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HomeMy WebLinkAboutResolution 1998-27 . . ~ RESOLUTION NO. 98-27 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF GILROY APPROVING VARIANCE V-98-02, AND UPHOLDING THE APPEAL OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION'S DECISION ON VARIANCE V-98-02 (APN 835-04-063) WHEREAS, Gilroy Investors, LLC ("Applicant") submitted a request for approval of Variance V-98-02, to allow the construction of approximately 451 square feet of signage, including signage facing the freeway, for the Office Max that will be locating in the Alamo Plaza on San Ysidro Avenue; and WHEREAS, the California Environmental Quality Act ("CEQA"), provides a categorical exemption for "Minor Alterations in Land Use Limitations," which applies to this request; and WHEREAS, the Planning Commission considered Variance V-98-02 at a duly noticed public hearing on April 2, 1998, and approved Variance V-98-02 to the extent of allowing 254 square feet of sign area, including 122 square feet of sign area facing the freeway and 132 square feet of signage on the front fascia; and WHEREAS, thereafter the Ad Art Electronic Sign Corporation timely appealed the Commission's decision, requesting changes in the variance, for a total of 283 square feet of sign area; and WHEREAS, In a memorandum dated May 12, 1998, the Planning Division staff recommended that the City Council approve the request; and WHEREAS, the City Council considered Variance V-98-02 and all documents relating thereto, including the Planning Division Staff Report dated March 26, 1998, and Staff Memorandum dated May 12, 1998, and took oral and written testimony at its duly noticed public hearing on May 18, 1998; and \MSD\412132.01 81-052504706002 -1- RESOLUTION NO. 98-27 . . WHEREAS, the location and custodian of the documents or other materials which constitute the record of proceedings upon which this project approval is based in the office of the City Clerk. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT: A. Variance V-98-02 should be and hereby is approved for a total of 283.8 square feet of sign area, with a maximum of 109.6 square feet of sign area permitted facing the freeway, and a maximum of 174.2 square feet of sign area along the front fascia facing the parking lot, subject to the two conditions set forth on page 7 of the Staff Report dated March 26, 1998, which is attached hereto as "Exhibit A" and incorporated herein by this reference. B. The City Council hereby finds that the facts in the record support the required findings as set forth in Exhibit A, page 5. C. The appeal of Ad Art Electronic Sign Corporation is upheld. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 1 st day of June, 1998, by the following vote: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS: ARELLANO, GIFFORD, MORALES, ROWLISON, SPRINGER, SUDOL, GILROY NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS: NONE ~~~~ K.A. Mike Gilroy, Mayor ~ t;PJ;N<k '-~~. Rhonda Pellin, City Clerk IMSD\41213201 81-052504706002 -2- RESOLUTION NO. 98-27 .' 'Cotnmunity [evelopment DeJ8t1ment Planning Division Staff Report March 26, 1998 File Number: V 98-02 Applicant: Gilroy Investors, LLC (Office Max, do Taylor Classen) Location: 8777 San Ysidro Avenue (former Max Club building) Staff Planner: . Melissa Durkin RRQlJESTRD ACTION: Variance from Section 37.50 (b) of the Zoning Ordinance to allow the construction of an approximately 451 square feet of signage, including signage facing the freeway. D..ES..c.RIETIOR.OF PRQ PRRTY: . Parcel Numbers: Parcel Size: Flood Zone: 835-04-063 approximately 8.5 acres "B" , Panel # 060 340 0002C Panel Date: 10/06/81 . ST A TlISJ)ilRQ:f.ERIY: '\ Existing T andIJse Vacant Commercial Building Gen~1 Phm Designation Gen. Servo Comm.fInd. Park Zoning C3IM!- Pun STATlJS OF SURROUNDING1!RO.l!ERIY: Existing.LandJlse N: Undeveloped Industrial Lot S: Outlet Mall (Phase V) E: Undeveloped Commercial Lot W: Freeway Gen.eraLElan..D.esignation Industrial Park General Services Commercial General Services Commercial Freeway/Expressway Zoning C3IM1- Pun C3IM!- Pun C3-PUD Freeway EXHIBIT A .' V 98-02 . 2 . 