On September 2, 2011, Diann Tilley Christensen submitted a letter to the Department of Conservation and Development appealing the County Planning Commission's approval of Fire Station #32 in the Alamo area. The appeal letter expressed concerns relating to the traffic, pedestrian safety, noise and property value impacts of the project. On August 23, 2011, the County Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny an appeal of the Zoning Administrator's approval of the Fire Station and approve the project, with some modifications to the conditions of approval.
Project Summary
The proposed fire station will replace the existing Fire Station #32 located approximately 0.4-miles west on Stone Valley Road in Alamo. The new fire station will be constructed on a 1.1-acre parcel located at the corner of Stone Valley Road and Miranda Avenue in the Alamo area and will include approximately 9,400 square feet of total floor area (6,046 sq. ft. living area, 3,209 sq. ft. apparatus bay and 200 sq. ft. trash enclosure).The 1.1-acre site is currently designated Single-Family Residential, Low-Density (SL) and is within the R-20 single-family residential zoning district. The existing Fire Station #32 was built in the 1950's and provides approximately 3,737 total square feet of floor area (2,547 sq. ft. living area and 1,190 sq. ft. apparatus bay) and is the smallest and oldest of all of the fire stations in the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District (SRVFPD). The amount of staffing for the new fire station will be the same as with the existing Fire Station #32 which houses six on-duty firefighters at all times.
The main aspects of the project include construction of the the living/office area and apparatus bay. The project also includes establishment of a small diesel and propane fueling station, emergency back-up generator, a 200 square foot detached trash enclosure, a secure employee parking and equipment yard, and a solid masonry wall along the Stone Valley Road frontage area and a portion of Miranda Avenue. The site plan for the proposed fire station can be found on sheet A1.1 of the attached building plans. The project will also involve the removal of five (5) protected trees and work within the dripline of nine (9) protected trees. Other improvements to the site will also be part of the project including the development of parking areas, driveways, a paved equipment yard and significant landscaping throughout the site, specifically along Stone Valley Road and Miranda Avenue.
The fire station was designed to be compatible with the surrounding community but also includes some architectural elements that distinguish the building as a fire station. Building elevation can be found on sheet A3.1 of the submitted plans. The tallest portion of the fire station will be the tower located near the front of the site, which will have a maximum building height of 32 feet, 6 inches, which is below the 35-foot height limit for the R-20 zoning district. The subject property is within the R-20 Zoning District, which allows the establishment of publicly owned buildings, including fire stations, with the approval of a land use permit. The development standards for the fire station are the same for residential structures within the R-20 zoning district, and proposed Fire Station #32 meets all of the development standards of the R-20 Zoning District, including building height, setback and sideyard requirements.
When the property was acquired by the Fire District in early 2009, it had a General Plan Designation of Single Family Residential-Low Density (SL), but now that it is owned by the Fire District, which is a public agency, the General Plan Designation of the property will be changed to Public and Semi-Public (PS). The change in the General Plan Designation will occur during the next County General Plan Land Use Element map update.
Environmental Review
An Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration (IS/MND) was prepared for the project in December 2010 to identify potential environmental impacts of the proposed fire station facility. The MND identified potential environmental impacts to the following areas; aesthetics, air quality, biological resources, hazards and hazardous materials, cultural resources, geology and soils, hydrology and water quality, noise, transportation and traffic and utilities and service systems. The MND also includes mitigation measures that will reduce all environmental impacts to less than significant. In summary the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration concluded that, with mitigation, the proposed new Fire Station #32 would not result in a significant impact to the environment.
Per the requirements of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) a Notice of Public Review and Intent to Adopt a Proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration was posted with the County Recorder’s Office and mailed to the property owners and occupants of every adjacent parcel. The notice was posted with the County Recorder on December 22, 2010. A revised notice was posted on January 19, 2011 extending the public comment period for the MND to February 7, 2011.
In response to circulation of the Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration, 14 comment letters were received. Each letter identified multiple issues relating to the project. Due to the extensive number of issues identified in the letters, staff prepared a FINAL Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and FINAL Response to Comments dated June 2011. The Final Response to Comments addresses all comments raised in regard to the adequacy of the December 2010 Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration. No new impacts were identified in preparing the Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration for the project which was completed in June 2011.
County Planning Commission Hearing
On August 23, 2011, a hearing on an appeal of the County Zoning Administrator's decision to approve the land use permit for Fire Station #32 was held before the County Planning Commission (Board of Appeals). At that hearing five (5) members of the public provided testimony in opposition of the project. Various issues and concerns were identified in the testimony against the project, including concerns that are addressed in the current appeal to the Board. All of the issues brought up at the Planning Commission hearing had been previously addressed in the June 2011 Final Mitigated Negative Declaration or in the staff reports prepared for the project.
