City Council Agenda Report
TO: Mayor McCord and Members of the City Council
FROM: Ken Irwin, City Manager
BY: Joel Andrews, City Planner
MEETING DATE: May 17, 2022
ITEM NO: 8.1
SUBJECT: Approve Resolution No. 2022-23, Approving Planned Development Overlay #21-01 and Tentative Parcel Map #22-01, which would allow Light Industrial Uses in the southern portion of the Sperry Commercial Project on APN 021-093-008, a 20.25 acre lot located approximately 1,500 feet south of Sperry Avenue, between the California Aqueduct and the Delta Mendota Canal. The site is currently zoned for General Commercial land uses. The overlay would allow West Patterson Light Industrial zoning land uses. A parcel is also proposed for the same lot that would divide the property into four parcels of 10.05, 6.9, 2.1, and 0.63 acres in size, with the remainder proposed for street circulation. The 2.1 acre parcel would be provided for a storm drain basin.
RECOMMENDATION
Motion to Approve Resolution No. 2022-23, Approving Planned Development Overlay #21-01 and Tentative Parcel Map #22-01, which would allow Light Industrial Uses in the southern portion of the Sperry Commercial Project on APN 021-093-008, a 20.25 acre lot located approximately 1,500 feet south of Sperry Avenue, between the California Aqueduct and the Delta Mendota Canal. The site is currently zoned for General Commercial land uses. The overlay would allow West Patterson Light Industrial zoning land uses. A parcel is also proposed for the same lot that would divide the property into four parcels of 10.05, 6.9, 2.1, and 0.63 acres in size, with the remainder proposed for street circulation. The 2.1 acre parcel would be provided for a storm drain basin.
BACKGROUND
The project site is located between the Delta Mendota Canal and the California Aqueduct, approximately 1,500 feet south of Sperry Avenue (see Figure 1).
The West Patterson Business Park Master Development Plan, which included this area was approved in 2003 and the lot was annexed to the City in 2004. The plan provided for a range of industrial uses as well as areas allocated for commercial development. Under that plan, the area to the north of this lot was designated for Highway Service Commercial uses and the subject lot was designated for West Patterson Light Industrial uses.
In 2010, the General Plan was updated and both lots were changed to a General Commercial designation. In 2019, the Planning Commission approved a parcel map to divide the northern section of the lot from the southern section. This parcel map included the southern extension of Rogers Road through that area. Subsequent approvals for the northern area include the Patterson Travel Center (Love’s), Grocery Outlet, and Dutch Bros. The southern portion of the lot (the subject property) was reserved as a remainder.
ANALYSIS
Planned Development
Planned Developments are an overlay over the existing zoning that allow flexibility in development. This flexibility could take any number of forms of departure from the typical zoning requirements, including allowing different uses and/or development criteria. For the current proposal, the applicant is requesting an overlay that would allow the land uses outlined in the West Patterson Light Industrial zoning designation, in addition to the currently allowed uses listed in the General Commercial Zone.
The primary reason for consideration of this proposal is the types of uses allowed in the General Commercial zone and the limitations of the subject site. Generally, businesses and land uses pursuing the development in the General Commercial Zone are driven by the number of vehicle trips passing by a given location during the day. Many retailers and restaurants have specific criteria for the number of vehicle trips that must pass by a given location before they will consider placing a store there. As can be seen in the aerial view, the project site is located quite a distance from the nearest major roadway and the Rogers Road extension would be a dead end. To generate business in this area, the land uses would need to be a destination, rather than a pass by trip. While not all the uses outlined in the General Commercial zone have these types of vehicle trip requirements, the arrangement of the site significantly limits the potential uses. As noted, the proposal would allow West Patterson Light Industrial uses in addition to the General Commercial land uses.
The submitted map for the Planned Development includes a layout for a potential truck terminal on one of the lots. That use is not under review as part of this application. Should an application for that use be submitted at a later date, it would be subject to review and approval.
Parcel Map
A tentative parcel map application has been submitted that would divide the subject property into four parcels of 10.05, 6.9, 2.1, and 0.63 acres in size, with the remainder proposed for street circulation. The 2.1 acre parcel would be provided for a storm drain basin.
As proposed, the southern extension of Rogers Road would terminate in a cul-de-sac near the northern edge of the property. This cul-de-sac would provide access to all of the proposed lots (with the exception of the storm basin lot, which would be accessible through an easement).
This layout presents two potential concerns.
First, as currently laid out, the extension of Rogers Road includes one access point for most of its length. The closest secondary access point is a driveway for the Grocery Outlet project, approximately 500 feet south of Sperry. This would leave over 1,000 feet of roadway with a single point of ingress/egress. If some issue should occur in that stretch, it would significantly limit the ability of emergency services to get into the area and for people to get out. When combined with the potential for some of the land uses included in the West Patterson Light Industrial, which are more likely to include hazardous materials, the risks associated with this issue increase. City staff and the applicants have discussed this issue and a condition of approval has been included requiring a secondary access route be provided in the event of an emergency on the final map.
Second, a cul-de-sac at this location would substantially impede future development potential of the lot to the south. Areas to the south are similarly bounded by the Delta Mendota Canal and the California Aqueduct. This lot is not included in the City’s General Plan, so is not contemplated for development, however, cutting off that potential seems shortsighted. Longterm, providing space for right-of-way to continue to the south would keep the possible connection open and provides the potential for a more permanent secondary access point in the future. City staff and the applicants have also discussed this issue and a condition of approval has been included requiring the final map to include an easement for the potential event of future development to the south.