TITLE
Recommendation to declare ordinance amending the Use District Map of the City of Long Beach as said Map has been established and amended by amending portions of Part 22 of said Map from CCA (Community Commercial Automobile-Oriented) and R-1-N (Single-Family Residential) to CCN (Community R-4-N), read and adopted as read. (District 8)
DISCUSSION
On June 18, 2020, the Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on the proposed project (Application No. 1707-11) (Attachment A - Location), considered public testimony, and recommended that the City Council approve the requested actions (Attachment B - Planning Commission Report).
The site is a former redevelopment property located on the east side of Long Beach Boulevard, between East Home Street to the south and Sunset Street to the north, in the Addams Neighborhood of North Long Beach. The site encompasses seven parcels, for a total project area of 1.8 acres (approximately 78,621 square feet), and is zoned Community Commercial Automobile-Oriented (CCA) and Single-Family Residential (R-1-N). Five of the parcels have stood vacant since 2013 and two are developed with a 1,478-square-foot single-family residence. The developer seeks to demolish the existing single-family residence and construct 38 three-story for-sale townhomes. The proposal also requires a Zone Change to CCN (Community R-4-N) to facilitate development of the townhomes (Attachment C - Zone Change Map).
The project site is immediately bordered by commercial and residential uses to the north, across Sunset Street; commercial uses and Dooley Elementary School to the west, across Long Beach Boulevard; commercial uses and multi-family residential uses to the south, across Home Street; and residential uses immediately to the east, as well as across Cedar Avenue. The project site and adjacent uses are shown in Figure 1.
Figure 1: Aerial of Project Site and Surrounding Uses
The property is owned by the City of Long Beach and is currently in escrow to transfer the property to the project applicant, City Ventures.
Project Proposal
The proposed project involves demolition of the existing 1,478-square-foot single-family residence and the construction of 38 three-story townhomes within seven buildings that would be a maximum height of 38 feet, with 86 on-grade parking spaces. Of the 86 required parking stalls, 76 are proposed as garage spaces (42 of which are proposed in tandem configuration) and 10 spaces would be designated as guest parking stalls. Of the 38 units, 21 would be three-bedroom, three-bath townhome units consisting of approximately 1,411 square feet and 17 units would be three-bedroom, three-bath plus a den townhome units consisting of approximately 1,747 square feet. The project will also provide 8,006 square feet of private open space and 4,729 square feet of common open space for a total of 12,735 square feet of usable open space.
Entitlements
As proposed, the project requires the following entitlements:
• Zone Change: Required to change the existing zoning from CCA and R-1-N to CCN (which permits medium density residential development) to allow the development of the proposed townhomes.
• Site Plan Review: Required for a residential project proposed with five or more units as one project.
• Vesting Tentative Tract Map: Required to allow the consolidation of the seven parcels into one parcel and the subdivision of airspace, which enables the creation of individual townhome units that can be sold separately.
Zone Change
The site is currently zoned CCA along the western portion of the project site, fronting Long Beach Boulevard, and R-1-N on the eastern portion. CCA is a commercial zone that permits retail and service uses, multi-family residential uses are not permitted. The R-1-N zone is a residential zone that allows for single-family residential uses on standard lots.
The General Plan’s Land Use Element, adopted in December 2019, designates the project site as NSC-L (Neighborhood Serving Center or Corridor - Low Density). This PlaceType is a mixed-use land use designation that allows neighborhood-serving, low-intensity commercial (NSC-L) uses and low-density apartment and condominium buildings. The NSC-L designation allows up to three stories in height and residential densities of up to 44 dwelling units per acre (du/acre), depending on lot size.
The applicant seeks a Zone Change to CCN to allow for the construction of the proposed townhomes in accordance with the CCN development standards. The CCN zone is similar to the Community Auto-Oriented District but differs in that it is a mixed-use zone that also permits medium density residential development at R-4-N densities. This density is required to allow the development of 38 townhomes.
The Planning Commission found the Zone Change to the CCN Zoning District better aligns the parcels to the PlaceType outlined in the Land Use Element and facilitates the development of the vacant lots with housing. Additionally, the townhome development project would serve as an appropriate transition between the existing commercial uses that flank Long Beach Boulevard and the single-family and multi-family residences that frame such uses.
Site Plan Review
The Site Plan Review process is established to meet certain community goals which are, among others, to ensure that the highest quality of land planning and design are incorporated into development projects, to ensure that new projects are compatible with existing neighborhoods in terms of scale, style and construction materials, and to ensure the maintenance, restoration, enhancement and protection of the environment. On December 11, 2019, the Site Plan Review Committee reviewed the project architecture and site layout and approved the project pursuant to LBMC §21.25.503. The final approval of the project is contingent on the Zone Change.
The site is located on Long Beach Boulevard, a corridor generally characterized by commercial uses on properties immediately adjacent to Long Beach Boulevard and residential uses on properties beyond Long Beach Boulevard. Twenty-three of the townhomes are oriented toward Long Beach Boulevard, and access is provided to the townhomes through pedestrian walkways accessible from the sidewalk along Long Beach Boulevard. Private open space in front of each townhome also punctuates the sidewalk along Long Beach Boulevard. Any front wall proposed within the 15-foot front yard setback will be limited to 3 feet in height ensuring that a positive relationship to the public realm is maintained.
