The Housing Element is a State-mandated chapter of the Brea General Plan that describes, identifies, and analyzes the City’s housing needs and addresses the maintenance and expansion of the housing supply to accommodate households that currently live and/or may live in Brea in an eight-year planning period. The current planning period is referred to as the 6th Cycle, and covers the period between 2021 and 2029. The 6th Cycle Housing Element (Housing Element) received final adoption by the City Council on August 16, 2022, and certification from the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) on September 8, 2022. As part of the ongoing implementation of the City’s Housing Element, staff has identified a number of provisions in the Brea Code that require updates in order to implement the Housing Element Program #s 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 15, and 17. The complete list of the Housing Element Programs with the above-mentioned programs highlighted in yellow is Attachment C. If approved, the proposed amendments will be adopted as part of Housing Element program implementation, which includes amendments to three chapters and the creation of three new chapters of the Zoning Code.
Proposed Amendments
The proposed amendments can be categorized into five topic areas. The following provides an overview of the proposed amendments, divided into different topic areas:
Amendment #1: By-Right Multiple Family Residential Uses
Consistent with the State law, the Housing Element Program #8 requires the City to amend the Zoning Code to allow by-right development of multiple family residential developments (both for-sale and rental) in which 20 percent or more units are affordable to lower income households on sites that are required to be rezoned to address the lower income Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) shortfall and sites that are reused from the 5th Cycle Housing Element. For the City, this requirement applies to Focused Development Site Nos. 1, 2, 3, 7, and 10. Sites 1, 2 and 3 were previously identified as housing sites in the 5th Cycle Housing Element, and sites 7 and 10 were identified as sites to address the City’s lower income RHNA to fulfill the requirements of Government Code Section 65583.2(h) in the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element, and were recently rezoned.
To implement the Housing Element Program #8, Subsection 20.11.020.F of the Zoning Code would be added as part of new Chapter 20.11 (Permitted Land Uses) to allow such multiple family residential developments as a permitted by-right use on properties designated as Focused Development Sites Nos. 1, 2, 3, 7 and 10 in the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element.
This amendment will be included in the ordinance that would implement ZOTA No. 2023-01, as Chapter 2011 is a new chapter that is created by that application.
Amendment #2: Affordable Housing Ordinance and Guidelines
The Zoning Code currently requires residential projects with 20 or more units to allocate 10 percent as affordable housing, but does not specify the level of affordability for the required affordable units. To target a wider range of income levels, the Housing Element Program #s 5, 6, 7 and 17 require the City to update the City’s Affordable Housing Ordinance and Affordable Housing Guidelines to meet current and future housing needs of the community.
To implement the Housing Element Programs, the Chapter 20.40 of the Zoning Code would be amended to incorporate updates to the existing affordable housing requirements. Key elements of the proposed amendments are as follows:
| |
Existing |
Proposed |
| Applicability |
Residential developments with 20 or more units |
Residential developments with 10 or more units |
| Affordable Unit Requirements |
Does not specify the level of affordability for the required affordable units |
5 options with sliding scale:
1. 5% of the total unit for extremely low-income households;
2. At least 7% of the total units for very low-income households plus 3% of the total units for workforce-income or lower income households (total 10%);
3. At least 10% of total units for low-income households plus 5% of the total units for workforce-income or lower income households (total 15%);
4. 20% of the total unit for moderate-income households; or
5. 30% of the total unit for workforce-income households. |
| Alternatives |
1. Consideration of payment in-lieu fees by the Planning Commission
2. Consideration of off-site transfers by the City Council |
1. By-right in-lieu fees2. Off-site construction of affordable housing within the City
3. Land dedication to the City suitable for construction of affordable housing
4. Conversation of existing market-rate housing in the City to affordable housing |
| Incentives |
Various incentives such as State Density Bonus, flexible development standards, deferral of development impact fees, etc. |
Offers similar incentives; however, establishes guidelines on type and number of incentives that may be utilized. |
In addition, the existing Affordable Housing Guidelines would also be updated to reflect the proposed amendments to the affordable housing regulations. The revised Affordable Housing Guidelines is Exhibit 1 of Attachment B.
Amendment #3: Accessory Dwelling Units
Accessory dwelling units (also known as second units or “granny” flats or ADUs) are complete independent housing units that can be either detached or attached from an existing single-family residence. In response to previous State legislation, the City Council adopted Ordinance Nos. 1203 and 1220 implementing ADU provisions from State law. However, during the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element adoption process, HCD identified the need to further update the City’s ADU regulations to maintain consistency with the State law and therefore, the City’s Housing Element includes a program (Program #10) that requires the City to update existing ADU provisions.
To implement Housing Programs #10, a new chapter (Chapter 20.66) is proposed to revise and relocate the ADU standards from the R-1 Single-Family Residential Zone chapter. The amendment also includes revisions to comply with the State law, which includes: new maximum floor areas, increase in height for certain detached ADUs, new objective design standards, removal of discretionary review process for ADUs, clarifications related to JADUs, and changes to the owner occupancy requirements. Concurrently, Chapters 20.206 and 20.208 are amended to remain consistency with the new Chapter 20.66.
Amendment #4: Two-unit Developments and Urban Lot Splits
Consistent with State law, the Housing Element Program #17 requires the City to establish a process for qualifying “Two-unit developments” and “Urban Lot Splits” to be approved ministerially in single-family residential zones. Two-unit developments consist of two new units or the addition of one new unit and one existing unit, each with its own kitchen and bathroom facilities, on a single lot located within a single-family residential zone. Urban lot splits consist of a subdivision of one lot into two lots within a single-family residential zone or within a specific plan development area implementing a single-family residential zone.
To implement the Housing Element Program #17, a new chapter (Chapter 20.56) is proposed to establish standards for ministerial approval within single family residential zones, and development standards for both type of development including density, minimum and maximum unit size limits, setbacks, building height and spacing, access, parking, and deed restrictions.
Amendment #5: Emergency Shelter Standards
Emergency shelters provide immediate and short-term housing and supplemental services to unhoused persons or families. The Zoning Code currently allows emergency shelters as a permitted by-right use for up to 30 beds in the Light Industrial (M-1) and General Industrial (M-2) zoning designations. The Zoning Code also contains development criteria and operational requirements to regulate emergency shelters. To comply with recently amended State law, the Housing Element Program #15 requires the City to reduce the current parking requirement and minimum separation requirement between emergency shelters.
To implement the Housing Element Program #17, a new chapter (Chapter 20.66) is proposed, which includes existing provisions related to emergency shelters, along with the required revision to amend the current parking standards for emergency shelter facilities to a ratio based on the number of shelter staff, and to reduce the minimum separation requirement for the establishment of new emergency shelter facilities from 500 feet to 300 feet from any other emergency shelter.
More detailed analysis of the proposed amendments is provided in the June 13, 2023 Planning Commission staff report (Attachment D). In addition, the redlines associated with above listed amendments, which show deletions in strikethrough and additions in underlines (Redline), can be found in the Exhibit A of the Planning Commission Resolution No. 2023-06 (http://weblink.cityofbrea.net/WebLink/DocView.aspx?dbid=0&id=149197&page=1&cr=1). The clean version of the proposed amendments, which includes some minor updates to the Redline version of the proposed amendment, can be found in the draft Ordinance (Attachment A). A table summarizing the proposed amendments as described in this Section of the report, which also provides specific section numbers of both the Redline and the draft Ordinance that applies to each topic areas, is provided as Attachment E.
Environmental Assessment
The proposed project has been assessed in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines and the environmental regulations of the City. The proposed amendment to the Zoning Code is exempt from the requirements to prepare additional environmental documentation per CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because the proposed amendments would only modify certain zoning procedures in order to implement the City’s 6th Cycle Housing Element and does not approve any developments. As such, the proposed amendments will not have a significant effect on the environment. Any future developments would be subject to CEQA review.
Public Notice and Comments
This Project was noticed in accordance with the City’s public noticing requirements, which involved publication in the Brea Star-Progress. The public hearing notice for this Project is provided as Attachment F. As of the writing of this report, staff has not received public comments.
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