Planning and Building Agency
www.santa-ana.org/pb
Item # 12
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
July 15, 2025
TOPIC: Density Bonus Agreement No. 2025-03 – Olive Crest at 2130 E. Fourth Street
AGENDA TITLE
Density Bonus Agreement No. 2025-03 to Facilitate the Construction of a Fifteen-Unit Multi- Family Residential Development, Including Three Units Proposed as Affordable to Very Low-Income Households
RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
1. Determine that, pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the CEQA Guidelines, the recommended action (below) is exempt from further review under Section 15168 (Program EIR);
2. Adopt a resolution approving Density Bonus Agreement No. 2025-03; RESOLUTION NO. 2025-XXX entitled A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL
OF THE CITY OF SANTA ANA APPROVING DENSITY BONUS AGREEMENT NO. 2025-03 TO ALLOW A FIFTEEN-UNIT MULTI-FAMILY RESIDENTIAL
DEVELOPMENT, INCLUDING THREE UNITS PROPOSED AS AFFORDABLE
TO VERY LOW-INCOME HOUSEHOLDS, AT THE PROPERTY LOCATED AT 2130 E. FOURTH STREET (APN: 400-091-23); and
3. Authorize the City Manager to execute a Density Bonus Agreement with Olive Crest, with a 55-year covenant term, for a rental residential development consisting of a fifteen-unit multi-family residential development, including three units proposed as affordable to very low-income households, at the property located at 2130 E.
Fourth Street (Agreement No. A-2025-XXX).
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: Yes
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Donald Verleur (“Applicant”), with Olive Crest (“Property Owner”), is requesting approval of Density Bonus Agreement (DBA) No. 2025-03 to allow the construction of a fifteen-unit multi-family residential development, including three units proposed as affordable to very low-income households earning less than 30-50 percent of the area median income (AMI),
Density Bonus Agreement No. 2025-03 – Olive Crest (2130 E. Fourth Street) July 15, 2025
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at the property located at 2130 E. Fourth Street (“Project”). As proposed, the Project will utilize concessions and a waiver or reduction to deviate from development standards as memorialized by the density bonus agreement pursuant to California Government Code Sections 65915 through 65918 and Santa Ana Municipal Code (SAMC) Sections 41-1600 through 41-1607. Staff recommends approval of the Applicant’s request as the Project meets the General Plan goals and policies and will contribute to the City’s housing stock through the production of rental housing units. Additionally, the Project contributes to the community’s affordable housing stock, aims to provide housing for at-risk young adults, represents a significant reinvestment in an underutilized site, and does not result in adverse environmental impacts or serious public health concerns.
Planning Commission Action
On June 23, 2025, the Planning Commission held a public hearing for the Project and voted 5:0:2, with Vice-Chair Ramos and Commissioner Leo absent, to approve certain deviations (three development concessions and a waiver or reduction), based on the required findings, with concessions and the waiver to be memorialized in a Density Bonus Agreement, pursuant to Section 41-1607 of the SAMC. Pursuant to Section 41-1602(d), the DBA requires City Council approval.
DISCUSSION
Table 1: Project and Location Information
Item Information
Project Address and Council Ward 2130 E. Fourth Street – Ward 3 Nearest Intersection Fourth Street and Golden Circle Drive General Plan Designation District Center – Medium High (DC-3) Zoning Designation Professional (P); Village Center District within the Metro East Use Overly Zone (MEMU)
North Professional Offices
East Medical and Professional Offices
South Multifamily ResidentialSurrounding Land Uses
West Professional Offices
Gross Area: 2.64 acres (115,029 square feet)Property Size Net Area: 0.32 acres (13,801 square feet) Existing Site Development
53,089-square-foot (gross floor area) office building occupied by Olive Crest offices, and surface parking lot. There’s 31,266 square feet of useable office area, including 16,359 square feet on the first floor and 14,907 square feet on the second floor.
Use Permissions Multi-Family Residential (permitted under MEMU, as part of SB 330 request)
Zoning Code Sections Affected
Uses Article XVI.I (Density Bonus); and Active Urban
within the Metro East Mixed Use Overlay Zone
(MEMU).
