CITY OF SAN JOSÉ, CALIFORNIA Department of Planning, Building and Code Enforcement 801 North First Street, Room 400 San José, California 95110-1795				Hearing Date/Agenda Number P.C. 10/3/01 Item No. 4.d.
				File Number PDC 00-04-024
STAFF REPORT				Application Type Planned Development Prezoning
				Council District 8
				Planning Area Evergreen
				Assessor's Parcel Number(s) 652-11-010
PROJECT DESCRIPTION				Completed by: Mike Enderby
Location: East side of Ruby Avenue 50 feet northerly of Murillo Avenue
Gross Acreage: 2.5	Net Acreage: 2.38			Net Density: N/A
Existing Zoning: County		Existing Use: Agriculture, vacant
Proposed Zoning: A(PD) Planned Development		Proposed Use: 22,570 Square-foot Church
GENERAL PLAN				Completed by: ME
Land Use/Transportation Diagram Designation Very Low Density Residential Uses (2 DU/AC)				Project Conformance: [ X ] Yes [ ] No [ X ] See Analysis and Recommendations
SURROUNDING LAND USES AND ZONING				Completed by: ME
North: Single-family detached residential, vacant			County
East: Vacant			County
South: Vacant, single-family detached residential			A(PD), R-1-5
West: Single-family detached residential			R-1-8
ENVIRONMENTAL STATUS				Completed by: ME
[ ] Environmental Impact Report found complete [ x ] Negative Declaration adopted on June 27, 2001				[ ] Exempt [ ] Environmental Review Incomplete
FILE HISTORY				Completed by: ME
Annexation Title: Pending				Date: N/A
PLANNING DEPARTMENT RECOMMENDATIONS AND ACTION
[ X ] Approval [ ] Approval with Conditions	Date: _________________________			Approved by: ____________________________ [ ] Action [X] Recommendation
APPLICANT /DEVELOPER/OWNER
Eugene H. Sim, AIA SIM Architects, Inc. for Young Nak Presbyterian Church 915 Battery Street, Suite 2007 San Francisco, CA 94111
PUBLIC AGENCY COMMENTS RECEIVED					Completed by: ME
Department of Public Works See conditions of approval.
Other Departments and Agencies None received.
GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE
See attached
ANALYSIS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

BACKGROUND

The applicant, Young Nak Presbyterian Church of Northern California, is requesting a Planned Development Prezoning of approximately 2.5 gross acres from County to A(PD) Planned Development Zoning District to allow a 22,570 square foot church. The site is also proposed to be annexed (Evergreen No. 185) from the County to City of San Jose.

The subject site, previously used as a small farm operation, is rectangular in shape and has a moderate topography ranging from 8 to 12 percent. The site is generally vacant; however, until recently, it contained two agriculture-related structures, including a small wood-framed barn and steel-framed storage building.

The surrounding land uses consist of a tract of single-family detached residences to the west across Ruby Avenue. Vacant and/or rural residential uses exist on unincorporated land to the north and east. A recently approved single-family housing development is under construction to the south located between the subject site and Murillo Avenue.

Project Description

The proposed church consists of 22,570 square foot, two-story building located near the middle of the site. The church is anticipated to have a maximum capacity of 524 people. Parking areas providing a total of 131 spaces are proposed in both the front and the rear of the facility. The project will take access from a single driveway curb cut on Ruby Avenue.

GENERAL PLAN CONFORMANCE

The proposed rezoning is consistent with the San José 2020 General Plan Land Use/Transportation Diagram designations of Very Low Density Residential (2 DU/AC). The General Plan identifies churches as appropriate uses on sites with residential land use designations if the design is compatible with surrounding land uses. The project is consistent with other relevant General Plan policies. The project is located below the 15% slopeline.

ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW

A Negative Declaration was adopted on June 27, 2001. The primary environmental issues that were addressed include traffic and loss of trees. Other minor issues that were addressed were potential impacts to historic resources and soils contamination.

Traffic Impacts

An in-house traffic analysis was conducted by the Public Works Department based on the applicant’s detailed listing and explanation of proposed uses and events to be conducted on the site. This project was evaluated in conjunction with potential traffic impacts of other projects, including nearby churches. Based on this analysis, staff has determined that this project is in conformance with the Evergreen Development Policy, the operative policy document regarding traffic level of service (LOS) for this area. While this project will cause some additional traffic on weekends, the proposed church use is not anticipated to cause any significant traffic impacts beyond the capacity of nearby streets and signalized intersections during critical weekday commute hours pursuant to the City’s traffic policies. This is due to the fact that the hours of operation for a religious facility generates peak trips during off-peak commute hours, primarily on weekends. Conditions have been included on the General Development Plan, commensurate with the applicant’s intent for this project to restrict uses at the church facility at times that would cause impacts to peak morning and late afternoon weekday commute hours. These conditions are substantially more comprehensive than those typically imposed on other typical churches in San Jose. Similar conditions have been included for other Church projects in the Evergreen area.

