Agriculture, Business, Communities – El Dorado Report

El Dorado Hills Town Center Apartments

Introduction

The El Dorado Hills Apartment (Town Center) project proposes 214 apartments in two four-story buildings, an adjacent five-level parking structure, plus hardscape and landscaping on a 4.7-acre site in the El Dorado Hills Town Center.  The project site is surrounded on three sides (north, east and south) by existing or planned future commercial development, and adjacent to the Town Center lake and drainage corridor on the west.  The upscale market-rate apartments include a mix of studio, 1- and 2-bedroom units, along with other amenities such as a clubhouse and fitness center, meeting rooms and outdoor areas. 

Although the proposed project is not characterized as mixed use, it satisfies criteria for horizontal mixed-use development.[1]  In fact, it is difficult to imagine a site anywhere in El Dorado County that is better suited for mixed-use commercial and housing development than the El Dorado Hills Town Center.  The proposed housing project is an infill development, located within easy walking distance of employment, retail, dining and entertainment opportunities.  It is also within a block of an El Dorado Transit commuter bus stop providing service into downtown Sacramento and connecting to the Folsom Iron Point light rail station, Folsom Lake College, Intel and Kaiser offices in Folsom.  Most Town Center planned commercial development has already been built, alleviating a common concern with mixed-use development that the housing will be built, but never followed up with promised commercial uses. 

This proposed development is in the right location, and will provide a type of housing not currently available in the area, to serve professionals, singles, and empty nesters interested in a walkable living environment in a safe community with easy access to employment locations, medical facilities and transit hubs. 

Background

The El Dorado Hills Town Center is a part of the approximate 4,000 acre El Dorado Hills Specific Plan (EDHSP), approved by the County in 1988. As with many suburban master-planned communities designed during that period, its focus was primarily single-family housing, although the plan originally authorized some lower density for-sale townhomes and clustered housing units.[2]  The 256 acres of the EDHSP south of Highway 50 at Latrobe Road was designated as regional commercial to serve the needs of regional residents as well as travelers along Highway 50.  Two development plans, one for Town Center West and one for Town Center East (west and east of Latrobe Road, respectively) have been approved by the County.  

The original Town Center East Development Plan (TCE PD), where the apartment site is located, was approved by the County in 1995.   Although the original plan did not include housing, it contains all of the other attributes of a mixed-use development – retail, office, hotel, dining, entertainment and transit opportunities.  The proposed apartment site was originally designated as a location for a future hotel and retail shops. 

Both the El Dorado Hills Specific Plan (1988) and the Town Center East Development Plan (1995) predate adoption of the 2004 General Plan, 2009 Commercial/Mixed-Use Development standards, and the 2015 Targeted General Plan Amendment and Zoning Ordinance Update (TGPA/ZOU).  All of these plans allow and encourage mixed-use development, with densities of up to 20 units per acre within Community Regions.  Because the EDH SP and TCE PD were the subject of development agreements between the County and landowners, they were incorporated into the General Plan and other later-adopted plans without modification. 

A previous proposal to allow construction of 250 housing units in buildings up to five stories on this site was approved by the Board of Supervisors on December 2, 2014 by a 4-1 vote[3].  A lawsuit challenging that approval[4] led the El Dorado County Superior Court to rule that the County had failed to conduct a proper CEQA analysis of the project.  That decision is currently on appeal.

The Proposed Apartment Project

Meanwhile, the applicant has submitted an application for a new apartment project at the same site.[5]  This time, CEQA review of the project includes a full environmental impact report (EIR) rather than a mitigated negative declaration.  The new project has a lower density than the prior 250-unit project and contains 214 units in two four-story buildings, with a contiguous parking structure.  The application requests the following approvals:  1) a General Plan Amendment adding a site-specific policy increasing the residential density for this site onlyfrom 24 units per acre to 47 units per acre; 2) an amendment to the El Dorado Hills Specific Plan adding an “Urban Infill Residential” land use within the Town Center East village; 3) approval of a rezone to Residential Multi-Family Planned Development (RM-PD) with appropriate standards to implement the proposed project; 4) revisions to the Town Center East Development Plan to incorporate standards for this residential project. 

The proposed apartment project is treated as a residential development within a commercial property rather than a component of a mixed-use development.  However, by adding housing to the existing Town Center, all of the elements of mixed-use development are met.  If analyzed as a mixed- use project, the addition of 214 apartments to the 130-acre Town Center East Planned Development represents a residential density of fewer than 2 units per acre – substantially less than the density allowed by the adopted General Plan.

The new project with upscale market-rate rental housing, including a mix of studio, 1- and 2-bedroom units, provides a housing alternative not currently available in the area.  It includes a clubhouse, fitness center, and other amenities.  With an El Dorado Transit commuter bus stop providing service into Folsom and Sacramento, and a range of retail, employment, dining and entertainment options within easy walking distance from site, the proposed project would be expected to attract professionals and empty-nesters seeking a safe, walkable, pedestrian oriented community.

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[1] “Horizontal Mixed Use” describes residential units located in separate buildings, on one or more separate parcels, adjacent to commercial development.  By contrast, “Vertical Mixed Use” is a term used to describe living units located in the same building, on floors above ground floor retail or commercial office uses.

[2] Development to date under the Specific Plan has been predominately detached single-family residential, and generally at lower densities than authorized.  Although the EDHSP authorized over 6,100 homes, current projections anticipate fewer than 5,000 homes at buildout.  It is unknown whether any townhomes or other attached housing developments authorized in the EDHSP were built.

[3] Yes: Briggs, Santiago, Mikulaco, Veerkamp; No: Frentzen.

[4] Filed by “Citizens for Sensible Development in El Dorado Hills”.

[5] The appeal of the trial court’s decision on the previous (250 unit) project continues.  The December 14, 2017 Staff Report to the Planning Commission states:  “The [new] project is proposed as an alternative to the previously approved project and will supersede that project if either (1) the pending litigation concerning the legal validity of those approved entitlements results in a final legal judgment requiring the County to rescind the entitlements, or (2) the project applicant requests rescission of those approved entitlements. As a result, the [new] project has been analyzed independently of those prior entitlements (i.e., as if those prior entitlements were not still in effect).”  It is our understanding that, if the new project is approved and the approvals become final (i.e., no legal challenge is filed and the time for such a challenge expires) before the appeal is decided, the project applicant will no longer pursue the appeal, and will instead proceed with constructing the new project.