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SPR No..2020-03/ VAR No. 2020-06/AA No. 2020-04 — 411 and Mortimer Mixed -Use Development October 12, 2020 Page 6 massing standards for Site B, review and approval is required by the Planning Commission. Lastly, Section 41-664 of the SAMC requires a public hearing for the proposed amendment application to be reviewed by the Planning Commission and the City Council, with the Planning Commission as a recommending body and the City Council as the approving body. Since the project is seeking approval of an amendment application for a zone change on Site B to change the subzone from UN- 2 to the Urban Center (UC), review and approval of an amendment application is required by the Planning Commission and City Council. Amendment Application The proposed project includes construction of two new Lined Block buildings, one of which would be a maximum of seven stories in height with a floor area ratio (FAR) of 2.4 (Site A) and one that would be five stories in height with an FAR of 1.8 (Site B). However, the UN-2 subzone does not include Lined Block buildings as a permitted building type. Therefore, the project would require an amendment application for a zone change on Site B from the UN-2 subzone to the Urban Center (UC) subzone. The UC subzone was selected in order to maintain aesthetic consistency with the proposed building on Site A. In addition, under the current UN-2 subzone, residential buildings with densities of up to 50 dwelling units per acre (DU/acre) are permitted. The proposed project on Site B involves development of a residential building with a density of approximately 54 DU/acre, which represents a slightly higher intensity use than the UN-2 subzone allowable density range of no more than 50 DU/acre. However, Site B is surrounded by properties with higher intensity developments that are zoned DT and UC to the west and south. In addition, a review of the existing TZC map seen in Exhibit 12 demonstrates that it is was the original intent of the TZC to place UC subzones as both a buffer and a transition between the uses permitted in the high density Downtown (DT) subzone and the less intense UN-2 neighborhoods surrounding it. While the adopted TZC allowed for the integration of new infill development into existing neighborhoods, reuse of existing buildings, and creation of new mixed use and transit -oriented development, it intended to transition the subzones with higher allowable densities to those that permitted lower density ranges. With the exception of Site B, all of the adjacent DT subzone parcels are surrounded by UC subzone parcels. The proposed change to the UC designation would be consistent with the existing adjacent parcels that surround the DT subzone. Although the TZC provides for a mixture of development types situated within walking distance of many modes of transit (e.g., public transit, pedestrian, cyclists and automobiles), it did not contemplate the precise route of the OC Streetcar at the time of its adoption in 2010. An eastbound segment of the streetcar runs along the project site along Fourth Street with a stop immediately adjacent to the project at Fourth and French streets. The streetcar then proceeds northbound one block to Mortimer Street, bisecting the two project sites and advancing to Santa Ana Boulevard towards the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center. As a gateway project along the streetcar line, the UC subzone facilitates a design that better reflects a sense of downtown and builds upon allowable planning and architectural intensities, affirmatively addressing the pedestrian orientation at all street frontages, specifically along Fourth and Mortimer streets. Furthermore, the zone change 75C-341