HomeMy WebLinkAboutCORRESPONDENCE - 75A FROM PBAMitre-Ramirez, Norma
From: Huizar, Maria
Sent: Monday, September 16, 2013 12:01 PM
To: Mitre-Ramirez, Norma (NMitre-Ramirez@santa-ana.org); Norma Orozco; Trujillo, Rose
Ann
Subject: FW: Additional Information - Item 75A
Please include in agenda packet. Thank you
From: Trevino, Jay
Sent: Saturday, September 14, 2013 1:39 PM
To: O'Rourke, Kevin
Cc: Kurita, Debbie; Rojas, Carlos; Lawrence, Mark; Carvalho, Sonia R.; Hodge, Ryan; Haluza, Karen
Subject: Additional Information - Item 75A
Mayor and Council,
Staff has received a few questions from Council members about the Lyon project - Item 75A on your
September 16 agenda. We wanted to update the full Council.
Affordable Housing
This project is exempt from the Housing Opportunity Ordinance (HOO) because it has a development
agreement that already contains an affordable housing requirement. You may recall that, when the Housing
Opportunity Ordinance was adopted, the City grandfathered a handful of projects that were already in the
pipeline and already had affordable housing requirements under their existing development agreements. I
believe this is the last of the projects that were grandfathered. The others included The Met and The
Marke, both of which are located along MacArthur Blvd.
The development agreement for this project requires a $3,000 per unit affordable housing in-lieu fee. The
total fee would amount to $762,000 for the 254-unit project. But while the project may be exempt from the
HOO the amount of the in-lieu fee is negotiable. In other words, the City Council could negotiate with the
developer to increase/decrease this fee at your discretion. However, staff has recommended staying with
the $3,000/per unit fee for consistency; it's what the City approved for both The Met and The Marke.
Other Development Agreement Provisions
PARKS - Similar to the requirements for The Met and The Marke, this development agreement also
requires a parks in-lieu fee. The amount of the fee in the existing agreement is a flat $1.45
million. Lyon has agreed to pay this fee even though it proposes 120 fewer units than were
approved for the previous project approved for this site.
PUBLIC ART - Though the existing development agreement did not have a public art requirement,
staff has renegotiated and Lyon has agreed to commit $125,000 toward a public art piece to be
installed in a prominent public location on this site. The agreement calls for the plans for the art
piece to be submitted for review and approval by the Planning Commission.
Public Input
CM 09116113
Additional Staff Correspondence.
75A
Adjacent property owners to the east of Lyon's project attended the Planning Commission meeting and
have more recently contacted members of the City Council in meetings, phone calls and emails.
The crux of the neighbors' concerns relate to the eastern edge of Lyon's project. Neighbors have requested
that Lyon construct a masonry wall and landscaping along the eastern property line to serve as a buffer
between the properties.
This morning I received word from Lyon that it has entered into an agreement with neighboring owner
Daniel Scinto regarding the wall and landscaping issues. I've asked for copy of the agreement to share
with the Council but haven't received it yet. The message from Lyon indicated that they've agreed to
construct an 8' tall masonry wall along the eastern property line and also to make landscaping
enhancements, consisting of trees and groundcovers, on the neighbors' properties.
Staff recommends that the Council consider adding a requirement memorializing the block wall
requirement. We do not recommend that the City add a requirement for the landscaping, however, because
it is to be located on the neighbors' properties. We believe the agreement among the property owners will
adequately address the landscaping issue.
Please let us know should you have any questions.
9/16/2013 4:03 PM
4:03 PM