and engaging in emergency preparedness activities
• Priority No. 10: Complete a Sharp Park Specific Plan.
Adoption of the SPSP would also support the following Fiscal Year 2022-2023 Council Goals and Work Plan initiatives:
• Goal: “Fiscal Sustainability” includes investing in economic development to increase revenues, funding a reserve/emergency fund, and being well prepared for grant opportunities.
• Goal: “An Engaged Community” includes creating opportunities to expand public participation, increase communication, and build community post-COVID. • Goal: “Stewardship of City Infrastructure” includes repairing/replacing outdated city facilities, improving streets, stormwater and wastewater infrastructure and responding to impacts of sea level rise and other effects of climate change. • Goal: “A Healthy and Compassionate Community” includes addressing affordable housing and mental health services, exploring and implementing strategies that relate to homelessness, and supporting community services for all ages. • Goal: “Environmental Sustainability” includes stewardship of parks, urban forests and open space, preserving hillsides and beaches, and adaptation to climate change. • Goal: “Maintaining a Safe Community” includes supporting our first responders (police, fire, public works), responding to emergencies, protecting people, property, and businesses, and engaging in emergency preparedness community outreach, public education and prevention activities.
• Priority No. 1. Continue the Beach Boulevard Infrastructure Resiliency Project. • Priority No. 2. Continue efforts related to a New Sharp Park Library & Renovated Sanchez Library.
• Priority No. 4. Complete the Vision 2025 & Beyond strategic financial planning process to articulate a long-term and financially sustainable vision for Pacifica. • Priority No. 7. Complete the Civic Center facility health and safety rehabilitation and renovation project.
• Priority No. 10. Prepare an update to the Housing Element of the General Plan.
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• Priority No. 12. Continue to evaluate and implement Economic Development Initiatives focused on Business Assistance.
FISCAL IMPACT:
No direct fiscal impact.
ORIGINATED BY:
Planning Department
ATTACHMENT LIST:
Draft Resolution Approving Sharp Park Specific Plan (DOCX) Attachment B - Sharp Park Specific Plan (August 2022 Draft) (PDF) Attachment C - Public comments received through August 25, 2022 (PDF)