City Council
MEETING DATE: 8/12/2015
TITLE:
Title
Public Hearing to Vacate Certain Streets, Alleys, Public Highway Easements and Utility Easements - Vacation No. 2015-01
End
FROM:
Tami E. Scott, Administrative Services Director
RECOMMENDATION:
Recommendation
Staff recommends that upon the close of the Public Hearing, the City Council make the findings contained in the Resolution of Vacation for VAC 2015-01, and:
(a) adopt the Resolution, conditionally vacating all or portions of Lot “C” (Grove Street), Lot “D”(Grove Street), Lot “E” (Dawes Street), Lot “F”(Dawes Street), Lot “G” (Allen Avenue), Lot “H”(alley lot), and Lot “X” (Grove Street), as shown on the map of Cathedral City, filed in Book 13, at Pages 24 through 26, inclusive, of Maps, Records of Riverside County, California, together with the public highway and/or public utility uses on portions of Lots 50, 51, 52, 53, 54, 55, 82, 95, 101, 102, 103, 104 and Lot “H” (alley lot) as shown on said map of Cathedral City, all located within the east half of the east half of Section 33, Township 4 South, Range 5 East, San Bernardino Meridian, at the northwest quadrant of East Palm Canyon Drive and Date Palm Drive;
(b) approve the disposal of certain surplus public property parcels resulting from the above vacations, to the abutting parcel owners; and
(c) approve the use of the sample Resolution attached as Exhibit “B” to the Vacation Resolution, as outlined herein, for the vacation of the above streets, alley and easements in portions or segments, as the conditions of their vacation are met.
Body
BACKGROUND:
The former Redevelopment Agency of the City of Cathedral City acquired a number of properties in the “Eastside” area, located north of Palm Canyon Drive and west of Date Palm. These parcels were acquired and cleared in order to remove blight and to consolidate land for future mixed use development. The biggest obstacle to redevelopment of this key area had been the small size and multiple ownership of individual parcels, fragmentation of the developable land mass caused by street and alley configuration, and the need for infrastructure improvements.
In 2012, when the State eliminated all redevelopment agencies, the City as the Successor Agency to the former Redevelopment Agency was required to develop a Long Range Property Management Plan (“LRPMP”). The LRPMP was developed in a way where “blocks” of parcels were packaged as a planned sale and included plans for mitigation of development obstacles. In this case, the “Eastside” block, approved by the Department of Finance in the LRPMP, included the need for vacation of certain streets and alleys to maximize future development potential as required by redevelopment dissolution legislation. The City is now completing the process of vacation of the referenced streets, alleys and easements. The City Council, on July 22, 2015, adopted Resolution of Intention No. 2015-41, announcing its intention to vacate a number of streets, alley and highway easements in Block 2 of the LRPMP. That Resolution set August 12, 2015, at 6:30 p.m., as the date and time for the required public hearing to consider those vacations
DISCUSSION:
ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS:
State law requires the preparation of a written report on the proposed vacation, covering various aspects of the vacation and making certain required findings:
Present or Prospective Public Use:
The streets and easements to be considered for vacation are located northerly of East Palm Canyon Drive and west of Date Palm. Most of the parcels in this area were acquired by the former Redevelopment Agency in an effort to consolidate the lots for development. The area, designated as Block 2 in the LRPMP, is still proposed for consolidation and development as larger “blocks”. The LRPMP contemplated the vacation of some streets and alleys in this area to further that purpose.
The surrounding land is predominantly vacant. The streets and alleys proposed for vacation are local streets and are not required for efficient traffic circulation in the area. They are narrow, mostly 40 foot wide rights of ways, with existing pavement widths of generally 24 feet wide or less. Since the abutting lots are mostly under uniform ownerships, and the goal for the area is for lot consolidation and development, the best use for these streets and alleys is their vacation and consolidation of the vacated rights of way with the adjoining vacant land.
Therefore a finding is made in the attached Resolution that the streets and alleys and highway easements described in the Resolution are not needed for any present or prospective public use. Pursuant to the State Streets and Highways Code, this is a mandatory finding to be made.
