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HomeMy Public PortalAbout09_10A_CSP_Staff ReportCOMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT MEMORANDUM DATE: February 2, 2021 TO: The Honorable City Council FROM: Bryan Cook, City Manager By: Scott Reimers, Community Development Director SUBJECT: POTENTIAL CHANGES TO THE CROSSROADS SPECIFIC PLAN RECOMMENDATION: City Council is recommended to: 1.Initiate an amendment to the Crossroads Specific Plan and the Zoning Code related tenant subdivisions, grocery stores, public food markets, land and air subdivisions, requiring mixed-use or housing as part of new construction, and any related policy changes; and 2. Provide feedback on the potential amendments found in Attachment A - Draft Recommended Changes to the Crossroads Specific Plan. BACKGROUND: 1.On December 5, 2017, the City Council adopted Ordinance 17-1029 adopting the Crossroads Specific Plan (CSP). 2.On January 7, 2020, the City Council adopted Urgency Ordinance 20-1038U which enacted a 45-day moratorium within the MU-C zone of the CSP on public market uses and the subdivision of parcels and tenant spaces. 3.On February 18, 2020, the City Council extended the moratorium for 10 months and 15 days. 4.On December 15, 2020, the City Council extended the moratorium for six months to July 7, 2021. AGENDA ITEM 10.A. City Council February 2, 2021 Page 2 of 6 ANALYSIS: The CSP was adopted in 2017 based on certain market conditions and habits. Since then, a major retailer in the CSP has closed opening some possibilities while possibly closing the door on others. In addition, the COVID-19 pandemic of 2020 has spilled into 2021 bringing with it many changes including to the economy and people’s dining and shopping behavior. The draft, recommended changes to the Crossroads Specific Plan represent modifications considering these significant changes as well as the State’s housing crisis and the City’s share of the regional housing needs assessment (RHNA) allocation. These changes are drafts in that the next step will be to work with property owners in the MU-C zone of the CSP to get their feedback. The following recommendations attempt to strike a balance between fulfilling the CSP’s vision, achieving the City’s economic development goals, adding housing to the CSP to take pressure off single-family neighborhoods, and the realities of present ownership and leasing constraints. Staff remains committed to fulfilling the vision of the CSP and will continue conversations with property owners on the southern portion of the site. The proposed land use regulations should be seen as a way for property owners and leaseholders to maintain use of their property in a mutually beneficial way until such time as the property is ripe for development in compliance with the CSP. Tenant Subdivisions: The MU-C zone of the CSP includes some big box retail spaces (see “Attachment B” for a table showing the size of each building in the MU-C zone between Las Tunas Drive and Broadway). Brick-and-mortar retailers are facing increased competition from Internet retailers and thus the demand for big box retail spaces has declined. To reduce the possibility of future vacancies staff recommends allowing larger tenant spaces to be subdivided into smaller spaces, with limitations. Along Las Tunas Drive, the City has a strong inventory of small tenant spaces. It would be economically beneficial and beneficial to the residents of Temple City to have a diversity of businesses. This can be achieved by having a diversity of tenant sizes; thus, staff recommends the allowances shown in Table 1. Table 1: Future Tenants Subdivision in the MU-C Zone of the CSP Existing Size (sq. ft.) Subdivision Allowance Examples 60,000+ 1 unit must be 50,000 sq. ft. or more. No unit may be less than 20,000 sq. ft. K-Mart & Auto Repair (94,500) 40,000 – 60,000 1 unit must be 30,000 sq. ft. or more. No unit may be less than 20,000 sq. ft. CVS (51,740) 20,000 – 40,000 No further subdivision Super A (39,144) 5,000 – 20,000 No further subdivision Office Depot (19,000) & Shiki Buffet (19,000) 1,250 – 5,000 No less than 1,250 City Council February 2, 2021 Page 3 of 6 Staff also recommends the following requirements related to tenant subdivisions. • Tenant subdivisions must include a proportional improvement to the façade and the parking lot landscaping. • New tenant spaces less than 5,000 square feet must have a minimum depth of 50 feet and a width of 25 feet. • All new tenant spaces must have exterior doors and windows facing Rosemead Boulevard, Las Tunas Drive or Broadway. Tenant subdivisions (not new construction) aimed at creating a lifestyle center or boutique mall would be allowed through a conditional use permit and would not be required to meet the requirement of Table 1. Table 2 provides a list of the typical footprint size of different national retailers. Table 2: Typical Footprint Size of National Retailers Avg. Size (sq. ft.) Tenant Avg. Size (sq. ft.) Tenant 7,500 Dollar General 40,000 Target, small format 10,000 ULTA 55,000 Hobby Lobby 26,000 Homegoods 80,000 Kohl’s 30,000 T.J. Maxx / Marshall’s 130,000 Target, full format 30,000 Ace Hardware 140,000 Lowe’s (Indoor store + nursery) Public Food Markets: Public food markets are an old use that is seeing a resurgence with the desire for experience-based retail, craft or artisanal food products, and fast casual food service. Given the wide range of types and consequently a wide range of potential issues, staff recommends requiring a conditional use permit (CUP) approved by the Planning Commission for any public market in any zone of the City. The CUP would include a finding requiring an experienced manager and high-quality improvements. Since the quality of the retail experience is paramount, staff recommends requiring an interior design program similar to what malls use. The design program would be prepared by a licensed architect with experience designing such a program and would include issues such as lighting, materials, storage, signs, merchandising, counter heights and partition walls. Successful markets put in place caps on the amount of general merchandise and prepared foods. Staff recommends requiring such a limit on any future market. Staff also recommends prohibiting tobacco products and requiring liquor sales be limited based on the size of the market and limited alcohol sales to only higher quality products (no single- serve containers of less than 16 ounces). City Council February 2, 2021 Page 4 of 6 Grocery Stores: Grocery stores are unlike other retailers. They make substantial use of shopping carts. They often sell alcohol. They can see an unusual number of shoplifting complaints compared to other stores. They produce a significant amount of trash and their loading docks have a high amount of traffic. They often include exterior uses such as recycling centers and vending machines. They do not rely on window displays. Due to these differences a few cities require a conditional use permit. Instead of requiring this additional process staff is proposing to set performance standards related to alcohol sales, security cameras, loading dock utilization and maintenance, security, providing exterior windows, locating kiosks, recycling facilities, and vending machines indoors, and limit the sale of goods on the exterior. Land Subdivisions: The CSP expected future development to consolidate parcels of land to create a larger, cohesive project site. To ensure that this happens, staff recommends setting some standards for minimum lot size and depth to ensure that new parcels are large enough to meet the CSP’s vision. Similar to the discussion under tenant subdivisions, requiring some larger commercial parcels will help the City maintain a diverse and more resilient economy. Staff recommends the following: • No new lot may be smaller than the existing. • A new lot must be at least 200 feet in width and 200 feet in depth. • A new lot must have frontage on a public street, or a private street built to the specifications in the Crossroads Specific Plan. • Commercial condominiums would not be permitted. Requiring Mixed-Use Development or Housing in New Construction: The primary objective of the Crossroads Specific Plan is to create economic vitality by promoting mixed-use development on the site. With this type of development would come key benefits to the community such as open space and plazas, retail and dining experiences for residents, and keeping new residential density out of single-family neighborhoods. To promote the CSP’s vision, staff recommends that new construction must be mixed-use or include a housing component. One question that will come up is how much of a structure may be demolished without it being considered a new building. Staff is proposing a sliding scale depending on the size of the original structure and using a similar set of calculations as the zoning code. Table 3 provides staff’s recommendation. City Council February 2, 2021 Page 5 of 6 Table 3: Demolition and New Structures Original structure size (sq. ft.) Defined as a new structure if the following is demolished Less than 40,000 50 percent 40,000 – 90,000 40 percent + 90,000 25 percent Change to CSP Policies: In addition to the above changes to standards and uses in the CSP, staff also recommends changes to the policies in the CSP. Staff recommends adding policies that encourage high quality tenants; regional and national retailers; tenants that reflect the diverse culture of Temple City; and expansion of local businesses, especially those that provide cross-cultural appeal. NEXT STEPS: Staff recommends the steps and timing found in Table 4 for amending the CSP. The City Council can have the moratorium expire at the same time as the ordinance becomes effective. Table 4: Proposed Process Month Activity February Outreach to property owners in the CSP March 9 or 23 Planning Commission review and recommendation April 20 City Council review (1st Reading of Ordinance) May 4 City Council 2nd Reading of Ordinance June 4 Ordinance becomes effective July 7 Moratorium expires STRATEGIC GOALS: The purpose of this report is to seek input from the City Council on land use issues that affect economic development and quality of life. This action furthers the City Strategic Goals of Good Governance and Economic Development. FISCAL IMPACT : Providing staff input on these land use decisions will not have any impact on the Fiscal Year 2020-21 City Budget. City Council February 2, 2021 Page 6 of 6 ATTACHMENTS: A. Proposed Draft Crossroads Specific Plan Amendments B. Property Information for Properties in the MU-C Zone of the CSP City of Temple City Community Enhancement Division Draft Recommended Changes to the Crossroads Specific Plan ATTACHMENT A GROCERY STORES: Set the following performance standards for grocery stores in any zone established after the effective date of this Ordinance: •Existing loading docks must comply with the requirements of Section 9-1E-6 to the extent feasible. •Alcohol sales areas must not be no more than 10 percent of the interior square footage of the market. •Fresh food (not canned, dried, or frozen) must be at least 25 percent of the interior square footage of the market. •General merchandise (excluding pharmaceuticals, vitamins, greeting cards, and toiletries and including