AGENDA
ITEM
18 AGENDA
CALEXICO California ITEM
WHERE CALIFORNIA AND MEXICO MEET
18 CITY COUNCIL
AGENDA STAFF REPORT
DATE: April 1, 2026
TO: Mayor and City Council
APPROVED BY: Benjamin A. Martinez, City Manager
PREPARED BY: Michael Coyne, Planning & Bunting Diece l
SUBJECT: Informational Item on Notice of Preparation of a Draft Program Environmental Impact Report for the Housing Element Update and Rezone Project Recommendation:
This item is informational only. No action is requested of the City Council at this time.
Background:
The Planning & Building Department is currently working on updating the City's Housing Element and in completing corresponding General Plan Amendments and Zoning Amendments (rezones). As part of this effort, the City is preparing a Program Environmental Impact Report (EIR), which will fully analyze potential environmental impacts on a programmatic level for the Housing Element and rezones.
Preparation of the Program EIR is being fully funded by a $250,000 grant from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG).
Discussion and Analysis:
The Housing Element is the City's main housing policy and planning document that identifies housing needs and constraints, sets forth goals, policies and programs that address these needs and constraints, and plans for projected housing needs for all income levels over an eight-year planning period that coincides with a Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) from SCAG. The 6th Cycle 2021-2029 Housing Element Update identifies suitable sites throughout the City, that can adequately accommodate the required housing capacity set forth by the City's RHNA, which for the 2021-2029 Sixth Cycle planning period is 4,868 housing units. Because the existing land uses throughout the City do not currently have the prescribed residential densities to meet the City's RHNA, of the 53 sites in the Sites Inventory, 34 sites have been identified as candidate housing sites for rezoning. The Housing Element and proposed rezones do not approve specific development projects.
As an initial step in preparing the Program EIR, a Notice of Preparation (NOP) has been prepared to notify agencies and interested parties that the City of Calexico (City), as the Lead Agency, will prepare a
Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA). The City will be the lead agency under the CEQA for the project. The Notice of Preparation with the corresponding maps are attached as Attachment No. 1.
The NOP has been distributed to agencies, interested parties, and property owners via e-mail and certified mail with a scoping period that runs from March 19, 2026 to 5:00 p.m. on April 20, 2026. All scoping comments must be submitted in writing to Michael Coyne, AICP, Planning & Building Director, at [email protected], prior to the close of the public comment period. The City will also hold a scoping meeting to provide an opportunity for agency staff and interested members of the public to submit comments, either written or verbal, on the scope of the environmental issues to be addressed in the Program EIR. The scoping meeting will be held on Thursday, April 9, 2026 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the City of Calexico Camarena Memorial Library, 850 Encinas Ave., Calexico, CA 92231. The scoping meeting will have an introductory presentation followed by public questions and answers. Written comments regarding relevant issues may be submitted at the meeting.
Fiscal Impact:
There is no fiscal impact associated with this informational report ......
Attachments:
1. Notice of Preparation
2 ATTACHMENT NO. 1
BRA PLANNING & BUILDING DEPARTMENT
CALEXICO
NOTICE OF PREPARATION
of a Draft Program Environmental Impact Report,
Notice of Public Scoping Meeting
Date: March 19, 2026
To: Office of Land Use and Climate Innovation, Responsible and Trustee Agencies, Other Public Agencies and Other Interested Parties
Subject: Notice of Preparation of a Draft Program Environmental Impact Report for the City of Calexico Housing Element Update and Rezone Project
Lead Agency: City of Calexico
Contact: Michael Coyne AICP, Director
City of Calexico
Planning & Building Department
608 Heber Avenue
Calexico, CA 92231
Telephone: 760.768.2105
Email: [email protected]
Review Period: March 19, 2026 to April 20, 2026
Purpose of this Notice
This Notice of Preparation (NOP) has been prepared to notify agencies and interested parties that the City of Calexico (City), as the Lead Agency, will prepare a Draft Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) for the proposed Housing Element Update and Rezone Project (Project). The City will be the lead agency under the CEQA for the project. This NOP describes the proposed project that will be analyzed in the Program EIR and identifies areas of probable environmental effects of the project. The purpose of this NOP is to provide agencies, interested parties, and organizations with sufficient information describing the proposed project and the potential environmental effects to enable meaningful input related to the scope and content of information to be included in the PEIR.