Non-Highway Transportation Facility:
The streets, alleys and highway and utility easements described in the Resolution are not shown on any bicycle or recreation trail route in the General Plan or in CVAG’s adopted Non-Motorized Transportation Element. Therefore, a finding is included in the attached Resolution that the streets and alleys to be vacated are not useable for any non-motorized transportation facility (bicycle trail) as defined in Sec. 887 of the State Streets and Highways Code. This is a mandatory finding to be made per Section 892 of the Streets and Highways Code.
California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA):
The streets, alleys, and highway and public utility easements proposed to be vacated are narrow and carry very low traffic volumes. The surrounding land along these streets and alleys is predominantly vacant, and since this area is proposed for consolidation and development in larger blocks, these streets and easements are not needed and at this time provide little or no public benefit. Removal of the paving and closure of the streets and alleys will occur only after the vacation conditions are met, as outlined in the following sections, and when plans for commercial development of the consolidated lots and vacated streets are further along. At this time, the vacation is a “paper” action only.
Therefore, Staff believes this vacation action would fall under the CEQA “General Rule”, Sec. 15061(b)(3) of the CEQA Guidelines, which states that where it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the vacation may have a significant effect on the environment, the action is not subject to CEQA.
Upon vacation and consolidation, any future development plan of the land and vacated streets will require its own environmental review.
Compliance with City Council Minute Order No. 867:
In 1988, the City Council adopted criteria for the consideration of alley vacation requests in the Downtown-Cove areas of the City. There is one short alley between Grove Street and Dawes Street in this vacation request. This Minute Order was adopted when the Redevelopment Agency was in effect, so some of its questions may not pertain today.
1. Is the alley in or out of downtown or Highway 111 Corridor Redevelopment Study Area, any other Redevelopment Area or area covered by Specific Plan? The alley is in the downtown area, is within the former RDA Area 1, and is within the area covered by the Downtown Design Guidelines.
2. Does the subject alley have the likelihood of being in a future expansion of the Redevelopment Area? No, since the Redevelopment Agency is defunct.
3. Does the alley provide access to the abutting properties? The answer is yes.
4. Are there existing public facilities in the alley? Yes, there are utility facilities, which are covered by the conditions in the Resolution.
5. Is the alley needed for emergency access? No. The alley is only 100 feet long, and all abutting land is vacant.
6. Is the alley needed for police patrol, access and surveillance? No. Since all adjoining land is vacant, there is good vision and access.
7. Is the alley useable for non-motorized transportation facilities? No. This is covered above under the mandatory findings on non-motorized transportation facilities.
8. Will alley be closed, barricaded, fenced, walled, etc., and if so, how? The alley, once vacated, with be consolidated with adjoining properties and developed as a larger development.
Based upon the above answers, Staff feels that the proposed alley vacation meets the intent of the criteria, primarily because the alley will be consolidated with adjoining parcels and will be part of a larger commercial development.
Conformance with General Plan:
Every vacation is supposed to have a finding that it is in conformance with the adopted General Plan. The proposed vacation is consistent with the General Plan because the streets to be vacated are local streets only, which are not shown or mapped in the Circulation Element of the General Plan. Similarly, the alley to be vacated is not shown in the Circulation Element. This finding is included in the Vacation Resolution.
Compliance with “Public Streets, Highways, and Service Easements Vacation Law”:
Pursuant to law, on July 28, 2015, Notices of the proposed public hearing and vacation and a copy of the Resolution of Intention were properly posted along the streets and alley to be vacated. Notice of the Public Hearing was also properly published twice in the “Desert Sun”, on July 30, 2015, and on August 6, 2015, and copies of the Notice of Public hearing were also posted on the City web-site, and in the required public places.
Disposal of Surplus Public Property:
Most of the streets, the alley and the public highway and utility easements to be vacated are held by the City as easements, and upon vacation, ownership of the land covered by the easements will revert to the ownership of the abutting property owners. However, there are several portions of the public streets to be vacated which are owned by the City in fee simple. These were acquired either through eminent domain, by grant deed to the City, or by acquiring portions of streets owned in fee by the County through incorporation.
