Report Prepared by: Francisco Mendoza-Gonzalez, Associate Planner, Development Services Department
Title
SUBJECT: Public Hearing - General Plan Amendment #23-02 and Site Utilization Plan Revision #3 to Planned Development (P-D) #12, Initiated by Merced Security Storage, LLC, on Behalf of REM L and Group, LLC, Property Owner, for Approximately 6 Acres of Land at 1965 W. Olive Avenue, Generally Located on the North Side of Olive Avenue, Approximately 725 feet East of Highway 59; the General Plan Amendment Changes the General Plan Land Use Designation from Commercial Office (CO) to Business Park (BP); Site Utilization Plan Revision #3 Changes the Land Use Designation for Planned Development (P-D) #12 from “Commercial Office” to “Self-Storage.” This Request Would Allow the Development a Self-Storage Facility (Approximately 440 Storage Units) with Long-Term Boat and Recreational Vehicle Parking Spaces (Approximately 171 Parking Spaces) with a Live/Work Unit for an Onsite Manager for the Self-Storage Facility
REPORT IN BRIEF
Request for City Council to consider changing the General Plan land use designation from Commercial Office (CO) to Business Park (BP), and Site Utilization Plan Revision #3 to Planned Development (P-D) #12 to change the land use designation from “Commercial Office” to “Self-Storage”, including an Environmental Review and Legislative Action Agreement for approximately 6 acres of land at 1965 W. Olive Avenue, generally located on the north side of Olive Avenue, approximately 725 feet east of Highway 59.
RECOMMENDATION
City Council - Adopt a motion:
A. Adopting Resolution 2023-69, A Resolution of the City Council of the City of Merced, California, approving Environmental Review #23-08 (Mitigated Negative Declaration) for General Plan Amendment #23-02 and Site Utilization #3 to Planned Development (P-D) #12 for approximately 6 acres of land generally located on the north side of Olive Avenue, approximately 725 feet east of Highway 59, and approving General Plan Amendment #23-02 for the same property changing the General Plan designation from Commercial Office (CO) to Business Park (BP); and,
B. Introducing Ordinance 2552, An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Merced, California, approving Site Utilization Plan Revision #3 to Planned Development (P-D) #12 changing the land use designation from “Commercial Office” to “Self-Storage” for an approximately 6-acre parcel generally located on the north side of Olive Avenue, approximately 725 feet east of Highway 59; and,
C. Approving the Legislative Action Agreement and authorizing the City Manager or Deputy City Manager to execute the necessary documents.
Body
ALTERNATIVES
1. Approve, as recommended by the Planning Commission and staff; or,
2. Approve subject to modifications as conditioned by City Council; or,
3. Deny; or,
4. Refer back to staff for reconsideration of specific items (to be addressed in the
motion); or,
5. Continue to a future meeting (date and time to be specified in the motion).
AUTHORITY
Title 19 of the Merced Municipal Code outlines environmental review procedures and California Government Code Section 65358(a) grants authority to amend all or part of an adopted General Plan. Merced Municipal Code Section 20.42.080 grants the City Council authority to approve revisions to a Planned Development.
CITY COUNCIL PRIORITIES
Not applicable
DISCUSSION
Project Description
The subject site is an undeveloped 6-acre parcel generally located within northwest Merced at 1965 W. Olive Avenue on the north side of Olive Avenue, approximately 725 feet east of Highway 59 (Attachment 1). The applicant is requesting to change the General Plan land use designation from Commercial Office (CO) to Business Park (BP) and to change the Site Utilization Plan land use designation for Planned Development (P-D) #12 from “Commercial Office” to “Self-Storage” through the requested Site Utilization Plan Revision (Attachment 2). The proposed project includes a self-storage facility with approximately 440 storage units, a live/work unit for the self-storage manager, and a long-term boat and recreational vehicle parking facility with approximately 171 spaces. The applicant has provided a site plan (Attachment 3), floor plans (Attachment 4), and elevations (Attachment 5) for this proposal.
Site Design
The proposed development includes a self-storage facility with approximately 440 storage units, and a long-term boat and recreational vehicle storage facility with approximately 171 parking spaces (Attachment 3). The southern portion of the development along Olive Avenue would be reserved for the self-storage component of the business and would be accessible through an existing driveway along Olive Avenue. The storage units would range in dimensions between 5 feet by 5 feet, and 10 feet by 25 feet. The applicant is proposing a zero-lot line development (no side yard or rear setbacks with minimum 10-foot setback for the front yard) and would include storage units on portions of the south, west, and east property lines. On the eastern property line, the back of the storge buildings would be adjacent to the eastern property line, made out of concrete blocks, and be 12 feet tall. Portions of the north, west, and east property lines would be secured with a wrought iron perimeter fence (along the segment for boat and recreational vehicle parking only). The entrance to the project site would be secured with gates that would be equipped with electronic opening devices to restrict access (about 50 feet from the entry drive aisle).