Trees

A tree survey prepared for the site indicates that there are 26 trees of various species (no natives) exist on the project site. Of these trees, only seven are ordinance size trees. All of the trees are proposed to be removed as a result of the necessary grading activities, but their loss will be mitigated in accordance with the City’s tree replacement policies. Loss of these ordinance size trees would not constitute a significant impact since these trees will be replaced on site with 24" box trees or 15-gallon trees at standard mitigation ratios.

Historic Impacts

The project site previously contained a small wooden barn structure approximately 50 years old. A historic report was requested early in the process; however, the structures were later demolished by the previous property owner with permits from the County of Santa Clara. The demolition of the barn, which was in poor condition, would not likely have been a significant loss to historical resources.

Soils

A Phase I soils report was prepared for the project site to assess potential soils contamination from the previous agricultural uses. Based on review by the Environmental Services Department, no significant evidence of contamination was present, therefore no mitigation is necessary.

ANALYSIS

The key issues analyzed as part of this project include: 1) conformance to the Church Location Policy, 2) site design, 3) neighborhood compatibility, and 4) architecture.

Conformance to the Church Location Policy

The proposed project conforms to all elements of the Church Location Policy. This policy was developed to ensure that such proposals are located on appropriately sized parcels larger than one acre, and maintain appropriate 25 foot building setbacks where adjacent to residential uses.

Site Design

The site has minor traffic constraint issues in that the parcel in not located on a corner and has only one street frontage. Due to the proximity of the intersection at Ruby and Murillo Avenues, the driveway to the site has been located to the north side of the site in order to minimize interference and maintain the appropriate off-set alignment with the residential streets that connect to Ruby Avenue to the west.

The parking lot will be divided into two main areas to minimize the visual impact of the parking from any single vista. Each half of the parking area is well landscaped and terraced with generous landscaped areas of 13 to 16 feet between aisles. The landscaped areas help to address grading issues and effectively help the project “step” up the hill. All parking areas provide good internal circulation and avoid the use of long or dead end parking aisles. The primary driveway linking the front and rear parking areas is proposed along the north property line where it will be cut into the hill to minimize any visual and noise impacts on the adjacent house to the north.

Neighborhood Compatibility

A 25-foot perimeter landscape area is proposed along the street. The use of just a single curb cut at the driveway entrance allows the landscaping to be maximized across the project frontage. Landscape buffers of 10 feet in width will buffer parking areas from the adjacent rural residential uses located uphill along the north and east sides of the site. Adjacent to the south property, the most sensitive residential interface due to topography and proximity to residential structures, a 10-to 35-foot landscape buffer is proposed.

A driveway originally proposed along the south side of the site, next to the newly approved residential development, has been deleted to accommodate a more gentle grading transition between the two properties, minimize parking/circulation noise impacts on the adjacent houses and provide a more significant landscape buffer. The proposed church building will be set back approximately 35 feet from the adjacent residential property line to the south. To further reduce the visual impacts on the adjacent residential uses, the proposed church structure will be “cut into” the hill by as much as 13 feet below existing grade.

Architecture

The proposed structure will be two stories tall. This will enable the structure to utilize a smaller footprint and to minimize grading. This also helps to minimize parking layout constraints and provide more landscape opportunities. The proposed structure utilizes a modern design with a variety of materials on different wall plans to reduce the overall massing. The roof design incorporates elements with a curved metal roof as well as more traditional parapet and sloped elements to provide good architectural interest. Although the building forms and materials are quite varied, they are complimentary and work well together. The overall design is well balanced and attractive. The building mass, particularly along the sides, will be compatible with adjacent residential uses. Staff will work with the applicant to further refine the building design details and colors at the Planned Development Permit stage.

PUBLIC OUTREACH

Notices for the community meeting, public hearings and environmental review were distributed to the owners and tenants of all properties located within 500 feet of the project site.

RECOMMENDATION

Planning staff recommends approval of the proposed Planned Development Rezoning for the following reasons:

1. The project conforms to the General Plan Land Use/Transportation Diagram designation of Very Low Density Residential (2 DU/AC).

2. The project conforms to the Evergreen Development Policy.

3. The project conforms to the Church Location Policy.

4. The proposed project will be compatible with the surrounding neighborhood.