The prominent issues brought up by the opposition during the Planning Commission meeting were noise impacts, privacy concerns, fire code issues, traffic impacts, pedestrian safety impacts and impacts to property values.
After accepting testimony from those in opposition of the project and allowing rebuttal from the project proponents, including the project architect and the Fire Chief, the Planning Commission voted unanimously to deny the appeal and approve the land use permit application with modifications to the conditions of approval. A redline-strikeout copy of the revised conditions of approval, as recommended by the County Planning Commission, is included as an attachment to this Board Order. The modifications to the conditions of approval that were part of the Planning Commission's motion to approve the project included additional conditions addressing potential noise mitigation, visual (privacy) impact mitigation and additional pre-construction noticing. The Planning Commission also included a condition of approval that requires the Fire District to pay for any upgrades to the Stone Valley Road and Miranda Avenue intersection that may be needed to address traffic impacts resulting from the operation of the fire station.
APPEAL
On September 2, 2011 the Department of Conservation and Development received a letter from Diann Tilley Christensen appealing the County Planning Commission's decision to approve a land use permit for Fire Station #32. According to the appeal letter, the fire station, as proposed, does not comply with certain state and local fire codes and does not comply with the intent of the County General Plan, as well as specific goals and policies of the General Plan. The appeal also identifies concerns over traffic safety impacts as well as impacts to property values that would result from the establishment of the fire station. A copy of the appeal letter is attached to this Board Order.
Staff has summarized the appeal points found in the appeal letter and has provided staff responses to the appeal points below.
Appeal Point #1: Based on the submitted site plan for the fire station, the project does not comply with State and local fire codes. Specifically, the placement of the propane and diesel tanks do not comply with State and local fire codes. Compliance with the required fire codes could result in a redesign of the project and effect the proposed parking areas.
Staff Response #1: The issue of fire code compliance for the fire station was brought up by opponents of the project very early in the planning process. The basis of the fire code argument is that the distances between the proposed propane tank, above ground diesel storage tank, emergency generator and trash enclosure located at the southeastern corner of the equipment yard do not comply with various state and local fire codes.
In response to this appeal point, it must be made clear that enforcement of the fire code, whether it be federal, state or local fire code, is not within the jurisdiction of the Contra Costa County Department of Conservation and Development or the County Environmental Health Department. Enforcement of various fire codes for the building will be within the jurisdiction of the local fire district, which in this case is the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District.
There are no fuel tank regulations/restrictions in the County Building Code that would affect the establishment of the proposed propane and diesel tanks. With regard to the proposed fueling area, building permits will only be required for the pad on which the tanks will be located and for the proposed trash enclosure.
When the issue of fire code compliance came up earlier in the planning process, the County requested that the Fire District provide a response to the claims that the fire station did not comply with certain fire codes. In a document dated July 15, 2010, titled 'Response to Code Compliance Questions', the project architect provided an extensive response to the fire code issues identified by opponents of the project. The report concluded that the design of the fire station, as submitted for land use permit approval, meets the intent of all applicable fire codes, and that final review for compliance with all applicable fire codes cannot take place until plans are submitted for building permits or until after the fire station is built.
Appeal Point #2: Traffic congestion during the school year on Miranda Avenue and Stone Valley Road could affect emergency vehicle response times for the new fire station.
Staff Response #2: Traffic generated by the fire station is minimal. Therefore, traffic conditions on Miranda Avenue and Stone Valley Road will be the same before and after the fire station is built, even during the peak hours before and after school. This means that, for either location, emergency vehicles heading north on Miranda Avenue or east on Stone Valley Road will have to deal with the same traffic congestion. Additionally, as part of the project, a traffic signal pre-emption device will be installed within the fire station that would allow firefighters to control the Stone Valley Road and Mirnada Avenue intersection signal. This will improve emergency vehicle access onto Miranda and Stone Valley Road during peak traffic hours.
Appeal Point #3: Establishment of the fire station at the new location will be detrimental to pedestrian and vehicle safety, specifically on the portion of Miranda Avenue that does not have sidewalks.
