HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 3 - Staff Report - MilleniaCM ULA VISTA
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AGENDA STATEMENT
Item: 3
Meeting Date: 2/10116
ITEM TITLE: Public Hearing: Design Review (DR15 -0020) to construct 309 multi-
family units with 602 parking spaces, retail and restaurant space on 9.43
acres within the Millenia Master Planned Community, Applicant:
Trammell Crow Residential, Maple Multi - Family Land CA, L.P.
SUBMITTED BY: Patricia Ferman, Landscape Architect/Project Manager
REVIEWED BY: Kelly Broughton, Director of Development Services
INTRODUCTION
In accordance with the Millenia/Eastern Urban Center (EUC) Sectional Planning Area (SPA)
Plan, Trammell Crow Residential has submitted a Design Review application for approval to
construct 309 multi - family units which include multi -story units providing 4,272 square feet for
live -work use. The project also proposes 6,833 square feet of retail and restaurant space, a
10,139 square -feet leasing office /club house, 602 parking spaces, recreation areas, and associated
open space within the Gateway Mixed Use Commercial District I and the Main Street District 6.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The Development Services Director has reviewed the proposed project for compliance with the
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the proposed project was
adequately covered in previously adopted Final Second Tier Environmental Impact Report,
(EIR- 07 -01) thus, no further environmental review or documentation is required.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the Planning Commission adopt Resolution DR15 -0020 for the development of 309 multi-
family units, based on the findings and subject to the conditions contained therein.
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DR15 -0020
DISCUSSION:
Project Site Characteristics
Page No. 2
The 9.43 -acre project site consists of three lots within the Gateway Mixed Use Commercial
District (District 1, a portion of SPA Lot 3) and the Main Street District (District 6, SPA lots 5
and 6). The Project is bordered on the north by a future commercial development and Birch
Road; on the east by Orion Avenue, the Pulse Apartments and Stylus Park; on the south by
Stylus Street and a fixture mixed use development; and on the west, by Millenia Avenue and a
future commercial development (Locator Map, Attachment 1).
The site is vacant and has been mass - graded by the Master Developer, SLF 1V — Millenia, LLC.
The following table identifies the General Plan, Land Use Designation and Existing Land Use
for the project site and adjacent properties:
General Plan, SPA Plan Land Use Designations and Existing land uses
General Plan PC District Land Existing Land Use
Use Designation
Site EUC Gateway Mixed Use Vacant
Commercial / Main
Street District
North EUC Gateway Mixed Use Vacant
Commercial
South EUC Main Street District Vacant
East EUC Northeastern Mixed Use Residential
Neighborhood (Pulse Apartments) and
District 2 Stylus Park
West EUC Gateway Mixed Use Vacant
Commercial
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The project proposes a mixed -use development that combines residential uses over ground floor
work space, retail, a restaurant, and community recreation areas. The project includes twenty -
three buildings on three lots with nine types of building elevations. The residential buildings are
three and four stories in height with individual tuck -under garages directly connecting to the
ground floor units. Out of the fifteen multi -story units facing Metro Avenue, twelve have work
spaces on the ground floor, all with direct access to a two -car garage. (Attachment 6, Project
Plans pages SP -3 and A2.1— A10.2).
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DR15 -0020 Page No. 3
The 309 rental apartments are offered in one, two, and three bedroom models with floor plans
ranging in size from 629 square feet to 2,262 square feet. Overall, the project proposes a total of
189 one - bedroom units, 111 two- bedroom units, and 9 three- bedroom units. (Attachment 6,
Project Plans pages A11.1 -- Al 6.1).
The SPA considers Metro Avenue as one of the primary pedestrian elements in Millenia,
connecting the surrounding community to the various components of the development, such as
the Town Square Park at its southern terminus. Three residential buildings located south of
Artisan Street, facing Metro Avenue are designed to have a total of 4,467 square feet of retail
space, 2,084 square feet of restaurant space with 282 square feet for outdoor dining, and 4,272
square feet of work/live space at the ground level. In addition, a residential building located at
the southwest corner of Artisan Street and Metro Avenue would have a total of 10,139 square
feet to accommodate a leasing office, a clubhouse, a fitness center, a business center, a bike cafe,
and a pet spa (Attachment 6, Project Plans pages A2.1 — A3.5).
A total of 602 parking spaces are proposed which include garages, carports, and uncovered
parking on -site and diagonal on- street parking spaces for commercial and residential uses.
