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Density Bonus Agreement for 2222 East First Street <br />October 16, 2018 <br />Page 2 <br />2151 E. First Street has 71 units of permanent supportive housing is fully occupied. First <br />Street Apartments at 1449 E. First St. is under construction and will have 68 units of multi- <br />family housing. <br />Two additional affordable housing projects are entitled on East First Street within 320 feet <br />of each other. The current project under consideration, Villa Court Senior Apartments, <br />includes 91 studio units, 262 one -bedroom units and 65 two-bedroom units. The family <br />housing project, First Point I and ll, includes 27 one -bedroom units, 239 two-bedroom units, <br />146 three-bedroom units, and 140 four-bedroom units. <br />If the two entitled projects, Villa Court and First Point I and II, are developed, there will be <br />over 1,100 affordable housing projects along the First Street corridor between 1-5 and <br />Grand. <br />The City has not made any commitment in any form to provide funding for the development <br />of this project. The approval of the Density Bonus Agreement shall not be construed as <br />approval of the financing requested by the developer for the project and does not bind the <br />City in any form to provide future funding for the development of the project. <br />The Density Bonus Agreement (DBA) will allow for 418 affordable units on a 3.17 -acre site. <br />The previously approved MEMU Environmental Impact Report (EIR) analyzes the impact of <br />increased density based on a typical density of 90 dwelling units per acre. The proposed <br />Density Bonus exceeds the density analyzed in the EIR. The Traffic Impact Analysis <br />prepared on this project indicates that the project will not generate any new significant traffic <br />impacts. The MEMU requires 15% publically accessible open space for multi -family projects <br />or approximately 1/2 acre for this project. The project was approved with a Housing Density <br />Bonus concession reducing the amount of open space required to less than 1/8 acre. The <br />MEMU requires two parking spaces per unit inclusive of guest parking or 836 spaces for <br />this project. The project was approved with a reduced number of parking spaces pursuant <br />to AB 744. As a result, the required parking for this project is '/z parking space per unit or <br />approximately 213 spaces. <br />In summary, the Density Bonus Agreement as written will facilitate development of an affordable <br />senior rental housing project that serves a group that was not identified as a priority population and <br />locates two affordable housing projects within close proximity of each other contrary to the purpose <br />and intent of the Santa Ana Municipal Code Article XVI.I — Density Bonus for Affordable Housing. <br />DISCUSSION <br />The California Density Bonus Law allows developers to seek increases in allowed zoning density <br />by providing additional affordable housing units on-site. To make development of on-site affordable <br />housing units feasible, the law allows developers to request incentives or waivers, which are <br />essentially variances from development standards. The first version of the Density Bonus Law was <br />60A-2 <br />