Planning commission reapproves 27 townhomes and 18-unit apartment at 21659 Mission Boulevard

The Hayward City Planning Commission on March 27 voted to reapprove a vesting tentative tract map (TM240006) for a mixed residential subdivision at 21659 Mission Boulevard, a vacant 1.14-acre site at the north end of Hayward adjacent to unincorporated Cherryland. The decision was 5–1 with one commissioner absent; the commission’s decision is final unless appealed within 10 days.

The project proposes 27 three-story townhouse-style condominiums (air-space units) and an 18-unit, four-story multifamily rental building, arranged on a single lot with shared parking and common open space including a small playground and community lawn and garden. Staff told the commission the current submission is nearly identical to plans the commission approved on Sept. 10, 2020, but the previous vesting tentative tract map expired after the property changed ownership and the new owner did not complete the final subdivision map approval in time.

Planning staff said the lot line that had separated the condominium parcel from the apartment parcel in the 2020 approval was removed after East Bay Municipal Utility District (East Bay MUD) informed the applicant that a proposed new water line could not cross that property line. Because of that utility constraint, the subdivision is now proposed as one large lot rather than two separate lots; staff recommended reapproval because density, parking counts, building sizes and heights remain the same as in the earlier approval.

Commissioners and members of the public questioned several implementation and neighborhood impacts. Commissioner Lowe asked whether the city had addressed protections for nesting or migrating birds when trees are removed; staff confirmed that a standard pre‑removal survey by a qualified wildlife biologist is required and that, if not already listed in the 2020 site-plan conditions, it will be added and timed to occur no more than 14 days before tree removal. The staff presentation noted the site currently contains 13 existing trees and some areas of failing pavement and illegal dumping.

Commissioners also pressed the applicant and staff on parking. The project design shows 27 ownership units with 24 parking spaces and 18 rental units with 11 parking spaces, creating what some commissioners described as a shortfall under neighborhood conditions. Staff explained that Mission Boulevard zoning eliminated minimum parking requirements for parcels along the corridor to encourage transit-oriented development; the project is expected to include rooftop solar and electric-vehicle charging infrastructure in accordance with applicable state green-building standards in effect when permits were pulled.

The applicant’s representatives said building-permit plans were submitted in late 2022 and that coordination with East Bay MUD and the fire department led to the change in water‑service routing that prevented the previously proposed lot split. The applicant also confirmed the subdivision will continue to provide the amenities memorialized in the site-plan review entitlements approved in 2020.

Commissioners also discussed long-term implications of the single-lot configuration, including potential future subdivision constraints and impacts on building fire-rating requirements if the property were later split between different owners; staff said those outcomes would depend on future engineering and code review and could not be fully resolved at the hearing.

Commissioner Stevens moved to approve the vesting tentative tract map for TM240006; the motion passed on a roll-call vote (Franco Clausen: no; Hammond: yes; Lowe: yes; Myers: yes; Stevens: yes; Chair Hardy: yes; Commissioner Goodbody absent). The staff report and draft findings and conditions listed in the agenda packet apply; the commission noted the project remains subject to conditions of the previously approved site-plan review and density-bonus entitlements and to any adjustments required by building permits and utility approvals.

Appeal period: per the staff announcement, an appeal of the commission’s decision must be filed within 10 days to bring the matter to the City Council.