Camarillo City Council
AGENDA REPORT
Date: February 26, 2025
To: Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers
From: Greg Ramirez, City Manager
Submitted by: David Sanchez, Community Development Director Subject: Repeal of City Council Policy 7.01 - General Plan Amendments (Non-City Initiated)
BACKGROUND
City Council Policy 7.01 - General Plan Amendments (Non-City Initiated) provides guidelines for Council consideration of a proposed General Plan Amendment (GPA) by an applicant other than the City (Attachment 1). The Policy was adopted in 1976 and was last amended in 2021.
At the January 22, 2025 Policy Committee meeting, staff presented a report to the Committee on the repeal of Policy 7.01. There were no objections from the Committee to repeal the Policy and present to the City Council for final determination.
DISCUSSION
Policy 7.01 sets forth the process for considering an amendment to the General Plan, as summarized below:
•Referral: Initial consideration begins with submittal of a GPA Referral, which is required to be submitted on or before November 30 of each year. Referral requests are presented to the City Council at their first meeting in April of the following year, where the Council may grant referral of the application for further processing or terminate application proceedings at that point. At the time of referral, the City Council may decide whether a fiscal impact analysis will be required. •If the City Council grants a request for a GPA Referral, the applicant may submit a GPA application. Typically, the applicant submits any companion applications such as a Change of Zone and planned development permit to be processed concurrently with the GPA, which will be processed by staff, including the preparation of an environmental document.
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•Annual Review of Referral: Every April, staff provides a report as an information item to the City Council on the status of each GPA Referral. No Council action is taken.
•Triennial Review of Referral: Every three years after the date on which an application was referred, the City Council takes action to either continue to study the Referral or rescind the Referral.
•Public Hearings: The Planning Commission conducts a public hearing on the proposed GPA and any other companion applications and makes a recommendation to the City Council. The City Council conducts a public hearing on the GPA and any other companion applications and renders a decision. The City Council’s decision is final.
Over the years, Policy 7.01 has undergone several amendments to address specific situations, such as when an applicant wishes to submit a GPA Referral outside the normal schedule or when a Councilmember requests the rescission of an existing Referral outside the Triennial Review. These changes have introduced additional steps and actions required from the Council, making the GPA process more complicated.
The repeal of Policy 7.01 would also improve the efficiency of the City’s procedures consistent with the approach taken in surrounding jurisdictions, such as the Cities of Ventura, Oxnard, and Westlake Village. The Cities of Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, and Moorpark and the County of Ventura have a screening process in their Zoning Code for their legislative bodies to authorize General Plan Amendments, but do not include the additional steps of the Annual and Triennial Review requirements in Policy 7.01. In researching the GPA process used in all surrounding jurisdictions, staff did not find a process as extensive as that required by Policy 7.01.
Staff recommends the repeal of Policy 7.01 in order to streamline the existing lengthy and overly complicated Referral process. The repeal of the Policy will eliminate the redundancy of multiple reviews by the Council, allowing for a more navigable and straight- forward application process that is clear to applicants and the public.
Government Code Sections 65350 through 65362 provide the legal framework for processing amendments to the General Plan. Policy 7.01 goes beyond these legal requirements by imposing several additional steps and processes. There is no requirement in the Government Code for the Council to prescreen or approve a Referral before a GPA application can be filed.
With the repeal of the Policy, an applicant may submit a GPA application and staff will immediately process the application along with any companion applications. In most cases, the GPA will be processed concurrently with all of the project entitlements (e.g., Tentative Tract Map, Planned Development, etc.). For larger, phased projects, the GPA would be processed at the same time as the conceptual-level approval of the project (e.g., Repeal of Policy 7.01 – GPA (Non-City Initiated)
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Specific Plan). The applications will be considered by the Planning Commission for recommendation before ultimately being approved or denied by the City Council.
Currently, there are two existing Referrals for the following projects:
•Kenner, LLC – 3.4 acres, located at the end of 240 Glenn Drive •Claberg Ranch – 135.21 acres, located south of U.S. 101 at Central Avenue On November 27, 2024, the City received one new Referral application from Hiji/TFR Properties for 69 acres, located south of U.S. 101, east of the Conejo Creek. Under existing Policy 7.01, the request will be scheduled for consideration of Referral by the City Council at the first meeting in April 2025. If the Policy is repealed, the applicant may submit a General Plan Amendment application at any time. Following filing of a GPA application, staff may schedule a discussion item to the City Council for the applicant to provide an overview of the project and to allow Council to provide general comment. This will allow the City Council to review a proposed GPA in advance of the final public hearing without the rigid timing requirements of Policy 7.01.
It is anticipated that the City will embark on an update to the Land Use Element of the General Plan this Spring, which will be a comprehensive and public process to guide future land use decisions throughout the city. Upon adoption of the updated Land Use Element, there may be fewer requests for General Plan amendment applications to be submitted, as the updated land use plan will set forth the desired long-term vision for the community.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no budget impact as a result of this action.
CEQA DETERMINATIONS
City staff has determined, in accordance with Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, that the recission of Policy 7.01 is not subject to CEQA review because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the recission of Policy 7.01 may have a significant effect on the environment. General Plan Amendments will each be separately subject to an environmental assessment.
RECOMMENDATION
1. Determine that the repeal of Policy 7.01 is not subject to CEQA review under Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, because it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that this may have a significant effect on the environment. General Plan Amendments will each be separately subject to an environmental assessment.
Repeal of Policy 7.01 – GPA (Non-City Initiated)
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2. Repeal City Council Policy 7.01 – General Plan Amendments (Non-City Initiated).
ATTACHMENTS
1. Policy 7.01 - General Plan Amendments (Non-City Initiated) REFERENCE MATERIALS – AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW AT CITY HALL None