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HomeMy WebLinkAboutDRC_2013-01-31_MinutesCITY OF A TASCADERO DESIGN REVIEW COMMITTEE ACTION MINUTES Regular Meeting — Thursday, January 31, 2013 - 6:00 P.M. City Hall Council Chambers 6907 EI Camino Real, Atascadero, California] CALL TO ORDER — 6:00 p.m. APPROVED Chairperson Fonzi called the meeting to order at 6:00 p.m. FE3 2013 ROLL CALL CITY OF ATASCA PLqNNG Present: Chairperson Fonzi, Committee Members Kelley, Ward, Cool DeCarli Absent: None Staff Present: Community Development Director Warren Frace Senior Planner Callie Taylor Assistant Planner Alfredo Castillo Fire Chief Kurt Stone Fire Marshal Tom Peterson Director of Public Works Russ Thompson Deputy Director of Public Works -Engineering David Athey Others Present: Victor Montgomery, RRM Design Group Property Owners Greg Smith & Jeff Smith, Eagle Ranch Approximately 60-80 people in the audience APPROVAL OF AGENDA , and MOTION: By Committee Member Kelley and seconded by Committee Member Ward to approve the Agenda. Motion passed 5:0 by a roll -call vote. PUBLIC COMMENT None Design Review Committee Draft Action Minutes January 31, 2013 CONSENT CALENDAR 1. APPROVAL OF DRAFT ACTION MINUTES OF DECEMBER 13, 2012 Page 2 of 9 MOTION: By Committee Member Ward and seconded by Committee Member Kelley to approve the consent calendar. Motion passed by unanimous vote. DEVELOPMENT PROJECT REVIEW — RECOMMENDATION TO CITY COUNCIL 2. PLN 2008-1280, EAGLE RANCH SPECIFIC PLAN The DRC will be reviewing the latest project proposal and will make a recommendation to the City Council regarding whether the project is ready to begin the EIR process. Property Owners: Greg Smith, Jeff Smith, Eagle Ranch LLC, PO Box 25010, Ventura, CA 93002 Applicant: RRM Design Group, 3765 S. Higuera St., Ste. 102, San Luis Obispo, CA 93401 Project Title: PLN 2008-1280, Eagle Ranch Specific Plan Project Project Location: Atascadero's southern boundary Project The Project: The Eagle Ranch project includes applications for a General Plan Description: Amendment, Specific Plan and Annexation for a 3,450 +/- acre area located on Atascadero's southern boundary. Current Proposed Prosect Statistics: ❑ 494 single-family lots • /2 — 1 acre: 72 lots (mostly merchant built) • 1 — 5 acre: 387 lots (semi -custom and custom homes) • 5 — 20 acre: 35 lots (custom homes) ❑ 93 multifamily & mixed-use units located at Village Center: • 79 senior housing units (19 of those would be affordable units) • 12 workforce housing units (condo/townhome style) • 2 mixed-use units (affordable units located above commercial) ❑ Resort Hotel: (42.4 acres) at historic ranch headquarters • 100 rooms • Full service resort, spa & equestrian center ❑ Highway Commercial (15.2 acres) • 200 room, 2-3 story hotel • Conference center and event area • Full service restaurant on adjacent parcel ❑ Village Center: (1.8 acres) • 15,000 square feet of neighborhood retail & offices & mail center ❑ Public Park: 10.7 acres ❑ Equestrian Staging Area: 1.5 acres ❑ Public Trails: 16.3 miles total • Class l Multi -use Path; 3.9 miles, 8' wide, paved, along main loop • Unpaved trail: 9.7 multiuse trails, mostly along existing ranch roads Design Review Committee Draft Action Minutes January 31, 2013 Page 3 of 9 throughout project and to Santa Margarita Hwy 101 underpass • National Forest Connector Trail: 2.7 miles, single track from the ALPS site near 3 Bridges to the Los Padres National Forest ❑ Open Space: 2,510 acres (73.2% of the project site) • Includes 2,239 acres of open area, mostly for cattle grazing • 271 acres of private ownership open space ("no -build" areas) Purpose: At the January 31st DRC meeting, the Committee will review the applicant's latest project proposal. Public comments received at the December 13, 2012 Neighborhood Workshop will be discussed. The DRC will be making a recommendation to the City Council regarding beginning the preparation of an Environmental Impact Report (EIR) for the project. The public is encouraged to attend the DRC meeting, and there will be an opportunity for public comment. Director Frace gave a brief presentation on the Design Review Committee at its role as it relates to the Planning Commission and City Council. The final decision to move this project forward to the EIR process will be on February 26, 2013, at a joint Planning Commission/ City Council meeting. The project has been redesigned since it was presented to the public last year. The redesigned project will be presented tonight by the applicant. The overall design remains more or less the same but the lot sizes have increased. The most recent meeting was on December 13, 2012, and during that meeting, there were