FOR THE COUNCIL MEETING OF JANUARY 16, 2024
COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
TO: City Council
FROM: Interim City Manager Alex Posada
BY: Interim Assistant City Manager / Director of Community Development Chuen Wu
SUBJECT: Adoption of a Resolution to Amend the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan; Introduction of an Ordinance to Amend the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan; Adoption of a Resolution Approving Planned Development Permit 2022-0017
Description:
The City Council will consider approving: 1) an Amendment to the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan (SPZ2022 -0001) to amend the uses of the Planned Development/Light Industrial/Public Facilities - Airport (PD/LI/PF-A) district, and to modify the Foxenwood Lane roadway design; and 2) a Pl anned Development Permit (PD2022- 0017) for a 101,450 -square-foot Mini -Warehouse Facility on a five-acre site within a PD/M-1/PF-A (Planned Development/Light Manufacturing/Public Facilities) Zone District of the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan.
Environmental Notice: The Project was adequately covered in a previously adopted Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) certified for the approved 2021 Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan amendment pursuant to California Environmental Quality Act State Guidelines Section 15162.
RECOMMENDATIONS:
1. Adopt a Resolution for General Plan consistency to amend the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan to add “Heavy Retail Business” as a permitted land use in the Planned Devel opment/Light Industrial/Public Facilities - Airport (PD/LI/PF-A) zone district, and to modify the Foxenwood Lane roadway design; and
2. Introduce an Ordinance for zoning consistency to amend the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan to add “Heavy Re tail Business” as a permitted land use in the Planned Development/Light Industrial/Public Facilities -Airport (PD/LI/PF-A) zone district, and to modify the Foxenwood Lane Roadway design; and
3. Adopt a resolution approving a Planned Development Permit (PD2022-0017) for a 101,450-square-foot Mini-Warehouse Facility on a five acre site within a PD/M - 1/PF-A (Planned Development/Light Manufacturing/Public Facilities) Zone District of the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan. 2 BACKGROUND:
The project site is located within the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan area which includes the south and southeast areas of the Airport District lands bounded on the north by Skyway Drive with Orcutt Expressway/Highway 135 as the eastern bounda ry.
Union Valley Parkway is to the south, with the western boundary approximately ½ mile to the west of Blosser Road (Attachment A – Vicinity Map).
The Specific Plan proposes approximately 740-acres of the total 2,598-acre airport district lands for business park development consisting of light industrial, research, manufacturing, and commercial land uses with nearly 70 percent of the planning area to be reserved in passive and active open space . The Specific Plan also includes its own Airport-oriented zoning designations, each with development standards and lists of permitted, prohibited, and conditional uses unique from those found in Santa Maria Municipal Code Title 12 (Zoning Code).
In 2021, the City Council approved an amendment to a 28-acre area of the Specific Plan located east of Union Valley Parkway and north of Highway 135. This amendment created new zoning categories, including the Planned Development/Light Industrial/Public Facilities - Airport (PD/M-1/PF-A) zone, which was exclusively applied to an 8.4-acre area on the southern portion of the parcel west of Foxenwood Lane. This 8.4 acre-area is the subject site for this current proposed Specific Plan Amendment and Planned Development Permit application . The intent of this zone is to provide opportunities to develop compatible light indust rial and community facili ty uses identified as either permitted or conditional uses within this zone.
Planning Commission:
The Planning Commission r eceived a presentation on this project at the Study Session held on October 19, 2023. At their December 6, 2023, public hearing, t he Planning Commission unanimously recommended the Council by resolution, approve the proposed Specific Plan Amendment and Planned Development Permit applications.
DISCUSSION:
Specific Plan Additional Land Use – Heavy Retail Business To allow for additional permitted types of retail uses, the applicant is requesting to add “Heavy Retail Business” as a permitted use in the 8.4-acre area of the Specific Plan zoned PD/M-1/PF-A. The proposed definition for the Specific Plan’s Heavy Retail Business use is as follows:
The retail sale of large and/or bulk goods such as lumber, building equipment and supplies, landscape plants and materials, or other related home-improvement and garden materials and other similarly themed sundries. Ancillary uses to the primary “Heavy Ret ail Business” may include such uses as consumer level home - improvement oriented tool rental, sales, and servicing, small ‘consumer’ tractor and equipment sales, or other uses consistent with and ancillary to the main Heavy Retail 3 Business. Ancillary screened outdoor public sales yards may be incorporated for marketing of items consistent with the Heavy Retail Business.
The proposed amendment also specifies that the Specific Plan’s “Heavy Retail Business” land uses differ from other more intensive wholesale and production facility uses due to their target market being the homeowner and not the professional contractor or the trades.
The full PD/M-1/PF-A zone text with proposed modif ications shown in red underline is provided as Attachment B. This type of use would be comparable in intensity to many of the permitted uses in the current text of the Specific Plan, such as ‘Equipment rental and/or service’, or ‘Recreational vehicle and trailer sales and storage’. The use will be less intense than some of the currently permitted uses such as ‘ Warehousing and wholesale distributors’, ‘Manufacturing, processing, and packaging of pharmaceuticals and drugs ’, ‘Printing, publishing, and allied industries’, or ‘ water and wastewater treatment plants, substations and other public service facilities of a similar nature’.
The Planned Development Permit application for the mini -warehouse facility discussed later in this report proposes to develop approximately five acres of the 8.4-acre PD/M-1/PF- A zone, and if approved, approximately three acres would remain for future uses in the zone. Those future projects would be reviewed for consistency with the Specific Plan’s PD/M-1/PF-A zone designation, and the Specific Plan’s development policies and design standards, as well as the environmental mitigations from the certified SEIR. Development of this site would also require the review and approval of grading and public improvement plans, storm water control plans, building permits, and other related City permits and approvals.
Revised Foxenwood Lane Street Section
The application also includes a request to amend the Specific Plan to replace the approved Foxenwood Lane street section between Foster Road and the Union Valley Parkway with a modified design. Section drawings of the existing industrial standard street section and proposed revised design are provided as Attachment C.
The roadway will continue to include north and south single travel l anes, on street bike lanes, and off-street multi-purpose trails. However, the current design’s 102-foot right-of- way width will be reduced to an 82-foot-wide right-of-way through modified dimensions for the various road elements.
The reduction is achiev ed by reducing the width of the travel lane s and on-street bike lanes and replacing the median with a narrower central turning lane. Behind the curb, each side of the right-of-way will have a 10-foot-wide landscaped parkway, and an 8-foot-wide Multi-use-II path. A 10-foot wide Public Utility and Street tree planting easement is located behind the path on each side of the street, outside the right of way. Future buildings are required to be set back a minimum of 30 feet from the property line, which is aligned with the back edge of the multi-use path.
The design of the new section has been extensively reviewed by Public Works Engineering staff and the Fire Department, who both support the proposed design as meeting all 4 necessary standards. The modified section is proposed to better serve future development on both sides of Foxenwood Lane, particularly the future retail and office development on the east, by including multimodal features that accommodate both vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Additionally, the narrower paved right -of way section will reduce the City’s long-term maintenance costs compared to the original street design.
Planned Development Permit
The applicant is proposing an approximately 101,450-square-foot mini-warehouse facility located on approximately five acres within the PD/M-1/PF-A zone. Twelve buildings will incorporate 704 storage units and a 1,450 square-foot office at the entry to the facility. The units will range from 25-square-feet to 360-square-feet, with the majority being 100 to 200- square-feet in size.
The facility would be accessed from Foxenwood Lane, with five prospective customer parking spaces and a ‘turn -around” provided before the front entry gate. Other than this entry area, the site will be enclosed with seven-foot-tall decorative wrought iron fencing and the perimeter buildings. The Fire Department has reviewed and supports the interior drive aisles design, which incorporates a 29.5-foot wide outer aisle to accommodate fire apparatus, allowing adequate fire access to all units.
The proposed design conforms to the Specific Plan design requirements by using overlapping building forms varying parapet heights and incorporating tower-like elements all to create visual interest on all public facing sides of t he structure by avoiding long expanses of blank uninterrupted walls.
The building exteriors will consist of architectural metal panels with galvalume metal trim, and anodized aluminum color storefront and window trim. The office and entry area will incorporate awning features and a masonry wainscot at the building base. Upper -level windows at both the entry and the tower element at the project’s southeast corner provide views of areas designed to appear as hallways and unit doors, but which are actually inaccessible faux architectural elements to add interest and articulation. The tallest building heights are 25-feet, with the lowest portions at 12-feet height.
The applicant provides more than the minimum 15 percent landscape area required by the Specific Plan. Proposed landscaping would be located at the Foxenwood Lane entrance, along the Union Valley Parkway frontage, and along the east perimeter of the facility to help reduce views of the storage buildings and serve as a buffer to the future development on the remaining 3-acres of PD/M-1/PF-A zoned property. The facility will be open 7 days a week, with office hours Monday through Saturday, 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, and Sunday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The office will include daily facility management and offer moving supplies such as boxes, moving blankets and tarps, tape, tiedowns, labels, and dollies. Gated access will be operational for clients between 6:00 am – 9:00 pm every day.
Rather than incorporate a residential caretaker unit which is discouraged on Airport property by the Federal Aviation Administration, this facility will rely on security technology for off -hour monitoring, including a security code for the gate, security sensors at 5 perimeter access points , exterior li ghting, and complete exterior video monitoring by employees in the office and a remote monitoring firm afterhours.
In addition to the five customer parking spaces required adjacent to the office, the Municipal Code requires one parking space for every t en storage cubicles, provided as loading zones dispersed throughout the complex . With 704 storage units proposed, 71 parking spaces are required. Through the Planned Development Permit, reduced parking requirements may be approved on a case -by-case basis to allow flexibility for development in order to achieve superior design and community benefit.
The applicant is requesting a reduction citing trip generation rates for mini warehouse development from the Institute of Traffic Engineer s. Based on that data and the size of this facility , as few as 11 parking spaces would be sufficient to serve the anticipated number of customers during the busiest times of day. The project proposes to provide 47 spaces (or one space for every 15 units ) for the benefit and convenience of their future customers. The Planning Commission and staff support this proposed reduction, as it is similar to reductions approved for other recent mini-warehouse projects in the City, where there have been no reports of parking problems. The Planned Development Permit is provided as Attachment D of this report, with the concept plans provided as Attachment E.
Alternative(s)
The Council may act on each of the two Specific Plan Amendment components and the Planned Development Permit independently, as neither is dependent on approval of the other.
Environmental Review
A Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) had been certified for the 2021 Specific Plan amendment, as a supplement to the Programmatic EIR (State Clearinghouse [SCH] No. 2005051172) certified by the City in June 2007 for the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan. Considering the adequacy of the previously adopted SEIR, staff has concluded that in accordance with the provisions of CEQA section 15162 the project was adequately covered in the previously adopted Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SCH# 202007005) and no further environmental review is necessary.
Fiscal Considerations
If approved, the additional land use proposed through the specific plan amen dment has the potential to lead to a bulk retail development with increased sales tax revenue for the City. The proposed street section amendment would narrow (thereby reduce) the improvements, reducing maintenance costs to the City. The Planned Development Permit approval would allow the development of the mini -warehouse facility, and upon its completion, the collection of taxes.
Impact to the Community
6 The Specific Plan Amendments and Planned Development Permit will facilitate the first development under the Santa Maria Airport Business Park Specific Plan , in a location that will serve both the southern Santa Maria and Orcutt community areas.
ATTACHMENTS
A – Vicinity Map
B – Specific Plan PD/M-1/PF-A Zone Text Amendments
C – Foxenwood Lane Street Sections
D – Planned Development Permit – PD2022-0017
E – Planned Development Permit Plan Set