WHAT:
Originally adopted by the City of Orange in 1989 and then amended several times over the past decade, the Chapman University Specific Plan serves as the land use "rules book" that guides the planning and development of University-owned property.WHY:
The University's updated Specific Plan consolidated a long list of multi-layered ordinances and regulations contained within several governing policy documents, including:
- Design Standards for the Amendment to the Southwest Project Area
- The Secretary of the Interior's Standards for Rehabilitation
- The Historic Preservation Design Standards for Old Towne
- The California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA)
- The City of Orange General Plan, Zoning Ordinance and Local CEQA Guidelines
The Specific Plan regulations determine how the University designs new buildings, restores and preserves existing structures, addresses landscape, roadway and infrastructure issues, and meets the needs of neighbors, local businesses, University students, faculty and staff, as well as the greater Orange community.
The approved Specific Plan achieves the following:
- Consolidates criteria from several governing policy documents
- Addresses the need for resident student parking
- Enhances architectural guidelines
- Establishes a master landscape plan
- Establishes a historic building evaluation/review process
- Provides historic preservation/enhancement guidelines
- Addresses edge transition criteria/campus-community interface
- Identifies Chapman University's Area of Interest
WHERE:
The Chapman University Specific Plan Amendment No. 6 encompasses four key areas of geographical interest, including the following:
- Areas already developed by the University and contained in the original adopted Specific Plan
- Areas added to the updated Specific Plan (i.e., properties associated with the Center for the Arts)
- Areas of potential interest (i.e., existing structures on Glassell Street)
- Potential growth area (i.e., area located on the north side of Palm Avenue, immediately west of the AT&SF Railroad line)
WHO/HOW:
The University prepared an update in 2011 to the Chapman University Specific Plan (with an accompanying Mitigated Negative Declaration) that incorporated the new areas and identified and mitigated all potential impacts associated with the new updated plan to below a level of significance. The Specific Plan was reviewed by the Planning Commission and forwarded to the City Council for final review and approval. All hearings were open to the public.
