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[5:04] city clerk? Yes, thank you, mayor. Let the
record show that we have all members of
[5:12] council present in
chambers, and we have
[5:17] council member wheeler will lead the
invocation. Will you pray with me? Dear lord in
[5:23] heaven, we thank
you so much that
[5:26] you're with us tonight, lord.
[5:27] we ask your blessings on this gathering where we deal with the subjects of the city.
[5:32] we ask your guidance on these issues, that
we may be able to make proper decisions
[5:36] that will benefit
our city, the state,
[5:39] and our country.
[5:40] in jesus' name we pray.
[5:41] amen.
[5:44] and I'm going to lead the pledge of allegiance.
[5:50] and I would just like to state, if you'll stand, those of you who can stand.
[5:54] I'm not one of you.
[5:56] but we live in the greatest country in the world, 250 years, and we celebrate that.
[6:05] and so we say the pledge of allegiance this
time from the greatest little city in the
[6:10] united states, laguna hills.
[6:13] okay.
[6:16] there we go.
[6:20] I pledge allegiance to the flag of the united states
[6:30] indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.
[6:38] thank you.
[6:42] all right.
[6:45] so, first of all, I wanted to make a couple
of comments, and then we're going to get
[6:50] everything going.
[6:53] I want to thank a lot of people for their thoughts and their prayers.
[6:56] I had a pretty serious surgery to my foot almost three months ago.
[7:03] but I managed to attend these meetings by zoom.
[7:07] and I want to thank our mayor pro tem,
jared mathis, for chairing these meetings on
[7:14] my behalf,
[7:15] even though I was in the room with you.
[7:17] but it would have been logistically a little nuts for me to try to run the meeting,
[7:22] and I really appreciate his stepping up and doing that.
[7:26] I also want to introduce joshua stephenson,
our new city clerk, and we want to
[7:32] welcome you to
your first meeting.
[7:42] nothing like starting off with a bang, joshua.
[7:44] absolutely.
[7:45] okay.
[7:47] so, with that, we are going to
[7:54] we did that.
[7:55] we're going to recess the city council
meeting and call to order the joint meeting of
[8:01] the city council
and planning agency.
[8:06] and, again, I'm going to ask the city clerk for the roll call of the agency members.
[8:11] yes, mayor.
[8:12] let the record show that all members of
the city council and planning agency are
[8:14] present in council chambers.
[8:17] thank you.
[8:19] okay.
[8:19] and with that, we will begin.
[8:23] the first item on the agenda, and I have
moved the deck chairs around a little bit
[8:28] from what we normally
do for conditional
[8:31] use permits, and the reason for that is
because sometimes in these things, by the
[8:39] time you get to
speak, it's eight
[8:43] or nine o'clock at night, even if we start
early. So today, we're going to rearrange
[8:48] that. We are going to do
[8:51] a presentation from the ad hoc committee,
which will be fairly short, followed by a
[8:56] presentation from jennifer lowe, our
director of community development,
[9:03] and then about the project, which is the village at laguna hills.
[9:09] and then we will hear a presentation from the applicant.
[9:13] and then we'll go straight to public comments first.
[9:17] because most of you who are here know what you want to say.
[9:20] and I want to hear, we all want to hear, what you want to say.
[9:24] and so rather than getting wrapped around
the axle with a bunch of other stuff that
[9:28] we do need to do, and
[9:30] you're welcome to stay through all of it, we're going to give you first dibs.
[9:34] and I'm just letting you know that ahead of time.
[9:38] so we have here the village at laguna hills,
a request by mgp fund x laguna hills llc
[9:45] to modify the previously
approved village
[9:49] at laguna hills project to redevelop the
former laguna hills mall site located at
[9:54] 24001 avenida de la
carlota, unit b, and
[9:57] 23451 calle de la luisa, 24162 ronda del rossmoor, 24100,
[10:16] 24126, 24156, and 24300 laguna hills
mall; approval of site development permit,
[10:22] conditional use permits,
master sign program, parking
[10:27] use permit, amended vesting tentative
tract map number 19123 for residential
[10:35] condominium and
commercial retail purposes
[10:41] to subdivide 10 existing lots into 27.
[10:45] the amended and restated development
agreement number, use-0239-2025, and an
[10:53] amendment to the
urban village specific plan.
[10:58] that's a mouthful.
[11:00] so with that, I'm going to call for mayor
pro tem mathis to present a short report
[11:06] for the ad hoc committee.
[11:10] thank you, mr.
[11:11] mayor.
[11:11] it is wonderful to see you back in the chair.
[11:15] and I think we all agree.
[11:16] and it's great to see all of you here tonight to participate in this process.
[11:21] it's a long time coming.
[11:23] I'm going to take you back in time real quick, back to january of 2025.
[11:30] that's when we put together the ad hoc committee consisting of
[11:35] mayor caskey and myself, playing on our
industry experience to be able to sit down
[11:41] with the applicant and
take another swipe at this.
[11:46] because from the project that had been
approved, we didn't end up with a project that
[11:50] was able to be built.
[11:53] so we rolled up our sleeves to sit
across the table from mgp to be able to get
[11:58] something done.
[12:00] and I'm just going to give you a brief 30,000-foot overview of what that process
[12:04] and what our guiding principles were
through that process before we get into the
[12:10] details with the staff report.
[12:14] so the two-person ad hoc committee, it was
a different composition than what had been
[12:19] working with mgp before.
[12:21] we wanted to have a fresh look.
[12:23] again, relying on the experience that we
have in the industry, and to try to get this
[12:27] over the finish line in a way
[12:29] that makes sense for the city.
[12:31] so the objective was to negotiate a
project that's both aligned with the city's
[12:35] principles and priorities and
also is economically deliverable.
[12:41] and so, go ahead.
[12:45] so regular meetings, as soon as the ad hoc
committee was formed, were set in motion
[12:51] with merlone geier partners
back 18 months ago, and the
[12:55] committee focused on creating lasting value for laguna hills.
[12:59] none of us want to see the project sit dormant.
[13:04] thirteen years in various phases of that.
[13:07] but we also need to make sure it's right for laguna hills.
[13:10] and so multiple site plan revisions over
that period of time were gone through,
[13:15] balancing feasibility with community
priorities, and the result, we believe,
[13:20] is a negotiated proposal designed to
deliver the lasting public benefits that we
[13:24] think the city deserves and to
capture the interest and the spirit
[13:28] of laguna hills as well.
[13:30] and we think all that's possible.
[13:32] so what are the priorities for the city?
[13:36] one, increased revenues beyond the 2022 approved project.
[13:42] that is confirmed.
[13:43] this project will do that.
[13:45] not only do that through the two hotels and retail that will be part of this project,
[13:50] but it will increase the revenue over what the mall ever produced in its heyday.
[13:55] I think that's really important to understand.
[13:58] and that's been confirmed with independent analysis, not just our opinion.
[14:05] number two, provide affordable housing near transit, medical, and retail.
[14:09] specifically, senior affordable housing.
[14:13] mayor caskey, I'm going to give him all the credit in the world,
[14:16] this affordable housing was located in a different spot on the project,
[14:19] and he was adamant to move it to that
southwest corner of the property that puts it
[14:24] as close as possible to
public transportation.
[14:29] not only does that just make sense, it also makes it more financeable as well.
[14:34] so that was a good result from this process.
[14:37] we also think that another priority
for the city was to create a destination
[14:40] reflecting the
character of laguna hills,
[14:44] and the developer has agreed with us for patriotic theming,
[14:50] something that I think is really at the
core of what laguna hills is as a city and
[14:54] what we represent.
[14:56] that's visible from the freeway, so people
know when they're driving by laguna hills
[14:59] just based on the project alone.
[15:02] number four, develop vibrant retail, dining, and gathering spaces.
[15:08] the pads on this project, for those of
you who have taken a look, are on the north
[15:13] half of the project, right?
[15:16] surrounding the park.
[15:19] if you've been to the river street development in san juan capistrano,
[15:23] a similar feel in that regard, in that
there's vibrant shopping and dining
[15:28] opportunities that not only serve the
immediate residents of this community
[15:34] that we're building, but also a regional draw as well.
[15:38] and so we think that this accomplishes that goal as well.
[15:45] require enforceable phasing and developer accountability with community benefit.
[15:48] we don't want the property to sit and not be developed.
[15:52] and we also don't want to put a position,
[15:55] put the city in a position where the
developer can just do a few things and then
[15:59] leave town and leave
us holding the bag.
[16:01] the way that this
[16:04] proposal is phased and linked, and this
was, again, independently reviewed, both
[16:09] legally and from an
economic perspective.
[16:13] the proper phasing and accountability is within this project.
[16:18] number six, expand ownership and rental
opportunities for young families and our
[16:22] workforce housing.
[16:25] multiple types of housing, which marks departure from the previous version.
[16:30] multiple housing types, from apartments to townhomes and single-family residences.
[16:35] so you want to rent, you want to buy,
you want to invest in laguna hills, this
[16:40] project allows for that.
[16:42] in a wide variety of opportunities.
[16:45] number seven, design walkable neighborhoods
with quality architecture and open space
[16:50] and safety.
[16:53] so working with ocfa and all the different
agencies that make sure that this thing is
[16:58] designed in a way
that not only is
[17:00] walkable and beautiful, but safe.
[17:04] all that's been confirmed through our process, both with staff and our consultants.
[17:08] we feel really confident with that.
[17:11] and it just so happens, all of this is
happening right across the street from our
[17:15] city's largest employer,
saddleback memorial hospital.
[17:19] the environment that it's going to create,
not only for the people that have to be in
[17:23] the hospital for
various health reasons,
[17:26] but for those professionals, attracting
the best doctors, nurses, medical
[17:30] professionals to be part of that campus
feel is going to be really excellent.
[17:37] so that's part of that design of that neighborhood and community.
[17:41] and number eight, deliver a project the
community will be proud of that will be a
[17:46] local and regional draw.
[17:49] listen, it's been a long time, 13 years in the waiting,
[17:53] and laguna hills deserves for this project
to break ground and for us to put a shovel
[17:59] in the ground.
[18:01] and that's what we think based on the 18
months we've been working diligently with
[18:07] the developer and with
staff to be able to come
[18:11] to that conclusion.
[18:13] go ahead.
[18:17] next slide.
[18:18] go ahead.
[18:19] so this is our statement.
[18:21] the ad hoc committee believes this
proposal is substantially stronger than the
[18:24] previously approved project and
the right project for laguna hills.
[18:28] it reflects months of negotiation, compromise,
and careful attention to the city's
[18:30] priorities.
[18:32] our goal has always been simple: create a
project that laguna hills will be proud of
[18:36] for generations.
[18:38] go ahead.
[18:41] and so the question is, why now, right?
[18:46] I'm going to try to provide an answer to that.
[18:48] in order for the affordable housing project, you're going to hear more about this,
[18:52] to enter the state's financing portal in this year, in 2026,
[18:57] we believe that this project needs to move
forward immediately to be able to get into
[19:03] the queue.
[19:04] in much that same vein, hotel 1 needs to
start construction in order to meet market
[19:08] deadlines and demands to
support tourism and capture,
[19:13] if possible, the 2028 olympics.
[19:16] also, after multiple public-facing
opportunities, and we welcome everyone's input
[19:20] here tonight.
[19:23] but over many different public-facing
opportunities over the last 18 months, all the
[19:27] public feedback, or the
vast majority of it, has been
[19:30] overwhelmingly positive.
