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4.4. Impact on the Uses of Vacant Parcels of Land <br />The impact of the Initiative on vacant land would be mainly limited to those hillside <br />residential parcels listed in Section 4.1, above, and to potential "receiver parcels" which <br />may benefit from the allocation of additional units. Without the Initiative, those hillside <br />parcels would seek planned unit development (PUD) approval for a number of housing <br />units based on their existing General Plan land use designations, as modified through the <br />California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and public review process. If the <br />Initiative is adopted, the development potential of these properties would be significantly <br />reduced, in some cases to no more than ten units.21 <br />Table 1, above, shows the maximum development potential and the estimated numbers of <br />housing units that would be possible under the Initiative, thus demonstrating the <br />estimated impact of the Initiative. If those "lost" 119 to 224 hillside units then became <br />available in other locations, such as the Downtown or within the Hacienda Business Park, <br />those vacant "receiver" parcels would benefit by obtaining that additional density and <br />increased development potential under the housing cap. However, to the extent that <br />assisted living units are determined by the Initiative to count as housing units under the <br />housing cap, this increased development potential on "receiver" parcels would be <br />eliminated, and there would be fewer conventional housing units to be built under the <br />housing cap. <br />The impact on the use of vacant parcels of land would also be felt by adjacent property <br />owners. Reduced development potential on hill area properties would likewise reduce <br />development impacts on neighbors who would not experience the same extent of <br />development as they now might expect. Similarly, adding more development to other <br />"receiver" properties elsewhere in the City may create additional development impacts <br />not currently planned for. Any such impacts would have to be mitigated as part of the <br />development process for "receiver" properties. <br />4.5. Impact on Agricultural Lands, Open Space, Traffic Congestion, and <br />Existing Business Districts <br />If the Initiative is adopted, there will be less development than anticipated in the General <br />Plan on those hill area properties listed in Table 1. This will result in more open space on <br />those properties than has been expected, although some development will still occur. To <br />the extent that development on those properties is located on the relatively flat, lower <br />portions of the sites, the remaining open space may continue to be used for grazing <br />purposes, thus increasing the amount of agricultural land in the hill areas. <br />The impact of the hillside development provisions of the Initiative on traffic will not be <br />significant from a citywide perspective. As stated above, the total number of residential <br />units in the community as a whole will remain the same with or without the Initiative; <br />only the distribution and type of units will change. Given that the City's residential land <br />2' See also Sections 5.1 and 5.16. <br />10 <br />