Aliso Viejo residents could see a new community with 72 three-story market rate townhomes, consisting of 32 duplex buildings and eight detached townhomes.
City council members reviewed conceptual plans for the townhomes during their meeting on Oct. 15 and provided feedback to the developer who proposed the project, known as Meritage Homes.
The project was initially proposed in January and featured 124 four-story townhomes, drawing concerns from officials that the project was too dense and didn’t have enough parking available.
Since then, the developer reduced the project’s size and added extra parking spaces, in line with requests from city council members.
In the updated plans, each townhome features a two-car garage, and the project also includes 37 guest parking spaces. The for-sale units are expected to be a mix of three- and four-bedroom homes.
Officials were pleased with the changes presented at last week’s meeting.
“The reduction of units, a lot more parking — it makes me feel a lot more comfortable with what we’re looking at now versus what we looked at originally,” Councilmember Mike Munzing said at the meeting.
Other council members agreed that they were happy with the decreased total units and increased parking spaces.
“100% improvement,” Councilmember Max Duncan said. “Thank you very much for coming back with this. It looks like an awesome concept. Everything is ticking the boxes for me.”
Councilmember Tim Zandbergen also shared his thanks.
“I’m glad you heard us,” he said. “It looks like you regrouped and made a good product. We’re looking forward to seeing that.”
The proposed project sits on a currently vacant lot off Aliso Viejo Parkway. It’s on about seven acres of land bound by Liberty and Freedom Lane streets.
While the initial proposal featured 5% affordable housing units, the revised plans are yet to propose any options for low-income housing.
“Regarding affordable housing, city staff plans to work with the applicant to incorporate affordable units into this project,” senior planner Rose Rivera said.
A spokesperson representing Meritage Homes said they weren’t planning on including affordable housing after reducing the project’s size.
“With the major reduction in density, (affordability) is not something that we were going to propose as part of the project just because of the revised site plan,” the speaker said. “We are still working with the city staff. We haven’t decided on a hard number yet, but it’s something that we’re still working through.”
The project comes as cities throughout California wrestle with state-mandated affordable housing numbers.
Affordable housing limits are based on the state’s Department of Housing and Community Development income limit numbers. For Orange County, the median income for a family of four is $136,600.
To be considered low-income, a family of four must have a combined annual income under $135,350.
According to state housing mandates, Aliso Viejo must plan for 1,195 new housing units by 2029. This number is passed down by the state and includes housing units for different income levels.
Mayor Tiffany Ackley was also pleased with the project’s revisions but called out a need for low-income housing options.
“I think it looks great,” Ackley said. “I’m really looking forward to seeing some affordable housing.”
Angelina Hicks is the Voice of OC Collegiate News Service Editor. Contact her at ahicks@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @angelinahicks13.