PC 02/28/96 - Laserfiche WebLink

. . . commercialloffice building and vacant land at 67/73 Ray Street, the 123 Ray Street condominiums and Walnut Drive residences are located to the north and west, a Union 76 self-servi~e station, small offi~e building and mortuary are located to the east. The Pacific Bell switching station is located to the south, as well as two small shipping centers. The current zoning in this area is mixed, consisting of Central Commercial (C-C), Service Commercial (C-S), PUD-C-S/O, as well as residential zonings. Two issues concerned with the rezoning of this site are the close proximity of the site to the adjacent residences and that the site is on the periphery of the Downtown area, and staff feels there are good reasons to reevaluate the kinds of uses allowed. A rezoning of the INS property to PUD-C-S/O would be consistent with the City's General Plan. However, neighborhood concerns are that this zoning has not worked well with some businesses at 63/73 Ray Street. The site is a main entry corridor leading to Downtown and should be designed to take advantage of this location and ensure the design integrity of Downtown is maintained. Further, this property is located within the Downtown Specific Plan! Automobile-Oriented Retail. The automobile orientation of the site could be achieved with retail/office uses that would allow vehicle access, similar to Adobe Plaza. The PUD-C-S/O does not allow for residential uses whereas PUD-C-C or C-C zonings do allow residential or mixed uses. Staff believes the site should be zoned to be more compatible with the adjacent residents, Downtown character, and policies of the Downtown Specific Plan. Staff prepared a list of proposed uses which would be specifically suited for this site (they deleted those commercial uses that would be inappropriate due to impacts to the adjacent residents). Staff suggests a PUD-C-C Zoning to reflect these uses. At a neighborhood meeting on January 5, 1996, the neighbors indicated a preference to rezone this property as Medium Density Residential (MDR). If a commercial zoning is approved, they would also prefer uses that are compatible and operate from 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and office use is preferred to commercial use. The General Plan land designation for this site is Retail, Highway, and Service Commercial/Business and Professional Offices. Staff further feels that it is not in the best interest to change the General Plan to include all residential on this site, and the Downtown Specific Plan allows residential development on this site only as part of a mixed-use multiple-family residential/commercial/office development. Furthermore, the one acre site is too small to make an all-residential project feasible. Mr. Dunkley (the property owner) advised that he has no plans to demolish the two-story building at 73 Ray Street to allow for a larger residential area. Staff feels the most appropriate zoning for this site would be the PUD-C-C (Central Commercial) zoning district. They would be able to condition the project to limit hours of non-office activities from 8:00 a,m. to 8:00 p.m. as well as limit outdoor activities such as parking lot sweeping, garbage pickup and deliveries to 8:00 a.m, to 7:00 p,m, Staff also Planning Commission Minutes Page 6 Febrwuy 28, 1996