PDF Date Issued: Report No. Hearing Date

DATE ISSUED:

June 20, 2019

REPORT NO. PC 19?058

HEARING DATE: June 27, 2019

SUBJECT:

University Community Plan Amendment Initiation ? Interstate 805 & La Jolla Village Drive

Project Number: 632378

OWNER/ APPICANT:

Asset Builders/Hunter Oliver

SUMMARY:

Issue(s): Should the Planning Commission INITIATE an amendment to the University Community Plan to apply a Visitor Commercial land use designation to a site which was previously right-of-way for the Interstate 805 southbound off-ramp to La Jolla Village Drive?

Staff Recommendation: INITIATE the plan amendment process.

Community Planning Group Recommendation: The University Community Planning Group voted unanimous (16-0-0) on April 9, 2019, to recommend approval of the initiation with specific recommendations (Attachment 1).

Environmental Impact: This activity is not a "project" under the definition set forth in CEQA Guidelines Section 15378. Should the initiation of the community plan amendment be approved, environmental review would take place at the appropriate time in accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15004.

Fiscal Impact: No fiscal impact. All processing costs associated with the processing of the application are recovered through a deposit account funded by the applicant.

Code Enforcement Impact: None. 1

Housing Impact: As a former Caltrans' right-of-way parcel there is no land use designation assigned to the 2.5-acre site, but the underlying RS-1-14 zone would yield approximately 22 single-family units. If initiated, subsequent approval of the proposed Community Plan Amendment would allow uses consistent with the Visitor Commercial land use designation.

BACKGROUND

Site Location The 2.5-acre site is located in the University Community Plan area at the northwest quadrant of Interstate 805 (I-805) and La Jolla Village Drive (Attachment 2 and 3).

Ownership The site is excess Caltrans right-of-way from the former La Jolla Village Drive/I-805 full cloverleaf interchange. Caltrans converted the interchange to a partial cloverleaf interchange configuration in 2012. Caltrans listed the site for sale in 2018. The applicant acquired the property from Caltrans in 2019.

Adjacent Uses The subject site is bounded by La Jolla Commons (office) to the west, Illumina (scientific research) to the north, I-805 to the east, and La Jolla Village Drive to the south. Further to the south, across La Jolla Village Drive, is the La Jolla Crossroads residential development.

Mobility The University Community Plan classifies La Jolla Village Drive as a six-lane Prime Arterial along the site's frontage and includes an existing sidewalk and a class II bike lane. The westbound lanes transition from three lanes, at the I-805 offramp, to four lanes on approach to Towne Centre Drive. There is currently no access to the site from the adjacent properties to the west and north. Prior to sale of the property, Caltrans identified access to the site from La Jolla Village Drive at the southwest corner of the parcel.

The UTC Transit Center is approximately three quarters of a mile to the southwest of the site. Eleven bus routes serve the transit center and the terminus station for the Mid-Coast trolley extension which is due to begin service in late 2021 will be located at the UTC Transit Center.

Public Facilities The North University Community Branch Library and Nobel Athletic area are approximately fourth tenths of a mile south of the site. Fire Station 35 is approximately three quarters of a mile to the west of the site.

Community Plan Designation and Zoning The University Community Plan does not have a land use designation for the site as it was previously Caltrans right-of-way (Attachment 4). The site is currently zoned RS-1-14

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(Attachment 5). The adjacent property to the west is designated Office Commercial and zoned CV-1-2. The adjacent property to the north is designated Scientific Research and is zoned IP-1-1.

Employment In 2012, SANDAG estimated the University Community had 89,600 jobs and forecasted by 2035 it could have 105,600 jobs which is an 18 percent increase. The hospitality sector is forecasted to grow from 4,500 to 6,500 jobs. Currently, there are five hotels with approximately 1,670 total rooms within the University Community Planning Area.

Other Planning Efforts The University Community Plan Update began in September 2018. Two community plan amendments have been initiated within the planning area. A community plan amendment was initiated on March 26, 2015, for the Costa Verde Regency retail site located at Genesee Avenue and Esplanade Court. The amendment proposes to add 125,000 square feet of retail and a 200-room hotel to the shopping center site. A community plan amendment was initiated on July 20, 2017, for 9693 Towne Centre Drive, but the proposed amendment has not yet submitted for City review. The amendment proposes to increase the amount of square footage on the site for scientific research uses.

