Laserfiche WebLink
DRAFT <br />Mr. Dolan stated that the second reason is that the required RHNA housing must go <br />somewhere, and if it does not go into Hacienda, it will go somewhere else throughout <br />the City. He noted that in some ways, if it goes elsewhere, the City will get the housing <br />and the office anyway; however, the City thinks that Hacienda is the right location to put <br />both, as envisioned in the General Plan. <br />Mr. Dolan continued that the third reason for staff's support of this change, which is very <br />important, is that the Housing Element EIR documents evaluated a large amount of <br />development. He indicated that basically, this scenario where the office number is not <br />reduced but residential is added on top of it works in all infrastructure areas and, most <br />importantly to most people, in traffic. He noted that staff has done the analysis and <br />traffic should not be a concern as the circulation system works, and the total number of <br />trips is well beyond what this action would allow. <br />Mr. Dolan stated that the fourth reason is that Hacienda needs the additional square <br />footage to remain competitive as the City moves forward. He noted that there is <br />competition for new projects as parks are constantly evolving, changing, and adjusting <br />to the new marketplace. He indicated that expansion of the opportunity in Hacienda is <br />important to remain competitive, and he believes the Commission may hear a little bit <br />more about that this evening from others. He stated that all other limitations on <br />development in Hacienda will remain in effect; it does not change the site development <br />standards that have been adopted for the housing sites or the site development <br />standards that apply to commercial development. He added that the uses are not <br />changed, and the FAR restrictions on a site -by -site basis are not affected by this <br />change; it is just the total amount of development that changes. <br />Mr. Dolan stated that the last reason is a narrow issue but is something that the <br />Commission needs to understand. He indicated that the California Center project that <br />has already been approved cannot move forward unless it is expressly exempted from <br />the current cap. He explained that Hacienda reviews development projects proposed in <br />the Park before they come to the City for consideration. He stated that when the <br />owners of the California Center site volunteered a number of years ago to become a <br />housing site, they asked Hacienda if they could pursue this additional entitlement, and <br />Hacienda said yes, but only if they were not affecting the cap. He noted that staff <br />encouraged California Center to move forward because it was the highest ranked <br />housing site on the list; however, the project can move forward only if these <br />clarifications being considered tonight are approved. <br />Mr. Dolan concluded that that is essentially the issue here. He stated that there is a lot <br />more detail staff could go into if the Commission is interested. He noted that there were <br />some emails back and forth between staff and Commissioner Allen, copies of which <br />were given to the Commissions. He indicated that some of the emails had very specific <br />questions, a lot were mathematical, and staff tried to answer those and share with <br />everybody. He stated that a lot of the tracking has to do with traffic, and the staff person <br />DRAFT EXCERPT: PLANNING COMMISSION MINUTES, 8/28/2013 Page 3 of 11 <br />