Proposed Zoning Code Changes 2010: Floor Area Ratio
Background
zoning code is consistent with the new General Plan, the zoning code is undergoing a
comprehensive re-write. A City Council Committee (General Plan/Local Coastal Plan
Committee) composed of three council members and three planning commissioners together
with a Technical Advisory Committee, made up of local architects and developers, was also formed to re-write the zoning
code and recommend adoption first to the Planning Commission and then the City Council. The Planning Commission is
currently conducting public hearings and will be forwarding their recommendation on the Zoning Code to the City Council
sometime in July. The City Council will then conduct another round of public hearings and finalize the new zoning code.
One of the recommendations from the committee is the removal, city wide, of the floor area ratio calculation used to limit
the size of residential buildings, replacing it with a building envelope concept comprised of front, back and side-yard
setbacks and a height limitation within which a structure must be built. Also included in the new code is an “open space”
requirement which requires residential development to incorporate design elements meant to modulate building
elevations and theoretically reduce visible mass. This approach recommended by the committee, gives architects and
owners more latitude in creating interesting designs, however, it also allows homes in the CdM Village area to be larger
than are allowed under the current zoning code.
Over twenty-five years ago, the city went to a floor area ratio (FAR) limitation of 2.0 times the buildable area of the lot (gross
lot area minus the area outside the setbacks) for the entire city. For a number of reasons, CdM Village and Balboa Island
were further restricted to a FAR of 1.5 times buildable area. Under the new code, both CdM and Balboa Island would lose
the FAR limitation. Last year, Balboa Island requested that they keep the 1.5 FAR. That request was granted by the
committee. CdMRA is seeking the same exemption for the lots in CdM Village based on the resident survey conducted in
April 2010, where 88% wanted to keep the existing 1.5 FAR limitation. CdM Village is delineated on map A-4 in Part 8 of the
Zoning Code and is generally described as the area bordered by Avocado Avenue to the west, Fifth Avenue to the north,
Hazel Drive to the east and Ocean Boulevard to the south.
After two years of work, the GP/LCP Committee, along with its Technical Advisors, completed changes to the new zoning
code and made their recommendation to the Planning Commission. The Planning Commission has met four times to
discuss the proposed zoning code. Considerable attention has been given to the discussion of whether the 1.5 FAR
limitation should remain in CdM. Planning Commissioners have responded favorably to the CdMRA’s request to maintain
the 1.5 FAR in CdM while at the same time protecting the interests of CdM property owners from proposed provisions of
the new code that could result in lesser allowed square footage than is allowed today.
Under the current code, a single family residence can meet its parking requirements by providing one garage space and
one carport. The garage space is counted as square footage while the carport is not considered square footage. By using
a carport, homes can currently allocate square footage, which would otherwise be allocated to the second garage, to
livable area in the home. The committee felt that garages are an improvement to our community and have disallowed the
use of carports to satisfy the parking requirement. This means that a home that would have otherwise used a carport to
satisfy its parking requirement to get more livable square footage will no longer be able to do so. The Planning
Commission felt that this, combined with the 1.5 FAR restriction, would not be reasonable to the property owners in CdM
because it could reduce entitlement square footage by approximately 200 square feet. So, similar to the way Balboa Island
is governed, the Planning Commission is recommending increasing the 1.5 FAR in CdM by 200 square feet. The
additional 200 square feet will offset the new requirement to provide the second parking stall in a garage rather than a
carport.
The treatment of duplex development in CdM is a little more complex due to their ability to satisfy parking requirements in
different ways than single family homes, including enclosed garages, covered carports and uncovered carports. In order to
protect the entitlements of duplex development without reducing the square feet that can be built, provisions to allow
covered and uncovered carports to satisfy parking requirements are proposed to be left in the new code without change
from the current code.
CdMRA Survey Results - April 2010
The CdMRA Spring 2010 Newsletter and survey was mailed to all residential addresses in Corona del Mar (Zip 92625),
approximately 6350 households.
88% of survey respondents wanted to maintain the character and village atmosphere in the Flower Streets, and didn’t
believe that can be achieved if the floor area ratio is increased over what it is today.
For a summary of the "Floor Area Ratio" issue and more detailed Survey Results, click here.
To read the letter CdMRA sent to the Planning Commission recapping our survey results, click here.
City Documentation
Following is some of the documentation that has been developed from this process:
Development Standard Comparisons - CdM Flower Streets: Click here
Summary of Zoning Code Changes: Click here
Zoning Code Draft #4 and Planning Dept Contact Information: Click here
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| PO Box 1500 Corona del Mar, CA 92625 Info@cdmra.org |
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