The northern portion of the subject site (approximately 4 acres) would be dedicated for long-term boat and recreational vehicle storage with approximately 171 parking stalls with spaces ranging in size between 10 feet by 28 feet, and 12 feet by 58 feet. The long-term parking stalls would consist of gravel or other similar surface, but the drive aisles to said stalls would be paved with an impervious surface.
Elevations
The elevations shown at Attachment 5 illustrate the proposed structures for this project. The tallest structure would be the office at approximately 22 feet tall with the exterior consisting of terracotta tile roofing, walls with stucco finish, stone veneer columns, and storefront windows. The storage units would be about 11 feet tall and range in dimensions between 5 feet by 5 feet, and 10 feet by 25 feet. The storage units would have a metal finish and a sloped roof from 11 feet to 10 feet, and other similar angled heights sloping away from adjacent parcels to prevent drainage onto neighboring sites. The majority of the southern property line would be screened with the back of the storage units which would be made out of decorative concrete blocks with a base height of 9 feet that jets up to approximately 12 feet to add further screening. The block building wall would be an off-white color with grey ribbon accents along the top of the building wall. Cultured stones would be used throughout the wall to add architectural interest. As required by Condition #11 of Planning Commission Resolution #4119 (Attachment 8) landscaping or trees would be installed along this wall to soften the visibility of the site and discourage graffiti along the block building wall.
Development Standards (Parking, Setbacks, and Parking Surface)
Specific development standards are typically established within a Planned Development with the Site Utilization Plan. However, in this case, there were no standards adopted when the Planned Development was established. Therefore, development would be required to comply with the Zoning standards that correlate to the underlying General Plan designation. This development has requested modifications to those standards which may be allowed if approved with the Site Utilization Plan Revision. The developer has requested a reduction in the number of parking spaces required, a reduction in interior yard setbacks, and the use of an alternate material for the boat and RV parking surface (refer to Attachment 6).
The parking reduction would allow the development to provide 5 parking spaces for customers and employees instead of 9 spaces as required by the Zoning Ordinance (refer to the Site Plan at Attachment 3).
The applicant is also requesting a mostly Zero Lot Line development with no setbacks for the side and rear property lines, and a minimum 10-foot-setback for the front property line along Olive Avenue. For the recreational vehicle/boat parking surface area, the applicant is requesting that the drive aisles be finished with an impervious surface and that the parking stalls be made out gravel or similar surface rather than typical pavement or other type of impervious surface.
General Plan Compliance and Zoning Code Compliance
The proposed project would comply with the General Plan designation of Business Park (BP) and the zoning classification of “Self-Storage” for Planned Development (P-D) #12 if the requested General Plan Amendment and Site Utilization Plan Revision are approved.
Additional information on General Plan compliance including General Plan Goals and Policies achieved by this project are included in Exhibit B of Planning Commission Resolution #4118 at Attachment 7.
Traffic Circulation
The proposed development includes a self-storage facility with approximately 440 storage units, and a long-term boat and recreational vehicle storage facility with approximately 171 spaces on an approximately 6-acre vacant parcel located in northwest Merced. The project site fronts an arterial road (Olive Avenue). Vehicle access is available from an existing driveway along Olive Avenue that is shared with the parcel to the west.
Improvements
The development does not require or propose the construction of any streets. Staff is of the opinion that the existing streets can adequately serve the development, however, traffic signal timing optimization may be required at the intersection of Olive Avenue/Santa Fe Drive and Highway 59. Given the loading/unloading of storage facilities and the long-term boat and recreational vehicle storage, staff anticipates that large trucks and vehicles will be entering and exiting the site. To prevent these large vehicles from stacking onto Olive Avenue and creating traffic congestion, the Planning Commission included Condition #14 in Planning Commission Resolution #4119 (Attachment 8) requiring the developer to work with a traffic engineer to determine the sufficient distance for vehicle stacking space to enter the site. This may require making minor modifications to the site plan that would need to be reviewed and approved by the Director of Development Services (Condition #30 of Planning Commission Resolution #4119 - Attachment 8).
Neighborhood Impact
The land uses in the area included Light Industrial (IL) to the east of the subject site and Low Density Residential (LD) to the west of the subject site. The subject site was designated for Commercial Office (CO) to be a buffer between the industrial and residential uses. The CO designation offered reduced impacts to the adjacent residential properties as professional and medical offices tend to have limited hours of operation during the evening and weekends with less traffic and noise compared to light industrial uses. The requested land use change to Business Park (BP) would allow the site to still act as a buffer between the industrial and residential designations as Business Park is somewhat of a hybrid between light industrial and office commercial, described in the Zoning Ordinance as a district that allows back offices, and research and development businesses. There may be some temporary impacts such as vibration, noise, and dust during construction, but in general the proposed land use would create a buffer between the light industrial uses to the west and residential to the east.
