Agenda packet — Cotati City Council, November 22, 2022

AGENDA

JOINT MEETING OF THE COTATI CITY COUNCIL AND THE SUCCESSOR

AGENCY TO THE FORMER COTATI COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY City Council Chamber, City Hall 201 W. Sierra Avenue
Tuesday November 22, 2022
6:00 PM REGULAR MEETING
The Cotati City Council welcomes you to its meetings that are generally scheduled for the 2nd and 4th Tuesday of every month. Your interest and participation are encouraged and appreciated.

City Council meeting agendas, minutes and recordings are posted on the City’s Meeting Portal at www.cotaticity.org. For questions about the agenda or to receive the City Council agenda by e-mail, contact the Deputy City Clerk at [email protected] or 707-665-3622.

Cotati City Council Meetings will be conducted in person in the Council Chamber, as well as virtually through Zoom Online video conferencing, and will be available to watch or listen in the following ways:

1. Using the following online livestream meeting portal link: http://cotaticityca.iqm2.com/citizens/default.aspx;

2. Cable T.V. Broadcast, local channel 28
Members of the public can participate in the meeting online by selecting “Join a Meeting” at zoom.us. The credentials for joining the meeting are provided below:

Webinar ID: 849 5574 1940
Passcode: 506133
If you do not have the ability to join online, but would like to participate in the meeting, you can call into the meeting using your telephone, by dialing one of the following numbers and entering the meeting credentials:
+1 (669) 900-6833 or +1 (346) 248-7799 or +1 (253) 215-8782 or +1 (301) 715-8592 or +1 (312) 626-6799 or +1 (929) 436-2866
Attendees may join the meeting any time after 5:45pm. Attendees will be muted until they are called upon for Public Comment. To make a public comment, use the “raise hand” icon on your smart device or desktop computer, or dial *9 if you are using just your telephone. Please listen carefully for the Mayor or City Clerk to address you by name (or phone number) and for the audible Zoom notification that you have been unmuted. Once you begin your public comment, your three minutes will begin.

If you would prefer to submit your public comment in writing, please email your comments to [email protected]. If you are commenting on a specific agenda item or items, please state the agenda item number(s) in the subject line of the email. All comments received via email will be provided to the City Council or Planning Commission in writing and included as part of the record of the meeting.

Notice is hereby given that Council may discuss and/or take action on any or all of the items listed on this agenda.

Any writings or documents provided to a majority of the Cotati City Council regarding any item on this agenda will be made available for inspection in the online Meeting Portal at www.cotaticity.org and in the City Manager’s office located at 201 West Sierra Avenue, Cotati, California, during the City’s posted business hours.

Disabled Accommodation: Upon request, this agenda will be made available in appropriate formats to persons with disabilities as required by Section 202 of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Any person with a disability who requires a modification or accommodation in order to participate in a meeting should contact the Deputy City Clerk at (707) 665-3622 at least 48 hours in advance of the meeting.

Cotati City Council Agenda November 22, 2022

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Closed Captioning/Live Translation: This meeting will be transcribed and translated live via the Zoom platform. Zoom attendees running Zoom version 5.0.2 or higher will be able to choose their preferred language and see the transcription at the bottom of their personal Zoom screen. Learn more at https://support.zoom.us by searching “closed captions.”
Rules of Decorum: To avoid distraction, the following meeting etiquette shall be enforced. • Silence electronic devices, including cell phones.
• Audience members are advised to keep conversations to a minimum or conduct them outside the building. • Photographs or video recordings using tri-pods or other means that would be distracting are to be taken only from the designated media area.
• The Presiding Officer shall request that the audience withhold expressions of support or opposition for speakers in the interest of time and to encourage the full expression of differing views. (City Council Policy 2021-01 III.B.1.) Public Comment (Action items): Public comment on any one agenda item where the City Council will be taking some action is limited to no more than three (3) minutes per person. Action items are typically designated on the agenda title.

Public Comment (Non-Action items): Public comment on non- action agenda items shall be received during the designated portion of the agenda. Comments shall be limited to no more than three (3) minutes for all non-action agenda items.

Waiver Warning: If you challenge decisions/direction of the City Council of the City of Cotati in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at public hearing(s) described in this agenda, or in written correspondence delivered to the City of Cotati at, or prior to, the public hearing(s).

City Council meetings are conducted according to City Council Policy 2021-01: City Council Rules. This policy available for inspection in the online Meeting Portal at www.cotaticity.org and in the City Manager’s office located at 201 West Sierra Avenue, Cotati, California, during the City’s posted business hours.

Those wishing to address the Council are asked to complete a speaker card and give it to the City Clerk.

When you are called, step to the podium and state your name and address for the record. Persons wishing to address the Council are not required to identify themselves or complete a speaker card; (Gov’t. Code § 54953.3); however, this information assists the Mayor by ensuring that all persons wishing to address the Council are recognized and it assists the City Clerk in preparing the City Council meeting minutes.

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL

3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND NOTICE OF WAIVING OF READING OF ALL

RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES INTRODUCED AND/OR ADOPTED

UNDER THIS AGENDA (ACTION)
A. COTATI CITY COUNCIL - REGULAR MEETING - NOV 8, 2022 6:00 PM

5. ANNOUNCEMENTS
A. Meeting Orientation for New Attendees/Viewers. In conformance with the Brown Act and the adopted City Council Rules, the meeting agenda includes items labeled as Action Items, where the City Council will consider the item and citizens are afforded the opportunity to provide comments relevant to the item being discussed. The meeting agenda also includes a Citizens Business item, which is the designated place on the agenda where citizens have the right to say whatever they wish.

Cotati City Council Agenda November 22, 2022

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The City Council may, or may not, choose to respond to comments, as the Government Code allows. However, if the City Council declines to respond, it should not be perceived as giving credence to or agreeing with any statements that the City Council or its members believe are incorrect, misinformed or purposefully biased.

B. Measure S supports police services, a variety of recreation programs for all ages, and the maintenance of our streets, parks, and public buildings. See details on the web at cotaticity.org
C. Citizens interested in receiving City of Cotati community alerts via text or email are encouraged to sign up with Nixle by downloading the Everbridge app from the IOS or Android app store or by texting your zip code (94931) to 888777.

D. Like always, we love to hear from you, so please feel free to contact the City at 707- 792-4600 or [email protected]. If you have a non-emergency issue after normal business hours, you can contact us at 707-792-4611 and of course if you have an emergency, please contact 9-1-1. Continue to look for updates on the City's website and social media channels available on Facebook, Instagram, Nixle, and Nextdoor.

6. APPROVAL OF FINAL AGENDA (ACTION)

7. CITIZEN BUSINESS AND PUBLIC COMMENT FOR CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS
Any member of the public wishing to speak to the Council on any item(s) listed on the Consent Calendar or any matter(s) not listed on the agenda that are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Council may do so at this time. Pursuant to the Brown Act, the Council is not allowed to consider issues or take action on any item not listed on the agenda during this period. Pursuant to City Council Policy 2021-01, comments of any member of the public are normally restricted to a total of three (3) minutes in length per person for matters not on the agenda and a total of three (3) minutes per person in length for any and all items on the Consent Calendar.

The Mayor may extend the time limit for a reasonable time where a disability accommodation has been requested.

8. CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
A. POLICE BUILDING SURVEILLANCE CAMERA REPLACEMENT AND
UPDATE
It is recommended that the Cotati City Council approve by motion a professional services agreement with Vigilare Security Cameras for a total amount not to exceed $29,250, and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement.

B. SMART GRANT APPLICATION SUPPORT LETTER
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a motion authorizing the Mayor to sign a letter supporting SMART's application for the 2022 Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program grant to complete the rail system to Cloverdale.

C. SECOND READING OF AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CITY'S LAND

USE CODE TO FACILITATE URBAN AGRICULTURE
It is recommended by the Planning Commission and the Community Development Cotati City Council Agenda November 22, 2022

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Department that the City Council adopt an ordinance amending the Zoning Code to facilitate local food production and urban agriculture in Cotati, and changing the zoning of the Veronda-Falletti Ranch property (175 W. Sierra Avenue) from Neighborhood, Low Density (NL), to Open Space, Recreation (OSR).

9. DIRECTION ON FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS

10. PUBLIC HEARINGS (ACTION)
A. INTRODUCTION AND FIRST READING OF AN ORDINANCE THAT

REMOVES THE USE PERMIT REQUIREMENT FOR MULTIFAMILY

HOUSING PROJECTS IN THE NM AND NU RESIDENTIAL ZONING

DISTRICTS AND REVISES THE ADMINISTRATIVE PROCEDURES FOR APPEALS BY THE CITY COUNCIL.

It is recommended that the City Council introduce and conduct the first reading of an ordinance amending Section 17.22.020 (Allowable Land Uses) and Chapter 17.84 (Appeals) of the Cotati Municipal Code to remove the use permit requirement for proposed multifamily projects located in NM (Neighborhood, Medium Density) and NU (Neighborhood, Urban) residential zoning districts and revise the administrative procedures for appeals by the City Council.

B. ADOPTION OF THE 2022 CALIFORNIA BUILDING CODE
It is recommended that the Council of the City of Cotati conduct the second reading and adopt an Ordinance to update and amend the California Building Code to implement changes for the 2022 Building Code cycle.

11. REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
A. DIRECTION ON CITY SEAL
It is recommended that the City Council discuss the public comments received on the draft city seal themes and provide direction to staff on revisions for a final draft.

B. CITY COUNCIL UPDATED TEAM BUILDING PROPOSAL
It is recommended that the City Council discuss the updated scope of work and provide verbal direction to staff.

C. EQUITY AD HOC REPORT AND NEXT STEPS
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a motion approving the recommended measures from the Equity Ad Hoc, directing the City Manager to implement said measures in the City Council’s order of general priority, and dissolve the ad hoc committee.

D. AWARD OF CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR THE KOTATE PARK

REVITALIZATION PROJECT TO OAK GROVE CONSTRUCTION
It is recommended the City Council of the City of Cotati adopt a resolution awarding Cotati City Council Agenda November 22, 2022

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the construction contract for the Kotate Park Revitalization Project to Oak Grove Construction and authorizing the City Manager to execute said agreement, and any needed change orders and amendments, including to the design professional services agreement with Integra, up to the approved Project budget

12. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT

13. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS

14. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-ACTION AGENDA ITEMS

15. INFORMATION RECEIVED AFTER THE AGENDA WAS POSTED
A. INFORMATION RECEIVED AFTER THE AGENDA WAS POSTED
Information or written comments pertaining to this meeting, and which was received after the agenda was posted, is attached below.

16. ADJOURNMENT
Certification of Posting of the Notice: I declare under penalty of perjury that I am employed by the City of Cotati and that I posted this notice on the City's website, bulletin boards of City Hall, Veterans' Memorial Building and the SMART Train Depot, on or before November 18, 2022.
/s/ Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk

MINUTES

JOINT MEETING OF THE COTATI CITY COUNCIL AND THE SUCCESSOR

AGENCY TO THE FORMER COTATI COMMUNITY REDEVELOPMENT AGENCY Tuesday November 8, 2022
6:00 PM REGULAR MEETING

1. CALL TO ORDER

2. ROLL CALL
Attendee Name Title Status
Mark Landman Mayor Remote
Susan Harvey Vice Mayor Remote
Laura Sparks Councilmember Remote
Ben Ford Councilmember Remote
John C. Moore Councilmember Remote
Staff present: City Attorney John Bakker, City Manager Damien O’Bid, Deputy City Clerk Kevin Patterson, Police Chief Michael Parish, Director of Administrative Services Angela Courter, Director of Community Development Noah Housh, Associate Planner Autumn Buss

3. PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE

4. APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND NOTICE OF WAIVING OF READING OF ALL

RESOLUTIONS AND ORDINANCES INTRODUCED AND/OR ADOPTED

UNDER THIS AGENDA (ACTION)
A. COTATI CITY COUNCIL - REGULAR MEETING - OCT 25, 2022 6:00 PM RESULT: ACCEPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Susan Harvey, Vice Mayor
SECONDER: Ben Ford, Councilmember
AYES: Landman, Harvey, Sparks, Ford, Moore

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Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Nov 8, 2022 6:00 PM (APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND NOTICE OF WAIVING OF READING OF ALL Cotati City Council Minutes November 8, 2022

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6. PRESENTATIONS
A. GENERAL PLAN ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORTS FOR 2019, 2020, AND 2021
Presentation by Associate Planner Autumn Buss.

Councilmembers comment.

No public comment.

B. OCTOBER 2022 FINANCIAL UPDATE - REPORT FOR SUMMARY OF

REVENUE SOURCES, CASH AND INVESTMENTS
Presentation by Director of Administrative Services Angela Courter.

Councilmembers comment.

No public comment.

7. APPROVAL OF FINAL AGENDA (ACTION)

8. CITIZEN BUSINESS AND PUBLIC COMMENT FOR CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS
Public Comment:

Neil Hancock of Cotati
Kay Rivers of Cotati

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Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Nov 8, 2022 6:00 PM (APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND NOTICE OF WAIVING OF READING OF ALL Cotati City Council Minutes November 8, 2022

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9. CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
RESULT: ADOPTED [UNANIMOUS]
MOVER: Susan Harvey, Vice Mayor
SECONDER: Laura Sparks, Councilmember
AYES: Landman, Harvey, Sparks, Ford, Moore
A. AWARD CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR THE COMMUNITY CENTER

WINDOW REPLACEMENT PROJECT
B. LANDSCAPE REHABILITATION FOR ALTMAN ACRES AND ADJACENT

CITY MAINTAINED STREETSCAPE FRONTING OLD REDWOOD

HIGHWAY
C. ACCEPTANCE OF THE 2021 PAVEMENT PRESERVATION WEST SIDE

PROJECT

10. DIRECTION ON FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
None.

11. PUBLIC HEARINGS (ACTION)
A. INTRODUCTION OF AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CITY'S LAND

USE CODE TO FACILITATE URBAN AGRICULTURE
RESULT: INTRODUCED [UNANIMOUS]
Next: 11/22/2022 6:00 PM
MOVER: Ben Ford, Councilmember
SECONDER: Susan Harvey, Vice Mayor
AYES: Landman, Harvey, Sparks, Ford, Moore
Presentation by Associate Planner Autumn Buss.

Councilmembers comment.

Public Comment:

Aishwarya
Jenny Blaker of Cotati
Roy Smith
Kerry McGrath
Kay Rivers of Cotati
Kimberlyn Moffet of Cotati
Wendy Krupnick
Merlin Coleman
The City Council voted to introduce the ordinance with the following revisions:

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Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Nov 8, 2022 6:00 PM (APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND NOTICE OF WAIVING OF READING OF ALL Cotati City Council Minutes November 8, 2022

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1. Remove the business license requirement for urban agriculture uses, consistent with the existing business license exemption

2. Allow the three days per year during which a Market Garden or Community Garden may use non-residential equipment for site preparation to be weekdays or weekends.

3. Allow roosters in the Open Space, Recreation zoning district with a Use Permit.

4. Specify that the five-foot setback requirement for Market Gardens and Community Gardens applies only within thirty feet of a residential structure on adjacent property.

5. Allow Garden Stands to operate three days per week

6. Clarify that the pre application neighborhood meetings do not apply to urban agriculture uses.

12. REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
A. UPDATE ON CITY FEE SCHEDULE
Presentation by City Manager Damien O'Bid
Councilmembers comment.

No public comment.

B. COMMITTEE ASSIGNMENT PROCESS
Presentation by City Manager Damien O'Bid.

Councilmembers comment.

Public Comment:

Kay Rivers of Cotati
The City Council provided direction to staff to continue to conduct assignments in a single meeting. However, in election years where city councilmembers are leaving the council, provide time in the final meeting of December for the outgoing councilmember(s) to describe and impart any wisdom about their assignments to the remaining and incoming councilmembers. In election years, if there are new councilmembers, committee assignments will continue to be held at the first meeting in January.

C. CITY COUNCIL TEAM BUILDING PROPOSAL
Presentation by City Manager Damien O'Bid.

Councilmembers comment.

Public Comment:

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Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Nov 8, 2022 6:00 PM (APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND NOTICE OF WAIVING OF READING OF ALL Cotati City Council Minutes November 8, 2022

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Kay Rivers of Cotati
The City Council provided feedback to staff that the proposed scope of work was too similar to the existing strategic planning process. The City Council requested that staff work with the consultant and see if the proposal could be amended to reflect the team building intent, rather than largely duplicating an existing planning process.

13. CITY MANAGER'S REPORT
Report by City Manager Damien O'Bid

14. CITY COUNCIL MEMBER REPORTS
Councilmembers report out on local and regional events and committees.

15. PUBLIC COMMENT ON NON-ACTION AGENDA ITEMS
No public comment

16. INFORMATION RECEIVED AFTER THE AGENDA WAS POSTED
A. INFORMATION RECEIVED AFTER THE AGENDA WAS POSTED

17. ADJOURNMENT
Mayor Landman adjourned the meeting at 10:19pm.

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Minutes Acceptance: Minutes of Nov 8, 2022 6:00 PM (APPROVAL OF MINUTES AND NOTICE OF WAIVING OF READING OF ALL Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Police Building Surveillance Camera Replacement and Update Date: November 22, 2022
Written by: Michael Parish, Chief of Police
Recommendation
It is recommended that the Cotati City Council approve by motion a professional services agreement with Vigilare Security Cameras for a total amount not to exceed $29,250, and authorize the City Manager to execute the agreement.

Background
The Police Building needs to be secure from threats and made safe for visitors. Capturing surveillance with cameras and storing the video of incidents is in the best interest of the City of Cotati and its visitors.

The Police Building Surveillance Cameras and associated recording systems are at end of life and need replacement. The equipment needs replacement and storage of video data will be upgraded to a cloud format.

Analysis/Discussion
The Cotati Police Department Building is nearing its 20th year since its completion. The building is equipped with a surveillance camera system to capture video. Our police department needs a camera system for security of the building as well as for our guest who visit. For example, child custody exchanges occur daily in our parking lot and lobby and people seeking refuge come to our lobby for help. Police dispatchers need to be able to view camera footage before allowing access to the police building’s various doors and gates. It is important to not only view the camera system, but also to record the activity.

The current camera system is at end of life and needs to be upgraded. For cost savings, City Staff have evaluated and think it is best to continue using some, but not all, existing cameras that are still performing. However, in accordance with best practices, staff propose upgrading to a system that includes moving to a cloud-based recording system.

Our current camera vendor is Pacific Technology CCTV Inc. which is one of the largest,

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privately owned and operated closed-circuit television systems integrators in the San Francisco Bay Area and Northern California. Unfortunately, this current vender is not performing for requested maintenance, repairs, and replacement of our current camera system. Staff have requested a camera system upgrade estimate from this vendor and have not yet received their quote.

Additionally, City staff requested quotes from multiple other venders, including KLH Consulting which is the City of Cotati Information Technology vendor. The lowest bid (quote) for a camera system upgrade was provided by Vigilare Security Camera, which is another vendor serving the greater Bay Area. The Vigilare bid is attached in this report.

Financial Considerations
City staff are recommending a contract for an amount not to exceed $29,250. The City adopted budget for fiscal year 2022/23 includes $40,000 in the Police Department Contract Services for Special Projects account 10-23-80187-000000. As such, no additional appropriations are required. The remaining budget balance of $10,750 is expected to be used for future updates to the aged intercom system.

Environmental Issues
This project has been reviewed for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has been found to qualify for a Class 1 Categorical Exemption under Section 15301 (Existing Facilities) of CEQA, in that it is the replacement of existing security infrastructure at the City’s police department building.

Attachments:

Police Building Cameras (PDF)

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Proposal
Rhombus Systems
Prepared for: Michael Parish, Chief of Police/City of Cotati, Ca.

Prepared by: José Moran COO, Vigilare Security Cameras. 10/08/2022
JOB SITE: COTATI, CA.

PROJECT OVERVIEW
Vigilare Security Cameras will supply and install the following hardware/software:
• (2) R360 12MP-Immersive 360°
• (2) R510 4K Bullet Camera
• (1) R500 4K Bullet Camera
• (9) R200 5MP Dome Camera
• (14) 1YR Enterprise License

SYSTEM INFORMATION
• The security cameras are IK10 & IP66 rated
• 30 days cloud-storage per camera
• Saved video stays in the cloud for up to 2 years
• Automatic firmware updates
• License plate & faces capturing
• AI analytics for people, vehicle and object recognition

VIGILARE SECURITY CAMERAS

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Attachment: Police Building Cameras (Police Building Cameras) • Hybrid-cloud architecture operates even during network outages • Find, save, and share footage in seconds
• No NVR required
• End-to end encryption
• Unlimited devices, locations, and users managed from one console • Access live video remotely from any device in seconds • Rhombus cameras can be integrated with Rhombus sensors (door sensors, MTN sensors and environmental sensors)
• 10-year warranty
• Real-time alerts
• Low bandwidth footprint (10 Kbps per camera)
For more AI features information please visit the following link:
https://www.rhombussystems.com/pricing-chart/

PRICING
Description Quantity Unit Price Cost
R510 4K Bullet Camera 30 Days On-Board Storage 2 $1,499.00 $2,998.00 R200 5MP Dome Camera 30 Days On-Board Storage 9 $599.00 $5,391.00 R360 12MP Fisheye Camera 30 Days On-Board Storage 2 $1,299.00 $2,598.00 1-Year Enterprise License (all the AI features & 30 days of cloud storage per camera)
14 $199.00 $2,786.00
Cisco 16-Port Poe Switch 1 $670.00 $670.00
Cisco 4-Port Poe Switch 2 $256.00 $512.00
Cat6 Cable 800 $0.52 $416.00
AIVO Wireless Bridge 4 $149.00 $596.00
Mounting Bracket for AIVO 4 $24.00 $96.00

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Attachment: Police Building Cameras (Police Building Cameras) 10-Year warranty per camera
1-Year of labor warranty. (excludes RMAs, or service calls).

Terms: Hardware downpayment is required to start the project. The remaining balance ($9,900) must be submitted within completion of installation.

Services not included in this proposal:
— internet service or internet equipment.
— future service calls & troubleshooting.
— Electrical work (if applicable)
It is recommended to have well lighted areas for best camera infrared performance The current quote is only valid for 30 days
Any questions or requests please contact:

Jose Moran, COO
Vigilare Security Cameras
707-327-7810
Junction Box R200 9 $39.00 $351.00
Junction Box R510 3 $99.00 $297.00
Mounting Kit for R360 2 $177.00 $354.00
Miscellaneous (S&H, Silicone, RJ45 connectors, anchors, partial rigid pipe, flex pipe, junction boxes, etc)
1 $653.00 $653.00
CA taxes 1 $1,594.00 $1,594.00
Labor & Configuration 100 $99.00 $9,900.00
Hardware Total $19,313.00
Grand Total $29,213.00
Deposit $19,313.00
Description Quantity Unit Price Cost

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Attachment: Police Building Cameras (Police Building Cameras) Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: SMART Grant Application Support Letter
Date: November 22, 2022
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a motion authorizing the Mayor to sign a letter supporting SMART's application for the 2022 Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program grant to complete the rail system to Cloverdale.

Background
Sonoma Marin Area Rail Transit’s (SMART) voter-funded 70-mile passenger rail and pathway project began operating revenue service five years ago while continuing to complete the construction of the remaining system. The SMART System connects Santa Rosa to surrounding communities and provides access to regional opportunities without car dependence. The SMART system has 45-miles and 12 stations of passenger rail construction completed, as well as 25 miles of pathway. The 13th and 14th stations, 3-miles of track and over 15 miles of pathway are under construction or have pending applications for construction funds from other sources.

The 2022 Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) Cycle 6 grant application period is currently open and SMART intends to submit an application for grant funds but is seeking regional support for its application.

Analysis/Discussion
SMART requested support from the City of Cotati in their application for TIRCP funds to complete the remaining 22 miles and 15th and 16th stations of the rail system. The letter was requested by early December to meet their grant application deadline and a draft letter is attached.

In accordance with City Council policy, the Mayor is required to get City Council authorization for letters on behalf of the City, unless they are time critical and meet certain criteria.

Financial Considerations

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Not applicable.

Environmental Issues
This action is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) because it is not a project which has a potential for resulting in either a direct physical change in the environment, or a reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment, pursuant to CEQA Guideline section 15378.

Attachments:

SMART Grant Letter of Support (DOCX)

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The Honorable Toks Omishakin
Secretary, California State Transportation Agency
915 Capitol Mall, Suite 350B
Sacramento, CA 95814
Re: 2022 Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) Cycle 6 – Support for SMART Application Dear Secretary Omishakin,
On behalf of the City of Cotati, we are pleased to support Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit District’s (SMART) request for Transit and Intercity Rail Capital Program (TIRCP) funds to complete the SMART Rail and Pathway Project.

SMART’s voter-funded 70-mile passenger rail and pathway project began operating revenue service five years ago while continuing to complete the construction of the remaining system. The SMART System connects Santa Rosa to surrounding communities and provides access to regional opportunities without car dependence. The SMART system has 45-miles and 12 stations of passenger rail construction completed, as well as 25 miles of pathway. The 13th and 14th stations, 3-miles of track and over 15 miles of pathway are under construction or have pending applications for construction funds from other sources. This request would complete the remaining 22 miles and 15th and 16th stations of the rail system.

The City of Cotati, located in central Sonoma County, adjacent to Sonoma State University is a small city committed to maintaining our roots in agriculture and music while meeting our housing and infrastructure needs within our existing urban limits. We promote the most environmentally friendly development possible as we strive to meet our housing needs. The fire, flood, and pandemic disasters our county experienced between 2017 and 2021 highlighted the need to create options for community essentials such as transportation choices, housing availability, freight transport, and broadband access. It has been a key goal of our county’s voters and municipalities for years complete SMART’s system to Cloverdale.

Completing the SMART Rail and Pathway system directly addresses these needs and supports Cotati’s residents and employers.

Cotati recognizes that to create the most effective rail network in the North Bay, it is critical to expand the SMART system to our neighbors to the north. The SMART Rail and Pathway system will create economic opportunity and access to needed services along the entire corridor, whether it is Cotati residents affordably accessing jobs in North County or Cloverdale residents accessing educational opportunities at Sonoma State University, we will all benefit. Completing SMART is an important step in building transportation resiliency for our community.

We thank you for your consideration of this TIRCP request to match our voters’ commitment to a healthier transportation future.

Sincerely,
Mark Landman
Mayor

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Attachment: SMART Grant Letter of Support (Letter of Support for SMART Funding) Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Second reading of an ordinance to amend the City's land use code to facilitate urban agriculture
Date: November 22, 2022
Written by: Autumn Buss, Associate Planner
Recommendation
It is recommended by the Planning Commission and the Community Development Department that the City Council adopt an ordinance amending the Zoning Code to facilitate local food production and urban agriculture in Cotati, and changing the zoning of the Veronda-Falletti Ranch property (175 W. Sierra Avenue) from Neighborhood, Low Density (NL), to Open Space, Recreation (OSR).

I. Background
The General Plan includes numerous goals to promote urban agriculture and increase access to healthy food in Cotati. For example, the General Plan supports the development of appropriate agriculture in residential and open space zones, strengthening of local food systems including community gardens and community supported agriculture, and diversification of local economic activities. Current Zoning Code standards, however, include some restrictions on uses and activities related to local food production that present challenges to the implementation of the General Plan goals.

Previous Actions
In Fall 2021, the City Council directed staff to review the City’s Zoning Code for consistency with General Plan goals for promoting urban agriculture and local food production, and to prepare Zoning Code amendments for the Council’s consideration.

On March 7, 2022, the Cotati Planning Commission held a public hearing on a proposed

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urban agriculture ordinance, and voted to recommend that the City Council adopt the ordinance.

On March 22, 2022, the City Council held a public hearing to consider the proposed ordinance, and voted to reject the ordinance in light of the need for more discussion and consideration of a broader range of potential options and impact reduction, directing staff to prepare a workshop for the Council to hear more community input and consider a variety of strategies.

On June 30, 2022, the City Council held the workshop and directed staff to prepare a revised draft ordinance reflecting the regulation of local food production based on scale and intensity, and setting specific limitations and performance standards on urban agriculture in order to reduce neighborhood impacts.

On September 19, 2022, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the revised draft ordinance reflecting City Council direction from its June 30, 2022 workshop and voted to recommend that the City Council adopt the ordinance, with minor changes, and requested that the Council consider increasing the number of days that a Market Stand is allowed to operate.

On November 7, 2022, the Planning Commission held a public hearing on the draft ordinance and recommended an additional revision to the City Council: The inclusion of “Child Day Care—Day Care Center” as an allowed use with a Use Permit in the Open Space, Recreation (OSR) zoning district.

On November 8, 2022, the City Council held a public hearing and first reading of the draft ordinance, and voted to introduce the ordinance with the following revisions:

1. Remove the business license requirement for urban agriculture uses, consistent with the existing business license exemption.

2. Allow the three days per year during which a Market Garden or Community Garden may use non-residential equipment for site preparation to be weekdays or weekends.

3. Allow roosters in the Open Space, Recreation zoning district with a Use Permit.

4. Specify that the five-foot setback requirement for Market Gardens and

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Community Gardens applies only within thirty feet of a residential structure on an adjacent property.

5. Allow Garden Stands to operate three days per week.

6. Clarify that preapplication neighborhood meetings do not apply to urban agriculture uses.

II. Analysis/Discussion
Current Urban Agriculture Regulations in Cotati
Currently, local food production may be accomplished in several ways in Cotati, in terms of zoning regulations:

1. Home gardens for personal food production are permitted by-right (P) in all residential zones.

2. Crop Production for commercial purposes is allowed with a Use Permit (UP) in the Rural Residential (RR) zoning district.

3. Produce Stands accessory to a Crop Production use are allowed with a UP in the RR zone.

4. Community Gardens are allowed with a Minor Use Permit (MUP) in all residential districts and the Open Space-Recreation (OSR) zone.

5. Up to 20 chickens per property for non-commercial purposes are allowed by-right in residential districts and in residential uses in commercial districts. (Roosters are allowed only in RR.)
Council Direction on Strategies to Promote Local Food Production At its June 30, 2022 workshop, the City Council reviewed a variety of options to promote urban agriculture and local food production, and provided specific direction to staff for a revised draft ordinance.

Whereas the previous draft ordinance proposed a significant expansion of the Crop

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Production land use within residential districts, the current draft recognizes Council concerns that the Crop Production land use is not appropriate in denser residential neighborhoods. Instead, the revised draft ordinance reflects Council direction to explore the creation of a lower-intensity, smaller-scale land use, the “Market Garden,” which can be applied in any residential district. In addition, the Council identified the need for specific performance standards for Crop Production, Market Gardens, and Community Gardens in order to reduce the potential for urban agriculture operations to negatively impact neighboring properties.

The Council further requested that noticing requirements for public hearings on urban agricultural uses that require permits be increased, to allow additional neighbor input on proposed farming operations. The Council also noted the importance of reducing the planning permit fees for such projects, to lower the financial hurdles associated with starting an urban agriculture business in Cotati. The Council further supported facilitating the viability of urban farming by allowing Market Gardens to operate small Garden Stands, allowing Garden Stands and Produce Stands to sell eggs and Cottage Food items as well as produce, and confirming Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) as part of the Crop Production land use.

Finally, the Council supported the idea of re-zoning Veronda-Falletti Ranch in order to facilitate the operation of the property as a demonstration farm and education site.

Proposed Urban Agriculture Regulations
Following is an overview of the specific provisions of the revised draft ordinance relating to urban agriculture and local food production:

1. Creation of the “Market Garden” land use designation in the Zoning Code:
• Defined as small-scale agricultural production for sale or donation. • Permitted by-right (“P”) in all residential zoning districts (zoning clearance required).
• Mechanized equipment would be limited to residential equipment only, used between the hours of 9am and 5pm. (Exception: Up to three weekdays per year of heavier equipment for site preparation for planting would be allowed.)

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• Maximum cultivation area is a half-acre (may be non-contiguous), and five-foot setbacks from property lines are required.
• At least one residential dwelling unit would be required as the primary use of the property.
• An on-site “Garden Stand” would be allowed by-right, accessory to a Market Garden use. A Garden Stand may be up to 100 square feet in size, and must be located out of the public right-of-way. May operate two days per week, 9am-7pm.

Must be temporary and moved out of sight of the public when not in operation.

Two parking spaces, on- or off-street are required.

2. The existing Crop Production land use and the Produce Stand land use, which is accessory to Crop Production, would be allowed with a Use Permit in the OSR and Residential Very Low (RVL) zones. Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) would be allowed in the Crop Production land use.

3. Garden Stands and Produce Stands (which per existing code are allowed to be up to 400 square feet in size, but still temporary in nature) would be allowed to sell produce grown and eggs produced on-site or at an adjacent property, as well as prepared food items made from produce grown on-site or at an adjacent property, in accordance with State and County Cottage Food requirements. Such stands would also be subject to State and County requirements related to safe retail food handling, and would be required to obtain a City of Cotati business license.

4. Permit requirements and standards for Community Gardens are proposed to be updated:
• Community Garden is defined as for personal use or donation, and may be operated by organizations as well as groups of individuals. • Permitted by-right in all residential zones and with a Use Permit in OSR. • Mechanized equipment would be limited to residential equipment only, between the hours of 9am and 5pm. (Exception: Up to 3 weekdays per year of heavier equipment for site preparation for planting would be allowed.) • 5-foot setbacks from property lines would be required. • Soil analysis to identify potential toxicity or contamination required.

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• A management plan would be submitted to the City prior to the start of garden operations.
• A contact person and information would be updated annually with the City and posted on-site.

5. Planning permit fees for Crop Production, Community Gardens, Produce Stands, and Farmers Markets are proposed to be reduced by 50%. In addition, Use Permit approval for these uses will require a finding of compatibility with nearby residential uses, and public hearing notices would be sent to property owners within a radius of 600 feet from the subject site, or greater at the discretion of the Community Development Director.

6. Crop Production, Market Gardens, and Community Gardens would be subject to new “Urban Agriculture” performance standards:
• These uses may not affect the livability or appropriate development of adjacent properties in terms of noise, water runoff, pesticide runoff, equipment operation, hours of operation, odor, vermin, security, or vehicular traffic. • Pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides, and synthetic fertilizers are strongly discouraged, and may not adversely affect adjacent properties. • Water conservation practices must be followed.
• Compost piles/containers must be located at least 20 feet from dwellings on adjacent properties.

7. In order to allow egg sales at Garden Stands and Produce Stands, the prohibition on commercial hen-keeping is proposed to be removed. At least one residential dwelling unit would be required as the primary use of the property.

Veronda-Falletti Ranch
The City purchased Veronda-Falletti Ranch with the intention of operating the property as a demonstration farm with animals, agriculture, and farm-based educational activities.

The conservation easement on the property held by the Sonoma County Agriculture and Open Space District, and the City’s license agreements with the nonprofit Farmster for the operation of the property, reflect that commitment. However, the current zoning for

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Veronda-Falletti Ranch, Neighborhood-Low Density (NL), is not consistent with this vision. It is recommended that the Council rezone the property to OSR, and amend the OSR zoning designation to allow the following uses:
• Agricultural accessory structure
• Animal keeping
• Crop Production
• Plant Nursery
• Artisan/craft product manufacturing
• Community garden
• Meeting facility
• Caretaker quarters
• Farmers Market
• Produce stand
• Day care center
The introduction of any of these uses would require a Use Permit setting specific standards for operation in order to minimize impacts.

Additional Proposed Code Changes
The proposed ordinance would address three additional needs identified by the Community Development Department to facilitate planning and development in the city:

1. Adjust the allowable height of a residential accessory structure that is subject to 5-foot setbacks from 10 feet, to 12 feet. Currently the Zoning Code requires that such structures that are between 10 and 12 feet in height conform to the setbacks for the primary residence, which are typically considerably greater than 5 feet. The maximum height limit of a residential accessory structure is 12 feet (except in the case of detached garages or with a minor use permit). The marginal height difference between 10 feet and 12 feet, and the potential associated neighborhood impact, do not warrant significantly larger

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setbacks. It is therefore recommended to make the 5-foot setback requirement consistent for residential accessory structures.

2. Addition of neighborhood meeting requirement for certain projects. Each discretionary project requiring a Tentative Map or with a scope of development greater than one acre would require a preapplication neighborhood meeting to ensure early community input.

3. Project sign requirement for larger projects. Each project that requires a neighborhood meeting would also require a project sign on-site for at least 10 days prior to its public hearing(s), to increase public notice of significant projects.

III. General Plan
The proposed Zoning Code amendments and rezoning of the Veronda-Falletti Ranch property are consistent with a number of General Plan policies that set forth the community’s vision for increased access to healthy food, development of urban agriculture, strengthening the local food system, preservation of historic and cultural resources, creation of neighborhood amenities, and diversification of the local economy.

Specific applicable goals include the following:

GOAL CHW 3: Ensure All Residents Have Convenient Access to Healthy and Nutritional Food Options.

Objective CHW 3A: Increase the Availability and Variety of Healthy Food Options Policy CHW 3.1: Promote the availability of fresh fruits and vegetables and healthy foods and support a wide range of healthy food sources.

Policy CHW 3.2: Encourage sustainable local food systems including farmer’s markets, community gardens, edible school yards, community supported agriculture, neighborhood garden exchanges, urban agriculture, federal food assistance programs, and healthy food retailers.

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Policy CHW 3.3: Recognize that urban agriculture has the potential to supplement the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables in the community, provide economic opportunities to Cotati residents, lower food costs, reduce overall energy consumption and build social cohesion.

Action CHW-3d: Work with appropriate local agencies, service providers, non-profits, community groups and regulatory agencies to explore the potential for creating, expanding and sustaining local urban agriculture, including community gardens, and orchards. The work effort should explore the feasibility of implementing the following strategies:
• Promoting urban agriculture as a desirable civic activity that improves the quality of urban life, food security, neighborhood safety and environmental stewardship; • Supporting the development of appropriate agriculture in residential, industrial, business, and open space zones;
• Support farm to institution (such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes, daycare centers) and businesses (such as restaurants and food outlets), while creating economic opportunities for urban growers and related industries; • Support efforts of local gardening organizations to promote the development and expansion of family and community gardens as well as edible landscaping; • Encourage and promote local garden food exchanges and local food cooperatives; and
• Work with representatives of local farming organizations to meet needs unique to urban farm enterprises.

GOAL CON4: Protect and Preserve Cotati’s Historic and Cultural Resources Objective CON 4B: Protect Important Historic Resources and Use these Resources to Promote a Sense of Place and History in Cotati.

Policy CON 4.6: Encourage historic resources to remain in their original use whenever possible. The adaptive use of historic resources is preferred, particularly as museums, educational facilities, or visitor-serving uses, when the original use can no longer be sustained. Older residences may be converted to office/retail use in commercial areas and to tourist or business use, so long at their historical authenticity is maintained or

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enhanced.

Objective EV 1A: Diversify the Local Economy.

Policy EV 1.1: Attract and retain economic sectors in which Cotati has competitive advantages, and capitalize on these strengths in order to diversify local economic activities.

Policy EV 1.12: Encourage the growth of new commercial enterprises within appropriately zoned areas while maintaining the stability of existing commercial businesses.

Policy LU-2.9: Encourage a concentration of neighborhood, community, and retail amenities and services within walking distance of residential areas.

Policy LU 3.14: Provide new opportunities for community gathering and social interaction through park facilities, community centers, cultural/art facilities.

Policy OS 1.3: Protect rural (Agricultural and Rural Residential) and natural open space lands from urbanization.

IV. Planning Commission Review and Recommendation
On September 19, 2022, the Planning Commission reviewed and considered the draft ordinance at a Public Hearing. After hearing the staff presentation and asking some clarifying questions, the Commission heard comments from the public. Following discussion, the Planning Commission voted to support the proposed urban agriculture ordinance, with minor revisions, and passed a resolution recommending City Council approval. The revisions requested by the Commission at that meeting, and incorporated into the current draft Ordinance, are the following:

1. Specify that any Community Garden rules relating to pesticide, herbicide, rodenticide,

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or synthetic fertilizer use be stated in the management plan that the garden is required to submit to the City.

2. Require that Produce Stands and Garden Stands adhere to State and County regulations related to safe retail food handling, and obtain a City of Cotati business license.

At the Planning Commission meeting scheduled for November 7, 2022, staff will ask the Commission to consider a recommendation to the Council to include “Child Day Care— Day Care Center” as an allowed use with a Use Permit in the Open Space, Recreation (OSR) zoning district in Table 2.2, Section 17.22.020 Allowable land uses, as part of the urban agriculture ordinance. (This provision was unintentionally omitted through a clerical error in the version of the draft Ordinance provided to the Planning Commission on September 19, 2022.)
At its September 19, 2022 meeting, the Planning Commission also voted to remove the following language from the draft ordinance in Section 17.42.130 F2:
“Incidental items for sale that are not produced at an on-site or adjacent agricultural operation, such as bottled water, packaged snacks, or nonfood items, shall not exceed 10% of sales area or gross sales receipts, whichever is less, at a Produce Stand.” The Commission wished to prohibit sales of such items at Produce Stands, in the interest of reducing plastic consumption and litter, and focusing on agricultural products. Staff feels that sales of incidental items may be helpful to support the viability of Produce Stands, and would be further regulated by the required Use Permit. For that reason, the provision has remained in the draft Ordinance presented to the Council for consideration.

Finally, the Planning Commission has requested that the City Council consider whether the 2 day per week limitation on Garden Stands is appropriate in light of the possibility that seasonal produce is often ready for harvest on a more frequent basis and should be sold shortly after harvest. The Commissioners felt that allowing Garden Stands to operate more days per week would allow produce to be sold when it is fresh and reduce the loss of produce that does not store well.

V. Financial Considerations

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With the exception of the staff time needed to create the urban agriculture ordinance, there are no direct financial impacts to the general fund associated with the creation of this ordinance.

VI. Environmental Issues
The City of Cotati is proposing changes to the Land Use Code to allow for increased opportunities for small-scale urban agriculture within the city primarily in residential and open space zoning districts and to rezone the historic Veronda-Falletti Ranch property consistent with the Agriculture and Open Space easement previously recorded over the site. These code and map changes will not impact the underlying purpose of any zoning district. Thus, the proposed code changes are consistent with, and implement, the past CEQA analysis and potential for adverse environmental impacts, as analyzed in the Cotati General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR) (SCH# 2013-08-2037), certified in March 2015. Further, in addition to being consistent with the General Plan policies, these changes are implementing specific programs and direction identified in the Cotati General Plan as identified above.

Given this, Staff finds that the proposed ordinance to amend the Land Use Code to expand urban agricultural opportunities throughout the City is consistent with existing policies programs and direction identifies in the 2015 Cotati General Plan. Therefore, the proposed land use code zoning and map amendments are found to be consistent with the program Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH# 2013082037) for the Cotati General Plan Update that was certified on March 24, 2015 (Resolution Number 2015-11), and pursuant to Section 15168 of the CEQA Guidelines, no further environmental review is required.

VII. Summary and Staff Recommendation
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt an ordinance amending the Zoning Code to facilitate local food production and urban agriculture in Cotati, and changing the zoning of the Veronda-Falletti Ranch property (175 W. Sierra Avenue) from Neighborhood, Low Density (NL), to Open Space, Recreation (OSR).

Attachments:

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1. Redline version of proposed Zoning Code amendments

2. November 8, 2022 Powerpoint presentation
Attachments:

Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment(PDF) Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (PDF)
Public Comment (1) 10.11 (PDF)
Public comment 2 11.8_Redacted (PDF)
Cotati Local Food Ord - Letter_11-22 (002)_Redacted (PDF) Public Comment 1 11.8_Redacted (PDF)

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Proposed Zoning Code Amendments for Urban Agriculture Ordinance -- Redline Version Note: Portions of sections where changes are not proposed have been omitted to save space.

Section 17.22.020 Allowable land uses and planning permit requirements is amended, as follows:
(Excerpt of) Table 2-2
Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements for Low Density and Neighborhood Zones P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit required
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District

OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU
Specific
Use
Regulations
Agricultural and Open Space Uses
Agricultural accessory
structure
UP UP– P P – – – 17.42.020
Animal keeping S S S S S S S 17.42.040
Crop production,
horticulture, orchard,
vineyard(5)
– UP– UP UP– – – – 17.42.240
Market garden – – P P P P P 17.42.230,

17.42.240
Plant nursery – UP– UP – – – –
Winery, small scale – – UP(2) – – – –
Industry, Manufacturing and
Processing, Wholesaling
Artisan/craft product
manufacturing
– UP– UP(3) – – – –

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit required
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District

OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU
Specific
Use
Regulations
Recreation, Education and Public Assembly Uses
Community garden(5) – UPMUP PMUP PMUP PMUP PMUP PMUP 17.42.220,

17.42.240
Equestrian facility – UP UP – – – –
Meeting facility, public or
private
– UP– – – UP UP UP
Park UP P P P P P P
Playground – P P P P P P
Private residential recreation
facility
– – – UP UP UP UP
School – Elementary, middle,
secondary
– – – UP UP UP –
Residential Uses
Accessory dwelling unit – – P P P P P 17.42.170
Caretaker quarters UP UP– – – – – –
Cottage housing – – – – S S S 17.42.125
Home occupation – – P P P P P 17.42.080
Junior accessory dwelling unit – – P P P – – 17.42.170
Mobilehome park – – UP UP UP UP UP 17.42.110
Mobile/manufactured home – – P P P P P 17.42.110
Multifamily housing, 2 units – – – – UP P P 17.42.120
Retail Trade
Accessory retail and services – – – – UP UP UP
Convenience store, 1,200 sq.
ft. or less
– – – – UP UP UP

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit required
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District

OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU
Specific
Use
Regulations
Farmers Market(5) – UP – – – – –
Garden Stand _ _ P P P P P 17.42.130,

17.42.230
Produce stand(5) – UP– UP UP– – – – 17.42.130
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District

OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU
Specific
Use
Regulations
Services – Business and Professional
Medical services – Extended care – – – – – UP UP
Office – Accessory – P P P P P P
Services
Adult day care – 6 or fewer
clients
– – P P P P P
Adult day care – 7 to 14 clients – – UP UP UP UP UP
Adult day care – 15 or more
clients
– – UP UP UP UP UP
Child day care – Small family day
care home
– – P P P P P
Child day care – Large family day
care home
– – P P P – – 17.42.060
Child day care – Day care center – UP– – – – UP UP 17.42.060 Kennel, animal boarding – – UP – – – –

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Key to Zoning District Symbols
OSC Open Space – Conservation NL Neighborhood – Low
Density
OSR Open Space – Recreation NM Neighborhood – Medium
Density
RR Rural Residential NU Neighborhood – Urban
RVL Residential, Very Low
Density
Notes:
(1) See Article 9 of this title for land use definitions. (2) May be approved only in conjunction with an on-site vineyard of three acres or larger. (3) May be approved only on a site of three acres or larger. (4) Use permit approval shall require that the review authority first find that the location of a proposed single-family dwelling on a parcel that may be further subdivided will not preclude future subdivision and development in compliance with the general plan. (5) Fees for Crop Production, horticulture, orchard, vineyard; Community Garden; Farmers Market; and Produce Stand planning permit applications shall be calculated at 50% of the fees set forth in the Fee Schedule as described in Section 17.60.060 Application fees. Use permit approval shall require that the review authority first find that the proposed use will be compatible with any nearby residential uses. Notices of Public Hearings for these uses shall be mailed to property owners within a radius from the subject site of 600’, or greater at the Director’s discretion.
(Excerpt of) Table 2-3
Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements for Mixed Use Corridors and Districts P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District

CE CG CD CI IG PF
Specific
Use
Regulations
Farmers market(7) MUP MUP MUP MUP UP UP

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Key to Zoning District Symbols
CE East Cotati Avenue
Corridor
CI Commercial/Industrial
District
CG Gravenstein Highway
Corridor
IG General Industrial District
CD Downtown Commercial PF Public Facility District
Notes:
(1) See Article 9 for land use definitions.
(2) Use allowed only on second or upper floors, in compliance with Section 17.24.050(C), Limitation on the Location of Allowable Land Uses, or behind an allowed ground floor street frontage use. (3) See Section 17.42.165, Retail use maximum floor area. (4) When the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control allows customers under twenty-one years of age on the premises.
(5) Artisan/craft product manufacturing uses proposed in the CE, CG, CD, HC, LP, NG, and CA districts must be located within buildings and suites designed and oriented to engage and encourage pedestrian activity and interaction with the surrounding uses. Uses in these districts must also include retail storefront presence and design characteristics, with production and manufacturing design elements (such as loading doors, material storage, etc.) oriented away from the primary entrances and street frontages of developments where they are located.
(6) MUP required for outdoor dining on private property in the CD district when the dining use abuts a residential land use.
(7) Fees for Farmers Market planning permit applications shall be calculated at 50% of the fees set forth in the Fee Schedule as described in Section 17.60.060 Application fees. Use permit approval shall require that the review authority first find that the proposed use will be compatible with any nearby residential uses. Notices of Public Hearings for shall be mailed to property owners within a radius from the subject site of 600’, or greater at the Director’s discretion.

Section 17.36.050 Parking and Loading, Number of parking spaces required is amended, as follows:
(THE ONLY CHANGE PROPOSED TO SECTION 17.36.050 IS THE ADDITION TO TABLE 3.7

SHOWN BELOW)

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Table 3-7
Parking Requirements by Land Use
Land Use
Type: Vehicle Spaces Required
Garden
Stand
2 spaces minimum, either on-street adjacent to the property or off-street, out of the public right-of-way.

Section 17.42.040 Animal Keeping is amended, as follows:
(THE ONLY CHANGES PROPOSED ARE THE FOLLOWING TO 17.42.040 B, C, and G IN THE

EXCERPTS SHOWN BELOW)
B. Allowable Animal-Keeping Activities and Permit Requirements.

Table 4-1
Allowable Animal-Keeping and Permit Requirements
Type of Animal
Permit Requirement by Zoning District
OSC
OSR
RR RVL
Other Zone
Allowing
Residential
Use
Aviary (keeping of birds other than fowl
or poultry)
P P P P –
Beekeeping (for plant pollination
and/or honey production)
P P P P –
Boarding or breeding kennel – – MUP – –
Chickens P P P P P in NL
district;
zoning
clearance
letter
required in

NM, NU,
and
residential
uses in all

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Type of Animal
Permit Requirement by Zoning District
OSC
OSR
RR RVL
Other Zone
Allowing
Residential
Use
commercial
districts
Dogs and cats P - P P P
Fowl and poultry other than roosters
and chickens
P P P P –
Hogs and swine P P P – –
Horses and cows P P P MUP –
Roosters P – P – –
Other small animals (defined in Table 4-
2)

P P P P P
Other large animals (defined in Table 4-
2)
P P P MUP –
C. Animal-Keeping Standards. All animal keeping shall comply with the standards in Table 4-2, where allowed by subsection B of this section, Table 4-1, except that more animals may be allowed by minor use permit.

Table 4-2
Animal-Keeping Standards
Type of Animal or
Facility
Maximum Number of
Animals per Site(1)
Minimum Lot
Area(2)
Minimum Setbacks(3)
From
Side/Rear
Property Lines
From Streets
and Dwellings
Aviary for birds other
than fowl and poultry
20 per acre 1/2 acre 25 ft. 50 ft.

Beekeeping N.A. 1 acre 25 ft. 50 ft.

Boarding or breeding
kennel
Requirements established by minor use permit approval, and subsection F of this section.

Chickens (hens) 20 per site No minimum
lot size
12 ft. 20 ft.

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Type of Animal or
Facility
Maximum Number of
Animals per Site(1)
Minimum Lot
Area(2)
Minimum Setbacks(3)
From
Side/Rear
Property Lines
From Streets
and Dwellings
Dogs and cats 5 animals total on a site less
than 1 acre; 5 of each species
on a site of 1 acre or more.

None required None required None required
Fowl and poultry
other than roosters
and chickens
12 per acre 1/2 acre 25 ft. 50 ft.

Hogs and swine 1 per acre 2 acres 50 ft. 100 ft.

Horses and cows 2 per acre 1 acre 25 ft. 50 ft.

Roosters 1 per acre 1 acre 25 ft. 50 ft.

Other small animals –
Chinchillas, rabbits,
nonpoisonous
reptiles, rodents, and
other nonpoisonous
animals of similar size.
4 animals total on a site less
than 1 acre; 4 of each species
on a site of 1 acre or more,
where allowed by Table 4-1.

None for 4 or
fewer animals; 1
acre for 5 or
more animals.

None on a site of
less than 1 acre;
10 ft. on a site of
1 acre or more.

None on a site of
less than 1 acre;
25 ft. on a site of
1 acre or more.

Other large animals –
Emus, goats, llamas,
miniature horses and
donkeys, ostriches,
pot belly pigs, sheep,
and similar-sized
animals.
4 per acre 1/2 acre 25 ft. 50 feet for
accessory
structure, none
for pasture.

Notes:
(1) Offspring allowed in addition to maximum number until market-ready; greater numbers of animals than allowed by Table 4-2 may be authorized by minor use permit. (2) Minimum lot area required for the keeping of animals. (3) Minimum setbacks from all property lines for barns, shelters, pens, coops, cages, and other areas and structures where animals are kept in concentrated confinement; but not including areas continuously maintained as pasture. Minimum setbacks from dwellings refers to dwellings located on other parcels. Animals shall not be kept in any required front yard setback except in pasture areas.

G. Chickens. In addition to the requirements of this section, the keeping of chickens shall comply with the following standards:

1. Commercial Use Prohibited. Accessory to Residential Use. Except where allowed by Section 17.22.020, Allowable land uses and planning permit requirements, tThe keeping of chickens shall be solely as an accessory use to a residential use, and may not be the primary use on any site within the city..

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022)

2. Location in Multifamily and Commercial Zoning Districts. Enclosures, coops, cages, and shelters shall generally be located internally on a residential site, and shall not abut a commercially zoned property.

3. Butchering Prohibited. Butchering, slaughtering, or otherwise killing chickens shall be prohibited.

4. Nuisance Prohibited. Confirmed nNoise impacts, odor impacts, and valid vector complaints shall cause the chickens to be deemed a nuisance, and result in this use becoming prohibited at the subject site.

5. Private Common Area Signoff. Where chickens are proposed to be located in a private common area, the private governing organization (e.g., the homeowner’s association) shall provide written consent and are ultimately responsible for ensuring compliance with these standards. (Ord. 823 § 2(C) Exh. C (part), 2009; Ord. 766 § 2 Exh. A (part), 2004).

Section 17.42.130 Outdoor displays and sales is amended, as follows:
(THE ONLY CHANGE PROPOSED IS THE FOLLOWING TO 17.42.130 F2 IN THE EXCERPT SHOWN BELOW)
F. Produce Stands and Garden Stands.

1. A Pproduce Sstand shall not exceed a total floor area of four hundred square feet. A Garden Stand shall not exceed a total floor area of one hundred square feet.

2. In residential zoning districts, incidental items for sale that are not produced at an on-site or adjacent agricultural operation, such as bottled water or packaged snacks, shall not exceed 10% of sales area or gross sales receipts, whichever is less.

3. Produce stands and Garden Stands may sell produce grown on-site or on an adjacent site, eggs produced on-site or at an adjacent site, and prepared food items made from produce grown on-site or on an adjacent site and produced and sold according to Cottage Food Operation registration and permit requirements of the County of Sonoma Department of Health Services and any requirements of the State of California..

Section 17.42.220 Community Gardens is added, as follows:

17.42.220 Community Gardens.

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) This section establishes standards for the operation of Community Gardens, where allowed by Chapter 17.22, Allowable Land Uses. The intent of these provisions is to ensure the compatibility between community gardens and other nearby uses.

A. The use of mechanized equipment shall be limited to equipment typically found in residential uses, with operation limited to the hours of 9am to 5pm. An exception is initial site preparation for planting, which may take place for a total of no more than 3 weekdays per year, between the hours of 9am and 5pm.

B. Cultivated areas shall be subject to five-foot setbacks from property lines.

C. Prior to cultivation, the soils shall be analyzed for potential toxicity or contamination that would render the site unsuitable for food crops.

D. A management plan addressing the governance structure of the garden, hours of operation, noise and vermin control, maintenance, responsible water use, security requirements, and other operating rules must be submitted to the City prior to initiation of any site preparation or gardening activities.

A.E. A primary point of contact for the community garden, including name, address, and phone number, shall be updated annually with the City and posted in public view at the garden site.

Section 17.42.230 Market Gardens is added, as follows:

17.42.230 Market Gardens.

This section establishes standards for the operation of Market Gardens, where allowed by Chapter 17.22, Allowable Land Uses. The intent of these provisions is to ensure the compatibility between Market Gardens and other nearby uses.

B. The area of cultivation and related activities shall be limited to a total of one half-acre maximum, which may be non-continguous on the property.

C. Cultivated areas shall be subject to five-foot setbacks from property lines.

D. An on-site Garden Stand is allowed, up to a total floor area of one hundred square feet and located out of the public right-of-way. The Garden Stand may be operated a maximum of two days per week between the hours of 9am and 7pm, and must be temporary in nature and dismantled and stored out of site of the public when not in operation. A minimum of two motor vehicle parking spaces, either on-street or off-street out of the public right-of-way, shall be required for operation of a Garden Stand, in accordance with Section 17.36.050.

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) E. A dwelling unit is required on the property as a primary land use.

Section 17.42.240 Urban Agriculture Standards is added, as follows:

17.42.240 Urban Agriculture Standards.

This section establishes general standards for Urban Agriculture land uses and activities, including Crop Production, Market Gardens, and Community Gardens, where allowed by Chapter 17.22, Allowable Land Uses. The intent of these provisions is to ensure the compatibility between Urban Agriculture land uses and other nearby uses, particularly residential uses. .

A. Urban Agriculture land uses shall not adversely affect the livability or appropriate development of adjacent properties and the surrounding neighborhood in terms of noise, water runoff, pesticide runoff, equipment operation, hours of operation, odor, vermin, security, or vehicular traffic.

B. Pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides, and synthetic fertilizers are strongly discouraged, and if used, shall not adversely impact adjacent properties or the surrounding neighborhood, including overspray, drift, dust, fumes, odors, runoff, soil contamination, plant contamination, or other negative impacts. Such use shall also not be allowed to contaminate the soil of the subject property or any adjacent properties.

C. Water conservation practices must be followed, in accordance with Section 13.30 and State of California Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (WELO) standards.

D. Compost piles and containers must be set back at least 20 feet from dwellings on adjacent properties.

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Section 17.62.030 Limited term permits is amended, as follows:
(THE ONLY CHANGES PROPOSED ARE THE FOLLOWING TO 17.62.030 B AND D IN THE EXCERPT

SHOWN BELOW)

17.62.030 Limited term permit.

A. Purpose. This section establishes procedures for the granting of limited term permits for short-term activities.

This section does not apply to weekly or otherwise frequently recurring farmers markets, which are instead subject to use permit approval as required by Section 17.22.020, Tables 2-2 and 2-3 (Allowable Land Uses) of this title.

C. Review Authority. A limited term permit may be approved or denied by the director, in compliance with this section.

D. Exempt Temporary Uses and Activities. The following temporary uses and activities are allowed without obtaining a limited term permit. Temporary activities that do not fall within the following categories shall comply with subsection E of this section:

1. Emergency Facilities. Temporary facilities to accommodate emergency public health and safety needs and activities;

2. Garage Sales. Garage sales, not to exceed three per year, and two consecutive days for each sale;

3. Public Property, or Public Right-of-Way. Activities conducted on public property that are approved by the council or as otherwise required by the municipal code;

4. Fund-Raising Car Washes. Fund-raising car washes, not to exceed six per year, on property within a commercial or industrial zone, or on institutional property;

5. Tents and Similar Temporary Structures. A tent or similar temporary structure, provided that it is located on a site for a maximum of seventy-two consecutive hours, by the end of which it shall be entirely removed from the site. No site shall have a tent or similar temporary structure more than two times per year.

6. Garden Stands and Produce Stands as allowed by Section 17.22.020 Table 2-2 (Allowable Land Uses) of this title.

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Section 17.90.020 Definitions of specialized terms and phrases is amended, as follows:

Section 17.90.020 Definitions of specialized terms and phrases “Community garden” means a site used for growing plants for food, fiber, herbs, flowers, and other usess, for personal use and/or donation, which is shared and maintained by community residents and/or a nonprofit, educational, governmental, or other charitable organization. “Crop production, horticulture, orchard, vineyard” means commercial agricultural production field and orchard uses, including the production of the following, primarily in the soil on the site and not in containers, other than for initial propagation prior to planting in the soil on the site:
field crops, flowers and seeds, fruits, grains, melons, ornamental crops, tree nuts, trees and sod, vegetables, and wine and table grapes.

1. Field crops;

2. Flowers and seeds;

3. Fruits;

4. Grains;

5. Melons;

6. Ornamental crops;

7. Tree nuts;

8. Trees and sod;

9. Vegetables;

10. Wine and table grapes.

Also includes associated crop preparation services and harvesting activities, such as mechanical soil preparation, irrigation system construction, spraying, crop processing and retail sales in the field such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), not including sales sheds, which are instead defined under “Produce stand.” Does not include greenhouses which are instead defined under “Plant nursery,” and “Residential accessory use or structure,” or containerized crop production, which is instead defined under “Plant nursery.” Does not include noncommercial home gardening, which is allowed as an accessory use in all zoning districts without city approval.
“Market Garden” means small-scale agricultural production for sale or donation, as an accessory use on a residential property with at least one dwelling unit. “Garden Stand” means a temporary business established and operated for a specific time, selling raw, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, and other produce in its raw or natural state, and/or prepared food items made from produce grown on-site or on an adjacent site and

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) produced and sold according to Cottage Food Operation registration and permit requirements of the County of Sonoma Department of Health Services and any requirements of the State of California, and that is accessory to an on-site Market Garden use. “Produce stand” means a temporary business established and operated for a specific time, selling raw, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, and other produce in its raw or natural state, and/or prepared food items made from produce grown on-site or on an adjacent site and produced and sold according to Cottage Food Operation registration and permit requirements of the County of Sonoma Department of Health Services and any requirements of the State of California, and that is accessory to an on-site or adjacent agricultural operationUrban Agriculture use..
“Urban Agriculture” means the Community garden; Crop Production, horticulture, orchard, vineyard; and Market garden land uses.

Section 17.42.160 Residential accessory uses and structures is amended, as follows:
(THE ONLY CHANGE PROPOSED IS THE FOLLOWING TO 17.42.160 E1b IN THE EXCERPT

SHOWN BELOW)
E. Detached Structures. An accessory structure that is detached from the primary structure shall comply with the following standards, except where subsection F of this section establishes a different requirement for a specific type of accessory structure:

1. Setbacks.
a. Front Setback. An accessory structure shall not be located within a required front setback.
b. Side and Rear Setbacks. An accessory structure with a height of twelve ten feet or less shall maintain side and rear setbacks of at least five feet. An accessory structure with a height greater than ten feet shall comply with the setback requirements of the applicable zoning district.

Section 17.60.040B Application preparation and filing is amended, as follows:
(THE ONLY CHANGE PROPOSED IS THE FOLLOWING ADDITION TO SECTION 17.60.040) B. Preapplication Neighborhood Meeting. Each discretionary project requiring a Tentative Map or with a scope of development greater than one acre shall require a preapplication neighborhood meeting in compliance with the following requirements, to provide the

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) opportunity for early input by affected neighbors. While neighborhood consensus or agreement is the goal, it is not a required outcome of the neighborhood meetings.

1. When neighborhood meetings are required:
a. A development proposal that requires a Tentative Map, or is a discretionary project disturbing a site greater than one acre, that requires a public hearing, and that may affect a residential neighborhood, shall require one or more neighborhood meetings in compliance with this Section.
b. A neighborhood meeting may be required for a development proposal that otherwise would not require a meeting if: there is significant controversy regarding the proposal, interest has been expressed by the neighborhood regarding the proposal, or the Director determines that a neighborhood meeting shall be held.

2. When neighborhood meetings are not required:
a. Neighborhood meetings are not required for nonresidential development proposals that are surrounded by nonresidential zoning districts and General Plan land use categories, unless there is an effect on a residential neighborhood, regardless of whether a public hearing is required.
b. Neighborhood meetings are not required for “ministerial” projects, including the issuance of Building Permits or other applications where the discretionary approval or permit has been granted.

3. Waiver of meeting requirement. The requirement for a neighborhood meeting may be waived in cases where the position of a neighborhood in favor of the proposal has been clearly established and/or recent contact with neighborhood representatives indicates that there is no interest in holding a meeting. In these cases, the Director shall determine whether to waive the requirement for a meeting.

4.Timing of neighborhood meeting.
a.When required, a neighborhood meeting shall be held before submittal of the application for the development proposal, except as identified in subparagraph 1b, above.
b. If the neighborhood meeting is held after submittal of the application for development, the application shall not be deemed complete until after the neighborhood meeting has been held.

5. FFollow-up meeting encouraged. When a neighborhood meeting has been held before submittal of the application, applicants are encouraged to hold one or more follow-up

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) neighborhood meetings with interested citizens to explain project changes prior to public hearings on the project.

6. Notification required.
a. A neighborhood meeting shall be noticed by mail to real property owners and occupants located in whole or in part within a minimum radius of 500 feet from the exterior boundaries of the Assessor’s parcels that are the subject of the development proposal. The Notice shall include the date, time, and place of the neighborhood meeting; the phone number and street address of the department, where an interested person may call or visit to obtain additional information; a description of the proposed project; and the location of the real property where the project is proposed. b. Additional notice may be required at the discretion of the Director, including alternate methods and/or the use of a greater noticing radius for projects of particular interest, scale, or size.

7. Staff responsibilities at meeting. City staff is required to attend the neighborhood meetings. The staff role is to identify and explain the City’s development review process and the adopted land use policies, including provisions of the General Plan and the Zoning Code as they relate to the development proposal under consideration. Staff may provide objective commentary on the proposal but is not expected to present a position or recommendation on the proposal at the neighborhood meeting. Staff shall also serve as moderator/facilitator and take meeting notes.

8. Applicant responsibilities at meeting. The applicant or applicant’s representative is required to attend the neighborhood meeting and present basic project information including the following:
a. Site analysis, graphically depicting existing conditions and the neighborhood context; b. Conceptual site plan showing locations of all proposed structures, roads, parking areas, landscaping, and conceptual parcel lines with approximate dimensions; c. Conceptual building and architectural design information; d. Proposed density and/or purpose of the project and its target market.

9. Independent professional staff recommendation required. Neighborhood or applicant comments and recommendations are not binding on staff. City staff will consider the neighborhood comments, as well as those of all referral agencies/organizations, but will formulate its own independent professional recommendation to the applicable review authorities.

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Section 17.88.020 B4 Project Sign is added, as follows:
(THE ONLY CHANGE PROPOSED IS THE FOLLOWING ADDITION TO SECTION 17.88.020B)

4. Project Sign. If the proposed project requires a neighborhood meeting in compliance with Section 17.60.040 B, a project sign shall be required. The applicant shall install a project sign of four feet tall by eight feet long on the subject property in a place conspicuous to the public, at least ten days before the date of the public hearing. The sign shall include the date, time, and location of the hearing; the phone number and street address of the department, where an interested person may call or visit to obtain additional information; and a description of the proposed project.

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Attachment: Attachment 1 Redline version of proposed zoning code amendment (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Potential Zoning Code
Amendment to Promote
Urban Agriculture
City Council Public Hearing
Community
Development
Department
November 8, 2022 UCANR

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Background
 Fall 2021: City Council directed staff to prepare Zoning Code amendments to promote urban agriculture, consistent with General Plan goals
 March 7, 2022: Planning Commission public hearing on first version of proposed urban agriculture ordinance; voted to recommend Council adoption
 March 22, 2022: City Council public hearing on proposed ordinance; Directed staff to prepare a workshop for the Council to hear more community input and consider
different strategies
 June 30, 2022: City Council workshop; Direction to staff provided and subsequently incorporated into current
revised ordinance proposal
 September 19, 2022: Planning Commission Public Hearing; Voted to recommend revised Ordinance adoption, with
minor changes
 November 7, 2022: Planning Commission Public Hearing— add Day Care Center to OSR with Use Permit

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Current Zoning Related to Urban Agriculture
 Home gardens permitted in all residential zones as an accessory use
 Commercial Crop Production allowed with a Use Permit
(UP) in the Rural Residential (RR) district
 Produce stands up to 400 sqft accessory to Crop
Production allowed with a UP in the RR district
 Community Gardens allowed with a Minor Use Permit
(MUP) in all residential districts and the Open Space,
Recreation (OSR) district
 Up to 20 chickens for non-commercial purposes
allowed by-right per property in residential districts; Over 20 allowed with MUP
 Roosters allowed only in the RR district

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Council Direction from Workshop
 Develop complementary
alternative to Crop
Production: Small-scale ag
that would be appropriate in
any residential district
 Create standards to reduce
potential impacts on nearby
residents, and increase
noticing to neighbors
 Low-impact, on-site sales from
urban ag are OK, including
eggs, Cottage Foods

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Draft Ordinance Provisions
New “Market Garden” land use designation
 Smaller-scale agriculture for sale or donation
 Permitted by-right (“P”) in all residential zoning districts  Residential-scale mechanical equipment only, limited to 9am-5pm. (Exception: 3 days/year for site preparation)
 Maximum cultivation area ½ acre; 5-foot setbacks
 Dwelling unit required as primary use
 On-site “Garden Stand” allowed:
 100 square feet maximum
 May operate 2 days/week, 9am-7pm
 Moved out of sight of the public when not in
operation
 Two parking spaces required, on- or off-street
East Sac Farms

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Draft Ordinance Provisions  Allow existing Crop Production land use and Produce Stands in
OSR and Residential Very Low
(RVL) with a Use Permit
 Allow Community Supported
Agriculture (CSA) with Crop
Production
 Garden Stands and Produce
Stands may sell eggs and Cottage
Foods produced on-site or at an
adjacent property. Prohibition on
commercial hen-keeping would be
removed. Limit remains at 20.

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Draft Ordinance Provisions
Community Gardens:
 Permitted by-right in all residential zones; with UP in OSR  Residential mechanical equipment only, limited to 9am-5pm. (Exception: 3 days/year for site preparation)
 5-foot setbacks from property lines; Soil analysis required  Management plan and contact person on file with City

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Draft Ordinance Provisions
New Requirements for Urban Agriculture Permits
 Planning permit fees would be reduced by 50%
 UP requires a finding of compatibility with nearby residential  Public hearing notices to property owners within 600’ radius New Performance Standards for Urban Agriculture:
 May not affect the livability or appropriate development of adjacent properties in terms of noise, water runoff, pesticide runoff, equipment operation, hours of operation, odor, vermin, security, or vehicular traffic
 Pesticides, herbicides, rodenticides, and synthetic fertilizers are discouraged; if used, shall not impact neighboring properties  Water conservation practices must be followed
 Compost piles/containers must be located at least 20 feet from dwellings on adjacent properties

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Draft Ordinance Provisions –
Veronda-Falletti Ranch
 To allow operation as a demonstration farm with
educational and community activities on-site, the
following is recommended:

1. Re-zone the property to OSR, and

2. Amend the OSR zoning designation to allow the
following, with a UP:
• Agricultural accessory structure
• Animal keeping
• Crop Production
• Plant Nursery
• Artisan/craft product manufacturing
• Community garden
• Meeting facility
• Caretaker quarters
• Farmers Market
• Produce stand
• Day Care Center
James Wirth Photography

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Draft Ordinance: Community Development
Additional Provisions
 Increase allowable height of a residential accessory structure with 5-foot setbacks: Currently 10’, increase to 12’
 Currently, structures up to 10’ high can have 5’ setbacks  10’ to 12’ (Max height) structures must meet primary residence setbacks (up to 20’ in some zones)
 2-foot height difference does not warrant significantly larger setbacks
 Addition of neighborhood meeting requirement for certain projects
 Discretionary projects requiring a Tentative Map or with a scope of development greater than one acre would require preapplication neighborhood meeting to ensure early community input
 Project sign requirement for larger projects
 Projects requiring a neighborhood meeting would also require a project sign on-site for at least 10 days prior to public hearing(s), to increase public notice of significant projects.

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Planning Commission Recommendation
 Recommended approval, with the following changes (incorporated in current draft):
 1. Specify that Community Garden rules re: pesticide, herbicide, rodenticide, or synthetic fertilizer use must be stated in the management plan
 2. Require that Produce Stands and Garden Stands adhere to State and County regulations related to safe retail food handling, and obtain a City of Cotati business license.  Considering recommendation on November 7: Add “Child Day Care—Day Care Center” as an allowed use with a Use Permit in the Open Space, Recreation (OSR) zoning district.
 Recommended removal of provision for sales of incidental items (capped at 10% of floor area) at Produce Stands, such as bottled water, packaged snacks, non-food items, favoring prohibition of such sales. Staff have retained this provision in the current draft.  Requested that the Council consider increasing the number of days (from the proposed 2) per week that Garden Stands may operate, to better ensure that seasonal produce sales can be paced with the harvest

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Recommendation
It is recommended by the Community
Development Department and the Planning
Commission that the City Council introduce an
ordinance amending the Zoning Code to facilitate
local food production and urban agriculture.

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Questions?

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Attachment: Attachment 2 Powerpoint Presentation (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall Comments on Potential Zoning Code Amendment to Promote Urban Agriculture 12 Oct 22 The “code amendment” is a noble effort to promote urban agriculture in a small incorporated city.

However, locally we already have a number of food outlets available (grocery stores, organic farmer’s market and county farm stands).

1. Community gardens are a good idea, as long as they do not adversely affect the surrounding neighbors and it is best to have a buffer zone around them. The setback should be changed to 10 ft. as farming produces noise, odors, dust and fertilizer/pesticide run off. Compost piles attract a variety of pests and vermin.

2. Community gardens need caretakers to ensure safety and reduce participant conflict and vandalism.

3. Chicken and egg production need to be better controlled. Chickens produce methane and nitrous oxides from their manure. They also attract many predators. Suggest limiting to any property up 1 acre, to 12 chickens maximum, and as noted no butchering on premises.

4. Special consideration must be made for properties near Cotati creek which drains into the Laguna.

5. All home farming participants should be trained on good farming practices. Possibly a certificate could be created for those who complete the training at the Veronda-Falletti Ranch.

6. The city needs to be able to enforce the new zoning codes. A task force should be created for approval and regular inspection and review of farming practices. Create a system of fees for code violations.

7. Since pesticide and commercial fertilizers are allowed, we need to ensure the quality of produce and eggs. Establish provisions for quality control or checking of produce. If one is sickened by produce or eggs does the city have any level of liability it needs to be concerned about? Respectfully submitted,
Dr. Carl Lampert, Resident of Cotati
Former member of the Cotati Design Review Committee

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Attachment: Public Comment (1) 10.11 (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) From: Amy Lyman <
Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2022 3:52 PM
To: Autumn Buss <[email protected]>
Subject: Re: City Council meeting on proposed Urban Agriculture Ordinance Nov 8 CAUTION:EXTERNAL SENDER
If suspicious, do not click on links, open attachments, or provide credentials and report it by using the "Phish Alert Report" button.

Hello
I want to thank you and all the community development staff, city manager staff and city council members for continuing with this effort. I believe that the concerns raised by people in previous discussions have been addressed and mechanisms will be in place for people to decide any questions/issues that arise. I am really looking forward to seeing the first crops for sale at whatever farm stands pop up and through Farmster.

Thanks much,
Amy

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Attachment: Public comment 2 11.8_Redacted (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Community Response and Input Letter:

Local Food Production and Urban Agriculture in Cotati
November 3rd, 2022
Roy Smith
To:

City of Cotati Council Members.

Dear City staff, Council members, and Mayor,
Thank you for your ongoing work to promote and ensure the re-establishment of food production within the Cotati jurisdiction.

I have lived within a few miles of the Cotati Hub since 1978. My family gardened and farmed here into the early 1990's. I have watched as the population of our County has swollen and our ability to feed ourselves has declined. Our local history is one of a transition from selfsufficiency and food export to one of massive dependence and import. As a community, we are both dependent on the wider global economy and at the mercy of global food supplies.

