FULL PACKET_2009-05-18 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

CK D G harles, Kane di Dye LLP City of Santa Ana May 1, 2009 Page 2 original zoning of this parcel for office and certain limited retail was not incompatible with the hotel use on the Doubletree Club parcel. While Doubletree Club has a substantial need for daytime parking, its peak parking needs are night and weekends, while office and retail peak needs are daytime. This did not result in additional stress on already limited parking. The urban village concept not only accommodates the parking needs of the project, but also enhances the desirability of this property, and promotes the forward-looking thinking and positive image of the City of Santa Ana. Other owners in this project, including Doubletree Club, have made substantial investments in the project in reliance upon the urban village concept. Nowhere in the Staff Report or Nexus' Application is there any mention of the need for, or benefits of, changing this concept. The reason simply cannot be the need for another hotel in the area. In addition to the Doubletree Club Hotel on-site, there is also a Doubletree Hotel immediately across MacArthur Boulevard. Nothing in the Nexus Application indicates any shortage of hotel rooms that would justify such a major conceptual change. For this reason alone, the Application of Nexus for a Zone Amendment and Conditional Use Permit should be denied. Second, on a very practical level, the proposed Parking Variance which reduces the number of available parking spaces required by Section 41-1344 of the Santa Ana Municipal Code for the proposed development will materially exacerbate an already over-crowded parking situation during hours of peak need. In its. Application, Nexus asserts that the number of parking spaces the Code requires far the proposed development is 204, while only 183 parking spaces are available. Of the 183 available spaces 25 are already allocated to Double Tree Club pursuant to those certain Parking Agreements attached hereto as Exhibit "A." The Planning Commission Staff Report acknowledged that the actual shortfall in the Code-required parking spaces is at least 46. The parking analysis prepared on behalf of Nexus by Fehr & Peers suggests that 183 spaces are available on the shared surface lot during peak hours, and that the proposed hotel will require only 182. However, this study fails to recognize that 25 of the 183 spaces are already allocated to Doubletree Club, leaving only 158 spaces available to satisfy the requirement of 182 spaces. The parking study prepared by Fehr & Peers indicates that during evenings and weekends, when the parking demand is even higher, the hotel will require 197 spaces (although only 158 are available). The proposed solution is "tandem valet parking" in a portion of the surface lot and parking in the adjacent 500-car parking structures. Since the Fehr & Peers' parking study appears on it surface to be inadequate, Doubletree Club retained the well-recognized parking consulting firm Walker Parking Consultants ("Walker") to further analyze the parking requirements for the proposed Marriott Courtyard and to review the Fehr & Peers study. A copy of Walker's parking study is attached hereto for 75B-234