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CC SR 20210504 05 - CC Report on Public View Corridors CITY COUNCIL MEETING DATE: 05/04/2021 AGENDA REPORT AGENDA HEADING: Regular Business AGENDA TITLE: Consideration and possible action to receive and file an informational report on protecting public views. RECOMMENDED CITY COUNCIL ACTIONS: (1) Receive and file an informational report on how the City protects public views and the City's practice in applying view protection policies to development projects. FISCAL IMPACT: N/A Amount Budgeted: N/A Additional Appropriation: N/A Account Number(s): N/A ORIGINATED BY: John Alvarez, Senior Planner REVIEWED BY: Ken Rukavina, P.E., Community Development Director APPROVED BY: Ara Mihranian, AICP, City Manager ATTACHED SUPPORTING DOCUMENTS: A. Figure No. 1 Visual Resources of the General Plan (page A-1) B. Figure No. 26 Coastal Specific Plan Visual Corridors and Figure No. 28 2- degree arc of (page B-1) C. City Council Policy No. 49 Coastal Specific Plan (page C-1) BACKGROUND: At the February 16, 2021 City Council meeting, during discussion on future agenda items, Councilmember Cruikshank requested Staff prepare a report on views experienced along the public right-of-way. The City Council agreed that this item should be placed on a future agenda. Based upon the concerns expressed by Councilmember Cruikshank and the public during the February 16 meeting, tonight’s report focuses on information about preserving views along the City’s view corridors, particularly preserving the views from the public view corridor along major arterial streets, as described in the General Plan. 1 DISCUSSION: General Plan - View Corridors The City’s General Plan, the community’s vision for future development, is organized into various elements concerning land use, circulation, housing, conservation, open space, noise, safety and, related to this discussion, the Visual Resources element. The Visual Resources element states that the City adopted and implemented various ordinances and guidelines to protect visual resources as seen from private and public property. When the General Plan speaks to the preservation and enhancement of visual resources, it not only calls for the protection of scenic areas, but also the protection of the visual resources that include developed areas, i.e. structures (Wayfarers Chapel for example) and landscaping (mature landscaping on Miraleste Drive for example). For the purposes of this discussion, the General Plan specifies vehicular roadways that deserve special view resource protection from significant development and foliage obstructions. These “view corridors” are located along Palos Verdes Drive South, West, and East, Crest Road, Hawthorne Boulevard, Crenshaw Boulevard, Silver Spur Road, Western Avenue, Miraleste Drive and Highridge Road (Attachment A - see Figure No. 1 Visual Resources). The City has various ordinances, codes, methods, policies and guidelines by which the City manages and preserves private and public views from significant development and foliage obstructions. This is achieved through the City’s View Restoration and Preservation Ordinance and Guidelines, the Height Variation Guidelines, the Coastal Specific Plan (CSP) and City Council Policy No. 49. Generally speaking, the City’s View Restoration and Preservation Ordinance protects public views from structures, but the Ordinance does not protect public views from foliage located on private property as viewed from the public right-of-way. However, there are other City tools by which foliage located on City-owned property and private property can be restricted from significantly impairing public and private views. The CSP and City Council Policy No. 49 are germane to the discussion of enacted policies intended to preserve views along public view corridors, particularly those scenic views taken from Palos Verdes Drive South and Palos Verdes Drive West, as further discussed below. Coastal Specific Plan - Visual Corridors Following the state mandate of the California Coastal Act, in 1978 the City Council adopted the City's CSP thereby creating a Coastal District located seaward of Palos Verdes Drive South and Palos Verdes Drive West. The CSP is intended to protect the natural features, such as geology, shoreline character, and biota of the coastline while controlling the character of development and providing access to the coast. Similar to the City's General Plan, the CSP is divided into the following five elements: Natural 2 Environment Element, Socio/Cultural Element, Urban Environment Element, Fiscal Element and the Corridor Element. It is within the Corridor element that the CSP discusses visual corridors taken from linear paths, such as the Palos Verdes Drive South and Palos Verdes Drive West roadways, within the Coastal District, which is discussed in greater detail below. Visual Corridor Element As a policy, development projects, including residential and non -residential building projects, in the City's Coastal District require the analysis of corridor impacts to mitigate those impacts, particularly those impacts to public visual corridors established in the Corridor Element of the CSP. According to the Corridor Element of the CSP, visual corridors contain for both vistas and views. Vistas are defined as having a public viewing station, object or objects to be seen and an intermediate group (i.e. former Marineland). Views have a public viewing station, but do not have a specific focus or object to be seen and have a broad focal point (i.e. Pacific Ocean). Viewing stations are either continuous, such as Palos Verdes Drive South and Palos Verdes Drive West, or localized, such as public roadway turnouts on the roads. When discussing specific visual corridors, the CSP places particular emphasis in protecting those object-based views or vistas, such as former Marineland, Point Fermin, and Catalina Island. According to the CSP, specific visual corridors have the