| On September 29, 2017, then-Governor Jerry Brown signed the Legislative Housing Package which included 15 bills aimed at addressing California’s housing shortage and high housing costs. Senate Bill 2, Atkins (SB 2), also referred to as the “Building Homes and Jobs Act,” established a $75 recording fee on real estate documents. As a one-time component of SB 2, 50 percent of the recording fees collected from all counties in 2018 were allocated to the SB PGP Fund. A total of $123 million of the SB PGP funds were made available through non-competitive local grants intended to aid cities and counties in updating planning and zoning processes that would:
• Accelerate housing production;
• Streamline the approval of housing development;
• Facilitate housing affordability;
• Promote the development of housing; and
• Ensure geographic equity in the distribution and expenditure of allocated funds.
On December 30, 2019, the State’s Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) awarded the City $160,000 in SB PGP grant funding, the maximum amount for a jurisdiction of Brea’s size. This money was sectioned into the four projects outlined in the SB 2 PGP application as listed below:
• Update parking standards ($45,000)
• Implement administrative approval process ($25,000)
• Design guidance for accessory dwelling units ($30,000)
• Affordable housing implementation guide ($25,000)
Utilizing the PGP grant funding to update parking standards, on December 9, 2020, the City entered into a Professional Service Agreement with Linscott, Law & Greenspan, Engineers (LLG) to provide technical assistance on the project. All projects identified in the application have a deadline of February 2022. Failure to provide a deliverable with the SB 2 funds would require the City to forfeit the grant and reimburse HCD the full amount of money already utilized on the grant.
DISCUSSION
Existing Regulations
BCC Section 20.08.040 describes the minimum off-street parking requirement for multi-family developments (two (2) or more dwelling units on one building site or lot).
TABLE 1 – PARKING SPACE REQUIREMENTS FOR MULTI-FAMILY DEVELOPMENTS
| Use |
Minimum Parking Stalls Required |
| Bachelor Unit |
One and one-half (1½) spaces per unit, of which one (1) space shall be located within a garage or three (3) sided carport. |
| One (1) bedroom units |
Two (2) spaces per unit, of which one (1) space shall be located within a garage or three (3) sided carport. |
| Two (2) bedroom units |
Two and one-half (2 ½) off-street parking spaces per dwelling unit, of which two (2) spaces must be covered for each dwelling unit, plus one-half (½) off-street parking spaces must be provided for each bedroom in excess of three (3). |
| Three (3) bedroom or more dwelling units |
Two and one-half (2½) off-street parking spaces per dwelling unit, of which two (2) spaces must be covered for each dwelling unit, plus one-half (½) off-street parking spaces must be provided for each bedroom in excess of three (3). |
| All buildings or lots containing five (5) or more units |
Two-tenths (0.2) guest parking space shall be provided for each dwelling unit, in addition to the required number of parking spaces stated above. A maximum of twenty-five percent (25%) of the required uncovered parking spaces may be of compact car size, provided such spaces are clearly and individually marked. |
All multi-family developments shall provide minimum off-street parking in conformity with the above requirements unless otherwise modified by the provisions in Section 20.08.04, Subsection F (Exceptions or modifications to minimum off-street parking requirements). This provision allows for multi-family developments to request a reduction to the required number of minimum off-street parking spaces through a Conditional Use Permit (CUP). CUPs are subject to the Planning Commission’s review and approval following a noticed public hearing. As part of the CUP submittal requirements for a parking reduction, applicants are required to prepare a Parking Demand Study to assess whether the project could be adequately parked with fewer spaces than the BCC requirement. A Parking Demand Study evaluates the parking needs of a specific development through the direct application of the BCC and/or other ratios and/or parking estimation methods and compares the parking requirements against the proposed parking supply to determine any parking surplus or deficiency. The Parking Demand Study would also provide the basis for requiring alternative parking ratios and/or methods to estimate parking demand (i.e. reduced number of off-street parking spaces based on empirical parking ratios, industry standards, and/or operation-based demand) to address any parking shortfall, and the development of a Parking Management Plan (PMP) and/or TDM (Transportation Demand Program), if necessary.
Planning Commission review and approval of a CUP is time-consuming and could prolong the approval process of a multi-family housing development by up to 6 months. If a stand-alone multi-family development meets all applicable development standards, except for parking, the project would then be required to obtain a CUP by the Planning Commission for the modification of off-street parking.
Analysis of Proposed Zone Ordinance Text Amendment (ZOTA)
The City’s SB 2 grant application identified four tasks aligned with PGP objectives (Attachment F). Task #4 (previously numbered Task #1), identified updates to the zoning code to provide objective parking standards that appropriately address the modern needs of multi-family developments. Additionally, Task #4 seeks to streamline multi-family development by eliminating the public hearing requirement associated with requests for parking reductions.
