PLANNING COMMISSION AGENDA REPORT May 10, 2007 TO: FROM: PROPOSAL: APPLICANT: RECOMMENDATION: Members of the Planning Commission Joyce Parker-Bozylinski, Contract Planner Approval of the Calabasas Trails Master Plan and Mitigated Negative Declaration City of Calabasas Adopt Resolution No. 07-375 recommending that the City Council approve the Calabasas Trails Master Plan and Mitigated Negative Declaration. STAFF RECOMMENDATION: Adopt Resolution No. 07-375 recommending that the City Council approve the Calabasas Trails Master Plan and Mitigated Negative Declaration. STAFF ANALYSIS: The Planning Commission held a public hearing on the Trails Master Plan and Mitigated Negative Declaration on March 22, 2007. The hearing was continued to May 10th to allow staff time to respond to the comments received from the public and the Planning Commission. The Trails Master Plan (Attachment B) and the Trails Map (Attachment F) have been modified as noted below. A large copy of the Trails Map will be available at the Commission hearing. Changes to the Trails Master Plan are provided in the document in a redline format with deletions shown as strike-outs and additions underlined. Correspondence received at the last Planning Commission hearing and after the hearing is included as Attachment D. As requested by the Planning Commission, a letter was sent to each private property owner advising them that a future trail was planned on or near their property and of the May 10 th Planning Commission hearing. 1
Staff has provided responses to the comments received below: A. Letter from Schmitz & Associates: Comment: Ms. Shen objected to labeling a trail that traverses several parcels outside of the City as Existing Make Official and also requested that the City consider developing incentive provisions in the Plan to encourage land owners to dedicate trail easements. She recommended that the City consider a program similar to what the City of Malibu has developed. Staff Response: The parcels in question were inadvertently shown as Existing Make Official since they are located outside City boundaries. The Trails Map has been revised to change the properties to light grey in color which designates Trails Outside Calabasas. These trails are shown on other agencies maps and are shown on the City s Trails Map to illustrate how trails inside the City connect to the regional trails surrounding the City. Staff contacted the City of Malibu to inquire about the incentive plan. While the Trails Committee has developed a proposed list of incentives, they have not been reviewed or approved by the City Council. The final recommendations from the Committee are as follows: 1. Reduction of permit processing fees and/or expediting the permit process. 2. If the property owner desires, landscaping would be provided by the City to mitigate visual impact of the trail. 3. Owners of vacant land can enter into an agreement with the City, whether or not a trail already exists. 4. Trails placed in conservation easements, would then qualify for a reduction in property taxes based on a lower usable lot size. 5. Explore and adopt additional tax incentives for private property owners who donate trail easements. Additionally, the incentive plan allows the Planning Director to modify development standards by a certain percentage. That percentage has not been identified. The proposed incentives would allow an increase in the size of the house, increase in the height of the house, decrease in the required setbacks, modification to the location of a structure from a primary and secondary ridgeline, increase in the amount of allowed grading, and increase in impermeable coverage. Several of the Planning Commissioners indicated they were not in favor of offering development incentives. Staff agrees and would recommend that an incentive plan not be considered at this time. Staff believes that direct negotiation between the City and the affected property owners could result in agreements that incorporate some of the incentives identified without codifying the process. Mountains Restoration Trust has already negotiated several trail easements for the City. Staff did add a future implementation program to Identify potential tax-related incentives and seek funding for other inducements for private property owners to allow and support public trails. 2
B. Letter from Ms. Stephanie Abronson Comment: Ms. Abronson commented as follows: (1) Trail connection from De Anza Park to Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve should be priority for City. Staff Response: The Community Services Department, who will be responsible for the implementation of the Master Plan, is currently researching the feasibility of this trail connection including grants available for construction. (2) There is a need for horse trailer parking at trailheads including the existing trailheads on Las Virgenes Road. Staff Response: The trailhead north of the farm house on Las Virgenes Road is located outside the City on land owned by the National Park Service (NPS). Staff will work with the National Park Service if any assistance is needed for access from Las Virgenes Road. Limited space exists for parking horse trailers at the north end of Las Virgenes Road. Land directly north and west of Las Virgenes Road is outside City boundaries and land directly east of the trailhead, while inside City boundaries, is developed with an apartment building. If parking is provided on NPS land north of the farm house, that location could serve both trailheads. The Trails Master Plan has existing text that indicates that a staging area that could provide horse trailer and bicycle parking, restrooms, drinking fountains, trailhead signs and maps may be considered when greater use of a trailhead is expected. (3) Concern