greatest degree of visual value and interest to the greatest number of viewers. The CSP defined and mapped specific visual corridors, taken from Palos Verdes Drive West and Palos Verdes Drive South (Attachment B - see attached Figure 26 Visual Corridors). These specific visual corridors are characterized in having a specific range or cone of vision as one travels by vehicle along the Palos Verdes Drive roadways with horizontal and vertical boundaries (Attachment B). Within specific visual corridors, the City applies specific horizontal and vertical angle measurements, based on a 2-degree arc, zonal height restrictions and a viewing station when reviewing development applications, such as the Terranea Resort and Trump National Golf Club. As an example, the application of the CSP and its visual corridor protections was applied to the Terranea Resort project, which has three vista corridors that traverse the property oriented towards Point Fermin and Catalina. As a result of applying the specific visual corridor review criteria to this development, one of the villa buildings nearest to the entry driveway was limited to one-story at a height not to exceed 16 feet because it falls within Height Zone 1, while the main hotel building was permitted to exceed 30 feet because it falls within Height Zone 3. Improvements located outside of the specific visual corridors for the Terranea Resort project were not subjected to the Height Zones, but rather the height limits established by the Commercial Recreation (CR) zoning district and the provisions of the project's Conditional Use Permit findings. For development projects that are not located in the CSP's specific visual corridors, the CSP states that to protect the visual relationship between the roadway and ocean, no building should project into a 2-degree down arc zone, as measured along the shortest distance between the viewing station and the coastline (see attached Figure 28 2- 3 degree arc diagram). It should be noted that this is not a requirement for development projects outside of specific view corridors, but rather a recommendation. It is thought that this was not made a requirement by the CSP because of physical constraints associated with topography that would make many properties unbuildable or costly because of substantial grading and earth alteration to the topography, which is discouraged by the City's General Plan, CSP, Environmental Overlay Control Districts, and Zoning Code. Although the City has applied specific view corridor requirements to projects that are within the specific view corridor, such as Terranea Resort and Trump National Golf Club, the City has generally permitted structures that are not within a specific view corridor and that comply with the "by-right" 16-foot height limit to encroach into the 2-degree down arc zone and therefore impair ocean views. These projects are rare as they tend to be limited to the few single-family residential lots that are located along Palos Verdes Drive West and Palos Verdes Drive South. Nonetheless, the City reviews these projects on a case-by-case basis to determine if a project has been designed to minimize ocean view impacts from a viewing station per City Council Policy No. 49 discussed below. Moreover, as previously noted, structures that exceed 16-feet in height are subject to discretionary review including the Height Variation process to protect views from private and public properties. As noted throughout the visual corridor discussion above, the City is required to apply height limitations to building projects that are located within a specific view corridor to minimize or prevent public vista impairments, as defined by the CSP. For projects not located within a defined specific view corridor, the CSP recommends that proposed building structures comply with the 2-degree down arc and zonal height policy, where reasonably feasible, to protect the ocean view. City Council Policy No. 49 As mentioned in the preceding section, for those development projects not located in the CSP's specific visual corridors, the CSP states that to protect the visual relationship between Palos Verdes Drive South and West and the ocean, no building should project into a 2-degree down arc zone, as measured along the shortest distance between the viewing station and the coastline. In the past, the City determined viewing stations along Palos Verdes Drive West and Palos Verdes Drive South based on topography, roadway constraints and trail locations. In some instances, the view was seen from a seated position in a vehicle, and in others, the view was taken from a standing/walking position along a City trail. In 2014, the City Council adopted Policy No. 49, to consistently establish the viewing station for the purposes of applying the 2 -degree arc called for in the CSP for those projects not located within a specific view corridor. The newly adopted policy requires that the view station be identified as a point along the road where the best and most important view exists at an elevation of 3 feet above the “fog line” or the painted white bike lane on the seaward side of Palos Verdes Drive South and Palos Verdes Drive West. 4 When not located within the CSP’s specific visual corridor, City Council Policy No. 49 applies to development projects, such as Height Variation Permit reviews and generally other residential and non-residential building developments that are proposed seaward of Palos Verdes Drive South and Palos Verdes Drive West, where staff reviews view impacts from the “fog line”, which is the white stripped bike lane located on the seaward side of Palos Verdes Drive South and West. Development Code The City’s Zoning Code, Chapter 17, contains a variety of codes that require Staff and Planning Commission review of existing and potential view impairment impacts associated with proposed walls, fences, foliage, and structures. The review and preservation of views is generally focused on impacts