HomeMy WebLinkAbout05 - Revision to Council Policy L-2, Clarifying Requirements Regarding Curb Cuts on Corner Lots in Residential AreasCTY OF
F
NEWPORT BEACH
City Council Staff Report
April 14, 2015
Agenda Item No. 5
TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL
FROM: David A. Webb, Public Works Director- (949) 644 -3330,
dawebb @newportbeachca.gov
PREPARED BY: David Keely, Senior Civil Engineer
PHONE: (949) 644 -3349
TITLE: Revision to Council Policy L -2, Clarifying Requirements Regarding Curb Cuts on
Corner Lots in Residential Areas
ABSTRACT:
The Public Works Department is requesting revisions to Council Policy L -2 to clarify the requirements to
allow curb openings for residential property which abuts an alley.
RECOMMENDATION:
a) Approve the proposed revisions to Council Policy L -2; and
b) Adopt Resolution No. 2015 -25, A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Newport Beach Amending
City Council Policy L -2 `Driveway Approaches ".
FUNDING REQUIREMENTS:
There is no fiscal impact related to this item.
DISCUSSION:
Council Policy L -2 defines the permit requirements and permissions for driveway construction within the
public rights -of -way. Currently, Council Policy L -2: Driveway Approaches, Residential Zones and
Residential Uses — Special Requirement, Section C, states that street curb openings shall not be permitted
to residential property which abuts an alley. An exception is provided in the case of corner lots where the
street on which the curb cut is proposed is not an arterial street and the frontage is available for the full
depth of the lot, subject to the following conditions: (existing policy)
1. Access from the street will be permitted where existing structures (i.e. utility poles) prevent full alley
access or additional covered off - street parking is being provided.
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2. The width of the curb opening shall be limited to one -half of the lot depth
3. In the case of duplexes, condominiums and condominium conversions, an additional driveway curb cut
shall be permitted if the units are separated by a continuous vertical plane, from the ground to the rooftop,
with one common wall and /or physically separated by open space. The resulting building product shall
have the appearance of two distinct and separate units with a rear unit that has vehicle access from the
alley and the front unit with vehicle access from the side street. No overlapping of /between the front unit
and rear unit floor plans shall be permitted.
The intent of this section of the policy is to preserve public on- street parking, especially in parking impacted
areas of Corona del Mar and the Peninsula. At the January 27, 2015 City Council meeting, Item #17, staff
received clarification and direction regarding the current Policy. Staff is recommending City Council Policy
L -2 be amended to clarify the intent regarding curb cuts (new or existing) on corner lots subject to the
following:
1. A new curb opening from the street will be permitted where existing conditions that cannot be
reasonably removed prevent alley access and, an additional one covered off - street parking space beyond
the code required amount is being provided. The proposed new curb cut shall be located to maximize the
remaining on- street parking; or
2. An existing curb opening can be maintained when one additional covered off - street parking space
beyond the code required amount is being provided and no loss of on- street parking is proposed.
3. In no case shall there be more than one street curb opening on a residential property that abuts an
alley.
The goal of the amendment is to preserve public on- street parking and require additional covered off - street
parking. The proposed amendment eliminates the vertical separation requirement previously required for
duplexes, condominiums and condominium conversions. Staff recommends that Policy L -2 be revised as
proposed to simplify the policy and clarify the intent to preserve or minimize the impact to public on- street
parking.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The adoption and amendment of administrative policies is not a "project' as defined by the CEQA
Guidelines. Section 15378 excludes continuing administrative or maintenance activities such as general
policy and procedure making that do not involve any commitment to any specific project that could have an
environmental impact, and organizational or administrative activities of government that will not result in
direct or indirect physical changes in the environment.
NOTICING:
The agenda item has been noticed according to the Brown Act (72 hours in advance of the meeting at
which the City Council considers the item).
ATTACHMENTS:
Description
Attachment A - Revision to Council Policy L -2
Attachment B - Resolution
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ATTACHMENT A
L -2
DRIVEWAY APPROACHES
GENERAL
A. A permit will be required prior to any driveway construction within the street
right -of -way. All construction shall conform with the Standard Plans and
Specifications of the City of Newport Beach. Brick, textured concrete or flat stone
surfacing may be used subject to Public Works Department approval. Such
brick, textured concrete or flat stone surfacing may not be used on Bayside Drive.
B. The number and width of driveway openings shall be kept to a minimum so as
to preserve on- street parking and to reduce the points of traffic conflict.
C. The term "Curb Opening" shall mean the total width of the approach including
the slope distances on the curb. The term "Approach Bottom" shall mean the
total width of the approach less the slope distances on the curbs.
