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residence from 536 St. John Street to the Pleasanton Avenue site, and construct 12 townhomes at 536 St. John Street. Key changes from the previous submittal included: (1) relocating the existing home off -site; (2) reducing the number of new residential units from 14 to 12 units; (3) creating an improved street presence by orienting the street - adjacent units towards St. John Street; and (4) redesigning the project to be consistent with the height and scale of the surrounding area, including limiting the height of the new residences to two stories. Planning Commission Work Session A Planning Commission Work Session was held for the project on March 23, 2016. The Commission expressed general support for the project and provided staff and the applicant with direction regarding relocating the existing historic residence to Pleasanton Avenue, density on the St. John Street site, rezoning and conceptual site plan layout of the St. John Street parcels, parking, and design as detailed in the Work Session section below. It was noted at the Work Session that the applicant would need to have a guaranteed site for the home when a formal application returned to the Commission for a recommendation to the Council. After several discussions with various property owners over the last several months, the applicant concluded that the only feasible site for the historic home was the St. John Street project site. At that point, the applicant revised the project plans to retain the existing home and relocate it elsewhere on the St. John Street site, construct a detached, single -car garage with an additional uncovered tandem parking space, reduce the number of proposed townhomes from 12 to 10, and add two on -site guest parking spaces. The current proposal is now before the Planning Commission for review and recommendation to the City Council, which will review and take final action on the applications. PLANNING COMMISSION WORK SESSION The discussion at the March 23, 2016 Planning Commission Work Session focused on historic resources, land use consistency, zoning and development standards, parking, and architecture. A summary of that discussion organized into primary discussion topics is below. Historic Resources During the Work Session, the applicant was proposing to demolish the home at 4372 Pleasanton Avenue and relocate the existing historic home on the St. John Street project site to the Pleasanton Avenue site. Although the Commission was supportive of demolishing the home on the Pleasanton Avenue site, as it was determined that it was not a historic resource, the applicant is no longer pursing that option. The current proposal involves integrating the existing historic home into the new development by moving it to the northwest corner of the site, maintaining its street - facing orientation, and adding the new townhomes adjacent to and behind it. The applicant prepared an addendum to the historic resources survey indicating whether and how the existing residence at 536 St. John Street could be relocated on- site while still preserving the building's historic integrity (Exhibit C). There is no change to the Pleasanton Avenue home or site as a part of this application. Staff's analysis pertaining to retaining the home on -site is discussed in detail in the Historic Resources portion of the Analysis section of this report. General Plan and Downtown Specific Plan Consistency and Land Uses The General Plan and Downtown Specific Plan designate the project site as High Density Residential — allowing for residential development of greater than 8 dwelling units per gross acre. The General Plan and Downtown Specific Plan allow for a variety of housing types (i.e., P16 -1201, PUD -120, & TRACT 8326 Planning Commission 3 of 32