Density Bonus Agreement No. 2025-03 – Olive Crest (2130 E. Fourth Street) July 15, 2025
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Project Description
The development will consist of two identical, two-story buildings each 7,976 square feet in size, to be located towards the rear (south) of the existing site. The Project would be developed with a gross density of 5.68 dwelling units per acre (du/ac) and a net density of
46.87 du/ac, well below the permitted 90 du/ac by the DC-3 land use designation. The property is currently improved with a two-story, 53,089-square-foot office building and associated surface parking lot, which will remain and continue to be occupied by Olive Crest, a nonprofit organization providing family and youth services. To accommodate the proposed development, 27 parking spaces will be removed from the existing surface lot. The new residential buildings will coexist with the existing office use in a horizontal mixed-use configuration that is functionally integrated, physically compatible, and consistent with the zoning allowances under the Metro East Mixed Use Overlay (MEMU).
The units are designed as flats/apartments with Building A1 having seven two-bedroom units and an area dedicated as Common Area, to include a community room, office, bathroom, and laundry area. Building A2 would include eight two-bedroom units. The unit sizes will vary between 761 and 785 square feet, and each unit will be fully equipped with a kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, and common living areas.
As previously described, the Project will include affordable units, with three units designated for very low-income households earning 30-50 percent of the AMI which is currently $84,600 for a four-person household, as determined by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Two affordable units would be included in Building A2, and would be 785 square feet in size. The additional affordable unit would be included in Building A1 and would be 761 square feet in size. Like the market rate units, each affordable unit will be fully equipped with a kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, and common living areas, ensuring a high standard of living for future residents.
The Project incorporates a combination of a contemporary/Mediterranean architectural style consistent with many multi-family and mixed-use residential communities currently under construction in Santa Ana and the surrounding region. The overall design, massing, materials, and architectural features are intended to be compatible with, yet distinct from multi-family residences existing and currently under construction in the MEMU. The architectural style is characterized by a combination stucco walls painted in a warm earth tone color, natural stone wainscoting along the building base, decorative louvers, window trims, and exposed rafter tails.
Density Bonus
As part of the Project, the Applicant is seeking concessions and a waiver under California Density Bonus law, which allow developers proposing five or more residential units to seek increases in base density for providing on-site housing units in exchange for providing affordable units on site. To help make constructing on-site affordable units feasible, the law allows developers to seek up to five incentives/concessions and an unlimited number of Density Bonus Agreement No. 2025-03 – Olive Crest (2130 E. Fourth Street) July 15, 2025
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waivers. The incentives/concessions are generally reductions in site development standards or modification of zoning code requirements or architectural design requirements, and waivers are essentially variances from development standards (a site or construction condition).
The first version of the Density Bonus Law was adopted in 1979 and has since been amended at various times. Recent revisions allow affordable housing developers to request incentives/concessions and/or waivers or reductions for affordable or mixed-income developments, even if they do not require a numerical density bonus. Moreover, in early 2017, the law was amended to restrict the ability of local jurisdictions to require studies to “justify” the density bonus and requested incentives/waivers and places the onus on local jurisdictions to prove that the incentives/concessions or waivers are not financially warranted.
For this Project, the developer is not requesting a State density bonus for additional units but will avail themselves of the incentive/concessions and waiver or reductions that are required to be provided by State density bonus law for projects with the requisite affordability.
Due to the Project’s twenty-percent (20%) affordability rate, the developer can seek three density bonus incentive/concessions and unlimited waivers, pursuant to Section 65915 et al. of the California Government Code (Density Bonuses and Other Incentives). In addition, California Assembly Bill No. 2345, approved September 28, 2020, revised the State Density Bonus Law originally adopted in 1979 to provide additional benefits for projects that include qualifying affordable housing.
The purpose of the State Density Bonus Law is to encourage the development and availability of affordable housing. Pursuant to California Government Code sections 65915 (d)(1) and 65915 (e)(1), a local jurisdiction is limited in its ability to deny requested incentives, concessions, and waivers. The City has analyzed the Project and has identified several areas of potential impacts; however, the conditions of approval proposed for the Project are intended to address the Project’s potential impacts. Table 2 outlines the concessions and waiver requested by the Applicant and approved by the Planning Commission on June 23, 2025.
Table 2: Requested Concessions and Waiver
Standard Required by MEMU Provided
Publicly Accessible Open
Space
Ten-percent of the gross site
area (115,029 square feet)
No publicly accessible open space
provided. Requires Concession (1 of
3), Cal. Gov’t Code Sec. 65915
(d)(2)(C)
Private Open Space
•90 square feet per unit
(1,350 square feet)
No private open space provided.
Requires Concession (2 of 3), Cal.
