Planning and Building Agency
www.santa-ana.org/planning-and-building
Item # 25
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
October 15, 2024
TOPIC: Related Bristol Specific Plan Amendment Application and Development Agreement Ordinances Second Readings (3600 S Bristol Street)
AGENDA TITLE
Amendment Application No. 2023-03 and Development Agreement No. 2023-02 for Related Bristol Specific Plan Amendment Application and Development Agreement Ordinances (3600 S Bristol Street) (Second Readings)
First reading October 1, 2024 City Council meeting and approved by a vote of (6-0-1, Phan abstaining due to recusal).
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
1. Conduct a second reading and adopt an ordinance approving Amendment Application (AA) No. 2023-03.
ORDINANCE NO. NS-3070 entitled AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA APPROVING AMENDMENT APPLICATION NO. 2023-03 TO ESTABLISH THE RELATED BRISTOL SPECIFIC PLAN (SP NO. 5) AND TO APPROVE A ZONE CHANGE FOR THE 41-ACRE SITE GENERALLY LOCATED AT 3600 BRISTOL STREET FROM GENERAL COMMERCIAL (C2)
AND COMMERCIAL RESIDENTIAL (CR) TO RELATED BRISTOL SPECIFIC PLAN (SP NO. 5)
2. Conduct a second reading and adopt an ordinance approving Development Agreement No. 2023-02.
ORDINANCE NO. NS-3071 entitled AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA APPROVING DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT NO. 2023-02 FOR A MIXED-USE DEVELOPMENT, KNOWN AS THE RELATED BRISTOL SPECIFIC PLAN PROJECT, AT 3600 BRISTOL STREET BETWEEN
THE CITY OF SANTA ANA AND GREENVILLE RANCH LLC, BSG WEST
BRISTOL LLC, AND MCG BRISTOL WEST LLC
Related Bristol Specific Plan Ordinances Second Readings (3600 S Bristol Street) October 15, 2024
4 6
2 4
3. Determine that, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the ordinances’ second readings are covered by the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) No. 2022-01 (SCH No. 2020029087), including environmental findings of fact pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, the Statement of Overriding Considerations, and the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program that were certified and adopted by the City Council on October 1, 2024 for the project (Notice of Determination filed on October 2, 2024).
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: Yes
Yes.
DISCUSSION
At its September 17, 2024, regular meeting, the City Council held a public hearing and considered the staff report, recommendations by staff, and public testimony concerning the subject applications. Following closure of the public hearing, City Council posed questions for answer by staff and the applicant, and continued the item to the October 1, 2024 regular meeting. During the October 1, 2024 meeting, the City Council deliberated the following topics:
1. Formation of a citizen oversight committee. During its August 12, 2024 public hearing and recommendation to the City Council, the Planning Commission unanimously voted to recommend City Council approval of the requested entitlements and Development Agreement (DA), but with a recommendation to form a citizen oversight committee to make recommendations on the spending of the $22 million community benefit payment required by the DA. Following deliberation on this topic, the City Council voted to approve the requested entitlements and DA without the citizen oversight committee. However, the City Council did emphasize to the City Manager that consideration be given towards allocations of these funds in future annual budgeting processes for a new community center/library in Ward 4, and with equitable dispersal of the same funds in other City Council wards with consideration on affordable housing, libraries, and education.
2. Select modifications to the Specific Plan. During the October 1, 2024 City Council meeting, the City Council, as part of its motion to approve the project, took into consideration select modifications to the Specific Plan, including:
a. Requiring a Class IV (protected) bike path on Bristol Street, MacArthur Boulevard, and Sunflower Avenue;
b. Increasing residential bicycle parking from minimum four spaces per building to minimum 10 locker spaces in each multifamily building, which may be in garages, and for other use types to have bicycle parking either on primary frontages or in open space areas;
Related Bristol Specific Plan Ordinances Second Readings (3600 S Bristol Street) October 15, 2024
4 6
2 4
c. Requiring a conditional use permit for alcohol sales, both on- (restaurants) and off- (stores) site sales;
d. In the Specific Plan design guidelines, requiring screening (“shall” instead of “may”) on any blank garage or building walls, for architectural enhancement;
e. Specifying that “iconic” architecture is required for all new buildings; f. Requiring private security officers to be on site 24 hours per day, 7 days per week, and to routinely patrol the site; and
g. Specifying the approved truck hauling route in the Specific Plan as recommended by Staff.
