MEETING DATE: November 18, 2021
TITLE: MASTER PLAN FOR RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT AND ACCESSORY RETAIL WITH ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF FROM PARKING LOCATED IN DISTRICT 5 NORTH OF GREAT PARK NEIGHBORHOODS (GREAT PARK)
Director of Community Development
RECOMMENDED ACTION
1) Conduct the public hearing.
2) Adopt Resolution No. 21-3839 – A RESOLUTION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF IRVINE, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING MASTER PLAN 00847457-PMP FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF 58 MARKET RATE UNITS AND ACCESSORY RETAIL WITH ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF FOR PARKING LOCATED IN DEVELOPMENT DISTRICT 5 NORTH OF GREAT PARK NEIGHBORHOODS IN PLANNING AREA 51 (GREAT PARK); FILED BY HERITAGE FIELDS EL TORO, LLC
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Five Point Communities Management Inc., on behalf of Heritage Fields El Toro, LLC has filed a Master Plan application for Development District 5 North (D5N) of Great Park Neighborhoods. The project is located on the southeast corner of Merit and Cadence (PC Attachment 1).
The Master Plan proposes the development of 58 market-rate condominium units and a 1,665 square foot accessory retail building. As a component of the Master Plan, Administrative Relief is also requested to deviate from parking standards; specifically, to exceed distance requirements for visitor parking. Except where Administrative Relief from parking standards is requested, the project complies with applicable requirements of the General Plan and Zoning Ordinance. Refer to the Planning Commission Information Sheet (PC Attachment 2) for additional details regarding the master plan application.
Staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt Resolution No. 21-3839 based on the findings of fact and subject to the conditions of approval contained in the resolution (PC Attachment 5).
COMMISSION / BOARD / COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
Not applicable.
ANALYSIS
PROJECT DESCRIPTION History
Residential development of the subject site has been anticipated since October 18, 2018, when the Planning Commission approved Vesting Tentative Tract Map 18165 (District 5 North). However, the subject site was not included in the original District 5 North Master Plan (00748903-PMP) as the applicant desired to continue evaluating options for the appropriate land use and product type for this location.
Setting
District 5 North is generally bounded by Irvine Boulevard and Portola High School to the north; the future Agua Chinon to the west; the balance of District 5, the Interim Amphitheater in District 6, and the future Marine Way to the south; and the future Wildlife Corridor to the east. Existing public streets adjacent to the project include Cadence, Chinon, Merit, Lynx, and Astor. Sidewalks and walkways are present and provide connectivity to nearby neighborhoods like Cadence Park and Beacon Park, adjacent private neighborhood parks and amenities, Portola High School, and the Great Park.
Neighborhoods within District 5 North are designed with open space linkages with tree- lined streets and large landscaped parkways. The architectural design emphasizes building fronts and creating a strong pedestrian-oriented street scene. This design concept is supported by alley-loading the garages of many, but not all, units. This approach allows for an uninterrupted pedestrian experience free of potential vehicular conflicts and a more attractive front elevation free of garage doors.
This specific project site is generally bounded by Merit to the north, Cadence to the west, Culture to the south and Baluster to the east. Portola High School is located north of the site across Merit and existing and future residential development is located to the west, south, and east. Access into the project site occurs from Culture via Cadence and Baluster to the south. Existing and new public streets provide the backbone circulation network for the neighborhood and provide connections to private courts and private ways that directly access future residential units.
MASTER PLAN
On October 18, 2018, the Planning Commission approved Vesting Tentative Tract Map (VTTM) 18165 to subdivide approximately 238 gross acres into 377 numbered lots for residential, private park, and future multi-use purposes and 141 lettered lots for landscape and circulation purposes located in the northern portion of Development District 5 of Great Park Neighborhoods in Planning Area 51. This application builds upon that previously approved subdivision map.
The proposed master plan establishes site planning, architecture, landscape concepts, and visitor parking for build out of District 5 North. The proposed master plan will guide the design and development of 58 attached condominium units as well a 1,665 square foot accessory retail building (PC Attachment 4). The proposed development will consist of one housing product – Corner Building, and will offer 11 unique floor plans. The Corner Building homes will be located on lots 186 and 187.
Corner Building Product
These homes will range from 1,349 to 2,130 square feet. The number of bedrooms will range from two to four, and the number of bathrooms will range from 2.5 to four.
A summary of the proposed units is provided in Table 1 below:
Table 1 - Market Rate Units Summary
Site Design
The proposed 58 attached condominium units will be contained within six, two- to three- story condominium buildings (Buildings A through F). Most buildings are located along the site’s perimeter and face out to Merit, Cadence, Culture, and Baluster; the only exception to this is Building D, which is located along an inner loop private way. The
buildings range from 11,186 to 34,593 square feet. Building A will contain five units, Building B – seven units, Building C – 12 units, Building D – eight units, Building E – 14 units, and Building F – 12 units. All six buildings will feature a contemporary architectural design that is consistent with the previously approved Community Design Features for District 5 North.
