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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Comm Reports/1994/10/26 (11) City Planning Commission Agenda Item for Meeting of October 26, 1994 Page 1 4. PCM-95-07 Zoning Interoretation for Wastewater Treatment and Recvcling Facility - Resource Recoverv Techniaues. Inc. A. BACKGROUND Resource Recovery Techniques, Inc. (RRT) is requesting that the Planning Commission detennine that a wastewater treatment and recycling facility is either a pennitted or conditional use in the I-L Limited Industrial zone. Wastewater treatment facilities are not presently listed in the Zoning Ordinance, but the Planning Commission is authorized to categorize a use not specifically listed provided the use is detennined by the Commission to be of the same general character as those similarly categorized. The Environmental Review Coordinator has detennined that the proposal is exempt from environmental review as a minor alteration to land use limitations, Class 5 Exemption under the provisions of the CEQA Guidelines. B. RECOMMENDATION Adopt attached Resolution PCM-95-07 denying the request as submitted and finding that a wastewater treatment facility is of the same general character as the conditional uses provided for in the I General Industrial zone. C. DISCUSSION The RRT wastewater treatment and recycling operation would involve the chemical and biological treatment of non-hazardous wastewater on a 3.8 acre site at the northwest comer of Bay Boulevard and Palomar Street in the I-L Limited Industrial zone. The facility would include an administration building, a treatment building, treatment tanks, and a chemical storage building. The facility would have the capacity to process 42 million gallons of wastewater per year, 65 % of which is septic/portable toilet waste, and 35 % of which is grease trap and bilge water waste. The material would arrive via 40-50 5,OOO-gallon tanker trucks per day. All off-loading of waste is conducted inside an enclosed building. (please see attached project description and conceptual development plans.) Please see attached for excerpts from the Code listing the pennitted, conditional and prohibited uses in the I-L Limited Industrial and I General Industrial zones. Following City Planning Commission Agenda Item for Meeting of October 26, 1994 Page 2 are the descriptions of these two categories of industrial use from the General Plan and the Zoning Code: General Plan Research and Limited Industrial This category includes research and development, light manufacturing, warehousing, and flexible-use buildings, which combine the above uses with office space. General Industrial This category includes all uses identified for Research and Limited Industrial plus light manufacturing operations, large-scale warehousing, transportation centers, and public utilities. Zoninl! Code I-L Limited Industrial The purpose of the I-L zone is to encourage sound limited industrial development by providing and protecting an environment free from nuisances created by some industrial uses and to insure the purity of the total environment of Chula Vista and San Diego County and to protect nearby residential, commercial and industrial uses from any hazards or nuisances. I General Industrial The purpose of the I zone is to encourage sound industrial development by providing and protecting an environment exclusively for such development, subject to regulations necessary to insure the purity of the airs and waters in Chula Vista and San Diego County, and the protection of nearby residential, commercial and industrial uses of the land from hazards and noise or other disturbances. Please also see the City's Land Use Chart, attached hereto. The Chart represents those uses which have been found by the Planning Commission to be of the same general character as the uses which are similarly categorized and specifically listed in the Code. City Planning Commission Agenda Item for Meeting of October 26, 1994 Page 3 In their request, RRT cites several uses which are either permitted or conditional uses in the I-L zone, and which are, in their opinion, comparable in scope or "much more intense and potentially environmentally damaging" than a wastewater treatment facility (please see attached application and supporting correspondence from RRT). These are: Permitted Uses: Asphalt paving yards Automobile dead storage yard Battery reconditioning and manufacturing Dry cleaning plant (except large scale)* Laboratories* Major electrical appliance repair Manufacturing of containers comprised of metal, wood or paper Processing of previously prepared materials* Storage yards* Conditional Uses: Distribution centers* Freight trucking terminals* Hazardous waste facilities** Plastic and other synthetics manufacturing* Recycling collection centers*** Well drilling and tank cleaning operations * The uses marked with an asterisk are listed in the Code. The balance are from the Land Use Chart. ** The provisions on Hazardous Waste Facilities were recently added to the Code as a result of State legislation (the Tanner Act), which mandates that applications for hazardous waste treatment facilities must be accepted and reviewed (but not necessarily approved) within all industrial zones. Such facilities are subject to the extensive requirements of CYMC 19.158.128, attached hereto, which include the general areas and siting criteria, and fair share principles, established in Section 5.5 of the Public Facilities Element of the General Plan, also attached hereto. The attached materials on Hazardous Waste Facilities are not applicable to RRT's proposal and need not be reviewed in detail or at all. They have been included simply to illustrate that the consideration of such facilities as conditional uses in City Planning Commission Agenda Item for Meeting of October 26, 1994 Page 4 the I-L zone was mandated as a result of State legislation, and they are subject to special and exacting standards and a rigorous review process. *** The provisions on Recycling Collection Centers were added to the Code in response to the State "Bottle Bill," which mandates that collection facilities be located within "convenience zones" (in close proximity to grocery stores). Larger recycling operations are presently allowed only by conditional use permit in the I General Industrial zone. D. ANALYSIS Several of the uses cited by RRT have aspects which could be considered comparable or perhaps more potentially impactive than a wastewater treatment facility. However, we believe it is appropriate to categorize a use in relation to the purpose and intended character for the zoning district, and also the general character of the totality of uses similarly categorized in the Code. Determinative to staff is the distinction between the limited or light industrial character intended for the I-L zone, versus the heavier or general industrial character envisioned for the I zone. A facility which involves a general or heavier industrial appearance and activity levels, which in this case includes several large storage tanks and 40-50 wastewater tanker trucks servicing the facility on a daily basis, would appear to staff to fit more clearly within the scope of a General Industrial rather than Limited Industrial zone. Also, more specifically, with the exception of the State-mandated Recycling Collection and Hazardous Waste uses, the processing uses which are permitted or conditional uses in the I-L zone involve processing of products from previouslv DreDared materials (see 19.44.020A). On the other hand, the prohibited uses in the I-L zone involve processing of products from raw materials, and include reprocessing activities such as rendering and salvage operations (see 19.44.0S0A). We believe a wastewater treatment facility is more similar in general character to these prohibited uses than the permitted and conditional uses cited by RRT. RR T further states that a wastewater treatment facility is similar in charaCter and less onerous than several of the uses listed as Unclassified in Section 19.54 of the Code. Such uses are eligible for location in any zone upon the approval of a conditional use permit by the Planning Commission and City Council (please see attached CVMC 19.54). Unclassified Uses are those that are declared to possess characteristics of such unique and special form as to make it impractical to automatically include them in any particular City Planning Commission Agenda Item for Meeting of October 26, 1994 Page 5 zone. Although a case could perhaps be made for including a wastewater treatment facility within this unique category of uses, there is no similar provision in this section, as .there is in the individual zone districts, for the Planning Commission to make such a detennination based upon similarity of general character. It would require an amendment to the Code to specifically include such facilities in that section. For these reasons, and based on the fact that general salvage operations are treated as a conditional use in the I-General Industrial zone, we are recommending that the request be denied and that the Commission detennine that a wastewater treatment facility is of the same general character as the conditional uses provided for in the I General Industrial zone. If the Commission concurs with this recommendation, it would be necessary for RRT to apply for a General Plan amendment, Local Coastal Plan amendment, rezoning and conditional use pennit in order to locate a wastewater treatment facility at the northwest comer of Bay Boulevard and Palomar Street. As an alternative, RRT could apply for an amendment to the Municipal Code to include wastewater treatment facilities in the Unclassified Uses section of the Code. The conditional use pennit required for Unclassified uses could be processed concurrently with this request. Attachments: 1. Application and associated request from RRT 2. Resolution PCM-95'{)7 3. Project description and conceptual development plan 4. I-L zone provisions (CVMC 19.44) 5. 1 zone provisions (CYMC 19.46) 6. Unclassified uses (CYMC 19.54) 7. Land Use Chart 8. CYMC Section 19.158.128 and Section 5.5 of the Public Facilities Element of the General Plan (Hazardous Waste Facilities) 9. Disclosure Statement (m:\home\planning\pcm95-07 .per)