For the Planning Commission Meeting of [May 1, 2024]
TO: Honorable Chairman and Planning Commissioners
APPROVAL: Colby Cataldi, Director of Community Development
REVIEWED BY: Paul Gonzales, Community Development Manager
FROM: Shannon J. Casey, Contract Senior Planner
Title
(Master Case No. 2022-0003) Conditional Development Permit No. 2022-0003: A request to allow the expansion and of an existing used automobile sales and rental site to include 17,978 square feet of additional pavement, truck sales and rentals, vehicle car wash, additional office space, and vehicular circulation on 6.68 gross acres of land (APN: 0251-091-22) located at 585 West Valley Boulevard within Industrial Park (I-P) zone of the Gateway Specific Plan in three existing buildings totaling 20,600 square feet. This project is categorically exempt pursuant to Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) and 15332 (In-Fill Development Projects) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
Precise Plan of Design No. 2022-0002:
A request to allow the expansion of an existing used automobile sales and rental site to include 17,978 square feet of additional pavement, a fa?ade improvement, a vehicle car wash, and additional office space.
Body
APPLICANT
Ann-Marie Harris, Property Development and Facilities Manager, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, 333 City Boulevard West, Suite 1115 Orange, California 92868
BACKGROUND:
This item was continued from the April 3, 2024, Planning Commission Meeting.
LOCATION:
The project site consists of one (1) parcel of land (APN: 0251-091-22) located at 585 West Valley Boulevard within Industrial Park (I-P) zone of the Gateway Specific Plan (Refer to the attached Location Map (Exhibit A)).
Surrounding General Plan Land Use Designations
Location
General Plan Designation
Site
Industrial Park (I-P)
North
Freeway Commercial (F-C)
East
Freeway Commercial (F-C)
South
I-10 Freeway
West
Industrial Park (I-P)
Surrounding Zoning Designations
Location
Zoning
Site
Gateway Specific Plan Industrial Park (I-P)
North
Gateway Specific Plan Freeway Commercial (F-C)
East
Gateway Specific Plan Freeway Commercial (F-C)
South
I-10 Freeway
West
Gateway Specific Plan Industrial Park (I-P)
Site Characteristics
The project site is comprised of three (1) parcels of land totaling approximately 6.68 gross acres (6.16 net acres) in size. The project site is bound on the north by Valley Boulevard, south by the I-10 Freeway and on the east by South Lilac Avenue, and Commercial Tire Wholesale business to the west. There are five existing buildings on-site supporting the current Enterprise Rent-A-Car sales and rental facility.
Surrounding Area
To the north of the project site, across Valley Boulevard, is the Joe Baca Middle School. To the east, across South Lilac Avenue, is the Days Inn by Wyndham hotel. As stated above, Commercial Tire Wholesale borders the project site to the west while the I-10 Freeway borders the project site to the south.
ANALYSIS/DISCUSSION:
Project Proposal
The applicant, Ann-Marie Harris, Property Development and Facilities Manager, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, proposes to expand the existing Enterprise Rent-A-Car sales and rental business to include additional inventory and add medium-sized truck sales and rentals. The expansion would include paving 17,978 square feet of on-site vacant land, remodeling buildings A, B, and C to add a car wash, additional sales and office space, and a fa?ade improvement to building A.
Site Design
The project site is accessed by a 39-foot-wide driveway on Valley Boulevard. As shown on the site plan (Exhibit B), the applicant proposes to expand their used car sales and rental facilities to include medium-sized trucks. To accomplish this, the applicant proposes to pave 17,978 of vacant land on-site to accommodate the additional inventory. This asphalt area would be striped for parking and vehicle accessibility. In addition, an existing trash enclosure will be razed and reconstructed to accommodate Burrtec's current trash enclosure design standards. Five existing buildings are on-site. Three of these buildings (Buildings A, B, and C) will be affected by the use expansion to include the medium-sized truck sales and rentals. Improvements to Building A would include a fa?ade improvement and conversion of the garage area to additional sales and office area. Building B, a maintenance building with a mezzanine, is planned to add office space and a restroom to the mezzanine area. Building C will be remodeled to include two vehicle wash bays. The existing landscaping is proposed to be amended to include additional landscape area on-site and rehabilitated to include a water-efficient plant pallet.
Floor Plan
The floor plan for the proposed buildings (Exhibit C) are as proposed:
Building A is an existing 9,232 square foot building currently used for car sales and rentals. The interior will be remodeled to remove the garage and add additional office and sales area. A new fire sprinkler system will be installed. A fa?ade improvement will include a new entrance, tower element and windows.
Building B is an existing 6,215 square foot maintenance building with a mezzanine. New office space will be included in the mezzanine to accommodate Enterprise Rent-A-Car's Quick Turn Around (QTA) Administration. Quick Turn Around is an on-site location where light maintenance of vehicles can be conducted including cleaning, fueling, and inspection of engine fluids.
Building C is an existing 5,100 square foot building currently used for automobile servicing. The interior remodel is intended to provide two car/truck wash bays. These proposed wash bays will be handwash only. Additionally, a new 2,000-gallon clarifier for the wash bays would be installed on-site for water treatment prior to discharge into the sewer system.
Architectural Design
The existing building A, street-facing Valley Boulevard, will undergo a fa?ade improvement (Exhibit D). A new stucco entry tower element with a cornice and stone veneered pillars is proposed. This tower element would increase the height of the existing building from 19 feet to 23 feet. A cappuccino-colored sand-finished stucco will cover the remailing span of the street-facing side of the building. Exposed metal reveals and new windows will complete the architectural styling of the fa?ade.
