ORDINANCE NO.
AN ORDINANCE OF THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF COTATI AMENDING THE COTATI MUNICIPAL CODE TO ADD SECTION 17.30.110 SATISFACTION OF
GENERAL PLAN GROWTH FINANCING POLICY, APPLICABLE TO FUTURE RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT, CITYWIDE; FILE NO. PA#26-35
WHEREAS, the City Council desires to ensure that growth contributes proportionately toward the cost of public facilities and infrastructure needed to serve development; and WHEREAS, As demonstrated in recent budget documents and fiscal studies including the 2015 Fiscal Impact Study by David Taussig & Associates Inc. and a 2026 analysis by Kosmont, California cities can face ongoing fiscal challenges in providing municipal services to new residential development. Since the adoption of Proposition 13, property tax revenues generated by new housing have not always covered the full cost of police protection, park maintenance, roadway maintenance, stormwater management, administrative services, and other municipal operations required to serve new residents. As a result, many jurisdictions have sought mechanisms that ensure growth does not create an ongoing fiscal deficit and/or erode the quality of services provided to existing residents; and
WHEREAS, starting in 2017, the City of Cotati has documented an ongoing fiscal deficit in the provision of City services to newly constructed residential development, and WHEREAS, the City established Public Services CFD 2017-01 through Resolution No. 2017-60, specifically designed to support municipal services including police protection, park maintenance, roadway and landscape maintenance, stormwater services, and other ongoing municipal functions associated with new development, and WHEREAS, residential development projects are increasingly moving to by-right, ministerial review and decision-making processes (SB 35, AB 2011, SB 684, etc.), creating situations whereby the city cannot ensure this new growth does not degrade current service levels or exceed the city’s ability to provide the necessary public services through the traditional mechanism of a condition of approval, and
WHEREAS, California Government Code establishes the General Plan as the City's longrange policy framework; and WHEREAS, the City Council finds that public service financing policies promote fiscal sustainability and orderly development; and
WHEREAS, on September 21, 2026, the Planning Commission of the City of Cotati held a duly noticed public hearing to consider and review a resolution and an ordinance proposing a General Plan Amendment establishing City policy that growth should pay its fair share of municipal service costs and an amendment to the Municipal Code implementing the General Plan policy through objective development standards applicable to future residential development, and to make a recommendation to the City Council regarding its adoption.
WHEREAS, on October 13, 2026, the Cotati City Council held a duly noticed public hearing to consider and introduce an ordinance proposing an amendment to the Municipal Code implementing the General Plan policy through objective development standards applicable to future residential development, and to make a recommendation to the City Council regarding its adoption.
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 Commission and City Council related to adoption of the amendments to Title 17 (Land Use) of the Cotati Municipal Code to incorporate the proposed Section 17.30.110 and all referenced identified changes to the Cotati Municipal Code to facilitate implementation.
SECTION 3: General Plan Consistency
The Council of the City of Cotati does hereby find that the amendments to Title 17 (Land Use) of the Cotati Municipal Code to establish a City policy mechanism by which residential growth shall pay its fair share of municipal service costs are consistent with the current General Plan.
The policy intent of the General Plan to ensure future growth does not degrade the current level of City services, is demonstrated by the existing objectives and policies listed below.
Specifically, these amendments are consistent with and implement the following General Plan policies and objectives:
Objective CSF 1A
Ensure that New Growth and Development do not Exceed the City’s Ability to Provide Nec essary Public Services and do not Overburden Existing Public Services and Facilities Policy CSF 1.1
Require all development projects to demonstrate, to the satisfaction of the City Engineer, that the City’s public services and utilities can accommodate the increased demand for serv ices associated with the project.
Policy CSF 1.2
Require new development to offset or mitigate impacts to public services and facilities to ensure that service levels for existing users are not degraded or impaired by new develop ment, to the satisfaction of the City Engineer.
Policy CSF 2.33
Ensure that the Police Department has adequate staff and equipment to accommodate existing and planned population growth in Cotati.
The proposed CMC revisions implement the existing General Plan policy direction, creating objective development standards applicable to all new residential units to ensure their financial impacts to the provision of city services are funded. The change in the regulatory framework implemented through these CMC revisions ensure the City’s General Plan policies are implemented for future residential projects constructed in Cotati by committing the city to providing a funding mechanism to residential developers to off-set these costs and ensuring that the per unit funding deficit is determined based on a known set of factors.
