Architectural Review Board - February 6, 2025

Board recommends 70 Encina project and wider housing rezoning

The Architectural Review Board voted 5-0 to recommend approval of a 10-unit condominium project at 70 Encina Avenue and the planned-community rezoning needed for it. In a separate 4-1 vote, the board recommended residential rezoning for the broader North Park area, excluding the project parcel. A proposal to defer the Encina application until the city reconsidered the whole property received no second.

The project would replace a surface parking lot on two parcels with a three-story, 22,355-square-foot building containing 10 condominiums, including two below-market-rate units. Compared with existing standards, the plans call for a floor-area ratio of about 1.7 rather than 1.25, 58% lot coverage rather than 50%, and a rear setback of seven inches rather than 10 feet.

The central dispute was whether the application should move independently or wait for coordinated planning with neighboring Town & Country parking areas. A Town & Country representative supported exploring a combined housing development that could exceed 100 units, and one board member argued that the current location would divide the property and compromise the shopping-center entrance. Other members said coordinated planning would have been preferable but concluded that the board should evaluate the submitted application rather than delay it for a project that had not been assembled.

Staff said no coordinated area plan was required because none had been adopted when the application was filed, and legal counsel advised treating the project, its rezoning and broader rezoning as separate actions. Staff also said streamlined environmental review under CEQA Guideline 15183 applied, along with relevant mitigation measures from the Comprehensive Plan environmental review. The proposal is expected to proceed to the Planning and Transportation Commission for a recommendation before the City Council makes a decision.

Primary sources

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