Item 28 - GPA No. 2020-07, AA No. 2020-05 - Westview Housing

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GPA No. 2020-07, AA No. 2020-05 - Westview Housing January 19, 2021 Page 6 Amendment Application The subject site is zoned General Commercial (C2). The development standards pertaining to the commercial zoning district would render the project unfeasible. Approval of an amendment application to change the zoning district is required for the project (Exhibit 3). The Specific Development (SD) designation allows flexibility of the uses and development standards that are tailored to a unique and specific project. There are two nearby Specific Developments along Westminster Avenue/17t" Street: SD No. 36 (Solare Apartment Homes) and, SD No. 41 (San Tropez Apartment Homes). In addition, the proposed project is similar in scale and density with several existing multi -family apartment projects including Solare Apartment Homes, San Tropez Apartment Homes and Villa Portofino which are three -stories and range from 29 to 38 dwelling units per acre. Additionally, the density is similar to the density 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 and permits heights between four and ten stories. If the zone change is approved, site -specific objectives, policies and development standards will be used to guide the development of the proposed project such as setbacks, parking and height to allow the exclusive entitlement of the affordable housing project. The SD document has been drafted to be consistent with the project and prohibits future modifications to enlarge or reduce the size of the project. The zone change needs to be approved in conjunction with the proposed General Plan Amendment in order for the project to be consistent with the General Plan. California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) A Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND) including several technical studies (Air Quality, Green House Gas, and Energy modeling, Cultural Resource Assessment, Preliminary Geotechnical and Infiltration study, Phase I Environmental Site Assessment, Traffic Impact Analysis, Preliminary WQMP, Noise and Vibration) was prepared for the project. No areas of significance or unavoidable impacts were determined to occur from the construction or operation of the proposed project with the implementation of mitigation measures (Exhibit 1). The MND was available for public review and comment for 20-days as required by CEQA. A total of two comments were received: one from the Orange County Fire Authority and the second from a resident. Written responses to the comments were prepared and incorporated into the environmental document. As part of the MND and in response to comments received at the Sunshine meeting, a Traffic Impact Analysis prepared by Fehr & Peers and reviewed by the Public Works Agency. The study concludes that the project would generate 462 daily trips (31 a.m. peak trips and 37 p.m. peak trips). The study also analyzed if the project would substantially increase traffic on the adjacent residential streets (16t" Street and Huron Drive). Although there is no direct vehicular access or egress to Huron Drive, the project