The County General Plan, and Cotati Staff, have accurately identified the crucial importance of restoring urban and peri-urban food production and other residence-based economic activity.

Cotati now has the task and mandate to encourage, support, and facilitate food-related cottage industry within our residential zones.

However, the Local Food Ordinance (as of the October 11th Agenda) serves to restrict and chill local food production before it can even begin. The proposed ordinance treats residential family production as a nuisance that must be controlled, taxed, and monitored. It seeks to require invasive limits on how and when one can work in one's own home. Rather than supporting the home producer, it burdens her with permit fees, City, County, and State regulations. It subjects her to the censure and intrusion of any contrary neighbor or regressive government agent.

The ordinance can be improved via the following:
– Provide that all Produce, Garden, and Cottage Industry Stands are permitted “by-right” in all residential zones, without restriction.
– Protect Cotati residents by shielding them from County or State regulations under the provision of direct Producer → Patron sales.
– Recognize that residence-based production is by default organic, low-impact, lowmechanization, environmentally conservative, and pro-social. – Recognize that urban and peri-urban food production is not, and has never been, a nuisance activity.
– Reverse the language regarding the primary use of our homes and neighborhoods to emphasis the ability to provide food and livelihood over the exclusion of such activities.

If the current ordinance cannot be revised to truly support local food production, I request that this provision be shelved and taken up by future Councils in this or other jurisdictions.

Please see page 2-3 for specific line revisions to the 17.42 Ordinance.

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Attachment: Cotati Local Food Ord - Letter_11-22 (002)_Redacted (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) Recommended 17.42 Ordinance Revisions
Revisions: F. Produce Stands and Garden Stands.

1. A produce stand shall not exceed a total floor area of four hundred square feet. A Garden Stand shall not exceed a total floor area of one hundred square feet. (Why? Production and sales will determine this. No benefit to the community is achieved with such intimate levels of regulation.)

2. Incidental items for sale that are not produced at an on-site or adjacent agricultural operation, such as bottled water, packaged snacks, or nonfood items, shall not exceed 10% of sales area or gross sales receipts, whichever is less, at a Produce Stand. Such items are prohibited at Garden Stands. Produce stands selling such items must provide a trash receptacle for customers’ use. (This restriction acts in direct opposition to the General Plan goal of economic divirsification, or any goal of entreprenueral development.)

3. Produce stands and Garden Stands may sell produce grown on-site or on an adjacent site within 1/4 mile, eggs produced on-site or at an adjacent site within 1/4 mile, and prepared food items made from produce ingredients grown on-site or on an adjacent site within Sonoma County, and produced and sold according to Cottage Food Operation registration and permit requirements of the County of Sonoma Department of Health Services and any requirements of the State of California.. (The role of the City of Cotati is to protect and expand the rights of local residents to care for themselves and their community. The City does not serve the public by insisting that all possible restrictions are applied to local producers.)
Revisions: 17.42.220 Community Gardens.

A. The use of mechanized equipment shall be limited in decibel noise to equipment typically found in residential uses, and subject to the same limitations in use. An exception is initial site preparation for planting, which may take place for a total of no more than 3 weekdays per year, between the hours of 9am and 5pm.

B. Cultivated areas shall be subject to five-foot setbacks from property lines. (Unreasonable and unnecessary).

C. Prior to cultivation, the soils shall be analyzed for potential toxicity or contamination that would render the site unsuitable for food crops.

D. A management plan addressing the governance structure of the garden, hours of operation, noise and vermin control, maintenance, responsible water use, security requirements, rules related to pesticide, herbicide, rodenticide, or synthetic fertilizer use, and other operating rules must be submitted to the City prior to initiation of any site preparation or gardening activities.

E. A primary point of contact for the community garden, including name, address, and phone number, shall be updated annually with the City and posted in public view at the garden site. (...provided to the City along with the management plan.) Revisions: 17.42.230 Market Gardens:

A. The use of mechanized equipment shall be limited in decible noise to equipment typically found in residential uses, and subject to the same limitations in use. An exception is initial site preparation for planting, which may take place for a total of no more than 3 weekdays per year, between the hours of 9am and 5pm.

B. The area of cultivation and related activities shall be limited to a total of one half-acre maximum, which may be non-continguous on the property. (Why include such a limitation? Unnecessary) C. Cultivated areas shall be subject to five-foot setbacks from property lines. (Unreasonable and uneccesary).

D. An on-site Garden Stand is allowed, up to a total floor area of one two hundred square feet and located out of the public right-of-way.

8.C.e
Packet Pg. 65
Attachment: Cotati Local Food Ord - Letter_11-22 (002)_Redacted (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) D. The Garden Stand may be operated a maximum of two any number of days per week between the hours of 7am and 7pm, and must be temporary in nature and dismantled and stored out of site of the public when not in operation (Uneccesary restriction to any functional Cottage economic activity). A minimum of two motor vehicle parking spaces, either on-street or off-street out of the public right-of-way, shall be required for operation of a Garden Stand, in accordance with Section

17.36.050.

E. A dwelling unit is required on the property as a primary land use. (A dwelling may be secondary to the primary activity of farming, but should be included for those working the land.) Revisions: 17.42.240 Urban Agriculture Standards:

A. Urban Agriculture land uses shall not be adversely affected by development of adjacent properties and the surrounding neighborhood in terms of noise, water runoff, pesticide runoff, equipment operation, hours of operation, odor, vermin, security, or vehicular traffic.

8.C.e
Packet Pg. 66
Attachment: Cotati Local Food Ord - Letter_11-22 (002)_Redacted (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) From: Evan Wiig
Sent: Wednesday, November 2, 2022 4:45 PM
To: Autumn Buss <[email protected]>
Cc: Wendy Krupnick
Subject: Comments re: urban ag ordinance
CAUTION:EXTERNAL SENDER
If suspicious, do not click on links, open attachments, or provide credentials and report it by using the "Phish Alert Report" button.

Hi Autumn,
On behalf of Community Alliance with Family Farmers, we want to thank the city of Cotati for continuing to seek solutions that allow for local food production in a way that benefits the whole community.

While we are generally in favor of the proposed changes, we do ask you to reconsider a few provisions:

17.42.220 Community Gardens & 17.42.230 Market Gardens
A. The use of mechanized equipment shall be limited to equipment typically found in residential uses, with operation limited to the hours of 9am to 5pm. An exception is initial site preparation for planting, which may take place for a total of no more than 3 weekdays per year, between the hours of 9am and 5pm.

We are concerned that the above provision lacks clarity and ask that the city focus on tangible impacts of machinery and not whether a tool is typically used, given that there are many small scale market garden tools that, while not typically found in your average home garden, are as or less intrusive to the surrounding neighborhood.

Related to this, we request the city extend the hours of the above-mentioned market garden tools, given the seasonal nature of growing food and to allow those who hold daytime jobs to pursue a market garden, which would be near impossible if they're restricted to 9am - 5 pm. Instead, we request that any existing noise curfews be applied here as they would elsewhere. A weed-whacker or loud music at 6pm on a residential property is no less intrusive than the sounds made by a market garden operation.

Lastly, for everyone's sake, we ask that the city provide clearer definitions to distinguish “Crop production, horticulture, orchard, vineyard” vs "Market Garden", as mentioned in the proposed changes.

Thank you very much. We look forward to the upcoming meeting.

Evan Wiig
Director of Membership & Communications
Community Alliance with Family Farmers

8.C.f
Packet Pg. 67
Attachment: Public Comment 1 11.8_Redacted (Urban Agriculture Ordinance Fall 2022) ORDINANCE NO.

AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COTATI ADOPTING AMENDMENTS TO TITLE 17 (LAND USE) OF THE COTATI MUNICIPAL CODE TO SUPPORT URBAN AGRICULTURE BY AMENDING TITLE 17 LAND USE BY AMENDING SECTIONS 17.22.020 ALLOWABLE LAND USES, 17.36.050 PARKING AND LOADING, NUMBER OF PARKING SPACES, 17.42.040 ANIMAL KEEPING,

17.42.130 OUTDOOR DISPLAYS AND SALES, 17.42.160 RESIDENTIAL ACCESSORY USES AND STRUCTURES, 17.60.040 APPLICATION PREPARATION AND FILING,

17.62.030 LIMITED TERM PERMITS, 17.88.020 NOTICE OF HEARING, AND

17.90.020 DEFINITIONS; ADDING SECTIONS 17.42.220 COMMUNITY GARDENS,

17.42.230 MARKET GARDENS, AND 17.42.240 URBAN AGRICULTURE STANDARDS; AND CHANGING THE ZONING OF 175 W. SIERRA AVENUE (“THE VERONDA-FALLETTI RANCH PROPERTY”) FROM NEIGHBORHOOD, LOW

DENSITY (NL), TO OPEN SPACE, RECREATION (OSR)
WHEREAS, the Legislature of the State of California has in Government Code Sections 65302, 65560, and 65800 conferred upon local governments the authority to adopt regulations designed to promote the public health, safety, and general welfare of its citizenry; and WHEREAS, on March 24, 2015, the City Council adopted the General Plan, which includes several goals related to local food production, access to healthy food, and small-scale urban agriculture; and
WHEREAS, adoption of changes to the Cotati Land Use Code are necessary to implement the General Plan with regard to these goals; and WHEREAS, in Fall 2021, the City Council directed staff to prepare draft amendments to the Land Use Code regarding urban agriculture; and
WHEREAS, City staff has researched available information regarding facilitation of urban agriculture and local food production and the related goals contained in the General Plan, and prepared draft amendments to the Cotati Land Use Code to facilitate urban agriculture in the city; and
WHEREAS, one of the purposes of Title 17 of the City’s Municipal Code is to ensure that the General Plan may be implemented; and
WHEREAS, one of the purposes of the City’s Municipal Code is to codify which land uses are allowed and set the standards for said land uses in order to preserve the quality of life in Cotati; and
WHEREAS, based on the record, the City Council finds that the proposed zoning code amendments are consistent with and facilitate the implementation of the General Plan.

WHEREAS, on November 7, 2022, the Planning Commission of the City of Cotati held a duly noticed public hearing to review the proposed amendments to Title 17 of the Cotati Municipal Code. After reviewing and providing some direction to staff, the Commission voted to approve Resolution No. PC __________ recommending adoption of an Ordinance to amend the Code to promote urban agriculture to the City Council, with revisions.

WHEREAS, on November 8, 2022, the City Council of the City of Cotati held a duly noticed public hearing, received the staff report and reviewed a presentation from the Planning Packet Pg. 68
Division, and considered all oral and written comments submitted to the City regarding the item prior to taking its action on the item.

NOW THEREFORE THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COTATI DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1: Recitals.

The above recitals are true and correct and are incorporated into the findings herein.

SECTION 2: Record
The Record of Proceedings (“Record”) upon which the City Council makes its decision includes, but is not limited to: 1) the 2015 General Plan, 2) the FEIR certified for the 2015 General Plan, and 3), all staff reports, City files and records and other documents prepared for and/or submitted to the City Council related to adoption of a Zoning Code amendment promoting urban agriculture.

SECTION 3: General Plan Consistency
The Council of the City of Cotati does hereby find that the proposed ordinance to amend the Land Use Code to facilitate urban agriculture is in the best interest of the City because it furthers established goals, policies, and implementation programs of the General Plan to promote local food production, access to healthy food, and urban agriculture.

Specifically, these amendments are consistent with and implement the following General Plan policies and programs:

GOAL CHW 3: Ensure All Residents Have Convenient Access to Healthy and Nutritional Food Options.

Policy CHW 3.3: Recognize that urban agriculture has the potential to supplement the availability of fresh fruit and vegetables in the community, provide economic opportunities to Cotati residents, lower food costs, reduce overall energy consumption and build social cohesion.

Packet Pg. 69
Action CHW-3d: Work with appropriate local agencies, service providers, non-profits, community groups and regulatory agencies to explore the potential for creating, expanding and sustaining local urban agriculture, including community gardens, and orchards. The work effort should explore the feasibility of implementing the following strategies:
• Promoting urban agriculture as a desirable civic activity that improves the quality of urban life, food security, neighborhood safety and environmental stewardship; • Supporting the development of appropriate agriculture in residential, industrial, business, and open space zones;
• Support farm to institution (such as schools, hospitals, nursing homes, daycare centers) and businesses (such as restaurants and food outlets), while creating economic opportunities for urban growers and related industries; • Support efforts of local gardening organizations to promote the development and expansion of family and community gardens as well as edible landscaping; • Encourage and promote local garden food exchanges and local food cooperatives; and • Work with representatives of local farming organizations to meet needs unique to urban farm enterprises.

Policy CON 4.6: Encourage historic resources to remain in their original use whenever possible.

The adaptive use of historic resources is preferred, particularly as museums, educational facilities, or visitor-serving uses, when the original use can no longer be sustained. Older residences may be converted to office/retail use in commercial areas and to tourist or business use, so long at their historical authenticity is maintained or enhanced.

Objective EV 1A: Diversify the Local Economy.

Policy EV 1.1: Attract and retain economic sectors in which Cotati has competitive advantages, and capitalize on these strengths in order to diversify local economic activities.

Policy EV 1.12: Encourage the growth of new commercial enterprises within appropriately zoned areas while maintaining the stability of existing commercial businesses.

Policy LU-2.9: Encourage a concentration of neighborhood, community, and retail amenities and services within walking distance of residential areas.

Policy LU 3.14: Provide new opportunities for community gathering and social interaction through park facilities, community centers, cultural/art facilities.

Policy OS 1.3: Protect rural (Agricultural and Rural Residential) and natural open space lands from urbanization.

Packet Pg. 70
SECTION 4: Compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.

The Council of the City of Cotati does hereby find that the proposed ordinance to amend the Land Use Code to promote urban agriculture, is consistent with the program Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH# 2013082037) for the Cotati General Plan Update that was certified on March 24, 2015 (Resolution Number 2015-11), and pursuant to Section 15168 of the CEQA Guidelines, as such no further environmental review is required.

SECTION 5: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.22.020 Allowable Land Uses is amended, as follows:

Table 2-2
Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements for Low Density and Neighborhood Zones P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit required
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District
OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU Specific Use
Regulations
Agricultural and Open Space Uses
Agricultural accessory
structure
UP UP P P – – – 17.42.020
Animal keeping S S S S S S S 17.42.040
Crop production,
horticulture, orchard,
vineyard(5)
– UP UP UP – – – 17.42.240
Market garden – – P P P P P 17.42.230,

17.42.240
Plant nursery – UP UP – – – –
Winery, small scale – – UP(2) – – – –
Industry, Manufacturing and
Processing, Wholesaling
Packet Pg. 71
P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit required
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District
OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU Specific Use
Regulations
Artisan/craft product
manufacturing
– UP UP(3) – – – –
Recreation, Education and Public Assembly Uses
Community garden(5) – UP P P P P P 17.42.220,

17.42.240
Equestrian facility – UP UP – – – –
Meeting facility, public or
private
– UP – – UP UP UP
Park UP P P P P P P
Playground – P P P P P P
Private residential recreation
facility
– – – UP UP UP UP
School – Elementary, middle,
secondary
– – – UP UP UP –
Residential Uses
Accessory dwelling unit – – P P P P P 17.42.170
Caretaker quarters UP UP – – – – –
Cottage housing – – – – S S S 17.42.125
Home occupation – – P P P P P 17.42.080
Junior accessory dwelling unit – – P P P – – 17.42.170
Mobilehome park – – UP UP UP UP UP 17.42.110
Mobile/manufactured home – – P P P P P 17.42.110
Multifamily housing, 2 units – – – – UP P P 17.42.120
Retail Trade
Accessory retail and services – – – – UP UP UP
Packet Pg. 72
P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit required
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District
OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU Specific Use
Regulations
Convenience store, 1,200 sq.
ft. or less
– – – – UP UP UP
Farmers Market(5) – UP – – – – –
Garden Stand _ _ P P P P P 17.42.130,

17.42.230
Produce stand(5) – UP UP UP – – 17.42.130
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District
OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU Specific Use
Regulations
Services – Business and Professional
Medical services – Extended
care
– – – – – UP UP
Office – Accessory – P P P P P P
Services
Adult day care – 6 or fewer
clients
– – P P P P P
Adult day care – 7 to 14
clients
– – UP UP UP UP UP
Adult day care – 15 or more
clients
– – UP UP UP UP UP
Child day care – Small family
day care home
– – P P P P P
Child day care – Large family
day care home
– – P P P – – 17.42.060
Child day care – Day care
center
– UP – – – UP UP 17.42.060
Packet Pg. 73
P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit required
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District
OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU Specific Use
Regulations
Kennel, animal boarding – – UP – – – –
Lodging – Bed and breakfast
inn (B&B)
– – UP UP – – – 17.42.050
Personal services – 1,000 sq.
ft. or less
– – – – – UP UP
Key to Zoning District Symbols
OSC Open Space –
Conservation
NL Neighborhood – Low
Density
OSR Open Space –
Recreation
NM Neighborhood –
Medium Density
RR Rural Residential NU Neighborhood – Urban
RVL Residential, Very Low
Density
Notes:
(1) See Article 9 of this title for land use definitions. (2) May be approved only in conjunction with an on-site vineyard of three acres or larger. (3) May be approved only on a site of three acres or larger. (4) Use permit approval shall require that the review authority first find that the location of a proposed single-family dwelling on a parcel that may be further subdivided will not preclude future subdivision and development in compliance with the general plan. (5) Fees for Crop Production, horticulture, orchard, vineyard; Community Garden; Farmers Market; and Produce Stand planning permit applications shall be calculated at 50% of the fees set forth in the Fee Schedule as described in Section 17.60.060 Application fees. Use permit approval shall require that the review authority first find that the proposed use will be compatible with any nearby residential uses. Notices of Public Hearing for these uses shall be mailed to property owners within a radius from the subject site of 600’, or greater at the Director’s discretion.

Packet Pg. 74
Table 2-3
Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements for Mixed Use Corridors and Districts P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District

CE CG CD CI IG PF
Specific
Use
Regulations
Farmers market(7) MUP MUP MUP MUP UP UP
Key to Zoning District Symbols
CE East Cotati Avenue
Corridor
CI Commercial/Industrial
District
CG Gravenstein Highway
Corridor
IG General Industrial
District
CD Downtown
Commercial
PF Public Facility District
Notes:
(1) See Article 9 for land use definitions.
(2) Use allowed only on second or upper floors, in compliance with Section 17.24.050(C), Limitation on the Location of Allowable Land Uses, or behind an allowed ground floor street frontage use.
(3) See Section 17.42.165, Retail use maximum floor area. (4) When the Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control allows customers under twenty-one years of age on the premises.
(5) Artisan/craft product manufacturing uses proposed in the CE, CG, CD, HC, LP, NG, and CA districts must be located within buildings and suites designed and oriented to engage and encourage pedestrian activity and interaction with the surrounding uses. Uses in these districts must also include retail storefront presence and design characteristics, with production and manufacturing design elements (such as loading doors, material storage, etc.) oriented away from the primary entrances and street frontages of developments where they are located.

Packet Pg. 75
(6) MUP required for outdoor dining on private property in the CD district when the dining use abuts a residential land use.
(7) Fees for Farmers Market planning permit applications shall be calculated at 50% of the fees set forth in the Fee Schedule as described in Section 17.60.060 Application fees. Use permit approval shall require that the review authority first find that the proposed use will be compatible with any nearby residential uses. Notices of Public Hearings shall be mailed to property owners within a radius from the subject site of 600’, or greater at the Director’s discretion.

SECTION 6: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.36.050 Parking and Loading, Number of parking spaces required is amended, as follows:

Table 3-7
Parking Requirements by Land Use
Land Use
Type: Vehicle Spaces Required
Garden
Stand
2 spaces minimum, either on-street adjacent to the property or off-street, out of the public right-of-way.

SECTION 7: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.42.040 Animal Keeping is amended, as follows:

B. Allowable Animal-Keeping Activities and Permit Requirements.

Table 4-1
Allowable Animal-Keeping and Permit Requirements
Type of Animal
Permit Requirement by Zoning District
OSC
OSR
RR RVL
Other Zone
Allowing
Residential
Use
Aviary (keeping of birds other than fowl
or poultry)
P P P P –
Beekeeping (for plant pollination
and/or honey production)
P P P P –
Boarding or breeding kennel – – MUP – –
Packet Pg. 76
Type of Animal
Permit Requirement by Zoning District
OSC
OSR
RR RVL
Other Zone
Allowing
Residential
Use
Chickens P P P P P in NL
district;
zoning
clearance
letter
required in

NM, NU,
and
residential
uses in all
commercial
districts
Dogs and cats P - P P P
Fowl and poultry other than roosters
and chickens
P P P P –
Hogs and swine P P P – –
Horses and cows P P P MUP –
Roosters P UP P – –
Other small animals (defined in Table 4-
2)

Table 4-2
Animal-Keeping Standards
Type of Animal or Maximum Number of Minimum Lot Minimum Setbacks(3) Packet Pg. 77
Facility Animals per Site(1) Area(2) From
Side/Rear
Property Lines
From Streets
and Dwellings
Aviary for birds
other than fowl
and poultry
20 per acre 1/2 acre 25 ft. 50 ft.

Beekeeping N.A. 1 acre 25 ft. 50 ft.

Boarding or
breeding kennel
Requirements established by minor use permit approval, and subsection F of this section.

Chickens (hens) 20 per site No minimum
lot size
12 ft. 20 ft.

Dogs and cats 5 animals total on a site
less than 1 acre; 5 of each
species on a site of 1 acre
or more.

None
required
None required None required
Fowl and poultry
other than
roosters and
chickens
12 per acre 1/2 acre 25 ft. 50 ft.

Hogs and swine 1 per acre 2 acres 50 ft. 100 ft.

Horses and cows 2 per acre 1 acre 25 ft. 50 ft.

Roosters 1 per acre 1 acre 25 ft. 50 ft.

Other small
animals –
Chinchillas,
rabbits,
nonpoisonous
reptiles, rodents,
and other
nonpoisonous
animals of similar
size.
4 animals total on a site
less than 1 acre; 4 of each
species on a site of 1 acre
or more, where allowed by
Table 4-1.

None for 4 or
fewer
animals; 1
acre for 5 or
more animals.

None on a site
of less than 1
acre; 10 ft. on
a site of 1 acre
or more.

None on a site
of less than 1
acre; 25 ft. on
a site of 1 acre
or more.

Other large
animals – Emus,
goats, llamas,
miniature horses
and donkeys,
ostriches, pot belly
pigs, sheep, and
4 per acre 1/2 acre 25 ft. 50 feet for
accessory
structure, none
for pasture.

Packet Pg. 78
Type of Animal or
Facility
Maximum Number of
Animals per Site(1)
Minimum Lot
Area(2)
Minimum Setbacks(3)
From
Side/Rear
Property Lines
From Streets
and Dwellings
similar-sized
animals.

G. Chickens. In addition to the requirements of this section, the keeping of chickens shall comply with the following standards:

1. Accessory to Residential Use. The keeping of chickens shall be solely as an accessory use to a residential use, and may not be the primary use on any site within the city.

3. Butchering Prohibited. Butchering, slaughtering, or otherwise killing chickens shall be prohibited.

4. Nuisance Prohibited. Confirmed noise impacts, odor impacts, and valid vector complaints shall cause the chickens to be deemed a nuisance, and result in this use becoming prohibited at the subject site.

SECTION 8: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.42.130 Outdoor displays and sales is amended, as follows:

F. Produce Stands and Garden Stands.

1. A Produce Stand shall not exceed a total floor area of four hundred square feet. A Garden Stand shall not exceed a total floor area of one hundred square feet.

Packet Pg. 79

2. Incidental items for sale that are not produced at an on-site or adjacent agricultural operation, such as bottled water, packaged snacks, or nonfood items, shall not exceed 10% of sales area or gross sales receipts, whichever is less, at a Produce Stand. Such items are prohibited at Garden Stands. Produce Stands selling such items must provide a trash receptacle for customers’ use.

3. Produce stands and Garden Stands may sell produce grown on-site or on an adjacent site, eggs produced on-site or at an adjacent site, and prepared food items made from produce grown onsite or on an adjacent site and produced and sold according to Cottage Food Operation registration and permit requirements of the County of Sonoma Department of Health Services and any requirements of the State of California.

4. Produce Stands and Garden Stands shall adhere to standards and certification and registration requirements set by the California Department of Public Health, California Department of Food and Agriculture, and County of Sonoma Department of Health Services related to retail food sales, food safety, small farm food safety, and community food producers.

SECTION 9: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.42.220 Community Gardens is added, as follows:

17.42.220 Community Gardens.

This section establishes standards for the operation of Community Gardens, where allowed by Chapter 17.22, Allowable Land Uses. The intent of these provisions is to ensure the compatibility between community gardens and other nearby uses.

B. Cultivated areas shall be subject to five-foot setbacks from any property line that is within 30 feet of a residential structure on an adjacent parcel.

C. Prior to cultivation, the soils shall be analyzed for potential toxicity or contamination that would render the site unsuitable for food crops.

D. A management plan addressing the governance structure of the garden, hours of operation, noise and vermin control, maintenance, responsible water use, security requirements, rules related to pesticide, herbicide, rodenticide, or synthetic fertilizer use, and other operating rules must be submitted to the City prior to initiation of any site preparation or gardening activities.

E. A primary point of contact for the community garden, including name, address, and phone number, shall be updated annually with the City and posted in public view at the garden site.

SECTION 10: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.42.230 Market Gardens is added, as follows:

Packet Pg. 80

17.42.230 Market Gardens.

B. The area of cultivation and related activities shall be limited to a total of one half-acre maximum, which may be non-contiguous on the property.

C. Cultivated areas shall be subject to five-foot setbacks from any property line that is within 30 feet of a residential structure on an adjacent parcel.

D. An on-site Garden Stand is allowed, up to a total floor area of one hundred square feet and located out of the public right-of-way. The Garden Stand may be operated a maximum of three days per week between the hours of 9am and 7pm, and must be temporary in nature and dismantled and stored out of site of the public when not in operation. A minimum of two motor vehicle parking spaces, either on-street, or off-street out of the public right-of-way, shall be required for operation of a Garden Stand, in accordance with Section 17.36.050.

E. A dwelling unit is required on the property as a primary land use.

SECTION 11: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.42.240 Urban Agriculture Standards is added, as follows:

17.42.240 Urban Agriculture Standards.

Packet Pg. 81
C. Water conservation practices must be followed, in accordance with Section 13.30 and State of California Water Efficient Landscape Ordinance (WELO) standards.

D. Compost piles and containers must be set back at least 20 feet from dwellings on adjacent properties.

SECTION 12: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.62.030 Limited term permits is amended, as follows:

17.62.030 Limited term permit.

A. Purpose. This section establishes procedures for the granting of limited term permits for shortterm activities.

B. Applicability. A limited term permit allows the short-term activities listed in subsection E of this section, that may not comply with the normal development or use standards of the applicable zoning district, but may otherwise be acceptable because of their temporary nature. This section does not apply to weekly or otherwise frequently recurring farmers markets, which are instead subject to use permit approval as required by Section 17.22.020, Tables2-2 and 2-3 (Allowable Land Uses) of this title.

C. Review Authority. A limited term permit may be approved or denied by the director, in compliance with this section.

1. Emergency Facilities. Temporary facilities to accommodate emergency public health and safety needs and activities;

2. Garage Sales. Garage sales, not to exceed three per year, and two consecutive days for each sale;

3. Public Property, or Public Right-of-Way. Activities conducted on public property that are approved by the council or as otherwise required by the municipal code;

4. Fund-Raising Car Washes. Fund-raising car washes, not to exceed six per year, on property within a commercial or industrial zone, or on institutional property;

6. Garden Stands and Produce Stands as allowed by Section 17.22.020 Table 2-2 (Allowable Land Uses) of this title.

SECTION 13: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.42.160 Residential accessory uses and structures is amended, as follows:

Packet Pg. 82

17.42.160 E1b:

E. Detached Structures. An accessory structure that is detached from the primary structure shall comply with the following standards, except where subsection F of this section establishes a different requirement for a specific type of accessory structure:

SECTION 14: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.60.040 Application preparation and filing is amended, as follows:

B. Preapplication Neighborhood Meeting. Each discretionary project requiring a Tentative Map or with a scope of development greater than one acre shall require a preapplication neighborhood meeting in compliance with the following requirements, to provide the opportunity for early input by affected neighbors. While neighborhood consensus or agreement is the goal, it is not a required outcome of the neighborhood meetings.

1. When Preapplication Neighborhood Meetings are required:
a. A development proposal that requires a Tentative Map, or is a discretionary project disturbing a site greater than one acre, that requires a public hearing, and that may affect a residential neighborhood, shall require one or more preapplication neighborhood meetings in compliance with this Section.
b. A preapplication neighborhood meeting may be required for a development proposal that otherwise would not require a meeting if: there is significant controversy regarding the proposal, interest has been expressed by the neighborhood regarding the proposal, or the Director determines that a preapplication neighborhood meeting shall be held.

2. When Preappliation Neighborhood Meetings are not required:
a. Preapplication neighborhood meetings are not required for nonresidential development proposals that are surrounded by nonresidential zoning districts and General Plan land use categories, unless there is an effect on a residential neighborhood, regardless of whether a public hearing is required.
b. Preapplication neighborhood meetings are not required for “ministerial” projects, including the issuance of Building Permits or other applications where the discretionary approval or permit has been granted.
c. Preapplication Neighborhood Meetings are not required for Urban Agriculture land uses.

Packet Pg. 83

3. Waiver of meeting requirement. The requirement for a preapplication neighborhood meeting may be waived in cases where the position of a neighborhood in favor of the proposal has been clearly established and/or recent contact with neighborhood representatives indicates that there is no interest in holding a meeting. In these cases, the Director shall determine whether to waive the requirement for a preapplication neighborhood meeting.

4.Timing of Preapplication Neighborhood Meeting.
a. When required, a preapplication neighborhood meeting shall be held before submittal of the application for the development proposal, except as identified in subparagraph 1b, above.
b. If the neighborhood meeting is held after submittal of the application for development, the application shall not be deemed complete until after the neighborhood meeting has been held.

5. Follow-up meeting encouraged. When a neighborhood meeting has been held before submittal of the application, applicants are encouraged to hold one or more follow-up neighborhood meetings with interested citizens to explain project changes prior to public hearings on the project.

8. Applicant responsibilities at meeting. The applicant or applicant’s representative is required to attend the neighborhood meeting and present basic project information including the following:
a. Site analysis, graphically depicting existing conditions and the neighborhood context; Packet Pg. 84
b. Conceptual site plan showing locations of all proposed structures, roads, parking areas, landscaping, and conceptual parcel lines with approximate dimensions; c. Conceptual building and architectural design information; d. Proposed density and/or purpose of the project and its target market.

SECTION 15: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.88.020 Notice of Hearing is amended, as follows:

4. Project Sign. If the proposed project requires a Preapplication Neighborhood Meeting in compliance with Section 17.60.040 B, a project sign shall be required. The applicant shall install a project sign of four feet tall by eight feet long on the subject property in a place conspicuous to the public, at least ten days before the date of the public hearing. The sign shall include the date, time, and location of the hearing; the phone number and street address of the department, where an interested person may call or visit to obtain additional information; and a description of the proposed project.

SECTION 16: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Section 17.90.020 Definitions of specialized terms and phrases is amended, as shown in the added definitions, in alphabetical order, as follows:
“Community garden” means a site used for growing plants for food, fiber, herbs, flowers, and other uses for personal use and/or donation, which is shared and maintained by community residents and/or a nonprofit, educational, governmental, or other charitable organization. “Crop production, horticulture, orchard, vineyard” means commercial agricultural production field and orchard uses, including the production of the following, primarily in the soil on the site and not in containers, other than for initial propagation prior to planting in the soil on the site:
field crops, flowers and seeds, fruits, grains, melons, ornamental crops, tree nuts, trees and sod, vegetables, and wine and table grapes.

Also includes associated crop preparation services and harvesting activities, such as mechanical soil preparation, irrigation system construction, spraying, crop processing and retail sales in the field such as Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), not including sales sheds, which are instead defined under “Produce stand.” Does not include greenhouses which are instead defined under “Plant nursery,” and “Residential accessory use or structure,” or containerized crop production, which is instead defined under “Plant nursery.” Does not include home gardening, which is allowed as an accessory use in all zoning districts without city approval “Market Garden” means small-scale agricultural production for sale or donation, as an accessory use on a residential property with at least one dwelling unit.

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“Garden Stand” means a temporary business established and operated for a specific time, selling raw, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, and other produce in its raw or natural state, and/or prepared food items made from produce grown on-site or on an adjacent site and produced and sold according to Cottage Food Operation registration and permit requirements of the County of Sonoma Department of Health Services and any requirements of the State of California, and that is accessory to an on-site Market Garden use. “Produce stand” means a temporary business established and operated for a specific time, selling raw, unprocessed fruits, vegetables, nuts, eggs, and other produce in its raw or natural state, and/or prepared food items made from produce grown on-site or on an adjacent site and produced and sold according to Cottage Food Operation registration and permit requirements of the County of Sonoma Department of Health Services and any requirements of the State of California, and that is accessory to an on-site Urban Agriculture use. “Urban Agriculture” means the Community Garden; Crop Production, horticulture, orchard, vineyard; and Market Garden land uses.

SECTION 17: Amendment to the Zoning Map. The property located at 175 W. Sierra Avenue (“Veronda-Faletti Ranch”) is hereby re-zoned to Open Space, Recreation (OSR).

SECTION 18: Construction and severability.

It is the intent of the City Council of the City of Cotati to supplement applicable state and federal law and not to duplicate or contradict such law, and this ordinance shall be construed consistently with that intent. If any section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase of this ordinance, or its application to any person or circumstance, is for any reason held to be invalid or unenforceable, such invalidity or unenforceability shall not affect the validity or enforceability of the remaining sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases of this ordinance, or its application to any other person or circumstance. The City Council of the City of Cotati hereby declares that it would have adopted each section, subsection, subdivision, paragraph, sentence, clause or phrase hereof, irrespective of the fact that any one or more other sections, subsections, subdivisions, paragraphs, sentences, clauses or phrases hereof be declared invalid or unenforceable.

SECTION 19: Effective date.

This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after its adoption pursuant to California Government Code.

SECTION 20: Publication. The city clerk shall cause this ordinance to be published and/or posted as required in Section 36933 of the California Government Code.

Approved:________________________________
Mayor
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Attest:____________________________
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk
Approved as to form:
___________________________
John Bakker, City Attorney
This document is a true and correct copy of Ordinance Number and has been published or posted pursuant to law. California Government Code § 40806
_______________________________
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk
Approved:________________________________
Mayor
Attest:____________________________
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk
Approved as to form:
___________________________
John Bakker, City Attorney
This document is a true and correct copy of Ordinance Number and has been published or posted pursuant to law. California Government Code § 40806
_______________________________
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk
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Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: PUBLIC HEARINGS (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Introduction and first reading of an ordinance that removes the use permit requirement for multifamily housing projects in the NM and NU residential zoning districts and revises the administrative procedures for appeals by the City Council.

Date: November 22, 2022
Written by: Jon-Paul Harries, Senior Planner
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council introduce and conduct the first reading of an ordinance amending Section 17.22.020 (Allowable Land Uses) and Chapter 17.84 (Appeals) of the Cotati Municipal Code to remove the use permit requirement for proposed multifamily projects located in NM (Neighborhood, Medium Density) and NU (Neighborhood, Urban) residential zoning districts and revise the administrative procedures for appeals by the City Council.

Background
On April 26, 2022, Community Development Department staff presented a draft ordinance for City Council consideration that included a suite of proposed changes to the city’s Land Use Code that would implement several General Plan and Housing Element policies and programs intended to remove barriers to multifamily housing development (See Exhibit A).

One such program, Housing Element Program 2-6, directed the city to remove the use permit requirement for proposed multifamily housing projects located in the NU (Neighborhood, Urban) zoning district. As a separate component of the draft ordinance, staff proposed that the city also remove the use permit requirement for multifamily housing in the NM (Neighborhood, Medium Density) zoning district. After significant discussion, the City Council decided to adopt several components of the draft ordinance, but chose not to remove the use permit requirement for multifamily projects in the NM and NU zoning districts. The primary concern noted by the councilmembers was that certain multifamily housing projects could have a material effect on the quality of life in Cotati, even if the project was consistent with the zoning, and the council wanted to ensure there would be opportunities for adequate public input and potentially City Council review of highly controversial projects.

On May 24, 2022, the City Council held a discussion to explore different options to address their

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concerns noted above. Staff presented three options to consider: 1) Do not implement Housing Element Program 2-6; 2) elevate all multifamily design review decisions to the City Council; and 3) revise the appeal process for City Council members, for which staff provided draft code language for consideration (See Exhibit B). After public comment and council discussion, the council directed staff to return with an ordinance that would revise the City Council appeal process, but with greater clarification on the process for a councilmember to request an appeal and how the item will be placed on the City Council agenda for discussion in conformance with the Brown Act. The council further directed staff to bring back for consideration the proposal to remove the use permit requirement in both the NM and NU zoning districts.

Analysis/Discussion
Elimination of Use Permit requirement for multifamily projects in NM and NU zones As shown in Exhibit 1 of the proposed ordinance, the ordinance would eliminate the use permit requirement for all multifamily housing projects located in the NM and NU zoning districts.

Eliminating the use permit requirement for multifamily housing developments is a permit streamlining measure that contributes to implementation of General Plan Action LU 4a and Housing Element Programs 2-6 and 3-9:
• Action LU 4a: Review and update the City’s development permitting process to provide a streamlined and straightforward process. At a minimum, the review may consider:
o Methods to streamline and simplify the process, including the process for review by City staff as well as various committees and commissions. o Opportunities to reduce redundancies and delays.
• Program 2-6: Barrier Removals for Multi-Family Development o The Land Use Code will be amended to remove two potential barriers to the provision of multi-family housing. One amendment will be to remove the Conditional Use Permit requirement for multi-family development of five or more units in the NU Zone, and the second is to reduce the parking requirements for studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units (currently 2.25 spaces) to one space for studio and one-bedroom units and no more than two spaces for two- and three-bedroom units. • Program 3-9: Monitor Use Permit Requirements for Affordable Housing o Monitor the requirement for a Use Permit for multi-family projects larger than 4 units in the NU Zone to ensure that affordable housing projects are being accommodated. If the requirement for a Use Permit is shown to be an impediment to the development of affordable housing projects in the NU Zone, review the feasibility of allowing multifamily projects larger than 4 units in the NU Zone as a Permitted Use.Housing Element Programs 2-6 and 3-9 specifically direct the city to consider eliminating the use permit requirement in the NU zoning districts, and the proposed ordinance would fulfill this direction. Additionally, the proposed ordinance would remove the use permit requirement for multifamily housing in the NM zoning districts. Eliminating

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the use permit requirement in the NM district implements the more general direction provided in Action LU4a.

