Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Reso 2019-05 - Overruling Finding of MC ALUC - Heritage Mendocino RESOLUTION NO. 2019-05 RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF UKIAH OVERRULING FINDING OF MENDOCINO COUNTY AIRPORT LAND USE COMMISSION WHEREAS: 1. On October 18, 2018, the Mendocino County Airport Land Use Commission ("ALUC") adopted Resolution No. ALUC_2018-0006- Heritage Mendocino ACLUP Consistency Determination ("Consistency Determination"); and 2. The Consistency Determination found that the Heritage Mendocino project, as proposed (the "project'), is inconsistent with the Mendocino County Airport Land Use Plan (the "ACLUP") for the Ukiah Municipal Airport, because although the Project would occupy a pre-existing structure, it would introduce a land use (i.e. commercial retail/light industrial) that is not permissible in the A* Zone pursuant to Table 2A of the ACLUP. In addition, Appendix D of the ACLUP identifies the proposed commercial and industrial uses as incompatible in Zone A; and 3. The City Council directed the Director to prepare the proposed decision to overrule the Consistency Determination based on ultimate findings that: a. The project is not inconsistent with the restrictions in the A* zone given that the proposed project would be located within an existing building that was constructed in the early 1950s, prior to the 1996 adoption of the ACLUP, and the proposed use is consistent with historical uses approved in the past for industrial, manufacturing and retail purposes. b. The project site is currently surrounded by similar industrial, manufacturing and retail uses. c. The FAA has determined that the existing building would pose no hazard to air navigation. In addition, the technical memorandum prepared by Mead & Hunt concluded that the existing building is well below the allowable structure height based on Federal Aviation Administration Part 77 airspace surfaces for the Ukiah Municipal Airport. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED as follows: 1. The City Council adopts the findings contained in Attachment 1. 2. The City Council directs the Director to proceed with the Overrule process. 3. The City Council directs the Director to provide the California Department of Transportation, Division of Aeronautics ("Division") and the ALUC with notice of this proposed decision overruling the Consistency Determination no less than 45 days before a public hearing is scheduled before the City Council on the proposed overrule of the project; and the Division and ALUC have 30 days from date they are served with this Proposed Decision to file with the City Clerk any comments they may have about the proposed decision. 4. Based on the findings in Attachment 1 and the ultimate findings in Recital No. 5, the City Council finds that the project: Resolution No.2019-05 Continued (1) is not inconsistent with the restrictions in the A*zone given that the proposed project would be located within an existing building that was constructed in the early 1950s, prior to the 1996 adoption of the ACLUP, and the proposed use is consistent with historical uses approved in the past for industrial, manufacturing and retail purposes; and (2) will minimize the public's exposure to excessive noise and safety hazards within the area where the project is located. 5. Based on the findings in Nos. 1 through 5 above, the City Council overrules the ALUC Consistency Determination for the Heritage Mendocino project. PASSED AND ADOPTED this 6th day of February 2019, by the following roll call vote. AYES: Councilmembers Orozco, Brown, Scalmanini, Crane, and Mayor Mulheren NOES: None ABSENT: None ABSTAIN: None Maureen ` ulheren, Mayor ATTEST: r a41 Kristine Lawler, City Clerk Page 2 of 5 Resolution No. 2019-05 Continued ATTACHMENT 1 FINDINGS FOR PROPOSED UKIAH CITY COUNCIL OVERRULE OF MENDOCINO COUNTY AIRPORT LAND USE COMMISSION DETERMINATION OF INCONSISTENCY WITH REGARD TO PROPOSED HERITAGE MENDOCINO CANNABIS MICROBUSINESS PROEJCT 1. The Mendocino County Airport Comprehensive Land Use Plan (ACLUP) was adopted by the Mendocino County Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) in 1993 and revised in 1996. This countywide document contains the individual plans for each of the airports in the county, including Ukiah Municipal Airport (UKI). A policy amendment pertaining only to UKI was made in 2010 (the amendment concerned public facility buildings). 2. The ACLUP Compatibility Map for UKI is based upon the 1996 UKI Airport Layout Plan (ALP). That ALP shows the existing north end of the runway (Runway 15) as relocated 585 feet from the physical end of the pavement. This configuration matches the way that the runway exists today. The 1996 ALP indicates that the existing Runway Protection Zone (RPZ) for Runway 15 had dimensions of 500 feet width at the inner end, 1,700 feet length, and 1,010 feet width at the outer end. These dimensions match the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) airport design standards which were in place at that time for runways in the UKI runway category and having a nonprecision approach. 3. The UKI ALP was updated in 2015. This newer ALP depicts both the existing and a proposed future configuration for the north end of the runway. The future configuration would utilize pavement that already exists to shift the runway end 465 feet northward, thereby increasing the runway length by that amount. The landing threshold would remain where the runway now ends, thus creating a 465-foot displaced threshold. The 2015 ALP shows the existing RPZ as having dimensions of 500 feet width at the inner end, 1,000 feet length, and 700 feet width at the outer end. This reduction in the RPZ dimensions reflects a change in FAA design standards since 1996, not any difference in the type of approach to Runway 15. The future RPZ would keep the same dimensions, but would shift 465 feet northward as dictated by the proposed runway end shift. The ALUC has not updated the UKI ACLUP to reflect these changes. 