Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 6506 City of Palo Alto (ID # 6506) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Action Items Meeting Date: 2/8/2016 Summary Title: Administrative Guidelines for Interim Annual Limit Title: Adoption of Administrative Guideline for Implementation of the Interim Office/R&D Annual Limit in Fiscal Years 2016 and 2017 From: City Manager Lead Department: Planning and Community Environment Recommendation Staff recommends that the City Council adopt the administrative guideline (Attachment C) proposed by the Director of Planning in conformance with Section 18.85.208 of the ordinance establishing an interim annual limit on the amount of office/R&D space that can be approved each fiscal year (Attachment A). Executive Summary On September 21, 2015, the City Council adopted an interim ordinance establishing an annual limit on the amount of net new office/R&D space that can be approved each fiscal year in a subset of the City comprising Downtown, the California Avenue area, and the El Camino Real Corridor. The ordinance included criteria that will be used to evaluate projects that are pending approval as of March 31st of each fiscal year if the sum total of those projects exceeds 50,000 square feet. The ordinance also gives the Director of Planning the ability to adopt implementing procedures, and the City Council’s motion requested that staff return to Council with these administrative procedures. (Council motions from June 15, 2015 and September 21, 2015 are included as Attachment B.) The proposed procedures include clarification of the adopted ordinance and procedures related to (a) applicability; (b) exemptions; (c) procedures; and (d) scoring of competing projects based on the adopted criteria. A score card that would be used to evaluate eligible projects is included. Background & Discussion The City’s Comprehensive Plan contains an overall cap on the amount of non-residential development that can occur in Downtown and in the City as a whole, but does not currently City of Palo Alto Page 1 limit the pace of development.1 This issue was discussed at public workshops regarding the Comprehensive Plan Update in the summer of 2014, and the City Council took up the idea of limiting the pace of new office/R&D development over the course of six meetings from January through June of 2015. (CMR: 5877; CMR: 5689; CMR: 5621; CMR: 5565; CMR: 5518; CMR: 5404.) On March 23rd and June 15, the City Council adopted a series of motions directing staff to (among other things) prepare an interim ordinance to effectuate an annual limit on new office/R&D development in those areas of the City experiencing the most rapid change. Key characteristics of the resulting ordinance that was ultimately adopted on September 21, 2015, include but are not limited to:  Office/R&D annual limit would run until the adoption of the new Comprehensive Plan or two years whichever is sooner;  The limit would apply to an area comprised of the Downtown, California Avenue area, and the El Camino Real corridor;  The limit would be set at 50,000 sq. ft. of new office/R&D development (net gain) per fiscal year. The ordinance also established a series of exemptions and evaluation criteria, including exemptions for pipeline projects (pending applications deemed complete prior to March 31, 2015), and a criterion giving priority to pending applications deemed complete between March 31 and June 15, 2015. Please consult the ordinance in Attachment A for detailed information. Importantly, the annual limit of 50,000 net new square feet only becomes relevant if there are applications for more than this amount of new square footage pending approval in a given year. A pacing mechanism ensures square footage comes on line at a moderated pace, despite fluctuations in economic cycles. Looking back 15 years, a 50,000 square foot annual limit in the commercial districts affected by the interim ordinance would have acted as a constraint in six of the past 15 years (FY2006, FY2007, FY2010, FY2012, FY2014 and FY2015). In other years, the cumulative total of new square footage entitled in the affected areas was less than 50,000 square feet. Based on the current pipeline projects, the 50,000 annual limit may be reached this fiscal year.2 Timeline 1 The cap that applies to the City as a whole was established by Comprehensive Plan Policy L-8 and addresses non- residential development in “monitored areas.” Non-residential development pursuant to this policy is not close to reaching the 3.2M square foot cap. Non-residential development in Downtown may reach the 350,000 square foot cap established for that area (in Comprehensive Plan Program L-8) within the next several years, necessitating reevaluation of this limit. 2 Staff will provide a full accounting of pending projects after the March 31 date provided in the ordinance, but with the recent withdrawal of an application for redevelopment of 3045 Park Boulevard, it seems that projects subject to the ordinance this year may total just slightly more than 50,000 square feet. City of Palo Alto Page 2 The proposed guideline is intended for use in administering the interim annual office/R&D limit for Fiscal Year 2016 (this year) and Fiscal Year 2017 (next year) and may be amended as needed. Resource Impact The proposed administrative guideline is intended to provide for a consistent and transparent process, facilitating an efficient use of staff resources. Policy Implications The proposed administrative guideline is procedural in nature, and would not change policy or modify existing regulations. Environmental Review Adoption of the proposed administrative guideline is procedural in nature, and is thus not a “project” requiring review under the California Environmental Quality !ct (CEQ!). Attachments:  Attachment A: Interim Ordinance 5357 on Office/R&D Annual Limit (PDF)  Attachment B: Excerpts from the Action Minutes of September 21 and June 15, 