It is important to note that the proposed zoning amendments will not make the review and permitting of multifamily developments in NM and NU districts a ministerial process or allow future multifamily developments by-right. Design review approval from the Planning Commission or City Council at a noticed public hearing would still be required.

The NM and NU zoning districts are areas where the city has already determined multifamily housing development is appropriate and desirable. The primary effects from eliminating the use permit requirement in NM and NU zoning districts would be that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review would be limited to aspects of design review, and the city would not be required to make certain use permit findings prior to project approval. However, since multifamily housing projects will remain subject to design review approval, the City will still be required to make similar use permit findings prior to project approval.

Given the city’s examination and consideration of areas when they are initially zoned for multifamily development, the redundancy in the findings to approve design review and the findings to approve a use permit, and because all areas zoned NM and NU in the city are urban infill locations, staff has concluded that there would not be adverse impacts or reduced project scrutiny by eliminating the use permit requirement for multifamily housing projects located in the NM and NU zoning districts.

Amendment to the administrative procedures for City Council Appeals As shown in Exhibit 2 of the proposed ordinance, the ordinance would provide an administrative procedure for a councilmember to request a City Council appeal of a decision made by the Community Development Director or Planning Commission. The ordinance eliminates Section

17.84.050 of the Cotati Municipal Code (Directed referral) and creates Section 17.84.030(a)(3), as follows:

3. City Council. A member of the council, in their official capacity, may request that the City Council appeal an action of the director or commission, if the basis of the request is that the subject action may have significant and material effects on the quality of life in the City of Cotati. The request for a council appeal shall be submitted in writing to the city manager within ten calendar days of the action which is the subject of the request.
a. If a request for a council appeal of a director or commission action is made by a councilmember, there shall be a presumption applied that the basis for the request is because the subject action may have significant and material effects on the quality of life within the City of Cotati.

Notwithstanding Section 17.84.030(B), no other basis shall be stated by the councilmember in a written request submitted in their official capacity.

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b. The city clerk shall schedule consideration of a councilmember’s request for appeal on the next available regularly scheduled council meeting agenda following receipt of the written request. c. The council’s decision to appeal an action of the director or commission shall require a majority vote of the council. d. If the council votes to appeal an action by the director, then the appeal shall be heard by the commission in compliance with provisions of this Chapter. If the council votes to appeal an action by the commission, then the appeal shall be heard by the council in compliance with the provisions of this Chapter.

The proposed code section above provides a process for a councilmember to request that the City Council appeal a decision of the director or Planning Commission. The process closely resembles the appeal process available to any person. After a decision by the director or commission, a councilmember, acting in their official capacity, would have 10 days in which to notify the city manager in writing that they request the City Council consider appealing the action. Upon receipt of the request, the city clerk will schedule the request on the next available City Council agenda for discussion and potential action. If a majority of the Council decides to appeal the staff or commission decision, then the appeal will be heard by the review authority as set forth in Chapter 17.60 of the Cotati Municipal Code (Permit Application Filing and Processing). Per the provisions of Chapter 17.60, the Planning Commission hears appeals of director decisions, and the City Council hears appeals of Planning Commission decisions.

As noted in the staff report for the council discussion held on May 24, 2022, the current process for a “directed referral,” as set forth in Section 17.84.050, is problematic from a processing standpoint and may be contrary to state law because it provides a process for a single councilmember to bypass the Planning Commission’s review of a matter that would normally fall within the commission’s purview. The proposed ordinance would eliminate the directed referral section.

Financial Considerations
The proposed ordinance is not expected to have a financial impact on the City. Costs associated with the review and permitting of multifamily projects are recovered through application fees and deposits in accordance with the city’s cost recovery policy. Appellants of director or commission decisions normally submit an application fee with the appeal application; however, the costs associated with a City Council appeal would be paid from the city’s general fund, but these costs are not expected to be significant.

Environmental Issues
The ordinance to amend the Land Use Code to remove the use permit requirement for proposed multifamily projects located in NM (Neighborhood, Medium Density) and NU (Neighborhood, Urban) zoning districts fulfills certain policies and objectives identified in the 2015 General Plan

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and Housing Element, and is consistent with the Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH# 2013082037) for the Cotati General Plan Update (certified on March 24, 2015 (Resolution No. 2015-11)); therefore, pursuant to Section 15168 of the CEQA Guidelines, no further environmental review is required. Further, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15378, the amendments to the administrative procedures for City Council appeals is not a project that could result in either a direct or indirect physical change in the environment and thus is not subject to CEQA.

Attachments:

EXHIBIT A: April 26, 2022, Staff Report - Multifamily Streamlining (DOC) EXHIBIT B - May 24, 2022 discussion on draft City Council appeals (DOC)

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Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: PUBLIC HEARINGS (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Introduction of an ordinance amending the Cotati Land Use Code to streamline the review and permitting of certain multifamily housing projects and remove barriers to multifamily housing development.

Date: April 26, 2022
Written by: Jon-Paul Harries, Senior Planner
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council hold a public hearing and introduce the ordinance amending Title 17 of Cotati Municipal Code (Land Use) to streamline the review and permitting of certain multifamily housing projects and remove barriers to multifamily housing development.

Background
The attached proposed ordinance is intended to implement several of the action items and programs set forth in Cotati’s General Plan that would streamline the review and permitting of certain multifamily housing projects and remove barriers to multifamily development.

Multifamily development is permitted in the residential NM (Neighborhood, Medium Density) and NU (Neighborhood, Urban) zoning districts, and can also be developed as part of a mixeduse project in the city’s commercial zones and specific plan areas. The proposed ordinance would only affect multifamily projects in the NM and NU zoning districts and amends the Land Use Code as follows:

1. Increases the maximum allowed land coverage on parcels in the NM zoning districts from 50% to 55%.

2. Increases the maximum allowed land coverage on parcels in the NU zoning districts from 60% to 75%.

3. Increases the maximum allowed height in the NU zoning district from 28 feet to 35 feet.

Currently, structures in the NU zoning district can be built to 35 feet in height only if granted a use permit or if 40 percent or more of the units in the development will be affordable to extremely low- and very low-income households.

4. Removes the requirement for a use permit to develop multifamily housing in the NM (Neighborhood, Medium Density) and NU (Neighborhood, Urban) zoning districts, and would identify multifamily housing development as a Permitted Use in the MN and NU

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Attachment: EXHIBIT A: April 26, 2022, Staff Report - Multifamily Streamlining (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) zoning districts. New or expanded multifamily developments, however, would still be subject to discretionary Design Review approval by the Planning Commission or City Council depending on the project.

Analysis/Discussion
Meeting the housing needs of Cotati’s residents as well as accommodating the city’s share of regional housing needs is identified as an important goal for Cotati in the city’s General Plan and its Housing Element. Cotati’s General Plan identifies many goals, policies, and programs related to the retention and development of affordable and market-rate housing. Among them are several specific action items and programs related to multifamily housing development that would streamline the review and permitting of certain multifamily housing projects and remove some barriers to multifamily housing development, including the following:

General Plan - Land Use Element
• Action LU 1b: Review the standards provided in the Land Use Code and amend as necessary for consistency with General Plan policies and allowed uses, including:
o Increase maximum building height in the Neighborhood, Urban zone to 35 feet, without the requirement for a use permit.
o Increase the maximum site coverage to 55% in the Neighborhood, Medium Density zone and to 75% in the Neighborhood, Urban zone. • Action LU 4a: Review and update the City’s development permitting process to provide a streamlined and straightforward process. At a minimum, the review may consider:
o Methods to streamline and simplify the process, including the process for review by City staff as well as various committees and commissions. o Opportunities to reduce redundancies and delays.

General Plan - Housing Element
• Program 2-6: Barrier Removals for Multi-Family Development o The Land Use Code will be amended to remove two potential barriers to the provision of multi-family housing. One amendment will be to remove the Conditional Use Permit requirement for multi-family development of five or more units in the NU Zone, and the second is to reduce the parking requirements for studio, one-, two-, and three-bedroom units (currently 2.25 spaces) to one space for studio and one-bedroom units and no more than two spaces for two- and threebedroom units. • Program 3-9: Monitor Use Permit Requirements for Affordable Housing o Monitor the requirement for a Use Permit for multi-family projects larger than 4 units in the NU Zone to ensure that affordable housing projects are being accommodated. If the requirement for a Use Permit is shown to be an impediment

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Attachment: EXHIBIT A: April 26, 2022, Staff Report - Multifamily Streamlining (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) to the development of affordable housing projects in the NU Zone, review the feasibility of allowing multi-family projects larger than 4 units in the NU Zone as a Permitted Use.

Amendments to certain development standards to be consistent with the General Plan Action LU 1b, noted above, directs the city to amend or “clean up” its zoning code to be consistent with specific development policies adopted as part of the General Plan. The General Plan development policies addressed in the proposed ordinance include: 1) increasing the maximum amount of land coverage allowed on parcels in the NM zoning districts from 50% to 55%, 2) increasing the maximum amount of land coverage allowed on parcels in the NU zoning districts from 60% to 75%, and 3) allowing for 35-foot-high structures without a use permit in the NU zoning district.

Changing these zoning code standards to be consistent with the General Plan will remove barriers to multifamily housing development by allowing for a small, but not insignificant, increase in development capacity in the NM and NU zoning districts. Developers have expressed that the land coverage limitations can make it difficult to achieve density minimums and provide adequate parking. Increasing the amount of allowable land coverage in the NM and NU districts will allow for larger structures and parking areas and will help to alleviate this barrier to multifamily development. Similarly, allowing for 35-foot-tall structures in the NU zoning district without a Use Permit can serve to streamline the review and permitting of multifamily housing projects. As further discussed below, City approval of multifamily housing projects will not be a ministerial procedure and such projects will still be subject to a public discretionary Design Review process and the City will be required to make findings similar to those for a Use Permit prior to project approval.

Elimination of Use Permit requirement for multifamily projects in NM and NU zones Eliminating the Use Permit requirement for multifamily housing developments is a permit streamlining measure that contributes to implementation of General Plan Action LU 4a and Housing Element Programs 2-6 and 3-9 identified above. The proposed draft ordinance would eliminate the Use Permit requirement for all multifamily housing projects located in the NM and NU zoning districts (see Figure 1 on the following page).

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Attachment: EXHIBIT A: April 26, 2022, Staff Report - Multifamily Streamlining (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) Figure 1 – Cotati Zoning Map
* Note: There are no NM or NU zoning districts located west of Highway 101

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Attachment: EXHIBIT A: April 26, 2022, Staff Report - Multifamily Streamlining (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) Housing Element Programs 2-6 and 3-9 specifically direct the city to consider eliminating the use permit requirement in the NU zoning districts. This amendment is included in the draft ordinance. Additionally, the proposed ordinance includes NM in the zoning districts where a use permit would not be required. Staff has included the NM district in the proposed ordinance because eliminating the use permit requirement implements the more general direction provided in Action LU4a and, as further discussed below, will not make the review and permitting of multifamily developments a ministerial process or allow future multifamily developments byright. Design review approval from the Planning Commission or City Council at a noticed public hearing would still be required.

The NM and NU zoning districts are areas where the City has already determined multifamily housing development is appropriate and desirable. The primary effects from eliminating the use permit requirement in NM and NU zoning districts would be that the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) review would be limited to aspects of design review, and the city would not be required to make certain use permit findings prior to project approval. However, since multifamily housing projects will remain subject to design review approval, the City will be required to make the certain findings prior to project approval. As shown in the following table, the findings to approve a use permit are very similar to the findings to approve design review and are largely redundant.

Staff report continues on the following page

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Attachment: EXHIBIT A: April 26, 2022, Staff Report - Multifamily Streamlining (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) Table 1 – Use Permit v. Design Review Findings
Use Permit Findings
CMC §17.62.050(F)
Design Review Findings
CMC §17.62.040(F-G)

1. The proposed use is allowed within the
applicable zoning district and complies with
all other applicable provisions of this land
use code and the municipal code;

2. The proposed use is consistent with the
general plan and any applicable specific
plan;

3. The design, location, size, and operating
characteristics of the proposed activity are
compatible with the existing and future land
uses in the vicinity;

4. The site is physically suitable for the type,
density and intensity of use being proposed,
including access, utilities, and the absence
of physical constraints; and

5. Granting the permit would not be
detrimental to the public interest, health,
safety, convenience, or welfare, or
materially injurious to persons, property, or
improvements in the vicinity and zoning
district in which the property is located.

1. Project complies with Section 17.62.040
(Design Review);

2. Provides architectural design, building
massing and scale appropriate to and
compatible with the site surroundings and
the community;

3. Provides attractive and desirable site layout
and design, including building
arrangement, exterior appearance and
setbacks, drainage, fences and walls,
grading, landscaping, lighting, signs, etc.;

4. Provides efficient, safe, and visually
attractive public access, circulation and
parking;

5. Provides appropriate open space and
landscaping, including the use of waterefficient landscaping, and native plants where appropriate;

6. Addresses site planning design
considerations related to city services,
traffic flows and patterns, and
environmental conditions in a manner that
ensures maximum aesthetic cohesiveness;

7. Is consistent with the general plan and
applicable specific plans; and

8. Complies with any applicable city design
guidelines, design standards, and/or design
review policies.

Given the city’s examination and consideration of areas when they are initially zoned for multifamily development, the redundancy in the findings to approve design review and the findings to approve a use permit, and given that all areas zoned NM and NU in the city are urban infill locations, Staff has concluded that there would be minimal adverse impacts or reduced project scrutiny by eliminating the use permit requirement for multifamily housing projects located in the NM and NU zoning districts.

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Attachment: EXHIBIT A: April 26, 2022, Staff Report - Multifamily Streamlining (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) Planning Commission
On March 7, 2022, the Planning Commission, by a vote of 3 to 1, adopted Resolution PC-2022-3 recommending City Council approval of the proposed ordinance (see Exhibit A). The Commission questioned how the development potential of individual parcels would be affected by the ordinance, and sought clarification on the differences between use permit approvals and design review approvals. The Commission was supportive of the ordinance, but one dissenting Commissioner felt that some multifamily projects could have a significant impact on a neighborhood and that the use permit requirement allowed for increased scrutiny and evaluation of a project beyond its design.

Financial Considerations
The proposed ordinance will not have a direct adverse financial impact on the city. The staff time to prepare the ordinance will be reimbursed through a portion of the SB 2 Planning Grant awarded to the city in 2019. Staff time to review and process multifamily housing projects is recovered through design review application and building permit fees.

Environmental Issues
Section 15168(c) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines provides that certain projects are exempt from further environmental review if they are consistent with a previously adopted General Plan Environmental Impact Report (EIR). CEQA Guidelines Section 15168(c) states that “later activities in the program must be examined in the light of the program EIR to determine whether an additional environmental document must be prepared.” The proposed code changes are a “later activity” of the program EIR that was certified for the Cotati General Plan. Relative to what was analyzed in the program level EIR, the proposed code changes do not result in environmental effects that were not previously examined. As such, pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Sections 15162 and 15163, no subsequent or supplemental EIR is required. In accordance with CEQA Guidelines Section 15168(c)(2), the City can “approve the activity as being within the scope of the project covered by the program EIR, and no new environmental document would be required.” Further, the requirement that multifamily housing developments must receive Design Review approval (a discretionary action) ensures multifamily housing projects will undergo environmental review under CEQA to address site specific environmental concerns.

Cotati General Plan EIR
The Cotati General Plan was adopted March 24, 2015, by Resolution Number 2015-12. The General Plan identifies the City’s vision for the future and provides a framework to guide decisions on growth, development, and conservation of open space in a manner consistent with the goals and priorities of residents and businesses. The City of Cotati General Plan program level EIR provides for streamlining and/or tiering opportunities under CEQA Guidelines Section 15168.

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Attachment: EXHIBIT A: April 26, 2022, Staff Report - Multifamily Streamlining (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) The Cotati General Plan Update EIR (SCH No. 2013082037), was certified on March 24, 2015 by Resolution Number 2015-11. The General Plan EIR reviewed potentially significant environmental effects resulting from plan implementation and identified policies that mitigate impacts. Nonetheless, significant and unavoidable impacts were determined to occur under the General Plan. Therefore, the City adopted a statement of overriding considerations, which balance the merits of approving the Plan despite the significant environmental effects.

A copy of the City of Cotati’s General Plan and EIR are available at the Community Development Department, 201 West Sierra Avenue, Cotati, California 94931, during normal business hours, and online at http://cotati.generalplan.org/.

Consistency with the City of Cotati General Plan and EIR (CEQA Guidelines section 15168) The City of Cotati is proposing changes to the Land Use Code to streamline the review and permitting of multifamily housing developments and remove barriers to their development. The code changes are intended to encourage housing development within existing urbanized areas near jobs and transit in accordance with the General Plan and Housing Element goals and policies. As discussed above, the proposed Land Use Code changes implement specific action items and programs identified in the General Plan and Housing Element, including:
• Action LU 1b: Review the standards provided in the Land Use Code and amend as necessary for consistency with General Plan policies and allowed uses; • Action LU 4a: Review and update the City’s development permitting process to provide a streamlined and straightforward process;
• Program 2-6: Barrier Removals for Multi-Family Development; and • Program 3-9: Monitor Use Permit Requirements for Affordable Housing The proposed zoning amendments implement the General Plan and Housing Element and were analyzed in the EIR. The proposed code changes do not result in new unexamined environmental effects; therefore, no further environmental analysis is required.

Attachments:

EXHIBIT A - Planning Commission Resolution PC-2022-3(DOC)

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Packet Pg. 100 Attachment: EXHIBIT A: April 26, 2022, Staff Report - Multifamily Streamlining (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type:

To: City Council
Subject: DISCUSSION OF POTENTIAL ORDINANCE AUTHORIZING CITY

COUNCIL APPEALS OF APPROVALS UNDER ZONING ORDINANCE
Date: May 24, 2022
Written by: Noah Housh, Director of Community Development Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council review the information provided by staff, consider the various options identified and provide direction on a potential ordinance.

Background
On April 26, 2022, staff from the Community Development Department presented an Ordinance which included suite of proposed changes to the City’s land use code, implementing several General Plan and Housing Element policy and programs. These policies and programs provided direction to make changes regarding the City’s development review process for housing projects.

Housing Element Program 2-6 directed the removal of the Use Permit requirement for multifamily housing in the Neighborhood Urban (NU) Zoning District. As a separate component of this Ordinance, staff had included another recommended change to remove the Use Permit requirement for multi-family housing in the Neighborhood Medium (NM) Density Zoning District. Design Review approval from the Planning Commission in a fully noticed public hearing would remain under proposed changes.

Analysis/Discussion
In discussing the removal of the Use Permit requirement for multi-family housing in the NU and NM zoning districts, a majority of the City Council expressed a desire to explore options to mitigate the potential for problematic projects to move forward absent additional public input.

Specifically, they requested further discussion on the following options:

1. Not implementing Housing Element Program 2-6, which would remove the Use Permit requirement for multi-family housing in the NU District, or

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Packet Pg. 101 Attachment: EXHIBIT B - May 24, 2022 discussion on draft City Council appeals (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals)

2. Elevating all multi-family Design Review decisions to the City Council.

As indicated in the hearing, one of the goals in implementing this program is to assist the City in the adoption and approval of the City’s pending 6th Cycle Housing Element by the State Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD). Given the recent experiences of Southern California cities, many of which had their Housing Elements rejected, it is believed that the City will be better positioned to get certified by completing a program that was committed to in the existing Housing Element.

In response, staff has researched the potential impacts from the implementation of either of these directions with our Housing Element consultant (Jane Riley, 4Leaf), who was of the opinion (of the two choices above) that the identified targeted change in the Design Review process would likely be viewed as an added “impediment’ to the development of housing units, making rejection of the City’s 6
th Cycle Housing Element more likely. If this was the only option, our Housing Element Consultant suggested that it would be better to not implement Program 2-6.

While staff sees full implementation of Housing Element 2-6 as an important step, given the concerns raised by a majority of the City Council, staff has sought to identify a third option.

Option 3: Changes to the general Appeal Process
In jurisdictions throughout the State, it is common for the appeal chapter of the municipal code to include a provision that allows the City Council to appeal any land use action of a lower decision-making authority. In Sonoma County, the Town of Windsor and City of Sonoma have similar provisions. These policies are generally intended to ensure decisions that are deemed to have a significant or material impact on the quality of life of members of the community are thoroughly vetted and decided by those directly elected to represent those community members.

The Cotati Municipal Code currently has an allowance, but staff is recommending new language and deleting existing problematic language.

Given direction from the City Council, staff has proposed new language to create a process for a majority of City Council members to appeal any land use decision of a lower decision body within a given time frame. Draft ordinance language is provided below, and the existing Appeal Code language is attached for context.

17.84.030(A)(3)

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Packet Pg. 102 Attachment: EXHIBIT B - May 24, 2022 discussion on draft City Council appeals (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) City Council. The City Council may appeal any action of the Director of Community Development or Planning Commission. The decision to appeal an action must be made within 30-days following the action of the Director of Community Development or Planning Commission and shall require a majority vote of the City Council. The decision to appeal shall be made at the time the City Council agenda grants the City Council the opportunity to provide direction on future agenda items. If an appeal is made by the City Council, there shall be a presumption that the appeal is based on the concern that the appealed action may have significant and/or material effects on the quality of life of the citizens residing within the City of Cotati. No other reason need be or shall be stated by the City Council. No inference of bias shall be made because of such an appeal. Such an appeal shall be a de novo decision.

Additionally, in researching this item, staff discovered existing text in the appeals section that is recommended for removal, as it is problematic from a process standpoint and may trigger legal challenges if used. Therefore, in the existing Appeal Code language, staff recommends also striking the entirety of section “17.84.050 Directed Referral”.

It is believed that these proposed changes will both remove a potential existing impediment to housing and broadly ensure that decisions that are deemed to have a significant or material impact on the quality of life of members of the community are thoroughly vetted and decided by those directly elected to represent those community members.

Permitted or Conditional Use Permit?
Finally, it should be clarified that the Housing Element Program 2-6 specifically focused on removal of the use permit for multifamily development in the NU zone. Staff suggested that this also be extended to the NM zone, under the general policy to remove impediments, and this seemed to be consistent with the change to NU. Additionally, the use permit is not believed to add much value over the existing design review process. However, the City Council has the option to not take the staff recommendation on NM and only remove the use permit requirement for the NU zone, consistent with the specific program language.

Staff requests City Council direction and feed back on the proposed ordinance changes.

Financial Considerations
The direct and quantifiable impacts of this decision are identified as the cost of the staff time to

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Packet Pg. 103 Attachment: EXHIBIT B - May 24, 2022 discussion on draft City Council appeals (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) the general fund in working on the proposed Ordinance and code revisions. This is generally anticipated to be between 20-40 hours to bring such an ordinance before the City Council. There may be indirect or un-anticipated costs associated with not implementing the adopted Housing Element programs, however, these are uncertain and unable to be quantified.

Attachments:

Chapter 17.84 APPEALS (PDF)

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Packet Pg. 104 Attachment: EXHIBIT B - May 24, 2022 discussion on draft City Council appeals (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) ORDINANCE NO.

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COTATI AMENDING SECTION 17.22.020 (ALLOWABLE LAND USES) AND CHAPTER 17.84 (APPEALS)

OF THE COTATI MUNICIPAL CODE TO REMOVE THE USE PERMIT

REQUIREMENT FOR PROPOSED MULTIFAMILY PROJECTS LOCATED IN NM (NEIGHBORHOOD, MEDIUM DENSITY) AND NU (NEIGHBORHOOD, URBAN)

RESIDENTIAL ZONING DISTRICTS AND REVISE THE ADMINISTRATIVE

PROCEDURES FOR APPEALS BY THE CITY COUNCIL
WHEREAS, the availability and affordability of housing is a substantial concern for individuals of all demographics, ages, and economic backgrounds in communities throughout California; and
WHEREAS, over the last several years the State of California has adopted numerous legislative bills intended to increase the supply of housing in California, including the Building Jobs and Homes Act (SB 2, 2017) which supported development of this ordinance through its SB 2 Planning Grants program; and
WHEREAS, on March 24, 2015, the City Council adopted the updated Cotati General Plan, and on May 19, 2015, the City Council adopted the Housing Element, which sets forth policies and programs intended to remove constraints and promote the development of additional affordable housing in Cotati; and
WHEREAS, adoption of changes to the Land Use Code are necessary to implement the objectives of the General Plan and Housing Element; and WHEREAS, on March 7, 2022, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing to consider a package of Land Use Code amendments to streamline the review of multifamily housing projects and remove barriers to multifamily housing development, including the proposed Land Use Code amendments that would remove the use permit requirement for multifamily housing in the NM (Neighborhood, Medium Density) and NU (Neighborhood, Urban) zoning districts, and recommended City Council approval of the proposed zoning changes; and
WHEREAS, on April 26, 2022, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to consider a package of Land Use Code amendments to streamline the review of multifamily housing projects and remove barriers to multifamily housing development, during which the City Council decided to approve some of the proposed amendments, but chose not to remove the use permit requirement for multifamily housing in the NM and NU zoning districts; and WHEREAS, on May 24, 2022, at a regularly scheduled City Council meeting, the council held a discussion on a potential ordinance to amend the process for City Council appeals of director and Planning Commission decisions, and directed staff to develop such an ordinance for consideration by the council. The council further directed staff to bring back for consideration the proposal to remove the use permit requirement for multifamily housing Packet Pg. 105
developments in the NM and NU zoning districts; and
WHEREAS, on November 21, 2022, the Planning Commission held a duly noticed public hearing to consider the proposed Land Use Code amendments and recommended that the City Council approve the implementing ordinance; and
WHEREAS, on November 22, 2022, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to consider the proposed Land Use Code amendments at which time all interested persons were given an opportunity to be heard.

NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COTATI DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. Recitals Made Findings.

The above recitals are true and constitute a part of the findings made by the City Council in adopting this ordinance.

SECTION 2. Record.

The Record of Proceedings (“Record”) upon which the City Council makes its decision includes, but is not limited to: 1) the General Plan and its Housing Element adopted by the City Council in 2015, 2) the Final Environmental Impact Report (FEIR) certified for the General Plan, and 3) all staff reports, city files, records, and other documents prepared for and/or submitted to the City Council related to the adoption of the zoning amendments.

SECTION 3. Compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).

The City Council of the City of Cotati does hereby find that the ordinance to amend the Land Use Code to remove the use permit requirement for proposed multifamily projects located in NM (Neighborhood, Medium Density) and NU (Neighborhood, Urban) zoning districts fulfills certain policies and objectives identified in the 2015 General Plan and Housing Element, and is consistent with the Final Environmental Impact Report (SCH# 2013082037) for the Cotati General Plan Update (certified on March 24, 2015 (Resolution No. 2015-11)); therefore, pursuant to Section 15168 of the CEQA Guidelines, no further environmental review is required.

The City Council further finds that the amendments to the administrative procedures for City Council appeals is not a project that could result in either a direct or indirect physical change in the environment and is not subject to CEQA.

SECTION 4. Amendments to the Cotati Municipal Code.

The amendments to Section 17.22.020 (Allowable Land Uses) - Table 2-2 “Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements for Low Density and Neighborhood Zones” and Chapter 17.84 (Appeals) of the Cotati Municipal Code, attached to and made a part of this ordinance as Exhibits 1 and 2 (strikethrough = deletion; underline = addition), are hereby adopted.

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SECTION 5. Severability.

The provisions of this ordinance are severable and if any provision, clause, sentence, word, or part thereof is held illegal, invalid, unconstitutional, or inapplicable to any person or circumstances, such illegality, invalidity, unconstitutionality, or inapplicability shall not affect or impair any of the remaining provisions, clauses, sentences, sections, words or parts thereof of the ordinance or their applicability to other persons or circumstances.

SECTION 6. Effective Date.

This ordinance shall be in full force and effect thirty (30) days after its final passage.

SECTION 7. Publication or Posting.

The City Clerk of the City of Cotati shall cause this ordinance to be published or posted as required in Section 36933 of the Government Code of the State of California.

Approved:________________________________
Mayor
Attest:____________________________
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk
Approved as to form:
___________________________
John Bakker, City Attorney
This document is a true and correct copy of Ordinance Number and has been published or posted pursuant to law. California Government Code § 40806
_______________________________
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk
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EXHIBIT 1
COTATI MUNICIPAL CODE 17.22.020
Table 2-2
Allowed Land Uses and Permit Requirements for Low Density and Neighborhood Zones P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit required
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District

OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU
Specific
Use
Regulations
Agricultural and Open Space Uses
Agricultural accessory structure UP – P P – – – 17.42.020 Animal keeping S S S S S S S 17.42.040
Crop production, horticulture, orchard, vineyard – – UP – – – – Plant nursery – – UP – – – –
Winery, small scale – – UP (2) – – – –
Industry, Manufacturing and Processing, Wholesaling
Artisan/craft product manufacturing – – UP (3) – – – –
Recreation, Education and Public Assembly Uses
Community garden – MUP MUP MUP MUP MUP MUP
Equestrian facility – UP UP – – – –
Meeting facility, public or private – – – – UP UP UP
Park UP P P P P P P
Playground – P P P P P P
Private residential recreation facility – – – UP UP UP UP School – Elementary, middle, secondary – – – UP UP UP – Residential Uses
Accessory dwelling unit – – P P P P P 17.42.170
Caretaker quarters UP – – – – – –
Cottage housing – – – – S S S 17.42.125

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Packet Pg. 108 Attachment: EXHIBIT 1 - Amendments to CMC Section 17.22.020 (Allowable Land Uses) (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit required
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District

OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU
Specific
Use
Regulations
Home occupation – – P P P P P 17.42.080
Junior accessory dwelling unit – – P P P – – 17.42.170
Mobilehome park – – UP UP UP UP UP 17.42.110
Mobile/manufactured home – – P P P P P 17.42.110
Multifamily housing, 2 units – – – – UP P P 17.42.120
Multifamily housing, 3 or 4 units – – – – – UPP P 17.42.120 Multifamily housing, 5 to 9 units – – – – – UPP UPP 17.42.120 Multifamily housing, 10 or more units – – – – – – UPP 17.42.120 Multifamily housing, up to 100 units with 25%
affordable
– – – – – – P 17.42.120
Organizational house (sorority, monastery, etc.) – – – – – – UP Residential accessory use or structure – – P P P P P 17.42.160 Residential care facility for the elderly (RCFE) – – UP UP UP UP UP Residential care, 11 or more clients – – UP UP UP UP UP Residential care, 6 or fewer clients, in a single-family dwelling
– – P P P P P
Residential care, 7 to 10 clients – – UP UP UP UP UP
Residential component of a mixed use project – – – – UP UP UP 17.42.100 Rooming or boarding house – – – – – – UP
Single-family dwelling – – P P P UP(4) UP(4)
Retail Trade
Accessory retail and services – – – – UP UP UP
Convenience store, 1,200 sq. ft. or less – – – – UP UP UP Produce stand – – UP – – – – 17.42.130
Services – Business and Professional
Medical services – Extended care – – – – – UP UP
Office – Accessory – P P P P P P
Services

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Packet Pg. 109 Attachment: EXHIBIT 1 - Amendments to CMC Section 17.22.020 (Allowable Land Uses) (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) P Permitted Use, Zoning Clearance required
MUP Minor Use Permit required
UP Use Permit required
S Permit requirement set by Specific Use Regulations
– Use not allowed
Land Use(1)
Permit Required by District

OSC OSR RR RVL NL NM NU
Specific
Use
Regulations
Adult day care – 6 or fewer clients – – P P P P P
Adult day care – 7 to 14 clients – – UP UP UP UP UP
Adult day care – 15 or more clients – – UP UP UP UP UP
Child day care – Small family day care home – – P P P P P Child day care – Large family day care home – – P P P – – 17.42.060 Child day care – Day care center – – – – – UP UP 17.42.060 Kennel, animal boarding – – UP – – – –
Lodging – Bed and breakfast inn (B&B) – – UP UP – – – 17.42.050 Personal services – 1,000 sq. ft. or less – – – – – UP UP Public safety facilities – – UP UP UP UP UP
Transportation, Communications and Infrastructure
Solar collector S S S S S S S 17.30.084
Windmills – – UP – – – – 17.42.190
Key to Zoning District Symbols
OSC Open Space – Conservation NL Neighborhood – Low Density OSR Open Space – Recreation NM Neighborhood – Medium Density RR Rural Residential NU Neighborhood – Urban
RVL Residential, Very Low Density
Notes:
(1) See Article 9 of this title for land use definitions. (2) May be approved only in conjunction with an on-site vineyard of three acres or larger. (3) May be approved only on a site of three acres or larger. (4) Use permit approval shall require that the review authority first find that the location of a proposed single-family dwelling on a parcel that may be further subdivided will not preclude future subdivision and development in compliance with the general plan.

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Packet Pg. 110 Attachment: EXHIBIT 1 - Amendments to CMC Section 17.22.020 (Allowable Land Uses) (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) EXHIBIT 2
Chapter 17.84

APPEALS
Sections:

17.84.010 Purpose.

17.84.020 Appeal subjects and jurisdiction.

17.84.030 Filing of appeals.

17.84.040 Processing of appeals.

17.84.050 Directed referral.

17.84.010 Purpose.

This chapter establishes procedures for the appeal and review of determinations and decisions of the director or commission.

17.84.020 Appeal subjects and jurisdiction.

A. Director Decision. A determination or decision by the director or department staff may be appealed to the commission.

B. Director Decision on Design Review. A decision of the director in relation to the design review process may be appealed to the commission. See Section 17.62.040 (Design review).

C. Commission Decision. A decision by the commission may be appealed to the council.

17.84.030 Filing of appeals.

A. Eligibility. An appeal may be filed by:

1. Any person affected by an administrative determination or action by the director, as described in Section 17.84.020(A);

2. In the case of a planning permit and/or hearing decision described in Section 17.84.020, by anyone who, in person or through a representative, presented testimony at a public hearing in connection with the decision being appealed, or who otherwise informed the city in writing of the nature of their concerns before the hearing or determination.

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Packet Pg. 111 Attachment: EXHIBIT 2 - Amendments to CMC Chapter 17.84 (Appeals) (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) of Cotati. Notwithstanding Section 17.84.030(B), no other basis shall be stated by the councilmember in a written request submitted in their official capacity. b. The city clerk shall schedule consideration of a councilmember’s request for appeal on the next available regularly scheduled council meeting agenda following receipt of the written request.
c. The council’s decision to appeal an action of the director or commission shall require a majority vote of the council.
d. If the council votes to appeal an action by the director, then the appeal shall be heard by the commission in compliance with provisions of this Chapter. If the council votes to appeal an action by the commission, then the appeal shall be heard by the council in compliance with the provisions of this Chapter.

B. Timing and Form of Appeal. Appeals shall be filed with the director, on a city application form, within ten calendar days after the date of the decision or action being appealed. The appeal shall include the required filing fee. The written appeal shall specifically state the pertinent facts of the case and the basis for the appeal.

C. Scope of Planning Permit Appeals. An appeal of a decision by the director or commission on a planning permit shall be limited to issues raised at the public hearing, or in writing before the hearing, or information that was not known at the time of the decision that is being appealed.

D. Action Being Appealed Suspended. Pending a decision on an appeal in compliance with this land use code, all rights emanating from the permit, license, or other entitlement that is the subject of the appeal, and all relevant time periods, shall be suspended.

E. Multiple Actions. In the event an appeal is filed regarding a decision on one of multiple permits or city approvals concurrently granted for a single project (for example, the approval of a use permit is appealed on a project for which a negative declaration was approved at the same time), all concurrently granted city permits and approvals for the project shall be automatically appealed, and shall be considered and acted upon in compliance with this chapter.

17.84.040 Processing of appeals.

A. Scheduling of Hearing. After an appeal has been received in compliance with Section 17.84.030, the director shall schedule the matter for a commission agenda, or the city clerk shall schedule the matter for a council agenda, as applicable to the appeal.

B. Report. After the appeal hearing has been scheduled, the director shall prepare a report on the matter, and forward the report to the appropriate appeal body.

C. Joining an Appeal. Only persons who file an appeal within the ten-day appeal period in compliance with Section 17.84.030 shall be considered appellants of the matter under appeal.

1. Any person who wishes to join an appeal shall follow the same procedures for an appellant in compliance with Section 17.84.030.

2. No person shall be allowed to join an appeal after the end of the ten-day appeal period.

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Packet Pg. 112 Attachment: EXHIBIT 2 - Amendments to CMC Chapter 17.84 (Appeals) (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) D. Withdrawal of Appeal. Once filed, an appellant may withdraw an appeal only within the ten-day appeal period established by Section 17.84.030(B).

E. Findings and Decision.

1. General Procedure. The appeal body shall conduct a public hearing in compliance with Chapter

17.88 (Public Hearings).
a. Scope of Review. When reviewing an appeal the review authority may consider any issue associated with the project for which a decision is being appealed, in addition to the specific grounds for the appeal. The review authority shall also consider any environmental determination applicable to the entitlement or decision being appealed. b. New Evidence. If new or different evidence is presented during the appeal hearing, the commission or council may refer the matter back to the director or commission, as applicable, for a report on the new or different evidence prior to a final decision on the appeal. c. Decision. After a public hearing, the appeal body may:
i. Approve, modify, or disapprove the action appealed from, either in whole or in part, based on the record on appeal and the evidence received at the hearing on appeal; and ii. Adopt additional conditions of approval deemed reasonable and necessary; or iii. Disapprove the planning permit approved by the previous review authority, even if the appeal only requested modification or elimination of one or more conditions of approval.

