The St. Monica Catholic Community is asking to modify rules governing a parking lot on 7th street to facilitate the possible sale of the site but approval may be contingent on a guarantee the site becomes multi-unit housing.
The parking lot at 1140 7th street is part of the development agreement signed by the church in 2010 that allowed for construction of a community center, a new building at the high school and other improvements to their primary site on the 1000 block of Lincoln. The deal requires the church to keep 15 of the 26 spaces on 7th street available for public use, provide meeting space to the public and keep the bookstore/café accessible to the public.
However, St. Monica’s no longer needs the parking and wants to sell the site. In trade for removing the parking lot from the DA, the church is offering to expand access to its meeting and event facilities. The church is also offering free use of 30 spaces in its underground parking to individuals attending City-sponsored events at nearby Reed Park (including the Miles Memorial Playhouse).
Planning Commission will hear the proposed deal at their Wednesday meeting.
“Per the proposed DA amendment application, eliminating the community benefit of the parking lot at 1140 7th Street for neighborhood shared parking would allow the sale of the property and thus facilitate the conversion of the underutilized parking lot to a housing project consistent with the Land Use and Circulation Element, R2 zoning district, and City policy in support of housing,” said the staff report submitted to Planning Commission.
While staff support the idea of trading parking for event space, negotiations have stalled over what could be built on the parking lot site.
R2 zoning allows for several kinds of projects including single-unit housing, duplexes and triplexes, low-scale multi-unit housing, townhouses, and courtyard housing with at least 2,000 square feet of parcel area per unit exclusive of City and State density bonuses.
“The applicant recognizes that the parking lot located at 1140 7th Street could be redeveloped consistent with the R2 zoning district land uses,” said the staff report. “However, given the ongoing housing crisis and City Council priorities to increase housing production, staff sought to restrict future redevelopment of the site to only multi-unit residential development in-lieu of other permitted land uses in the R2 Zone.”
Staff are proposing the property be limited to multi-unit residential housing for five years after the date of the proposed amendment. The church has rejected the proposal saying limits on possible uses will undermine the property value.
“The Planning Commission should discuss whether this additional community benefit for restricting future use of the 1140 7th Street parcel for multi-unit residential use should be included as part of the recommendation to City Council,” said the staff report.
The Planning Commission will meet on Wednesday, Nov. 6 at 7 p.m. in City Hall.
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