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HomeMy WebLinkAboutBaker PD for CEQA Consultant Project Summary 1 PROJECT SETTING 1.1 PROJECT LOCATION The project site is located southwest and southeast of the intersection of Baker Street and Pierce Street in the City of Lake Elsinore. Regional access to the project site is provided by Interstate 15 (I-15) located 0.40 miles east of the site. Local access to the site is provided from Baker Street and Pierce Street. The existing site and surrounding area are shown in Figure 1, Aerial Project Location. The project site is identified by Assessor’s Parcel Numbers: Industrial/ Onsite Development Area 378-020-014 378-020-015 378-020-016 378-020-028 378-020-029 378-020-030 378-020-031 378-020-036 378-020-037 378-020-048 Restoration 378-020-024 378-020-033 378-020-034 378-020-040 378-020-041 378-020-054 Offsite Improvements 378-020-012 378-020-038 378-020-039 378-020-042 378-020-043 378-114-064 389-080-058 389-080-013 1.2 EXISTING CONDITIONS The project encompasses 24 parcels totaling approximately 123.33 acres. The area is currently vacant and undeveloped with naturally occurring vegetation which consists of low lying shrubs and grasses. The site has a sloping topography from the southwest portion of the site to the northeast portion of the site, associated with the hills south of the site. There are also several dirt trails located throughout the site that connect to and continue through the adjacent parcels. Steel power poles are Project Summary located along the project frontage on Baker Street. There are also existing power poles that run southwest to northeast through the site as well. Project activities include Baker Street and Pierce Street which are both currently undeveloped dirt roads, as well as the segment of Nichols Road from Terra Cotta Road to Collier Avenue which is developed as a Divided Collector roadway with two lanes. 1.3 EXISTING LAND USES AND ZONING DESIGNATION OF THE PROJECT SITE The project site has General Plan Land Use designations of Limited Industrial and Floodway and zoning designations of Limited Manufacturing (M-1), General Manufacturing (M-2), and Open Space/Floodway (OS). As it relates to the proposed project, the Limited Industrial Land Use designation provides “for industrial parks, warehouses, manufacturing, research and development, public and quasi-public uses, and similar and compatible uses” at a maximum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 0.45. 1.4 SURROUNDING GENERAL PLAN AND ZONING DESIGNATIONS The surrounding land uses are described in Table 1 along with the General Plan Land Use and Zoning designations. Table 1: Surrounding Existing Land Use and Zoning Designations Existing Use General Plan Zone Northeast Vacant and undeveloped land/open space Floodway, Specific Plan (Outlet Center) Open Space/Floodway (OS), Specific Plan (Outlet Center) Southeast Non-conforming residence, institutional facility, open space Limited Industrial, Public Institutional Limited Manufacturing M-1, Public/Institutional (PI) Southwest Vacant and undeveloped land. Two single family homes are located adjacent to the southwest most corner of the site. Low-Medium Residential, Hillside Residential Single Family Residential (R-1), Hillside Single Family Residential (RH) Northwest Vacant and undeveloped land. Residential Mixed Use Residential Mixed Use (RMU) 2 PROJECT DESCRIPTION 2.1 PROJECT OVERVIEW The proposed project consists of four areas that are described below and shown in Figure 2, Project Boundaries: Project Summary  Industrial/Onsite Development Area – 65.81 acres o Development of a 212,028 SF warehouse, a 788,423 SF warehouse, and truck trailer parking lot.  Offsite Improvement Areas – 21.15 acres o Right-of-way (ROW) improvements on Baker Street and Pierce Street and the realignment of Baker Street to Nichols Road.  Restoration Area – 33.65 acres o To be used for future restoration activities  Construction/Improvements Buffer – 2.72 acres o Land between Baker Street and the restoration area to serve as a disturbance buffer. 2.2 Industrial Development The industrial/onsite development area of the project consists of construction and operation of two new warehouse buildings totaling a combined 1,000,451 SF. Building 1 would be 212,028 SF, inclusive of 5,000 SF of ground floor office, 5,000 SF of mezzanine, and include 23 dock doors along the southwest side of the building. Building 2 would be 788,423 SF inclusive of 10,000 SF of ground floor office, 10,000 SF of mezzanine, and include 110 dock doors along the northeast side of the building. Building 1 would be located at the northwestern end of the site and Building 2 would be located at the southeastern end of the site. A breakdown of the building specifications is provided in Table 2, Building Specifications. The conceptual site plan is provided as Figure 3, Conceptual Site Plan. Table 2: Proposed Building Specifications Warehouse SF Ground Floor Office SF Mezzanine Office SF Total SF FAR Coverage Truck Trailer Parking Vehicle Parking Building 1 202,028 5,000 5,000 212,028 38.74% 31 174 Building 2 768,423 10,000 10,000 788,423 42.25% 219 232 Total 970,451 15,000 15,000 1,000,451 34.90% 250 406 The proposed project would be accessible via four new driveways. Three driveways would be constructed along Baker Street and one driveway would be along Pierce Street. Building 1 would be accessible via the vehicle driveway along Pierce Street and one 53-foot truck access driveway along Baker Street. Building 2 would be accessible via two driveways along Baker Street. Trucks would utilize the northern and southern most 50-foot driveways to access the Building 2. In addition, the two buildings would be accessible via a reciprocal access agreement as the drive aisle behind the rear of Building 2 would extend to the Building 1 site for access to Pierce Street. The reciprocal access agreement would largely be intended to provide a secondary point of emergency access for Building 2. Circulation to and from the site would be from the section of Pierce Street northeast of the site that connects to Nichols Road. Operational project trips would not come from or leave the site on the section of Pierce Street southwest of the site. Project Summary As shown in Table 2, the proposed project includes a total of 406 vehicle parking stalls combined between the two proposed buildings. Building 1 would have 174 vehicle parking stalls located along the northeastern, northwestern, and southwestern perimeters of the site. Building 1 would also have 31 trailer stalls located opposite the dock doors at the southwestern end of the building. Building 2 would have 232 associated vehicle parking stalls located largely to the southwest of the building, and a few stalls will be located northeast of the building. Additionally, Building 2 would have 219 trailer parking stalls located to the northwest and northeast of the building. The project also proposes a trailer parking lot at the southeast most part of the project site which would allow for 149 trailer parking stalls. Loading and unloading activity within the truck court of both buildings would be secured by a gate at all points of entry. The project has been designed to screen loading and unloading activities away from adjacent residential land uses. Building 1 is designed for the truck court to be screened from the adjacent residences west of the building. Building 2 is designed for loading and unloading activity to be located northeast of the building in order to screen truck activities away from the residentially related land uses southwest of the building. The proposed project would also include landscaping along Baker Street to screen the project from the right-of-way. Building 1 would contain 26.45% landscape coverage and Building 2 would contain 27.18% landscape coverage. Additionally, the trailer parking lot would contain 52.34% landscape coverage, for a total site landscape coverage of 31%. The project will include an onsite lighting design that provides the required lighting levels for normal operation onsite. Exterior lighting can be designed as downward facing to prevent unnecessary foot candles outside of the Project boundary. The project includes installation of new public streetlights. The City of Lake Elsinore requires public streetlights every 200 feet on both sides of newly constructed public roadways per Lake Elsinore standards 503 and 508. The onsite development portion of the project has a General Plan land use designation of Limited Industrial and is located zoned for M-1 and M-2. As part of the project, the M-1 designated portion of the site is proposed to be amended to M-2 to achieve consistent zoning of the proposed development area. The project includes a tentative parcel map to merge the 10 proposed development parcels into 3 parcels. Building 1 and Building 2 would each be located on a single parcel, and the trailer parking lot would be the third parcel. A breakdown of the site areas for the three new parcels is provided in Table 3, Site Acreages. Table 3: Site Acreages Site Acreage Building 1 12.56 Building 2 42.84 Parking Lot 10.41 Table 4 and Table 5 below shows the proposed project’s consistency with the City of Lake Elsinore’s development standards with the M-2 zone. Project Summary Table 4: Building 1 Consistency with M-2 Development Standards Development Standard Required Provided Parking Office: 1/250 SF Warehouse 1-20K SF: 1/500 SF Warehouse 20,001 SF+: 1/100 SF 262 spaces required 174 spaces FAR 0.45 0.39 Maximum Structure Height 45’ Will Meet Standard Front Setback (to building or parking area) Shall average 20’, but not be less than 15’. 10’ reduction to parking may be allowed by City Council if a decorative wall, artwork, or public amenity is installed. 15’ from parking lot, 95’ from building Interior Setback N/A unless adjacent to residential use or public right-of-way in which the front setback requirement applies 48’ from parking lot, 98’ from building Landscape Coverage 12% 26.45% Table 5: Building 2 Consistency with M-2 Development Standards Development Standard Required Provided Parking Office: 1/250 SF Warehouse 1-20K SF: 1/500 SF Warehouse 20,001 SF+: 1/100 SF 868 spaces required 232 spaces FAR 0.45 0.42 Maximum Structure Height 45’ Will Meet Standard Front Setback (to building or parking area) Shall average 20’, but not be less than 15’. 10’ reduction to parking may be allowed by City Council if a decorative wall, artwork, or public amenity is installed. 