The Planning Commission on Oct. 6 recommended the City Council adopt the final EIR for the updates to the Housing Element, Zoning Code, and Main Street Specific Plan.

The vote was 3-1. District Four Commissioner Patty Campbell cast the dissenting vote.

The District Three seat on the Planning Commission remains vacant.

In a separate vote, the commissioners recommended the council adopt the 2021-2029 Housing Element update, update the Main Street Specific Plan, and adopt amendments to the Zoning Code along with related documents.

That vote was also 3-1. Campbell again cast the dissenting vote.

“It was a protest vote,” Campbell said after the meeting. 

Campbell said she has been trying to get the Old Ranch Country Club development project removed from the Housing Element. (The city has not approved the Old Ranch development yet. That project, according to the Oct. 6 staff report, will have its own environmental impact report.)

Susan Perrell of the Environmental Quality Control Board expressed displeasure with the state mandates. “There is much not to like about the sate forcing us to add 1,243 new housing units, but resistance will result in some ugly consequences, and the process has illuminated opportunities to reduce the impacts of more high density housing through Code modifications,” Perrell wrote in an after meeting text.

According to Interim Community Development Director Shaun Temple, the process to approve the Housing Element has taken about four-and-a-half years. The California Housing and Community Development has requested multiple changes to the city’s Housing Element. 

Eight members of the public attended the meeting, including current City Council members Joe Kalmick of District One, Ben Wong of District Two, and Patty Senecal of District Four.

None of the council members spoke at the public hearing and sat separately from one another.

The project will now go to the City Council. 

Due to space limits, the following are not a transcript but highlights from the meeting.

Public Hearing 

Four residents spoke during the public hearing.

One resident asked if the units required for Seal Beach was proportionate for a small city. He also raised concerns about parking.

Susan Perrell raised concerns about flood water management.

Teresa Miller, referring to the 2021-2029 Housing Element update, said the city was almost in 2026. 

Schelly Sustarsic, a former council member, expressed concern with the number of units proposed near her College Park East neighborhood. She also raised concerns with the safety of developing housing near the Army airfield on the grounds of the JFTB.  

Background

California law requires cities to update sections of their General Plans on regular cycles. The Housing Element is one of those sections. For this update cycle, California is requiring Seal Beach to plan for 1,243 units. Of these, 258 would be classified as very low-income units. The state cannot legally force property owners to build them, but it can require the city to plan for allowing them. 

To update the Housing Element, the city has to update the Zoning Code and the Main Street Specific Plan.

Because these changes could impact the environment, the state requires an environmental impact report.

The Planning Commission’s role is to make a recommendation to the City Council.

Due to space limits, the following are highlights from the staff report by Interim Planning Manager Art Bashmakian. 

“The Housing Element must include an inventory of adequate sites that are zoned and available within the planning period to meet the jurisdiction’s fair share of regional housing needs across all income levels,” Bashmakian wrote.

“The Zoning Code Amendment involves the creation of a new zoning category that would allow for high density residential, mixed-use developments under Program 1.b called Mixed Commercial/Residential High-Density Zone (MC/RHD). This new MC/RHD zone will allow residential development with a maximum density of up to 46 dwelling units per acre and will require a minimum density of 40 dwelling units per acre,” Bashmakian wrote.

According to the report, five sites to be rezoned are the Accurate Storage site, the Shops at Rossmoor, Old Ranch Town Center, Seal Beach Plaza, and the Seal Beach Center. The four centers would be allowed to build a multi-tenant strip mall with surface parking.

“The sixth site to be rezoned is at 99 Marina Drive, northeast of Marina Drive and 1st Street intersection (Opportunity Site #9). It is currently zoned Oil Extraction (OE) and primarily vacant. This 4.3-acre site is proposed to be re-zoned as RHD-33 (Residential High Density – maximum 33 units per acre),” Bashmakian wrote.

Then there is the Main Street Specific Plan. No ground floor residential units would be allowed on Main Street, according to the staff report. 

“Residential units have historically been developed on Main Street on the second floor or facing the alley. Many of those units still exist and are inhabited. At least since the most recent MSSP was adopted in 1996, new residential units have not been allowed. As Main Street already exists developed in this Mixed Use pattern of commercial on the first floor and residential on the 2nd floor or at the rear of the property, the character of Main Street would not change,” Bashmakian wrote.

Environmental assessment

The environmental impact report is required because the Housing Element is subject to the California Environmental Quality Act.

“The City contracted with Stantec Consulting Services, an environmental consulting firm, to prepare the Draft EIR for the proposed project in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the State CEGA Guidelines. A copy of the Draft EIR was made available on the City’s website, at the two Seal Beach Public Libraries and at the Community Development Department in City Hall,” Bashmakian wrote.

The report also discussed the Sept. 17 meeting of the Environmental Quality Control Board. 

According to the report, Environmental Board members were concerned that the EIR for the Housing Element and Zoning Code update would have unavoidable impacts on air quality, greenhouse gases, public services, and transportation. 

“Staff explained that the City Council may certify an EIR notwithstanding significant and unavoidable impacts, if the City Council finds that a specific benefit(s) outweighs those impacts,” Bashmakian wrote. 

“In the case of the Housing Element and additional housing stock being added to the City, the State has declared there is a housing crisis in which cities are mandated to increase the capacity for more housing being built, as such the City Council may consider certification of the EIR based on adoption of Findings of Fact and a Statement of Overriding Consideration that increasing the capacity for increased housing stock provides a benefit that outweighs the aforementioned significant and avoidable impacts,” Bashmakian wrote.

Staff recommended that the Planning Commission adopt a recommendation that the City Council certify the Final EIR for the Housing Elements and amendments to the Zoning Code and the Main Street Specific Plan.

Staff also recommended that planners adopt a recommendation to adopt the Housing Element Update, Zoning Code amendments, and Main Street Specific Plan Amendments.