STATE OF CALIFORNIA - BUSINESS CONSUMER SERVICES AND HOUSING AGENCY GAVIN NEWSOM Governor
DEPARTMENT OF HOUSING AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
DIVISION OF HOUSING POLICY DEVELOPMENT
Sacramento, CA 95833 (i) .
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February 23, 2022
The Honorable Anthony Portantino
California State Senate
Capitol Office
Sacramento CA 95814
RE: Pickwick Gardens Housing Project - Letter of Technical Assistance Dear Senator Anthony Portantino:
The purpose of this letter is to provide technical assistance regarding the Pickwick Gardens Housing Project ("Project"), which is proposed within the City of Burbank ("City").
This assistance is based in part on conversations with you and Emily J. Gabel, and on correspondence received from Emily J. Gabel on February 2, 2022. The California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) understands that there are questions regarding the eligibility of the Project for the Streamlined Ministerial Approval Process created by Senate Bill (SB) 35 (Chapter 366, Statutes of 2017) and codified in Government Code section 65913.4. This letter of technical assistance provides HCD's interpretation regarding the Project's eligibility for a streamlined, ministerial approval process under the statute. In short, HCD concludes that the Project is eligible.
In July 2021, a preliminary application for the Project, prepared pursuant to Government Code section 65941.1, was submitted to the City of Burbank. The Project is proposed on an approximately 8.44-acre site located at 921-1001 W. Riverside Drive in Burbank, California. In the City's General Plan, the land use designation for that site is Rancho Commercial; in the City's Municipal Code, the site is zoned Commercial Recreation.
Existing on-site uses consist of a bowling alley, restaurant, banquet rooms, garden wedding venue, ice rink, and parking lots. The proposed housing development project includes 98 dwelling units, of which ten units are proposed for lower-income households (80 percent of area median income), on 5.1 acres of the 8.44-acre site. The ice rink will remain on site, and presumably occupies the remainder of the acreage.
While the land use designation for the site under the General Plan's Land Use Element is called "Rancho Commercial," the primary use described for that designation allows for residential with some incidental commercial. The operative provisions of the General Plan recognize that the properties would be single-family residential, some lower intensity multifamily, and commercial uses. The General Plan provides: