CITY COUNCIL: Underground Parking Proposal at The Pine Inn

Meeting Date: 6 May 2008
Prepared by: Brian Roseth,
Planning Services Manager

City Council
Agenda Item Summary

Name: Receive report and provide policy direction on a proposal to construct underground parking in the R-1 and P-2 Land Use Districts and in the Sixth Avenue public right-of-way between Monte Verde and Lincoln Streets and to relocate motel units from the CC District to the R-1 District or the P-2 District.

Description: The owner of the Pine Inn is proposing to excavate the Pine Inn parking
lot, one block of Sixth Avenue plus 8,000 square feet of First Murphy Park. A parking garage for approximately 100 vehicles would be constructed in the excavated space. Sixth Avenue and First Murphy Park would be restored. On the Pine Inn parking lot a garage at street-level would be constructed on the Pine Inn lots. Space for five motel suites is proposed either above the garage or at the west end of First Murphy Park. The five motel units would be transferred from the existing Inn to occupy these suites.

Overall Cost:
City Funds: Unknown
Grant Funds: N/A

Staff Recommendation: Review the proposal and provide policy direction.

Important Considerations: This review is preliminary; no final action on permits is
required. The applicant is requesting City participation in funding. Project approval will require amendments to policy documents and zoning ordinances. Coastal Commission approval is required. The purpose of Council review is to receive a presentation on the concept and determine whether the project should be pursued further. The Planning Commission determined that the project has merit and forwarded a recommendation for the City Council to pursue the project further.

Decision Record: Planning Commission review 9 January 2008

Reviewed by:


__________________________ _____________________
Rich Guillen, City Administrator Date


CITY OF CARMEL-BY-THE-SEA
STAFF REPORT
TO: MAYOR MCCLOUD AND CITY COUNCIL MEMBERS
FROM: BRIAN ROSETH, PLANNING SERVICES MANAGER
THROUGH: RICH GUILLEN, CITY ADMINISTRATOR
DATE: 6 MAY 2008
SUBJECT: RECEIVE REPORT AND PROVIDE POLICY DIRECTION ON A PROPOSAL TO CONSTRUCT UNDERGROUND PARKING IN THE R-1 AND P-2 LAND USE DISTRICTS AND IN THE SIXTH AVENUE PUBLIC RIGHT-OF-WAY BETWEEN MONTE VERDE AND LINCOLN STREETS AND RELOCATE MOTEL UNITS FROM THE CC LAND USE DISTRICT TO THE R-1 OR P-2 LAND USE DISTRICT.

I. INTRODUCTION
The City has received an application to build above- and below-ground parking for
public and private use that would occupy land in two zoning districts plus the Sixth
Avenue public right-of-way. The applicant is Richard V. Gunnar, owner of the Pine
Inn, located on Ocean Avenue between Monte Verde and Lincoln Streets. The project
includes the following:
• Excavate the Pine Inn parking lot (zoned R-1);
• Excavate the southern two lots of First Murphy Park (zoned P-2);
• Excavate Sixth Avenue between Monte Verde and Lincoln Streets (Right-of-Way);
• Construct a subterranean parking garage throughout all excavated spaces;
• Construct a private, street-level garage facing Monte Verde on the two Pine Inn lots;
• Transfer five hotel rooms from the Inn to a second story above the private garage;
• Restore the Sixth Avenue right-of-way for street use;
• Restore First Murphy Park on top of the subterranean parking garage at street grade.

The applicant estimates that parking for 100 vehicles could be accommodated by the
project. Parking spaces not needed by the Pine Inn could be owned/used by the City.
This project assumes City participation by allocating land under First Murphy Park,
authorizing use of the right-of-way, approval of encroachments and providing some of
the funding for project construction.

Approval of the project requires amendments to the City’s General Plan/Coastal Land
Use Plan (GP/LUP) and the Zoning Code/Coastal Implementation Plan (ZC/CIP).
These amendments require City Council and California Coastal Commission approval.
The City is not obligated to process requests to amend planning documents. Therefore,
the Council should first determine whether to pursue the project at all. If the concept has merit, the Council can direct staff to work with the applicant to develop the project further and then commence project review, environmental review and public hearings.

On 9 January 2008, the applicant introduced the project concept to the Planning
Commission. The Staff Report for that meeting identified significant hurdles for project approval (see below). While acknowledging these issues, the Commission determined that the project concept has merit and recommended that the Council authorize further study. Since then, the applicant has proposed modifications that address some issues.

II. ISSUE SUMMARY
Parking
The (GP/LUP) and (ZC/CIP) support additional parking at the Pine Inn parking lot site.

The First Murphy Park site is not appropriately zoned for public parking and will
require a ZC/CIP amendment.

Trees. Removing significant trees will require amendments to both the GP/LUP and
the ZC/CIP. The Coastal Commission will have to concur that the benefits of additional parking outweigh the removal of significant trees.

Hotel Units. Constructing hotel units on the Pine Inn lots conflicts with the GP/LUP
and the ZC/CIP. Overcoming this conflict may require a vote of Carmel’s citizens.
Transition/buffer.

