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HomeMy WebLinkAbout25 - Review Lighting at Fletcher Jones MotorcarsSUGGESTED ACTION: Find lighting in compliance with mitigation measures and conditions of approval Direct staff to issue final certificate of occupancy Direct staff to include landscape screening project in 1998-99 capital budget The City Council approved an action plan to resolve lighting issues at Fletcher Jones Motorcars on February 23, 1998, and initiated a 30 -day review period to determine the effectiveness of the lighting improvements. Staff has done several things to review the lighting during the month of March, and our findings are presented in this report. Additionally, a plan for screening the lighting further with landscaping along Jamboree Road and Bayview Way is discussed. Lighting Review The lighting requirements included in the action plan approved by the City Council are the following, all on automatic controls. • Upper parking lot off at 7:00 p.m. • Lower parking lot off at 10:00 p.m. • LED and most of service entrance off at 7:00 p.m. • Remainder of service entrance off at 10:00 p.m. • Metal halide in showroom interior off at dark, replaced by incandescent spots The Code Enforcement Supervisor visited the site at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 21 and Sunday March 22. On both occasions, he found the lights to be functioning as required. He will visit the site again on Saturday, April 11, to provide an up-to-date report for the City Council meeting. CITY OF NEWPORT BEACH Hearing Date: April 13, 1998 C�"twpo,4111© I> COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC Agenda Item r DEVELOPMENT No.: 25 �a PLANNING DEPARTMENT Staff Person: Sharon Z. Wood 3300 NEWPORT BOULEVARD (714) 644-3222 NEWPORT BEACH, CA 92658 (714) 644-3200; FAX (714) 644-3250 REPORT TO THE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL APR 13 L)" �-Av PROJECT: Review of Lighting at Fletcher Jones Motorcars SUGGESTED ACTION: Find lighting in compliance with mitigation measures and conditions of approval Direct staff to issue final certificate of occupancy Direct staff to include landscape screening project in 1998-99 capital budget The City Council approved an action plan to resolve lighting issues at Fletcher Jones Motorcars on February 23, 1998, and initiated a 30 -day review period to determine the effectiveness of the lighting improvements. Staff has done several things to review the lighting during the month of March, and our findings are presented in this report. Additionally, a plan for screening the lighting further with landscaping along Jamboree Road and Bayview Way is discussed. Lighting Review The lighting requirements included in the action plan approved by the City Council are the following, all on automatic controls. • Upper parking lot off at 7:00 p.m. • Lower parking lot off at 10:00 p.m. • LED and most of service entrance off at 7:00 p.m. • Remainder of service entrance off at 10:00 p.m. • Metal halide in showroom interior off at dark, replaced by incandescent spots The Code Enforcement Supervisor visited the site at 7:30 and 10:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 21 and Sunday March 22. On both occasions, he found the lights to be functioning as required. He will visit the site again on Saturday, April 11, to provide an up-to-date report for the City Council meeting. I viewed the site from the Transportation Corridor at 9:15 p.m. on Thursday, March 12, and verified that the upper parking lot lights were off. I visited an Eastbluff home at 7:45 p.m. on Wednesday, March 18, and observed that the upper parking lot, the LED and the service entrance lights were off, except for the security lighting that is allowed to remain on later. I also observed that the showroom was darker than previously, resulting from the switch from metal halide to incandescent lights. The homeowner, Barbara Quist, commented that the lighting level at the dealership was much lower. Finally, I visited a home in the Bluffs at 7:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 24, and again observed that the lights were operating as required. From this home, which I also had visited before any lighting improvements were made, I could tell that the reflection of light off the Bay has been diminished. This homeowner, Hilary Thamer, also commented that the lighting has been improved significantly, although she still feels that landscaping is needed to reduce reflection to an acceptable level. On both March 18 and 24, I also visited the dealership, and confirmed that the lights were operating as required on both occasions. During the review period, I received telephone calls from two other homeowners with complaints about the lights being brighter, or remaining on later, on weekends than on weekdays. In addition, there was a specific complaint about the full service entrance lights remaining on throughout the entire nights of Saturday, March 14 and Sunday, March 15. I spoke to the Fletcher Jones General Manager about this incident, and his explanation was that filming for a commercial had been done on Friday, requiring adjustments to the lights for that event. When resetting the controls for normal operations, the