On September 21, 2017, the Planning Commission recommended adoption of a Negative Declaration and approval of General Plan Amendment No. GPA-003-2017 to City Council by a 6-0 vote.  Other than the applicant, no one spoke in favor of or in opposition to the request. The Planning Commission also approved Site Plan No. SP-041-2017, Variance No. V-016-2017, and Tentative Tract Map No. TT-18117 to construct 17 attached townhouses in two buildings and subdivide the site into a single parcel with condominiums.

The property is located immediately to the north of the Walton Intermediate School on Buaro Street. Surrounding the property to the north and west are multiple family residential buildings. The site was originally developed with the Happyland Preschool in 1956. The use transitioned to the Page Private School in 1974 which remained on the site until June 2016. The buildings on the site have been unoccupied since the Page School closure.

The subject site and the neighboring residential apartments are zoned R-3 Multi-Family Residential and have a General Plan Land Use Designation of Civic/Institutional. The Civic/Institutional designation was added for the first time in the current General Plan 2030, adopted in 2008. The R-3, Multi-Family Residential zoning is not consistent with the Civic/Institutional General Plan designation.   

A General Plan Amendment is required to change the General Plan Land Use designation from Civic/Institutional to Medium Density Residential to allow the development of 17 attached townhouses. The subject property and six neighboring parcels to the north, east, and northeast were in the Medium Density Residential Land Use designation under the prior General Plan. The Civic/Institutional Land Use designation was added for the first time in 2008 when the current General Plan 2030 was adopted. This new designation is intended for educational uses, such as, elementary, middle, and high schools, colleges, universities, hospitals, and governmental facilities. This Civic/Institutional designation was appropriately added to the Walton Intermediate School property just to the south of the subject property.  The Civic/Institutional was also mapped onto the subject property and the six neighboring properties that had been in the Medium Density Residential and were mostly developed with multi-family residences.

Planning staff has reviewed the history and determined that a mapping error occurred when the General Plan 2030 was written. The mapping error included the subject property and six neighboring multi-family residential properties in the Civic/Institutional land use designation with the Walton School site. By amending the General Plan designation for the subject property back to the Medium Density Residential designation, the site will have consistency between the General Plan and the existing zoning (R-3), and appropriate development can occur on the site. The site will be developed with a 17-unit project, which is similar to the existing scale of the surrounding apartment buildings that range from 20 to 50 units.

None.

• Conduct a Public Hearing; and

• Adopt the attached Resolution approving General Plan Amendment No. GPA-003-2017 and adopting the Mitigated Negative Declaration.

By:  Erin Webb, Sr. Planner