[19:35] maybe a little editorial here: 13 years is long enough, right?
[19:39] and additional paralysis by analysis
potentially only hurts the city, in that we need
[19:44] to keep and capture the current
market condition and not
[19:48] slide through the market condition like what happened last time.
[19:52] and as I said before, put a shovel in the ground.
[19:55] so that's the perspective of the ad hoc committee.
[20:00] had an interesting time over the last 18 months.
[20:04] it's been knockdown, drag-out in many cases, but all in good faith.
[20:09] and I will commend the applicant for
being up-front and face-to-face on all the
[20:14] challenges that we
went through together.
[20:19] and you're going to see the results of that tonight.
[20:22] that's my report, mr.
[20:23] mayor.
[20:23] all right.
[20:24] thank you, mayor pro tem mathis.
[20:27] I don't think I can add anything to that, but I would like to keep it moving,
[20:31] and I'm going to ask the community development
director, jennifer lowe, to present
[20:35] the staff report.
[20:38] jennifer?
[20:40] good evening, mayor and members of the council.
[20:42] I would like to introduce to you gina gizar
and layla carter, project planners for
[20:45] this, and gina will be
giving the presentation.
[20:49] thank you.
[20:56] good evening, mayor and council members.
[20:59] tonight for your consideration is the
village at laguna hills 2026 modified project
[21:05] under application
number use-0239-2025.
[21:14] this project site is the former laguna hills
mall property, an approximately 68-acre
[21:19] site,
[21:20] which lies within the boundaries of the city's urban village specific plan.
[21:32] this application is a major modification
of the previously approved 2022 village at
[21:37] laguna hills development plan.
[21:40] the proposed mixed-use project includes
a combination of commercial retail, two
[21:45] hotels, four multifamily residential
buildings, one of which is fully affordable,
[21:51] a mix of townhomes, single-family attached,
single-family detached housing, and open
[21:57] space and recreation uses.
[22:00] before turning to the specifics of this
project, it's worth explaining that the
[22:04] application is considered a
modification rather than a new project.
[22:10] section 1.49 of the da approved for the 2022 vlh project,
[22:17] and I will say I will use vlh as an acronym for village at laguna hills several times,
[22:24] so the da defines a major project
modification as any discretionary approval or
[22:30] permit requested by the property owner
that would result in the authorization
[22:37] of certain circumstances.
[22:41] this proposed project includes more than
five residential buildings and less than 210,
[22:47] 000 square feet of retail,
[22:49] which meet two of those thresholds defined in the da.
[22:54] as a result, this modification is considered a major project modification,
[23:01] and section
[23:01] 12.3 of that agreement gives the city
council absolute discretion to approve,
[23:06] conditionally
approve, or deny it.
[23:12] this table summarizes how the 2026 modified
project compares to what was approved in
[23:17] 2022.
[23:19] commercial retail, restaurant, cinema,
and health club uses decrease from 250,000
[23:23] square feet to 163,215 square feet,
as the cinema and health club have
[23:28] been removed.
[23:28] office use is eliminated entirely, a reduction of 465,000 square feet.
[23:40] the project now includes two hotels totaling
239 rooms, an increase of 89 rooms over
[23:44] the single hotel
approved in 2022.
[23:46] residential units decreased slightly from
1,500 to 1,457, though the da preserves the
[23:49] potential for up to 1,500 units.
[24:03] and required parking decreases by about
1,926 spaces, reflecting the removal of
[24:08] office, cinema, and health club uses
and their associated parking structures.
[24:16] in short, the 2026 modified project
diversifies the housing types on site, adding
[24:22] apartments, stand-alone affordable
housing, townhomes, single-family attached,
[24:28] single-family detached,
[24:31] while also increasing the village park
from 2.6 to 3.1 acres and introducing the
[24:37] second hotel.
[24:41] to implement these changes, the applicant
is requesting a series of discretionary
[24:46] approvals: a specific plan amendment,
a site development permit, a precise plan,
[24:52] an amendment to vesting tentative map number
19123, conditional use permits for the
[24:57] two hotels and for seasonal
and temporary events at the village
[25:02] park, a master sign program, a parking use permit, and an amended and restated da.
[25:12] taken together, the project offers significant public benefits.
[25:16] it will generate fee payments of almost
$33 million at full build-out and an
[25:21] anticipated annual general fund
fiscal surplus of about $2.26 million.
[25:29] it redevelops a largely vacant former
mall site into a mixed-use urban village,
[25:33] creates thousands of
construction and permanent jobs,
[25:38] and helps the city meet more than 60% of
the housing units required under its 2021-29
[25:42] housing element.
[25:49] the amended and restated da has a 15-year
term with the possibility of a five-year
[25:55] extension, and at full build-out
authorizes the park, retail,
[26:00] residential, and hotels.
[26:05] development is structured in two phases.
[26:08] phase 1 includes construction of the two
retail anchor buildings, shop a, hotel 1,
[26:13] and 200 units of
affordable senior housing,
[26:17] along with supporting streets, utilities,
landscaping, and infrastructure, plus
[26:22] elective improvements such as
the north residential building.
[26:27] phase 1 must commence within four years
of the da date and must be completed within
[26:32] five years,
[26:33] with the affordable housing project completed within three years of commencement.
[26:39] phase 2 includes commercial pads one through four, shops b and c, hotel 2, and the
[26:45] central and south residential buildings, along with their supportive infrastructure.
[26:50] phase 2 can commence at any time during the da term,
[26:54] but the hotels must be completed within
eight years or the applicant must pay a hotel
[27:00] delay fee,
[27:03] which we'll get into in a minute.
[27:08] this slide breaks down the community benefit
and one-time fees associated with the
[27:12] project.
[27:13] to date, the applicant has paid more
than $8.6 million toward public art, park
[27:18] in-lieu, community benefit, and
development agreement administration fees.
[27:25] looking ahead, the applicant is obligated
to pay an additional $23.9 million in those
[27:29] same categories.
[27:33] plus a public art
obligation equal to
[27:37] 0.5% of construction costs for specific
non-residential and multifamily uses, with
[27:46] any amount above
$650,000 required to be
[27:51] installed as actual public art onsite.
[27:54] and as mentioned before, a hotel delay
fee of $500,000 per hotel if either is not
[28:00] completed within eight years.
[28:05] from a fiscal standpoint, at full build-out,
the project is expected to generate
[28:11] approximately $3.8 million in annual
city revenues against about $1.53 million
[28:18] in annual expenditures, for a net positive
fiscal impact of over $2.2 million per
[28:23] year.
[28:26] that surplus is higher than the $1.39 million
annual surplus that would have resulted
[28:33] under the 2022 approved project,
[28:37] largely due to the addition of the
second hotel and its associated transient
[28:42] occupancy tax revenue.
[28:45] these figures are based on an analysis and
a fiscal impact analysis prepared by dpfg
[28:50] and peer-reviewed on
behalf of the city by eps.
[28:57] with the fiscal and procedural context
in mind, we can walk through the physical
[29:00] design of the project.
[29:04] so just to reiterate the uses, the modified
project includes up to 143,100 square
[29:12] feet of new retail space,
[29:16] and that's in addition to the existing space
that will remain with the bj's and other
[29:22] uses.
[29:24] these spaces are anchored by two
major stores, a 3.1-acre village park, four
[29:28] multifamily residential buildings,
again, one that is fully affordable,
[29:34] and the mix of townhomes, single-family
attached and single-family detached
[29:38] residential uses, two hotels, and
vehicular access, circulation, and parking
[29:43] improvements.
[29:46] there will be a comprehensive signage
program and new utility and infrastructure
[29:51] improvements.
[29:54] at the heart of the project is the approximately
3.1-acre village park, which will be
[29:59] privately owned but
publicly accessible.
[30:03] it includes a small kiosk with outdoor
seating and dining along its edges, water
[30:07] features, a pavilion, a raised
deck, and a central green.
[30:13] this diagram illustrates how the village
park integrates with the project's broader
[30:18] open space network, connecting
the commercial core, hotels,
[30:22] and residential districts through a continuous pedestrian environment.
[30:29] the landscape concept is organized around
a tree hierarchy that provides botanical
[30:33] wayfinding throughout the site,
[30:36] enhanced gateways, and a main entrance that creates a sense of arrival,
[30:40] and a network of paseos that extend the
landscape into the commercial and residential
[30:44] areas.
[30:47] the project also emphasizes multimodal connectivity.
[30:51] pedestrian enhancements include an extensive
walkable network of paseos and enhanced
[30:57] crossings, linking retail,
residential, and open spaces.
[31:02] bicycle infrastructure includes class 3
bike-share lanes on key streets connecting to
[31:09] the city's multi-use
trail system.
[31:12] and the site is within immediate walking
distance of multiple octa bus stops and the
[31:18] laguna hills
transportation center.
[31:23] a bit on the affordable housing: rather
than distributing affordable units piecemeal
[31:28] across multiple buildings,
the project consolidates them.
[31:33] a fully entitled, development-ready pad
is transferred to a qualified affordable
[31:37] housing developer.
[31:39] this approach helps the city ensure
that it meets its rhna obligations for
[31:44] lower-income units.
[31:49] turning to parking, the project is required
to provide 3,671 parking spaces under the
[31:56] laguna hills municipal code
and the urban village specific plan.
[32:03] and it provides 4,013, a surplus of 342 spaces.
[32:14] the uvsp requires developments with
construction costs of at least $250,000 to
[32:20] provide public art or contribute
to the city's public art in-lieu
[32:25] fund.
[32:26] the applicant has already paid $350,000 to the fund and holds a $300,000 prior credit.
[32:34] under the amended and restated development
agreement, the applicant must contribute
[32:40] 0.5% of total construction costs for those
non-residential and multifamily uses to
[32:46] the fund.
[32:48] any amount above $650,000 must be satisfied through installation of actual public art.
[32:56] notably, in 2023, the city council commissioned
brittany ryan studios to create five
[33:01] figures on patrol.
[33:04] a tribute to the u.s.
[33:05] 3rd battalion, 5th marines, known as
team dark horse, consisting of 50-inch
[33:09] sculptures depicting marines
on patrol in afghanistan.
[33:14] that artwork will be displayed at the village
park, externally illuminated and framed
[33:19] with contrasting landscaping.
[33:24] architecturally, the project is designed
in a spanish colonial revival theme
[33:28] featuring smooth and sand-finished stucco
in whites and beiges, terracotta-esque tile
[33:33] roofing,
[33:35] loggia arches, wrought-iron detailing, horizontal siding, and decorative tile accents.
[33:42] building massing incorporates varying
roof heights, projections, and overhangs to
[33:46] create visual breaks and
articulate each building's form.
[33:52] the project requires a specific plan amendment
to allow single-family detached homes
[33:57] as permitted uses,
[34:00] to reduce the required building separation
for single-family detached buildings from
[34:05] 10 to 6 feet, and to clarify that
development entitlements approved
[34:10] before the adoption of the city's objective design standards, or ods,
[34:15] including those approved under a development
agreement, are not subject to the ods
[34:20] standards.
[34:23] the project remains consistent with, or is
conditioned to require consistency with,
[34:28] all applicable uvsp development standards
as shown in the table and detailed
[34:34] more in the staff report.
[34:44] the project requires three conditional use
permits, one for hotel 1 and hotel 2, and
[34:48] one for
[34:49] seasonal and temporary events at the village park.
[34:53] staff's findings support all three.
