2023-2031 Housing Element and Safety Element Updates - Response to Comments (FEIR)

2023-2031 Housing Element and Safety Element Updates - Response to Comments (FEIR)

Response to Comments (FEIR) on the 2023-2031 Housing Element and Safety Element Update DEIR. The Housing Element identifies 73 potential housing opportunity sites made up of 117 acres. It is possible that one or more of these locations are on a toxic site list pursuant to Section 65962.5 of the Government Code, but the question is not addressed in the Draft EIR. The matter is more appropriately considered if and when future development applications for specific sites are submitted. The Housing Element contains a program that requires rezoning of land to allow the construction of housing to meet the regional housing needs allocation (RHNA). To meet the RHNA, the city will adopt a Housing Opportunity Sites Zoning Overlay (HOZ). The HOZ will allow the city to focus the rezoning to align with the Housing Element while keeping the underlying land use rights and entitlements intact. The overlay is applied to sites under the City’s control (where development of another type of use is not anticipated) or on sites that are residentially zoned as shown in the Housing Element. The Overlay District applies to any parcel in the Housing Opportunity Sites Inventory in a Single Family Residential (RS), Medium Density Residential (RM), High Density Residential (RH), Public and Semipublic (PS), Community Commercial (CC) or Office Commercial (OC) District, or in a zone of the Downtown Mixed Use Master Plan. The HOZ would allow a residential multifamily density of up to 30 dwelling units per acre for all residential land use categories, Community Commercial, Business and Professional Offices, Public and Quasi Public. Under the HOZ, any parcel legally existing as of January 1, 2023, four multifamily dwelling units are permitted on the parcel regardless of the parcel size, provided that the project complies with all other applicable standards. A maximum height of 35 feet / 3 stories is allowed under the Overlay and Town Core Zoned parcels have a maximum permitted height of 40 feet under the Overlay. Furthermore, any housing proposed in this overlay district is required to comply with the City’s Objective Planning and Design Standards for Mixed-Use Residential and Multifamily Development pursuant to section 17.70.430 of the Benicia Municipal Code.

Benicia

Solano

Citywide

California Air Resources Board (ARB), California Department of Conservation (DOC), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Bay Delta Region 3 (CDFW), California Department of Fish and Wildlife, Marin Region 7 (CDFW), California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection (CAL FIRE), California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD), California Department of Parks and Recreation, California Department of Transportation, District 4 (DOT), California Department of Water Resources (DWR), California Governor's Office of Emergency Services (OES), California Highway Patrol (CHP), California Native American Heritage Commission (NAHC), California Natural Resources Agency, California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), California Regional Water Quality Control Board, San Francisco Bay Region 2 (RWQCB), California State Lands Commission (SLC), Department of Toxic Substances Control, Office of Historic Preservation, San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC), State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Drinking Water, District 4, State Water Resources Control Board, Division of Water Quality

Other (Housing)

Housing and Safety Element Update

Aesthetics, Air Quality, Biological Resources, Cultural Resources, Energy, Geology/Soils, Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hazards & Hazardous Materials, Hydrology/Water Quality, Land Use/Planning, Noise, Public Services, Recreation, Transportation, Tribal Cultural Resources, Utilities/Service Systems, Wildfire