Title
PLN17-0035; Conditional Use Permit; to allow for Corporation Yard, Vehicle Repair inside an existing 8,245 square-foot warehouse portion of a building and outdoor Vehicle Storage at 1471 Doolittle Drive; Alameda County Assessor’s Parcel No. 79A-515-8; P. Tuckerman, Diesel Emissions Service DES (applicant) and S. Gitlin, PSB Northern California Industrial Portfolio, LLC (property owner); IG Industrial General District.
Staffreport
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION
The proposal is to allow for repair of equipment associated with large commercial vehicles within an existing 8,245 square-foot portion of a building, a small corporation yard and occasional outdoor storage of vehicles awaiting repair at the rear of the property at 1471 Doolittle Drive. The property is zoned IG Industrial General District. San Leandro Zoning Code Sections 2-706 B. 4., 27., 28., and 31., stipulate, respectively, that Corporation Yard, Vehicle\Equipment Repair, General, Vehicle\Equipment Repair, Limited and Vehicle Storage uses in the IG District requires approval of a Conditional Use Permit.
Staff recommends that the Board of Zoning Adjustments make the attached findings and approve PLN17-0035 subject to the attached recommended Conditions of Approval.
APPLICANT'S SUPPORTING STATEMENT
See attached.
RELATIONSHIP TO SURROUNDING AREA
The subject property is zoned IG Industrial General and is located on the west side of Doolittle Drive, south of Davis Street. Properties surrounding to the north, east and south are similarly zoned IG and the area to the west is zoned IG(PD) Industrial General Planned Development Overlay District. The development to the west is the Bayside Business Park planned development approved by the City Council in 2003. The adjacent properties contain a mix of appropriate general industrial uses such as warehouse/distribution, equipment rental, contractor offices and storage.
The subject property is 265,280 square feet (6.9 acres) in area and contains four separate buildings comprising 112,560 square feet. The buildings are lineally situated on the property (see Exhibit A - Site Plan). The western most building is 58,560 square feet and the other three buildings, that are similar in design feet, are approximately 18,000 square feet each. The site is currently occupied by various industrial businesses including import/export, warehouse/distribution of beverage dispensers, packaging materials, stone and tiles, and x-ray machine sales, and the warehouse storage of aircraft parts.
BACKGROUND
The applicant leased the location on the subject property in October 2016 and has operated as a diesel emissions parts sales and diesel parts and systems processing and testing (lab) on a bench inside the warehouse space. These are both permitted uses per Zoning Code Section 2-706 A.6. and A.22., Automobile Parts Sales and Industrial, Limited, respectively. The applicant was advised a Conditional Use Permit is required for the vehicle repair business, corporation yard and vehicle storage, thus these parts of the business operations were deferred. The applicant has diligently worked with city staff to obtain Building Permits for interior tenant improvements (i.e., electrical, pallet racking) and in preparing the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application.
The CUP would permit DES to install clean diesel technology in the exhaust systems of diesel engines such as Volkswagen, Mercedes, Volvo, Cummins, Detroit, Caterpillar, etc. The CUP would enable DES to troubleshoot, repair and replace Diesel Particulate Filters and all related clean diesel technology parts required on clean diesel engines on various vehicles.
DETAILS OF THE PROPOSAL
The applicant repairs, retrofits, and services diesel technology parts for hospital generators, portable generators, and for buses, tractors, and trucks. In addition to repair services provided on-site, they also offer mobile repair in the case of emergencies or if it is not practical or possible for the client to bring the vehicle or system to their facility. At this time there is only one service truck that is used for off-site calls.
At the eastern end of the western most building on the property, the applicant proposes to use its lease area of 8,245 square feet (approximately 66- by 125-feet). The lease space is setback approximately 530 feet from the Doolittle Drive right-of-way line. Approximately one-quarter of the northern end of the lease space inside the building includes the reception area, offices, breakroom and restrooms (see Exhibit B - Floor Plan). The remaining interior of the building will primarily be the work bays for the repairing and servicing large vehicles with diesel emissions systems. The work area is served by two grade level 12- by 14-feet roll-up doors and one dock-high roll-up door for deliveries. Adjacent to the dock-high door and the western wall are pallet rack systems for storage which received final Building Permit approval from the Building Division and the Fire Department. There are no other improvement necessary for the interior of the building. It is in ready condition for the proposed business.
The business would operate Monday through Friday from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., on Saturday by appointment only, and no activity on Sunday. It would employ at least three and up to five persons.
The business has a small fleet including one delivery van and one service truck. The two vehicles make for a very modest corporation yard component of the business. The anticipated traffic for the business is two to four company vehicles during business hours for deliveries and mobile repair, and two to five customer vehicles per day for repair services.
The site parking lot is designed for standard passenger vehicles and for on-road Class 8 trucks with full length trailers and fleets. Further, the applicant is proposing to refurbish a landscape planter along Doolittle Drive at the southernmost edge, improving the appearance of the site.