SECTION 4: Findings
The City Council of the City of Cotati does hereby find that the proposed ordinance to amend Title 17 (Land Use) of the Cotati Municipal Code to implement the identified changes to the Cotati Municipal Code:
a. Ensures and maintains internal consistency with the goals and policies of all elements of the General Plan, and any applicable specific plan and the applicable provisions of the zoning code in that the proposed amendments will serve to implement the policy direction of the General Plan to support the ongoing funding of public services at current levels as new development is approved through both discretionary and ministerial processes and build upon the current policy direction of the zoning code through the implementation of an objective development standard.
b. Would not be detrimental to the public interest, health, safety, convenience, or welfare of the city given that the amendments would ensure the public services which serve and maintain the public health, interest, safety, convenience, and welfare are provided adequate funding into the future and that the legal authority for using CFDs to offset the fiscal impacts of development has been reinforced by the California Court of Appeal (in a decision involving the City of San Ramon) providing support for the implementation of such policies. Specifically, San Ramon conditioned a new development on providing a funding mechanism to cover the difference between the costs of serving the project and the revenues generated by the project and the City to established a CFD as a means of satisfying the condition. In response to litigation, the Court upheld the City’s actions and the City of Cotati has implemented a mechanism similar to San Ramon’s. The City established Public Services CFD 2017-01 through Resolution No. 2017-60, specifically designed to support municipal services including police protection, park maintenance, roadway and landscape maintenance, stormwater services, and other ongoing municipal functions associated with new development.
c. The site is physically suitable (including absence of physical constraints, access, compatibility with adjoining land uses, and provision of utilities) for the requested and/or anticipated land use developments given that the proposed policy will be City-wide and cover the development of all future residential uses.
d. The proposed amendment is consistent with no-net-loss provisions and will not reduce the residential density of any parcel without a concurrent and off-setting increase in density being adopted for an alternate location given that no new development is proposed or limited by this action.
e. The proposed project has been reviewed in compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and are hereby found to be exempt from the California Environmental Quality Act pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), the Common Sense Exemption, because it can be seen with certainty that the proposed action will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable physical change in the environment. The actions establish policy guidance only and do not approve any specific development project or infrastructure improvement.
f. The proposed amendments is internally consistent with other applicable provisions of the General Plan and Zoning Code is found to be true in that all modified areas of the code have been reviewed to ensure consistency across the other related land use regulations and the proposed amendments take the next logical step in implementing the current policy direction as new residential development decision making processes come into law.
SECTION 5: Compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act.
In conformance with California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA), the City Council finds that the proposed amendments to the Cotati Municipal Code identified herein are related to and implement the goals, policies, and objectives of the 2015 General Plan and the 2023-31 Housing Element, and therefore finds that these proposed revisions conform to CEQA Guidelines Section 15183, which provides a streamlined review of the environmental impacts of the project by tiering from the program level analysis prepared for the Cotati General Plan and its certified EIR and/or the Housing Element and its certified Mitigated Negative Declaration (MND), and other previously completed environmental analysis.
The Council further finds that all adopted mitigating General Plan policies and mitigation measures identified in the 2015 General Plan EIR and/or 2023-2031 Housing Element MND address any potential environmental impacts of the proposed code changes. Finally, future project-specific environmental analysis of any permit or variance proposed under the amended Code will be required and will allow project-specific impacts not previously identified or anticipated to be addressed.
SECTION 6: Amendment to the Cotati Municipal Code. Chapter 17.30 Standards for All Development and Land Uses, is amended to add Section 17.30.110 Satisfaction of General Plan Growth Financing Policy, to read as follows:
17.30.110 Satisfaction of General Plan Growth Financing Policy A. General Plan Policy CF-1.7 requires development to contribute toward any fiscal deficit created by the development, requires the City to determine the deficit from time to time, and requires the City to make available a funding mechanism that allows a development to satisfy the obligation.
This section implements the policy and establishes an objective standard that requires compliance with General Plan Policy CF-1.7.
B. The City Council shall determine the deficit from time to time based on the factors set forth in Policy CSF-1.7. The City Council may determine that residential additions, accessory dwelling units, and junior accessory dwelling units, due to their accessory nature, do not have a deficit. All development projects shall, in accordance with General Plan Policy CSF-1.7, contribute funding to eliminate the deficit. The proposed mechanism used to satisfy the foregoing requirement shall be confirmed by the Director prior to the issuance of the first building permit in the development project, and the Director shall confirm that an enforceable mechanism to satisfy the requirement is in place prior to the granting of any occupancy.
C. The City maintains one or more Community Facilities Districts into which development projects can annex into as a means of satisfying the obligation. Development projects of 5 or more units shall pay the costs of annexation.
SECTION 7: 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 8: Effective date.
This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after its adoption pursuant to the California Government Code.
SECTION 9: 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
Attest:
Kevin Patterson, 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, City Clerk