four breakout groups; each group went through a process to list their concerns and priorities. In general, the key issues discussed were about neighborhood traffic impacts, project character and compatibility, and discussion about the trail system. All of these issues would be analyzed in the EIR. Steve Weinberger from W -Trans is the traffic engineer consulting on the EIR. Director Frace showed the latest traffic numbers. Staff is looking for direction and a recommendation from the DRC tonight in regards to a Class 1 walkable trail along Atascadero Avenue. Director Frace explained what a Class 1 trail is. Director Frace answered questions from the DRC members and then introduced Victor Montgomery from RRM Design Group. Victor Montgomery, RRM Design Group, made a presentation on the project. Mr. Montgomery showed slides and the progression of the lot sizes and site plans, and how it has evolved through a series of neighborhood meetings. He explained major points of the project including the following: • Single Family Lot Types • Project Entry Designs • The Village Center • Multi -family housing • 79 -unit senior housing • Workforce housing • Affordable housing • 100 -room equestrian -oriented resort hotel • 10 -acre park with a small amphitheater • Highway Commercial Area 0 Meeting and conference area in addition to conference rooms in the hotel Design Review Committee Draft Action Minutes January 31, 2013 Page 4 of 9 • Events lawn area • Restaurant • Trails • Equestrian Staging area This new plan has 494 lots; 186 fewer single-family lots than previously presented. 73% of the Ranch is proposed as permanent open space, much more than the existing lots would provide. Mr. Montgomery explained setbacks on the different types of lots and how some lots have a no -build area or designated building envelope. He also explained the Phasing Map and the Atascadero Avenue design objectives. The Post Office will not deliver mail to individual homes in the Eagle Ranch project, so mail will be picked -up at the Village Center. Mr. Montgomery answered questions from the DRC members. The EIR process would take about a year, and then it would go to Planning Commission and City Council before going to Annexation hearings with the County and LAFCO. Chairperson Fonzi explained that she would open public comment in sections so that the public could comment on one portion of the project at a time. PUBLIC COMMENT The following people spoke during the public comment.- Atascadero omment: Atascadero Ave North Entry Cora -Ortega increased traffic concerns Terry Grebel - Atascadero Road traffic and safety concerns Gary Thompson - Atascadero Ave/San Diego Road exit, noise, speed, traffic Nancy Spitzer - flood concerns (Exhibit A) Atascadero Ave So Entry Lenora Shealy — Lives across from main entrance; concerned with traffic, noise and lights Susan Tishu - Eagle Creek, concerned with traffic being pushed south to Santa Barbara Staighth Smith - Colorado Road - wants options explored Jack McCabe - cyclist concerned about traffic and project not ready to move forward to EIR San Carlos Deb Dide - San Rafael concerned with traffic numbers, road, culvert, road widening Cyndi Spain — concerned with no traffic study on San Carlos and is County keeping taxes? Matt Gillette - San Carlos traffic and Los Osos yield problem, proposed utilities, phases. Upper San Diego Road Red Heesch - filed comments in supplemental packet, concerned that new road to be open will be feeding Eagle Ranch traffic into neighborhood. Sandy Jack - San Diego Road connection, public parking in neighborhood, safety concerns, trailhead concerns Design Review Committee Draft Action Minutes January 31, 2013 Page 5 of 9 Jim Dubois — If Fire Department has to have an exit, why do they have to have a 2 -way road? Encouraged members to look at the property, wants a single road for 2nd access into the ranch. George Merritt — Is the Fire Department going to be increased in size? Do we have the resources? He was here for the Hwy 41 fire. Visual Character/Road, Highway Commercial/Bikeway Trails Sraight Smith — how close is the hotel to the residential area? Kelley Hughes — Colorado Road — a lot of empty homes, what is retail occupancy rate with hotels? Can our City support this development? Jack McCabe — Hotel is at the City's request; have market studies been done? Phasing/Affordable Housing None Traffic - General John Daley — When San Rafael becomes a feeder, people will use Colorado Road to Santa Rosa which will be increased traffic on Santa Rosa interchange. Serious concerns with the traffic there. Diana Larsen — Existing lots on San Rafael are minimum 3 YY2 acres. RRM has been cooperating; traffic