Resolution Number 02-05-07-03RESOLUTION NO. 02-05-07-03
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN JUAN
CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA, CERTIFYING ISSUANCE OF A NEGATIVE
DECLARATION AND APPROVAL OF GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT 01-
04 AS CONTAINED IN THIS RESOLUTION
Whereas, the City Council at their meeting of August 7, 2001 initiated
consideration of an amendment to the City's adopted General Plan; and,
Whereas, the City Council in initiating the amendment process directed staff
to evaluate and provide recommendations on those items raised by Mr. Mark Nielsen,
representing Citizens Against Un -Controlled San Juan Expansion (CAUSE), a request from
the City Council to evaluate possible change in the floor area ratio provisions for the area
considered the Historic Downtown area; and,
Whereas, the City Council had previously initiated an amendment process
to consider the inclusion of preamble language in the introduction section of the General
Plan, and the Planning Services Department has included this element into the
consideration of General Plan Amendment 01-04; and,
Whereas, the proposed General Plan amendment has been processed
pursuant to Section 9-2.102, General Plan Review and Consistency of the Municipal Code;
and,
Whereas, the Environmental Administrator on January 8, 2002 reviewed the
initial study prepared pursuant to Section 15063 of the CEQA Guidelines, has issued a
negative declaration pursuant to Section 15070 of the CEQA Guidelines; has caused a
Notice of Negative Declaration to be posted pursuant to Section 15072 of the CEQA
Guidelines, and has otherwise complied with all applicable provisions of the California
Environmental Quality Act (CEQA); and all mitigation measures have been included herein
as conditions of approval; and,
Whereas, the Planning Commission has considered the Environmental
Administrator's determination pursuant to Section 15074 of the California Environmental
Quality Act (CEQA), has considered all project environmental documentation and technical
studies; and,
Whereas, the Planning Commission conducted a duly -noticed public hearing
on February 12, 2002 pursuant to Section 9-2.313 of the Municipal Code, City Council
Policy, and Planning Department Policy 510 to consider public testimony on the proposed
project and has considered all relevant public comments; and,
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Whereas, the Planning Commission at its meeting of February 12, 2002
continued their consideration of the item to February 26, 2002 where the amendment was
further considered and discussed; and,
Whereas, the Planning Commission forwarded a recommendation of
approval to the City Council to delete item #3 and amend item #8 per Planning
Commission Resolution No. 02-2-26-1; and,
Whereas, the City Council has conducted a duly noticed public hearing in
compliance with the Municipal Code on April 2, 2002 to receive and consider public
testimony on the proposed amendment, and continued said hearing to the meeting of April
16, 2002; and,
Whereas, the City Council at the conclusion of the public hearing at their
meeting of April 16, 2002, continued their consideration to receive additional clarifying
information; and,
Whereas, the City Council at its meeting of May 7, 2002 did receive the
additional information as requested at their meeting of April 16, 2002.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of
San Juan Capistrano does hereby make the following findings:
The proposed amendment as recommended is consistent with the policies and
objectives of the San Juan Capistrano General Plan, specifically, the proposed text
policies and location within various elements retains internal consistency, including
specific provisions related to the certified Housing Element; and,
2. The proposed amendment as recommended provides clarification of specific
policies of the City's adopted General Plan and its elements; and,
3. The inclusion of a preamble to the introduction of the General Plan provides a
concise vision statement for the community; and,
4. The provision for considering a modification to the floor area ratio provisions of the
General Plan Land Use Element for the Historic Downtown area is sufficient with
modified language as it relates not to individual parcels, but for the area as a unit.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council of
the City of San Juan Capistrano hereby approves a Negative Declaration; and approves
General Plan Amendment 01-04 as follows:
Add language to end of paragraph 1 on page 8 of the Land Use Element to
read...'The principal goal should be to preserve the character of a small, rural,
village -like community with abundant open space".
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2. Amend Goal 2, page 9 of the Land Use Element to read... "Control and direct future
growth within the City to preserve the rural village -like character of the community".
3. Add to page 8 of the Community Design Element under "The General Community"
a statement as follows...'Discourage strip commercial development along arterial
streets".
4. Add new paragraph under "Residential Designations", page 22 of the Land Use
Element the following... "In the zoning ordinances which are prepared to implement
this plan, it is anticipated that more than one zoning district designation may apply
to any of the residential categories".
Delete from the Land Use Policy Map the 4.3 Light Industrial designation and
replace with 1.0 General Open Space. Also on page 27 of the Land Use Element
delete text related to the 4.3 Light Industrial designation.
Modify the Open Space & Conservation Element at page 21 entitled Landform
Features to read in its entirety as follows:
"Natural landform features are located throughout the City and include the hillsides
and ridgelines surrounding the City, canyons, creeks, and prominent trees. Before
development is approved, the City will assess development proposals for potential
— impacts to important geologic and scenic landform features, watershed areas,
ridgelines, soils and potential erosion problems will be considered in the
assessments for possible preservation."
