ITEM 8-A
Santa Monica, California
Planning Commission Mtg: April 6, 1994
TO: The Honorable Planning Commission
FROM: Planning Staff
SUBJECT: Text Amendment 94-003 to Amend Article IX of the
Santa Monica Municipal Code to Implement the
Affordable Housing Ordinance.
Address: Citywide
Applicant: City of Santa Monica
INTRODUCTION
Action: Approval of text amendment to implement the provisions
of the Affordable Housing Ordinance.
Recommendation: Approval.
Permit Streamlining Expiration Date: Not applicable.
SITE LOCATION AND DESCRIPTION
The amendments are not site specific.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The proposed amendments would incorporate into the Municipal Code
the provisions set forth in Ordinance 1689 (CCS), an interim
ordinance which provides development standards to facilitate the
construction of affordable housing in the City. The Affordable
Housing Ordinance was initially adopted as Ordinance 1635 (CCS)
in July, 1992. Many of the provisions of this ordinance were
subsequently incorporated into the Municipal Code with the
adoption of the Ordinance 1687 (CCS), which also implemented the
Commercial Development Standards Program. This text amendment
addresses the remaining measures of the interim ordinance,
including the type of housing permitted in each residential
zoning district as well as in the Main Street Commercial District
(CM), the Commercial Professional (CP) District, and Civic Center
(CC) District. In addition, the text amendment proposes a
housing development incentives Code section and an affordable
housing height incentive. The proposed text amendment and
resolution of intention is contained in Attachment A.
MUNICIPAL CODE AND GENERAL PLAN CONFORMANCE
The proposed project is consistent with the Municipal Code and in
conformity with the General Plan in that the amendments
facilitate the development of affordable housing without
compromising development standards intended to protect the
character and scale of existing neighborhoods.
CEQA STATUS
The project is categorically exempt from the provisions of CEQA,
pursuant to Class 5, Alterations in Land Use Limitations of the
City of Santa Monica Guidelines for Implementation of CEQA.
RENT CONTROL STATUS
Not applicable.
FEES
Not applicable.
PUBLIC NOTIFICATION
Notice of the proposed amendments was published in the Outlook at
least ten days prior to the hearing date and mailed to interested
parties (Attachment C).
ANALYSIS
Permitted Uses
In order to increase the range of available housing opportunities
in the City, the proposed text amendment establishes the
following housing types as either permitted or conditionally
permitted uses in most residential districts as well as in the
Main Street (CM) and Commercial Professional (CP) districts:
congregate housing, domestic violence shelters, homeless
shelters, senior housing, senior group housing, single room
occupancy housing, and transitional housing. Transitional
housing would also be permitted in the Civic Center (CC)
district. A matrix showing the proposed permitted and
conditionally permitted uses by zone is contained in Attachment
B.
Affordable Housing Height Incentive
The text amendment proposes modifying the property development
standards section of each residential district as well as the CM
and CP districts to allow affordable housing projects to be
constructed without a limit on the number of stories as long as
the building height does not exceed the maximum number of feet
allowed in the district.
Housing Development Incentives
A new Housing Development Incentives section is proposed to allow
for the following special housing development standards:
o The height of an affordable housing project in a non-
residential district may exceed the district height limit
by 10 feet.
o Affordable Housing Projects located in non-residential
zoning districts may have a Floor Area Ratio equal to the
applicable base FAR limitation of the underlying zoning
district plus 0.5 times the floor area devoted to such
units. In mixed-use projects, such bonus may be utilized
in the residential portion of the project only. This
section is not applicable to project which have already
received a FAR bonus pursuant to Zoning Ordinance
provisions providing a FAR bonus for projects which include
affordable residential units. To the extent a project
qualifies for a density bonus under state law, any bonus
granted under this section shall be counted toward
satisfying the state density bonus requirement.
o In multi-family residential district, congregate housing,
single room occupancy housing and homeless shelters, when
not developed as individual dwelling units, and
transitional housing are not subject to the district's
density standard. Instead, the number of beds shall be
limited to 3 times the maximum number of dwelling units
which would otherwise be permitted.
o Affordable housing projects located on corner parcels, the
street frontage of which requires that the property line
adjacent to the alley be considered a side parcel line, may
include one-half of the alley width toward the sideyard
setback requirement. In no case may this setback be less
than 4 feet from the parcel line.
o Affordable housing projects on parcels greater than 70 feet
in width need only provide a 4 foot unexcavated area along
one side property line.
Staff recommends the following modification to the existing
interim ordinance provision regarding the maximum unit density
for affordable housing projects to clarify that projects only
qualify for a 25% local density bonus if the project is also
eligible for the state density bonus.
o Affordable housing projects developed with individual units
which meet the requirements for a density bonus under state
law, are also entitled to a separate local density bonus of
25%. Any density bonus received for affordable housing
pursuant to other Zoning Ordinance provisions shall count
toward the local density bonus, so that in no event shall
the total density bonus for affordable housing under local
provisions exceed 25%, or the total density bonus including
the state density bonus exceed 50%.
On October 12, 1993, the City Council also directed staff to
incorporate the following additional incentive in the Affordable
Housing Ordinance:
o Affordable housing projects located in residential
districts on parcels which abut or are located across an
alley from a non-residential district with a maximum height
limit equal to or greater than the height limit for a
pitched roof in the residential district shall not be
subject to the requirements for a pitched roof and the flat
roof may achieve the height established for a pitched roof.
For example, this amendment would allow a project in the NW-R2
district that is adjacent to the C6 District along Wilshire
Boulevard to be constructed to a flat roof height of 30 feet
instead of a flat roof height of 23 feet. The Planning
Commission reviewed and recommended approval of this amendment at
its August 4, 1993 meeting.
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Planning Commission recommend to the
City Council adoption of the proposed text amendment as set forth
in Attachment A and based on the following findings.
FINDINGS
1. The proposed text amendment is consistent in principle with
the goals, objectives, policies, land uses, and programs
specified in the adopted General Plan in that it provides
standards to facilitate the development of a variety of
housing opportunities. thereby assisting in the provision
of adequate housing for all City residents.
2. The public health, safety, and general welfare require the
adoption of the proposed amendment in that the amendment
includes incentives to encourage the construction of
affordable housing and increase housing opportunities in
the City for low and moderate income persons.
Prepared by: Amanda Schachter, Senior Planner
Attachments:
A. Proposed Text Amendment and Resolution of Intention
B. Permitted and Conditionally Permitted Uses Matrix
C. Notice
April 5, 1994