Agenda Item: 4
CITY OF SANTA CLARITA
AGENDA REPORT
PUBLIC HEARINGS
CITY MANAGER APPROVAL:
DATE: May 27, 2025
SUBJECT: METROWALK SPECIFIC PLAN AMENDMENT (MASTER CASE 24-230)
DEPARTMENT: Community Development
PRESENTER: Erika Iverson
RECOMMENDED ACTION
City Council:
1. Conduct a public hearing.
2. Determine that the project is consistent with the Addendum to the Sustainable Communities Environmental Assessment, prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines, and that the project would not result in any new significant impacts and would not substantially increase the severity of any previously identified impacts.
3. Introduce and pass to second reading, an ordinance entitled: “THE METROWALK SPECIFIC PLAN (MASTER CASE 24-230, SPECIFIC PLAN AMENDMENT (24-002),” to allow duplexes and detached condos, eliminate planning areas, reduce the setbacks between units, and adjust the timing for the construction of the senior affordable units. Waive reading of the text and consent to read by title only, as listed on the agenda.
BACKGROUND
Request
The applicant, BluMax Santa Clarita, LLC, is requesting amendments to the MetroWalk Specific Plan (Specific Plan) to expand the housing types allowed within the Specific Plan area, reduce setbacks between units, eliminate planning areas, adjust timing for the construction of the affordable senior units, and allow the option to pay an in-lieu fee rather than construct the affordable senior apartments required by the Specific Plan. There are no proposed changes to the required amenity space, parking, and maximum number of units within the Specific Plan.
Project Setting
The Specific Plan covers approximately 20 acres, located at the southeast corner of Lost Canyon Road and Harriman Drive, right next to the Vista Canyon Specific Plan area and the new Vista Canyon Multi-Modal Center. Originally adopted by the City Council in March 2021, the Specific Plan permitted up to 498 units to be built within four planning areas, including:
1) Planning Area 1 (PA-1) with 279 market-rate apartments;
2) Planning Area 2 (PA-2) with 119 market-rate senior apartments;
3) Planning Area 3 (PA-3) with 49 affordable senior apartments plus one manager unit; and
4) Planning Area 4 (PA-4) with 150 for-sale townhomes and a nearly one-acre park.
To date, the entire Specific Plan site has been rough graded, and the main infrastructure has been installed. The for-sale townhome units and the community park within PA-4 are currently under construction. No construction has started on the apartment units within PA-1, PA-2, or PA-3.
In late 2023, the applicant submitted a request to build townhomes in Planning Areas 1 and 2, instead of the market-rate apartments and the senior market-rate apartments. This request was presented to the City Council in December of 2023 as an informational item; no action by the Council was required. While townhomes are a permissible use within the Specific Plan, the applicant did not end up moving forward with that request.
In November 2024, the applicant applied for a Specific Plan Amendment (SPA), which is outlined in the Project Description below.
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The applicant is seeking amendments to the Specific Plan that would expand the allowable residential use types within the Specific Plan to accommodate duplex and detached condominiums, reduce setbacks between units, eliminate planning areas, adjust timing for the construction of the affordable senior units, and allow the option to pay an in-lieu fee rather than construct the 49 affordable senior apartments required by the Specific Plan.
When the developer requested the original Specific Plan, the only residential use types that they proposed to be allowed were multifamily uses, which are those apartments and townhomes that are three or more units. Due to current market constraints for financing on multifamily construction and fire insurance, the applicant is looking to add single-family detached condominiums and duplex residential use types to the list of allowable uses in the Specific Plan.
This amendment would give the applicant greater flexibility in how the Specific Plan is ultimately built out by allowing the developer to choose which residential use type to build based on market conditions.
The applicant has made two attempts to secure tax credit financing for the affordable senior
apartments, and both have been unsuccessful. The project was originally approved so that the construction of the affordable senior units must begin before occupancy of the 180th unit within the Specific Plan area. Construction has already begun on the 150 townhomes in PA-4. As such, only 30 more units can be built before the construction of affordable senior apartments must begin. Therefore, the applicant is requesting to delay the construction of the affordable senior units until the occupancy of the 240th unit to allow additional time to secure financing and to continue to build units concurrently. The applicant is also proposing payment of an in-lieu fee of $800,000, to be paid to the City for a future affordable housing project, if tax credit financing is not able to be secured for the project.
The City Council has not previously considered or adopted an in-lieu fee program. For reference, City of Santa Clarita (City) staff conducted research on what local benchmark cities were charging for in-lieu fees for affordable housing and found that they typically charge per square foot rather than per unit. From the list of benchmark cities, the prices from Glendale, Thousand Oaks, and Ventura were all compared and found to have a range in fees from $25.70 per square foot up to $55.00 per square foot and an average of $39.83 per square foot. The 49 units are approximately 550 square feet each. The fee range that these three cities would assess as an in- lieu fee for a 49-unit project would range from a total of $692,615 up to $1,482,250, and the average would be $1,073,419.