Parking
There are 273 parking spaces on-site. This includes 59 auto-parking spaces for customers and employees. The remaining spaces are intended for sales and rental inventory and staging. This quantity exceeds the minimum parking requirement as shown in the parking calculation chart below and as required by Chapter 18.58 (Off-Street Parking) of the Rialto Municipal Code:
Type of Use
Floor Area (square feet)
Parking Ratio
Number of spaces required
Building A:
Motor Vehicle Sales/Rental/Service
Storage Area
Building B:
7,334
1,898
1 / 300
1 / 500
24.40
3.80
Motor Vehicle Sales/Rental/Service
Storage Area
Building C:
Motor Vehicle Sales/Rental Service
Storage Area
1,086
5,127
520
4,580
1 / 300
1 / 500
1 / 300
1 / 500
3.62
10.25
1.73
9.16
Total Required/Total Provided
53/59
Landscaping
The applicant proposes rehabilitating the existing on-site landscaping and adding additional water-efficient landscape areas along the main drive aisle, and planters along the front and west side of Building A, increasing the amount of landscaping that currently exists on-site. The total amount of landscape area will be 17,560 square feet. Along with planting new water efficient shrubs and groundcover, many existing trees will be re-used and relocated and will include protecting in place the many palm trees existing on-site. The existing thirty-three foot (33') wide landscape area along Valley Boulevard will be rehabilitated and maintained (Exhibit E).
Traffic
David Evens and Associates, Incorporated. prepared a Traffic Analysis (TA), dated August 2, 2023, to assess the project's potential impacts to local streets and intersections (Exhibit F). The TA estimates that the project will generate approximately 470 additional daily vehicle trips.
The TA analyzed the following 8 intersections in the project vicinity:
1. W Valley Boulevard / Cedar Avenue
2. W Valley Boulevard / Cactus Avenue
3. W Valley Boulevard / Lilac Avenue
4. W Valley Boulevard/ Willow Avenue
5. W Valley Boulevard/ Riverside Avenue
6. W Valley Boulevard/ Project Driveway
In the opening day scenarios, two intersections operate at deficient levels of service: W Valley Boulevard / Cedar Avenue operates at LOS E in both peak hours (compared to the standard of LOS D), and W Valley Boulevard / Riverside Avenue operates at LOS F in both peak hours (compared to its standard of LOS E, an exception permitted in the General Plan). Although the addition of project traffic does not cause an intersection to degrade from an acceptable level of service to an unacceptable level of service, it does increase the delay at deficient intersections.
At W Valley Boulevard / Cedar Avenue, the addition of project traffic increases the delay by less than 2 seconds (at LOS E) which is within the thresholds established by the city to identify deficiencies (an increase of 2.0 or more seconds at LOS E and an increase 1.0 or more seconds at LOS F). The project contributes a maximum of 15.3% to the growth in traffic at this intersection in this scenario.
At W Valley Boulevard / Riverside Avenue, the addition of project traffic increases the delay by more than 1.0 second (at LOS F) and therefore the project is considered to contribute to the deficiency. The project contributes a maximum of 9.8% to the growth in traffic at this intersection in this scenario.
The applicant will pay development impact fees related to traffic. All "fair-share" payments and development impact fee payments will be paid prior to issuance of a building permit, and all new street improvements along the project frontage will be completed prior to issuance of a Certificate of Occupancy.
Land Use Compatibility
The project is consistent with the I-P zone of the Gateway Specific Plan. Additionally, automobile services are envisioned along Valley Boulevard.
GENERAL PLAN CONSISTENCY:
The intent of the Gateway Specific Plan is to revitalize and upgrade the Gateway area and in doing so create an entryway into the City which will be a source of pride for the entire community. The Gateway Specific Plan proposes a mixed-use project with retail uses along Riverside Avenue, office and research and development parks fronting on San Bernardino Avenue, freeway commercial (hotels, eating establishments, and auto services) along Valley Boulevard, and light industrial parks in the western portion of the plan area.
Furthermore, the project is consistent with the following goals of the Land Use Element and Economic Development Element of the Rialto General Plan:
Goal 2-16: Improve the architectural and design quality of development in Rialto.
Goal 2-22: Promote commercial and/or industrial development that is well designed, people-oriented, environmentally sustainable, sensitive to the needs of the visitor or resident, and functionally efficient for its purpose.
Goal 3-1: Strengthen and diversify the economic base and employment opportunities and maintain a positive business climate.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT:
California Environmental Quality Act
This project is categorically exempt pursuant to Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) and 15332 (In-Fill Development Projects) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).
PUBLIC NOTICE:
The City published a public hearing notice for proposed project in the San Bernardino Sun newspaper, posted copies of the public hearing notice outside the Council Chambers and the City Clerk's Office, and mailed public hearing notices to all property owners within 660 feet of the project site, as required by State law.
RECOMMENDATION:
The Planning Division recommends that the Planning Commission:
1. Determine that the project is exempt pursuant to Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) and 15332 (In-Fill Development Projects) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and authorize staff to file a Notice of Determination with the Clerk of the Board of San Bernardino County; and
2. Adopt the attached Resolution to approve Conditional Development Permit No. 2022-0003 for the use and expansion of an existing used automobile sales and rental site.
3. Adopt the attached Resolution to approve Precise Plan of Design No. 2022-0002, allowing the expansion and of an existing used automobile sales and rental site.