ORDINANCE NO. 3951
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY
OF TORRANCE, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SECTION
91.3.2 REGARDING DISTRICTS ESTABLISHED OF THE
TORRANCE MUNICIPAL CODE AND ADDING ARTICLE
52 OF CHAPTER 1 OF DIVISION 9 REGARDING
RELIGIOUS AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION
HOUSING OVERLAY ZONE.
LUS24-00006 CITY OF TORRANCE
WHEREAS, City Council adopted a Housing Element Update on June 14, 2022, which has been deemed compliant with state housing law by the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD); and
WHEREAS, Program 1, Objective 7 of the Housing Element mandated an ordinance to revise the Zoning Code and Zoning Map to create a Religious Institution Housing Overlay Zone on properties designated in the Sites Inventory to allow for new low income and mixed-use housing; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Torrance hereby finds that the proposed amendment to the Torrance Municipal Code is consistent with the City's General Plan Housing Element; and WHEREAS, the City Council adopted an Initial Study and Negative Declaration (ND) that were prepared in conjunction with the Housing Element Update; and WHEREAS, no substantial changes are proposed under the project (an Ordinance to establish Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay Zone) and there are no substantial changes in the circumstances under which the project will be undertaken that will require major revisions to the previously approved Negative Declaration (ND) due to the involvement of new significant environmental effects, or a substantial increase in the severity of previously identified significant effects. There is no "new information of substantial importance" as that term is used in CEQA Guidelines Section 15162 (a)(3). Therefore, the previously adopted ND adequately discusses the potential impacts of the project; and
WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of Torrance hereby finds that the proposed amendment to the Torrance Municipal Code is consistent with the City's General Plan Housing Element pursuant to §65860 of the State Government Code. •
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TORRANCE DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1
That Section 91.3.2 entitled "District Established" shall be amended as follows :
"91.3.2 DISTRICTS ESTABLISHED.
In order to classify, regulate, construct and segregate the use of land and buildings, to regulate
and restrict the height and bulk of buildings, and to regulate the area of yards and other open spaces about buildings, the following classes of districts are hereby established, which said several classes of districts are shown and delineated on that certain series of maps entitled "City of Torrance -Official Land Use Plan" which are hereby adopted and made a part of this Chapter by this reference:
Single family residence district
Two family residence district
R-1
R-2
R-3
R-R-3
R-4
R-5
L-P
R-3-3
A-1
C-1
C-2
C-3
C-4
C-5
C-R
Limited multiple family residence district
Restricted multiple family residence district
Unlimited multiple family residence district
Highrise residential district
Limited professional office district
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Three-unit multiple-family residential district
Light agricultural district
Retail commercial district
General commercial district
Solely commercial district
Shopping center district
Conditional commercial district
Restricted commercial district
Civic Center district
M-1 Light manufacturing district
M-2 Heavy manufacturing district
M-L Limited manufacturing district
P-1 Open area -planting -parking
P-U Public use district
HMO Hospital-medical-dental district
RTH Residential townhouse district
Downtown Torrance district
2 R-H Hillside and local coastal overlay zone
P-D Planned development district
Madrona Marsh district
HBCSP
ROO
C/RTO
Small lot, low-medium overlay zone
Hawthorne Boulevard Corridor Specific Plan Zone
Residential office overlay district
Commercial/residential transition overlay district Downtown residential multiple-family residential district
Torrance Tract overlay zone
HCO Housing Corridor Overlay Zone
RHEIH-OZ Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay Zone SECTION 2
That Article 52 entitled "RHEIH-OZ Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay Zone" shall be added and to Chapter 1, Division 9 of the Torrance Municipal Code:
"ARTICLE 52 -RHEIH-OZ RELIGIOUS AND HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTION HOUSING
OVERLAY ZONE
91.52.010 PURPOSE
The Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay Zone creates opportunities for future affordable housing development on existing religious institutional land within the City of Torrance. The RHEIH-OZ was established as part of the implementation of the General Plan Housing Element and meeting the City's Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocation. In addition to the General Plan Housing Element update, the Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay seeks to utilize State of California Senate Bill 4, signed into law on October 11, 2023, which permits housing as a use by right on lands owned by an independent institution of higher education or religious institution.
91.52.020 APPLICABILITY
The Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay Zone is applicable to qualified properties that are owned on or before January 1, 2024 by an independent institution of higher education or religious institution which meet the criteria of State Government Code Sections 65913.6 and 65913.16.
91.52.030 RELATIONSHIP TO BASE ZONING DISTRICTS
a) The Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay Zone is applied over base zoning districts and is elective, rather than mandatory. New housing development projects would be permitted uses by right on religious institutional land and properties where the 3 RHEIH-OZ is applied are required to either comply with the requirements of the base zoning district, or elect to comply with the requirements of the RHEIH-OZ. Existing standards applicable to all zoning districts (e.g. sign standards, fence/wall standards, parking design standards) will still apply to properties utilizing the RHEIH-OZ, unless specifically established by the RHEIH-OZ.
b) When RHEIH-OZ regulations conflict with the standards of the base district, the less restrictive standards will prevail.
91.52.040 PERMISSIBLE USES
In the Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay Zone, the uses permitted in the base district are permitted. Additionally, the following uses are permitted:
a) Single-family residence
b) Multi-family residence
c) Two-family residence
d) Flat building, apartment house, bachelor apartment
e) Bungalow court
f) Multiple-family residence
g) Multiple owner-occupied residential structures
h) Senior citizen housing
91.52.050 DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS
The development standards of the Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay Zone are established with two different Sub-Groups.
Sub-Group 1 is comprised of sites under 2 acres .
Sub-Group 2 is comprised of sites 2 acres or
larger.
Existing structures shall not be deemed nonconforming for not meeting the standards of the Religious Institution Housing Overlay Zone.
91.52.60 DENSITY
a) The goal of the Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay Zone is to add very low-income and low-income housing in the City of Torrance on religious institutional grounds. The individual sites are listed by Appendix C: Sites Inventory, Table C-1. b) The maximum density shall be 31 dwelling units per acre.
91.52.070 BUILDING HEIGHT
a) Sub-Group 1: The maximum building height shall be 35 feet; buildings within 20 feet of an abutting R-1 District are limited to 27 feet.
b) Sub-Group 2: The maximum building height shall be 50 feet; buildings within 50 feet of an abutting R-1 District are limited to 35 feet.
c) Buildings on lots adjacent to the R-1 District shall provide additional stepbacks for building height above 30 feet. Above 30 feet, the building shall provide a 5-foot stepback in the 4 depth of the fac;ade for every additional 10 feet of height, or fractional portion thereof. d) The following structures are allowed to exceed the established building height limit:
skylights, chimneys, elevator and stair towers, fire escapes and catwalks required by law, solar panels, building-mounted antennas, ordinary plumbing or heater vents, and utilities. e) The maximum building height shall be measured from the lowest portion of the building which is above the ground, but not including any berm or raised planter, to the topmost portion of the roof, exclusive of those structures listed above in Section 91.52.070 d).
91.52.080 SETBACKS
Encroachments such as decks, porches, and eave overhangs shall comply with the provisions of Division 9, Article 5 (Yards).
a) Front Yard.
1) Sub-Group 1: The front yard shall be 10 feet, unless the front yard faces a street identified as a major arterial or higher street classification in the Circulation Element, in which case the front yard shall be 15 feet.
2) Sub-Group 2: The front yard shall be 10 feet, unless the front yard faces a street identified as a major arterial or higher street claisification in the Circulation Element, in which case the front yard shall be 15 feet.
b) Side Yard
1) Sub-Group 1: The side yard shall be 5 feet; or 10 feet where the side yard property line is adjacent to a property in the R-1 District, unless the side yard faces a street identified as a major arterial or higher street classification in the Circulation Element, in which case the side yard shall be 10 feet.
2) Sub-Group 2: The side yard shall be 10 feet; or 15 feet where the side yard property line is adjacent to a property in the R-1 District.
c) Rear Yard
1) Sub-Group 1: The rear yard shall be 5 feet; or 10 feet where the rear yard property line is adjacent to a property in the R-1 District.
2) Sub-Group 2: The rear yard shall be 10 feet; or 20 feet where the rear yard property line is adjacent to a property in the R-1 District.
d) Yard Adjacent to Internal Drive Aisle. The yard adjacent to internal drive aisles shall be 5 feet.
91.52.090 USEABLE OPEN SPACE
Useable open space is not required on parcels within the Religious Institutional Housing Overlay Zone.