Public Review Period
As specified in the CEQA Guidelines, the NOP will be circulated for a 30-day review period. Agencies, organizations, and interested members of the public are invited to provide input on the scope of the environmental analysis. If you are a responsible or trustee agency, the views of your agency are requested as to the scope and content of the environmental information which is germane to your agency's statutory responsibilities in connection with the proposed project. Hard copies of the NOP will be available at City
Notice of Preparation
City of Calexico
Hall, at 608 Heber Ave, Calexico, CA 92231, and at the Camarena Memorial Library, at 850 Encinas Ave, Calexico, CA 92231. In the event that no response or well justified request for additional time is received by any responsible agency or trustee agency by the end of the review period, we presume that these agencies have no response.
The Notice of Preparation comment period closes at 5:00 p.m. on April 20, 2026. All comments concerning this environmental document must be submitted in writing to Project Contact, Michael Coyne, at the address or email provided above, prior to the close of the public comment period as noted above.
Please include the commenter's full name, address, phone number and/or email so that we may contact you for clarification, if necessary. The City will consider all written comments received during the noticed public review period prior to approving the project.
The City will hold a scoping meeting to provide an opportunity for agency staff and interested members of the public to submit comments, either written or verbal, on the scope of the environmental issues to be addressed in the Program EIR. The scoping meeting will be held on Thursday, April 9, 2026 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. at the City of Calexico Camarena Memorial Library, at 850 Encinas Ave, Calexico, CA 92231, within the Robert F. Morales Multipurpose Room. The scoping meeting will have an introductory presentation followed by public questions and answers. Written comments regarding relevant issues may be submitted at the meeting.
Project Location:
The project area includes the entirety of Calexico. The City of Calexico is located within the County of Imperial, about 200 miles southeast of Los Angeles 120 miles east of San Diego, and 60 miles west of Yuma. The city in its entirety is approximately 5,516.8 acres or 8.62 square miles. As shown in Figure 1, Regional Location, the City is generally bounded to the north by Imperial County, with Heber approximately 2 miles north; to the west, the All-American Canal separates Calexico from farmland and the Mt. Signal solar farm; to the east the City is bounded by Imperial County; and the southern boundary of the city is delineated by the U.S.- Mexico border.
Project Background:
The Housing Element is the City's main housing policy and planning document that identifies housing needs and constraints, sets forth goals, policies and programs that address these needs and constraints, and plans for projected housing needs for all income levels over an eight-year planning period that coincides with a Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). The City is required by State law to update its Housing Element every eight years.
The Housing Element is a mandatory element of the City's General Plan and must be certified by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) that it meets strict statutory requirements. The Housing Element consists of four sections and four supporting appendices that cover the following main topics:
• Identification of a Housing Sites Inventory demonstrating adequate capacity to accommodate the RHNA allocation;
• Rezoning of commercial and industrial properties to allow residential or mixed-use development; • Upzoning of select residential properties to increase allowable densities; • Implementation programs to facilitate housing production and remove regulatory constraints; and • Policies to affirmatively further fair housing and promote equitable housing opportunities.
Proposed Project:
The project consists of the following components: 1) the City of Calexico 6th Cycle 2021-2029 Housing
Notice of Preparation
City of Calexico
Element, 2) associated General Plan Amendments, and 3) Zoning Amendments to rezone the candidate sites listed in Table 1, Candidate Rezone Sites. The proposed project does not approve specific development projects. Rather, it establishes regulatory and policy changes that would allow future residential development consistent with amended land use designations and zoning standards. This project description is intended to provide the level of detail necessary to evaluate potential environmental effects of Housing Element implementation at a programmatic level.
The Housing Element Sites Inventory identifies suitable sites throughout the City, that can adequately accommodate the required housing capacity set forth by the City's RHNA, which for the 2021-2029 Sixth Cycle planning period is 4,868 housing units. The Sites Inventory identifies 53 sites throughout the City (Figure 2). The Sites Inventory has the capacity to accommodate a minimum of 7,939 housing units, consisting of 2,468 very low and low income, 1,835 moderate income, and 3,636 above moderate income units. Because the existing land uses throughout the City do not currently have the prescribed residential densities to meet the City's RHNA, of the 53 sites in the Sites Inventory, 34 sites have been identified as candidate housing sites for rezoning (see Table 1 below).
