ORDINANCE NO. 1795
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE, CALIFORNIA, CERTIFYING ADDENDUM NO. 6 TO THE FINAL ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT FOR THE MARBLEHEAD COASTAL SPECIFIC PLAN (SCH NO. 1995091037) PURSUANT TO THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT AND APPROVING ZONING AMENDMENT ZA25-362 TO AMEND SECTION 502(V)(D) OF THE MARBLEHEAD COASTAL SPECIFIC PLAN TO ALLOW A HOTEL WITH THE SAME HEIGHT EXCEPTION GRANTED TO THE THEATER, FOR A MAXIMUM BUILDING HEIGHT OF 55 FEET TO THE PLATE LINE AND 62 FEET TO THE TOP OF THE ROOF OR HIGHEST PROJECTION WHEREAS, on June 23, 1998, the City Council certified the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) for the Marblehead Coastal Specific Plan (MCSP) (State Clearing House (SCH) No. 1995091037); and WHEREAS, on August 5, 1998, the City Council approved General Plan Amendment 95-01, Specific Plan 95-02, Tentative Tract Map (TTM) 8817, Site Plan Permit (SPP) 97-16, and a Development Agreement; and WHEREAS, on July 7, 1999, the City Council approved Site Plan Permit 99-16, Conditional Use Permit 99-17, and Sign Exception Permit 99-18, revising the commercial portion of the project to consist of 700,140 gross square feet of commercial uses, including 443,860 SF of specialty retail, 176,232 SF of entertainment, and 80,048 SF of general retail; and WHEREAS, on April 9, 2003, the California Coastal Commission (CCC) conditionally approved the Marblehead Coastal project, while acknowledging that most, but not all, of the property lies within the Coastal Zone. Land outside of the Coastal Zone, including the subject site (Building 15), does not fall under CCC jurisdiction. The plan approved by the CCC incorporated conditions that preserved additional environmentally sensitive habitat areas, set development back from preserved areas, required substantial restoration and enhancement of degraded open space, reduced the number of residential lots from 424 to 313, and approved 141,500 square feet of commercial space within the Coastal Zone; and WHEREAS, on September 16, 2003, the City Council approved an Amendment to TTM 8817 to reconcile differences between the CCC approval and the City’s prior approval; and WHEREAS, on July 20, 2004, the City Council adopted Resolution 04-61, which certified Addendum No. 5 to FEIR 95-01 and approved an amendment to commercial Site Plan Permit 99-16, including the addition of a hotel and conference center; and WHEREAS, on June 25, 2025, the City Council adopted Resolution 25-085, which, among other things, directed staff to initiate an amendment to the Marblehead Coastal Specific Plan and carry out required environmental review to establish an additional height exception for the hotel building on the Outlets property consistent with height allowances for the other landmark structures, the theater building, clock tower, and the parking structure. Resolution 25-085 further directed that the proposed amendment bypass the Planning Commission review process and be brought directly to the City Council for consideration and action; and WHEREAS, this Ordinance (Ordinance) amends Section 502 (V)(D) within the Marblehead Coastal Specific Plan (MCSP) to effectuate the Project and the Council’s directives on the same; and WHEREAS, the City of San Clemente has prepared Addendum No. 6 to the certified MCSP FEIR to evaluate the proposed modification to MCSP Section 502(V)(D) through Zoning Amendment ZA25-362, which would designate the hotel as eligible for the same maximum height exception currently provided for the theater, clock tower, and parking structure; and WHEREAS, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15164, the City as Lead Agency has determined that the proposed modification would not result in new significant environmental effects or substantially more severe impacts than those previously analyzed in the certified FEIR, and no new information has been disclosed indicating the potential for new or more severe impacts; and WHEREAS, the City has further determined that the Addendum demonstrates consistency with the Centennial General Plan, including policies that encourage visitor-serving lodging near freeway interchanges, preserve public view corridors, and ensure compatibility with community character.
NOW, THEREFORE, the City Council of the City of San Clemente does hereby find, determine and resolve as follows:
SECTION 1. Incorporation of Recitals. The City Council hereby finds that all of the facts in the Recitals are true and correct and are incorporated and adopted as findings of the City Council as fully set forth in this Ordinance.
SECTION 2. CEQA Findings. The City Council hereby finds, based on substantial evidence in the record as a whole, that:
As demonstrated in the analysis of Addendum No. 6 to the Final Environmental Impact Report for the Marblehead Coastal Specific Plan (SCH No. 1995091037), the proposed modification would not result in new significant environmental effects.
The proposed modification would not substantially increase the severity of previously identified significant effects.
No new information, which was not known and could not have been known at the time the Final Environmental Impact Report was certified as complete, has become available that shows the potential for any new or more severe impacts than those already analyzed in the Final Environmental Impact Report.
No new mitigation measures or alternatives are required.
An Addendum is the appropriate environmental document under CEQA Guidelines Section 15164.
SECTION 3. Certification of Addendum No. 6. The City Council hereby certifies Addendum No. 6 to the Marblehead Coastal Specific Plan Final EIR (SCH No. 1995091037).
SECTION 4. Based on the findings in the addendum and in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15164, no subsequent or supplemental Environmental Impact Report or Mitigated Negative Declaration is required for the proposed modifications.
