A. Application of the Specific Plan Concept. A Specific Plan and its function may be described by comparison with the General Plan. The General Plan expresses, in very broad terms, the city’s planning of its future environment, generally on a long-term basis. Adopted by the city as a legislative act, the General Plan may be amended, as required by changing circumstances. The Specific Plan, on the other hand, is a device used to implement the General Plan by focusing on a particular parcel or parcels. The Specific Plan sets standards, against which developments can be judged, and imposes controls on the use of the subject parcels. The Specific Plan is more detailed than a General Plan and can be viewed as a bridge between the General Plan and individual project submittals.
The intent and purpose of this chapter is to establish a Specific Plan to guide the physical development of a particular geographic area within the City. The subject site is constrained due to the size, site configuration (deep and narrow), location of one abandoned oil well, and potential view impacts to adjacent residential and commercial developments. The site is an infill parcel surrounded by existing high density residential developments to the immediate east and west, and light industrial development to the immediate north. In an effort to mitigate these constraints and to accommodate the city’s diverse housing needs, the concepts, regulations and conditions set forth in the SP-22, Summerland Residential Specific Plan are added to provide for the development of the site with single-family dwellings.
The specific plan has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the California Government Code §§ 64540 through 65507, and addresses all of the issues and topics specified in that code.
B. Location and boundary. The Specific Plan includes an approximate 0.96-acre area generally located on the north side of E. 23rd Street between Orange Avenue and Walnut Avenue. The boundaries of the area are more specifically set forth in Tentative Tract Map 82304.
C. Goals and objectives. Goals for the development within the SP-22, Summerland Residential Specific Plan, include the following:
1. Reduce the density allowed on the site from twenty dwelling units to sixteen dwelling units; and
2. Encourage the development of privately owned detached single-family dwellings; and
3. Provide architectural diversity and avoid uniformity of appearance while achieving a streetscape with pedestrian scale and ambiance consistent with Signal Hill’s small town character. (Ord. 2019-05-1506 § 1)