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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1. Letter of Intent (1) (1) Kimley>>)Horn LETTER OF INTENT Planning Application Murdock Alberhill Ranch Specific Plan Amendment & West Nichols Logistics Center August 13, 2024 Project Understanding The proposed Third Amendment to the Murdock Alberhill Ranch Specific Plan ("Specific Plan") would revise the land use plan and expand the boundary of the Specific Plan area. Specifically, the proposed Third Amendment revises the land area of Planning Area 1 by increasing Subarea I from 13.9 acres to 60.6 acres. The expanded industrial planning area would be bounded by Nichols Road to the north, Terra Cotta Road to the west, Pierce Street to the east, and Kings Highway to the south. The Land Use Designation of the original 13.9 acres within the expanded Subarea I would be vacated from C-1/R-3 to Industrial ("I"). The Land Use Designation of the additional 46.4 acres of the expanded Subarea I would be revised from Residential Mixed Use ('RMU") and Low-Medium Residential ("LMR") to Murdock Alberhill Ranch Specific Plan and then within the Specific Plan as Industrial. In addition, the Third Amendment converts Subarea J in Planning Area 2 from RSF to R2 and R3. This requested change replaces residential units displaced within Subarea I and accommodates a greater variety of residential product types. The proposed land use changes maintain the planned number of units per the zoning,which is further described below, "Conformance to SB330." Lastly,minor modifications were made to the configuration and acreage of Planning Area 3. The application also includes an Industrial Design Review application for the proposed development of the West Nichols Logistics Center, a 60.6-acre industrial site that accommodates 1,054,794 square foot logistics center ("West Nichols Logistics Center" formerly referred to as the "Stockdale Project"). The site is located at the southeast corner of Nichols Road and Terra Cotta Road and would provide for uses including logistics, e-commerce, manufacturing, warehousing, and research and development facilities. Site improvements to be included in the Industrial Design Review application would include the development of Terra Cotta Road to full width with signal improvements, the addition of traffic signals at the Nichols Road and Baker Street intersection, and the realignment of Pierce Street along the eastern project frontage. This letter also includes responses to city comments the applicant received for the West Nichols Logistics Center Pre-Application (PAR-2023-06) on October 5, 2023. Discretionary Actions The proposed modifications to the Murdock Alberhill Ranch Specific Plan would require the following entitlements: • General Plan Amendment • Zone Change • Specific Plan Amendment Kimley>>)Horn Page Industrial Design Review(West Nichols Logistics Center, formerly referred to as the Stockdale Project) Land Use Modifications The modifications to the Specific Plan would include the following land use actions: • Replace the C-1/R-3 land use in Sub-Area I with Industrial (1) • Expand Subarea I by 46.4 acres and change the Land Use Designation from Residential Mixed Use (RMU) and Low-Medium Residential (LMR)to Murdock Alberhill Ranch Specific Plan. • Designate the 46.4 acres as described above to Industrial (1) Redesignate the RSF land use in Planning Area 2 to R-2 and R-3 to replace units vacated in Subarea I The proposed Specific Plan Amendment would expand the Specific Plan boundary by 46.4 acres. The Specific Plan boundary would expand eastward and southward to Pierce Street and Kings Highway, respectively. The boundary of Planning Area 1 would be expanded by increasing Subarea 1 from 13.9- acres to 60.6-acres and would revise the land use designation of Subarea 1 from C-1/R-3 to industrial. The addition of the new land acreage to the Specific Plan Boundary would require a General Plan Amendment and a Zone Change.The proposed project would change the Land Use Designation of the added land area from Residential Mixed Use (RMU) and Low-Medium Residential (LMR) to Murdock Alberhill Ranch Specific Plan. Additionally, it would change the zoning to Industrial within the Murdock Alberhill Ranch Specific Plan. The proposed project would also update Subarea J within Planning Area 2 from RSF to R-2 and R-3 to replace residential units that would be vacated within Subarea 1 and to accommodate a range of residential product types. The R-2 category would be consistent with the General Plan's Medium Density designation which allows a density of 7-18 du/ac for single family detached and attached homes including duplexes, triplexes, fourplexes, and multi-family residential units. The R-3 category would be consistent with the General Plan's High Density Residential designation which allows for a density of 19-24 du/ac for multi-family apartments and condominium projects. GPA and Zone Change Justification (PAR Response)The proposed General Plan Amendment and Zone Change would be compatible with the existing land uses and zones east of the subject site, across Pierce Street, that are currently designated as Limited Industrial and zoned as General Manufacturing(M-2)and Limited Manufacturing (M-1). Although the proposed Logistics Center would be sited near residential uses (separated by Terra Cotta Road),the existing area east of Pierce Street designated as Limited Industrial (LI)is also adjacent to several residential land use designations to the south including Low Density Residential, Low- Medium Residential, and Hillside Residential. The proposed industrial site would continue the industrial land use reflected east of Pierce Street that would create compatible land uses at the Pierce Street and Nichols Road intersection. The proposed project shall comply with LEMC Section 17.415.020.G by demonstrating a substantial benefit derived from the proposed General Plan Amendment (PAR Response). The proposed Industrial Kim ey>>>Horn Page 3 site within the Specific Plan area would introduce logistics, e-commerce, manufacturing, warehousing, research and development facilities to the Lake Elsinore's economic base. The introduction of