2. Appeals to the Council. A decision by the commission may be appealed to the council as provided by Section 17.84.030 (Filing of appeals).
a. Authority of Council. The council shall have the authority to approve, modify, or disapprove the action appealed from, either in whole or in part, based on the record on appeal and the evidence received at the hearing on the appeal. The lack of an affirmative majority vote on the appeal, or a tie vote, shall constitute denial of the project appealed. b. Referral. The council may refer any appeal to the commission for a report and recommendation, or for further proceedings. In this event, if the commission changes its decision, and the appeal is thereafter returned to the council, the appeal shall be deemed to be from the decision of the commission as modified.
c. Finality of Decision. The findings, decision, and action of the council on an appeal shall be final.

3. Simultaneous Appeal and Directed Referral. When an action is both appealed and a directed referral is called (Section 17.84.050), both the appeal and the directed referral shall be heard by the council.

F. Effective Date of Appeal Decision. A decision by the commission on an appeal is effective on the eleventh day after the decision, when no appeal to the decision has been filed with the council. A decision by the council is effective as of the date of the decision.

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Packet Pg. 113 Attachment: EXHIBIT 2 - Amendments to CMC Chapter 17.84 (Appeals) (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals)

17.84.050 Directed referral.

A. Purpose. This section provides a process for an individual council member to initiate a directed referral on an application where action has been taken and is normally final at a lower level of authority, and to have the matter heard by the commission or council, as determined by the council.

B. Grounds for Directed Referral.

1. If the council refers an action to the commission, the grounds for the directed referral shall be that the individual council member believes the matter should be determined by the commission.

2. If the council refers an action to itself, the grounds for the directed referral shall be that the individual council member believes the matter should be determined by the council.

C. Procedure for Directed Referral. The individual council member shall prepare and sign a written directive that specifies:

1. Whether the action will be referred to the commission or the council;

2. If the action will be referred to the commission, whether the commission’s decision shall automatically proceed to the council for review; and

3. Whether the directed referral is being initiated on the grounds specified in subsection (B)(1) or (B)(2) of this section. No other grounds or reasons for the directed referral shall be stated.

D. Time Limit. A directed referral shall be filed with the city manager within the time limit for appeals provided by Section 17.84.030(B) or, in the case of a decision for which no time limit for appeal is specified, within ten calendar days of the action being referred.

E. Action by Review Authority. Any matter brought before the review authority designated by the council as a directed referral shall be considered at a noticed public hearing.

1. All alternatives available to the review authority which considered the original application are also available to the review authority for the directed referral, which may approve, modify, approve with conditions, or disapprove the item.

2. When considering a directed referral, the review authority may consider any issue associated with the decision being referred, in addition to the specific grounds for the referral.

F. Participation by Initiator of Directed Referral. The council member who initiated a directed referral process shall have full participation rights in the hearing, unless actual bias or prejudice is otherwise shown.

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Packet Pg. 114 Attachment: EXHIBIT 2 - Amendments to CMC Chapter 17.84 (Appeals) (Multifamily use permits and City Council appeals) Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: PUBLIC HEARINGS (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Adoption of the 2022 California Building Code
Date: November 22, 2022
Written by: Noah Housh, Director of Community Development Recommendation
It is recommended that the Council of the City of Cotati conduct the second reading and adopt an Ordinance to update and amend the California Building Code to implement changes for the 2022 Building Code cycle.

Background
The California Building Standards Code (Title 24) is organized into 13 parts and is updated every three years. Local jurisdictions that choose to amend Title 24 are required to adopt this building code by ordinance for local enforcement within 180-days after the updated Title 24 is published by the State, which occurred on July 1, 2022.

In adopting Title 24 for local enforcement, a local jurisdiction may amend the State standards to address local geologic, topographic or climatic conditions, but in no case may these amendments be less restrictive than the State code. The authority to make such amendments is provided through a combination of Government Code Sections; however each amendment requires specific justification. In addition, there are a number of Appendices which are not required to be adopted by local agencies, however their adoption may serve to simplify or clarify local regulation processes by providing consistent regulations across jurisdictions.

Since the 2008 Code adoption, Sonoma County jurisdictions have collaborated in adopting local amendments. The goal is to limit local amendments to the State Codes as much as practical and use common language in their adoptions. This “common code” is designed to give developers, contractors and citizens consistent requirements and code language, which streamlines the permitting process and requires less education for the local building community. Minor changes have been made to the code language, but Sonoma County jurisdictions have attempted to limit code amendments in an effort to remain uniform with the State. It should be noted that most of the changes in this year’s code deal with energy conservation and improving the overall efficiency of the structure.

The Sonoma County Fire Prevention Officer’s Association and the Sonoma County Fire Chief’s Association have endorsed the 2022 Fire Code amendments. Municipal Code Section 15.08

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Packet Pg. 115
Excavation, Grading and Earthwork Construction are amended to reflect the State regulations regarding Stormwater management and reference 2022 State Building Codes.

The City Council introduced the proposed ordinance and held the first reading at a duly notice public hearing on October 25, 2022.

Analysis/Discussion
The ordinance will supersede the City of Cotati Building Code (Municipal Code Chapter 14.04) to meet the requirements and criteria of the 2022 California Building Code Standards. While the 2022 Code is very similar to the 2019 code, it does include several differences which are summarized below.

Separately, the Ordinance proposes to adopt several Appendices to the 2022 California Building Standards Code with the intent to establish clear and consistent regulation of elements outside of the typical building code. Note that the proposed amendments to the code and appendices are the same amendments and appendices adopted by the City in the prior building code cycle. The only difference is the addition of the residential code appendix for Tiny Homes. With the recent approval by City Council of the Cottage Housing Ordinance, staff believes there may be some need to allow modified standards for things like stairways, lofts, etc. in the cottage homes. The addition of this appendix does not change the zoning requirements, simply allows for modified building standards when applicable.

The amendments will establish (or re-establish) local City of Cotati regulations addressing:

1. Appendices in the California Building Code to be adopted include:

H. Signs
I. Patio Covers
J. Grading
O. Emergency Housing

2. Appendices in the California Plumbing Code to be adopted include:

A. Recommended Rules for sizing the Water Piping System.

B. Explanatory Notes on Combination Water and Vent Systems.

C. Alternate Plumbing Systems.

D. Sizing Storm Drainage Systems.

I. Installation Standards for PEX Tubing Systems

3. Appendices in the California Existing Building Code to be adopted include:

A1. Seismic Strengthening Provisions for Unreinforced Masonry Bearing Wall Buildings.

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A3. Prescriptive Provisions for Seismic Strengthening of Cripple Walls and Sill Plate Anchorage of Light, Wood-Framed Residential Buildings
A4. Earthquake Risk Reduction in Wood-Framed Residential Buildings with Soft, Weak, or Open Front Walls.

A5. Referenced Standards.

4. Appendices in the California Green Building Standards Code to be adopted include:

A4. Residential Voluntary Measures, Tier 1, for New Buildings and substantial remodels.

A5. Nonresidential Voluntary Measures, Tier 1, for New Buildings and substantial remodels.

5. Appendices in the California Residential Code to be adopted include:

H. Patio Covers
J. Existing Buildings and Structures
K. Sound Transmission
T. Solar-Ready Provisions for Detached One- and Two-Family Dwellings.

Q, Tiny Houses
Other codes recommended for adoption by the City of Cotati include:

1. The International Property Maintenance code amended to reference the California Building Codes.

2. 2022 National Fire Code Enforcement.

Highlights of the State Code Updates from the 2019 Edition to the 2022 Edition With each code adoption cycle, the California Building Standards Code is updated to clarify ambiguous language and to bring consistency where conflicts exist among the various codes.

The updated version also includes additional code provisions to address current buildingrelated issues as highlighted below:

1. Building Code
• Although Cotati does not have any Wildland-Urban Interface designated areas it is worth noting there are extensive updates to Chapter 7A Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) regulations such as clearer definition (fire-resistant vegetation) and scoping (accessory structures), and more prescriptive measures for exterior assembly. The amendments were developed through the Office of the State Fire Marshal WUI task group and collaboration with local fire departments, other state agencies, the building industry, testing labs, and stakeholders.

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• The definition for Group R-2 was amended to meet the requirements of SB 234, clarifying that small and large family childcare houses can operate in apartments when they comply with the regulations and with HSC 1597.46.

2. Residential Code
• Provisions for aging-in-place design and fall prevention was added to address specific aging-in-place design elements in new residential construction to facilitate access to operational features and to allow people to stay longer in their homes as they age. • Energy Storage System (ESS) vehicle impact protection was included to illustrate the zones in which a typical residential garage ESS installation would need impact protection.

3. Energy Code
• Single Family Residential - New energy storage system (ESS) ready requirements, including interconnection equipment or a dedicated raceway, a minimum of four branch circuits, a minimum busbar rating of 225 amps, and space for future installation of system isolation equipment or transfer switch.
• Single Family Residential and Multifamily - New electric ready requirements for space heating, cooking, and clothes dryers serving individual dwelling units and common areas, when gas equipment is installed. Electrical infrastructure must be provided and reserved to the equipment location for the future installation of electrical appliances. • Nonresidential - New prescriptive requirements were added for new photovoltaic (PV) and battery storage systems for specific building types, and a prescriptive heat pump space-conditioning baseline for certain climate zones. The commercial buildings included in this change include high-rise residential projects, hotels, offices, medical offices, health clinics, retailers, grocery stores, restaurants, schools and civic spaces.

4. CALGreen
• In addition to an increased number of Electric Vehicle (EV) charging spaces required for new development, expanded EV charging infrastructure for additions and alterations are triggered when new parking facilities are added or electrical systems or lighting of existing parking facilities are added or altered.

10.B
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Other recent solar changes
In 2018, California Building Standards Commission created a new standard that requires new single-family homes and multi-family dwellings up to three stories high to install solar panels.

The California solar mandate took effect on January 1, 2020 and was incorporated into the California building codes.

Solar systems on new construction projects must have the capacity to provide all of the power needs on an annual basis. These properties haven’t been inhabited in the past, so builders estimate the electricity needs of the home based on the climate zone and square footage.

If the solar system includes battery storage systems, builders can reduce the size requirement of the solar system by up to 25%. In addition, when incorporating other energy-efficiency initiatives and demand-response measures, builders can reduce the size of the solar power system by 40% or more.

There are a few types of new residential construction that are exempt from the code. In some cases, properties with a small enough roof or those that receive an abundance of shade may be exempt from installing a PV system. Additionally, building developers can pursue and build community solar projects, as opposed to rooftop solar panel systems for each property, so long as they receive approval from both the California Clean Energy Commission (CEC) and the local utility company. Any community solar project offered in lieu of on-site solar needs to offer similar benefits to the new homeowner that a rooftop or ground-mounted system located on their property would provide.

Financial Considerations
There are no specific general fund impacts associated with the proposed Ordinance adoption, separate from the staff and consultant time required to draft and implement the specific revisions and updates to the Cotati Building Code and adopted Appendices.

10.B
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ORDINANCE NO.

ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COTATI AMENDING COTATI MUNICIPAL CODE CHAPTER 14.04, ADOPTING BY REFERENCE THE 2022 CALIFORNIA (CA) CODE OF REGULATIONS, TITLE 24, PARTS 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 AND 12 AS PUBLISHED BY THE CA BUILDING (BLDG) STANDARDS COMMISSION, THE CA ADMINISTRATIVE CODE PART 1, CA BUILDING CODE PART 2, VOLUMES 1 AND 2 AND ITS APPENDIX (APP) H, SIGNS; APP I, PATIO COVERS; APP J, GRADING; AND APP 0, EMERGENCY HOUSING, CA RESIDENTIAL CODE PART 2.5, AND ITS APP H, PATIO COVERS; APP J, EXISTING BLDGS AND STRUCTURES; AND APP K, SOUND TRANSMISSION, CA ELECTRICAL CODE PART 3, CA MECHANICAL CODE PART 4, CA PLUMBING CODE PART 5, AND ITS IAPMO INSTALLATION STANDARDS, INCLUDING

TABLES AND APP A, RECOMMENDED RULES FOR SIZING THE WATER PIPING SYSTEM; APP B, EXPLANATORY NOTES ON COMBINATION WASTE AND VENT SYSTEMS; APP C, ALTERNATE PLUMBING SYSTEMS; APP D, SIZING STORM WATER DRAINAGE SYSTEMS; AND APP I, INSTALLATION STANDARDS FOR

PEX TUBING SYSTEMS FOR HOT-AND-COLD-WATER DISTRIBUTION, CA ENERGY CODE PART 6, CA HISTORICAL BUILDING CODE PART 8, CA FIRE CODE PART 9, CA EXISTING BLDG CODE PART 10, AND ITS APP A1, SEISMIC

STRENGTHENING PROVISIONS FOR UNREINFORCED MASONRY BEARING WALL BLDGS; APP A3, PRESCRIPTIVE PROVISIONS FOR SEISMIC

STRENGTHENING OF CRIPPLE WALLS AND SILL PLATE ANCHORAGE OF LIGHT, WOOD-FRAMED RESIDENTIAL BLDGS, APP A4, EARTHQUAKE RISK

REDUCTION IN WOOD-FRAME RESIDENTIAL BLDGS WITH SOFT, WEAK OR OPEN FRONT WALLS; AND APPENDIX A5, REFERENCED STANDARDS, CALIFORNIA GREEN BLDG STANDARDS CODE PART 11, INCLUDING ITS APP A4, DIVISIONS A4.1, A4.3, A4.4, A4.5 AND APP A5, DIVISIONS A5.1, A5.3, A5.4, A5.5, CA REFERENCED STANDARDS CODE PART 12, THE 2021 INTERNATIONAL

PROPERTY MAINTENANCE CODE REGULATING AND GOVERNING THE

CONDITIONS AND MAINTENANCE OF ALL PROPERTY, BLDGS AND

STRUCTURES, PROVIDING FOR THE ISSUANCE OF PERMITS AND THE

COLLECTION OF FEES, TOGETHER WITH LOCAL AMENDMENTS AND

ADDITIONS, APPENDICES, ERRATA AND SUPPLEMENTS THEREOF
WHEREAS, Article 2 of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code (§§ 50022.1–50022.10) requires a local agency to take legislative action by ordinance to adopt by reference the most current edition of the California Building, International, and Uniform Codes; and
WHEREAS, Article 2 of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code, §50022.6 requires a copy of the primary code, proposed for adoption to be on file with the office of the City Clerk at least 15 days preceding the hearing and kept for public viewing while the ordinance is in force; and
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WHEREAS, Article 2 of Chapter 1 of Part 1 of Division 1 of Title 5 of the Government Code, §50022.3 requires a first reading of the titles of the adopting ordinance and the codes to be adopted thereby, as well as the title of the secondary codes to be adopted by reference, followed by scheduling of a duly noticed public hearing; and WHEREAS, the State of California adopted new International Codes with state amendments on July 1, 2022; and
WHEREAS, the local agencies have until January 1, 2023, to adopt the new state codes with any local amendments; and
WHEREAS, the City Council finds that in order to best protect the health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the City of Cotati, the standards of building within the City must conform with state law except where local conditions warrant more restrictive regulations; and WHEREAS, the adoption of the state codes with certain local amendments are necessary in order to better address local conditions; and
WHEREAS, notice of the ordinance was published in accordance with Government Code Sections 50022.3 and 6066; and such notice was sufficient to give notice to interested persons of the purpose of the ordinance and the subject matter contained therein; and WHEREAS, this ordinance amendment is hereby found to be categorically exempt from environmental review pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) in that the Council finds and determines that there is nothing in these amendments themselves that could foreseeably have any significant effect on the environment and in that the State of California has mandated these amendments be made by local jurisdictions in order to project the health and safety of State residents; and
WHEREAS, the City Council introduced the proposed amendments to Municipal Code Chapter 14.04 and the codes to be adopted by reference on October 8, 2019 and considered public testimony; and
WHEREAS, the City Council found that the modifications would be consistent with the intent of the City of Cotati General Plan; and
WHEREAS, the City Council held a duly noticed public hearing on October 25, 2022 and has reviewed all evidence submitted in connection with the staff report, including public testimony and all other documents and evidence that are part of the City administrative record for the 2022 adoption of the California Code of Regulations, Title 24 together with amendments thereto.

NOW, THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COTATI DOES ORDAIN AS FOLLOWS:

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SECTION 1. Recitals made Findings. The above recitals are hereby declared to be true and correct findings of the City Council of the City of Cotati.

SECTION 2. Municipal Code Amendments. Chapter 14.04 of the City of Cotati Municipal Code is hereby superseded and replaced in its entirety as follows:

14.04.010 Adoption of codes by reference
The uniform codes and the international codes together with any amendments thereof, as hereinafter set forth in this ordinance, are adopted and made part of this ordinance, together with amendments and additions to the various codes; providing penalties for the violation thereof and repealing all ordinances in conflict therewith.

14.04.020 Copies on file
One certified copy of each of the codes so adopted, along with any amendment thereto, shall be kept on file for the use and examination by the public at the City of Cotati Community Development Department.

14.04.025 Findings
The City Council of the City of Cotati finds that in order to best protect the health, safety and welfare of its citizens, the standards of building within the City must conform to state law except where local conditions warrant more restrictive regulations. Therefore, the City Council desires to adopt the current state building and fire codes, contained in California Code of Regulations, Title 24, governing the construction and regulation of buildings and structures, along with the International Property Maintenance code, with the modifications and amendments contained herein.

Pursuant to California Health and Safety Code section 17958.7, the City Council makes the factual findings hereto and incorporated herein by reference, and finds that the amendments made in this ordinance to the California Code of Regulations, Title 24, are reasonably necessary because of the local climatic, geological or topographical conditions described in the following:

The City wishes to adopt by reference the following codes, with such amendments as may be necessary to conform to local climatic, geologic, and topographical conditions and number the adopted codes in the City of Cotati Municipal Code
California Code of Regulations Title-24

14.04.030 Part 1 – 2022 Administrative Code;

14.04.040 Part 2 – 2022 California Building Code;

14.04.050 Part 2.5 – 2022 California Residential Code;

14.04.060 Part 3 – 2022 California Electrical Code;

14.04.070 Part 4 – 2022 California Mechanical Code;
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14.04.080 Part 5 – 2022 California Plumbing Code;

14.04.090 Part 6 – 2022 California Energy Code;

14.04.100 Part 8 – 2022 California Historical Building Code;

14.04.110 Part 9 – 2022 California Fire Code;

14.04.120 Part 10 – 2022 California Existing Building Code;

14.04.130 Part 11 – 2022 California Green Building Standards Code;

14.04.140 Part 12 – 2022 California References Standard Code;

14.04.150 2021 Edition International Property Maintenance Code;

14.04.160 2016 National Fire Code Enforcement;

14.04.180 Non-Liability of City of Cotati

14.04.190 Repeal of Conflicting Ordinances

14.04.200 Violations and Penalties

14.04.210 Fees
Under the provisions of Section 17958.5 of the Health and Safety Code, local amendments must be based on climatic, geologic and topographical conditions. The following findings address each of these situations and present the local conditions which, either singularly or in combination, justify the amendments to be adopted:

A. CLIMATE: The City, on average, experiences an approximate annual rainfall of 40 inches. This rainfall can normally be expected between October and April. During the winter months, the City may experience periods of heavy rain, which causes local flooding. Winter storms are often accompanied by high winds, which have uprooted trees and damaged power lines. The City has also experienced periods of heavy fog, which has delayed the responding fire apparatus and prevented early discovery of structure fires. During the dry period, temperatures range from 70 degrees to over 100 degrees. These temperatures are occasionally accompanied by light to gusty winds, which when coupled with highly flammable vegetation, can cause uncontrollable fires.

Wind driven fires could have severe consequences, as has been demonstrated on several occasions throughout the state.

B. GEOLOGIC: The City is susceptible to seismic hazards resulting from movement along any one of several known faults in the area. The most serious direct earthquake hazard threat is from the damage or collapse of buildings and other structures due to ground movement. In addition to damage caused by earthquakes, there is the possibility of earthquake-induced fires due to damaged gas lines, power lines or heat producing appliances, and the unavailability of water for fire control due to broken water mains.

In the event of a major earthquake many areas of the City may not be accessible to emergency equipment and, if bridges or roads are damaged, the City may be isolated from outside assistance.

C. TOPOGRAPHICAL: The City is divided by Highway 101 which creates a barrier and can obstruct traffic patterns and increase response time for fire equipment. The City's water supply and sewer system were both designed to work with existing topography Packet Pg. 123
but can be adversely affected by loss of normal operation. Sewer lift stations and well equipment can both be compromised by interruption in electrical service.

D. SUMMARY: The above local climatic, geologic and topographical conditions increase the magnitude, exposure, accessibility problems and fire hazards presented to the City of Cotati. A fire following an earthquake has the potential to cause greater loss of life and damage than the earthquake itself. The majority of the City's industrial areas are located in the highest seismic risk zones, which also contain the largest concentration of hazardous materials. Hazardous materials, primarily toxic gases, could pose the greatest threat to the largest number of persons, should a significant seismic event occur.

The City of Cotati's resources would have to be prioritized to mitigate the greatest threat and may be unavailable for vegetation or structure fires.

Other variables that may tend to intensify the situation include:

1. The extent of damage to the water system;

2. The extent of isolation due to bridge and/or freeway overpass collapse;

3. The extent of roadway damage and/or amount of debris blocking roadways;

4. Climatic conditions (hot, dry weather with high winds);

5. Time of day will influence the amount of traffic on roadways and could intensify the risk to life during normal business hours; and,

6. The availability of timely mutual aid or assistance from the neighboring jurisdictions which will likely have similar emergencies at the same time.

7. A large number of dwelling units with wood shingle roof coverings, which increase the likelihood of conflagrations.

E. CONCLUSION: Local climatic, geologic and topographical conditions impact fire suppression efforts and the frequency, spread, intensity, and the size of fire involving structures in this community. Further, they impact potential damage to all structures from earthquake and subsequent fire. Therefore, it is found to be necessary that the California Building Standard Code Title 24 be amended to mitigate the effects of these conditions.

14.04.030 California Administrative Code
Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 1: California Administrative Code, 2022 Edition, as published by the International Code Council.

14.04.040 California Building Code
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Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title-24 Part 2: California Building Code, Volume 1 and 2, 2022 Edition based upon and the 2021 International Building Code, Volumes 1, and 2 thereof as published by the International Code Council with the following appendices:

Appendix Chapter H, Signs, of the California Building Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted with the following amendments:

Section H101.2 Signs exempt from permits. 1 and 4 are deleted.

Appendix Chapter I, Patio Covers, of the California Building Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

Appendix Chapter P, Emergency Housing, of the California Building Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

California Building Code Section 105.2, Work exempt from permit, Building 1, shall be amended to read as follows:

Section 105.2, Building 1 One-story detached accessory buildings used as tool and storage sheds, playhouses, and similar uses, provided the floor area does not exceed 120 square feet, (11m²). The height of the one story detached accessory building shall not exceed 12 feet at any point or as specified by local zoning ordinance.

California Building Code Section 105.2, Work exempt from permit, Building 6, shall be amended to read as follows:

Section 105.2, Building 6, Platforms, sidewalks, and driveways not more than 30 inches (762mm) above adjacent grade, not over any basement or story below and are not part of an accessible route.

California Building Code Section 105.3.2, Time Limitation of application, is amended to read as follows:
105.3.2, Time Limitation of application, A building permit application and plan review shall expire if the application is deemed to have been abandoned, the application has not been pursued in good faith, or no permit is issued within one year of the date the application is filed. The construction plans and support documents submitted for review may thereafter be returned to the applicant or destroyed by the Building Official. The Building Official may extend the time for action by the applicant for a period of 180 days upon written request by the applicant showing that circumstances beyond the full control of the applicant have prevented any action from being taken. In the event that the applicant is diligently pursuing permit issuance and there have been no updates to the State of California adopted building codes or expiration of any other applicable City required permit since the time of initial submittal of the building permit application, the Building Official may extend the application an additional 180 days. Fees for extension of permit applications and plan review shall be in the amounts fixed by resolution of the City Council. In order to renew action on an application after expiration, the applicant shall reapply for the building permit, resubmit construction plans and supporting documents and pay a new plan review fee.

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California Building Code Section 105.5 Expiration is amended to read as follows:
105.5, Expiration. Every permit issued shall become invalid and shall be expired unless the work authorized by such permit is commenced within 365 days after its issuance, or if the work authorized by such permit is suspended or abandoned for a period of 365 days after the time the work is commenced. The Building Official may extend the time for action by the applicant for a period of 180 days upon a request by the applicant, in writing, showing that circumstances beyond the full control of the applicant have prevented any action from being taken. In the event that the applicant is diligently pursuing completion of work authorized by the permit the Building Official may extend the issued building permit an additional 180 days. Fees for extension of permit applications and issued permits shall be in the amounts fixed by resolution of the City Council. A request for permit extension may not be granted for an issued building permit if no work has begun or no inspections have been approved within three years of the date the permit was issued. The construction plans and support documents submitted may thereafter be destroyed by the Building Official. In order to renew action on a permit after expiration, the applicant shall reapply for the building permit, resubmit construction plans and support documents and pay a new plan review fee.

California Building Code Section 109.3 Building permit valuation, is amended to read as follows:
109.3 Building permit valuation. The applicant for a permit shall provide an estimated permit value at time of application. Permit valuations shall include total value of work, including materials and labor, for which the permit is being issued, such as electrical, gas, mechanical, plumbing equipment and permanent systems. If, in the opinion of the building official, the valuation is underestimated on the application, the permit shall be denied, unless the applicant can show detailed estimates to meet the approval of the building official. The valuation for a permit may be determined or modified by the building official as necessary using the latest Building Valuation Data with a X2 multiplier published by the International Code Council in Building Standards Safety Journal and other relevant data as necessary.

California Building Code Section 202, Definitions, is amended to add the following definitions:

SUBSTANTIAL ADDITION. An existing building or structure not classified as Group R-3 occupancy, which undergoes any addition of floor area that is greater than twentyfive percent (25%) of the existing gross floor area.

SUBSTANTIAL ADDITION, Group R-3. An existing Group R-3 building or structure, which undergoes any addition of floor area that exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the existing gross floor area.

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SUBSTANTIAL REMODEL. An existing building or structure, which undergoes any alteration of floor area that is greater than fifty percent (50%) of the existing gross floor area or meets the definition of a substantial improvement as defined by this code.

California Building Code Section 502.1, Address identification, is amended to read as follows:

Section 502.1 Address identification. New and existing buildings shall be provided with approved illuminated or other approved means of address identification. The address identification shall be legible and placed in a position that is visible from the street or road fronting the property. Address identification characters shall contrast with their background. Address numbers shall be Arabic numerals or alphabetic letters. Numbers shall not be spelled out. Character size and stroke shall be in accordance with Section 502.1.1 through 502.1.2. Where required by the Fire Code Official, address identification shall be provided in additional approved locations to facilitate emergency response in accordance with this code and Section 505.1.3. Where access is by means of a private road and the building cannot be viewed from the public way or when determined by the Fire Code Official, a monument, pole, or other approved illuminated sign or other approved means shall be used to identify the structure. Address identification shall be maintained.

California Building Code Section 502.1.1 is added to read as follows:

Section 502.1.1 Numbers for one- and two- family dwellings. Each address identification character shall be not less than four (4) inches high with a minimum stroke width of one-half (0.5) inch.

California Building Code Section 502.1.2 is added to read as follows:

Section 502.1.2 Numbers for other than one- and two-family dwellings.

Each address identification character shall be not less than twelve (12) inches high with a minimum stroke width of one (1) inch. Suite and unit directional numbers shall be not less than six (6) inches high with a minimum stroke width of three-quarter (0.75) inch.

Numbers shall be not less than four (4) inches high with a minimum stroke width of onehalf (0.5) inch.

California Building Code Section 502.1.3 is added to read as follows:

Section 502.1.3 Complex directory. Where two or more buildings cannot be viewed from the public way or when determined by the Building or Fire Code Official, an approved illuminated complex directory, monument, pole, or other approved sign or means shall be used to identify the structures at the main entrances to the property.

California Building Code Section 903.6.1, Substantial remodel is added to read as follows:

Section 903.6.1 Substantial remodel. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout all buildings that undergo a substantial remodel or substantial improvement.

Exception: Alterations made solely for the purpose of providing barrier removal pursuant to the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) as contained in exception # 4 of Section 11B-204.2.

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California Building Code Section 903.6.2 Substantial addition is added to read as follows:
903.6.2 Substantial addition. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout all buildings that undergo a substantial addition.

California Building Code Section 903.6.3 Substantial alteration is added to read as follows:

Section 903.6.3 Substantial alteration. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout all buildings that undergo any combination of substantial remodel, addition or both that equals fifty percent (50%) of the existing gross floor area.

California Building Code Section 905.3.1 is amended to read as follows:

Section 905.3.1, Height. In other than Group R-3 and R-3.1 occupancies, Class III standpipe systems shall be installed throughout at each floor where any of the following occur

1. Buildings where the floor level of the highest story is located more than 30 feet (9144 mm) above the lowest level of fire department vehicle access.

2. Buildings that are three or more stories in height.

3. Buildings where the floor level of the lowest story is located more than 30 feet (9144 mm) below the highest level of fire department access.

4. Buildings that are two or more stories below the highest level of fire department vehicle access.

Exceptions:

1. Class I standpipes are allowed in buildings equipped throughout with an automatic sprinkler system in accordance with Section 903.3.1.1 or 903.3.1.2.

2. Class I manual standpipes are allowed in open parking garages where the highest floor is located not more than 150 feet (45 720 mm) above the lowest level of fire department vehicle access.

3. Class I manual dry standpipes are allowed in open parking garages that are subject to freezing temperatures, provided that the hose connections are located as required for Class II standpipes in accordance with Section 905.5.

4. Class I standpipes are allowed in basements equipped throughout with an automatic sprinkler system.

5. In determining the lowest level of fire department vehicle access, it shall not be required to consider either of the following:

5.1 Recessed loading docks for four vehicles or less.

5.2 Conditions where topography makes access from the fire department vehicle to the building impractical or impossible.

6. When determined by the Fire Code Official a standpipe system is not warranted in three-story buildings.

California Building Code Section 3103.1.2, TEMPORARY STRUCTURES, Permit required, is amended to read as follows:
18-16-3103.1.2 Permit Required. Temporary structures that cover an area greater than 400 square feet (11.16 m2), including connecting areas or spaces with a common means of egress or entrance that are used or intended to use for the gathering together of 10 or Packet Pg. 128
more persons, shall not be erected, operated or maintained for any purpose without obtaining a permit from the building official.

California Building Code Section 3313.1, WATER SUPPLY FOR FIRE PROTECTION, Where required, is amended to read as follows:
3313.1 Permit Required. In buildings of combustible construction required to have automatic sprinkler system by Section 903, automatic sprinkler system shall be installed prior to construction exceeding 40 feet (12,192 mm) in height above the lowest level of fire department vehicle access. Such automatic sprinkler system shall be extended as construction progresses to within one floor of the highest point of construction having secured decking or flooring.

California Building Code Section 3313.2, Buildings being demolished, is added to read as follows:
3313.2 Buildings being demolished. Where a building is being demolished and an automatic sprinkler system is existing within such a building, such automatic sprinkler system shall be maintained in an operable condition so as to be available for use by the fire department. Such automatic sprinkler system shall be demolished with the building but shall not be demolished more than one floor below the floor being demolished.

California Building Code Section 3313.3, Detailed requirements, is added to read as follows:
3313.3 Detailed Requirements, Automatic sprinkler systems shall be installed in accordance with the provisions of Section 903.

Appendix Chapter J of the California Building Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted with the following amendments:

A. Insofar as they apply to the permitting of work regulated by this Ordinance, the Organization and Enforcement of this Ordinance shall be as set forth in Section 104 Chapter 1 of the California Building Code, 2022 Edition, with the exception that the City Engineer shall be the designated code enforcement officer and shall have all the powers and duties ascribed to the building official therein.

B. All references in Appendix Chapter J to the Building Official are hereby amended to refer to the City Engineer.

C. Notwithstanding A. and B. above, demolition permits shall remain under the authority of the Building Official.

D. Appendix Chapter J, Section J 103, is hereby amended to include the Grading Permit Application Requirements adopted by a separate resolution of the City Council. In the case of any discrepancies between the provisions of this Ordinance including the Code sections adopted by reference herein, and the Grading Permit Application Requirements, the latter shall supersede.

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With respect to the activities regulated by this Chapter (i.e., Excavation, Grading and Earthwork Construction) CBC Section 113 (incorporated herein by reference) is hereby amended to include the following language:

The Cotati City Council is hereby designated as the board of appeals for activities regulated by this Chapter.

14.040.050 California Residential Code
Adoption of California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 2.5: California Residential Code, 2022 Edition, as published by the International Conference of Building Officials, with the following appendices and amendments:

Appendix Chapter H, Patio Covers, of the California Residential Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

Appendix Chapter J, Existing Buildings and Structures, of the California Residential Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

Appendix Chapter K, Sound Transmission, of the California Residential Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

Appendix Chapter Q, Tiny Houses, of the California Residential Code, 2022 Edition is hereby adopted.

Appendix Chapter T, Solar-Ready Provisions- Detached One-and Two-Family Dwellings and Townhouses, of the California Residential Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

Division II Administration
California Residential Code Section R105.2 exception 1 is amended to read as follows:

R105.2, exception 1. One-story detached accessory buildings used as tool and storage sheds, playhouses, and similar uses, provided the floor area does not exceed 120 square feet, (11m²). The height of the one story detached accessory building shall not exceed 12 feet at any point or as specified by local zoning ordinance.

California Residential Code Section R105.2 exception 10 is amended to read as follows:

R105.2, exception 10. Platforms, and decks not more than 30 inches (762mm) above adjacent grade at any point, are not attached to a dwelling and do not serve the exit door required by Section R311.

California Residential Code Section R105.3.2 Time limitation of application is amended to read as follows:

R105.3.2 Time limitation of application. A building permit application and plan review shall expire if the application is deemed to have been abandoned, the application has not been pursued in good faith, or no permit is issued within one year of the date the Packet Pg. 130
application is filed. The construction plans and support documents submitted for review may thereafter be returned to the applicant or destroyed by the Building Official. The Building Official may extend the time for action by the applicant for a period of 180 days upon written request by the applicant showing that circumstances beyond the full control of the applicant have prevented any action from being taken. In the event that the applicant is diligently pursuing permit issuance and there have been no updates to the State of California adopted building codes or expiration of any other applicable City required permit since the time of initial submittal of the building permit application, the Building Official may extend the application an additional 180 days. Fees for extension of permit applications and plan review shall be in the amounts fixed by resolution of the City Council. In order to renew action on an application after expiration, the applicant shall reapply for the building permit, resubmit construction plans and support documents and pay a new plan review fee.

California Residential Code Section R105.5 Expiration is amended to read as follows:

R105.5 Expiration. Every permit issued shall become invalid and shall be expired unless the work authorized by such permit is commenced within 365 days after its issuance, or if the work authorized by such permit is suspended or abandoned for a period of 365 days after the time the work is commenced. The Building Official may extend the time for action by the applicant for a period of 180 days upon a request by the applicant, in writing, showing that circumstances beyond the full control of the applicant have prevented any action from being taken. In the event that the applicant is diligently pursuing completion of work authorized by the permit the Building Official may extend the issued building permit an additional 180 days. Fees for extension of permit applications and issued permits shall be in the amounts fixed by resolution of the City Council. A request for permit extension may not be granted for an issued building permit if no work has begun or no inspections have been approved within three years of the date the permit was issued. The construction plans and support documents submitted may thereafter be destroyed by the Building Official. In order to renew action on a permit after expiration, the applicant shall reapply for the building permit, resubmit construction plans and support documents and pay a new plan review fee.

California Residential Code Section R108.3, Building permit valuation is amended to read as follows:

R108.3 Building permit valuation. The applicant for a permit shall provide an estimated permit value at time of application. Permit valuations shall include total value of work, including materials and labor, for which the permit is being issued, such as electrical, gas, mechanical, plumbing equipment and permanent systems. If, in the opinion of the building official, the valuation is underestimated on the application, the permit shall be denied, unless the applicant can show detailed estimates to meet the approval of the building official. The valuation for a permit may be determined or modified by the building official as necessary using the latest Building Valuation Data with a X2 multiplier published by the International Code Council in Building Standards Safety Journal and other relevant data as necessary.

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California Residential Code Section R108.6 is amended to read as follows:
108.6 Work commencing before permit issuance. Any person who commences any work on a building, structure, electrical, gas, mechanical or plumbing system before obtaining the necessary permits shall be subject to a fee established by the building official that shall be in addition to the required permit fees. An investigation fee, in addition to the permit fee, may be collected whether or not a permit is then or subsequently issued. The minimum investigation fee is set forth in the fee schedule adopted by this jurisdiction. The payment of such investigation fee shall not exempt any person from compliance with all other provisions of this code nor from any penalty prescribed by law.

California Residential Code Section R202 Definitions is amended to add the following definitions:

SUBSTANTIAL ADDITION, Group R-3. An existing Group R-3 building or structure, which undergoes any addition of floor area that exceeds fifty percent (50%) of the existing gross floor area.

SUBSTANTIAL REMODEL. An existing building or structure, which undergoes any alteration of floor area that is greater than fifty percent (50%) of the existing gross floor area or meets the definition of a substantial improvement as defined by this code.

Section R313 Automatic Fire Sprinkler Systems
California Residential Code Section R313.1 Townhouse automatic fire sprinkler systems is amended to read as follows:

R313.1 Townhouse automatic fire sprinkler systems. An automatic residential fire sprinkler system shall be installed throughout all townhouses regardless of square footage in accordance with this code. Fire Sprinklers shall be installed in all multi-family manufactured homes with two or more dwelling units in accordance with Title 25 of the California Code of Regulations.

Exceptions:

1. Detached Group U occupancies 1,000 sq. ft. or less.

2. Detached pool houses up to 1,000 sq. ft. in floor area within 50 feet of the pool and limited to a single bathroom.

3. A room above a detached garage used for storage only that does not contain a bathroom, cooking or refrigeration facilities or connections for such facilities.

4. Carports of non-combustible construction.

California Residential Code Section R313.1.2 Substantial remodel is added to read as follows:

R313.1.2 Substantial remodel. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout all townhomes that undergo a substantial remodel or substantial improvement.