STAFF ANALYSIS
The Zoning Code categorizes repair and “servicing of related equipment and parts” on vehicles that either have more than six (6) wheels or weigh over ten thousand (10,000) pounds, as Vehicle/Equipment Repair, General, and automobiles and small trucks (e.g., pick-up trucks), as Vehicle/Equipment Repair, Limited. These activities require a use permit. The Vehicle Storage categorization was appropriate due to the occasional overnight parking of customer vehicles on the property awaiting to be repaired or waiting for customer pick up. The Corporation Yard was also appropriate although the DES fleet is currently limited to the on-site parking and maintenance of only its two vehicles.
All repair activities will occur inside the building in the deep and large work bays. The large interior space easily accommodates the large vehicles that the applicant services. None of the vehicle repair activities inside the building will be visible from the street. The vehicle storage is typically inside the building for security of the applicant’s two service vehicles and its customers’ vehicles.
In the event there is overnight vehicle storage, the stalls or loading dock area would be used and it would be more than 500 feet from the street. The vehicles would not be readily visible from off-site. In addition, the vehicles would likely blend in with the current businesses’ trucks that are located on the property. Outdoor vehicle storage would not occur regularly, thus there is no intention of installing fences and gates on the industrial property.
Adequate on-site parking for employees and customers and the other uses on the property is provided by 197 parking spaces in the existing parking lot, specifically the perimeter of the property.
In visiting the site, the applicant and staff noticed the southern planter adjacent to the southernmost driveway along Doolittle Drive was cleared and void of landscaping. As a condition of approval the applicant is agreeable to refurbish the frontage landscape planter. The remaining frontage landscaping is in good condition.
The main purpose for conditional use review is to ensure that the subject use will not have an adverse impact on a particular area or neighborhood. Such a review must determine whether the operation of the proposed use and the existing immediate area is compatible. Staff has visited the site and surrounding neighborhood, reviewed the exhibits and description of the proposed vehicle repair and vehicle storage activities and believes that with the recommended Conditions of Approval, that both the repair activities, the related vehicle storage, and limited corporation yard business component will be compatible with the existing industrial uses along Doolittle Drive and the immediate area.
GENERAL PLAN Conformance
The proposed development project conforms to the 2035 General Plan goals and policies listed in the Innovation Districts and Economic Development sections. The project would provide San Leandro opportunities to expand or locate new manufacturing and technology businesses. The location is ideal with interstate access, truck routes, and convenient access to the Bay Area’s water ports, airports, universities, and public transportation.
The following are the specific General Plan goal and policies applicable to the proposed project:
LAND USE
Goal LU-7: Innovation Districts. Sustain dynamic innovation districts which place San Leandro on the leading edge of the Bay Area's manufacturing and technology economy.
Policies:
LU-7.1 Leveraging Locational Assets. Build on the locational strengths and transportation features of San Leandro's industrial area to support the area's continued development as a major advanced manufacturing, technology, and office employment center.
LU-7.2 Adaptive Reuse. Encourage private reinvestment in vacant or underutilized industrial and commercial real estate to adapt such property to changing economic needs, including the creation of flex/office space and space for technology-driven businesses.
COMMUNITY DESIGN
Goal CD-6: Quality Construction and Design Goal. Ensure that new construction and renovation contributes to the quality and overall image of the community.
Goal CD-7: A More Visually Attractive City. Create a more visually attractive City, with well landscaped and maintained streets, open spaces, and gathering places.
Policies:
CD-6.8 Commercial and Industrial Standards. Improve the visual appearance of the City’s commercial and industrial areas by applying high standards of architectural design and landscaping for new commercial and industrial development and the re-use or remodeling of existing commercial and industrial buildings.
CD-7.1 Greening San Leandro. Promote drought-tolerant landscaping, tree planting, and tree preservation along San Leandro streets as a means of improving aesthetics, making neighborhoods more pedestrian-friendly, providing environmental benefits, and creating or maintaining a park-like setting.
CD-7.5 Street Beautification. Upgrade the City’s commercial thoroughfares by building upon their existing strengths and improving their aesthetic qualities. The City should implement programs to underground utilities, abate weeds and graffiti, eliminate litter, improve facades, improve buffers to adjacent residential uses, prohibit excessive or out-of-scale signage, remove billboards, and provide streetscape amenities and landscaping along these thoroughfares.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
This item is categorically exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) per CEQA Guidelines, Article 19, Section 15301 (e)(2) as it is an Existing Facility that involves no expansion; that is in an area where all public services and facilities are available to allow for maximum development; and that is not located in an environmentally sensitive area.
PUBLIC OUTREACH
This item received normal noticing, including a legal advertisement in the East Bay Times Daily Review Newspaper, posting of the property, and mailing notification of both business and property owners within a 500-foot radius. At the time of publishing this report there have been no public comments received by the City.
RECOMMENDATION
Staff recommends that the Board make the required findings and approve PLN17-0035 subject to the attached recommended conditions of approval.
ATTACHMENTS
Vicinity Map
Applicant’s Supporting Statement
Recommended Findings of Fact
Recommended Conditions of Approval
Exhibit A - Site Plan
Exhibit B - Floor Plan
Photographs - Existing Conditions
PREPARED BY:
Elmer Penaranda,
Senior Planner, Planning Services Division