Staff Response #3: Since the fire station will be able to control the traffic signal at the intersection of Stone Valley Road and Miranda Avenue, traffic safety for emergency vehicles exiting the new station onto Stone Valley Road will be improved. The frequency of Fire Station #32 emergency vehicle traffic using Miranda Avenue to access emergencies will not change based on the location of the fire station, so the project will not result in additional negative impacts to pedestrian or vehicle safety on Miranda Avenue. The project will actually improve vehicle and pedestrian safety on Miranda Avenue because new sidewalks will be constructed on Miranda Avenue along the project frontage where sidewalk does not currently exist providing a safer passage for pedestrians.
Appeal Point #4: The fire station emergency generator operates at 70.4 decibels, which exceeds the thresholds for residential neighborhood as identified in the Noise Element of the County General Plan.
Staff Response #4: The noise issues relating to operation of the emergency generator was addressed in the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration prepared for the project. Response 1-8 of the Final Response to Comments addresses the issue of the emergency generator fully.
According to the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND), operation of the emergency generator will not result in a significant environmental impact, nor will it conflict with the goal and policies identified in the Noise Element of the County General Plan. According to the Final MND, the noise generated by the emergency generator will be less than significant for two reasons. First, the emergency generator will only be operated once a week for twenty minutes during testing, there is no other need to operate the generator except in an emergency or for periodic maintenance. Secondly, although it has been shown that the generator operates a a noise level of 70.4 decibels, which exceed the thresholds for residential uses as described in the County General Plan, due to the location of the generator between the fire station building itself and a solid masonry wall, the noise attenuation provided by the fire station structure and the masonry wall will reduce the exterior noise levels of the operation of the generator to less than 60 decibels at the property lines adjacent to any residential uses. Therefore, it has been concluded that the generator will not result in a significant environmental impact and will not exceed the noise levels for residential uses as identified in the Noise Element of the County General Plan.
Appeal Point #5: Knowledge of the proposed fire station has already had a negative impact on property values in the immediate area of the proposed fire station location and establishment of the fire station will result in additional negative impacts on property values.
Staff Response #5: The issue of property values was brought up at hearing before the County Zoning Administrator and was also addressed in the previous appeal to the County Planning Commission. As explained by the Zoning Administrator at the July 11, 2011 public hearing for the project, the land use permit finding relating to the protection of property values and the County’s tax base requires that the hearing body consider a project’s impact to the County tax base as a whole, not individual property values. The added value to the community, as a whole, that will be created by Fire Station must be considered when making a determination on a project, not impacts to individual properties. The new, upgraded fire station will have a positive impact on property values in the Alamo area as a whole.
CONCLUSION
The new Fire Station #32 is conforms with the development standards of the R-20 Zoning District in which it is located, will be consistent with the Goals and Policies as set forth in the County 2005-2020 General Plan and will not result in the creation of any significant environmental impacts. Therefore, it is appropriate for this Board to deny the appeal of the County Planning Commission's approval and approved the project as proposed.
Ruben Hernandez, Department of Conservation and Development, presented the staff report and PowerPoint presentation summarizing the matter with pictures.
Chair Uilkema opened the hearing and invited testimony. The following people spoke:
Diann Tilly Christensen, Appellant; Richard Price, Chief San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District (SRVFPD), Applicant; David Barclay, Alamo Municipal Advisory Council; Chris Suter, Robert Deiss, ATI Architects; David Ard, resident of Alamo (pictures provided, attached); David Cardiff, resident of Alamo; John Carpenter, resident of Alamo; Chiief Daryl Louder, Contra Costa Fire Protection District; Chief Randy Bradley, Moraga-Orinda Fire Protection District; Len Horowitz, resident of Danville.
The following people did not wish to speak, but left written comment for Board consideration (attached):
Law Offices of William D. Ross, counsel for the San Ramon Valley Fire Protection District; Carol Thiessen;
CLOSED the public hearing;
FOUND, on the basis of the entire record, there is no substantial evidence that the project will have a significant effect on the environment and that the Final Mitigated Negative Declaration reflects the County's independent judgment and analysis.
ADOPTED the proposed Mitigated Negative Declaration (Final Initial Study/Mitigated Negative Declaration and Final Response to Comments/Errata) and the Mitigation Monitoring Program for this project as adequate for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and prepared in accordance with the County CEQA Guidelines;
ADOPTED proposed Resolution No. 2011/451 which incorporates certain findings as the basis for Board approval. D. SUSTAIN the County Planning Commission approval of County File #LP09-2026 for a new 9,400 square foot fire Station #32 including the findings with conditions of approval as identified in marked text;
DENIED the appeal filed by Diann Tilley Christensen; and
DIRECTED staff to post a Notice of Determination with the County Clerk.