SECTION 5. Specific Plan Amendment Findings. With respect to ZA 25-362, the City Council finds the following with respect to the amendment to the MCSP in accordance with the required findings enumerated within SCMC 17.16.030(G):
The proposed specific plan or specific plan amendment is consistent with the goals, objectives, policies, and programs of the General Plan, and is necessary and desirable to implement the provisions of the General Plan, in that:
The General Plan’s Land Use Element and Urban Design Element identify public views as resources of community importance, and Policy UD-2.05 and Policy UD-5.14 require new construction and building design to preserve designated public view corridors. The proposed hotel height exception does not alter public view corridors from West Avenida Vista Hermosa, Avenida Pico, Camino Capistrano, or the El Camino Real Bluff trail, which remain the focus of the MCSP’s designated vista points. While some private views from inland neighborhoods may experience obstruction, the Final EIR’s aesthetics analysis prioritized public views, which remains consistent with City policies to preserve public view corridors.
The proposed height exception would remain consistent with the City’s scenic and visual quality objectives for quality urban design and aesthetic resource preservation, as described in the General Plan’s Land Use Element and Urban Design Element, and the modification would not alter a public view corridor.
The proposed modification would also remain consistent with the goals and policies of the General Plan’s Mobility and Complete Streets Element requiring new development to maintain adequate circulation and multimodal access (e.g., Policy M-1.01, M-1.19, M-1.25).
Development of an approved hotel utilizing the height exception would remain subject to the City’s standard noise control ordinances (i.e., San Clemente Municipal Code Chapter 8.48), as well as General Plan Safety Element policies to control ambient and stationary noise conditions, including entertainment-related noise on residential and other sensitive uses (i.e., Policy S-4.01 and Policy S-4.08) The uses proposed in the specific plan or specific plan amendment are compatible with adjacent uses and properties, in that:
No changes of use are proposed.
Hotels are an existing conditionally permitted use within the MCSP.
The proposed specific plan or specific plan amendment will not adversely affect the public health, safety and welfare, in that:
Modification of MCSP Section 502 (V)(D) to allow the hotel (Approved Site Plan Building 15) to be permitted with an exception to the maximum building height, similar to the theater, would not result in any new or more severe significant Land Use impacts not previously addressed in the Final EIR.
The proposed modification would stay consistent with the purpose and intended use of the Regional Commercial designation. The modification would not conflict with any of the goals and objectives of the MCSP. The additional proposed height for the hotel would be the same as the current allowable exception for a theater and clocktower. This additional exception would support the City’s intent of having a theater and hotel as the landmark features of the MCSP’s regional commercial center.
Construction of the approved hotel under the proposed modification would continue to be subject to the City’s updated policies intended to minimize noise exposure. The project would not create any new significant noise impacts and would not increase the severity of previously identified impacts presented in the Final EIR.
The height exception for the hotel structure would not create any significant new aesthetic resource impacts or significant changes to the impact conclusions presented in the Final EIR. Impacts to viewsheds from the height exception would be of equivalent magnitude to those identified in the Final EIR.
The proposed specific plan amendment will not create internal inconsistencies within the specific plan, in that:
Only MCSP Section 502 (V)(D) is being amended, and there are no further references to MCSP Regional Commercial development standards that would conflict with this Section.
SECTION 6. Approval of Zoning Amendment ZA25-362. The City Council hereby approves Zoning Amendment ZA25-362 to amend MCSP Section 502(V)(D) to read as follows (new text bolded and underlined):
“D. Maximum Height – The maximum height to the top of the roof or highest projection shall be 45 feet. The maximum average height to the plate line of a building shall be 37 feet. Exceptions to this maximum building height are permitted for a hotel [Approved Site Plan defines as Building 15], theater [Approved Site Plan defines as Building 22], and parking structure in the entertainment portion of the regional commercial center. The maximum average height to the plate line of a parking structure shall be 40 feet and to the plate line of a hotel and theater shall be 55 feet. The maximum height to the highest projection of an architectural feature for a hotel, theater or clock tower is 62 feet.” SECTION 7. If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase of this Ordinance, or any part thereof, is for any reason held to be invalid, such decision shall not offset the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance or any part thereof. The City Council hereby declares that it would have passed each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause, or phrase thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses, or phrases be declared invalid.
SECTION 8. This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days from the date of its passage. The City Clerk shall certify to the passage of this ordinance and cause the same to be published as required by law, and the same shall take effect as provided by law.
APPROVED AND ADOPTED this _____ day of ____________________, _______.
ATTEST:
___________________________ __________________________
City Clerk of the City of Steve Knoblock, Mayor of the
San Clemente, California City of San Clemente, California STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) §
CITY OF SAN CLEMENTE )
I, LAURA CAMPAGNOLO, City Clerk of the City of San Clemente, California, hereby certify that Ordinance No. 1795 having been regularly introduced at the meeting of _______________________, was again introduced, the reading in full thereof unanimously waived, and duly passed and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council held on the _____day of _____________, _______, and said ordinance was adopted by the following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the official seal of the City of San Clemente, California, this _____ day of _________________, ________. __________________________
CITY CLERK of the City of
San Clemente, California
Approved as to form:
___________________________
Elizabeth A. Mitchell, City Attorney
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Ordinance No. 1795 Page 2
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