Objective O1-1, and Policies P1-1, P1-2 and P1-70 constrain commercial/high-intensity
land uses so as to not impact R-1 neighborhoods. The Planning Commission and City
Council will need to determine whether the parking facility conflicts with these
policies.

Infrastructure.
Replacing/accommodating existing infrastructure under Sixth Avenue will be difficult
and expensive.

III. REQUIRED AMENDMENTS TO PLANNING DOCUMENTS
Parking and Coastal Access
The Pine Inn property has 49 guest rooms and approximately 13,000 square feet of
commercial space occupied by eight businesses. The City requires one parking space
for each guest room and one space for each 600 square feet of commercial floor area.
The Pine Inn supplies 21 spaces in an 8,000 square foot surface parking lot on the
northeast corner of Monte Verde Street and Sixth Avenue—leaving a deficit of about
50 spaces.

Most commercial properties and land uses in Carmel do not meet City standards for
parking. The result is high demand for street parking and parking overflow into R-1
neighborhoods. The GP/LUP supports efforts to increase parking supply to serve the
downtown area. The following policies relate to this issue:
Improving the Pine Inn’s existing parking lot property (zoned R-1) conforms to these
GP/LUP policies. Policy P2-16 specifically references properties like the Pine Inn
parking lot and the ZC/CIP is consistent with this policy. Coastal staff has confirmed that public parking is part of “coastal access” supported by the Coastal Act.

O2-3: Recognize that Carmel is a limited resource and limited in size, and that it is not practical to provide sufficient parking for the total demand at every location; it is desirable, however, to remove parking off congested streets and provide, where practical, alternate parking where it could be removed from public view and in a scale appropriate to Carmel.

P2-14: Benefit to and impact on residents of Carmel-by-the-Sea and its visitors shall be the primary factors to be considered when evaluating and deciding upon development of off-street parking facilities.

P2-16: Investigate possible public parking locations in the commercial areas, in the R-4 area and existing sites devoted exclusively to parking in the R-1 district.
P4-60: Conserve and enhance the scale, character, landscaping and historic features of the City’s motel sites and buildings when proposals for rebuilding or remodeling are considered. Promote the undergrounding of parking and the creation of attractive open space design features in such projects.

A ZC/CIP amendment will be required if the project includes First Murphy Park (zoned
P-2) because parking in this zone is limited to park visitors. Except for the obvious tree impacts, an underground garage will not prevent reestablishment of a park on this site.

This issue of trading trees for parking is discussed on page 5.

Land Use Boundaries and Buffers
Intense land uses like retail and restaurant businesses are inappropriate near singlefamily residential neighborhoods. These activities are restricted to the core area of the downtown (SC and CC Districts). The City’s zoning plan intends that the RC and R-4 Districts act as a transition zone to buffer the R-1 District from the commercial core.

Policies in the GP/LUP support this zoning pattern:

O1-1: Retain the established patterns of land use throughout the city.

P1-70: Retain a less intensively developed buffer area surrounding the core that provides a transition to the residential neighborhoods. Ensure that design standards for this buffer area require more open space, landscaping, setbacks and on-site parking typically needed for the uses in this area.

P1-2: Limit commercial activity, both as to its scope and physical land spread within the present commercial and multi-family districts.

P1-1: Preserve the boundaries of the single-family residential area and allow rezoning within this area only to less intensive uses such as open space or parkland.
A large parking facility can be an intense land use, especially during peak periods of vehicle ingress/egress. The driveway access to the garage will face Monte Verde and this street has limited traffic capacity. Neighborhood traffic impacts may conflict with the GP/LUP policies quoted above. The Planning Commission noted that potential impacts might be manageable through appropriate driveway placement/design and by controlling how, and by whom, the facility is used.

The Inn’s odd location relative to zoning boundaries and nearby established land uses
also helps mitigate its impacts. There are no adjacent R-1 residences. To the east is the Library; to the north are First Murphy Park, the Pine Inn Parking Lot and the Christian Science Church. To the west are Lobos Lodge and Tally Ho—both motel uses.
The nearest residential neighborhoods directly affected by the Pine Inn’s activities are further north up Monte Verde Street and Lincoln Street.

Motel Uses
The proposed construction of five hotel units above the Pine Inn lots will conflict with the GP/LUP and with the ZC/CI because:

1.) The Pine Inn’s parking lot is zoned R-1. Unless amended or deleted, Policies
P1-1 and P1-2, quoted above, will prohibit commercial hotel use at this site, and
2.) Construction of five hotel rooms on the Pine Inn parking lot property will
conflict with ZC/CIP Sections 17.08.040 and 17.56.060.B. These prohibitions
on hotel/motel uses in the R-1 zone were adopted by a Citizen’s Initiative in
1967 and cannot be revised without a new ballot measure.

The applicant has noted that if some low-income housing is added to the project, State law may compel the City to grant one or more “zoning concessions” (SB 435, 2005).

This statute requires cities to grant concessions and override zoning and General Plan policies. The developer must prove that without the concession it is economically infeasible to add the affordable housing to the project. It is unclear how this statute applies to ordinances adopted by Initiative, or to developments where the City contributes land and funding as a project partner.