Potential Environmental Effect Areas:
The Program EIR will describe the reasonably foreseeable and potentially significant adverse effects of the proposed project (both direct and indirect). The Program EIR also will evaluate the cumulative impacts of the project when considered in conjunction with other related past, present, and reasonably foreseeable future projects. The City anticipates that the proposed project could result in potentially significant environmental impacts in the following topic areas, which will be further evaluated in the Program EIR. • Aesthetics • Noise
• Agriculture and Forestry Resources • Population and Housing • Air Quality " Public Services
• Biological Resources • Recreation
• Cultural Resources • Transportation/Traffic
• Geology and Soils = Tribal Cultural Resources
• Greenhouse Gas Emissions • Utilities and Service Systems • Hazards and Hazardous Materials • Wildfire
• Hydrology and Water Quality • Cumulative Effects
• Land Use and Planning • Growth Inducing Effects
• Mineral Resources
As environmental documentation for this project is completed, it will be available for review at the City's Planning & Building Department located at Calexico City Hall, 608 Heber Avenue, Calexico, CA 92231, and online at: calexico.ca.gov
Notice of Preparation
City of Calexico
Table 1: Candidate Rezone Sites
MAP ID# APN Address/Cross Street Existing Proposed
Zoning Zoning* Gross Acreage
5 059010020 Robinson Blvd. R2 RC* 13.03
059010048 Robinson Blva. CH RA* 4.25
059342030 615 Scaroni Rd. CH RA* 1.16
8 059342033 2402 Van De Graaf Ave. CH RA* 2.32
13 059491004 Cole Blvd. CN RA* 10.30
14 059496059 Cole Blvd. CN RC* 13.19
19 059471040 Cole Bivd. CN RA* 5.78
20 059471041 Cole Blvd. CN RA* 2.10
21 059471042 Cole Blvd. CN RA* 3.01
22 059455042 Cole Blvd. CN RA* 2.80
23 059180034 570 Bowker Rd. NC RA* 4.42
26 059180044A Highway 98 CH R2* 15.50
27 059180044B Highway 98 R1 RA* 2.12
28 059441003 Sapphire St. R1 RA* 7.79
31 059240040 Highway 98 CH RC* 8.97
32 059240048 Highway 98 CH RA* 2.94
33 059240050 Highway 98 CH RA* 1.50
Notice of Preparation
City of Calexico
MAP ID# APN Address/Cross Street Existing Proposed
Zoning Zoning* Gross Acreage
34 058791005 1071 E Birch Ave CH RA* 6.60
35 058264002 1037 Rockwood Ave CH RC* 0.31
36 058294001 915 Ollie Ave. IR RA* 2.23
37 058400058 Pierce Ct. IR RA* 0.85
38 058400057 Pierce Ct. IR RA* 1.46
39 058400056 Pierce Ct. IR RA* 0.84
40 058400055 Pierce Ct. IR RA* 0.84
41 058400054 Sherman Ct. IR RA* 0.89
42 058400053 Sherman Ct. IR RA* 1.09
43 058400052 Sherman Ct. IR RA* 1.68
44 058400051 Sherman Ct. RA* 0.95
45 058400065 Sherman Ct. IR RA* 1.62
47 058233027 Lincoln St. R1 R2* 1.24
50 058180090 Highway 98 CH RA* 0.88
058180091 Highway 98 CH RA* 0.90
52 058180092 Highway 98 CH RA* 0.89
53 058180093 Highway 98 CH RA* 1.61
*Indicates a rezone is required.
Riverside County
Salton Sea
Calipatria
Westmorland
Brawley
San Diego County
Imperial
--.- El Centro Holtville
Calexico
Mexico
Calexico City Boundary
Imperial County Cities
- US-Mexico Border
California Counties
0 10 20 Miles Interstate Highways
State Routes
lane Figure 1:
CALEXICO? Regional Location
16 15
3 - 18
5 -12
4 411
6 2V1921 E Cole BA
8 9 13 14
20 22
24 30 26
28 29 27
25 51 ; 53 31
W Birch St
Anda 8.
48 T 34
49 50 52 35
47 33 32
36 44
46 43-
Encinas Ave Andrade Ave
42 40
38 39
W 2nd St
Calexico City Boundary
Housing Element Sites
5th Cycle Sites
Rezone Sites
- - US-Mexico Border
0.5 1 Miles State Routes
Rail Network
Tenin Figure 2:
CALEXICO T Housing Element Sites