3/26/98 CONFORMANCE OF RRQIWST WITH l;RNRRAT, PLAN: The proposed project conforms to the land use designation for the property on the General Plan map, and is consistent with the intent of the text of the General Plan Document. This project conforms with the policies of Gilroy's General Plan. The following examples demonstrates this compliance: IJrhan Development and Community Design (Section ll): Policy 3: "Urban Development will on~v occur within the incorporated portion of the Planning Area. . Land will therefore be annexed to the City before final development approval is given. " The proposed project is in conformance with this policy,because this land hasbeenwithin City limits for many years. Policy 4: '''The City will phase developmenrin -an orderly, contiguous manner in order to maintain a compact development pattern to avoid premature investment for the extension of public facilities and senlices. New urban development will occur in areas where municipal services are available and capacity exists prior to the approval of development in areas which would require major new facility expansion. The proposed project is in conformance with this policy, because this site has already been developed, and is adjacent to developed property on the south. In addition, public utilities are available at this site. FNVTRONMFNTAL 11VIPACTS: EXEMPTION The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) provides a categorical exemption which applies to this request: Class 5 _ Section 15305, entitled "Minor Alterations in Land Use Limitations", , ~RFVTOUS SIGNAGE_.Al~PR.oYALS: The Planning Commission approved a variance request for signage on this property at their February, 1998 meeting [REF: V 98-01]. This approval will allow the construction of a 530 square foot freestanding sign, 40 feet in height. facing the freeway. The portion of this sign that is proposed to be used for Office Max signage is 43 square feet. .-- ~~;::~.~t;:.:~.~J-;;..~.:?~~.' V 98-02 . 3 . 3/26/98 ANATJYSIS OF REQUEST: . This application is a request to allow approximately 451 square feet of signage to be constructed for the Office Max that will be locating in the Alamo Plaza on San Ysidro Avenue (Note: this is 301 square feet more than the signage allowed by the Zoning Ordinance]. Approval of this request would allow the applicant to construct the following two signs: 1. A 247 square foot sign over the entrance to the store, facing the parking lot; and 2. A 204 square foot sign on the westerly side of the building, facing the freeway. Zoning Ordinance section 37.50 (b), "Signs in Commercial and Industrial Districts," allows up to 150 square feet in sign area for signs in the C3 zoning district [Note: this sign area is in addition to signage allowed on freeway-oriented signs]. The sign area is allowed to be mounted on a freestanding sign and/or any side of the building, except on a'side of the building facing a freeway. Therefore, this Variance request has two components: A. A request to construct 30 I square feet of signage over what is allowed by the Zoning Ordinance; and B. A request to be allowed to place signage on the side of the building facing the freeway, In considering whether additional signage is necessary to promote Office Max, staff believes it is appropriate to make a comparison to other regional-serving commercial businesses in the vicinity of Office Max. There are two other regional-commercial uses in this area (the Outlet Mall and Wal- Mart). The Outlet Mall consists of several small businesses that are contained within a few buildings, whereas Wal-Mart is one large business that is the single occupant of its building, Wal-Mart does not have any portion of its strUcture backing .uP to the freeway, and only Phase V of the Outlet Mall contains a building thai backs up to the freeway. ' , Office Max isafairly large business that will lease space within a building that is planned to contain at least three different businesses. The front of the Office Max lease space can be seen from the freeway in the north-bound direction, and the side of the lease space faces the freeway. Staffbelieves, due to the physical configuration of the Office Max lease space, and the fact that it will be part of a larger shopping center, that it most closely resembles the characteristics of the Outlet Mall. Therefore, staff believes that, in order to detennine the amount of signage that should be allotted to the .Office Max, it would be most appropriate to compare it to the signage approved for the tenants within the Outlet Mall. The following chart shows this comparison: V 98-02 . 4 . 3/26/98 J J J Size of Freeway- 530 sq. ft. (43 square feet used 500 sq. ft. [phase I, II and ill] and 192 sq. Oriented Free for Office Max) ft. [phase N and V] Note: No Individual Standing Signage Outlet Mall Businesses are advertised on the Freeway-Oriented Signage Size of Front 247 square feet [42.8% of the Size varies per tenant, but does not exceed Fascia Signage For length of the building frontage 62.5% of the-length of the building frontage Each Tenant times 5.5 feet] times 2 feet Size of Rear Fascia 204 square feet [39% of the Size varies per tenant, but does not exceed Signage Facing length of the building frontage 62.5% of the length of the building frontage Freeway times 5 feet] times 2.5 feet Building Area 74,344 [Office Max Portion is 358,485 (total for site, Phase I, IT, ill) approx. 34,000 square feet] 254,700 (total for site, Phases IV and V) Note: The Alamo Plaza will Note: The Outlet Mall contains contain up to four business approximately 100 different businesses OFFICE MAX om ET MAT , I . This c,hart illustrates the following: . The building area of the Outlet Mall is far greater than the building area of the Alamo Plaza . The amount of building area'dedicated to the Office Max building is far greater than the building area dedicated to each of the businesses in the Outlet Mall. . The total freeway-oriented free standing signage for the Outlet Mall is 162 square feet larger than, the freeway-oriented free standing signage for Office Max. . There are no individual retail businesses advertised on the Outlet Mall freeway-oriented free standing signage; Office Max has 43 square feet of sign area on the freeway-oriented free standing sign for Alamo Plaza '\ R~ommende.QSlgn..Ar.ea Staffrecommends that Office Max be allowed signage at the same standards that are allowed for the Outlet Mall. The length of the Office Max building frontage is 105.5 feet. Using the standards that have been set for the Outlet Mall for front fascia signage (62.5% of the length of the building frontage times 2 feet), the maximum front fascia building signage would be 132 square feet. Using the standards that have been set for the Outlet Mall for rear fascia (freeway-oriented) signage (62.5% of the length of the building frontage times 2.5 feet), the maximum amount of rear fascia signage would be 165 square feet. Based on these conclusions, staff recommends that the Office Max be allowed to construct up to 29} square feet of total sign area on their lease space, with no more than 165 square feet mounted on the rear fascia facing the freeway. [Note:. the total sign area that staff is proposing to allow is an increase of 147 square feet over the maximum allowed sign area of 150 square feet.] This will cause the sign area allowance for Office Max to comply with the allowance for the Outlet ..OI..,~' ~~~ ~'~'~~~~f~~~1-------- ."" .. 5 . '"'a". , V 98-02 . . 3/26/98 - . ".. " Mall. Staff believes that this allowance is reasonable, since it takes into account the length of the Office Max building frontage, and therefore allows sign area for the Office Max that is in proportion to the size of the lease space. Staff feels that the recommended sign area, in conjunction with the area that has. already been approved for the free-standing freeway-oriented sign on this site, will allow adequate promotion of the Office Max bl,lSiness. Exceptional Circllmstance~ The Planning Commission must find that there are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances' that justify granting a variance request. Office Max has an exceptional circumstance, in that it is a regional-serving commercial business. Businesses that rely on a regional customer base require more signage than local-oriented businesses, since their customers are typically not from the community in which the business is located. In addition, regional-serving commercial businesses require that the signage -be oriented toward the freeway; since this is the route on which the majority of their customers travel. This exceptional circumstance led the Planning Commission to grant approval of a 530 square foot free standing, freeway-oriented sign for the Alamo Plaza shopping center, in which Office Max will be located. The applic.ant is requesting to be allowed to have this signage for the following reasons:' (A) Office Max feels that it is important to improve their identity on Highway 101, since this store will have a regional clientele, and therefore needs to attract customers from the freeway.. (B) Office Max feels the proposed signage will be' proportional to the building, and will look attractive. (C) Office Max feels that