Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutStaff Report 6822 City of Palo Alto (ID # 6822) City Council Staff Report Report Type: Study Session Meeting Date: 5/16/2016 City of Palo Alto Page 1 Summary Title: 550 Hamilton Avenue: Prescreening for Zone Change Title: Prescreening of a Proposed District Map Amendment (“Rezone”) From Planned Community (PC) Zoning District to Downtown Commercial (CD-C (P)) Zoning District at 550 Hamilton Avenue From: City Manager Lead Department: Planning and Community Environment Recommendation Staff recommends that the City Council conduct a prescreening review and provide comments regarding the applicant’s request to rezone the subject property from its existing PC-2545 zoning designation to a CD-C (P) zoning designation. No formal Council action is required at this time. Executive Summary The applicant seeks preliminary feedback from the City Council concerning a proposal to rezone 550 Hamilton Avenue from a PC zoning designation to a CD-C (P). A prescreening review is required for this type of legislative change prior to application submittal. The project also includes the demolition of existing office building improvements and construction of a new mixed-use development. Table 1. Summary of Existing & Proposed Development at 550 Hamilton Avenue Existing Development Preliminary Proposal Net Change Site Size 57,500 sq. ft. 57,500 sq. ft. 0 Zoning Designation PC-2545 CD-C(P) N/A Approx. Building Height 56 feet 50 feet -6 feet Approx. Office Square Footage 43,272 sq. ft. 57,475 sq. ft. 14,203 sq. ft. Residential Square Footage 0 57,292 sq. ft. 57,292 sq. ft. Total Building Square Footage 43,272 sq. ft. 114,767 sq. ft. 71,495 sq. ft. Total Off-Street Parking 115 spaces 297 spaces 182 spaces Number of Dwelling Units 0 TBD (35-50) TBD (35-50) Source: Department of Planning & Community Environment, May 2016 Background City of Palo Alto Page 2 The subject property is located at the southwest corner of Hamilton Avenue and Webster Street and is currently zoned as a Planned Commercial (PC) zoning designation. The parcel is 1.3 acres located just outside of the Downtown Parking Assessment District and the Office Annual Growth interim ordinance boundary. The property is relatively flat and has 300 feet of frontage along Hamilton Avenue and 200 feet of frontage along Webster Street. There are mature redwood and oak trees on the property, which would either require removal and replacement or preservation through a redesign of the proposed site plan. The property was developed in 1971 with a three-story, 56-foot tall office building with approximately 43,000 square foot. There is a 115 space surface parking lot accessed from Webster Street and Hamilton Avenue. The project was entitled using the City’s Planned Community zoning process. The property was zoned from R4 and CS-2:S to the PC zoning. There were no identified community benefits stated in the adopting ordinance. Properties to the north across Hamilton Avenue are developed with office use in the CD-C (P) zone and a two-story, multiple unit residential structure in the RM-40 zone at the Northwest corner of Hamilton Avenue and Webster Street. Also the First United Methodist Church is located directly to the Northeast on the Corner of Hamilton Avenue and Webster Street. Across Webster Street to the Southeast are primarily one-story residential structures located in the RM-30 zone. Directly adjacent to the parking lot and to the south is a mix of residential structures in the RM-30 zone. Along the southwest property line there is a mix of developments in a PC zone, such as a 12-story residential structure and office uses in the CD-C-(P) zone. Project Description The applicant seeks to rezone the property from a PC zoning designation to a CD-C (P) zoning designation. The CD district is the commercial downtown district and the C designation is a ‘community’ subdistrict. The P designation is to establish a pedestrian shopping combining district. The proposed zoning is consistent with other properties along Hamilton Avenue to the southwest. Proposed is a new 57,475 sf office building, resulting in a net increase in office space of 14,203 sf. The project also includes a new 57,292 sf residential building with an identified range of 35 to 50 dwelling units separated from the office building by an at-grade courtyard. The applicant indicates a tract map would be processed to create condominium units. As ownership units, the project would be subject to the City’s affordable housing program, which requires 15% of the units to be dedicated to below market housing. Both buildings would be served by a two-level, 297 space subterranean parking garage, accessed from Hamilton Avenue. The new ramp to the subterranean garage would be located in close proximity to the existing driveway access from Hamilton Avenue, while the two existing driveway ingress and egress points along Webster Street would be closed off and replaced with a new curb, street trees, and sidewalk. Discussion City of Palo Alto Page 3 The subject site is a relatively flat parcel and approximately 57,500 sf in size, with dimensions of 300 feet along Hamilton Avenue and 200 feet along Webster Avenue. The parcel is developed with a 43,272 sf professional office building covering approximately 25% of the existing parcel. The remainder of the parcel is open to the sky and is used for surface parking. Throughout the surface parking lot, several mature redwood trees are present. The surrounding neighborhood is a mixture of residential uses, including one-story, single-unit dwellings and two-story, multiple unit dwellings, a religious institution, and commercial uses including professional office. Although the residential zoning in the surrounding area is medium to high density housing, many properties, especially those along the east side of the Webster Street, from Hamilton Avenue to Forest Street, are not built to the maximum allowable zoning standards including height and density. Many of the homes along Webster Avenue are potentially eligible for the California Register of Historic Places, but are not listed on the Historic Inventory. Parcel sizes in the immediate vicinity