Title
Public Workshop to Review and Comment on the Draft Housing Element Update and Zoning Code Amendments for Park Street, Webster Street and Commercial Areas to Accommodate the Regional Housing Needs Allocation for the Period 2023-2031 in Compliance with State Law
Body
To: Honorable President and
Members of the Planning Board
From: Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This Housing Element workshop provides an opportunity for the Planning Board and the public to review and comment on a proposed zoning code amendment to permit, facilitate and encourage development of housing on Alameda’s two main commercial mixed use corridors along Park Street and Webster Street to accommodate the Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for the 2023-2031 Housing Element cycle.
No final action is required at this time. Staff is requesting Planning Board and community comments on the draft zoning code amendment described in this report. Based upon the comments received at the workshop, staff will prepare a final draft zoning code amendment for Planning Board consideration and recommendation to the City Council at a future Planning Board meeting.
BACKGROUND
Housing Element Update: As described in prior reports, the City of Alameda (City) must identify lands that can be feasibly developed for housing during the 2023-2031 period to accommodate over 5,353 units, per State of California Government Code requirements.
The Housing Element update must also affirmatively further fair housing policy by ensuring that new housing for all needed types of housing are provided in High Opportunity Areas and not limited to Low Opportunity Areas, as determined by the State of California. (See Exhibit 1 for Opportunity Map of Alameda and locations of projects.)
The draft January 2021 Draft Housing Element accommodates the RHNA for 2023 through 2031 as follows:
• Housing Projects: 2,198 housing units in nine projects on land currently zoned for residential development. The nine projects include: North Housing, Singleton (Habitat for Humanity), Admiral’s Cove (Carmel), McKay Wellness Center, Grand Street Pennzoil, Alameda Marina Phase 2 and 3, Boatworks, Eagle Ave (Housing Authority), and Encinal Terminals. As shown in Exhibit 1, all of the projects are located in areas of “moderate” or “low” opportunity.
• Alameda Point: 1,482 residential units on City owned land at Alameda Point, which is a “low opportunity area”.
• Shopping Centers: 1,200 housing units in shopping centers, made possible by the proposed Shopping Center Overlay Zoning District on approximately 100 acres of commercially zoned land. (These zoning changes were discussed at the January 10, 2022 Planning Board Workshop. See Exhibit 2 for copy of draft Shopping Center Overlay Zoning District.) South Shore Shopping Center and Harbor Bay Shopping Center are located in the “Highest” opportunity areas.
• Park Street and Webster Street. Approximately 250 units on a variety of sites on the Park Street and Webster Street commercial corridors, made possible by the proposed CC-District Zoning District amendments described in this report and shown in Exhibit 2. These corridors cross the full range of opportunity areas from “highest” to “low”.
• Northern Waterfront. 240 units on two sites to be rezoned in the Northern Waterfront. The northern waterfront is an area of “moderate” resources.
• R-1 through R-6 Districts. Approximately 680 units in the R-2 through R-6 zoning districts, which includes approximately 480 units (approximately 60 per year) produced each year through the Accessory Dwelling Unit program. These zoning districts are distributed across the full range of opportunity areas.
DISCUSSION
The Park Street and Webster Street CC-Community Commercial zoning district establishes the development standards for the Webster Street and Park Street commercial properties along these two transit oriented, mixed use corridors. Comprising over 65 acres of commercial land, the two districts currently provide approximately 290 housing units located above ground floor commercial uses in mixed use buildings. The City of Alameda Zoning Map is attached for reference as Exhibit 3.
Despite long standing General Plan policy to encourage and facilitate residential mixed use on these transit rich corridors, no new housing has been constructed in either area since adoption of the multifamily prohibition in 1973 and the adoption of the prohibition of residential densities over 21 units per acre in 1991. All of the 290 housing units on Park Street and Webster Street were constructed prior to the enactment of these local regulations, and all of the units are located in multifamily buildings with residential densities above 21 units per acre (50 to 100 units per acre).
To assist the City to meet its State mandated RHNA objectives, staff is recommending that the City Council adopt zoning amendments to remove the local constraints to multifamily housing development on these transit rich commercial corridors. With the removal of these constraints, staff believes a number of underutilized sites and buildings could be redeveloped over the 2023-2031 period. The Webster Street Vision Plan and the North Park Street Strategic Plan identify a number of underutilized sites in the two areas.
Exhibit 2 shows the specific changes that would be made to the Community Commercial (CC) Zoning District to accommodate the RHNA and address fair housing policy objectives. The draft amendments would encourage and facilitate housing and address fair housing requirements by:
• Permitting multifamily housing (three or more units in a building)
• Permitting shared housing, transitional housing, supportive housing, senior assisted living, and low barrier navigation centers by right;
• Eliminating residential density standards to encourage and support smaller residential units and allow property owners to maximize the floor area allowed under the height limit for residential use without the need to request residential density bonuses; and
• Modify existing height limits to support multifamily housing. The proposed height limits for Webster Street were developed with the help of the West Alameda Business Association’s (WABA) Design Committee, but they do not exactly reflect the WABA committee’s recommendations.
Exhibit 2 also includes the revised text for the proposed “Shopping Center Overlay District” that the Planning Board reviewed and commented on at the January 10, 2022 Planning Board workshop and the four shopping centers recommended for the overlay district designation. The overlay district is designed to “overlay” the base zoning for each shopping center site where the City wishes to encourage housing. The base zoning varies from shopping center to shopping center due to the varied locations of the various shopping centers around the city.
The Park Street and Webster Street corridors currently have the same base zoning: CC-Community Commercial, which already establishes customized height limits for the Park Street and Webster Street areas.
The draft amendments adjust the height limits as follows:
Park Street: The current zoning standard is 60 feet for properties facing Park Street and 40 feet for the properties fronting onto the side streets. Staff is proposing to increase the height limit for the side streets to 60 feet, since most of the most promising housing opportunity sites are on the side street areas, such as Santa Clara.
Webster Street. As shown in the table below, the WABA Design Committee and Daniel Hoy provided a detailed plan for a variety of height limits along the corridor. The concept of the proposal is to maintain a 3-story, 45 foot height limit in the historic core area (Central to Lincoln) and then allow gradual block by block increases in height for each block to create a gradual increase in height radiating out from the Central to Lincoln “core”. The table below describes the changes block by block.
Next Steps: Staff is requesting that the Planning Board and community review and comment on the draft CC District amendments shown in Exhibit 2. Based upon those comments, staff will:
• Revise the draft amendments shown in Exhibit 2.
• Prepare similar amendments for the North Park Street zoning district (which covers the Park Street corridor from Lincoln to the Park Street Bridge).
• Prepare similar amendments to the C-1 Zoning District that covers portions of the Park Street corridor and the neighborhood “stations”.
• Prepare a zoning map amendment to rezone the “Walgreens Site” at Webster and Atlantic to CC Community Commercial. It is currently zoned M-1 Manufacturing, which is a zoning classification that prohibits residential use.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW
Conducting a workshop to review and comment on a draft Zoning Ordinance amendment is not a project under Public Resources Code section 21065 and CEQA Guidelines section 15378. Final adoption of the ordinance will be subject to review under the California Environmental Quality Act.
CLIMATE IMPACT
Accommodating the RHNA supports the region’s Sustainable Communities Strategy to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A decision by the City to not meet the RHNA would likely have a negative impact on the region’s ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
RECOMMENDATION
That the Planning Board review and comment on draft C-C Zoning Amendments shown in Exhibit 2.
Respectfully submitted,
Andrew Thomas, Planning, Building and Transportation Director
Allen Tai, City Planner
Henry Dong, Planner III
Brian McGuire, Planning Technician
Exhibits:
1. Opportunity Map and Housing Element Sites Map
2. Draft Zoning Amendments
3. Zoning Map