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Exception: Alterations made solely for the purpose of complying with the American Disabilities Act.

California Residential Code Section R313.1.3 Substantial addition is added to read as follows:

R313.1.3 Substantial addition. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout all townhomes that undergo a substantial addition.

California Residential Code Section R313.1.4 Substantial alterations is added to read as follows:

R313.1.4 Substantial alterations. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout all townhomes that undergo any combination of substantial remodel, substantial addition or both that equals fifty percent (50%) of the existing gross floor area. The percentage of work shall be determined and added to any successive remodels that may occur within a subsequent three (3) year period. If the combined percentage totals 50% or more, this work shall constitute a substantial improvement and the building shall be subject to the fire sprinkler requirement.

California Residential Code Section R313.2 One- and two- family dwellings automatic fire sprinkler systems is amended to read as follows:

R313.2 One- and two- family dwellings automatic fire sprinkler systems. An automatic sprinkler system shall be installed throughout all one- and two-family dwellings regardless of square footage in accordance with this code. Fire Sprinklers shall be installed in mobile homes, manufactured homes and multi-family manufactured homes with two dwelling units in accordance with Title 25 of the California Code of Regulations.

Exceptions:

1. Detached Group U occupancies 1,000 sq. ft. or less.

2. Detached pool houses up to 1,000 sq. ft. in floor area within 50 feet of the pool and limited to a single bathroom.

3. A room above a detached garage used for storage only that does not contain a bathroom, cooking or refrigeration facilities or connections for such facilities.

4. Carports of non-combustible construction.

California Residential Code Section R313.2.2 Substantial remodel is added to read as follows:

R313.2.2 Substantial remodel. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout all one-and two-family dwellings that undergo a substantial remodel or substantial improvement.

Exception: Alterations made solely for the purpose of complying with the American Disabilities Act.

California Residential Code Section R313.2.3 Substantial addition is added to read as follows:

R313.2.3 Substantial addition. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout all one-and -two- family dwellings that undergo a substantial addition.

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California Residential Code Section R313.2.4 Substantial alterations is added to read as follows:

R 313.2.4 Substantial alterations. An automatic sprinkler system shall be provided throughout all one- and two-family dwellings that undergo any combination of substantial remodel, addition or both that equals fifty percent (50%) of the existing gross floor area. The percentage of work shall be determined and added to any successive remodels that may occur within a subsequent three (3) year period. If the combined percentage totals 50% or more, this work shall constitute a substantial improvement and the building shall be subject to the fire sprinkler requirement.

California Residential Building Code, Chapter 44, NFPA, 13D-16 is amended as follows:

Section NFPA 13D-16 - Standard for the installation of Sprinkler Systems in One- and Two-Family Dwellings and Manufactured Homes: as amended* Revise Section 5.1.1.2 to read as follows:

Section NFPA.13D.5.1.1.2. A supply of at least three sprinklers shall be maintained on the premises so that any sprinklers that have operated of been damaged in any way can be promptly replaced.

Add Sections 5.1.1.2.1 as follows:

Section NFPA.13D.5.1.1.2.1. The sprinklers shall correspond to the types and temperature ratings of the sprinklers in the property. The stock sprinklers shall include not less than one sprinkler of all types and ratings installed.

Add Sections 5.1.1.2.2 as follows:

Section NFPA.13D.5.1.1.2.2. The sprinklers shall be kept in a cabinet located where the temperature to which they are subjected will at no time exceed the maximum ceiling temperatures specified in Table 5.1.1.6.1 for each or the sprinklers within the cabinet.

Add Sections 5.1.1.2.4 as follows:

Section NFPA.13D.5.1.1.2.4. One sprinkler wrench as specified by the sprinkler manufacture shall be provided in the cabinet for each type of sprinkler installed to be used for the removal and installation of sprinklers in the system.

Revise Section 7.6 to read as follows:

Section NFPA.13D.7.6 A local water flow alarm shall be provided on all sprinkler systems.

Add Section 8.1.3.1.2.1 to read as follows:

Section NFPA.13D.8.1.2.1 Garages are permitted to be protected by residential sprinklers.

Revise Section 8.3.4 to read as follows:

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Section NFPA.13D.8.3.4 Sprinklers shall not be required in detached garages, open attached porches, detached carports, and similar structures unless otherwise required by the California Building or Fire Codes.

Add Section 8.3.5.2 to read as follows:

Section NFPA.13D.8.3.5.2 At least one quick-response intermediate temperature residential sprinkler shall be installed above attic access openings.

Revise Section 11.2.1.1 to read as follows:

Section NFPA.13D.11.2.1.1 Where a fire department pumper connection is not provided, the system shall be hydrostatically tested at not less than 200 psi without evidence of leakage.

14.04.060 California Electric Code
Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 3: The California Electrical Code, 2022 Edition, as published by National Fire Protection Association.

14.04.070 California Mechanical Code
Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 4: The California Mechanical Code, 2022 Edition, as published by the International Association of Plumbing & Mechanical Officials with the following amendment:

Section 104.4.35 Expiration is amended to read as follows:

Every permit issued shall become invalid and shall be expired unless the work authorized by such permit is commenced within 365 days after its issuance, or if the work authorized by such permit is suspended or abandoned for a period of 365 days after the time the work is commenced. The Building Official may extend the time for action by the applicant for a period of 180 days upon a request by the applicant, in writing, showing that circumstances beyond the full control of the applicant have prevented any action from being taken. In the event that the applicant is diligently pursuing completion of work authorized by the permit the Building Official may extend the issued building permit an additional 180 days. Fees for extension of permit applications and issued permits shall be in the amounts fixed by resolution of the City Council. A request for permit extension may not be granted for an issued building permit if no work has begun or no inspections have been approved within three years of the date the permit was issued. The construction plans and support documents submitted may thereafter be destroyed by the Building Official. In order to renew action on a permit after expiration, the applicant shall reapply for the building permit, resubmit construction plans and support documents and pay a new plan review fee.

14.04.080 California Plumbing Code
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Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 5: The California Plumbing Code, 2022 Edition, as published by the International Association of Plumbing & Mechanical Officials, with the following appendices and amendments:

Appendix Chapter A, Recommended Rules for Sizing the Water Supply System, of the California Plumbing Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

Appendix Chapter B, Explanatory Notes on Combination Waste and Vent Systems, of the California Plumbing Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

Appendix Chapter C, Alternate Plumbing Systems, of the California Plumbing Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

Appendix Chapter D, Sizing Storm Water Drainage Systems, of the California Plumbing Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

Appendix Chapter I, Installation Standard for PEX Tubing Systems for Hot-and ColdWater Distribution, of the California Plumbing Code, 2022 Edition, is hereby adopted.

Section 104.4.35 Expiration is amended to read as follows:

14.04.090 California Energy Code
Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 6: California Energy Code, 2022 Edition, as published by the International Code Council.

14.04.100 California Historical Building Code
Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 8: California Historical Building Code, 2022 Edition, as published by the International Code Council.

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14.04.110 California Fire Code
Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 9: 2022 Edition of the California Fire Code as published by the International Code Council including Appendix Chapters 4, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, and N, together with any amendments adopted by the Rancho Adobe Fire Protection District Board and as ratified by the Cotati City Council.

14.04.120 California Existing Building Code
Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title 24 Part 10: California Existing Building Code 2022 Edition, as published by the International Code Council, including the following appendices.

Appendix Chapter A, Guidelines for the Seismic Retrofit of Existing Buildings including Chapter A1 Seismic Strengthening Provisions for Unreinforced Masonry Bearing Wall Buildings; Chapter A3 Prescriptive Provisions for Seismic Strengthening of Cripple Walls and Sill Plate Anchorage of Light, Wood- Frame Residential Buildings; Chapter A4 Earthquake Risk Reduction in Wood-Frame Residential Buildings with Soft, Weak, or Open Front Walls.

14.04.130 California Green Building Standards
Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title-24 Part 11: California Green Building Standards Code 2022 edition as published by the International Code Conference, including the following appendices:

Appendix Chapter A4, Residential Voluntary Measures, Tier 1 for New Buildings and substantial remodels and additions , including Division A4.1, A4.3, A4.4 and A4.5, of the California Green Building Standards Code, 2022 Edition.

Appendix Chapter A5, Non-Residential Voluntary Measures, Tier 1 for New Buildings and substantial remodels and additions , including Division A4.1, A4.3, A4.4 and A4.5, of the California Green Building Standards Code, 2022 Edition.

With the following amendments to Appendix Chapters A4 Tier 1 and Appendix Chapter A5 Tier

1. California Green Building Standards Code Appendix A4 Residential Voluntary Measures Section A4.601.1 is amended to read as follows:

A4.601.1 The Tier 1 measures contained in this appendix, Division A4.1, A4.3, A4.4, A4.5 and A4.6 are adopted as mandatory provisions for new buildings only.

California Green Building Standards Code Appendix A5 Nonresidential Voluntary Measures Section A5.601.1is added to read as follows:

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A5.601.1 The Tier 1 measures contained in this appendix, Division A5.1, A5.3, A5.4, A5.5 and A5.6 are adopted as mandatory provisions for new buildings only.

14.040.140 California Reference Standards Code
Adoption of the California Code of Regulations Title 24, Part 12: California Reference Standards Code, 2022 Edition as published by the International Code Council.

14.040.150 International Property Maintenance Code
Adoption of the International Property Maintenance Code 2021 Edition as published by the International Code Council, with the following amendments:

PART 1 – SCOPE AND APPLICATION: Any and all references throughout this code to any International Code shall be considered to reference the California Fire Code, California Building Code, or California Residential Code or any other California Code of Regulations, Title 24, as-applicable.

14.040.160 Adoption and Enforcement of National Fire Codes Adoption of the current edition of the National Fire Code, as published by the National Fire Protection Association.

14.04.180 Non-Liability of City of Cotati
This Ordinance shall not be construed as imposing upon the City of Cotati (or any official or employee thereof) any liability or responsibility for damages to any property or injuries to any person resulting from defects in building construction, defective plumbing, or drainage systems (or installations thereof), electrical or gas installations, or by installations of containers for the use of flammable products, nor shall the City of Cotati (or any official or employee thereof) be held as assuming any such liability or responsibility for property damage from any cause whatsoever which may have been caused by a gas leakage, fire or explosion of any gas appliance or house gas piping, electrical application or electrical wiring or from the storage or use of flammable and/or hazardous materials.

14.04.190 Repeal of Conflicting Ordinances
All other Ordinances or parts of Ordinances in conflict with this Chapter are hereby repealed.

14.04.200 Violations and Penalties
Any person violating any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be deemed guilty of an infraction and any person violating the same section or a portion of an Ordinance on a second or subsequent occasion shall thereafter be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor and upon conviction of either an infraction or a misdemeanor shall be punishable by law.

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14.04.210 Fees
The City Council of the City of Cotati may establish permit fees as set forth by resolution.

SECTION 3. Findings of Fact
Pursuant to Health and Safety Code Section 17958.7, the Finding of Fact, as detailed in Section

14.04.025 of this Ordinance, are made in connection with the adoption of revisions or additions to the 2022 editions of the California Code of Regulations Title 24 Parts 1, 2, 2.5, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11 and 12.

SECTION 4. Effective Date
This Ordinance shall become effective January 1, 2023.

Approved:________________________________
Mayor
Attest:____________________________
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk
Approved as to form:
___________________________
John Bakker, City Attorney
This document is a true and correct copy of Ordinance Number and has been published or posted pursuant to law. California Government Code § 40806
_______________________________
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk
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Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Direction on City Seal
Date: November 22, 2022
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council discuss the public comments received on the draft city seal themes and provide direction to staff on revisions for a final draft.

Background
City staff began exploring an update to the City seal several years ago at the same time that the City began developing the new branding logos. As part of this process, staff provided an initial draft of an updated Chief Kotat’i seal to the Graton Tribe for their input. The Tribe communicated to the City that they preferred that the new seal not include the likeness of a Native American. This led staff to discuss alternatives, and working with a local graphics art company, developed three general themes, shown below, representing music, nature, and landmarks. These three themes were presented to the public in August 2022 to determine which direction residents wanted to go with the new seal design.

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Based on the results of the community survey, the public largely supported a nature-based theme, represented in the concepts as an oak tree. The summary graph, as well as some other “homegrown” design submitted are provided below. The narrative comments are attached.

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Analysis/Discussion
The City Seal design project is in the concept phase and is requesting feedback from the City Council at this time. Staff will then attempt to incorporate the main themes conveyed by the public, as directed by the City Council. This new draft will presented to the City Council once more for final feedback prior to moving to the illustration phase.

As stated previously, three general thematic concepts were presented to the public for feedback and the results leaned strongly toward a theme of nature. There was also some discussion, although no consensus, of incorporating the city’s hexagonal shape or music.

Based on feedback to date, staff recommendations for City Council consideration are:

1. A circular shape seal. The benefit of the circular shape (versus a hexagon) is that it is a more efficient use of space, which would allow for the maximum amount of area for the illustration. The seal will need to represent well at various sizes, so we need to maximize the illustration size within the seal. In addition, the accompanying text will wrap easily around the more traditional circular shape.

2. Illustration that features nature elements native to Cotati, with the Laguna de Santa Rosa central to Cotati’s identity. This is based largely on the feedback from the public. The exact subject is still to be determined, but some ideas are native plants/trees associated with the Laguna de Santa Rosa, and possibly some native wildlife. This will be determined in the next phase if supported by the City Council and directed to move forward with this concept.

3. Finally, as a more subtle incorporation of native culture, an option is to incorporate decorative detail into the seal that is reminiscent of local Native American Indian basket weaving. The exact design would be created upon researching the subject matter to ensure historical/cultural accuracy.

There was no obvious way to incorporate music in the limited graphics space and not have it get too busy. A potential alternative is to have this element more overtly incorporated into future branding graphics.

Financial Considerations

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If the seal is revised through the suggested draft and then illustration steps, additional funding is likely to be minimal. However, if there are numerous iterations, it could significantly increase the cost, depending on the extent of additional work.

Attachments:

Seal Suggestions from the Public, August 2022 Survey (PDF)

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Suggestions
I suggest featuring the tree. It's basically fool proof from complaints.

The Nature seal
It should represent music. Not church. Thousands of people come to Cotati for music festivals. Only 20 or so come for church.

Please keep the theme nature centric. I don't think replacing the chief logo with something religious (ie church of the oaks) would be very progressive either. Thanks so much for all you do! I like the nature seal, not really sure the best way to represent music or landmarks. The tree seems like the best.

Music!
Nature logo - 100%. The oak is a great symbol. Please do not use a statue or representation of any person, living or dead. Please make a choice based on lasting and meaningful symbols. Strongly support the use of a natural symbol, or even something that echoes Cotati's indigenous roots.

My favorite is the Music seal. The Landmark seal is second choice. The oak tree seal is very generic and boring; it does not represent the unique character of Cotati The tree is the most appealing for the purpose stated. Conveys an environmental conscious community and seems timeless.

Would like to see a hexagon!
Nature
How about an hexagon shape rather than a circle with an oak tree and perhaps underneath the tree, a person playing a musical instrument. Something like this:
https://99designs.com/profiles/3488586/designs/1806113.

Nature :)
I like the nature seal the best and would rather not have a religious symbol such as a church represent the city. What about the hub with different vignettes in the spokes? I lean heavily towards the music as it is so iconic of Cotati. Second up is nature though I don't really relate big oaks with Cotati as there isn't a large iconic oak in the downtown really.

What's wrong with the current seal depicting the fact that we live on (stolen) Coast Miwok land? The placename Cotati is derived from the Miwok name for the place, isn't it? Let's honor the Native American people who lived here before us and keep the Miwok as our city seal! I like the nature one!
Hi, I wanted to share feedback on the seal examples. I feel it is inappropriate to have a religious building as a city representation. As non Christian, it makes me feel excluded to have my city represented by a Christian church. Separation of church and state please. Perhaps City Hall, the Veronda Faletti Ranch, or the bandstand building at La Plaza, would be better options. I do love the oak tree by itself.

Thank you for allowing community feedback. As a member of a minority religion, Iâ€™d be very uncomfortable if the seal of my town were a church. I encourage you to choose a seal that welcomes and represents all. Thank you for your consideration.

Nature or landmarks would be best in my opinion. The person holding the accordion is not representative of everyone in Cotati. If music is the theme, it would be nice to have the accordion alone.

I like nature one the best. Love trees!
Definitely music.

The Est. 1963 date doesn't realiy capture the history or longevity of Cotati. Is there another date, maybe when the railroad was completed and Cotati started around the station here? Maybe Founded 1870 instead of Est. 1963? The 1963 date makes Cotati sound like Rohnert Park.

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Packet Pg. 144 Attachment: Seal Suggestions from the Public, August 2022 Survey (City Seal Discussion) I like the nature ideas. A building is boring and not really what our city is about. Music is a close second, but not just the statue, maybe an accordion and other instruments. I think a hexagon instead of a circle would be nice. It's what makes us unique.

Landmarks!
I find these a bit uninspired. Cotati has a history of music, agriculture , and a privileged location at the edge of a rural/urban interface. How to incorporate these attributes into one image? Difficult, iknow , but worth getting right. The final version MUST include the Hexagon, a defining element of Cotati's streets and identity.

Nature
I like the Landmarks seal
Nature
I like the Nature Logo the best. It represents the green spaces and tranquility found in nature.

Thanks, Debbie
Love the accordion man!
Music
My vote is to leave it the way it is.

Although I don't mind the idea of music please don't you that picture. Although the accordion festival is great, this implies Jim boggio was an important figure in Cotati. History gets lost in such short time.

The choice of concepts is welcomed! My favorite of the 3 is "Nature." Easily identifiable, strong design! The negative space below the tree could have more midtone value. If the tree was slightly smaller, more background trees in the distance would enhance the design. I don't feel the other two concepts are working as well.

As a nearly 40 year citizen of Cotati I choose the Nature symbol.

Hello, I would like to see all 3 concepts incorporated. Perhaps music notes like the ones on the walls of the 101 at the Cotati/116 off and on ramps. I have lived in Cotati for 12 years now and the landmark that speaks of Cotati to me is La Plaza. I would also like to keep honoring the Miwok from whom the city gets its name. Thank you for allowing the residents of Cotati to give their opinions on these new ideas. I really like the new signage I've seen around town. Best regards, Leann Sanford
Leave the damn city seal alone. What in the hell is wrong with you people? We already spend thousands of taxpayer dollars and debated this issue years ago. Go back and do your research if you did not already purge the audio file of those meetings on the current city seal to cover your tracks.

I was there !!! The new proposed seals are dumb, but it does not surprise me one bit. If you want to look busy, clean the town, upgrade the dog park, take down the silly monuments to the clear racist who served on the city council. come back to work on Fridays, stop pressuring us for more city pay raises. Do your jobs. Open up one of the rooms at the old middle school for the homeless on a freezing winter night in Cotati and show some humanity. Show that you have a heart. Stop this attempt to divert attention away from what the town needs most, accountability and value for our money. If you have all this extra money, beef up the police patrols, support Neighborhood Watch in Cotati, remove the damn speed bumps on my street which is wasting our gasoline and contributing to more CO2 and CO1 emissions. You people our out of control, drunk on power, and need a time out from this lunacy of changing our city seal. Get a hold of yourselves. And try not to delete my suggestion like you have in the past. Hold a damn public workshop if you can find a Saturday in your busy schedules to do such things anymore.

Hi. I like the "music" concept as it's such a big part of our culture, but possible to get a wider shot of our accordion legend for the seal? Thanks! - A proud Cotati resident Nature seal

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Packet Pg. 145 Attachment: Seal Suggestions from the Public, August 2022 Survey (City Seal Discussion) Leave it as-is. And kill the idea of the music one, he doesn't represent out town.

I like the oak tree. Donâ€™t think it should be a church or Jim Boggio.

Landmarks, how about the ranch house and water tower? or Rooster/Livestock Please do not change from the Native American image. Coast Miwok Indians have been on this land for many years and I love that the Cotati seal currently depicts this.

Leave it alone why waste money?
I love the nature option. It's classy and represents the city's many trees and flowers/bushes. Boggio reminds me of the Keep Cotati Weird bumper stickers. Church of the Oaks is nice and certainly historic. I think I t could be depicted a little better (looks slightly cartoonish). Wonder if some people might object to having a religious image represent the city.

Landmarks by far Then nature
I like the idea of the nature seal. It seems the most pc. However, I love that Cotati would like to be known for music as well.

These are juvenile. None of these represent Cotati and itâ€™s history. Leave it as is. Our history is important and erasing history and making everything so vanilla is not what this city or county is about.

My first preference is to focus on nature in our city's seal. Thus, the middle example works. Would also like to see a bit more on the seal if that subject is the one chosen. Thanks!! Glad to have a chance to weigh in on this matter!!!!!
I would like the nature with the chief in front of the tree.

The Chief! Why can't we keep him? We don't need a new seal.

Nature
I vote for the Nature seal!
Nature and farms
Outside shape should be a hexagon as that's what Cotati is known for. Don't like using the church or Jim Boggio. Maybe incorporating the current lettering style, oak tree and the hexagon Hi. As I wrote on NextDoor a graphic image of the plaza would be one potential, as it is the heart of Cotati. Also if you go with the Oak tree why not use the one by the Veronda Falletti Ranch and include the pasture and barns in the image, being another unique part of the community.. Otherwise, I concur a singular Oak looks too much like Oaklandâ€™s. Thank you. https://www.hmdb.org/PhotoFullSize.asp?PhotoID=529666
How about a chicken some hibiscus flower
I love the accordion guy, but it's sort of an inside joke. If the seal is to represent Cotati to the rest of the county and state I think it wouldn't make sense. Is there a way to reflect the Indian heritage of the area that is respectful? If not, I vote for a landmark.

I agree with XXXXXXX about using the hexagon shape. While Chief Cotati may be fictional, the original Miwok residents are not. Why not incorporate a Miwok person and a valley oak or acorn to represent our origins?
The music and nature are definitely somewhat representative of our town. The landmark concept might too easily become about just 1 landmark. Most seals have several things represented. Why not include both music and nature? Something that we are known for thatâ€™s missing from this is the chickens and turkeys. Chickens are in north Cotati and turkeys are in southern Cotati. It could be a compass/hub seal. Chickens in the north, turkeys in the south, music to the east, and nature to the west. It should not be round. It should represent the hub that we are.

Thank you for requesting feedback. I prefer the one with the oak tree. I wonder if the final version might also include some native wildflowers and plants (such as California poppies, snowberries, California roses, and elder berries) along with the oak tree. Thank you, again. I appreciate the opportunity to participate in the new seal's selection.

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Packet Pg. 146 Attachment: Seal Suggestions from the Public, August 2022 Survey (City Seal Discussion) Our family loves the landmarks seal or the nature seal! Perhaps a multi-faceted seal highlighting authentic indigenous crops or artifacts, plus the Plaza (park) and historic building(s).

Jim Boggio
I feel the tree is too generic. The church doesn't feel representative. And the statue doesn't feel historical enough to me. Representing the hexagon is the first thing that pops into my head. It's something unique. However, I would prefer to stick with what we have or use some other Native American theme that feels like it would honor them more. That feels more in keeping with our name.

I'm happy to know a new city seal is being designed. I have always thought the "Chief Cotati" picture made the supposedly adult Chief look like a young child. I'll be happy to see this go away. I favor the Music design, as it features a unique aspect of this city. The Nature and Landmarks designs look more conventional looking and could represent any city anywhere. It would be nice to have something that captures a quirky part of Cotati's personality.

Put the Chimera Albino Redwood on the nature seal. 'Totally represents Cotati - preserving uniqueness at any cost. Spell out "Established 1963 " It reads better, you have the room, and it would balance out City of Cotati at the bottom.

I wonder if the "Music" seal would be look better if it were an ink print similar to the other two options. From these options as presented, I feel the "Nature" seal encompasses the overall vibe of Cotati without being too niche.

I just read the whole message and have to say that the original seal doesn't make sense any more.

That said, the music festival has put us on the map over the years of so many people from all over this area. But it is only one thing that highlights our tiny city. What about an image from above, over the hexagon that forms the plaza? It could be an artist's rendering of a drone image.

I like the Church of the Oaks seal. Cindy Oates
I like the Oak tree. It looks like it's modeled off of the tree on School Street, just going off the darkened spot where the concrete might be.

Nature! Our cottages back right up to the depicted Oak tree and we LOVE it! So calming and full of generational wisdom.

I totally prefer the music, but is that the only music seal? Any other music options? Second choice would be the Landmark. But I feel the Landmark should be the whole park area. Thank you The Accordion man! He truly lives up to the lively, fun and artistic spirit of Cotati.

Hexagonal peace sign of tule. The tule plant would connect to local plant life and Coastal Miwok people. The Hexagon because of our unique La Plaza design. And from Google maps it looks like a peace sign with Old Redwood and E Cotati/W Sierra .

Oak tree
A picture taken above downtown showing the la plaza park fire dept and strip of downtown Of the three options, I prefer the Music design because the Accordion Festival is a unique Cotati tradition or the Nature theme. The Landmark idea is good, but I propose finding a non-religious landmark to feature.

Nature is best, but not specific to Cotati. Music is ok, but gendered. The church is not remotely inclusive and borders on offensive.

Church building shouldn't be on a government seal. One individual should not be representing music. The tree is nice but it is generic--not specific to Cotati. Other ideas: a design representing the hexagon center of town; a design representing Native American origins without using the fictional Chief Kotati; a design representing the welcoming of a multi-cultural, multi-racial population.

I like 1 and 2 (Music and Nature). I prefer Nature as the seal. I really don't like the idea of a Church (landmarks) being the seal. For landmarks, what about the Hub design, as seen like on a map?

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Packet Pg. 147 Attachment: Seal Suggestions from the Public, August 2022 Survey (City Seal Discussion) Hello, I love the idea of involving Cotati's symbolism and history into the new seal and I have a new concept that I would like to propose. What email address would I be able to send a copy of concept to? Thank you!
Prefer a "nature" themed seal
Whatever you do, please DO NOT use the accordion seal! It is ugly and whether we want to believe it or not, the Festival is not a world-renowned music event. The outside world will simply see an ugly fat man with an accordion. Very dumb. However, the landmarks is idea is nice. I like the Church of the Oaks, but might I also suggest the Albino chimera redwood tree (or is that under "Nature"?) Other cities in the Bay Area (Menlo Park, for none) have oak trees as a symbol. Use something unique to Cotati.

Nature; a REDWOOD tree
I would love to see the Coast Miwok connection and Cotat's heritage remain part of the City seal. If Chief Kotate can not remain (my first preference) then I would like to see the Coast Miwok headdress he is wearing be the design on the seal. There is no dispute that the Coast Miwok were the first inhabitants of Cotati or that the headless design is fake or made up. It is an authentic symbol of Cotati's heritage.

The city of Cotati already has a seal, one that represents the fact that we are living on Coast Miwok (and Pomo) land: even a casual search about Cotati's history indicates that our city is named after the Kotati group of Miwok Native Americans who lived here. The current seal depicts the chief of that tribe, does it not? Why is this even being discussed: if it ain't broke, don't fix it. Is the motivation for replacing the existing Cotati seal depicting the Miwok people a misguided knee-jerk 'woke' impulse? This is NOT a case of cultural appropriation for commercial purposes: the land the city sits on was inhabited by the Kotati tribe; our city name is derived from the name of that tribe, and we show our acknowledgement of Cotati's indigenous people and honor them by having our city seal reflect the Miwok legacy of this place. Let's put this misguided discussion to bed.

I have a suggested seal idea - how do I go about sending it to you for consideration? Thanks! Music for sure.

Landmarks
My vote is to keep our current seal and only change the narrative¦ we sit on native land. Just don't call him Chief Kotate. And please don't even think of changing the park name. Please. maybe just an accordion? easier to see than his face. Tree & building could be anywhere.

I appreciate the new seal. My first choice would be nature and my second landmarks. Although I like the oak with the Boggio statue, I do not particularly like the angle of the shot in such a small space. Will the seal be in b & w or in color or both? Thank you, BJ Veronda The nature seal represents for me the roots of community that branches out in a balance of eclectic subtle differences while remaining part of the whole tree. This is what Cotati has been for me since moving here a year ago with plans for many more!

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Packet Pg. 148 Attachment: Seal Suggestions from the Public, August 2022 Survey (City Seal Discussion) Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: City Council Updated Team Building Proposal
Date: November 22, 2022
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council discuss the updated scope of work and provide verbal direction to staff.

Background
At the September 27, 2022, City Council meeting, the City Council agreed to agendize Councilmember Sparks’ request to discuss team building.

At the November 8, 2022 City Council meeting, the City Council provided feedback to staff that the proposed scope of work was too similar to the existing strategic planning process. The City Council requested that staff work with the consultant and see if the proposal could be amended to reflect the team building intent, rather than largely duplicating an existing planning process.

Analysis/Discussion
Staff reached out to all City Managers in Sonoma County to inquire about firms that run City Council team building efforts. Unanimously, Management Partners was recommended, with many having direct experience with this consulting firm.

Following the November 8, 2022 City Council meeting, staff continued to work with the consultant to further develop the scope of work as a team building effort, clearly distinct from the separate strategic planning process. The updated scope language is attached, which would replace the body of the work in Activities 1 and 2. The original scope language around developing agendas, summary reports, etc. would remain.

Financial Considerations
The proposed scope of work provided totals $15,900. This one-time expenditure would be funded with a budget adjustment for the General Funds - City Council Department – Professional Contract Services account. Although this requires new budgetary funds, the overall fund balance

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requirement would be offset by the reduction in budgeted election expense listing under General Funds - City Managers Department - Election Cost of $25,000.

If the City Council directs staff to proceed with the attached scope of work, the contract amount is within the City Manager’s contracting authority.

Attachments:

Amended City Council Workshop Scope of Work (PDF)
City Council Team Building Proposal (Original) (PDF)

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1 Damien O'Bid
Subject: FW: Proposal for City of Cotati Council Workshop - attached Damien, good talking to you yesterday and thank you for the material you sent. Looks like you have a good system and practice in place when it comes to new Councilmember orientations. The information you go over with your newly appointed Councilmembers is excellent, in fact, the two articles you shared with me by Kevin Duggan and Ken Hampian I used to go over with my Council(s) as well. Both Kevin and Ken were good friends and colleagues of mine during my tenure with the City of Santa Maria and I think we could use Kevin’s article “An Effective City Council/City Manager Relationship” as a starting point to open up a good conversation with your Council at the workshop. Prior to my interviews with Council, I would ask that you can send them my proposed list of questions (below) as well as a copy of Kevin’s article and ask that they review both (my questions and the article) prior to my interviews with them. Then, during the interviews I can ask them what about that article resonated with them – that would allow for a good discussion regarding effective Council – City Manager Teamwork during the workshop.

During my interviews with Council, I would then be asking the following questions:

1. What do you view as some of the City’s recent key accomplishments?

2. What are some major challenges facing Cotati?

3. What was their initial reasoning for running for City Council?

4. What are they personally hoping to accomplish while on the City Council?

5. After reading the Kevin Duggan article, what about that article resonated with them?

6. What are your expectations around the City Council working effectively together?

7. What would they like to accomplish at the workshop?
Questions 3, 4, and 5 will provide opportunities for Council to have some open dialog and some good discussions during the workshop. In addition, we always like to start the morning with an ice breaker. The ice breaker would be another great opportunity for Councilmembers to open‐up and talk about themselves, thereby providing their colleagues with some insight into who they are as a person. Question 7 would also provide you and I with some insight into anything else that Council may want to discuss at the workshop which again, would open it up for further discussion and interaction. In addition, we could also conduct an exercise that results in what each member of Council has in common, and we can talk more about that when we get closer picking a date for the workshop.

I believe the above addresses your interest in having a workshop that’s designed for Councilmember interaction and getting to know each other more as opposed to a strategic planning workshop.

Should the above meet with your expectation, I would ask that you kindly send back both the signed proposal (with your signature on the last page) and the City’s standard contractual agreement language for us to process at your earliest convenience so we can start calendaring Council interviews and pick a date for the workshop.

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Packet Pg. 151 Attachment: Amended City Council Workshop Scope of Work (City Council Facilitation) 2 Rick Haydon
Special Advisor
Effective October 1, 2022, Management Partners combined with Baker Tilly US, LLP.

Baker Tilly US, LLP (formerly with Management Partners) Direct Line: (805) 878-4282
Based on the Central Coast of California
[email protected] | bakertilly.com
Baker Tilly US, LLP, trading as Baker Tilly, is a member of the global network of Baker Tilly International Ltd., the members of which are separate and independent legal entities.

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Packet Pg. 152 Attachment: Amended City Council Workshop Scope of Work (City Council Facilitation) City of Cotati
October 14, 2022
1 October 14, 2022
Mr. Damien O’Bid
City Manager
City of Cotati
201 West Sierra Avenue
Cotati, CA 94931
Delivered electronically
Dear Mr. O’Bid:

Thank you for the opportunity to provide this proposal to facilitate your City Council retreat in the first quarter of 2023. We understand the value of allocating time for focusing on governance and establishing goals for the coming year. Rick Haydon will serve as facilitator, assisted by another member of our team.

The City of Cotati has complex operations and unique challenges. Based on our understanding of your needs, we will design a workshop to precisely meet your needs.

Approach
The Council workshop will be planned through a collaborative approach between our team and your staff to ensure the session is productive and meets Council members’ and your objectives. To optimize Council members’ and staffs’ time during the retreat, we are proposing that careful advance planning be done. This planning will include meeting with you and your team to discuss the retreat and your desired outcomes; conducting interviews with each Council member; preparing an agenda and other materials; and coordinating workshop logistics with your staff. Following the retreat, we will prepare a report that documents the direction provided by the Council.

Proposed plan of work
The plan of work anticipated for the engagement is described below. It will be conducted in one day. The retreat will be conducted in person, with all preparation done remotely.

Activity 1 – Gather Background Information and Conduct Interviews Rick will begin by meeting with you to learn about your objectives for the workshop and other background information, such as existing goals, context for the workshop, and financial information. He and our analyst assigned to the engagement will jointly interview each Council member to gather their input about expectations and priorities, and will ask questions such as:
 What do you view as the City’s key accomplishments over the past year?  What major challenges is Cotati facing?
 What are your top priorities for the coming year?
 What protocols or norms you would like to discuss?
 What do you hope will be accomplished at the workshop? Following these interviews with the Council, we will consolidate the information, which will be an important part of planning the workshop.

Baker Tilly US, LLP
1730 Madison Road
Cincinnati, Ohio, 45206 and
T: +1 (513) 861-5400
bakertilly.com

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Packet Pg. 153 Attachment: City Council Team Building Proposal (Original) (City Council Facilitation) City of Cotati
October 14, 2022
2 Activity 2 – Design and Facilitate Workshop
We will carry out the following tasks in preparing for and facilitating the one-day workshop.  Prepare a draft agenda, PowerPoint presentation, table containing the priorities listed by members of Council in their interviews, and summary of the Council interviews.  Review the draft agenda with you and then finalize it along with other materials.  Coordinate with your staff about workshop logistics.

Workshop discussions may include topics such as:
 Status of current goals;
 The work program currently in place;
 Financial forecast;
 Challenges, key trends, and issues affecting the City;  Priorities and expectations identified through interviews with members of Council;  Factors that will help the Council and staff collaboratively achieve priorities and expectations;  Governance norms and protocols; and
 Other issues that will have been identified through pre-meetings and interviews.

The workshop will be designed to highlight Council interests and provide significant interaction and discussion among Council and with staff. All participants will be able to collaboratively and productively discuss expectations and priorities. Rick will facilitate a process for the Council to reach consensus on direction, following a thorough discussion.

Prepare Workshop Report. After the workshop, we will prepare a report summarizing the results, priorities established and follow-up steps to be taken.

About Baker Tilly
Delivering specialized expertise to our public sector clients The City of Cotati will be working with knowledgeable professionals who understand the specific challenges you face and who will provide innovative solutions to help you overcome them. State and local government is a complex, unique environment shaped by fiscal, regulatory and operational considerations not found in other industries. Recognizing this complexity, and eager to serve as a truly valued advisor to the public sector. Nationwide, our state and local government practice serves more than 3,100 state and local governmental entities, including municipalities, special districts, counties, public utilities, school districts and transit.

Celebrating our recent combination with Management Partners.

In October 2022, Management Partners combined with Baker Tilly US, LLP (Baker Tilly) to create a premier public sector consulting practice. The fast pace of change in local government – from towns to cities to counties – is not slowing down. To continue serving and improving communities, local leaders need trusted consultants to help navigate change. This combination adds a unique and significant layer of experience to Baker Tilly’s robust public sector practice. Our project team members are former local government leaders and managers stemming from all operational facets. They have nearly three decades of fieldtested techniques and proven methodologies.

Our combined services include:

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Packet Pg. 154 Attachment: City Council Team Building Proposal (Original) (City Council Facilitation) City of Cotati
October 14, 2022
3  Executive Recruitment
 Executive Coaching
 Executive Performance Assessment
 Organization Assessments
 Organization Development
 Performance Management
 Process Improvement
 Strategic and Business Planning
 Service Sharing and Service
Consolidation
 Management Services
 Financial Planning, Budgeting and
Analysis
References
We encourage you to connect with Management Partners’ clients (now Baker Tilly) below to learn more about the value of their relationship with our team. Each client will offer a different perspective as you consider your own needs.

CITY OF SEAL BEACH, CALIFORNIA
Name Ms. Jill Ingram Title City Manager
Phone 562-431-2527 Email [email protected]
Description City Council Workshops in 2021 and 2021

CITY OF NAPA, CALIFORNIA
Name Mr. Steve Potter Title City Manager
Phone 707-257-9501 Email [email protected]
Description City Council Workshop in 2022
Aligning key engagement team members with your goals
Your handpicked team of professionals offers a collaborative focus supported by the breadth and depth of our firm’s national resources. We believe in strong personal relationships, and this means a personal interest in the City of Cotati from some of our most experienced team members. The facilitator will be Rick Haydon, and his qualifications are provided below. Another member of our team will assist Rick with this project and serve as a recorder during the onsite workshop.

ENGAGEMENT TEAM FOR COTATI
Rick Haydon, Special
Project role: Facilitator
 Has more than 30 years of municipal government experience, with an expertise in strategic planning, goal setting, organizational and policy analysis, project management, long-range forecasting, and budgeting.
 Facilitates governing body workshops, including strategic planning, priority setting, teambuilding and development of norms and protocols.

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Packet Pg. 155 Attachment: City Council Team Building Proposal (Original) (City Council Facilitation) City of Cotati
October 14, 2022
4 ENGAGEMENT TEAM FOR COTATI
 Manages organization analysis and financial forecasting projects.
 Served as City Manager for the California Central Coast cities of Santa Maria and Solvang.
 Worked for five cities, a county and a joint powers authority over the course of his career.
 In Santa Maria, oversaw a full-service city of more than 100,000 residents, a workforce of over 700 employees and an annual operating budget of $163 million; responsible for the day-to-day operations of the City and coordinated the budget process.  Responsible for Santa Maria's 21 consecutive California Municipal Finance Officer’s (CSMFO) Excellence in Budgeting Awards and 10 consecutive biennial Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) Distinguished Budget Presentation Awards.
 Prior to joining Management Partners/Baker Tilly, operated his own management consulting firm that specialized in goal setting workshops for city councils, strategic planning, and organizational analysis.

Professional fee estimate
Baker Tilly will complete this plan of work for $15,900, which includes all fees and expenses. The ultimate test of a quality project is that the client is pleased with the results, and we are committed to achieving that goal.

Conclusion
Thank you for the opportunity to make tangible contributions to your success. Our team is excited to earn your trust, and we look forward to discussing your questions and feedback. If you have questions about our proposal, please contact Jan Perkins, Managing Director, at 949-202-8870.

Sincerely,
Carol Jacobs, Managing Director
Baker Tilly US, LLP
+1 (714) 287-1547 | [email protected]
Accepted for the City of Cotati by:

Name: _____________________________
Title: _____________________________
Date: _____________________________

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Packet Pg. 156 Attachment: City Council Team Building Proposal (Original) (City Council Facilitation) City of Cotati
October 14, 2022
5 The information provided here is of a general nature and is not intended to address the specific circumstances of any individual or entity. In specific circumstances, the services of a professional should be sought. © 2022 Baker Tilly US, LLP.

Baker Tilly US, LLP, trading as Baker Tilly, is an independent member of Baker Tilly International. Baker Tilly International Limited is an English company. Baker Tilly International provides no professional services to clients. Each member firm is a separate and independent legal entity, and each describes itself as such. Baker Tilly US, LLP is not Baker Tilly International’s agent and does not have the authority to bind Baker Tilly International or act on Baker Tilly International’s behalf. None of Baker Tilly International, Baker Tilly US, LLP nor any of the other member firms of Baker Tilly International has any liability for each other’s acts or omissions. The name Baker Tilly and its associated logo is used under license from Baker Tilly International Limited.

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Packet Pg. 157 Attachment: City Council Team Building Proposal (Original) (City Council Facilitation) Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: REGULAR AGENDA (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Equity Ad Hoc Report and Next Steps
Date: November 22, 2022
Written by: Damien O'Bid, City Manager
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council adopt a motion approving the recommended measures from the Equity Ad Hoc, directing the City Manager to implement said measures in the City Council’s order of general priority, and dissolve the ad hoc committee.

Background
On June 22, 2021, the City Council formed an ad hoc subcommittee to look at ways to improve equity and appointed Vice Mayor Harvey and Councilmember Sparks to the subcommittee. The intent of the City Council was to, “Form a two-person Ad-Hoc of the City Council, supported by City staff. This type of body would have a maximum term of 12 months. The Ad-Hoc could review City polices and training and provide recommendations to the full City Council. The AdHoc would be available to meet with any community stakeholders to get feedback in the process of developing recommendations and should include monthly updates to the full City Council.” Due to continuing discussions, the ad hoc extended beyond the assigned 12 months, but did arrive at consensus on measures that the City could implement and/or investigate further.

Therefore, the assigned tasks of the ad hoc is completed, so staff recommends moving to measure implementation.

Analysis/Discussion
The Equity Ad Hoc arrived at a consensus on the following equity measures for City Council consideration.

Community Engagement
• Provide fee waiver and possibility of grants for multicultural events in La Plaza Park.

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Background. Based on experience, staff have found that the primary determinant to new events is the time and effort involved in organizing and running a community event as well as sufficient seed funds and revenue generation at the event to pay for the costs of entertainment, tents, etc.

The cost of park rentals or staff time are minimal compared to other costs and organizers have not cited it as a barrier to events.

The existing park policy allows for fee and City staff time waivers in the first year of an ongoing community event, with a 50% waiver in the second year. If the event organizer is a nonprofit and is not charging admission, an on-going 50% fee waiver is permitted by the park policy.

Additionally, there are lower fees for residents versus non-residents. Therefore, in the most expensive-case scenario, assuming none of these blanket fee reductions are applied, a park rental would be $200 per day under the current fee schedule. However, it’s likely to be significantly less for the reasons stated above. Note that this policy, as currently written, applies to any type of event that qualifies, regardless of the community sentiment about the event, even if it’s distasteful. The City has no ability to prevent event rentals, unless the event poses a real and significant threat to public safety.

Some cities, such as Rohnert Park, provide community grants which could be a potential model – particularly for the application and grant recommendation process. In Rohnert Park’s case, the grants can be used for general community improvements (not just events) and is funded through Graton Casino contributions. The City Council currently has a $25k contributions budget, funded from the General Fund, which is primarily used for Chamber of Commerce funding ($15k) and the previously mentioned fee and staff time waivers for events throughout the year.

For an event grant, the City could establish a formal application process that would evaluate all requests at the same time with a set budget. The City Council has the ability to use their discretion to grant public funds to support whatever events they believe further the community goals.

Recommendations. It is recommended that the City pilot an event grant process, where the City Council can consider small grant applications and award a total of up to $5,000 per year. This would allow for multiple grants per year, in addition to the potential existing fee/staff time waivers previously described, to determine if the program is achieving the goal of bringing in new multicultural events. To be eligible, it is recommended that it be for new events only and the event should highlight/celebrate one or more cultures in Sonoma County. This level of funding is also expected to fit within the existing City Council annual contributions budget of $25k.

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It is not recommended that the existing fee reduction and waiver process be modified. This is to not disrupt current events with multiple changes at one time. Once the grant pilot program runs for 1-2 years, changes to the park policy can be considered at that time, if warranted.

If this recommendation is supported by the City Council, staff will reach out to multicultural organizations and invite them to hold events or festivals in Cotati. • Investigate partnering with Rohnert Park for joint Leadership Academy, providing need-based scholarships to Cotati residents.

Background. Rohnert Park has started a leadership development program for residents, Leadership Rohnert Park. In summary, this program is intended to develop the knowledge, skills, confidence, and network to become a community leader in Rohnert Park. It is run by Coro Northern California (Coro), with more information is available at the following link. In general, many community minded people want “someone” to do a particular event or program for the benefit of the community. The goal of the program is to instill in them that they are that “someone” and seeks to give them the confidence to take a leadership role in making it a reality.

To date, Coro has hosted two (2) Leadership cohorts, with attendees generally from Rohnert Park and Cotati. Leadership Rohnert Park completed their second class in 2022; the initial class was two years ago, with a year off because of COVID. Each class can accommodate up to 24 participants, with actual enrollment in the two initial classes closer to 20. Details on the curriculum and speakers can be found here.

Rohnert Park had about 55 applicants for the first year of the program and about 30 applicants for the class of 2022. Rohnert Park believes that the number of applicants for the second class may have been lower because they largely ran through the pool of interested people in the first year, with COVID possibly being a related factor.

The initial classes were offered one Friday each month, so another possible factor was potential work conflicts. Initial conversations with Rohnert Park about expanding the program have included moving the class days to Saturdays as well as a geographically larger area (i.e. including Penngrove). At this time, Rohnert Park intends to schedule the next class to start in the fall of 2023.

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Rohnert Park has expressed interest in expanding the program and turning it into a “Leadership Central Sonoma County” program that includes Rohnert Park, Cotati, and Penngrove, funded by Rohnert Park and Cotati. Currently, Rohnert Park does not charge participants to attend, as they fund it at a cost of approximately $80k per year. It’s expected that a joint program with Cotati will be a similar cost, except that the cost would be split on some proportional basis between the cities. An expected approximate cost, simply based on population, would be $12,000/$68,000.

Recommendation. Work with Rohnert Park to jointly create a Leadership Central Sonoma County, but modified with a specific element to encourage civic participation as well as general community participation.
• Investigate cost/options for providing Spanish language access to newsletter Background. In addition to various forms of electronic communication, a primary source of City information is the utility newsletter, mailed with the water/sewer bills to residents. In the past year, these mailings were expanded to include “newsletter only” mailing to reach renters in multifamily housing that don’t have city utility accounts, as this was an obvious oversight. The current newsletter is 1 page, front and back.

If we were to mail translated newsletters, presumably in Spanish, it would either require that we shorten the newsletter to a single page (with the reverse side translated) or create a second newsletter that is translated and mailed together with the English language newsletter. However, based on the community poll conducted in November 2020, when speaking to residents who speak another language at home other than English, only 3% found it to be barrier to participation in city meetings. By extension, a similar percentage would likely also find this to be a barrier with mailed information and general city communications.

Alternatively, if not mailed, the City could translate the English language newsletter, include a QR link on the mailed flyer, and post a Spanish language newsletter on the website for anyone that preferred that version. This would still require the staff time or contract cost to translate, but would avoid the printing and mailing costs, as well as the mailing delay for translation.

Contract translation services for Spanish typically take 5 business days and cost $0.18 per word.

Therefore, a typical 1,000 word newsletter will cost approximately $180 to translate. With approximately 2,500 mail pieces at $0.15 per page, the estimated mailing cost is $375 per mailing, if the city were to include a Spanish language newsletter in the regular mailing.

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Recommendation. A balanced approach, given the relatively low number of residents who find English language to be a barrier, would be to continue to produce and mail the English language newsletter while providing a Spanish language version on the website. The English language newsletter would include a QR code or similar feature to allow easy access to the Spanish newsletter, if desired. Additionally, after the English language newsletter is completed and sent for mailing, there is a 2-3 week delay before they arrive in residents mailboxes. This time would allow for Spanish translation of the newsletter and posting prior to or concurrently with the mailed version arriving in mailboxes. While the City currently has Spanish speaking staff who can complete the translation as part of their daily work, if this were not the case in the future for some reason, the City would need to pay approximately $180 per newsletter to contract the translation service.
• Investigate cost/options for providing Spanish language access to city social media posts.

Background. The city currently operates a website and several social media accounts (Facebook, Instagram, Nextdoor, and Nixle). Most citywide news is distributed electronically through the website, Facebook and Instagram. The website allows for content translation into many languages. The exception is third party website integrations, such as our legislative management platform, municipal payment platform, recreation registration platform, or projects platform.

However, none of these contain city news updates. If a user of Facebook or Instagram has their devices set to another non-English language, when they view an English language post, it allows for translation. The exception is language embedded into graphics. This obviously works the other way as well, when English language speakers view foreign language content.

For emergency information, the City uses Nixle. At this time, there does not appear to be an automatic translation service attached to this platform.

On a related note, City zoom meetings are fully captioned in English with the option for live translation into one of about a dozen different languages (including Spanish).

Recommendation. Continue to explore translation options for third party hosted elements of the City website and update the social media procedures to ensure that text is not embedded in images for translations and visually impaired residents (screen readers) or duplicate the text outside of images. At this time, it’s not feasible to translate Nixle posts, as this could

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significantly delay the dissemination of emergency information. However, staff will continue to explore options for emergency communications in other languages. • Expand social media outreach to Nextdoor/more frequent posts Background. The City has an active Nextdoor account, which generally allows the verified municipal account to simultaneously post to all “neighborhoods” in Cotati. Unless users opt out of city posts, it will appear in their feeds. However, the City Nextdoor account only allows visibility on what the City posts and any responses to the City posts. There is no visibility on any community posts.

Engagement with City posts has been minimal compared to other social media platforms, such as Facebook or Instagram. For a typical post, Nextdoor will get zero, or at best, couple of “impressions”, while other social media platforms get “engagement” in the dozens or more for the same post. Therefore, staff have gradually reduced pushing content on Nextdoor, as it seems to add little value for the limited staff time available for public information efforts. With renewed interest from the Ad Hoc, staff inquired with other cities, as well as Nextdoor support, to determine if there are ways to better utilize Nextdoor.

Unlike other social media platforms that retain posts chronologically, Nextdoor functions more like a live stream of news. In other words, when we post on Facebook or Instagram, the post stays at the top of the feed and comments, likes, etc. are in that post. A Nextdoor post starts at the top of the feed, but then immediately gets pushed down with new posts or comments on other existing posts. Therefore, unless there is a significant amount of commenting, the post is quickly pushed down and no longer visible to users unless they search for it. In inquiries with Nextdoor and other cities, staff confirmed that our account is properly set up, and other cities seem to generally have very low engagement with their Nextdoor posts.

Recommendation. Unless there is a way to create some greater visibility with posts (such as companion emails or text messages), the recommendation is to discontinue use of Nextdoor. • Investigate options to upgrade to electronic bulletin board downtown (“marquee”).

Background. The intent of this option was to generally improve public communication by moving from a static information board, manually updated, to an electronic information board

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that can be remotely updated quickly and contain more information at once through multiple scrolling “pages”. Provided power is available, this type of sign can also be an effective means of communicating emergency information in addition to the city website and social media channels.

In previous years, this option has been explored but not pursued in the annual workplan, primarily because it was not universally supported by the City Council, thus became a relatively lower priority. The primary concern was about aesthetics, in particular that it shouldn’t look like or use colors similar to what is commonly seen in freeway electronic signs. At the time, it was approximately $30-50k (depending on amount of electrical work needed and type of sign) to replace the existing information board with a similar sized electronic billboard. In the interim, a new board and letter tracks were installed to improve the function of the manual information board. Over time, the plywood board warps with hot/cold weather, which distorts the letter tracks and makes the letters more prone to falling out of the tracks with vibration caused by passing vehicles. Therefore, the existing board should also be replaced every 5 years or so.

Recommendation. Include an electronic marquee as a potential project during Strategic Planning for Fiscal Year 2023-2024. There are likely options that can improve public communication using an electronic marquee but use a “standard” layout that is simple and not gaudy using black and white contrasting text with colors or eye-catching animations reserved for special occasions that can be vetted through accompanying procedures. Other considerations include back-up power, if deemed necessary, and ensuring access to sign updates by the City Manager’s office as well as Police Dispatch.
• Provide space on downtown wayfinding bulletin board for public use.

Background. With the installation of wayfinding signs in the downtown area, it was observed that people have been informally attaching community flyers, advertisements, etc. to the structures. Currently, public works removes items attached to the wayfinding signs, utility poles, or other public fixtures weekly, or as time allows. It was suggested that staff look into the pros/cons of formalizing a public community bulletin board in the downtown area, or at City Hall, to provide a single location to post community information.

Currently, several businesses downtown host private community boards, including Redwood Café and Cotati Coffee. These boards are located inside the businesses, so they must be open to be accessible to the public, thus access is limited to business hours. As privately managed bulletin boards, the business has full discretion to manage content on the board without any potential first amendment issues.

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An official location provided by the City would become a limited free speech forum, so the City would not be able to remove distasteful speech with limited ability to take down information unless they clearly posed a threat of violence. Given the limited public works time, and the need to handle all postings the same, the most likely method of maintenance would be removal of all postings on some fixed time period (weekly, bi-weekly, etc.). This would mean some items would stay up for the entire time period, while others may be removed almost immediately, depending on when they were posted relative to the removal day.

A public bulletin board downtown would either be a new free-standing structure, or more likely removing or converting the locked display cabinet in the existing wayfinding kiosks to an open board or unlocked display cabinet. This would need to be maintained by public works on a regular basis. However, public works is already overcapacity with daily activities and projects.

In the front entrance to City Hall, there are two locked display cabinets; one that holds City Council Agendas, Planning Commission Agendas, and public notices, and one that holds flyers for upcoming recreation events and classes, as well as overflow from the first cabinet, as needed.

One alternative is to install a larger cabinet where the existing cabinet currently is, with one side unlocked for community postings. A second alternative is an open board separately mounted, free standing, at the base of the stairs at the front entrance to City Hall. This option would be maintained by the City Manager’s office.

Recommendation. Initiate a pilot to utilize the existing cabinet currently holding recreation flyers by keeping one side locked for official city postings and remove the lock on the opposite half of the cabinet so that it can be opened and closed without a key. Maintenance would be incorporated into the City Manager’s office normal posting activities. Therefore, flyers would be taken down twice per month, on the regular City Council agenda posting schedule. This side would be clearly labeled community information to distinguish it from anything official from the City. If this becomes problematic in the future, the City Council can direct staff to re-lock this box in the future.

This type of enclosed cabinet should mitigate any issues around exposure to the elements and generation of wind-blown litter.
• Investigate ways to increase participation at police beat meetings, including varying days/times/locations, more publicity.

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Background. As the next evolution in Neighborhood Watch, the City created neighborhood officers, each assigned to one of six beats in the City for 1 year before rotating to another beat.

For simplicity of communication, these beat areas are also co-terminus with evacuation zones.

The City provides an interactive map of the beats, as well as the name and contact information for each officer on the Police Department page on the City website. The police department hosts neighborhood meetings, at least twice per year, to hear from residents of each beat and better understand neighborhood issues and concerns. Due to COVID, these meetings have been held virtually over the past couple of years and have been generally advertised through social media (Instagram, Facebook) and the city website. Beat meetings are held in the evening, with some beats combined, over the course of several days as the respective beat officers are on duty.

The police department also conducts rotating concentrated enforcement, rotating through the beat areas monthly as well as citywide focused efforts, such as distracted driving, pedestrian safety, large trucks passing through downtown, or similar future efforts.

The specific concerns raised were lack of awareness of when/where these meetings were occurring and a beat map on the website that could be updated to be simpler to navigate, including a simple address lookup tool. The City of Santa Rosa currently hosts the website that contains the City GIS map, including the current embedded police beats map.

Recommendation. The City can use police volunteers or interns to deliver flyers to homes and businesses in each beat in advance of the biannual beat meetings to raise awareness of the meeting dates and locations. This would be in addition to the existing website and social media noticing. If volunteers or interns are not available, and a separate mailing was needed (if it can’t be incorporated into utility bill mailers), this type of direct mailing is estimated to cost $2,300 per mailing, twice per year. Therefore, the preference is to reduce cost by either mailing in the same envelope as the utility bill mailers or incorporating it into the utility mailer, if possible.

The City of Santa Rosa’s GIS team can establish a separate page with a simple search tool, similar to what they did for Rohnert Park’s election districts, which can be found here. This would take approximately 4-5 hours of time, at a cost of around $1,000. The simplest option would be to embed this easily searchable map into the existing Neighborhood Officer page, like it is now, with the officer contact information listed on the City maintained portion of the webpage, updated annually by city staff.

An alternative would be to embed a static link to each beat that doesn’t change, but then city staff would update the content of the linked page each year with the new beat officer.

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• Explore providing a mid-year verbal update to the City Council from the Chief of Police, including current activities, focused enforcement events, crime trends, new programs and community engagement.

Background. For the past couple of years, the Police Chief has begun providing annual reports to the community, typically in the first quarter of the following calendar year. This annual report, presented at a City Council meeting, summarizes a significant amount of data derived from the police dispatch and record systems, as well as other law enforcement sources.

Police related data and data reporting systems have been designed around the extensive, and always increasing, reporting required by the State Department of Justice (DOJ). However, much of this directly reported data is not in a useable form locally, as it is a “backend” upload of raw data, which is then processed by DOJ, including corrections of erroneous data, into a useable final form for public reporting. The recent requirement for police data to reported locally has been a challenge, particularly for smaller agencies, due to the lack of data analysts on staff to mine these databases and create new reports analyzing the data in different ways in different formats and more quickly than what is produced by DOJ. Therefore, the annual police report currently takes a significant amount of staff time to compile.

Given this, the ad hoc felt that an overview mid-year verbal report would be a good addition to keep up with the latest events and activities of the police department, while leaving the data analysis to the annual report.

Recommendation. Include an annual mid-year verbal report from the Chief of Police to the City Council on current activities, focused enforcement events, crime trends, new programs and community engagement. To be feasible, the mid-year verbal report will have limited or no associated data analysis.
• Work with Farmster to incorporate CRPUSD public school class field trips to Veronda-Falletti Ranch into future work plans.

Background. The City has regular joint meetings with Rohnert Park, the Cotati-Rohnert Park Unified School District (CRPUSD), and Sonoma State University to discuss issues of common interest, in the so-called 2x2x2 meetings. Vice Mayor Harvey and Councilmember Sparks are the currently assigned representatives. To explore this option, staff followed up from a 2x2x2 discussion by contacting the Superintendent of the CRPUSD (Myra Perez), who introduced staff to the Program Administrator for the Special Education Preschool Program. Superintendent Perez suggested that we utilize the special education preschool program as a pilot program. If successful, the thought was that it could expand to other grades/programs. Given the early childhood focus, we introduced the Program Administrator for the Special Education Preschool Program to Sandy Loam to discuss the details and opportunities for collaboration. However, at this time, the Program Administrator indicated that due to staffing shortages in their program, they don’t have the capacity to pursue engagement at the Veronda-Falletti Ranch at this time.

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Recommendation. Staff intend to remain in contact with the CRPUSD Program Administrator and coordinate programming opportunities when/if they have the capacity to engage at the Veronda-Falletti Ranch.

Hiring
• Investigate and provide “Just-In-Time” anti-bias and equitable interview practices training for employees who will participate in job interviews.

Background. This type of training is required in Community Colleges, in accordance with Education Code Section 87360, which reads in part that, “[i]n establishing hiring criteria for faculty and administrators, district governing boards shall, no later than July 1, 1990, develop criteria that include a sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socioeconomic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of community college students.” Examples of how this is implemented in the Community College context are attached, as well as other publicly available sample questions for reference.

Currently, the City provides mandated “harassment” training for all staff and managers on two and one year cycles, respectively. While this training covers some of the same topics, there is no specific bias training for staff participating in interviews. Currently, in interview panels, there are no questions specifically intended to assess the applicants’ sensitivity to diversity.

In investigating options for this type of training, staff found that Leibert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW) offers training for staff that will be on interview panels and will also assist in developing questions for interviewers. LCW is a legal firm that the city uses for employment law and is well acquainted with Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) and Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) training and the associated laws and regulations.

LCW proposed a 2-3 hour workshop for staff on interview panels, which would cost between $2,500-$3,000 per workshop. If there is travel over 1.5 hours (required, if held in person), there is a $750 travel time charge. There would be an additional cost for assisting staff with developing interview questions.

Trainings typically cover the following topics:
o Laws and regulations regarding non-discrimination, focusing on those laws and regulations related to recruitment and hiring

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o The benefits of workforce diversity
o Elimination of bias in hiring decisions
o Best practices for selection and hiring committees
o Crafting questions
▪ This section of the workshop is usually a series of case studies that get participates to think about the “good, bad, and really bad” questions to ask during the hiring process, with a focus on crafting questions that are intended to help increase the diversity of application pools without implicating protected class.

Recommendation. It is recommended that the City develop annual training for supervisors and managers, which are generally part of all interviews. The trainings can be held virtually to reduce costs. A minimum of one question to assess the applicants’ sensitivity to diversity would be incorporated into job interviews. Given the complexity of employment law, it is recommended that LCW provide this training and feedback on interview questions. • Work with recruiting firms used by the city to advertise jobs more broadly and in places likely to reach underrepresented groups, to ensure diverse candidate pools.

Background. The City only uses recruiting firms for Department Heads and City Manager positions. Other than these positions, a typical external recruitment includes posting on the following:
o City Website (IBS)
o Government Jobs.com
o Indeed.com (which then goes to virtually all electronic job boards) o Depending on position, other specialty sites (PORAC, APA, etc.) The job listings are widely available to anyone looking for a job, so this is unlikely to limit the diversity of the job applicants. Diversity of applicant pools is specific to the position being recruited for. For example, some positions are very over-represented by male applicants, and some are very over-represented by female applicants. There can also be over or under representation based on degreed or non-degreed positions. However, in general, with the shifting demographics in Sonoma County, the workforce is trending older and more Latin(x).

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Recommendation. When the city uses a recruiter, recruiting for a diverse candidate pool can be a stated criteria in their scope of work. Moving forward, the City can add voluntary demographic questions to job applications to develop a better understanding of applicant diversity relative to the surrounding community, which would help focus future diversity initiatives. • Review job classifications for opportunities to include bilingual as a desired job skill.

Background. Currently, the City does not list language as a required or desired skill in any job classifications. It was believed that this may be helpful in recruitment by indicating that the City places value on this skill, as well as help the city functionally as the need for fluency (Spanish, specifically) arises in the provision of municipal services to the community.

The City currently has staff with fluency in various languages (in addition to English), including staff in the police department and City Hall that are fluent in Spanish. Based on the job classifications at the City, there are no jobs where bilingual fluency can be required. However, it is likely that some job classifications could meet the threshold of “preferred” bilingual fluency in Spanish. Essentially, if two applicants are otherwise equal, this skill would set them above for hiring.

To include this type of language in a job classification, each potential position would need to be evaluated and determined that Spanish is regularly used – generally defined as at least once per week. More specifically, the evaluation typically includes the following types of questions for each position:
• Who is the audience for whom the language other than English skills will be used? Is it other employees, or constituents? If it’s constituents, what percentage of the City’s population speaks that language and cannot easily communicate in English? • What are the scope of duties that the position would perform in the other language? • Would not having someone speak a language other than English pose safety concerns? For example, if a front-line utility worker only speaks Spanish, and their supervisor can’t communicate with them in their native language, would this pose substantial safety risks?

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• Is there someone in the division/department who speaks the language at issue who can serve as a translator, therefore negating the need for applicants in the position for which the City is hiring to demonstrate such fluency?
The intent of this type of evaluation is to also avoid employment discrimination lawsuits when choosing one applicant over another by documenting the need for this skill. Based on estimates from LCW, each positional review will cost between $1,500-$2,500.

Recommendation. It is possible that the City could justify this preferential language on certain front-line job positions, such as certain front counter jobs, recreation, and police. The study to review and document of these job positions would likely be around $10-15,000 (dependent on number of positions reviewed). Calling this skill out as a desired would also likely result in a request for bilingual pay from bargaining groups in future negotiations.

Contracting
• Explore contracting as a means to employ a more diverse base of suppliers and contractors.

Background. Generally, City contracts can be fit into one of several categories: Professional Services, Non-Professional Services, Material Suppliers, and Construction Contractors.

Professional services are most commonly design related services and are selected based on qualifications in response to a request for proposals/qualifications posted on the city website and sent to a wide list of known consultants. While cost can be a factor in selecting professional services, it can’t be the only factor. Non-professional services are most commonly services such as janitorial, landscape, HVAC, and are typically selected based on cost from a request for proposals requested from known local firms that can perform the services (scale, insurance requirements, etc). Material suppliers are generally local suppliers of specialty parts, but can also include things such as general office or janitorial supplies. These are generally selected based on best value/lowest cost to the city, or the only available supplier for specialty items.

Finally, construction contracting is highly regulated and depending on the value of the work, must go through either an informal or formal bid process, with formal bids sent to builder’s exchanges throughout Northern California as well as posted on the city website. Construction projects with federal funds require extensive reporting and disadvantaged business enterprise (DBE) contracting provisions. The existing procurement policy for non-federal projects provides contractors based in Cotati with a 5% preference, but otherwise does not provide for preferential contracting. While joint procurement is allowed, it is only regularly used in certain areas where the State has negotiated government rates, such as vehicle (state bid) and communication (Calnet) purchasing. Additionally, there are several examples of municipal or county shared

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services agreements or joint powers authorities within Sonoma County, which can be another type of joint purchasing.

The County of Sonoma (County) is working on a cooperative equitable joint procurement initiative with cities that are interested. The City has expressed initial interest in being included in this effort. The County has issued RFP and is currently evaluating bids to develop a short list of potential vendors. Once a vendor is selected, the County will reach out to interested cities.

It should be noted that while staff are aware of various examples of vendors that are minority owned, woman owned, etc., it is unknown if the ownership of the City’s various vendors represent the demographic mix of the community, or if such a goal can be cost effectively achieved.

Recommendation. It is recommended that the City continue to engage with the County on the joint procurement effort currently underway and report back to the City Council once the program has been further developed to decide if continued participation will cost effectively achieve equity in contracting.

Homelessness
• Investigate possibility of reviving Safe Parking program, including funding models and possible locations
Background. The City ran a pilot safe parking program for approximately 1 year at the St.

Joseph Park and Ride lot. This pilot program is administered by Catholic Charities, which provided services to the people utilizing the safe parking. The City experience issues with this pilot program concurrently with Catholic Charities initiating a reorganization of services in Sonoma County. As a result of this reorganization, Catholic Charities has stopped administering safe parking programs, with the exception of a safe Recreational Vehicle (RV) parking at the Utility Field Office for the City of Santa Rosa, off of Stony Point Road.

Due to the a growing issue of RVs parking behind the Barlow in Sebastopol, the City of Sebastopol created an RV village in town, utilizing SAVS to provide services. This program is year to year, and receives significant funding from the County. Future operational funding of this county supported program is uncertain.

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The Ad Hoc recommended exploring this option, due to the 2020 homeless point in time (PIT) count, which indicated 37 “unsheltered” homeless in Cotati. The 2022 PIT counted 79 individuals. This count is assigned to Cotati based on census tracts, which includes most of Rohnert Park west of US 101, as well as unincorporated areas south and west of Cotati to Penngrove. Unsheltered for the purposed of the PIT count includes people outdoors as well as sleeping in vehicles. Given the census tract methodology, it’s unknown if the people counted are in Cotati. Based on staff experience, there is some limited sleeping in vehicles, primarily in the industrial area west of US 101, with very few people outdoors within the city limits.

All local, state and federal funding streams for social programs are directed to entitlement jurisdictions (Petaluma, Santa Rosa, and Sonoma County) and the continuum of care. Nonentitlement cities, such as Cotati, receive no dedicated funding for this type work. The County of Sonoma, which includes Cotati as part of the “urban county”, receives Cotati’s population share of funds and uses it to benefit the county as a whole. Therefore, any City funds directed to these programs are discretionary contributions from the General Fund, so the City Council will need to balance this against other competing funding needs for municipal operations and infrastructure.

Recommendation. It is recommended that any strategy be undertaken as part of a comprehensive countywide strategy through joint planning and action of the continuum of care. This will best ensure strategic deployment of resources countywide, which will most likely include a significant required on-going discretionary city contributions. Staff will update the City Council on the status of the countywide strategy during Strategic Planning.

Additional Information
Background. A late addition that was not evaluated by the ad hoc was a suggestion from some constituents that the City should join the Government Alliance on Race and Equity (GARE).

Information about GARE can be found here.

Consistent with the new item process, the City Manager will review this and provide an initial evaluation to the former ad hoc members to determine next steps, if any.

Recommendation. No recommendation at this time; informational only.

Financial Considerations
Depending on the mix of initiatives undertaken, the following is the estimated costs:

1. Multicultural Event Grants. New direct on-going spending of $5,000 per year from the General Fund, plus a commitment of staff time to develop and administer the grant program.

2. Leadership Central Sonoma County. New on-going spending of $12,000 per year from the General Fund. First year staff time commitment to assist in developing the program, which lower levels of on-going staff time.

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3. Spanish Language Utility Newsletter. No direct spending if electronic only and translated by staff. New on-going direct spending of approximately $555 per newsletter if translated through a paid service and included in the regular utility mailing, from the Water and Sewer Enterprise Funds. If translated by staff, it is expected to require approximately 4 hours per newsletter to translate, format and post.

4. Spanish Language Access to City Social Media. No new spending for Facebook or Instagram, as this is functionality is built into the platform. No additional staff time is required.

5. More Frequent Use of Nextdoor. If this platform is phased out, it will result in staff time savings.

6. Upgrade Downtown Marquee to Electronic. New one-time spending of approximately $30-50,000 from the General Fund. Initial staff time required for design and construction oversight, with future public works staff time eliminated and incremental increase in City Hall staff time to remotely change marquee messages.

7. Public Bulletin Board. Minor direct spending to switch out the cabinet lock, but incremental City Hall staff time to remove public postings concurrently with agenda posting.

8. Increase Police Beat Meeting Outreach. Significant increase in volunteer staff time. required to distribute flyers, or new direct spending of up to approximately $4,600 per year for separate direct mailing and an additional $1,000 in one-time spending to upgrade the GIS page. Funding would come from the General Fund.

9. Incorporate CRPUSD into Programs at the Veronda Falletti Ranch. Unknown costs at this time, but the intent would be to incorporate this into existing programs funded by the City if possible. This is expected to require a moderate amount of staff time to liaise between the co-licensees and CRPUSD.

10. Anti-Bias and Equitable Interview Training. This program would require approximately $2,500-$3,000 per year in new spending allocated across city funds.

Approximately 45 hours of staff time for training each year, with initial staff time to develop questions and periodic updates.

11. Diverse Recruitment. This program is not expected to result in any direct expenses, with minor staff time to update and track job applications.

12. Include Bilingual as a Desired Job Skill, as Applicable. This program would require a staff estimated $10,000-$15,000 in one-time direct spending to interview and document job duties of specific job classifications. Based on the likely job classifications, funding would be largely General Fund. This would be a one-time moderate amount of staff time to manage the process, incorporate the changes and discuss with bargaining units.

Possible future on-going costs if bilingual pay is incorporated into labor memorandum of understanding.

13. Diverse Contracting. At this time, this initiative is largely a commitment of staff time to explore the opportunities for joint procurement with the County. Any future costs related to joint procurement would be discussed with the City Council prior to formal City commitment.

14. Safe Parking (General Homeless Initiatives). A specific program is not recommended at this time, but it is expected that the City will participate in future joint Continuum of Care efforts, which will likely be in the range of tens of thousands of dollars per year from the General Fund in direct spending, as well as significant staff time to engage in

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this regional effort.

Attachments:

Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (PPT) SAMPLE 1: DIVERSITY QUESTIONS - SRJC (DOC)
SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (DOCX)

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SCREENING & INTERVIEWING COMMITTEE
Hiring Orientation
Santa Rosa Junior College ¡ Human Resources

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Packet Pg. 176 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc) • National origin
• Religious Creed
• Age
• Sex/Gender
• Gender identity
• Gender expression
• Race or ethnicity
• Color
• Medical condition
• Genetic information
• Ancestry
• Sexual orientation
• Marital status
• Physical or mental disability
• Pregnancy
• Military and veteran status
• Hair styles or texture
commonly associated with a
person’s race or nationality
Discrimination Prohibited on the Basis of:

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Packet Pg. 177 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc) Why: SRJC Vision & Mission
Vision:

SRJC aspires to be an inclusive, diverse and sustainable learning community that engages the whole person.

Mission:

SRJC passionately cultivates learning through the creative, intellectual, physical, social, emotional, aesthetic and ethical development of our diverse community.

How: SRJC Board Hiring and Equivalency Procedures
• Board Procedure 4.3.2P – Faculty Hiring
• Board Procedure 4.3.2bP – Faculty Equivalency

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Packet Pg. 178 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc) Why a Diverse Workforce is Important
Students are better educated and better prepared for leadership, citizenship, and professional competitiveness in multicultural America and the global community when they are educated by diverse perspectives in the classroom. “Diversifying faculty enhances student success, ultimately improving grades and retention. Given the benefits to students, a focus on the hiring and retention of faculty of color may be key in addressing academic disparities.” 2019 study published in the Journal Race Ethnicity and Education A diverse workforce:
• Improves understanding of those you work with
• Creates a work environment that allows everyone to reach their full potential • Provides multiple perspectives on problem solving
• Increases employee retention

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Packet Pg. 179 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc) Deficit-Minded
Language
Diversity/Diverse
Underrepresented/Underserved
Historically Marginalized
Students of Color
BIPOC/Black, Indigenous, People of Color
Opportunity Gap
Asset-Minded
Language
At-risk/High Need
Underprepared/Disadvantaged
Untraditional/Non-traditional
Underprivileged
Minorities
Achievement Gap

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Packet Pg. 180 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc)

INCORPORATING

AN EQUITY LENS

INTO JOB

ANNOUNCEMENTS
o District commitment to Diversity, Equity,
Inclusion, and Antiracism
o Clear statements of intent to hire equityminded, racially and ethnically diverse faculty o Specific competencies related to equitymindedness listed in the preferred qualifications
o Infusion of equity-minded elements into the
job announcement and in every interview
question
o Use of asset-minded language instead of
deficit-minded language

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Packet Pg. 181 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc)

PRACTICE

INCLUSIVE

SCREENING
• Encourage inclusiveness rather than
exclusiveness.
• Avoid screening with small applicant
pools (interview all who meet MQs)
• Screening only on preferred
qualifications and criteria posted in job
announcement.
• Ensuring that candidates who file for
equivalency are considered.

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Packet Pg. 182 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc)

BEHAVIORAL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
We serve a lot of 1st
generation college
students.

Key activities
• Serving someone
• Managing expectations
• Communicating
information
• Overcoming obstacles
• Managing uncertainty
• Collaborating / Cooperating
• Resolving conflict
• Teaching people
Tell us about a time
when…
Frame the question
• Describe a situation where
you…
• When have you had to…
• Share with me an example
of you demonstrating…
• Give me an example of a
time when you…
• Give me an example of a
situation where you…
• Think of a time when you…
You helped someone master
new skills to succeed in an
unfamiliar setting
State what you want to hear
• …helped someone understand
why you couldn’t serve their
needs
• …adapted a process to meet
someone’s specific needs
• …engaged with someone from
a different cultural background
• …disciplined someone for
unacceptable behavior
• …presented complex
information to a diverse
audience
Helpful lead-in Open-ended beginning Desired behavior

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Packet Pg. 183 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc) EXAMPLES OF EQUITY-MINDED COMPETENCY QUESTIONS:
9 • What strategies do you use to provide academic and social support to students of color?
• In what ways does racial identity influence your relationships with students of color?
• What is your understanding of culturally responsive teaching? • Provide a race/sex/disability scenario and have candidates discuss it.

