Resolution Number 08-09-16-01RESOLUTION NO. 08-09-16-01
' A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN JUAN
CAPISTRANO, CALIFORNIA, DENYING GENERAL PLAN AMENDMENT
(GPA) 06-01 AND REZONE (RZ) 06-01 FOR THE WHISPERING HILLS
ESTATES PLANNED COMMUNITY LOCATED EAST OF LA PATA
AVENUE ABOUT 1.4 MILES SOUTH OF ORTEGA HIGHWAY AND
MORE PRECISELY REFERRED TO AS ASSESSOR PARCEL NUMBER
(APN) 124-223-81 (WHISPERING HILLS, LLC) (Woodbridge Development)
WHEREAS, on July 20, 2004, the City Council approved Vesting Tentative Tract
Map (TTM) 16634 for the Whispering Hills Estates Planned Community, including a
Comprehensive Development Plan to regulate land uses and establish development
standards; and,
WHEREAS, on July 20, 2004, the City Council requested that the developer
prepare and submit an affordable housing project for a site, designated "4 acre
remainder parcel' in the Whispering Hills Estates Comprehensive Development Plan,
located on the north side of Vista Montana between San Juan Hills High School and La
Pata Avenue; and,
WHEREAS, Whispering Hills LLC has submitted legislative and discretionary
' planning applications consisting of General Plan Amendment, Rezone, and
Architectural Control applications for the proposed 163 multi -family unit, Villa Montana
apartments project on the designated "4 acre remainder parcel; and,
WHEREAS, the City has processed the proposed project incompliance with
Section 9-2.301, General Review Procedure of the Title 9, Land Use Code and has
otherwise complied with all administrative processing provisions of the Municipal Code;
and,
WHEREAS, the Housing Advisory Committee considered the proposed General
Plan Amendment (GPA) and Rezone (RZ) at their April 23, 2008 meeting, and after due
consideration, recommended denial of the project; and,
WHEREAS, the Planning Commission conducted a duly -noticed public hearing
on the proposed project on June 10, 2008 to consider the project pursuant to Title 9,
Land Use Code, and to take public comment on the proposed project, and after due
consideration, recommended that the City Council deny the project; and,
WHEREAS, the City Council conducted duly -noticed public hearings on the
proposed project on July 15, and September 2, 2008 to consider the project pursuant to
Title 9, Land Use Code, and to take public comment on the proposed project.
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NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of San
Juan Capistrano hereby makes the following findings:
WHEREAS, the proposed General Plan Amendment (GPA) and Rezone (RZ) are
substantially inconsistent with the goals and policies of the City's General Plan Land
Use Element and Housing Element inasmuch as the project seeks to change the land
use designation of the subject site from Low Density Residential (0-1 du/acre) to High
Density Residential (8.1-18.0 du/acre) and develop the property at the higher density
range of 16.8 du/acre without providing the public benefits required by the General Plan;
and,
WHEREAS, the General Plan Land Use Element provides that, "Development at
an intensity or density between the average and maximum levels can occur only where
projects offer exceptional design quality, important public amenities or benefits, or other
factors that promote important goals and policies of the General Plan," and the
proposed project requests reclassification of the project site to the "2.5 High Density
Residential" land use designation which has an average density of 13.1 and a maximum
density of 18.0 du/acre; and,
WHEREAS, the proposed project offers to provide 20% affordable housing
consisting of a total of 33 affordable dwelling units with 11 dwelling units for "very low"
income households, 11 dwelling units for "low" income households, and 11 dwelling _
units for "moderate" income households, whereas the State's Regional Housing Needs
Assessment (RHNA) allocation would expect this project, or another project to make up
this project's deficiency, to provide 96 affordable dwelling units with 35 dwelling units for
"very low" income households, 29 dwelling units for "low" income households, and 32
dwelling units for "moderate" income households; and,
WHEREAS, the General Plan Community Design Element encourages
residential development with "clustering of structures to maximize open space areas;
well-planned use of both one- and two-story structures; provisions of more useable
open spaces (both for active and passive uses)," while the project proposes a single
massive three-story structure with parking deck; and,
WHEREAS, the proposed project site is relatively isolated with respect to the
community and provides neither public transit accessibility nor convenient, close access
to shopping and similar services needed to support affordable households, and while
future commercial services may become available at the Ortega Highway/La Pata
Avenue intersection, the timing of commercial services improvements is not imminent,
and the location of those services remains rather distant from the project site; and,
WHEREAS, the proposed project site provide an open space amenity to the
Whispering Hills Estates Planned Community and approval of the proposed project
would result in a reduction in the total area of open space available to the "Planned —
Community" which has been previously approved for the development of 155 single-
family detached (SFD) lots and a 52 acre, 2000 -student public high school.
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NOW THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the City Council of the
City of San Juan Capistrano does hereby deny the requested General Plan Amendment
(GPA) and Rezone (RZ) for the proposed Villa Montana project.
PASSED, APPROVED, AND ADOP=ptember 2008.
JOE SO O, MAYOR
ATTEST:
AR RET R. MONAHAN, CITY CLERK
1
STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss.
CITY OF SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO )
1
I, MARGARET R. MONAHAN, appointed City Clerk of the City of San Juan Capistrano, do hereby certify
that the foregoing Resolution No. 08-09-16-01 was duly adopted by the City Council of the City of San Juan
Capistrano at a Regular meeting thereof, held the 16th day of September 2008, by the following vote:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS: Allevato, Hribar, Uso, Nielsen, and Mayor Soto
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBER: None
RECUSE: COU CIL MEMBER: Mayor Soto
--�4 ► o ,
City Clerk
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