3B Public Hearing 2011 0321 - Laserfiche WebLink

Home

General Plan Amendments 2 March 21, 201 I amended at that time, as the TOD concepts were generally consistent with its transit oriented development policies. On April 5. 2010, the City Council adopted a new I-lousing Element consistent with state law. The new Element superseded the 2002 Housing Element and provided housing policy and program recommendations through 2014. Although the 2010 I- lousing Element is technically part of the General Plan, it is formatted as a separate document due to its length, level of detail, and timeline. The 2002 General Plan document (formatted as a three ring binder) included an executive summary of the I-lousing Element (Chapter 9). The Summary became obsolete in March 2010 when the City adopted the new Housing Element. In July 2010. the City received a letter from the State Department of I- lousing and Community Development (1-1CD) regarding the adopted Housing Element. The State indicated the document was fully compliant with the California Government Code with one exception: a program was needed indicating that the City would add "reasonable accommodations' language to the San Leandro Zoning Code. The City is using the General Plan Consistency Amendments as an opportunity to make that addition. Additionally. on September 20, 2010 the City Council approved an amendment to the City's Administrative Code that formally adopted changes to the City's Reasonable Accommodation policy pursuant to the direction 1-1CD staff gave the City. On February 11. 2011 MCI) issued a letter of compliance to the City indicating that the City's I-lousing Element was officially final and in compliance with state law. On February 17, 2011 the Planning Commission reviewed the proposed changes to the General Plan and voted unanimously to recommend to the City Council that the changes be approved. DISCUSSION OF PROPOSED CHANCES General Plan Provisions far the TOD Area. as Adopted in 2002 Although the General Plan adopted in 2002 was strongly supportive of transit - oriented growth and higher densities around the Downtown BART Station, it did not presume the same mix of land uses and development intensities ultimately adopted through the TOD Strategy. For example. the 2002 General Plan Map designated properties west of the BART Station for office development and designated land at the north end of Alvarado Street for mixed use, with an emphasis on office uses. General Plan Actions 6.10 -A. 6.10 -13, 7.12 -A, 7.12 -C indicate the preferred uses in several subareas around the BART Station. In some cases, these actions no longer match the current proposals for these areas. Maximum densities allowed by the General Plan were 24 units per acre, with some provision for higher densities (up to 40 units per acre) on transit opportunity sites. Maximum intensities for non - residential and mixed use properties were capped at a floor area ratio (FAR) of 1.0, with some allowance for projects with FARs over 1.0 where upper story housing was provided. Action 13.04 -B of the General Plan called for minimum densities of 18 units per acre (or 0.5 FAR) near the BART Station. The General Plan did not explicitly quantify the development capacity of the TOD area but its population and employment forecasts implied modest growth between 2000 and 2015. General Plan narrative suggests the Downtown subarea was expected to gain 900 residents (or about 350 housing units) during this 15 year time period. The city of San Leandro as a whole was projected to add 1,470 households and 9,275 jobs between 2000 and 2015.