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 December 14, 2020 Page 5 General Plan Amendment The applicant is requesting approval of a General Plan Amendment to change the General Plan land use designation from General Commercial (GC) to Urban Neighborhood (UN) with a floor area ratio of 1.09 and 42 dwelling units per acre (Exhibit 2). Per the General Plan, the UN land use designation applies primarily to residential areas with pedestrian oriented commercial uses, schools and small parks. The UN allows for a mix of residential uses and housing types, such as mid to low-rise multiple -family, townhouses and single-family dwellings; with some opportunities for live -work, neighborhood serving retail and service, public spaces and other similar uses. Street connectivity is desirable, allowing for a high degree of walkability, transit options,, and other forms of transportation including pedestrian and bicycle travel. The intensity standard for the UN land use ranges from a floor area ratio of 0.5 to 3.0 with the residential density based on a combination of floor area ratio and zoning development standards. The project is consistent with the intent, character and intensity standards of the UN land use designation. In addition, the Westminster Avenue/Seventeenth Street corridor has a variety of existing land use designations which includes Urban Neighborhood, Medium Density Residential, General Commercial, Professional and Administrative Office, District Center and Institutional. Moreover, the project supports and furthers several goals and policies of the General Plan. Specifically, the project supports Land Use Element Goal 1 to promote a balance of land uses to address basic community needs; Housing Element Goal 2 to provide 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 foster an inclusive community; and Housing Element Goal 3 to increase opportunities for low and moderate income individuals and families to find quality housing opportunities and afford a greater choice of rental or homeownership opportunities. 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 Avenuell7fh 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.