January 24, 2006    

 

SUBJECT:	2005-0803 – Southbay Christian Church [Applicant] Classic Communities [Owner]: Application for a 2.3-acre site located at 521 East Weddell Drive (near Morse Ave) in an M-S (Industrial & Service) Zoning District.
Motion	Appeal of Planning Commission approval of a Use Permit to allow a place of assembly (religious use) in an existing industrial building.

 

REPORT IN BRIEF     

 

Existing Site Conditions	A one-story industrial building located on a corner lot
Surrounding Land Uses
North	Across Hetch-Hetchy Right-of-Way, an industrial building with industrial and retail uses (Fair Oaks Industrial Park)
South	Across Highway 101, multi-family residential (Riviera Apartments)
East	A religious place of assembly on industrial zoned property (Korean Catholic Mission)
West	Across Morse Avenue, a hotel (Fair Oaks Inn) and an industrial building used by a transportation business (California Overnight)
Issues	1) Place of Assembly use in Industrial area 2) Parking 3) Traffic
Environmental Status	A Negative Declaration has been prepared in compliance with California Environmental Quality Act provisions and City Guidelines
Planning Commission	Approved with Conditions
Staff Recommendation	Deny the Appeal and Uphold the Planning Commission’s Approval with modified Conditions to hours of operation

 

Click here for map. (.pdf)

 

PROJECT DATA TABLE

 

Starred items ** indicate deviations from Sunnyvale Municipal Code requirements.

* Applicant intends to meet parking requirements through shared parking agreement with 539 E. Weddell (see other Use Permit Appeal).

 

 

Description of Proposed Project

 

The applicant proposes using the subject site for a place of assembly with a religious use. 

 

The facility would potentially be open from 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 p.m. seven days a week.  The proposed uses include: religious services for adults and children, classrooms, fellowship areas, office space, storage, a kitchen and a café.  It will be used regularly for Sunday worship services, midweek evening ministry classes, and special events including church dinners, weddings, concerts and church offices.  Most activities (other than office use) will take place in the evenings and on weekends.  The applicant has requested approval for a total allowable occupancy of up to 500 people (including adults and children) at one time for Sunday services.

 

The stated intent of the use is to serve families who would typically be using the site at the same time, so that use of the assembly areas, such as the sanctuary and the kid’s church, would be by members of the same family.  This clarification is to address the issue of adequate parking.  The assumption would be that, based on the stated intent, the two assembly areas would generally have one source of transportation.

 

The applicant intends to purchase another property (at 539 E. Weddell Drive), located approximately 160 feet east of the subject site.  The applicant has submitted a concurrent application for a similar type of use for the 539 E. Weddell site, with the intent to use the alternate site for the use proposed in this application until the subject site is ready for use.  The applicant stated the two buildings (521 and 539 E. Weddell) would not be used simultaneously, and they would have a shared parking agreement to meet the needs of both sites.

 

Background

 

Planning Commission decision: This application was reviewed at the November 14, 2005 Planning Commission meeting.  It was heard concurrently with a similar proposed use by the same applicant located at 539 E. Weddell (project #2005-0804), with two separate actions taken.  Eleven members of the public spoke.  Users of the neighboring site expressed opposition to the project based on their concern for traffic impacts during their peak assembly use hours (Sunday mornings).  Planning Commissioners asked about staff’s traffic analysis.  The applicant’s team provided a memo on a preliminary assessment of the traffic impacts (see Attachment G).  The Planning Commission approved both Use Permits 6-0. 

 

Both Planning Commission decisions were appealed by a user of the neighboring site based on a request to review the pedestrian and auto traffic control plans.  This report addresses only the appeal on this site; a separate Report to Council deals with the Use Permit appeal for 539 E. Weddell.

 

The Council hearing for the appeal was initially scheduled for January 10^th, 2006; however, the item was postponed to the January 24^th, 2006, meeting due to an error in noticing.

 

General Background: The City Council has expressed concern with the compatibility of places of assembly being located in Industrial zoning areas and has directed staff to study the impacts and possible requirements for places of assembly in industrial and commercial zones.  The results of this study issue are not anticipated until early 2006.  This study may also include analysis of modifying and updating parking standards for assembly uses to better address current needs and practices in Sunnyvale. 

 

In September 2005, Council placed a moratorium on applications of this type (place of assembly in Industrial and Commercial zones) to allow time for the study issue to be completed.  However, this application was received and deemed complete prior to the establishment of the moratorium.  Thus, this application is being reviewed based on the previous standards used to consider place of assembly use in an Industrial zoned area.