[34:55] the requested uses are fully integrated
into the larger modified project and would
[35:00] create no adverse impacts.
[35:04] the master sign program establishes a
comprehensive, unified signage strategy for the
[35:08] project, including wall
signs, a freeway pylon sign,
[35:13] large entryway pylon and monument signs,
smaller secondary entryway pylon signs,
[35:18] tenant signs, banner graphics,
and directional signage.
[35:26] turning to environmental compliance, this
project's ceqa foundation traces back to
[35:31] the city's 2009 general plan
program environmental impact report,
[35:36] the 2002 urban village specific plan, and
the fifth addendum prepared for the 2022
[35:41] village at laguna hills project.
[35:45] in total, the program eir has been the subject of seven addenda since 2009.
[35:55] ceqa guidelines section 15162 directs
when a subsequent or supplemental eir is
[36:01] required.
[36:02] in short, no additional environmental
analysis is required if a project would not
[36:07] result in new impacts, would
not result in more severe impacts,
[36:13] and would not require new mitigation beyond
what the general plan program already
[36:17] identified.
[36:19] consistent with that standard, a ceqa
compliance memorandum was prepared confirming
[36:24] the analysis conducted in the fifth
addendum for the 2022 vlh project.
[36:31] this memo was also peer-reviewed by lsa, the city's ceqa consultant.
[36:36] that memo evaluated all ceqa topic areas
and found no new or substantially more
[36:42] severe impacts in any category.
[36:46] in fact, it found a net reduction in trips,
operational emissions, greenhouse gas
[36:51] emissions, and noise compared
to the previously approved project.
[37:03] based on that analysis, staff's determination
is that the project is a modification
[37:07] of the previously approved 2022
village at laguna hills project,
[37:12] that it will not result in any new significant
impacts or a substantial increase in
[37:16] the severity of previously
identified impacts,
[37:20] and that the mitigation measures identified
in the fifth addendum remain applicable
[37:24] and have been incorporated into the
project's design and conditions of approval.
[37:33] the uvsp manages cumulative impacts through a peak-hour trip budget.
[37:38] the specific plan established a starting budget of 1,243 a.m.
[37:40] peak-hour trips and 2,272 p.m.
[37:46] peak-hour trips, calibrated to ensure that
development within the plan area does not
[37:51] exceed the intersection level
of service standards in the city's
[37:56] 2009 general plan circulation element while
still allowing flexibility in the mix of
[38:01] land uses.
[38:03] that are built.
[38:05] according to the updated trip generation and vmt screening report prepared by llg, the
[38:12] 2026 modified project generates fewer trips than the 2022 approved project.
[38:20] after accounting for this project and all
prior approvals within the plan area, 276
[38:24] a.m.
[38:25] peak-hour trips and 3,452 p.m.
[38:27] peak-hour trips remain in the uvsp budget for future development.
[38:41] given the scale and long-term nature of this project,
[38:45] staff recommends that the city council
convert the existing village at laguna hills
[38:50] ad hoc committee into a standing
committee to monitor and oversee
[38:55] implementation going forward.
[38:57] as a standing committee, this body would
be a legislative body under the brown act,
[39:02] following standard agenda
and meeting procedures.
[39:06] it would serve as a liaison between city staff, mgp, and the city council,
[39:11] provide guidance and input on implementation
of the da and the project, and report
[39:16] back to council.
[39:18] though it would hold no independent decision-making authority.
[39:21] it would continue in existence until the
council takes separate action and would be
[39:26] composed of the same two
council members who currently serve
[39:31] on the ad hoc committee.
[39:34] with that, we'll close with staff's recommendation.
[39:38] staff recommends that the planning agency
and city council, first, conduct this joint
[39:43] public hearing.
[39:45] second, adopt a joint resolution approving
the site development permit, master sign
[39:50] program, conditional
use permits,
[39:53] and the amended vesting tentative map no. 19123 under application u-0239-2025.
[40:03] third, introduce for first reading an
ordinance amending and restating the
[40:08] development agreement between the
city and mgp fund x laguna hills llc.
[40:15] and fourth, introduce for first reading
an ordinance adopting an amendment to the
[40:20] urban village specific plan for
the village at laguna hills project.
[40:26] and with that, staff will be available to answer any questions.
[40:29] thank you.
[40:31] all right, we are going to postpone
those questions until the 6 o'clock meeting
[40:36] because, as I said before,
[40:38] we're going to go to public speakers first after both of these presentations.
[40:44] and so we're right on time, and I would
like to now request that mgp fund x laguna
[40:52] hills make their presentation.
[41:05] thank you, mayor caskey.
[41:06] thank you, council members pezold, wheeler, mathis, and sweeney.
[41:11] I also want to thank staff and the city's
consultants for working with us over the
[41:16] past
[41:18] couple of years and even extending beyond that.
[41:22] I also have with me today and would like to thank our project team.
[41:26] these are industry professionals that
are excellent at what they do, and we have
[41:30] representatives here to answer
questions should they come up later
[41:34] on in the presentation.
[41:37] as was mentioned, we don't need to go into detail,
[41:39] but there has been a considerable amount
of process that has taken place. Really,
[41:44] since 2023, we started
internally looking at this plan,
[41:48] how we could make it feasible, how we could
expedite the desires of ourselves and the
[41:53] city to see something come
to fruition, and appreciate
[41:57] the ability to work with the ad hoc
committee and with staff to work through the
[42:01] questions and the iterative
nature of the site planning
[42:05] exercise, which I think has been very fruitful.
[42:08] we've held two community outreach meetings.
[42:12] one was, I can't believe it was last august, but it was last august.
[42:16] we had, I think, over 140 people attend.
[42:19] and subsequent to that, we had
[42:22] made ourselves available by posting all
those materials on our website, and we
[42:25] continued to receive emails with
questions, and we tried to respond
[42:29] to those since then.
[42:31] we also had a virtual meeting earlier this year.
[42:33] and throughout this process, we've been
iterating and making revisions to the site
[42:39] plan, updating our analysis,
and really being tasked by
[42:45] the ad hoc committee and staff with responding
to very specific questions, and it's
[42:51] led to where we are today.
[42:55] this is a snapshot of the overall process that we've been on.
[43:00] the green row up top is just a reflection
of when we acquired the property back in
[43:06] 2014, all the way to today,
[43:08] the milestone in 2022 on the development agreement.
[43:12] the pink or purple line is the fees that
have been paid and will be paid over a
[43:17] period of time.
[43:20] as was mentioned, we've already paid $8.7 million in fees, which isn't insignificant,
[43:24] and we're actually in compliance with the terms of that 2022 development agreement.
[43:30] the blue line reflects the process going
forward for construction and other permit
[43:33] approvals.
[43:34] we actually submitted a couple of weeks ago
our initial plans for the core and shell
[43:39] on the anchor retail building,
[43:43] along with our site development work for the first hotel pad.
[43:47] so we're trying to get out ahead of
this to meet the timelines that have been
[43:50] established.
[43:52] and then there are ongoing mapping efforts that are articulated there at the bottom.
[43:56] so I know this was mentioned, but I wanted to highlight a couple of things.
[44:00] comparing the 2022 entitlement to this 2026 modified plan, it was noted that the
[44:07] increase in sales tax revenue that will come to the city.
[44:11] I also wanted to point out we're actually providing a larger community open space.
[44:15] that village park is increased by about a
half an acre, and we also added almost a
[44:20] 0.7-acre dog park in the plan.
[44:24] and it was mentioned there are walking
trails throughout the site, so about 16% of
[44:28] the 68-acre site is
usable open space.
[44:37] because we removed the 465,000 square feet
of office, that traffic reduction of 25%
[44:43] is worth noting.
[44:45] and then we are paying slightly more in impact fees.
[44:51] so since we met with the community, I just
wanted to highlight what has changed in
[44:54] the site plan since last summer.
[44:57] and this is based on the process that I
mentioned in working with the ad hoc
[45:02] committee and trying
to make the plan even
[45:06] better, right?
[45:07] and so what I've highlighted here are
just the components of the plan that have
[45:09] changed.
[45:10] so this is the 2025 plan.
[45:12] and then this is the updated site plan.
[45:14] you can see the affordable building in the southwest corner.
[45:18] in the middle section, that large circle
demonstrates we distributed the for-sale
[45:23] product types more evenly between
the phases, which actually opens it up.
[45:30] it makes the site, I guess, more porous and
creates opportunities for more pedestrian
[45:34] connectivity through the site.
[45:37] we expanded that residential building along
carlotta, and then we moved the townhomes
[45:41] next to the first hotel.
[45:43] so this is the final site plan that we have in front of you today.
[45:48] this is a rendering of the senior affordable
building that will sit there at the
[45:53] southwest corner.
[45:55] we also have some images here.
[45:57] there will be several different for-sale product types,
[46:00] which will allow the velocity of those units
to be sold faster and bring more people
[46:05] into the community.
[46:08] more quickly, and so there are these
duplex units, there are three-story
[46:12] single-family detached units
that can be up to four bedrooms,
[46:17] and then there's motor court residences
that have a shared drive, kind of like a
[46:21] u-shaped building,
that are really popular,
[46:25] and then standard row townhomes, so these are row townhomes.
[46:31] this is just a different look at the phasing.
[46:33] so the light blue is the required first phase of the project.
[46:37] so the affordable, the first hotel, and then the anchor retail buildings.
[46:41] early on in this reboot of the project,
we knew it was critical to go and find an
[46:46] anchor tenant.
[46:49] and I'm pleased to share we signed a lease with whole foods
[46:52] to anchor this project.
[46:54] and they'll sit adjacent to a relocated nordstrom rack.
[46:58] I'll get back to that relocation because it triggers the second phase.
[47:02] so once we've started the light blue, that
allows us to move forward with what you
[47:07] see in orange,
[47:09] which is the first phase of the residential component of the project.
[47:12] so those can move forward concurrently.
[47:15] that's pretty important for the retailers.
[47:17] they want to see houses being occupied adjacent to the retail.
[47:22] it'll create a much healthier retail leasing environment.
[47:27] and then once we relocate that nordstrom rack into that anchor building,
[47:32] we'll immediately commence the second phase
of the required improvements you see in
[47:37] green, which are the village
park, the associated retail,
[47:41] the first multifamily building, and the second hotel.
[47:44] and we can't start on what you see in pink
until we move forward with those elements
[47:50] that are in green.
[47:53] so those were the core phases that were agreed to.
[47:57] it took quite a few iterations, and this is what we landed on.
[48:05] here's a few renderings.
[48:06] this is looking from the northeast corner
that I think everyone's familiar with, the
[48:10] intersection off
of I-5 and el toro.
[48:13] you can see the shopping center feel in
front of the whole foods with that surface
[48:18] parking that they really need.
[48:21] plus, we have to preserve the parking for the in-n-out and king's fish house.
[48:26] and then here from the northwest corner,
this is looking over the medical center,
[48:30] more down into
the village park area.
[48:32] you can see there is visibility from el toro to that village park,
[48:36] but that it really sits adjacent to this
employment center that we think is pretty
[48:41] critical.
[48:43] and then here's from the southwest corner
looking over the transit center and that
[48:47] affordable building.
[48:49] and then this is from the southeast corner
looking at the multifamily buildings along
[48:52] carlotta and that first hotel.
[48:57] some things were already mentioned about this village park.
[49:00] a lot of feedback, I'd say, in our
community outreach has been related to this
[49:04] component of the project.