housewares, toys, and similar merchandise) must not be more than 5 percent of the interior square footage of the market. •Accessory uses including fast casual or fast food, banks, pharmacies, and other similar uses (excluding public food markets) determined by the Community Development Director are permitted. The total floor area of accessory uses must not exceed 15 percent of the interior building area. •A security plan must be reviewed and approved by the Community Development Director and continually instituted if calls for service to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department exceeds the City average for a grocery store. •Exterior windows without tinting must be provided on at least 25 percent of the front elevation of building’s main entrance facade. •Recycling facilities (including collection facilities and reverse vending machines) must be placed indoors. •All kiosks, unattended collection boxes, vending machines, online retailer lockers, and such must be located indoors. •Products for sale outside of the business must be limited to flowers, plants, and seasonal decorative items. Items displayed outdoors must be displayed using high quality materials such as finished wood. Cardboard boxes, plastic crates and boxes, and metal crates are not allowed display shelves or containers. •The Community Development Director may restrict loading dock utilization if complaints to code enforcement or the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department exceed the City average for a grocery store. •Fluorescent or LED light tubes shall be shielded from view. •The grocery store must provide high quality video cameras inside and outside of each entrance and make such videos available to the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department when requested. Videos must be kept for 15 days. Draft Recommended Changes to the Crossroads Specific Plan February 2, 2021 Page 2 of 4 ADDITIONAL POLICIES Add policies encouraging: • High quality tenants, • Regional and national retailers, • Tenants that reflect the diverse culture of Temple City, and • Local businesses that provide cross-cultural appeal. PUBLIC FOOD MARKET USES Require the following of public food market uses: • Public food market uses in all zones must obtain a CUP from the Planning Commission to operate. • Require two CUP findings requiring high-quality improvements and materials and a manager with experience overseeing a public food market or similar use. • The applicant must submit and implement a interior design program written by a licensed architect which requires quality materials, regulate how to display products, and setting requirements for keeping spaces clean and well maintained. The program must include requirements related to counter height, demising partitions, merchandising, display, lighting, material, storage, and signs. • Stalls must be designed with a rear entrance to provide access and storage. • Stalls selling prepared foods for onsite consumption may provide seating at a bar. • A communal seating area for patrons to eat foods cooked onsite may be included. If so, one larger seating area must be provided; smaller seating areas spread throughout the market may be provided in addition to the larger seating area. • The applicant must submit for the Planning Commission’s review and approval a plan for the mix of tenants and operation in conformance with the plan will be included as a condition of approval. The plan must focus the public food market’s vendors on food and food related products (cookbooks, cooking materials, and ingredients) or homemade products and crafts. The following guidelines should be used as guidelines for such a plan. o No more than 33 percent of the floor area of the market can be leased to vendors selling food intended to be consumed onsite. o No more than 10 percent of the floor area of the market can be leased to vendors selling general merchandise. • Alcohol sales must be limited to one tenant per 30,000 square feet and limited to rare, high quality, small-batch, or “craft” brews. Single-serve alcohol must not be sold. Containers of alcohol less than 8 ounces must not be sold. • Cigarettes, other tobacco products, other tobacco related products, vaping products and products containing psycho-tropic cannabis related products must not be sold. Tenants selling non-psycho- tropic CBD products are limited to one per 30,000 square feet. • Non-food vendors must be in non-prominent areas such as along rear walls or in spaces furthest from the entrance. Draft Recommended Changes to the Crossroads Specific Plan February 2, 2021 Page 3 of 4 • The market must have its own entrance from the building’s main façade. • Flower or seasonal sales stalls must be provided on at least one side of the building’s main entrance , uncles the market is along a city-owned sidewalk where outdoor sales is prohibited. In such cases, setting the building back to provide seasonal outdoor sales is encouraged. • In cases where the required parking is not city-owned, the required parking for the market may be used as an exterior “Market Square” once a week subject to conditions of the business’s CUP or a separate Temporary Use Permit. • Indoor and outdoor displays must be attractive and orderly. Cardboard boxes, plastic crates, and other storage is not allowed. • Besides cooked or prepared foods, the vendors must not sell food or products that release obnoxious odors. Fish markets and green grocers must be maintained to eliminate odor. • The business will be inspected quarterly and pay the Community Preservation inspection fee as defined in the City’s Fee and Fine Schedule. LAND AND AIR