2015 City Council Meetings (DOCX)  Attachment C: Interim Office-RD Annual Limit Administrative Regulations v3 (DOCX) City of Palo Alto Page 3 Attachment A - Attachment B CITY COUNCIL ACTION MINUTES – September 21, 2015 PUBLIC HEARING - Adoption of an Interim Ordinance Establishing a 50,000 Square Foot Annual Limit on Office/R&D Development in a Portion of the City Including Downtown, the California Avenue Area, and the El Camino Corridor. Environmental Assessment: This Ordinance is Exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3); The Planning and Transportation Commission Recommended Adoption. Council Member DuBois advised he would not be participating in this Agenda Item as it pertains to the outer boundary due to his wife’s employment at Stanford University. He left the meeting at 10:05 P.M. MOTION: Mayor Holman moved, seconded by Council Member Kniss to adopt boundaries as identified in the Staff Report and direct Staff to return within six months with a report on Stanford’s progress on reducing single occupancy vehicle trips generated by Stanford Research Park. Public Hearing opened at 10:17 P.M. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion, “to direct Staff to return within six months with a report with potential action on development of office space outside of the boundaries.” AMENDMENT: Council Member Scharff moved, seconded by Council Member Berman to replace in the Motion, “on development of office space outside of the boundaries” with “on including Stanford Research Park.” AMENDMENT PASSED: 6-2 Filseth, Wolbach no, DuBois not participating AMENDMENT: Mayor Holman moved, seconded by Council Member Wolbach to add to the Motion, “to direct Staff to return within one year with a report with potential action on Office/R&D development applications outside of the boundaries.” AMENDMENT TO THE AMENDMENT: Council Member Scharff moved, seconded by Council Member Burt to add to the Motion, “to direct Staff to return within one year with an informational report on Office/R&D development applications outside of the boundaries.” AMENDMENT TO THE AMENDMENT PASSED: 6-2 Holman, Kniss no, DuBois not participating MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 8-0 DuBois not participating Council Member DuBois returned at 10:47 P.M. Public Hearing closed at 11:09 P.M. MOTION: Council Member Filseth moved, seconded by Council Member Burt to not exempt Coordinated Area Plans from the Office/R&D Development Annual Limit. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add at the end of the Motion, “but at the end the completion of a Coordinated Area Plan process it would come to Council for a determination on how the Office/R&D Development Annual Limit would apply.” MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 6-3 Holman, Kniss, Schmid no MOTION: Council Member Dubois moved, seconded by Council Member Burt to adopt the Office/R&D Annual Limit Ordinance with the following changes: A. Delete Municipal Code Section 18.85.203(c) – Self Mitigating Buildings; and B. Delete Municipal Code Section 18.85.207(e) – The monetary and/or non-monetary value of public benefits offered; and C. Direct Staff to return with administrative scoring procedure to Council to be used to rank projects. Give projects in the pipeline after March 31, 2015 but deemed completed as of June 15, 2015 more weight in the process; and D. Program to return Council in two years, before it would cease to be in effect, to be either affirmatively continued or modified/replaced. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to replace in the Motion Part B, “Delete Municipal Code Section 18.85.207(e) – The monetary and/or non-monetary value of public benefits offered” with “Change Municipal Code Section 18.85.207(e) – The value to the community of public benefits offered.” INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion, “Municipal Code Section 18.85.207 – Selection Criteria to be weighted as Sections a-b (Impacts), Section c (Design), Section d (Environmental Quality), Section e (Public Benefits), Sections f-h (Uses), and Section i (Pipeline).” AMENDMENT: Council Member Burt moved, seconded by Council Member Berman to replace in the Motion Part A with, “(1) would provide rental housing for more workers than would be employed in the project; and (2) provide substantial transportation demand management strategies (individually or in cooperation with other projects or programs) to improve the current parking and traffic conditions.” AMENDMENT PASSED: 7-2 DuBois, Filseth no AMENDMENT: Council Member Scharff moved, seconded by Council Member Kniss to replace in the Motion Part C, “more weight in the process” with “they would be first in line to be chosen under the Office/R&D Development Annual Limit.” INCORPORATED INTO THE AMENDMENT WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to replace in the Amendment, “first in line to be chosen under the Office/R&D Development Annual Limit” with “selected first and weighted amongst each other.” AMENDMENT AS AMENDED PASSED: 5-4 Burt, DuBois, Holman, Schmid no MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 9-0 COUNCIL ACTION MINUTES – JUNE 15, 2015 Discussion and Direction to Staff Regarding Establishment of an Office/R&D Annual Growth Limit Applicable to Downtown, the California Avenue Area, and the El Camino Corridor on an Interim Basis (Continued From June 1, 2015). Council Member DuBois advised he would not be participating in this Agenda Item as his wife is employed by Stanford University and the exclusion of Stanford Research Park could provide a benefit to Stanford University. MOTION: Council Member Scharff moved, seconded by Council Member Wolbach to use the precise boundaries as outlined in the Potential Office/R&D Cap Boundaries, and the Development Cap will not apply to any area in which the City has adopted at time of development a Coordinated Area Plan, Specific Plan, Master Plan or Precise Plan. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to replace in the Motion, “Specific Plan, Master Plan or Precise Plan” with “or Specific Plan.” INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion, “with the exception of the South of Forest Area Coordinated Area Plan, Phase Two (SOFAII) and Staff will return with information pertaining to the impacts of excluding SOFAII from the Development Cap.” MOTION: Council Member Scharff moved, seconded by Council Member Kniss that projects generating less than 2,000 square feet of net new office space will be exempt from the Development Cap. MOTION PASSED: 8-0 DuBois not participating MOTION: Council Member Kniss moved, seconded by Council Member Scharff to apply the Development Cap to these Land Uses defined in Municipal Code Section 18.04.030: Research & Development, Administrative Office Services, General Business Office, Medical Office and Professional Office. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to remove from the Motion, “Medical Office.” INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion, “Medical Office over 5,000 square feet” after “General Business Office.” MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 8-0 DuBois not participating MOTION: Council Member Wolbach moved, seconded by Council Member Berman to exempt from the Development Cap, self-mitigating projects; projects providing sufficient rental housing such that the job/housing balance would improve, and which would also provide substantial Transportation Demand Management plans (individually or in cooperation with others). INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion, "to improve the current parking and traffic impacts." MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 6-2 Filseth, Schmid no, DuBois not participating MOTION: Council Member Kniss moved, seconded by Council Member Scharff to: A. Establish a procedure by which applications are accepted and processed as they are currently; and E. Except that, no applications received after July 1 or the effective date of the Ordinance would be approved until after March 31 of the following year; and F. At that point, if the square footage proposed by all applications combined would exceed the annual limit, completed applications that have been recommended for approval by an appropriate advisory body such as the Architectural Review Board would be ranked based on scoring criteria and provided to the City Council for evaluation and action; and G. If the square footage proposed by all applications combined would not exceed the annual limit, the completed applications that have been recommended for approval would be acted upon using the usual process. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to remove from the Motion Part B, “such as the Architectural Review Board.” INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion Part B, “or the effective date of the Ordinance” after “July 1.” MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 7-1 Schmid no, DuBois not participating MOTION: Council Member Scharff moved, seconded by Council Member Kniss to evaluate applications subject to the annual limit using the following criteria: A. Their intensity of use; and B. Their ability to avoid or address potential impacts on traffic and parking; and C. The quality of their design, including their attention to human scale where the building(s) meet the street, their compatibility with surroundings, and their overall architectural quality; and D. Their environmental quality; and E. The monetary and/or non-monetary value of public benefits offered. INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion, “Mixed use projects including substantial housing.” INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion, “Mixed use projects including retail.” INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to replace in the Motion Part A, “their intensity of use” with “intensity of use in the context of underlying zoning and its surroundings.” INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to replace in the Motion Part A, “intensity of use” with “density of development.” INCORPORATED INTO THE MOTION WITH CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Motion, “mixed use projects that provide space for cultural amenities such as but not limited to art galleries and studios.” MOTION AS AMENDED PASSED: 8-0 DuBois not participating MOTION: Council Member Scharff moved, seconded by Council Member Berman to exempt projects in the pipeline since 2013 or 2014 from the Development Cap. SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Mayor Holman moved, seconded by Council Member Filseth to exempt projects in the pipeline that received project approval by July 1, 2015 or the effective date of the Ordinance. AMENDMENT TO THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Council Member Scharff moved, seconded by Council Member Berman to replace in the Substitute Motion, “received project approval” with “were submitted in 2013 or 2014 and complete.” INCORPORATED INTO THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to replace in the Substitute Motion, “received project approval by July 1, 2015 or the effective date of the Ordinance” with “applied for in 2013 or 2014, which the applications were complete March 31, 2015, from the Development Cap; and for projects with applications complete June 15, 2015.” INCORPORATED INTO THE SUBSTITUTE MOTION WITH THE CONSENT OF THE MAKER AND SECONDER to add to the Substitute Motion, “as one of the criteria considered as part of the 50,000 square foot Development Cap” after “June 15, 2015.” SUBSTITUTE MOTION AS AMENDED AMENDMENT PASSED: 7-1 Schmid no, DuBois not participating SUBSTITUTE MOTION: Mayor Holman moved, seconded by Council Member Kniss to refer the Office/R&D Cap boundaries to the Planning and Transportation Commission. SUBSTITUTE MOTION PASSED: 5-3 Berman, Scharff, Filseth no, DuBois not participating.