HomeMy Public PortalAbout14) 10A - Adoption of Urgency Ord 20-1044U to provide for 1-year extension in planning entitlementsAGENDA
ITEM 10.A.
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
MEMORANDUM
DATE: July 7, 2020
TO: The Honorable City Council
FROM: Bryan Cook, City Manager
By: Scott Reimers, Interim Community Development Director
SUBJECT: ADOPTION OF URGENCY ORDINANCE 20-1044U TO PROVIDE FOR AN
ADDITIONAL ONE-YEAR EXTENSION ON PLANNING ENTITLEMENTS
RECOMMENDATION:
The City Council is requested to:
Introduce for first reading by title only and waive further reading of Ordinance 20-1044U
(Attachment “A”), providing for an additional one-year extension of planning entitlements
provided for in Section 9-1C-5.H.6 of the Zoning Code.
BACKGROUND:
1. On March 4, 2020, Governor Newsom declared a State of Emergency in response to
the COVID-19 pandemic.
2. On March 13, 2020, the President of the United States declared a national state of
emergency due to the COVID-19 outbreak. On this same day, the City Council
adopted Resolution No. 20-5457, declaring a local state of emergency.
ANALYSIS:
In times of economic uncertainty projects face unexpected challenges, which tend to
delay development project implementation. Earlier this year, the COVID-19 outbreak
brought an unprecedented amount of uncertainty to development projects and to the
business community. To provide relief and certainty to these businesses and project
developers it is not an uncommon practice to provide applicants additional time to move
forward on their proposed projects in the form of extending the project entitlements.
City Council
July 7, 2020
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An entitlement is an approval that grants someone a right to build a project (such as in
the case of a minor or major site plan review) or open a business (such as in the case of
a conditional use permit). Depending on the type of entitlement and the project size, the
entitlement can be approved by staff, the Community Development Director (“Director”),
the Planning Commission, or City Council. Jurisdictions typically set an expiration date
for an entailment reasonably close to the date of the approval. In choosing the
appropriate expiration date, the jurisdiction is balancing two objectives. On one hand, the
applicant needs to be given sufficient time to move forward with the project after investing
time and money in the processing of the entitlement. On the other hand, the time should
not be too long so that the project complies with changes to the Zoning Code,
environmental laws, or even the surrounding existing conditions. Temple City’s Zoning
Code provides an applicant two years to “exercise” the approval. The applicant can
exercise the entitlement by obtaining a building permit or business license, depending on
the type of entitlement. If the applicant cannot exercise the entitlement within two years,
the applicant can apply for a one-year extension. See Section 9-1C-5.H.6 of the Zoning
Code for more information.
This three-year entitlement period is not likely to pose a significant issue for a project
approved in July of 2020. However, projects that recently received a one-year extension,
such as in January of 2020, now face new and unusual circumstances related to the
COVID-19 pandemic. These projects are facing unexpected circumstances – such as
changing financing structures, furloughs of professional workers, or difficulties in finding
contractors or construction materials. These projects may need additional time to move
forward. It should be noted that the State Subdivision Map Act limits the life of tentative
maps (an entitlement used to subdivide land or airspace into multiple parcels) to six years.
The proposed urgency ordinance would provide the Community Development Director
the ability to provide an additional one-year extension for projects which have already had
a one-year extension. Project owners would apply to extend the entitlement. Requiring
the applicant to fill out an application affords the City two benefits.
1. If an applicant is no longer interested in moving forward, the entitlement would expire
and a new project would be reviewed and approved under the City’s new General
Plan and the newest Zoning Code provisions.
2. Requiring an application also assists staff with updating contact information. Since
some of these sites are vacant it is good practice to have the property owner’s most
recent contact information in case the site becomes a public nuisance. Additionally,
prior to approving the extension, the community preservation staff would visit the site
to ensure the site is not a public nuisance (for example, if a structure is unoccupied it
must be secured and there are not overgrown weeds or vegetation).
The Director would have the proposed authority for one year from the date the urgency
ordinance is approved. Staff will return prior to the expiration of the urgency ordinance
City Council
July 7, 2020
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with a list of projects that have made use of the Ordinance and with a recommendation
on whether to continue the extension for another period.
Approximately 28 cases could expire within the next year if the owner does not pull a
building permit or obtain a business license. Historically, though, the need for an
extension is rare. Since July of 2018, the City received and approved five extensions
requests; all were for tentative maps.
STRATEGIC GOALS:
Providing for additional time to exercise a planning entitlement provide furthers the City
Strategic Goals of Good Governance, Public Health and Safety, and Sustainable
Infrastructure.
FISCAL IMPACT :
Adopting the proposed urgency ordinance would not have any impact on the Fiscal Year
2020-21 City Budget.
