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HomeMy WebLinkAbout19 - Marina Park Concept Plan(1VIM-9-0,09 BY THE CITY COUNCIL CITYp OF NEWPORT BEACH CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH CITY COUNCIL STAFF REPORT Agenda Item No. 19 March 11, 2008 TO: HONORABLE MAYOR AND MEMBERS OF THE CITY COUNCIL FROM: City Manager's Office Dave Kiff, Assistant City Manager (949) 644-3002 or dkiff@city.newport-beach.ca.us SUBJECT: Marina Park Concept Plan: Size and Height of Community Center and Height of Sailing Center ISSUE: Should the City Council ratify its earlier decision and the consensus recommendation of the Marina Park Design Committee by restating that the proposed size and height of the Community Center building and the height of the Sailing Center building are appropriate? RECOMMENDATION: 1. Receive public comment about the size and building height of the Community Center and the height of the Sailing Center as described in the current Marina Park Concept Plan; and 2. Offer any further guidance to staff regarding the size and building height of the Community Center and the height of the Sailing Center. DISCUSSION: Background. The Marina Park Mobile Home Park is located on a large City -owned parcel at 1770 West Balboa Boulevard between 15th and 18th Streets. The City acquired the property from Pacific Electric Land Company in 1919. The initial use of the property after purchase was for a City campground. Campers paid $.75/day for waterfront camp areas and $.50/day for interior spaces. The Park was later renovated in 1955 to a trailer court for 120 trailers. Accommodation of larger mobile homes put the Park at today's capacity of 58 mobile homes. In June 2005, the City Council took an action directing City staff to prepare the documents associated with transitioning MP to an interim open space use. On March 14, 2006, the Council approved park closure documents. Final closure settlement with nearly all the tenants at Marina Park was entered into in late 2007. Re -Use Planning. In early 2005, the Council formed the City Council/Citizens Committee on Marina Park Planning. Council asked the Committee to, among other things, develop possible future re -use alternatives for the City Council to consider. The Planning Committee met four times between March 2005 and September 2005 in a series of public meetings at Newport Beach City Hall. They heard presentations by eight (8) different groups or persons advocating eight (8) different future use scenarios for Marina Park. These Marina Park Buildings March 11, 2008 Page 2 of 5 proposals were summarized at a Council meeting in early 2006. Shortly thereafter, a plan came forth, developed in large part by then -Mayor pro Tem Selich, that combined two of the most prominent proposals from the Planning Committee On October 10, 2006, the Council favorably received this Concept Plan (then called the Park + Marina Plan) and approved a scope of work for it. The City engaged Dan Herman of Rabben/Herman Design, who initially worked with the group Protect our Parks, to refine the plan through its concept stages. A new committee — the 9- member Council/Citizens Committee on Marina Park Design (formed in November 2006 to further refine the plan) — worked with Mr. Herman. The Design Committee met five times in open, noticed meetings at City Hall. The Committee recommended a Concept Plan and forwarded that to the Council. At the November 6, 2007 meeting of the City Council, the Council ratified the Concept Plan and sent it back to the Committee to work on the next phase, called Schematic Design Development & Permitting. See the City's website (under "Projects" then "Marina Park") for the current version of the Marina Park Master Plan. During the November 6, 2007 Council meeting and the MP Design Committee's recent public meetings (October 31, 2007, December 5, 2007, January 30, 2008, and February 27, 2008), several residents near the Project location have expressed their concern that the Community Center and the Sailing Center's mass, location, and height may be too impactful to their views, to area parking, and to the park environment itself. As such, at the last Design Committee meeting, the Committee, while ratifying the overall plan, suggested that the Council may want to examine this issue one final time before starting the "initial study" for the Environmental Impact Report (EIR) within the Schematic Design Phase. What's at Issue. The Concept Plan has two major buildings, clustered together close to 16tn Street and the proposed visitor -serving marina. The issues raised — mostly focused on the Community Center building but in part on the Sailing Center — are these: • Will the Community Center be used? • Is the height of the Community Center and the Sailing Center appropriate? • Is the Community Center too large in terms of square footage? • How will views be impacted from homes across Balboa Boulevard? About the Buildings. Detail about the Concept Plan's two buildings is as follows: COMMUNITY CENTER (2 Stories) • Square feet: 10,200 sf • Height: The tallest point of the roof of the Community Center is 39'-2". The height of the complex at the main entry is 32 feet. • Allowable Height in Zone: Planned Community ("PC") Text areas, like this one, allow for a height of up to 35' with a Use Permit. The Shoreline Height Limitation Zone, which includes Marina Park, speaks to a 35' height