24’ from parking lot, 147’ from building Interior Setback/Side Setback N/A unless adjacent to residential use or public right-of-way in which the front setback requirement applies 181’ from building Landscape Coverage 12% 27.18% The proposed buildings are designed to function as two high cube warehouse buildings. Typical operational characteristics include employees traveling to and from the site, delivery of materials and supplies to the site and truck loading and unloading. The project is assumed to operate 24/7; however, this may shift depending on tenant as hours of operation are unknown. Project Summary 2.3 Offsite Improvement Areas The proposed project includes right-of-way (ROW) improvements along Baker Street and Pierce Street. Baker Street is currently an unimproved dirt road with a 60-foot-wide right-of-way. The project would dedicate 4 feet on each side of Baker Street to the ultimate 68 foot right-of-way required by the City’s Collector roadway designation per the General Plan Circulation Element. The Baker Street Collector roadway section consists of a 6-inch curb and gutter, a 5 feet wide sidewalk within a 10-foot parkway and 22 feet of pavement from centerline to lip of gutter on each side of the street. Baker Street is proposed to be elevated an average of 5 feet above its existing elevations to support drainage conveyance and flood protection of public right-of-way. The northeast parkway of Baker Street would slope down from the proposed 5-foot wide sidewalk to daylight within the northerly properties. Existing Pierce Street varies in right-of-way width along the Project’s frontage. The ultimate ROW for Pierce Street is 60 feet. The ultimate street section would include a 6-inch curb, standard gutter, 5-foot-wide sidewalk within an overall 10-foot parkway and 18 feet of pavement from centerline to lip-of-gutter on each side of the street. As part of the proposed project, Baker Street would be extended to connect to Nichols Road. The project would need to obtain right of way from the adjacent property owner to implement the improvement. 2.4 Restoration Area As show in Figure 4, opposite of the Industrial Development Area, on the other side of Baker Street, is 33.65 acres of the project site that is proposed for habitat restoration activities This area may be conveyed in the future to the Western Riverside County Regional Conservation Authority (RCA) or may be retained by the applicant as a mitigation bank. 2.5 Construction/Improvements Buffer The Construction/Improvements Buffer (Construction Buffer) would be located within the project area between the Baker Street ROW improvements and the Restoration Area. The Construction Buffer is included as part of the project to ensure that any disturbance adjacent to the ROW improvements would not encroach onto the Restoration Area. This Construction Buffer would be separate parcel from the Restoration Area. 2.6 DISCRETIONARY APPROVALS, PERMITS, AND STUDIES The following discretionary approval, permits, and studies are anticipated to be necessary for implementation of the proposed project: Project Summary City of Lake Elsinore  Design Review o The project is required to undergo a Design Review “to ensure that new development occurs in a manner which enhances the character and quality of surrounding properties and that the scale, special relationship and architectural treatment of structures including materials, colors, and design, visually contribute to the area and environment in which they are located”. The Planning Commission would be the approving authority for the Design Review.  Conditional Use Permit (required for allowed uses within 300 feet of a residential district) o The proposed use of the project is an allowable use in the M-2 zone. However, as the project is within 300 feet of a residential district, the project would seek the approval of a Conditional Use Permit.  Tentative Parcel Map o The project includes a Tentative Parcel Map to merge the 10 parcels that are proposed for industrial development into 3 separate parcels. Building 1 and Building 2 would each be located on a single parcel, and the trailer parking lot would be the third parcel.  Zone Change o The onsite development portion of the project has a General Plan land use designation of Limited Industrial and is zoned as M-1 and M-2. The project would amend the zoning of the M-1 portion of the site to be M-2 to have consistent zoning within the development area.  Environmental Impact Report o As part of the project, an Environmental Impact Report would be required and would include the technical studies and analysis listed in section 2.7, Technical Studies, below. 2.7 Technical Studies As part of the proposed project, the following technical studies will be prepared for the EIR. The following technical studies were completed or will be completed by the applicant and will need to be peer reviewed by the CEQA consultant for CEQA and technical adequacy : - Air Quality/Energy/GHG/HRA - Biological Resources/MSCHP Consistency Analysis - Cultural Resources Assessment - Noise and Vibration Study - Paleontological Resources - Phase I Environmental Site Assessment - Visual Impact Study The following technical studies were completed or will be completed by the applicant and will be reviewed by the CEQA consultant for CEQA adequacy, but will be approved by the City : Project Summary - Geotechnical/Soils Evaluation - Hydrology Study - Parking Study - Public Service Demand Study (to touch base with City regarding requirements) - Traffic Impact Study - Utility/Services System Study (will serve letters) - Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) Analysis (may screen out) - Water Quality Management Plan - Wildfire Protection Plan and Report Project Summary Figure 1 – Aerial Project Location Project site Project Summary Figure 2 – Project Boundaries Project Summary Figure 3 – Conceptual Site Plan