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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 Page 2 of 3 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 Page 3 of 3 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 1 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 2 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. 3 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 4 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.