General Plan Policy LU-D.4. states that during a community plan update process, community plan amendment requests will be accepted until the final land use scenarios have been established. The proposed initiation would not conflict with the community plan update effort or the other Community Plan amendments in process.

DISCUSSION

Community Plan Amendment Proposal The community plan amendment proposes to apply a Visitor Commercial land use designation to this former right-of-way parcel to allow a hotel use. The University Community Plan also includes a Development Intensity Element which divides the community into subareas and assigns land use and development intensity to those subareas (Attachment 6). The proposed amendment could result in revising an existing adjacent subarea or creating a new subarea, to assign a land use and development intensity for the subject site.

Community Planning Group The University Community Planning Group (UCPG) recommended approval of the initiation at their April 9, 2019 meeting. The motion to approve included a request that the city and the applicant address the following issues:

1) The City ensures safe vehicle access to the parcel. 2) The City ensures safe bicycle access to the parcel and safe bicycle access along

the public right of way in front of the parcel.

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3) The City explores good pedestrian access to neighboring businesses and the Super Loop.

4) The City examines Traffic Mitigation measures, perhaps moving trips from existing Open Space areas and/or preserving land elsewhere.

5) The Applicant explores potential zoning that would allow Scientific Research or a hotel use.

Community Plan Amendment Criteria The City is unique among jurisdictions in that the process to amend the General Plan and/or a Community Plan requires either Planning Commission or City Council initiation before the plan amendment process and accompanying project may proceed. Community plans are a component of the City's General Plan. The proposed amendment is anticipated to result in revisions to the Community Plan and may include changes to the General Plan land use map. A recommendation of approval or denial of the initiation is based upon compliance with all three of the initiation criteria contained in the General Plan:

(1) The amendment request appears to be consistent with the goals and policies of the General Plan and University Community Plan and any community plan specific amendment criteria:

The Economic Prosperity Element of the General Plan has goals for commercial land use that seek the efficient and flexible use of land based on business needs, development that contributes to economic vitality of the community, and provide opportunities for new business development. The area surrounding the site is also identified as a subregional employment area by the General Plan where the retention and growth of employment opportunities are encouraged to maintain the vitality of the city's economic base.

The University Community Plan identifies the area surrounding the intersection of Genesee Avenue and La Jolla Village Drive, located west of the site, as an Urban Node where a mix of uses at higher densities and intensities should be located. The location of the parcel at I-805 and La Jolla Village Drive is identified as a gateway into the community by the University Community Plan. The proposed amendment would allow development of a vacant site where existing urban design guidelines in the community plan which encourage special attention to site and building design, would be applied. The proposed amendment would be complementary to the existing mix of uses and would easily fit within the urban fabric of higher intensity and density development. Near-by University of California San Diego and recreational and visitor attractions such as the Westfield UTC, Costa Verde Shopping Center, and Torrey Pines Golf Course would benefit from increased visitor accommodations as well.

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Zoning to implement the proposed land use has not been identified at this time. Staff will work with the applicant to identify the appropriate zone to implement the proposed land use.

(2) The proposed amendment provides additional public benefit to the community as compared to the existing land use designation, density/intensity range, plan policy or site design; and

The proposed amendment would increase accommodations for both tourism and business travelers. Increased accommodations for business travel would directly support the continued growth in the surrounding scientific research, biotech and high-tech business sectors as well as UC San Diego.

The site affords easy access to the surrounding employment center via multiple modes of transportation other than single occupancy vehicles which would help reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled, supporting Strategy 3 of the City's Climate Action Plan.

(3) Public facilities appear to be available to serve the proposed increase in density/intensity, or their provision will be addressed as a component of the amendment process.

The University Community plan area is an urbanized community and all necessary public services appear to be available. However, a full analysis of public facilities would be included as part of the Community Plan Amendment analysis should this request be initiated.

Additional Issues The following land use issues have been identified with the initiation request. If initiated, these issues, as well as others that may be identified, will be analyzed and evaluated through the community plan amendment review process:

? Full analysis of safe vehicle, pedestrian and bicycle access to the site. ? Impacts on the circulation system and need for traffic improvements associated with

new development. ? Opportunity to create secondary and pedestrian access from adjacent development. ? Appropriate zoning for the site. ? Analysis of bulk and scale in relationship to surrounding conditions and ability to

design the site as a gateway into the community.

Although staff believes that the proposed amendment meets the necessary criteria for initiation, the applicant has not submitted a site-specific development proposal. Therefore, by initiating this Community Plan amendment, neither the staff nor the Planning

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