about the design of Highway 101 crossings. Staff Response: All Highway 101 crossings will be fully evaluated in terms of feasibility and safety prior to any construction proceeding. The crossing at Mureau Bridge will most likely be designed consistent with the existing trail crossing at Valley Circle Drive. (4) Question regarding location of trail connection. Staff Response: The Highway 101 under crossing adjacent to the Juan Bautista de Anza Trail connects to Mureau Road and eventually Crummer Canyon which leads to the Upper Las Virgenes Canyon Open Space Preserve. (5) Request to increase the Clearing Height on Figures 4 and 5 to 14 feet to accommodate equestrians. Staff Response: The Figures have been modified to establish a clearing height of 14 feet. C. Letter from Peter Heumann Comment: Mr. Heumann s letter listed numerous requested changes in a page by page format. Staff response is provided by page number as noted in Mr. Heumann s letter. Staff Response: (1) Pages 2, 5, 6, & 9 - Comments are incorporated into the Trails Master Plan. (2) Page 7 - Identify schools as activity center. Schools are already identified both in text format and on Figure 1 as activity centers. (3) Page 11 - Wanted bullet for Trails that resolve land use conflicts. Bullet already exists. Comment on criminal intent so noted; however, staff still recommends that 3
trails under the control of the City be closed to night time use. (4) Pages 13, 15, 19, & 28 - Comments are incorporated into the Trails Master Plan. (5) Page 23 Request that more be added in regard to management and maintenance of trails including a clear statement of which department was responsible. The Trails Master Plan was revised to add clearer statements about the Community Services Department being responsible for trails. The Community Services Department is responsible for preparing a long-term management plan for trails and trail corridors. Staff does not believe further changes are needed. For example, the Plan indicates that as part of the planning process for trail construction, the Community Service Department would establish how often a trail should be maintained and identify the party who will be responsible for maintenance. In addition, the Plan calls for the Community Services Department to prepare an annual Trail Maintenance Program and Budget for trails in the City, and indicates that all trails should be inspected at least twice a year and busy trails once every twelve weeks throughout the usage season. Email from Mary Benson: Comment: Ms. Benson commented on whether allowing any type of vehicle, whether it is motorized or non-motorized, should be allowed. Staff Response: The Trails Master Plan prohibits motorized vehicles on trails. Nonmotorized vehicles, such as mountain bikes, will be allowed as appropriate to meet the goal of establishing multi-use trails in the City. The Plan indicates that the City will determine if an individual trail will be a multi-use during the design and construction phase taking into consideration the steepness of the trail, available right-of-way, safety, user frequencies, and other conditions. Email from Stephanie Abronson: Comment: Ms. Abronson provided follow up information on the Rim of the Valley Trail. Staff Response: A discussion about the Rim of the Valley Trail has been included in the Trails Master Plan. Comments received from Public Safety Commission (March 19, 2007 Meeting) Comment: (1) Liability immunities should e assured for the City; (2) In addition to mile markers, have call boxes or signs recommending the trail user to carry a cell phone for emergencies; (3) Trash receptacles at trail heads; (4) No smoking & high fire danger signs; (5) Highlight in the report that there is no motorized vehicles (except for maintenance and emergency vehicles) and no evening use; (6) There should be a way to indicate you are on trail for rescue purposes; (7) Increase the standardized natural trail width from 9 to 12 for emergency vehicles; and (8) The use of a helipad for emergency evacuation. 4
Staff Response: Text has been added to the Trails Master Plan regarding signage recommendations that deal with emergencies, provision of trash receptacles, no smoking and high fire danger. The Plan already contains language prohibiting motorized vehicles and evening use. Rescue personnel will most likely be identifiable via uniforms or vehicle signage. Natural trails are typically located in areas inaccessible to automobiles and other standard forms of emergency vehicles, and providing access to vehicles would mostly likely be environmentally damaging due to the grading necessary to construct a road. Staff recommends leaving the tread width at 3 to 5 feet and the clearing width at 7 to 9 feet. These widths are commensurate with standard trail widths for NPS, State Parks and other local cities. Any helicopter utilized as part of an emergency evacuation would be directed to land on the closest road or flat area. Phone message from Environmental Commissioner Michael Friedman Comments: Many of Commissioner Friedman s comments were duplicative of comments or concerns expressed by others at the public hearing. Two comments not previously covered dealt with the need for a litter management plan and a request that some trails be designated to allow dogs off leash. Staff Response: Litter management is typically handled via signs and trash receptacles at trailheads and volunteer clean up efforts. The Trails Master Plan has provisions for signs and trash receptacles at major trailheads as well as the establishment of an Adopt a Trail Program and other volunteer trail management programs. Given the potential impacts to wildlife and other trail users in general, staff does not recommend that the Plan include trails designated for