Following a public hearing, the City Council on Monday, Feb. 7, approved an updated Housing Element to the Seal Beach General Plan. No members of the public spoke during the special council meeting.
The Housing Element was the only item on the agenda. The meeting lasted about an hour.
Overview
The vote to approve the Housing Element was 4-1, with District Four Councilwoman Schelly Sustarsic casting the dissenting vote. The state government has 90 days to approve the Housing Element.
Community Development Director Alexa Smittle said adopting the Housing Element did not approve any new development in Seal Beach.
However, Sustarsic was concerned about the inclusion of Old Ranch Country Club in a list of potential locations for rezoning to allow development. Sustarsic expressed concerned that staff had not submitted the revised draft of the Housing Element to the county Airport Land Use Commission before bringing the document to the City Council. Sustarsic is a member of the commission.
Sustarsic said she could not support the Seal Beach Housing Element without the county airport commission’s review.
She also said there was no mention in the Housing Element of a legal agreement that there would be no development of the Old Ranch Country Club.
Smittle said the development restriction was correct.
At this time, the owners of Old Ranch Country Club have not submitted a development plan to the city, although the Housing Element document reports that the property owner is considering a 120-unit proposal.
District One Councilman/Mayor Joe Kalmick argued that Seal Beach should move forward with the process to get the document approved.
District Five Councilwoman Sandra Massa-Lavitt argued that the state certification process would continue. She said the Housing and Community Development Department would make changes to the document and the Housing Element would come back to the council.
District Three Councilman Mike Varipapa said they were not doing any rezoning, just going through an “exercise.”
The staff report to the council said Seal Beach had 120 days from the due date (Oct. 15, 2021) to approve the Housing Element. Smittle told the council that Seal Beach must complete the Housing Element project by October of this year. The Housing Element itself said, “Written procedures will be developed by October 2022, with ongoing updates to the website and other informational material.”
According to city staff, there could be consequences to Seal Beach if the city doesn’t meet the state mandate. (Details below.)
Background
According to Smittle’s Feb. 7 staff report, there isn’t enough land to meet the state mandate to plan for 1,243 more housing units, distributed over five distinct income groups ranging from very low to above moderate. Smittle told the council that Seal Beach has to develop regulations to accommodate the allocation of 1,243 residential units.
The state requires cities to update their Housing Elements in eight-year cycles. “This cycle was contentious,” Smittle said to the council.
According to Smittle, so Seal Beach will need a rezoning program. According to Smittle the Planning Commission and City Council will hold hearings on zoning changes after the council adopts the Housing Element.
The state mandated allotment of needed housing for Seal Beach requires the city to plan for more housing, but doesn’t require Seal Beach to actually build new housing. Nor does the state mandate fund new housing. And by law, the city can’t legally force anyone to build new housing.
But the Housing Element has identified several potential sites for more housing. (For details, see the sidebar on this page.)
The potential sites for rezoning include the Old Ranch Country Club and a vacant site on Marina Drive.
“The repercussions for failing to have a certified Housing Element include potential loss of grant funding, increased legal challenges, referral by HCD to the State Attorney General, and in extreme circumstances, loss of authority to make land use decisions and issue permits,” Smittle wrote.
The Planning Commission on Jan. 18 voted to recommend that the council adopt the updated document.
“Commissioner [Patty] Campbell discussed concerns with recommended housing sites at the Old Ranch Country Club and the Old Ranch Town Center because of the proximity of the sites to the Joint Forces Training Base, and potential traffic impacts along Lampson Avenue,” Smittle wrote.
Campbell represents District Four.
“Commissioner [Michael] Thomas expressed a desire to maintain the recommended density at the 99 Marina Drive site in order to maintain compatibility with the adjacent community,” Smittle wrote.
Thomas represents District Three on the Planning Commission.
Discussion
During Monday night’s meeting, District Two Councilman Thomas Moore asked why the Boeing property wasn’t included on the list of potential sites for rezoning.
Smittle said the Boeing property owners were not interested in considering the matter.
District Five Councilwoman Sandra Massa-Lavitt expressed the opinion that there might be security issues with putting potential housing close to the defense plant.
Smittle also told the council that the state Housing and Community Development Department was looking at “something bordering” a guarantee that the mandated residential units would be built.
Councilwoman Sustarsic said she had problems with Old Ranch Country Club being considered for development.
Sustarsic pointed out that while the Joint Forces Training Base is in another city, the country club is under the flight path to the base.
Councilwoman Sustarsic said placing housing under military flight paths would expose residents to noise.
Sustarsic said she didn’t believe the city should put residents on a JFTB flight path.
District One Councilman/Mayor Joe Kalmick asked where Seal Beach would go to come up with enough units if the council chose not to consider the Old Ranch site.
Smittle said if they took out the Old Ranch site, Seal Beach would need to find a place for those units. She said that would be a challenge.
Later, Kalmick said he understood Sustarsic’s concerns, but he could make the same arguments about the Naval Weapons site.
Kalmick said he thought Seal Beach needed to go ahead with the certification process.
The Housing Element isn’t the only state-mandated document that Seal Beach officials will have to complete this year.
According to Smittle’s report, staff is already working on the Safety and Environmental Justice elements of the General Plan.
