Planning commission recommends certifying housing-element EIR and rezoning program to meet RHNA

The Seal Beach Planning Commission voted 3–1 on motions recommending that the City Council certify the final environmental impact report and adopt zoning changes to implement the city’s sixth‑cycle housing element, which responds to a regional housing need allocation (RHNA) of 1,243 units. Commissioner Campbell voted no on both recommendations.

The recommendations cover a program that would identify eight “housing opportunity” sites, amend the zoning map and code, and create a new mixed‑use residential high‑density zone called MCRHD. Planning staff and two consultant teams — Stantec (environmental review) and Lisa Wise Consulting (rezoning and objective design standards) — presented the final EIR, the rezoning program and the code edits that would give the city “capacity” to meet the RHNA number. Sean (city staff) opened the presentation; Anna Radnich, Stantec, and Trevor Masinski, Stantec, described the EIR assumptions; and David Bergman and Monica Sidlick of Lisa Wise Consulting presented the proposed zone and objective design standards.

The EIR is programmatic in scope and includes both program‑level and site‑level assumptions, the consultants said. Trevor Masinski, principal in charge for the EIR, said: “The purpose of the environmental review is to inform, engage, and disclose information to the public,” and that the document tested a range of build‑out assumptions to give the city flexibility across the eight sites. Stantec and Lisa Wise described that the EIR totals roughly 1,800 pages and that it analyzed the proposed project along with reasonably foreseeable pipeline projects as part of cumulative impacts.

Why it matters: Seal Beach must adopt a certified housing element to maintain access to certain state funding and to avoid legal exposure under state housing laws. The city received a letter of substantial compliance from the California Department of Housing and Community Development in October 2024, staff said; that letter says the element, with required rezones, would put the city in compliance with state law if adopted with appropriate findings.

Key facts and program details - RHNA allocation: 1,243 units for the 2021–2029 cycle, assigned through the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG). Stantec said the EIR uses higher build‑out assumptions than the RHNA number to allow flexibility across sites. - Eight housing opportunity sites were identified. Consultant materials showed the redlined site map and included the Main Street program and the Old Ranch Country Club as special cases. - Proposed new zone: mixed commercial/residential high density (MCRHD). Lisa Wise described a minimum density of 40 dwelling units per acre and a maximum of 46 units per acre, and a requirement that at least 50 percent of floor area in new construction be residential (the consultants said that requirement applies to new development and is intended to prevent 100 percent nonresidential projects in the new zone). - Typical opportunity site acreages shown in the presentation: ~27 acres at the Shops at Rossmore, ~26 acres at Old Ranch Town Center, ~7 acres at Seal Beach Plaza Village, ~4 acres at Accurate Storage, and ~9 acres at Seal Beach Center. - Objective design standards: Lisa Wise described objective, measurable criteria (SB 330/ministerial path implications) for building massing, step‑backs, façade articulation, parking configuration and open space to enable a ministerial review path for qualifying projects.

Environmental findings and alternatives Stantec identified five topic areas with significant and unavoidable impacts at the program level: air quality, greenhouse gases, public services, recreation and transportation. The EIR includes mitigation measures and evaluates alternatives; the “no‑project/existing‑zoning” alternative was identified as the environmentally superior alternative in some respects, the consultants said. Trevor Masinski explained that programmatic documents must evaluate cumulative effects and that some impacts cannot be fully mitigated at the programmatic phase, which requires disclosure and, when necessary, a statement of overriding considerations.

Pipeline projects and site credits Consultants clarified that certain known pipeline projects — for example, an Old Ranch Country Club application and potential projects on former Navy property — are treated differently depending on status. The Old Ranch Country Club project was described as a separate project-level application with its own CEQA review; it may be included in cumulative analyses as a reasonably foreseeable action but is not approved by the housing element. Likewise, consultants said the Navy property cannot be counted as credit for RHNA until housing is actually developed there; the housing element includes a program committing the city to coordinate with the Navy should surplus property become available.

Public comment and commission direction Public speakers and several commissioners raised concerns about parkland, stormwater, airport compatibility, and the effect of rezoning large shopping centers on the city’s tax base. The commission asked consultants to clarify how later project‑level approvals would be handled (ministerial vs. discretionary review, subsequent CEQA tiers or focused studies) and how site‑specific concerns such as storm drainage and airport safety would be addressed at the entitlement stage.

Formal action and next steps The commission made two separate recommendations: (1) adopt Resolution 25‑08 recommending certification of the final EIR and adoption of findings, a statement of overriding considerations and a mitigation monitoring and reporting program under CEQA (motion passed 3–1); (2) adopt Resolution 25‑09 recommending that the City Council adopt the 2021–2029 housing element update and associated zoning code/map/Main Street amendments needed to implement it (motion passed 3–1). Votes recorded on the motions were: Chair Wheeler — yes; Vice Chair Mengioni — yes; Commissioner Nolte — yes; Commissioner Campbell — no.

The commission’s actions are recommendations to the City Council; the council is tentatively scheduled to consider the housing element and rezoning on Oct. 27, staff said. If the council adopts the element and the city overrides any airport‑land‑use consistency determination, a certified housing element would put Seal Beach in the state compliance pathway cited by HCD.