Traffic generated by the proposed development is expected to be less than traffic generated by a typical office use. Although not many people are expected to come to the site throughout the day, noise and lighting from the proposed development would be reduced by the 12-foot-tall block building wall along the eastern property line between the subject site and residential properties to the east. In addition, the Planning Commission recommended conditions in Planning Commission Resolution #4119 (Attachment 8) requiring parking lot lights and building lights be shielded so that lighting does not “spill-over” to adjacent parcels (Conditions #26), require controlled hours of operation only allowing operation between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m. (Condition #28), and prohibit dwelling within storage facilities or within any recreational vehicle or boats parked onsite (Condition #29).
Black Rascal Creek/Floodway
The northern portion of the project is located within a floodway due to its proximity to Black Rascal Creek (100 feet north). This portion of the project would not have any buildings and would be used for boat and recreational vehicle storage purposes only. Within this floodway, the applicant would like to install a wrought iron fence along the northern, western, and eastern property lines (only along the portion adjacent to the boat and recreational vehicle parking only). However, doing so would require a No Rise Certificate prepared by a licensed Hydrologist confirming the fence would not increase the flood heights in the area or alter the flow of water. If the proposal does not qualify for a No Rise Certificate, the applicant would not be able to install any fencing within this area (refer to Condition #12 of Planning Commission Resolution #4118 at Attachment 8).
Environmental Review
The Planning staff has conducted an environmental review of the project in accordance with the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and concluded that Environmental Review #23-08 results in a Mitigated Negative Declaration as the proposal would have an effect on the environment, but could be mitigated with certain measures and does not require the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report. A copy of the Initial Study with a Mitigated Negative Declaration and Mitigation Monitoring Program can be found at Attachment 10.
Background
The subject site (approximately 6 acres) was annexed into the City in 1970, as part of the Fahrens Creek Annexation which incorporated approximately 576.60 acres of land into the City limits. The General Plan designations in the area included Light Industrial (IL) to the east of the subject site and Low Density Residential (LD) to the west of the subject site. The subject site was designated for Commercial Office (CO) to be a buffer between the industrial and residential uses. The CO designation offered reduced impacts to the adjacent residential properties as professional and medical offices tend to have limited hours of operation during the evenings and weekends with less traffic and noise compared to light industrial uses. The subject site has remained vacant for several decades and there has been difficulty developing this site given that its proximity to Black Rascal Creek (approximately 100 feet north) puts 2/3 of the subject site (or 4 acres) within a floodway that does not allow for the construction of any structures or buildings. These floodway restrictions have made it difficult to develop this site, however the proposed use of boat and recreational vehicle storage within this floodway do not require buildings making it a qualifying use within the floodway.
Planning Commission Action
The Planning Commission reviewed this proposal during the Planning Commission Meeting of July 5, 2023. The applicant’s representative spoke in favor of the project and no one spoke in opposition. The Planning Commission voted to recommend approval to the City Council for the proposed General Plan Amendment and Site Utilization Plan Revision by a vote of 6-0-0 with 1 vacancy in the Planning Commission (refer to Planning Commission Resolution #4118 at Attachment 7). In addition, the Planning Commission approved the Site Plan Review Permit and Conditional Use Permit (for a live-work unit for the self-storage manager) by the same vote (refer to Planning Commission Resolution #4119 at Attachment 8). The Site Plan Review Permit and Conditional Use Permit are contingent upon City Council approving of the General Plan Amendment and Site Utilization Plan Revision. Planning Commission Staff Report #23-289 is provided at Attachment 9
City Council Action
After the public hearing, staff recommends that the City Council adopt the Draft Resolution at Attachment 11 approving Environmental Review #23-08 (Mitigated Negative Declaration) and General Plan Amendment #23-02, introduce the Draft Ordinance at Attachment 12 approving Site Utilization #3 to Planned Development #12, approve the Legislative Action Agreement at Attachment 13, and authorize the City Manager or Deputy City Manager to execute the agreement.
IMPACT ON CITY RESOURCES
No appropriation of funds is needed. This property will be required to be part of the City’s Community Facilities District (CFD) for Services and would pay all applicable Public Facilities Impact Fees.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Location Map
2. Proposed Land Use Changes
3. Site Plan
4. Floor Plan
5. Elevations
6. Development Standards
7. Planning Commission Resolution #4118
8. Planning Commission Resolution #4119
9. Planning Commission Staff Report #23-289
10. Initial Study (Mitigated Negative Declaration)
11. Draft City Council Resolution 2023-69
12. Draft Ordinance 2552
13. Legislative Action Agreement
14. Presentation