limit. In most instances in the past, the City has not applied zoning restrictions to public buildings, but staff does not know of an instance where a public building did not comply with the Shoreline Height Limitation Zone. • Space Utilization: ■ 1s' Floor — three medium multi -purpose rooms (840 sf each), restrooms (600 sf each), storage, office, stairwell, elevator; Marina Park Buildings March 11, 2008 Page 3 of 5 ■ 2nd Floor — small 20-seat conference room (600 sf), multi -purpose room w/storage (1,790 sf); catering kitchen (264 sf), restrooms (520 sf), offices (243 sf and 254 sf). Proposed Uses: Meetings and classroom training associated with the Sailing Center's children, teen, and adult sailing programs, community recreation classes (Newport Navigator programming), and community meetings. Small community gatherings — parties, HOA events, and more — would be acceptable using the catering kitchen and the 2"d Floor multi- purpose room. SAILING CENTER (2 Stories) • Square feet: 11,115 sf • Height: The highest point of the Sailing Center is the raised glass portion of the roof over the community cafe. It measures 48'-6" at its highest point and also has two antenna like projections that are 7'-6" higher than that (total 56'). This feature is about 4% of the total size of the roofing of both buildings and about 7% of the size of the Sailing Center's roof. At the Sailing Center's main roof, the tallest point is 40 feet. • Allowable Height in Zone: See discussion above for Community Center. • Space Utilization: ■ 1" Floor — entry (427 sf), boat bays (4,450 sf — this is the main area for vessel storage and sailing vessel workshop), men's' and women's' locker facility/janitorial (1,028 sf total), office & reception (203 sf), electrical, storage; ■ 2"d Floor — community cafe (1,295 sf), kitchen for cafe (300 sf), offices (570 sf), deck area (320 sf), meeting room (750 sf). • Proposed uses: Storage for sailing vessel equipment, workshop for sailing vessel repair, office area for Sailing Center coordinator, 29-seat cafe (the Design Committee proposed that this cafe be modeled in use and hours after the Galley Cafe at the Balboa Yacht Basin, which serves about 20-25 people for breakfast and lunch). BUILDING DIAGRAMS BY FLOOR First Floor l tFi,,,. Marina Park Buildings March 11, 2008 Page 4 of 5 Second Floor ni a .. rani c - i _. 1 tl ;V AM. i' ttE:Gl� ML�hM., 1 2nd Foor 1 — Will the Center be used? The existing Balboa Community Center, which sits at the site today, consists of one open area "L-shaped" room and one small meeting room (the meeting room is utilized by the Balboa Power Squadron). The Center's primary use is for Summer Day Camp that operates for 10 weeks during the summer and accommodates 40 participants per week from 7am - 6pm. During the remainder of the year, the school year, the building is utilized for dance classes, pre-schoolers, and yoga and music classes. According to the Recreation and Senior Services Department, the major complaint from all of the programs run out of the Balboa Community Center is the lack of parking. The lack of parking, condition and the small size of the facility limit the programming that can be scheduled at the Center. In accessing the need for a community center on the Peninsula, the recent Newport Coast Community Center (NCCC) offers us a working parallel to examine. The Newport Coast Community Center consists of: • Two 500 sf rooms (which can be combined into one room); • Two 1,000 sf rooms (which can be combined into one room); • A warming kitchen; and • A full sized multi -use gymnasium. For many Newport Coast residents, there was question if the NCCC was needed and would be fully utilized. Since the NCCC's opening in September 2007, Recreation reports that NCCC use has "far exceeded our own projections" and Recreation now estimates that the Center will bring in an additional $200,000 in revenue in FY '07/08. To date 45% of the NCCC's users are from the immediate neighborhood in Newport Coast, while 92% of the users of the NCCC are from Newport Beach as a whole. Staff is confident that a Community Center built on the Balboa Peninsula, with adequate parking, would result in similar use patterns as NCCC with roughly half of the participants coming from the immediate Peninsula area. Marina Park Buildings March 11, 2008 Page 5 of 5 2 — Are the two buildings an appropriate height? As noted above, Planned Community ("PC") Text areas (Marina Park is "PC-51" according to the Zoning Code) allow for a height of up to 35' with a Use Permit. The Shoreline Height Limitation Zone, which includes Marina Park, also speaks to a 35' height limit. In most instances in the past, the City has not applied zoning restrictions to public buildings, but staff does not know of an instance where a public building did not comply with the Shoreline Height Limitation Zone. At a proposed 39' 2", the Center is taller than the SHLZ height limit. ' The highest point of the Sailing Center is the raised glass portion of the roof over the community cafe. It measures 48'-6" at its highest point and also has two antenna like projections that are T-6" higher than that (total 56'). This feature is about 4% of the total size of the roofing of both buildings and about 7% of the size of the Sailing Center's roof. At the Sailing Center's main roof, the tallest point is 40 feet. 3 — Is the Community Center too large? Staff believes that the Community Center, already sized down from initial plans, is of a size that can appropriate accommodate local community programming needs and can accommodate the possibly extensive classroom requirements of the Sailing Center, if we assume a robust community sailing program at the Sailing Center. As noted above, whatever size is built, we can fill with classes and programs (for pre-schoolers, Mommy & Me classes, fitness classes, etc) that are "proven winners" within the community. 