August 2, 2023
Re: Devonwood Apartments
Mr. McBride,
The purpose of this letter is to request a reduction in the parking ratio as proposed when the project was initially entitled. There are various challenging factors that are prohibiting the feasibility of the project in terms of financing, design, and construction which could be resolved by granting the reduction request. The proposed Devonwood Apartments is a low-income housing development proposed just south of Olive Avenue in the northwest quadrant of the City of Merced. The approved site plan was a market-rate project.
The project site is located within a floodplain which requires fill material brought in to raise the building pad elevations. With the parking count at 248 spaces, there’s very little horizontal space between the parking areas and buildings available to maximize the efficiency of the site grading. This is increasing the cost of filling material as well as adding the potential for retaining walls.
Additionally, during the NEPA review process, it was determined that there are NEPA requirements about the proximity of parking spaces to an existing generator on the back side of a building across Devonwood Drive. These requirements prohibit the construction of parking within the applicable radius of the generator without specific mitigation measures. With the constraints on the parking count, there is no flexibility to move these impacted parking spaces outside of the applicable radius. If these stalls must remain within the applicable radius of the existing generator, a blast wall will be required to protect these stalls which contributes significant cost to the project.
Due to the constraints stated in this letter, we kindly request the city grants the request for parking reduction. We believe the reduction in the parking count will best serve the project and residents in the long run. Also, it is important to note, that our recently completed project- known as Childs and B- received approval based on a 1.16 parking ratio and we are requesting a 1.28 ratio for the Devonwood project. The new proposed parking ratio exceeds that of the previous project that was approved.
We greatly appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to your guidance and support.
Please let me know if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Jason Rastegar
Vice President
310-402-7706
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