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HomeMy WebLinkAboutItem 1 - ALC Study SessionSTAFF REPORT Development Services Department DATE: December 8, 2015 TO: Honorable Chairman and Planning Commission FROM: Jim Kasama, Community Development Administrat SUBJECT: STUDY SESSION - PROPOSED ARCADIA LOGISTICS CENTER AND DRAFT ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT REPORT - 12321 LOWER AZUSA ROAD The proposed Arcadia Logistics Center involves a General Plan Amendment, Specific Plan, Tentative Parcel Map, and a Draft Environmental Impact Report (DEIR) to develop the 81.27 -acre property at 12321 Lower Azusa Road that was formerly a sand- and - gravel quarry, and is currently being reclaimed as an Inert Debris Engineered Fill Operation (IDEFO). Attached is a booklet that the applicant/property owner presented at the October 27, 2015, Study Session, which describes the proposed logistics center /industrial park that will have approximately 1,688,000 square feet of building space. The proposed Specific Plan and DEIR are available on the City website at the following link: http: / /www.arcadiaca.gov /government/ city - departments/ development - services / planning /current - significant- projects. Discussions of the General Plan Consistency and the Amendment are in Section IV of the proposed Specific Plan, and on page 3 -7 of the Project Description in the DEIR. If any Planning Commissioner or other interested party has any questions or comments regarding this matter prior to the December 8, 2015, Planning Commission Meeting, please contact Jim Kasama at (626) 574 -5442, or jkasama(c ArcadiaCA.gov. Attachment ARCADIA LOGISTICS CENTER PRESENTATION BOOKLET City of Arcadia October 2015 ARCADIA LOGISTICS CENTER Developed By: YELLOW IRON INVESTMENTS, LLC 510 Foothill, Suite 206 San Dimas, CA 91773 Prepared By: T &B PLANNING, INC. 17542 East 17th Street, Suite 100 Tustin, CA 92780 JOB NUMBER: 966 -002 In Association with: Thienes Engineering, Inc. RGA Urban Crossroads d!.- Lug URBAN Arcadia Logistics Center - Presentation Booklet 1. PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS 2. REGIONAL CONTEXT MAP 3. SPECIFIC PLAN LAND USE PLAN & STATISTICAL SUMMARY 4. CONCEPTUAL BUILDING LAYOUT 5. SAMPLE BUILDINGS 6. COMMUNITY OUTREACH TABLE OF CONTENTS 7. CITY OF EL MONTE INTERFACE 8. PROJECT BENEFITS 9. ECONOMIC BENEFITS 10. CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) COMPLIANCE 11. DEVELOPMENT REVIEW PROCESS Arcadia Logistics Center - Presentation Booklet 1 . PROJECT HIGHLIGHTS INTRODUCTION The Arcadia Logistics Center is a proposed business and employment center located in the southeastern tip of Arcadia, on an 81.3 -acre property that is the site of the reclaimed Rodeffer Quarry. Designed to accommodate up to 1,688,000 square feet of modern industrial space, the Arcadia Logistics Center will generate approximately 1,000 new jobs and approximately $200,000 in net annual revenue to the City of Arcadia and additional indirect revenues to surrounding communities. As the economy continues to strengthen in the current cycle, businesses and employers are actively seeking new sites that can supply state - of -the art facilities for mid - stream goods movement operations, such as light industry, warehouse distribution, fulfillment centers, and shipping /parcel delivery services. With close proximity to the 605 and 10 freeways, the Arcadia Logistics Center is well positioned to meet the demand for this type of industrial space and bring employment and fiscal benefits to the City and surrounding area. In fact, the Arcadia Logistics Center site is one of the very few undeveloped sites in the San Gabriel Valley that is ready and suitable to accommodate this type of large employment center. MINE AND FILL OPERATION PROPOSED USE The Arcadia Logistics Center Specific Plan provides for up to 1,688,000 square feet of e- commerce, general light industrial, high -cube warehouse, industrial park, manufacturing, shipping /parcel delivery, and /or warehousing uses. Development standards are consistent with the Arcadia General Plan and Municipal Code with few exceptions. Reclamation: 2005 Reclamation: 2015 Arcadia Logistics Center is the site of the former Rodeffer sand and gravel quarry, which operated on the property from 1967 until 1990. When mining operations ceased, the depleted quarry was filled and compacted through an Inert Debris Engineered Fill Operation ( IDEFO), which raised the quarry's surface elevation to prepare the property for redevelopment. Today, the IDEFO is nearly complete and the property is ready to be transitioned to a productive end use. The use of a Specific Plan enables deviation from two portions of the City's Municipal Code: 1) maximum building