A single-family residence shares a side property line with the project site and is located immediately to the east of the project site. The proposed townhome development along this property line will be set back 23 feet from the shared property line to provide a buffer to the single-family residence, and such setback area will be conditioned to be improved with mature landscaping to help screen views and address potential noise impacts (Attachment D - Conditions of Approval).
Architecture
The applicant proposes to build 38 three-story townhomes (38 feet in height) with 86 parking spaces on a site along Long Beach Boulevard that is largely vacant except for an existing single-family home located on two of the parcels. The residence is not designated as a historic landmark, nor is the project site located in a historic district. As such, demolition of the existing residence is not anticipated to result in historic impacts (Attachment E - Mitigated Negative Declaration IS-MND 03-20). Sunset Street and Cedar Avenue provide vehicular access to the individual garages and surface parking via an internal driveway. The townhome development is proposed with a variety of green building features, including rooftop solar panels to result in net zero energy townhomes and a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold equivalency rating (Attachment F - Green Scorecard).
The design of the proposed townhome development reflects a modern architectural style with a flat roof and parapet consisting of two-color schemes that help achieve both variety and cohesiveness among the seven townhome buildings.
Open Space
The project requires a total of 5,700 square feet of common and private open space, and the applicant proposes a total of 12,735 square feet of common and private open space combined. Common open space is proposed as a cluster of five outdoor space areas distributed throughout the project site. The common open space includes event lawn areas for active play or passive activities, shade structures with community seating, a vegetable planter, built-in barbecue kitchen with harvest table, lounge seating, and enhanced landscaping (refer to sheets L-1 to L-4 in Attachment G - Plans, Renderings, and Vesting Tentative Tract Map No. 77096).
Private open space will be provided in the form of private decks and private yard areas at the individual townhome units.
Vesting Tentative Tract Map (VTTM)
The project includes a request for a Vesting Tentative Tract Map (Attachment G - Plans, Renderings, and VTTM No. 7796), which proposes to merge seven parcels into a single 78,621-square-foot lot and create 38 condominium subdivisions for sale. The proposed subdivision supports the orderly development of land consistent with the Zoning Code and General Plan, and dedications will be provided as part of the Vesting Tentative Tract Map approval.
Based on the discussion above, positive findings can be made for the Zone Change, as well as for the Site Plan Review and Vesting Tentative Tract Map to develop 38 townhomes for sale. The Vesting Tentative Tract Map is consistent with the Land Use Element of the General Plan, which designates the project site as NSC-L, and the design of the subdivision is consistent with height and density standards set forth for residential development by the PlaceType. The detailed findings for each entitlement are attached in Attachment H - Findings.
Conclusion
The project will redevelop a site that has largely sat vacant and not utilized since 2013 for critically-needed housing in the form of for-sale three-bedroom units, for which there has been an expressed need for to satisfy a local shortage in units for larger families. The proposed townhome development is appropriate in design and scale to the neighborhood and site conditions and will make a positive contribution to the Long Beach Boulevard corridor. Staff is able to make positive findings for all of the requested entitlements and recommends that the City Council approve these entitlements (Attachment H).
Public hearing notices were distributed on July 28, 2020, in accordance with the requirements of Chapter 21.21 of the Long Beach Municipal Code. Any written testimony received following the preparation of this report will be provided to the City Council prior to the hearing.
Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the State CEQA Guidelines, an Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND-03-20, State Clearinghouse No. 2020050231) has been prepared for the project and finds that, by implementing identified mitigation measures, the project will not result in significant effects to the environment (Attachment E - IS/MND-03-20). The IS/MND was circulated for a 30-day public review period between May 11, 2020 and June 9, 2020. Staff received seven public comments on the MND, both from members of the public, as well as from other public agencies and organizations. The comments and the responses to the comments are included in the Responses to Comments section of the Final IS/MND (Attachment I Final Mitigated Negative Declaration with Responses to Comments). Attachment J also includes public comments received outside of the 30-day public review period.
At its June 18, 2020 regularly scheduled meeting, the Planning Commission took action to recommend approval of the project: five Commissioners approved the project proposal, and two Commissioners were absent.
The matter was reviewed by Assistant City Attorney Michael J. Mais on July 13, 2020 and by Budget Analysis Officer Julissa José-Murray on July 21, 2020.
TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
City Council action is requested on August 11, 2020. Pursuant to §21.25.103 of the Zoning Code, the Planning Commission’s recommendations on this matter must be transmitted to the City Council within 60 days of positive action by the Planning Commission on June 18, 2020.
FISCAL IMPACT
This recommendation has no staffing impact beyond the budgeted scope of duties and is consistent with existing City Council priorities. There is no fiscal or local job impact associated with this recommendation.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
BODY
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF LONG BEACH AMENDING THE USE DISTRICT MAP OF THE CITY OF LONG BEACH AS SAID MAP HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED AND AMENDED BY AMENDING PORTIONS OF PART 22 OF SAID MAP FROM CCA (COMMUNITY COMMERCIAL AUTOMOBILEORIENTED) AND R-1-N (SINGLE-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL) TO CCN (COMMUNITY R-4-N)
Respectfully Submitted,
OSCAR W. ORCI
DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT SERVICES
APPROVED:
THOMAS B. MODICA
CITY MANAGER