7. Add to the Parks and Recreation Element after the discussion of "Trails Network"
on page 18 a new section entitled "Equestrian Lifestyle" to read as follows..."San
Juan Capistrano's rural environment has been and continues to be enhanced by its
equestrian facilities. Such facilities offera unique form of recreation forboth children
and adults. This unique relationship between a horse and a person also has
become a recognized form of physical therapy for those with disabilities. The
General Plan makes provisions for the continued and expansion opportunities for
equestrian stables and support facilities in order to maintain and protect this
valuable asset to the quality of life of the community".
8. Add to the Community Design Element on page 10 under "Hillside Residential' the
following criteria..."Landform alterations in hillside areas shall be minimized to that
which is necessary to blend any development into the natural environment while
insuring public safety".
9. Add in the Land Use Element at page 25, under "3.1 General Commercial" the
following language..."Adjacent to Mission San Juan Capistrano in the area identified
as the historic downtown, the maximum and average floor area ratio shall be
considered for the whole area and not for individual parcels".
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10. Add the following preamble to the Introduction section of the General Plan..."The
underlying philosophy of the General Plan should be to preserve the present
character of a small village -like community with abundant open space. A community
that recognizes the contributions of its historic and cultural foundations, is in
harmony with its natural valley -like setting as defined by its creeks and ridgelines,
and strives to embrace unique solutions to issues that may arise in the future to
ensure that this vision continues to be carried forth for future generations"
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council denies amending the
General Plan related to the following items which were part of the General Plan Study for
the reasons so stated:
On page 9, add Policy 2.5 to read..."Land utilitization should be carefully spaced
over the years and not disproportionally committed in a few years'. The broadness
of the proposed policy has no definition upon which to determine compliance.
Additional clarifying language of intent is necessary before an evaluation for
compliance with State required findings can be prepared.
Page 10 add Policy 3.3 to read..."Limit development in slope areas, and lower the
density and slope increases". Page 22 of the Land Use Element currently contains
language that establishes the foundation for the City Council Policy on slope
density. The item has already been addressed in the adopted Land Use Element
of the General Plan.
3. Revise the Land Use Element to add a density bias policy. The City Council has full
discretion under the General Plan to limit the density of residential development
below the maximum allowed by the General Plan and so, a density bias policy is un-
warranted.
4. Revise Policy 4.3, Land Use Element to read..."Preserve major ridgelines and other
prominent hillside features and the immediate area to maintain the open space
character of the community". Open Space and Conservation Element at page 21
entitled Landform Features is proposed to be amended to clarify the intent of
studying and identifying natural features that should be considered for preservation.
This recommendation is set forth in paragraph 7, above.
Add new Policy 4.4 to the Land Use Element to read..."Preserve various natural
resource areas (i.e. significant watershed, ground water recharge areas, significant
plant and wildlife habitats) to allow for long term preservation of these areas'.
Existing policies are incorporated into the Conservation & Open Space Element for
each of the items that would be included in the proposed policy. The Land Use
Element does not have priority over any other element of the General Plan. All
elements work together to form the vision of the community.
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6. Page 26, Land Use Element, under Agri -business, add back the language from the
original 1974 General Plan on pages 26 and 27 which spoke of preservation and
perpetuation of agriculture being an essential part of the plan and that the only way
through which the community could maintain its agriculture and rural heritage would
be to maintain some substantial portion of land as agriculture. The Open Space &
Conservation Element discusses and identifies Agri -business and the types of uses
the properties so designated can accommodate. The issue of agriculture
preservation has a significant history that has been described in the General Plan
Study Report on General Plan Amendment 01-04. The language in the 1974
General Plan is out of date with the present situation and was much more extensive
than that contained on pages 26 and 27 of the 1974 General Plan Land Use
Element.
7. The allowed land use mix for Crystal Cathedral Ministry's planned community
should be re -looked at to have a percentage retained as open space which was the
designation under the 1974 General Plan. This request is not recommended in that
the Crystal Cathedral Ministry property representatives were active participants in
the General Plan update process and the land use designation for the property was
supported by the General Plan Advisory Committee, Planning Commission and City
Council and adjustments made to the land use distribution for the planned
community. These adjustments reduced the public institutional floor area ratio to
0.25:1 which was designed to create a significant amount of open space. There has
— been no information presented that would justify a change in the current land use.
Furthermore the designation of the property as part of the 1974 General Plan was
for Open Space Recreation designed for possible development of a golf course.
8. The Whispering Hills planned community should be changed back to a mix of open
space and residential as set forth in the 1974 General Plan. This change is not
recommended in that under the 1974 General Plan, the open space category was
given a one unit density designation. This information was presented and discussed
by the General Plan Advisory Committee, the Planning Commission and City
Council. This issue is more fully discussed in the General Plan Study Report.
PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 7`h day of May 2002.
02-05-07-03
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss.
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO )
I, MARGARET R. MONAHAN, appointed City Clerk of the City of San Juan Capistrano, do
hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution No. 01-05-07-03 was duly adopted by the
City Council of the City of San Juan Capistrano at a regular meeting thereof, held the 7th
day of May 2002, by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Hart, Campbell, and Swerdlin
NOES COUNCIL MEMBERS: Gelff and Mayor Bathgate
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS: None
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