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ADMINISTRATIVE REVIEW DRAFT Street and parts of MacArthur Boulevard, and in Downtown San Leandro. Policies throughout the Plan, especially in the Land Use Element, address the need for affordable housing and the desire to include higher densities in new projects. The policies specifically promote a mix of price ranges, housing construction by nonprofit developers, mixed use projects along transit corridors, and social services within new affordable housing development. The General Plan identifies 359 acres in San Leandro as High Density Residential and 279 acres as Mixed Use. Densities of 24 units per acre are allowed in these areas, although the Plan acknowledges that substantial density bonuses may be granted for projects which include public amenities, provide affordable housing, or are located near transit facilities. The General Plan also speaks to the need to conserve and reinvest in the City's existing housing stock. A major section of the Land Use Element addresses Residential Neighborhoods, with policies strongly supporting housing maintenance and discouraging residential "teardowns." The Historic Preservation and Community Design Element likewise addresses the conservation of the City's older housing stock, much of which is relatively affordable. Some of the new General Plan policies have the potential to become housing constraints if they are interpreted too narrowly. For instance, Policy 2.05 recommends that alterations, additions, and infill development be compatible with existing homes and Policy 1.04 requires the attractive treatment of front yard areas. The determination of what is "attractive" or `compatible" is subjective and could lead to restrictive or inconsistent standards for the review future projects. To avoid such an outcome, the General Plan proposes that the City adopt residential design guidelines (Action 42.04-A). The guidelines would provide a means of clearly laying out the City's expectations for residential design and would reduce uncertainty. Conclusions. The General Plan is not a governmental constraint to housing development and strongly supports the goal of increasing the City's affordable and higher density housing supply. It also strongly supports conservation of the existing housing stock. Residential Development Standards Analysis. Basic residential development standards for San Leandro are summarized in Table 5-1. The table indicates the minimum lot size requirements, minimum site area per unit, setbacks, height restrictions, and open space requirements that apply in each of the City's residential zoning districts. San Leandro has four residential base districts, RO (Residential -Outer), RS (Residential Single -Family), RD (Residential Duplex), and RM (Residential Multi -Family). The RS and RM districts each include "subdistricts" with similar use standards but different setback or density requirements. The RO district applies only in the Mulford Gardens neighborhood of West San Leandro. RO recognizes the unique development pattern in that neighborhood, which was originally platted in unincorporated Alameda County and subsequently developed with two detached homes per lot on many parcels. For instance, animal husbandry (e.g., raising horses, cows, goats, etc.) is still permitted in this zone. The district has an 8,000 square foot minimum lot requirement. However, owners of 12,000 square foot parcels (the base parcel size when the land was initially subdivided) are permitted to construct two HOUSING ELEMENT 5-2 SAN LEANDRO GENERAL PLAN J4(00