El Porto Apartment Development Project Receives Four Appeals
Apr 15, 2022 11:49AM ● By Jeanne Fratello
The proposed apartment development at Rosecrans and Highland has generated four formal appeals from local residents and property owners, according to the city of Manhattan Beach.
Project Verandas (formerly referred to as the Highrose project) would create a
new 96,217 square-foot, four-story multifamily residential structure,
containing 79 rental dwelling units, six of which will be set aside for
“very low income” households.
The project's Coastal Development
Permit, Parcel Map, and Precise Development Plan have been approved by Manhattan Beach's community development director. The full text of the approval document may be found here.
The deadline to file an appeal was April 13.
The appellants are Donald McPherson (APPEAL-22-00006),
Susan Bales and Richard MacKenzie (APPEAL-22-00007), George
Bordokas (APPEAL-22-00008), and Andrew Ryan (APPEAL-22-00009).
The next step in the process is for the city's Planning Commission to hold a hearing to discuss the appeals. That date has yet to be announced.
Appellants Cite Environmental, Infrastruture Impacts
The appellants took a variety of tactics to call into question the methods and proposal for the Verandas development.
The appeal by McPherson argues that the Verandas development deviates from municipal code in proposing more units and more stories than allowed. McPherson proposes a single large project near Manhattan Village Mall to provide all 406 of the city's required affordable housing units.
The Bales/MacKenzie appeal, written on behalf of a group of local residents and property owners, calls for the environmental and infrastructure impacts, as well as impact on quality of life, to be considered in the process.
The Bordokas appeal calls upon the city to reject waivers that the developer has requested under State Density Bonus Laws, including the waiver for height limits, buildable floor area, and number of stories.
The Ryan appeal claims that the excavation for the project will have an adverse affect on health due to its proximity to the Chevron refinery; and that a city-wide vote should be required for more than a 20 percent modification to the city's site development standards.
Project Has Drawn Criticism
The project has drawn criticism
from El Porto and North Manhattan neighbors for its size, as well as
the implications for parking and traffic on the surrounding area.
However, developer Frank Buckley has offered responses to concerns with an FAQ
about the development and its impact. Among them, Buckley notes
that the project is estimated to add up to 203 more parking spaces to
the public than are currently available. (That includes adding more
parking spaces underground than what is required for the new building,
plus freeing up parking that had previously been reserved for the former
Verandas and Tradewinds tenants.)
Furthermore, Buckley notes that the builders plan to utilize the slopes and contours of the site to significantly reduce overall building heights; so that while a single measurement from the ground floor to the tip of
the elevator shafts is 50 feet, the average height to roof line is
closer to 38 feet.
A full timeline of the project and comments received by the city can be found here.
Verandas Project Uses Density Bonus Laws
The project is proposed on two contiguous lots, 401 Rosecrans Avenue
and 3770 Highland Avenue, which are proposed to be merged into a single
43,549 square-foot parcel to accommodate the project.
The project proposes demolition of a banquet facility (Verandas) and multi-use commercial building (Tradewinds Village) and subsequent construction of a 96,217 square-foot multi-family residential building with 79 rental dwelling units.
The project proposes demolition of a banquet facility (Verandas) and multi-use commercial building (Tradewinds Village) and subsequent construction of a 96,217 square-foot multi-family residential building with 79 rental dwelling units.
The 79 dwelling units would include:
- 21 studio apartments,
- 11 one-bedroom apartments,
- 40 two-bedroom apartments, and
- 7 three-bedroom apartments.
The apartments range in size from 512 square
feet to 1,727 square feet, comparable to standard rental units
throughout Manhattan Beach. Six of the 79 dwelling units will be set aside for
“very low income” households. The remaining 73 dwelling units will be
market-rate dwelling units.
For fiscal year 2021, “very low
income” is defined as $59,100 for a family of four, or $41,400 for an
individual, within the greater Los Angeles area.
The project proposes two floors of subterranean parking, containing a
total of 127 automobile parking spaces, seven motorcycle parking
spaces, and 27 bicycle parking spaces.
Buckley's group is utilizing State Density Bonus Laws, which allow developers to exceed the maximum density requirements as specified in a city’s zoning code if certain criteria are met, like setting aside a certain percentage of the total units in the project aside for very low-income occupants. In addition, State Density Bonus laws allow developers to request waivers from development standards, like setback and height requirements.
- maximum buildable floor area,
- maximum number of stories,
- maximum height, and
- setback for portions of the structure with walls greater than 24 feet in height.
If no State Density Bonus laws were used, a
total of 51 units would be allowed on the site, and a the maximum
buildable floor area would be a total of 74,033 square feet. However,
the project exceeds the minimum required number of automobile parking
spaces under the State Density Bonus laws, which would be 103
parking spaces.
Notices about the project were mailed on January 6 to property owners and residents within 100 feet of the perimeter of the subject parcel.
SB 35 Requires City to Add More Units
The
State of California has been changing laws over the past several years
to encourage the building of more housing, including increasing density
within areas that are already developed.
Many people are familiar with the most recent changes, contained in SB 9 and SB 10, the first of which effectively ended single-family zoning to encourage lot splits, duplexes and other development within areas that now feature only single-family homes. (A good explainer of SB 9 and the other laws leading up to it is in this analysis on MB Confidential: "The End of SFR Zoning in Manhattan Beach.")
According to the city, Project Verandas is not an SB 9 project, which deals with individual residential lots. (SB 10 does not apply either; it allows jurisdictions in urbanized areas to adopt voluntary zoning ordinances that permit up to ten residential units on a single parcel within certain areas.)
Many people are familiar with the most recent changes, contained in SB 9 and SB 10, the first of which effectively ended single-family zoning to encourage lot splits, duplexes and other development within areas that now feature only single-family homes. (A good explainer of SB 9 and the other laws leading up to it is in this analysis on MB Confidential: "The End of SFR Zoning in Manhattan Beach.")
According to the city, Project Verandas is not an SB 9 project, which deals with individual residential lots. (SB 10 does not apply either; it allows jurisdictions in urbanized areas to adopt voluntary zoning ordinances that permit up to ten residential units on a single parcel within certain areas.)
A
regular multi-year planning process known as the Regional Housing
Needs Assessment makes suggestions for cities and regions as to how many
new housing units are needed. In 2017, a new law (SB 35) threatened
cities that don't meet their targets by allowing for more housing,
including affordable housing, with a forced-approval process down the
road for new development.
The latest
Regional Housing Needs Assessment process declared that Manhattan Beach
must make way to add 774 total units by 2029. The City Council has reluctantly approved an outline proposing how it would meet that requirement.
City
officials confirmed to MB News that that
the affordable units proposed as a part of Project Verandas, if
constructed, would get credited toward Manhattan Beach's state-mandated,
lower-income housing requirements.