ATTACHMENT:
A. Ordinance 20-1044U
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ORDINANCE 20-1044 U
AN URGENCY ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF
THE CITY OF TEMPLE CITY, CALIFORNIA, AUTHORIZING
A TEMPORARY PROCEDURE FOR GRANTING ONE-YEAR
EXTENSIONS TO PLANNING ENTITLEMENTS SET TO
EXPIRE ON OR BEFORE MARCH 4, 2020
WHEREAS, on March 4, 2020, Governor Gavin Newsom proclaimed a state of
emergency within the State of California ("State") due to the threat posed by Novel
Coronavirus ("COVID-19");
WHEREAS, on March 4, 2020, the Los Angeles County Health Officer issued a
Declaration of Local Health Emergency due to the introduction of COVID-19 cases to Los
Angeles County;
WHEREAS, on March 4, 2020, Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors ("Board")
concurred and issued a Proclamation declaring a local emergency within the County of Los
Angeles regarding the imminent spread of COVID-19;
WHEREAS, on March 19, 2020 Governor Newsom issued an Executive Order that
requires all persons to remain at home to the extent possible and requires all non-essential
businesses to be closed;
WHEREAS, on March 30, 2020 Governor Newsom issued an Executive Order with
findings that certain businesses have been unable to operate, or are otherwise significantly
impacted, as a result of COVID-19, who require administrative relief;
WHEREAS, physical distancing and other public health measures undertaken in
response to COVID-19 has disrupted business operations of developers, limited their ability
to operate at full capacity, and has resulted in inefficiencies and delays with project
progress;
WHEREAS, the unexpected impacts due to COVID-19 threaten the viability of
existing projects within the City that have planning entitlements set to expire on or before
March 4, 2021;
WHEREAS, such inefficiency and delay caused by COVID-19 will threaten the
completion of certain classes of projects before the expiration of planning entitlements,
resulting in the loss of those entitlements and in incomplete projects that will impact the
healthy, safety, and general welfare;
WHEREAS, Government Code sections 36934 and 36937 authorize ordinances to
take effect immediately if they are for the immediate preservation of the public peace, health
or safety, contain a declaration of the facts constituting the urgency, and are passed by a
four-fifths vote of the City Council;
WHEREAS, providing temporary relief for projects with entitlements set to expire on
or before March 4, 2021, is necessary to combat the dangers presented by delays in
ATTACHMENT A
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development due to COVID-19, including blight, poor aesthetics and delaying development
of needed housing and other beneficial uses within the City; and
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to adopt this ordinance as an urgency
ordinance, effective immediately, pursuant to Government Code sections 36934 and 36937.
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF TEMPLE CITY DOES
ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Urgency Ordinance. The City Council of the City of Temple City
incorporates the findings above by reference and adopts the ordinance set forth in
Attachment A.
SECTION 2. Adoption and Effective Date. This urgency ordinance is adopted and
takes effect immediately upon four-fifths vote of the City Council.
SECTION 3. Environmental Review. The City Council exercises its independent
judgment and finds that the enactment of this ordinance is exempt from the California
Environmental Quality Act (“CEQA”) under the State CEQA Guidelines (Chapter 3 of Title
14 of the California Code of Regulations beginning at Section 15000), specifically: Section
15060(c)(2), because the proposed ordinance will not result in a direct or reasonably
foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment; and Section 15061(b)(3), because
the ordinance is covered by the general rule that CEQA applies only to projects which have
the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. The ordinance simply
addresses procedures concerning the expiration date of permits for projects that have
already been or will be evaluated through a separate environmental review process in
accordance with CEQA. As such, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility
that the enactment of this ordinance may have a significant adverse effect on the
environment, and the adoption of this ordinance is exempt from CEQA.
SECTION 4. Codification. This urgency ordinance will not be codified in the Temple
City Municipal Code and will remain uncodified.
SECTION 5. Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence,
clause, phrase, or portion of this ordinance, is for any reason held to be invalid or
unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision
will not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this ordinance. The City Council
hereby declares that it would have adopted this ordinance, and each section,
subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the
fact that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses,
phrases, or portions thereof be declared invalid or unconstitutional.
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SECTION 6. Certification and Publication. The City Clerk will certify the
adoption of this ordinance and cause this ordinance to be published in the manner
required by law.
Signed and approved this ___ day of July, 2020.
_____________________________
Thomas Chavez, Mayor
I HEREBY CERTIFY that the foregoing ordinance was adopted by the City Council
of the City of Temple City at its meeting held on the ___ day of July, 2020 by the
following vote:
AYES:
NOES:
ABSENT:
ABSTAIN:
Date Published:
_____________________________
Peggy Kuo
City Clerk
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ATTACHMENT A
TEMPORARY PROCEDURE FOR GRANTING ONE-YEAR
EXTENSIONS TO PLANNING ENTITLEMENTS SET TO
EXPIRE ON OR BEFORE MARCH 4, 2021
SECTION 1: PURPOSE:
COVID-19 has resulted in unexpected inefficiencies and delays with project progress. This
ordinance authorizes the director of the department of community development, or the city
manager’s designee, to administratively extend the expiration dates of certain categories of
planning entitlements currently set to expire on or before March 4, 2021, to address the
unexpected disruption caused by COVID-19 and encourage the completion of projects
within the City. This ordinance is intended to be temporary in nature and will provide a
procedure, in addition to those set forth in the Temple City Municipal Code (TCMC), to
extend such planning entitlements.
SECTION 2: ONE-YEAR ADMINISTRATIVE EXTENSION:
The director or the city manager’s designee may, upon receipt of a completed application
acceptable to the city and the payment of any applicable fees, administratively extend the
expiration date of certain categories of entitlements set to expire on or before March 4,
2021, for a period of one year from the existing date of expiration. The categories of
entitlements eligible for this administrative extension includes: condition use permits
(TCMC section 9-1C-6-G); variances (TCMC section 9-1C-6-E); major site plan
reviews (TCMC section 9-1C-6-C), minor site plan reviews (TCMC section 9-1C-6-B),
and tentative maps (TCMC section 9-2-2). For extensions of tentative maps, the
director of the department of community development will be deemed to be the “advisory
agency” that is permitted to approve such an extension, and such extension may not
exceed the six-year extension limitation, as set forth under Government Code section
66452.6(e).
SECTION 3: APPEALS:
The decision to grant a one-year administrative extension may be appealed in
accordance with the appeal procedures set forth in TCMC section 9-1C-5-G.
SECTION 4: EFFECTIVE PERIOD:
This ordinance is effective until March 4, 2021, and after such date, this ordinance will be
automatically repealed.