[49:06] and we've also worked, as was mentioned,
trying to incorporate these patriotic
[49:10] theming elements, including the
statues that are beautiful, by the way,
[49:15] that are being commissioned right now, and
incorporating those into this component of
[49:19] the project.
[49:22] this really will become the activity
center of the project and hopefully for the
[49:27] broader community.
[49:31] I wish the jumbotron were working today.
[49:33] it'd be great to go watch some world cup games,
[49:35] but that's what it's intended to do: have those types of viewing opportunities.
[49:39] plus, it's a stage for performances, movies in the park.
[49:44] and then there's enough space there
for an ice-skating rink for tree-lighting
[49:48] ceremonies.
[49:50] and this village drive, you can see a different paving pattern.
[49:53] we're able to put bollards on both ends
of that drive and create functional, usable
[49:59] space for farmers markets
or food trucks or car
[50:04] shows, whatever the city would like.
[50:08] this is another rendering of the village park.
[50:13] and then just from another direction, you
can see the medical center right there on
[50:15] our left-hand side.
[50:18] as was mentioned, when you talk about this, traffic has seen a reduction.
[50:21] we do have llg here to answer any questions on the traffic.
[50:26] fiscal impact has been addressed.
[50:31] the affordable housing will include at
least 200 units between 30% and 70% of area
[50:37] median income, with
at least 10% of those
[50:40] units at or below 30% ami, and there'll
be a mix of studio, one-, and two-bedroom
[50:44] units.
[50:47] the building will be developed, owned,
and operated by an affordable housing
[50:50] developer, who is
actually meta housing.
[50:53] they're here today to answer questions as well.
[50:56] and I know that there's a lot of questions
about waitlists and things like that, and
[51:01] that will
[51:02] be addressed, and there will be significant
notice to the broader community when that
[51:07] time has come.
[51:10] parking will be handled in the multifamily
buildings and parking structures within
[51:15] their respective parcels.
[51:17] the affordable building will park both within a parking structure and on its parcel.
[51:23] and then the townhomes and single-family
units have two-car garages, and there are
[51:27] street parking
stalls for visitors.
[51:30] the commercial and the hotel components
will be served with parking in their
[51:34] respective surface parking lots
and some of the adjacent streets.
[51:40] the market-rate housing will be a mix of
the for-sale product types that I showed
[51:46] some renderings of,
and the prices will
[51:49] really depend on the product types and will
be determined when we come to market, and
[51:54] that will also be broadly
[51:58] shared with the community.
[51:59] there will be all the way from two-bedroom
townhomes to four-bedroom, three-story,
[52:04] single-family detached homes.
[52:06] so it'll hit a range of price points that will be unique to this market.
[52:14] and the retail, as was mentioned, we have whole foods and nordstrom rack.
[52:17] the existing restaurants remain.
[52:19] and then the balance of shops and pad
buildings will be leased to the types of
[52:23] retailers you would
anticipate seeing in a grocery,
[52:27] drug-anchored lifestyle center in orange county.
[52:31] and our in-house leasing experts will be running the leasing on that.
[52:36] there's already a large list of tenants who
are interested and waiting for this night
[52:40] to move us forward so we can
move forward with the leasing.
[52:46] two hotels are already secured for hotel 1 and hotel 2.
[52:51] they are upscale.
[52:53] the first, as was mentioned, would like to
open before the olympics, and we're trying
[52:57] to accommodate that.
[52:58] they're even going at risk on some of their plans to accommodate that.
[53:03] and then the second will begin once the
nordstrom rack is relocated and we start that
[53:08] second phase.
[53:09] they're not here, but they did submit a letter.
[53:11] hopefully you guys were able to see that.
[53:14] that's the extent of my presentation.
[53:17] as mentioned, I have members of my team here to answer any questions.
[53:22] and again, I appreciate the time and attention to this.
[53:25] it's been a lot of work, many, many meetings,
[53:29] and we're pleased with the outcome and hope
that the rest of the council is pleased
[53:33] as well.
[53:35] so thank you.
[53:36] thank you, mr.
[53:37] william.
[53:39] we will not be taking questions quite yet,
but I'm sure you and your group of people
[53:45] supporting you will be here.
[53:49] we'll come back right after public speakers and dig into any questions,
[53:55] clarifications that we have for your group and also for the staff report.
[54:04] so with that, we're going to open the public hearing.
[54:11] and the purpose of this public hearing is to solicit public testimony and input.
[54:18] there will be no discussion, no debate, no
personal opinions of council members at
[54:23] this time.
[54:27] if you are participating remotely, by the
way, and we do have some, and wish to speak
[54:32] regarding this item, dial star 9
[54:35] on a telephone now to raise your hand to
indicate you wish to speak, and you will be
[54:42] identified by the
last four digits
[54:45] of your phone number. When you have been
recognized to speak, you will dial star 6 to
[54:51] unmute yourself. I
also want to announce
[54:54] that each speaker will receive three
minutes. You will be allowed to finish your
[54:59] sentence if you run out of
time. To improve the meeting
[55:03] efficiency, the city clerk will call
[55:05] for the current speaker and for the next
speaker so that they can begin to make their
[55:09] way to the podium.
[55:12] that is for those of you who are in this
room, or the next, or even possibly the next;
[55:16] I don't know.
[55:18] but we did set up for potentially a larger crowd.
[55:23] so we will, just so you know, be going
with those folks who are actually in these
[55:30] rooms
[55:31] in person first; then we will go to the telephone
[55:37] line, and at the very last,
[55:39] because we have received a number of
[55:42] quite a number of
[55:44] of
[55:45] uh...
[55:46] basically, positions
[55:49] online,
[55:51] we will ask her to read the names
[55:54] of
[55:55] of
[55:56] those commenting and not the comments themselves.
[55:59] otherwise, we'll be here until 3 in the morning.
[56:04] and I want to also point out that council
members may ask questions of any public
[56:10] speaker as we go.
[56:12] so we weren't doing that up to this point, but at this point,
[56:16] our agency members will be able to ask questions of people speaking.
[56:24] and so with that,
[56:27] we will start, and I am going to turn to joshua to begin that process.
[56:33] yes, thank you, mr.
[56:34] mayor.
[56:34] I do want to clarify, if you are participating remotely,
[56:37] it would be dial star 9 to raise your hand
to indicate that you wish to speak at that
[56:41] time.
[56:43] the first speaker we have is sheila kaneshiro,
ceo of saddleback medical center, and
[56:48] the next one will be rona henry.
[56:57] good evening, mayor caskey, mayor pro tem
mathis, and members of the city council.
[57:01] thank you for the opportunity
to share my support for the village
[57:05] at laguna hills development project, being the largest employer in laguna hills.
[57:10] thank you for this opportunity and highlighting
that. I also appreciate stating again
[57:15] the priorities that the
development, we believe, does meet.
[57:22] my name is sheila kaneshiro, and I serve
as the ceo at memorialcare saddleback
[57:26] medical center.
[57:27] I'll share very quickly.
[57:28] we have town halls about every couple of months to inform and update our teams.
[57:34] and we've had the pleasure of having
mayor don caskey, as well as merlone geier,
[57:37] there.
[57:39] and I can tell you that since my time
serving as a ceo for about a year, this
[57:44] question does come up.
[57:47] what is going on with the development across the street?
[57:51] so I want to thank both the staff from the city and the developer for their time.
[57:56] we want to revitalize that area, first and foremost, for safety.
[58:01] there's definitely opportunity there.
[58:05] and we share a mutual commitment to serve
our community, and right now we're not
[58:09] necessarily doing that
with a vacant, dilapidated lot.
[58:13] and you mentioned housing, which is a key focus for us.
[58:17] we have staff traveling from outside the
community that are eager to hear about the
[58:22] housing opportunities.
[58:25] and we consider the social drivers of health.
[58:28] and we're thrilled to hear that it is also
serving and providing affordable housing,
[58:33] not only for our seniors,
[58:35] because we have a special relationship with laguna woods, but also for veterans.
[58:42] you can imagine how expensive it is,
and we live it every day in terms of south
[58:46] county,
[58:47] what this opportunity would provide for our
own staff because they are driving quite
[58:50] far.
[58:52] the hotels will provide a special experience
for our patients and their families who
[58:56] have extended
stays at the hospital.
[59:00] and just think of the green spaces that it will provide.
[59:03] having a stressful day taking care of
patients, it provides that opportunity for them
[59:09] to take a break and
visit those areas and have
[59:13] some well-being for themselves.
[59:15] and then in terms of the health system,
[59:22] we want to make sure that we can provide an opportunity for not only laguna hills,
[59:28] but we serve the outlying communities
in terms of laguna niguel, dana point, and
[59:33] mission viejo.
[59:35] you can imagine what that would do to open that up in terms of this development.
[59:40] so for all these reasons, I respectfully
request your approval of the village at
[59:44] laguna hills.
[59:46] thank you.
[59:47] hang on just a second.
[59:49] thank you, sheila.
[59:51] any questions from the council?
[59:56] yes.
[59:57] all right.
[59:57] thank you, mayor.
[59:58] hi.
[59:59] thank you for coming out.
[59:59] I want to say thank you for all that you're doing over at the hospital.
[1:00:03] and as our largest employer, as well as
a staple in our community, you guys are
[1:00:07] pretty much baked
into our community.
[1:00:11] and we respect everything that you're doing over there and for all of your service.
[1:00:16] my question is, is there anything that your
staff or employees have come up with of
[1:00:21] something that they wanted to
see specifically at the development?
[1:00:25] was there kind of an overall theme that they wanted to kind of see?
[1:00:30] they're interested in the green space,
the ability to visit during their breaks,
[1:00:34] after work, before work, providing
convenience, walking opportunities, and retail
[1:00:39] space.
[1:00:41] when we shared whole foods...
[1:00:43] the crowd went wild, literally.
[1:00:45] and it's nice that you're preserving
some of the restaurants that are existing
[1:00:50] already.
[1:00:52] we did have a concern in terms of traffic
because we want to make sure the access for
[1:00:56] our patients and
families is pretty
[1:00:59] seamless.
[1:01:00] I know that peak seasons, winter, can be
a little bit difficult, especially when you
[1:01:04] have the holidays.
[1:01:06] so that's just something for everyone to consider.
[1:01:09] we want to ensure that we have seamless access to the medical center.
[1:01:13] all right.
[1:01:15] well, thank you again for coming out, and thank you for taking the time to do this.
[1:01:18] thank you.
[1:01:19] thank you, ms.
[1:01:20] kaneshiro.
[1:01:21] by the way, it was a great pleasure of mine
to be able to participate in three town
[1:01:26] halls in the month of october
[1:01:30] last year at saddleback, answering
their questions, not selling anything, just
[1:01:35] telling them where it is.
[1:01:38] and there were plenty of questions going,
you name it, way beyond this particular
[1:01:43] project.
[1:01:44] but I really appreciate the ceo making an appearance this afternoon.
[1:01:51] thank you very much.
[1:01:53] next.
[1:01:54] yes, we have rona henry.
[1:01:55] and then up next will be john noell.
[1:02:01] good afternoon.
[1:02:02] my name is rona henry, and I'm here on behalf of welcoming neighbors home.
[1:02:06] we're a coalition of residents who believe
that the lack of affordable housing is one
[1:02:10] of the most critical
issues of our time.
[1:02:12] we're here because we understand that this
city council can play an important role in
[1:02:16] solving the housing
crisis in our community.