 

The Southbay Christian Church is currently located in Mountain View and the applicant is seeking to relocate to Sunnyvale.  They currently have 125 people attending on Sunday mornings and plan to continue to grow their membership.  The applicant’s plan is to continually grow their Sunday congregation.  Once the membership number of 500 adults is reached, approximately 100 adults from the congregation would leave to start a new church elsewhere. 

 

Previous Actions on the Site: The following table summarizes previous planning applications related to the subject site.

 

File Number	Brief Description	Hearing / Decision	Date
1979-0265	Variance for (reducible) front yard setback to legalize existing deviation (21.5 feet instead of the required 25 feet)	Administrative Hearing Officer / Approved	10/10/79

 

Environmental Review

 

A Negative Declaration has been prepared in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act provisions and City Guidelines. An initial study has determined that the proposed religious place of assembly project would not create any significant environmental impacts (see Attachment C, Initial Study).

 

According to the April 2005 Phase I Environmental Assessment by GeoTrans Inc, the subject site was historically used as a motel in the 1960’s through early 1970s, then as a an industrial building (the current structure) since 1981.  The previous tenant, Arrow Electronics, appears to have used the building for sales, administrative and services activities but not for manufacturing activities.

 

According the to City’s Hazardous Materials Coordinator, there is little in the way of hazardous materials use around the 500 block of Weddell or the 900-1000 block of Morse.  The closest business with any notable amount of hazardous materials is Genus at 1139 Karlstad, located approximately 0.4 miles northeast of the site. 

 

Use Permit

 

Detailed Description of Use: There are two proposed phases of use for this and the 539 E. Weddell site.  During Phase I, this site will not be used for anything other than redevelopment of the site; all church activities will take place at the 539 E. Weddell site.  Phase I ends when this site is ready for occupancy.  During Phase II, all major assembly activity shifts to the subject site, with the 539 E. Weddell site proposed for limited activities from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. Monday through Saturday.

 

Once all the remodeling construction is completed and Phase II begins, the subject site will serve as the primary meeting facility for the proposed church.  It will be used regularly for Sunday worship services, midweek evening ministry classes, and special events including church dinners, weddings, concerts and church offices.  It is not intended to have more than 500 people occupying the building at any one time.  The applicant’s plan is to grow the Sunday congregation attendance (including adults and children) to approximately 500.  Once 500 is reached, the intent is to split off approximately 100 individuals from the congregation to start a new church in another location.  Thereafter, each time the 500 attendance mark is reached, approximately 100 people will be split off to start a new church elsewhere.  Since the applicant’s intent is to also use the property located at 539 E. Weddell Drive, they are planning on using parking spaces from both locations to satisfy any parking needs as both buildings will not be used for large assembly of people simultaneously.

 

The following table lists the proposed uses.  A detailed breakdown of the uses by time is listed in Attachment B as recommended Condition of Approval 1.M.  Of note is that although some of the combination of uses may exceed a total of 500 adults or 600 people (adults and children), the table of allowable uses in the recommended Conditions of Approval limits the maximum number of adults at 500 or maximum number of people (adults and children) at 600 on the site at any given time.  For the purpose of this report, “children” are defined as young people under the legal driving age of 16.

 

Room	Day & Time	Max. #	Use
Sanctuary	Sun. 10:15 a.m.–12:00 (noon)	500 people	To be used for religious services. Not to be used simultaneously with the Fellowship Hall, classrooms, or café, though will be used along with the Kid’s Church.
Kid’s Church	Sun. 10:15 a.m.–12:00 (noon)	100 children	To be used for age-appropriate worship service for primary grade children while adults are using the sanctuary.  The kids occupying this room will be the children of the adults using the Sanctuary.  Not to be used simultaneously with the Fellowship Hall, classrooms, or café, though will be used along with the Sanctuary.
Fellowship Hall	one Sun./month 12:00(noon)–2:00 p.m. Wed. 5:00–9:30 p.m. Sat. 8:00–10:45 a.m.	500 people	To be used for special events such as dinners, wedding receptions, etc.  Not to be used simultaneously with the Sanctuary or Kid’s Church.  If used concurrently with the café or classrooms, total number of adults may not exceed 500 and total number of people (adults and children) may not exceed 600.

 

Room	Day & Time	Max. #	Use
Café	Sun. 7:30 a.m.–10:15 a.m. and 12:00 (noon) –6:00 p.m. Mon.–Fri. 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m.	250 people	To be used before and after services on Sundays, and on weekdays as a gathering place to relax, read, socialize, enjoy refreshments, or listen to music.  Not to be used simultaneously with the Sanctuary or Kid’s Church.  If used concurrently with the Fellowship Hall or classrooms, total number of adults may not exceed 500 and total number of people (adults and children) may not exceed 600.
Class-rooms	Sun. 9:00–10:00 a.m. Wed. 6:00–10:00 p.m.