The city of Irvine approved a rezoning plan to add as many as 15,000 new housing units near John Wayne Airport, part of a state mandate requiring all California municipalities to increase their respective housing supplies.
Council members approved the rezoning plan Oct. 8 despite opposition from Orange County’s Airport Land Use Commission.
Irvine’s rezoning of the Irvine Business Complex, a mixed-use region north and east of the airport, to add 15,000 new housing units would help satisfy the city’s 2045 General Plan Update.
That plan, mandated by state law, requires Irvine to add 57,656 new housing units to accommodate the city’s Regional Housing Needs Assessment, per city documents.
The statewide mandate is part of the California legislature’s plan to add more housing units in the Golden State to help stabilize the market and make homebuying an affordable process.
The City Council approved Oct. 8 the general goal of 15,000 new housing units near John Wayne Airport but did not go so far as to identify specific developments.
“The project does not contemplate or include the construction of any specific development projects … but rather would allow for the future development of residential and residential mixed-use projects,” according to a city document.
Irvine Business Center is one of three areas where the city would build those housing units. The other two are the Spectrum and Great Park Neighborhoods areas.
Public documents show Irvine could add 26,607 housing units to the Spectrum area and 5,252 housing units at the Great Park Neighborhoods Transit Village District.
The three areas combine for 46,859 units, but city documents show another 8,536 housing units could be built across Irvine. As many as 2,261 housing units tied to recently approved developments would also be part of the count.
Developers could build housing projects on properties designated for nonresidential uses if the development meets a minimum density requirement of 50 dwelling units per acre and 15% affordability.
Irvine city leaders did not immediately respond to the Business Journal’s request for comment.
Airport Commission Protests Rezoning Plan
Members of the Orange County Airport Land Use Commission opposed the plan to rezone Irvine Business Complex to allow for 15,000 new housing units, based on overall inconsistencies with the 2008 John Wayne Airport Environs Land Use Plan, or AELUP.
Commissioners specifically found the rezoning to be inconsistent with AELUP’s policies on land use, noise and safety.
Letters from the Airport Commission and California Department of Transportation specifically said noise levels from John Wayne Airport are too high for residential units to be built at Irvine Business Complex.
“Increased exposure to aircraft-related noise from the outside environment makes adequate sound attenuation alone insufficient to ensure residents’ health and comfort,” Caltrans Senior Aviation Planner Matthew Friedman said in a letter to Irvine staff.
Friedman’s letter added residential development near the airport could “place future residents at risk from potential near-runway accidents.”
The City Council’s 5-0 vote on Oct. 8 overruled the Airport Commission’s opposition.
State Mandated Housing Updates
California state law requires Irvine and other municipalities to update their housing plan every eight years. Irvine was specifically required by 2045 to add 57,656 housing units, an almost 50% boost to its current 117,000 units within city limits.
City officials have previously told the Business Journal that they are reluctantly going along with the requirement and noted not all the additional housing may be realized.
“Just because we’re planning for 58,000, doesn’t mean that 58,000 will get built,” Irvine Mayor Farrah Khan told the Business Journal in June.
The Irvine City Council “probably wouldn’t have picked to zone 58,000 units, but given the state’s housing requirements, we’ve had to develop an updated master plan for Irvine that comports with state requirements, while protecting our local quality of life.”
Governor Gavin Newsom signed a series of bills in 2021 that required every city in the state to increase the supply of new houses and create more affordable housing units.
The legislative package signed by Newsom a few years ago requires all California cities to collectively add at least 2.5 million new housing units, a number more than twice the amount required by the state’s previous mandate.
The new mandate includes a $10.3 million budget for affordable housing projects and $22 billion to address issues such as homelessness.
$10.3 billion budget investment for affordable housing that will enable the creation of more than 40,000 new affordable homes for low-income Californians.
These investments include $850 million for incentivizing infill development and smart growth, $800 million to preserve the state’s affordable housing stock and $100 million to promote affordable homeownership.
Economists such as Chapman University President Emeritus Jim Doti have said the state’s effort to mandate increase housing is draconian, out of date and not based on economic analysis. n