[1:02:19] we urge you to vote yes for the revised
development agreement for the village at
[1:02:22] laguna hills.
[1:02:24] here are the benefits we see in the revised plan.
[1:02:27] the city's sixth-cycle rhna obligation is for 921 lower-income homes.
[1:02:32] this project will provide 200 affordable
homes at or below 70% of the area median
[1:02:37] income, or the ami,
which, by the way, is
[1:02:41] $118,500 for a single person in orange county right now.
[1:02:46] and we're happy that 10% of the units will
be reserved for people at 30% of the area
[1:02:50] median income.
[1:02:52] we hope that even more can be reserved for this group.
[1:02:56] two hundred lower-income units is a big
improvement over the previously planned 100
[1:03:00] low-income and 100
moderate-income homes,
[1:03:03] which were going to take many years to build.
[1:03:06] we love that there is accountability for
the affordable housing to be built in the
[1:03:08] first phase of the building.
[1:03:11] we really like the location of what we
understand will be the seniors-only affordable
[1:03:15] building by the bus depot.
[1:03:18] seniors drive less and need public
transportation, plus it will also be close to the
[1:03:22] hospital and medical offices,
which seniors often have to visit.
[1:03:27] we agree this location makes it easier to finance as well.
[1:03:31] we would like to note that this site
would be ideal for multifamily workforce
[1:03:35] affordable housing.
[1:03:37] however, we can support senior affordable
housing because our older community members
[1:03:40] need more affordable options.
[1:03:43] but we do urge you to work to facilitate
the building of multifamily workforce
[1:03:46] affordable housing in laguna
hills in the future because the need
[1:03:50] is so great for this type of housing.
[1:03:52] we understand it's important to improve
this plan now so that the developer can meet
[1:03:56] the fall deadlines for getting
financing for the project.
[1:04:00] if the project is not approved now,
there is a danger that the building may be
[1:04:03] significantly delayed.
[1:04:06] the revised plan is a definite improvement
over the previous plan, and we urge you to
[1:04:10] vote yes on the revised
development plan.
[1:04:12] thank you.
[1:04:15] thank you very much, rona.
[1:04:17] questions?
[1:04:18] erica.
[1:04:19] yes, I have a question.
[1:04:23] ms. Henry, I know that we've seen you over
the years in laguna hills, so just out of
[1:04:28] curiosity:
[1:04:29] what is your title with...
[1:04:32] I'm the chair of welcoming neighbors home.
[1:04:33] you're the chair. And is it a nonprofit?
[1:04:37] it's a—we're a ministry that started
out of tapestry unitarian universalist
[1:04:42] congregation; however, we have
members beyond the congregation.
[1:04:46] it's a ministry of a church.
[1:04:49] a ministry of...
[1:04:51] do you receive donations?
[1:04:53] no.
[1:04:55] not...
[1:04:56] we have received donations from concerned
citizens of laguna woods, but that's a
[1:05:00] nonprofit organization
in laguna woods.
[1:05:04] thank you.
[1:05:06] councilman wheeler.
[1:05:08] another question.
[1:05:09] rona.
[1:05:11] don't leave yet.
[1:05:15] yeah, we also have met many times over the years.
[1:05:18] I need to ask you a question.
[1:05:19] your organization has been here many, many times.
[1:05:22] and I guess rhna, which you're very familiar
with, requires about 75% of the houses
[1:05:27] be affordable.
[1:05:30] I'm wondering why your organization doesn't push for more.
[1:05:33] I mean, we get these projects, have a project here, which are like 5%, you know, 7%.
[1:05:38] why are you approving this?
[1:05:39] why aren't you fighting like mad, you
know, to have much, much higher numbers and
[1:05:42] approve something like this?
[1:05:45] we would love to have more, councilman
wheeler. What I have learned in our research,
[1:05:51] which started back in
2019, is that the city council
[1:05:55] is
[1:05:57] supposed to zone for the affordable housing,
but you're not necessarily responsible
[1:06:01] for building it. And so, when
we're talking to developers,
[1:06:05] we're always trying to ask for more affordable, but I think
[1:06:10] it's an example of what is feasible and doable.
[1:06:15] I would have loved—in the previous, there
was a previous development that you had
[1:06:22] approved.
[1:06:24] you didn't have the inclusionary housing policy, and we didn't get very much.
[1:06:28] I would urge you to have an inclusionary
housing policy like they do in mission viejo
[1:06:30] because they were
able to get 15%
[1:06:33] in a recently approved building.
[1:06:36] so it's more a question of what's feasible.
[1:06:39] the research I've done, and what the state
says, is that if you have inclusionary
[1:06:43] housing policy of more than 15%,
[1:06:45] it's just not financially feasible.
[1:06:48] so we're balancing what's feasible versus what our goals and our ideals are.
[1:06:54] thank you.
[1:06:54] thanks.
[1:06:57] okay.
[1:06:58] thank you, for real this time.
[1:07:02] okay, next.
[1:07:03] we have john noell, and then next will be kristina kennedy.
[1:07:08] thank you.
[1:07:09] thank you, mr.
[1:07:10] mayor and city council, for having me here.
[1:07:13] this is great.
[1:07:15] I will echo sheila's comments from saddleback medical center.
[1:07:22] we feel the same thing.
[1:07:23] I'm vice president of media services 55
and tv6, which is the communication arm of
[1:07:30] laguna woods village.
[1:07:32] we have 18,800 people right next door.
[1:07:36] we have about 100 new people that move
in every month, which is a statistic that a
[1:07:41] lot of people don't know.
[1:07:43] but I also get probably three or four inquiries every two weeks, every three weeks,
[1:07:50] what in the world is going on next door with this mall.
[1:07:54] and those are from current residents as well as people that are moving in.
[1:07:58] they see the big spot that's empty over there, and they always wonder.
[1:08:01] so now I've got something to talk to them about.
[1:08:04] we have about a billion dollars of annual disposable income.
[1:08:09] we have about $5 billion worth of net worth.
[1:08:15] we have 18,000 very active people that love to walk and ride their golf carts.
[1:08:22] and play golf. And this used to be one of
their spots, walking around the mall. Now
[1:08:27] they have, with this green area
[1:08:30] that you have, looks pretty nice.
[1:08:33] I think they're going to be very excited about this.
[1:08:37] I mean, I think that
[1:08:39] what I've seen, what I've heard today, is
exactly what I can take back to village
[1:08:43] management services,
which is a company I work
[1:08:46] for,
[1:08:48] and share with them
[1:08:49] and the mayor and the city council of
laguna woods, that this is moving ahead,
[1:08:54] hopefully.
[1:08:56] and I think it's a well-designed, mixed-use
development that fits in with what we do.
[1:09:02] we work with the
hospital very closely.
[1:09:06] in fact, our residents built the hospital
back in '75 with coffee cans, walking
[1:09:12] around raising money.
[1:09:14] so we are joined at the hip with this community.
[1:09:18] so I hope that we get something done over here.
[1:09:22] and thanks for the opportunity to say a few words.
[1:09:25] okay.
[1:09:26] hang on there just for a second.
[1:09:28] are there any questions for mr.
[1:09:30] noell from the council?
[1:09:34] thank you.
[1:09:34] thank you, mr.
[1:09:35] mayor.
[1:09:36] thanks again for coming out.
[1:09:37] it's great to see you.
[1:09:38] and a quick question for you, in the sense
that for laguna woods, how many people
[1:09:44] there drive golf carts?
[1:09:47] drive golf carts?
[1:09:48] yeah.
[1:09:49] on any given day?
[1:09:50] yeah, just any given day.
[1:09:52] we have probably about 2,800 golf carts there.
[1:09:56] okay.
[1:09:57] and they're going to love this because it's close by and it's walkable.
[1:10:01] it is walkable, yeah.
[1:10:03] I was just wondering if there was any way
in the future that we can figure out a way
[1:10:05] to get
[1:10:07] the accessibility of golf carts to come
over from there, maybe over to this side at
[1:10:10] some point.
[1:10:12] so just something to think about.
[1:10:13] absolutely.
[1:10:13] I mean, we have 16 buses that travel all
over this area and deliver people to the
[1:10:17] hospital every day,
several times a day.
[1:10:21] so, yes, golf carts are going to be top priority.
[1:10:23] awesome.
[1:10:24] thank you so much.
[1:10:25] absolutely.
[1:10:27] any other questions?
[1:10:29] thank you, mr.
[1:10:29] noell.
[1:10:30] thank you very much.
[1:10:31] appreciate that.
[1:10:33] all right, next up.
[1:10:34] we have kristina kennedy, and next will be elizabeth hansburg.
[1:10:39] welcome.
[1:10:40] thank you.
[1:10:41] thank you, mayor caskey, and thank
you to the rest of the council members for
[1:10:45] allowing us to be here today.
[1:10:48] my name is kristina kennedy, and I'm
the president and ceo of the laguna hills
[1:10:51] chamber of commerce.
[1:10:54] I grew up here in south orange county, and
for many of us, the laguna hills mall was
[1:10:58] where we shopped,
[1:11:01] where we went to the movies,
[1:11:03] and where we went and met friends for dinner.
[1:11:07] it was also a place of opportunity.
[1:11:09] it provided jobs for so many people in our
community, including myself and many of my
[1:11:14] friends.
[1:11:15] I used to work at the broadway.
[1:11:16] I don't know if you guys remember that place.
[1:11:17] it's a long time ago.
[1:11:20] anyway, the laguna hills mall wasn't just a shopping center.
[1:11:23] it was a community hub.
[1:11:25] and for years now, that absence has left
a hole in our community that is not just
[1:11:29] affecting laguna hills.
[1:11:31] it affects all of south orange county and probably beyond that.
[1:11:37] in my role, I am constantly asked, just
like everybody else who's spoken up here
[1:11:40] today, what's going
on with the property?
[1:11:43] what's going on with the laguna hills mall?
[1:11:45] and they know the mall is gone, but they want to know what's next.
[1:11:49] I believe that the village at laguna hills is that next chapter.
[1:11:54] from the chamber's perspective, this project
is an investment in the future of laguna
[1:11:57] hills.
[1:11:59] it brings back so much of what made the mall special.
[1:12:02] it brings back shopping, dining, jobs, and a place where people can gather.
[1:12:08] it also takes the next step.
[1:12:10] the hotels will bring visitors who support
our restaurants, our retailers, and other
[1:12:14] local businesses in the area.
[1:12:17] and for the first time, this site also creates housing opportunities for seniors,
[1:12:22] families, and the workforce that keeps our businesses running.
[1:12:26] I've experienced firsthand why that's important.
[1:12:30] over the years, I've lost really good
employees because they couldn't afford to live
[1:12:35] nearby and the commute
became too much.
[1:12:40] when businesses can attract and keep talented employees, everyone benefits.
[1:12:45] our businesses are stronger, our residents
are better served, and our local economy
[1:12:50] grows.
[1:12:53] years ago, this property was a place of
opportunity, and I believe that can be, once
[1:12:58] again, a place of opportunity.
[1:13:01] and for this reason, I respectfully ask for your support on this project.
[1:13:08] any questions for ms.
[1:13:09] kennedy?
[1:13:09] hearing none, thank you so much, kristina.
[1:13:16] next.
[1:13:17] we have elizabeth hansburg, and next will be john loper.
[1:13:24] welcome. Good evening, mayor
caskey and members of the city council.
