Signal Hill Community Development Director Colleen Doan updated the Signal Hill City Council during its meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 26 about the City’s state-required obligation to build at least 517 new housing units by 2029.
As required, the City submitted a draft general plan housing element to the State in September, Doan said. The plan includes concepts for four new housing developments in Signal Hill that together can accommodate up to 706 new dwelling units.
California’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) allocates new housing requirements to each municipality every eight years, across different income levels and based on population. Signal Hill’s previous 5th Cycle RHNA allocation demanded it create 169 units by October 2021.
The current 6th Cycle RHNA, from 2021 to 2029, requires that Signal Hill construct 239 new dwellings for those with extremely-low, very-low and low incomes; 90 for those with moderate incomes; and 188 for those with above-moderate incomes.
However, Signal Hill is planning to build 15% more housing than the minimum requirement for the low-income categories and 15% more for moderate-income levels, totaling about 50 “surplus” units, Doan said.
For above-moderate income levels the City is planning to build about 80% more housing than required, or an additional 151 units, she said.
Doan shared with the council the four housing-development plans reviewed during a Planning Commission public workshop on Sept. 21, chosen out of 10 potential sites.
How the planned housing sites will contribute to Signal Hill’s housing requirements
Orange Bluff, a planned 9.2-acre site on Orange Avenue between 27th and 28th streets, would accommodate up to 289 new apartment units in three- and four-story buildings for those with low and moderate incomes, Doan said. The one- to three-bedroom units would have a density of 45 units per acre, which is “typical of affordable housing projects,” Doan added.
Per the City’s plans for meeting its required housing with a surplus, Orange Bluff would have to include 275 apartments for those residents, since this is the only one of the four developments planned for low income levels, leaving 14 for those with moderate incomes.
“Orange Bluff can accommodate all of the extremely-low, very-low and low-income units, as well as some moderate,” Doan confirmed in an email to the Signal Tribune.
Walnut Bluff, planned at the corner of Walnut Avenue and Willow Street, would consist of up to 90 one- to three-bedroom units in three- and four-story buildings for those in the moderate-income category.
Town Center Northwest would be an 8.3-acre mixed-use commercial and residential development at the northeast corner of Walnut Avenue and Willow Street, Doan said. It would accommodate up to 267 housing units for those with above moderate incomes.
Those units would be in a five-story wrap-around building with a four-level parking structure plus commercial and restaurant spaces and an open area along Willow Street.
Heritage Square, the fourth development plan, would be an 8.8-acre mixed-use residential and commercial site along Cherry Avenue between Crescent Heights and Burnett streets.
The joint project between the City and Signal Hill Petroleum (SHP) has evolved since the City first presented it to the public during a community meeting in December 2018, Doan said. After taking feedback then and during three public workshops since, the City and SHP have revised the initial plan significantly, she said.
From an initial residential plan of 199 rentable apartments with a large parking structure and four single-family homes, the plan currently calls for 54 three-story townhomes for purchase by those in the above-moderate income category, each with a two-car garage, plus six single-family homes.
Heritage Square’s commercial and restaurant space has also been reduced since its initial renderings, but with a larger common outdoor dining area.
The City submitted a draft environmental impact report (EIR) for each of the four sites to the State on Sept. 30, Doan said.
The Planning Commission will conduct a public hearing in December on the site plans and the City Council will conduct two public hearings in January before the City submits final plans to the State.
Though Gov. Gavin Newsom just signed into law Assembly Bill (AB) 1398 that effectively extends the due date for those plans to Oct. 15, 2022, Doan said the City intends to submit them by the original Feb. 22, 2022 due date.
So far, the City has received $200,000 from three grants to help cover planning costs and environmental analysis, Doan said, adding that Signal Hill just received another grant on Tuesday from the State’s Permanent Local Housing Allocation (PLHA) program.
Council members made no comment about the housing plans.
