Title
PLN19-0443 - General Plan Text Amendment - Harbor Bay Business Park - Applicant: Joe Ernst on behalf of srmErnst Development Partners. Public hearing to consider recommending the City Council approve a General Plan Text Amendment to clarify the allowable Floor Area Ratios (FAR) at Harbor Bay Business Park. This amendment would make consistent the Land Use Element text and the existing business park Planned Development zoning regulations by clarifying that a 0.5 FAR limit only applies to the portion of the Harbor Bay Business Park located between the lagoon and the bay, between the intersections of Mecartney Road and Adelphian Way to the north, and North Loop Road and Harbor Bay Parkway to the south. The clarification results in an internally consistent Land Use Element and aligns the Business Park land use classification with existing entitlements, as well as the City’s past practice and historical interpretation.
Body
To: Honorable President and Members of the Planning Board
From: Allen Tai, City Planner
BACKGROUND
In 2018, Exelixis, a rapidly-growing life science company that develops cancer treatments relocated to Alameda after calling South San Francisco its headquarters for 20 years. The company of over 500 employees currently leases four of six office/lab buildings at The Waterfront campus in the Harbor Bay Business Park.
Exelixis plans expand to a vacant lot adjacent to its campus at 1951 Harbor Bay Parkway. The company anticipates construction of a new 220,000-square-foot office building to accommodate approximately 900 new employees. A separate Lot Line Adjustment application is currently pending to reconfigure the property lines for the future development site, but there are no applications on file for entitlements on the new building.
On September 5, 2019, the applicant filed a General Plan Text Amendment application (Exhibit 1) to clarify the floor area ratio (FAR) requirements for Harbor Bay Business Park in the Land Use Element. The proposed amendment corrects the Business Park Land Use classification, which inaccurately refers to a maximum FAR of 0.5 for the entire Business Park. The Planning Board considered this FAR issue on November 13, 2018 (Exhibit 2) and recommended changes to the Business Park land use classification, but inadvertently extended the 0.5 FAR too far south by approximately 2,000 feet.
Staff proposes an adjusted recommendation to clarify that the maximum 0.5 FAR is limited to that portion of the business park fronting Bay Edge Road located between the lagoon and the San Francisco Bay.
DISCUSSION
On November 13, 2018, the Planning Board recommended the City Council approve text amendments to the Land Use Element of the General Plan. Among the recommended amendments was a correction to the description of applicable FARs in the Harbor Bay Business Park. The Business Park land use description, written in 1991, inaccurately referenced a 0.5 FAR as applying to the entire business park when close examination of the adopted zoning regulations indicates this FAR standard only applied to the properties along the San Francisco Bay frontage. The Planning Board agreed with staff’s analysis and recommended amendments to correct the description to clarify that the 0.5 FAR only applies to waterfront properties.
After the public hearing, staff discovered that the Planning Board’s recommendation to clarify the limited applicability of the 0.5 FAR to waterfront properties, to and including 1660 Harbor Bay Parkway, inadvertently extended the 0.5 FAR beyond those properties fronting the San Francisco Bay to properties fronting the Oakland Airport manmade tidal basin, too far south by approximately 2,000 feet. Furthermore, the affected property owners of lots along this 2,000-foot stretch of Harbor Bay Parkway (including the owner of the Exelixis future development site) were not directly notified of the proposed amendment. For these reasons, staff did not forward the Planning Board’s recommendation to the City Council for approval.
As described in the November 13, 2018 Planning Board Staff Report, the 0.5 FAR area was meant to apply to the portion of the business park fronting Bay Edge Road located between the lagoon and the bay. As a result, the correct southern limit for the 0.5 FAR area is the intersection of North Loop Road and Harbor Bay Parkway, not 1660 Harbor Bay. Exhibit 3 illustrates the 0.5 FAR area described in November 2018 and staff’s adjusted recommendation.
Staff’s revised recommendation clarifies that the 0.5 FAR only applies to the portion of the Harbor Bay Business Park located between the lagoon and the bay, between the intersections of Mecartney Road and Adelphian Way to the north, and North Loop Road and Harbor Bay Parkway to the south. If this text amendment is adopted, the properties to the south of North Loop Road will not be limited by a maximum FAR of 0.5. The text amendment will enable Exelixis to continue plans for future expansion of its campus, and will also benefit other projects in the business park, including a pending hotel proposal at 1051 Harbor Bay Parkway that is currently awaiting resolution of the FAR issue.
Staff recommends that the Planning Board and City Council clarify the General Plan Land Use Element classification to read as follows (Exhibit 4):
Business Park
The Business Park land use classification identifies areas for business development including but not limited to offices, research and development space, hotels, manufacturing, and distribution uses. These business park areas are characterized by mostly two to four story buildings with surface parking with a floor area ratio of between 0.25 and 2.0. Within the Harbor Bay Business Park, the maximum FAR for new development located on waterfront properties adjacent to Shoreline Park between the intersections of Mecartney Road and Adelphian Way and North Loop Road and Harbor Bay Parkway shall be limited to an FAR of 0.5, with increases up to a maximum of 2 permitted, proportional to the amount of required parking enclosed in a structure.
Adoption of the text amendment is in the public interest. The clarification results in an internally consistent Land Use Element and aligns the Business Park land use classification with existing entitlements, as well as the City’s past practice and historical interpretation. The text amendment also provides certainty to property owners within the Harbor Bay Business Park.
PUBLIC NOTICE AND COMMENTS
This agenda item was advertised in the Alameda Sun and public notices were posted as required by the Alameda Municipal Code. Affected property owners were notified by mail. No public comments were received by staff at the time this report was written.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The proposed amendment is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), the general rule that CEQA only applies to actions that have the potential to cause a significant impact on the environment.
RECOMMENDATION
Hold a public hearing and recommend the City Council approve a General Plan Text Amendment to clarify the allowable Floor Area Ratios (FAR) at Harbor Bay Business Park according to findings set forth in the draft Resolution (Exhibit 5).
Reviewed By:
Andrew Thomas,
Planning, Building and Transportation Director
Exhibits:
1. Application Letter
2. Excerpt from November 13, 2018 Planning Board Staff Report
3. Comparison Maps of 0.5 FAR Area
4. Draft General Plan Text Amendment
5. Draft Resolution