this variance request is justified because other retailers in this immediate area have building signage,adjacent to Highway 101. Office Max also feels that the signage areas for other regional serving commercial businesses are proportional to the proposed signage for the Office Max. , By definition, variances do not conform to the policies and regulations of Gilroy's Zoning Ordinance. In order for the Planning Commission to approve a Variance all the following five findings must be made: (1) That there are exceptional or extraordinary circumstances applying to the property involved or to the proposed use; (2) That because of such exceptional or extraordinary circumstances, the literal enforcement of specified provisions of this Ordinance would result in practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship such as to deprive the applicant of a substantial property right possessed by other owners of property in the same class or district; r V 98-02 . 6 . 3/26/98 (3) That the allowance of the variance will not, under the circumstances of the particular case, be " materially detrimental to the public welfare or materially injurious to persons or property in the vicinity; (4) That the results of allowing the variance as specified will be in harmony with the general intent of the Zoning Ordinance; and . (S) That the granting of a variance will not constitute the granting of a special privilege greater than that pr.ovided for by the standard provisions of this Ordinance for other properties in 'the vicinity and in the same zoning district. ST AFF RRCOJ\in\-fF:NUA TTON: Staff recommends that the Planning Commission APPROVE a Variance to allow up to 297 square feet of sign area to be located on the Office Max lease space, with no more than 165 square feet mounted on the rear fascia facing the freeway. [Note: this recommendation will allow Office Max to construct 147 square feet of sign area over the 150 square feet that is . allowed by the Zoning Ordinance.] Staffrecornmends approval of the Variance for the following reasons: (1) There are exceptional circumstances applying to the property involved because of the fact that the subject building can be used only for regional-serving commercial uses. Such uses rely on a customer base that primarily travels on the freeways; (2) The literal enforcement of the Zoning Ordinance would result in practical difficulty or unnecessary hardship to the applicant, because it may prevent Office Max from flol,lrishing; , (3) The allowance of this variance would not be materially detrimental to the public welfare or materiaIly injurious to persons or property in the vicinity, because the signage will be constructed to City standards; (4) Allowing the variance to be approved would be'in harmony with the general intent of the Zoning Ordinance; and (5) The granting of a variance will not constitute the granting of a special privilege greater than that provided for by the standard provisions of this Ordinance for other properties in the vicinity and in the same zoning district, because this variance request will bring this project up to the same level of visibility as other regional-serving commercial businesses. .' V 98-02 . :. 3/26/98 7 Staff further recommends that the followine conditions be applied to this approval: 4/2/98 A YES: NAYS: ABSENT: , ..........'7- '\ . "',. - . . . . "- ..., ;'," , . . , 1. The applicant shall obtain sign permits from both the Planning Division and the Building Division prior to the construction of the signage. . . 2. All signage colors shall be subject to the approval of the Planning Division. Respectfully, .gz William F aus Planning Division Manager At their meeting of April 2, 1998, the Planning Commission approved V 9~2 by a vote of 6-0-1 (Commissioner Pinheiro absent), with a modification reducing the side freeway oriented signage to 122 sq. ft. for an overall total of 254 sq. ft. of signage. (Resolution #98-12). BLANKLEY, COLLlER, GARTMAN, PUENTE, TUCKER, LA! NONE PINHEIRO ~ , , . . I, RHONDA PELLIN, City Clerk ofthe City of Gilroy, do hereby certify that the attached Resolution No. 98-27 is an original resolution, duly adopted by the Council of the City of Gilroy at a regular meeting of said Council held on the 1 st day of June, 1998, at which meeting a quorum was present. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Official Seal of the City of Gilroy this 8th day of July, 1998. ~e~, City Clerk of the City of Gilroy (Seal)