4 — What about views from homes across Balboa Boulevard? Dan Herman of Rabben/Herman Design (the City's lead architect on the Project), prepared a series of view simulations from three homes across Balboa Boulevard from the Project (see attachments). The view simulations show a general and significant improvement in views (especially open water views), not because of the Community Center or Sailing Center, but because of the removal of the other current uses at the site and the Window to the Bay concept. Not having either building in the Project would improve these homes' views even more, but the Design Committee believes that there is a significant community need for both buildings — and that further improvement in these homes' views is less vital than the community needs that these buildings will address. What's Next. The Marina Park Design Committee (a Brown Act Committee open to the public) will continue to meet (typically on the 41h Wednesday of the month at 9:00 a.m. in the City Council Chambers). They will not revisit the above issues nor any other park element of the Concept Plan except through the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process. Instead, the Committee will function to guide Public Works staff and the consultant through Schematic Design and Permitting. Submitted by: DAVE KIFF Assistant City Manager Attachments: View Simulations 1521 Balboa Boulevard/3rd floor/existing view Manna Park Jed eue-Je MOIA 15UIISIXG — a0011 Is �/pJenalno8 eogle8 � ZS; � I z 6P �T MA R4 1617 Balboa Boulevard/3rd level - existing view Marina Park PIS F @ 1 i9 $ � rz VI 1607 Balboa Boulevard/2nd floor - existing view Marina Park 1607 Balboa Boulevard/1 st floor —proposed view Marina Park MAR-11-2008 06:49 AM Lo-�se Fundenber-a 949 =73 3612 P.02 "RECEIVED AFTER A?/1-08 NDA PRII`JTED:" —A CENTRAL NE'WPORT HCACH COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION P.U. Box $84, Balboa, CA 92661 March 10, 2008 Mayor Edward D. Selich, Members of the City Council City of Newport Beach 3300 Newport Boulevard Newport Beach, CA 92663 Re: Agenda Item. 19, March 11, 2008 -- Marina Park Dear Mayor Selich, Members of the City Council: The Directors of the Central Newport Beach Community Association hereby submit the following comments on the referenced agenda item for development of Marina Park: ui din He' at: Maintain the Planned Community Text and Shoreline Height Limitation Zone maximum building height of 35 feet. " Both proposed buildings are two stories and can fit within the height limit. • The height is in keeping with the community character and an architectural statement is not needed. • A breach of height regulations for construction of public buildings will only erode the efficacy of the regulations and will give private developers a precedent to request modifications for their buildings. Size of Commmily. Center: The Marina Park site is first and foremost a public beach with unparalleled opportunities for public views and uses requiring access to Newport Bay such as beach use and boating. • In keeping with the unique nature of this site, the building size should be the minimum needed to support non-commercial programs that require adjacency to the bay (i.e. no banquets, weddings, etc.). • Minimizing the building size and avoiding generic recreation programs will lessen impact on parking planned for the site. The residents of Central Newport Beach are truly excited about opening this section of pubic property for use. We do request that there be a minimum impact of urban structures and a maximum of open space and views be considered in refining the plans for Marina Park, Thank you for your consideration, Very truly yours, Louise Fundenberg, President ►ECEIVED OCT 17 Ate 9= 2 0 -- u r ion �The American Legion g 1 He CITY CLftWPORT HARBOR POST 291 0 #�'R!' lRT BEACH 215 15th Street Newport Beach, CA 92663 714-673-5070 October 12, 2996 Mayor Don Webb City of Newport Beach, California Mayor Webb, The Newport Harbor American Legion Post 291 has resolved the following: AL 291 informs the City that the Post has reviewed the conceptual plan for the proposed Marina Park Development and hereby notifies the City that the Post agrees that the City should entertain further development of the concept for this project. The Post reserves all rights to further negotiate the exact terms of participation as the project develops and the initial concept, as presented to the Post, is better defined. Additionally, we are looking forward to providing input on behalf of the Post as the project develops. Please contact Ray Jeanson cr 949-413-8361, or myself @ 949-887-1659 whenever you deem further discussions are necessary. Thank you and the City for your consideration and support. Randall J. Eling, Commander Newport Harbor American Legion Post 291 Date 0' 1-7I 0 SG Copi-gs Sent To: Mayor council Memher anager torney ❑ — .-- ❑ Cc: David Kiff, Asst City Manager Pile