Cotati City Council
Agenda Staff Report
Item type: CONSENT CALENDAR (ACTION)
To: City Council
Subject: SECOND READING AND ADOPTION OF AN ORDINANCE OF
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COTATI AMENDING
TITLE 17 (LAND USE) OF THE COTATI MUNICIPAL CODE
IN ACCORDANCE WITH STATE LAW BY REPEALING AND
REPLACING SECTION 17.42.170 ACCESSORY DWELLING
UNITS/JUNIOR ACCESSORY DWELLING UNITS AND
AMENDING SECTION 17.90.020 DEFINITIONS OF
SPECIALIZED TERMS AND PHRASES
Date: January 14, 2025
Written by: Autumn Buss, Associate Planner
Recommendation
It is recommended that the City Council conduct the second reading and adopt an Ordinance amending Title 17 (Land Use) of the Cotati Municipal Code in accordance with State law by repealing and replacing Section 17.42.170 Accessory Dwelling Units/Junior Accessory Dwelling Units and amending Section 17.90.020 Definitions of Specialized Terms and Phrases.
Background
On December 10, 2024, the City Council held a public hearing and introduced the proposed ordinance to amend the City’s Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) ordinance. The City Council approved the ordinance, subject to certain revisions, as described below.
Analysis/Discussion
The following revisions to the proposed ordinance were made by the City Council at its December 10, 2024 meeting:
1. Parking: One parking space shall be required for each ADU, except when an exemption is provided by State ADU law. No parking is required for JADUs, per State ADU law. (Section 17.42.170(B)(4))
2. The phrase “(or interior)” is removed in Section 17.42.170(B)(5)(d), as follows:
d. The gross floor area of an attached (or interior) ADU shall not exceed fifty percent of the existing gross floor area of the primary residence. Notwithstanding the existing gross floor area of the primary residence, an ADU may contain at least eight hundred square feet of gross floor area.
3. The maximum height limit for any detached ADU located within the setbacks for the primary dwelling unit is 18 feet, if the structure meets minimum 4-foot side and rear setbacks. (Section 17.42.170(B)(7)(a))
4. The proposed revision to the definition of Single Family Dwelling in Section 17.90.020 is revised as follows:
“Single-family dwelling” means a building designed for and/or occupied exclusively by one family. Also includes factory-built, modular housing units, constructed in compliance with the Uniform Building Code (UBC), and mobilehomes/manufactured housing units that comply with the National Manufactured Housing Construction and Safety Standards Act of 1974, placed on permanent foundation systems. Single-family dwellings may also contain accessory dwelling units (ADUs) or junior accessory dwelling units (JADUs) or be located on lots with detached accessory dwelling units., which ADUs and JADUs are not included in the unit count, density calculations, or site coverage calculations for the purposes of determining consistency with this Title, and which do not cause the singlefamily dwelling or the lot on which it is located to be considered a multifamily dwelling or a multifamily lot or property.
An updated version of the draft ordinance incorporating the above revisions is attached to the staff report.
Financial Considerations
With the exception of the staff time needed to prepare the draft ordinance, there are no direct financial impacts to the general fund associated with the adoption of the ordinance.
Environmental Issues
The proposed ordinance is exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act as it 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 the Mitigated Negative Declaration certified for the 2023-2031 Housing Element (SCH # 2013082037) adopted and certified on June 2, 2023. In addition, the proposed ordinance is consistent with and implements the City’s adopted General Plan, including the 2023-2031 Housing Element, and no new environmental impacts peculiar to the project site(s) have been realized or identified. Therefore, no additional environmental analysis is required under CEQA Section 15183, and pursuant to Section 15168 of the CEQA Guidelines, no further environmental review is required.