SCH Number 2020030351

Project Info

Title

Rezoning Sites for Housing Project

Description

Project implementation would rezone up to 59 urban sites in General Plan-designated Urban Service Areas throughout unincorporated Sonoma County for by-right, medium-density housing. By-right, medium-density housing means that no discretionary land use approvals and no CEQA review would be required for the development of medium-density (up to 24 units per acre) housing on the sites. Design review approval is still required for all multifamily or mixed-use housing development of more than three units. The project would add sites to the County's Housing Element site inventory to comply with new inventory requirements in Housing Element law; it would implement current General Plan policies and programs, including Policy HE-2f, to consider a variety of sites for higher-density and affordable housing, and Housing Element programs 11 and 20, which encourage the identification of urban sites near jobs and transit to appropriately accommodate additional housing. The project includes (1) a General Plan Map amendment as necessary and, where applicable, area plan amendments to change land uses and adjust allowable densities on identified sites; (2) a rezone of sites to match new General Plan land uses or densities and/or to add the WH Combining District; and (3) this Program Environmental Impact Report (EIR) to evaluate the potential environmental impacts of the project. The project is intended to facilitate and encourage housing development that would be developed over a 10-year period, with full buildout by 2030. For purposes of the environmental analysis, sites analyzed for rezoning to R2 (Medium-Density Residential), with a base density of 10 to 11 units per acre, were assumed to be rezoned to allow a density of 20 to 22 units per acre, respectively which represents the maximum buildout potential utilizing the County’s Rental Housing Opportunity Program density bonus program, which allows a density bonus of up to 100 percent. Sites analyzed for rezoning to add the WH Combining District were assumed to allow a density of 24 units per acre, the maximum allowed in this district. If all 59 sites are chosen to move forward in the rezoning project studied under this EIR, project implementation could increase the housing availability in the county to accommodate up to 2,975 additional dwelling units and approximately 7,735 additional people.

3 documents in project