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<br />Housing Constraints City of Pleasanton | C-11 <br />The City also requires a transit benefit to be provided to residents of new projects that are located <br />within one-half mile of a BART station and contain 20 or more multi-family dwelling units. At <br />minimum, the transit benefit would be one pass or tickets for local bus transit service for unlimited <br />local travel for one person in each unit for a period of six months (Zoning Ordinance 17.26.020). <br />Although the City allows for parking reductions in certain circumstances, the amount of parking <br />spaces required could limit the total number of units built and discourage smaller units, as the <br />same parking rate applies for all units of two-bedrooms or fewer except for studios in the Core <br />Area Overlay. No covered parking is required in the Core Area Overlay, and while one covered <br />parking space is required per unit outside of the Core Area Overlay, garages or underground <br />parking is not required. Under Program 4.6, the City will evaluate and amend citywide multi-family <br />parking rates to apply based on unit size (studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom, etc.) and reduce <br />the requirement for one covered parking space per unit (i.e., not require covered parking for studio <br />and one-bedroom units). <br />Development Standards Analysis <br />The basic development standards allow a moderate amount of density and intensity for residential <br />development. The large-lot, single-family residential zoning districts (R-1-20,000 and R-1-40,000) <br />are typically found in hillside areas where steep slopes and other environmental constraints <br />dictate larger lots, greater setbacks, and increased open space. <br />The multi-family residential zones (RM zones) allow densities ranging from approximately 10 to <br />29 units per acre. RM zone development standards include floor area ratio (FAR) limits of 0.40 to <br />0.50 and maximum height of 30 feet. With the RM zone standards, in addition to parking <br />requirements, it is difficult for multi-family projects to achieve the maximum allowed density. Since <br />2015, three projects in the RM-1,500 Zoning District have achieved FARs of 0.30, 0.46, and 0.50. <br />Although one project achieved maximum FAR (0.50), densities have typically been below the <br />maximum allowed (outside of the high-density Planned Unit Development (PUD) sites from the <br />5th Cycle Housing Element, discussed below). In the RM-1,500 Zoning District, a project at 4722 <br />Harrison Street achieved 59 percent of maximum density (17 units per acre), and another project <br />at 4745 Augustine Street achieved 79 percent of maximum density (23 units per acre). As <br />described under Parking Requirements, the City will implement a program to reduce required <br />parking for multi-family, which will be in addition to recent legislation eliminating parking <br />requirements for projects within one-half mile of transit (AB 2097). Furthermore, the City will <br />conduct additional testing of standards (e.g., setbacks and height) in the RM zones and modify <br />standards in the Zoning Ordinance to ensure maximum density can be achieved without exception <br />(e.g., PUD) (Program 4.7). <br />The Downtown mixed-use districts (i.e., MU-T and C-C) have a maximum density of 43.56 units <br />per acre. Recently completed or approved projects within these districts include 273 Spring Street <br />(13 units per acre), 719-735 Peters Avenue/377 St. Mary St. (20 units per acre), and 4884 <br />Harrison Street (125 units per acre). While the 4884 Harrison project achieved higher than <br />maximum allowed density of through density bonus and concessions, other projects have