CUE.USC.EDU - @CENTER4URBANED | CENTER FOR URBAN EDUCATION

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Packet Pg. 184 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc) BIAS Red Flags
ð “Will she survive in our department, she will be the only…” ð “I had a good feeling about them”
ð “That candidate is more qualified because of their PhD” ð “He graduated from an elite university”
ð “I’m unfamiliar with the organizations they belong to” ð “Will her family situation allow her to work late?”
ð Considering traits that may not have any relation to the ability to do the job

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Packet Pg. 185 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc) Committee Interviews/Deliberations
• Keep in mind that we are not the only option for candidates and we need to show candidates why they should choose SRJC.
• Be aware of body language and tone to ensure that all candidates get the same professional and objective treatment.
• Discuss candidates’ knowledge, skills and experience as related to understanding the needs of our students’ diverse backgrounds/categories Ø Consider how this knowledge, skills, experience, and understanding will help them be effective in their job and with our students.

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Packet Pg. 186 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc) EQUITY
-
MINDED

VIRTUAL

INTERVIEW

PROCESSES
• Screen-In! If diversity is the goal, then
screen-in instead of screen-out for the first
round.
• Be patient with technology, the candidate,
and other committee members.
• Allow for additional (more than normal)
time between candidate interviews.
• Be extra considerate of confidentiality. • Avoid bias and judging the candidate’s background/home.

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Packet Pg. 187 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc)

OUTREACH AND RECRUITMENT
Advertising Sources:
§ Current Standard Sources
§ LinkedIn/Twitter/Facebook
§ College Recruiting – University Information Sessions
§ American Association of Hispanics in Higher Education § American Studies Association
§ The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education
§ Blacks In Higher Education.

Recruiting Events:
§ December 11thAcademic Senate Faculty Hiring Workshop
§ January 27
th CCC Registry Virtual Career Event

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Packet Pg. 188 Attachment: Hiring Orientation - Excerpts From Santa Rosa Junior College (Equity Ad Hoc)

SAMPLE DIVERSITY QUESTIONS
1) Santa Rosa Junior College is an open access community college and serves a diverse population of students, staff and faculty. What experiences have you had dealing with individuals who may have unique needs?
2) What skills do you possess that will serve the diverse needs of the campus community? 3) Give us an example that demonstrates your sensitivity to and understanding of the diverse academic, socio-economic, cultural, disability, and ethnic backgrounds of SRJC students and the community at large.
4) Describe a time when you were able to adapt to a person from a background or culture that was different from yours.
5) Please tell us how you define “diversity”. Also, explain what experience you have had working with people of diverse backgrounds and abilities. 6) What do you see as the most challenging aspect of a diverse working environment? What steps have you taken to meet this challenge?
7) What does it mean to have commitment to diversity and how would you develop diversity and apply your commitment at the College?
8) What kind of leadership efforts would you make to ensure a commitment to the diversity initiative or value for the College?

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Packet Pg. 189 Attachment: SAMPLE 1: DIVERSITY QUESTIONS - SRJC (Equity Ad Hoc) From the Muse.com

1. Please Share With Us What Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion Mean to You and
Why They’re Important.

Diversity, equity, and inclusion have much broader meanings than most people assume. Employers want to know that you not only grasp the true meaning of each term, but that you also find merit in each of these concepts and share a commitment to fostering them in the workplace.

How to Answer
If you really want to score points with the interviewer, make sure you address how each term—diversity, equity, and inclusion—has its own distinct definition and importance to you. Acknowledge that diversity doesn’t just refer to race and gender, but also encompasses categories such as age, sexual orientation, religion, military service, people with disabilities, and other traits and experiences that are reflected in a company’s workforce.

Ultimately, you want to make it clear to your future employer that you not only have a clear understanding of what diversity, equity, and inclusion mean, but also that you’re a champion for those concepts. Beyond that, your relationship to DEI is just that: yours. So don’t be afraid to find your own language to talk about how and why it’s important to you.

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Packet Pg. 190 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) Your answer might sound something like this:
“Diversity, equity, and inclusion are three very important topics to me. I believe that diversity means representation across a wide range of traits, backgrounds, and experiences. When we can connect and engage with coworkers with different perspectives than our own, we can more successfully achieve our overall goals. Inclusion refers to a sense of belonging in any environment. For a company to really achieve the benefits of diversity, it has to work to be inclusive in recruiting, hiring, retention, and promotions. Employees in inclusive workplaces feel more comfortable sharing their unique ideas and perspectives because they can sense that their differences are genuinely respected and appreciated.
“Finally, equity is important for making sure that every employee’s voice is included in the decision-making process, that everyone feels fairly compensated for their work, and that everyone has access to the same opportunities. It’s very important to me that everyone I work with feels safe, accepted, and valued and has an equal opportunity to grow and succeed. Together, the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion help create a workplace culture that drives the business forward.”

2. In Your Opinion, What Is the Most
Challenging Aspect of Working in a
Diverse Environment?
When a hiring manager asks this question, they’re looking for an answer that lets them know you’re aware of the challenges that can arise in diverse environments,

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Packet Pg. 191 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) but that you’re capable of appropriately addressing those challenges. While you can bring up a relevant experience if you have one, be aware that your interviewer is not opening the floor for a vent session.

How to Answer
This question can trip candidates up. You certainly don’t want to stick your foot in your mouth or ramble about a time you struggled to connect with a colleague of a different gender or religion. When you’re coming up with an answer to this question, go beyond just answering it at face value. You’ll want to dig deeper to show that you not only recognize some of the challenges, but that you also have thought through ways to overcome the challenges. Most importantly, keep your answer positive.

That might sound like:
“Diverse teams drive innovative solutions precisely because they can be challenging. By bringing diverse perspectives to the table, you get more ideas, but also more people pointing out holes in ideas. The debate that can come with differing perspectives pushes everyone to think and work harder. That is one of the most challenging aspects of working in a diverse environment, but it’s a challenge I embrace. For example, if I notice that we’ve gotten to a solution fairly easily but that we haven’t heard from someone on the team, I’ll ask that person to weigh in on the solution. I’ve found that on many occasions, inviting someone into the conversation might mean we’re debating an issue longer, but it also means that we end up with a stronger solution.”

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Packet Pg. 192 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) What Is Your Approach to
Understanding the Perspectives of
Colleagues From Different
Backgrounds?
Thriving in a diverse work environment is easier said than done. Research suggests that working on diverse teams produces stronger outcomes because the diversity of perspectives can actually make the process harder. It requires teamwork and a good deal of effort to create the type of connection and understanding across differences that will result in positive business outcomes. The goal of this type of question is to determine how active you will be in building a bridge of understanding between your colleagues and yourself.

How to Answer
Getting to know and understand someone should be an effort that starts well before decision-making time. Only when you’ve put in the work to get to know your coworkers beyond your nine-to-five projects can you really understand them in a meaningful way. You’ll want to answer this question in a way that shows you recognize the power of relationship building.

So you might say:
“Whether it’s my supervisor, report, or peer, I take the time to get to know everyone I’m working with on a personal basis. Ideally, this takes the form of a scheduled lunch or coffee. However, I also find times like passing each other in the hallway or breakroom to quickly connect on a personal level. I like to know what matters to people outside of work, what drives their engagement at work, the values they hold and why. In my experience, this builds a relationship that

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Packet Pg. 193 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) helps instill a level of trust. When differences of opinion arise, that level of trust we’ve already established makes it easier to understand one another and work through conflict.”

4. How Would You Handle a Situation
Where a Colleague Was Being Culturally
Insensitive, Sexist, Racist, or
Homophobic?
Employers want to know how active you’ll be in creating an inclusive environment. It is not enough that you won’t make insensitive remarks yourself.

Most companies are looking for employees who will actively stand up against biased remarks and actions.

How to Answer
In answering this question, you’ll want to demonstrate your willingness to take action. Your interviewer wants to see that you won’t be a passive bystander in the event of a sexist, racist, homophobic, or otherwise problematic situation.

Likewise, they’ll want to see that you won’t overstep or ignore company protocol in your response.

If you’ve experienced a similar situation before, whether in the workplace or elsewhere, this would be a good time to share a personal story. Otherwise, you can respond with an answer outlining what you would do if the situation was happening in front of you, as well as what you would do if you heard about the situation after the fact.

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Packet Pg. 194 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) You could say something like:
“If the incident is actively taking place, I view it as my job to interrupt the bias, regardless of who is making the insensitive remark or action. I would directly call out that the insensitive statement or action does not reflect the company’s values or my own, and that I want it to stop. I might say, ‘We don’t talk like that around here. Please don’t say that around me again.” If I heard about an incident secondhand, I would inform the company’s human resources team so they are aware of the issue and can address it based on the company’s antidiscrimination policies.”

5. How Would You Advocate for Diversity,
Equity, and Inclusion With Colleagues
Who Don’t Understand its Importance?
Unfortunately, there are still some people who do not understand the importance of workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion. Your interviewer may ask you this question because such people are present in the organization you’re seeking to join and they want to know how you would respond.

How to Answer
In answering this question, it’s often helpful to talk about how you could lean on data. People who don’t naturally grasp the personal benefits of working in a diverse, equitable, and inclusive environment might be more convinced by the “business case” and how these values are proven to affect the company’s bottom line. So you might tell your interviewer you’d cite McKinsey research that found

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Packet Pg. 195 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) that companies in the top quarter for racial and ethnic diversity are 35% more likely to see financial returns above the median for their industry than their less diverse peers. Or that you’d share a 2018 study by Harvard Business Review that showed that companies with higher-than-average diversity had 19% higher innovation revenues.

But you may also want to mention that you’d tailor your methods based on the values and motivations of the person you’re attempting to persuade. With some people, specific stories or case studies might land better than broad data, for example.

If you have already had to convince someone about the importance of workplace diversity, equity, and inclusion, now is a great time to demonstrate your experience and confidence in doing so by sharing that story.

So you might answer with something like:
“If I encountered colleagues who are still unaware of the importance of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the first step I’d take would be to present them with facts. There’s so much research available touting the financial benefits companies reap when they have a commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Of course, I understand that some people may be aware of this research, but still unconvinced. If that were the case, I’d gently but firmly push them to recognize that while diversity might be uncomfortable, it’s worth seeking out a diverse team in order to push ourselves to think beyond our own experiences and assumptions.
“I would translate all of that to what it could mean for our own company in particular scenarios. For example, if we were struggling to bring in new audiences within certain demographics, I might mention that a more diverse and inclusive internal team—where people from those demographics have a real voice in discussions about which products are made and how—could help us achieve our goals.”

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Packet Pg. 196 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc)

6. Tell Me About a Time When You
Advocated for Diversity and Inclusion in
the Workplace.

Interviews almost always include a question or two designed to gauge how you’re likely to behave in practice based on what you’ve done in the past, and this one is specifically intended to assess your ability to translate your values and beliefs into action.

How to Answer
When you hear “tell us about a time when” or any similar request for a real-life example of how you’ve handled an issue in the past, it’s time to implement the STAR method. The STAR method gives you a way to provide a fitting example in a straightforward, compelling manner. STAR stands for:
▪ Situation: Set the scene and give any background needed. ▪ Task: Explain what you were responsible for in that situation. ▪ Action: Describe the steps you took.
▪ Result: Talk about the outcomes of those steps and what you learned.

Don’t worry if you don’t have some grandiose story about making sweeping changes at an organization. Your interviewer will want to know how you bring the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion into decisions and actions large and small.

An answer could sound like:

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Packet Pg. 197 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) “In a previous role, I served as office manager for a fast-growing tech startup. I was one of the only women in a company full of men. We were moving into a larger office and had the opportunity to name the conference rooms. It was my job to oversee many of the logistics of the move, including naming these rooms. I wanted to create a democratic process, so I invited the rest of the team to provide name suggestions around a theme of famous innovators throughout history. However, the vast majority of suggestions I received were for male innovators (and most of them white). I knew from a diversity and inclusion workshop I’d attended that having most conference rooms named after men could be a subtle turn off for female candidates, and I knew that we needed to attract more women. I shared this context with our team when I asked for another round of suggestions and while I was met with some grumbles, we ultimately were able to work together and create conference room names that everyone loved. I always felt better showing female candidates around the office after that and we were able to slowly increase the number of women at the startup.”

7. Can You Give Me an Example of How
You Make Your Direct Reports Feel a
Sense of Inclusion, Belonging, and
Equity on a Daily Basis?
Inclusion is such an important value for all employees to embrace and champion, but perhaps especially for those in management and leadership roles who can set the tone for others. Employers want to know that you won’t be just a passive bystander, but will proactively help make the work environment a friendlier place

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Packet Pg. 198 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) where everyone feels encouraged to contribute and feels positive about their opportunities for growth, regardless of their background.

How to Answer
This question gives you an opportunity to really show how you’ll shine in your role as a leader. Share an example of how you made others feel included in your current or previous position. Your answer to this question should highlight a specific way that you embraced and uplifted team members with different backgrounds and demonstrate how you helped make them feel welcomed.

This could show up in many different ways—how you run one-on-ones or team meetings, how you hand out work assignments, how you respond when reports need flexibility in their schedules, even how you handle informal daily interactions. Choose an example that feels true to you. You might say:
“I believe strongly in ensuring that all members of my team feel capable of success. One way this shows up is in the way I run meetings. I always strive to send out an agenda in advance and welcome additions to the agenda before the meeting begins. This ensures that everyone is able to voice their ideas and concerns, even if they don’t naturally feel comfortable speaking up or don’t do their best thinking on the spot. In the meeting itself, I’m mindful of who is speaking up and whose ideas are getting heard. When necessary, I’ll redirect the conversation to make sure that each person is included in the process and feels good about next steps.”

8. What Steps Will You Take to Eliminate
Bias From Your Hiring Process?

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Packet Pg. 199 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) Regardless of our own backgrounds, we all have subconscious biases. If we’re not careful, they can negatively affect how we interact with others. For those in positions to hire others, these subconscious biases can come out in subtle ways, such as feeling that a candidate “isn’t a good fit,” though you can’t quite put your finger on why or why not. Employers want to know that you’re aware that you may have biases and that you’ve thought through what steps you’ll take to proactively avoid them when looking for new team members.

How to Answer
The first step to solving any problem is admitting that the problem exists. Your future employer will appreciate your self-awareness and vulnerability when you answer this question honestly. Most importantly, though, they will appreciate hearing about the actual steps you’ll take to get rid of biases. If you have an example you can cite from how you’ve overcome your own biases in the past, now is an excellent time to share it.

A good answer might sound like:
“We all know by now that biases are all around us. Unfortunately, they can get in the way of even the most well-intentioned hiring team. In order to minimize bias in my hiring process, I begin by ensuring that the job opening gets broadcast to as many diverse networks as possible. This helps bring in a diverse range of candidates from the start. Then, I make sure to focus on each candidate’s skills and abilities. To the extent possible, I ignore gaps in their career history, which might reflect time off to care for children and disadvantage women. I also ignore college pedigree, which is typically unrelated to performance but can disadvantage people of color. Finally, I use a structured interview process where I make sure to ask every candidate the same questions so that I’m able to evaluate them on the same set of criteria.

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Packet Pg. 200 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) “In my last role, using these strategies over the course of several years allowed me to grow the most diverse department in the organization and it really boosted our creativity and performance as a team. We simply did better work with more backgrounds and perspectives represented, exceeding our goals every quarter. Other hiring managers started asking about what I was doing differently in the hiring process and I was more than happy to share what had worked for me and brainstorm additional ways to eliminate biases in hiring across the company.”
Updated 1/24/2022
Kelli Newman Mason is a nationally recognized diversity and inclusion leader who has served as Head of People at two venture-backed startups and a co-founder of Paradigm, a leading workplace inclusion strategy firm. Kelli now devotes her time to advancing racial justice as a partner at Notley, an Austin-based social impact firm. She is a graduate of Rice University, cum laude, and Stanford Law School.

From intromagic.io

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Packet Pg. 201 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) 10 Diversity and Inclusion Interview Questions and
Answers
This section is helpful for both recruiters and candidates. It contains a list of equality and diversity interview questions that you can ask during the recruitment process.

On the other hand, it also gives some excellent tips and sample responses for candidates to help them answer diversity-based questions successfully.

1. What compelled you to consider an opportunity with
us?
Why do recruiters ask this:

Recruiters are eager to know whether the candidate sees anything beyond the compelling work opportunity and perks that motivates them. From this question, they

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Packet Pg. 202 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) are trying to elicit an opinion about diversity and whether it means anything to the interviewee.

How to answer it:
• Learn about the concepts of diversity and inclusion. Investigate to find out how the company values diversity.
• Read the purpose and vision statement, as well as the fundamental values to expand on the topic when asked. This step can help prepare for interviews. Also, consider your perceptions of variety.
• Sample answer:
•
• I'm extremely impressed that one of your organization's fundamental principles is a dedication to diversity. That is a value with which I agree.

2. Why do you believe diversity and inclusion are
important?
Why do recruiters ask this:

This is one of the most common interview questions about diversity and inclusion. Most individuals don’t realize that the terms “diversity,” “equity,” and “inclusion” have far broader connotations than they think.

Employers want to know that you not only understand the real meaning of each phrase but that you also believe in them and are committed to promoting them in the workplace.

How to answer it:
• When discussing your dedication to diversity, be sincere. • When questioned about diversity, talk about your direct encounters with people from other backgrounds.
• Instead of claiming you cannot perceive color, talk about the importance of honoring diverse cultures and sharing what you have learned from them.

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Packet Pg. 203 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) • Sample answer:
•
• I'm keen to pick up new skills from others. Cultural variety enhances the workplace and strengthens us as a team.

3. How do you approach understanding the Point of View
of colleagues from diverse backgrounds?
Why do recruiters ask this:

The company is curious about how you see ongoing workplace problems and may consider allowing others to voice their opinions. This is a crucial ability in an inclusive workplace since it is the visionary leader’s responsibility to guarantee that everyone has an equal chance to voice their concerns and suggestions.

How to answer it:
• A team can only be productive if everyone feels like they’re a part of it. Make it clear that everyone has unique skills and abilities to share. • When we talk about inclusion, we are talking about diversity, but we’re also talking about teamwork. Employers are searching for team players that can work successfully in a group setting. You will be a desirable candidate if you combine teamwork and inclusiveness.
• Sample answer:
•
• Teamwork and inclusiveness are essential components of respecting diversity. I make every effort to ensure that all voices are heard.

4. Can you give me an example of how you make your
reports feel like they're inclusive and welcoming to
someone across the culture and other differences?
Why do recruiters ask this:

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Packet Pg. 204 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) An employer can use this concept to justify diversity and can also be used to explain why diversity is important to the business and how it can help improve the morale of the team.

How to answer it:
• Ask an employer about diversity and how important it is to the company. • Be sure to reinforce this message by answering multiple questions that focus on diversity. Use this concept to also answer questions that aren’t about diversity. • For instance, if you’re an employer who values diversity, would you consider working with diverse candidates? Prepare your reaction by concentrating on communication and morale.
• Sample answer:
•
• I try to build strong relationships with people to fully understand them. This helps me determine how I can best collaborate.

5. Can you give me an example of how you became an
advocate for diversity and inclusion in the workplace?
Why do recruiters ask this:

Recruiters are looking deep into actual experiences to measure your ability to gel with people from different backgrounds and they are usually satisfied with solid proof of your experience working in a diverse group.

How to answer it:
• This is the time to talk about what you’ve done that made you a diverse person.

Include experiences that pushed you to improve your diverse abilities. • This is also the time to discuss any talents that you may have. An employer will be impressed if you can demonstrate that you understand and respect diversity. • For instance, if you’ve worked with an organization that assisted people from many walks of life it counts as a credible experience. Elaborate on how the event

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Packet Pg. 205 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) taught you about diversity, not only in terms of color and religion but also in terms of life experiences.
• Sample answer:
•
• My volunteering experience with a community organization was an excellent way to learn about diversity. It made me reflect on how diverse people are more than race and religion.

6. How will you make sure that people are hired without bias?
Why do recruiters ask this:

Even though we’re all prone to having unconscious biases, they can have a detrimental effect on how we connect with others. For people who are employed, these biases can appear in subtle ways, such as a feeling that a potential employee isn’t a good fit. They want to know how you’ll avoid making the wrong choices when hiring new employees.

How to answer it:
• Having the courage to admit that there is a problem will help you move toward fixing it. It will also help your prospective employer understand how you’ll overcome any biases.
• Share your story about how you overcame the obstacles that were holding you back from reaching your full potential. It’s a great moment to share what you’ve done and show the efforts you’ve made.
• Sample answer:
•
• By using these techniques, I was able to expand my department and enhance our performance. It increased our diversity and helped me to engage with more people from other backgrounds. I was also able to discuss with other recruiting managers what I did differently.

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Packet Pg. 206 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc)

7. If a co-worker is being culturally insensitive, racist, or homophobic, what would you do?
Why do recruiters ask this:

You may not be actively involved in creating a diverse workplace, but many employers still want to know how involved you are in making sure that everyone is on board with the inclusive culture.

How to answer it:
• You’ll want to show your desire to act in your response to this question. • In the case of misogynistic, xenophobic, or other problematic scenarios, your interviewer wants to see that you won’t be a passive observer. They’ll also want to ensure that you won’t go too far or break business procedures in your answer. • This might be an excellent opportunity to share a personal tale if you’ve ever been in a comparable scenario, whether at work or elsewhere. Otherwise, you might react with a response that outlines what you would do if the event occurred in your presence or absence.
• Sample answer:
•
• Regardless of who is making the offensive remark, I am obligated to call attention to the situation. If it is me, I would like to see the behavior stop. I would also like to see the person making the offensive remark warned sternly or issued an infraction.
• I would warn if a similar incident reoccurred, the actions would be dire. If I learned of an incident via a third party, I would notify the firm's human resources department so that they may intervene and address it under the firm's anti-discrimination policies.

8. What do you think the most difficult aspect of working in a diverse environment is?
Why do recruiters ask this:

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Packet Pg. 207 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) When a hiring manager poses this problem, they’re looking for a response that shows you’re aware of the challenges that might emerge in a variety of situations, but also that you’re capable of dealing with them effectively.

While you are free to bring up a relevant experience if you have one, keep in mind that your interviewer is not allowing you to rant.

How to answer it:
• This question has the potential to make you feel awkward or defensive. While trying to answer it upfront, avoid being too blunt.
• A simpler approach would be to try to present a more nuanced and creative solution instead of pointing fingers.
• Sample answer:
•
• The most successful ideas are those that are driven by diverse teams because they tend to require a lot of thought and effort to develop. In order to get the most out of them, you also need people who are willing to share their opinions. • Inviting someone to a debate has often led to us coming up with an answer that's more powerful and that would be where I would start.

9. Tell me how you gauged that your workplace and found DEI (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion) was the need of the hour? Why do recruiters ask this:

This question is especially meant to examine your capacity to put your principles and beliefs into action. Interviews nearly usually contain a question or two geared to judge how you’re likely to behave in practice based on what you’ve done in the past.

How to answer it:
• It’s time to use the STAR technique when you’re asked to “tell us about a time when” or any other similar request for a real-life example of how you’ve dealt with a problem in the past.

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Packet Pg. 208 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) • The STAR technique can help you present a compelling and credible example of how you handled a particular issue in the past.
• This technique should be utilized when you’re asked for a “real-life” example of how you handled a problem.
• If you’re not exactly sure what to do with the massive organizational change, then don’t worry. You’ll be asked to explain how you handled the changes and how you incorporated diversity and inclusion into the decisions made. • Sample answer:
•
• As the office manager for a startup, I was responsible for all of the company's logistics, including naming the conference rooms. As a woman in the company, I wanted to create a democratic tradition by asking the team to come up with names that were related to a theme.
• Most of the suggestions were for male innovators, though the majority of them were white. As a result, I knew that naming some conference rooms after men could be a subtle way to make them less attractive to women. • When I asked for more ideas for conference room names, my team and I were met with some grumblings, but we eventually worked together to come up with names that everyone enjoyed.

10. What is the most prevalent blunder in an
organization's approach to diversity?
Why do recruiters ask this:

It is indeed a misconception that every group championing diversity is a zealous supporter. Many companies have policies in place, but few take steps to put them into action. Some staff appear to be apathetic that the regulation is not rigorously enforced.

This complacent attitude toward diversity is what has to change, which is why recruiters ask the candidate what he or she saw at the prior place of employment and how he or she responded to the issue.

How to answer it:

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Packet Pg. 209 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) • This question allows you to demonstrate how you will excel in your job as a leader. Give an example of how you make people feel included in your former or present role.
• Your response to this question should emphasize a specific method in which you accepted and uplifted team members from diverse backgrounds, as well as how you assisted in making them feel welcome.
• This behavior can manifest itself in various ways, such as how you conduct one-toone meetings, how you respond when reports are required, how work is distributed, and so on. Choose an example that resonates with you. • Sample answer:
•
• I am passionate about seeing to it that every member of my team believes they are feasible and realistic. One way this manifests itself is in the way I conduct meetings. I often start by sending out the agenda ahead of time and encourage additions to the agenda before the meeting starts.
• This guarantees that everyone has the opportunity to express their thoughts and concerns, even if they do not typically feel comfortable speaking out or do not think clearly on the spot.
• During the meeting, I keep track of who is speaking up and whose ideas are being heard. When required, I will refocus the dialogue to ensure that everyone is included in the process and is comfortable with the next steps.

Conclusion
The answers to these questions will help you visualize how the ideal candidate will contribute to the development of an environment that’s conducive to success.

Be mindful to use language that draws in diverse talents and backgrounds. While preparing for interviews, be sure to include experiences that have helped prepare for and enhance their diversity skills.
• Sample answer:
•
• I am passionate about seeing to it that every member of my team believes they are feasible and realistic. One way this manifests itself is in the way I conduct

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Packet Pg. 210 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) meetings. I often start by sending out the agenda ahead of time and encourage additions to the agenda before the meeting starts.
• This guarantees that everyone has the opportunity to express their thoughts and concerns, even if they do not typically feel comfortable speaking out or do not think clearly on the spot.
• During the meeting, I keep track of who is speaking up and whose ideas are being heard. When required, I will refocus the dialogue to ensure that everyone is included in the process and is comfortable with the next steps.

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Packet Pg. 211 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) From bestinterviewquestion.com
Most Frequently Asked Diversity Interview
Questions
Here in this article, we will be listing frequently asked Diversity Interview Questions and Answers with the belief that they will be helpful for you to gain higher marks. Also, to let you know that this article has been written under the guidance of industry professionals and covered all the current competencies.

1. What do you think, what Is the Most Challenging Aspect of Working in a Diverse Environment?
Answer
There is no doubt that the diverse team runs the most innovative solutions but they are challenging as well. If you invite a diverse perspective into the project then definitely you will get more ideas, and you will also see people pointing or debating on others’ ideas/suggestions, this sometimes becomes a challenge to handle. But I observed this kind of debate helps us in getting the stronger solution as they involve the number of questions being answered from all the perspectives.

2. What Is Your Approach to Understanding the Perspectives of Colleagues From Different Backgrounds?
Answer
This is my personality that I took time to understand or know everyone on my basis with whom I am working, beat my manager or my colleague. To do this, I like to connect them on coffee or lunch breaks or if I am full-packed with my workload then I used to do the quick connect on workstation area or washroom areas or wherever we met. I do all these things because I like to know about the people with whom I work, I am interested in knowing their values, what drives them to do the work, and all. Also, I think this kind of conversation helps in building the level of trust and relationship. So that in future whenever we had any kind of conflicts in our opinions, that time this trust or relationship will help us to understand each others’ perspective.

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Packet Pg. 212 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc)

3. Do let us know, What Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Mean to You? Answer
For me, diversity means to a variety of people with different backgrounds and perspectives. I would want to highlight that companies need diversity if they want success in their business.

Equity means giving every individual equal rights to raise their voice in the company or the organization. This helps the companies to build much fair and positive internal processes. Inclusion means that everyone in the company’s workplace is being treated valued and welcomed. A company should always appreciate everyone’s effort.

4. How are you going to Advocate for Diversity, Inclusion, and Equity With Colleagues Who Don’t Understand its Importance?
Answer
If in my career, I found colleagues who are not appreciating the diversity, equity, and inclusion at the workplace; I will face them and have a conversation with the facts and numbers. As of now, there is a lot of research data available that shows the positive impact of diversity, inclusion, and equity. I am also very much aware of the fact that there will be a scenario where I will talk to the people who are already aware of these facts but they are somehow not convinced with the results. I will talk to them very gently but at the same time firmly push them to recognize these things. Maybe this will require them to do the little effort of coming out from their comfort zone and see new things and possibilities instead of their assumptions.

5. What was your experience when You Advocated for Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace?
Answer
The answer to this question depends on your previous personal experience. So you just have to share the situation with the interviewer. We can help you by suggesting the way, how you can answer this kind of answers.

Whenever you hear a question that requires a real-life example; that is time you have to use the STAR method. This method allows you to share the perfect example by including the Situation, task, action, and the result that comes at the end.

6. What do you think that what Steps Will help you to Eliminate Bias From the Hiring Process?

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Packet Pg. 213 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) Answer
I am not sure whether I will be able to eliminate the biases, as it is all around us; but I will minimize them in my hiring process. To do so, I will start with ensuring that the information about the job opening is being broadcast to the wider audience by using all the possible networks. This will help us to have a diverse range of interviewees from the beginning. After that my focus will be on their abilities and experience, I will for sure ignore the education or work history gaps if they are because of family and some women-specific reasons. To come to a solution, I will ask the same question to every candidate out there; so that I can evaluate them easily with the same set of criteria.

7. How are you going to respond when you heard that a coworker say something racist, homophobic, ableist, or otherwise inappropriate?
Answer
Here you can use this story as your answer or your own if you have done something like this in the past.

In my previous organization, I heard a new joiner makes an insensitive remark. Since he was new to our company and the environment is new to him, I calmly handled the situation and asked him not to use this kind of language in the future with the appropriate reason why it is not good to use this language and this kind of words may hurt other’s feelings. So after all this, the new joiner apologizes and accepted his mistake and till now I haven’t heard anything about it.

But in case I got to know that the person is again using inappropriate language, I will escalate this to my manager and bring the whole scenario to his attention.

8. What is the mistake organizations make when thinking about diversity? Answer
Many of the organizations conveyed to their clients and their probable candidates that they are valuing diversity. However, the fact is they are not putting it into practice; this is a mistake that many organizations are making. According to my opinion, this is very important for all the organizations that talk about diversity and equality in their workplace magazines and e-articles. They should have workable items so that organizations can use or implement these ideas into their culture.

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Packet Pg. 214 Attachment: SAMPLE 2: Diversity-Equity-Inclusion Interview Questions - Muse.com (Equity Ad Hoc) Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: Award of Construction Contract for the Kotate Park Revitalization Project to Oak Grove Construction
Date: November 22, 2022
Written by: Craig Scott, Director of Public Works/City Engineer Recommendation
It is recommended the City Council of the City of Cotati adopt a resolution awarding the construction contract for the Kotate Park Revitalization Project to Oak Grove Construction and authorizing the City Manager to execute said agreement, and any needed change orders and amendments, including to the design professional services agreement with Integra, up to the approved Project budget
Background
The City’s Parks Capital Plan identified the Kotate Park Revitalization Project as a near term priority project. Phase 1 of the park improvements have been designed and advertised for construction bids. The planned improvements at the park includes replacing the play equipment in the park, a restroom, ADA access to the park off of Linden Court, seating and landscaping in the area of the play structures, new lighting, and landscaping including revamping the turf areas and landscaped areas.

Analysis/Discussion
On March 22, 2020, City Council approved a design agreement with Integra to prepare construction documents and provide design assistance during construction for the Kotati Revitalization Project (Project). The construction documents were completed, and the project advertised for construction bids with bids opened on November 8, 2022. The City received three bids with the low bid from Oak Grove Construction for an amount of $1,938,713, which is 5 percent below the engineer’s cost estimate of $2,035,551.

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City Staff has reviewed the bid proposal from Oak Grove Construction and has determined it to be complete and responsive and recommends it for award.

On February 25, 2020, City Council approved a professional services agreement with Integra Planning + Landscape Architecture (Integra) for the design of the Kotate Revitalization Project.

On November 9, 2021, City Council approved an amendment to the agreement for additional consulting services. The amended agreement includes design assistance during construction including reviewing submittals and preparing as-builts. It may be necessary to amend the agreement to provide Construction Management and Inspection services to ensure the proper installation of the improvements and to review the invoices. City staff is requesting City Council authorize the City Manager to execute any such amendments up to the approved Project budget.

Financial Considerations
The Kotate Park Improvement Project is included in the City’s adopted FY22/23 budget for an amount of $2,387,900 within Grants Fund Account 201-00-91100-PROP68. Funded is provided using a combination of General Funds, specifically Measure S, County Parks Measure M taxes, Prop 68 State Grants, Development “Bed Tax” Fees, and Park-In-Lieu Fees.

From the budget $320,258 is encumbered for existing contracts related to the restroom building and design agreements. The remaining available budget of $2,067,640 is deemed sufficient to meet the construction costs, however staff are requesting a fifteen percent construction contingency in the amount of $290,887 for a total contract not to exceed $2,229,600. Due to the budget deficiency, staff are requesting an additional appropriation of unencumbered of General Fund reserves in an amount of $161,960. With this adjustment the total project cost would be not to exceed $2,549,860.

Environmental Issues
This Project is Categorically Exempt in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15301 Existing Facilities as the Kotate Park Revitalization Project is a minor alteration of an existing facility, therefore, no further environmental review is required.

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RESOLUTION NO.

RESOLUTION OF THE CITY OF COTATI CITY COUNCIL AWARDING THE

CONSTRUCTION CONTRACT FOR THE KOTATE PARK REVITALIZATION

PROJECT TO OAK GROVE CONSTRUCTION AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY

MANAGER TO EXECUTE SAID AGREEMENT, AND ANY NEEDED CHANGE

ORDERS AND AMENDMENTS TO THE DESIGN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES AGREEMENT WITH INTEGRA PLANNING + LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTURE UP

TO THE APPROVED PROJECT BUDGET
WHEREAS, the City’s Parks Capital Plan identified the Kotate Park Revitalization Project as a near term priority project and Phase 1 of the park improvements have been designed and advertised for construction bids; and
WHEREAS, the planned improvements at the park includes replacing the play equipment in the park, creating ADA access to the park off of Linden Court, installing a restroom, incorporating new seating and landscaping around the play structures, new lighting, and landscaping including revamping the turf areas and landscaped areas; and WHEREAS, on March 22, 2020, City Council approved a design agreement with Integra Planning + Landscape Architecture to prepare construction documents and provide design assistance during construction for the Kotate Revitalization Project (Project), WHEREAS, the construction documents were completed, and the project advertised for construction bids with bids opened on November 8, 2022, and the City received three bids with the low bid from Oak Grove Construction for an amount of $1,938,713, which is 5 percent below the engineer’s cost estimate of $2,035,55; and
WHEREAS, City Staff has reviewed the bid proposal from Oak Grove Construction and has determined it to be complete and responsive and recommends it for award; and WHEREAS, on February 25, 2020, City Council approved a professional services agreement with Integra Planning + Landscape Architecture for the design of the Kotate Revitalization Project; and, on November 9, 2021, City Council approved an amendment to the agreement for additional consulting services, and the amended agreement includes design assistance during construction including reviewing submittals and preparing as-builts; and WHEREAS, it may be necessary to amend the agreement to provide Construction Management and Inspection services to ensure the proper installation of the improvements and to review the invoices, and City Staff is requesting City Council authorize the City Manager to execute any such amendments up to the approved Project budget; and WHEREAS, the Kotate Revitalization Project is included in the City’s adopted FY22/23 budget for an amount of $2,387,900 million, the total cost of the project contracts is anticipated not to exceed $2,549,860 including a desired contingency of 15 percent, staff are requesting an Packet Pg. 217
additional appropriation of unencumbered of General Fund reserves in an amount of $161,960; and
WHEREAS, this Project is Categorically Exempt in accordance with the California Environmental Quality Act Guidelines Section 15301 Existing Facilities as the Kotate Park Revitalization Project is a minor alteration of an existing facility, therefore, no further environmental review is required.

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the City Council of the City of Cotati hereby:

1. Awards the Kotate Park Revitalization Project construction contract to Oak Grove Construction for an amount of $1,938,713, and

2. Approves a budget amendment in an amount of $161,960 for the Kotate Park Project as an increase in expenditures as funded with transfers from the General Fund unappropriated fund balance.

3. Authorizes the City Manager to execute the construction contract and any needed change orders to the construction contract or amendments to related professional services agreements for a total project not to exceed amount of $2,549,860.

A
IT IS HEREBY CERTIFIED that the foregoing resolution was duly adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of Cotati held on the November 22nd, 2022, by the following vote, to wit:

Approved:________________________________
Mayor
Attest:____________________________
Kevin Patterson, Deputy City Clerk
Approved as to form:
____________________________
City Attorney
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Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: INFORMATION RECEIVED AFTER THE AGENDA WAS POSTED To: City Council
Subject: Information received after the agenda was posted.

Date: November 22, 2022
Written by: Angela Courter, Director of Administrative Services Recommendation
Information or written comments pertaining to this meeting, and which was received after the agenda was posted, is attached below.

Pursuant to City Council Policy 2021-01: City Council Rules section IV A., written Communications, interested persons or their authorized representative may address the Council by written communication on any matters concerning the City’s business, or any matters over which the Council has control.

1. To be considered for inclusion in the agenda packet, such written communication shall be delivered to the Deputy City Clerk no later than 11:00 a.m. of the Wednesday the week preceding the regular Council meeting for which such written communication is intended.

2. If received after the above date and time, but no later than noon the day before the meeting, written communications received by the Deputy City Clerk shall be posted on the website by the end of that day and notification provided to the electronic Agenda mailing list by the end of the day. All written communications received by the Deputy City Clerk by 5 pm on the City Council meeting day shall be made available to the City Council and public at the City Council meeting.

City Council Policy 2021-01 is available at the online meeting portal at www.cotaticity.org or by request from the Deputy City Clerk at 707-665-3622 or [email protected].

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Cotati City CouncilNovember 22, 2022

Cotati City Council
November 22, 2022