dogs off leash. Planning Commission Comments: The Planning Commission had a variety of comments as noted below. Staff has amended the Trails Master Plan and Map as follows: Two new implementation measures were added. These include: 1) Develop a prioritization plan for trails in the City utilizing the new trail construction priorities outlined in the Plan; and 2) Develop a trail promotion program which includes developing trail brochures, providing information on the City s web page and providing information, at activity centers, such as City s community centers and parks, on the location of trails within the City and connections to regional trails surrounding the City. These implementation measures respond to comments received about prioritizing trail construction and informing the public about the available trails in the City and surrounding planning area. The descriptions of the existing trails segments were modified to clarify that they are all multi-use trails. The following underlined text was added to expand the type of information provided on trailhead signs. Important trailheads should include the following information on the trail sign: a map of the trail, destination and distances, permitted uses, regulations and rules including but not limited to keeping dogs on a leash, no smoking, high fire danger, and how to handle emergencies, information on hazards in the area, trail conditions, trail 5
difficulty, hours of use, and access for the disabled. The sign may also contain interpretive information. In addition to information about mileage, the sign may include descriptive information such as whether the trail is a loop trail or shaded trail. Two Commissioners commented about security and/or safety on the trails. Security is typically handled by a ranger on land owned by park agencies. The City will rely on local police (L.A. County Sheriff) services. Other comments dealt with adding a finding about the public health benefits of trails and allowing for the hours a trail is open to remain flexible to accommodate changing seasons. A new objective was added to the Plan as follows: Develop trails to promote the health and well being of citizens and visitors. The Plan indicates that evening use (after sunset) is prohibited but does not establish precise hours of operation. In addition to the preceding items, staff also made several changes to the Trails Map, in response to Commissioners comments, as noted below Trails Map All trails located outside City boundaries are shown as grey in color which represents Trails Outside Calabasas. All of these trails except two are shown on other agencies trail maps. The two exceptions to this are the two trails shown on the map as the Saratoga Hills Connector. These were added by the City to provide connections from Saratoga Hills to the trail system to the east and west of the community. To distinguish these two trails, they are shown as dashed grey lines (future planned, but outside the City). The following disclaimer was added to the map: Disclaimer: This map was created for use by the City of Calabasas for trail planning purposes only. It is an illustrative map and is not intended to be used as a way finding map. For existing official trails, detailed trail maps may be obtained from the public agency managing the trail. Some trails shown do not exist currently and or planned in the future, or they exist but are not yet officially designated. Permission to use the trails shown on this map should not be assumed. Some trails may traverse or abut private property and suggested alignments do not imply rights of public use expect as may be accommodated legally via easements or covenants. The two new trails segments discussed at the Planning Commission hearing were added to the map. These two trails include one trail south of the existing Porter/Wilson trail alignment that connects the New Millennium Trail to Dry Canyon/Cold Creek and eventually to the Secret Trail, and the other trail begins at Wild Walnut Park and heads north to the Summitto-Summit Trail. The Grasslands Trail, which is outside the City boundary, was added to the Trails Map north of Mulholland Highway. Staff is still working with NPS to identify the official name of the trail that starts at De Anza Park and heads south towards Malibu Creek Trail. Some 6
maps identify the trail as the Talepop Loop Trail and other maps identify the trail as the Las Virgenes Creek Trail. Other maps on the Internet identify the trail as the Grasslands Trail (aka Talepop or Las Virgenes Creek Trail). ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW: A Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) has been prepared for the current proposal and was circulated for public review pursuant to the current State CEQA Guidelines. The MND is included as Attachment E. The public review period for the Mitigated Negative Declaration was set from February 20, 2007 through March 23, 2007. Two comment letters where received on the Mitigated Negative Declaration. Neither letter required a response and are attached to the MND along with a Mitigation Monitoring Program. The Planning Commission s action on the Mitigated Negative Declaration will be in the form of a recommendation to the City Council, and the City Council will have final decision making authority on the document. Staff recommends the Planning Commission adopt Resolution No. 07-375 recommending that the City Council approve the Calabasas Trails Master Plan and Mitigated Negative Declaration. ATTACHMENTS: A - Planning Commission Resolution No. 07-375 B - Calabasas Trails Master Plan C - March 22, 2007 Planning Commission Staff Report w/o Attachments D - Correspondence E - Mitigated Negative Declaration w/ Mitigation Monitoring Program F - Calabasas Trails Map 7