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Council approves rezoning of three downtown lots from multifamily to single-family over dissent from housing group
Summary
City Council approved a rezoning request that would convert 0.6 acres at 225 Park Boulevard South and 528 Menendez Street from RMF-4 (multifamily) to RSF-4 (single-family), a vote that divided council and drew opposition from Venice Thrives, which urged preserving the apartment district and missing-middle housing.
The City of Venice City Council approved a zoning map amendment for three lots at 225 Park Boulevard South and 528 Menendez Street, changing the properties from residential multifamily 4 (RMF-4) to residential single-family 4 (RSF-4). The rezoning passed on first reading by a 6-1 vote; the council scheduled final reading per standard procedure.
Nicole Tremblay, senior planner, told the council the parcels total roughly 0.6 acres and carry a future land-use designation of high-density residential. Tremblay said the comprehensive plan permits densities lower than the posted range for parcels smaller than 1 acre (comp plan strategy LU 1.2.03), which is the basis for allowing the lower-density single-family zoning without a comp-plan amendment. Planning staff also noted the petition was processed per the city's land development code and that the Planning Commission recommended approval 7-0.
Attorney Jeffrey Boone, representing the Borah Family Trust (owner Gary Boroff), urged the change as a restoration of the lots' historic single-family arrangement on a 1926 John Nolan plat. Boone said the owner wanted the option of subdividing into three single-family lots to allow transfer to his children.
Opposition: Kristen Hoffschmidt of Venice Thrives urged the council to follow the 2022 LDR update and to preserve the apartment district for multifamily and "missing middle" housing, arguing the area is suited for concentrated multifamily development that promotes walkability and housing affordability.
Council debate split along competing considerations. Several council members expressed concern about erosion of the apartment district and the importance of maintaining multifamily capacity for affordable and workforce housing. Other members cited fairness to the current property owner, who gained property rights under an earlier code regime and lost permitted single-family rights in the 2022 land-development-code update; those members supported restoring the owner's ability to pursue single-family development on parcels under 1 acre.
Planning staff and the applicant said redevelopment at RSF-4 density would reduce the maximum permitted units from the parcel's RMF-4 potential (roughly 10 units on the 0.6-acre parcel at the RMF density) to a maximum of three single-family units under RSF-4. The council's motion approved the rezoning on first reading; final reading was scheduled per the ordinance procedure.
Action: The ordinance approving the rezoning passed first reading 6-1.
(Article based on staff presentation, applicant testimony, public comment and council debate recorded at the June 10 council meeting.)
