Agenda

Return

C.127

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	John Kopchik, Director, Conservation & Development Department
Date:	May 24, 2016

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

Buchanan Field Airport General Plan Amendment Study Request

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 05/24/2016

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Will Nelson, (925) 674-7791

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: May 24, 2016
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

1. AUTHORIZE a General Plan Amendment (GPA) study to consider amending Land Use Element Policy 3-98 concerning the three-acre area designated "Business Park" within the vacant County-owned property located between Marsh Drive and Sally Ride Drive (within Buchanan Field Airport), Assessor Parcel No.125-010-023, to increase the development limit from 18,500 square feet to 52,300 square feet.

2. ACKNOWLEDGE that granting the authorization does not imply any sort of endorsement for the request to amend the General Plan, but only that the matter is appropriate for study.

FISCAL IMPACT:

If authorization is granted, the Public Works Department will expend Airport Enterprise Funds to reimburse the Department of Conservation and Development (DCD) for staff time and materials costs associated with processing the GPA study.

BACKGROUND:

DCD is in receipt of a memo from Beth Lee, Assistant Director of Airports, requesting a GPA study involving the vacant County-owned property located at the south intersection of Marsh Drive and Sally Ride Drive at Buchanan Field Airport (see Attachment A). The subject parcel is designated Business Park (BP) and Public and Semi-Public (PS) on the Land Use Element Map, Contra Costa County General Plan (2005-2020), and zoned Unrestricted (U) District. Attached for the Board's consideration under Attachment B are a map and aerial photos of the site and its surroundings, showing the land use designations.

Ms. Lee's memo explains that when Policy 3-98 was adopted in 2008, several large development projects were planned at Buchanan Field. A development limit of 18,500 square feet was imposed upon the BP-designated parcel in order to address concerns regarding cumulative peak-hour trip generation. However, as a result of the recession, none of the planned projects were implemented. The County has now been approached by an applicant seeking to develop up to 52,300 square feet of industrial/business park uses on the BP parcel, thus necessitating an increase in the allowable square footage.

Staff supports the request for a GPA study. The 18,500-square-foot limit for the subject parcel is an artificial limitation designed to address cumulative trip generation from projects that never materialized. This limitation yields an allowable floor area ratio (FAR) [See Note 1] of approximately 14 percent, where the normal FAR for land designated BP is 150 percent. The proposed project has an FAR of 40 percent, which is still well within the normal limitation for the BP designation. The project would be subject to all of the normal regulations relating to development at Buchanan Field.

[Note 1:] Floor area ratio (FAR) is the ratio of developed or developable square footage relative to the size of the parcel. For example, an FAR of 50 percent or 0.5 percent means that the property can have a developed square footage equal to half the size of the property. Thus, a 10,000-square-foot property with an FAR of 0.5 could be developed with up to 5,000 square feet.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

If the Board does not authorize the GPA study, then the development limit for the subject property will remain at 18,500 square feet and the proposed commercial/light industrial development cannot move forward.