Dove Canyon Plaza Initial Rezone Request Denied

In a letter dated August 21, 2019 from the city of Rancho Santa Margarita to Michael Battaglia of William Lyon Homes, city Project Manager David Blumenthal notified him their request was being kicked back due to missing and incorrect information. The 7 page letter lists some pretty significant issues, but before I jump into that, if you aren't familiar with what is going on then read the notice on the city website here and possibly my previous article on the topic here. Now let's dive in, in no particular order, here are some of the issues, please read the whole letter:

1. The proposal includes adjusting the property line between the project site and the Trabuco Canyon Water District site. Additionally, this request will require an adjustment to the boundaries of the General Plan Land Use Designation and Zoning for the Water District Property. Accordingly, the following shall be completed:
   1. Include the Water District property in the Tract Map and all site improvement and landscape plans.
   2. Provide a letter of authorization from the Trabuco Canyon Water District authorizing you to act on their behalf for this application.
2. The current proposal has insufficient guest parking. The City's standard is one open guest space per unit, thus requiring 123 guest parking spaces; whereas you are proposing 80. While the Specific Plan allows this type of modification, it is strongly suggested that you increase the number of open guest parking spaces......
3. There could be an issue with the proposed trash pick-up. Specifically, the current layout of the site would require trash trucks to back-up to service the homes; whereas the site should be designed to allow forward movement of all trucks at all times. Additionally, the internal streets will be considered fire lanes, which cannot be obstructed at any time. Accordingly, clarify how trash pick-up will occur on the site. Include the proposed placement of trashcans on pick-up days so they will not obstruct fire lanes.

What is really stunning is how how incomplete their submission seems to be. William Lyons has been around a long time, they've done this a lot of times, they've done it here in Rancho and they know what a hot button this is, so why wasn't this thing totally locked down? Laziness? Arrogance that the rezone was a lock? I don't know, but just look at those items, the parking and traffic flow alone are going to require a major redesign. I'm also wondering if they actually talked to the Trabuco Canyon Water District (TCWD) or just assumed they'd get what they wanted. When you read through the letter, you will see just how badly they did.

The city is requesting that they come back with all the requested changes and information within 30 days, I don't know how they are going to do that, especially if they didn't already have TCWD on board. I also don't know how many bites at the apple they get, meaning they submit in the 30 days but still have a lot of the same issues, they get 30 days for the city to come back, the city says they are still missing stuff, so then another 30 days goes by, etc. The problem with that is that the longer this is in limbo, the worse it is for the businesses in the center that are trying to figure out what to do. The Environmental Impact Report (EIR) is a whole other thing, and that can take a while. We'll do our best to keep you updated as information becomes available, stay tuned!