2021-004 - Approving General Plan Amendment No. 2020-07

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Plan Amendment itself, are compatible with the objectives, policies, general land uses, and programs specified in the General Plan, for the following reasons: i. The proposed General Plan land use designation for the project area is Urban Neighborhood, which applies to residential areas with pedestrian oriented commercial uses. The project is an 85-unit multi- family affordable housing project for very -low income households and permanent supportive housing units for persons experiencing chronic homelessness. The project will include on -site service providers and has access to Orange County Transportation Authority bus routes at Westminster Avenue and Fairview Street. The ground floor along Westminster Avenue has been designed to incorporate a lobby at the corner of Westminster Avenue and Huron Drive, service provider offices at the northeast corner of the development and residential patios with direct street access. In addition, this amendment is consistent with Table A-3 (Correlation of Land Use Designation and Zoning Districts) of the General Plan Land Use Element. ii. The Westminster Avenue/Seventeenth Street corridor has a variety of existing land use designations that include Urban Neighborhood, Medium Density Residential, General Commercial, Professional and Administrative Office, District Center, and Institutional. The Urban Neighborhood Designation will allow for use residential use of the property. In addition, multi -family uses are often used in planning and zoning practice to buffer higher intensity uses like commercial uses from single-family residential uses as multi -family and single-family uses are more compatible in nature to each other. The project is similar in scale and density to several nearby multi- family developments to the east and west along Seventeenth Street such as Solare Apartment Homes, San Tropez Apartment Homes and Villa Portofino which are three -stories in height and range from 29 to 38 dwelling units per acre. Additionally, the project's density and height is similar to those permitted within the Harbor Mixed - Use Transit Corridor Specific Plan - Transit Node North which is west of the project site and permits a range of 30 to 50 dwelling units per acre. The General Plan Amendment will support several goals and policies of the General Plan, including the Land Use Element and Housing Element. Specifically, the project will be consistent with Land Use Element Goal 1 to promote a balance of land uses to address basic community needs. Policy 1.5 states a desire maintain and foster a variety of residential land uses. Housing Element Goal 2 encourages a diversity of quality housing, affordability levels, and living experiences that accommodate Santa Ana's residents and workforce of all household types, income levels, and age groups to Resolution No. 2021-004 Page 2 of 5