PALMDALE – The City of Palmdale’s Planning Commission will hold a public hearing on the Draft Palmdale Housing Element on Thursday, July 12, at 7 p.m. at the Palmdale Council Chamber, located at 38300 Sierra Highway, Suite B in Palmdale.
The Housing Element is the main document that establishes the City’s housing policies. It is intended to ensure that opportunities for decent, safe, affordable housing are available for all residents in the city. State law defines the specific topics that must be covered in the Housing Element. These include:
- An evaluation of existing housing policies and programs.
- A needs assessment, based on data on demographics and housing conditions.
- An analysis of any obstacles to affordable housing production in the community.
- An inventory of all potential sites where housing may be constructed
- Goals, objectives, and policies, defining the community’s position on various housing issues and setting measurable targets for meeting housing needs.
- An action plan, identifying the specific steps the community will take to implement its housing policies.
The applications associated with the Palmdale Housing Element Update include:
- General Plan Amendment (GPA) 11-03 will amend the Land Use and Housing Elements of the City’s General Plan to accommodate units assigned to the City under the 2006-2014 Regional Housing Needs Allocation. This will include new policies within the Land Use and Community Design Elements associated with new Medium-High and High Density Residential Land Use designations and amending the General Plan Land Use Map identifying the boundaries of a new Medium-High and High Density Residential Land Use designations.
– - Zone Change (ZC) 11-01 will amend the City of Palmdale Zoning Map to identify the boundaries of the new R-4 (30) (High Density Residential, minimum of 30 dwelling units per acre) and R-4 (50) (High Density Residential, minimum of 50 dwelling units per acre) zone.
– - Zoning Ordinance Amendment (ZOA) 11-05 will amend various sections of the Zoning Ordinance, including; a new Article 44 creating the R-4 zone, setting forth uses permitted subject to various types of approvals and standards of development; amending various sections regarding transitional and supportive housing, emergency housing, temporary dependent housing, large residential care facilitates and non-conforming uses and structures.
– - Specific Plan Amendment (SPA) 11-01 would amend the permitted density within Neighborhood Zone C of the Palmdale Transit Village Specific Plan (SP-18) from 25-40 dwelling units per acre to 30-40 dwelling units per acre.
– - Environmental Impact Report 11-01 is being prepared pursuant to the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and the CEQA Guidelines for all the applications referenced above that are included within the City of Palmdale Housing Element Update.
Interested persons, who are unable to attend the meeting but would like to make a comment, should submit all comments by July 18, 2012 to:
Susan Koleda, AICP
Senior Planner
City of Palmdale Planning Department
38250 Sierra Highway
Palmdale, CA 93550
(661) 267-5200 (phone) – (661) 267-5233 (fax)
skoleda@cityofpalmdale.org
(Information via press release from the City of Palmdale.)