these uses within the area would create economic development opportunities and can help increase the city's current industrial revenue. The proposed industrial site would also create job opportunities in the City of Lake Elsinore. West Nichols Logistics Center The proposed West Nichols Logistics Center would be located on a 60.6-acre site and would feature a warehouse building with a total of 1,054,794 square feet. The building would include 1,034,794 square feet of warehouse space and 20,000 square feet of two-story office space. The proposed industrial site would provide a total of 460 - standard 9'x18' stalls and 336 - 10' x 53' trailer stalls. Access to the site would be provided at four locations along the perimeter of the site. These access locations would include a 26-foot-wide driveway at the site's western edge along Terra Cotta Road (vehicular traffic only), and one 26-foot-wide (vehicular traffic only) and two 40-foot-wide driveways (truck traffic) along the site's eastern edge along Pierce Street. Internal site circulation would be provided by a 40-foot- wide internal road that would encircle the perimeter of the proposed warehouse building. The proposed internal circulation road would provide for efficient traffic circulation throughout the site and will provide for connections to the site access points on the eastern and western entrances to the site. The project will be in compliance with Council Policy No. 400-16 Good Neighbor Policy (GNP) for warehousing, logistics, and distribution uses (PAR Response). Landscaping and screening walls per the GNP shall be provided, provide a landscape plan. Full elevation plans are being included as part of this submittal which reflect detailed articulation and design accents to comply with GNP design guidelines. Conformance to SB 330 The proposed project would remain in conformance with SB 330 by ensuring that no net loss in residential capacity resulting from the proposed land use changes established through the Specific Plan Amendment. The transfer of units is proposed through two actions: the transfer of units from Planning Area 1 to Planning Area 2, and the upzoning of Planning Area 2's subareas to accommodate the increased unit requirement. The proposed Industrial use in Planning Area 1 requires the programmed 334 units in the C-1/R3 designation to be relocated to Planning Area 2(see Table 1).To accommodate the additional 334 units, more dense residential subareas in Planning Areas 2 are proposed. Existing R-SF subareas in Planning Area 2 are replaced by R-2 and R-3 subareas, resulting in the introduction of an additional 1,257 units to the Specific Plan. See Table 2: Murdock SP Unit Allocation by Planning Area Comparison for details of the units counts per Planning Area. The introduction of R-2 and R-3 units into Planning Area 2 can be seen in Table 3, Proposed Product Types— Planning Area 2, below. The net result of the removal of R-SF and C-1/R3 designations and additional R-2 and R-3 designations results in 640 units additional units added,with a total of 2,459 units provided through the Specific Plan Amendment. (PAR Response) Kimley>>>Horn Page 4 MURDOCK SP UNIT .TABLCOMPARISON Product Type Current Adopted Murdock SP Proposed Murdock SP Net Change R-SF 963 680 (283) R-M 315 315 0 R-2 0 857 857 R-3 207 607 400 C-1/R-3 334 0 (334) TOTAL MURDOCK SP UNIT ALLOCATION • • Planning Area Current Adopted Murdock SP Proposed Murdock SP Net Change 1 1,536 1,202 (334) 2 283 1,257 974 3 0 0 0 TOTAL PROPOSED . Product Type Proposed Murdock SP Density Range (DU/ac) R-2 857 7-18 R-3 400 19-24 TOTAL Industrial Design Review Conformance The project would require a Design Review for the proposed industrial site. The following provides a summary demonstrating the West Nichols Logistics Center conformance with the Specific Plan and City's municipal code: • Floor Area Ratio: The proposed West Nichols Logistics Center would be located on a 60.6- acre site and would feature a building that would include 1,034,794 square feet of warehouse space and 20,000 square feet of office space. The proposed industrial site plan shall comply with the Floor Area Ratio (FAR) requirements for developments in the Limited Industrial (LI) Land use designation by providing an FAR of 0.45, which conforms to the Limited Industrial FAR of 0.45 per the Lake Elsinore General Plan Chapter 2.3.3. (PAR Response) • Setbacks: The site would include 20-foot front and side setbacks, and no setback at the rear. • Building Height: 55 Feet Kimley>>)Horn Pages • Parking: The proposed site would provide a total of 460 9'x18' standard parking stalls and 336 10' x 53' trailer stalls. The 460 standard parking stalls would far exceed the 369 required parking stalls per LEMC Chapter 17.148. (PAR Response) • Landscaping: The site would provide 738,994 square feet of landscaping, or 28%of the site, surpassing the 12% landscaping requirement. (PAR Response) • Good Neighbor Policy: The project will be in compliance with Council Policy No.400-16 Good Neighbor Policy (GNP) for warehousing, logistics, and distribution uses. Landscaping and screening walls per the GNP shall be provided, provide a landscape plan. Full elevation plans are being included as part of this submittal which reflect detailed articulation and design accents to comply with GNP design guidelines. (PAR Response) Additional Materials Requested • Fiscal Impact Analysis: A fiscal impact analysis will be prepared and provided to the city following the first plan check review. (PAR Response) • Due Diligence application to Elsinore Valley Municipal Water District (EVMWD) (PAR Response) • Public Outreach — Kimley-Horn has conducted Public Outreach events in the City of Lake Elsinore such as the Alberhill Community Outreach Event on January 22, 2024.This event was attended by about 60 people and had collaborative stations that explained various components of the project with the intention of receiving feedback from the attendees. The project greatly benefited from the event by being able to address new questions and concerns that arose. Please do not hesitate to reach out with any further questions or concerns. Sincerely, (�%-- Elizabeth Cobb Kimley-Horn and Associates, Inc.