service entrance lights had been missed. The problem was corrected on Monday, March 16, and the electrician was on standby all that night, in the event there was a problem. I have received no further complaints in this regard. Staff made another visit to the dealership during business hours on March 19, to verify that the lights are on automatic controls and that those controls are set as required in the action plan. The City's Senior Building Inspector who handles electrical matters, the Code Enforcement Supervisor and I observed each control box as Fletcher Jones' electrician ran it through its weekly program. We found that all the lights required to be on automatic timers are included in the control system. With one exception, the times set in the controls were as required, and the one in error was reset as we observed. The controls are set the same for seven days a week, so there is no reason for the lighting to be greater on weekends than weekdays. During this visit, staff also observed that locks were being installed on the control boxes to help prevent an inadvertent change in the timing such as occurred over the weekend of March 14 and 15. I received one additional complaint from a neighbor on March 26, regarding the service entrance lights coming on at 4:30 a.m. After I spoke with the General Manager, he reset the controls for those lights to come on at 5:00 a.m., and instructed his employees who open the business in the morning not to turn any lights on until 5:00. The service department does have early drop off service, and it is important for them to have the lights on at 5:00 a.m. for those customers. Based on our review of the lighting and input from the residential neighbors, staff concludes that Fletcher Jones Motorcars has completed everything required of the business in the action plan adopted by the City Council in February, and is therefore in compliance with the project's mitigation measures and conditions of approval. Page 2 Landscaping Staff has received a landscape plan from Lynn Capouya, Inc. The landscape architect worked with the independent lighting engineer who reviewed the project to determine the areas where landscape screening is needed, and how high the screening needs to be. Landscaping is recommended on the west side of Jamboree Road for approximately 450 feet south of Bayview Way, to screen glare and reflection from the building and the site lighting. This will mitigate impacts on residents of the Bluffs. In addition, landscaping is recommended for approximately 550 feet along the south side of Bayview Way. This will screen the building and site lighting and light reflecting off cars parked on Bayview Way, which impacts Eastbluff residents. The landscape architect tried to balance the City's desires to screen the light impacts and to maintain views of Upper Newport Bay for motorists. In addition, she provided options that will achieve screening effects over different time periods, depending on the budget allowed for the project. A basic strategy would include Silk oak and Toyon, with a plant material cost of approximately $5,325. With this strategy, screening of the indirect glare from the Fletcher Jones windows would be attained in about four years. An augmented strategy would add California sycamore and Western cottonwood to the list of plants, and would include a greater number and larger size of plant material. The cost for these materials would be approximately $54,625, and some screening of the window glare could be expected immediately. Other alternatives within this range of costs also could be chosen. In any event, it will take approximately 12 to 16 years for the trees to reach a height that will screen the upper parking lot lights. The work of the landscape architect and lighting engineer demonstrate that there are feasible landscape screening solutions. A specific strategy does not need to be selected at this time, in that the recommended season for planting the proposed trees is November to January. Therefore, staff suggests that this landscaping project be included for consideration in the 1998-99 capital budget. SHARON Z. WOOD Assistant City Manager o 4=z ,ti � - () � '0! 1.v. Page 3 Apr -10-98 01:58P QUIST INC. 714-721-1218 P.02 "RECEIVED AFTER AGENDA PRINTED:" a,-..1JL. HF la -5 Letter to the Mayor and City Council, City of Newport Beach Via Facsimile: 714 644-3039 Re: Agenda Item No, 25, April 13, 1998 Project: Review of Lighting at Fletcher Jones and Suggested Action to Include the Proposed Landscape Screening Project in the 1998-99 Capital Budget. Please accept this letter as a formal request to accept the proposed landscaping plan for feasible screening solutions to help mitigate the day and night time glare from the light reflection of Fletcher Jones Motorcar Facility. As this plan is a suggested project for the 1998-99 Capital Budget, and the Sales Tax revenue from this car agency benefits the entire City of Newport Beach, it seems prudent to approve this staff recommendation for further mitigation of the light impacts of the Fletcher Jones facility on surrounding communities. Very truly yours, Barbara A. Quist 2957 Catalpa St. Newport Beach, Ca, 92660 (714) 640-0352 Fax (714) 721-1218