Once the street use of the City-owned parcels is vacated, these parcels will remain in City ownership. Segments 10, 11, 12 and 13 as described in Exhibit “A” to the Resolution are such City owned parcels. Upon vacation, the parcels will have no public use and will be surplus to the needs of the City, and will be of value only to the abutting property owners. The State Government Code, Sections 37350 and 37351, and the Streets and Highways Code Section 8355 state generally that the City may dispose of surplus property for the common benefit, upon the terms and conditions as approved by the legislative body. It will be to the common benefit of the City to dispose of these small surplus parcels once the conditions of vacation, as outlined below, are met.
Staff therefore recommends that City Council find that the disposal of these surplus parcels will be for the common benefit, and approve the disposal of them to the abutting owners, once the conditions of the their vacation are met.
Utility Reservation:
All utility companies were sent notices and asked if they had any present or planned facilities in the area to be vacated. All such companies were given the minimum of 30 days for a response after receipt of the request for comments. It was found that Southern California Edison, Time Warner, Verizon, and Desert Water Agency all have overhead and underground facilities in and along the streets and alley and easements to be vacated.
Therefore, a condition requiring the reservation of public utility easements from the vacations, covering the areas where utilities are located, has been added to the vacation Resolution. This reservation will not be required for any portion of the streets, alley or easements where there are no existing facilities, or where the utility facilities are removed, relocated, or otherwise cleared from the areas to be vacated.
Conditions of Vacation:
The streets, alley and easements to be vacated will all most likely be included in one or more commercial developments, which will incorporate the vacated streets and easements into the future developments. Any removal or relocation of existing utilities in the streets will not be at City expense. Therefore, a condition has been added to the vacation Resolution which directs the City Clerk NOT to record any final vacation resolution until such time as he/she receives a written certification from either the City Engineer and/or the City Manager, notifying the Clerk that one of the following conditions have been met:
(a) that suitable utility easements have been reserved by the City to protect existing utility facilities in any portion or segment of street, alley or easement to be vacated; or
(b) that suitable utility easements have been granted to the appropriate utility company by the abutting owner or other party who will take or has taken ownership of the vacated street, alley or easement upon its vacation; or
(c) that the utility facilities within the portion or segment of street, alley or easement being vacated have been removed, relocated or otherwise cleared, or that financial arrangements have been made with the utility company by a developer or abutting owner to guarantee their removal or clearance, such that the utility owner no longer requires the utility reservation.
Vacation in Portions or Segments:
It is likely that the area surrounding the streets and easements to be vacated may be developed in phases over time, or by more than one developer, and that not all the existing utility lines and facilities in the streets and easements will be removed or relocated at the same time.
To accommodate future phased or multiple developments, it is recommended that Council approve the vacation of the streets, alley and easements described in the Resolution in multiple portions or segments, as they meet the conditions of the vacation, by the approval and recordation of copies of the sample resolution attached as Exhibit “B”.
As portions or segments of the streets, alley and easements become available for formal vacation, a copy of the Exhibit “B” Resolution would be filled out with a description of the portion of street or easement to be formally vacated. It would then be signed by the Mayor and City staff, without the need for another Council meeting, and then recorded. Numbering of the Exhibit “B” resolutions would be similar to the resolution number assigned to the Vacation Resolution passed after the present Public Hearing, if so approved.
Recordation of Resolution:
Upon recordation of any of the Exhibit “B” Resolutions, the vacation of whatever portion or segment of street, alley or easement is described in that Resolution becomes effective.
Final Recommendation:
Staff recommends that Council hear the Staff report on this vacation proposal, open the public hearing, listen to any testimony or comments from interested parties, and then after the close of the hearing, make the findings contained in the Resolution, and adopt the attached Vacation Resolution, subject to the conditions contained therein.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None
ATTACHMENTS:
Resolution of Vacation, with Exhibit A: legal description of Segments of Streets, Alley and Easements to be vacated, and Exhibit B, sample Resolution for subsequent recordations.
Minute Order # 867