Regarding truck routes, following City Council consideration and approval of the item with stipulations specifying the approved truck hauling routes as recommended by Staff, Planning and Building Agency staff worked diligently with the Public Works Agency to include additional clarifying language to aid the future implementation of the included restrictions in the Specific Plan. The language has been drafted to clearly require the submission of a truck route for review and approval by the City for each of the three major construction phases of the project and the approved route for each phase prioritizes the protection of existing, established residential communities surrounding the project site and minimizes noise impacts onto surrounding properties. The additional language also clarifies that the included restrictions are for the protection of existing known residential developments at the time of the adoption of the Specific Plan. This is to ensure adequate future access to the site for construction purposes in the event future residential uses are established at locations conflicting with these restrictions.
The modifications have been included in the updated Specific Plan that is posted to the City’s project webpage and are included in this staff report as Exhibit 3.
In addition to the two items deliberated above, staff recommended that the City Council consider a modification to Condition No. 13(g) on the resolution approving Vesting Tentative Tract Map No. 2023-01 for the project. The modification clarifies and requires coordination with the City of Costa Mesa for a project driveway on Sunflower Avenue.
The modification has been included in the resolution’s conditions of approval and is included in this staff report as Exhibit 4.
Lastly, following approval of the first reading of the ordinance for the DA, staff modified the DA to:
1. Address a minor, non-substantive typo in Section 3.1.4, which referenced Section 1.1.19 (Ground Lease) instead of Section 1.1.18 (Future Project Approvals). The correct section to be referenced is Section 1.1.18 (Future Project Approvals). The DA has been corrected with this new reference; and
2. Add ordinance and resolution numbers to fields in the DA that were left blank prior to the ordinance’s first reading.
Related Bristol Specific Plan Ordinances Second Readings (3600 S Bristol Street) October 15, 2024
4 6
2 4
The requested entitlements and DA were unanimously approved on October 1, 2024 (6- 0-0-1) with Mayor Pro Tem Phan abstaining. As the requested entitlements include two ordinances, they require second readings pursuant to Section 413 of Division 2 of Article IV (City Council) of the City’s Charter.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
General Plan Update (GPU) Final Program Environmental Impact Report (Final PEIR) In April 2022, the City certified the GPU Final PEIR (SCH No. 2020029087) and adopted the GPU. The GPU Final PEIR is a Program Environmental Impact Report (PEIR) that examines the existing environment and the total scope of environmental effects that would occur as a result of buildout of the GPU land uses. As a Program EIR, the document comprehensively evaluated the potential environmental impacts stemming from adoption of the General Plan Update and subsequent implementing projects. Moreover, this type of EIR allows subsequent implementing activities, such as the proposed Specific Plan, to be evaluated through “tiering.” Tiering refers to the coverage of general matters in broader EIRs, such as the GPU Final PEIR, with subsequent narrower EIRs or ultimately site-specific EIRs incorporating by reference the general discussions and concentrating solely on the issues specific to the EIR subsequently prepared, such as in the case of the Related Bristol Specific Plan’s Supplemental EIR, which has been prepared for the Project. Tiering is appropriate when the sequence of EIRs is (1) from a general plan, policy, or program EIR to a program, plan, or policy EIR of lesser scope or to a site-specific EIR, (2) from an EIR on a specific action at an early stage to a subsequent EIR or a supplement to an EIR at a later stage.
The Project site is located within the South Bristol Street Focus Area and has a land use designation of District Center-High (DC-5), which has a maximum Floor Area Ratio (FAR) of 5.0, or 125 dwelling units per acre (du/ac) and a maximum height of 25 stories that allows up to 8,958,114 SF of mixed uses, inclusive of residential uses, within the Project site. This level of redevelopment was included in the GPU Final PEIR buildout, and applicable mitigation measures were identified, as necessary, to reduce impacts.
A project is consistent with the GPU if the development density does not exceed what was contemplated and analyzed for the parcel(s) in the certified GPU EIR and complies with the associated standards applicable to that development density (State CEQA Guidelines Section 15183(i)(2)/Public Resources Code Section 21000 et seq.).
Development density standards can include the number of dwelling units per acre, the number of people in a given area, FAR, and other measures of building intensity, building height, size limitations, and use restrictions.
Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR)
In compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), and as required by Public Resources Code (PRC) section 21166 and CEQA Guidelines section 15162, the Related Bristol Specific Plan Ordinances Second Readings (3600 S Bristol Street) October 15, 2024
4 6
2 4
City of Santa Ana has prepared a Supplemental EIR (SEIR) that evaluates the potential of the proposed Project to result in new or substantially greater environmental impacts than previously identified in the GPU Final PEIR. The City’s certified PEIR examines the impacts associated with buildout of the Santa Ana General Plan. Once a Program EIR is prepared, subsequent activities within the program or changes to the program must be evaluated to determine whether additional CEQA documentation needs to be prepared.
The Project site is within the South Bristol Street Focus Area and development of the site was analyzed in the FEIR at a programmatic level at 5.0 floor area ratio and 125 dwelling units per unit assumption per the General Plan District Center-High (DC-5) designation. The Related Bristol Specific Plan proposes the phased redevelopment of site, consistent with the General Plan District Center-High (DC-5) land use designation, and the City conducted project-level analysis to determine if the development of the Project would involve new significant environmental effects or a substantial increase in the impacts that were previously identified GPU Final PEIR. Following this project-level analysis, the City of Santa Ana prepared an SEIR that evaluated the potential of the proposed Project to result in new or substantially greater impacts than previously identified; applied the mitigation measures prescribed in the GPU FEIR; and where new or more significant impacts were identified, included Project specific mitigation measures. In addition, where impacts could not be mitigated to below a less than significant level, the SEIR made new significant and unavoidable findings.
The Project’s SEIR also provides information regarding short-term, long-term, direct, indirect, and cumulative environmental effects of the Project. It identifies feasible mitigation measures and alternatives that would minimize or eliminate the potentially significant impacts associated with implementation of the Project.
SEIR’s Notice of Preparation (NOP)
On March 17, 2023, the City sent to the Office of Planning and Research and each responsible trustee agency a Notice of Preparation (NOP), stating that a Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) would be prepared. A total of 20 comments were received during the 30-day NOP period which began on March 17, 2023, and ended on April 17, 2023. Pursuant to PRC section 21083.9 and CEQA Guidelines Sections 15082(c)(1) and 15083, the City hosted a public scoping meeting on March 30, 2023, to solicit comments on the scope of the environmental review of the proposed Project.
Approximately 60 residents attended the meeting and raised concerns about traffic, pedestrian safety, population growth, aesthetics, and if cumulative impacts would be adequately considered. These issues were addressed in the Draft SEIR.
Related Bristol Specific Plan Ordinances Second Readings (3600 S Bristol Street) October 15, 2024
4 6
2 4
SEIR Scoping Meeting
The City hosted a public scoping meeting for the draft SEIR on March 30, 2023, to solicit comments on the scope of the environmental review of the proposed Project.
Approximately 60 residents attended the meeting and raised concerns about traffic, pedestrian safety, population growth, aesthetics, and if cumulative impacts would be adequately considered. Participants were encouraged to submit comments on paper or via email to ensure inclusion in the draft SEIR and environmental analyses.
Draft and Final SEIR Public Review and Availability
The City determined at the onset of review and preparation based on analyses, the General Plan Final PEIR, existing site conditions, setting, and responses to the NOP, that the Project would have no impact or a less than significant impact on the following environmental topic areas and that no further, detailed analysis of these topics was required in the SEIR: Aesthetics, Agriculture and Forestry Resources, Biological Resources, Mineral Resources, and Wildfire. In particular with respect to aesthetics, Public Resources Code Section 21099 provides that “aesthetic and parking impacts of a residential, mixed-use residential, or employment center project on an infill site within a transit priority area shall not be considered significant impacts on the environment.” Here, the proposed Project is located in a Transit Priority Area and therefore the SEIR did not include a detailed analysis of aesthetics. However, a discussion on the topic is included in the Land Use and Planning section of the SEIR.
For each topical area of potential significance, the SEIR evaluates impacts of the project, what was evaluated by the GPU Final PEIR, mitigation measures already in place and adopted by the GPU Final PEIR’s MMRP, and project-specific mitigation measures. Section 15126.2(b) of the CEQA Guidelines requires an EIR to describe “any significant impacts, including those which can be mitigated but not reduced to a level of insignificance.” Potential environmental effects of the proposed project and mitigation measures are discussed in detail throughout Chapter 5 of the SEIR. The Draft SEIR determined that mitigation measures were required to mitigate impacts to a less than significant level for the following resource areas: air quality, cultural resources, geology and soils, greenhouse gas emissions, hazards and hazardous materials, noise, and tribal cultural resources.
However, the Draft SEIR concluded that despite the incorporation of all feasible mitigation measures, the proposed Project would nonetheless result in significant and unavoidable impacts to air quality and parks and recreation. •Air Quality. Implementation of the proposed Project would result in short-term emissions of criteria air pollutants during Project construction and long-term emissions of criteria air pollutants from vehicular emissions, natural gas consumption, landscaping, applications of architectural coatings, and use of Related Bristol Specific Plan Ordinances Second Readings (3600 S Bristol Street) October 15, 2024
4 6
2 4
consumer products. The emissions from the proposed project are primarily from vehicle trips and use of consumer products that emit nitrous oxide or reactive organic gasses. The majority of the Project’s emission exceedances are from consumer product and mobile sources and cannot feasibly be reduced by either the City or Project Applicant below the SCAQMD thresholds. Emissions from both consumer products and motor vehicles are controlled by State and federal standards and the City and applicant have no control over these standards. Due to the Project exceedance of the thresholds, impacts would be cumulatively considerable and significant and unavoidable.
