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Appeal Application No. 2020-02, ER No. 2018-13 & AA No. 2020-04 — 4th and Mortimer Mixed -Use <br />Development <br />December 1, 2020 <br />Page 10 <br />Staff Response: CEQA Guidelines Section 15152(f) does not prohibit use of an <br />addendum where the original EIR identified significant and unavoidable impacts. <br />Instead, this section states, "A later EIR shall be required when the initial study or <br />other analysis finds that the later project may cause significant effects on the <br />environmental that were not adequately addressed in the prior EIR." As documented <br />in the technical reports prepared for the 4th and Mortimer Mixed -Use project and the <br />addendum, the 4th and Mortimer Mixed -Use project will not cause new significant <br />effects that were not previously disclosed in the TZC EIR. <br />Moreover, the cited court case does not apply. The case concludes that where a <br />subsequent project would result in new significant impacts (thus requiring a <br />subsequent or supplemental EIR), a statement of overriding considerations <br />specifically tied to that project must be adopted. Again, the subject project has no <br />new significant impacts, therefore no subsequent or supplemental EIR is required. <br />II. The appellant states that, "The City failed to comply with the Housing Opportunity Ordinance <br />("HOO") by failing to require the developer to include affordable housing units in the project." <br />Summary of Appeal Reasoning: The appellant claims that the project failed to comply with <br />the Housing Opportunity Ordinance (HOO) pursuant to the Santa Ana Municipal Code <br />(SAMC). Specifically, the appellant states that the HOO applies to the project because it <br />"exceeds densities allowed by current general plan and zoning" and as such the project <br />,'must provide inclusionary housing for low-income residents." The appellant specifically <br />sites SAMC Sections 41-1902(a) and (b). The appellant further provides findings regarding <br />the project inconsistency with the zoning, massing and density allowed by the current <br />general plan and zoning. The appellant suggests that the project requires amendments to <br />the zoning that will increase the residential density allowed by the general plan and zoning <br />code, thereby trigging the HOO and requiring that the developer provide affordable housing. <br />Staff Response: The HOO does not apply to the project because the project does not <br />exceed the residential density permitted in the general plan. As recently amended, the HOO <br />only applies when a project requires a general plan amendment. The proposed <br />development does not require a general plan amendment application. <br />Site A is zoned Transit Zoning Code (TZC) with a downtown subzone designation and has <br />a General Plan designation of District Center (DC). The development intensity in the DC for <br />the downtown area is based on a combination of floor area ratio (FAR) and zoning overlay <br />and/or development standards, but generally allows up to a maximum of 90 dwelling units <br />per acre (du/ac) and a maximum FAR of 3.0 (City of Santa Ana General Plan Land Use <br />Element, pg. A-11). <br />Site A is approximately 1.423-acres in size and is proposed to be developed as a mixed - <br />use commercial/residential structure with 99 residential units, a 3,847-square-foot eating <br />establishment, and 7,514 square feet of retail space. As proposed, Site A would have a <br />density of 69.6 du/ac and an FAR of 2.4. Therefore, Site A would not exceed the allowable <br />density nor the allowable FAR by the DC general plan designation. <br />75C-10 <br />