As a second approach, the applicant suggests that the motel units could be built over the west end of First Murphy Park (zoned P-2), instead of over the Pine Inn parking lot (zoned R-1). This would still require a ZC/CIP amendment but would avoid conflict with the 1967 citizen’s initiative ordinance. The lost parkland could be reestablished west of the motel units on the roof of the one-story garage on the Pine Inn lots.

Trees
Several policies in the GP/LUP prohibit removal of trees classified by the City Forester as “significant”. There are 12 trees located on the applicant’s property and adjacent public right-of-way. No trees on the applicant’s property are significant but four Monterey pines in the public right-of-way near the intersection of Monte Verde Street and Sixth Avenue qualify as significant.

First Murphy Park has two large cypress trees, three Monterey pines and some younger
oak trees that are significant. In the right-of-way adjacent to the Park there are more large and healthy Monterey pines and Cypress that will qualify as significant. As proposed, the project will require removal of at least 10 significant trees and conflict with the GP/LUP and the ZC/CIP. Options that might address this issue are:
• Change the boundaries of the project to avoid trees.
• Revise the criteria for evaluating significance, so fewer trees qualify.
• Revise the GP/LUP and ZC/CIP to allow removal of significant trees under some circumstances (e.g. for public parking.)

The first option reduces the parking capacity of the garage. The second option affects trees throughout the City and is unlikely to be approved. The third option trades trees for parking and will require strong justification, especially for First Murphy Park.

The applicant has proposed a fourth option of moving existing trees when possible and
planting new, large, specimen trees when it is not. In the recent past, the Forest and Beach Commission has approved the relocation of large Oak trees in special situations.

This fourth option is not much different from City practices before the significant tree policies and ordinances took effect. If used to excess, it can make the LCP provisions appear meaningless. Oaks can be moved successfully. Pines and Cypress generally cannot be moved. The following policies in the GP/LUP relate to this issue:

P1-44: Prohibit the removal of significant trees (as determined by the City Forester) unless it would prevent a reasonable economic use of the site or pose a threat to health and safety. Locate buildings and other site structures to avoid removal and pruning and otherwise minimize damage to existing significant trees. Avoid impacts to trees by avoiding/minimizing impacts to the root protection zone
identified by the City Forester during the preliminary site assessment. Establish continuity of landscape elements throughout each neighborhood. Replace trees removed for construction with appropriate trees of the urbanized forest. Require that they be nurtured until well established.

P5-60: Review all projects involving an increase in lot coverage or tree removal and apply the adopted tree density policy as appropriate to each neighborhood and site conditions. Preserve upper and lower canopy trees classified as significant when planning and implementing residential and commercial development.

P5-64: New development shall be sited and designed to avoid or minimize significant adverse effects to the forest. Avoid projects that significantly increase building footprint to the detriment of trees. No grading, compaction of soils, construction of building walls or placement of impermeable surfaces within six feet of trees classified as significant shall be permitted.

P1-43: Maintain and enhance the informal, vegetated, open space character of the City’s rights-of-way.

Trees in the rights-of-way shall not be removed to provide parking. With the exception of driveways, installation of new paving in the rights-of-way by private property owners is prohibited.

P2-8: Prohibit the removal of significant trees within public rights-of-way except when required for health and safety.

Infrastructure
The City Engineer has advised that Sixth Avenue has the following underground utilities: a water main, a sewer main, and conduits for electricity, cable and telephone.

The project design must reroute or accommodate these. Changing the sewer main
would be the most difficult because these pipes must maintain specific grades for
proper flow. The second most difficult will be the water main.

IV. PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATIONS

Note: The Commission’s recommendations must be taken in context because its review occurred in January and the project has evolved since then. The proposed affordable housing (to get concessions) and the relocation of the motel units to the west end of First Murphy Park (to avoid the R-1 district) were not reviewed by the Commission.

The Commission was aware of the hurdles involved in amending the City’s planning
documents—especially the tree policies in the LCP. The Planning Commission advised
that if the long-term character of the urban forest is maintained or improved, removing some significant trees should be acceptable. Individual Commissioners raised several questions that may need to be addressed if this project is further developed:

1. Is there really a parking problem? Carmel’s parking shortage may be more an issue
of the wrong people parking in the wrong spaces and/or the unreasonable desire of
customers to demand a parking space adjacent to their destination.

2. Would this parking garage be well used? Its location and entrance will not be
obvious to visitors, even with substantial signage.

3. Will the entrance/exit located on Monte Verde have unacceptable traffic and noise
impacts on the neighborhood north of the project site?

4. Will the costs of relocating infrastructure make the project infeasible?

VII. PROJECT REVIEW PROCESS

If the City Council determines that the project is worth further study, the process steps to final approval will include:
• Formal Site Assessment and further development of the project concept
• Prepare the Draft GP/LUP and ZC/CIP amendments
• Environmental review
• Planning Commission review
• City Council project approval
• Coastal Commission Certification of Local Coastal Program amendments