range from 3,750 sf to 25,000 sf. with frontages between 45 feet and 100 feet. The subject parcel is roughly two times larger than the largest lot in the area and has longer frontage dimensions on both Hamilton Avenue and Webster Avenue than any of the nearby parcels. The existing lot size, combined with the fact that the lot is only developed with a 25% building lot coverage, would alter the neighborhood context if the property were fully redeveloped. Redevelopment would result in a much different visual environment from the current development pattern with properties along Webster Avenue being more impacted by the loss of mature redwood trees and proposed residential building. Homes adjacent to Webster Avenue include a mix of one and two story homes ranging from 16 to 23 feet in height. District Map Amendment To implement the project, the applicant would file formal applications to both rezone the property and to redevelop the site with a mix of office space and residential units. The applicant believes that the proposed CD-C (P) zoning would be appropriate given the zoning of surrounding properties, which are primarily CD-C (P), RM-30, and RM-40. The proposed CD-C (P) zoning would set forth the requisite development standards such as height, floor area ratio, setbacks, building articulation, daylight plane requirements, and landscaping coverage. The subject property is proposed to be rezoned to a commercial use and is located within 150 feet of residential uses. Typically, such conditions would restrict the height of the building to 40 feet. This is illustrated on the city’s zoning map with the hatched area shown below. However, the CD-C mixed use development standards includes an exception to this condition, which allows the height to extend up to 50 feet if the property abuts a residential Planned Community District (PAMC 18.18.060 (b) Table 3, Footnote 4), also illustrated below. The abutting PC zoned property (PC-2130) is a 118 unit residential building. City of Palo Alto Page 4 The floor area ratio would be 2.0:1, with no more than a 1.0:1 ratio for the residential component. However, as the Council has previously discussed on other projects, these standards represent maximum potential, which may not be achieved based on required project findings. Figure 1. Zoning Map Showing Subject Parcel and Surrounding Parcels Source: City of Palo Alto, May 2016 If Council does not support the idea of the proposed rezone, the applicant could request an amendment to the existing PC development approval, thereby allowing for the creation of specific development standards in response to the proposed site plan, building orientation, mix of uses, and intensity of the proposed development. While the City Council is not considering any new PC zoning applications, the opportunity to amend existing PC zoned properties was not precluded from the Council’s earlier deliberations on the matter. City Council Prescreening Considerations The preliminary schematic drawings are somewhat vague but communicate a concept plan as is appropriate for this stage of project consideration. However, it may be difficult understand overall mass and scale from a neighborhood context perspective, particularly along Webster Avenue. On Webster Avenue there is a mix of one and two story homes and multifamily residential ranging from 16 to 23 feet in height. The maximum permitted height limit if these properties were redeveloped would be 35 feet. It is unclear from the applicant’s drawings what the contemplated height would be along Webster Avenue, though it appears there is some setback shown on the section drawing. Another area of concern along Webster Avenue is the length of building frontage toward that street. This large of a building along Webster Avenue reflects a different development pattern Subject Property: 550 Hamilton City of Palo Alto Page 5 than exists on the other side of the street and along the block. Creating a transition in scale that balances a future development on the subject property to the existing neighborhood context and development potential of those properties along with the city’s expressed interest in providing additional housing units are some of the opportunities to explore during the prescreening discussion. Further, the loss of the existing redwood trees as a result of a future development should be explored and consideration given to providing a planting depth that can support future mature trees, which may affect the subterranean parking plan. If the project moves forward, it is anticipated there would be further discussion regarding the courtyard concept plan as well as enhancing pedestrian-orientation from a building design and land use perspective. Community members will likely be concerned about the physical changes to the area. While this is not a reason not to consider a future development, the City Council does have broad discretion as this project moves through the entitlement process, which requires a legislative change for which the Council can exercise its full discretion. Moreover, any future amendment of the PC zoning, if that were pursued, would also be subject to a legislative action by the Council. In this regard, it would be most helpful to the community and applicant if the Council were able to provide guidance as to the expectation of any future development. It is anticipated the Council will also hear concerns from the public regarding a future project as it relates to the Downtown Residential Preferential Parking District; unit density; architectural style; net increase in office development; traffic and parking impacts; and, a need for consideration of construction-related impacts. Webster Avenue is a recognized and encouraged school route to and from Addison Elementary School. These and other considerations are welcome discussion points during the prescreening discussion. Comprehensive Plan Policies The subject property is located in the Regional/Community Commercial Land Use Designation of the Comprehensive Plan. According to the Comprehensive Plan, the Regional/Community Commercial land use designation is intended to “allow larger shopping centers and districts that have wider variety goods and services than the neighborhood shopping areas. They rely on larger trade areas and include such uses as department stores, bookstores, furniture stores, toy stores, apparel shops, restaurants, theaters, and non-retail services such as offices and banks. Examples include Stanford Shopping Center, Town and Country Village, and University Avenue/Downtown. Non-residential floor area ratios range from 0.35 to 2”. While this site is not proposed to be developed at the scale of a major shopping center, several Comprehensive Plan policies are applicable to the site and the neighborhood including, but not limited to: Land Use Policy L-5 Maintain the scale and character of the City. Avoid land uses that are overwhelming and unacceptable due to their size and scale. Land Use Policy L-6 Where possible, avoid abrupt changes in scale and density between residential and non-residential areas and between residential areas City of Palo Alto Page 6 of different densities. To promote compatibility and gradual transitions between land uses, place zoning district boundaries at mid-block locations rather than along streets wherever possible. which indicates to avoid abrupt changes in scale and density between residential and non-residential areas and between residential areas of different densities, Land Use Policy L-12 Preserve the character of residential neighborhoods by encouraging new or remodeled structures to be compatible with the neighborhood and adjacent structures. Land Use Policy L-14 Design and arrange new multifamily buildings, including entries and outdoor spaces, so that each unit has a clear relationship to a public street. Housing Policy H1.4 Ensure that new developments provide appropriate transitions from higher density development to single-family and low-density residential districts to preserve neighborhood character. Housing Policy H2.1 Identify and implement strategies to increase housing density and diversity, including mixed-use development and a range of unit styles, near community services. Emphasize and encourage the development of affordable and mixed income housing to support the City’s fair share of the regional housing needs and to ensure that the City’s population remains economically diverse. Housing Policy H2.2 Continue to support the redevelopment of suitable lands for mixed uses containing housing to encourage compact, infill development. Optimize the use of existing urban services, and support transit use. Housing Program H2.2.7 Explore requiring minimum residential densities to encourage more housing instead of office space when mixed-use sites develop, and adopt standards as appropriate. Housing Policy H3.1 Encourage, foster, and preserve diverse housing opportunities for very low-low-, and moderate income households. Interim Office/R&D Annual Limit Program Guideline On October 26, 2015, Council adopted Ordinance 5357 to implement an annual limit on Office/R&D development. The annual limit was adopted on an interim basis for two years and expires November 26, 2017. This limit requires that no more than 50,000 gross square feet of new Office/R&D development can be approved within a given fiscal year in a subset of the City shown in Attachment A and adopted as Exhibit A of Ordinance 5357, shown below. City of Palo Alto Page 7 The current proposal would add just over 14,000 new square feet of office space, however the subject property is located just outside the office growth boundary. Absent any change to the interim ordinance, development of this site would proceed outside of this regulatory framework. However, the Council in its review of a future application for legislative action would have broad discretion to act on the proposal, and could simultaneously modify the interim office growth boundary to include the site or address concerns related future office development another way. Next Steps Following the prescreening review, the applicant will consider options and determine how they want to proceed. Formal applications and public hearings before the Architectural Review Board, Planning Commission and City Council would be required to advance the proposed conceptual project. Environmental Review This prescreening is a preliminary review process in which Councilmembers may provide comment, but no formal action will be taken. Therefore, no review under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) is required at this time. A full review under CEQA would be initiated with the formal filing of a development application. Attachments:  Attachment A: Location Map (PDF)  Attachment B: Applicant's Request letter (PDF)  Attachment C: Project Plans (DOCX) 120-04-032 120-04-014 120-03-036 120-04-083 120-04-037 120-03-061 120-04-031 120-04-025 120-03-059 120-03-055 120-04-067 120-04-022 120-04-109 003-32-089 120-04-076 120-04-075 120-04-074 120-04-003 120-04-028 120-04-023 120-03-065 120-03-062 120-04-002 120-16-009 120-04-024 120-04-026 120-04-006 120-04-008 120-03-060 120-03-057 120-03-038 120-03-041 003-32-025 120-04-104 120-04-103 120-54-009 120-54-010 DowninHo CowperInn First United Methodist Church Alain Pinel Realtor HA MILTO N AVENUE C O W PER STREET FOR EST AVENUE W EBSTER STRE ET W EBSTER STREET C O W H O M ER AVENUE BYRO N STREET W EBSTER STR EET MIDDLEFIELD ROA D HAMILTON AVENUE FOREST AVENUE LANE 39 PC-2130CD-C (P) 3007RM- 40 PC- 2545 RM-40 PC-3995 PC-4173 RM-30 This map is a product of the City of Palo Alto GIS This document is a graphic representation only of best available sources. Legend Staff-Coverage Districts, Project Review Historic Site Special Setback abc Known Structures Tree (TR) Zone Districts abc Zone District Notes Curb Edge abc Zone District Labels 0'148' 550 Hamilton Avenue CITY O F PALO A L TO I N C O R P O R ATE D C ALIFOR N IA P a l o A l t oT h e C i t y o f A P RIL 16 1894 The City of Palo Alto assumes no responsibility for any errors ©1989 to 2016 City of Palo Alto jgerhar, 2016-05-04 14:13:29 (\\cc-maps\gis$\gis\admin\Personal\Planning.mdb) Site Attachment A Attachment B Attachment C Hardcopies to Council members and Libraries only Project plans can be reviewed at: http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/52215