Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Commission 2012-07-24 #4 CITY OF Community Development Department – Planning Division P. O. Box 151560, San Rafael, CA 94915-1560 PHONE: (415) 485-3085/FAX: (415) 485-3184 Meeting Date: July 24, 2012 Agenda Item: 4 Case Numbers: UP12-010 Project Planner: Kraig Tambornini – (415) 485- 3092 REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION SUBJECT: 2500 Fifth Ave. (GEM Project) – Request for Use Permit approval to operate a vocational training facility for clients with special needs on a portion of the Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery site. APN: 177-240-03; PD1870 Zone District; Buck Kamphausen, Owner/Applicant; Case Number(s): UP12-010 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Mount Tamalpais Cemetery site was recently annexed into the City of San Rafael in August, 2010. The City Council approved a PD zoning, Master Use Permit and Environmental and Design Review Permit for a 50 Year Master Plan for the site, in three phases (Exhibit 4). Phase I must be inaugurated by August 16, 2012, otherwise the Use Permit and Environmental and Design Review Permit entitlements will be invalid, and must be re-adopted for further development of the site to proceed. The applicant is in the process of obtaining the required building permits for Phase I of the site development, required to inaugurate the zoning entitlements, and will either obtain the permit or apply for an extension of time before the August 16, 2012 deadline. In 2010, the Planning Division approved a temporary Use Permit for a non-profit vocational training use to utilize a portion of the site proposed for future mausoleums; e.g., GEM Education Facility. The use provides vocational training for up to 6 disabled clients on-site, and has been operated without issue or complaint by Integrated Community Services, a local non-profit. On April 5, 2012 an application submittal was received requesting permanent establishment of this use on the site. This additional use may be considered as a non-profit activity in lands such as this which are designated for public/quasi-public uses. The PD rezoning requires that all uses must be established by Master Use Permit. Staff has concluded that the use would not conflict with the 50 Year Master Plan, as it is proposed in an area already designated for development, it would utilize existing improvements, would not create traffic or parking issues, and could be reverted back to its original intended use when and if desired. RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the Planning Commission adopt a resolution to approve a Master Use Permit amendment to allow the GEM Program, a non-profit vocational training use, to operate on the Mt Tamalpais Cemetery site as an alternate use to placement of mausoleums in the subject location. PROPERTY FACTS Address/Location: 2500 5th Ave Parcel Number(s): 177-240-03 Property Size: 56.8 Neighborhood: Sun Valley Site Characteristics General Plan Designation Zoning Designation Existing Land-Use REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION - Case No: UP12-010 Page 2 Project Site: Public/Quasi-Public PD (1870) Cemetery North: Open Space N/A County Open Space South: N/A N/A Town of San Anselmo East: Res-Low Density R5 Residential West: N/A N/A Town of San Anselmo Site Description/Setting: The Mount Tamalpais Cemetery site is a 56.8-acre parcel at the westerly City boundary, in Sun Valley neighborhood area. The property is hilly and wooded site, adjacent to open space lands to the north and the Town of San Anselmo to the south and west. The site predominantly slopes up from Fifth Avenue on its eastern boundary to the north and west. The site contains an office/mausoleum building near the main entrance at the end of Fifth Avenue. The remainder of the site is developed with access paved roads and existing/future cemetery plots and mausoleums. BACKGROUND The Mount Tamalpais Cemetery was recently annexed into the City of San Rafael, following approval of a Master Plan for the property by the City Council on December 1, 2008. Pursuant to the zoning designation adopted for the site - PD (1870) - all development and uses at the site must be as established by the Master Use Permit and Environmental and Design Review permit granted for the site (Exhibit 4 - UP08-031 & ED07-010). The Use Permit was not to go into effect until annexation of the entire 56.8 property occurred, which was completed and effective on August 16, 2010. Further, the Master Use Permit requires that the phased master plan expansion to the cemetery facilities must be inaugurated within 2 years of annexation (by August 16, 2012) in order for the zoning approvals to become vested. Vesting shall consist of securing a building permit for Phase I of the three phase cemetery master plan. The applicant has obtained follow- up design approvals of landscape, materials and colors details (per ED11-043), on September 11, 2011 and on March 3, 2012 submitted for building permits to construct the Phase I mausoleums and landscaping improvements. Issuance of this permit is pending resubmittal of plan revisions. If the permits cannot be issued in time, the applicant may apply for a time extension. The PD (1870) ordinance and resolutions of approval for UP 08-031 and ED 07-010 are attached (Exhibit 4). PROJECT DESCRIPTION Integrated Community Services (ICS) is a non-profit agency in Marin County that provides social work services to meet critical needs of individuals with disabilities. ICS is using a portion of the Mt Tamalpais Cemetery property to support its Growing Excellence in Marin (GEM) vocational training program. The program was initiated utilizing federal grant funding (American Reinvestment and Recovery Act), and approved by the City Planning Division by temporary Use Permit in spring 2010. ICS now proposes to continue its program using this site for the foreseeable future. The program provides one-to-one job training skills to its young adult special-need clients (see Exhibit 3). The training provided at the Mt Tamalpais Cemetery GEM site include retail nursery, floral, food farming, and landscape maintenance for clients interested in the horticulture field and with the projected ability to work independently after training. The program would operate its GEM facility Monday through Friday, 6 hours per day (8am to 4pm), with 3 staff on-site serving 4 to 6 clients at a time over a 4 month period. Clients are transported to the site by the GEM van, which is operated by an employee and driven to and from the site each day. Individuals are referred to the program from several different sources; primary other private and public social service providers including Marin Employment Connection, CalWORKS, Community Mental Health, Department of Rehabilitation, an other agencies. The operator notes that REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION - Case No: UP12-010 Page 3 vegetables and flowers raised at the facility are sold to local businesses and at local markets. There are no sales on-site. The GEM facility is located at the northerly, upper hillside area of the cemetery site, off the “Upper Lakeview Avenue” roadway in an area designated for future above ground mausoleums on the approved 50 Year master plan. The project area is located over 130-feet and downhill from the north boundary line that adjoins County open space lands, approximately 590-feet and cross-slope from the west property and City boundary with the Town of San Anselmo, and in excess of 800 feet uphill from the east property boundary. This area is now fenced, accessed through a 12’ wide gate and improved with the following structures: • Modular Office Trailer (10’ by 32’) • Prefabricated Tool Shed (8’ by 12’) • Prefabricated Nursery (18’ by 30’) • Prefabricated Greenhouse (18’ by 36’) The Upper Lakeview Avenue access roadway that extends uphill to the west, from the lower Lakeview Avenue, has been improved as an 18-foot wide gravel road. This section of road is approved under the Master Plan to be paved and connect as a through road with Forest Avenue (currently unimproved west of the site), with the installation of three new mausoleums in this area. The gravel road would instead terminate at the GEM site. Power and water are supplied from existing utilities below the site. A self contained sanitary septic system near the modular unit serves the site’s sanitary system needs. A more detailed description of ICS and its GEM program is attached (Exhibit 3) The current Master Use Permit (UP08-031) does not include a provision for any additional uses of the site beyond chapel/office and internment areas. Pursuant to UP08-031 Condition No. 12, any change to the approved uses shall require an amendment to the approved Master Use Permit. Therefore, this use is being presented as an additional minor use, in place of the planned mausoleum structures. It is intended that the original approval for this area would remain intact so that it may still be implemented in the future. Minor modifications to proposed improvements may be approved by the Planning Division, pursuant to ED07-010 Condition No. 3. The improvements required for the alternate use of this area has been deemed to be minor in nature, and not requiring any amendment to the design review approvals. The area is not visible from off-site. ANALYSIS San Rafael General Plan 2020 Consistency: The following General Plan policies are relevant to this site and use: Land Use ¾ LU-9. Intensity of Non-Residential Development. The site is not in an area that is subject to building floor area ratio limits. ¾ LU-12. Building Heights. The site is subject to a 36 foot height limit per GP 2020 Exhibit 7. ¾ LU-14. Land Use Compatibility states “Design new development in mixed residential and commercial areas to minimize potential nuisance effects and to enhance their surroundings.” ¾ LU-23. Land Use Maps and Categories designates the site as Public/Quasi-Public mixed use category for “government or quasi-public buildings or facilities; utility facilities and similar facilities owned or operated by public/non-profit agencies; residential land uses.” The non-profit use is considered to be compatible with the underlying Public/Quasi-Public General Plan land use designation. The site is also located in the Sun Valley neighborhood area. Other than REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION - Case No: UP12-010 Page 4 annexation of the Mt. Tamalpais Cemetery site (NH-154) there are no Neighborhood Element policies deemed to be directly applicable to this project. The proposal does not appear to result in any land use or neighborhood compatibility issues, as proposed. Zoning Ordinance Consistency: PD Standards Chapter 14.07 Pursuant to PD (1870) all development and uses at the site must be as established by the Master Use Permit and Environmental and Design Review permit granted for the site (UP08-031 & ED07-010). As discussed in the Background section of this report, the Use Permit was conditioned to become effective after annexation of the entire 56.8 property occurred, which was completed on August 16, 2010. Further, the Use Permit requires inauguration of the use within 2 years of annexation (by August 16, 2012) in order to vest the zoning entitlements. This requires that a building permit be obtained for Phase I of the three phase cemetery master plan, and work be pursued to completion. On September 11, 2011 the applicant obtained follow-up design approvals of landscape, materials and colors details (per ED11- 043), and on March 3, 2012 submitted for building permits to construct the Phase I (three-mausoleums and landscaping improvements proposed for the property). The City is waiting for corrections to be resubmitted in order to issue permits for Phase I. If the permits cannot be issued in time, the applicant would need to submit an application for a time extension to inaugurate the Master Use Permit approval. There are not any specific Site and Use Regulations or Performance Standards that would apply to this use. A low intensity use on underutilized lands within the public/quasi-public areas could be deemed compatible with the base zone district. In order to evaluate this activity, staff recommends that the following nuisance factors should be considered, which are typically applied to mixed land uses: ¾ Adequacy of access, parking and utility facilities for the use ¾ Potential for creating new light and glare on adjacent properties ¾ Noise and/or potential odors ¾ Hours of operation and traffic In terms of parking and access, it is recommended that the roadway should be paved up to the main access gate, consistent with the approved Master Plan. Public Works has identified potential demand of 4 parking spaces would be required pursuant to the Parking Ordinance Chart 14.18.040 based on the proposed office and greenhouse building areas (i.e., 1.3 spaces for the 320 sf office building at 1/250sf and 2.8 spaces for the shed/nursery/greenhouse at 1/500sf). The proponent would use a standard sized van to shuttle clients and employees to and from the site, which would be able to turnaround within the existing maneuvering area provided on site. As noted in the description, the use would require 3 employees on this site, and one employee would drive the shuttle van to and from the site. There is space to park at least 3 vehicles on-site which would meet the actual anticipated demand for employee and client vehicles, including the shuttle van. Thus, there is sufficient space for employees and clients to be shuttled to the site, without causing any site or circulation conflicts (given that there are no other uses or activities in this area). However, to assure no issues are created on the private roadway, it is further recommended that a turnout be provided (24’) along the private road to allow two vehicles to pass. The applicant has indicated that additional parking is provided below the site on Upper Lakeview Roadway (see plans sheet A1.1). Employees or guests that park in this area would be driven to the site using the van or “Kabota” utility vehicle. Further, given the limited vehicle access to the facility, the applicant would prefer to maintain the access road as gravel. The Fire Department has reviewed the proposal and has not raised any issues with maintaining this as an unpaved fire access road. The site does not propose any significant sources of light, and would operate during daytime hours. Further, there are no generators or major composting or stockpiling of landscape materials shown or indicated that would create offensive odors that might be perceptible by the nearest residential users, REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION - Case No: UP12-010 Page 5 which are in excess of 100 feet from the site. Further, San Rafael Sanitation District has reviewed the use and has deemed the on-site private sanitation facilities adequate for the limited use. Water, electrical and structural improvements can be addressed, and would require review and approval of plans for issuance of construction permits, by the Building Division. The proposed hours of operation are during normal daytime hours, and a minimal amount of traffic would be attributed to the use. Comparing the existing and new use, no traffic impacts or additional fees were recommended as necessary for this low intensity use. Concerns raised by Public Works staff were with regard to circulation and turnaround, which were discussed above Thus, staff recommends the use may be supported, with the following conditions of approval recommended to address parking and circulation constraints: • The site shall maintain parking space for three vehicles on-site to accommodate the anticipated demand generated by the 3 employees. This parking demand shall include parking for the shuttle van, which shall be driven to and from the site by one of the three employees. • The site access should be paved to the front gate, consistent with the Master Plan approval. • A 24’ wide turnout shall be provided on the access road to allow two vehicles to pass. Additional conditions of approval are recommended to assure the use would remain compatible with the underlying land use district and approvals granted for the site. In light of this analysis, staff recommends that findings required for Use Permit approval can be satisfied, as presented in the draft resolution of approval (Exhibit 2). Inter-departmental Review The project was referred to the Building Division, Fire Prevention, San Rafael Sanitation District and Public Works for review and comment, and their requirements have been incorporated into the above discussion and conditions of approval, as appropriate. ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION A Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) has been adopted for the Mount Tamalpais Cemetery 50-Year Master Plan, consisting of a rezoning and three-phase development plan that includes the project area. Rezoning, and most annexation actions, would not qualify for an exemption under the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). Therefore, detailed environmental analysis was required and completed for the Master Plan project. The potential environmental effects of the proposed alternate use of the subject site area, consisting of a non-profit use that would be located in areas approved for development, are considered to have been adequately analyzed under the MND prepared and adopted for the 50 Year Master Plan. Typically, such a request would be deemed to be categorically exempt from the provisions of California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), as a Class 3 exemption (15303) which applies to minor new construction or conversion of small structures. However, given that the existing entitlements have not yet vested for the Mount Tamalpais Cemetery 50 year Master Plan project, it is appropriate and necessary for the MND to be utilized as the CEQA environmental document for this project. The provisions of Section 15162 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines state that no subsequent environmental review shall be prepared for a subsequent project unless the lead agency determines, on the basis of substantial evidence in the light of the whole record, one or more of the following: REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION - Case No: UP12-010 Page 6 a) Substantial changes are proposed in the project which will require major revisions of the previous negative declaration due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of the previously identified significant effects; b) Substantial changes occur with respect to the circumstances under which the project is undertaken which will require major revisions of the previous negative declaration due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects, or c) New information of substantial importance, which was not known and could not have been known with the exercise of reasonable diligence at the time the previous negative declaration was adopted show any of the following: a. The project will have one or more significant effects not discussed in the previous negative declaration. b. Significant effects previously examined will be substantially more severe than shown in the previous negative declaration. c. Mitigation measures or alternatives previously found not to be feasible would in fact be feasible, and would substantially reduce one or more significant effects of the project, but the project proponents decline to adopt the mitigation measure or alternative; or d. Mitigation measures or alternatives which are considerable different from this analyzed in the previous negative declaration would substantially reduce one or more significant effects on the environment, but the project proponents decline to adopt the mitigation measure or alternative It is deemed certain based on a review by the City and District staff that must issue permits for this project that there have been no substantial changes to existing environmental conditions and no possibility that the activity in question may have significant effects on the environment that were not already analyzed by the Mitigated Negative Declaration. The Mitigated Negative Declaration identified and mitigates all potential impacts that could occur from additional development with structures on the site. This has resulted in mitigation measures being adopted to address potential impacts from grading and construction activities on the Cultural Resources and Geology and Soils environmental considerations. A mitigation monitoring and reporting program was adopted and established as part of the Master Plan entitlements, and a Notice of Determination was filed December 2, 2008. In light of this review, no further environmental documentation is deemed to be required for this minor project change to proceed. NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING / CORRESPONDENCE Public notice was provided in excess of 15 days prior to this meeting, by mail on July 3 and site posting July 6, to residents and property owners within 300 feet of the Mount Tamalpais Cemetery site, and the Sun Valley HOA. Staff has spoken with one neighbor regarding the project. No concerns or issues have been raised. Staff will forward any comments received before the meeting date will be provided at the hearing. OPTIONS The Planning Commission has the following options: 1. Approve the application, as presented (staff recommended action) 2. Approve the application with certain modifications, changes or additional conditions of approval. REPORT TO PLANNING COMMISSION - Case No: UP12-010 Page 7 3. Continue the applications to allow the applicant to address any of the Commission’s comments or concerns 4. Deny the project and direct staff to return with a revised resolution. EXHIBITS 1. Vicinity Map 2. Draft Resolution GEM Approval 3. Applicants Written Response & GEM Project Description 4. Mt Tamalpais Cemetery 50 Yr Master Plan Ordinance, Use Permit and Design Review Approvals. (Project Plans have been distributed to the Planning Commission only)