[1:13:29] I'm really thrilled to be here
tonight to lend our support for what
[1:13:35] I think is an absolutely fantastic reimagined project. My name is elizabeth hansburg.
[1:13:41] I'm with the housing advocacy organization
people for housing orange county. Our
[1:13:46] advocacy spans from low-income,
subsidized affordable housing
[1:13:50] for our neighbors in need of subsidized
housing all the way up through first-time
[1:13:54] homebuyer housing product that
serves the next generation. And so I can
[1:13:59] honestly say that, of all the projects that
I've been advocating for this year, this
[1:14:03] is my favorite because it
literally encompasses the full
[1:14:07] spectrum of our advocacy. So well done,
city of laguna hills; well done to the
[1:14:12] applicant; and
[1:14:15] I am impressed by the amount of hustle that has happened to remake this project.
[1:14:21] mayor pro tem mathis, I really can't top
your talking points that you gave in the
[1:14:26] overview that you were giving.
[1:14:29] those would be all the talking points that I would call out.
[1:14:33] but I think it's really clear that the community wants this to happen.
[1:14:37] the developer wants it to happen.
[1:14:39] the council wants it to happen.
[1:14:41] the amount of risk that is being brought forward...
[1:14:44] I mean, when they were saying that one of
the hotels is speculating that they can get
[1:14:48] this done before the olympics,
[1:14:51] there's a lot of excitement, or they wouldn't put this much capital on the line.
[1:14:56] so just recognizing what that is, in terms
of the investment that's being made in
[1:15:01] your city, that is not nothing.
[1:15:04] that is huge.
[1:15:06] so I just want to call that out, because
I don't think that there is a project, you
[1:15:09] know,
[1:15:10] until hoag builds on the ziggurat building, you're the only game in town.
[1:15:16] okay, so, I said all that.
[1:15:18] okay, so.
[1:15:19] we're a little further along.
[1:15:22] you're a little further along.
[1:15:23] indeed, indeed, indeed.
[1:15:25] so I want to go fast because I don't want to go over my time.
[1:15:27] but the affordable housing for seniors—seniors
are the fastest-growing group of
[1:15:31] people experiencing
housing instability.
[1:15:34] two hundred units of affordable
housing for seniors at a deeper level of
[1:15:38] affordability than you
had in your first plan.
[1:15:42] total win.
[1:15:43] housing as a social determinant of health.
[1:15:45] you heard the ceo of your hospital system
talk about the need and how having stable
[1:15:51] housing impacts people's health.
[1:15:54] so again, another tick mark or tally for
that affordable housing brought to you by
[1:16:00] meta housing.
[1:16:02] and then the part that, honestly, when I get excited about housing,
[1:16:05] I think about my own child, who is 19 and
eventually will get married, and I hope can
[1:16:09] stay in california.
[1:16:11] and these townhomes would probably be
the most approachable way for her, in her
[1:16:17] future, to buy a home.
[1:16:19] she's probably not going to buy a full-on single-family home.
[1:16:22] and so the variety of housing that you're
providing at multiple levels is not just
[1:16:28] townhomes.
[1:16:29] it's townhomes and duplexes and some small-lot single-family.
[1:16:34] so I'm in support.
[1:16:36] out of time.
[1:16:37] thank you very much.
[1:16:38] are there questions?
[1:16:42] thank you very much.
[1:16:43] I have a question.
[1:16:44] oh, sorry, erica.
[1:16:45] so you're part of a nonprofit that supports subsidized housing.
[1:16:50] I am.
[1:16:51] okay.
[1:16:52] and do you receive donations?
[1:16:55] we receive a variety of funding.
[1:16:56] we have grant funding.
[1:16:57] we have donation funding.
[1:16:59] anyone in here you know donated to your organization?
[1:17:03] we have an annual fundraiser every year,
and not this year, but in past years, yes,
[1:17:08] we did
[1:17:09] have support from some of the developers in the room.
[1:17:16] we've had support from architects in the room.
[1:17:17] we've had support from...
[1:17:19] we've even had support from hospital systems.
[1:17:21] we've had funding from kaiser permanente,
providence, the samueli foundation, the
[1:17:26] robert wood johnson foundation.
[1:17:30] so we get our support from a variety of
organizations, yes, including people that
[1:17:34] build the housing,
[1:17:36] but they're also the people who assemble
the land, labor, and capital and take the
[1:17:39] risk to deliver
housing to the market.
[1:17:41] so I'm proud to say that we have drawn funding from across the spectrum,
[1:17:47] people that are interested in housing as a social determinant of health,
[1:17:50] all the way through to the people
who really are taking the risk to make the
[1:17:53] investment in this
city, in this project,
[1:17:57] in this market.
[1:17:58] it's not an easy market.
[1:18:00] and do you know where, besides the senior
building that's going to be allotted for
[1:18:04] low-income housing,
[1:18:07] do you know where subsidized housing will be on this project, in this project?
[1:18:13] so I would make the argument that by bringing more housing to south orange county,
[1:18:19] it's not a traditional subsidy as in money from the government.
[1:18:23] but when you increase the supply of housing, econ 101,
[1:18:29] it provides more opportunity, more competition for housing.
[1:18:33] so in the big picture, we are bringing down
the cost of housing when we add housing
[1:18:37] to the housing stock
of any community.
[1:18:41] so it isn't a one-to-one.
[1:18:42] you can't say, oh, if you add five more
units here, housing prices are going to
[1:18:45] settle here.
[1:18:47] but the more housing you can add to a
community in a way that is respectful of the
[1:18:51] community and
maintains its values,
[1:18:54] is a win.
[1:18:55] so is it traditional in the sense of, like,
we're getting government money to offset
[1:19:00] the lack of rent
that is not able to be
[1:19:03] paid by low-income residents?
[1:19:06] no, it's not that.
[1:19:07] we need that.
[1:19:08] we absolutely do.
[1:19:08] and I completely agree with welcoming neighbors home.
[1:19:11] we need more of it.
[1:19:12] but at the end of the day, the government
doesn't subsidize housing at the rate
[1:19:16] needed to fund the
number of units for all the
[1:19:19] people who qualify.
[1:19:20] in orange county right now, median income
[1:19:24] for a one-person household is, I think, either $94,000 or $97,000.
[1:19:28] I can't remember.
[1:19:29] but the threshold to be eligible for
affordable housing this year—they just released
[1:19:33] new numbers in may—is $104,000
for a one-person household.
[1:19:40] how is it that people who make above the median are eligible for affordable housing?
[1:19:47] that is not a problem of government subsidy.
[1:19:49] that is a problem of housing shortage
and the lack of housing that has driven the
[1:19:54] cost burden so high
that when hud has to ask
[1:19:58] itself, well, what should 80% be?
[1:20:01] well, if the median is $97,000, presumably
80% of that, which is the threshold for
[1:20:07] low-income housing,
would be lower.
[1:20:10] but by the time they make all their adjustments
to account for high housing costs in
[1:20:14] this region, we
end up at $104,000.
[1:20:17] that is absolutely a result of the housing shortage.
[1:20:20] so is it traditional, subsidized, government-funded affordable housing?
[1:20:24] no.
[1:20:24] but by adding new units, you're going to help bring that median, or that, sorry,
[1:20:29] that eligibility threshold a lot closer
to what it really ought to be, which is 80%
[1:20:34] of median,
[1:20:35] which would not be higher than the median.
[1:20:38] thank you.
[1:20:39] yep.
[1:20:40] anybody else?
[1:20:41] all right.
[1:20:42] thanks.
[1:20:42] thank you so much.
[1:20:44] next, we have john loper, and then next will be phyllis roberts.
[1:20:49] good afternoon.
[1:20:50] good evening, actually.
[1:20:52] I'm john loper.
[1:20:53] I'm here on behalf of the fritz duda company and the owner of oakbrook village,
[1:20:58] the little shopping center behind the mall that is still there.
[1:21:03] neighbors, our neighbors.
[1:21:04] I want to thank the council, and especially
the subcommittee, because I know how hard
[1:21:09] you have worked,
and this is not a
[1:21:11] little project.
[1:21:12] this is a huge project.
[1:21:14] and I know you and the staff have all worked very hard on this.
[1:21:17] oakbrook village is still owned by the gentleman who built it in the '80s.
[1:21:24] and we've been part of the specific plan since 2002, when it first started.
[1:21:28] we were the first project to do a mixed-use project.
[1:21:31] and quite frankly, it's been fairly successful.
[1:21:36] we have lived for the last 15 years with an empty mall between us and civilization.
[1:21:42] and it's been very hard with our tenants.
[1:21:44] it's been hard attracting new tenants because
everyone wants to know what's going to
[1:21:48] happen to the mall.
[1:21:50] we do think that this mix of retail and the village green, or village park, sorry,
[1:21:56] having two hotels to bring in tourists and businesses,
[1:22:01] the affordable senior housing, the for-sale
housing, which is a great addition, and
[1:22:06] rental housing.
[1:22:07] so you're providing housing for
all different types of income levels.
[1:22:10] it's going to work better than the
previous two versions of the plan
[1:22:14] that we have seen.
[1:22:15] so we're in support of the plan.
[1:22:17] we do appreciate condition number 24, and we want to have this on the record,
[1:22:21] about getting calle de caballeros built
in the very first phase, in the first three
[1:22:26] years, it looks like,
based on the phasing plan.
[1:22:29] we think this is critical for our access.
[1:22:32] it's been a real problem for our tenants to
get out of our property, through the mall
[1:22:34] property,
[1:22:35] and try to figure out how to get to a street.
[1:22:38] so we appreciate you adding that.
[1:22:40] we want to have it on the record.
[1:22:42] that is important to us.
[1:22:44] we also appreciate the condition that
allows for continual work on construction
[1:22:48] phasing.
[1:22:51] we think caballeros is really important for access to the hospital
[1:22:55] and to get people that live and work in
laguna hills around the mall during the next
[1:23:00] 15 years of construction.
[1:23:02] hopefully it won't take that long, but the da is 15 years.
[1:23:06] we do hope that the third time will be a charm, and we want to see this get built.
[1:23:12] we think this is the best of the plans we've seen,
[1:23:15] and we're excited to hear that there are
two tenants signed up and a hotel signed up,
[1:23:19] and
[1:23:20] very excited also to hear there's a senior housing project developer ready to go.
[1:23:24] so we support the project, and
we appreciate you working with us.
[1:23:28] we do want to put on the
record also that a group of our
[1:23:32] tenants have signed a little letter indicating
how important access is and important
[1:23:36] to get something
done on the mall,
[1:23:38] and I will give that to the city clerk.
[1:23:42] all right.
[1:23:43] is that it?
[1:23:44] I'm sorry.
[1:23:45] that's it.
[1:23:45] any questions?
[1:23:46] any questions?
[1:23:47] yes, erica.
[1:23:48] okay.
[1:23:48] so, mr.
[1:23:49] loper, so you said that you own oakbrook village?
[1:23:55] no.
[1:23:56] I represent the owner.
[1:23:57] okay.
[1:23:57] I represent.
[1:23:57] the owner, the fritz duda company, is the manager of the property, and mr.
[1:24:03] duda was the one who developed it.
[1:24:04] okay.
[1:24:05] okay.
[1:24:05] so, mr.
[1:24:06] duda, do you know the square footage of retail in oakbrook village?
[1:24:12] I should, because I did the approvals in 2012.
[1:24:14] I believe we're about 150,000 square feet and 270 apartments, if I recall.
[1:24:17] okay, so...
[1:24:17] around 270, 280.
