Planning commission reviews housing-element rezones, objective design standards and cultural inventory; requests further study

Planning staff presented proposed rezones and objective design standards implementing the city’s housing element update and asked the commission for comment during a public hearing. The hearing covered two principal actions: a rezoning (creating a new Residential Medium High 2, RMH2, zone allowing roughly 15–20 dwelling units per acre on specified parcels) and a housing-overlay rezoning in several smaller clusters that staff said could allow up to 24 dwelling units per acre.

Staff presentation and state timing Brian McCarthy, a city planner, told commissioners the housing element work began in 2022 and has been refined over several rounds of review with the planning commission, City Council and the California Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). He said the City Council adopted the latest version in September 2024 and that HCD has issued conditional approval pending the rezone actions. "The housing element was started, I believe in 2022," McCarthy said, summarizing the multi-year process.

McCarthy explained the rezones were intended to provide zoning capacity required by the state's Regional Housing Needs Allocation (RHNA) and to legalize small existing residential lots that have been under commercial highway or other non-residential zoning for decades. The proposed RMH2 zone would set standards — including small minimum lot areas and widths to match existing lot patterns, front setbacks of about 10 feet, 60% lot coverage and maximum heights up to three stories or 40 feet in some locations — and a housing overlay would add capacity on other identified parcels.

Public comment and concerns Public commenters and some commissioners asked for more work before adoption of final ordinances. Key concerns included massing and scale, effects on historically significant neighborhoods, traffic and narrow street sections, and the practical effect of a 50%-value rule that can require properties to be brought into full compliance when owners do substantial repairs.

Several community advocates urged the commission to adopt the rezones quickly to secure state compliance and funding. Gabrielle Vignon of House Farmworkers said the city needs to implement the rezones promptly to meet HCD requirements and to keep development funding available for projects such as Fillmore Terrace. "House Farmworkers and the Fillmore Piru Task Force ... fully support the city of Fillmore adhering to HCD's request so that you guys can have an HCD approved housing element that's in compliance," Vignon said.

Other residents urged sensitivity to historic character. Commissioner Ashley Connolly and planning commissioners discussed a 1983 cultural-heritage inventory presented by a public commenter; the inventory documents hundreds of properties and identifies numerous early-20th-century bungalow-era residences in the areas proposed for upzoning. Commissioner Connolly presented excerpts from that 1983 survey and asked staff to review the inventory and to consider whether certain blocks should remain at lower density or have stronger design protections.

Next steps and staff direction Staff told the commission that, because the item will be re-noticed for a future hearing, the immediate goal was to gather feedback. McCarthy and other staff committed to: (a) clarifying the 50%-improvement threshold implications for small, older houses and whether the proposed standards would legally make those houses conforming, (b) reviewing the cultural-heritage inventory and reporting back on whether formal landmark designations or additional protections apply to the parcels in question, and (c) exploring improved objective design standards, massing diagrams and other visualizations that would help commissioners and the public assess the scale of potential three-story development adjacent to existing single-family houses.

Why it matters: HCD certification and funding Staff emphasized that full HCD certification of the housing element depends on completing these rezones; failing to do so can limit eligibility for some state and federal housing funds. Several speakers urged the commission to balance local character concerns with the practical need to secure HCD approval so projects in the pipeline can access funding.

The commission will receive a revised ordinance package and the objective design standards at a subsequent meeting; staff said the matter will be re-noticed and return for a formal recommendation to City Council.