Vehicular access to the project is from private driveways connecting to Artisan Street and Stylus
Street (Attachment 6, Project Plans pages SP -3).
The landscape design intent of the project is to provide outdoor gathering areas and passive
landscape corridors for the resident's enjoyment. The project's adjacency to Stylus Park located
east of Orion Avenue, will also benefit the residents. A low water use planting palette in
combination with enhanced paving will complement the modem architecture, while framing the
pedestrian scale of the development (Attachment 6 Project Plans, pages L -1-- L -6).
The project is also proposing hydromodification and water quality management in accordance
with City and regional requirements through multiple modular wetland units incorporated in the
design (Attachment 6, Project Plans page C -1 through C -4).
The outdoor Iighting concept is to provide levels of lighting sufficient to meet safety and
orientation needs. Within public areas, lighting would be warm colored and unobtrusive, and it
would be provided by a combination of lighting types, including bollards along pedestrian
walkways, pole lights in parking lots and courtyards, overhead festival lights at gathering areas,
accent lighting at trees, and overhead pendent lighting at the crosswalk on Metro Avenue
(Attachment 6, Project Plans page L.7)
PROJECT ANALYSIS
The following Project Data Table shows the development regulations along with the applicant's
proposal to meet said requirements:
Assessor's Parcel Number:
643- 060 -28 (portion) and 35
Current Zoning:
Planned Community
General Plan Designation:
EUC
Lot Area:
9.43 acres
Rev 1/22/16
DR15 -0020
Page No. 4
PARKING REQUIRED:
PARKING PROPOSED:
Residential`
Residential
Flat Apartments: 1.65 /unit x 294 units =
486
268 garage spaces
Multi -story units: 1.85 /unit x 15 =
28
29 carport spaces
Total Residential parking required =
514
185 uncovered on -site spaces
47 uncovered on- street spaces
529 parking spaces
Commercial
Commercial
Restaurant 15 spaces /1,000 s.f. x 2,084 s.f =
32
- Outdoor 15 spaces /1,000 s.f. x 282 s.f. =
5
Retail (LM 4 spaces /1,000 s.f. x 4,272 s.f. =
18
Retail 4 s aces /1000 s.f x 4 467 s.f =
18
73 uncovered on- street spaces
Total Commercial parking required 73
Total: 587 parldng spaces
Total provided: 602 parking spaces
OPEN SPACE REQUIRED
OPEN SPACE PROPOSED
200 s.f per unit x 309 = 61,800 s.f
Private Open Space: 23,066 s.f.
Common Open Space: 46,201 s.f.
Total Open Space required: 61,800 s.f.
Total Open Space provided: 69,267s.L
SETBACKS/HEIGHT REQUIRED:
SETBACKS/HEIGHT PROPOSED:
Building Setback:
District 6 0- feet Metro Avenue
All buildings along public streets
0 -5 feet (Millenia, Artisan, Stylus)
maintain a 0 foot setback
District 1 0 -10 feet (northern portion)
Building Height:
Residential Building Height * * *:
District 1 MI1— minimum 1 story, 25 feet
Building A, four story 54 %z feet
District 6 MH3— minimum 3 story, 40 feet
iconic feature 60 feet
Buildings B -H three story 37 feet
Notes.
Pursuant to Section 03.15.010(g) of the EUC SPA Plan, projects that require snore than 100 spaces
are required to prepare a parking study to identify their parking needs. As such, a Parking Study
ryas prepared by LLG Engineers which established the pa kilig ratios for this project (see narrative
below).
* A total of 25,152 square feet of private open space (balconies) will be provided; however, only
23,066 square feet quay as private open space square footage. Balconies with sgiraf•e footages
less than 60 square feet are not included in the 4ualifyirig private open space total.
* * * Measured to top of parapet wall.
Rev 1/22/16
DR15 -0020 Page No. 5
Compliance with the EUC Form Based Code Gateway and Main Street Districts
The EUC Form Based Code (FBC) identifies Dominant Land Use categories for each of its
Districts. The dominant land use for the Gateway Mixed Use Commercial District (District 1) is
Business/Retail, while the dominant land use for the Main Street District (District 6) is Mixed
Use. Because the predominant land use of the project reflects that of the Main Street District, the
Mixed Use category has been used as a basis for the project analysis of the site planning and
design of the project. However, because the project lies within these two separate Districts,
development standards have been provided from both Districts, as well as, describing how the
project complies with the applicable standards. Chapter 02,04.000 discusses the Main Street
District which includes a range of urban form guidelines (Attachment 3, EUC Form Based Code
Gateway Mixed Use and Main Street Districts). Outlined below is a discussion as to how the
proposed project conforms to the development standards and applicable guidelines.