[1:24:17] okay, 150,000 square feet of retail, and you have around 200...
[1:24:19] 270, 280 apartments.
[1:24:20] 270, 280 apartments, okay.
[1:24:21] and...
[1:24:41] would you say that the retail, specifically trader joe's, is a success?
[1:24:47] do you think trader joe's?
[1:24:48] trader joe's has been very successful.
[1:24:49] we were the first trader joe's in south orange county a long time ago, in the 1980s.
[1:24:54] and we relocated them a few years ago to give them a space that was 50% larger,
[1:24:59] and they are doing very well in it.
[1:25:01] and I believe rei is doing very well; we moved them in a couple years ago.
[1:25:05] I was going to ask about rei.
[1:25:07] yeah.
[1:25:07] what's been hard is the restaurant tenants have had a hard time.
[1:25:10] without the mall and without anything between el toro and the mall.
[1:25:15] understood.
[1:25:16] yeah.
[1:25:17] okay.
[1:25:19] so, just to clarify, 150,000 square feet of retail.
[1:25:23] christine, is that correct?
[1:25:25] yeah.
[1:25:25] our property manager is here.
[1:25:28] it's approximately that.
[1:25:30] yes.
[1:25:31] and then it is mixed-use.
[1:25:32] so it has the shops on the bottom,
and it has what the vsp describes as the
[1:25:38] apartments on the top.
[1:25:40] yes, it's a five-story building, four levels of apartments.
[1:25:43] we have a level and a half of parking in
the back and about 10,000 square feet of
[1:25:47] retail in that building.
[1:25:50] and then we have a mix of the other
buildings that we built in the '80s that we
[1:25:54] remodeled as part of it to bring
[1:25:56] it up to the level of the requirements of the specific plan.
[1:26:00] and we did a full facelift of all the buildings.
[1:26:02] and then as we've built the new building,
like the new trader joe's building, and
[1:26:06] hopefully soon a new restaurant.
[1:26:09] we've been increasing the architecture.
[1:26:13] thank you so much.
[1:26:14] I appreciate it.
[1:26:15] okay.
[1:26:16] councilman wheeler.
[1:26:18] this conversation has spurred a question for me.
[1:26:20] since you're in oakbrook village, that's
right next door, one problem that's plagued
[1:26:23] every city in california,
[1:26:25] and laguna's definitely not an exception,
is whenever you have a high-density project
[1:26:32] near you, the way
the state works things,
[1:26:36] they never allow the cities to
[1:26:38] require enough parking places.
[1:26:40] with all of these potential buildings,
apartment complexes, and housing, wouldn't
[1:26:44] that be somewhat of a problem?
[1:26:48] aren't you kind of worried that all this
increased parking is going to come over and
[1:26:52] dominate oakbrook
village and kind of hurt
[1:26:55] your retail?
[1:26:57] one of the first things I looked at when
the plan was published was how much parking
[1:27:01] was provided.
[1:27:02] we had a real concern about the previously
approved plan because so much of the
[1:27:05] parking was in parking structures,
not anywhere near the retail.
[1:27:11] it appears to me that there is more
parking in the retail areas, which is good,
[1:27:14] because if the restaurants
are really successful,
[1:27:17] they need lots of parking.
[1:27:19] and it looks like, unlike some of the other
buildings approved recently in the city,
[1:27:23] that the apartments
are going to...
[1:27:25] the multifamily apartments have the appropriate amount of parking.
[1:27:30] I didn't see in the staff report a reduction
in parking like I saw with the building
[1:27:33] across the street from us.
[1:27:35] yeah, it was in the report.
[1:27:36] there's a reduction of approximately 2,000.
[1:27:39] yes, but in terms of the ratio of parking per apartment unit.
[1:27:43] well, before it was 1,500, and there was, you know, 2,000 higher.
[1:27:47] now it's approximately 1,450, and it's 2,000 lower.
[1:27:51] so that's a big percentage difference.
[1:27:53] yeah, I believe my analysis was that most
of that had to do with the reduction of
[1:27:58] office space, the 465,000
square feet of office.
[1:28:01] but we are always concerned about parking.
[1:28:04] and honestly, in our apartment building, we provided the parking per code.
[1:28:10] it comes out to around two per unit.
[1:28:14] and it gets used very well.
[1:28:16] a lot of people have cars here.
[1:28:19] and at the rate of rents that you have to get to have a new building,
[1:28:24] you tend to have higher-income people living in these buildings.
[1:28:28] thank you.
[1:28:30] all right.
[1:28:31] and hang on, I just wanted to answer
maybe one of your questions about the
[1:28:38] stipulation that we deal
with the south side of the site,
[1:28:46] should it be approved, and that
[1:28:48] that accessibility into your site be improved.
[1:28:53] I would also say, just as an architect and
somebody who's been around projects that
[1:28:58] are this large, maybe $700
million, something like that,
[1:29:03] that street will probably have to be done
more than once during construction, just
[1:29:08] because of construction traffic
and other things that will need
[1:29:12] to go under the street for later phases.
[1:29:16] and so that which is taking place in the
very first part of the construction, if this
[1:29:23] is approved,
[1:29:26] will not be the only time that that
street will be addressed, just for your
[1:29:30] clarification.
[1:29:33] thank you, you know, for honoring us with your presence.
[1:29:36] it's nice to have both the hospital and
the oakbrook site, which are the two major
[1:29:43] neighbors.
[1:29:45] otherwise, we've got a freeway and a small
shopping center on the other side of el
[1:29:48] toro.
[1:29:50] so I really appreciate both of you coming tonight and giving us your opinion.
[1:29:57] all right.
[1:29:57] with that, thank you, mr.
[1:29:59] loper.
[1:29:59] thank you.
[1:30:02] also, to you, dave, some of the questions
that you were asking at the end about
[1:30:06] parking,
[1:30:07] I think it would be really appropriate to ask staff in regard to...
[1:30:13] mr.
[1:30:14] loper would not necessarily know the depth
and detail of our particular project, but
[1:30:20] they should.
[1:30:21] okay, next speaker.
[1:30:24] yes, we have phyllis roberts, and then next will be ann owens.
[1:30:30] hello.
[1:30:30] hi.
[1:30:31] welcome.
[1:30:32] dear members of the city council, my name is phyllis roberts,
[1:30:36] and I am just a resident that's lived in laguna hills for 29 years.
[1:30:42] I don't belong to any organization other than a little volunteer work I do, but
[1:30:46] I'm really here just to urge the city council
to approve and vote yes on the revised
[1:30:52] development plan for
the village at laguna
[1:30:55] hills.
[1:30:56] the prolonged lack of development in this area has become a blight on our community,
[1:31:01] and it represents a significant loss of much-needed revenue for our city.
[1:31:07] I don't want to see the builder lose the
funding due to any more delays, and I think
[1:31:11] it's time to move forward.
[1:31:15] I'm not really sure of the specific mix of low versus very-low-income housing.
[1:31:21] I believe there are other housing experts that have addressed that.
[1:31:25] but I just believe that the critical need
for senior housing is a major positive in
[1:31:29] the overall plan.
[1:31:31] seniors are heavily impacted by the high cost of living.
[1:31:34] no one should have to choose between basic needs like food or medicine and housing.
[1:31:40] so if this approach is the quickest way to
get this project started, I fully support
[1:31:44] it.
[1:31:45] additionally, I hope there will be a
commitment to provide housing for
[1:31:48] very-low-income individuals in the
next phase of residential development.
[1:31:54] that appears to have been addressed.
[1:31:56] I think it's important to have workforce
members close to local employment
[1:32:00] opportunities, like the hospital and
all the retail that's going to go in, the
[1:32:05] hotel, which I hope happens by the time the olympics comes around.
[1:32:11] anyway, I just really am excited because
I'm kind of tired of the pumpkin patch, the
[1:32:18] dry lot, christmas tree lot, and
[1:32:21] I've lived here long enough to see them all.
[1:32:23] to see a dirt lot, and so I'm ready to
see this thing get approved, and let's move
[1:32:28] forward.
[1:32:29] it might not be perfect for every need, but
I think if you don't put a shovel in the
[1:32:36] ground soon,
[1:32:38] we're back to square one again.
[1:32:40] so I just hope that you all approve the project and we can move forward.
[1:32:44] that's it.
[1:32:45] thank you.
[1:32:46] any questions?
[1:32:48] thank you, phyllis.
[1:32:50] next.
[1:32:52] we have ann owens, and the next will be ana gromis.
[1:33:01] hello, planning commission, and thank you.
[1:33:03] I want to thank especially mayor caskey and
pro tem mathis for all your work that you
[1:33:10] have done in the
last year and a half
[1:33:14] to bring us to where we are today.
[1:33:16] my name is ann owens, and I'm a retired
teacher from saddleback school district and a
[1:33:19] member of welcoming
neighbors home.
[1:33:23] I've worn my little blue shirt here for
many, many years as this project has started
[1:33:27] out, and
[1:33:29] I've been following it along into the final stage that we are at today.
[1:33:35] I am basically representing two of the
demographics that this project is aimed at, as
[1:33:41] I am a senior, and
I was a teacher.
[1:33:45] and so, being a teacher, most of my friends
have not had the incomes to afford any
[1:33:51] kind of house in
orange county today.
[1:33:55] when you heard what elizabeth was sharing
about a family of four, I believe, you can
[1:33:59] earn $134,000 and still
[1:34:04] be qualified for low-income housing, and
a teacher's salary is nowhere near that.
[1:34:10] so many of my friends who
do have houses now basically
[1:34:14] got there through buying a condo or townhouse
first, and since you're offering these
[1:34:20] in this new development,
[1:34:22] I think that's a very positive step, and I
wish you were offering more low-income
[1:34:27] housing
[1:34:29] for families, which I would really promote.
But since it probably is not going to
[1:34:33] happen, I think this
is the next best result.
[1:34:38] secondly, since I am a senior, I'm very
pleased the affordable housing piece is going
[1:34:43] to be in one pad,
[1:34:45] going to be near the hospital, going to be
near public transportation, and going to
[1:34:49] be given priority
[1:34:51] as to being in the first phase of the development.
[1:34:55] I urge you to approve this, as was mentioned
in these slides earlier on, time is of
[1:35:01] the essence,
[1:35:03] in order to get into this
[1:35:05] portal in 2026 for...
[1:35:08] uh...
[1:35:09] financing, it's not like going to, you know,
buy a house; you go to the bank and you
[1:35:14] can take out a mortgage.
[1:35:16] I remember I went to a presentation
once that a nonprofit was putting out on
[1:35:20] financing, and they
explained that I'm a teacher,
[1:35:24] so I'm very visual.
[1:35:25] as a hamburger, with the bun being a layer,
the lettuce being a layer, the tomato
[1:35:29] being a layer,
[1:35:30] and the patty being the thing that brought it all together.
[1:35:33] and sometimes there were six, seven, eight,
nine, and ten different sources that meta,
[1:35:38] who was supposedly
going to be building this,
[1:35:41] will have to secure in order to build this,
which takes an enormous amount of time
[1:35:46] and skill to do.
[1:35:48] so I urge you to approve this development tonight so financing can start immediately.
[1:35:53] let's not put it off any longer.
[1:35:54] I think if you make a decision to
approve this plan, for all seniors in your
[1:35:58] community, a safe, modern,
and affordable place to live.
[1:36:03] thank you.
[1:36:04] thank you.
[1:36:05] you slid right into home plate.