4. The 1993/96 ACLUP establishes two compatibility zones encompassing the RPZ depicted on the 1996 ALP. Compatibility Zone A is the portion of the RPZ that is on airport property. Compatibility Zone A* contains privately owned parcels that are at least partly within the 1996 RPZ. The City of Ukiah owns avigation easements on each of these parcels. The compatibility criteria for both zones prohibit all new structures and any use that would have more than 10 people per acre. Adjoining Compatibility Zone A* and falling almost entirely outside of the 1996 RPZ or either of the 2015 RPZs is Compatibility Zone 131 (the two very small outer corners of the 1996 RPZ that extend into Compatibility Zone 131 are within public street rights- of-way). Compatibility criteria for this zone limit nonresidential uses to no more than 60 people per acre and prohibit risk-sensitive uses such as schools and hospitals, highly noise-sensitive uses, and uses where highly flammable materials are stored. 5. The Heritage Mendocino property lies fully within Compatibility Zone A*. The RPZ identified in the 2015 ALP immediately borders the parcel to the southwest of the property, however no portion of the property nor the existing building is located within the RPZ. In addition, the subject parcel was not included in the 1996 RPZ. Heritage Mendocino proposes a cannabis microbusiness that would include distribution, dispensary/retail, manufacturing, and processing of recreational and medicinal products within an existing 2,480 sf, 20 ft high building along the northern side of the property. The property and building have been historically used in the past for industrial, manufacturing and retail purposes similar to that Page 3 of 5 Resolution No. 2019-05 Continued proposed by the applicant. According to the applicant, the business is anticipated to have up to 5 employees, working at different times and not to exceed three employees at any one time, and two customers. Therefore, the business does not anticipate having more than 5 persons on site at any one time. The site and existing building have historically been occupied with industrial and manufacturing uses with 5-8 employees and 1-5 customers. 6. If the Compatibility Zone A* boundary were to coincide with the combined outline of the 2015 existing and future RPZs, the proposed building would be within Compatibility Zone B1 and would meet the 1993/96 ACLUP compatibility criteria for that zone. 7. Safety compatibility guidelines contained within the 2011 Caltrans Airport Land Use Planning Handbook (Handbook) are also relevant to the proposed Heritage Mendocino project, especially because the UKI ACLUP has not been updated to be based upon the adopted UKI ALP as state law says it should be. Figure 3A of the Handbook depicts example safety compatibility zones. Example 2, for medium general aviation runways (ones having a length of 4,000 to 5,999 feet), is most applicable to UKI's 4,423-foot existing and 4,888-foot proposed future lengths. However, as stated in Note 1 of Figure 3A, the example Zone 1 boundaries are intended to reflect F AA dimensions for RPZs and may need to be adjusted from the example's dimensions to match the actual RPZ dimensions for a particular airport. On this basis, the site of the existing building would be within Handbook Safety Zone 2 for both the existing and future UKI runway configurations. Handbook guidelines for suburban-area development in Safety Zone 2 recommend limits of 40 to 60 people per average acre of the property with no more than 80 to 120 people within any single acre. The occupancy of the existing building that would be utilized by Heritage Mendocino would be well within these guidelines. 8. On August 21, 2018 Form 7460 was submitted to the FAA to notify the agency about the project. The FAA conducted an aeronautical study of the existing structure and made a determination that it would pose no hazard to air navigation (letter dated 10/19/2018). 9. To summarize, an overrule of the ALUC is justified because: a. The Mendocino County ALUC has not updated the Airport Comprehensive Land Use Plan for the Ukiah Municipal Airport adopted in 1993 and amended in 1996 and 2010 to reflect Runway Protection Zone dimensions shown on the 2015 Airport Layout Plan. b. The proposed project would be located within an existing building that was constructed in the early 1950s, prior to the 1996 adoption of the ACLUP and the proposed use is consistent with historical uses approved in the past for industrial, manufacturing and retail purposes. c. The project site is currently surrounded by similar industrial, manufacturing and retail uses. d. The proposed Heritage Mendocino project would be located in an existing building, and would not be situated within either the existing or future Runway Protection Zones depicted on the 2015 Airport Layout Plan. e. If the ALUC were to modify the Airport Comprehensive Land Use Plan so that the boundaries of Compatibility Zone A* were to match those of the existing and future Runway Protection Zone dimensions on the 2015 Airport Layout Plan, the site of the existing building would fall within Compatibility Zone B1 and would be consistent with the criteria for that zone. Page 4 of 5 Resolution No. 2019-05 Continued f. Absent a current Airport Comprehensive Land Use Plan for the Ukiah Municipal Airport, consideration should be given to the safety compatibility guidance provided in the 2011 Caltrans Airport Land Use Planning Handbook. The existing building falls within the Handbook's example Safety Zone 2 for a medium general aviation runway and the building's proposed usage would be consistent with the guideline safety criteria for that zone. g. The FAA has determined that the existing building would pose no hazard to air navigation. Page 5 of 5