height is increased from 40 feet to 48 feet in Planning Area 1 (near the City of El Monte) and increased from 40 feet to 52 feet in Planning Area 2 (near Lower Azusa Road); and 2) parking requirements are reduced from 2 spaces per 1,000 s.f. to rates that are consistent with the actual demand for large logistics uses. The additional building height is required by modern fulfillment centers, which often need 40 -foot clear ceilings for their sorting and stacking machinery. Arcadia Logistics Center- Presentation Booklet Pasadena San Marino San Gabriel LA COUNTY Sierra Madre Rosemead Temple City Arcadia • Z. REGIONAL CONTEXT MAP Monrovia r Bradbury Az.utia El Monte West Covina Arcadia Logistics Center Presentation Booklet 3. SPECIFIC PLAN LAND USE PLAN & STATISTICAL SUMMARY PLANNING INDUSTRIAL PRIVATE DRIVE PLANNING CONCEPTUAL LAND USE PLAN INDUSTRIAL (LI) LAND USE DESIGNATION PA) - Light Incistrid lU1 Circulaticn 1 ACRES 43.0 35.3 1 3.0 PROJECT TOTALS Notes I . Land Use Plan is for conceptual purposes only. 2. Building Footprints are conceptual and subject to change. Arcadia Logistics Center - Presentation Booklet 4. CONCEPTUAL BUILDING LAYOUT 007,01,0-0.0":',":"•r007,T. ..1-7r7"0-ef"01,0" ,,,nr071-10,–M07791! ak , 00040„.00044,4000.0„4,044,F, 12. 00.00-.000400.ax-400.040,04,00,0.000 0,000#419 4 a‘o*Ripa#54a.94444001‘46444190 ' =4,460041‘aA.011140-faa . tit : `" , c1 • ; • 0 :9,4 ...10: A , . . • 8a • 0 • ? I E a • • S 40 1 ' ' , 1 1 P W • V • a • !ta. acl i • a P:4::$4 14 alti mr,Tir .17 .0,7717777.1„777,79,,(4. gitt/ *6"4440. 4040 44•010 0: es intsit".4111401, `112 0 4 3 a a a 9 3 a 3 3 a 3 9 a 9 ,■ 994000 a99004f 0 • 0 0 • 0 0 qmArta -0„ Arcadia Logistics Center - Presentation Booklet 5. SAMPLE BUILDINGS Arcadia Logistics Center - Presentation Booklet 6. COMMUNITY OUTREACH Yellow Iron Investments, the developer of the Arcadia Logistics Center, has undertaken a series of community outreach efforts to understand the concerns of the surrounding community, both in Arcadia and from the adjoining neighborhood in El Monte, and to address as many of those concerns as possible. The outreach efforts to date include a public community meeting at Cherrylee Elementary School in May 2015, a meeting at a local resident's house with neighbors concerned about the effect the project may have on their neighborhoods, along with follow -up meetings and calls with individual residents to discuss their concerns. The primary concerns expressed by residents related to the operation of the quarry and fill operations. With development of the Arcadia Logistics Center, the cause of these concerns will be eliminated. Additionally, as part of their previously approved Conditional Use Permit Yellow Iron Investments is constructing a new solid wall which will be at least 12 feet high and 3,300 feet long, along the property line to reduce existing and future impacts to the residential neighborhood in El Monte. Neighbors also expressed concern that the location of the buildings adjacent to the residential neighborhood would block sightlines from the neighborhood streets and residential property. In response, the Specific Plan has been modified in three ways: 1) a minimum 50 -foot setback from the property line to the buildings is required adjacent to the residential neighborhood; 2) the proposed conceptual locations of buildings were shifted to allow the gaps between buildings to align with the residential streets, preserving the existing sightlines from those streets; and 3) the height of buildings adjacent to the residential neighborhood is limited to 48 feet, rather than the 52 feet allowed elsewhere within the Specific Plan.. A second public community meeting is being scheduled with the City of El Monte. A date and time has not yet been set. May 6, 2ot5, Community Outreach Meeting at Cherryfee Elementary School in El Monte. Arcadia Logistics Center - Presentation Booklet PROPERTY LINE 7. CITY OF EL MONTE INTERFACE 1(If I r- EXISTING HOMES I III -I 1 IN THE CITY OF EL MONTE 50 FT MIN SETBACK BLDG. SECTION 'C -C' KEY NOTES: NEW SOLID WALL, MIN 12 FT `.-J HIGH BY 3,300 FT LONG. 0 PROPOSED EVERGREEN SCREEN TREES ALONG PROPERTY LINE TO SCREEN ADJACENT RESIDENTIAL AREA. `� 0 PROPOSED VERTICAL TREE ADJACENT TO BUILDING. 0 TYP. DROUGHT TOLERANT GROUND COVER AND SHRUBS PER PLANTING LIST ON SHEET L-1. 