taken from neighboring properties and from public areas. For example: structures within the City’s Coastal District, those properties seaward of Palos Verdes Drive South and Palos Verdes Drive West, are subject to the review of view impacts taken from the public view corridor (Coastal Permit Section 17.72 of the Rancho Palos Verdes Municipal Code). With respect to other areas of the City that are not be within the Coastal District, proposed structures exceeding 16 feet in height are also subject to the review of view impacts taken from the public view corridor and from surrounding properties (Height Variation Permit). Within residential zoning districts, fence and wall proposals are reviewed to ensure that they do not significantly impair views taken from public areas, such as view corridors, and taken from the viewing areas of homes (Section 17.76.030 - Fences, walls and hedges). CONCLUSION Based on the information contained herein, Staff recommends the City Council receive and file this informational report on how the City protects public views and the City's practice in applying view protection policies to development projects. 5 A-1 0 Palos Verdes Estates I i ! ----·-·-.. -·-·-·-·-·~ ! I i ! I i ! ' I i ' I / ! / Rolling Hills Visual Resources * Manmade : Structural Focus Points ~Vistas ,...-. ~Shoreline Views (Refer to the Coastal Specific Pia ~ L fortheextentofthe visual corridors) l....J Natural: Rural Areas, Sea Cliffs, c=J Major Canyons, Major Ridges, Significant Tree Groupings Urban Design: Golden Cove Center, Miraleste Area, Ocean Front Estates c::::J Tract, Sea Breeze Tract, Portuguese Bend, Terranea, and Trump t Miles 0.5 Sou rce: City of Ra nc ho Palos Verdes Figure 1 B-1 pt. fermin view corridors horizontal boundaries partial direct full & indirect lt1P1 E -ZI landmark ---D EZI catalina view corridor ~ horizontal edges HtP1 [ z I THE CITY OF RANCHO PALOS VERDES \~ lo figure 28 typical s.etions .trc: -2' below ltori:tont.al -----------) 0 PROT E CT l"Hl.,. V .... LJi\L ~ELA TIC ~"'HI P 0~1ll1 E t.r TH E lY E ~NO CEAN 1N TH O~ AR.E •s W~ICH A~E t'i.:N t N I -C RR I 00 ,. 0 l O ~ e -S URED T :Z Q N .... L ~:; . E li.S.URED Dl5TA CE BET E ~ ~ l £ON AND ThE COA..:T'L]N " vertical zones zone 1 zone 2 zone 3 lsool1soo 13200 C-1 CITY COUNCIL POLICY NUMBER: 49 DATE ADOPTED/AMENDED: 9/16/14 SUBJECT: Coastal Specific Plan Corridors Element -Identifying a Viewing Station to Assess Visual Impacts of a Proposed Project Located Outside of a Visual Corridor POLICY: To protect the visual relationship between Palos Verdes Drive West/Palos Verdes Drive South and the ocean in areas that are not part of an identified visual corridor, as identified in Figure 26 of the Visual Element, the City's Coastal Specific Plan states that no buildings should project into a zone measured 2-degrees down-arc from horizontal as measured along the shortest distance between the "viewing station" and the coastline (Page C-12 of the Coastal Specific Plan). It shall be the policy of the City that for purposes of this requirement, the "viewing station" shall be at an elevation that is 3-feet above the "fog line" (painted white line/bike lane line) adjacent to the vehicle travelling lane along the seaward side of Palos Verdes Drive West or Palos Verdes Drive South where the best and most important view exists over the site of the proposed project which may or may not be adjacent to the subject property line. This policy is not intended to supersede any existing condition of approval that is more restrictive in preserving views from Palos Verdes Drive West or Palos Verdes Drive South. BACKGROUND: The State of California's Coastal Act, enacted in 1976, mandates that coastal jurisdictions establish a local coastal plan that regulates local land use decisions within a defined coastal district. It is through the Coastal Act that the City's Coastal Specific Plan (CSP) was adopted by the City Council on December 19, 1978 thereby creating a Coastal District located seaward of Palos Verdes Drive West and South, along the City's 7.5 miles of coastline. The CSP is intended to protect the natural features, such as geology, shoreline character, and biota of the coastline while controlling the character of development and providing access to the coast. Similar to the City's General Plan, the CSP is divided into five elements, one of which is the Corridors Element. The Corridors Element identifies five basic categories of "corridors." As utilized within the CSP, the term "corridor" includes a full range of interrelated linear and C-2 non-linear elements that provide functional, protection and preservation, definitions and linking capabilities. One of the five corridors identified in the Corridor Element is the category of visual corridors. Visual corridors have dimensions for "vistas" and "views." Vistas have a viewing station, object or objects to be seen and an intermediate area. Views have a viewing station but do not have a specific focus or object to be seen and have broad focal points which have an unlimited arc and depth. The visual corridors identified in the CSP are considered to have the greatest degree of visual value and interest to the greatest number of viewers. As a result, the CSP sets criteria for identifying viewing stations to assess proposed development projects located within identified visual corridors. Furthermore, the CSP establishes specific height zones for projects located within the same identified visual corridors. However, the CSP does not establish criteria for identifying viewing stations to assess the visual impacts of development projects located outside of a CSP visual corridor. This City Council policy establishes the criteria to be used to determine the location of the "viewing station" in areas located outside of a specified view corridor from which the visual impacts of proposed projects shall be assessed in order to maximize the protection of vistas and views within the Coastal District.