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HomeMy WebLinkAboutPlanning Comm Reports/1985/12/04 AGENDA City Planning Commission Chula Vista, California Wednesday, December 4, 1985 - 5:00 p.m. City Council Chambers PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE - SILENT PRAYER INTRODUCTORY REMARKS APPROVAL OF MINUTES - Meeting of October 23, 1985 ORAL COMMUNICATIONS 1. PUBLIC HEARING: Consideration of request for extension of tentative subdivision map, Star Orange, Chula Vista Tract 82-3, Brandywine and Orange Avenue 2. PUBLIC HEARING: PCM-86-8, Amending the Chula Vista Local Coastal Program (Land Use Plan and Specific Plan) to specify the site of the Nature Interpretive Center OTHER BUSINESS: Sweetwater Valley Park Master Plan DIRECTOR'S REPORT COMMISSION CO~IMENTS ADJOURNMENT AT to a Business Meeting of December 18, 1985 at 7:00 p.m. in the Council Chambers November 27, 1985 TO: City Planning Commission FROM: George Krempl, Director of Planning SUBJECT: Staff Report on Agenda Items for Planning Commission Meeting of December 4, 1985 1. PUBLIC HEARING: Consideration of two-year extension of the tentative map for Star Orange, Chula Vista Tract 82-3 A. BACKGROUND On December 8, 1981, the City Council approved the tentative subdivision map known as Star Orange, Chula Vista 82-3, for the purpose of subdividing 18.3 acres located on the south side of Orange Avenue in the vicinity of Brandywine Avenue (extended) in the R-3-P-12 zone, into a two-lot condominium project consisting of 176 units. On December 5, 1984, the Planning Commission granted a one-year extension of the tentative map, which is now due to expire on December 5, 1985. The present request is for an additional two-year extension. B. RECOMMENDATION If the subdivider offers to dedicate an additional four feet of right-of-way for Brandywine Avenue (total right-of-way to then be 84 feet), adopt a motion approving a two-year extension of Star Orange, Chula Vista Tract 82-3; the map to then expire on December 4, 1987. If the subdivider fails to offer to dedicate an additional four feet of right-of-way for Brandywine Avenue, adopt a motion to deny the extension. C. DISCUSSION The applicant is proceeding with the project in phases. A final map has been approved for Phase I, but Phases II and III are still in the engineering design stage. There have been no significant changes in the immediate vicinity which affect the original findings and conditions of approval. Therefore, on this basis, it would be appropriate to grant an extension. Due to requirements of the utility companies, however, the City's major street cross-section has been increased from 80 feet to 84 feet. Since the tentative map shows Brandywine Avenue with an 80 foot right-of-way, the Engineering Department has recommended that the extension be denied unless the applicant offers to dedicate an additional four feet of right-of-way. This offer would have to be made in the record at the Planning Commission hearing. WPC 2351P PROdECT AREA City Planning Commission Agenda Items for Meeting of December 4, 1985 Page 1 2. Public Hearing: PCM-86-8: Amendin9 the Chula Vista Local Coastal Pro~ram (Land Use Plan and Specific Plan) to specify the site of the Nature Interpretive Center A. BACKGROUND The certified Chula Vista Local Coastal Program (LCP)--which includes both a Land Use Plan document and a Specific Plan document--provides for the development of a Nature Interpretive Center on the Chula Vista Bayfront. The Land Use Plan and Specific Plan documents currently designate three alternative locations for the Interpretive Center: 1) on Gunpowder Point at the former kelp boat mooring area adjacent to the San Diego Bay; 2) on Gunpowder Point at the terminus of the northern levee adjacent to Sweetwater Marsh; and 3) on the mid-bayfront at the beginning of the northern levee adjacent to the Sweetwater Marsh. Consultation with interested parties and the City's Nature Interpretive Center Selection Committee, however, has resulted in the City's determination that the Center should be located at a greater distance from the Sweetwater Marsh than that offered by any of the three existing alternative sites. As a result, a location on the southeast portion of Gunpowder Point which affords the public, especially school children, the best opportunity to view and study the marsh complex with limited intrusion into the ecologically sensitive area has been recommended. The designation of this site for the Interpretive Center requires an amendment to the Chula Vista Local Coastal Program including both the Land Use Plan and Specific Plan. These amendments will be forwarded to the City Council for a public hearing and then submitted to the California Coastal Commission for consideration. In accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act, local environmental review is not required for this process since Coastal Commission Review has been certified as the functional equivalent to that of CEQA. B. RECOMMENDATION Adopt a motion recommending that the City Council adopt PCM-86-8 to amend the Chula Vista Local Coastal Program as set forth in Exhibits A and B attached hereto. C. DISCUSSION This LCP amendment consists of textual and graphic changes to the LCP's Land Use Plan and Specific Plan. The substance of the amendment is to locate the Nature Interpretive Center on the previously disturbed Gunpowder Point uplands between the lO0-foot Vener Pond wetland buffer City Planning Commission Agenda Items for Meeting of December 4, 1985 Page 2 zone on the east and the 8-acre Gunpowder Point Park on the west. This location will greatly reduce encroachment by the Center's visitors into the more sensitive northern sections of Gunpowder Point and areas proposed for uplands restoration where the Center was originally proposed. In addition, this site will provide an excellent opportunity for the study of the marshlands and wetland ecosystem. The site plan and elevations for the Interpretive Center will be considered by the Design Review Committee on December 19, 1985, and the completed facility is scheduled to be dedicated on October 17, 1986, the City's 75th birthday. It will consist of 10,300 sq. ft. of indoor space, including an auditorium, classrooms, library, exhibit hall and administrative offices. An observation tower, approximately 20 feet wide by 20 feet long, is proposed on the west side of the Center. Outdoor facilities will include a classroom area, a wood deck viewing area, a covered viewing pavillion, a scientific exhibit area, a trailhead, and a hard-surface deck area. It is anticipated that parking for the Center will be provided at the planned trolley station (due to open in October 1986) at "E" Street exit of I-5. Temporary parking for approximately 50 cars will also be provided in the midbayfront area until permanent parking is developed. Pedestrian access and shuttle service to the Center will be made available from the parking areas. A copy of the LCP's Land Use Plan and Specific Plan as presently certified are attached for your information as well as the proposed amendments to each document (see Exhibits A and B). All proposed modifications to the text are heavily underscored and deletions are dashed through. Graphics included in the amendment package display proposed changes; those in the base documents are as originally certified. D. FINDINGS Find that the specified siting of the Nature Interpretive Center on the southeast portion of Gunpowder Point will afford the public an educational opportunity for bona fide Nature study in proximity to the Marsh Complex and will result in less impact to the adjacent wetlands and upland restoration program than the three alternative sites originally suggested in the Chula Vista LCP And, that the proposed amendments are necessary and desirable for the development of the Center within the Chula Vista Coastal Zone. WPC 1952H