Parking
As part of the design for the Corner Building product, Administrative Relief from parking standards is requested to allow visitor parking to exceed the distance requirement of the Zoning Ordinance. However, resident parking will be provided within compliant-sized garages (traditional two-car garage or tandem two-car garage) and, visitor parking will occur within the project’s internal drive aisles and on adjacent streets (Culture and Baluster). With the exception of the requested Administrative Relief, all development standards, for site size, site coverage, building height, building setbacks, and minimum site landscaping standards are met.
Landscaping
Site landscaping will continue the theme on nearby properties for continuity to the approved Master Landscape and Trails Plan. Along Merit and Cadence, this will create a pedestrian-friendly scale that complements the project’s architectural design.
Affordable Housing
There are no affordable housing units proposed as part of this master plan. However, Great Park Neighborhoods has a Master Affordable Housing Plan (MAHP) that requires Heritage Fields El Toro to construct 1,056 affordable units to meet the obligation for its larger project known as Great Park Neighborhoods, which includes the units associated with this project. As a result, affordability obligations are being satisfied. To date, a total of 875 affordable housing units have either been entitled or built in Planning Area 51. A total of 181 affordable housing units remain to be entitled. Affordable housing requirements for Planning Area 51 are ahead of schedule towards being fulfilled with the implementation of the current Master Affordable Housing Plan (MAHP).
Park Plan
In Great Park Neighborhoods, the Community Park requirement for the entire development was satisfied through dedication of land for the Great Park. The Neighborhood Park requirement, however, is satisfied within each of the proposed neighborhoods rather than on a project-by-project basis. A park plan modification was filed to evaluate if the Corner Building Master Plan units would require additional land dedication. The proposed modification is limited to updating unit counts and acreage requirements because of the proposed changes in the Corner Building Master Plan. The previously approved modification (Park Plan Modification No. 3 00794809-PPK) required
an 11.74-acre neighborhood park obligation, which was satisfied by providing 13.6 acres.
With the proposed modification, it brings up the neighborhood park obligation to 12.10 acres, which is still within the 13.6 acres. As a result, the proposed modification meets the entirety of the park obligation through dedication of land by the provision of the 13.6 acres. The proposed modification does not delete or reduce in size an amenity that received park credit as none of the park amenities approved from the original Park Plan (00753566-PPP) received park credit. Within District 5-North, all neighborhood park obligations are satisfied through the dedication of land alone. As such, the existing park plan is adequate to meet the recreation needs of these future residents. Since additional park land, amenities, or in-lieu fees are not needed, the park plan modification to reflect updated unit counts and acreage requirements will be reviewed by the Director of Community Development.
Accessory Retail Building
A 1,665 square-foot stand-alone accessory retail building will be incorporated into the master plan located at the southeast corner of Merit and Cadence. The use will be located within internal streets and front pedestrian oriented sidewalks. The location will offer substantial visibility to Merit and Cadence and break up the view of residential buildings along the project site. The accessory retail building will incorporate signature architectural elements setting them apart from the adjacent residential building. As the accessory retail building is intended to serve the surrounding daytime population and/or project residents, reliance on pass by traffic is less important. Additionally, the proposed accessory retail use is consistent with Zoning Ordinance Section 3-5-2.A.
The accessory retail building is intended to serve the local surrounding area and is limited to a selection of convenience goods and services for the daily needs of residents.
Examples, may include, but are not limited to, the following:
Mini-market, no larger than 5,000 square feet;
Eating establishments (e.g., café, coffee, sandwich shops) no larger than 3,000 square feet. Eating establishments shall exclude drive thru;
Retail shops, walk-up bank and/or automated teller machine, drug stores, no larger than 2,000 square feet; and
Personal services (e.g., barber, shoe repair, hair salon, dry cleaners), no larger than 2,000 square feet. Dry cleaners shall exclude operations involving storage of hazardous solvents and chemical use.
The proposed accessory retail use is not subject to vehicle trip limitations and parking requirements according to Zoning Ordinance Section 3-5-2.A.5. Notwithstanding, parallel parking is available on Culture and Baluster. And as a resident-service accessory use, the project anticipates that residents will choose to walk to this facility rather than drive.
The proposed resolution includes Condition 3.15 requiring submittal and approval of a Convenience Store Supplemental Security Plan prior to the issuance of building permits
for any proposed convenience store. Additionally, Condition 4.10 requires that the applicant pass a final inspection of the Convenience Store Supplemental Security Plan prior to the authorization to use, occupy, and/or operate.
ADMINISTRATIVE RELIEF FROM PARKING STANDARDS
The proposed Master Plan includes an Administrative Relief request from parking standards. The Administrative Relief procedure is intended to allow for flexibility in regulations when a standard is inapplicable or inappropriate to a specific use or design.
The project seeks relief to allow visitor parking to be located more than 250 feet from the project it is intended to serve.