0 EMERGENCY VEHICLE ACCESS ONLY. Arcadia Logistics Center - Presentation Booklet • Develop a comprehensive plan for the long term use of this former quarry site as a warehouse /distribution & logistics center that will attract quality tenants into the future; • Provide an attractive employment center with landscaping and sidewalk along Lower Azusa Road; • Create job growth within the City with long term, high paying, employment- generating businesses; • Foster economic growth within the City by providing a recurring surplus of approximately $200,000 in general revenue; • Provide $624,560 in Development Impact Fees to the El Monte City School District and El Monte Union High School District; • Expand the economic base of the City by further diversifying the available range of businesses in the City with this high quality industrial and warehouse /distribution logistics location; • Provide an attractive, state -of- the -art Class A warehouse/ distribution logistics center that meets current industry standards for operational design criteria, in close proximity to existing 1 -605 on- and off - ramps; • Establish the City of Arcadia as a viable competitor on a domestic and international scale for truck -based goods distribution facilities in the land- constrained metropolitan region of Los Angeles County. S. PROJECT BENEFITS Arcadia Logistics Center - Presentation Booklet ,1 9. ECONOMIC BENEFITS David Taussig and Associates, Inc. prepared a Fiscal and Economic Impact Analysis to identify the economic effects the Arcadia Logistics Center Specific Plan would have on the City of Arcadia. The Analysis concluded that the Arcadia Logistics Center will be a net positive economic benefit for the City and surrounding communities, by creating jobs and generating additional tax revenue to the City's General Fund. r Recurring Economic Impact Direct Number of Employees 844 indirect /induced Number of 1:mp1ovees 151 Total Recurring Number of Employees 995 Direct Employee Wages $46,781,232 indirect /induced Employee Wages $8,531,917 Total Recurring Employee Wages $55,313,149 Direct Economic Output $81,139,696 Indirect /induced Economic Output $20,039,947 Total Recurring Economic Output $101,179,643 Table 4: Recurring Impact Conclusions The Fiscal Analysis estimates that the Arcadia Logistics Center will create 995 permanent jobs, directly and indirectly, within the City of Arcadia. Industrial, logistics, and fulfillment center industry jobs are quality, high - paying jobs which have average wages of $55,428 per year, nearly $17,500 more than the average wage in Arcadia. These new jobs would not exist in the City without the Arcadia Logistics Center. Fiscal Impact Category Total Annual Recurring Revenues $423,420 Total Annual Recurring; Costs ($2111,321) Total Annual Recurring Surplus /(Deficit) $205,099 "Total Annual Revenue /Cost Ratio I� s_ 1.94 Table 2: General Fund - Net Fiscal Impact Summary In addition to the creation of nearly 1,000 jobs, the Arcadia Logistics Center is also anticipated to generate approximately $423,420 per year in recurring revenue to the City of Arcadia and surrounding communities. This new revenue would result in an approximately $205,000 net increase in general revenue to the City. The Arcadia Logistics Center will also provide $624,560 to the El Monte City School District and El Monte Union High School District in Development Impact Fees under the District's current fee structure, assuming that the site is developed with 1 ,688,000 square feet of building space. Arcadia Logistics Center - Presentation Booklet 1 O. CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) COMPLIANCE Adequacy of Responses Adequacy of E!R Analysis Scope of E!R Certification Hearing Final EIR Response to Comments Public Comment Period (Oct. 16 — Dec. 4) Draft EIR (Oct. 16) Scoping Meeting (Apr. 22) Initial Study /Notice of Preparation (Apr. 1— May 11) We are =r Arcadia Logistics Center- Presentation Booklet 1 1 . DEVELOPMENT REVIEW PROCESS The Development Review Process within the City of Arcadia requires the successful completion of a number of steps, including the introduction of the Arcadia Logistics Center Specific Plan project to the Planning Commission at this Workshop. These steps include the following: 1. City Staff review of Specific Plan No. 14 -01, General Plan Amendment No. 15 -02, and Tentative Parcel Map No. 73407 (April, 2014 through October, 2015); 2. Public Review of Environmental Impact Report (October, 2015 through December, 2015); 3. Planning Commission Workshop (October 27, 2015); 4. Planning Commission Hearing to consider and make recommendation regarding Specific Plan, General Plan Amendment, and Tentative Parcel Map (December, 2015); 5. City Council Hearing to consider Specific Plan, General Plan Amendment, Tentative Parcel Map and EIR (January 2016); 6. Submittal and consideration of subsequent approvals by local agencies, State Agencies and Federal Agencies; and 7. Submittal, and consideration of subsequent approvals by City of Arcadia for Grading Permits, Road Improvement Plans, Sewer Infrastructure Plan, Building Permits, etc. Arcadia Logistics Center - Presentation Booklet