SUBDIVISIONS : The following land and air subdivisions are required in the CSP MU-C zone east of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District. • Any new land lot must have a minimum width of 200 feet and a depth of 200 feet. • No new lot may be combined or adjusted in a way so that the lot is smaller than any of the original lots. Lots required for the creation of a private street are exempt. • Future lot line adjustments and subdivisions must provide frontage on a public street or a private street with the widths show in the Crossroads Specific Plan. • Commercial condominiums are prohibited anywhere in the CSP. • Residential condominiums are permitted. MIXED -USE OR HOUSING AS A REQUIRED USE • New commercial only development will be prohibited on lots south of Las Tunas Drive. • A structure will be considered new when demolition exceeds that show in the table below. Table 1 Original structure size in square feet Defined as a new structure if the following is demolished Less than 40,000 50 percent 40,000 – 90,000 40 percent + 90,000 25 percent • Demolition of the roof and walls will be calculated to determine the percentage of the structure demolished at a rate of 30 and 70 percent, respectively. For example, a 30,000 square foot building could remove the roof and up to one side of the structure and it would not be counted as a demolition. Draft Recommended Changes to the Crossroads Specific Plan February 2, 2021 Page 4 of 4 FUTURE TENANT SUBDIVISIONS : Set the following standards for the MU-C zone, south of Las Tunas and east of the Eaton Wash. • Generally future tenant subdivisions will use the ministerial zoning clearance process. • Future tenant subdivisions in the MU-C zone of the CSP and east of the Los Angeles County Flood Control District must meet the standards show in the table below. The minimum width and depth of new tenant spaces in this area is 25 feet and 50 feet, respectively. Table 2 Existing Size* (sq. ft.) Subdivision Allowance 60,000+ One unit must be 50,000 square feet, or more No unit may be less than 20,000 square feet 40,000 – 60,000 One unit must be 30,000 or more No unit may be less than 20,000 square feet 20,000 – 40,000 No further subdivision 5,000 – 20,000 No further subdivision 1,000 – 5,000 No less than 1,250 *The existing size as of February, 2021 • Require a façade improvement and parking lot landscaping improvements proportional to the interior improvements. • New tenant spaces less than 5,000 square feet must have a minimum depth of 50 feet and a width of 25 feet. • All future tenant subdivisions must be done in such a way that the tenant space has exterior doors and windows facing Rosemead Boulevard, Las Tunas Drive, or Broadway. New exterior windows and doors installed on the west elevation will not be counted toward meeting this requirement. New exterior windows and doors installed to meet this requirement that do not face Rosemead Boulevard, Las Tunas Drive, or Broadway, must be part of a conditional use permit for an outdoor shopping center and must face a courtyard. • Tenant subdivisions (not new construction) aimed at creating a lifestyle center or boutique mall would be allowed through a conditional use permit and would not be required to meet the requirement of Table 2. Such tenant spaces would not require exterior windows and doors facing Las Tunas Drive, Rosemead Boulevard, or Broadway, but must have exterior windows and doors facing a courtyard, plaza, or other similar alley with a minimum width of 20 feet. Such connecting space must have pedestrian improvements (such as benches, permanent landscaping, pavers, public art, water features, etc.) to the standard of a bona fide shopping mall. The application must include a lighting plan that provides safety using high quality, aesthetically pleasing lighting. Property Information for Properties in the MU-C Zone of the CSP Address APN Tenant Estimated Building (sq. ft.)Lot (sq ft.) 5505 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-032-013 The Hat 2,726 9,325 5505 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-032-014 Parking lot for The Hat 0 11,189 5607 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-031-062 East West Bank 21,192 11,560 5603 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-031-063 Former Denny's 0 16,359 5551 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-032-063 Parking for various small shops 0 23,268 5611 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-031-059 Various small shops 24,000 23,948 5541 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-032-055 Burger King 2,250 27,093 5675 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-031-065 Chevron 1,248 29,042 5585 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-032-062 Parking for CVS 0 38,171 Page 1 of 2 ATTACHMENT B Address APN Tenant Estimated Building (sq. ft.)Lot (sq ft.) 5595 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-031-060 Super A Foods 39,144 41,646 5585 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-031-061 CVS 51,740 52,299 5595 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-031-068 Parking for Super A Foods 0 55,024 5533 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-032-061 Parking for Office Depot & Shiki Buffet 0 62,048 5551 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-032-059 Various small shops 23,540 68,732 5533 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-032-058 Office Depot & Shiki Buffet 38,490 78,220 5665 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-031-066 Parking 144,604 5665 Rosemead Blvd Temple City, CA 91780 5387-031-064 K-Mart 94,500 187,769 298,830 880,297 Page 2 of 2