Staff and LLG assessed the City’s existing parking requirements for multi-family developments and evaluated recent multi-family projects, including South Brea Lofts, Brea Place, and Central Park Village. The parking analysis took the following steps to develop the recommendation for updating the BCC while meeting the purpose of the grant:
- Compare the BCC parking ratios for multi-family residential to those of other cities [Fullerton, La Habra, Yorba Linda, Anaheim, Buena Park, Cypress, Garden Grove, Los Alamitos, Orange, Placentia, Stanton, Tustin, Villa Park], and industry standards developed by the Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE) and Urban Land Institute (ULI);
- Compare the BCC parking ratios for multi-family residential to other cities’ [Long Beach, San Diego, Santa Monica, Los Angeles, Sacramento] parking ratios for mixed-use/downtown, and Transit-Oriented Development (TOD settings);
- Provide empirical parking ratios derived from existing multi-family developments in other cities [Costa Mesa, Irvine, Orange, Fullerton, Santa Ana, Monrovia, Pasadena, Mission Viejo, Laguna Niguel, Santa Ana], and industry references (ITE, ULI, Parking Reform Made Easy by Richard W. Willson)
Based on the findings in the parking analysis, BCC parking ratios for multi-family residential uses should be maintained, but flexibility should be provided in allowing the application of alternative methods in estimating the modern needs of multi-family development to account for the following:
- If applicable, the shared parking needs in the case of multi-family residential components of a mixed-use development.
- Multi-family residential development located in low Vehicle Miles Traveled areas and/or High-Quality Transit Areas that public transit connections and/or pedestrian and bicycle amenities support Active Transportation and Complete Streets.
- Modern and unique parking and trip-making characteristics and proposed operations and management of parking supply, that may not be well represented in the current BCC.
This process is recommended to be formalized and further define a more flexible approach to estimating parking requirements through the submittal of a Parking Demand Study with a streamline process achieved by removing the requirement for a CUP subject to Planning Commission review, and instead allow the Community Development Director to review the Parking Demand Study.
The proposed ZOTA to provide a Parking Demand Study falls in line with the purpose of the grant and provides parking relief in the City’s review and approval process to accelerate housing production.
Consistency with the General Plan
This ZOTA would be consistent with two new policies and programs of the proposed 6th Cycle (2022-2029) of the Housing Element listed below:
- Policy 4.3 (Objective Development Standards): Establish objective development standards to create greater certainty for developers and streamline the development review and permitting process.
- Program 14 (Update Parking Standards): Implement parking standards that address the contemporary needs of mixed-use, multi-family, and other residential product types.
Recommended Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment (ZOTA)
Based on the finding from the LLG parking analysis, the ZOTA would replace the language in Subsection F and add a new subsection, Subsection G, Parking requirements not specified. The new language in Subsection F would require the submittal of a Parking Demand Study (and Parking Management Plan (PMP) and/or Transit-Oriented Development (TOD), if required) and would address the goals of the grant, the General Plan and the 6th Cycle of the Housing Element. The language in Section F(b) would be relocated to a new subsection, Subsection G. The following text amendments to Section F and Section G of the City of Brea City Code Title § 20.08.040 Off-Street Parking and Loading are proposed, as follows:
OLD LANGUAGE: Struck-Out
NEW LANGUAGE: Bolded & Underlined
F. Exceptions or modifications to off-street parking requirements. The provisions of this section are intended to meet the minimum design needs for off-street parking under most conditions. Where, because of the use involved or other relevant circumstances, the requirements of this section are considered to be excessive, exceptions and modifications to these provisions may be approved in accordance with the following procedure provided such exceptions and modifications are consistent with the purpose and intent of this section:
Any property owner, his or her authorized agent or the city may apply for exceptions to, or modifications of, the off-street parking regulations.
2. a. Exceptions to, or modifications of the off-street parking requirements as they relate to shared parking and/or the location of off-street parking may be permitted subject to the approval of a conditional use permit application in accordance with the provisions of § 20.408.030 of this title.
b. If parking space requirements for any specific use are not contained herein, the Planning Commission, upon recommendation of the city staff, shall determine the parking requirements for said use. There shall be no application fee for this procedure.
An exception to or modification of the off-street parking requirements of this section may be granted to avoid circumstances where they might be excessive due to the use involved or other relevant circumstances, but only if such exemption or modification is consistent with the intent and purpose of this section.
- Exceptions or modifications for multi-family developments require approval of a minor modification in accordance with the provisions of § 20.408.020 of this title. Pursuant to § 20.408.020.B.2., such requests shall be subject to the review and approval of the Directory of Community Development.
- Exceptions or modifications for all projects that are not multi-family developments require approval of a conditional use permit in accordance with the provisions of § 20.408.030 of this title.
- All requests for an exception or modification must be accompanied by a Parking Demand Study prepared by a licensed professional that demonstrates approval of the exception or modification will not result in insufficient or inadequate parking and meets the following requirements:
- The Parking Demand Study must at a minimum include: (1) the otherwise applicable parking requirements under § 20.08.040 of this title; (2) any otherwise applicable parking requirements under any entitlement, zoning requirement, or other approval previously approved by the City; (3) a comparative analysis of parking on the site with and without the requested exception or modification; and (4) a Parking Management Plan and/or Transportation Demand Management program, if deemed necessary by the Director of Community Development.
- A Parking Demand Study for a multi-family development may utilize the Urban Land Institute’s Shared Parking methodology or any other reasonably similar methodology shown to be applicable if the project: (1) is either part of a mixed-use development or located in a mixed-use setting conducive to shared parking; and (2) incorporates both features that promote active transportation (e.g., walking and cycling) and convenient access to public transit.”
G. Parking requirements not specified. In the event this section does not specify any parking space requirement for any specific use otherwise allowed under this title, the Planning Commission, upon recommendation of the city staff, shall determine the parking requirements for said use. There shall be no application fee for this procedure.”
Staff is in support of the ZOTA based on the analysis in conjunction with the SB 2 grant objectives to facilitate the production of multi-family housing development. The new process would be tailored to the project and an assessment of the actual needs for parking of each specific development would provide adequate parking with the support of the Parking Demand Study. |