City Council

4. CONTINUED PUBLIC HEARING FOR COUNCIL DELIBERATION CONCERNING\nORDINANCE O2M23-4823 APPROVING ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT AMD-23-10\n(THE COMPREHENSIVE UPDATE TO THE CITY OF ALHAMBRA ZONING CODE\n[TITLE 23 OF THE ALHAMBRA MUNICIPAL CODE]) AND ZONING MAP\nAMENDMENT AMD-23-09 (AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY OF ALHAMBRA OFFICIAL\nZONING MAP); AND A RESOLUTION APPROVING GENERAL PLAN TEXT\nAMENDMENT AMD-23-08 (AN AMENDMENT TO THE LAND USE AND COMMUNITY\nDESIGN CHAPTER OF THE CITY OF ALHAMBRA GENERAL PLAN, VISION 2040),\nGENERAL PLAN MAP AMENDMENT AMD-23-07 (AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY OF\nALHAMBRA GENERAL PLAN LAND USE MAP), AND INITIAL STUDY/NEGATIVE\nDECLARATION – F2M20-24, N2M23-127, O2M23-4823, R2M23-54\nThis is the time and place set by Notice No. N2M23-127 and duly continued from the\nNovember 13, 2023 meeting, for the City Council to hold a public hearing to consider a\nGeneral Plan Map Amendment, General Plan Text Amendment, Zoning Map Amendment\nand Zoning Text Amendment adopting the comprehensive update to the City of Alhambra\nZoning Code (Title 23 of the Alhambra Municipal Code), an Amendment to the City of\nAlhambra Official Zoning Map, an Amendment to the Land Use and Community Design\nChapter of the City of Alhambra General Plan, Vision 2040, and an Amendment to the City\nof Alhambra General Plan Land Use Map (the “Project”); and to adopt the Initial\nStudy/Negative Declaration for the Project pursuant to the California Environmental\nQuality Act (CEQA).\nAt the November 13, 2023 meeting, the City Council heard a presentation on the\ncomprehensive update to the City of Alhambra Zoning Code (Title 23 of the Alhambra\nMunicipal Code) and then opened the public hearing to receive public testimony. After\nclosing the public testimony portion of the public hearing, the City Council began their\ndeliberations with discussion of the Planning Commission’s recommended revisions to the\nproposed Zoning Code, including the recommended maximum height allowances in the\nEMC (East Main Corridor) zone. The City Council voted 3-2, to revise the maximum height\nallowance in the EMC zone to 3 stories and 35’ in height above-ground between Chapel\nAvenue and Granada Avenue as a first step in their deliberations. The City Council then\nmoved to continue the public hearing to the December 11, 2023 meeting for purposes of\nfurther Council deliberation and possible action only (no further public comment).\nAt the conclusion of the November 13, 2023 meeting, the Council also asked staff to\nidentify certain information already existing in the record for Council’s use at the December\n11, 2023 meeting. Specifically, the City Council asked to be directed to information on the\nRHNA (Regional Housing Needs Assessment) allocation and required RHNA buffer. This\ninformation, specifically figures and tables with data on the City’s site capacity and the\nestimated surplus, or buffer, above the City’s RHNA requirement, was included in the\n2021-2029 Housing Element that was re-adopted by the City Council at a public hearing\non October 9, 2023. The provided figures and tables from the 2021-2029 Housing Element\nidentify the theoretical and realistic capacity. As stated in the Housing Element, the\n3\n12-11-23\ntheoretical capacity of 23,470 units assumes redevelopment of rezoned and upzoned sites\nat maximum densities; however, only a share of this theoretical capacity are sites with any\nrealistic potential to redevelop. The Housing Element applies adjustments, which take into\nconsideration realistic capacity and redevelopment potential. As a result, the adjusted\ncapacity for new sites after completion of necessary rezoning and upzoning is only 5,562\nunits. The capacity of 5,562 units at new sites contributes to the City’s total adopted sites\ninventory capacity of 7,642 units, which provides a buffer of 11% above the required RHNA\nof 6,825 units.\nThe staff reports and attachments from all previous Planning Commission and City Council\npresentations on the Zoning Code, including the staff report and attachments prepared for\nthe public hearing on November 13th, are available through the project website at:\nhttps://www.alhambracodeupdate.com/participate.\nRecommended Action: City Council:\n1. Determine which of the highlighted Planning Commission’s recommendations to\ninclude and direct the City Attorney to introduce and give first reading by title only,\nwaiving further reading to the following ordinance entitled:\nOrdinance No. O2M23-4823: AN ORDINANCE OF THE ALHAMBRA CITY COUNCIL\nADOPTING ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT AMD-23-10, THE COMPREHENSIVE\nUPDATE TO THE CITY OF ALHAMBRA ZONING CODE (TITLE 23 OF THE\nALHAMBRA MUNICIPAL CODE), AND ZONING MAP AMENDMENT AMD-23-09, AN\nAMENDMENT TO THE CITY OF ALHAMBRA OFFICIAL ZONING MAP\nwhich ordinance shall return for a second reading and adoption at the next City\nCouncil meeting; and,\n2. Determine which of the Planning Commission’s highlighted recommendations to\ninclude and adopt the following Resolution entitled:\nResolution No. R2M23-54: A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY\nOF ALHAMBRA, CALIFORNIA, APPROVING GENERAL PLAN TEXT AMENDMENT\nAMD-23-08, AN AMENDMENT TO THE LAND USE AND COMMUNITY DESIGN\nCHAPTER OF THE CITY OF ALHAMBRA GENERAL PLAN, VISION 2040;\nGENERAL PLAN MAP AMENDMENT AMD-23-07, AN AMENDMENT TO THE CITY\nOF ALHAMBRA GENERAL PLAN LAND USE MAP; AND ADOPTING THE INITIAL\nSTUDY/NEGATIVE DECLARATION FOR THE PROJECT PURSUANT TO THE\nCALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA).\nCONSENT AGENDA (Item Nos. 5 – 24)\nAll items listed under the Consent Agenda are considered by the City Council to be routine and\nwill be enacted by one motion unless a citizen or Council member requests otherwise; in which\ncase, the item will be removed for separate consideration.