City Council

4. PUBLIC HEARING TO ADOPT ORDINANCE O2M26-4869 APPROVING ZONING TEXT AMENDMENT AMD-26-07, AMENDING TITLE 23 (ZONING) OF THE ALHAMBRA MUNICIPAL CODE, AND ZONING MAP AMENDMENT AMD-26-05, AN AMENDMENT R2M26-23 APPROVING GENERAL PLAN TEXT AMENDMENT AMD-26-08, AMENDING THE GENERAL PLAN LAND USE ELEMENT, AND GENERAL PLAN MAP GENERAL PLAN LAND USE MAP; AND ADOPT RESOLUTION R2M26-24 APPROVING THE FOCUS AREA DESIGN GUIDELINES FOR WEST MAIN STREET, EAST MAIN STREET, AND VALLEY BOULEVARD; AND DETERMINE THIS ACTION IS EXEMPT FROM CEQA – F2M24-42, F2M26-37, O2M26-4869, R2M26-23, R2M26-24 This is the time and place set by Notice No. N2M26-84 for the City Council to hold a public hearing to consider an application for Zoning Text Amendment AMD-26-07, Zoning Map Amendment AMD-26-05, General Plan Text Amendment AMD-26-08, and General Plan Map Amendment AMD-26-06. Zoning Text Amendment AMD-26-07, Zoning Map Amendment AMD-26-05, General Plan Text Amendment AMD-26-08, and General Plan Map Amendment AMD-26-06 are City-initiated applications to update the City’s existing objective design standards in Title 23 (Zoning) of the Alhambra Municipal Code, as well as eliminate the West Main Corridor Master Plan Overlay District Zoning classification and the corresponding Downtown Specific Plan Overlay General Plan Land Use designation, to accommodate adoption of new focus-area design guidelines. The proposed amendments are intended to facilitate and encourage quality design in the City, and will also ensure City documents reflect internal consistency in their references to General Plan Land Use designations and Zoning classifications. Additionally, updates are proposed to 018-020. The City’s adopted 2021-2029 Housing Element includes programs to establish design guidelines and city-wide objective design standards. Additionally, the City Council’s Strategic Plan identified development of design guidelines for multi-family residential, commercial, and mixed-use developments to further the goal of improving housing opportunities in the City. While design guidelines provide recommendations that encourage high-quality architecture and reinforce the City’s desired community character, objective design standards are required under various State housing laws to ensure qualifying development projects are reviewed and approved using measurable, objective criteria, rather than subjective or discretionary judgment. The proposed design guidelines and design standards pertain to regulating and guiding the architecture and design of buildings and do not propose to change any physical development standards such as density, setbacks, height, or parking. On May 18, 2026, the Planning Commission conducted a duly noticed public hearing to consider the proposed Zoning Text Amendment, Zoning Map Amendment, General Plan Text Amendment, and General Plan Map Amendment. Following the public hearing, the Planning Commission unanimously adopted Resolution No. 26-07 recommending that the City Council approve the proposed amendments. Once adopted by the City Council, the updates to the objective design standards will go into effect 40 days after final approval and adoption of the Ordinance, and these standards will be applied to new projects going forward. The newly adopted design guidelines will become effective upon the effective date of the Ordinance adopting the updated objective design standards and eliminating the West Main Street Corridor Master Plan area. While the new standards and design guidelines will start being implemented for new projects later this year, the timeline of when the community will start seeing the fruition of these new standards and guidelines in future development projects may be several years. Finally, the City reviewed the environmental impacts of the proposed Ordinance and City Council Resolutions under the California Environmental Quality Act (Public Resources Code §§ 21000, et seq. “CEQA”) and the regulations promulgated thereunder (14 Cal. Code of Regs. §§ 15000, et seq., the “CEQA Guidelines”). This Ordinance and City Council Resolutions are not subject to further review environmental review because: (1) it will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15060(c)(2); (2) there is no possibility that this Ordinance or City Council Resolutions will have a significant effect on the environment (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15061(b)(3)); and (3) the Ordinance and City Council Resolutions, by itself, do not constitute a “project” as defined in section 21065 of the Public Resources Code and the CEQA Guidelines (14 Cal. Code Regs. § 15378). It can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that this Ordinance and City Council Resolutions may have a significant effect on the environment. Recommended Action: After receiving public testimony, the Mayor should close the public hearing and the Council should take the following actions: 1) Introduce and give first reading by title only, waiving further reading to the following ordinance entitled: Adopting Zoning Text Amendment AMD-26-07, Amending Title 23 (Zoning) of the Alhambra Municipal Code to Update the City-Wide Objective Design Standards and Eliminate the West Main Corridor Master Plan Overlay District, and Zoning Map which ordinance shall return for a second reading and adoption at the next City Council meeting on August 24, 2026; 2) Adopt the following Resolution entitled: California Approving General Plan Text Amendment AMD-26-08, an Amendment to Use Map 3) Adopt the following Resolution entitled: California approving focus area design guidelines, for West Main Street, East Main Street, and Valley Boulevard. 4) Determine this action is exempt from CEQA