RECOMMENDATION

Staff recommends that the City Council take the following actions:

1. Waive full reading and introduce Ordinance No. 1259 titled “An Ordinance of the City Council of the City of Brea Amending the Brea City Code by Adopting Zoning Ordinance Text Amendment No. 2025-01 and Approving CEQA Exemption Determination” (Attachment A);
2. Approve a California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Exemption Determination (Attachment A); and
3. Schedule adoption of aforementioned Ordinance at the next regular City Council meeting.

BACKGROUND

The proposed project a City initiated Zoning Code Text Amendment (ZOTA) to amend the Title 20 of the Brea City Code (BCC), or the Zoning Code (Code), to codify State Density Bonus Law (State Law). The State Law, codified under California Government Code Section 65915, was originally adopted in 1976 and continues to be updated to help address affordable housing needs in the state. Generally, the State Law requires local jurisdictions to grant a density bonus over the otherwise maximum allowable residential density defined in the General Plan when an applicant for an eligible housing development requests a density bonus. The State Law also requires local jurisdictions to grant certain incentives/concessions (Incentives), parking reductions, and waivers to development standards to help offset the cost of providing affordable housing.

Although the City has not adopted a local density bonus ordinance, the City has been applying the State Law when requested by the developers, as required by law. In addition, the City has a long history of encouraging various types of housing and is the only city in Orange County with the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD)’s Prohousing Jurisdiction Designation. The proposed amendment is needed to implement the City’s 6^th Cycle Housing Element Program #6 (Density Bonus Incentives), which requires the City to update the density bonus provisions to align with State Law, and to comply with HCD’s condition related to the City’s Prohousing Jurisdiction Designation, which requires timely adoption of a local density bonus ordinance.

If approved, the proposed amendment will add a new chapter, Chapter 20.42 Density Bonus, to Title 20 of the BCC.

DISCUSSION

The proposed density bonus provisions would implement the State Law, and the following are summary of the key provisions:

Eligibility 

• A housing development with five or more units would qualify if it provides certain number of affordable units within the development.
• Exception: Housing development that would demolish or vacate existing affordable rental housing units (lower or very-low income) would be ineligible to utilize density bonus provisions unless the housing development provides the same number of affordable units as the existing development.

Density Bonus

• General:  The City must grant a density bonus as a matter of right when requested by a qualifying housing development. The amount of density bonus allowed varies depending on the affordability level/types of housing and the number of affordable units provided, as summarized below: 

Table 1. General Density Bonus

Types of Housing	Affordability Level	Percentage of Affordable Units	Density Bonus
Regular	Very low	5 to 15%	20 to 50%
	Low	10 to 24%	20 to 50%
	Moderate	10 to 44%	5 to 50%
Senior citizen housing & qualifying mobile home park	N/A	N/A	20%
Specialized housing	Very low	10%	20%
Student housing	Lower	20 to 24%	35 to 50%
100% affordable housing	Lower	100% (up to 20% can be moderate income)	80%

• Additional Density Bonus:  In addition to the general density bonus described above, the City must also grant an additional density bonus if a qualifying housing development provides additional units affordable to very low or moderate income households and/or includes an on-site childcare facility, as summarized below:

Table 2. Additional Density Bonus

Affordability Level or Types of Housing	Percentage of Affordable Units	Density Bonus
*Very low income	5 to 10%	20 to 32.5%
*Moderate income	5 to 15%	20 to 50%
Housing development with childcare facility	N/A	In an amount of sq. Ft. Or residential space that is equal to or greater than the sq. Ft. Of the childcare facility
*In order for a housing development to qualify for an additional density bonus, the housing development must also provide at least 15% very low, 24% lower, or 44% moderate income units, and cannot restrict more than 50% of total units as very low, lower or moderate income units

Incentives and Waivers

• The City must grant certain number of Incentives when requested by a qualifying housing development, which is based on the level of affordability and number of affordable units provided within the qualifying housing developments. In addition, the City must allow modification or waiver of a development standard that has an effect of physically precluding development of affordable housing (Waivers) when requested by a qualifying housing development. Below table summarizes the allowed Incentives and waivers:

 Table 3. Allowable Incentives and Waivers

	Affordability Level or Types of Housing	Minimum Percentage of Affordable Units	Number of Incentives
Incentives	Very low income	10 to 100%	1 to 5
	Lower income	5 to 100%	1 to 5
	Moderate income (for-sale unit only	10 to 45%	1 to 4
	student	20 to 23%	1 to 2
Waivers	Any project that qualifies to utilize the State Law		Unlimited
Incentives include, but not limited to: reduction in development standards, modification of zoning code requirements, approval of mixed-use zoning, and other regulatory incentives proposed by an applicant Additional Incentive related to height available for housing development located within ½ mile of a major transit stop One additional number of Incentive available for housing development that includes a childcare facility

Parking Ratios

• General:  The City must allow as a matter of right, if requested by a qualifying housing development, a density bonus parking ratio as specified in the State Law. The following table provides the density bonus parking ratio compared to the BCC requirement:

Table 4. Density Bonus Parking Ratios 

	Minimum Number of Required Parking Per Unit
Total Number of Bedrooms	BCC		Density Bonus Law3
	Single-Family1	Multi-Family2
Studio	2	1.5	1
1-bedroom		1.75	1
2-bedrooms		2	1.5
3-bedrooms		2.5	1.5
4 or more bedrooms			2.5
Guest parking	0.5	0.2	None
For units - must be covered; For guest spaces - can be covered/uncovered For units - a portion must be covered; For guest spaces - can be covered/uncovered Can be either covered/uncovered

•  Additional reduction:  Certain types of housing developments would be eligible for additionally reduced density bonus parking ratios, as follows:

Table 5. Additionally Reduced Density Bonus Parking Ratio

Type of Density Bonus Housing Development	Minimum Number of Required Parking Spaces
Housing development with minimum 11% very low income or 20% lower income units	0.5 per unit
For-sale housing development with minimum 40% moderate income units	0.5 per bedroom
Housing development with 100% of units for lower income household	No minimum number of parking space required
Senior rental housing development with 100% of units for lower income individuals
Special needs housing development with 100% of units for lower income household
Note: In general, to qualify for additional reduction in parking, the housing development must be located within ½ mile of major transit stop and have an unobstructed access to that major transit stop

General Standards

The proposed Density Bonus chapter would establish a number of general standards for the affordable units to be created within the housing developments that proposes to utilize the density bonus provisions, including, but not limited to, construction timing, length of affordability, location/design of the affordable units, and requirement of a regulatory agreement.

As proposed, the proposed Zoning Code Text Amendment is consistent with the State’s Density Bonus Law, implements the Housing Element Program #6, and is required for the City to maintain its Prohousing Jurisdiction designation.

More detailed analysis of the proposed amendments is provided in the March 25, 2025 Planning Commission staff report (Attachment B). In addition, the proposed amendments can be found in the draft Ordinance (Attachment A).

Environmental Assessment 

The proposed project has been assessed in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines and the environmental regulations of the City. The Project is categorically exempt from the requirements to prepare additional environmental documentation per CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) because the Project is limited to establishing a local density bonus ordinance, which would implement the State Law and therefore would not result in any physical changes to the environment. As such, the proposed amendments will not have a significant impact on the environment. Any future housing development would be subject to CEQA review.

Public Notice and Comments

This Project was noticed in accordance with the City’s public noticing requirements, which involved publication in the Brea Star-Progress. The public hearing notice for this Project is provided as Attachment C. As of the writing of this report, staff has not received public comments.

COMMISSION/COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION

On March 25, 2025, the Planning Commission, on 5-0 vote, approved a resolution recommending approval of the proposed amendments. The meeting minutes of March 25, 2025 Planning Commission meeting is Attachment D. 

FISCAL IMPACT/SUMMARY

The Project is limited to adoption of an ordinance to amend the BCC; as such, there is no impact to the General Fund.

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

Kristin Griffith, City Manager

Prepared by:  Joanne Hwang, AICP, City Planner

Concurrence:  Jason Killebrew, Assistant City Manager/Community Development Director