Planning allows PZD application to proceed to Planning Commission but warns of conditional‑use and topography issues for 2215 West Fassal Heights

City planners told the applicant that the planned zoning district application for 2215 West Fassal Heights will be scheduled for a Planning Commission hearing Aug. 11, but that the commission will first decide whether to accept the proposal because a similar request was denied within the previous 12 months.

Why it matters: The project’s approval path is conditional on procedural timing and recent code changes: staff said student housing and private dormitories are now conditional uses citywide and that new parking regulations and a new Conservation, Cultural and Recreation (CCR) zoning district affect the application’s standards.

Conley Hill, representing Crafts and Taltz, presented the PZD. A planner told the applicant that “student housing or private dormitories are now classified for conditional use everywhere in the city,” meaning any student-housing component must be included in the use schedule as conditional and will require a separate conditional-use review. The planner also advised that the PZD should reflect recent changes to parking code (Section 17205) and that fewer reductions are available than under previous code.

Staff suggested design changes to better integrate private drives with a pedestrian-oriented street character — parallel parking, street trees and building orientation near green spaces — and recommended architectural massing or renderings demonstrating how buildings will sit on the hillside. The planner noted concerns about retaining walls and cuts into the slope and urged the applicant to “tell the story of how you're working with the topography.”

Staff recommended the applicant consider mirroring CCR district standards in Planning Area 3 (including a high tree-preservation standard of 80%) if that approach fits the applicant’s intent. The Fire Marshal's Office said it had no major objections at the PZD stage and will review apparatus access and hydrants in detail during development review.

Outcome and next steps: The PZD will be set on the Aug. 11 Planning Commission agenda; the commission will determine whether to hear the application because of the prior denial within 12 months. Staff asked the applicant to account for the conditional-use requirements for student housing, apply the new parking code, consider CCR standards for part of the site, provide visual massing to show topography impacts, and continue coordination with engineering and forestry before the hearing.