Zoning Ordinance Section 4-4-5.2b requires non single-family detached residential visitor parking to be within 250 feet of the residential unit they are measured from.The Corner Building consists of 58 residential units and requires 41 visitor parking spaces. There are 19 visitor parking spaces located on-site and 22 parking spaces located along Baluster and Cadence, which are adjacent to the proposed development. Of the 22 off-site visitor parking spaces, three spaces are located more than 250 feet from the residential units they are measured from. The distance from those spaces to the units ranges from approximately 309 feet to 333 feet.
The visitor parking for this product is supportable as designed because a large number of the visitor spaces for the Corner Building product are located along Baluster and Culture, and there are public sidewalks and internal walkways that connect these visitor spaces to the entrances of these units. Additionally, there are no walls that would separate or block access to the visitor parking spaces. Travel distances are measured along pedestrian paths of travel from a unit’s frontage to the parking space; however, visitors are not required to adhere to the designated paths of travel, and thus the actual walking distances may be shorter.
Staff is recommending approval of the request for Administrative Relief to exceed the minimum 250-foot distance requirement for visitor parking. While some visitor parking spaces do not meet the 250-foot distance requirement for the units they serve, visitor parking is still within a reasonable distance of the units as the project and adjacent neighborhood is designed to be open and permeable. As such, visitors can easily utilize public sidewalks and internal walkways to walk from their cars to these residential units and other amenities. In reality, these longer distances would only occur if every single visitor stall between the subject unit and subject stall were occupied. Since these visitor stalls are not assigned to any specific unit, and are not striped on the street as a parking stall, it is likely that a visitor would be able to locate a visitor stall closer than the maximum distances indicated above. Findings in support of this request are included in the resolution.
TRIP GENERATION AND ACCESS EVALUATION ANALYSIS
The levels of service and operation of the intersections and roadway segments are consistent with the findings of the previously approved September 25, 2018 analysis prepared for the underlying subdivision maps (VTTM 17940 and VTTM 18165) for this area. The prior analysis assumed 65 residential units at this location and 58 residential units are proposed. Consequently, with fewer units there would be fewer vehicle trips generated by the project. As such, the prior study’s conclusions are applicable and no additional analysis is warranted.
Public Outreach
On November 3, 2021, a public hearing notice was posted at the project site and at designated City bulletin boards and mailed to all property owners, residents, and homeowners associations within 500 feet of the project site. As of the writing of this report, no public comments have been received.
ENVIRONMENTAL DETERMINATION
Pursuant to Section 15168 of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, this project is within the scope of the project covered by the 2012 Second Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SSEIR) for the Planning Area 51 General Plan Amendment & Zone Change (State Clearinghouse No. 2002101020), which was certified by the City Council in November 2013. Therefore, the potential environmental impacts of the proposed project are adequately analyzed by that SSEIR, and all feasible mitigation measures identified in the SSEIR have been incorporated into the resolution approving this project. An Environmental Evaluation was completed for the proposed project and is attached (PC Attachment 3).
CONCLUSION
Staff is supportive of the proposed master plan as it adequately meets the needs of the planning area and all the development standards, with the exception of the Administrative Relief request from the parking ordinance. Staff is also supportive of the Administrative Relief request for the reasons specified in the body of the report. Therefore, staff recommends that the Planning Commission adopt Resolution No. 21-3839.
ALTERNATIVES CONSIDERED
With the exception of Administrative Relief from parking standards described above, all other aspects of the project comply with the requirements of the City of Irvine General Plan, Subdivision Ordinance, Subdivision Manual, and the Zoning Ordinance.
However, while staff believes that the request for Administrative Relief is supportable, the Planning Commission may find otherwise and could request that the project be revised to
eliminate the need for Administrative Relief from parking standards for the Corner Building product. By eliminating the need for Administrative Relief from parking standards, the project design could be affected by reducing the number of units, modifying traffic and pedestrian circulation, and other development standards such site coverage, building height, building setbacks, and landscaping standards.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
There is no direct financial impact to the City from the approval of the application associated with District 5 North. As this area develops, the City will receive incrementally higher property taxes as well as sales tax generated by resident consumer activities.
These represent two on-going revenue streams to the City. This project will also incrementally increase costs associated with typical City services such as demand for police services. The City’s Strategic Business Plan and the budgeting process have accounted for these revenues and costs as part of the overall development of the Great Park Neighborhoods consistent with the City’s General Plan.
REPORT PREPARED BY: Victor Mendez, Associate Planner PC ATTACHMENTS
1. Vicinity Map
2. Planning Commission Information Sheet 3. Environmental Evaluation
4. Master Plan
5. Planning Commission Resolution No. 21-3839
ec: Jennifer Bohen, Five Points Communities Management Inc.
Kory Lynch, Five Points Communities Management Inc.
Bill Patterson, Hunsaker & Associates
Tim Gehrich, Deputy Director of Community Development Bill Rodrigues, Principal Planner
Claudia Landeras-Sobaih, Principal Plan Check Engineer Sun-Sun Murillo, Project Development Administrator Lisa Thai, Supervising Transportation Analyst Karen Urman, Senior Transportation Analyst Andrew Pham, Senior Civil Engineer
Files: 00847457-PMP