D. Curb openings shall not be constructed closer than 5 feet to the beginning of the
curvature of a curb return, fire hydrant, traffic signal /pedestrian street light,
utility pole /anchor /pedestal, trees or vent pipe, unless approved by the Public
Works Department.
E. The entire curb opening shall be within the prolongation of the property lines
except when cross easements provide for a common driveway along the mutual
property line.
F. No permit shall be issued for driveways on Clubhouse Drive, Glen Drive, Balboa
Island or on the ocean side of Ocean Boulevard without City Council approval.
No curb openings will be permitted on Ocean Boulevard when access is available
from an existing alley, street or improved private roadway.
G. No permit shall be issued if the driveway construction requires the removal of a
street tree until such removal has been approved by the General Services
Director.
H. No permit shall be issued if the driveway encroaches on a crosswalk area.
I. No permit shall be issued if the driveway construction requires the relocation of
any public facility such as fire hydrants utility pole /anchor /pedestal, tree, vault,
vent pipes, or street lights until approved by the Public Works Department and a
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deposit has been made to cover the cost of relocation. Property owner shall pay
all costs for the relocation of any public facilities.
No permit shall be issued unless the applicant agrees that at no cost to the City
he will remove any driveway opening that is or will be abandoned, and
reconstruct curb, gutter and sidewalk (if applicable) to City Standards.
K. Where practical, difficulties or hardships may result from the strict application of
this policy, minor dimensional variances may be granted with written approval
of the Public Works Director.
L. Nothing herein shall be construed as preventing any person from appealing to
the City Council for relief from the applications of this policy.
M. No building permit shall be issued on a parcel whose access requires City
Council review for an encroachment permit on public property, until said
encroachment permit has been issued.
RESIDENTIAL ZONES AND RESIDENTIAL USES - SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
A. The width of the driveway approach bottom shall not exceed 1829 feet except
when the driveway is to serve an enclosed three or four car garage, in which case
the driveway approach bottom may be increased to 25 feet or 32 feet,
respectively.
B. One additional curb opening will be perm tted to a single parcel subject to the
following conditions:
1. The total width for all openings shall not exceed 50% of the total frontage
of the parcel`-
2. The openings shall be separated by at least 20 feet to retain maximum
street parking.
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L -2
C. For new developments, proposed new gstreet curb openings or retention of
existing street curb openings shall not be permitted to residential property which
abuts an alley.
An exception may be made in the case of corner lots where the street on which
the proposed new, or existing curb meat opening is located ese� is not an - - - Formatted: strikethmugh
arterial street, and street frontage is available for the full depth of the lot and the
width of the curb opening is limited to one -half of the lot depth or a driveway
approach button width of 18 feet, which ever is less, subject to the following
EOR441etss:
1. A new curb opening_Aeeess —from the street will be permitted where
existing conditions that cannot be reasonably removedstr�prevent
full alley access and —eran additional one covered off - street parking space
beyond the code required amount is being provided. The proposed new
curb opening shall be located to maximize the remaining on- street
parking; or
2. An existing curb opening can be maintained when one additional covered
off - street parking space is being provided beyond the code required
amount and no loss of on- street parking is proposed. The width C Q.' wP
3. In no case shall there be more than one street curb opening on a
residential property that abuts an alley.
D. Driveway grades must not exceed the listed applicable maximum slope
depending on application. Driveways to lowered or subterranean parking must
rise above the flood level or a minimum of six inches above the flow line of the
street or alley, whichever is greater, before transitioning to a downward slope.
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L -2
Slope transitions shall be a minimum of five feet in length and the change of
slope cannot exceed eleven percent.
Driveways providing only parking access - Fifteen- percent maximum slope.
Must have access directly from garage into residence.
Driveways providing vehicle and pedestrian access - Eight- percent maximum
slope.
Driveways providing required parking spaces on the driveway itself - Five -
percent maximum slope.
Minor variations from the listed maximum slopes and slope changes may be
granted by the Traffic Engineer when unusual site conditions are encountered.
PRIVATE STREETS - SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS
A. A grading permit will be required prior to the construction of any driveway
apron, sidewalk, curb, gutter or wall within the private street rights -of -way. The
design parameters shall be in accordance with the City of Newport Beach Design
Criteria and Standards for Public Works Construction.
Also, the Public Works Department shall perform a brief review of plans prior to
permit issuance.
B. A Public Works encroachment permit will be required if improvements are to be
constructed within 5 feet of a fire hydrant, street light or other public utility
system appurtenance (i.e., valve boxes or manholes).
C. A Public Works encroachment permit will be required when connecting to or
relocating public utilities.
COMMERCIAL USES
A. The width of the driveway approach bottom shall not exceed 35 feet.
B. The total width of all driveways shall not exceed 50% of the frontage of the
parcel.
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L -2
C. Commercial driveway approaches may use a curb return design with a
maximum curb radius of 25 feet and a driveway approach bottom of greater than
35 feet if the following conditions are satisfied:
1. The driveway serves as an entrance to a parking area or structure for 200
or more vehicles.
2. The number of driveways serving the parcel are at a minimum.
D. The curb return commercial driveway approach may incorporate a divided exit
and entrance if the separation structure (median island) is continued on -site in
such a manner as to provide proper traffic design.
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L -2
CLOSURE OF ABANDONED DRIVEWAY APPROACHES BY CITY
The City may close abandoned driveway approaches at high priority locations where
two or more of the following criteria may exist:
A. The abandoned driveway approach is adjacent to a parcel of property where
redevelopment and possible subsequent closure of the approach is not believed
imminent,
B. The driveway approach is at a location where there is a shortage of available
on- street parking;
C. The removal of the driveway approach is needed for safe pedestrian and /or
bicycle passage;
D. The closure of the abandoned driveway approach benefits not so much to the
property owner as pedestrian and vehicular traffic in the area.
When in the opinion of the Public Works
Department, a curb cut or abandoned driveway approach should be closed, and the
adjoining property owner protests the closing, the protester shall be notified that he will
have two weeks to appeal the staff decision to the City Council. That appeal must be in
writing and may be filed through the mail. If an appeal is not made, the City shall
proceed with the closure. If an appeal is made, a hearing shall be held by the City
Council, and the decision of the Council shall be final.
Nothing in this section shall be construed as relieving adjoining property owners from
the responsibility for closure of abandoned curb cuts as a condition of permit approval
for new construction or for obtaining a curb cut permit for an alternative driveway
location on the same parcel.
Adopted - January 24,1966
Amended - November 27,1989
Amended - February 26,1968
Amended - December 14,1992
Amended - July 24,1972
Reaffirmed - January 24,1994
Amended - November 14,1977
Amended - February 26,1996
Amended - October 25,1982
Amended - May 8, 2001
Amended - July 13,1987
Amended - October 10, 2006
Amended - April 14, 2015
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ATTACHMENT B
RESOLUTION NO. 2015-
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF NEWPORT
BEACH AMENDING CITY COUNCIL POLICY L -2 "DRIVEWAY
APPROACHES"
WHEREAS, the City of Newport Beach is governed, in part, by its Charter,
Municipal Code and adopted City Council Policies;
WHEREAS, City Council Policy D -3 requires that the City Manager annually
review the Council Policy Manual for any needed additions, changes or deletions; and
WHEREAS, the City Manager recently completed his review of the Council
Policy L -2 and recommends revising City Council Policy L -2 "Driveway Approaches" as
shown in the revised redline attached to this resolution, and incorporated by reference
herein (Exhibit 1).
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, the City Council of the City of Newport
Beach resolves the following:
Section 1: The Council hereby amends Council Policy L -2 as shown in Exhibit 1.
Section 2: All prior versions of Council Policy L -2 that are in conflict with the
revisions adopted by this resolution are hereby repealed.
Section 3: If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this
resolution is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional, such decision shall not
affect the validity or constitutionality of the remaining portions of this resolution. The
City Council hereby declares that it would have passed this resolution and each section,
subsection, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more
sections, subsections, sentences, clauses and phrases be declared unconstitutional.
Section 4: The recitals provided in this resolution are true and correct and are
incorporated into the substantive portion of this resolution.
Section 5: Except as expressly modified in this resolution, all other City Council
Policies, sections, subsections, terms, clauses and phrases set forth in the Council
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Policy Manual shall remain unchanged and shall be in full force and effect.
Section 6: The City Council finds this change to Council Policy L -2 exempt from
the California Environmental Quality Act ( "CEQA ") pursuant to Section 15304 (Minor
Alterations to Land) of the CEQA Guidelines, California Code of Regulations, Title 14,
Chapter 3, because it has no potential to have a significant effect on the environment.
This section exempts minor public or private alterations in the condition of land, water,
and /or vegetation which do not involve removal of healthy mature scenic trees. Allowing
artificial turf as an alternative to grass or other natural groundcovers would fall into this
class of exempt work.
Section 7: This resolution shall take effect immediately upon its adoption by the
City Council, and the City Clerk shall certify the vote adopting this resolution.
ADOPTED this day of 2015.
Edward D. Selich
Mayor
Leilani I. Brown
City Clerk
Attachment: Exhibit 1 — Redline Draft of Revised City Council Policy L -2
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