75A - PH 1901 East First St - Laserfiche WebLink

Home Browse Search

Amend DA No. 2007 -01, VTTM No, 2013 -04 & SPR No. 2013 -03 August 26, 2013 Page 4 Project Background The project site previously contained a 75,300 square foot, two -story building that was built in 1978 and was continuously used as an athletic club. In 2007, the City approved several entitlements (Amendment Application No. 2007 -01, Environmental Impact Report No. 2006 -01, General Plan Amendment No. 2007 -01, Zoning Ordinance Amendment No, 2007 -01, Tentative Tract Map No. 2007 -01 and Site Plan Review No. 2007 -01) for the Metro East Mixed Use Overlay Zone (MEMU), a 200 -acre area of the City that is generally located east of the Santa Ana (1 -5) Freeway. The MEMU introduced development forms and uses that provided for the creation of a high - intensity, mixed -use urban village within a previously established mid and high -rise office environment. The overlay zone established standards which would fulfill objectives to create an active, mixed -use urban village where it is possible to live, work, shop and play within a short walk of each other. Concurrently with the MEMU approval, the City also approved the First and Cabrillo Towers mixed -use development, a 22- story and 23 -story high -rise project with 374 condominium units and approximately 8,800 square feet of commercial space. However, due to a significant shift in housing market conditions beginning in late 2007, the high rise project was never constructed and the buildings on the site remained vacant. General Plan and Zoning Analysis The General Plan land use designation for the site is District Center (DC), which allows for major development sites such as multi - family residential developments. District Centers are designed to serve as anchors to the City's commercial corridors, and to accommodate major commercial and residential development activity. The proposed project is consistent with the General Plan land use designation. The zoning for the site is Metro East Mixed Use (MEMU) Overlay Zone in the Active Urban sub - zone. The property has an underlying zone of Arterial Commercial (C5), but these standards do not apply for this application as the applicant is seeking to develop pursuant to the MEMU development standards, in order to develop to the MEMU standards the applicant must receive approval of an overlay zone site plan (SAMC 41- 595.5). This begins the zoning conversion process. Upon issuance of the utility release or the certificate of occupancy for the completed building(s), whichever comes first, the overlay zone becomes the sole zone on the property and the underlying zone ceases to exist. When the First and Cabrillo Towers project was approved in 2007, the process to permanently convert the zoning began. However, because the project was never constructed, the final conversion of the underlying zoning did not take place. The project proposed by Lyon Community Development has been designed to the MEMU - Active Urban standards and is consistent with this zoning designation. Upon completion of the project the zoning will be permanently converted. 75A -8