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CONSIDERATION OF THE MAIN STREET STREETSCAPE MASTER PLAN FOR A THREE-MILE CORRIDOR BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL BOULEVARD AND INTERSTATE 805 (Continued item from 9/15/2015)
RESOLUTION NO. 2015-224 OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF CHULA VISTA APPROVING THE MAIN STREET STREETSCAPE MASTER PLAN FOR A THREE-MILE CORRIDOR BETWEEN INDUSTRIAL BOULEVARD AND INTERSTATE 805
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RECOMMENDED ACTION
Recommended Action
Council adopt the resolution.
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SUMMARY
The Chula Vista 2005 General Plan describes Main Street in the Montgomery Community Planning District between Industrial Boulevard and Hilltop Drive as a primary gateway to Chula Vista, and Policy LUT 45.5 requires the City to prepare a specific plan to establish design and landscape guidelines for the Main Street District.
In 2007-2009, City staff and members of the Southwest community worked together through community events, surveys, and urban design workshops to clarify priorities of the community for the Main Street District. The results of this effort are summarized in a booklet titled “Main Street District Urban Design Workshop Summary”, July 25, 2009. Among the conclusions of these participatory events was the recommendation to prepare an infrastructure-delivery plan and streetscape plan for the Main Street corridor.
On April 6, 2012, SANDAG issued a Call for Projects from local jurisdictions in San Diego County wishing to apply for the Active Transportation Funding (AT Funding) for use on planning projects meeting certain criteria. The City of Chula Vista successfully applied for AT Funding for the preparation of the Main Street Streetscape Master Plan (Master Plan). The Master Plan is funded with $299,981 in TransNet AT grant funds and 15 percent ($51,120) of the approved project budget in local matching funds (Council Resolution No. 2012-131). SANDAG issued a notice to proceed on March 28, 2013.
City Staff, Consultants, and the Southwest community continued to work together to create a vision and conceptual design guidelines to develop a “Complete Street”: A balanced, connected, safe, and convenient transportation network designed to serve all users, regardless of their age or ability, that will also provide multi-modal access (via walking, biking, and transit) to nearby recreational activities and facilities.
On August 18, 2015, per Resolution 2015-198 the City Council adopted the City’s Complete Streets Policy (Policy #576-19). The Main Street Streetscape Master Plan is the first complete street plan proposed under the new policy. Many Municipalities are discussing the economic advantages of complete streets; for more information refer to the attached article by the National Complete Streets Coalition “Complete Streets Stimulate the Local Economy” (Attachment 1).
The Main Street Streetscape Master Plan was developed through an extensive civic engagement effort with the surrounding community and the Plan provides a complete streets strategy for this important corridor. The completed Master Plan will provide opportunities for the City to pursue funding for the streetscape improvements. Staff recommends Council approval of the Main Street Streetscape Master Plan and adoption of the Resolution.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
The Development Services Director has reviewed the proposed project for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the project qualifies for a Class 1 categorical exemption pursuant to Section 15301(c) (Existing Highways and streets, sidewalks, gutters, bicycle and pedestrian trails, and similar facilities for the purpose of improving public safety) of the State CEQA Guidelines. Thus, no further environmental review is necessary.
BOARD/COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION
On May 6, 2015, the Chula Vista Safety Commission recommended adoption of the Main Street Streetscape Master Plan by City Council [5-0-1 Navarro absent] (Attachment 2).
DISCUSSION
Project Location
The Project is located in the southwest area of the City of Chula Vista and extends along a three-mile corridor of Main Street between Industrial Boulevard and Interstate 805 and connects north and south along neighboring streets including Broadway, Fourth Avenue, Third Avenue, Albany Avenue, Mace Street, and other streets connecting to nearby recreational activities and facilities (see Attachment 3).
The Chula Vista 2005 General Plan designates the Main Street District as one of the five "areas of change." While Main Street is considered an Industrial corridor, it is located in an area that contains residential, commercial and institutional uses, making it a complicated mixture of uses that create friction and conflict between pedestrians, bicyclists, automobiles and trucks.
Existing Conditions
The Main Street corridor is a four-lane road with turn pockets at intersections and two-way left turn lanes in the center of the road. The road width varies between 79 and 104 feet causing a jagged effect on the right-of-way throughout the corridor. Traffic volumes are 20,000 to 30,000 Average Daily Trips (ADTs). The ADTs are fairly sig-nificant with peak hour rates resulting in some congestion. Current posted speed limit is 40 mph. Currently, Main Street is a Class III Bicycle Facility, also known as a Bike Route. Per the City’s Bikeway Master Plan and the City’s Transportation Element, Main Street is programmed as a Class II Bicycle Facility which provides painted bike lanes.
The three-mile corridor has a patchwork of improvements, such as, various levels of concrete curb and gutters, raised medians at two street intersections with asphalt fill or stamped concrete, parallel parking zones and non-parking zones. The edge of the roadway beyond the curb supports important functional aspects, such as, access to driveways, entries to parking, locations for signage, street furnishings, plantings, and dry or wet utilities.
The City’s Pedestrian Master Plan (2010) ranks Main Street as a high to very high priority for attention because of the missing sidewalks, ADA pedestrian ramps, marked crosswalks and limited street furnishings. Sidewalks are fragmented and are sometimes limited to only one side. More than 30% of Main Street does not contain concrete sidewalks. This type of walking condition can hinder adequate pedestrian access for those not familiar with the area, children, the elderly and the disabled.
Street tree planting is sporadic and often has large gaps (frequently entire blocks) between regularly spaced trees. The scale of the tree plantings range from older mature trees to medium and small trees.
Signage is primarily limited to regulatory signs and it is dominated by commercial signs of private businesses. There are no designed or organized signage programs that express the character of the area.
For additional analysis of existing conditions, please see Chapters Two and Three of the Streetscape Master Plan, pages 9-27 (Attachment 4).
Public Outreach
Pursuant to the City’s Purchasing Ordinance, the City retained KTU&A Landscape Architects to create the Conceptual Design and develop the Streetscape Master Plan. City staff and KTU&A formed the design team.
The design team initiated work on the Master Plan by conducting community workshops to gather input from the area's stakeholders and to develop a needs assessment to guide the design of the Master Plan. Residents, property and business owners within a 100-foot buffer were invited to participate in four community workshops held at the Otay Recreation Center and at the South Chula Vista Library. In addition, a questionnaire was mailed to obtain input from residents, and flyers were posted at the South Chula Vista Library, the Otay Recreation Center, and businesses adjacent to Main Street.
The first community workshop was held on October 17, 2013. The intent was to focus on the Main Street three-mile existing conditions and to engage the public in identifying various program elements, as well as, documenting their concerns and desires for consideration during the development of the initial Conceptual Design.
The recommendations received during the first workshop were refined and evolved into various schematic alternatives that were developed to establish a street theme and identity for the corridor. Some of the refinements were for design related issues while others were for the roadway geometry and circulation elements. The intent of the alternatives was to accentuate visual points of interest, to preserve the historic character of certain areas, to link multiple pedestrian areas to residential neighborhoods and businesses, to identify focal points, and to accommodate multiple modes of transportation. These conceptual alternatives were presented to the community during the second community workshop held on November 7, 2013. Additional input was obtained from participants to help refine the conceptual alternatives.
The refined conceptual alternatives, themes and plans were presented to the community again on December 5, 2013. The design team was able to obtain final input before the design vision was completed.
With the design vision in place, the City retained Linscott, Law, & Greenspan Engineers (LLG) for the preparation of a Transportation Engineering Study for the Conceptual Design in order to determine optimal intersection and mid-block treatments for inclusion in the Master Plan. On December 4, 2014, a public workshop was held to present the Transportation Engineering Study findings and recommendations to the Community. Exhibits prepared and presented to the community included the Conceptual Plan Layout for all recommended improvements, and the tabulated results of intersections and segment evaluations. The purpose of the meeting was to ensure that the ideas and priorities of the community for the district would be included in the Streetscape Plan.
For additional information regarding the Public Outreach process, plans and exhibits, see Chapter Four (pages 29-69) and Appendix B, Traffic Engineering, of the Streetscape Master Plan.
The Streetscape Master Plan
Final Roadway Plan
The resulting final roadway plan establishes the vision, goals, and objectives for Main Street and builds a street theme and identity by creating focal points, pedestrian connections, integrating the various land uses, and incorporating the following streetscape design elements to provide multi-modal access to nearby recreational activities and facilities.
a. Pedestrian Improvements
The existing pedestrian circulation system on Main Street lacks a well-connected network of pedestrian facilities and tends to discourage walking. For example, Main Street lacks marked crosswalks making it very unsafe for pedestrians crossing the street. During community workshops, the community ranked the addition of marked crosswalks as one of the top priorities to make their experience safer. The Master Plan proposes approximately 53 enhanced crosswalks with ADA ramps at 18 intersections.
Key streetscape mea-sures included in the Master Plan that design the street with pedestrians in mind are continuous sidewalks, segmented raised medians to create pedestrian refuges while maintaining the two-way left turn lanes in the center of the road. Segmented parkways with street trees and drought tolerant planting are proposed to create a buffer between vehicle traffic and pedestrians and to provide shade.
Main Street lacks bus shelters, and bike racks at several bus stops making it very unpleasant for pedestrians using public transportation. Better bus stop place-ment and the addition of updated street furniture adds to the attractiveness and ambiance of the Main Street corridor.
b. Bikeway Improvements
The City’s existing Bicycle Master Plan envisions the creation of a citywide bike network in the next 20 years and designates Main Street as a Class II bike facility. In response to the Bicycle Master Plan, the Main Street Master Plan includes a class II bike lane system with green pavement in specific localized areas and buffers to help connect Main Street to the Regional bicycle network. The bike lane would be about 6’ wide with a buffer zone which ranges in width from 0’-3’ throughout the corridor.
In addition, the project proposes to install bike racks at bus stops. The Main Street corridor links the Bayshore bikeway west of Interstate 5, which is a 20 mile class I facility around San Diego Bay, to the class II bike lanes east of Interstate 805 providing connectivity to and from the east Otay Mesa Area and eastern territories of Chula Vista.
c. Travel Lanes Improvements
The recommended plan shows tree-planted segmented medians at some locations while maintaining the two-way left turn lanes in the center of the road. The plan also shows the reduction of lane widths to 11’. The Plan also features smoothing out the existing right-of-way by removing the jagged edge effect that had been created by various existing ROW conditions that were initially required when this corridor was within the County of San Diego’s jurisdiction.
The Plan can be completed with the existing right-of-way, however, it also identifies lands beyond the current property line or ROW limits that could be acquired at fair-market value or dedicated by property owners as development occurs in order to meet the ultimate street improvements.
The Plan establishes continuity along the whole alignment by using continuous sidewalks, parkways and street trees to create a safer environment for ingress and egress into existing driveways. The new curb line, which varies along the corridor, sets a more consistent edge and eliminates abrupt stop and start travel lanes and street end barriers that currently exist. Planted parkway strips with trees (or trees in grates) create lengthy walkable environments, along with the option for on-street parking.
The traffic studies supported the long-term inclusion of up to seven additional traffic signals at several intersections, including Jacqua Street (TF-398), 7th Street, Fresno Avenue, Del Monte Avenue, Banner Avenue, Mace Street and the offset intersection of Main Street with Maple Drive/Otay Valley Road.
d. Way-finding Program
Main Street has minimal directional signage to key destinations, such as institutions and Otay Valley Regional Park. The project proposes a comprehensive way-finding sign program to establish an inviting atmosphere, enhance mobility, ease circulation for all modes, and improve exposure for local businesses and destinations.
e. District Design Concepts
The Plan also includes three District Design Concepts developed to establish a street theme and identity.
