What Brea is about to decide
The commission meets at 6:00 PM in the Council Chambers, 1 Civic Center Circle, Brea, with a teleconference location at 350 W. Central Ave. #455. One public hearing is scheduled. These are pending decisions from the posted agenda — not outcomes. Every item links to the official record.
Source: official agenda packet (PDF) · meeting page
✅ What actually passed (per the draft minutes): The commission’s draft minutes record on the city’s meeting page — not yet adopted; they are on the September 22 consent calendar — show all five commissioners present and the Mercury Lane item approved 5-0. No one spoke at the hearing: Chair Perez closed it “after noting that the applicant and no members of the public wished to address the Commission.” Then “Commissioner Schlotterbeck moved to approve the action item, noting that future planning for the project could consider mobility-related features and location of amenities that provide greater accessibility for residents. Commissioner Madden seconded the motion to approve. The motion carried 5-0.” The action item was a recommendation, so the cancellation of Development Agreement No. 19-01 still needs a City Council ordinance. Commissioners’ questions covered the term of affordability, encumbrances on the property and the city’s affordable-housing wait list. The August 25 minutes were approved 5-0 (Schlotterbeck/Madden). City Planner Tinio said the October 13 meeting may be cancelled for lack of agenda items. We will update this when the commission adopts the minutes.
The headline: the lone public hearing asks the commission to recommend that the City Council cancel Development Agreement No. 19-01, the 2020 agreement for a never-built 114-unit Mercury Lane housing project at the southeast corner of Mercury Lane and Berry Street. The 1.01-acre lot is now approved for the Mercury Senior Apartments, an 85-unit, 100 percent affordable senior community, and staff says the old agreement must be cleared from the property's title for the developer's lenders and tax-credit investor to close financing — with building permits targeted for October 2026.
🏘️ Mercury Lane: clearing an old agreement for senior housing
- What is being cancelled: Development Agreement No. 19-01, recorded September 1, 2020 as Instrument No. 2020000458788, between the city and Mercury CXIV, LLC for the "Mercury Lane Residential Planned Community Project" — a five-story, 114-unit development with 11 low-income, 80 workforce, and 23 market-rate units that the City Council approved June 2, 2020 by Ordinance No. 1214. Per the staff report, the project "was not constructed due to changing circumstances including the Covid-19 pandemic." The applicant is C&C Development Co., LLC; the current property owner is Brea Mercury LP. Item 3.A
- Why now: the site (APN 296-143-01, designated Mixed Use 50 under the Brea 2050 General Plan and Brea Core Specific Plan) is a vacant, unpaved lot approved for the Mercury Senior Apartments, an 85-unit, 100 percent affordable senior apartment community that serves as the off-site affordable housing for Lennar Homes' Greenbriar project. The council approved that project on August 19, 2025 (Density Bonus No. 2025-01, Resolution No. 2025-057) with an Affordable Housing Agreement and Loan Agreement. Staff reports the applicant's "construction lender, permanent lender, and tax credit investor require the Development Agreement associated with the Prior Project to be cleared from title." The project received low-income housing tax credits on May 12, 2026, is recommended for County of Orange Supportive Housing funding to be considered by the Board of Supervisors on September 15, 2026, and is in building plan check with permit issuance targeted for October 2026. Item 3.A
- What the commission is asked to do: adopt a resolution recommending that the City Council (1) find the cancellation exempt from CEQA under Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), the common-sense exemption, and (2) adopt an ordinance approving the cancellation and authorizing the City Manager to execute it, subject to nonsubstantive changes. Staff states the cancellation "would not modify the approved entitlements for the Current Project" and does not affect the previously certified Final EIR for the Mercury Lane project (State Clearinghouse No. 2018121032). Notice went to property owners within 500 feet and ran in the Brea Star-Progress; staff had received no public comments as of the report. Planning Commission decisions may be appealed to the City Council within 10 calendar days. Item 3.A
🪑 Also on the agenda
- Approval of the draft minutes of the August 25, 2026 Planning Commission meeting. Item 2.A
- Committee reports, and informational and project updates to receive and file — the attached "Projects in Process" list is dated September 1, 2026. Items 4.A–4.B
- Commissioners listed on the agenda: Blake Perez (Chair), Ted Gribble (Vice Chair), Tom Donini, Bill Madden, and Melanie Schlotterbeck. The invocation is by Pastor Rick Crockett of Crosspointe Church. Items 1.A–1.C
Council Brief summaries are produced from official public records by our automated newsroom and reviewed before publication. Items are described as posted; the commission may amend, continue, or remove items at the meeting. Spot an error? hello@councilbrief.com — we publish corrections.
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