File photo

In 2009, the Santa Clarita Planning Commission approved an 88-foot-tall, 200-room Sheraton hotel for The Greens property on McBean Parkway. The project stalled out before it could be approved by the City Council.

Now a new hotel developer is proposing to build a shorter (60-foot-tall) hotel with fewer rooms (134) on the same property.

On Tuesday the council will consider vacating the prior Planning Commission approval so the new applicant can proceed through the approval process.

The City Council agenda report follows.

The Greens was gutted by fire in November 2011. It was vacant at the time.

Agenda Item: 13

CITY OF SANTA CLARITA AGENDA REPORT

CONSENT CALENDAR

DATE:

June 14, 2016

SUBJECT: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA CLARITA, CALIFORNIA, SUSTAINING THE APPEAL OF MASTER CASE 08-051, VACATING THE DECISION OF THE PLANNING COMMISSION ON THE FORMER SHERATON PROJECT, AND REFERRING THE REVISED PROJECT TO THE PLANNING COMMISSION FOR REVIEW AND CONSIDERATION

DEPARTMENT:

Community Development

PRESENTER:

Jason Crawford

RECOMMENDED ACTION

City Council adopt a resolution sustaining the appeal of Master Case 08-051, vacating the decision of the Planning Commission, and returning the currently proposed project for a 101,000 square-foot hotel and 4,000 square-foot restaurant to the Planning Commission for review and consideration.

BACKGROUND

On March 29, 2008, a 136,000 square-foot, 88-foot tall, 200-room Sheraton Hotel proposal was submitted to the City of Santa Clarita. The proposal included 7,600 square feet of conference space. The project required a Conditional Use Permit, and was approved by the Planning Commission at a public hearing on July 7, 2009. The project was appealed to the City Council by the Positive Solutions Association on July 21, 2009, and was considered by the City Council at their regular meeting on September 8, 2009. The City Council directed the applicant to conduct additional public outreach and return at a future meeting. The applicant took no further action and did not return to the City Council.

In March 2016, a new applicant, Oliver Hotel Group, LLC, submitted a proposal for a hotel project on the same site as the former Sheraton Hotel project. The revised project concept proposes a 101,000 square-foot, 60-foot tall, 134-room hotel facility. The project includes a 340 square-foot meeting space for hotel guests. The hotel brand has yet to be determined by the applicant, but calls for an all-suite facility, with kitchens in each guest room. Also included in the project is a 4,000 square-foot, free-standing restaurant that would be open to the public.

Since the appeal hearing before the City Council in September 2009, the following has occurred:

* The City adopted a new General Plan

* The City adopted a new Unified Development Code

* The State of California processed amendments to the California Environmental Quality Act

* The City adopted new local guidelines for the California Environmental Quality Act

The following reflect the differences between the former Sheraton project and the proposed project submitted by the Oliver Hotel Group, LLC:

* The revised project is approximately 28 feet shorter than the Sheraton Hotel

* There are fewer rooms in the revised project

* The footprint of the revised project has changed

* The on-site circulation characteristics of the revised project have changed

* The revised project has different landscaping

* There is less conference space in the revised project

* The revised project has different architecture than the Sheraton Hotel

* The environmental impacts of the revised project are different than the Sheraton Hotel

In matters where appeals are made to the City Council, Unified Development Code Section 17.07.070(B) provides that the City Council can “…refer the item back to the Commission for further proceedings with or without direction.” By sustaining the appeal made by the Positive Solutions Association, the City Council effectively ends the appeal process in favor of the appellant. The recommendation for the City Council to vacate the 2009 Planning Commission decision to approve the Sheraton project and adopt the associated environmental document would not deny the project; rather it would nullify the decision, allowing for future consideration of the revised project. The revised proposal from Oliver Hotel Group, LLC, would then be brought before the Planning Commission for their review and consideration.

ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other actions as determined by the City Council. FISCAL IMPACT

There is no fiscal impact as a result of this item.