Fortuna planning commission recommends zoning amendments to align Title 17 with housing element, allows supportive housing by right

The Fortuna Planning Commission on a unanimous vote recommended the Fortuna City Council adopt amendments to Title 17 of the Fortuna Municipal Code and to the city zoning map to align local land-use rules with the Mill District Specific Plan and the city's housing element.

Contract city planner Michelle told the commission the text amendments would update definitions and explicitly treat supportive housing, transitional housing and community care facilities for six or fewer individuals as residential uses "permitted in the same manner as other residential dwellings of the same type in the same zone." She said the changes are intended to bring the city's regulations into compliance with state housing law and to implement specific housing-element programs.

The proposal includes map changes replacing two older qualified combining (Q) zones with a single Q overlay that would apply to three geographic areas identified in the staff report (Areas A, B and C). Under the proposed Q overlay single-family homes and accessory dwelling units would remain principally permitted; multifamily development would be permitted by right where at least 20% of units are…