Sierra Gateway Neighborhood Plan

The Sierra Gateway Neighborhood Plan (also referred to as the “Specific Plan”) implements Program H-5.2 of the City’s Housing Element. Program H-5.2 involves an to update the Lancaster Transit-Oriented Development Zones (adopted in 2015) to promote high-quality, walkable, mixed-use, and transit-oriented neighborhoods surrounding the Lancaster Boulevard core and the Metrolink station, as further detailed in Section 1.5, Relationship to the Lancaster Municipal Code, of the Specific Plan. The Housing Element also identifies several vacant parcels within the Specific Plan Area (“Plan Area”) as additional residential capacity for 193 very-low and low-income units, as defined by the Department of Housing and Community Development (Table H-5.22 and H-5.25). The Plan Area includes several sites identified in the Housing Element as Regional Housing Needs Assessment (RHNA) sites. This includes 89 parcels totaling 7.56 acres that comprise the drainage basin located at the southwest corner of Division Street and Milling Street. As part of the Specific Plan preparation, it was determined that while these are designated RHNA sites, future development of these sites is unlikely given the high cost and engineering that would be required to accommodate and re-route the drainage that the basin currently supports for the area. Therefore, given that these sites would be highly unlikely to be developed as housing, as part of the Specific Plan, these sites would be rezoned from Neighborhood Medium (NM) to Public (P) with a future vision to utilize the area as open space. To ensure there is no net loss of Housing Element sites, the Housing Element includes a surplus sites inventory. There are several surplus sites in the Plan Area on vacant lots that would be suitable and feasible for future development. Per the Housing Element, the surplus sites in the Plan Area could accommodate 193 units. The rezone of the basin sites would remove an estimated potential of 129 units. This would represent a net of 64 units. Therefore, there would be no net loss of Housing Element sites designated for the Plan Area.