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Public Hearing to consider the consistency of ALUC-2017-09, Vacaville General Plan Amendment, with the Nut Tree Airport and the Travis AFB Land Use Compatibility Plans
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Public Hearing to consider the consistency of ALUC-2017-09, Vacaville General Plan Amendment, with the Nut Tree Airport and the Travis AFB Land Use Compatibility Plans
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RECOMMENDATION:
Determine that application ALUC-2017-09, Vacaville General Plan Amendment, is consistent with the Nut Tree Airport and the Travis AFB Land Use Compatibility Plans (Nut Tree Plan and Travis Plan)
DISCUSSION:
INTRODUCTION
The City of Vacaville has initiated amendments to the Transportation Element of its General Plan (Attachment B and C).
State law requires that any proposed general plan amendments, specific plans and zoning actions be reviewed for consistency with adopted airport land use compatibility plans. In this case, the City's General Plan amendments are affected by the Travis AFB Land Use Compatibility Plan (Travis Plan). The amendments are reviewed for consistency with the Travis Plan and Nut Tree Plan.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
Based on the City's application materials, the following amendments are proposed to the General Plan Transportation Element and related transportation ordinances:
* General Plan Transportation Element: The Solano County Comprehensive Transportation Plan and the Congestion Management Program identified a specific year the document was produced. The year of the document was removed, as the documents are updated and the year becomes out of date.
* General Plan Transportation Element: Update the Bicycle System section to incorporate the City's bike standards.
* General Plan Transportation Element: Level of Service Criteria: For a two-way stop sign, the acceptable level of service, LOS, is identified as an overall LOS, which is a weighted average, and a LOS for the worse approach. The acceptable LOS for the worse approach is removed as a criteria to identifying an impact. Language throughout the document was made to remove the criteria.
* The name Transportation System Management Ordinance was changed to Transportation Demand Management, (TDM) to more accurately reflect describe the section and Ordinance. This section was updated to be consistent with the modifications to the Ordinance, which reflect amendments to legislation that do not allow a City to mandate TDM for employers within the City.
* Modifications and corrections were made to the following General Plan figures:
o TR-2: Existing and Planned Bicycle Facilities
o TR-3: Truck Routes
o TR-4: Future (2035) Roadway System
o TR-5: Transportation Improvements in 2035
o TR-6: Street Right of Way for Buildout of General Plan
The General Plan Amendments do not involve land use changes, changes in height requirements, or changes to anything pertaining to aviation safety or the Nut Tree Airport or Travis AFB.
REQUIRED TESTS FOR CONSISTENCY FOR GENERAL PLAN AND SPECIFIC PLAN AMENDMENTS
The State Department of Transportation Division of Aeronautics has published the 2011 California Airport Land Use Planning Handbook as a guide for Airport Land Use Commissions in the preparation and implementation of Land Use Compatibility Plans and Procedure Documents. The Solano Countywide Airport Land Use Review Procedures also require the review of all amendments to a local agency's general plan, consistent with the State law.
The tests are:
1. Elimination of any direct conflicts between the General Plan and relevant compatibility plan(s).
Direct conflicts primarily involve general plan land use designations which do not meet the density (for residential uses) or intensity (for non-residential uses) criteria specified in the compatibility plan, although conflicts with regard to other policies also may exist.
2. Delineation of a mechanism or process for ensuring that individual land use development proposals comply with the ALUC's adopted compatibility criteria.
Elimination of direct conflicts between a county's or a city's general plan and the ALUC's compatibility plan is not enough to guarantee that future land use development will adhere to the compatibility criteria set forth in the compatibility plan. An implementation process must also be defined either directly in the general plan or specific plan or by reference to a separately adopted ordinance, regulation, or other policy document.
There are three facets to the process of ensuring compliance with airport land use compatibility criteria:
a. Delineation of Compatibility Criteria- Airport land use compatibility criteria must be defined either in a policy document adopted by the county or city or through adoption of or reference to the ALUC's compatibility plan itself.
b. Identification of Mechanisms for Compliance- The mechanisms by which applicable compatibility criteria will be tied to an individual development and continue to be enforced must be identified. A conditional use permit or a development agreement are two possibilities.
c. Indication of Review and Approval Procedures- Lastly, the procedures for review and approval of individual development proposals must be defined. At what level within a county or a city are compatibility approvals made: staff, planning commission or governing body? The types of actions which are submitted to the ALUC for review and the timing of such submittals relative to internal review and approval process also must be indicated.
ANALYSIS
RELEVANT ISSUES FOR THE ALUC
The ALUC is concerned with those aspects of the Vacaville General Plan Amendments that have the potential to be incompatible with the Travis Plan or the Nut Tree Plan. The Vacaville General Plan covers a geographic area which lies entirely within Compatibility Zones D and E of the Travis Plan and includes all Compatibility Zones in the Nut Tree Airport Plan.
General Plan/Specific Plan Consistency Factors
1. Elimination of Direct Conflict
There are no direct conflicts between the Transportation Element Amendments and the Land Use Plans for the Nut Tree Airport or Travis Air force Base. The Transportation Element Amendments do not authorize or modify any of the land use designations in the City's General Plan, nor do they establish or alter any height limitations.
2. Assurance of Compliance with Compatibility Criteria
The Commission must determine that there are mechanisms in place at the City of Vacaville to assure compliance with the applicable compatibility plan(s). This is generally done by identifying compatibility criteria within the general plan, having mechanisms for compliance and having review and approval procedures in place for new development.
Delineation of Compatibility Criteria-
The City of Vacaville has incorporated the requirements of the Airport Land Use Plans within its development code. The Transportation Element Amendments are not in conflict with those regulations.
Identification of Mechanisms for Compliance and Indication of Review and Approval Procedures-
Generally in the City of Vacaville, development permits are reviewed by the City Council, Planning Commission, and the Director of Community Development. In the case of legislative actions, ALUC review must occur. For other permits, the Planning Commission and Director of Community Development must make a consistency finding as required by the Travis Plan
Based on the discussion above, staff recommends that the Commission find that the proposal meets these tests for consistency for a general plan/specific plan.
RECOMMENDATION
Based on the analysis and discussions above, Staff recommends that the Solano County Airport Land Use Commission find as follows:
Determination: That application ALUC-2017-09, Vacaville General Plan Amendment, is consistent with the Nut Tree Airport and the Travis AFB Land Use Compatibility Plans (Nut Tree Plan and Travis Plan)
Attachments
Attachment A: Resolution (To Be Distributed by Separate Cover)
Attachment B: City of Vacaville Planning Commission Staff Report
Attachment C: City of Vacaville Application