Lafayette council approves 90-unit Oak Hill development after lengthy review

The Lafayette City Council voted unanimously Monday to approve a seven-story, 90-unit mixed-use development at Oak Hill Road, a project that drew months of review, public comment and requests for design and mitigation conditions.

The Oak Hill proposal, presented to the council by contract planner Jean Isberg, would replace three commercial buildings with a 7-story building containing 90 for-sale units, including 11 below-market-rate (BMR) units, about 2,000 square feet of ground-floor commercial space, 178 parking stalls and 52 bicycle parking spaces. The council’s action adopts conditions of approval and the staff recommendation that the project is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The project was submitted after Lafayette’s housing element rezoning took effect and was processed under state expedited review rules (SB 330) and the state density bonus law. Isberg told council members the application included waivers from several local objective standards — including building height, front-yard landscaping and certain stepback requirements — that state law allows when a density bonus is sought. She said the project proposes to meet both state and local…