[1:36:07] I think we have a question right over here.
[1:36:11] hello.
[1:36:12] welcome.
[1:36:13] I had to smile when you said you'd worn your shirt here to be in the meetings.
[1:36:16] I'm surprised it's not worn out by now after 13 years.
[1:36:20] my question is, this is the first evolution
or change in the project where the
[1:36:25] affordable housing has been
taken from being integrated to being
[1:36:30] isolated in one building.
[1:36:32] I guess I'd like your perspective, your organization's.
[1:36:35] in the past, I always thought that the
theory was that it was best to have people
[1:36:38] with varied incomes
live together and be
[1:36:40] integrated.
[1:36:41] as opposed to being segregated, to avoid
things like, you know, stigmas or, "that's
[1:36:44] where the poor
building is," you know.
[1:36:48] isn't that a consideration?
[1:36:50] I agree with you.
[1:36:51] I think it is a good idea to try to integrate a little affordable housing.
[1:36:55] if you go through irvine, they have
affordable housing in all those big, beautiful
[1:36:58] buildings around there,
[1:37:00] and you can't tell what the affordable
apartment is from what the market-price
[1:37:04] apartment is.
[1:37:05] I do agree with you.
[1:37:06] however, I feel if we wait for that to happen,
[1:37:09] for the amount of years that we're hearing
that this is going to take to accomplish,
[1:37:13] at least by putting
this building,
[1:37:16] and it is true what elizabeth said, seniors
are the number one growing demographic
[1:37:21] for needing affordable housing.
[1:37:25] and so I think if we can get that done in the first phase,
[1:37:27] at least we know it's being accomplished
in a timely manner and will help those
[1:37:31] people.
[1:37:33] it'd be nice to have the best of both worlds and be able to do both.
[1:37:37] but if we have to make a choice, I think this is probably a very good decision.
[1:37:41] thank you.
[1:37:42] any other questions?
[1:37:44] okay, thank you very much.
[1:37:46] next.
[1:37:47] we are, by the way, going to go about another 10 minutes or so, and then
[1:37:53] I'm going to ask for a motion to continue this to 6 o'clock.
[1:37:59] so we're going to take about a 20-minute break.
[1:38:02] everyone use the restroom, and then we'll
continue right where we left off. And so,
[1:38:08] the next speaker, ana gromis,
[1:38:12] and the next will be collin powers. Good
evening, mayor caskey, mayor pro tem mathis,
[1:38:17] and members of the
council. Ana gromis here,
[1:38:21] representing the building industry
association, specifically the orange county
[1:38:24] chapter. I really agree with all the other
comments that were made this evening
[1:38:28] regarding
[1:38:29] the economic benefit to the city and
[1:38:31] with the added retail, the added commercial
space, the restaurants, and of course the
[1:38:35] two hotels.
[1:38:36] but the main focus of our association and
the thing I want to talk about tonight is
[1:38:40] the significant impact
that this project is
[1:38:43] going to have for housing in the city of laguna hills.
[1:38:48] this project alone
is going to reach
[1:38:50] 73.4% of your rhna
allocation, which is 1,985 units.
[1:38:53] and the 1,457 units, including the 200
deed-restricted units, are going to make a
[1:39:00] significant impact.
[1:39:03] really, the solution to the housing crisis is more supply.
[1:39:06] so if we have more demand, we need to increase supply.
[1:39:09] that helps to address the affordability
issues and a number of other issues for
[1:39:13] workforce housing
surrounding this neighborhood.
[1:39:17] the project includes a diverse mix of
multifamily apartments, for-sale townhomes, and
[1:39:21] single-family detached homes, providing
housing opportunities for individuals,
[1:39:26] families, seniors,
[1:39:27] and first-time homebuyers of all income levels and stages of life.
[1:39:32] as you know, california continues to face
an unprecedented housing crisis across the
[1:39:36] region, not just orange county.
[1:39:38] orange county's population is aging
at a rate that is faster than all the other
[1:39:42] surrounding counties,
so I'm really happy to see
[1:39:45] that this project is addressing senior
housing as well. Biaoc is committed to working
[1:39:49] collaboratively with local jurisdictions,
and we're really happy to see
[1:39:53] that laguna hills is forward-thinking and
helping to address housing needs for all
[1:39:57] income levels and
all stages of life.
[1:40:00] thank you for your time.
[1:40:01] thank you. Any questions? Okay, thank you very much.
[1:40:06] oh, wait a minute, erica.
[1:40:08] yes, I just have a question for you.
[1:40:11] so I understand you mentioned that we
have a housing crisis because of numbers of
[1:40:18] units.
[1:40:21] how, I mean, recently we've had a population
decline in california where we've lost
[1:40:28] representatives, and I am wondering
how those two facts relate.
[1:40:35] they work together, so we have had the mass
exodus out of california, as we say, but
[1:40:40] we've also had increased costs
[1:40:42] of housing, and there just isn't enough
housing available for the income levels that
[1:40:46] are represented across the
region. And I'd be happy to share
[1:40:49] more data with you via email, if that would be appropriate. Okay,
[1:40:53] so are you rescinding the comment that
the crisis is because of the inventory, or
[1:40:58] that...? No, I'm not.
I just want to make
[1:41:01] sure I back it up with the exact data, and
I don't have that in front of me at this
[1:41:03] time.
[1:41:05] okay, all right.
[1:41:06] I wasn't expecting questions.
[1:41:07] I apologize.
[1:41:09] no worries.
[1:41:10] thank you.
[1:41:12] all right, dave.
[1:41:13] yeah, this may not be a question you can answer off the top of your head either,
[1:41:16] but the places that are being offered in
this particular, you know, rendering of the
[1:41:22] village there, we have the
affordable housing, which is, as I
[1:41:27] said, very, very low.
[1:41:29] have you studied the levels that they're
going to be in the whole project, or did you
[1:41:33] sort of look at it generally?
[1:41:35] so we've looked at it from a general perspective.
[1:41:38] we didn't necessarily study the affordable
specifically, but we do have members that
[1:41:41] specialize in affordable,
[1:41:43] and we'd be happy to take a further look at that.
[1:41:45] yeah, because my thought is, and this will
be a question probably for later, is that
[1:41:48] of the affordable,
[1:41:50] my understanding is that all the affordable
units that are at the lowest level that
[1:41:54] are made available are only
for, like, studios, not for, like,
[1:41:58] a family, a poor family.
[1:41:59] and in the leap between that and the lowest level, I guess, townhomes,
[1:42:04] is a quantum leap, and nobody will afford
those in the lower income range. But are
[1:42:09] you aware of any of those data?
[1:42:11] so, unfortunately, I'm not, but I'm
sure the applicant took all of that into
[1:42:15] consideration. Later
they can be prepared.
[1:42:18] thank you.
[1:42:20] thank you.
[1:42:20] thank you very much.
[1:42:21] yeah, next. We have collin powers, and the next will be jamal naim.
[1:42:31] good evening, mayor caskey, members of the city council.
[1:42:34] my name is collin powers, and I'm here tonight on behalf of the orange county realtors.
[1:42:37] I am the government affairs director there,
and we are proud to represent over 14,000
[1:42:40] realtors in the
orange county area.
[1:42:44] I'm here tonight to acknowledge the housing
that was proposed as part of the village
[1:42:47] at laguna hills.
[1:42:48] according to the proposal, this project
would add approximately 1,500 new homes,
[1:42:51] including both rental
and for-sale housing.
[1:42:55] at a time when california continues to fall
well short of meeting its housing needs,
[1:42:59] adding new housing opportunities
is incredibly welcome news.
[1:43:03] orange county is an incredible place to live, work, and raise a family,
[1:43:06] but too many people are finding it increasingly difficult to call it home.
[1:43:09] we want teachers, first responders,
young professionals, growing families, and
[1:43:12] longtime residents alike to have the opportunity
to put down roots in our communities.
[1:43:17] while there are many aspects of this proposal
for you to consider, we appreciate that
[1:43:20] it includes a significant
investment into new housing.
[1:43:24] every community has a role to play in
addressing our housing shortage, and increasing
[1:43:27] the supply of both rental and
ownership opportunities moves us in the
[1:43:31] right direction.
[1:43:32] we appreciate the time and effort all
parties have shown in moving this project
[1:43:34] forward,
[1:43:36] and with that, I urge your support on this project.
[1:43:38] thank you for your time and your consideration.
[1:43:40] thank you.
[1:43:40] all right.
[1:43:41] any questions?
[1:43:43] thank you very much.
[1:43:44] appreciate it.
[1:43:46] and one more, and then I think I'm going to call.
[1:43:49] just one more?
[1:43:49] okay.
[1:43:50] we have jamal naim.
[1:43:57] good evening.
[1:43:59] I wasn't expecting to be standing here tonight.
[1:44:03] don't worry about that.
[1:44:03] but I am very much in favor of this project,
and I was looking to see if there is any
[1:44:11] access to the freeway
[1:44:15] somehow, at least one way, when it's going
out of the shopping center to the freeway.
[1:44:21] that would make it much easier,
[1:44:26] because it's going to be a lot of traffic, I guess.
[1:44:29] so that's an idea.
[1:44:31] and the next center, the shopping center,
[1:44:37] like what mr. Galiti mentioned, I think it
would be nice to have a common area in
[1:44:46] between.
[1:44:47] so it's just for—how am I going to say it?
[1:44:57] because both are different.
[1:45:00] if there is something in between, common
between them, they invested—I'm sorry—they
[1:45:05] invested something in between,
[1:45:08] it makes something unique between both properties, both centers.
[1:45:16] just an idea.
[1:45:24] and I didn't present myself.
[1:45:28] I'm just retired, and I studied civil engineering.
[1:45:36] and I'm writing a book.
[1:45:40] could I say the name?
[1:45:43] it's capitalism plus corruption equals catastrophe: the story of my business life.
[1:45:50] so right now I don't have a business, I
don't have anything, but I used to have big
[1:45:56] businesses.
[1:45:58] but that's very important, that's my story.
[1:46:02] for all my life, dealing with the big guys face to face without me knowing,
[1:46:09] but they come after, and they don't want me in their businesses, many businesses.
[1:46:16] so thank you very much for allowing me to speak.
[1:46:18] any questions?
[1:46:21] hearing none.
[1:46:22] okay, so...
[1:46:23] I'm fine.
[1:46:25] thank you.
[1:46:27] this is actually moving along very nicely, in my opinion.
[1:46:32] we haven't had very much of anything run over, and...
[1:46:36] appreciate everyone's ideas.
[1:46:37] we're going to get to everybody who wants to speak tonight.
[1:46:40] but I'm going to ask for a motion to continue this meeting until 6 o'clock.
[1:46:46] and then we'll come back, and we'll start right where we left off.
[1:46:51] okay, I'd like to make a motion, but can we make it 20 minutes?
[1:46:54] 15 is a little short.
[1:46:56] yeah, that's fine.
[1:46:57] okay, I'll make a motion we adjourn for 20 minutes.
[1:46:59] okay.
[1:47:04] do we have a second?
[1:47:04] second.
[1:47:05] all right.
[1:47:06] all those in favor—we won't do a roll call for this.
[1:47:09] all those in favor?
[1:47:10] aye.
[1:47:12] all right.
[1:47:12] that passes unanimously.
[1:47:14] and we'll allow a break, walk around
a little bit, and we'll see you back at 6
[1:47:21] o'clock.
[1:47:32] yeah, why don't you?