Yorba Linda City Council submits list of candidate sites for 2,996 housing units to state agency

 

Yorba Linda's City Council has approved submitting a document that lists 35 potential sites for up to 2,996 housing units to a state agency as part of the latest cycle of California's mandated Regional Housing Needs Assessment, or RHNA (ree-nah), program.

The draft housing element, which lists candidate sites throughout the 20-square-mile city for the nearly 3,000 housing units, was forwarded for review by the Department of Housing and Community Development after a 5-0 vote at an Aug. 3 meeting.

The city is required to provide for 2,415 units over the next several years under the state's RHNA allocation, but the document lists candidate sites for up to 2,996 units in case some of the sites are not deemed acceptable by the state agency.

The state housing agency will review the document and provide feedback to the city. The city has until October to adopt a final housing element, but since the state allows a 120-day grace period, a final document isn't due until February.

The draft element lists the sites in four household income categories to meet the 2,415-unit mandate: 765 units for very low income, 451 for low income, 457 for moderate income and 742 for above moderate income, with categories based on area medium income.

A few of the sites already have the appropriate zoning for housing, but most would need to be rezoned for the densities required by the state's mandate. The city's Measure B “right to vote” initiative requires a public vote on major changes to the city's planning documents.

The initiative, which was passed by voters in 2006 on a 6,921 “yes” to 6,622 “no” vote, could be considered an obstacle to the state housing mandate and might be overturned by a judge.

The sites range from less than one-half acre now occupied by Yorba Linda Preschool at 18132 Yorba Linda Blvd., suitable for 14 units, to a 23-acre vacant property on Fairmont Boulevard, suitable for 230 units.

The latter parcel is “currently owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints; however, the property has been on the market recently,” according to city officials, whilethe owners of the smaller parcel “have expressed an interest in having the property rezoned.”

Locations and aerial views of the sites are on the Aug. 3 council agenda on the city's website.

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Council members have endorsed a 200-acre swath of county land in Gypsum Canyon at the intersection of the 91 freeway and 241 toll road as the site for a veterans cemetery in Orange County. Some 130,000 vets reside in the county.

The property has been deeded to the Orange County Cemetery District by the Orange County Board of Supervisors, which also has allocated $20 million for the project. Yorba Linda's state and federal legislators and most of the county's veteran organizations support the site.

A city resolution notes “the property's breathtaking view of rolling hills” that “remind many of Arlington Cemetery.”