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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSS2 - Airport Area Planning Study• CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH OFFICE OF THE CITY ATTORNEY August 22, 2000 TO: Mayor & Members of the City Council FROM: Robert H. Burnham, City Attorney RE: Airport Area Planning Study Study and Funding Options BACKGROUND Study Session Item No. SS2 On July 25, 2000, Mayor Noyes asked staff to report to the City Council on the issues involved in establishing and implementing a policy requiring payment of development fees in the "Airport Area." The Economic Development Committee • (EDC) has completed one study outlining the development opportunities and constraints in the Airport area and the EDC recommendations were submitted to the City Council on June 13 (Exhibit A). This report identifies some of the planning vehicles that could be used to establish additional Airport area entitlement and circulation system and other public improvements necessary to serve that entitlement. This report also briefly discusses the options available to fund the planning process and the legal constraints on the imposition of study or development fees. PLANNING OPTIONS The Assistant City Manager has prepared a preliminary work program for a planning study of the Airport Area (Exhibit B). The purpose of a planning study such as the one described by the Assistant City Manager is to identify potentially feasible development scenarios and related infrastructure requirements for the Airport Area. The planning study would be considered by the Planning Commission and the City Council and form the basis for selection of the preferred project (and reasonable alternatives) for purposes of preparing proposed General Plan amendments, a Specific Plan or Planned Community Development Plan and required environmental documentation. The City Council has a number of options in terms of the vehicle for • implementing changes in entitlement, development standards, and infrastructure in the Airport Area. These options include a Specific Plan, the adoption or amendment of a Planned Community Development Plan, and "parcel by parcel" rezoning. All of these options must be consistent with the General Plan and appropriate amendments to the General Plan would be considered as part of the proposed project. The Specific Plan and the Planned Community Development Plan, in association with General Plan changes necessary to insure consistency, are the two primary vehicles for implementing changes to Airport Area development and identifying the infrastructure necessary to support that development such as road and intersection improvements and fire service facilities. State legislation authorizes the City to incorporate Airport Area development and infrastructure modifications, phasing procedures, the method of funding infrastructure improvements and reimbursement of study costs in a Specific Plan. Our existing Planned Community District ordinance (Chapter 20.35) does not specifically contemplate inclusion of area -wide infrastructure changes and funding provisions in a Planned Community Development Plan but the ordinance could be amended to more closely conform to the Specific Plan provisions of State law PLANNING FEES i The authority of a public agency to impose fees on development to fund public improvements or planning studies is subject to numerous restrictions. These restrictions include, but are not limited to, the following: 1. A service or regulatory fee (service fee) that exceeds the City's cost of providing services is a tax that requires voter approval pursuant to Propositions 62 or 218. 2. A new or increased service fee may be adopted only after public hearing and presentation of substantial evidence that the fee does not exceed the estimated cost of providing the service. (Mitigation Fee Act) 3. A fee on a specific development or type of development to fund public improvements (development fee) must be reasonably related and roughly proportional to specific impacts caused by the development. (Mitigation Fee Act and decisional law) 4. A development fee may be adopted only after a public hearing at which the City establishes (a) the purpose of the fee; (b) the facilities financed by the fee; and (c) a reasonable relationship between the amount of and need for the fee, the public facility and the development. (Mitigation Fee Act) These restrictions make it very difficult for the City to legally adopt and impose a fee to fund an airport area planning study before completion of the planning process — including adoption of a Specific Plan or Planned Community Development Plan. There is simply no way to comply with the Mitigation Fee Act or numerous court rulings without a comprehensive study that identifies the impacts of additional Airport Area development, the new infrastructure necessary to accommodate the development and the cost of the infrastructure. An Airport Area "per parcel' assessment to fund the planning study or preparation of a Specific Plan would require landowner approval. While there is the possibility of a grant from the State (AB 2774) for planning work done in association with a comprehensive General Plan update, staff believes that general fund revenue is the most likely source of funds for a planning study focusing on the airport area. An Airport Area development fee — such as a per square foot fee for major circulation system improvements - would be the outgrowth of an Airport Area Specific Plan or Planned Community Development Plan. These plans and /or related documents would identify additional development, the public infrastructure necessary to accommodate the additional development, the extent to which specific types of development contribute to the need for the infrastructure and the estimated costs of the infrastructure. This information would form the basis for the imposition of a development fee that is consistent with State law and court rulings. The City of Newport Beach has not adopted a development fee pursuant to the Fee Mitigation Act or a Specific Plan for a district like the Airport Area. Staff recommends that the City Council schedule another study session to receive a presentation from private firms that specialize in preparing Specific Plans and/or documentation necessary to approve a development impact fee. ROBERT H. BURNHAM City Attorney Attachments PATRICIA TEMPLE Planning Director �E�'POgr CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH m COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT PLANNING DEPARTMENT 3300 NEWPORT BOULEVARD NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658 (714) 644 -3200, FAX (714) 644 -3250 Hearing Date: June 13, 2000 Agenda Item No.: Staff Person: Sharon Z. Wo (949) 644 -322 REPORT TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL SUBJECT: Airport Area Planning Options ACTION: Provide direction to staff Backaround The Economic Development Committee (EDC) has worked on planning for the Airport Area for the last several years, with the goal of facilitating future land development that is more productive for both the City and the property owners. EDC members themselves completed one study outlining the opportunities and constraints of the area, and the City Council followed the Committee's recommendation to have a development feasibility study done. EDC's conclusion after these studies was that the General Plan for the area needs to be amended and a specific plan should be prepared to position the area for the appropriate type of development in the future. The Committee also recommended that this area be one of the City's economic development priorities. Last year, the City Council approved $250,000 in the Capital Improvements Program ($100,000 in 1999 -2000 and $150,000 in 2000 -01) for this planning work, with the understanding that property owners would contribute an equal amount to the effort. Although EDC has approached some property owners to contribute to the planning effort, there has been hesitation due to the uncertainty about future development possibilities should the Protection from Traffic and Density Initiative pass. EDC recently recommended that the City Council include the full amount of the planning study in the CIP. Discussion Planning tools alone will not be sufficient to help the Airport Area realize its potential. Additional development in the area will require significant transportation improvements, especially if impacts from future development on residential neighborhoods are to be avoided. These improvements will increase the costs of an Airport Area plan. • State Planning and Zoning Law provides that cities may establish a fee so that property owners who take advantage of the entitlement provided by a specific plan in the future pay their fair share of the planning costs. This can be done whether the City or other private properties • provide the initial funding, through reimbursement agreements with property owners. Likewise, transportation improvement planning and implementation can be funded through advances by EXHIBIT A property owners who wish to develop sooner, fees paid by future developers, and reimbursement agreements. The City Council will be considering two major development proposals in the Airport Area soon: Conexant and Koll Center Newport. Both projects are projected to have significant traffic impacts, and both will use capacity in the transportation system that will no longer be available for future redevelopment in the area. However, these projects could also represent an opportunity for the City to begin a long -range planning and transportation improvement program for the area. Development agreements could be used if the applicants agree to provide the City with special benefits that would outweigh their projects' impacts, such as contributions to such a program. Staff is seeking input from the City Council on how to proceed with long -range planning for the Airport Area, and what role current developers should have in that planning. SHARON Z. WOOD Assistant City Manager • Page 2 AIRPORT AREA LAND USE AND CIRCULATION PLANNING Preliminary Work Program • Research current development limitations • General Plan • Zoning/Planned Community regulations • Traffic Phasing Ordinance • SLURs and their terms (information already assembled) • Airport Land Use Plan • Estimate development potential at FAR allowed in more highly developed areas (e.g., Koll Center Newport, Irvine side of Airport Area), adjusted for imaginary plane • Project traffic generation from maximum potential development • Determine necessary traffic mitigations, and analyze their feasibility • Produce land use and traffic iterations to reach acceptable, feasible levels of development and circulation system improvements • Consider other City goals in allowing further development (e.g., municipal revenue, urban design, alternative transportation, smart growth, policy- oriented General Plan) • • Prepare EIR — full analysis of more than one alternative? • Prepare fiscal and economic impact studies • Prepare General Plan text, policies, diagrams and statistics • Prepare Specific Plan • Goals • Policies • Land use plan • Circulation plan • Development standards • Design guidelines? • Public improvements • Develop funding mechanisms • Planning costs • .Circulation system improvements 0 EXHIBIT 8 • • Coordinate with regional agencies • Irvine • Costa Mesa • Orange County • OCTA • Caltrans • Manage public participation process • Support public hearing and adoption process • EQAC • EDC • Planning Commission • Airport Land Use Commission • City Council • Coordinate and manage all of the above • Consultant selection • Consultant care, feeding and chasing • Decisions on assumptions, levels of detail, number of alternatives, etc. • Committee meetings • • Property owner meetings • Public meetings • Document review CJ -RW 7 434 Ilk Art 41vi. im 9 OA, 'TI, 41PF� 777, 3F M 4p Ft� Ot 17,, � 9 OA, 'TI, 41PF� 777, 3F M 4p Ft