As another example, the City partnered with Related California in 2017 on development of the Three Oaks Apartment complex with 29 low income units. The City provided subsidies amounting to $181,135 per unit toward the development.
Notwithstanding this proposal from the applicant, City staff does not support including payment of an in-lieu fee as an option for the following reasons: 1) the City has not conducted a study to determine the appropriate in-lieu fee in the City; 2) payment of the fee in-lieu of construction would not further the City’s goal for affordable housing construction as set forth in the City’s certified Housing Element; 3) the City does not have a program in place to utilize the in-lieu fees to subsidize construction of affordable housing elsewhere in the City; 4) the City’s Housing Element includes a program to explore the feasibility of an inclusionary housing program, which could include an in-lieu fee and any consideration of an in-lieu fee should follow that exercise; and 5) the City does not have information about what other funds the benchmark cities have available to further subsidize affordable housing, which could be reducing their adopted in-lieu fees.
Additional Changes
There are other minor changes that are also being proposed by the applicant.
To allow greater flexibility in how the Specific Plan gets built out, the requested amendments would eliminate the Planning Areas, and development would be governed by the two zones within the Specific Plan area of either Residential (R) or Open Space (OS). Any permissible residential use types would be allowed within the existing R zone.
The applicant is also requesting to reduce the minimum building separation distance from ten feet to seven feet. This reduction in building separation is only applicable to duplex or detached
single-family condominium units. The reduction in building distance separation would maximize the number of duplex or single-family detached condominium units that could be built on-site.
Lastly, the proposed amendment to the Specific Plan would make a change in how the Specific Plan gets implemented. Due to the amendments that allow flexibility in unit type, and ultimately allow flexibility in build-out scenarios, the proposed changes would require that all new development that comes in would require an Architectural Design Review and a Development Review to ensure it complies with the development regulations.
No Changes
The majority of the Specific Plan would remain unchanged from the original approval and the amendment would not modify the maximum number of units that can be built on-site. The total number of units would remain a maximum of 498. Thus, because the maximum number of units will remain at 498, approval of the requested amendments would not result in a net loss of units within the meaning of the state housing laws. The other development standards, including parking, amenity space, and building height, would remain the same.
GENERAL PLANNING AND ZONING
Surrounding Land Uses
The General Plan and zoning designation for the subject property is Specific Plan with a portion of the project site located in a Significant Ecological Area Overlay.
The surrounding land uses include the Vista Canyon Specific Plan, the Colony Townhomes development, and the Metrolink rail line. Fair Oaks Ranch, is located further south, beyond the Metrolink rail line, and improved with multi- and single-family units.
Regional Housing Needs Allocation
The 49 deed-restricted affordable senior apartment units are allocated for low income and are currently in the pipeline for projections to meet the City’s Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) for low-income units. The current RHNA buffer for the low-income category is 142 units. If the City Council approves an in-lieu fee option, and the developer opted to pay the in- lieu fee, the buffer would drop by 49, reducing the buffer to 93 units.
The proposed project does not meet the definition of a housing development in accordance with Senate Bill 330, the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, as it is an amendment to an existing Specific Plan.
PLANNING COMMISSION RECOMMENDATION
The Planning Commission conducted a public hearing on April 15, 2025, where City staff presented the item, opened the public hearing, and received comments from the applicant and members of the public. After closing the public hearing, the Planning Commission voted 5-0 to adopt Resolution P25-05, recommending the City Council approve the proposed project to
expand the housing types allowed within the Specific Plan area, reduce setbacks between units, eliminate planning areas, and adjust timing for the construction of the affordable senior units.
The Planning Commission action does not include a recommendation to approve the option to pay an in-lieu fee for the affordable senior apartments.
ENVIRONMENTAL
A Sustainable Communities Environmental Assessment (SCEA) was approved for the MetroWalk Specific Plan by the City Council in March 2021. The SCEA was prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and contains a disclosure and analysis of potential environmental effects associated with implementation of the approved plan.
An Addendum to the SCEA has been prepared for the proposed project, and concludes that the proposed amendment to the MetroWalk Specific Plan would not result in any new significant impacts and would not substantially increase the severity of any previously identified impacts.
Furthermore, there is not any new information requiring new analysis or verification, and no new project design features or mitigation measures required for new impacts. As such, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15164, an Addendum to the SCEA is the appropriate CEQA document for the SPA. The Addendum is available in the Clerk’s Reading File.
NOTICING
All notices required by law were completed. Property owners and occupants within a 1,000- foot radius of the project site were notified of the public hearing by mail. A public notice was placed in The Signal newspaper on April 22, 2025, and a sign was posted on the project site on April 29, 2025. As of the writing of this staff report, staff has received no correspondence from the community.
ALTERNATIVE ACTION
Other action as determined by the City Council.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no fiscal impact associated with this recommended action.
ATTACHMENTS
Public Hearing Notice
Ordinance
Aerial and Zoning Map
Notice of Determination
Planning Commission Agenda Item (available in the City Clerk's Reading File) MetroWalk Draft SPA (available in the City Clerk's Reading File)