Loading...
05-21-2019 - Item 11 - Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment No. 19-01 Small Recycling FacilitiesAGENDA ITEM NO. 11 AGENDA STAFF REPORT City of West Covina | Office of the City Manager DATE:May 21, 2019 TO:Mayor and City Council FROM:David Carmany Interim City Manager SUBJECT:ZONING ORDINANCE TEXT AMENDMENT NO. 19-01 - SMALL RECYCLING FACILITIES RECOMMENDATION: The Planning Commission recommends that the City Council read the title of the ordinance and waive further reading, and introduce the following ordinance: ORDINANCE NO. 2460 - AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF WEST COVINA, CALIFORNIA TO AMEND SUBSECTION (1) OF SECTION 26- 685.93 OF CHAPTER 26, ARTICLE XII, DIVISION 14 OF THE WEST COVINA MUNICIPAL CODE RELATING TO SMALL RECYCLING FACILITIES BACKGROUND: Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment No. 19-01 was initiated by the Planning Commission on February 12, 2019, at the request received of RePlanet representative Paige H. Gosney. RePlanet has been operating a small recycling facility at 1025 E. Amar Road (Stater Brothers parking lot) for a number of years but did not maintain its business license. RePlanet attempted to correct the business license issue by submitting an Administrative Use Permit (AUP) application on September 22, 2018. Unfortunately, an AUP cannot be approved because the facility is located within 250 feet of residentially zoned properties and Stater Brothers is less than 30,000 square feet in size. Since the shopping center is surrounded by residential zoning and uses on all four sides, it is not possible to comply with the 250 feet minimum distance between the residences and small recycling facility. The facility is approximately 150 feet from the closest residential property. DISCUSSION: The following changes are proposed for Section 26-685.93(1) (Small collection facility) of the West Covina Municipal Code: •Separation of Small Collection Facility and Residences. The proposed code amendment would reduce the separation requirement of small recycling facilities to residential uses/zones from 250 feet to 150 feet if there is an arterial street separating the recycling center and the adjacent residential uses/zones. Staff reviewed the lot configuration of all the other grocery stores in the City to determine the potential of operating a small recycling facility on their parking lots. Unlike the Stater Brothers Shopping Center on 1025 E. Amar Road, and Sunset Square Shopping Center, other shopping centers with grocery stores within the City are in commercial corridors with at least 2 – 3 sides abutting commercial zoned properties and uses. If desired, most of these grocery stores may be able to place a small recycling facility on their parking lots under the current Code. The intent of the 250 feet minimum distance from small recycling facilities to residential uses is to mitigate noise impacts that recycling facilities may have on neighboring residential properties. Decreasing the minimum distance requirement from 250 feet to 150 feet may be reasonable if there is an arterial street separating residential uses from the recycling facility, because noise from vehicles traveling on busy arterial streets would buffer any noise produced by the recycling facility. •Allowed Location for Small Collection Facilities. The proposed code amendment would reduce the minimum market size threshold from 30,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet. The intent of the 30,000 square-foot minimum market size threshold was not to prevent large grocery stores like Stater Brothers from having a recycling facility on the parking lot, but to prevent small markets, convenience stores, and/or pharmacies from having small recycling facilities. The 30,000 square feet minimum market size threshold also prohibits the Vons on 777 S. Glendora Avenue, Island Pacific, and Seafood City from potentially having a small recycling facility on their parking lots. PLANNING COMMISSION REVIEW On March 19, 2019, the Planning Commission held a study session. During the study session, staff presented the Planning Commission with information on the location of all small recycling facilities within the City and what other markets are doing to address the State’s beverage container collection/recycling mandate. The Commission received the information and directed staff to prepare a code amendment. On April 9, 2019, the Planning Commission held a public hearing and adopted Resolution No. 19- 5984, recommending City Council approval of Code Amendment No. 19-01, which would amend Section 26-685.93(1) of the West Covina Municipal Code reducing the separation requirement of small recycling facilities to residential uses/zones from 250 feet to 150 feet if there is an arterial street separating the recycling center and the adjacent residential uses/zones; and reducing the minimum market size threshold from 30,000 square feet to 25,000 square feet. The Commission voted 3-1 (Commissioner Heng voted no; Commissioner Kennedy was absent). LEGAL REVIEW: The City Attorney’s Office has reviewed the proposed ordinance. OPTIONS: The City Council has the following options: 1.Approve the Planning Commission's recommendation; or 2.Provide alternative direction ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: The proposal is not subject to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per Section 15061 (b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, which provides that CEQA only applies to activity that results in direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment and for activity considered to be a project, respectively. The amendment to the West Covina Municipal Code would not result in a physical change in the environment because it would only revise development standards for small recycling facilities. Prepared by: Jo-Anne Burns, Planning Manager Attachments Attachment No. 1 - Ordinance No. 2460 Attachment No. 2 - Planning Commission Resolution No. 19-5984 Attachment No. 3 - Planning Commission Minutes April 9, 2019 - Excerpt Attachment No. 4 - April 9, 2019 Planning Commission Meeting Staff Report Attachment No. 5 - Planning Commission Minutes March 12, 2019 - Excerpt Attachment No. 6 - March 12, 2019 Study Session Staff Report Attachment No. 7 - Letter of Request CITY COUNCIL GOALS & OBJECTIVES: