ORDINANCE NO. 2026-XX
AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA, AMENDING SEVERAL CHAPTERS, ARTICLES, AND SECTIONS OF THE CITY’S ZONING CODE, CHAPTER I, ARTICLE 2, CHAPTER II, CHAPTER III, CHAPTER V, ARTICLE 1, 2, 2.5, 5.5, 6, AND 9, CHAPTER VI, ARTICLE 1 AND 2, CHAPTER VII, CHAPTER VIII, ARTICLE 3, CHAPTER IX, ARTICLE 21, CHAPTER XII, ARTICLE 4, CHAPTER XIII, AND REPEALING AND REPLACING CHAPTER IV CITYWIDE LAND USE MATRIX, CHAPTER V DEVELOPMENT STANDARDS, ARTICLE 11 MIXED-USE OVERLAY DISTRICT, AND CHAPTER IX SPECIAL LAND USE REGULATIONS, ARTICLE 4 DENSITY BONUSES AND OTHER INCENTIVES, AND AMEND THE ZONING MAP.
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA FINDS AND DECLARES AS FOLLOWS:
WHEREAS, California Government Code section 65850 grants city and county legislative bodies the authority to adopt and rescind plans to regulate zoning, building, and land use; and WHEREAS, California Government Code section 65580, et sec. (State Housing Element Law) requires each city and county to adopt a housing element that identifies and analyzes existing and projected housing needs within their jurisdiction and prepare goals, policies, programs, quantified objectives, and sites to further the development, improvement, and preservation of housing; and WHEREAS, the City’s Sixth Cycle (2021-2029) Housing Element was adopted by the Costa Mesa City Council on February 1, 2022, by Resolution No. 2022-06 and amendments adopted on November 15, 2022, by Resolution No. 2022-67, and was revised March 1, 2023, to incorporate non-substantive changes as directed by the City Council, and amended on March 17, 2026, by Resolution No. 2026-07 to remove 17 Housing Element Opportunity Sites and add two sites—both within the boundary of Measure K—to the Housing Element Candidates Sites Analysis at the request of the respective property owners, and most recently amended on September 1, 2026, by adopting Resolution No. 2026-38 to maintain adequate sites capacity and comply with State Housing Law; and WHEREAS, in November 2022, the Costa Mesa community voted in support of Measure K, which enacted Costa Mesa Municipal Code (CMMC) section 13-200.106(g) and exempted requirement for future voter initiatives for specific parcels; and WHEREAS, the application of the Mixed-Use Overlay District to Measure K sites would implement Housing Element Program 3G; and WHEREAS, on October 22, 2024, the City released the solicitation of a Request for Proposals (RFP) for the NWWAB effort via PlanetBids, the City’s web-based procurement system, after which five proposals were received and evaluated by City staff based on the selection criteria identified in the RFP, and of the five proposals, Dudek was selected as the qualified consultant to complete the NWWAB scope of work; and WHEREAS, on February 18, 2025, the City Council approved an agreement between the City and Dudek pursuant to the RFP; and WHEREAS, July through October 2025, the first round of community visioning was conducted, which included a communitywide open house and three separate workshops at locations throughout the community, one including a walking tour and another including a design charette, an online survey, three focus group discussions with local stakeholders, as well as a dozen pop-up outreach activities at City events, local businesses, local organizations; and WHEREAS, on November 10, 2025, the Planning Commission held a study session and received an update in relation to the first round of outreach; and WHEREAS, on December 8, 2025, the Planning Commission held a study session relating to the rezoning of Housing Element sites, including recent court actions relating to overlay districts used for Housing Element sites and the SB 131 CEQA exemption; and WHEREAS, on January 26, 2026, the Planning Commission held a study session relating to the bifurcation of the Measure K rezoning efforts and Housing Element sites rezoning, and on February 9, 2026, the Planning Commissions held a duly noticed public hearing and recommended to City Council that the Measure K and Housing Element sites rezoning efforts be bifurcated; and WHEREAS, from March through April 2026, the second round of community visioning took place and included two in-person workshops, one virtual workshop, and two focus group discussions with local stakeholders; and WHEREAS, in March 2026, the City kicked off grant related work efforts tied to the Measure K rezoning effort and Housing Element (HE) implementation after receiving a grant award from the Southern California Association of Governments (SCAG) for the Regional Early Action Planning (REAP 2.0) grant program which includes work relating to accessory dwelling units (HE Program 3E), density bonus (HE Program 2I) and conducting focus group outreach and engagement with faith-based and educational non-profit organizations relating to Senate Bill 4, 2023 (HE Program 3K), and researching affordable housing incentive opportunities and potential implementation actions (HE Program 2B); and WHEREAS, on May 18, 2026, drafts of the Zoning Code amendments, objective design standards, Specific Plan amendments and General Plan amendments were made available for public review and comment, and notifications regarding the availability of the draft documents were completed in compliance with State law; and WHEREAS, from May through August 2026, the third round of community visioning took place and included a communitywide open house, two focus group discussions with local stakeholders; and several public review comment periods (Zoning Code, Specific Plan, and General Plan updates, two comment periods specific to the Housing Element, and one specific to the Draft Program Environmental Impact Report); and WHEREAS, at a special meeting on August 17, 2026, the Planning Commission held a study session to receive a presentation on NWWAB drafts and after public comment, the Planning Commission received and filed the report and provided feedback on the documents; and WHEREAS, California Government Code section 65580, et sec. (State Housing Element Law) requires each city and county to adopt a housing element that identifies and analyzes existing and projected housing needs within their jurisdiction and prepare goals, policies, programs, quantified objectives, and sites to further the development, improvement, and preservation of housing; and WHEREAS, on September 1, 2026, the City Council took action to notify the Orange County Airport Land Use Commission (ALUC) of the City’s intent to overrule ALUC’s Determination of Inconsistency for the NWWAB planning effort, including the Housing Element amendment, which was submitted to ALUC and Caltrans Division of Aeronautics of the City’s Council intent to overrule ALUC on September 2, 2026, by a letter with Resolution 2026-39; and WHEREAS, on September 14, 2026, the Planning Commission conducted a duly noticed public hearing to discuss and consider the NWWAB project, with all persons having the opportunity to speak for and against the proposal and voted 4-3 to continue the item to a date certain to provide more time to review the drafts and potential revisions; and WHEREAS, on September 28, 2026, the Planning Commission conducted a duly noticed public hearing to discuss and consider the NWWAB project, with all persons having the opportunity to speak for and against the proposal and voted 3-1, with three commissioners absent, to recommend that the City Council certify the Final PEIR, adopt the findings of fact and statement of overriding considerations, and the mitigation monitoring and reporting program; and WHEREAS, on October 20, 2026, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing at which all interested persons had the opportunity to speak for and against the proposal; and WHEREAS, on October 20, 2026, the City Council adopted Resolution 2026-XX, overruling the ALUC Determination of Inconsistency for the NWWAB planning effort; and WHEREAS, the proposed amendments implement a schedule of actions contained in the approved Housing Element pursuant to Government Code section 65583 and do not allow the construction of a distribution center, or oil and gas infrastructure, accordingly, the proposed amendments are statutorily exempt from CEQA pursuant to Public Resources Code section 21080.085(a) (an exemption also known as SB 131), however the City of Costa Mesa determined that a Program Environmental Impact Report would be appropriate to study the potential environmental impacts of NWWAB and the City chose to evaluate the application of the Mixed-Use Overlay District to both non-Housing Element Measure K sites and Housing Element sites (except the Fairview Developmental Center Specific Plan site) in an effort to better understand the cumulative impacts, for transparency to the public, and for disclosure and mitigation; and WHEREAS, on October 20, 2026, the City Council certified the Final PEIR for the NWWAB effort, adopted findings of fact, adopted the statement of overriding considerations, and adopted the Mitigation Monitoring and Reporting Program; and WHEREAS, the City Council has duly considered the totality of the record and all evidence submitted into the record, including public testimony and the evaluation and recommendations by staff and Planning Commission, presented at said hearings; and WHEREAS, notices of said public hearings were made at the time and in the manner required by law; and
NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COSTA MESA, CALIFORNIA DOES HEREBY ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1: Costa Mesa Municipal Code Title 13 (Zoning Code) is hereby amended to incorporate the provisions set forth in Exhibit A and Exhibit B, where the following will be repealed and replaced in their entirety:
Chapter IV, Citywide Land Use Matrix, Table 13-30; and
Chapter V, Article 11, Mixed-Use Overlay District; and
Chapter IX, Article 4, Density Bonuses and Other Incentives; and The following Zoning Code amendments will also be amended by this ordinance as depicted within Exhibit A:
Chapter I, Article 2, Definitions; and
Chapter II; Zoning Districts Established; and
Chapter III, Planning Applications; and
Chapter IV, Citywide Land Use Matrix; and
Chapter V, Article1, Residential Districts; and
Chapter V, Article 2, Residential Common Interest Developments; and Chapter V, Article 2.5, Residential Small Lot Subdivisions; and Chapter V, Article 5.5, Non-Residential Common Interest Developments; and Chapter V, Article 6, Planned Development; and
Chapter V, Article 9, General Site Improvement Standards; and Chapter VI, Article 1, Residential Districts, Off-Street Parking Standards; and Chapter VI, Article 2, Non-Residential Districts, Off-Street Parking Standards; and Chapter VII, Landscaping Standards; and
Chapter VIII, Article 3, Sign Regulations; and
Chapter IX, Article 21, Location of Cannabis Distributing, Manufacturing, Research and Development, Testing Laboratories, Retail Storefront and Retail Nonstorefront Uses; and Chapter XII, Article 4, Park and Recreation Impact Fees; Chapter XIII, Noise Control; and
A Zoning Map update to apply the Mixed-use Overlay District to specific parcels identified within the map is included as Exhibit B.
SECTION 2. Inconsistencies. Any provision of the Costa Mesa Municipal Code or appendices thereto inconsistent with the provisions of this Ordinance, to the extent of such inconsistencies and no further, is hereby repealed or modified to that extent necessary to affect the provisions of this Ordinance.
SECTION 3. Severability. If any chapter, article, section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Ordinance, or the application thereof to any person, is for any reason held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portion of this Ordinance or its application to other persons. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance and each chapter, article, section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase or portion thereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions of the application thereof to any person, be declared invalid or unconstitutional. No portion of this Ordinance shall supersede any local, State, or Federal law, regulation, or codes dealing with life safety factors.
SECTION 4. Effective Date. This Ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after its final passage.
SECTION 5. Certification. This City Clerk shall certify to the passage and adoption of this Ordinance and shall cause the same to be published or posted in the manner required by law.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 20th day of October, 2026.
John Stephens, Mayor
ATTEST: APPROVED AS TO FORM:
________________________ _____________________________ Brenda Green, City Clerk Kimberly Hall Barlow, City Attorney STATE OF CALIFORNIA )
COUNTY OF ORANGE ) ss
CITY OF COSTA MESA )
I, BRENDA GREEN, City Clerk of the City of Costa Mesa, DO HEREBY CERTIFY that the above and foregoing is the original of Ordinance No. 2026-xx which was introduced for first reading at a regular meeting held on the 20th day of October, 2026, , and was duly passed and adopted by the City Council of the City of Costa Mesa at a regular meeting held on the __ day of _________, 2026, by the following roll call vote, to wit:
AYES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
NOES: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
ABSENT: COUNCIL MEMBERS:
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereby set my hand and affixed the seal of the City of Costa Mesa this ____ day of ____________, 2026. ___________________________
Brenda Green, City Clerk
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