•Parks and Recreation. As detailed in Section 5.12 of the SEIR (Parks and Recreation), the City currently has approximately 1.2 acres of public park and/or recreational space per every 1,000 residents, which is below the City’s parkland aspirational standard of three (3) acres of parkland per 1,000 residents. Based on the City’s parkland aspirational standard of three (3) acres of public park and/or recreational space per 1,000 residents, buildout of the project in the SP results in a need for approximately 27.7 additional acres of parkland to serve the estimated 9,238 new residents of the project site. The 13.1 acres of publicly accessible open space within a required 17.21 acres of common or private open space for residents provided by the project would be approximately 10.49 acres less than the City’s parkland aspirational standard, which would exacerbate the existing citywide parkland deficiency. Although the proposed Project and cumulative projects would be required to provide park and recreational facilities, private open space, and/or pay in-lieu fees as required by the Santa Ana Municipal Code, the impacts related to the amount of parkland within the City would be cumulatively considerable and cumulative impacts related to parks and recreational facilities would be significant.
The SEIR also evaluated the following alternatives to the proposed Project that would feasibly avoid or lessen the proposed Project’s significant environmental impacts while attaining most of the proposed Project’s objectives: Alternative 1 (No project/No build), Alternative 2 (Reduced project alternative that reduces the commercial component to 250,000 square feet and eliminates the 250 hotel room keys), and Alternative 3 (Building of the existing zoning designations of C2 and CR, producing a maximum total of 1,032,774 square feet of commercial uses, 1,375 multi-family units, 250 hotel room keys, and 200 senior continuum of care living units). A detailed analysis of environmental impacts and feasibility of each alternative is included in the Final SEIR.
A Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program (MMRP) has been prepared and is attached to the resolution certifying the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report No. 2022-01. A Statement of Overriding Considerations will be necessary should the City Council decide to approve the Project because of the significant and unavoidable impacts to air quality and parks and recreation. The Statement of Related Bristol Specific Plan Ordinances Second Readings (3600 S Bristol Street) October 15, 2024
4 6
2 4
Overriding Considerations and Findings for the Project is attached as Exhibit A to the same resolution.
As required by CEQA Guidelines section 15087(a), the City filed a Notice of Completion with the Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, State Clearinghouse, indicating that the Draft SEIR had been completed and was available for public review. On July 6, 2023, a Notice of Availability of the Draft SEIR was published and the Draft SEIR was circulated for at least a 45-day public review and comment period from July 6, 2023 through August 21, 2023. During the public comment period, copies of the Draft SEIR and technical appendices were available for review and inspection at City Hall, on the City’s project webpage, and at the City of Santa Ana Public Library (Civic Center location). The City received a total of 15 comments from various individuals, organizations, or government agencies during this period, and one comment after the public review period.
On August 1, 2024, the City released the Final SEIR, which contains the Draft SEIR, all technical appendices prepared in support of the Draft SEIR, all written comment letters received on the Draft SEIR, written responses to all written comment letters received on the Draft SEIR, and errata to the Draft SEIR and technical appendices. In accordance with PRC Section 21092.5, copies of the written responses to public agencies that submitted comments during the 45-day review period will be forwarded to those agencies at least 10 days prior to certification of the Final SEIR by the City Council, with copies of the Final SEIR document. Pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15089(b), lead agencies may provide an opportunity for review of the Final SEIR by the public or by commenting agencies before a project is approved, but is not required to do so; the Final SEIR is available for review on the City’s website at www.santa-ana.org/related- california-bristol-specific-plan/, at the City of Santa Ana Newhope Public Library, and at City Hall.
On October 1, 2024, the City Council adopted a resolution certifying the Final Supplemental Environmental Impact Report (SEIR) No. 2022-01 (SCH No. 2020029087), including adopting environmental findings of fact pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act, the Statement of Overriding Considerations, and the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program. A Notice of Determination was filed on October 2, 2024 for the Project.
EXHIBIT(S)
1. Amendment Application Ordinance
2. Development Agreement Ordinance
3. Specific Plan Redlines
4. Link to Updated (Clean) Specific Plan
5. Vesting Tentative Tract Map Resolution with Updated Conditions of Approval
6. Link to October 1, 2024 City Council Meeting.
Related Bristol Specific Plan Ordinances Second Readings (3600 S Bristol Street) October 15, 2024
4 6
2 4
Submitted By: Minh Thai, Executive Director, Planning and Building Agency Approved By: Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager