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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLetter of Intent with SB330 Preliminary Application Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP Attorneys at Law One America Plaza 600 West Broadway, 27th Floor | San Diego, CA 92101-0903 Timothy M. Hutter Los Angeles | Orange County | San Diego | Century City | San Francisco | New York Allen Matkins Via Submission by Applicant June 25, 2024 Ms. Damaris Abraham Community Development Department, Director City of Lake Elsinore 130 S. Main Street Lake Elsinore, CA 92530 Email: dabraham@lake-elsinore.org Re: The SB 330 Preliminary Application for 3rd Street and Dexter Avenue Dear Ms. Abraham: Our firm represents Fairbrook Communities, LLC (“Fairbrook”), the applicant for the project located at 3rd Street and Dexter Avenue (“Project”). The Applicant submits a Preliminary Application for the Project pursuant to the Housing Crisis Act of 2019, Senate Bill 330, concurrently with this cover letter. The Project is located north of Dexter Avenue between 3rd Street and 2nd Street on approximately 23.44 acres (“Property”). The Project proposes 447 residential units, including 137 single-family homes, 90 townhouses, and 220 apartment units. The Project is consistent with the General Plan land use designation and zoning for the Property, with any non-standard components achieved and authorized through the use of the State Density Bonus Law. The Project will seek approval of a Tentative Tract Map and subsequent Final Map. As you know, a Preliminary Application must include all of the information specified in Government Code section 65941.1. Local agencies may not request information in a Preliminary Application beyond the items specified in Section 65941.1. (Gov. Code § 65941.1(b)(3).) A Preliminary Application is deemed complete by operation of law upon the submittal of the information enumerated in the statute. An affirmative completeness determination by a local agency is not required. (Gov. Code § 65941.1(c)(3).) Relatedly, the Project qualifies as a housing development project under the Housing Accountability Act because it consists entirely of residential units. (Gov. Code § 65589.5(h)(2).) Allen Matkins Leck Gamble Mallory & Natsis LLP Attorneys at Law Ms. Damaris Abraham June 25, 2024 Page 2 The Housing Accountability Act only permits local governments to subject housing development projects to “objective, quantifiable, written development standards, conditions, and policies appropriate to, and consistent with, meeting the jurisdiction’s share of the regional housing need ….” (Gov. Code § 65589.5(f)(1).) A local government only may subject a housing development project to the “ordinances, policies, and standards adopted and in effect” at the time that a Preliminary Application is submitted. (Gov. Code § 65589.5(o)(1).) In other words, the ordinances, policies, and standards applicable to a housing development project are frozen in time upon submittal of a Preliminary Application. Fairbrook is currently preparing its full development application for the Project, and will submit it in the next few months. The Project will be a new, high-quality development that will provide much needed housing that will address the state’s housing crisis. Fairbrook looks forward to working with the City and to enhancing the community through the Project’s development. If there are any issues that require assistance or clarification on the legal side, please consider our team as a resource, as we hope to work with you and your staff, as well as the City Attorney, to address those issues in a collaborative manner. Sincerely, Timothy M. Hutter TMH