91.52.100 PARKING
a) Existing Parking. Up to 50% of existing off-street parking required for the religious institution may be removed in order to construct new housing in place of the existing parking.
b) Minimum Parking Spaces Required. These minimum requirements replace the numerical provisions of Division 9, Chapter 3, Article 2 (Use and Parking Spaces Required). The remaining parking design standards of Division 9, Chapter 3 (Off-Street Parking) shall apply to all projects.
5 1) Sub-Group 1: A minimum of 0.5 parking spaces per dwelling unit shall be provided . 2) Sub-Group 2: A minimum of 1 parking space per dwelling unit shall be provided. c) Tandem parking will be allowed.
91.52.110 RESIDENTIAL UNIT SIZES:
The Religious and Higher Education Institution Housing Overlay Zone establishes the following minimum unit sizes for residential units. These minimum unit sizes supersede the standards established by Division 9, Article 20 (Living Areas).
a) Studio Unit. The minimum unit size shall be 450 square feet. b) One-Bedroom Unit. The minimum unit size shall be 600 square feet. c) Two-Bedroom Unit. The minimum unit size shall be 800 square feet. d) Three-Bedroom Unit or Greater. The minimum unit size shall be 1,000 square feet.
91.52.120 COMPATIBILITY STANDARDS
a) Upper floor windows that are oriented towards existing residential land uses shall incorporate obscured glass and/or a minimum five.Joot sill height when allowed by the Building Code. ,
b) Balconies and upper floor decks that are oriented towards existing residential land uses shall incorporate a minimum five-foot tall privacy walls that are constructed of a solid or opaque material. •
c) Where parcels share a property line with single-family residential uses, a fence or wall constructed of solid and opaque material shall be erected not to exceed 8 feet in height.
91.52.130 NOTIFICATION
Upon issuance of building permits for a housing project developed under the RHEIH-OZ, the applicant shall post an information board along the front property line that displays:
a) Project address;
b) Description of the project that includes the number of housing units and maximum building height;
c) Building Permit case numbers issued for the project; d) Property owner's name and phone number;
e) Contractor's name and phone number;
f) Code Enforcement phone number where violation can be reported; The information board shall be a minimum 11 inches by 17 inches in size, weather-proof, visible from the public right-of-way, posted on the site throughout the duration of construction, and shall not be removed until after all project Building Permits have been finaled by the City of Torrance."
SECTION 3
Any provisions of the Torrance Municipal Code or its appendices, or any other ordinances of the City inconsistent with this ordinance to the extent of the inconsistencies and no further, are repealed.
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SECTION 4
If any section, subsection, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, the decision will not affect the validity of the remaining portions of the ordinance . The City Council declares that it would have passed this ordinance and each section, subsection, sentence, clause and phrase irrespective of the fact that anyone or more sections, subsections, sentences, clauses or phrases are declared invalid or unconstitutional.
SECTION 5
This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after the date of its adoption . Within fifteen (15) days following adoption, this ordinance or a summary of this ordinance, if authorized by the City Council, will be published at least once in the Daily Breeze, a newspaper of general circulation, published and circulated in the City of Torrance.
INTRODUCED and APPROVED this 8th day of July 2025 .
ADOPTED and PASSED this 5th day of August 2025 .
----APPROVED AS TO FORM : ATTEST : ..__
at ia Y. Strader, Assistant City Attorney R~C, City Clerk 7 TORRANCE CITY COUNCIL ORDINANCE NO. 3951
STATE OF CALIFORNIA
COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES
CITY OF TORRANCE
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I, Rebecca Poirier, City Clerk of the City of Torrance, California, do hereby certify that the foregoing Ordinance was duly introduced and approved by the City Council of the City of Torrance at a regular meeting held on the 8th day of July 2025 and adopted and passed by said Council at a regular meeting held on the 5th day of August 2025 by the following roll call vote:
AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS
NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS
ABSTAIN: COUNCILMEMBERS
RECUSED : COUNCILMEMBERS
ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS
Date:_i-----+-----11 ?'_/rx_
Gerson, Kaji,
Mayor Chen.
None.
None.
None.
None.
8 Kalani, Lewis, Mattucci, Sheikh, and
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Re b ccaP oirier, MMC
City Clerk of the City of Torrance