Report to the Planning Commission
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THE CITY OF SAN DIEGO Report to the Planning Commission DATE ISSUED: April 7, 2016 REPORT NO. PC-16-036 HEARING DATE: April 14, 2016 SUBJECT: Appeal of the Hearing Officer's Decision to Approve a Conditional Use Permit for a Telecommunication Switching Facility Process Three Decision PROJECT NO. 427117 REFERENCE: Report to the Hearing Officer: Report No. H0-16-01 0 (Attachments 1-9). OWNER/ Time Warner Cable Pacific West LLC/ APPLICANT: Stephen Slater SUMMARY Issue: Should the Planning Commission approve or deny an appeal of the Hearing Officer's decision to approve a Conditional Use Permit for a telecommunication switching station on a site located at 4020 Convoy Street within the Kearny Mesa Community Planning area? Staff Recommendation: Deny the appeal and uphold the Hearing Officer's decision to Approve Conditional Use Permit No. 1502164. Community Planning Group Recommendation: The project was presented to the Kearny Mesa Community Planning Group on September 16, 2015 and on October 16, 2015 as an action item. The community group voted 9-1-0 to recommend approval of the project with no conditions (Attachment 7). Reference the Discussion section of the Hearing Officer Report within Attachment 1, page 4. Environmental Review: This project was determined to be categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to Article 19 Section 15301, (Existing Facilities) and 15303 (New Construction or Conversion of Small Structures). On February 2, 2016, the City Council considered an appeal of the Environmental Determination filed by the Convoy Business Partnership, and voted 9-0 to deny the appeal and approve the Environmental Determination. Fiscal Impact Statement: None with this action. All costs associated with the processing of this project are paid from a deposit account maintained by the applicant. BACKGROUND The project proposes to demolish an existing commercial building and construct an approximately 6,238-square-foot, remotely controlled communication switching station on a 0.52-acre site located at 4020 Convoy Street. The industrial site is zoned IL-3-1 and designated for General Commercial uses within the Kearny Mesa Community Plan. The site is currently developed with an existing market/restaurant building which has been vacant since 2011. The project requires a Conditional Use Permit Process Three Decision for the following separately regulated use category: Major Transmission, Relay, or Communication Switching Systems. The proposed project would construct a maximum 28'-6"- high structure including a cable hub room, direct current power room, service room, electrical room, and an enclosed generator yard. The facility will provide enhanced high speed internet and phone services to business class and residential customers, delivering increased capacity and improved reliability. The facility is designed to be operated and monitored remotely with minimum on-site visits for regular maintenance and testing of equipment. The structure is sited within the northerly portion of the site, allowing for vehicular access and parking along the southerly portion of the property. The access gate to the facility is set back from the building to allow for queuing of vehicles and for the installation of increased landscaping in front of the structure. A total of six parking spaces are required for the facility. DISCUSSION The project was approved by the Hearing Officer on February 24, 2016. On March 9, 2016, an appeal of the Hearing Officer's Decision was filed by the Convoy Business District. The grounds for the appeal identified "findings not supported" in three issue areas. The appeal application did not provide specific information in any of the three issue areas. The appeal issues and staffs responses are provided below: Appeal Issue No. 1: Development is not consistent with the Community Plan Staff Response: The proposed project is consistent with the Kearny Mesa Community Plan. The site is designated for General Commercial uses within the Community Plan and zoned IL-3-1, a city wide industrial zone. The Community Plan does not specifically address telecommunication switching stations. The proposed use is a separately regulated institutional use allowed in the zone with a Conditional Use Permit regardless of the land use designation. The Commercial Element of the Community Plan states that properties within the General Commercial land use designation should be allowed to redevelop with a broad array of uses, including both commercial and industrial uses. The Land Development Code's Grouping of Category Section <Section 131.0111 ) states the following: Any use within the institutional, retail sales, commercial services, offices, and vehicle and vehicular equipment sales and services categories is considered a commercial use or commercial development. Community Plan policies contained with the Commercial Element state that commercial developments within the western Kearny Mesa area - 2 - on certain streets, including Convoy Street, " ... are encouraged to redevelop with an array of uses permitted by that land use category ..." The Urban Design Element of the Community Plan contains guidelines for new developments requiring consistency with the scale and character of the surrounding development and transition to older buildings by providing similar building setbacks. The building provides varying step backs from the front property line and conforms to the IL-3-1 zone's front setback requirement of 15 feet, consistent with other developments on the block. The property is located within the General Plan's Commercial Employment, Retail and Services subarea (CERS) which is intended to address the commercial-related needs of the va rious community planning areas. The project will provide improved and enhanced internet, telephone, cable and other related services used in the day-to-day operations of those uses located with the CERS designated areas within the Kearny Mesa Community Plan. The proposed project implements several goals and recommendations of the Community Plan and will not adversely affect the land use plan. Reference the Draft Conditional Use Permit Resolution, Finding No.1 for staff's detailed analysis of the land use finding (Attachment 4, pages 1 and 2 of 4). Appeal Issue No.2: Development is not consistent with the City Municipal Code 141.0416, "Major Transmission, Relay, or Communications Switching Systems" because it does not minimize visibility from adjacent rights-of-way. Staff Response: The proposed project has been designed to comply with the two separately regulated use regulations (screening requirements) for Major Transmission, Relay, or Communications Switching Systems pursuant to San Diego Municipal Code Section 141.0416. These regulations state the following: (a) The structures shall be located on the site so that visibility from adjacent public rights-of-way or adjacent residential development is minimized. (b) Fences, walls trees and other forms of landscaping shall be used to screen structures from adjacent public rights-of-way or adjacent residential development. There are no adjacent residential developments to the site. The proposed landscaping will address the public rights of way visibility issues. The project proposes new landscape features adjacent to the front of the building along Convoy Street including five new street trees, and drought tolerant, self sufficient landscaping materials including new shrubs, bushes and ground cover. The Sweet Bay trees (two proposed) will provide year-round visual screening and softening of the building. The Incense Cedar (three proposed) is a large tree used which is drought tolerant and can grow to a typical height of 30 to 50 feet. The foliage of this tree is densely massed and vivid green, flowing to the ground. The sweet bay is a small to medium tree with deep green, dense foliage and will reach a typical height of 20 to 30 feet which provides human scale along the walkway. The combination of these two trees, along with the projects proposed accent and foundation shrubs, will provide the required minimized visibility from the Convoy Street public right-of-way. - 3 - Appeal Issue No. 3: Development negatively impacts visuals and neighborhood character. Staff Response: Staff conducted an initial study consistent with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines. This review included an analysis of potential impacts to the issue areas of Visual Quality and Neighborhood Character. Upon completion of the review, staff determined that the project would not result in a significant physical effect on the environment and that the project qualified to be exempt. As noted previously in the "Environmental Review" Section ofthis report, the CEQA determination was appealed, subsequently the City Council denied the appeal and approved the Environmental Determination. The Urban Design Element of the Kearny Mesa Community Plan contains guidelines which require that developments should be consistent with the scale and character of the surrounding development and transition to older buildings by providing similar building setbacks. The building provides varying step backs from the front property line and conforms to the IL-3-1 zone's front setback requirement of 15 feet, consistent with other developments on the block. The proposed project is consistent with these guidelines in that the building uses step-back design techniques and new landscape features including five new street trees, drought tolerant, self sufficient landscaping