The first theme at the westerly portion of the corridor is the Sea Garden District, and was inspired by the Main Street connection to the San Diego Bay National Wildlife Refuge accessible through the Otay River Valley system of trails. Some of the selected site features and elements that occur within the Sea Garden District would include icons of sea life flora and fauna.
The second theme from 7th Avenue to between Albany Avenue and Reed Court is the Agricultural/Rancho District inspired by Chula Vista’s ‘Orchard Period.’ Utilizing this design theme, site features and components would occur at selected intersections (or gateways) and would include icons of agricultural referenced elements; such as citrus blossoms, celery, lemons, oranges, and strawberries.
The third theme at the easterly portion of the corridor is the River District inspired by the project’s area connection to the Otay Regional Park and Otay River. Selected site features and components that occur at intersections would include icons of river flora and fauna, cobblestones, and trail way-finding information.
For additional information regarding the Final Roadway Plan, see Chapter Five, pages 71-101.
Conclusion
The Main Street Streetscape Master Plan encourages active transportation and as such, proposes improvements needed to provide a more complete circulation system for pedestrians, bicyclists, and automobile traffic. They are intended to address and resolve some of the conflicts among users and provide a balanced and complete street.
The Plan presents a balanced transportation system that improves pedestrian safety, alerts drivers to share the road with bicyclists, connects Main Street to the Regional bicycle network, and improves exposure for local businesses and destinations through the comprehensive way-finding program.
The Plan shows that all mobility modes have been accommodated in this complete streets plan, and the ultimate implementation of the plan will take several years to be constructed over several phases of construction. With the adoption of this Plan, the City would be able to apply for and obtain grant funding in order to “phase-in” the recommended improvements.
DECISION-MAKER CONFLICT
Staff has reviewed the property holdings of the City Council members and has found that, Councilmember McCann has real property holdings within 500 feet of the boundaries of the project which is the subject of this action. Consequently, pursuant to California Code of Regulations Title 2, sections 18700 and 18705.2(a)(11), this item presents a disqualifying real property-related financial conflict of interest under the Political Reform Act (Cal. Gov't Code § 87100, et seq.) for the above-identified member.
Staff has reviewed this matter and has determined that a potential conflict exists for Councilmember Miesen related to his source of income and employment, within the meaning of California Code of Regulations, Title 2, Sections 18700(b)(6)(C) and (D).
Consequently, staff is recommending that Councilmembers McCann and Miesen not participate in this matter.
Staff is not independently aware, and has not been informed by any City Council member, of any other fact that may constitute a basis for a decision maker conflict of interest in this matter.
LINK TO STRATEGIC GOALS
The City’s Strategic Plan has five major goals: Operational Excellence, Economic Vitality, Healthy Community, Strong and Secure Neighborhoods and a Connected Community. This project seeks to address all five goals by transforming the southerly backbone of the City into a thriving and safe destination.
CURRENT YEAR FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this Master Plan will not have any current year fiscal impact. It will provide the framework to seek further grant funding for the preparation of construction documents and ultimately construction costs.
The traffic signal at Jacqua Street is already part of the FY15/16 CIP (TF-398). This project will incorporate some of the intersection elements identified in the Master Plan. As the design is finalized, additional funds will be required for the curb return areas and pedestrian improvements. Staff will come back later this fiscal year and request the additional funds as a separate agenda report.
ONGOING FISCAL IMPACT
Approval of this Master Plan will not have any direct fiscal impact. The Master Plan may have a positive indirect fiscal impact by enabling the City to apply for and obtain grant funding for the recommended improvements. Once constructed, this project will set the stage for the economic revitalization of the Main Street corridor.
ATTACHMENTS
Attachment 1 - National Complete Streets Coalition. Complete Streets Stimulate the Local Economy.
Attachment 2 - City of Chula Vista Safety Commission Resolution and Minutes
Attachment 3 - Project Boundary
Attachment 4 - Main Street Streetscape Master Plan
Staff Contact: Patricia Ferman, Landscape Architect and Project Manager, Development Services Department