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Director approves 14-unit Meta Street apartments with design and utility conditions
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Summary
The City of San Buenaventura's director approved a 14-unit apartment project at 1279 Meta Street after requiring undergrounding of utilities, replacement of open awnings with solid roof slats, stucco on stairwells, and submission of updated elevations; neighbors had raised concerns about height, parking and historic structures.
The director of San Buenaventura's community development hearing on April 13 approved a major design review and lot line adjustment for a 14-unit apartment building at 1279 Meta Street, imposing several design and infrastructure conditions intended to address neighborhood concerns.
Associate planner Brian Garvey summarized the project as a 2'.5'story, roughly 10,000-square-foot side-court housing building formed from a lot merger of two parcels at 1279 Meta Street and 157 South Crimea Street. The revised proposal, submitted in January 2025 and later reduced to 14 units, includes one inclusionary studio and one inclusionary two-bedroom unit, six on-site parking spaces plus one accessible stall and an additional off-site space for an existing front unit, for eight spaces total. Staff said the project qualifies for a 20% density bonus after setting aside approximately 15% of base-density units as affordable and requests a waiver under the state density bonus law for third-floor area limits.
Neighbors raised objections during public comment. Leonard Whiteley, who identified himself as the owner of 171 South Crimea Street, said the project would "destroy a 100 year old" house on the corner and criticized a requested height exemption to 43 feet, arguing the neighborhood character and parking are inappropriate for the proposed massing. Megan Kearney cited repeated infrastructure problems in the block and said additional units would stress local electrical and plumbing systems.
Staff and the applicants responded that the front residence is not currently listed as a landmark in the city's most recent historic survey, and that the applicant had previously submitted materials to consider landmarking but the survey analysis did not identify the structures as qualifying. Brian Garvey and other staff reviewed Design Review Committee (DRC) directions: removal of certain awnings, stepbacks on exterior walls, and a 48'inch solid wall in lieu of wrought-iron railings on the south elevation. The applicant said those changes were incorporated.
Director Rachel Diamond said the downtown specific plan prescribes parking by square footage (1 space per 1,500 square feet), and staff confirmed the project meets that standard; she said the city's authority to require additional parking is limited by state and local law. Diamond directed modifications to improve appearance and neighborhood compatibility and placed them as conditions of approval. The city will require the applicant to:
- Underground on-site utilities (and underground the alley poles where required) coordinated with Public Works and Southern California Edison; - Replace open slatted awnings shown on the plans with solid roof slats (metal or shingle, dark brown) so the awnings no longer cast the present open-slat shadows; - Change stairwell exterior cladding and additional vertical elements from horizontal siding to stucco (ground-floor stucco treatment to reduce long horizontal swaths); - Ensure gutters are fully connected from roof to ground; and - Submit revised elevations showing these changes before applying for a building permit; staff and the director will meet to confirm the final submittal.
"We are extremely limited in our ability to deny housing projects," Director Diamond said during the hearing, adding that the conditions represent "the best we can do" within those constraints. She concluded, "I'll approve the application, with the additional condition that the utilities on-site are undergrounded, per public works and Southern California Edison," and enumerated the other conditions specified above.
The staff report listed the project as categorically exempt from CEQA under section 15332 for infill developments; Garvey told the hearing that the site is less than 5 acres, does not threaten species, and would not result in significant traffic, noise or air quality impacts.
What happens next: the applicant must submit updated elevations and operational details reflecting the conditions before building-permit issuance. The director and staff said they will confer to ensure the conditions are reflected in the permit package.
