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4. DENSITY BONUS APPLICATION NO.2010-02 Filed by Orange Housing Development Corporation and C & C Development requesting to allow afive-unit residential development at 2034 & 2038 North Bush Street located in the Two Family Residential (R2) zoning district. PUBLISHED IN THE ORANGE COUNTY REPORTER: December 1, 2010 PUBLICLY NOTICED: December 1, 2010 • RECOMMENDATION: Adopt a resolution approving deviations from the Two-Story Residence (R2) development standards contained in Section 41-246 et seq. of the Santa Ana Municipal code (SAMC) as allowed by SAMC Section 41-606 and the State of California government Code Section 65915-65918 as an incentive to affordable housing production. Senior Planner Lucy Linnaus presented the staff report and recommendation. Commission discussion ensued regarding public outreach, parking spill over to the neighborhood, project funding, project history requests for proposals process, and affordable housing needs. The public hearing was opened. Carlos Castaneda, neighborhood resident, expressed his opposition to the project. He stated that the project would cause parking impacts because the new residents will use their garages for storage, rather than vehicle parking. He also expressed concern over the project design and density. He expressed the opinion that he would prefer to see the property kept as a vacant lot. Eugen Andres, owner of the property containing the Green Parrot restaurant, expressed his opposition to the project citing the project's density. Applicant Barry Cottle responded to the speakers' concerns regarding parking impacts, management, and over-crowding. He stated that their company owns and manages their apartment projects throughout Santa Ana. Residents must use garages to park cars. They are requalified each year to ensure that they are still income eligible and units are inspected periodically to control for over- crowding. In response to a question regarding the project's energy and water efficiency, Project Manager Todd Cottle stated that drought tolerant landscaping is standard for their projects and that units use water efficient fixtures and tankless water heaters. Vance Graham, project architect, provided details regarding the project's building materials. The public hearing was closed. The item was brought back for further Planning Commission discussion. • Commissioner Acosta stated that the approval of the Density Bonus Agreement, which would allow for one additional unit over that which would be allowed under the existing density for a total of five units, was an inappropriate density for this neighborhood based on his field review of the area. He expressed the desire to retain the lot in its current vacant state. Although he praised the project's overall design, he stated that it was a bad location for this project. Planning Commission Minutes Page 4 of 7 December 13, 2010