Fountain Valley council gives first reading to zoning changes tied to state housing requirements amid strong public opposition

The Fountain Valley City Council on Jan. 21 voted to give first reading to three zoning amendments that staff says are needed to conform the city’s code to its recently adopted general plan and certified housing element. The measures would rezone three specific‑plan areas to allow up to 1,100 units in The Crossings, 1,100 units in South Park and 676 units in the Warner/New Hope area.

City plan director Omar De Ndeboi told the council the city must align zoning with the adopted housing element by a state deadline to avoid legal and funding consequences. He said the Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) apportioned 4,839 units to Fountain Valley for 2021–2029 and that the proposed rezones are intended to show HCD that the city has sufficient capacity in zoning to meet that allocation, not to authorize a specific project.

The public hearing drew dozens of speakers who opposed concentrating new development in a concentrated area of the city’s east side. “The impact of this concentrated development would be huge and irreversible for those of us living on the East Side of the city,” said resident Eileen Asahi, who urged council members who have accepted developer donations to recuse themselves from the vote. Several speakers representing the Los Caballeros Sports Club and adjacent businesses warned about losing shared parking and about traffic, and asked how emergency response and school capacity would accommodate thousands of new residents.

Council members pressed staff about project-level protections. Plan director De Ndeboi said any future application would still need to meet parking and access requirements and that rights to existing access and reserved parking would remain for current businesses and residents. He also said some rezoned properties may never redevelop and that rezoning preserves local control that would otherwise be diminished if the city’s housing element were decertified.

Council member Pat Harper moved that the council give first reading to the three ordinances; the motion was seconded by Council member Grandes. City Attorney Colin Byrne read the ordinance titles. The motion passed on a recorded vote with three votes in favor, one opposed and one abstention; Council member Kim Constantine abstained. The ordinances will return for second reading Feb. 4, after which they would become effective according to the normal ordinance timetable.

Why it matters: staff and multiple council members said failing to rezone could trigger the state’s builder’s‑remedy process, potentially allowing a developer to pursue approvals under state standards rather than local zoning. Opponents said the city should pursue a more even distribution of RHNA allocations or pursue legislative relief, but council members noted the city already appealed RHNA allocations and lost that appeal.

Next steps: A second reading of the ordinances is scheduled for Feb. 4. If adopted, each future project proposing to build in those areas would still have to undergo environmental review and project‑level planning review with conditions addressing parking, circulation and public‑safety impacts.