145 townhomes proposed for former Honda service center

DOWNEY — A former Honda service facility could be replaced with 145 for-sale townhomes under a proposal going before the Downey Planning Commission on Wednesday.

Meritage Homes is seeking approval to build the three-story condominium development on 6.15 acres at 11136 Dollison Drive, south of Florence Avenue and between Crossdale and Fairford avenues.

The property was previously occupied by L.A. Honda World and the Downey Honda Service Center. The dealership, now known as Precision Honda, relocated its operations in 2025 to a larger property immediately north of Dollison Drive.

City planning staff is recommending approval of the project. The Planning Commission will hold a public hearing Wednesday, July 15, at 6:30 p.m. at Downey City Hall.

Plans call for 145 ownership units spread among 14 three-story buildings. Of those, 130 would be sold at market rates and 15 would be reserved for moderate-income households.

The development would include two-, three- and four-bedroom townhomes ranging from about 1,215 to 1,765 square feet. Each residence would have a two-car garage, either side by side or in a tandem configuration, along with a private second-story deck.

The proposed unit mix consists of 40 two-bedroom homes, 53 three-bedroom homes and 52 four-bedroom homes.

The property is surrounded by single-family neighborhoods to the east, west and south, with the Precision Honda dealership and service center to the north.

The site is designated for general commercial use but was added to Downey’s housing inventory through a housing overlay adopted by the City Council in January 2025. The overlay allows residential development at 30 units per acre and identifies the property as an opportunity site for new housing.

Meritage is proposing a density of 26.8 homes per acre, slightly below the 30-unit standard. Developments above or below that density require Planning Commission approval through the site plan review process.

The project would replace three existing commercial buildings with townhomes designed in what the developer describes as a modern Craftsman architectural style. Buildings facing Dollison Drive and Fairford Avenue would be oriented toward the streets, while the interior buildings would be served by private streets and pedestrian walkways.

Plans show two exterior design schemes using stucco, clapboard siding, board-and-batten siding, concrete roof tiles and stone veneer. Color combinations would include ivory, brown, dark green and gold on some buildings and gray, bronze, light brown and dark blue on others.

The development would contain approximately 45,136 square feet of landscaping and open space, including landscaped frontages, common areas and pedestrian paseos.

A 5,028-square-foot central amenity area would feature a shade structure, barbecue counter, picnic area, benches and children’s play equipment. Private decks would provide an average of about 100 square feet of outdoor space per home.

Plans include 330 parking spaces, with 290 spaces inside residential garages and 40 open spaces distributed throughout the property.

Downey’s regular parking standards would ordinarily require 363 spaces. However, the project qualifies for lower parking ratios under California’s Density Bonus Law because 15 units would be reserved for moderate-income buyers.

State law would require a minimum of 270 parking spaces for the proposed mix of two-, three- and four-bedroom homes. The project would exceed that requirement by 60 spaces.

A proposed condition of approval would require the homeowners association to prohibit residents from using their garages for storage that prevents vehicle parking. The association would also be required to regulate how long vehicles may remain in the community’s open spaces.

The moderate-income homes are required under Downey’s inclusionary housing ordinance, which generally requires 10% of the homes in larger for-sale projects to be made affordable to moderate-income households.

For a four-person household, the city report identifies moderate income as an annual income between $86,480 and $129,720 in 2026. The developer is proposing to build all 15 affordable homes on the site rather than pay an in-lieu fee.

Meritage is also requesting several waivers from Downey development standards under the Density Bonus Law.

Those requests include allowing buildings to reach 37½ feet instead of the usual 35-foot limit, reducing the front setback from 15 feet to 10 feet and allowing portions of the development to sit as close as 9 feet from the western block wall. The normal setback for a three-story building next to a single-family zone would be 46 feet.

The developer is also seeking to reduce the minimum lot area per home from 1,000 to 822 square feet and allow smaller dimensions for some private open spaces.

City staff said local governments must generally approve waivers that are necessary to build qualifying affordable housing projects unless officials can demonstrate specific adverse effects on health, safety or historic resources.

Because the project would border existing homes, the developer would retain a 9-foot perimeter wall along the western and southern sides of the property.

Windows facing the adjacent single-family homes would be required to remain frosted or opaque. The developer would also plant purple hopseed shrubs along the western and southern property lines to create an additional visual screen. The evergreen shrubs can grow to between 12 and 14 feet tall.

The landscaping would have to be installed before the project’s framing inspection, allowing it time to grow before residents move into the townhomes.

Vehicle access would be provided through a two-way driveway on Dollison Drive and an entrance-only driveway on Fairford Avenue.

A traffic study commissioned for the project concluded that the development would not produce significant traffic impacts. Residents, however, have expressed concerns that the development could worsen speeding on neighborhood streets.

City staff collected vehicle speed and volume information along Crossdale Avenue and Cecilia Street in May. Crossdale carried about 454 vehicles per day and recorded an 85th-percentile speed of 33.78 mph. Cecilia carried approximately 1,350 to 1,490 vehicles per day but recorded an 85th-percentile speed of 23.94 mph.

Neither street currently meets the city’s standards for physical traffic-calming measures.

Under the recommended conditions, the city would conduct new traffic counts on Dollison Drive, Cecilia Street, Fairford Avenue and Crossdale Avenue within six months of the development receiving its final certificate of occupancy.

The developer would then be required to pay for a neighborhood traffic-calming study. If the study determines that improvements are warranted, Meritage would be responsible for designing and installing them.