concern on San Rafael if becomes shortcut to Atascadero Ave., how will phasing be maintained with future developers? Karen Borden — Concerned San Rafael will feed all the people from 3F meadows to HWY101; need stop signs & no speed bumps, please slow traffic on San Rafael. Jack McCabe —Traffic impacts are greater because you have increased density Paul Hyman — Applicant takes too much credit for changing inflated density. Density is directly related to traffic. Project as a Whole Paul Hyman — City, applicant and neighbors have worked hard but there is a communication failure. Project has not changed much. Wants a smaller project. Should have no granny units. He has a petition (Exhibit B — not received by Recording Secretary) with 20 signatures he asked to be put into the record. Lenora Shealy — Wants to know what this will do to property values, sales prices. Chris Smith — Supports Paul Hyman and Jack McCabe and is concerned with density. Lots on Los Osos are too skinny, not consistent with neighboring lots Jack McCabe — Values our Atascadero neighborhoods. Existing los have little developable value; this project is a win fall for owners. Property values go down, not enough time for EIR. Twyla Martin — Read two more paragraphs from Paul Hyman's petition. John Daley — LAFCO must be involved and not be a shadow process Gary Thompson — Concerned with rural nature, Atascadero Avenue should not be an express route. Jody Smith — Property values will decrease, please listen to our comments. Design Review Committee Draft Action Minutes January 31, 2013 Page 6 of 9 Exhibit C — Mitch Paskin letter turned in Exhibit D — Doug Piirto letter turned in Exhibit E — Patti Davis comment letter turned in Chairperson Fonzi closed the Public Comment period. Russ Thompson answered questions in regards to traffic calming incorporated in to Atascadero Avenue. There will be no rumble strips; talked about crosswalks being raised to slow traffic down. Victor Montgomery answered concerns regarding headlights. The median is anticipated to be landscaped. This should screen the lights and we are creating bigger distance. Ms. Spitzer's flood issues (Exhibit A) will be addressed in the EIR. Russ said there are existing flooding problems now. The City is aware of this and increased drainage will be studied and mitigated. The developer cannot increase the natural flow, so there will be storm water detention and retention on site. Russ Thompson talked about traffic oriented towards the south entrance. The tradeoff is that there will be a great deal of traffic and that road will be widened. Part of the EIR will incorporate this, and the road will be constructed to handle this traffic safely. We will look at alternatives that won't force all traffic to the south. Victor Montgomery answered questions about cyclists and safety and said there will be a bike path. We have not studied it in detail, but we anticipate we will accommodate this traffic. Russ Thompson addressed the concerns with the San Rafael and San Carlos entrance/exits. Russ said that San Carlos is currently acts as a driveway, and that portion will be upgraded to current City standards. Roads internal to the project will be maintained privately. San Rafael will most likely be publicly maintained. He explained the turning movements in the traffic study at San Carlos. Utilities will be extended and there will most likely be natural gas on the ranch property. Russ Thompson addressed issues in regards to traffic impacts and culverts and stated the City recently did the citywide culvert assessment. Traffic studies still show that most of traffic goes to Santa Barbara Road interchange instead of Santa Rosa interchange. When a final traffic report is done, those issues will come into better focus. Kurt Stone talked about road standards on San Diego Road and explained why a secondary access point is so important and mandated by Code. In the EIR, traffic will be looked at and how that relates to the Fire Department access and a 1 -way road. He explained that having a 2 -lane road minimizes vehicle accidents that could block the road in an emergency. This is going to fix an existing safety problem. Putting a gate will create a problem; a through access road is the only option in his opinion. The Fire Department is open to ideas for a Design Review Committee Draft Action Minutes January 31, 2013 Page 7 of 9 better solution and can study those in the EIR. This road is currently scheduled for Phase 8, possibly 10+ years out. Victor Montgomery said that granny units have not been studied in traffic updates thus far. They do not have dramatic effects but they will be looked at. Director Frace said that the City allows them, however, we don't see huge numbers being built. We can definitely look at this during the EIR process. Victor Montgomery answered questions about lots that are too skinny and shared driveways. Shared driveways are appropriate solution. Director Frace explained how the LAFCO process will be handled. After we have completed our process, the project will go to LAFCO for a final decision. Russ Thompson addressed the fatalities on the "S" curve on Atascadero Avenue. This portion of the road will be straightened out and traffic should slow down there and the median will have some traffic calming effects. This will also be studied in the EIR. Chairperson Fonzi adjourned the meeting for a break at 8:30 p.m. Chairperson Fonzi readjourned the meeting at 8:40 p.m. COMMITTEE DELIBERATIONS Susan DeCarli — • Park and Ride Lot near equestrian -stage area? • Atascadero trail gap — needs clarification Director Frace explained that a detached trail may have more flexibility. Transition at Ortega needs study. Area between Ortega & South entrance does not provide trail. MOTION: By Committee Member DeCarli and seconded by Committee Member Cooper to direct staff to look at doing a Class 1 trail along entire Atascadero Avenue Ranch property frontage. Motion passed by 5:0 by a roll call vote. Susan DeCarli • Talked about wanting the process for the EIR to move forward • Some smaller lots could provide a broader range in diversity of housing types and would like to have this as an alternative scenario. • Senior housing component is not a good fit because this is an isolated location. • Project lacks housing diversity (adding back homes most people could afford to buy.) Design Review Committee Draft Action Minutes January 31, 2013 Page 8 of 9 Chuck Ward • Tax split between the County vs. the City. Director Frace explained the annexation policy and said that the county keeps all property taxes as of the day the project is sold and then the City gets 1/3. Council is concerned with the fiscal analysis and cost of services. The City will be starting the process with the County of San Luis Obispo to renegotiate the agreement and a decision will be up to the County Board of Supervisors. • Does the City have enough fire equipment to take on the increased area? Fire Chief Stone explained that it depends on the type of emergency and mutual aid system. He has seen this plan go through several modifications and it's a great project. In regards to homeowners who are concerned, he believes the developers will do it right and it's a wonderful project. Bob Kelley • We have all been to the meetings since 2008, and some changes that have come about have been ideas from all of us, including council members. He believes it is ready to go on to the EIR. • Addressed Committee Member DeCarli's concerns about housing; there are many small lot and starter home developments being constructed in the City already. Christian Cooper • Asked about San Carlos and San Rafael trips and Director Frace answered his questions. • Believes the project should move on to the EIR and understands neighbor's concerns. He thanked the public for their participation in the process. Roberta Fonzi • There are many things that need to be looked at in the EIR. • There are really good trails and open space proposed • The public will have an opportunity to comment again. • We need to look at all of the options. • She shares the public concerns and also treasures Eagle Ranch and the viewscape. • She is in agreement with Committee member DeCarli about a greater range of workforce housing options. • Fire protection is a large concern. MOTION: By Committee Member Ward and seconded by Committee Member Kelley to recommend to the Planning Commission and City Council that the project move forward to the EIR phase with options to look at additional workforce housing alternatives. Motion passed 5:0 by a roll -call vote. Design Review Committee Draft Action Minutes January 31, 2013 Page 9 of 9 COMMITTEE MEMBER COMMENTS AND REPORTS None DIRECTOR'S REPORT Discussion about moving DRC meetings from Thursdays to the Wednesdays after the Tuesday City Council meetings. The committee was in consensus to change the DRC meetings from Thursdays to Wednesdays. ADJOURNMENT - 9:12 p.m. IOTill►Lill 1*1aIN49-11 :4112 9 Annette Manier Recording Secretary The following exhibits are available in the Community Development Department: Exhibit A —Nancy Spitzer email and exhibits Exhibit B — Petition not received by Recording Secretary Exhibit C — Mitch Paskin Exhibit D — Doug Piirto Exhibit E — Patti Davis Comment Card t:\— design review committee\minutes\minutes 2013\action dre minutes 1-31-13.docx Adopted 2-13-2013