21 ATTACHMENT 7 - Laserfiche WebLink

Meghan Campbell � FA R E L LA November 30, 2022 BRAUN+MARTEL LLP Page 5 residential development on 10 acres of the parking lot. But by the time that the 2015-2023 Housing Element was adopted, its commitment to do so was already in doubt. The 2015 Housing Element2 explained that Simon now had begun exploring further retail expansion including on the ten acres, and that therefore the City staff's"estimate of potentially developable area"was only 2.2 acres: "[S]taff has reduced the area available for high-density residential to 2.2 acres to accurately reflect potential development." 2015 Housing Element at pp. 67, 70. The 2015 Housing Element also acknowledged that the site would require new sewer pipelines as well as upsizing of existing pipelines to accommodate the additional demand, at a cost of "between a few hundred thousand to several [sic] hundred thousand dollars." Id. at 63. Since 2015, when staff concluded that only 2.2 of the 10 acres rezoned "accurately reflect potential development,"the owner has become no clearer or urgent about plans for residential development. Simon applied for and obtained Design Review approval (P18-0340) for a significant commercial expansionansion in 2019,to demolish the existing Sears Department store and construct up to 255,420 square feet(79,269 square feet increase)of new retail, cinema, specialty, and health club facility uses. It submitted a plan in August 2019 to construct 486 apartment units and a parking structure, but after a Planning Commission workshop in March 2020, the project languished; a new proposed project was submitted two years later, in late March 2022 it apparently proposed 360 units instead,which has been"under staff review" in the eight months since. There is very little public information available about the proposal, and no indication that it includes affordable housing. Eight years later, the hope that the two odd-shaped portions of the parking lot will become affordable housing can no longer reasonably be considered"likely." The City lacks substantial evidence that the existing use—as a parking lot for the adjacent mall—will"likely" cease during the next eight years. To the extent that the proposal for the 360 units is considered, this shows that the site will not be used for housing affordable for lower income residents. B. The Five New Parcels Proposed To Be Rezoned. The other five parcels listed have even less indication that they are likely to become housing in the next eight years. While there have been general expressions of interest in creating a new neighborhood to complement the existing retail uses, none of the owners(e.g., Macy's) have applied to redevelop their property as residential, made plans to relocate, or sold to a residential developer. The existing leases also likely provide for continued parking rights, which would be an obstacle to development during the eight years. The parcel map also shows that the parcels listed on the draft Housing Element cover not just the parking lot, but portions of the retail mall building itself. The draft Housing Element is itself internally inconsistent about how much housing is realistic here. Notably, staff acknowledges that"there are approximately 18 acres within the current surface parking lots that could realistically develop with high density residential 2HAC Appendix Tab 8.