Parking
Section 03.15.010(g) of the EUC Form Based Code (FBC) allows for projects which generate a
need for more than 100 parking spaces, based upon the initial parking rates contained in FBC
Table III -A, to prepare a parking study to identify the actual parking needs of the project.
While the Section also allows such a parking study to be based on initial rates in an approved
Parking Management Plan, such a Plan does not yet exist for Millenia.
As allowed, a parking study dated November 17, 2015 was prepared for the applicant by
Linscott, Law & Greenspan Engineers, and reviewed by the City (Attachment 4). Following
from parking rate provisions in FBC Section 13.15.003, the study relied primarily on the Urban
Land Institute's (ULI) Shared Parking, Second Edition parking demand rates. As presented in
LLG's parking study, the current initial rates shown in FBC Table 111 -A for medium and high
density residential units is 1.85 spaces /unit (per ULI for for -sale units) considering a worst case
assumption when the SPA was originally approved that all units could be for -sale. The Alexan
project's residential is predominantly rental, for which the ULI standards call for parking at a
rate of 1.65 spaces /unit as presented in the parking study. The 1.85 spaces /unit is retained for the
15 multi -story multi -story units.
With regard to non- residential parking, the study relies on the ULI Shared Parking, Second
Edition rates, requiring 15 spaces /1,000 square feet for Family Restaurants and 4.0 spaces /1,000
square feet for Community Shopping Center ( <400,000 square feet). As discussed above, this
equates to a minimum of 73 parking spaces, which are being proposed in the form of uncovered
on- street spaces.
Pursuant to the LLG parking study, the compliance table on the preceding page shows that a total
of 587 parking stalls would be required for the entire mixed -use project. The applicant is
proposing a total of 602 spaces, which includes 15 additional on- street residential spaces, which
could be used by a combination of residents and guests.
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DR15 -0020 Page No. 6
Section 03.15.010 (g) also requires that all projects obtain approval of their specific parking plan
from the Millenia Parking District authority (currently the Master Association) via a letter of
concurrence, and that the letter be submitted to the City at the Design Review stage of the
approval process. The required letter of concurrence is included as Attachment 5.
Site Planning
EUC SPA Sections 02.04.003 thru 02.04.005 (Attachment 3, EUC Foim Based Code Main Street
District page II -23) describe overall site planning and architectural principles that ensure projects
within the Main Street District utilize design strategies that will:
• Establish a strong relationship between buildings and Metro Avenue (Main Street),
placing the buildings at or near the sidewalk edge
• Emphasize ground floor retail frontage, although horizontal mixed use is permitted, along
Metro Avenue (Main Street), potential residential and boutique hotel with minimal retail
uses on the side streets at primary intersection.
• Introduce pedestrian- scaled design elements at street level, including inviting entrances,
transparent windows, coordinated canopies and awnings.
• Encourage distinctive and innovative storefront design while maintain compatibility with
the overall building character and urban street scene.
The project meets these guidelines. Buildings along Metro Avenue (Main Street) will establish a
strong relationship with Metro Avenue by maintaining a zero (0) foot building setback from the
sidewalk. The building facades at these locations are faced with unobstructed glass surfaces at
ground level in order to provide a pedestrian friendly orientation. In addition, the corner
commercial/restaurant, as well as, ground floor "work" components of the live work units along
both sides of the street will further enhance the pedestrian scale and urban street scene. The site
layout reflects the idea of Metro Avenue (Main Street) being the central element and focus of the
project.
The development meets the requirement to provide functional outdoor spaces by proposing a
22,000 square foot pool recreation courtyard located within the western portion of the project.
This communal space proposes a pool with SPA and cabana, a play courtyard, a dining terrace,
lounges and an entertainment terrace. Additional ' outdoor spaces provided within the eastern
portion of the project include an 8,900 square foot courtyard area.
Architecture
The dominant architectural style is "modern". Architectural elerrients have been chosen which
create dramatic displays of light and shadow. The use of bold geometry and lineal horizontal and
vertical elements reflect the modern architectural style. Neutral, earth -tone colors have been
chosen which helps to focus attention on the use of the proportions and rhythms which have been
Rev 1122116
DR15 -0020
Page No. 7
incorporated throughout the project design. Attention has been given to the way in which
materials relate to each other, including the intersection of wall planes at the corners. Building
exteriors are expressed as multiple planes rather than a single surface.
The architectural detailing varies from one building to the next to establish a hierarchy of
architectural detailing which provides variety throughout the project. However, a design feature
throughout the project is its pedestrian orientation (Attachment 6, A13.1 --- A14.3).
Exhibits II -4 and I1 -25 of the Form Based. Code (Attachment 3, page II -5 and Page II -25)
requires the project to incorporate the use of "Iconic Architecture" at six key intersections within
the Project Site. In compliance with this requirement, the project proposes iconic
features /elements which are consistent with the overall design theme of the project and are
distinguished from the adjacent structures because of their scale, form and enhanced material
selection, as well as, enhanced landscape design and selection.
Each of the corners has unique design features with enhanced materials. Two of the locations for
the iconic architecture are at the southeast corner of Millenia Avenue and Artisan Street and the
northeast comer of Millenia Avenue and Stylus Street. Substantial fin walls have been provided
which are taller and wider than the adjacent structure and utilize premium materials increasing its
level of design significance. This creates an iconic statement which is compatible with the
adjacent building design. The popped out massing helps create interest and contrast by having a
different texture and color than the fin wall beyond (Attachment 6, A13.2)
The third through sixth examples of iconic architecture are located at each of the corners of
Metro Avenue and Artisan Road intersection. The northwest and northeast corners of Metro and
Artisan will utilize fin walls. The southwest coiner element extends along the entire building
which consists of four levels and represents the tallest (most visually prominent) portion of the
project. Vibrant accent colors have also been added at the corners (Attachment 6, A13.3). The
southeast corner of Metro and Artisan is designed with a unique canopy which extends over the
right -of -way, the use of vertical bi -fold windows and a tower element on the corner (Attachment
6, A13.1).
Landscape Guidelines
Section 02.04.006 outlines the Landscape guidelines ensuring that projects create intimate
gathering places for resident social interaction and making Metro Avenue an environment
suitable for outdoor dining. (Attachment 3, page 11-5 and II -23, 24).
The project is internally connected by a series of walkways with enhanced paving, outdoor
gathering spaces and landscaped corridors. The development also includes a number of
amenities for its residents, such as: children's play areas, dining terraces with shade trellises, a
game lounge, a pool terrace with cabanas and a spa, fire places, and lounge areas. The proposed
hardscape material finishes, such as linear pavers, file and colored concrete will complement the
buildings architecture and colors. This internal pedestrian system also connects the project to the
pedestrian corridors in Millcnia taking the residents to public places and encouraging pedestrian
circulation (Attachment 6, Project Plans pages L3 — L6).
Rev 1122/16
DR15 -0020 Page No. 8
In addition, the project proposes to have retail space and restaurant space at the ground level of
the buildings facing Metro Avenue with outdoor dining and gathering spaces for social
interaction framed by low growing plantings and trees providing shade, color, and sound. Metro
Avenue includes 20 -foot wide sidewalks on both sides of the street which provide opportunities
for outdoor dining.
The proposed sculptural planting palette is low water use and enhances the modern architecture,
and the pedestrian scale of the. development. Drip irrigation is being proposed to ensure the
project is sustainable and meets current water efficient guidelines (Attachment 6, Project Plans
page L -2).
CONCLUSION
The proposed 309 apartments are a permitted land use in Districts 1 and 6 of the Millenia SPA
Plan. The proposal complies with the policies, guidelines and design standards for the Millenia
SPA Plan. Therefore, staff recommends the Planning Commission approve Design Review
Permit, DR15 -0020, subject to the conditions listed in the attached Resolution.
DECISION -MAKER CONFLICTS
Staff has reviewed the property holdings of the Planning Commission members and has found no
property holdings within 500 feet of the boundaries of the property which is the subject of this
action. Consequently, this item does not present a disqualifying real property - rclated financial
conflict of interest under California Code of Regulations Title 2, section 18702.2(a)(11), for
purposes of the Political Reform Act (Cal. Gov't Code §87100,et seq.).
Staff is not independently aware, and has not been informed by any Planning Commission
member, of any other fact that may constitute a basis for a decision maker conflict of interest in
this matter.
FISCAL IMPACT
The application fees and processing costs are paid for by the Applicant.
Attachments
1.' Locator Map
2. Planning Commission Resolution DR15 -0020
3. EUC Form Based Code, Gateway Mixed Use and Main Street Districts
4. Parking Study
5. Letter of Concurrence
6. Project Plans
Rev 1122116