Gov’t Code Sec. 65915 (d)(2)(C)
Parking Requirements
•Residential: 34 spaces
•Non-residential: 94
spaces
•Total required: 128
spaces
•Zero spaces provided for residential
units proposed.
•136 parking spaces provided for
non-residential.
Density Bonus Agreement No. 2025-03 – Olive Crest (2130 E. Fourth Street) July 15, 2025
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Standard Required by MEMU Provided
•Total residential required
by State Density Bonus:
23 spaces
Requires Concession (3 of 3), Cal.
Gov’t Code Sec. 65915 (d)(2)(C)
Common Open Space
•Five-percent of the gross
site area for
nonresidential uses
(5,062 square feet)
•Common open space provided at
rate of 1.4-percent of the gross site
area (1,430 square feet) Requires
Waiver, Cal. Gov’t Code Sec.
65915 (e)(1)
Onsite Parking
To accommodate the Project, the Applicant is proposing to reduce the overall onsite parking from 163 to 136 parking stalls, a reduction of 27 spaces. The office building’s gross floor area is approximately 53,089 square feet, inclusive of corridors, walkways, stairwells, etc.
The useable office floor area is approximately 31,266 square feet, with 16,359 square feet on the first floor and 14,907 square feet on the second floor. Pursuant to the City’s off-street parking requirements, the office building requires a total of 94 parking stalls. Moreover, the required residential parking pursuant to the State Density Bonus requirements would be 23 spaces. Therefore, the total required parking for the Project would be 117 parking spaces.
The Applicant is proposing a total of 136 surface parking stalls, which would be a surplus of 19 parking stalls.
Given the above parking analysis, the Project is not anticipated to have any parking impacts.
However, to proactively address any neighborhood parking impacts that could result from the Project, the conditions of approval and terms of the DBA include provisions requiring the following parking management practices, to be incorporated into the Project and which shall apply throughout the life of the Project:
•Requiring onsite parking permits (such as stickers or hang-tags) for any parking dedicated to the residential units, inclusive of guest parking spaces; •Policies for maximum time vehicles may be parked in the surface guest spaces; and •Policies for towing unauthorized vehicles; vehicles parked in unauthorized locations, such as fire lanes; vehicles parking in surface guest parking without a sticker, hang- tag, or other identifiers; and vehicles parked longer than any maximum guest parking timeframes allowed.
Affordable Housing Opportunity and Creation Ordinance
The Project exceeds the affordable housing goal for the rental category of the City’s Affordable Housing Opportunity and Creation Ordinance (AHOCO) by 100-percent, by providing three (3) onsite units designated for households earning 30-50 percent of the AMI (very low-income), which is currently set at $84,600 for a four-person household.
Two affordable units would be included in Building A2, and would be 785 square feet in size. The additional affordable unit would be included in Building A1 and would be 761 square feet in size. Each affordable unit will be fully equipped with a kitchen, bedrooms, Density Bonus Agreement No. 2025-03 – Olive Crest (2130 E. Fourth Street) July 15, 2025
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bathrooms, and common living areas, ensuring a high standard of living for future residents. The developer’s Inclusionary Housing Plan has been reviewed and approved by the City’s Housing Division.
Public Notification and Community Outreach
As the City Council's approval of this agreement does not constitute a public hearing, no public notification or community outreach is required under applicable state law or local ordinances prior to Council action. However, staff notes that project notifications were posted, published, and mailed in accordance with City and State regulations for the required Planning Commission public hearing. In addition, staff contacted the provided contacts for the Lyon Street and Zoo District Neighborhood Associations to ensure they were aware of the project and Planning Commission public hearing.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and CEQA Guidelines, the proposed Project is exempt from further environmental review under Section 15168 (Program EIR). This exemption applies when a previously certified Program Environmental Impact Report (Program EIR) has adequately analyzed the environmental effects of an activity, and no new significant impacts would result from the proposed Project. If the proposed Project remains within the scope of the Program EIR and does not require a subsequent Environmental Impact Report (EIR), no additional environmental documentation is required. Therefore, a Notice of Exemption, Environmental Review No. 2023-94, will be filed for the Project.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this action.
EXHIBITS
1. Resolution – Density Bonus Agreement
2. Draft Density Bonus Agreement
3. June 23, 2025 – Planning Commission Staff Report and Exhibits Submitted By: Ali Pezeshkpour, AICP, Executive Director of Planning and Building Agency, and Michael L. Garcia, Executive Director of Community Development Agency Approved By: Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager