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HomeMy WebLinkAboutAirport Business Area Cncptl Dev. PlnCITY OF NEWPORT BEACH PLANNING COMMISSION STAFF REPORT November 20, 2008 Agenda Item 2 SUBJECT: Airport Business Area Integrated Conceptual Development Plan (PA2007 -170 & PA2008 -063) APPLICANT: The Koll Company & Conexant CONTACT: Rosalinh Ung, Associate Planner ru n g (& city. newpo rt- beach. ca. us (949) 644 -3208 PROJECT SUMMARY The proposed Airport Business Area Integrated Conceptual Development Plan is intended to implement General Plan Land Use Policy LU 6.15.11 (Conceptual Development Plan Area), which requires a single conceptual development plan for any residential development in that portion of the Airport Area that is generally bounded by MacArthur Boulevard, Jamboree Road and Birch Street. Staff recommends that the Planning Commission take the following action: Conduct a public hearing; and Determine that the proposed Airport Business Area Integrated Conceptual Development Plan is consistent with the General Plan and recommend approval of the Plan to the City Council by adopting the attached draft resolution (Exhibit No. 1). Project Setting The proposed Airport Business Area Integrated Conceptual Development Plan (Plan), included as Exhibit No. 2, applies to property situated within the Conceptual Development Plan Area. The Airport Area generally encompasses properties abutting the eastern edge of the John Wayne Airport (JWA), and is bounded by Campus Drive, Jamboree Road and the Corona Del Mar Freeway. MacArthur Boulevard bisects the 9 Airport Business Area Integrated CDP November 20, 2008 Page 2 VICINITY MAP GENERAL PLAN ZONING 1 ` Ii aim LOCATION GENERAL PLAN ZONING CURRENT USE Koll Center Newport Business & Professional; Research & ON -SITE Mixed Use Horizontal (MU -1­12) Planned Community (PC- Development; Retail; Restaurant; 15 ) Financial General Commercial Office(CO- G);General Kell Center Newport Business & Professional; Research & NORTH Commercial (CG);(MU -H2); Planned Community (PC- Development; Retail; Restaurant; Public Facilities PF 15) Financial SOUTH City of Irvine City of Irvine City of Irvine EAST City of Irvine City of Irvine City of Irvine WEST Airport Office & Supporting Newport Place Planned Business & Professional; Research & Uses, MU -H2 & CG Community (PC-11) Development; Retail; Restaurant; Financial Airport Business Area Integrated CDP November 20, 2008 Page 3 Airport Area in a north /south direction. The Airport Area is also in close proximity to the Irvine Business Complex (IBC) and the University of California, Irvine (UCI). This proximity has influenced the area's development with uses that support JWA and UCI, such as research and development, "high tech" industrial and visitor - serving uses. In addition, there are a number of buildings occupied by corporate offices for industrial and financial uses. The Koll Center Newport Planned Community, which covers the area bounded by Campus Drive, MacArthur Boulevard, and Jamboree Road, was adopted and developed in 1972 as a master planned campus to facilitate the development of an office /light industrial park that also includes supportive retail and visitor - serving uses. Other areas surrounding the proposed Plan are developed with a diverse mix of low- intensity industrial, office, and airport- related uses, including a number of auto - related commercial uses. Proiect Descriotion To allow residential uses in the Airport Area, General Plan Policy LU 6.15.11 requires the preparation of a conceptual development plan that would "demonstrate the compatible and cohesive integration of new housing, parking structures, open spaces, recreational amenities, pedestrian and vehicular linkages, and other improvements with existing non - residential structures and uses." The proposed Airport Business Area Integrated Conceptual Development Plan has been prepared to satisfy this requirement. The proposed Plan has incorporated the General Plan policies that established the fundamental criteria for the configuration and design of new residential villages in the Conceptual Development Plan Area. The Plan is a pre- requisite for the preparation of the entitlement documents, called for in the General Plan. These documents include a Regulatory Plan and a Development Agreement. Once the City Council has reviewed and approved the Conceptual Development Plan, each property owner will be responsible to independently prepare and submit to the City the proposed Regulatory Plan for their property. The Regulatory Plans will then be subject to an environmental and public review process as required by the City. Background On November 7, 2006, the General Plan 2006 Update was approved by voters. The General Plan includes policies that promote the introduction of residential and mixed - use development within the Airport Area, provided that such development contributes to the creation of viable neighborhood clusters with appropriate infrastructure, pedestrian - oriented features and open spaces, and with a pattern of development that offers a strong sense of community and livability. The General Plan's EIR addresses the potential environmental impacts associated with the build -out of the City, inclusive of the Airport Area. Airport Business Area Integrated CDP November 20, 2008 Page 4 Specifically, the General Plan allows a maximum of 2,200 units of housing within the Airport Area. All but 550 of these units must replace existing development so that there is no net gain of vehicular trips. The 550 units, known as "additive" units, may be constructed on existing surface parking lots located east of MacArthur Boulevard. This area is referred to in the General Plan as the Conceptual Development Plan Area (Exhibit No. 3) further identified in the Airport Area Residential Village Illustrative Concept Diagram (Exhibit No. 4). Within the Conceptual Development Plan Area, there are two large tracts of assembled property, owned by The Koll Company (75 acres) and Conexant (25 acres). These property owners each submitted their own conceptual development plans to develop residential uses. These individual plans reflect an inability of the two owners to come to an agreement on a single plan, particularly with regard to the allocation of the 550 "additive" units. Both parties claimed that their plans met the criteria of the General Plan for the design of infill neighborhoods and each made a case for the allocation of all of the additive units. The City, in response, requested ROMA Design Group to evaluate the conceptual development plans prepared by each of the property owners in relation to the policies and standards of the General Plan, and to formulate a recommended Integrated Conceptual Development Plan for the City's consideration. This process began with the review of both proposed plans. ROMA prepared a draft preliminary conceptual development plan based on the two property owners' proposals and the General Plan. This draft was reviewed by the City and the property owners, then revised and circulated to the property owners for additional review and comment. The Koll Company chose to submit sketch concepts for consideration in addition to making comments. Comments and submitted materials were taken into account and discussed with the City prior to the preparation of a recommended development plan for consideration by the Planning Commission and City Council. Analysis Integrated Conceptual Development Plan The Airport Business Area Integrated Conceptual Development Plan (Plan) provides for the redevelopment of the 25 -acre Conexant site, and for the redevelopment of a 15 -acre portion of the 75 -acre Koll Center office park between Birch Street and Von Karman Avenue with new residential development and open space, carefully integrated with the existing office buildings and parking structures (Figure 1 - Illustrative Plan). The Plan is aimed at fulfilling the policies of the General Plan, ensuring cohesive and livable neighborhoods oriented to parks and pedestrian ways, and a finer- grained network of pedestrian- friendly streets. The Plan would result in a total of up to 948 new residential units, 698 on the Conexant site and the remaining 250 on the Koll property. All 250 of 0 Airport Business Area Integrated CDP November 20, 2008 Page 5 the new residential units on the Koll site would be "additive" units since no existing office or industrial uses would be removed. On the Conexant site, up to 424 units would replace the existing industrial and office uses which are to be demolished, and the remaining 274 units would be additive. The exact number of replacement units will be determined when the regulatory plans are prepared, along with more precise traffic analysis to ensure compliance with General Plan Policy LU 6.15.5. Together, the two properties would use 524 of the 550 additive units allocated to the Conceptual Development Plan Area by the General Plan. It is important to note that the Conceptual Development Plan is a prerequisite of the General Plan to demonstrate compliance with its policies and to establish an "integrated ", balanced and complementary direction for both properties. The proposed Plan establishes the direction for each of the property owners to separately prepare and submit a Regulatory Plan for their holdings as a basis for environmental review, public hearings and City action. Regulatory Plans must be in substantial compliance with the Plan, particularly in terms of the number and density of residential units (except for any density bonuses for affordable units), the general location and configuration of residential development, the total amount and general location of open space, the general location of parking facilities, and the network of streets and pedestrian ways. Substantial deviations, or additions to the number of residential units, will require an amendment to the Plan. Lastly, the City has an interest in timely implementation of the Plan to ensure implementation of its Housing Element and to provide unused development opportunities to property owners who have the interest and capacity to implement the City's plans. The Plan provides that if, after a reasonable period of time as determined by the City Council, owners of property within the area of the Plan do not submit and prosecute Regulatory Plans and Development Agreements, the City may initiate and adopt an amendment to the Plan to reallocate additive units. General Plan Consistency The General Plan contains several policies that provide for the orderly evolution of the Airport Area, from a single - purposed business park, to a mixed -use district with cohesive residential villages integrated within the existing fabric of office, industrial, retail, and airport- related businesses. Residential opportunities would be developed as clusters of residential villages centering on neighborhood parks and interconnected by pedestrian walkways. These would contain a mix of housing types and buildings that integrate housing with ground level convenience retail uses and would be developed at a sufficient scale to achieve a complete neighborhood. The General Plan establishes several fundamental criteria for the configuration and design of new residential villages in the Airport Area in general, and in the Conceptual Development Plan Area in particular. An extensive discussion of each of the policies is I Airport Business Area Integrated CDP November 20, 2008 Page 6 contained in the text of the Conceptual Development Plan. Outlined below is a synopsis of these policies along with a discussion on each of the development areas' General Plan consistency. • Neighborhood Size (LU6.15.6, LU6.15.10 and LU6 15.11): Each residential village shall be at least 10 -acres in size at build -out, and be organized around a neighborhood park and other similar amenities. The first phase of residential development in each village shall be at least five gross acres, exclusive of existing rights -of -way. Although the General Plan exempts the "Conceptual Development Plan Area" from this minimum first phase requirement, it does require that residential villages within this sub -area be able to be built out to a minimum area of 10 acres. At the discretion of the City, the acreage can include part of a property in a different land use category, if the City finds that a sufficient portion of the contiguous property is contributing to the village fabric of open space, parking, or other amenities. Koll - The village that includes the proposed residential development is approximately 15 gross acres in size, which exceeds the 10 -acre minimum requirement. It is not a purely residential village of 10 acres, but a mixed -use village that incorporates existing office uses as well as proposed residential uses. Staff believes that the size of this village meets the intent of the General Plan policies to integrate residential and non- residential uses in the Airport Area. Conexant — The residential village (with supporting commercial uses) is approximately 25 gross acres in size, which exceeds the 10 -acre minimum requirement. • Neighborhood Densities (LU6.15.7, LU6.15.8 and LU6.15.9): In addition to providing a minimum land area for residential development, the General Plan also establishes minimum densities to ensure that a sufficient critical mass is created within each 10 -acre village. As such, the overall minimum density for each village at build -out is 30 dwelling units per net acre, exclusive of existing and future rights -of -way, open spaces and pedestrian ways; a maximum net density of 50 units per acre is also established. The General Plan also establishes a minimum density of 45 units per acre for each five -acre first phase increment of residential development; although the Conceptual Development Plan Area is exempt from this specific numerical requirement, any first phase increment of residential development should demonstrate an appropriate critical mass. Koll - The Plan provides for five net acres of new residential land, which could allow the development of 150 to 250 units based on the minimum and maximum allowable densities in the General I Airport Business Area Integrated CDP November 20, 2008 Page 7 Plan. The 250 additive units included in the Plan for Koll are consistent with the General Plan's density policies. Conexant - The Plan provides a net developable residential land area of 14.48 acres, which could allow for a maximum program of 724 dwelling units (14.48 ac x 50 du /ac). The Plan provides for the development of up to 698 units, is consistent with General Plan policies. The precise number of replacement units will be finalized in the Regulatory Plan for development of the Conexant property, based on traffic analysis to comply with General Plan Policy LU 6.15.5. • Diversity of Housing (LU6.15.7): Within the density envelope (30 to 50 du /ac), the General Plan promotes a diversity of building types, including row houses and podium mid -rise and high -rise buildings to accommodate a range of household types and incomes and to promote a variety of building masses and scales. Koll - The Plan proposes several building types, 4 to 5 -story podium styled development and townhouse units. Conexant - Housing types contemplated in the plan include ground - level townhouse units, podium mid -rise and high -rise apartment/condom iniums. • Neighborhood Parks (LU6.15.13 and LU6.15.14): The General Plan calls for residential villages to be centered on neighborhood parks to provide structure and a sense of community and identity. The General Plan requires that each park be a minimum of one acre in size, or at least eight percent of the total land area of the residential village, whichever is greater. In order to promote useable and cohesive open space, the General Plan also requires that each neighborhood park have a minimum dimension of no less than 150 feet. Neighborhood parks are required to be public in nature (rather than internalized open space), and to this end must have public streets on at least two sides and be connected with adjacent residential development by pedestrian ways and streets. Koll - The Plan also provides for the creation of a central neighborhood park of approximately one acre, and for an additional 0.3 acres of open space areas on land that was previously used for surface parking. Although the neighborhood park falls short of the single open space requirement of 1.2 acres (i.e., 8 percent of 15 acres), the plan achieves the total amount of open space required by the General Plan, and proposes a series of interconnected promenades and plazas in addition to the central neighborhood M Airport Business Area Integrated CDP November 20, 2008 Page 8 park, which would enhance the livability and amenity of the neighborhood. As such, staff believes that the spirit and intent of the General Plan policies are being met. Conexant — The Plan provides a total of 2.3 acres of parks and open space, exceeding the General Plan requirement of 2.0 acres or 8 percent of the land area of the residential village (i.e., 8 percent of 25 acres = 2.0 acres). A 1.4 -acre neighborhood park is located at the center of the community; it is highly public in nature, surrounded on all sides by public streets and by active ground -level uses. An additional 0.9 acres is provided in two smaller pocket parks within the village. Although the size of the central neighborhood park does not fully meet the requirements of the General Plan, the overall open space program in all other aspects complies with the General Plan policies and contributes to a cohesive residential village as contemplated by the General Plan. Summary Prior to any residential development within the Airport Area, the General Plan requires the preparation of a Conceptual Development Plan to; "demonstrate the compatible and cohesive integration of new housing, parking structures, open spaces, recreational amenities, pedestrian and vehicular linkages, and other improvements with existing non - residential structures and uses." Staff is of the opinion that the proposed Airport Business Area Integrated Conceptual Development Plan will implement this required integration. The Plan also establishes the framework for future Regulatory Plans, which will describe more fully the proposed design of buildings, parking, streets, pedestrian ways, parks and open spaces, and how infrastructure required to support the proposed development will be provided. Environmental Review The consideration of an Integrated Conceptual Development Plan is exempt from environmental review under Public Resources Code Section 21083.3. The proposed Plan complies with and implements policies of the General Plan, which were evaluated in the General Plan EIR (SCH No. 2006011119) certified on July 25, 2006. The City has determined, on the basis of substantial evidence in the light of the whole record, that the Plan does not propose any substantial changes to the Airport Area that were contemplated in the General Plan; no substantial changes would occur which would require revisions to the General Plan EIR due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects; and no new information of substantial importance has been revealed since the certification of the General Plan EIR. Separate EIR(s) will be prepared on the more detailed Regulatory Plans for development in the Integrated Conceptual 16 Airport Business Area Integrated CDP November 20, 2008 Page 9 Development Plan area, when additional detail is available to allow for full environmental review. Public Notice Notice of this hearing was published in the Daily Pilot, mailed to property owners within 300 feet of the property and posted at the site a minimum of 10 days in advance of this hearing consistent with the Municipal Code. Additionally, the item appeared upon the agenda for this meeting, which was posted at City Hall and on the city website. Prepared by: Gerald S. Gilber Copfract Planner EXHIBITS 1. Draft Resolution Submitted by: Sharon Wood, Assistant City Manager 2. Airport Business Area Integrated Conceptual Development Plan 3. General Plan Figure LU22 Airport Area 4. General Plan Figure LU23 Airport Area Residential Village Illustrative Concept Diagram F:\USERS\PLN \SharedTNs \PAs - 2008 \PA2008 - 063 \1110staffreport ki