32A - DENSITY BONUS EDWARD PADILLA JR

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DBA 2010-01 and TTM 2009-01 August 9, 2010 Page 4 City of Santa Ana Permitted Densities No. of units allowed under LR-7 General Plan 2 No. of units allowed under R2 Zoning 4 No. of units proposed 5 - 20% increase from zoning/250% increase from GP Because the City's existing Density Bonus Law has not been amended to comply with the most current State Density Bonus Law and because the SAMC states that it shall be in compliance with the State law "as it may be amended from time to time," the provisions of the State law will take precedence in this case. The State law and the SAMC state that "density bonus" means a density increase over the otherwise maximum allowable residential density under the applicable zoning ordinance and land use element of the general plan. State law, however, does not interpret the granting of a density bonus in excess of the density found within the agency's General Plan to constitute inconsistency with the General Plan. The City's Zoning and General Plan land use designations for this property are inconsistent with each other. As such, staff finds that the density provisions of the R2 zone are the most appropriate to apply in this case, which results in an effective density increase of 20 percent. Under State Law, in order to be eligible for this density increase, the applicant must provide a minimum of 10 percent of the units to Lower income households. In this case, the applicant will be providing one unit, or 20 percent, of the proposed development to a low income household, which is in excess of the minimum requirement. The applicant is also requesting two deviations from the development standards to facilitate the construction of the affordable unit. The R2 zoning district establishes a minimum lot area for lots containing two or more dwellings. It requires 6,000 square feet for the first unit, and 3,000 square feet for each additional unit. Since the lot is 16,879 square feet, a total of four units are allowed. A lot size of 18,000 square feet would be required to construct five units. The applicant is requesting a deviation from the minimum lot size of 18,000 square feet for five units, to 16,879 square feet - a reduction of 1,121 square feet. The R2 zone requires that no more than two dwelling units, other than townhouses, be attached together. The applicant could have developed this site using the Townhouse standards, but these are intended for much larger developments and would have been incompatible with the scale and character of the neighborhood. The applicant is requesting a deviation from this standard to allow three units, rather than two, to be attached. With the approval of the two deviations requested by the applicant, the project will comply with all applicable development standards established in the R2 zoning district and the Citywide Design Guidelines. Additionally the project will be consistent with the purpose of the General Plan Land Use Element, as it will further the goals and policies of the plan and not obstruct their attainment. Specifically, it would further the following General Plan Land Use Element goals and policies: 32A-6